T’charrl was very nervous, unable to quite understand what he was supposed to say while he was in the presence of the King again. It was hard the first time, but the silence made him rather uneasy and worried that he might cause a spectacle. The juice certainly didn’t help, he was just sitting rather awkwardly with the rest of them with his tongue in his juice from the moment he got it, not actually taking a drink from it. This was all for him and he was looking like an idiot in front of a foreign King to whom he met not all that long ago. He just wasn’t used to strangers was all, even if he had once seen them before. With a rather awkward staring at he slowly shifted his eyes to his juice, staring at it for only a moment before sighing to himself. The King was being really nice just like last time, even sharing his thoughts and his inspirations for the future. He was definitely feeling embarrassed, but he couldn’t say anything that didn’t sound stupid.

Getting a little lost in thought over his own embarrassment he gasped and nearly dropped his juice when the sound of the book gave him quite the startle. He wasn’t paying attention at all and thought there was an attack for a moment before he saw it was all fine. He needed to not be so tense, although it was hard not to be when everything in his life depended on was with this training. This was simply the calm before the storm and all it could do was make him worried for his existence. If he messed up he might end up losing control and having to be destroyed like the ones of the past, it’d be a complete disaster. Eventually suckling his juice he kept a steady frown, staring at the book momentarily before to the King upon hearing his solution.

He didn’t know what he was doing wrong if that was the solution, he had been trying meditation but maybe he hadn’t been doing it right; then again, he had just been doing it the way he had read about in normal books and was probably for simple problems like stress. He certainly had a lot of stress, but he also had other problems going on so it probably wasn’t the right type of meditation. Nodding a little with his gaze low he frowned and stared down at his juice, giving a little nod in acknowledgement before looking to his father. “I-I don’t have any complaints. I told my friends I would be away for a month or so…” he spoke, looking away again, “Maybe…I’ll be okay with doing this. I think I can do this…maybe. What do I need to do…?”

--

Viral may had agreed to do this treatment stuff with Aito but it didn’t mean he was at all pleased with having to do so. Even though he didn’t know what the treatment was going to involve it was his reluctance to trust Aito that made him not quite get into the mood, his interest in the session wavering already. This wasn’t going to work, he didn’t have the attention needed to try and get his mind fixed. It had been too long with too much that had happened to him, he probably wasn’t going to be able to be fixed up. It was certainly something for the rebels to even allow this to go on in their own facilities, especially when it was someone they did not like using it. It didn’t matter how comfortable the room was, he didn’t feel at all comfortable being left with Aito with the possibility that he was being monitored and recorded. He didn’t like it, leaving the room feeling much stuffier than it should be.

Aito certainly seemed to be at ease despite the obvious trap-like qualities of the room, not to mention he wasn’t exactly feeling happy being near the man like this. The whole thing felt awkward as hell, but despite his level of paranoia over scheming rebels it was probably the most secure room apart from the window. Maybe there was somebody out there quietly keeping an eye on them, it didn’t sound like it would be too farfetched for sure. Groaning lowly he looked back at Aito from the window, narrowing his gaze before looking away with a grunt. Not really caring much about all the little details he was already running out of patience, still wondering about whether he was being watched. “Tch, what’s PTSD? I don’t see what good me describing it is…” he muttered, already feeling put off, “It’s being broken, is what. When you start to fail as a soldier because you can’t get your head back into it. Or maybe it’s when you’ve just had enough of everything because I certainly have! You’ve given me no purpose despite me being made for one. Maybe that’s what it is, how should I know…”

"As we said, it's all about balance between the mind and body. That is the only way you can learn to control the spirit inside of you," Nema answered. Using the arms of his chair to push himself forward he leaned atop the table, holding up a fruit to T'charrl to see. "Imagine that this is you, whole and complete. Now..." Using a knife he split it directly down the middle and held each half in opposite hands, smiling as he showed them to T'charrl. "One is your mind, the other the body. Two halves of one whole, each can be powerful in their own respect but together they are greater than the individual pieces. So the whole can break into two parts, but what happens if one part..." Nema took a pause as he grabbed the knife again, slicing off half of one of the halves and setting it aside, "Is larger than the other? You still have two halves but now they are not equal, there is no balance. Now either the body cannot be controlled by the mind, or the mind has no influence over the body. They must be of equal strength at all times to make sure neither piece of the whole grows out of control."

"So we will train both your body and mind, and your father and I will take separate parts in this. Your father will take care of strengthening your body and I your mind. We will perform meditations and exercises to help both bring peace of mind as well as strengthen and steel your focus. With a sharp enough mind you can control any power you may wield, that includes the spirit." Setting the halves of the fruit back on the plate he wiped his hands off, smiling as he gestured to Yusef to pick up where he left off.

"And while you work on that with the King, you and I will train your body as we said," Yusef added. "From what we understand a lot of it isn't just pure strength, a lot of the control you need involves stamina and endurance as well. Your body has to be able to withstand the power that the spirit can give you and be able to use it for prolonged periods of need be. So there will be strength training to be sure, but most of it will be focused on raising your stamina. And I already have plenty of ideas in mind for what we can do." Flight would be an excellent way to build both strength and stamina, and the area was filled with plenty of excellent spots for them to train. Shifting in his chair and folding one leg over the other Yusef used a claw to trace a pattern on the table for T'charrl to see, etching out a narrow passage in the grain. "Nema has shown me a canyon nearby where strong winds pass through, its an excellent place for children and adults alike to improve their flying. We will begin there, you can learn to fly through the strong gusts, and doing so will improve your strength and stamina at the same time. How does that sound to you?"

------------

"It helps to know what it is you're facing, and it puts it into perspective," Aito explained, smiling slightly as he itched at his cheek, "It means that the issue isn't some intangible, unchanging force we can't influence. Putting a name to a problem gives it an identity, and if we know what the problem is then we know what the solution is as well." Viral's answer was interesting, though he did go off on slightly more of a tangent than he'd anticipated. Purpose? Soldier? Did he assume that only those who were in combat could suffer from the disorder? Being 'out of it' sounded more akin to feeling defeated and perhaps depressed, a common trait that came with PTSD. So it appeared that the diagnosis was correct, now to further educate Viral on the matter and help establish some kind of proper treatment.

"Failing as a soldier? So is what happened to you your own fault then?" Without answering Aito could already surmise what Viral was going to answer but gave him a moment to give a response regardless. "Quite often people who go through this blame themselves for the event. Either we deserved it, or we were too weak, or we simply put ourselves into the situation. It is important to remember however that none of that is true, that you were the victim of circumstance and none of it was your fault. Nor does the fact you were subjected to any of that reflect on your competency as a soldier. So tell me something... Prior to the event would you have considered yourself incompetent as a soldier? Did you have victories before, or even since then? Or have you only lost battles?" He of course knew the answer to that as well, Viral had been tasked with settling some battles as far back as when Vegeta and Yumi were children still and he'd always come out of it the victor, his competency wasn't in question. "What has happened that makes you believe it is your fault? And what has happened which would make it not your fault? Can you think of anything?"

T’charrl stared at Nema with a little worry and concern, watching as he picked up the fruit and cut it in half. He didn’t know what the King was planning with the fruit as if expecting him to eat it, not exactly start talking about him and using the fruit to demonstrate. Shifting a little uncomfortably on his seat he slowly raised his shoulders, lowering his head as he continued to watch the fruit being cut away. He felt a little broken when putting it that way, his mind in need of repairs. Maybe if the explanation wasn’t done in such a brutal way he would’ve felt a little better about it, not quite fearing for his mind and body at the same time. Frowning deeply he looked slowly over to his father again, hearing out his plan of action. It was certainly great that they both had an idea on what they were going to do to help him but in combination with the sliced fruit and the thought of training until he was hurting made him a little worried. Flying wasn’t too bad, but if he got too tired and crashed he would injure himself pretty badly.

Watching as his father then proceeded to carve into the table he gasped and shrank away a little, looking between his father and Nema quickly before he rubbed at his head in worry and embarrassment. “Father…that’s not our table…b-but I, uhh, understand…” His only hope now was that he wasn’t going to end up crashing and having to get medical attention. He would just be destroying progress and making things so much worse. He knew he was a bit of an idiot sometimes and very clumsy, but he hoped he wasn’t going to be as such while training. Sighing a little he looked back to his father, smiling a little. “I think it sounds pretty good…I mean, I look forward to it, even if it’s going to be difficult I’ll still try really hard to get better! I don’t want to be weak and struggle anymore, I want to be strong…”

--

Viral didn’t much care for talking about his condition, it was just making him angry at himself for even getting into this state. He was supposed to be proud and strong, but this just made him weak and pathetic. He didn’t care if Aito told him he was strong for whatever reason, if he was constantly feeling weakened and unable to get a clean win he wasn’t strong and that was it. This was already starting to feel like a whole load of pointlessness. He didn’t know how talking about such trivial things was going to help him when it certainly didn’t feel great to talk about these things. By all means he was feeling worse, especially when Aito was proceeding to question him about his reasons for feeling this way. Getting annoyed he slowly slouched back, his arms folded. “If I can’t get my head in what I was made to do, then that’s failure…”

Aito just sounded like he had read all this from a textbook the previous day and was reciting certain points from it. He wasn’t going to go ahead and say he was wrong to feel those things and that he felt a lot better because he had been told otherwise, it wasn’t going to be that simple. Narrowing his gaze when he was simply given more questions to answer he growled lowly, tapping his foot against the floor momentarily. “I’ve not had a victory in a long time! Battles always end with a large loss, they just feel like jobs that need completed with nothing gained and everything lost”, he grunted before slowly sitting up again, “Incase you missed it with I don’t doubt that you just didn’t care or bother to pay attention, but the whole reason we’re even off Earth in the first place is because I lost! I couldn’t defeat a single Saiyan by myself and I was chosen to protect the planet? Everything that’s happened is because I lost! Are you satisfied or are you simply going to give me the generic ‘not your fault’ speech…”

Ah right, they were at King Nema's home weren't they? Yusef smiled and apologized to which Nema graciously dismissed it, going as far to drag his own claw across the tabletop, much to the chagrin of his staff, to prove how little an issue it was. "And because I know you're concerned about training know that we'll have plenty of safety measures in place. The chasm itself isn't too bad, most of the jagged rocks have been removed and the rest smoothed down as much as it can be. But we'll have a net inside to catch you if you should lose your balance and be blown back, and..." the general added with a gesture to Haku, "Your friend has agreed to... Er... What did you call it?"

"Spot you! It's s-something that we did when w-we were exercising back home," Haku explained, shifting in his seat and smiling nervously as he placed his hands on the table, "I'll be f-flying with you wh-while you practice, and if you get knocked a-away or fall I can catch you. I should be able to d-do it, with my Ki and all..." Of course their size difference might make things a touch awkward but he'd been introduced to it earlier this morning, part of Yusef's plan to train his son. Since he had relatively little else to do while here on Kaesstra, and the fact he was basically here for T'charrl it was only natural he help out.

"Splendid! Then we'll begin your lessons soon, after all we've only so much time until you leave again, yes? Do not worry my boy, if all goes to plan you'll be back to your old self before the month is even passed!" It all depended again on how well T'charrl took to the training and just how much work he had to do from where he was now. The boy said he was weak yet he was far stronger than any other of their people already, but it took a certain kind of strength to be able to hold and control a spirit. "But today is not a day for training and we should enjoy ourselves! Just as important as the mind and body is the soul. We must take care of ourselves and be happy, for everything else matters not when you're sad, don't you think?" Nema asked with a smile as he again raised his glass, "A toast, I say, to our health, our happiness and our futures! Today we dine, tomorrow begins the journey for T'charrl's recovery!"

----------

"Ah yes... Krom and his men attacked Earth, you all fought back but you were beaten and taken away. Then, from what I recall, Takeshi and Shu chased after you to try and save you, which resulted in the three of you becoming forcibly... Enlisted. Sound about right?" Highly unlikely that he hadn't been paying attention, while in Otherworld there was little to do other than watch over Viral and the others. How frustrating it had been to watch that battle take place and be utterly incapable of helping the situation; attacking Krom upon their meeting had been a cathartic experience for Aito. "Let me repeat that: Takeshi and Shu chose to go after you. What happened to them, however unfortunate, was a result of their decisions, not yours. As for your loss if I remember right you had been deprived of sunlight, and there were hardly any opponents on Earth which could rival Krom's power at the time. When you consider everything then the outcome was bad, yes, but it could have been worse. And look where you two are now: Krom has been relegated to training while you're a pivotal part of freedom movement for many worlds."

"To bring the discussion back to PTSD though... This treatment is designed to put PTSD in perspective, namely whatever it is that's bothering you. I'd imagine you feel a degree of guilt and worthlessness right now, certainly judging by what you said anyways," Aito explained as he leaned forward and folded his hands over his knees, "We'll work on helping you to look at the events you experienced objectively, and to not put the blame for them upon yourself. I could easily sit here and tell you it was out of your power or you were purely in the wrong place at the wrong time," he continued with a slight smile, "But then that doesn't fix anything. So that will be our first step, helping you to look at this from an outside perspective. Now I would like to ask you something: is a soldier worthless if they fight? Is victory the only thing that quantifies a soldier as being 'good', or does the fact they fight no matter the odds make a good soldier?"

T’charrl looked to Nema before slowly frowning, watching as he decided to copy his father and start carving into the table too. While it was probably all done for the humour of the moment and make things a little more casual it was simply making him feel uncomfortable, like his standards were very poor compared and much too stiff. It made him feel like the odd one out again, like he was being the one who needed to loosen up and to stop being such a stiff. Glancing at his father briefly he let out a slight sigh, looking elsewhere as he continued to talk about the course, his thoughts straying away from the thought of the course before he gasped, when Haku suddenly and enthusiastically spoke up. Staring at him for a moment he slowly frowned when he realised all the responsibility of him staying on course was also going to fall to Haku and the pressure that he’d be able to catch him if he ever did falter. He knew his planet’s gravity was probably less than what Haku was used to but he didn’t know if he would be prepared to catch him considering he was quite a bit taller than him, not to mention he was pretty dusty compared to a lot of other Kaesstrians meaning he might end up generally grossed out by him by the end of it all.

Tapping on his glass in thought for a moment he frowned and lowered his head for a moment before his eyes slowly wavered over to King Nema again, smiling somewhat nervously at him. “I-I guess so, I’ve just got to…try really hard…” He was prepared to give it his all but now he felt like he had a deadline to meet and absolutely had to have it all completed before he was to head out again. He knew that it was going to be hard, but he didn’t know exactly how he was going to accomplish it and whether he was going to manage in time. He would be a disappointment if he didn’t get it together by then, even if everyone told him he wasn’t he knew he was going to be for wasting everyone’s time. Scratching at the fur around his neck he looked to Nema before slowly raising his glass as well, smiling a little. “Uhh, y-yeah…for my recovery…” he muttered before pulling the glass back towards him and hastily drank from it, his mind immediately going back to how he was going to handle all of this pressure put upon him. He didn’t have much time to recover and get better so everything was suddenly a race for him to get done. He didn’t want to exhaust himself, but he was thinking he was going to feel a bit broken by the end of this.

--

Viral wasn’t exactly impressed that Aito actually showed he was paying some attention to what was happening in his life, it just felt like because the Earth was being attacked that he was suddenly interested in it. He didn’t see him pay any attention to his life when there was nothing happening, otherwise he wouldn’t had ended up forgetting about ever helping him. It was just normal to him to be ignored, he expected it throughout his life and was expecting it from Aito and June too. Such behaviour was just accepted by him as being a regular occurrence, it didn’t make him feel terribly great to receive, however. “You think it being their decision to go after me makes it any better? I do not think so”, he spoke, not feeling he had to explain why it was that conclusion he came to again, “I highly doubt I could beat Krom even now, I don’t care about his plans to train the others when it’s obvious he’s acting on orders…”

He highly doubted he could face up against Krom and win this time, he wasn’t exactly getting any stronger and felt like he was constantly staying the same. The only reason he was able to beat opponents was because he could take a lot of punishment before he couldn’t take anymore, another being the Saiyans expected him to not be in a battle against them and didn’t bring their countermeasures against him. They just needed to hit him with their nullifier and he wouldn’t stand a chance. This whole session felt pointless already, he was already mentally blocking Aito’s reassurances. Feeling like he had already been defeated by his mind already he closed his eyes, sighing to himself as Aito continued to ask questions about his beliefs and how he saw being a soldier. “Soldiers are only worth something if they can do their job! If a soldier cannot then why are you one? If they fight no matter the odds and get defeated or die then they’ve failed! Are you going to say this is all wrong too? You’re not a soldier so what’s the point…”

"Excellent! We'll begin tomorrow then if you're ready, no reason to wait any longer than we have to," Nema declared excitably as he rubbed his claws together, "And remember, my dear boy, this is not something you are to do alone. In the history of our people those with this power all had to learn to use it, no one was naturally gifted, and countless others have walked the same path as you. So do remember that this is not only your efforts but ours as well! Together we will master this new strength of yours and make it your own." They had but a month's time to do so and depending on how much they had to work on it could be quite a pressed timeline for them. It was perhaps for the best that T'charrl leave at the end of the sessions whether he was successful or not, there would be others who might seek him out for his power. War between kingdoms was fading fast but there would still be some who sought to make his strength into a weapon, as many had done in the past. But saying such a thing would really crush the mood right now and today was not meant to be somber, but to celebrate and prepare!

Did T'charrl trust him enough to help? Haku hadn't exactly shown much strength since he'd joined this group, though it wasn't like he'd had much of a chance when their only real fight were against some freakish monsters on New Namek. He'd been asked to help and he'd do so but it would be nice to think that his friend could trust his ability to do so. "Y-You'll do great. Besides, you have Ki too, d-don't you? So you can use that to help f-fly," Haku suggested hopefully, smiling as he pressed his fingers together uncertainly. "If just using your w-wings is too h-hard you can always use Ki t-too," he continued as he looked down at the table nervously, "You probably w-won't even need my help, I'm sure you'll do fine! B-But I'll be there if you do need it!" Yusef had been excited about having him play a role and said it would be a good thing to have a friend there. He'd learned all about how T'charrl hadn't really had friends growing up and that was exactly the same for Haku, neither had been terribly popular it seemed. Now that they did have friends neither of them really seemed to know what to do about it. Just perfect. Smiling to himself Haku rubbed his thumbs together and leaned forward, closing his eyes as he let out a sigh. "And when we go back you're going to be all better and s-surprise everyone, then they'll all know how a-awesome you are, right?"

----------

"Is it a soldier's job to fight, or is a soldier's job only to win? If a soldier is meant to protect and they do so, even if it means losing the fight, then have they failed? Or have they succeeded?" It seemed like Viral was far more preoccupied with the notion that he should be utterly infallible, that no matter what the odds he should win. It was a dangerous mindset as no one was invincible, not even the mightiest of fighters like Son Goku or his grandfather had been. One only had to look to the recent past to see how faulty such a mindset was, perhaps that was the first thing they would rectify. "You're right that I'm not a soldier, but that doesn't mean I haven't fought. Look at my predecessors, my own family, none of them were soldiers. Yet would you call them failures?" Would Viral consider him a failure. He seemed to either forget or repress that he had in fact won a battle against a Saiyan before, granted Aito hadn't exactly fought to kill or even harm back then. At best that was semantics and at worst it was only going to further Viral's depression, best not to bring it up then.

"Tell me something Viral... Does everything that is done have to be perfect? Anything less than that is considered failure?" Perfection was impossible, failure was absolute, his years of study and work had shown him that. Not all failures were catastrophic and certainly most were beneficial, it was how one learned and improved over the course of time. Deciding to redirect the questioning slightly Aito folded an arm over the arm of his chair and rested his chin in his palm, studying Viral thoughtfully as he tapped a foot against the padded floor. "Do you believe that everything everyone else does is flawless? Or does everyone make mistakes and have shortcomings? Yes, failure for certain professions have grander consequences than others, a doctor's failure is vastly more detrimental than that of the teenager flipping your hamburger. But the fact remains no one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes, everyone fails. So if everyone fails no one is perfect, yet failing occasionally does not make a failure, does it?"

T’charrl nodded a little, giving Nema a nervous smile before looking down at his drink again. “I know…umm, sir. It’s just I’ve done this by myself for as long as I could remember, just with my grandmother guiding me with words. This whole thing isn’t exactly something people like to talk about, after all”. He had been alone with it for the longest time without a living soul to help him, so it was going to take a while to adjust. He didn’t know how well he was going to get on with it at all whether he was going to be able to use his past experiences to better himself or if he was just going to end up collapsing and failing horribly by the time he needed to go back. He was pretty useless and often only got things done as a fluke so he was pretty nervous since it was a case of either getting better or not at all with no in-betweens. He hoped the pressure wasn’t going to get to him, he didn’t need something like that when he was pretty close to finding a proper solution that would make him feel better and be able to control his power, maybe he could even talk to the Spirit without having to lose consciousness to do so too.

Looking to Haku when he offered some words of encouragement he smiled a little, looking back to his glass. “I don’t want to use Ki, though…I mean, even though I’m not great at that either, it won’t corrupt me. If I fail at training then I should take the punishment head on”, he spoke before frowning, shaking his head, “I don’t want to cheat myself. I trust you to help me, even if you did nearly completely burned me that one time…” Maybe he was going to end up badly injured during this training, but he wasn’t going to let that get him down. He had worked too hard on himself to get to the condition he was in now. What he just needed to do now was learn how to properly meditate and get stronger, he just needed to believe he could do it. Rubbing his head as if to try and ease the stress away he let out a sigh, glancing at Haku. “Huh…? I-I don’t know about that…I mean, they probably won’t know much has changed”, he spoke, giving his head a scratch, “I don’t think they recognise differences in me unless it’s drastic…I mean, I am a different species and all. It’s probably harder for them to see a difference in me even if I did something like cut my hair. My only hope is that they remember me for when I go back to them, you know? I’ll understand if they don’t, though. I mean…I am pretty forgetful even to my own people…”

--

Viral was having about enough with this philosophical talk Aito was spouting out right now. It felt as if he was trying to make him out to be some sort of idiot with all these words which was just getting to the point of irritating and making him want to leave. He was getting close to punching the guy and walking out if he continued to treat him like an idiot child. “Why do you ask me such stupid questions! If your session was to frustrate me, you’re doing a good job of that!” If this was all the session was going to be then he was just going to give up now and be done with it. This was obviously not going to work, he was just not patient enough to deal with Aito and him treating this whole thing like he was a child. “Vegeta hardly ever won many battles, but this isn’t about him or the rest of your family…”

Just what was Aito trying to accomplish, anyway? It didn’t make him feel any better and all he was doing was treating him like he was wrong to be thinking all these things and that it was his own fault for being in this state because of his mindset. It felt too much like he was being scolded for it. It was all just typical with Vegeta’s family, anything he did wrong or didn’t do properly a hundred percent he was punished and told off for his failure and this was just turning into that but in a roundabout way of accomplishing it. He was probably going to be subjected to this over and over again until it was forced out of his mind and corrected to the way of thinking Aito expected of him. Growling lowly as Aito continued to tell him off for his way of thinking he simply grew frustrated, growing rather tired of his little questions. “Why should any of them matter?? They were not made to be soldiers or doctors or whatever! Why should they have to worry about perfection when that’s not how nature works??” he shouted right back at Aito, simply fed up with it. “You made me to fight and come out victorious! You had no other intention for me when you decided to create me! Why don’t you just tell me I’m wrong and idiotic for thinking this way and get it over with?? At least when Vegeta did it, he went straight to the damn point without using psychology to tell me I’m wrong for ever thinking that way!”

Ki? Ah yes, that strange energy that T'charrl's friends seemed to use. Could T'charrl use it now as well? The things he must be learning off world! Yusef opened his mouth to ask about it and went silent when his son mentioned being burned, looking over at Haku accusingly. What happened now? It had to have been an accident when they were training together, yet watching Haku look away nervously left him curious. Whatever had happened clearly wasn't affecting their friendship any and it wasn't his job to bring up the past... Hopefully Eslaria never heard about it for Haku's sake. Sipping from his glass Yusef peered over the brim when T'charrl said something about his being forgotten, frowning and setting his drink down before placing a claw on his son's shoulder. "People don't forget you, my son. They may not recognize you as you are but no one has forgotten you. There have been many people who have asked after you since you'd left. Your little female friend has been asking for you quite a bit too, she's been terribly worried," the General teased with a small laugh, "Speaking of her you may want to say hello before you leave again, you missed her last time and I think she was upset for it."

"Oh, you h-have a girlfriend, T'charrl?" Haku asked, partly surprised by the news. Not that he didn't think T'charrl could have a girlfriend, more just... Well... What did his people even do? They didn't exactly look built to do the sort of things Saiyans could do so... How did they show affection? Glancing at Yusef and getting onto the unfortunate train of thought of reproduction his stomach did a flip and he hastily looked at the table again, trying to think of anything else other than that. "Y-You're going to do great tomorrow... And I'll have your b-b-back while you practice, so you don't h-have to worry about a thing," Haku reassured, smiling as he looked at T'charrl eagerly, "And when we go h-home everyone's going to s-see the real you again! Because you're g-going to get this!" He still had to repay them somehow for giving him a new life away from the stress and general terribleness that came with being one of Yamate's soldiers. Their initial meeting might have been awful but he'd tried to make up for it since then, and helping T'charrl return to normal would be the best thing he could do for that.

----------

"I am certainly not trying to frustrate you. I'm just trying to help you think about matters in a different light, that's all." Perhaps it was a bit too soon to be delving into that type of questioning, maybe he should focus more on weeding out the idea of perfectionism that seemed to weigh so heavily on Viral's mind. "I made you to battle, that's true, but I did not expect you to be a perfect, unbeatable warrior. I of course have hopes you are always victorious but I'm not naive, I know there are some battles we just cannot win. And you're right, perfection is not how nature works, or how anything works really. So then why-" Before Aito could finish his sentence Viral dropped a massive hint as to why his mind was the way it was: Vegeta. So his own son, Viral's brother, was the source of this? He'd caught glimpses of them during his time in Otherworld and to be sure Vegeta seemed more distant and too busy to spend time with Viral, but what exactly had he done to cause this? So they had a timeline for whatever triggered this change then, something in between the span of near twenty years to cover. It might be a little easier to sort this out if Aito had actually been present for any of it but clearly that wasn't the case.

"Let's change pace for a second, hm? We can come back to this a little later." That was perhaps the source of the issue entirely yet with how irate and agitated Viral was becoming over the questions pushing him further would be nothing but detrimental. That was fine, there were other matters for them to attend to as well. "If you don't mind could we talk about your relationships with your friends? I'm of course talking about Yumi, Vegeta, Shu and Takeshi, and anyone else who you might be on friendly terms with. How do you view yourself with them? And how do you imagine they see you?"

Maybe everything was going to be okay, he had to at least try and be positive about it at least. He was so used to being doubtful and negative over himself that it was hard to be positive and think he could actually manage to do something in his life; after all, he had spent it without any competing peers to challenge him so everything he did had to be of the utmost brilliance, so when it wasn’t it really harmed him mentally and emotionally. He just wanted to make his parents happy and maybe find someone who would like him for who he was as well. Sighing lightly he swirled his drink around in thought before looking to his father as he spoke, staring at him for a moment before frowning a little. “Huh? What I don’t understand…” he spoke before looking to Haku, shaking his head. “I-I don’t have a girlfriend! Why does everyone think that way about those sorts of things?? Ohhh…”

It wasn’t as if he was able to remember her all that much, he didn’t even know if she remembered him in return. He had changed a lot since his adventures into outer space so it wasn’t as if he was going to be remembered in return by a lot of people unless they were reminded. Groaning a little he rubbed his head, feeling a little less confident about meeting people on top of his whole lack of confidence about his training. He needed to get rid of that if he was to meditate properly, he knew that much about the whole process. Looking to Haku he stared at him for a moment when he tried to give his reassurances as well, his antennae twitching in response before he slowly ran his claws through his hair. “The real me? I-I’m not that much different than before…” he spoke lowly, smiling a little, “I just have a little trouble keeping the same form…and maybe my people find these orbs kind of freaky I mean…what are they made of? They feel like glass but aren’t and they’re not bone and-…I feel like I’m going off on a tangent…I need to find focus again! I shouldn’t think about my looks too much! Although I do miss wearing clothes and not having to worry about destroying them…that would be nice. I just wonder how much I’ll change if any at all, I think that’s what I’m most scared of…”

--

Aito had no reason to treat him this way. He was supposed to be trying to help him, not send him over the edge. Just what kind of psychology was that, anyway? He wasn’t a child, he understood what words meant and how they meant to people, he knew about jobs and all that too so why was he being picked on for his own beliefs? He was supposed to be able to fight and be able to accomplish something with the skills he had, so just what was all this talking about doctors and their jobs supposed to do with his when they weren’t born to be one? It frustrated him, he just wanted to go but if he left that would mean he would also fail at this. He was stuck in a state of confusion, he didn’t know what he wanted and what was the best decision, all he knew was Aito was not helping and only making him hate his own existence even more. “So you purposely only gave me the power to kill humans but everything else I’m terrible at?”

He really was just some kind of monster if that was the case, some strange abomination with a whole host of abilities that was only suitable for killing off the weak and helpless in great numbers. If he could barely win against actual warriors but could decimate cities then what other purpose did he have? He didn’t know what he was supposed to be if that was the case, he had always told himself that he wasn’t an abomination because he was supposed to be the perfect warrior, but it seemed he wasn’t even that. Running his claws through his hair he growled in irritation when Aito thought it was appropriate to change the subject, one that just had him left confused. What the hell does that have to do with anything…” he muttered lowly, shaking his head, “I don’t know. I don’t view myself as anything with them. I just exist. Takeshi just wants to beat me at everything when he remembers I exist, Shu doesn’t have the social skills to think of me as anything, Vegeta just recognises I exist because of you…I don’t know what the hell Yumi thinks of me. She’s said before, but it’s hard to tell whether it’s pity or what…”

Yusef let out a cheery laugh at his son's expense, smiling as he watched T'charrl become flustered. "Don't tell me you've never noticed her, T'charrl. You remember Tala don't you? The young girl whose mother is one of your mother's attendants, the girl with the honey hair? She's certainly taken a liking to you!" Both Yusef and Nema had a laugh at that, each man recalling their own love interests and flings of days long since passed. There was nothing wrong with having a little love in your life and T'charrl could certainly use more people in his life to help cheer him up. Unfortunately they hardly had the time for such things this visit and Tala was in another kingdom entirely, they wouldn't send for her either since it would distract from the reason they were here. "There are probably other young girls who would love to know you too, don't forget that," Yusef continued to tease with a wink, "After all you're the hero who stopped Garesh, that's what many people call you. It's no surprise you get attention even after so long."

"If you get the power under control then you'll return to your original state. That's how it has always been for our kind," Nema answered as he placed a claw atop the large book, "There are records of people shifting at will, becoming giant, powerful beings and returning to normal when the battle had ended. Where you are now..." The King had to take a pause as he thought about it, stroking one of his antennae as he studied T'charrl. "I would say you're somewhere in between. You're strong enough to hold back the energy and not change entirely, but not strong enough to hide it completely. Which is good for us! You already have some command over it even if you don't realize that, we may only have to work a little to reach our goal." It wasn't only a matter of helping T'charrl to revert to his original form though, they also needed to help him learn how to shift his power at will. If he was going to keep the spirit as he insisted he would it only made sense to learn to wield it like any other weapon. If he didn't overdo it then it would take care of him in turn too, it was a symbiotic relationship. "I believe that is all we need to discuss on the matter. Now come, there's plenty of food here and we've hardly touched any, let us eat!"

----------

"No, that is not true. Yes you have the power to battle but you have the capability to do almost anything you wish. A Saiyan is not merely a warrior, are we? Or if that were the case you'd not be here right now. Just as I am not simply a fighter neither are you, we are what we deem ourselves to be. Heh... Sorry," Aito apologized with a smile as he rubbed his neck, "Getting a bit philosophical there. But let's talk about Yumi for a moment, hm? You mentioned that she's said before... What has she said before exactly? Now obviously you only have to tell me as much as you're comfortable with but the more the better." Not that he didn't know, he'd been present at the reservoir and seen exactly what she thought of Viral firsthand. The fact that such a blatant display though was still missed by Viral was curious, why wasn't he aware of that? Was he pushing the idea of being loved away or was he thinking perhaps she was simply saying that to be nice? "Also, and I may just be looking too deeply into this, but in Takeshi's case wouldn't that be a compliment? If he seeks to beat you then that means he's acknowledging you're better than he is, which last I checked he doesn't exactly do openly. Perhaps it's not the most... Direct way of doing so, but its a case of someone acknowledging your ability."

T’charrl didn’t understand, he just couldn’t remember someone like that ever paying attention to him and if she actually did then he was just feeling like an idiot now. He didn’t like ignoring people so knowing he did just made him feel bad, but what was worse was him not knowing this person well enough to know if he actually had any feelings for her in return. Now that would be really crummy, having someone fancy you but you didn’t fancy them back. Letting out a groan he scratched at his head. “I don’t know them…so how can I know if I do actually have a little love in my life after all? It’s not fair on any one to be rejected…” he sighed, shaking his head slowly as he frowned. “I don’t see why they would, though! I’m skinny and I flake a lot! I look awful too and I have bad habits…I probably smell bad too. I don’t want people to just like me because I did something accidentally that was good but also bad like destroy part of the city…”

Looking to Nema with a frown he soon sighed heavily, already worried that people were going to point out the fact that he changed once again from what he was now. People always noticed when something was different about someone and this was definitely going to be one of those moments. He was worried he was going to end up scaring people off because he had a different state to this one, meaning if he did gain control over his forms like Nema said then he was going to have to default to this one anyway whenever he was on this planet. He was already feeling really confused over himself, but it would be pretty good to have that level of control without all the pain and feeling like he was going to die all the time. “I guess that’s good but…I don’t know. Shifting at will? I’ll scare people if I suddenly look normal again after they’ve finally started to notice me. I’m a little worried…” He knew that a lot of his worries were probably silly but he still carried them and didn’t know what to do with them. It was scary to have all of these problems all the time, being constantly judged by the public. Looking to Nema before shifting to the thought of food he slowly sat up again, tapping his claws together nervously. “I-I just didn’t want to start eating when nobody else was! I didn’t want to look impolite! I’m sorry…”

--

Viral didn’t know what he was supposed to be if that was the case. All he could do was fight and all he felt was the instinct to fight, he didn’t have any place among non-fighters in the universe. Aito was probably just trying to help him calm down about fighting in a rather poorly manner, instead making it sound as if he should drop his obsessions and just accept that he was a flawed creation with no place in the world. Growling lowly he clenched his fist, staring at Aito in fair concentrated anger when he made his attempts to change the subject. “Well I’m not telling you anything about that! She’ll move on like everyone else does! It’s none of your business…” he grunted in response, “Takeshi only does that because every other time when he tries to pick a fight with me it gets interrupted. He just wants to fight me and beat me as if it’s some sort of accomplishment he needs to tick off his list! Everybody has to beat me some time, it’s on everybody’s list it seems…” It was a combination of people seeing him as something that needed to be beaten and some sort of weird challenge because of what he was made to do, whatever that was since he was already being told he was only capable of fighting and not actually meant to accomplish anything from it. He wasn’t born like the rest of them, he was made to fulfil a job but he was failing at that, like a robot built for a purpose but was flawed and instead needed to be dismantled. Maybe that’s what the Saiyans were trying to do to him, so they could use his body as spare parts and once that was all done they could just use the flawed shell to do jobs for them until it was destroyed. It all made sense in the end, otherwise the Saiyans wouldn’t be telling him that he was obsolete and was better off destroyed. They had taken all they needed from him, he was no longer of use to anyone who was seen as a warrior. Rubbing his head slowly he let out a sigh, his claws scratching against the top of his head. “What am I supposed to be if not a warrior? What is the point…”

"Have more confidence in yourself T'charrl, even a sweaty old soldier like me found a companion! If I can do it anyone can. And you saw how much that has benefited everyone hadn't you? Yes when it happened it was a problem but now? Now people are better off than ever before because of it! Even your supposed mistakes have worked out for the best, now what reason would people dislike you again? Nothing a bath can't solve I'm sure!" His son deserately needed some more time with the opposite sex if he thought himself so unappealing. T'charrl had never been a bad looking boy and he was royalty, and all that aside he was sweet and had a good heart, surely some woman would like that! In fact that was probably why Tala fancied him to begin with, now if only he'd see that. Nema brought the conversation back to the food on the table and Yusef didn't need to be told twice to begin eating. He was starving as he hadn't eaten all day and, like T'charrl, he had no desire to begin eating until their host had. "You're scary no matter what from the sounds of it! I think you'll be just fine once you change back though," Yusef insisted as he reached across and took a platter of seared fruits, taking some for himself before passing the plate down to Haku, "It can only get better so don't be so worried. Starting tomorrow you'll see."

------------

It didn't seem like much of anything was a comfortable topic for Viral right now. Perhaps instead of all of the questioning he'd simply focus on calming down his son for the time being, a little meditation or some breathing exercises could do the trick. Then again getting Viral to even relax enough to attempt anything was probably outside the realm of possibility at the moment too, so should they just continue along this line of conversation? The topic of Yumi was brushed aside as quickly as could be and Aito let it stay that way, lest he agitate Viral any further. "I never said you're not a warrior, I only said that you're not limited to that role. Just as I'm defined as more than just a warrior so too can you be. No one is any one single thing, its a conglomerate of identities that make us who we are. Expanding and learning other skills doesn't take away from what we are, it adds to it. And as I said before too, losses don't change who you are. Failure is as important as success you know, even if it isn't as pleasant."

"Listen Viral, I want to make this clear right now so there are no surprises. I think we should include Vegeta in a session, there's a lot that I feel you need to say to him and even more he needs to hear. It may not be the very next session or even the one after that, but I feel like quite a lot of this leads back to him. And... Myself. Let me explain my intentions to you and perhaps that will clear the air a little?" His direction in life was clearly absent and he expected far too much of himself, both of which were directly caused by other people. The perfectionist was either attributed to Vegeta or someone else within Capsule Corporation and the lack of direction was very clearly a failure on his own part. "You were created initially with two goals in mind: To fight and to help with the children. Both of which you have accomplished quite admirably, whether you remember it or not. And perhaps recent events might tell you otherwise but you did a splendid job before and I know you're capable of doing so. So tell me this: If the words from the man who created aren't enough to sway your opinion of yourself what would it take? Does a victory in battle mean that much that it's the only way to convince yourself you're worthy?"

T’charrl let out a groan, slowly sinking further down before letting out a long sigh. “I don’t know…I mean, you’re really strong and tall and have nice colours! I barely have any shine to my coat and I’m really small and skinny still! I thought by now I would have some muscles after fighting in space, but I can still feel my bones very easily! My wings are nice and shiny I guess…but the pattern’s kind of evil and scary and probably puts people off…” He really didn’t understand how anyone could like him in such a way, there was so much about him that was just off-putting and he recognised all of them. Maybe listening and seeing Takeshi’s reactions influenced him a little bit, but he had always thought that to himself and the reason why he was often rejected by others. He was pretty self-conscious about his looks, especially when that was often one of the biggest deciding factors when it came to finding a mate. Having a bit of a groan to himself he looked up at his father who agreed on the matter, his eyes going to the fruits briefly before down again. “Maybe…I mean, will I even change much? It’s hard to remember what I was like before…”

--

Aito was throwing all these things his way without even consideration to how he might feel about it, almost like it was a big ‘whatever’ to him to tell him these things. He had spent his entire life trying to meet everyone’s expectations and yet all of that was just being dismissed by Aito like it was no big deal. So long he had spent desperately trying to find his place and fit in somewhere, he thought he knew where he belonged but apparently that was not the case at all. It didn’t matter what Aito said at this point, he wasn’t part of Aito’s ‘us’ or ‘we’ and never was he going to be, he didn’t belong in his world. He wasn’t constructed out of love or family, he was made for a corporation with a purpose with all the frustrations that came with making a big project. Growling to himself in frustration he scratched his head in frustration, not buying anything that Aito was telling him as something he was capable of. “You were never born for a purpose! You don’t know how long it’s been!”

Just getting angry again he stopped himself from getting angrier when Aito spoke about letting Vegeta in on the sessions too, his gaze narrowing as he went on to say what would be happening once Vegeta was here. He didn’t want to speak to him, he had no reason to speak to him and Vegeta probably didn’t want to speak with him either. Just what good was that going to do him? All he’d do is get angry at Vegeta instead. That was probably Aito’s intention, he was probably already fed up with him and that was the solution to getting things done but with the help of someone else taking all the backlash. He didn’t see any other reason behind it. With growing frustrations he slowly shook his head, his hand still pressed against it as Aito tried to give him praise that was just not landing, especially after the fact he just said he was made to also be a babysitter. That was just a straight up lie: Vegeta wasn’t even planned until after he was created. “Are you calling me simple minded? Regardless, maybe it will…but who knows anymore. What would come next? Testing out my babysitting skills? How much more did it cost you to make me over hiring a nanny for your future child…” he spoke rather bitterly, not really looking at Aito, “Your company must have a lot of money to burn if that’s what you were spending it on back then. What a great meaningful existence this has been. No wonder I was being auctioned off, no wonder any of this happened…just what use was I to have around after that? An expensive waste of space who might’ve well had belonged to the RRA! At least they would’ve used me to my full potential! I would’ve destroyed everything that stood in their path…those humans would never stand a chance…”

"Well I certainly wasn't born strong, that's thanks to years of training. And my coat isn't as nice as some others but then that shouldn't matter anyways. Love is a strange thing, T'charrl, you'll love whoever you love, regardless of how they might look. I know it seems complicated now but when you're older you'll understand I'm sure." There were far more important things to be preoccupied with than one's appearance but then for someone of T'charrl's age that was perfectly normal, he'd grow out of it. Perhaps if they had the time Yusef would bring his son home and seek out Tala just to prove a point to him, whether he changed back or not the general was hopeful his son would be shown how she felt. "We do have pictures in the palace if you don't remember, though you probably don't want to see the baby pictures now do you?" he chuckled at the question, stripping skin off of a thick blue fruit before eating it, "Mmm... Things will work out fine so long as you put the effort in, T'charrl. Maybe not immediately but things will work out, just you wait. You'll be back to normal before you leave Kaesstra again, mark my words."

----------

It was terribly difficult speaking to Viral like this, and even more so to be impartial. This was why you weren't supposed to work with family members in this field, it was nigh impossible to be objective and not be emotionally attached to your patient. He'd of course considered this well before today but there wasn't exactly anyone else around certified to do this kind of work, nor did Aito have the faintest expectation for Viral to speak to anyone else. "I suppose it would be more fair to say you weren't created specifically to be a 'babysitter' as you called it. You needed a way to acclimate to human culture, and technically you were still a child yourself so... Naturally we placed you with the children when they came around. It was more a... Byproduct of training that you needed, and it seemed better than placing you in different locations hoping you'd pick up on norms and behaviors." Which admittedly was more or less what was done with regular children. The difference with Viral was normal children weren't born with an adult body, nor the power to level a 10 story building if they so chose. Saiyans might have the latter but typically were just as small and hapless as any other newborn.

"Auctioned off... That was Vegeta as well I assume? Because I know for a fact we never tried anything of the sorts with you." Aito had sworn he'd heard that before too, if there was some truth to that then Vegeta had quite a lot of answering to do for himself. Viral was not a commodity to be traded and sold on a whim nor was he meant for anyone else to use for their own ends. He had been developed by Capsule Corporation, mostly by Aito and a small team, and done so to help protect the Earth. Everything else, the babysitting, education, that came later when the connection of a parent and child developed. "Viral, let me make something abundantly clear here and now: I'll be assuming my position as head of Capsule Corporation again when we return home. That means, if you wish to have it back, you can resume fighting for Earth. Or you're more than welcome to do whatever it is you see fit for yourself too, it's not as if we'll be having any shortage of fighters by the looks of things. And goodness knows what the state of everything will be with this war going on, those beasts appearing, and whatever in the hell else happens between now and then." Though Viral himself didn't appear at all clear on his purpose or what to do with himself, instead of asking himself what he might do he continually looked to others for orders. A product of being raised that way to be sure and something they desperately needed to change. "Is that all you see yourself as? A weapon to be used by someone for some means? Do you think you're able to decide for yourself?"

T’charrl raised his shoulders up, feeling pretty embarrassed over the whole topic. He wasn’t used to talking about these things, especially with his dad which somehow made things all the more worse. He was not really used to social issues altogether even though he had a whole load of them under his belt. “Ohhh, this is embarrassing…” he muttered, rubbing at his cheeks as his other claws took a hold of a few plates of food, “If she’s interested in me will she even be like that later on too when I actually start to understand it? I don’t even know if I like her, I know nothing about her…ohhh this really is complicated…” He really didn’t know what he was supposed to do about something like that, he could barely remember what she looked like; then again, he wasn’t interested in love yet so never did look when barely anyone looked at him in return. Feeling a little worried that he was just going to let someone else down he went to eat a fruit but let out a gasp. “I-I don’t need to see pictures that far back! This energy may cloud my mind regarding my looks, but only to what I was like immediately before everything…” he sighed, looking to the fruit, “I will put in all effort I can! I’m sick of feeling tired all the time and always hungry. I will try my best too, I just…worry whether my body will be able to keep up. It’s kind of worrying what I’m capable of, you know? I don’t want to say ‘strong’, just…out of control. I don’t want you to get too close if something goes wrong…”

--

Viral felt like he might as well simply give up trying anything, knowing he had already fulfilled a rather minor duty and couldn’t accomplish the other. Maybe he was obsolete, that had to be it, otherwise he wouldn’t be doing so badly with little way to improve. He didn’t think he had felt improvement in his technique in years now, he was just stagnating a little below everyone else. Takeshi could probably beat him in a few measly minutes if he wanted to now which would cause any interest Takeshi had in him to vanish completely again, seeing how he was training with an Elite. “It doesn’t matter what way you put it, if I managed to accomplish that task then that’s really what I was best for, isn’t it? Otherwise it seems pointless, placing something that was designed to kill in with children…” Nobody would want a creature built to destroy in with a bunch of kids. He wouldn’t had needed such things if by design he was built to fight. He was just going in circles with this now, his mind unable to settle on what he was made for any longer now that he had been given those two options. His desire to find a concrete reason for his existence was all the way back at square one where he was questioning his ability to fight and trying to find answers for his existence.

“It was not only Vegeta…I was deemed a waste of resources by a fair number of employees. Vegeta just made the idea final…” he muttered, simply wondering when he was going to leave at this point, “I was doing nothing for the company except costing them money and making Vegeta stressed out”. He didn’t want to go into it too much, he knew there was much worse considerations that were made but that would just get Vegeta in trouble for what was obviously a lot of stress on his part and having an itching that he was the cause of the deaths of Vegeta’s parents. To be considered to be taken apart and destroyed would just set Aito off even more, making this whole session feel more like a tattle on Vegeta session. Only looking to Aito briefly at the mention of taking control of the corporation he was back to looking elsewhere, his interest fairly minimal as Aito tried to get serious. “Of course, even Vegeta is more capable…” He certainly had the short end of the straw when it came to fighting ability, even Yumi was growing as strong as him and would probably be surpassing him soon. He was lagging behind everyone and there wasn’t much he could do about it, much to his pitiful dismay. Looking to Aito when he began to question him again rather than throw business at him he sighed and shook his head. “I do not hold the same level of decision making someone like you might have. I have always been taught to follow orders or be punished for going astray! They know I cannot be properly integrated into society without being driven mad and warriors require orders or else they be lead down to destruction. I used to see myself as a warrior, but now I don’t know anymore. I certainly am a weapon, but one that has become broken and obsolete. Even Enki was tossed around by Takeshi like it was nothing…”

That was probably enough teasing of T'charrl for one day, they didn't want the poor boy fainting from blushing so much. Tala certainly was interested in him but forcing it wasn't going to help anything and that wasn't why they were here, they were here to help T'charrl train. "We'll start slow with the training and work our way up, you'd be surprised what can change in a month," Yusef reassured as he peeled another fruit, "We will be careful my son, we know there's some risk involved with this. But we're not going to treat you like a monster and cage you up either, you're still T'charrl, understand? Unless something happens we'll treat you no differently." Truth be told Yusef didn't know if they even could restrain his son if anything should happen. He'd seen what had happened with Garesh and knew that was well beyond his own power to handle, a lot of it would depend on how capable Haku was.

"Y-You'll be fine T'charrl, you're really good at not ch-changing on us," Haku chimed in with a meek smile, tapping his fork on the table nervously when Nema gave him an expectant look. The King probably wanted to hear more about his friend to know what he was like, and what to expect if anything should happen. Probably a good idea to leave out their very first meeting unless he wanted T'charrl's dad to be terribly cross with him. "Wh-when T'charrl changes he gets a lot b-bigger and stronger, b-but he seems to uh... W-Well he seems to still k-kind of know what he's doing... Usually." It wasn't a complete blind rage from what Haku recalled, certainly nothing like an untrained Oozaru going on a rampage. It was scary to be on the receiving end of T'charrl's power but he didn't think his friend would randomly lash out at anyone if he changed. Haku's sentiment however appeared to be his and his alone; King Nema looked a bit troubled by the idea and had something quite different to say to the matter.

"Would it make you feel easier if you knew we could restrain you? Would that help?" Most people wanted nothing to do with restraints or being locked up yet for T'charrl that might be the only thing to put him at ease. Nema pushed his plate aside and again placed the large book on the table, grunting as he peeled the pages apart and opened it, flipping through them searching for a particular entry. "Since the spirit is part of the natural world there are ways you can weaken it, which weakens its host in turn. It'd feel a lot like you've exerted too much energy and your whole body would go numb, I'd imagine. And doing it is easy... Aha!" Having to stand on his seat due to his smaller size Nema turned the book around and pointed to an illustration and passage on one of the pages. "There are plants that can be used as a sedative, powerful enough to effect spirits even. In the past it was used for surgery but it would work for us too. And luckily for us they grow here in our kingdom, I could send for some to be gathered now if you'd like. We'd have them for tomorrow for your training."

-----------

"Hm... Well here's something to think about perhaps, Viral: I rejected my original purpose too. I wasn't expected to take up Capsule Corporation from my father, in fact I was far more like grandfather when I was younger. Like you I was given a purpose and yet found another, one I didn't think I would ever have. My point is this: just because you are given a job initially doesn't mean it can't change, you aren't made to hold a single role all your life. Now I'm not saying that you cannot be a warrior, or even that you can't only be a warrior. All I'm saying is if you feel your purpose is lost either reinforce it or explore your options. Which I can help with the latter, if you'd like." As Viral was so apt to put himself he'd only ever been given orders and while he did in fact possess free will he'd never if ever been allowed to express it. Part of that certainly had to do with how Vegeta, and perhaps on a larger scale how the Board of Directors had treated Viral after his passing. Aito had ever intention of allowing Viral to be autonomous but after the incident it seemed like he'd been allowed to be anything but. "Say for the sake of argument yes, you're become broken and obsolete. You're a sword that has lost its cutting edge. But can't a sword be refined and sharpened again? Or once a sword dulls do you throw it away? If you feel like you've fallen out of your prime then we can work on returning you to it, don't you agree? What was once can be again if we attack the matter directly."

T’charrl felt pretty bad, especially when it meant he had been ignoring someone for so long. He didn’t like being the one in the wrong because it affected him even more, leaving him feeling absolutely terrible and unable to shake it off for a while. He just thought nobody wanted anything to do with him before all these things happened, he was fairly plain and not very good looking so surely he couldn’t attract a mate. Sighing a little, he looked to his father, staring at him as he reassured him that he wasn’t going to be a danger or put in danger himself during the training. He was not strong enough to contain his emotions properly, his body was pretty weak too especially compared to Garesh. What he was definitely worried about was he would get kind of beefy like Garesh was when he had the energy, something he was simply not wanting to happen when he already had forms where he looked quite beefy and didn’t want to be like that by default. He was quite happy with his physique, even if he felt he was pretty unappealing to everyone.

Looking to Haku he slowly tilted his head to the side before slowly dropping his head, sighing a little. “I guess…I just…try really hard not to…” he muttered, not feeling terribly confident. Staring at the food for a moment he looked up when Haku talked about his experiences, not really knowing where it came from but feeling embarrassed about it anyway. It took a lot of work to try and keep his sanity whenever that happened, it was like his mind clouded and his vision became sharp and he only saw red aggressive splotches. If he was to keep himself from going all over the place he had to change on purpose, but that rarely ever happened. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do to get that part under control but whenever it happened he was barely able to control himself and struggled to speak the common language. He just wasn’t smart when he was transformed. Tapping his claws together as Nema made some suggestions he slowly looked up at him, giving a little nod before watching him go through the book again. He was a little worried whenever he reached into that book and to hear of such a distressing sounding herb just made him even more nervous about screwing up. “Go numb…? Even the spirit? Oh…I don’t want to hurt it…but…I-I guess that’s the only way to go about it…” he spoke lowly, looking down at his claws, “The spirit isn’t bad, but everything that people keep saying about it makes it sound like it’s a nuisance. It’s a nice person, it doesn’t mean to be a nuisance to me or others…”

--

Viral didn’t much care about Aito’s little story, feeling pretty jaded to everything at this point. Even if it was supposed to be a life lesson and a way to say he could do it too he still felt at odds with this state of belief. He wasn’t a Human, a Saiyan or anything that was a regular species, in fact he wasn’t even a species. The common public wouldn’t accept him no matter what kind of job he was in, if he could ever manage another job. His experiences as a warrior didn’t prepare him for other jobs nor did it give him a stable enough mind for them, he was instead at a crossroads where all directions headed to an unknown fog. That was his future in a nutshell: just full of uncertainty and no direction. Just how was he supposed to improve himself as a warrior? Throw himself at more battles? Everybody hated him doing that so what was the point? He was made to kill despite being told not to kill yet all of his abilities were orientated around killing in the most efficient way possible. “Explore my options…either fight or honourably discharge myself. Those options seem like the only ones right now”.

If he didn’t exist everybody would have such an easier time with everything, even if he didn’t exist from the very start. Vegeta would have parents, nobody would be in space and suffering and everybody would be getting on with their lives on Earth. Vegeta wouldn’t had needed to suffer so much if he didn’t exist, Aito would still be running the company like he wanted. He was just getting angry at himself with this subject, scratching at his neck pretty roughly as Aito continued on with the referencing as he tried to somehow inspire him to keep going while also agreeing with his negativity. “A sword can only be sharpened so much before it breaks. How am I supposed to get better? How do I get stronger when it feels like I’m at my limit? I can’t even hit you in a fair fight anymore. I’m nobody’s equal, nobody will train with me because I don’t have Ki or they’re scared I’ll claw their eyes out. So what, does that leave only you able to because there’s nobody else? It’s hard to tell whether you’re actually wanting to do this or whether you just feel it’s in your duty to bother with me. You’ll be the only one who will be fighting me to try and improve me…heh, isn’t that funny though. I probably made you much stronger than you ever were because I killed you…while the fact that I was frozen has made me degrees weaker and unable to climb back to that strength…”

"It won't hurt the spirit, that I promise you! It's like the Arcia fruit, its a muscle relaxant but for some reason it seems to affect spirits as well. And we never imagined the spirit was evil my boy, if it was evil you'd probably be on a rampage right now!" Nema said with a slight laugh as he closed the book with a heavy thud of the pages. Grunting as he wrestled it off the table the King carefully handed it to a pair of servants who had to each grab an end and carry it, it was much heavier when one tried to carry it! "I'm certain the spirit can hear us yes? It must be able to hear and see all that you do, since you and it are one. Then hear my words spirit: we mean you no harm. We are working to find a way for both you and T'charrl to work together, that is all. I'm sure you don't wish for our young friend here to suffer any more than we do." Very few spirits were actually malevolent and most were warriors or sages who had become bound to Kaesstra, acting as an eternal guardian to its bountiful wilds. Some took the form of trees, others as great beasts, all had begun as a humble Kaesstrian and had gained an eternal oath to protect their beloved world. "Once we teach you two how to work together and you can control your power I think you'll both be quite happy with your partnership."

----------

Fighting. That was the only thing Viral defined himself by and the only thing he valued, that much was apparent. It was such a one dimensional way of thinking that led to much of what was troubling the Beastman now, having nothing else to be proud of made one's confidence very easily shattered if your sole source of pride was threatened. Logic said then to find Viral something else to be proud of, teach him another skill or perhaps another trade, anything he could derive a feeling of achievement from. Of course with his mood as poor as it was they couldn't do any of that, not until he at least began looking on the better side of things. "Well if I recall I had shirked my duty as you put it and neglected you, so it doesn't seem like a sense of duty binds me," Aito pointed out with an apologetic smile, "Which means I want to be doing this. As for my analogy you're not wrong, but swords can be tempered and they can be refined, even if the original edge has dulled. To put it more plainly we can get you back to your prime with some work, its far from implausible to think you can't achieve the same level of strength." In fact in all likelihood Viral possessed the same power he'd had before, it was merely dulled by his injuries and marred by his lack of confidence. "So answer this question for me, Viral. Would sparring with others help at all? I could easily arrange to have someone here to spar with you if that's what you want. You just tell me what you want and I'll make it happen."

T’charrl lowered his head, sighing a little before gasping when the book was slammed shut. He didn’t know if he was alright with this, mostly because it would be causing unnecessary stress to the spirit when it wasn’t really its fault even if it was a relaxant. Everything that he had to do was going to cause the spirit stress anyway, even if it understood it was necessary to find balance. It wanted balance, it had said a lot of times that it would want that especially when its home was destroyed and had nowhere else to go. He felt rather sad, so many people were doing these things for him and trying to make things better just for him, even the spirit tried to help him keep in control when things were going mental. Feeling pretty sad about it all he kept his head low, his antennae twitching when the King decided to address the spirit to reassure that it was going to be okay through all of this. He didn’t know how to react to that, or rather he didn’t know how he wasn’t supposed to when he was being talked to but also not talked to at the same time. Raising his shoulders in embarrassment he soon released them with a sigh, scratching his head. “I don’t even know if it can hear you right now so uhh…I-I’ll try to remember to pass on the message?” he spoke before groaning, shaking his head, “Ohhh! I will try my best! I really will I’m just nervous I don’t know if this’ll come out alright! Even if you say it will, you can’t predict the future! Ohhh…I hope everything works out in a month. I really needed some combat training too. I don’t really know close combat well and uhh, a lot of fighting in space requires it since using weapons can be seen as dishonourable. Is that possible…?”

--

Viral didn’t know if Aito was listening to him much, whether just picking up on key words or just ignoring everything he was saying in favour of getting through this quickly. He probably knew everything that he was going to say and had it all planned out, he was probably more concerned with getting this over and done with quickly. He did wonder how much Aito tolerated of him if it took just fixing him up once for him to not want to do anything with him other than bully him for a little bit to show off his strength. He hadn’t done anything with him after blasting him in the face when he tried to attack Krom. As he recalled Aito wasn’t even worried for him after delivering that blow, he didn’t even show remorse for what he did all because it was Krom. It was always going to be the same, he wasn’t going to be able to feel like he was being helped with how little Aito showed any care or emotion. All this talk about getting him back to his prime was hardly going to do much anyway, it all might as well be false promises to try and make him feel better. “Hmph, you’re certainly confident about that, like you know you’ll succeed…” he spoke lowly, hardly sounding the same confidence, “And you really think people will want to spar with me. Hmph…they won’t do it willingly! How will it help me improve too? To have some random fight me just because you think it’ll make me feel better. I’ll train with someone…but I doubt it’ll go well. Who the hell would want to train with someone like me? Even you gave up when I couldn’t hit you!”

T'charrl had been nervous enough about his training before arriving at the valley. The howling of the winds as they slipped through the chasms and the shadows cast by jagged rocks and trees high above did little to make the scene any more welcoming. For the style of training they were to undergo there was no better place to carry it out and precautions had been made to protect the young Prince; safety nets lined particularly dangerous spots along the walls and Haku would be present the entire time to catch T'charrl if he should fly off course. A doctor was nearby as well should anything happen to him, and of course Yusef was present on top of everything else, ready to lend a hand at a moment's notice. All the assurances in the world wasn't going to take the nerves out of what they were doing though and the Prince was probably a bundle of worry as they stood at the mouth of the chasm, staring down its dimly lit maw as a gentle gust brushed past them.

"It's a lot easier than it looks, and I know it looks awful," Yusef reassured, smiling as he placed a hand on T'charrl's back. Lifting his head and looking to the top of the chasm he waved appreciatively at a pair of workers who lowered another net down, the final preparations still underway. Raising his other claw to shield his face as another gust bellowed out of the rocks he walked towards the mouth of the chasm and spread his wings, giving them a single powerful stroke as he took off into the air. "I've tried it myself and it's certainly doable. Difficult, but manageable. The trick is going to be to make yourself as narrow as possible so the air passes around you. Of course that's easier said than done when the winds trying to blow you around like a leaf in a storm. But if you can beat a man like Garesh and travel to other worlds I'm sure you can do this."

They really could have picked a nicer looking place for T'charrl to train in. Haku had some awfully nasty flashbacks to his training on Kortal from this place, his time spent in raggedy, isolated plateaus and ravines for the "survival" training. He really hoped none of T'charrl's was going to consist of sleeping in cracks in the rocks or hunting for food late at night, if it did he would probably head back to the castle. Watching Yusef fly up into the air and explain how to go about the training Haku looked to his friend, gauging his reaction and smiling uneasily as the general mentioned a gust coming. So he was going to show them what to do then? They heard the wind long before it ever hit them and Haku had to shield his face when it did, barely able to see Yusef in the air. The Kaesstrian had laid himself out horizontally and his wings were beating rapidly as he seemed to hover in place against the powerful gale, slowly inching forward and slowing down as the wind petered off. "Wow... Your dad's r-really amazing huh?" Haku asked with a smile, clapping as Yusef returned to them triumphantly, "You're going to do it t-too, I know y-you are!"

----------

Takeshi still didn't understand why Krom of all people had to train them. Why not Korian? The guy was plenty strong on his own and the leader of the whole rebellion, he was perfectly suited for it. Or hell Aito could work too, the guy might be flaky as a biscuit and more wishy-washy than a bar of soap, but he was strong, apparently a Super Saiyan, and would be the perfect tutor for them. Instead of any of that here they were with the same bastard who had tried to kill them not once but twice, the creep who had stolen Viral away and was pretty much responsible for all of the shitty stuff that had happened to them since his first appearance on Earth. The adults insisted that Krom was harmless now and he was a good instructor but that was probably just their way of keeping him in line, force him to babysit him and Shu so he couldn't get into trouble. Problem there was they didn't need babysitting and they didn't want the enemy instructing them either! But no matter how much Takeshi had protested they were stuck with the man.

"Man... Do you think they'd be pissed if we just kicked Krom's ass? I figure if we can beat him up then we don't need his training right?" Made sense to Takeshi anyways: if you beat your teacher then you were stronger than they were and there was no reason for them to teach you. He wasn't going to worry about semantics like it being two on one or anything, all he wanted to do was find a way out of this mess. Shu was probably having a really lousy time between this and Aito's sessions too, though at least the latter of which he seemed to be making some progress with. "I mean seriously... We've gotta be stronger than Krom by now, you know? What's the reason for training with him then other than to annoy us?" Takeshi let out a groan as he sank back down into a padded chair and draped his arms over the sides, laying his head back. Rubbing at his face he slouched down and looked at Shu curiously, wondering if they should skip their training today and go do something else. "Hey... Wanna go into the city and find something to do? We can ditch Krom and go have fun instead," he suggested with a grin, "I mean what's the guy gonna do, come after us? He can't leave the building you know so we're fine, he'll just have to sit there and be angry about it. Whadda ya say?"