//------------------------------//
// Namek: New Visitors 
// Story: Dragon Ball Z: Magic's New Life 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Frieza found that going from village to village, while the best plan available to him and the others right now, had a bit of a downside to it, which was that it took them a day to go from one village to another, forcing Towa to use her magic so she could return to the ship, report their progress, and then return with food. Since Namek was tidally locked they had to rely on many of their instruments to figure out when a day was over, as the Elder of the first village informed them of how long a day lasted when Twilight asked about it, though it still came as a surprise to everyone. Spending a day traveling wasn't the best thing in the world, given their time constraints, though the only good thing was that the Elder informed them all of the trials were different and unique, as his was the Trial of Combat, while the other six involved Strength, Will, Wit, Heart, Spirit, and Truth. Such a thing came as a surprise to Twilight when she listened to what the first Elder had to say on the matter, though she knew it was a good thing since some of the trials meant that fighting wasn't a requirement, which would allow her parents to relax a little as they moved from village to village.

Twilight, despite that fact, kept pushing herself to make sure they got the Dragon Balls, first the Seven Star, then the Five Star, and finally the Two Star, though she did so with a smile on her face, as the trials were interesting and she wanted to learn more about the Namekians as a people. The Trial of Strength, for example, was usually a test for one to overcome a creature and return with a trophy, though she found that the Elder of the second village tasked her with recovering a crab egg from a nearby nest, as that was proof enough, where Twilight decided to distract the massive crab before rushing over to the nest. She figured the change in the trial was due to how peaceful the Namekians were, and how they seemed to be at peace with the rest of Namek, so she remained true to their version of the trial and returned with her trophy, allowing her to claim her prize. The Trial of Will seemed to center around preventing innocent creatures from being harmed by a threat, such as someone hunting an endangered species to extinction, though to make it work one of the soldiers offered to play the part of the threat as a younger Namekian played the prey, which she easily passed.

Out of the four trials she eventually took place in Twilight found the Trial of Wit to be the easiest of them all, because the Elder of that village asked her several questions that were riddles, like one that was about what sort of creature walked on four legs, then two, and finally three, and she answered all of them correctly.

While they were doing that Alirinn kept track of how the poison was progressing, because while some trials simply needed her to answer some questions or figure something out, which she excelled at, some did require her to use her energy or bits of her magic to pass. He discovered that his initial estimates about how much time Twilight had left was off, due to the fact that her fights and energy usages were taking almost two weeks from her every time she did something that agitated the poison in her system, severely cutting into how of her lifespan was left. For Frieza and Towa that was a massive blow, as six trials meant she might lose three of her remaining five months of life, since they had no idea what the last couple of trials might have her do. The other thing they had to be wary of was the fact that Vegeta was bound to arrive before they found the last Dragon Ball, as Frieza knew that the lure of immortality was too appealing for someone like the Saiyan, due to his position in life, hence why he had his soldiers in the ship keeping track of incoming ships, just in case he was right and Vegeta showed up.

While they were wrapping up their visit to the fourth village, however, Frieza got a message he had been expecting, only it was far different from what he was used to getting, hence why he and Towa turned their attention away from the trial so they could figure out exactly what was going on.

"Appule, report. What's going on?" Frieza asked, though at the same time he noticed something odd, his Scouter spotted three individuals landing some distance away from where his group was located, in fact he was sure that both Zarbon and Dodoria must have noticed it as well, making him wonder if the crew had missed something important.

"My Lord, it appears that we have some unknown visitors... and I've gotten word that Vegeta landed on Planet 49, all of his wounds were tended, and now he's on his way here." Appule replied, confirming his suspicions on the matter, Vegeta was no doubt coming to claim immortality for himself so he wouldn't have to serve under him any longer, and with how the Saiyans grew under pressure such a thing would be bad for them if Vegeta grew too much, "Cui isn't far behind him, and he's sure that Vegeta means to betray us for the Dragon Balls."

"The prospect of immortality, and the power one can obtain with eternal life, must be calling to him." Towa said, though she had to admit that even demons had fantasies of claiming such a power for themselves, even if it was to overcome the power of Mechikabura and forge their own destinies, despite the figure being sealed away, "What do you think, darling? Should we wait and see what his true intentions are, or should we label him as a traitor now and let Cui deal with him, or at least weaken him while we track down the Dragon Balls?"

"What to do indeed." Frieza remarked, because part of him wanted to punish Vegeta for going against part of his orders during his time on Earth, though at the same time the other side wanted to see what the Saiyan would do after landing on Namek, just to see if he was truly going to betray him, Towa, Twilight, and the empire, "For now, keep the line open so we can hear what he's doing... if he betrays us, and starts going after the Dragon Balls, I want to know as soon as it happens so we can snip the problem in the bulb."

He was practically making Cui a sacrificial pawn right now, he didn't have much of a choice since he had no idea if Vegeta would betray them or if he was coming to help them claim the remaining Dragon Balls, though Towa agreed with him, it was the best move they could make at the moment.

"As you wish, Lord Frieza. What about the other signatures?" Appule inquired, speaking of the three incoming individuals who had appeared on their radar before discovering that Vegeta was on his way to Namek, as their usual orders were to engage and destroy, though after Twilight joined the Force many of their orders had changed.

"I'll send two scouts to the area they land in and see if they're hostile or not... wouldn't want any hostile enemies to come and attack the Namekians while we're here." Frieza replied, as it was the easiest way for them to figure out what to do, if they were hostile his soldiers could take care of them and if they were tourists from another planet they could welcome them with open arms, hopefully to avoid any potential fights, "Hopefully things go smoothly..."

"That's enough... you have passed the Trial of Wit." the Namekian Elder stated, where Frieza and Towa found that Twilight was pleased with her success, something they were becoming familiar with after everything she had done so far, though this time he already had the Dragon Ball, the Three Star sphere to be exact, pulled out from where it was held, which he allowed them to take, "With four of our Dragon Balls in hand you might not need to worry about the trials from the other two villages... depends on their preference, sticking to our long tradition or helping some grieving parents out."

Frieza nodded for a moment as one of the soldiers took the Dragon Ball, handing it over to Dodoria since he and Zarbon were the best guardians for them, and whenever they obtained another one he could have Towa carry it, before he thanked the Elder as Twilight returned to her hoverbed. It pained him to do this, allowing her to tackle the trials when she was poisoned with something that was killing her overtime, but the Namekians had stated their terms and there was no going back at this point, not if they wanted to maintain good relations with them. Even Towa, a demon, was pained by watching her daughter risk her remaining lifespan to obtain the other Dragon Balls, despite the fact that they were coming in with more than enough time if Alirinn's readings were accurate, as he informed them that he'd tell them if Twilight got close to one month of life left. It was for that very reason that they were hoping the next two villagers were willing to hand over their Dragon Balls without requiring Twilight to tackle another trial, so they could save time and not force her to lose more of her lifespan in the process, but he guessed they would find out soon enough.

As they started to get ready to depart, however, Vegeta and Cui finally landed as the other newcomers did as well, to which he ordered two of the soldiers to go investigate the area in question, as it was time for them to see if new enemies might have arrived or if tourists might have arrived. Frieza decided to move outside the village for the time being, as he wanted to be sure of Vegeta's intentions before making his next move, where they silently listened in on what he and Cui were saying at the moment, Cui mentioning the disrespect the Saiyan showed towards him, his superior, and the heads of the empire as well. Cui seemed to think that Vegeta was going to betray them at any moment and wanted to take care of him now, which they would have to deal with since this would allow Frieza to determine whether or not the Saiyan was truly on their side, as with immortality in sight they were sure he'd betray them. Based on what they overheard it sounded like Vegeta was angry at Cui, which made sense considering that they had been near equal in power for a really long time, before the Saiyan powered up on their Scouters, as Zarbon was tracking him while the others focused on the remaining villages and the newcomers that their scouts were looking for right now.

In the end, however, Zarbon's Scouter blew up after some time, something that surprised them and the Namekians that were watching them right now, where Frieza informed them that nothing was wrong, simply a malfunction in the device his subordinate was wearing, before he focused on what had happened.

"The Scouter clocked Vegeta's Power Level at twenty-two thousand... must be a malfunction." Zarbon remarked, though at the same time he heard Twilight cough for a moment as she listened to them, in fact it was one of the only things she could do after the battles she had been through.

"Zarbon, your Scouter was one of the older models, ones that could barely handle a reading like that." Twilight said, where she paused for a moment as Alirinn dealt with the blood that had come up during her cough, a sign that her body was getting weaker as time went on, before she turned her head towards Dodoria, who happened to have one of the newer Scouters, even if it was still behind the newest of them all, "Dodoria, can you get the right reading?"

"Of course." Dodoria replied, where he handed one Dragon Ball over to a soldier before tapping his Scouter, allowing him to lock onto the area that Vegeta was in, before he frowned as he noticed the reading that he was getting right now, as it meant Zarbon had to be telling the truth as to what Vegeta's power actually was, "That... that can't be right! This Scouter must be broken as well."

"Dodoria, need I remind you that the newer Scouters were made by Twilight?" Towa inquired, as saying they were broken meant that one might as well be saying that her daughter had been wrong in some manner when she made them, and all of them knew that Twilight got annoyed when one thought she happened to be in the wrong about something.

"N... No, of course not. The Scouter says that Vegeta's Power Level is twenty-four thousand." Dodoria stated, reminding the rest of the group that Towa could be just as scary as Frieza when she was annoyed, and yet still be outranked by their daughter at times, as Twilight was the scariest of them all at times, so he wanted to make sure she stayed calm.

"Cui's doomed, sadly." Frieza said, though while it was an acceptable loss, since they weren't losing anything of value, this told everyone exactly what they needed to know, Vegeta was betraying them so he could get his hands on the remaining Dragon Balls, before noting that Twilight shifted her head in the direction of the pair, no doubt sensing something that he and the others couldn't, "Okay, scratch that, he's likely already dead. If Vegeta's searching for the Dragon Balls we might as well inform the Elder and see if he can't warn the other villages of our little traitor's existence, so they know not to engage him if he comes looking for the remaining spheres. I had a feeling that he'd betray us, but I never imagined that he'd be so brazen in doing so... if we had the time to punish him I'd suggest tracking him down, but for now keep an eye out for him as we track down the remaining Dragon Balls."

As one of the soldiers told the Elder about Vegeta, so he could somehow inform the others of his kind in case they were visited by Vegeta, another one informed him that the next village was actually closer to their position, to which Frieza and the others moved into the air before heading in the direction in question. This was potentially good news, that another village was closer than the others they had tracked down, meaning they might be able to get two Dragon Balls in a single day and, more importantly, maybe cut down on how much time spent traveling. Of course he had to wonder what the two soldiers he sent off were doing right now, were they able to track down the newcomers and figure out exactly why they had chosen to come to Namek in the first place, as he hadn't heard anything from them, nor had his other soldiers found any readings of them being beaten. He did glance back for a moment and found that Twilight continued to take in what they were flying past, even spotting a small outcropping that had a cave at one point, where he was glad that she was able to take her mind off of the poison and simply enjoy herself, for however long he had no idea anymore.

It took some time, but Frieza was able to smile as he spotted the village that they had tracked down with their Scouters, as there were some Namekians tending to their own gardens and whatnot, meaning one of the remaining three Dragon Balls had to be nearby, and, sure enough, upon landing on the outskirts they found several figures emerging to see what was going on right now.

"Hello Namekians, my name is Frieza. As you can see, we're collecting your sacred Dragon Balls to grant a wish that is very important to us: healing my poisoned daughter." Frieza said, which was basically what he said whenever they visited one of the villages that his forces were currently tracking down, all so they could cut down on the amount of time wasted since there was no telling when the poison would act up, or when Twilight would be wracked by pain, "We were hoping that, with four of the seven Dragon Balls, that you might be willing to aid us in our quest to cure her of the poison she's been fighting for some time now. There's also a Saiyan warrior, by the name of Vegeta, that you need to keep an eye out for, as he's learned of their existence as well and might be looking for the spheres... though he is wearing our armor, the attire of a Frieza Force soldier, he is no longer part of our group."

The Elder, who wore a red open jacket, a white ring of sorts around his neck, and purple sash in addition to the white pair of pants, glanced at the other Namekians for a moment and started to speak in their language, something Frieza and the others had seen before this point, even Twilight was taking notes on it, before he turned towards them again.

"This village is mostly made up of elderly and the young, with three middle aged Namekians who are currently working in the field." the Elder stated, as while Frieza had determined that there were ten of them in this place, thanks to the reading his soldiers got with their Scouters, this allowed him to figure out one thing, this village might not have a warrior for them to use in the trial, much less defend themselves against Vegeta's impending hunt, "Normally we would ask that you take part a trial to prove yourselves worthy of taking the Dragon Ball, but, with danger closing in on our villages, we might be better off handing them to you at this point... you have, of course, already be found worthy by four Elders. You should be able to fend off this invader, right?"

"Indeed. There are five of us with enough strength to take down Vegeta: Zarbon, Dodoria, myself, my husband, and our daughter, Twilight." Towa replied, which was the truth of the matter, both she and Frieza could easily kill him, while both Zarbon and Dodoria could still take him right now, if his power didn't grow more than it already had, though she also knew that once her daughter was healed she would be able to do so as well, something that shocked the Elder, "Don't be too surprised, as Twilight is incredibly strong for her age... in fact, if it wasn't for the poison she's been inflicted with, which we are seeking to get rid of, she would be able to take care of Vegeta on her own... actually, I'm sure she'd love the idea, as she loves to fight as much as she loves reading and researching."

"I'd... welcome such a... challenge." Twilight said, because she had only fought Raditz and was mildly annoyed that she now had no chance to fight Nappa, since Vegeta had killed him, but she could forgive him a little if Goku was still alive, since a new Saiyan made things more interesting, before she coughed and found more blood in her hand, causing Alirinn to rush over and uncork a potion he had concocted to help mend her body.

As that happened, and Twilight carefully drank the potion, one of the little Namekians walked up to where she was resting, where he raised his hands towards her and focused on something, as small waves of energy seemed to radiate from her body as they watched what was currently going on.

"I... I don't believe it... a small portion of the poison has been dealt with!" Alirinn remarked, as his scans indicated that the Warrior's Bane was still near full strength, something Twilight and Towa had helped him with so he could keep track of it's power and terrible influence, but it was definitely somewhat weaker than before, meaning they might not need to track down the remaining Dragon Balls, "How'd you do that?"

"Dende is skilled in the spiritual arts of our kind, and some of us have felt that his healing skills are only an indication of his latent powers." the Elder answered, where Dende smiled for a moment, as he was pleased to have done some good for the weakened girl that was in front of them, before he considered how else they might be able to aid them, since while the vast majority of them were evil he did detect that they weren't here for selfish purposes, like immortality.

"Lord Frieza, we found the other newcomers." one of the soldiers that had been sent out said, where they found that the pair returned with two figures that Frieza, Towa, and Twilight recognized, those being the bald dwarf and Goku's son, but none of them were actually surprised, because if a Namekian had landed on Earth it stood to reason the ship might still be intact for them to use, "They claim to have come here in search of the Namekian Dragon Balls."

This, of course, presented a problem to Frieza, because if the Earth's version of the wish granting orbs were inspired from the original pair, the Namekian set, that meant there was only one wish, one shot at riding Twilight of the poison, though he did have to consider the other fact they had discovered, Dende's healing weakened it.

"Look, Gohan, Bulma, and I didn't come to cause any trouble. We just want to bring back our friends that were killed by Vegeta during his time on Earth." the bald fighter stated, as he could tell that all of them were strong and death would be theirs if they fought any of the soldiers that were around them right now, while at the same time the Elder withdrew the Six Star Dragon Ball so Towa could take it with her magic, "Do your Dragon Balls grant multiple wishes by chance?"

"I don't know. Only the Grand Elder knows for sure." the Elder replied, which Frieza and the others knew to be the maker of the Dragon Balls, where on Earth it would have been the slain Namekian who perished protecting the boy, Gohan as the bald warrior called him, before an idea came to mind as he glanced at Dende for a moment, "Dende, can you fly to the Grand Elder's and ask him about the Dragon Balls? If they can grant more than one wish we simply must know."

"Please, allow Krillin and I to go with him. Vegeta's landed on the planet and might cause trouble." Gohan said, though as he said that he realized that working with a group of evil people was a bad thing, maybe entirely stupid given that there was a chance they could betray them, he did know that this was the best chance they had to make sure everyone got their wish granted if the Grand Elder gave them good news.

"Very well. Dodoria, go with them and ensure no harm comes to them." Frieza stated, as there was no reason for them to play around right now, with Vegeta having rebelled there was a chance he'd seek out one of the remaining two Dragon Balls they were looking for, or seek out his forces to destroy them, so this would keep Dende safe.

As Dodoria nodded, and allowed Towa to take the two Dragon Balls he was holding onto, Frieza had a feeling that things were about to change on them, in what way he had no idea, and hoped that this time around nothing happened, but he knew that the following hours and days would tell him whether or not he was right.