Inali

Chapter 13

"General Nappa has sent documentation and our experts have come to an incredible discovery. It seems that those two orange balls are part of a set of seven, which are located on a planet far from Vegetasei and the field of the last battle. But it is doable, if the Ice Soldiers could find two then you, my son, will find them all. Return to the camp soon, you will find a package with what you need to locate the rest of the balls.

These balls allow you to summon a magical dragon that grants every wish. Can you imagine, Vegeta? We can finally wipe out the Ice Family and reign as the warrior race that we are. Again.

This is a great day, go my son and come back a winner."

In Vegeta's memory, his father had never talked so much. At least with him. King Vegeta III was a man of few, crude and unscrupulous words. He must have been on the verge of emotion to waste such a speech in an encrypted message.

Vegeta was in the small ship in which he had reached the Ox Kingdom planet, looking at the dark gray ceiling, listening to his father's private message smiling bitterly. Nappa hadn't found anything, but his father had never liked Raditz or anyone else who wasn't born elite.

He still held the gift of Kakarot's cub, little Gohan, in his gloved hands, wondering how it was possible that the flowers didn't wither feeling his soul.

Turles was making preparations to leave and Vegeta thought back to the conversation with the Ox King and his daughter. They weren't happy. Neither did he... and for the same reasons, even if they would never believe it. They had discussed the latest information.

Chi-Chi had declared that the alliance had reached its climax, both words had met their terms and thus it was now over. But the Ox Kingdom would not back down if there was a battle. So currently, ironically, the Saiyans still had a military backing.

Vegeta felt that the King didn't want to engage other men in war but didn't dare to contradict his daughter. The Princess' ardor was similar to his own but Vegeta knew there was a big difference between them. Princess Chi-Chi had a heart. And Kakarot.

Whereas Vegeta only had his pride, and he was convinced he would die for it. For the glory of a death in battle, like a true saiyan.

The Prince was placing the crown of flowers in a box reserved for the crown jewels. As Vegetasei's royal he always had to carry such a chest on the means of transport. To be buried with glittering trinkets to warn the afterlife that a warrior of a royal house was coming. Nonsense that didn't make sense... having grown up in war camps, for Vegeta jewels had no value, businesses and deeds did. The crown of flowers deserved that place, as a warning to the future Vegeta... he only hoped that once he died, his soul was worthy of such purity. At the moment his heart was pure iron.

A foolish thought... since Vegeta's first thought, once he heard of these mysterious dragon balls, hadn't been the comeback of his race and the salvation of his people... but his own glory. Immortality... the prospect of an infinite number of possibilities to experience just how strong he could become.

The assaults. Cooler's attacks and Frieza's ships... it didn't matter. For Vegeta, they were just the sign that those two balls were the lizards' secret strategy.

Vegeta couldn't look at that flower crown anymore. There was no saiyan rule that suggests you can't refuse a cub gift. If there was, Vegeta didn't know it. However, he knew that those flowers would go out, but he wanted to at least keep the ashes of them. To remind him of when he had hoped, knowing that he would destroy everything. Burning up.

Now Vegeta felt anger...like he'd never felt it before. Anger, for humiliating an Inali and failing. Anger that he hadn't been able to hold onto the one thing he cared about and that had made him discover a warm heart in his chest made of steel armor.