>>5377206“Pretender?” you ask, realizing immediately that something else is going on here. But you need more information to discover exactly what that is. But he just waves you off, his expression returning to one of mild amusement that he wore before Aqua'd cured him.
'Not an issue for any of you to bother yourselves with, I just had a rather....Unpleasant meeting with someone just before you all arrived.” he says, then with your Lip Reading skill make out him mouthing under his breath: “Next time that damned Kai visits, we're having words.” You wonder what Kai visited him, but King Cold shakes his head and continues talking aloud to you all. “As for the divine artifact, very well. I shall entrust its return to you all.”
“Thank you very much!” Chris says, bowing in a surprisingly traditional way before him. He chuckles at this, then continues.
“And now for you, Goddess Aqua. For doing for me what no one else could, you shall have a fitting reward.” he says, you seeing Aqua almost start drooling at this immediately. “Name your price, and if it is within my power it shall be yours.”
“Anything?” she asks, looking quite the opposite of the image of a goddess. But her eyes transfix themselves on the bottle resting beside his throne and her eyes light up. “You're a wine guy, right? You seem the type.” she says, buttering him up. “So I'm sure you have some really good bottles, right? I'd like a bottle of some of the really good stuff!”
“....Heh. Very well, it shall be yours.” he replies with a bemused smile. “I'll have to reach out to my nephew, Arctus, and see which bottle he would recommend you. He's more the professional drinker than I and has helped amass quite the collection here.”
“I'll gratefully accept your kind donation.” Aqua replies with a benevolent-seeming, far more goddess-like smile on her face. “And this Arctus sounds like my kinda guy. We'll have to go drinking together sometime.”
“Hahahaha. I'm sure such a thing could be arranged, once you all return victoriously from Planet Namek.” he says, clearly in high spirits. “Now, if you would all come with me. I shall lead you to my treasury, where the divine relic in question is no doubt stored.”
You all follow him from his throne room, Freeza still mysteriously absent since his meeting with his father earlier, walking behind the towering figure until he comes to a pair of titanic doors with no obvious mechanisms for entering aside from the glowing circular dip in the stone. He simply reaches forward, places his hand palm-first against the door, and then the light fades away. The doors then begin sliding silently inwards, opening to a sight that makes your jaw drop. King Cold doesn't have a bank vault, his treasure vault could fit several entire banks inside!
