Dragon Ball Dark

Reawakening: Piccolo

Piccolo drew a sharp breath and opened his eyes. He knew he'd sensed something. At first, he was inclined to pass it off as another one of the starts he'd been having ever since...

They called it the Reawakening. It had supposedly occurred during his battle with the Namekians of Universe 6, when he was defeated by their crushing spirit, the spirit of many Namekians just thirsting for his blood. The two other spirits inside him, that of the Guardian, Kami and of the warrior, Nail, were supposed to have been awoken.

Piccolo only felt the after-effects much later on. He could sense anything going on in planets far away. He could psychically communicate with anyone in his universe. He felt like he knew everything there was to know. But most importantly, he could communicate with Kami and Nail inside his head. Kami had told him that this was his powers as a Guardian that was settling in after the Reawakening.

Piccolo wasn't sure how he felt about this. He had always had his principles clear about being private and giving others their privacy. Now he went against both, as he had two foreign spirits inside him, knowing his darkest thoughts and deepest feelings, and also as he now could read anyone's mind and see beforehand anybody's actions.

If this was the burden of being a god, Piccolo wasn't sure he wanted to be a god.

But all three spirits in Piccolo's body knew that what he sensed was too big for him to ignore. So Piccolo stood, donned his weighted clothes and took off at lightning speed. A few seconds later, he stood at the edge of Kami's Lookout, now inhabited by the new Guardian, also a Namekian called Dende. Dende ran out of the majestic palace to greet him.

A few moments passed, as Piccolo found himself sitting in the vast gardens, sipping tea. He felt oddly nostalgic; a restless feeling inside him.

"They are not yours," said Mr Popo, glancing towards Piccolo from the corner of his eye as he watered a patch of tulips. Piccolo clenched his teeth. He knew what Popo meant. The thoughts weren't his. They were Kami's. This scared Piccolo, though he never admitted it to anybody. He couldn't even distinguish his feelings and ideas from the old Guardian's. Where did he fit in? The thought of him being driven out of his own body...

Piccolo gulped his tea down and headed inside. He first had to get ahead of whatever this was before getting into his personal issues. He found Dende in the map room, where he was examining all the celestial bodies in the direction Piccolo pointed.

"Any progress?" Piccolo asked. Dende shook his head. "I should have known better," he muttered. "Whatever happened, I sensed it too. It's vague, but it's there. The catch is, Mr Piccolo, for all we know, it might have been a star imploding. The only way to make sure is to actually go there and check."

Piccolo shrugged his agreement and turned. Closing his eyes, he thought, 'Nail, Kami, do you hear me?'

'We are here,' came the reply. Piccolo shivered. This wasn't so much a dialogue as just information being presented to his mind. They were in his head. This level of transparency still gave him chills.

'I need your advice on this matter. Both of yours,' Piccolo thought.

'Dende is right. Take Goku.'

'Why, are there any powerful enemies there?'

'No, his Instantaneous Transmission is useful in getting you there. And you're right, you've got to get him to teach that to you.'

'Huh. Do you have any idea what's there?'

Silence.

Piccolo grunted. If he could hit himself and it hurt the both of them, he would. "I'm going there," Piccolo said. "Adieu, Dende. You seem to be doing great as the Guardian."