As I watched a couple of Saiyans take Nappa's unconscious body away, I felt something burning into the back of head and I turned to see King Vegeta staring at me from the balcony. I couldn't quite place his expression from this distance, but considering what I had just displayed, I knew that one of those emotions would likely be disbelief.
We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity until he turned and walked away, that ridiculous cape he had on making it seem more dramatic than it actually was.
The Queen, Sela, followed after him almost immediately, but the Prince had lingered for a moment, his eyes fixed on me. His head suddenly snapped towards the side, probably due to having been called by one of his parents, before he ran inside.
Seems I managed to captured his attention, and I honestly don't know if that's a good or a bad thing yet...
"Zyleth!"
Hearing my name, I turn and immediately get sent tackled into the ground by a flying embrace by my mother.
I groan, having had the wind knocked out of me. Before I can collect myself, Gine hold me up and rubs her cheek on mine like I'm some sort of puppy.
"I was so worried about you!"
I try to pry myself out of her grip, but surprisingly I wasn't able to budge her arms even a bit. I'm ten times stronger than her, how can I not budge her at all?!
"Gine, if you keep squeezing him like that you're gonna break him worse than what he just did to Nappa." Bardock points out.
Hearing this, Gine looks up and sees my difficulty to breathe in oxygen before suddenly letting me go, causing me to drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
"Sorry, sweetie!" She apologized immediately.
I give her a thumbs up before pushing myself up off the ground, finally able to catch my breath.
"You were so cool! You were all like bam! Boom! Pow!" Raditz exclaims as he strikes and kicks the air, "mimicking" what I did to Nappa.
Bardock rolls his eyes and ruffles his hair.
"Yeah he was amazing." He said before turning his gaze towards me, "Mind explaining how exactly you got that strong?"
I stood up, looked my father dead in his eyes, and gave him an answer so good that not even he could argue against it. I knew the second that I stepped in this arena that I would be having to answer this question.
So I made sure to think of the perfect answer.
"I just have good genes." I replied with a nonchalant shrug.
He looked at me with with a stern glare before he bursts out laughing, giving me a hard slap on the back, "Ha! Damn right you do!"
The unexpected slap stung a fair bit, causing me to glare up at him, to which he didn't notice at all since he threw his head back with an overwhelming amount of pride.
"Great, fill up his ego even more why don't ya?" A familiar voice sounded off behind us.
We all turn and see the members of Team Bardock all standing there with various degrees of emotions.
Tora comes up and starts ruffling my hair, "Looks like the little cub is all grown up now, huh?"
My brow twitches in annoyance before I gave Tora an elbow right to the gut, causing him to let out a painful groan before dropping to his knees.
"Stop touching my hair!" I exclaimed.
Shugesh laughed at Tora's pain and gave me a pat on the back before saying, "You did us proud, kid."
Borgos just let out a grunt, nodding his head in agreement. The giant Saiyan was always a man of little words.
"I don't know how I feel about this little brat being stronger than me, but I guess the way you knocked that smug look off Nappa's face makes the blow a little more bearable." Fasha said with a smirk and a shrug of her shoulders.
Seeing Fasha, I look at her up and down before a shit eating grin grows on my face and I ask, "Hey, Fasha, since I'm stronger than you now, does that mean I'm in charge of the next training session?"
"This kid..." Fasha gritted her teeth, the smirk she had twitching at the sides, "You're just begging for a beating."
Huh...
Now that I'm not deathly afraid of her petty retaliation, she actually looks kinda hot when she's angry.
Okay, what the hell is up with me today?!
I've never paid attention to any woman's looks before today, now I'm straight up admiring Fasha right after ogling Vegeta's mom? And then bantering with the former?
Not to mention the overwhelming annoyance I had experienced in the throne room when I bowed down to the king. That's never happened before. It's like coming back from conquering that planet changed something inside my head.
.
.
.
Oh, I'm on a power high...
Well, that's a relief. For a second there, I almost thought that I was going through a Saiyan's version of puberty.
Oh god, what happens when I actually go through puberty?
"Zyleth." A voice pulls me back into reality and I see an unknown Saiyan standing off to the side, waiting for my attention. "The King wishes to see you in the throne room."
There it is. I was waiting for the King to send someone to fetch me.
"I'll go straight away." I told him.
He nods and takes his leave, walking back towards the castle.
I look back over towards everyone and said, "Busy day. I'll see you all after?"
"Yeah, we'll be waiting for you at your parents place." Tora said, the members of Team Bardock nodding in agreement.
Bardock pats me on the back and walks off with Raditz, who continues to strike the air even as he's walking.
"Stay safe." My mother says, giving me a tight hug me before leaving with everyone else.
---
I enter the throne room and see that besides Paragus and Broly, there were no other Saiyans inside besides the King and the young Prince.
"Zyleth." The King acknowledges my presence and motions for me to stand beside Paragus.
I do so and wait for the King to speak. The long seconds of silence seems to cause Paragus to tense, which in turn makes Broly tense.
"Tell me, Zyleth." The King finally speaks, causing me to stand at attention. "Are you loyal to Vegeta?"
"Your son, the planet, or you?" I asked with a singular raised eyebrow.
"Yes." He replies.
Having the clarification I wanted, I bow my head and said, "Of course, My Liege. I am one hundred percent loyal."
"If that's so, then why do you wish to train the son of Paragus?" He asked.
How do those two things have any correlation at all? What, is he thinking that I'm planing a coup or something?
"For the good of Vegeta. And if possible, to help us get out from under the Frost Demon's thumb." I state resolutely and without hesitation.
More like for the good of my training, but he doesn't need to know that. I just need to tell him what he wants to hear.
As infuriatingly dense as he is, there's not a Saiyan on the planet that hates Frieza more than the King.
"And what if I deemed him to be too dangerous for the Saiyan Race? What would you do?" He asked, causing my eyebrows to furrow, although he couldn't see it thanks to the fact that I'm bowing.
"I would find it regrettable to lose such a potentially powerful warrior, but I will respect your decision." I answered.
"And if I ordered you to kill them?" He questioned further.
I feel Paragus and Broly tense even harder the moment that question left the King's lips.
Damnit, I had a feeling that this is where it was going...
"I would do so quickly and without hesitation." I replied.
"Then prove yourself." He stated.
I stood up straight and extended my hand towards Paragus and Broly, a dark yellow ki sphere gathering in my palm.
I see the look of shock on the father and son, but I continue on with my actions, my eyes subtly shifting towards the King.
Shit, I didn't want to have to do this, but I don't have much of a choice anymore...
I prepare to let it fire when the King suddenly shouted out, "That's enough!"
Too late, I had already released it.
I quickly raise my hand towards the sky and the blast follows suit, putting a hole through the ceiling of the throne room.
---
[General POV]
Shocked by the events unfolding, Paragus quickly hid Broly behind him as Zyleth prepared to execute them both. The child who he had placed his belief in was now going to be his executioner.
But before the child fired off his attack, for a split second Paragus swore that he saw Zyleth's eyes turn towards the King.
"Enough!" The King shouts.
Unable to stop the blast, Zyleth quickly moved his hand towards the ceiling and instead blasted it off towards the sky. A few pieces of rubble fell from the ceiling, but otherwise everyone was left unharmed.
"Damn, that was close..." Paragus heard Zyleth mutter to himself.
"Your lack of hesitation in response to the order has proven your loyalty. Though I do not appreciate the hole in the Royal Throne Room." The King said as his eyebrow twitches in annoyance.
"So... does that mean--"
"Yes, Paragus, your son will continue to live on Planet Vegeta under Zyleth's supervision." The King nodded before turning his gaze towards Zyleth. "Along with Paragus' son, Vegeta will also be under your care. I trust that you have no objections?"
Zyleth shakes his head, understanding that he was now the trainer and supervisor of not just one, but two Saiyan children.
Although with the way he looked, you could clearly tell that he wasn't happy about it.
"Then you may go. The Royal Courtyard is now open to you for whatever you wish. I'll be eager to see the results of your training." The King said before waving them off.
Zyleth, Paragus, and Broly all exited the throne room, the three letting out breaths of relief as soon as the doors closed behind him.
"Dear Lord, say what you want about that asshole, but you can't say that he doesn't know how to leave an impression." Zyleth groaned before shaking his head and walking away, "Bring Broly to the Royal Training Grounds tomorrow. Training will begin bright and early."
Seeing that Zyleth was about to walk away, Paragus couldn't help but think back to everything that had just taken place in the throne room and ask the question lingering in his mind.
"You were going to shoot the King, weren't you?" He suddenly spoke out.
Zyleth stopped in his tracks, but he didn't turn around, his voice dropping to a cold tone, "Excuse me?"
"Before you fired... for a split second your eyes went towards the King. If he hadn't have stopped you, you were going to blast him instead... weren't you?"
After a few seconds, Zyleth looked at Paragus over his shoulder and asked, "What of it?"
Paragus' eyes widened in surprise. He thought the child would deny the claim, give some sort of excuse, or just plain ignore him and continue on his way. That's what Paragus would've done if asked something like that.
Zyleth's response was basically confirmation that he was going to assassinate the King in his own castle.
"Why?" Paragus asked, not understanding the child's motives. "Why are you willing to go so far for my son?"
Zyleth was silent for a moment, his eyes glancing between the father and son before continuing to walk down the hallway. "I just am."
Paragus watched as the Saiyan child left, his face stern and serious as he addressed his son beside him, "Broly..."
Hearing his name, Broly looked up at his father with a curious gaze.
"Make sure that you follow his directions to the letter, do you understand?" Paragus asked.
Broly nodded softly before he turned his attention back to the direction Zyleth had walk off in. While he didn't understand much of what had happened, he did understand this.
Zyleth had saved his life.
[Word Count: 2,072.]