[X] Send out an active ping. You can chase them down if you need to. Opposed check of your Ki Sense vs. their Ki Control with a massive bonus for you, strict pass/fail results. They know that you're looking either way.
[X] Things that are.
Second Contact
You take a deep breath. Well, if there was ever such a thing as stepping over the edge to commit yourself...
In an instant-
-shockwave-
-a cry of effort-
-and pulse.
The sky turns blue from your aura, and it's only due to your place well away from civilization that you don't fear for the Masquerade. Your ki roils out across the landscape, and you listen to the echoes.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Ping.
Your eyes open. Betarel. Just a little too loud there Betarel, sorry!
vip
You appear in their midst -- Head Raditz, Betarel, three warriors you don't recognize, and a figure wearing a black, hooded cape.
Your blood chills as you get your first sight of Dandelor Senzu, the only other Vegetan Sorcerer. Him aside, all of them are wearing armor.
As you appear, they spring away from you, assuming combat stances. Despite that, they keep their energy suppressed so that nobody else can sense them -- it would seem they learned from the fight with your father.
Raditz is giving you a level, calculating look. Betarel looks conflicted. The three warriors all appear focused on what they appear to be assuming is an impending fight.
Dandelor's hands are flipping through a series of seals already, his body facing towards you.
[ ] Attack immediately.
-[ ] Write-in approach.
[ ] Diplomacy.
-[ ] Write-in approach (if you plan on neutralizing the Sorcerer and then practicing diplomacy, this is your option).
[ ] Retreat.
[ ] Write-in.
THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.
This update really had no excuse for taking so long given how short it, by necessity, is. The reason for how busy I've been, though, is that the past couple days have basically been recovery mode from the hosting. But it took a while and that's all there is to it at the end of the day.
To make up for lost time, the next update will probably be along tomorrow to help me get back into the swing of things. As such there is no moratorium on voting this time around; by all means, do discuss, but decide on an approach quickly. I'll extend voting if there's significant ongoing debate tomorrow, but let's make sure we keep this thing moving.
Hope you all enjoy this brief update, and I hope to see you all here again tomorrow for more!
[X] Diplomacy.
-[X] Appear in front of Dandelor. Shake his hand.
-[X] "Hi! I am Kakara Goku! You must be Dandelor! Nice to meet you!"
-[X] Go greet the rest of them. Seriously, it is rude to ignore them and you haven't see them in a while. Be friendly.
-[X] Hide your ki too.
Unanimous for Diplomacy, in fact.
The Perks of Being A Chatterbox
You don't think. You don't pause. You don't consider your reaction at all. You see the Sorcerer moving and casting, and you act. You are as decisive as any warrior ever was, and as fast. He doesn't have a hope of stopping you.
You flash forward and grab his hand, shaking enthusiastically. "Hi!"
Then you think.
...what am I doing?
...I have no idea. Run with it, quick!
"I'm Kakara!" you say, bringing out your scary grin just in case it'll make him as confused by this turn of events as you are. "Kakara Goku! You must be Dandelor. Nice to meet you!"
Now confident that he's not going to cast on you, you release his hand and step away.
Dandelor's hood covers most of his face, but you can see his mouth hanging open, frozen halfway through a syllable. The others are looking at you in varying states of disbelief, completely disarmed by your cheery attitude.
Okay, okay, that's good! Now what do I do? Keep going? I...guess I can try. It looks like it's working.
"Oh, sorry, I'm ignoring you!" you say, looking at the rest of them. You then spin in a circle in order to look at them all and say, "Hi Head Raditz! Hi Betarel! Hello Betarel's family!" You complete the spin, still giving your scary grin. As you do, you start bringing your ki down in a slow fall. Nothing that would have the entire planet out looking for whatever made you crash, but definitely low enough to take you out of perception range. You throw your arms out wide. "I haven't seen you in a while! I've never met some of you. How are you?"
Betarel drops a little bag that he's carrying, still staring.
His dad then steps forward, clearing his throat. "It is...a pleasure to see you again, Lady Scion."
Ooh, that's formal.
"I take it by your actions that you have no...violent intentions...towards us?" His posture is tense and wary.
You shake your head. "Nope! I'm just out looking for you! I've been looking for a while, too! You've been hiding really good!"
"Well," says Head Raditz, sounding like it's on reflex.
You cock your head. "Huh?"
"We've been hiding we- never mind. How did you detect us?"
You rub at the back of your head, trying not to look at Betarel. "Well..."
He sighs. "I see. Son, tell your mother you're getting extra suppression lessons this month."
Betarel straightens, snapping out of his shock. "What?! But I-!"
"I don't speak Whine, Betarel."
"...yes, Dad."
You frown. "I wasn't trying to get him in trouble."
"I know you weren't," he says. "But it's important...to say the least." His gaze goes distant for a second before he snaps out of it. "May I extend an invitation to you to return to our Family Hall with us?" he says.
"Raditz."
You look over at Dandelor. The Sorcerer is staring his Head down.
"Her father would already be bearing down on us if she were here hunting, Dandelor," says Raditz. "We'd be captured already."
Dandelor's mouth thins, but he remains silent.
Raditz turn to you and sketches a slight bow. From your lessons, you even recognize the form. Your etiquette lessons -- part and parcel of the Clan Management lessons -- have taught you an extensive list of formal stylings. This one is "respect in the field to one of slightly higher rank, Vegetan protocol."
"Please, Lady Scion, follow us," he says. He waves the rest of his family members into line and lifts off into the air.
After a moment, you follow.
* * *
After a brief flight, taken at low speed and altitude to avoid giving off energy, the Senzus come to a halt in a random mountain range. "Here we are," says Head Raditz. "Dandelor?"
You look around, expecting to see something. Then you feel vaguely silly. A spell that could wipe a planet's memories could easily hide something from visual detection.
Meanwhile, the Sorcerer moves his hands through a series of grand, sweeping gestures, that culminate in him holding his hands out and down. He murmurs something to himself, and a slit opens in the world.
It almost hurts to look at. The world is normal, when looking away from it. Mountain, mountain, river, forest, wait why is that tree bent halfway over and all ripply- building. It's as though the reality of things is a curtain that he's pulled apart. Or more that he's thrown a curtain over reality and is now pulling it aside, you suppose.
It makes more sense once you frame it like that.
"Welcome to Hall Senzu, Scion Kakara," says Raditz, gesturing for you to precede him into the hole. You nod to him and drift through.
Hall Senzu is breathtaking. When the Exiles arrived on Garenhuld, it was in the middle of the equivalent of Earth's High Middle Ages. The Senzu family was formed shortly afterwards, and it seems that they went local in the most awesome way possible.
A magnificent fortress rises from the cleft at the base of a mountain's peak, a causeway stretching across the valley at its gates. Several towers rise from the battlements and you can see smoke trails from dozens of chimneys rising from within the walls. The entrance to the veil has deposited you at the far end of the causeway from the castle, and you instantly set down onto it just so you can make it more likely for the others to do the same once they follow through. That way they might let you walk across instead of having to fly over and move past the view faster.
Betarel lands next to you as his family comes through. "Impressive, huh?"
You nod. "Why did your family even make this?"
"House Senzu once did its part of the Masquerade by serving as the Counts of this stretch of mountain," says Head Raditz, landing next to you. "We paid loyal service to the Dukes of Tressamine for many years as the Counts of Heramere. Hall Senzu and its fortifications were a frequent trump card in the periodic wars for territory back then, and Senzu's levies were...obviously highly in demand. When Tressamine started making moves towards a more democratic government, we faded away with grace and made sure to destroy records of our Hall's existence so we wouldn't have to deal with tourists and historians. Technically speaking, the writ of nobility still holds given that nobody could find it to revoke it. By the old system we're actually the rightful Dukes of Tressamine thanks to a marriage made a century and a half ago. That said, we've no interest in pressing that." He glances at you, smiling. "You seem very impressed."
"Well yeah! It's...it's...!" You wave your hands wildly at the magnificent fortress.
"House Senzu has always tried to be influential. Why not in the human world, as well as the saiyan? But please, follow me." He sets off down the causeway, flaring his power level to announce his presence.
A woman stands up atop the gatehouse just ahead of you -- the first of two just along the causeway itself! -- and calls, "Who goes there?!"
"Scouting party back earlier than expected, with an unexpected guest!" replies Raditz. "Open up, Bulma!"
"Oh! Hi, Uncle Raditz. Opening the gate now!"
The gate -- well, more of a portcullis, really -- slides open as you approach. A shout from Bulma has the guards at the next tower opening their portcullis as well, and as you pass through that, gates of the fortress proper open as well.
You watch as the fortress draws near. It's just stones, and you could level it with a thought, but the sheer size of the construction is still impressive. For a human army, this would be nearly impossible to take. A fortress like this could even hold out against an army with cannons; there wouldn't be anywhere to mount them!
Honestly, if you weren't a saiyan you'd probably be concerned by a future vassal holding a position of such stre-
* * *
Away
* * *
Betarel laughs. "Oh, you think that's impressive? Watch this!"
The young man rockets into the air and fires up to his full power. He pulls his hands back over his shoulder. "Galick Gun...FIRE!"
The beam bursts harmlessly on the walls of Hall Senzu, a shield that emits the vaguely twisty feel of magic springing up along its stones. It doesn't even quiver. Betarel grins down at you in pride, thrusting his chest out.
You laugh, your stomach crawling with butterflies despite how blatantly obvious his showboating is-
* * *
Back
* * *
You blink, glancing at Betarel.
Well, you were both teenagers in that vision, and in saiyan form, so that's a long way off if it ever happens.
Do you like me already, or does that only happen later? you wonder as your party steps through the gates and into the courtyard.
Head Raditz's wife is there, and instantly rushes forward, dragging her husband and son into an embrace.
"We're fine, Mom," says Betarel, squirming.
"Why are you back so soon?" she asks, not letting go. "I though you'd run into a patrol!"
"Well, we did encounter somebody..." says Head Raditz, pulling away and looking at you. "Lycha, allow me to re-introduce Scion Kakara. She's here to talk."
Lycha Senzu gives you a tense expression and pulls Betarel back unconsciously. "Are you sure?"
"Lord Goku would already be blasting our wards down if she was here for anything else," says Raditz. He looks around the courtyard you're in and raises his voice. "We're safe."
You blink and look around. Your eyes widen.
There are dozens of Senzus. Scattered about the courtyard are several warriors and civilians, all looking at you with wary eyes. They relax a bit at their Head's announcement, but still keep an eye on you.
You'd always heard about how House Senzu was the most powerful of the non-royal Houses, but you'd never seen for yourself how much they'd grown. They must pay close attention to how marriages are conducted if this many people carry their name; most Houses wind up losing people from marriages.
You then glance over as Raditz walks over to you. "Please, Scion. Come with me. We have a lot to discuss."
* * *
The air gets warmer the instant you step into the main hall You don't hear any air conditioning or see any bonfires, either, so you're assuming magic is at play.
You wonder how many spells are woven into the stones of Senzu Hall. This place might be more magical than the Training Hall.
Raditz leads you down a side passage to an office and sits down with you in front of a fireplace in opposed chairs. "So," he says. "It's been quite some time. We'd begun to worry that perhaps your father had managed to convince you that he was in the right, but here you are. And here I am, not arrested for treason." He leans back. "So tell me...what brings you here, Scion?"
What do?
[ ] Write-in (no specific phrasing, just general approach.)
THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.
In this one, I provide some practical demonstrations of the scope of the Senzus' power; they've spread wide and far in both worlds, and have a lot of the kind of swag that power and influence brings and is fostered by. I'm happy with this update. You also get your first random vision! As with all visions, I warn you that this won't necessarily come to pass, and doesn't even necessarily mean what you think it does. Vision intensity was a 21; that accounts for significance and the difficulty it takes to break out of it. This is a minor vision, which may or may not come to pass and by itself indicates little of great significance. These are the kinds of things that Kakara, IC, knows as a result of Sensei's teachings.
You have successfully convinced the Senzus of your good intentions! Head Raditz will now speak to you. Take care with what you say.
Enjoy, everybody!
NO VOTES UNTIL TWO HOURS HAVE PASSED SINCE THE UPDATE WAS POSTED. USE THE TIME TO CHAT.
The placebo effect: If you give someone a pill that does nothing and tell them it makes their skin itch, their skin might start itching after taking the pill. The cause is incorrect, but their symptoms are real - they really do have itchy skin afterwards. In Dragon Ball, Man-Wolf was turned back into a human by hypnotising him into thinking Krillin's bald head was a full moon.
This is basically an idea/suggestion in the form of an omake. Took me a week on-and-off to get it done but here it is at last.
Remember the Power
Kakara stepped back and forth, rubbing her hands, anxious at what she was about to do. That first vision of hers when she consciously looked for one, the horrible one that Sensei said was a false vision, it was one that she didn't want to remember. The way she was, the things that were happening, it was worse than a nightmare. It would be a blessing to forget, but she can't. Or rather, she won't.
As much as it would be easier to try not to think about it, Kakara has to remember it. Sensei said it was a false vision, something that won't come true, and it's not something Kakara would let come true, but it doesn't change that it was a vision. It's not something she imagined, it's something her power showed her. The sound, the feelings, the smells...they were all what she would feel if that actually happened, she knew this.
And in that vision she experienced the second level - Super Saiyan 2. It was only for a moment but she felt its power running through her body and she remembered it. They say that Goku became more powerful after the God transformation ran out because his body remembered his power, and while Kakara never actually reached the second level, her mind did. She probably can't reach the Super Saiyan 2 just because of it, nor should she if she could, but if she ever needs to transform, remembering the feeling may help her do so.
So now, Kakara is going to sit down in this private, warded corner of hers away from everyone else and meditate. She's going to run the memory of the vision through her mind and she's going to do so every once in a while from now on so she can't forget. She tortured herself for a year just so she wouldn't lose a fight if someone grabbed her tail, she can do this...
[X] Plan Honest Truth
-[X] Tell him you came here because you want to unseal Jaffur, and, well, Dandelor is a sorcerer who's very opposed to Dandeer. You also want to ask him a few questions, though.
-[X] Don't necessarily do everything below in order, do it in the way that makes most sense.
-[X] You're curious to why precisely they hid, and what they have been doing for the last two years.
--[X] Did they hide because Raditz almost transformed, because they believe Dandeer's rule is unlawful or because they're planning something?
-[X] What do they know about the seal? Do they know how to undo it?
--[X] If they don't know, tell them that Jaron and Jaffur are separate people and the seal trapped Jaffur within his own mind.
---[X] Note that Jaffur seems to be growing attached to Jaron and that simply unsealing Jaffur by getting rid of Jaron might not be a good idea.
-[X] How much do they know about what's been happening outside?
--[X] If the answer is "not much", tell them the important events of the last two years.
-[X] What do they think should be done with Lord Vegeta? Also, while you think he's a horrible father and person, how was he as a ruler compared to Yammar, or, if they've been observing recent events, Dandeer?
A Simple Fireside Chat
You stare Head Raditz right in the eyes and say, "I'm here because I want to break Jaffur's Seal."
The words hang in the air. You have never said that outright. With Grandma, it always somehow went unsaid in such explicit terms, given that both of you know what you're talking about well enough to talk around it. And with anybody else, you of course haven't dared.
It only strikes you now, how significant it is to say it aloud.
As for Raditz, he stares back at you for a long moment. But then, at last...
...he sighs, all of the tension draining out of him in one go. "I cannot easily express what an immense relief it is to hear that," he says, leaning back. "We have been living a long two years, cooped up here in the Hall. Even with the wards, it's been very tense." He gives you a small, tired, and honest smile. "I'm glad that you're here, Lady Scion. Now, I'm sure that you have questions. Ask me anything, I owe you answers at the very least."
"I have a few," you say, nodding. "Even if I didn't want to come here to see you, your cousin Dandelor is here." You leave unsaid why that would be of significance.
He gives you another smile. "Brother, actually, but that's a safe presumption to make. I presume your lessons haven't moved into the Vegetan Houses in detail yet?"
You flush lightly. "Well, I knew who he was. I guess I just forgot he was your brother."
"A harmless mistake. Forget it." He waves it aside. "We of course would be pleased to offer our assistance with breaking my nephew's Seal. What questions did you have?"
You nod, and launch right into them. "Why did you hide? I mean, why exactly? Was it because you don't want to bow to Lady Vegeta? Because you...almost transformed? Or are you making plans? And what have you been doing?"
Please don't be Super Saiyans, please don't be Super Saiyans-
"An astute question," he says, nodding. "Initially, the answer was, 'all three.' With time for tempers to cool, my near-transformation is not a factor. It was not deliberate; any just court of law would bear that out with the simple use of a mind delve. I plan on submitting to one as soon as this affair is done with, in fact. In that, I have nothing to hide. But in the moment...your father, already acting across Clan lines, had openly named me a lawbreaker. In that context, as good as treason. I couldn't risk it, especially not with my own Lord subverted. In that, I was concerned about Dandeer's leadership, yes. And that reason has not faded with time. My sister-in-law is a pitiable woman, but that alone doesn't make me approve of her being in a position of authority over anybody but her own children. Perhaps not even that, given what happened that day." He shakes his head. "She is undisciplined, overconfident, and swift to leap to conclusions. More than that, she is entitled and selfish. She would make a terrible leader, and by all accounts has. Between that and her obvious reasons for suspecting me of dissent, I was uncomfortable with living under her reign. And finally...yes, we have been making plans. Since the very instant Jaffur was Sealed."
"Like what?" you ask. "And you know what's going on outside your Hall?"
"But of course," he says, smirking. "We still get radio. But to the point: Dandelor, I, and several of our cousins have been working together to conceive of a way to free Jaffur from his prison. We've thought up a few different solutions, in fact. Unfortunately, most are suicide missions. Because one thing I can assure you that we have not been doing is raising any of us into Super Saiyans."
He flashes, his aura lighting up around him. Although his power level is much higher than when you last sensed it -- all the way at fifteen million, now -- it goes not a jot higher. And you're pretty certain that he's not holding himself back any, either.
Still... "Why not?" you ask. "I mean, I'm happy that you're not, but why?"
He subsides. "I was there at the Death of Talt," he says, looking away. "Have your parents told you about that?"
You swallow. "Grandma has."
Raditz nods. "I was there, and like Vegeta was made to watch. It didn't break me, but it was a telling lesson nonetheless."
You scowl. "Dad wouldn't-"
"I do not know."
You halt as he looks at you with a look more severe than you've ever seen on anyone's face.
"I do not know that," he says. "I am confident that he wouldn't. The cause of his split with Vegeta was his disgust over the affair, after all. But that very split, and the hatred that has grown between them, was born out of a tighter bond than I have seen from anybody else. I won't risk what he may do, if I challenge his mercy enough. I saw every one of the rebels die screaming. I cannot -- I will not -- risk that for my family." He sighs. "And beyond that, this state of affairs will be temporary. Jaffur will be freed, and the Clan will have its Super Saiyan. Transforming, while tempting now, would create more problems later. Besides, our wards aren't as strong as the Hall's. They'd snap. Feel them out for yourself once we're done, if you don't believe me. Just be careful. So we have planned around that."
"What ideas do you have?" you ask, choosing to move past that argument. Daddy wouldn't. I know he wouldn't.
He stands, crossing to his desk and bringing out a file folder. "From what we've described of the Sealing, Dandelor has concluded that it's a modified Masque," he says, sitting back down and opening the folder for reference. "Specifically, a child's Masque, since it's not up to Jaffur whether he has it on or not. Dandelor thinks the modification was mental." He looks up at you. "Dandeer's specialty is in mind magics. According to Dandelor, she would be most comfortable working there. So our solutions have approached it from the angle of breaking a child's Masque without their parents' consent." He flips over a page. "There's really only one way to do that. Masques restrict power level; if you overcharge them, they break. It doesn't really come up, but it's part of how they work. So the simplest solution would be to get close to Jaffur and shove enough ki into his chest to make a Lord faint. Betarel's idea, actually. I'm ashamed to admit I didn't think of it." He gives you a rueful look. "Problem one: we can't do that. Nobody's strong enough. All of us together, maybe, but Jaffur's under constant watch."
You flinch. "He is?"
He frowns at you. "Well of course. We tried to spirit him away every month during the first year we spent in hiding, but your father or his mother always had somebody on him. We never got close enough to see him, let alone snatch him. It was a miracle they didn't find us, and I was nearly caught a few times. If we all moved in, as one House, close enough to give him our energy before your father could intercept it, we'd be made instantly."
You shudder. You never even felt anybody. That is violating.
"Our other plan was ruled out for the same reason," he says, oblivious to your discomfort. "That was kidnapping him so that Dandelor could manually dispel the thing. This was my idea. Unfortunately, it still requires us to get close. We couldn't do it. None of us know Instant Transmission, either. So that was out. Dandelor came up with our third idea." Raditz grimaces. "We drop our Masques when we die. The magic is tied to your soul; when that leaves, so does the illusion. So..." He shakes his head. "Even with Senzu beans, though, we can't risk it. It's not a matter of stopping Jaffur's heart and then bringing him back before it's too late, his soul has to be gone. You don't come back from that. We don't have Dragon Balls anymore. No go, even though it was proposed as the absolute last resort."
You pale at the thought.
Raditz shakes himself. "All our plans came to nothing. Aside from the last one, they had the same choke point; we lack the ability execute them. Which led to our excursion today." He smirks. "Your timing is rather excellent. After our initial failures, we cut off all scouting missions entirely to lay low. Today was the first time we left the Hall all year. It wasn't scouting, though. We can't implement our plans, so we were going to find somebody who could."
Your eyes widen in realization, and he nods.
"My father in law, Patriarch Yammar. We were already confident that he was on our side. After the radio broadcasts started talking about what happened at the Ancestral Council, we were sure of it."
You gape. "Why did you take Betarel with you?" It seems insanely risky to you. What could justify that?
"Betarel was going to be lying low half a hemisphere away," he says, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not stupid. But he's been taking the isolation and inactivity hardest of anybody. If he wasn't allowed to get out and do something, he would have started feeling some very unhealthy things. He still feels guilty about not being able to help Jaffur."
You shake your head. It doesn't seem worth it. You...
...you can't imagine how bad it could be for Betarel, but you're sure that Head Raditz isn't lying at all. Despite that, you don't get it. And that unsettles you, because it makes the question, "how bad could it be," so much more terrifying.
He notices, and closes the folder with a quiet snap. "It's getting stuffy in here. Let's go outside. The air is fresher."
You nod, glad that he isn't making you express your fears.
* * *
Head Raditz takes you out onto the walls, overlooking the valley the causeway spans. For a moment, the two of you stay silent, listening to the wind.
It's cold out here, high in the mountains and deep in the grasp of winter. The air currents raging across the slope don't help. But for the two of you it's little enough challenge; you just drag your ki about yourselves and ward the chill away.
You look up into the sky, trying to See the wards. You told your sensei you'd like to focus your tutelage on presentsight, and this is one thing to do with that. That said, according to him any success is likely years away. After a few moments of staring without success, you look back out at the landscape.
"Go ahead, feel them out," says Raditz, giving you an encouraging look. He then smirks. "After all, you won't quite believe me about them until you feel it for yourself."
You blush, not answering. You light your aura up, shooting up to his power level. You don't feel anything.
"Little higher," he says. "I can go Oozaru in here. Dandelor says you can hit around forty million safely."
Obligingly, you raise it higher still, up to thirty, thirty-five, forty- straintensionwavering-
He nods, stepping back. "Now, back in there, before I distracted us with depressing talk -- you had more questions?"
You collect yourself, turning to look up at him. "Yeah."
"Go ahead."
You nod. "How much do you know about what's happening outside? I mean, you get radio..."
He shrugs. "About as much as you'd expect. We get the big things. We heard about the Council, and what happened there. We heard about some of your exploits, including this, 'Golden Oozaru,' of yours. Very impressive, I must admit. We've gotten the bigger bumps in Dandeer's regency. But beyond that, little else. Why?"
"I wanted to know if I needed to tell you anything. But it sounds like you have most of it. Things are bad out in the regular world. I do have another question, though." You steel yourself. "What are you planning to do with Lord Vegeta?" At his look, you hurriedly explain, "I mean, I don't know if he was a good leader compared to his dad, or if Lady Vegeta is, and I just realized that I don't know if Patriarch Yammar was even any good or not-"
"It's okay, Kakara, I get it," he says, kneeling down to your level and putting his hands on your shoulders. "I know what you're asking." He draws back. "To answer you, I'm conflicted. Vegeta is my old friend, and to be honest he was a decent leader. But I can't ignore who he's become and what he's done since the Sundering. If I had to make the choice today, I would leave him as he is. I'm glad I don't need to. In the end, after all, Jaffur will make that choice." He stands. "As for your other questions: despite his ruthlessness, Yammar was an exemplary leader who did quite a bit to stifle the fragmentation the Clan has been suffering as a result of the population controls being loosened. Vegeta was competent in that despite being personally loathed by anybody who knew about his home life, he didn't erase any of his father's progress. Dandeer..." He sighs. "In two years the Clan that her two successors spent decades rebuilding and maintaining has nearly exploded apart. Do anything but what she does, and you'll be well served."
You giggle, despite yourself. "Thank you." You feel relieved. Lord Vegeta won't be freed -- not by Head Raditz, at least. That still leaves Jaffur, but-
"If I don't find somebody I'll never transform." His voice drops, and you barely hear what follows. What you hear, though, sends a chill through your blood. "And I'll never kill him."
-you doubt that he'll be in favor of his father getting freed.
That still leaves one more thing, though. You look up into Raditz's eyes as he starts speaking.
"What's important is that these questions -- who the leadership will fall to once this is done -- these are question we can answer now," he says. "We didn't plan to encounter you, but here you are. And we didn't even have to risk Patriarch Yammar. Now we have a Super Saiyan. Somebody on the outside. You have the freedom and capacity to act that we don't. With you present, we might be able to move forward on our plans."
You look off to the side. "There's just...one problem."
He frowns. "What's that?'
You take a steadying breath. "Whatever Lady Vegeta wanted the Seal to do, it didn't work. Jaffur's not the one who's walking around." You swallow. "The spell did something to him -- sealed him away inside his mind. And it made somebody else to be the human. Jaron's a real person. He goes to my school, and he has problems with bullies, and he's shy, but he's real and he acts like a good person when he doesn't have to talk, and Jaffur's starting to like him too even though Jaron is his Seal. We can't count on the Seal being like we think it is, because something broke and now Jaron exists on top of Jaffur and we can't just get rid of him."
Raditz rocks back on his heels, sucking in a shocked breath. You prepare yourself for the barrage of questions. "What kind of person is Jaron?" "What does it matter if Jaffur likes him? "What is-?"
"Kakara..." says Raditz, giving you a look of utter confusion, "How do you know all of this?"
...oh.
...whoops.
[ ] Tell the truth. It's not like you would lie about being a Seer.
[ ] Demonstrate the truth. That vision you suppressed earlier is still nagging at the back of your skull, it would be simple enough to let it in for a quick look and some white eyes.
[ ] Make something up.
-[ ] What?
[ ] Refuse to answer.
[ ] Write-in.
THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.
So yeah. That's a question you need to deal with, now.
What do you all think of Raditz? I'm having fun writing him, but how does he come across?
And finally, I present for you all, the long-awaited updated omake rewards system.
Culled from a few sources on this forum and others, the way it now works is this; omakes result in bonuses towards actions topical to the omake. For example, Andres110's recent omake about Kakara using her unintended glimpse of her going on a murderous SSJ2 rampage to prepare against the eventuality of a transformation will grant a cookie's worth of a bonus to your eventual, potential "Control the Transformation" check when or if you first ascend to SSJ2.
There are three levels of omake. First is "canon." This is something I'll hand out generally for omakes that stay well within the bounds of what has already been established, in-quest. For instance, the Andres110 omake I mention above is canon because it is an IC response to something that came up in-quest that conflicts with literally nothing These are gospel. You may rely on them as much as you rely on my own writing. Second is "compliant." This is for omakes that don't contradict anything I've laid out, but delve into historical, speculative, out-of-frame, or otherwise outside-context territory that, by its very nature, is not necessarily as settled as the material that "canon" omakes deal with. Reading these, you can understand that they are accurate of the players' knowledge as of time of writing, but I won't be checking on them for reference in the future, and thus they may go out of date. I may be inspired by them, but will not use them as reference texts. These are worth as much as a canon omake given that I don't want to penalize you all for getting things wrong that I haven't told you about yet. Third is "non-canon." These are things that contradict a point of my previously-established canon. These are worth half a cookie. All of these bonuses will be applied at my discretion as to when they are most applicable.
Obviously, "compliant" is new, and as such some previously-canon omakes will be reclassified. This is not me voiding your omake's validity; it's me saying, "I'm making this distinction now that I didn't previously and am updating records to reflect that." Remember that compliant omakes can (and in some cases, I suspect, will) remain un-Jossed for the entirety of the quest's run.
Canon and Compliant bonuses do not stack with each other or themselves, but can stack freely with non-canon omakes. For instance, two omakes of either canon or compliant status describing Kakara practicing her speaking skills wouldn't stack bonuses on training Communications; only one would apply (I would figure out something else for the other one). However, if somebody wrote a blatant piece of crack describing Kakara's epic quest to get better at speaking so that she could become Queen of the Penguins, that would stack with the bonus going to the training check. Especially lengthy omakes may generate multiple bonuses on different topics.
Fan art, despite going unexploited thus far, is still eligible for bonuses. They work the same as the others; namely, there are canon, compliant, and non-canon levels, although these are admittedly more important for the purposes of determining what level of bonus they get.
Cookies that have already been awarded will not be voided. They will remain banked until used (or, if somebody drops out of the quest and I can't get their attention, I'll just throw them out). Their rules of use have not changed, save that a greater bonus counts as one cookie for the purposes of cookie stacking. Cookies do stack freely with lesser bonuses.
We'll see how this new system works. I suspect that it will be much smoother, but I'm prepared to be wrong if it fails catastrophically. We'll see. I will update the cookie rules on the front page tomorrow with this information, as well and putting up a sheet for the storage of the presently-earned bonuses in order to keep track.
Related to the above: please be aware that tomorrow I will be removing all canon omakes from the threadmarks and adding them to a new tab of their own on the Lore Screen, for easier archive binges for those entering the quest now. Compliant and non-canon omakes will receive their own folders as well. If you wrote a non-canon omake, please be aware that I stopped tracking those aside from granting cookies and then forgetting about them some time ago and have forgotten many of them; if you want it to be included, please put up a post with a link to your omake so that I can link to it in the Lore Screen.
Please enjoy the update, everybody!
NO VOTES FOR ONE HOUR AFTER THIS UPDATE HAS BEEN POSTED, PLEASE.
"-but, birthday bean dip? How does that even work?"
"It probably won't, but it's worth a try."
"What does that even mean? Why don't you just make your own?"
-because they're probably paranoid about me with him, but not about me with you, or you with him. "Dad's taking me on a trip that day, but he'll love it. Trust me."
"I trust you about as far as I can throw you."
"You've been getting better at that."
"I'll beat you one of these days."
"You really won't. Look, just be happy that we don't have to barbecue a whole dinosaur or something."
"He'd hate that. He's a vegetarian."
"He's a what?"
"He's really sweet, and not everybody's a rabid carnivore, Bells, even if he does pig out almost as hard as you. At least I haven't seen him accidentally take a bite out of a metal table yet."
It's not my fault! Everything tastes the same in this form. "I meant to do that."
"You chewed. You swallowed. You jingled."
"Shuttup. -or, I won't help you with your first crush."
"I don't need your- He's not my first- He's not my crush- shuttup!"
"Blush harder and keep mashing."
"Where did you even get these things? I've never seen them before."
Setting
Central City! The biggest city on North Continent, Central City is a place of opportunity for many who want a better life, but dark times have begun. Crime is on the rise and it's not safe to walk at night any more. Supervillains have started popping up and it's all the police can do to keep the peace.
One day a group of good-hearted kids got together and decided to do something about it. With their extensive martial arts training they would fight crime and free their city from this wave of terror, and so began the legend of these mighty power-posing heroines! Paragons of good, the bane of all evildoers, these masked vigilantes are known as...the Super Elite Special Justice Force!!! (Or just the Justice Force for short.)
Members of the SESJF
Captain Power - The leader. An inspiration to her team and an excellent fighter, it was Captain Power that came up with the idea for the Justice Force and taught her friends how to pose like true heroes. Also manages the team's Spacebook page. She has a special move called the Powerbomb Kick - a powerful spin kick that hits like a truck! Secret identity: Sophie Schultz.
White Mage - The medic. She carries around medical supplies to fix people up and is way good at it. She's sworn the Hippocratic Oath and can only punch people if they punch her first or if she really really wants to. Secret identity: Karen Daucus.
Mousy - The (metapohrical) team pet. Mousy is supremely adorable. Secret identity: Maya Webley.
Bright Smile - The comic relief. She often uses pranks and cunning to subdue criminals, telling the best (read: corniest) jokes and puns all the while. Secret identity: Jennifer birch.
Bookworm - The smart one/one who wears glasses. Has a wide knowledge of things like hacking, machines, and random pieces of trivia which occasionally help the Super Elite Special Justice Force save the day and stop the villain. She uses her computer skills to make it look like the group's doing normal things when out protecting the city. Secret identity: Gemina Kostos.
Independent Heroes
Masked Fox - A hero that wears an identity-concealing fox mask that operates in Central City. He fights crime but unlike the Justice Force he works alone, though occasionally he finds himself fighting the same criminals the Justice Force does. He and Great Saiyagirl 1 are abrasive to each other since they always get in each others' way when they go after the same person. No one knows his secret identity, but it certainly isn't Jaron Somerland! They might both be blonde-haired boys with the same height and near-identical voices but Jaron is way too reserved and shy to be the cool, confident, and assertive Masked Fox! Secret identity: Jaron Somerland. ((OOC note: Becomes Prince Badman after his mother is destroyed/put away for good? Maybe just a one-episode thing?))
Silent Sword - A mysterious swordswoman (or rather, swordsgirl) who never speaks and is the sole protector of West City. She's quick, smart, and somehow never does more than bruise people despite using her sword's edge and it being quite sharp. She's a great fighter and a match for any in the Super Elite Special Justice Force. Secret identity: Felicity Pisum. ((OOC note: Possible sixth ranger material.))
Villains
Lady Darkbad - The most evil person in the history of the world (according to herself), Lady Darkbad is a supervillain who uses magic to brainwash the citizens of Central City and make them hardened criminals. The Super Elite Special Justice Force has always been there to foil her plans, but she manages to escape justice every time. Outside of her criminal life she pretends to be a sweet, caring housewife with a loving husband and two nice children. Secret identity: Jaron's mother!? They don't know of each other's alter egos as of yet and that's probably a good thing. Who knows what might happen if one or both knew about the other??
[X] Tell the truth. It's not like you would lie about being a Seer.
-[X] Offer to demonstrate the truth. That vision you suppressed earlier is still nagging at the back of your skull, it would be simple enough to let it in for a quick look and some white eyes. It might be enough evidence if they don't believe you, or want confirmation.
-[X] Afterwards, ask how Jaron's been watched, because we haven't sensed anyone and we're one of the best ki sensors in the world.
- - [X] Make sure to actually make the tailed pun
-[X] And if he's willing why they're so devoted to Jaffur? This goes beyond loyalty to a Lord and you noticed it before the Sealing even occurred.
And Everything Was Fine
You swallow nervously. This, much like your attempts to free Jaffur, are something you've shared with almost nobody. Just Sensei and your parents. Still, you've let it slip, now you have to explain it.
With more complete honesty!
"I...I Saw it," you say, looking down out of nerves.
"How?" he asks, not getting it. "I mean, you- wait, you aren't a Sorcerer, are you?"
"No!" you say. "No, that's not...I Saw it."
"Lady Scion, I'm afraid that I don't understand what y-" His eyes widen. "Wait...you're..."
"I'm a Seer," you say, fiddling with your hands. "I Saw Jaffur trapped in his own mind. For a little while there it looked like he could feel me there or something, but then I left."
Head Raditz rocks back on his heels, a stunned breath leaving him. "That's...incredible. It's unbelievable. Not that I don't believe you, but..."
"I could show you," you say. "My eyes go white when I have a vision, and there's one around here that wants me to let it in."
He blinks at your phrasing, but nods.
You focus, and-
* * *
Away
* * *
Betarel lands next to you. "My family has the best home," he says, grinning.
"I'll say!" you reply, smiling back. "That was a strong blast, too! Have you been training lately?" Your eyes flicker down towards his chest for a moment.
He flushes. "Well, a bit. I mean, not too much. I work out."
You laugh gaily, putting a hand on his shoulder and hoping you don't look as nervous as you feel. "Well I'm impressed."
OH KAIS DID I JUST SAY THAT WHY DID I DO THAT AAAAAAAAAA-
You flush, looking away. Happily enough, he seems to be doing the same-
* * *
AAAABACKBACK
* * *
You can feel your cheeks turning red as you drop the vision like it's hot. When you get to be teenage you, you're going to hit yourself! She always feels so weird to scry from!
Fortunately, Raditz doesn't seem to notice. "Amazing," he says, peering at your eyes as they return to normal. "I would never have guessed..."
"Well, now you know!" you say, hoping to move the conversation onwards. "So, um, what was that you said about Jaffur being watched. Or...tailed?" You give him a wide grin, hoping that your cheesy attempt at humor throws him off.
He raises an eyebrow at you. "That was bad."
You rub at the back of your scalp, chuckling nervously.
"So bad it's funny," he says, ruffling your hair and ignoring your offended squawk. "Yes, he's being tailed, as you put it. His mother either has somebody on him at all hours or asks your father to put somebody on him."
"But how?" you ask. "I've never sensed anyone. And I don't know anybody who's better at ki sensing than me."
"Really? I'd heard you had a talent, but that's impressive, especially at your age. But in any case, yes, she usually had somebody there. Your math teacher is a Vegetan saiyan, for instance."
Your jaw drops.
"Whenever he has to take a day off, your usual substitute is a Gokun lady your father loans for the purpose," Raditz continues. "Both of them fervent loyalists, I'm afraid, or else we'd have tried to subvert them."
You lean against the battlements. You had literally never guessed that Lady Vegeta might hide watchers in Masque form, but now that it's been spelled out for you, it's obvious. Of course you didn't sense anybody sneaking around; they were right there in plain view! They would sense like normal humans and everything! It's the perfect disguise! In fact, it's so perfect that you never even thought that it could be used against you like this.
You fume quietly for a moment before shaking your head. "I guess that makes sense."
"An unfortunate amount of it, yes. Any other questions?"
"Well..." You ponder for a moment. "...Head Raditz, why does your family like Jaffur so much? I mean, that's not just Clan loyalty. I don't understand."
Raditz pauses. And then he sighs, shifting his weight. "That's a fair question. How much do you know of my family?"
You shrug. "My lessons say you tend to be neutral in Clan politics and favor a strong Clan leader."
He hums. "True. But our history isn't so tidy. My family is powerful. They didn't get there by being nice. My ancestors were quite ruthless in taking power in both our world and the human world. Quite a few people got stepped on. But one line they never crossed -- one thing they always held sacred -- was family. Now my House is strong and influential, and I have the luxury of trying to be a good and honorable man. But my ancestors were right about at least one thing. Family comes first. Jaffur will be an amazing Lord some day, and the Clan will grow stronger. And more than that...I won't have to watch my nephew be chained inside his own body anymore." He stands, giving you a sad smile. "Sometimes, it's as simple as that. Jaffur is my nephew and almost a son, and I love him dearly. And I will see him freed."
[X] Yes
-[X] Ask for advice on working around the watchers and contacting the Senzus without sending out a ki pulse.
-[X] We don't really want to spread around our Seer status, so we'd appreciate his discretion with the info. He should tell anyone he judges need to know, naturally, but don't just tell everyone, please.
[X] Planning session
[X] Visit Betarel
Proactivity Is A Group Sport
"Um, I have a couple more questions," you say. "I mean, I kind of want to know if you have any ideas about avoiding the watchers. They're my teachers, that's..." You shudder. "I guess there are more for when we're out of school?"
"Sometimes," he says. "Generally, Jaffu- Jaron is under constant watch. His mother keeps him at home unless he's going somewhere. A friend's house, for instance...although that's rare enough." He scowls for a moment before shaking his head. "Even then she'll set a very exact curfew for him, and somebody will be within a mile's distance at all times. If they were to lose track of him, I imagine that she'd think it was an emergency." He pauses. "Of course, she's watching in secret, and you're not 'in' on that secret. So you should be able to steal him away if you find an excuse to get him alone...once. So in short...always assume that she has somebody watching you, and save the chance to get him out for when we're ready to move."
You nod. It's slightly frustrating that that's your best option, but you're not seeing much else. "And how do I talk to you all? I can't fly around sending off pulses until you answer. Somebody would think it was weird after a while."
Raditz hums, resting his chin in one hand. "Good question. I'd like to have Dandelor give you an exception on the Veil -- ah, that's his spell, the one removing our location from everybody's minds -- but your father has already shown that he's willing to read your mind on this topic."
A full-body shudder races through you. You still hate that he did that.
"That said, that was under pressure. Perhaps he won't if you manage to stay under the radar. Other than that...the problem is that any way you could contact us is vulnerable to the same problem as us lowering the Veil -- your father might find it. I suppose I could give you a location to sit in to signal that you want to talk, and we could then approach on our own if everything was clear, but anything has some risk. I'll have to think about it. Secrecy is important, but so is speed, especially if you see an opportunity or need to spirit Jaffur away and need refuge quickly. But if we're found..."
You nod seriously. You'll have to think about this on your own. "Okay. Um, one last thing! About secrets..."
He blinks, re-focusing. "Ah. Your..." He gestures around his eyes.
"Yeah." You nod. "I don't really want to share it too much. So...I mean, I get that you have to tell some of your family to plan -- probably your brother -- but please don't tell everybody?"
He makes a dismissive gesture, nodding. "Of course. Really, only Dandelor needs to know, and that only because he's the one who will be designing our counterspell. Beyond that, your secret to share."
His ki pulses briefly. "Speaking of Dandelor, that was me calling him over. I really should let him know as soon as possible, and better if he hears it from you for all the details. Loses less in translation that way."
"Well, I wanted to talk about planning too, so..." You shrug.
He nods. "Of course, although we'll need to make it quick. You can't stay too long before your father starts wondering."
You nod fervently. "Yeah. But if we think there's enough time, could I talk to Betarel after this? We were friends back before...all of this. I wanted to see if we still were."
He smiles at you. "Of course. He's missed you as well."
You freeze for a half-second, flashing back to the vision. So...what, does he like me, or does he just miss his friend, or...
You blink, setting the thought aside. You can consider that -- should, probably -- on your own time.
You change topics. "So, your brother is a good Sorcerer, right? I mean, he kept you hidden this long, right?"
"Wasn't that hard," says Dandelor, a few feet behind you.
You scream, whirling around.
"Dandelor," says Raditz, a note of reproach in his voice.
"What? It's fun," says the Sorcerer, leaning on the crenelations.
You take a step back, breathing quickly as you get back under control. Then you kick him in the shin. "That was mean!"
"Son of a-!"
"You deserved that one," says Raditz as his brother hits the deck, clutching his leg. "You're lucky she didn't break anything."
"Meanie," you say, crossing your arms and turning away from Dandelor.
Raditz walks over to his brother and helps him up. "As funny as I found that, I didn't call you over just to watch you get floored by a little girl. We have something to tell you about Jaffur's Seal."
Instantly, Dandelor straightens, all-business (aside from a tiny wince). "What is it, Scion?" he asks, looking at you. "Did you manage to wheedle something out of Dandeer?"
You notice a lot of venom in his voice as he says her name. Sounds personal.
"No," you say, shaking your head. "I don't talk to her." You glance at Raditz, hesitating, and then square your shoulders. "I'm a Seer. I Saw it."
His eyes widen, and he looks at you with new respect. "Really? I'm listening. What can you tell me?"
You run through the tale as quickly as you can without losing anything. As you talk, he goes through a range of emotions -- confusion, realization, horror, and finally hope. It's a weird sequence, and it doesn't really fit what you're telling him -- not that bit at the end, at least. You frown as you finish talking.
Raditz notices too. "Dandelor? That means something to you beyond what it meant to me. I can tell. What is it?"
The Sorcerer blinks, looking at his brother. "I..." He glances between the two of you for a moment before settling on Head Raditz. "This isn't my secret to tell, but it's relevant now, so I guess I have to." He sighs. "This whole time we've been assuming that the Seal went off perfectly. It seemed to be working as intended, and there wasn't any need to question that. How badly could it go wrong and still do that, right? But it's not working as Dandeer meant it to. She accidentally made a whole new person to replace her son with and locked Jaffur away."
"Probably a result of him being a Super Saiyan during the Sealing," says Raditz, shrugging. "I know that was her explanation for the changes to his Masque."
Dandelor grimaces. "I understand why it looks that simple, but no. I-" He lets out a sharp, irritated sigh. "Damn it, I thought I wasn't going to have to share this."
Raditz frowns. "Dandelor."
"I'm getting there!" The Sorcerer growls to himself and then looks at the two of you. "Two months before the Sealing, Jaffur came to me in confidence. He wanted to be tested. For sorcerous potential. And...he passed."
Silence. Your eyes widen. Head Raditz's jaw drops.
Dandelor shifts nervously. "He couldn't ask his mother, because he didn't trust her to keep it a secret from his father, and Lord Vegeta would never have approved. And forget asking the Gokun. And given that there are no other Vegetan Sorcerers -- more on that later-"
"Focus, Dandelor," says Raditz, sounding dazed.
"-right, sorry, later, given that there are no other Vegetan Sorcerers, I was his only choice. So. Jaffur passed. He's a Sorcerer, completely untrained. And it was meant to be a secret I thought I could keep because the Seal took, and I figured that he couldn't have thrown up any counterspells if that happened and the point was moot. But, it turns out, he changed the very nature of the spell into one that keeps himself awake and creates somebody else to be the Masque. I can even see how it would happen now that I know it happened, not that I think he meant to achieve that. I doubt he even meant to cast a spell or do anything beyond resist in general. But he was transformed and we all know that dumping ki into a spell can supercharge it and make it do weird things." His jaw snaps shut. "And...that's that. And now I'm going to have to apologize to him for sharing this secret once we get him out, too."
You stare.
...what?
[X] Visit Betarel
Voting in order from what you do first to what you do last, what do you do?
[ ] What?
-[ ] Write-in questions.
[ ] Continue planning.
-[ ] Write-in an idea to brainstorm with the others.
[ ] Continue vote in abeyance.
[ ] Just leave. Time could be running short anyway and nothing firm is getting decided today.
As a separate vote, what means of contacting the Senzus will you be going with?
[ ] Drop the Veil. It's a risk if Dad ever thinks he needs to read your mind, but if things get that bad you'll be running here anyway. You want to be able to remember this location.
[ ] Meeting point. Nothing is totally secure, but this is more secure than most. This way the Senzus will be able to judge if something is wrong before coming to get you.
[ ] No change. Flying around with pings might be noisy, but if you do it often enough people might get used to it.
[ ] Write-in.
THESE VOTES ARE NOW CLOSED.
Yes, I rolled for it.
Yes, he really did roll a 97.
Yes, I checked my dice afterwards.
No, they are not loaded. Probably.
Jaffur has weird rolls. In his fight with you and on the Sorcerer roll he got nothing below a seventy. In his second fight with you and the fight against the Sealing, his rolls were well within expected distribution.
Everywhere else? Bombed. His Seer roll was 2. Every single social check? Thirty-seven or less. Oddly, Jaron has much saner rolls. I suspect that physics is deliberately f*cking with me at this point. Either that, or Kakara and Jaffur really are the fated protagonists. You decide!
No, it isn't OOC for Kakara to kick Dandelor in the shin. She's ten and feeling frustrated at a mean adult. And she kicked a bit harder than she meant, but as annoyed she was, she won't feel bad unless she breaks something. Pacifism has its limits, and here it ran up against the limit that is the good behavior of a ten-year-old who's just been scared.
It lost hard.
This has happened before, but just to clarify once again: sometimes a sub-vote will trigger a revelation or response that really merits breaking for a vote, but isn't at the end of the vote and wouldn't make sense to be placed at the end of the update. This one, for instance. Doesn't make much sense to go have playtime and then come back for high-stakes scheming, at least not to me (plus, from a Doylist perspective that would be a tonal mess). So rather than discard the rest of the vote I write as much of the update as fits into common sense and then hold the rest at the end. If you still want it, you check "Continue vote in abeyance," and nothing more is said of it. If you think a change is warranted, then you don't.
[X] What?
[X] Continue planning.
-[X] Is it possible to do some sort of "body double" switch? Or is it better to try and build up all the preparation possible for breaking the Seal and saving both Jaron and Jaffur, and then just grabbing Jaffur in a distracted moment, to then break the Seal?
[X] Continue vote in abeyance.
[X] Meeting point. Nothing is totally secure, but this is more secure than most. This way the Senzus will be able to judge if something is wrong before coming to get you.
[X] Winning plan + "Any chance that Jaron/Jaffur are still able to wield magic, and that that might be put to use by us?"
Surprising Nobody, Dandelor Is Uncomfortable
You and Raditz stare at his brother in stunned silence for a long moment.
You crack first. "What?"
The Sorcerer rubs at the back of his head. "It does seem a bit improbable that you'd be a Seer as well, but these things are possible. The way magical and Seer heritability works isn't well-understood, so for all we know there's a chance with every birth-"
"You didn't think this was relevant?" Raditz says, his jaw snapping shut.
You look over, suddenly wary. Raditz sounds truly, genuinely angry.
"It shouldn't have been!" says Dandelor. "The Seal took! Or at least it looked like it did. Transformed, any spell Jaffur cast should have blasted through any spell his mother put in its way. We call it supercharging for a reason! I thought he simply couldn't cast anything given that he DOESN'T KNOW HOW!"
Raditz throws his hands up, fuming.
"Even then, before the Scion came we didn't have any way of talking to him!" says Dandelor. "It really shouldn't have made any difference!"
"...does it now?" you ask.
The two men look over at you. "How do you mean?" asks Raditz.
"I can get in there," you say. "The Seal, I mean. And I know that something about my Sight can let me talk to him. Is there any way that Jaffur or Jaron could still use magic, and I could tell them how they can help? Can they help, somehow?" You hum, thinking. "I mean, my first guess would be something like a body double switch? Dad told me that he has one for me if I'm ever in a lot of trouble. Jaffur's has to be with Dandeer, but could you make one?" You look at Dandelor.
He blinks. "Um. Possibly? Did you father...tell you...what a body double is?"
You cock your head. "No. But he said a Sorcerer did it."
He sighs. "I guess that's as much as anybody would know. Technically, it's just somebody who looks like you. Sorcerers can do better, though. For us, a body double is a modified Masque; anybody can double for a Scion in a pinch. But that relies on having somebody you're willing to put there, and we couldn't do that. Dandeer is a Master Sorcerer. I am as well, but that just means she wouldn't notice my weave immediately. Eventually, she'd notice the magic weave sitting under her nose."
"So all we can do is wait until we're ready and then grab Jaron and break the Seal? Without killing him?" you ask.
"Not necessarily," says Raditz. "Just because the double wouldn't last forever doesn't mean it's useless. Ultimately, all we can do is wait until we're ready and then move, but if we manage to keep it a secret that we've replaced Jaffur until he's already here, we can avoid engaging Lord Berra until we have Jaffur unsealed and in tow. It lets us pick the terms of our engagement."
You nod, encouraged. "So, could Jaffur help with that?"
Dandelor tilts his hand back and forth as if weighing the possibility. "Possibly. Depends on what he's capable of, sorcery-wise. After all, just because you can get in there doesn't mean I can to teach him. I tried something like that shortly after the Sealing. I could have targeted it more precisely if I knew how and why the Seal failed, but even then, it still would have failed. Magic is best described as the art of literalizing concepts. Ki users can accomplish a lot of what we do, but for you it's a matter of knowing how, in the real world, that would work. You could hypnotize somebody by twisting their ki. You could level a mountain by firing your ki. You could probably make a Masque by moving the right way and changing how your signature outputs, in fact. It would just be incredibly uncomfortable, in that case. But magic requires me to express a figurative concept in a literal way. I tried to literalize my personal connection to Jaffur into a direct line of communication to what I thought was his sleeping consciousness." He looks aside, a mournful look on his face. "...it wasn't enough. I'm not close enough to him for that concept to work, and I don't have a better backup to work with. I don't have much of a teacher relationship, and I'm hardly invested with the rebel mindset beyond getting him out, so there's nothing deep enough to reach. Not even with him awake."
He looks like he really regrets that, in more ways than one.
You cock your head. "Well, maybe Jaffur has enough of a connection to you to try," you say. "He trusted you enough to get tested by you. If Lord Vegeta was my Dad, I wouldn't tell just anyone about my abilities."
Dandelor blinks. "Well...maybe. But even then he'd be up against the full force of the Seal. It's a prison, after all. It's meant to keep him in. Trapped in like that, he could hardly overcharge his spells like he did when he was free."
You slowly start to smile. "Oh. Oh! I didn't tell you! Jaffur's not just trapped in there; he's trapped and transformed! When I saw him he was still a Super Saiyan! He should be able to overcharge easy with that!"
Dandelor grins. "Really? ...oh, of course! That's genius! I was wondering what he did..." He trails off, muttering to himself about technical details.
Raditz turns away from his brother and towards you. "That changes things. If you can get in, and if Jaffur has a deep enough connection to my brother to get a line out, and if he's strong enough to punch through the Seal's wards in doing so, then Dandelor can teach Jaffur what he needs to know. To be honest, if we can manage that, then our job is done for us. Dandelor can teach Jaffur full-time. No downtime for either of them unless exhaustion demands. We go until Jaffur can recognize the Seal's weaves enough to target them. Then we do the switch, and Jaffur starts burning his prison down without his mother there to watch."
You frown. "But what about Jaron?"
Dandelor looks up from the chart he's scribbling on a sheet of paper he got from somewhere. "'...as I am,' then that would mean he- hm?" He blinks. "Oh, that would be my job. If Jaffur can recognize the weaves, then I can do what I need to to keep the...hm. What do we call Jaron? I'll call him the Face. If Jaffur can see his target, I can be on the outside keeping the Face safe from harm while Jaffur focuses on just destroying whatever he can reach. Nice and easy, and a lot faster. Less risk for whoever is doubling for Jaffur, although you'd still need to be ready to pull them out, Scion."
"Why me?" you ask.
Raditz takes up the thread. "Because we don't have anybody with Instant Transmission. Frankly, the math makes my head hurt. I can keep finances just fine, but the math you need for IT goes into calculus."
"Calculus isn't that hard!" you say, smiling brightly. It's really not, after all. You don't know why everybody whines about it.
Raditz rolls his eyes. "Well, good for you. But some of us don't get taught about it from the day we're born. It's hard for us if we're not taught how to find x as a bedtime story and what a cosine is for our fairy tales."
"...you mean that's not normal?"
He stares at you. "...no. No it is not. You mean that's what actually happens- no, never mind. Suffice it to say, it's hard for us. So I'm lost on the calculations. Now, it would be great if you could teach us the technique..."
Dandelor jumps in. "Oh come on. It'd never happen. If she spent that much time out here somebody would notice. Dropping off the face of Garenhuld at odd moments for long periods of time? Talk about suspicious."
"Regardless," says Raditz. "Scion, it's doubtful that you teaching us is feasible given the nature of our problem. And whoever we send in as a double -- which could be anybody, really, given the magic involved -- would either have to rely on you to pull them out, or get back manually while your father was chasing them. So you'd need to extract them unless we wanted to lose them. Given that all available candidates are my family, I'm going to say that yes, we'd appreciate you being the extraction." His eyes harden. You gulp and nod.
Dandelor pockets his notes, apparently giving up on getting to work on them for the moment. "So...recap?"
Raditz nods. "Recap."
You cock your head. "Recap-?"
"Plan Cuckoo's Nest!" says Dandelor.
"Plan Kakara," counters Raditz.
"Plan what now?" you say, leaning back.
"Mine is more thematically appropriate," says Dandelor.
"Mine is on-theme," says Raditz.
"Only because you decided how we'd name things last time! I mean, 'Plan Raditz?' Come on!"
"That's a perfectly acceptable name. And why are you whining? You got a 'Plan Dandelor.'"
"For the 'scorched earth' option that I didn't even want to see pass!"
"Oh, quit whining. I'm Head, and I say it's Plan Kakara."
"Ass."
"Crybaby."
You gape. "...grown-ups are weird."
The two blink, looking over at you as if remembering you're there.
"Well, it's more a 'brothers' thing," says Raditz, chuckling. "Anyway. So the plan counts on you getting in contact with Jaffur again. It sounds like the first time was an accident, so this one might be a long shot. But if you manage that, it then depends on Jaffur managing to get a line out to Dandelor. If that doesn't happen, we'll just go to our fallback. But if both of those things happen, then Dandelor teaches Jaffur whatever he needs to know, and then we proceed to the default."
"Namely, a grab-and-replace," says Dandelor. "You get Jaffur alone somehow. Doesn't matter how. You get him alone for a second, and then IT him out while getting our double in. Then you stay on hand to make sure things don't go wrong. We get in touch with Jaffur, and he starts burning everything he can find while I keep his Face safe. Then you get our double out, and we figure out where to go from there."
"Now, what can go wrong with this plan?" asks Raditz.
You scratch your hair. "Well, Jaffur using overcharged magic to contact you sounds loud," you say, looking at Dandelor. "Wouldn't Lady Vegeta notice?"
He nods, frowning. "I think so. It would be best if you could get in touch with him when he was isolated from her somehow. We can't feel magic, after all, except in very close proximity. Magic sense is an evolution of sight more than feeling, unlike ki sense. So if you can get through when he's away from her, we should be able to avoid that, and thereafter he'd be able to use his best judgment on when's a good time."
"That would mean you'd be on-call constantly, though," says Raditz. "It would be exhausting."
"I'll sleep when I'm able. It'll be fine."
"How long would the double stay hidden?" you ask.
"Minutes at most with Dandeer looking at it," says Dandelor. "The goal is not for it to hold up to close scrutiny by Dandeer, though. Ideally, you'd do the switch when you had a lot of time before seeing her in person."
"Ideally, we'll break the Seal before our double even has to stand up to close inspection," says Raditz. "Then you'd extract back to us without any problems at all. So that's the ideal." He leans back against the parapet, crossing his arms. "There's one more problem, though. Our endgame relies on Jaffur being able to burn the Seal down, but that relies on two big 'ifs.' If he can't it's up to you, brother. Can you do it?"
Dandelor grimaces. "Me up against the strongest magics even woven by the greatest Sorcerer of our day? Magics with the complications brought on by the strongest spell any Exile has ever wrought changing them in some unpredictable way?" He grins in anticipation, and it abruptly hits home that while they're not fighters, Sorcerers are still saiyans. "I relish the thought. It would take longer, though. Long enough that we'd probably have to pull the double out before we were done, and a search would start. We should be safe here, but you never know. It's something that could go wrong."
Raditz nods. "I believe in you. And hopefully it won't come to that, anyway. Anything else?"
You and Dandelor shake your heads. "Not right now," you say.
"Alright," says Raditz. "In that case, there's little left to discuss. See if you can contact us whenever you can, Scion, and start working on your end. Dandelor will be preparing on his part in things, and I'll get to work choosing who our double should be and keeping the House ready to move." He glances up at the sky. "You probably don't have much time left, so if you want to visit Betarel, you should go now. We'll start getting ready." He takes a step back and looks at you and his brother. "We have a plan. Two years later, we have a plan. My nephew has been locked away inside his own mind, forced to watch a world he's barred from interacting with, for two years. Enough is enough. We have a way forward now. We can do this. And we will see Jaffur freed."
[NPC Communication check: Passed]
The words stir you and put an ember in your belly. You stand a little straighter, and give Raditz a serious nod. It's not that you don't realize what he's doing; he's motivating you. It's obvious.
Doesn't mean it didn't work.
[Temporary Trait Gained: Spark of Motivation]
You glance down into the courtyard. "I'll make sure to do my best. But...yeah, I need to go soon. Can I talk to Betarel now?"
Raditz nods at you. "Go ahead. I'm sure you can feel him."
You nod and jump off the battlements, drifting towards Betarel's presence.
Behind you, you hear Dandelor ask his brother, "...so, 'find x as a bedtime story?'"
"Don't ask me. I thought I was joking."
You giggle, and zip forward.
You come across Betarel sitting cross-legged at his mother's feet, deep in meditation. She gives you a somewhat suspicious look, and then cocks her head as though listening to something.
Telepathy, you recognize. You...really...need to learn that.
She gives you a look and steps back, nudging Betarel with her toe before heading back inside without a word. Her son blinks, looking around. He stiffens when he sees you and scrambles to his feet.
"Um, hi!" you say, suddenly nervous. Setting the vision aside -- because you really don't know how you feel about that yet -- it's been two years. Things might have changed.
"...hi," he says, rocking back and forth on his heels.
The silence stretches.
You've found a Betarel, and have very little time left to chat with it before Dad starts wondering where you've gone, realistically. What will you do with it? Choose all that apply. You may choose up to two before you're pretty sure that Dad will start looking for you, but hey, you can go over if you like. He probably won't interrogate you too much if you come out quick after he starts looking. Maybe. For this update, please vote by plan.
[ ] Just chat. Pretend nothing is different from the last time you've spoken, and chat with your friend.
-[ ] Anything specific? Each specific topic counts as one action. No specific topics leads to me just generating conversation.
[ ] You feel like tormenting yourself. Blurt out that you had a vision about the two of you flirting as teenagers. Realize that you just revealed that you're a Seer in the worst way possible. Panic.
[ ] Offer to trade techniques (Kamehameha for Galick Gun). Realistically, you both already know how to do them in principle, but the point is socialization and physicality, not education. (TAKES TWO ACTIONS)
[ ] Write-in.
THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.
Last update in the event chain! After the next one we leave Senzu Hall, I write the end-of-year interlude, and then it's onto Year Three! Enjoy, everybody!
Temporary Trait: Spark of Motivation. Head Raditz's words have encouraged you to push just a little bit harder in your quest to see Jaffur freed. Gain a major bonus, as if for a canon omake, towards your next action in pursuit of the course of action you've laid out with the Senzus.
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