Chapter 3 - Dead, Waiting, and Overthinking (Part 2)

Chapter 3 - Dead, Waiting, and Overthinking (Part 2)

Rodriguez puffs up again, seizing the chance. "Legends whisper that such seeds harbor the forbidden fruits of the gods, capable of unleashing unfathomable destruction upon the mortal world. Alas, the whereabouts of the realm of the gods remain shrouded in mystery, known only to the gods themselves."

Andrez blocks his buddy from my view. "Yet we must speak of facts first and foremost. There have been accounts of planets reduced to desolate husks, devoid of its flora and fauna. All except one tree that pierces the skies born from that very seed, standing like a spear of judgment."

He pauses, a slight smirk on his lips. I don't like where this is going, a thought already brewing in my mind. As though for a dramatic effect, he continues, "And in every account, not a single fruit remains. The only reasonable, dreary conclusion: they have been devoured."

"Andrez, it is most unbecoming of you to indulge in such dire interpretations—"

Could it be? Their further bickering fades into the background as my mind races. Mental images of scenes appear in my mind—of a gigantic tree, of huge roots spanning continents, and of one evil Saiyan whose looks mirror Goku's, Turles.

"Are you guys talking about the Tree of Might?"

They stop their argument midway, turning to me. Rodriguez gasps. "Indeed. What you speak is correct. It is called the Tree of Might."

Andrez's gaze on me changes. "It seems as though you hold a treasure trove of knowledge yourself, Mister...?"

"Just call me Carson."

Our conversation continues, and the more I ask questions, the more I realize of the many dangers that might lie ahead—Lord Slug, the Big Gete Star, Cooler's own empire, the extended family of King Cold, the bloody history of Bojack and his crew, and even the legendary Hirudegarn.

To their surprise, they've also gained a lot of valuable knowledge, such as the existence of the Majin Buu lying dormant on Earth, the situation in the realm of Supreme Kais, and the presence of eleven more universes.

All the while, throughout my whole conversation with the duo, two more souls have been judged, their eternal fates decided. Still, it's hard to stay mad at how long the queue is taking.

My body shivers, the ghostly breeze all coating my body rippling through it, disturbed by emotion. The very thought of being able to fight them sends a rush through me so overwhelming I can't help but shout.

"Kami, this is gonna be a heck of a ride!"

Rodriquez and Andrez stare at me as if I'd grown a second head. With an awkward grin, I excuse myself, thanking them profusely before telling them I have things I need to reflect on first. They offer me pleasantries, Rodriquez drifts closer to Andrez to give me more space, and they go back to their bickering, though not before I ask them to tone it down a little, to which they thankfully comply.

Now going back to business, I close my eyes again, feel the faint ripples of energy inside me. Trying to communicate with it is a bit challenging, but I can feel the ebbs and flows responding to my summons, bit by bit, as I try to shift my mind to a state of oneness with them.

In my mind's eye, I visualize myself at first person—one having a human body with hands and feet. In this realm, I am a god, each of the blue energy particles the size of a firefly swirling around me as they wait for my conscious manipulation. Hopefully.

Although my subconscious would eventually familiarize the energy within my soul body now there's no physical body blocking it, it would probably take a long time. So I have no other option but to control it even when it's foreign. If I observe them with pure intentions, I can probably simulate what Goku did to manipulate them. It should also depend on my willpower, which amplifies my rate of success, I think.

I erase my mind of any negative thoughts to the best of my ability, trying my best to calm my mind and focus on the scene I have visualized.

Doubts creep in, but I pay it no mind. The more I focus on that, the more it surfaces.

I will myself to focus.

"Please, let me share your power."

Energy particles in my mind's eye start to waver and shift, like strings plucked at different notes in a harmonious chord, whispering their collective intent to sustain, to keep me alive. But something's not right. Beneath that harmony, a deeper tone trembles through the core of my soul, one that doesn't belong. It's as if it were born from an instrument crafted solely to echo this alien timbre.

Why does Ki here feel so different? Why does it have a trace of... death?

Then an image of Piccolo's blast washes through me, making me flinch. I snap my eyes open. It's only now, as my senses return to the present, that Rodriguez and Andrez's argument begins to register, their voices sharp and unrelenting.

Ignoring them, I take a deep breath, calming my emotions. It isn't just death that echoes through them—there is the pain, hopelessness, the desperation to cling onto the concept of life.

"It feels different, da?"

I turn around. It's Aleksio. He smiles, looking at me.

"The Ki. Tried sensing it too. Scared the hell out of me, if I'm honest. Like a ghost brushing past. You know what they say—when the soul shivers, it means death is near." He guffaws before I can even get to speak. That's the most expressive he's been the hour I have known him. Then he sighs. "Reminds us what we are now. Dead. No breath, no heartbeat. Only memory of it. You feel it, da?"

"I do." I pause, ruminating on my words. "Did you try to control it?"

He laughs again. "You can't control it, boy. Trust me. I tried."

Aleksio exhales through his nose, head tilting. "Thought I had it. Felt like I did. But it slips, yeah? Like water through fingers. You hold tight, but nothing stays. Just feeling."

He gives a half-smile. "It's like glaring at a healing pod all you want for your fallen comrade—won't patch them up any faster. But here in the afterlife? We don't even have skin left."

"Maybe you're right." I look beneath him. He's onto something. I can feel it. His words spark a lightbulb inside my head. "Maybe you're right."

He snickers. "Told you, kid. I'm always right. Anyway, that's enough deep talk for one day. Go chat with your other friends—those noisy ones. Or you try controlling the Ki yourself, if you're feeling clever. Me? I'm tired."

"Thanks a lot, Sir." I mimic a saluting soldier, chest puffed, cadence and all, minus our nonexistent arms.

"At ease, brat." He turns away from me, looking at the edge of our pathway, down into the abyss of Hell beneath the golden clouds.

Back to my internal world, in my mind's eye, the energy particles greet me in their luminous glory as they revolve around me. Same harmony. Same deathly timbre.

Maybe Aleksio failed because he didn't accept the fact that he's dead, that he's just a mere soul floating in Other World for who Kami knows how long. While he may be proficient in Ki manipulation when he was alive, considering he took it upon himself to try and sense the Ki here, it still isn't enough. From what I understand, Ki is also spiritual, and it needs mental alignment with the body... or soul.

For me, well... When I first realized I was dead, I was excited. It felt like a new beginning, a second chance, even if I didn't know exactly what that meant. But now, standing here, feeling the Ki swirling around me, I realize it's not the same as being alive. My conscious mind knows I'm not really gone: I can come back to life with the Dragon Balls soon if I could just wait for five more years to meet Goku when he dies, if I can get to King Kai first before that happens. However, although I died three times already, this has been my first conscious experience as a soul, and knowing I do not have a physical body, not living the way I once did, is unsettling. It's not fear of death. It's more like... the discomfort of change. My subconscious can't fully grasp what it means to be alive as a soul that it resists the idea of being dead.

I let my imagined body in my mind's eye sit still. As my imagined body breathes in, so does the soul outside. As it breathes out, so do I without.

"I am no longer afraid of my current self."

"I am who I am now. It's nothing to be afraid of."

"I know death is just a second life."

I meditate on these affirmations with eyes open, allowing them to seep into my subconscious. Time passes. Rodriguez and Andrez have fallen silent, likely having exhausted whatever words they could speak in an eternity. Aleksio watches me now and then, his gaze curious but respectful, never interrupting my focus.

I lose track of how many souls have been judged or how many steps I've taken forward in this endless waiting. But then, a shift happens. A knowing. It roots itself in my subconscious, and with it, the realization that something inside me has changed.

I close my eyes.

"I call upon my energies within." The energy particles begin to compact, their glow a little bit brighter, their orbital trajectory halting at my words. "Lend me your energy as a soul. Let me work with you so I may sustain my being and never forget my past existence. Allow me to control what has always been mine."

They glow even brighter, shifting, as though humming at higher frequencies. They begin to draw closer to me.

It's working!

One after another, firefly by firefly, they swarm my imagined body, as though seeing a parent after a long time of absence. More and more appear from the dark edges of my imagined world, and as all of them embrace me in a brilliant blue swirl, that's when a realization dawns upon me—the amount of Ki my soul body has is as much as when this body was alive! Maybe souls reflect the physical body this way. Perhaps this is why Uub retained his strength upon reincarnation.

Wait, I seem to have gotten a little stronger. Or maybe that's just me.

Looking at them, I gesture to hundreds of them, leaving most of them untouched, directing my intentions. A glow pierces through the fabric of my imagined world. Opening my eyes, I see a blue orb of light emanating from my chest and hovers at the level of my head.

Without any hands, I will the orb to throw itself a certain direction to the golden clouds and down beneath. A wave of gasps from the souls nearby erupt.

"I can't believe it." Aleksio stares at me, as though I'm a monster incarnate.

"How long did I take?"

He takes a while to respond: "Give or take, around fifteen days. Most habitable planets follow a similar day cycle."

Before I can respond, a booming voice echoes through. An Ogre Guide, his megaphone in hand, bellows: "All souls from Planet Sapiez, you are hereby instructed to report to King Yemma and receive collective judgment immediately. I repeat: all souls from Planet Sapiez, you may now report to King Yemma immediately and receive collective judgment immediately."

And just like that, as if a dam had been broken, millions of souls surge toward the end of the line, including Rodriguez and Andrez, the semblance of order quickly dissolving into chaos.

Looks like King Yemma finally has finally run out of patience. Strict due process, my foot!

Power Levels:

Carson - 10

Aleksio - 500

Rodriguez - 250

Andrez - 240