Dragonball M, Chapter 2: Lighthouse! Across the Shores of Shattered Time!

[Tami]

Alt Ochazuke pauses.

“Erosa died. Again and again. Etrina brought her back multiple times until one day...she simply did not. I asked, once, and she merely laughed and said she didn’t need her anymore.”

He nods.

“If anyone other questions are had, I shall answer them. There is much to answer for.”

Dash glances at him, then looks away slightly, "Some things are better left unasked. Ah think it's enough that we stand a chance of avoiding some o' what you had to deal with. Maybe even saving some lives." After a moment's thought, "Ah do have one question. If you could go back in time an change one thing, save one life, who or what would that be?"

[Sub-Zero MKA]

Alt Ochazuke pauses.

“Erosa died. Again and again. Etrina brought her back multiple times until one day...she simply did not. I asked, once, and she merely laughed and said she didn’t need her anymore. Shortly after I learned of her bonding with Grav.”

He nods.

“If any other questions are had, I shall answer them. There is much to answer for.”

"That's fucked up," Sarada admitted. She stole a glance at the Id, then turned her attention back to Alt-Ochazuke. "Is there any way to bring her back? Maybe they can wish her back with the dragonballs?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Dash glances at him, then looks away slightly, "Some things are better left unasked. Ah think it's enough that we stand a chance of avoiding some o' what you had to deal with. Maybe even saving some lives." After a moment's thought, "Ah do have one question. If you could go back in time an change one thing, save one life, who or what would that be?"

He looks at her a moment, eyes seemingly glowing slightly in the cave’s dim light.

“Lady Evangeline’s. We may outstrip her in power, but her knowledge, her helpfulness, her insight was sorely missed. She would have been a great boon to us, to our minds and bodies.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"That's fucked up," Sarada admitted. She stole a glance at the Id, then turned her attention back to Alt-Ochazuke. "Is there any way to bring her back? Maybe they can wish her back with the dragonballs?"

“Presuming Slak can make new ones. Though if Etrina is truly restored here, and I believe she can and will be, she should still be able to summon her.”

[Tami]

He looks at her a moment, eyes seemingly glowing slightly in the cave’s dim light.

“Lady Evangeline’s. We may outstrip her in power, but her knowledge, her helpfulness, her insight was sorely missed. She would have been a great boon to us, to our minds and bodies.”

Dash nods, "Ah can see that. How would you save her if you could?"

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

Dash nods, "Ah can see that. How would you save her if you could?"

“The Lookout was struck by an orbital bombardment on the first day. I would have had her taken safely to Turtle Island before that happened, Kai as well.”

[Tami]

“The Lookout was struck by an orbital bombardment on the first day. I would have had her taken safely to Turtle Island before that happened, Kai as well.”

"Ah think it may be time for Lady Evangeline, for our Lady Evangeline, to rethink the location of her temple. Lately it sticks out like a neon discount store sign." Dash then smiles almost sadly as she speaks to him, "Thank you, ah wish you all well."

[Sub-Zero MKA]

“Presuming Slak can make new ones. Though if Etrina is truly restored here, and I believe she can and will be, she should still be able to summon her.”

So, there were two possible ways for this Etrina to have her Erosa back. Considering how close they were, it was important that this happen.

...

Not that Sarada would ever voice this opinion out loud. The last thing she wanted was Erosa thinking she liked her or some stupid **** like that. "That's good to hear. Having her Id and her sheep back will set her on the road to recovery for sure."

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

So, there were two possible ways for this Etrina to have her Erosa back. Considering how close they were, it was important that this happen.

...

Not that Sarada would ever voice this opinion out loud. The last thing she wanted was Erosa thinking she liked her or some stupid **** like that. "That's good to hear. Having her Id and her sheep back will set her on the road to recovery for sure."

He nods.

“Zaofan is...well missed by many.”

[Cleric of Hell’s Brigade]

"Ah think it may be time for Lady Evangeline, for our Lady Evangeline, to rethink the location of her temple. Lately it sticks out like a neon discount store sign." Dash then smiles almost sadly as she speaks to him, "Thank you, ah wish you all well."

He does the normal martial arts hand signs back.

“To you as well.”

[Sub-Zero MKA]

He nods.

“Zaofan is...well missed by many.”

There was no doubting that was the truth. Even beyond the material, Zaofan had a way about him that... endeared him to anyone he met. He was easy to get along with and had the qualities that the most inspirational leaders possessed. There were few people Sarada would love to fight alongside than him. "And he'll have a line of people waiting to welcome him back."

[grampagen]

Alt Zaofan’s ki signature disappears under Ochazuke’s power, and when it settles down, the Sheriff is no where to be seen.

In the wide blast zone facing out towards the sky, after the flames died down, only the hissing, red glowing tiles remained underfoot, buckling over each other, a pile of flat, burning coals, resting in a pit of sunken slag. Drawing in deep breaths from the expenditure, Ochazuke's shoulders sagged briefly as his balance shifted. Falling back into a crouched stance, balanced upon the ball of his left foot, arms raised in the habit of a traditional guard.

Though he pressed to find the differences between the Sheriff and Zaofan, as Ochazuke pressed to find the answers first hand, he'd come to face something within himself he thought he'd left behind. For beneath the lenses that had amplified his Crimson Gaze, framed by that waxed, matted yarn hanging over his upper lip, the familiar face of his martial brother stared right back at him.

He'd incinerated him without hesitation.

Only after the deed was done did the weight of it fall fully onto him, and the Crane's Wings trembled where they spread.

Six other divergences, he thought to himself as he pulled in deep, ragged breaths, Just one of many...and so...

Zurvan had made the course clear, and the Namekian, Pike, spoke through a greater threat that threatened to shatter reality. But should another Zaofan stand before him and their goal, for the sake of righting Time and finding the Doctor, would he be able to do it?

As he drew another breath, he swallowed hard. The lump in his throat would not disappear. It was only with a remembrance that it was an assassin's art he was facing, did the weight of guilt momentarily pass from him.

Your unspoken threats fell greater than that, Zao. I know that can't be all.

Through the acquired skill of Kyokushin Keihatsu, he stilled his mind for that hidden approach and reached out for the strength bequeathed through the dead arts of Wolf*, Spider and Bear*.

Muhen Seikai Keihatsu.

The fire of the Dragon left a tempered resolve to reaffirmed his sense-awareness, slowly spread there in the area around him as he searched for a tell of disturbed movement.

He knew the battle was not over yet, and it would fall to the next decisive moment.

Shoshin Hiei.

*Wolf's Prowl and Bear's Strength: Strength and Speed 3x

[grampagen]

Alt Ochazuke pauses.

“Erosa died. Again and again. Etrina brought her back multiple times until one day...she simply did not. I asked, once, and she merely laughed and said she didn’t need her anymore. Shortly after I learned of her bonding with Grav.”

He nods.

“If any other questions are had, I shall answer them. There is much to answer for.”

When his double at last began to talk, at the mention of the Vitalmancer from Dusk City, Ochazuk started and dared half a step forward, a moment's suspicion telegraphed and just as quickly cooled. With the withered Etrina so cradled in his arms, it was plain to see that if any hostile presence remained, his Alternate would have not been so delicate.

What should have been long ago had come to be again. But what had come to pass in these dark days surely could not have been roused from a single instance?

"Start from the beginning, then," he said. "First the Junho. Then the Lyne fell upon the Lookout, and with it the Guardian."

No Guardian, no wishes. No means to change their dread fate. Long ago they had come to know this.

"Even if she had the means to do it, Etrina would not have bound herself to the Vitalmancer. Not unless there was no other option."

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

From the explanation, there was little for Parsley to do. All her part consisted of was simply allowing Ishtar to start a telepathic connection with her. From there, the Oni would do the rest. That was agreeable with her.

Anything to finally get a good night's sleep for the first time since... the night before she left for Turrip. It had been that long. In Purgatory, time was nonexistent, so she didn't feel the need to sleep. Also, she was dead, so there was no need.

"Okay," she nodded. "Let's do it."

Ishtar stood a moment, after Parsley consented, before offering a single nod.

"Well then, let me get started." The Oni began moving toward her then, closing the distance with measured steps; only to slow to a stop roughly a foot away. She knew from her her aid offered to Evangeline, that while physical contact assisted in the process, it certainly wasn't a requirement. Before she started however, she did offer Parsley an apologetic look.

"I ... apologize in advance for the intrusion."

With that, Ishtar reached out and made contact telepathically. And with Parsley's consent the bridge was made without more than a ripple of weak resistance, though from there it was obvious why the girl had not found silence enough to fall asleep since the Dragon's wish to bring her back. Parsley's mind -- or what passed for it at current -- was a mire of despair; and that she had been able to even manage to stand let alone ... exist before Etrina had unwittingly uttered a trigger-word was evidence enough of her will.

A thing that Ishtar found, in passing, something of curiosity. How similar it was, after all ... to Sarada.

Yet the golden-eyed Oni had not come to compare sisters. So with a swift refocusing she sifted through the pain and suffering, siphoning what all she could; until fragments of traumatic memories were added. Though the first few were jumbled. Flying. An explosion ... and a sudden darkness all that could be deciphered, though it wasn't long at all before Ishtar found herself in the room. And the first thing she found there was ...

... Her heart started racing, her head was throbbing as the possibilities of what was to come ran through her head one after the other, each more horrendous ...

A feeling of helplessness, and panic that resonated clearly, even through the jagged fragment of a memory that offered little beyond an inkling of the suffering to come ... which it certainly did. As the next fragment Ishtar found, as she performed again the task of Sin Eater, was of Appel. Or rather, what Appel did.

She picked up a syringe filled with a noxious green liquid. Without a word, she plunged the needled into Parsley's arm and squeezed down.

Pain ... not unlike the feeling of being struck by Sarada's Agony Matrix danced through Ishtar's body then, and though it was little more of an echoing from a fragmentary memory, the Oni's connection faltered momentarily as she sought to regain control ... and siphon it away at least for the time being. For that was the double-edged blade to this act, was it not ? That no matter how much pain, and suffering Ishtar took into herself; it was for Parsley -- as it had been for Sarada, and Evangeline -- in the end to ultimately sort out. So as the memory of where Parsley was shackled ... a dank dark room but a door away from the experimentation table echoed in Ishtar's own mind; the glowing-horn Oni set herself to doing all she could, the passage of time little noticed as the memories became more lucid ... and far worse for it.

She pulled another syringe out of her coat pocket, this one with a bright orange serum. She unceremoniously jammed into the side of Parsley's neck and pushed down.

Another vial, worse than before ... and vomiting enough to tear the lining of her esophagus. Though already raw from the the screaming -- when she could manage it -- Ishtar found herself little surprised. The sobbing that followed the haematemosis however, brought with it a sorrow separate from the Saiyan Princess' own. As even when the Oni had considered killing Parsley, and had thought her a monster for her feelings towards those of mixed-blood, or other species; she had never once wished for her to suffer in such a similar way to her sister.

... and that it had happened at all was, perhaps, a thing unforgivable.

Swaying slightly now from pain, and sorrow -- both her own, and Parsley's -- Ishtar forged on ahead.

As time crawled by, Parsley found herself talking to herself more ...

And found that the torture and insults from Appel, were not the only pain she suffered.

Left alone for days, dehydrated and starving, Parsley had set herself to thinking about her past missteps ... how she had wrong her sister and what that had led to; and how much it hurt to be treated as an outsider by her own family ... so when it was that Appel returned, Parsley was all but broken. Though this time it was different. Startled into lucidity by a harsh stream of cold water, Parsley had been subject to the now familiar verbal abuse from Appel. Only for a third and final liquid concoction to be jammed directly into her tail ... and it was this straw -- and the words that followed -- that shattered what little had remained of Parsley's will.

This was confirmed when Appel appeared and smirked. “So, that serum worked. That little tail of yours is all gone.”

“...what?!”

The Saiyan Tail. The source of a Saiyan's Pride ... gone. Though it was worse, than that; and Ishtar now knew why Appel was the only thing Parsley saw when she closed her eyes ... With little left to cling to now of her dignity, and pride .. Appel attacked and destroyed the only thing Parsley had had left.

Hope.

... What a terrible way to die, I imagine.” Her laugh was haughty, self-satisfied. “What's worse, I found out you're the Monkey Queen's older sister. Guess that proves how much she cares about you.”

And it was here, the memories fell apart entirely.

There were snippets, sure. A bit of panic here ... anger there ... and so much pain. Beyond that, Ishtar found, there was little else save a single, heartbreaking sentence. 'Guess that proves how much she cares about you.' And in the remaining days until her body died, that was all there was. That single sentence repeated ad nauseum until inhaled a final time ... though really, too ... that was little more than show. Parsley had died two weeks, and four days in.

"..."

Now caught up with the series of events that had led to Parsley's death, Ishtar -- to her credit -- lingered a few moments inside Parsley's head then. Siphoning all she could, from where she could, to give the girl enough of a footing to find a night or few of nightmare-free sleep and perhaps rebuild from there. Though when that was done, and there was little left to take but the actual memories themselves ?

Ishtar severed the connection quickly.

And after a heavy, shaky sigh took an equally shaky step backwards seemingly from shock.

That she had expected this pain, made little difference in the end. What Parsley had suffered was no less traumatic, no less painful, than what Evangeline had suffered at the hands of Fife, or Sarada had suffered at the hands of Dashir. A thought rose unbidden then from the depths; as Ishtar worked at containing the pilfered patchwork of pain, and suffering, tears streaming down her face.

Another young one forced to suffer far more than they could reasonably bear alone ... what am I to do ?

A question for another time.

Taking a moment to compose herself then, and wipe her face free from tears -- though it was obvious she had been -- Ishtar cleared her throat loud enough to snap Parsley out of the semi-stupor of the 'Mind Melding', and after a moment, the Oni began to speak.

"Are you ... Did ..." she managed, muttering. Only to stop for a moment more, to gather herself together enough to ask.

"How ... do you feel ?"

[Lord Falcon]

Before Heading Out Off the Lookout to Save All Time

Going quiet, Cyanna looked down towards the ground. Finally, she looked up at the golden goddess, "If gods are flawed, how are they any different than the rest of us?"

Drawing on her own experiences, "If gods aren't wise enough to know how to use their power, wouldn't that just make them like any other bully? Why does the universe need gods anyway?"

She then paused, as if wanting to make sure she hadn't said anything offensive, before continuing, "How did you become a god? Did you have to train hard? Or were you born that way?"

Cyanna was owed answers to these questions, involved as she was with the struggle. Ochazuke's words regarding the lack of merit for standoffishness in current circumstances continued to reverberate within Asha'rah, and she was confident they would for some time to come.

"Do you need time? Space? Gravity? We give ourselves roles and try our best to nurture the universe, but we exist independent of any need for us, Cyanna. We simply are. We were before the universe was. There was only one above who had the power to judge us, and he...was and is an idiot. We have tried to curtail any damage we do, by and large, by keeping our interference to a minimum. It discourages 'bullying', as you call it, as well as a host of other bad tendencies. However, I'm afraid we lack the luxury of such segregation nowadays, my presence here being but one symptom of our situation."

She smiled softly at the young one, her natural affection for creation building upon itself as she spent time with such innocent sincerity and optimism.

"When our crisis is settled, I hope to see you and those like you inspire us once more, Cyanna. You are, after all, our training. The life you lead will set an example for the gods."

As she looked to the setting sun, she realized she could see it a little more clearly now. Her tears had washed away, at least.

"And what of you, Cyanna? What do you hope to do with your life?"