It had been a long year. A very long and stressful year thus far. Indulging in something she enjoyed was a great and much appreciated boon. "I thank you. After the year it's been so far, indulging in something so simple is much appreciated."
Maiz sighed heavily. "Sadly, it is. It's a form that, at least with my three, was gained through immense emotional pain. There are other, easier, ways, but that seems to be the most common." She tried her best to give her children the easiest life possible. She told them to avoid the Meat Market - though that ended up getting pushed to the wayside, with disastrous results. Pinach and Rutaba were lucky to have grown up, for the most part, in a society that was moving away from willful war and conquest and more toward peace and reconciliation. Parsley and Sarada weren't so lucky, but there was still hope for her youngest.From the way Pinach recounted the death of his cousin, Ochazuke instantly saw the turn in his emotions, and when Maiz explained it, his featured stilled and darkened. His view followed him, and the trail of his ki set itself far away to the mountains.
"He's grown stronger in all facets, but though he may look hardened, war has carved a young man out of the wounded heart of a boy," he said, for it was a look he'd seen far too often. By fear and discipline, he'd recognized the look of one who had truly seen death meaningfully for the first time. "He may never completely recover what was taken from him, but in time, he will find the strength to bear it. That is the price and the burden of becoming the latest Super Saiyan, isn't it?"
Whatever mirth there was in their reunion had been spoiled by grief that was far too near to mind.
"Sarada talked to me at length about Tundra. I do not doubt the length and charge of the battle, yet despite this, I've not known your daughters to ever speak a penitent word. Perhaps that much has been set aside, deep within their need for the strength to fight. If there is the intention to make things right, it may indeed require the power of a wish. To that end, it's a relief to hear the Namekian Elder has returned."
Then, Tundra happened; and with his arrival, Pinach was abruptly introduced to the worst aspects of war. The aspects that were universally understood. Beyond the glory and victory lay the bloody and sordid details that were deliberately erased, beyond a statistical value to add some semblance of perspective. For someone so young, those erased details would never be forgotten. Even when Maiz wished Rutaba back with the dragonballs, those final moments would never go away. For either of them.
"Through the fires of adversity, those who survive its flame gain strength," she said quietly. "While we both know peace creates weak men who create bad times, I don't want the future generations to suffer what we did just for the sake of gaining inner strength." She shook her head. "Ah well. That's a conversation for another day."
When it was noted that neither Sarada nor Parsley expressed regret over offenses, Maiz hummed curiously. "Interesting. I taught them to be more considerate." That was, of course, assuming they knew they committed any offense. That very well may not have been the case.
"Yes, they've spoke to me at length about it," she confirmed. When he spoke of his dealings with her contemporaries, especially those who were less than willing to cooperate initially, her brow furrowed. The parasites... Sarada had told her something about them, but she forgot the details. She did, however, manage to connect some dots when she read the journal belonging to her predecessor, Ceriac. It told of a man who had become suddenly burdened by a need to visit some far off world. For what reason, he never said, but he did say the calling was nearly irresistible. It persisted for several months until he abruptly left Vocado... and never returned. His journal was unfinished. Literally, he stopped writing in the middle of a word and departed.Setting foot on the green, Ochazuke paced a few steps, and as he cast his medidation field out, a subtle force ceased the wind over the grass and stilled the waters to such silence that one could hear the bustle of Victory City even from this distance.
"I trust that Sarada and Parsley have discussed the matter with you pertaining to Sakin and Alakazah. Together with Genesis and the Goddess of Ruination, it behooves a vigilant Guardian to see to it."
A moment passed as he examined the environs, and when he was satisfied it all resumed as it had been.
"Suffice it to say, with a Guardian's place being with her people, Evangeline saw to it the matters of the Guardian Network would not be left to Kami alone. For five years the problem of the parasites compromising Guardians was left untended to," Ochazuke said, "To this end, we charted a course through the known universe, finding peoples and civilizations, and establishing new contacts and with it new allies. Breaking bread is Zaofan's specialty, I've never seen anybody turn cynics into friends as well as him, or any more good-willed a tributary guest. Bridging the gap between those stationed as gods among their people, on the other hand, that requires a very particular set of skills."
So it was that he had met with the Guardians of many worlds, as he relayed to Maiz. Most were accommodating, and while some did not entirely understand the station passed to them from their Spark of Creation, with some guidance they knew the impending calamity was a near possibility, and with open contact between their worlds would work to prevent this from coming true.
"Others who'd doubted ceased once I plucked the Parasites from them. Now they too know what they're looking for. Flesh of Sakin's flesh that thirsts for Creation Energy, they now know his fell essence very well."
Shifting his hand, Ochazuke produced a small stone, many-faceted and rough like an uncut quartz spike.
"Can you sense it? Suspended forever in a prison of his own magic, it's faint, but the Soul Meister is kindred to these creatures and a servant to his master. For three long years, I've been hunting down the creature that cursed the line of my world's Guardians. Now that I have more than one vector tracing the path to his Forsworn World, with the help of the Guardians I mean to find Sakin, and then kill him."
She had long wondered what happened to him; none of the historical records on Langal offered any insight. Right then, she had her answer.
"I had long wondered what happened to my predecessor," she said as she took hold of the quartz spike containing that so-called "soul meister". "He left abruptly on day five hundred years ago and never returned. I now know he fell victim to one of Sakin's parasites." She sighed heavily. Their race fell to tyranny in his absence. How different would things have been for them if Sakin never targeted him?"
"Parsley told me of your encounter with this creature and of his connection to Sakin, but I never gave it much thought. If you intend on killing the being hunting my fellow guardians, I will do all I can to help. What would you have me do?"