Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Unfaithful ❯ Part Four: 35 ( Chapter 35 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

..................................U N F A I T H F U L ........................................................................... ........Rhapsody~* ________________________~*Part Four*~: War.....Yamcha sighed and rubbed his throbbing temples-- the result of drinking so much so fast, he presumed. He scolded himself for forgetting to take the special hangover pills that he had had concocted for himself years ago and forced himself to push the thoughts of pain aside. He had more important things to worry about at the moment, such as Bulma.Since he had taken some of his friends to 'visit' her, he hadn't been back. Not because he didn't want to-- Kami knew that his body yearned for the warmth of her own every moment of the day-- but because the war was keeping him occupied every minute of the day. Apparently, his planet was in flames, save for the capital city and his palace. This news should have alarmed him, but it did not. It only made him frustrated that Vejita hadn't had the balls to come for him yet. He itched for the final confrontation. The idea of his own defeat was blurred and erased from his mind; he could no longer imagine that he could quite possibly (and most likely) lose.He rounded the corner in the hallway, and was greeted by the sight of Lady Briefs chatted gravely with one of the generals, who was also a nobleman, of course. When she saw him, her lips twisted into a frown and she lifted her chin in acknowledgement. It irked Yamcha that she would not lower herself to bowing to him. It was as if she were the one ruling the planet, not him! He clenched his fists by his sides."Tension getting to you, Your Highness?" she mocked, her ice blue eyes calculating. "I can hardly blame you. Those Saiyan bastards have practically overrun us by now. Do you mean to let them defeat us, or do you have an elaborate, belated attack plan?""I don't have to listen to belittlement from a member of my own court," Yamcha snapped in reply. "You're forgetting who's really in charge around here, my lady." Clearly seeing that he was not welcome in the conversation, the general wandered away. Lady Briefs ignored the chastisement. "You're venturing out to see to my insolent spawn, aren't you? If I were you, I wouldn't waste my time.""And why is that?""Because," she answered. "General Warren, the gentleman that you just scared away, just received word that one of King Vejita's ships showed up briefly on their radars before disappearing again-- apparently it was coming in for a landing." She shrugged nonchalantly, fluttering her eyelashes. "But that's just what I heard."All thoughts of Bulma were gone from Yamcha's head. He would have to deal with her later. "Why did the General not tell me this?""He was on his way to confirm it when I inquired as to his errand.""Fuck," Yamcha muttered, more to himself than to Lady Briefs. "What the hell is Vejita doing?"Lady Briefs raised an eyebrow. Her expression mocked Yamcha's serious situation. "Coming to murder you, I suppose."Yamcha promptly left her there, still wearing that sarcastic look on her face...____________________________________________________________________ ____________________...Meanwhile, Magdalene, Chichi, and Maylene arrived at the palace. They were all nervously silent as Maylene led them around to the back of the enormous (though not quite the scale of the one on Vejitasei, Magdalene couldn't help but note) building, where the servants' quarters were located. "Now, you're sure that no one will stop us?" Chichi asked, her voice just barely audible. Maylene rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm not sure. We could be stopped the moment we open up the door, for all I know. I've never been in a servant's place in my life."The women were uncomfortably silent as they rounded the final corner. Maylene stopped then, her narrowed eyes on an inconspicuous door that loomed before them. She sucked in a deep, shaky breath, and Magdalene saw tension build in her curvy frame. Concerned, the Saiyan Queen placed an inquiring hand on the woman's shoulder, and felt the knotted muscle beneath."This is quite a personal experience for you, isn't it?" she asked quietly. "If you do not wish to continue, I'm sure that Chichi and I can survive from here. I wouldn't think less of you for it." Maylene was silent, so Magdalene continued soothingly. "I can call Vejita and tell him that you've helped us. He won't harm you when he comes through. You and your friends will be safe.""No," Maylene insisted, finally. "I'm quite alright, thank you. I just haven't been here in years. It brings back memories, you know?" When the other women eyed her doubtfully, she glared. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's get on with it!"The human reached for the door and turned the knob. The door opened without incident, and cautiously the three women stepped through.They found themselves in exactly the room that Maylene had described-- servants' quarters. They had entered a long, narrow hallway with doors lining both sides. On each door was a temporary name plate, tarnished and in as poor a condition as the doors themselves. Maylene wrinkled her nose at the bad-quality carpet beneath her feet."Well, here we are," she grumbled. "There's no other place in the palace like this, you can be sure of that."Chichi explored the hall with her dark eyes. "Its not as bad as some of the conditions that I've lived in," she admitted shyly. A tinge of pink was obvious on her otherwise tanned cheeks. "At least there aren't any rats."Magdalene looked sympathetic, and Maylene disgusted, though she tried unsuccessfully to hide it. "Don't you live in the palace?""No, I don't," Chichi confessed. "I never have. That was simply my excuse for coming with Magdalene. My mate is fighting here, and I'm... carrying his child. I couldn't bear to be apart from him now. So... I came along."Maylene didn't look impressed. She had heard many pathetic lost-love stories since being banished from the palace, and this was just another one to her. "What a sweet story. Now if you two don't mind, we should be getting on to see Bulma now." Without another word, she turned and began ambitiously down the hallway.Magdalene shot Chichi, who looked as if she had been slapped, a sympathetic look and followed Maylene. Chichi followed suit, but only after shooting a forlorn glance at the door through which they had entered. For the life of her, she couldn't recognize what Bulma had seen in this cold, unfeeling woman."This is the end of the hall," Maylene cautioned them as they approached a set of grander, bigger doors. "When we go through here, there's no going back. We'll enter directly into the main hall, where Kami knows who could be wandering around. Just remember, never meet anyone's eyes except for other servants, and keep your voice low and respectful. Don't do or say anything that will set you apart from the others." She looked them over doubtfully before speaking again. "And, please-- follow my lead."They went through the doors, and found themselves in one of the main hallways of the palace. The floors were white and gray marble, and the walls were decorated with pleasant-- althought dull-- paintings of landscapes and flower gardens. Here and there, a portrait of a member of the royal families of old was hung, and Magdalene immediately took notice of the constriciting clothes they wore, along with the emotionless faces. What sort of world had Bulma come from? she found herself wondering.The palace here was much more sparsely decorated than the one on Vejitasei, with fewer displays of blatant wealth and power. No portraits of battle scenes or military heroes were present-- only fat, pale statesmen and stuffy ladies. They passed a couple guards, who didn't give them a second glance. Magdalene noticed that they were especially scrawny (at least to her eyes) and carried only medium-sized swords. Odd for wartime. Anyway, she was beginning to be able to understand why Bulma had loved the palace on Vejitasei so much. Just walking through the halls of this place was not only boring-- it was also suffocating. She was mulling this over when a guard suddenly approached them."What's your business, ladies?" he inquired, his expression not at all suspicous. Magdalene was eternally grateful for Maylene's expert help. "Queen Bulma didn't keep many of her handmaidens around after the war started...""That's right, sir," Maylene answered quietly, her eyes on the floor. "Just us. We've received orders to attend to her. Have you an idea of where the lady is right now?"A dark cloud entered into the man's eyes. "King Yamcha's got her locked up in the church for safekeepin'.""Thank you." Maylene curtsied and led the two disguised Saiyans past the guard, who went on his way without looking back. She shot them both smug looks. "See? No one gives a flying fuck what the servants do around here; not even the guards.""The security here is atrocious," Magdalene scoffed. "If we were on Vejitasei, we would have been reduced to a smoking pile of ashes by now.""Welcome to Earth," Maylene responded breezily. "Its always been this way, ever since Yamcha's family ascended the throne. Yamcha's family were only cousins of the royal family, by the way. His grandfather was rumored to have killed off the other heirs to the throne, just as we all suspect Yamcha did. A lot of bastards, I assure you. I can't wait to watch Yamcha die."They passed through a few more hallways and then Maylene stopped. They were in front of a huge set of heavy wooden doors, ornately carved with religious pictures. Angels looked to the ceiling as if they, too, were wishing to escape from this place. The two burly guards standing in front of the doors, however, somewhat marred the beautiful picture that the doors made."What are you doing here?" one of them demanded. "No one's allowed in here."Maylene flashed them a demure smile. "King Yamcha's ordered us to attend to the queen, sir." She withdrew a hairbrush and bundle of hairpins from her skirts. Magdalene had to hide a smile-- no one had noticed her slip them in as they were stealing from one of the city stores. She was a crafty one. "He wants her to be presentable for when he visits her tonight."The guard hesitated for a moment, his eyes critically assessing their outfits, then finally stepped aside. His partner followed suit. "Fine.""Have you checked in on her lately, sir?" Maylene asked before entering. "Perhaps she is in need of more than hairpins...""No one's allowed entrance except you and King Yamcha," he answered curtly. "I haven't been inside.""Of course." Maylene curtsied-- a very skilled and practiced curtsy, rather than that of a servant, Magdalene noticed with a grimace-- then entered the church. She slammed the doors behind them."You'll have to work harder to disguise your class, dear," Magdalene advised her. "You're lucky that those guards didn't notice your ease.""Oh, who gives a damn?" Maylene muttered. "Let's find her."The women stood at the entrance of the palace church, their eyes adjusting to the dimmer lighting. The last rays of sunlight were filtered in multicolored light on the pews and the altar, but the rest of the room was encased in shadow. Motes of dust floated in the rays of light, as if there hadn't been movement there in a long time. This worried the Saiyan Queen more than the eerie, dead silence did."Bulma?" Maylene called quietly. Her voice echoed off the high ceilings, the only response to her call. "Are you alright?"Chichi was looking towards the altar when she noticed a dark, unmoving shape behind it. Squinting to discern what it was, she moved closer. "Hey guys!" she exclaimed. "Over here."The other two women hurried over to her, and together they approached the inky shadows behind the altar, as if sensing that something foreboding awaited them. Maylene was within a few feet of the form when her foot-- protected only by thin slippers-- encountered something warm and wet on the ground. Wincing, she lifted it and was shocked to see that what she had stepped in was a large, growing puddle-- a deep red puddle. And then they stumbled upon Bulma.She was crumpled face-down on the floor, her magnificent (though now tangled) curls splayed out into the sticky puddle that had formed around her like a halo. She wore almost nothing-- just a thin nightgown that looked as if it had seen better days. Her skin was pale as death, and they could detect no movement.Maylene stumbled back away from her friend's body, her face draining of all color. Her mind was flooded with happier memories of she and Bulma's time together, and the woman had an inkling that pretty soon memories were going to be all that she had left of her. Completely breaking character, she began to cry."Sweet Kami," Magdalene muttered, her face growing nearly as white as Bulma's. "Help me turn her over-- she could have been smothered!"Together, she and Chichi managed to turn the underweight body of their friend over onto her back, which provided them with an even more grotesque sight.Her face was smeared with crimson, and her hair had stuck to the smears in several places. Ugly, fresh gashes ran up and down her forearms, and a short distance away they made out the shape of a long dagger, which was most likely what she had used on herself. Magdalene knelt down, her nose protesting the sharp scent of the blood, to check to see if she was breathing. It was just then that her communicator beeped rudely, causing alll three women to start."What's going on down there?" Vejita demanded, his voice crackling through the device. "You're not there to shop around, you're there for a reason!"Magdalene could barely detect a pulse, and felt hardly any air from Bulma's breath on her cheek. Before she could control herself, she began to weep quietly, taking Bulma's head into her lap. Unfortunately, Vejita's Saiyan hearing picked up on her soft sounds immediately."What's happening?" he asked loudly. "Tell me!""Kami, Vejita... there's so much blood," she said hoarsely. Tears blurring her vision, she ran a motherly hand over Bulma's matted curls. "She's hanging on by a thread.""If you don't me what the FUCK happened--""She..." Magdalene choked on her words. "She attempted suicide. The cuts are so deep-- she's lucky that she didn't severe an artery, for Kami's sake! We just found her, with all of this blood..." She trailed off again, interuppted by sobs. Magdalene's uncharacteristic weakness frightened him more than her words ever could have. "She was lying in a fucking pool of it, Vejita."Vejita's rage could almost be felt through the communicator, and Chichi shuddered as a cool chill went down her spine. Blood had been spilled-- Bulma's blood, of all people's-- which meant that an abundance of it was now started. There was a tight silence before he spoke again."I'm an hour away," he finally said, his voice monotonous. "I've advanced our plans. I'm going to land my ships right in the middle of his fucking city and then kill anyone who gets in my way."Suddenly Magdalene remembered Byron and his pathetic gang of followers, alone and clueless in the city. "Not everyone-- there's a group of people here who want to help you. They know the ways of the humans well, and can help you attack. Please don't harm them, Vejita, for me..." When he snorted in disgust, she gripped the communicator tighter and played her guilt card. "Besides, their leader is an old friend of Bulma's-- a dear friend that I'm sure she would be very distressed to see decapitated.""Is she still breathing?" Vejita asked quietly after a moment. His voice still had underlaying tones of pain and anger, but it was masked now. Magdalene knew that he this was his form of reluctant agreement, but she still couldn't be sure about the safety of Byron and his friends. They could only pray now. Magdalene passed a hand over Bulma's still face forlornly, and smiled at Chichi as she came to sit by them. Gently, she moved Bulma's head into her own lap, and Magdalene grimaced at the smears of blood that were now on her own clothing. "Yes-- barely." Then, to Chichi, "Wrap those wounds, dear, before they drain the life out of her.""Alright," Chichi consented, her voice soft and weak. She began to rip strips off of the hem of her uncomfortable dress, and fashioned makeship bandages out of them.The Saiyan Queen stood shakily and moved a short distance away, passing the trembling form of Maylene as she went. She sat down on one of the front pews so that she could have some privacy, then spoke into the communicator again."The others don't know..." she started hesitantly. "But she's been raped, also. I could smell it on her. I didn't want to upset them any further. The human who guided us here was her best friend, after all."A sharp intake of breath sounded on Vejita's end, and he made no efforts to hide his anger anymore. "When I enter the city, I'm going to fucking castrate every man who crosses my path."Magdalene was not pleased with the unnecessary violence, but there was nothing she could do. War was hell, after all-- that was what kept them from happening often. She just grimaced. "Remember the human rebels, Vejita. Their leader's name is Byron-- it would be great if you could spare his balls as well as his life."There was no response, because Vejita's end of the line had gone dead. She couldn't even be sure that he had heared her warning. She tucked the communicator back into her skirts and hurried over to the altar again. Chichi had wrapped up one of Bulma's arm, and was examining the second one as she wiped the excess liquid off of it. She lifted her big brown eyes up to Magdalene's when she approached, and they were filled with tears."Why would she do this?" she said. "We were so close to her! Vejita is hardly an hour away."Magdalene kept all knowledge of the apparently violent rape to herself and instead gestured toward Maylene, who was still rocking back in forth in her own world. "See to her. I'll finish these."Chichi moved away, and Magdalene allowed her emotionless expression to pass away in favor of an expression of frustration. It was just as they had feared-- Bulma had retreated inside of herself, and when she had come out... this had happened. It would take nothing short of a miracle to bring her back again. But she kept her burden to herself.For now, she concentrated on tending to the fallen human, wondering if her beautiful blue eyes would ever open to the world again....__________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________