Strange New World, That Has Such Creatures In It

Royal Breakfasts Chapter 5

Flying a few feet in front of his brother, Raditz soared higher and faster, gazing down at the landscape as it appeared in the breaks between the clouds. He followed the river beside the city out into the countryside, beyond the thick orchards and fields, and as they flew on the trees grew taller and more wild, sharp and uninviting. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder. After only a few minutes, the tall castle spire was just a dot on the horizon. He wished he'd dressed before flying out the window after his prince, but now he was stuck on a tezra hunt in his pj's. He looked down at the swamps and spotted their prey.

A short distance ahead, Goku noticed his brother had stopped and he pulled short, looking at him. Raditz stared at the flock of tezra on the ground, but he noticed his brother's glare and turned to face him. "What?"

Goku kept his gaze. "Why does my mate call you brother?"

A thin smile crept onto Raditz's face. "Jealous?"

"I asked you a question." He clenched his hands into fists. "I've been through hell without my mate and now he can't stand me in the same room as him. I want an answer and I want it now."

The royal bodyguard held up one hand to silence him, shaking his head. "You say you've been through hell? You have no idea what that is. You've been dead twice, then you should have some idea of what hell is like."

"I only visited," Goku said, almost spitting the words.

"Oh? Then let me tell you about it. They try to break you there, force your soul to bend to their will so they can do whatever they want with you. They have many tricks and illusions to use for this, all the mental and physical tortures they can imagine."

"I didn't ask for a lecture on hell--"

"Shut up and listen. When you killed me, I landed in a fiery torment that lasted for years, I along with other Saiyans, the ones you see resurrected now. We screamed and we begged and we tried to fight, but we were weak. And when we were given the choice of being run through that damn machine, many of us broke. I lost a good many friends to that machine."

"The soul cleansing machine," Goku said with a nod. "It wipes away the evil in you and lets your soul reincarnate."

"You believe that lie?" Raditz snarled. "It makes us slaves."

"It cleanses away sin--"

"What are we without our sins?" He held his hands out as if he held the worst parts of his soul in them. "Our shames, our evils, they define us, they make us who we are. Without the bad there cannot be any good. Only Kigeta is perfect. We are imperfect, and to hope for anything more is foolish."

"But to hold onto that evil like it's vital..."

"Tell me, Kakarrot, did you go through the machine?" He laughed at his brother's silence. "Of course not. If it was so cleansing, then why is there still evil in the world? Surely everyone must've been reincarnated at some point."

Goku grit his teeth. He couldn't think of an answer and wished Bulma or Krillin or 18 was here, to take over the argument. A logical argument was unfair to him, he thought. He shook his head. "You still haven't answered my question. Why are you his brother?"

With a tired sigh, Raditz let his hands fall back to his sides. "Because I never broke. Because no matter what tortures they devised, nothing could hurt me more than living on Frieza's ship and seeing Vegeta's pain, and suffering it with him. Because he was a child, alone in his dark corner of hell, and he desperately needed someone to be with him." He raised one palm and held it up for Goku to see.

Expecting a ki blast, Goku went to block, but nothing came. He waited a moment, and when Raditz didn't move, Goku floated closer to his brother. There on his palm was a long scar, faded but clearly defined.