Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Time's Folly; A Bittersweet Symphony ❯ The Aberrant Day: Nightime ( Chapter 10 )

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Chap 10*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Bulma led the girls down the long, curved hallways to the residential section of the main dome where the bedrooms were located. She opened a door to a huge bedroom, decorated in varying shades of beige, complete with a queen-sized bed, two dressers, a large closet, and a couple of night stands. Two tall, potted room-sized plants framed the room and added a touch of living color to the luxurious décor.

 

“Wow!” Asia said, amazed.

 

“Yea, definitely!” Autumn added, eyes already widened with wonder. Bulma smiled.

 

“This room and the one next door are both unoccupied and there is another room across the hall and down two. Trunks' room is directly across from this one. My room is two down from the next room over, and Vegita's is across from mine. You can find another shared bathroom at the end of the hall.”

 

“Thank you so much!” Asia said, smiling.

 

“And, if you'd like, there are some extra clothes in the closets that you girls can change into for now.”

 

“This is really kind of you, especially given the situation,” Autumn added. Azure gave a small nod.

 

“You don't have to worry about that. If something did go wrong, we have people here that could take care of it, no problem,” Bulma replied, with almost a hint of warning. “So, how would you three like to work out the rooming arrangements?”

 

“Well, since you have the extra space, we might as well take advantage and have our own rooms,” Asia suggested with a beseeching little smile, which made Autumn chuckle, “If you don't mind, of course.”

 

“You'll have to excuse my friend's rudeness,” Autumn said apologetically.

 

Bulma gave an amused chuckle. “I understand completely. I have the extra space, so the three of you are more than welcome to have separate rooms.”

 

“You can have this one, Asia, and I guess I'll take the one next door?” Autumn asked looking at Azure.

 

“Don't care,” Azure answered indifferently.

 

“I guess that settles it,” Autumn said, looking at Bulma.

 

“Alright, then. Why don't you three get yourselves situated and rejoin us when you're ready? You will be able to find your way back downstairs, won't you?”

 

“Yea, we'll be okay,” Autumn replied confidently.

 

She then turned to address Azure. “Please, follow me.” Azure nodded and followed Bulma out of the room.

 

“I guess I'd better check out my own room!” Autumn announced brightly, curious to see what kind of clothes were in the room next door. “I'll be right back!” Asia nodded back at her, before turning around to inspect the contents of the dresser and closet.

 

Down the hall, Bulma stopped at a door, opened it then walked into the room with Azure behind her.

 

“Vegita's room is right next door and you know where the other rooms are?” Azure nodded and looked around the room, which contained similar types of furnishings as Asia's room, but was appointed in a dark blue color. “The extra bathroom is past Vegita's room; you can use that one if you'd like.”

 

Azure nodded again, but this time added, “Thank you.” Bulma responded with a small nod of her own before turning to walk out of the room.

 

Bulma frowned slightly as she proceeded back down the hallway, peeking through the slightly opened door into the room Autumn was going to occupy. When she saw Autumn looking around curiously in the room, she smiled softly to herself as she made her way back downstairs.

 

They seem to be very comfortable with each other, despite the fact that Azure is clearly of a very different temperament than the other two, but she can't be all that bad if she's with them…I need to get more information about the three of them. If they really did travel here through such a portal as they described, which seems almost impossible, it's quite likely that they could be stuck here for fairly long amount of time.

 

Bulma sighed. It's an unfortunate time for them to be showing up, especially in the manner that they did. First Trunks and what he just told us about the Augin-jins, and now them? What new peril is coming to Earth now?

 

<><><><>

 

Autumn smiled to herself as she surveyed her new room. It had been done up in shades of pastel pink, and had some different decorations in it than Asia's had. After walking around the room to inspect its arrangements, she drifted to the closet to inspect its contents.

 

All things considered, that all went rather smoothly, I think. I know that I said to Asia and Azure that we shouldn't assume anything, but I can't help but wonder, she pondered, just how real the show that we've been faithfully watching all of this time really is. And then, I really want to know is why future Trunks has appeared back in this particular timeline, because it's obvious that something else is going on. And I can't help but wonder what outside force, or forces, caused the three of us to end up here?

 

“Hey, this looks suitable!” Autumn mused aloud, as she pulled out a white, short-sleeved shirt and black pants set from the sparsely filled closet.

 

<><><><>

 

A tentative knock on the door caused Autumn to turn around. She smiled at her visitor, who stepped into the room and began to look around.

 

Asia sighed. “This is weird. I mean, it's cool, but it's weird!”

 

Autumn nodded in agreement. “You're right about that!” But after a moment, she sighed, “But I can't help but keeping thinking, `now what?'”

 

Asia sat down hard on the edge of the bed and groaned. “Can't we worry about that later?” Autumn frowned back at her. “Well, I mean, it's been a long day. I would like to relax. All of this is just as bizarre to us as it is to them, isn't it? So, can't we just kick back a bit and take it one step at a time?”

 

Autumn took a moment to listen to her words. “Fine with me,” she replied. “Let's not worry about anything else”

 

“Thank you,” Asia said with a small, relieved smile. Autumn returned the smile, but could not wholly ignore the question she had voiced earlier.

 

Switching to a lighter topic, Asia looked past Autumn into the opened closet behind her and observed, “It's a lucky thing that we are around Bulma's height and size, so this stuff should fit us well.” Autumn smiled in agreement and went back to her leisurely search through the clothes. “How do you think Azure will react to them? They aren't really her style; not to mention she's only a few inches taller than Vegita and won't completely fit any of this stuff,” Asia continued.

 

“Like us, she really has no choice in the matter,” Autumn replied as she turned from the closet, laying out her clothes selections on the bed next to Asia. “And, her physical condition is a lot worse than ours.”

 

“Ah, your final selection huh?” Asia noticed. “Why don't we get showered so we can go back downstairs and get something to eat?”

 

“A meal does sound good,” Autumn admitted as the two walked back into Asia's room, which was the one with the attached bathroom. “You can go first, princess,” she added with a grin and a wave. Asia laughed as she took the offer.

 

<><><><>

 

Earlier, the group remaining in the living room had watched quietly as Bulma herded the three girls out of the room. No one said anything until they were certain that their guests were well out of hearing range.

 

“Well, what do you guys think?” a curious Mirai finally asked of the group.

 

“We definitely need to keep an eye on that one,” Gohan advised, knowing that everyone knew to whom he was referring. “We all saw that display of ki use.”

 

“Yea, but, there was something weird about that; as if she didn't know she was doing it,” Goku countered.

 

Mirai nodded then looked at the kids, who were looking up at him with questioning eyes. “What?”

 

“I…we heard you guys mention Broli…he's not coming back again, is he?” Chibi asked, while glancing nervously at Gohan. Both of the boys were visibly bothered by the idea of Broli's possible return.

 

“You encountered Broli too?” Mirai asked, astonished.

 

“Yea, he kept chasing me and Goten. Man, that guy was crazy!” Chibi stated, twirling an index finger next to his head and rolling his eyes.

 

“Yea, and he kept yelling for my daddy, calling `Ka-ka-rott!' over and over again,” Goten added, nodding his head and glancing over at his father.

 

We never did figure out if Dad was really there or not, Gohan realized. He, too, cast a glance at Goku, as Goten's attention refocused on Mirai.

 

“Goten?” Mirai acknowledge as the young boy's attention was fully on him, curious eyes wanting to ask a question of the older half-Saiya-jin.

 

“What are things like now in your time?” Goten asked point-blank, easily changing the subject at hand.

 

“Yea, how are things now?” Goku inquired, as equally curious as his youngest. “Before all of this Augin-jin stuff happened?”

 

Mirai gave a small smile. “I'd say that we're about halfway to being where we were before. Many homes have been restored, and a great deal of the cities have been completely rebuilt, or are near completion.”

 

“That's great news, Trunks!” Gohan nodded.

 

“Yea, it is,” he replied, his small smile becoming a bit sadder. Chibi looked up at his older self with almost a look of pity.

 

“How much damage was done when they came?” Vegita asked bluntly. Piccolo and Gohan turned to regard Vegita with varying levels of surprise. He ignored them, keeping his eyes upon Trunks, who knew exactly to what he was referring.

 

“Luckily, nothing. My confrontation with the Augin-jin happened far enough away from any populated center.” Vegita gave a curt nod and Mirai inwardly smiled.

 

At the moment when Vegita had asked his question, Goku shot a quick, inquisitive glance at his friend. Did Vegita know that Trunks would be coming back? I can't help but wonder if this has something to do with his odd behavior during our spars recently. Ever since the two of them had returned to Capsule Corp, he had noticed that Vegita's demeanor had returned to that of his usual, arrogant self. But Goku also suspected that Vegita was keeping something from them all. And he's purposely letting me believe that, but why?

 

“Let's go and consult with Dende about the girls,” Gohan suggested.

 

Mirai nodded in agreement. “That's a good idea, Gohan. But I suggest that we first see how the night goes, just in case anything else is revealed.”

 

“Tomorrow morning, then,” Gohan said with a nod, although he was not overly keen on waiting that long to see the Earth's Guardian, which strongly showed in his expression, and was laced in his reply.

 

Piccolo grunted as he pushed himself away from the wall. “Then it's decided. In the meantime, we need to stay vigilant, just in case anything gets out of hand!” Casting a short nod to the group, he departed the room with a swirl of his white cape and shot off into the sky once he was outside.

 

“We should also be getting home then,” Gohan stated, looking at his younger brother. “Dinner should just about be ready.”

 

“Yea!” Goten responded with a vigorous nod and a cheerful grin.

 

“Alright, see you all tomorrow at Dende's -” Goku called out with a wave as the three Sons departed in much the same fashion as Piccolo, “- and be careful!”

 

Chibi Trunks then looked up eagerly at his older self. “I guess you probably already know your way around here, huh?”

 

Mirai answered with a light chuckle. “Pretty much.”

 

“So what room are you gonna stay in?”

 

“I don't know. I suppose I should go grab one, shouldn't I?” Mirai observed as he motioned towards the stairs.

 

“I'll show you the best one!” Chibi announced as he led the way up the stairs and Mirai followed.

 

The last person remaining in the room watched silently as his two sons ascended the stairs.

 

<><><><>

 

Fresh from their showers, Autumn and Asia were both laying on their backs next to each other on Asia's bed. Autumn wore the white and black outfit she had picked out and Asia had on a pair of light tan pants with a black midriff tee. Both of them had redone their hairstyles in the same way they had worn them prior to waking up from their unconscious states earlier in the day.

 

“That shower was a definite step in the right direction,” Asia commented contently. “I feel so better now!”

 

“Yea, me too!” Autumn agreed. “All I need now is some food!”

 

“That will be a very nice ending to this day,” Asia commented happily. “I wonder what we'll be eating?”

 

After a couple of seconds, Autumn suddenly asked, “Hey, you know what? I haven't seen Azure since she left with Bulma.”

 

“I'm sure she's doing just fine,” Asia said offhandedly. “It's Azure we're talking about here. And besides, she knows where our room is. She's probably just meditating or something. You know how she likes to be alone.”

 

Autumn resolutely nodded. “True.”

 

“Hey!” This time was Asia's turn.

 

“You sound suddenly spirited.”

 

“Don't you smell that? Smells like food to me!” Asia said happily. “Thank god! Man, I'm so damn starved!!” she added excitedly.

 

Autumn laughed. “Can't agree with you more”

 

“Is it really that necessary to be so damned loud about it?” questioned a rough/soft voice coming from the doorway.

 

Both girls abruptly sat up. “You do know how to kill a mood, don't you?” Asia commented sarcastically.

 

“It's my fuckin' specialty!” Azure snorted, casually leaning against the door frame, outfitted in a pair of gray pants that were a bit too long for her and a black tank top.

 

“What a lame `specialty,'” Asia fired back.

 

“Hn.”

 

Listening to their exchange, Autumn could only shake her head in exasperation.

 

“At least my pants fit me,” Asia added with a smirk after checking over Azure's attire. The other girl returned the smirk, accompanied the flash a middle finger, which made Asia smile more.

 

“Ha-ha!” she shot back.

 

Azure rolled her eyes. “Give it up, child!” Asia started to say something, but Azure didn't hear her, because her attention was suddenly drawn away.

 

<><><><>

 

Mirai had caught up with Bulma in the hallway and had been briefing her on what the group in the living room had discussed and decided in her absence. “Where did you put the girls?” he asked, making mental notes as Bulma pointed out each of their rooms.

 

“Trunks, I'm not too concerned with Autumn and Asia, but what about Azure?” she finally asked. “Do you and the others feel that she is really dangerous?”

 

After a pause, he answered back, “No, she's just… a surprise to us. For now, we can't really see her being a serious threat.”

 

“For now,” Bulma repeated, not totally convinced.

 

“She hasn't shown any overt signs of being able to do anything that would be a threat to us. Plus, her two friends' personalities are complete opposites of hers. They don't appear to be worried about her behavior and they do seem genuine enough -” Mirai began, when he noticed movement from up ahead. From the huge ki signature he knew it was Azure.

 

I don't get it! Her ki level keeps fluctuating; it was really high for the first few hours then it dropped some about an hour ago, and now it's huge again! Maybe Goku was right about her not being aware of her power. Then again, she did deliberately use it earlier today. What the hell is going on with her?!

 

His mother's voice cut into his rambling thoughts. “You're right about that, Trunks. They all do seem to actually be friends of some sort,” she admitted.

 

“Besides, if anything happens, we can take her!” They turned around at the sound of Chibi's confident voice coming from behind them, and saw him standing with his little fists on his hips and smiling proudly up at them. Mirai chuckled when Bulma turned her head and winked at him.

 

<><><><>

 

“What are you looking at?” Asia asked when Azure didn't immediately shoot back a barbed comment.

 

“Nothing,” she said absently as she stepped back into the room then leaned against the wall next to the doorway. “That blue-haired woman is coming back,” she announced right before the trio arrived.

 

Followed by her two sons, Bulma walked into the room and smiled a greeting. “Hey, girls!”

 

“Hi, Bulma!” Asia and Autumn replied together.

 

“You guys must be hungry,” Chibi stated.

 

“Oh, yea!” they both agreed. The two Trunks looked behind them to the wall where Azure stood staring at the floor. Then they flashed a curious look at each other and edged out of the room.

 

“It's good that you're all here,” Bulma said, briefly acknowledging the leaning Azure before walking out of the room to follow the departure of her two sons. “Let's go then. My mother has cooked up a great feast…”

 

As they proceeded to follow Bulma, Autumn caught Azure's eye and threw her a “be nice” look while Asia just glanced worriedly at her. After they had all left the room, Chibi and Mirai exchanged silent glances, both feeling as Azure's ki suddenly dropped from its earlier level. It was now lower than any of the Saiya-jin, but still much higher than Krillin's, whose ki was still the highest of any humans they knew. They both held out hope that Dende would be able to provide some sort of explanation for Azure's strange power.

 

<><><><>

 

After dinner, Asia and Autumn volunteered to help Bulma out with the clean-up chores so that they could continue with their dinner conversation, which was basically the two teens talking bout their Earth and their lives. Once she had finished her meal, Azure curtly excused herself from the kitchen and walked into the living room where she stood in front of a window.

 

Mirai, who had been listening to the girls' dinnertime chatter, turned his attention to Azure when had left the room. He had noticed that she hadn't said a word during the entire meal and looked almost…distracted. He noticed that his father had been watching her as well, and suspected that Vegita had paid more than passing attention to the story the girls related to them.

 

Mirai watched as Vegita, after a few moments, stood up from the table and walked out of the kitchen. A few minutes later, Mirai did the same.

 

Gazing out the living room window into the night sky, Azure stood, thinking. That fight with Venus… in no way, was I that injured from it. Yet when I awoke here I was hardly able to stand? There was a pause in her thoughts. Something happened that night, before that fight. Whatever I threw at the door…is that…what…this is?

 

And the visions… all those strange and yet familiar images that kept running through my mind before I awoke here. The visions were coming more often…becoming clearer in the past month. Finally, he became clear…Why is that Vegita in them? And that blurred image of that girl… Just what the fuck does it all mean?

 

A feeling passed within her, a presence that came and went within a heartbeat then was gone. She drew her eyebrows together, feeling a mixture of curiosity and irritation. What the hell was that? She wondered. She continued to study the night sky through the window, crossing her arms across her back as she did so.

 

<><><><>

 

Trunks stood in silence, partly in shadow, and watched the silent Azure at the window for quite a few minutes until the silence was broken.

 

“Something you want?” she said sharply, without turning around.

 

Frowning, Trunks was taken aback at the curt question, but did not say anything. So, she can also sense ki? I'm almost starting to think we're being too easygoing about this situation. But then, Goku did suggest that she might be using ki without actually knowing it. Jeeze, what the hell?

 

“You are becoming irritating,” she stated dryly.

 

Trunks decided that he would refrain from answering her for a couple seconds longer. Upon hearing her utter just those two, very brusque remarks, he was beginning to feel a little irritated himself. Her aloofness, on top of everything else that had happened in relation to her, made her both a mystery and something of which to be suspicious, given their current situation.

 

Azure again spoke into the silence, continuing to address him without directly turning his direction.

 

“What was the point of walking in here, then leaving, and then coming back only to stand and stare?” she asked, her tone showing her agitation. Trunks waited a moment before giving an indifferent answer.

 

“I just walked in here. My father is the one you felt.”

 

“The one I felt,” she repeated in a mocking manner. “What is that supposed to mean?” What the hell kind of trick is this? she asked herself.

 

“I meant what I said,” he replied flatly. “It was my father's presence that you felt, not mine.”

 

“Idiot,” she murmured to herself. She was growing rather agitated, from what she believed were Trunks' lame answers and that she even bothered speaking to him in the first place. Trunks, however, clearly heard her softly muttered one-word answer.

 

“Really?” he bluntly stated with a hint of sarcasm, causing Azure to finally turn around and look him over.

 

Trunks felt uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze, almost as if he was being studied though a magnifying glass. The light coming from the outside hit her face at a strange angle, giving her eyes an eerie, unnerving blue tint. The two locked eyes for a brief moment before Azure returned to her sky-gazing, re-crossing her arms behind her back as she did so.

 

That look in her eyes was…dark, Trunks reflected, somewhat intrigued. Why is there such a shadow surrounding this girl? It was obvious today that she can use ki, but apparently she can't control it at will. Could a person, such as she, actually use ki and, not be attentively controlling it? That hardly seems possible. But she did it, naturally. That doesn't even make any sense! I mean, for someone to do what she did and not be aware that she did it? And still be able to sense another's ki? What the hell? One has to learn to sense ki. But before anyone can learn how to feel ki, they have to have an awareness of it…

 

He emerged from his musings to find that Azure had turned around was looking straight at him for the second time.

 

“Get off with your staring,” she said darkly.

 

“I will if you answer my question first.” Azure raised an eyebrow as Trunks posed his question, all the while biting back the urge to respond to her in a similar tone. “It is obvious that you felt my father's ki and yet you asked me what that meant, why?”

 

“I don't have time to waste on unproductive conversations with idiots! Fuck off!” With that, she spun around to face the window.

 

“You were the one with idiot question!” Trunks snapped back at her. Exasperated by her behavior, he started to leave the room then paused to throw a parting statement over his shoulder. “Ki, to put it as simply as possible, is life energy. It is what my father purposely flared, which means that you obviously have the ability to detect it.”

 

Azure turned slightly to her side to watch Trunks' back as he strode out of the room. When she was sure that he had gone, Azure returned her attention to the night sky outside of the window. “`Ki….” she asked the air in a low murmur.

 

Unknown to the other two, Vegita had been sitting quietly in a far corner of the unlit room, observing their entire exchange of words. He remained unnoticed by Azure as she continued to stare out of the window and stayed where he was until Autumn came to summon her to bed. It was several minutes later, after both girls had left the room when he left his station and retired to his own bedroom.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*