Black Divergence

Can't Go Home Again, Baby

Authoress' Note: After posting the prologue, I confess that ideas began to flow into me—ideas of how to continue this completely insane story. I already had the first chapter finished, yet, I was not satisfied how short it seemed.

Rather than rewrite it, I added onto it—wanting to expand on the idea a bit more before focusing my full undivided attention on the chapter I hesitated to write. This will involve a major character death.

If I end up scaring away a lot of readers after this chapter, then so be it. Though I should warn you that this would not be the first nor the last time I kill this character. And I did feel a sense of regret writing it down the encounter on index cards of all things.

Don't know what I'm talking about? Well, you'll know soon enough since this is probably the darkest fanfiction I've ever written. My other M-rated fanfics might as well be borderline dark compared to this story alone.

And for some reason, if I still haven't scared enough readers off by this point even after these warnings, I'm probably going to end up getting flamed for this one before they abandon ship. Well, only one thing left to say about this:

BRING.

IT.

ON.

#blackdivergence

Black Divergence

Chapter 02

Deep within the mountains far removed from civilization, a gray-haired widow hung the clean laundry upon the wire outside her small domed house. Once upon a time, she had a husband and son who lived with her; however, both had departed the land of living—one from illness and the other was murdered—leaving the aging woman alone. Even her father, the former terror of the mountain known as the Ox King, had died some time ago. In that span of time, Chi-chi had to adapt to the solitude that was her life.

Rubbing at her eyes, she brushed away the sweat that had begun to sting and blind what was left of her failing sight. Shortly after her only son died, she realized that her vision was starting to fail. While she could still make out distinct shapes of people, animals, and objects, she knew that it was slowly becoming harder—her body was literally beginning to give out on her. There were days she did not even wish to get out of bed, knowing that she was completely alienated.

Leaning against one of the posts supporting the clothesline was a cane that she had begun to depend on. While it was a rudimentary one at best, she still utilized it to get around her property and home since even the easiest task began to become more complicated.

In the past winter, she had taken a serious fall when she slipped on a patch of ice. Using what first aid she could muster after reaching her home long after dark, her hip never truly healed, and sadly, she did not even the strength to seek the nearest town's doctor by herself in the heavy snowfall. Due to this, Chi-chi's leg healed wrong, leaving her to limp around the property and feeling older than her fifty-three years of life.

The only way she could continue living was adapting in whatever way possible. She had a daily routine that she used to ensure that she could survive off the land, only doing what was physically doable and nothing more. Chi-chi picked up the cane and hobbled back towards the house, preparing herself for the exertion she would embark and checking the traps laid for her daily meal.

If she was fortunate, perhaps today would be the day Trunks would check up on her and bring what supplies he could to her home. She was grateful for the young man taking the time to do such a thing, but often, she wondered if her Gohan would have done the same if the situation had been reversed, and he would check on Bulma. She had long accepted that her only son had perished, and wished with every fiber of her being that he was still around to help her, especially on days like this.