I am Kera, a Saiyan Warrior Princess

Chapter 55

Piccolo:

The pain was so unexpected that he had to go down on his knees. Gasping, he grabbed at his chest, almost expecting to see a fist-sized hole there, but he was unharmed.

"Papa!" Menka came running up to him and touched him on the shoulder. "What about mum?"

Despite the inexplicable situation, he had to smile briefly. His daughter, even with only a few years, was able to grasp situations much faster than anyone else.

"Papa, what is it?" Reyak too landed beside him.

"I no longer feel the connection with your mother," he said quietly.

"You mean it's been cut?"

Slowly, Piccolo shook his head. "No, it's already there, just blocked, in a most painful way."

Menka closed her eyes. Piccolo thought he knew what she was doing.

"I can't feel Mama's energy," she said after a few seconds.

"You mean she's left the planet?" asked Reyak.

Menka shook her head. "No, I would feel her all over space. She's just gone."

"But she can't be dead either, because if she was, I would be too," Piccolo said in a sombre voice. "She was going to Dende. Let's fly there and ask if he knows anything."

The three of them flew to Dende, who greeted them joyfully. However, when he learned why they had come, the smile faded from his face.

"I had indeed sensed something strange earlier, but I would never have connected it with Kera."

"What was it?"

"A change in the balance of power. There are too many strong dark auras on Earth. The balance is no longer right."

"That's not very helpful." Threateningly, Piccolo lowered himself to Dende.

Menka stood protectively in front of Dende. "Papa, this isn't helping."

Slowly, Piccolo straightened up. "So, what was Kera doing here earlier?"

"That, uh ..." Looking distressed, Dende looked to the floor.

"Please, Dende. We need to find Mama," Menka asked the Namekian in a calm voice.

"All right. I examined her after she had another lapse of memory. In doing so, I found that she ..." He swallowed hard. "... That she is pregnant," he said so softly that his words were only a breath.

"She's what?" Piccolo would have liked to scream, but the words were only a whisper.

Without looking at Piccolo, Dende nodded. "And it almost certainly happened while she was in space."

Piccolo roared, sending a wave of energy racing across the platform. Menka and Dende were swept off their feet and were pushed towards the edge of the platform. Reyak jumped up and caught the two before they crashed.

"Papa, watch out!" shouted Reyak to his father.

Breathing heavily, Piccolo stopped shouting out his anger. Again he had to clutch his chest. The feeling of having lost something vital did not disappear. It was like a hole in his soul. Was it just the pain of the blocked connection or was there something more? Did he feel disappointment that Kera had betrayed him? Was this a normal reaction? He would never have thought that Kera felt the desire to lie with someone else. He himself would never have thought of the idea.

"What do we do now?" asked Reyak quietly, looking at Piccolo.

His mind was racing. He didn't know. If Menka couldn't sense Kera, no one would be able to. She could be anywhere. Why was their connection blocked? Then something occurred to him.