Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Price You Pay ❯ Chapter Twenty-Eight ( Chapter 28 )

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The Price You Pay: Chapter Twenty-Eight

"It's not your fault that she's suddenly arrived this way, Vegeta no Ouji," came the voice of a figure shadowed beside the Saiya-jin no Ouji's window. Passive, and almost soothing, the remark had been more of a reflection than a comment of censure.

Vegeta grunted. It didn't matter if it wasn't his fault. Having an Earthling around was the last thing he wanted. He would play the fool for as long as possible, but soon everyone would know about Chikyuu and what had happened there. It was only a matter of time.

"Don't dwell on it, Vegeta no Ouji. She is ignorant—"

"I know she is," Vegeta replied tersely, cutting off the shadowed warrior. "That doesn't make her any less dangerous." Silence resumed and the two gazed out at the red sky as it purpled with the dying sunlight.

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"Well, this is as good as it gets," murmured Bulma as she gazed at her reflection in the mirror. After much deliberation she'd decided upon a simple black gown of a more modest design. She could still be sexy without flaunting her goods and looking like a tramp. She wasn't quite at the point of desperation.

As the light from her window began to fade away, the pain between her shoulder blades grew more intense. She was glad she'd decided upon the modest gown. Exposing the glowing mark seemed like a bad idea on Vegeta-sei. The pain was nagging. Instead of a gentle throb it began to pulse and burn. She may not have been on Earth and the Khon'daia na may not have still been in effect, but its residue still slithered slowly through her veins, saturating her blood with electric heat, an energy completely alien to her own: Vegeta's.

"Lady Bulma?" Radditz sounded anxious, apparently there was some weight on the night's outcome and for a moment Bulma felt a ping of trepidation. Approaching the door, Bulma turned and took one more glance at the setting sun. She was ready.

 

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Sitting at the table, Vegeta waited for Bulma to arrive. It was clear that she had no connection with the war at this point. Usually spies gave in under his power almost immediately and although he couldn't find a clear way to enter her mind, her aura was pure. Yet the answer to her untimely arrival was alluding even the wisest of his counselors and the mark they shared terrified him in a way he never thought possible. Uncertainty was dangerous at this point. One slip and Freeza would start a full out war. The last thing he needed was a war with two powerful empires. Vegeta-sei was strong, but with a meager population of 250 million, its forces could only be spread so thin.

"Vegeta no Ouji, Lady Bulma has arrived," came Radditz's muffled voice through the door.

"Enter." The word was uttered with authority as Vegeta quickly rose from his seat and straightened out his rumpled clothing. The figure standing by the window let out a sigh and Bulma quickly entered.

"Vegeta no Ouji," addressed Bulma formally with a slight bow that seemed customary when in the presence of Saiya-jin royalty.

"Good evening, onna. I'm glad to see you've finally acquired more... appropriate attire," greeted Vegeta. The sarcasm in his voice was accentuated by a sloppy smirk.

"Ditto," replied Bulma with her head high. There was no way she was letting him get the best of her, even if she was obligated to be painfully respectful. Vegeta's brows furrowed momentarily, a reaction characteristic of the new personality he'd taken on since her stay on Vegeta-sei.

Clever, onna, clever.

Vegeta grinned in spite of himself. Something about her made the open impertinence bearable and challenging rather than insubordinate. But the smile was gone as quickly as it had come leaving Bulma curious and apprehensive. The presence of another figure in the room drew her attention. She'd sensed it the second she'd entered the confined quarters. But whether that presence was friend or foe was yet to be determined.

"Friend, I do hope," came a voice from the darkness as a set of gold eyes flashed for a second and slowly faded back into shadow. The creature was clearly male and his voice accented in a way she found vaguely familiar, nearly sensuous, in a foreign way. Was there anything on the planet that wasn't? Having people read her mind was beginning to give her the creeps.

"Zarbon, how kind of you to make your presence known," remarked Vegeta tightly. Apparently he hadn't made the right decision somewhere along the line and the Saiya-jin prince was less than enthused.

"No, I knew he was there," commented Bulma in the creature's defense. "I sensed another when I first entered the room."

"Really? How observant," the prince mocked. She'd forgotten that everyone here had that power; hers was nothing extraordinary on a planet where the indigenous life could hack its way into her brain and uncover her darkest secrets if she wasn't careful. "Why don't you have a seat?"

Do you always have to be in control, Vegeta?

Thought Bulma with irritation. Nothing in the universe vexed her more than muscle bound, Saiya-jin men treating her like she had the I.Q. of a monkey. And Vegeta, given the circumstances, really had no excuse to treat her like that. She smirked.

"Now that we're all here, I believe there are a few issues we need to discuss, several of them relevant to your safety here on Vegeta-sei." Vegeta paused. "I don't know how you got here, onna. Nor do I know the intent of this violation of exile arranged in our treaty with Chikyuu nearly 30 years ago, but it's my duty to inform you that the planet you know as Earth no longer exists." He was direct, some could even say horribly blunt.

"I'm sorry, I must have misunderstood. What did you just say, Vegeta?" Bulma was at a loss for words, he couldn't have said.... she couldn't have heard...

"Your planet no longer exists. A Saiya-jin infant, Kakkarot, was sent to Earth almost 30 years ago to purge it of all its life forms." He paused, the look on Bulma's face was hard, unfeeling, and made him damned uncomfortable. "Onna, if, for just one minute you could stop glaring at me, maybe I could finish explaining to you what happened."

Not that I know why I feel I have to explain myself to an onna.

"There is a prophecy that dates back a thousand years of a Saiya-jin who will become the Legendary and ascend to a level of power so remarkable that no being in the universe will be able to defeat him." The pedantic tone he was taking on was beginning to bore Bulma. She already knew the story. Vegeta was obsessed with it for Kami's sake, why was he bringing it up now? The Saiya-jin no Ouji paused, realizing that Bulma was not paying attention.

"I'm sorry, please continue." Bulma didn't think that telling him she already knew the story would be a good idea, especially if they thought she was a spy. After all, only Saiya-jins were supposed to know the full story of the original Super Saiya-jin. Vegeta grunted.

"What most Saiya-jins don't know is that the next Legendary is, according to recently found ancient manuscripts, supposed to be an Earthling. As I'm sure you're already aware, the term "Earth" is seldom, well, practically never used in everyday language here. It wasn't until right before Chikyuu's destruction, when Capsule Corporation began to develop advanced technologies, particularly one of encapsulation, that Chikyuu even became interesting to the empire at all."

So this is why Vegeta wanted to kill Goku so badly. He fulfilled the prophecy in a way Vegeta never could—never wanted to.

Vegeta's tail began to whip back and forth and his eyes showed a hint of gold. Something had him flustered but he kept going nonetheless. "So you see, onna, being that you are the only Earthling we know to be alive, you are extremely important to us. Somehow you are connected to the fulfillment of the prophecy. Without you, on the brink of war with two great empires, the Saiya-jins have no hope of survival." His face was grim but matter of fact and his eyes glowed like fire as he gazed upon her porcelain face. Bulma glanced at his tail as it slowly lashed back and forth. Seeing it unraveled on Vegeta-sei and in the presence of another warrior was disconcerting.

So how was Earth...

"Destroyed?" Vegeta smiled a little and then turned away. She was letting down her mental barriers again. Gaining entrance into her mind was exceptionally easy when she was distressed. "It was a casualty of Freeza's obsession with power. After becoming aware of the prophecy he wanted to be sure that Kakkarot was not going to become the Legendary.”

Nor any other Saiya-jin.

 

Thought Bulma.

“Under his command, the Earth was destroyed." Before Bulma could say anything, Vegeta stood up and walked to the window opposite Zarbon. It was clear he hadn't told the entire story but Bulma temporarily let it go.

Sooner or later…

"Bulma." It was Zarbon's voice. As the darkness faded away from his shadowed form Bulma was taken aback as she was met by a pair of shimmering gold eyes.

But he isn't a...

"Saiya-jin?" Zarbon finished her statement. Zarbon began to chuckle but it was clear that the humor was forced. "You really need to practice putting up your mental barriers more. Without them, on this planet, you'll be assassinated within the week."

"Um, thanks. I guess," Bulma managed to choke out in her state of shock. She was on mental overload and the last thing she needed to deal with was feeling even more threatened. So far every single one of the strange entities she'd met had threatened to kill her and that was definitely not something she was looking forward to experiencing again.

"You're welcome." The shadow that had once blanketed the rest of the alien's features began to slither away as he approached her. Although accustomed to being surrounded by creatures of a race other than her own, Bulma couldn't help but be surprised at Zarbon's appearance. Fine green hair and pale bluish green skin gave away his reptilian origins but his eyes possessed a wit and strength she had seldom seen in any other humanoid. He was dense and heavily muscled but pulled it off in a graceful way, unlike the Saiya-jins who always seemed a bit savage in appearance.

Bulma smiled. Although Zarbon was brutishly strong and, she was certain, a merciless murderer, there was something about him she knew she could trust. He would defend Vegeta to the death, and as far as she could tell, protect her as well. The fact that he had a face that looked like it was crafted by Kami himself had nothing to do with her ease, of course.

“Well, now that we're all getting along,” started Vegeta as he made his way back over to the two of them, “I believe it's time for dinner.”

Zarbon's eyes flickered for a moment after the Saiya-jin no Ouji spoke. And for a moment she could tell that something had been exchanged silently between the two. As the awkward silence drew on for a few seconds, Bulma's mind started to wander back to Earth. She released her breath in a sigh, only then realizing how long she'd been holding it. Sometime over the past few minutes she'd started trembling as well. Her whole body felt limp and heavy.

“Actually, Vegeta,” said Bulma, standing up, with effort, from the position in her chair, “I think I need some rest. I'm beginning to feel rather…” Before Bulma could finish the sentence she was collapsing to the floor. Zarbon, the nearest to her, managed to catch her before she had completely fallen and in the process let down the ki shield he'd been surrounding himself with to prevent any mental intrusions.

“Ye gods, Vegeta, the gravity!” sounded the warrior in near panic as he put up a strong ki shield around himself and the fragile Chikyuu-jin in his arms. No wonder she'd fainted, the palace gravity had increased nearly 300 percent within the course of their discussion. Bulma's heart simply didn't have the strength to pump enough blood up to her brain with that much resistance.

In less than a second Vegeta was down the hall and operating the atmosphere control panel, lowering the gravity back down to the 1g that Bulma was accustomed to.

So, thought Zarbon as he stared at the fragile woman in his arms and briefly ran and scaled finger over her cheek, it has begun already.