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“You don’t seriously believe a socially-constructed rite of passage based on keeping down some foul concoction will confer any strength or wisdom, do you? That is a hopelessly naïve view of personal development.” He reached into the mist and pulled out something that looked like a flower pot. “Besides, this is a much bigger cup.”
It was, too, and with a saucer, like in a fancy restaurant. He was able to empty the rest of the pot into it. They glanced at each other and swigged it at the same time, which only meant they ended up trying not to wince at the same time.
" I'm going to confess to you one thing that few people in this world still know. "
Pan looks at Frieza, the glow of the flames reflected in his pupils, the bloody lake appearance turning to ruby. The steam rising from her cup flees into a painful past, the present becoming unreal.
" My desires shaped the ships of the Cold Army when I still did not understand the intricacies of this world. "
This sentence should have made his storyteller proud. This is not the case. Not the shadow of a smile. No breath of a sigh escapes. He seems to visualize the invisible beyond the flames, captivated by a scene that Pan cannot see. She begins to open her mouth but holds back her questions so as not to disturb the Emperor's memories and chooses to drown in the darkness of her own cup.
A minute stretches out in time, only the crackling fire in front of them seems alive.
" My people were on Ketchyn long before theirs. "
Pan does not raise her head, she prefers to listen. This story, she knows it. At least she knows a version. No need to name the invader, she knows. Closing her eyes, the young girl lets herself be transported by her strangely calm and melancholy voice.
" When the Sutovas came, they were unfit for this life. Instead of adapting and integrating, they decided it was up to the planet to change and its people to submit. "
" The prismasphere was created. " Pan breaks the narrative. She raises her head suddenly, aware of her transgression, and meets Frieza's gaze. The rubies have given way to a bottomless abyss of crimson sadness. The girl doesn't know how to apologize.
" From that day, EVERYTHING was taken away from us!" Her ebony lips made her words even harder. Pan can't escape, she feels herself sucked in by that red glow that doesn't hesitate to pierce her soul.
" I used to come out of my room to look at the sky when sleep took hold of the residents. Then, people began to disappear into the surrounding villages and the sky changed into this colorful leaden screed. Used to going out into the gardens at any time of the day, my brother and I were no longer allowed to leave Cold Manor." He finally looks away. " I was too young to realize the magnitude of King Flare's acts of destruction and, to protect us, our parents locked us in this golden cage, making us blind to the world. Our young age did not prevent us from asking ourselves questions, until the day when these questions became obsolete. "
Silence again.
In its stillness, Frieza looks like a Greek statue draped in black. Her posture is upright, dignified, too perfect to be real. The light dances on her immaculate skin. Pan finds himself admiring the shadows waltzing down his neck but doesn't realize that the heat on his cheeks isn't from the flames. She wants to stop time, but she doesn't have the power. She wants to spare him this painful memory, but she doesn't have the strength. She would like to be soothing but she does not have the will. She feels useless.
The Emperor's chest swells, his eyes close.
" They forced the front doors open. Mother ordered us to hide in places that only we knew. But eventually they found us. Trained, methodical, relentless soldiers. I remember a dark, ominous, colorless sky. It was the last image of the outside world that I saw before… "
She can't hear the rest of his sentence, she doesn't need to. Official Gelata has already told him about the Cold family, the imprisonment, the hunt, the death of the Queen. She is grateful to be seated as her legs would not support her weight. Even if not, Pan feels like he can feel the Vile Wave sliding down his back, draining his energy. She stays in the same position, ignoring the pain in her neck. Of the two protagonists, she is the one who becomes a statue.
Frieza continues her sad story. From a conquering emperor of the universe, he again becomes a child in Pan's eyes. A child who has suffered an unthinkable tragedy. A child raising doubts about the veracity of Uncle Vegeta's words. A child questioning the definition of evil.
"… Father wanted to have us by his side, even during his conquests. He asked us each what we wanted. I can't remember Cooler's response, maybe because it didn't matter to me. But I will never be able to suppress the sight of my father going to speak with a manager of the ship manufacturer he had just purchased. I heard through the wall the astonishment of this worker at this incongruous order. Why not limit the bay windows to the control room? The financial impact was going to be undeniable. I didn't know the true value of the money at the time, but after what happened on Ketchyn, no matter where I was on the ship, I just wanted ... "
See the stars.