Chapter 17:




Then Dune ran away crying and locked himself in her room. Dende was left speechless and told Piccolo what had happened. At first he was angry because his pupil was no longer sitting in her seat like "ordered" and looking for him, but when he found out what she had seen, it suddenly died down. 'She learns really fast! But what she saw bothers me a lot ... '


"Piccolo, she said she couldn't do it! I think she's giving up ..." - 'What? No you will not!'


The addressed turned around at these words and ran into the palace. When he turned into the hallway in which Dune's room was lying, he could already hear the loud music. It was without any singing and even had a calming effect on him. But it was definitely too loud for his sensitive ears. He kept the sharp eavesdroppers and finally went into her room.The light of the sun tilting towards the horizon shone diagonally through the window front and bathed the large room in warm yellowish tones. He didn't see her, but he felt her aura on the balcony.


Dune stood at the railing, staring at the passing clouds, and fought back tears. She was afraid. Fear of being too weak, of losing. Afraid for their friends and afraid of disappointing them. Only the strength of her opponent had made her aware that this was by no means a game and that she had a huge responsibility. She had never had to bear great responsibility, except for herself. But now it was clear that the fate of all humanity was in her hands. The burden seemed to crush her inside and as if to confirm she sank to the ground. Curled up, she knelt on the floor and silent sobs shook her body, 'I can't do this. I will fail. 'She put her hands over her face and hid her tear-soaked skin behind them.Piccolo had watched all of this silently. Now he walked up to her, leaned down and put his big hands on her trembling shoulders.


"You will do it. I believe in you and you will do it." He pulled her shoulders up and turned her around. Then he squeezed her shoulders, signaling that she should look at him. Immediately her hands dropped and she lifted her head but did not look at him. "I'm going to fail, he's too strong for me !!!"


- "Look at me when I talk to you," he said sternly. Reluctantly, she raised her gaze and met his black eyes. She was surprised to find that he didn't look stern or angry, but rather gentle and imploring. "You won't give up, do you hear? I forbid you! I trust you and I know that you will make it. After all, you are my student and my students won't give up, understand?" His voice sounded sharp again, and he tolerated no contradiction.

A pained smile came over her lips and in the next instant she had put her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest. At first the tall Namek looked wide-eyed at something sobbing again, but finally he wrapped his arms around her body and hugged her comfortingly. He didn't even know why he was doing this. Out of pity? Or was something like a protective instinct awakened in him? Actually, the former devil couldn't figure it out, but he gave in to his feelings and just held on to them.


After a few minutes she finally stopped sobbing and just sniffed as she wiped the tears from her cheeks. He let go of her and heard a soft "Thank you, that was nice of you" before she went back to her room and turned off the music there. Piccolo ran past her and wanted to leave the room again. He saw his task as done and found it pointless to stay any longer.Dune noticed this, of course, and struggled inwardly. 'Should I do it? There is no better opportunity and if he doesn't take part, that's exactly my thanks! '


“Piccolo, wait!” She had grabbed his right arm and looked into his eyes, but she couldn't. She let go of his arm and looked at the floor. "What is it?" The Namek asked impatiently. "Oh nothing, I just wanted to thank you again." It was just a whisper and Piccolo raised an eyebrow in amazement (I know he doesn't have that, but "upper eye bulges" sound stupid!). Knowing that it wasn't what she wanted to tell him, he just said "good" and disappeared out the door. When he closed it behind him, it occurred to him that he hadn't even praised her for her progress. Contrary to expectations, she had already discovered her Feins, even more so, she had seen that he was no longer far away. He wondered if she had even seen him.'No, even she can't do that, although she can be trusted to do it ...', brooding, he ran outside and began meditating.


Dune had meanwhile spontaneously grabbed her bathing suit and a blanket and had flown to "your" clearing in the forest. The things fell carelessly into the grass and she ran into the crystal clear water. The sky was already frosty and the lake had turned a strange color. From a distance one saw only a black silhouette in the red sea, which moved evenly through the water. After a while she floated up a bit and made all sorts of jumps back into the water. It felt good to be so exhausted again. Her mind was clear of all thoughts and she could even forget the danger that was waiting for her for a while. When she finally came out of the water there was only a bright streak left on the horizon, which testified to the setting of the sun. She wrapped herself in a large fluffy towel and sank onto her blanket.The lake water itself had been very cold and so she didn't feel cold now. The air was still warm and there was no breeze. After watching the sky for a few minutes, she finally dried off and put on her clothes. Then she flew home. To your new home, in God's palace. She really felt at home there already, a smile flickered over her lips when she thought about it.


When she arrived in God's palace, she first went to the kitchen to look for something to eat. She had found what she was looking for and made her way to her room with a tray. After a quick shower, she put on her sleeping clothes and sat cross-legged to begin her meal. There it was again, the feeling she had the evening after her first bathing trip. She felt so ...'... clean, yes I think that's the right word. And free. 'She put the tablet away and went brushing her teeth. After that, the exhaustion did its job and in no time she was deeply asleep.

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Everything was black around her, and cold, so cold! And then she saw a light. At first far away, just as a small point, and then it seemed to come closer. But it wasn't warm as I had hoped, it was blinding white and just as cold as this blackness. And then she saw something in the light. No, not something, someone. And he held out a hand to her. She found that he was extremely handsome, he had black hair and bright blue eyes, an interesting mix. His face was finely cut and his skin was visibly tanned despite the glaring light. An absolute dream guy, at least that would have been thought by anyone who had not looked him in the eye. Because these were strangely empty and so cold. Cold again. She froze even more at the sight of him. And then he began to change ...


His eyes glowed acid green, turned yellowish, and eventually darkened until they were all black.His hair turned red and moved like flames. Blood ran down his fingers. She was shocked because the blood was purple, like that of the Namekians.


A harsh scream tore her from her stupor and she could see the teeth growing black and growing in his cracked mouth. His lips shrank and could no longer cover his fangs. Then his skin turned dark brown and finally black and his hands turned into claws.


Dune vomited, she had never seen anything more repulsive. The monster in front of her suddenly picked up something and when she realized what it was she screamed. She screamed as loud as she could and she could feel tears running down her cheeks in torrents.


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Piccolo had just come into Dune's room to wake her up for morning workout when she started screaming like crazy.She thrashed around wildly and tossed and turned. The big Namek had meanwhile grabbed her arms and was shaking her while he was practically yelling at her to wake up.


And finally she opened her eyes. Piccolo was still hunched over her and she took advantage of the moment of surprise and fell around his neck. He just let it happen and caught single bits of word she whispered to herself: "Just a dream ... happy ... still alive ... such fear ... monsters ..." - "It's good, you have you are now convinced that I am still alive! " with that he pushed her away and just looked at her coolly. "Get ready, you have to keep training and I don't have forever." he had put on his grim expression again and finally turned away.


Sighing, she wiped her tear-soaked face and stood up. Suddenly she was ashamed of having shown him how weak she actually was. Yes, she was ashamed that he had seen her tears.

She ran into the bathroom and took a cold shower. Then she put on black jazz pants, a tight, sleeveless top, and her sneakers. When she left the palace she immediately got goose bumps.


"Phew, it's cold here!", Her face darkened and she had to think about her dream again. He had been so terrible and she was so scared.


She shuddered and started looking for her teacher. She couldn't see him. So the young woman closed her eyes and concentrated. When she saw or felt where he was, she quickly made a huge leap forward and turned around. When she landed, she put herself in attack position and stared at her opponent. "You learn really well! But today we will make the whole thing a little more difficult. He ran to her and tied the handkerchief from the previous day in front of her eyes again.


Then he launched various