Disclaimer : I do not own Dragonball Z or any of its characters.
Beginning of the End
Prologue
The Fall of the Saiyans
In times long passed, Earth was a peaceful place. Different races of sentient beings inhabited Earth and they lived together in harmony. Both agriculture and technology flourished. Of the many races, the humans and the saiyans were the most prominent.
The saiyans were a powerful race. They devoted themselves to strengthening their bodies and enjoyed the rush of adrenaline in combat. As a result, they held great power in their body and were the finest warriors across the lands. Although the saiyans were famed for their ferocious personality and combat prowess, they never warred against the other races unless absolutely necessary. They were more attuned to nature and preferred a more primitive lifestyle. However, they were not adverse in using technology, though it was few and limited.
The humans were not as strong physically as the saiyans, but their intellect knew no bounds. They harnessed the power of technology far more than any other races and created many amazing machines. They built high rising buildings powered by machines, often neglecting the effects it had on nature.
It came to pass that a human scholar who had intensive studies in the arts of the arcane discovered the long forgotten rites of the Blood Moon. It was written in the ancient texts that the rites, when performed under a blood red moon, would grant its user everlasting life and mystical powers. Fascinated by the notion of immortality, he searched far and wide for more information about the rites. Soon, his fascination turned into obsession. The more he indulged himself into the studies, the more it corrupted him.
He began to hear voices, voices that told him to perform the rites. However, to begin the rites, he needed a blood red moon. For that, he would need a sacrifice. The voices in his head commanded him to use the blood of royalty for it was the most precious in the world. As such, he decided that it would be Princess Vaitara, the daughter of King Vegeta of saiyans. He believed that, being more attuned to nature than humans, their blood would have mystical powers too.
Under the guise of an ambassador from the human emperor, he offered technology as gifts to the King as was the custom between the humans and saiyans. King Vegeta welcomed the imposter and treated him like a royal guest, granting him stay in the palace. That night, under a full moon, he sneaked unnoticed into the young princess's room and stole the eight year old girl away from the palace, using enchantments he had learnt.
Great was the anger of the King and all his people shared his anger. He punished the sentries severely for their lax and swept the kingdom for his beloved daughter. When he failed to find the imposter or his daughter within the kingdom grounds, he immediately led his people to war with Emperor Praiver of the humans.
Emperor Praiver, confused at the sudden declaration of war, denied kidnapping Princess Vaitara and retaliated with the full force of his empire, using the best of their technology. The saiyans were strong enough to withstand the weapons of massive destruction that the empire had but not without heavy causalities. It soon dawned on King Vegeta that his daughter may not have been stolen by the empire, but by an imposter. By then, both sides had already taken much causality.
Emperor Praiver was willing to forgive King Vegeta for it was because he had trusted a human without prejudice which had led to this tragedy. Disgraced and defeated, King Vegeta could not forgive himself and took his own life.
First born son of King Vegeta, Prince Vegeta mourned his father's death and refused to take his rightful place until he found his sister. For months, his search was unfruitful, until one day, he was visited by Brodock, the spirit of father of his trusted guards, Kakarot and Raditz. He learnt from Brodock the location of the kidnapper and that his sister was still alive, though barely. Brodock had chanced upon the kidnapper and in an attempt to rescue the Princess, was struck down mysteriously. He warned the prince to be most wary and departed for the afterlife.
With the remnants of the saiyan army and his trusted guards, Kakarot, Raditz and Nagpa, Prince Vegeta made haste to the ancient cave where the kidnapper was supposed to be hiding. When they arrived, Prince Vegeta gave the order to surround the cave from all sides and approach it cautiously.
Suddenly, the full moon turned blood red. Several of Prince Vegeta's soldiers began to bleed. Wounds appeared on their skin with no apparent reason and the soldiers slowly bled to death one by one. The creeping curse ran its course through the army, only the prince and his guards seemed to be unaffected by it. Those who had died would rise again, like mindless zombies, to attack the living. A war raged between the living, the dying and the dead. Bewildered, Prince Vegeta consulted with Nagpa who was also the high priest of the god, Mihtous.
Though Nagpa, Mihtous revealed that his soldiers were cursed by the bleeding curse casted by a Blood Shaman. Mihtous also revealed the kidnapper had sold his soul to the demon, Freiza and had become a Blood Shaman. Prince Vegeta pleaded with Mihtous for help and Mihtous agreed, for Freiza was the arch nemesis of Mihtous. The god then bestowed Prince Vegeta and his trusted guards with power to defeat the Blood Shaman.
With his new strength, Prince Vegeta and his guards proceeded into the cave to rescue the Princess. Alas, they were too late. The princess had already died. Her face was pasty white engraved with a look of utter horror. She lay on the ground in a pool of her blood. A hooded figure in a red cloak bent over her mangled body, lapping up the blood that bled from wounds on her neck, both her wrists and ankles, moaning in religious ecstasy.
Angered and aggrieved, he radiated a golden aura. He clenched his fists as the flow of power in his body multiplied. Concentrating solely on his anger, he embraced the power. Prince Vegeta's ebony hair stood up and blazed like golden flames, his bottomless black eyes transformed into piercing teal. Static energy rushed around him.
Prince Vegeta aimed a ki blast at the hooded figure, unleashing all his anger and power he possessed. The figure sidestepped his attack and turned to face the prince. Prince Vegeta almost could not recognize him. His eyes were as red as blood and fangs peeped from between his blood stained lips. His mouth elongated into a reptilian grin. He revealed himself as the Blood Shaman Zarbon and offered Prince Vegeta a chance to be his subordinate, promising riches and power beyond believe.
Prince Vegeta scorned his reply and launched himself unto Zarbon, his fists in an obscure blur of punches. His trusted guards could only stare at the duel, frozen in place by Prince Vegeta's fury and power. The Shaman dodged with ease and taunted Prince Vegeta. He spoke of how she screamed in horror when he slit her neck. He described with dreadful fascination of how Princess Vaitara's blood was drained from her to fill the moon, tinting it red.
Prince Vegeta doubled his efforts with more punches and kicks. He wanted to kill the deranged monster. Zarbon dodged a kick and blocked the prince's left fist. His right hand reached out to clutch Prince Vegeta's neck. Grasping him tightly by the neck, the Shaman held the prince in the air, impervious to the prince's efforts to free himself.
Seeing that their prince in danger, Kakarot, Raditz and Nagpa lunged themselves at the shaman but was repelled by an invisible barrier around the dual. Desperately, they rang blows after blows at the barrier, hoping to tear it down.
Zarbon then waved his fingers in complex gestures and a red aura emitted from his body gradually. Knowing that the Shaman was preparing a spell, Prince Vegeta unsheathed his sword and plunged it into Zarbon's heart. The Shaman laughed at his attempt, for he was immortal and would not die to a mere stab in the heart. However, when Vegeta began to pull the sword out, Zarbon's grin contorted into a painful grimace. He had felt his soul being ripped out of his body and entrapped into the sword. He shrieked in panic and pain.
When the sword was pulled free, Zarbon's lifeless body fell to the ground with a thud. Holding the sword infused with Zarbon's soul in one hand, Prince Vegeta aimed a ki blast at the body, blasting it into nothingness. He felt the sword vibrated in anger in his hand as if Zarbon himself could see his own body being destroyed. Satisfied, he sheathed his sword.
Exhausted, Prince Vegeta released his pent up power and his hair and eyes returned to its original color. However, his hair maintained its flame-like state. Holding back tears, he carried his sister in his arms and laid her on a stone table in a more dignified manner. His heart broke when he realized he could not erase the look of utter horror on her face.
The Prince and his guards exited the cave to find the saiyan army which had came with them decimated, not one soldier survived. With heavy hearts, they laid the bodies in the cave to accompany the princess in endless slumber. After the last body was laid to rest, Prince Vegeta caused the cave's entrance to collapse, sealing the tomb of Princess Vaitara and the saiyan army.
When Prince Vegeta and his guards returned home, they discovered the kingdom in ruins, except for the palace which was strangely untouched. The palace, the towns and the streets were all deserted, aside from a sick elderly man who hid in the cellar of a rundown mansion.
From the elderly man, Prince Vegeta learnt that the people had believed that the Prince had died in his fruitless search for the missing princess. They had divided themselves into clans and warred against each other to claim supremacy for the throne of the kingdom. The saiyans went all out to kill each other and there were very few survivors. The survivors became wandering nomads and left the kingdom.
Prince Vegeta was devastated by the fate of his kingdom, although he did not regret the search for his beloved sister. He ordered the old man to be brought to the palace where he would be cared for. He also sent out messages and hoped the wandering nomads would return.
The old man succumbed to his sickness and passed away. For years, Prince Vegeta had waited. Still, the nomads did not return. Years turned into decades, the nomads never returned. Neither did Prince Vegeta and his guards aged. They realized that part of the god Mihtous's gift of power was immortality.
A hundred years passed. Prince Vegeta finally accepted the fact that the saiyan nomads would be dead by then. They were what were left of the mighty saiyan race. He appealed to Mihtous to bind them in slumber and to guard the sword containing Zarbon's soul for all eternity so that the Blood Shaman would never be released. Mihtous agreed. The god placed the saiyans in a magical sleep and formed a magical barrier around the palace.
For a hundred years, Prince Vegeta and his guards slept.
They slept through the rifts that exploded on Earth, which cause an upsurge of mystical energies. The humans were perplexed by these energies as it could not be explained by machines or calculations.
Slowly, the humans evolved and became attuned to the mystical energies which over time weakened their bodies. They learnt to compromise technology with magic. Studies of arcade power became popular and many technology research facilities were abandoned.
Soon, the humans began to realize that magic was not as reliable as technology and reverted back. The study of magic soon faded out. Still, there were few who practiced the mystical arts.
The power of the god Mihtous cocooned the palace from the eruption of mystical energies. The last of the saiyans continued to sleep, undisturbed.
As with all gods, the time came when Mihtous departed for other worlds. Without Mihtous, the magical barrier around the palace began to wane.
[Author's Note : I hope you enjoyed the story and I apologize for any mistakes I have made. Please leave a review if you can, I will really appreciate it. Yes, this is a B/V fan fic, the lady in question will appear in the next chapter or the one after, I promise.]