Prompt One : The King
Blue.
The color was completely foreign, almost serene, and it made Vegeta's lips curl over in disgust. All he had ever known was the bitter taste of black. The nightmares that accompanied the void comforted him, lulled him to sleep at night. He was born in darkness, bathed in it until it absorbed every crevice of his skin.
But….
"Vegeta!" The voice of thunder vibrated his eardrum, yet he refused to look over his shoulder. "Son….what….what are you doing?"
Vegeta looked down, his eyebrows dripping with confusion. Since when had he gotten so close to the edge, so close to the soft lull of water beneath his boot?
A heavy hand weighed down his shoulder, and finally the boy of twelve glanced up and looked to his father. "Those waters are dangerous, son. They will strip our kind of everything. Have you lost your mind?"
Vegeta swallowed, ashamed that he almost forgot the consequences. Why had his feet mimicked the unlawful peasants of darkness, ignoring his royal thoughts? His brain is the king of his subconscious, after all.
With reluctance, Vegeta stepped back from the water, the blue engrained in his mind.
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Prompt 2: The Healer
The black iron fence might have been new, but Vegeta's curiosity wasn't . Especially not after the fate of Kakarot.
The young man was rumored to have dipped his toe into the water, mumbling something about looking for refreshment. And then he was gone, submerged underneath the crystal blue with no more fire in his eyes.
King Vegeta's fear prompted the fence, damning anyone to death if they even looked at it for too long.
Vegeta himself had scoffed it off, declaring his own father as mad. Surely light would never think to penetrate the dark, especially when the eighteen year old Prince's presence was enough to send anyone running.
But then Vegeta heard laughing. It was a chorus of sounds that had never graced his ears. Oblivion never opted for such shrill, annoying noises. A feminine voice echoed through his bed chambers, intermingled with that of Kakarot. By the time he approached the fence, several others had peered over the edge of black, trying to see something other than their own reflection.
"It must be true," One of them spoke, "Those waters will heal our dark souls. Listen to the traitor Kakarot! He's jolly."
Vegeta felt his curiosity swell with his breathing. He edged closer to the fence.
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Prompt 3: Star Crossed
The last words Vegeta heard before he submerged in the water was his father screaming his exile, saying he was no longer a prince of darkness. Years ago, Vegeta would've cared, but that feminine laugh cradled his curiosity, and he had to see.
The waters seemed to pull him down rapidly, anchoring his boots until the surface was barely visible. His lungs burned, his eyes dry despite the wetness.
He desperately flapped his arms about like a wild man, anxious to taste the darkness once more. The water was too bright, too inviting, too calm. It was havoc against his senses. He should have listened to his father.
And then, Vegeta felt a warmth that was unbecoming to a race of cold hearts. It enveloped him tightly, making his anxious lungs slow down.
"Let go, sweet prince," a voice purred in his ear, serenading his chaotic thoughts, "Close your eyes and let go, and then you will see."
All around Vegeta was blue. Too blue. He could've sworn he felt dainty fingers swim across his chest. Not wanting to drown, he obliged, closing his eyes to the familiarity of black, hugging the stars that crossed the blanket of his eyelids.
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Prompt 4: Duty
The voice in his ear continued her soft whispers until Vegeta's body went flacid, his limbs replacing the waves in the water. Was this what his father was trying to avoid? He felt so….peaceful. Serene. A stark contradiction from the nightlands above.
"Your mind rests," she sang, before letting him go completely. Vegeta's stomach sank in disappointment and he found himself opening his eyes, staring right into the depths of her lakes.
She was beautiful, unlike any night creature that resided in Oblivion. Her pale skin fit right along with the transparency of the waters that ate at her bones, her blue eyes the color of the ocean itself.
"What are you?" His words came out in waves, blending in with the waters.
She smiled warmly before wrapping her arms around him, pressing his face to her chest.
"I am yours," she whispered, her words determined as if speaking them were her duty, "And you are mine."
OooOOOooo
Prompt 5: Betrayal
The darkness had never allowed Vegeta to see, and being pressed against her body was causing a strange current to swim through his body.
This woman was naked, her ample breasts warming his cheeks. She let out a giggle and her body vibrated, giving him a false sense of comfort. A part of his reasoning tugged on his brain to swim away, rush back to shore, but her warmth betrayed his logic, and they floated towards the bottom of the waters.
"Where are we going?" He whispered against her flesh, his arms wrapping around her slender frame.
"To be born anew," she replied, running her fingers down his back. It was then that Vegeta realized his clothes were discarded and he joined her in her naked glory. "I've been waiting for you for a long time, Vegeta."
Vegeta grunted against her chest, but did not let go. Being reborn suddenly didn't sound so bad.
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Prompt 6: Truce
They swam in silence, only her soft humming keeping them company. Where they drifted to, Vegeta didn't know, but oddly he found himself uncaring. He could stay like this for lifetimes caught in a loop, wrapped around her like she was life itself.
How did she know him? The question couldn't stop forming in his mind, but something told him that he already knew the answer. A name rattled his thoughts, and it escaped his lips before he could fight it.
"Bulma," he whispered, "Bulma who carries the light of serenity ."
She laughed in reply, her long sapphire colored hair wrapping around them in a cocoon. "It took you long enough."
"You were but a rumor," he looked at her face then, his brows colliding together. "An enemy to the darkness of Oblivion."
"I am no enemy," she frowned, an angry line stealing her mouth, "I was born for you. And you for me. Darkness cannot exist without light, Vegeta. Together, we form a truce." She laced their fingers together and Vegeta felt electrified. "Come and let me show you."
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Prompt 7: Feast
Vegeta saw everything.
Bulma had merely pointed to the water and showed him. The history of Oblivion. The birth of Serenity. The pact made long before the two of them were created. Light needed darkness, and darkness would cease to exist without light.
But King Vegeta began to enjoy the perils of the dark, and demanded that the two no longer intertwined. The pact was forgotten, and along with it the promise of interception.
"We were to rule them all," she said, her voice right with sadness, "The Prince of darkness and the Bringer of light. But your world refused to accept the saving grace of mine."
"So why Kakarot? Why did you take him?"
"He offered himself to us willingly and now he lives in peace. He's a martyr."
Of course, Vegeta seethed. The man had never fully grown accustomed to the dark, and riddled Oblivion with his naïve daydreaming. But perhaps, as Vegeta enclosed himself in Bulma's embrace, he could understand.
"And where is he exactly?"
"In the divine world, the dividing world of light and darkness. He refuses to leave; He's even found interest in one of our own."
A woman? Vegeta was taken aback. Oblivion knew nothing of mating or pleasure. Only chaos and void, pain and torment. That was their purpose and they lived by it with the strongest of ethics.
"That is where we're going?"
"Yes." And to his odd amusement, she Bent her head and kissed him, and Vegeta was surprised at how much he enjoyed feasting on her lips.
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Prompt 8: Blood
The cool embrace of her lips left him, and when Vegeta opened his eyes again they sat in front of a palace, the white exterior blinding him.
It took him a bit to drink it all in, having never been exposed to this sort of divinity before. Bulma stood in front of him, an ethereal glow illuminating from her body. Her fingers found his arm and his onyx flesh mimicked hers, light pouring form his pores. He was awe stricken.
"You have been blessed to enter." She took his hand and guided him to the entrance, and Vegeta became captivated by the sound of music. The palace was just as white inside as it was out, and he wondered if he even belonged in a place like this. Bulma turned and smiled at him sweetly, taking his fingers in hers. "The blood on your hands is no longer. You are reborn to be who you were destined to be."
"And what is that?"
She pushed the doors open and the people inside turned to them, their faces bright. They looked like him; they looked like her. A perfect combination of light and Darkness
"The King of us all."
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Prompt 9: Vengeance
"Vegeta!" Kakarot strode over to then casually, a woman with long dark hair hanging from his arm. The glow that he and Bulma sported also shone from their skin, and Vegeta had to cover his eyes just to look at their faces.
"You really came," Kakarot smiled toothily, "I told Bulma there was no way you would. I'm glad you've seen the light."
Vegeta stared at the man dumbfounded. Just how much did Kakarot know about this world, and the pact that Oblivion made to it? Before he could answer, Bulma wrapped her arm into his, leaning her body against his frame. "Destiny escapes no one. Our King is home!"
The people around then chanted with her, lifting their wine filled goblets in the air. Vegeta stepped back from them uncomfortably.
"This isn't for me," he stared into the cloudiness of Bulma's eyes, shaking his head. "I am a prince of darkness, not whatever this is."
"Darkness may have birthed you, but it is light that sustains you," an angry frown stole her face, her eyes alive with fire, "The light doesn't seek vengeance so don't run from it." She placed a palm on his cheek and stroked it, smiling tenderly.
"Stay with me. "
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Prompt 10: Rain (Final Prompt)
He wanted to refuse.
The light wasn't for him, not when his flesh demanded to be swallowed in darkness. Not when he moved in the hollows of black like a predator. He could be stealthy in the dark.
The light showed too much.
"It is not all or nothing, Vegeta," Kakarot smiled and waved his hands, bolts of black lightning spilling from his fingers. Instantly, it transformed to a brilliant yellow, covering Kakarot's hands until Vegeta could no longer see his fingers. "Bulma will teach you. She needs you, just as you need her."
"How do you know so much, Kakarot?"
"My father believed," he responded sadly, "Even when your father rained down his judgment and had him killed. And I believed too, until one day I just decided to act on my faith."
Vegeta looked at Bulma again, her piercing eyes, her pillows lips, her long hair that covered her body like waves. With her, Vegeta felt completed. Her fingers ran down his forearm, sending jolts through his body.
"I am the light to your darkness, Vegeta. You belong here with me. This is your home. You were never meant to hide in the dark. Will you stay?"
Vegeta studied her face, letting her fingers breathe life into his skin with every stroke. Could he leave her, after so many years of wondering what lay beyond the lake of the unknown, now realizing that she waited for him all along?
The answer was simple. The Prince of darkness had fulfilled his father's fearful prophecy; the void inside of him was stripped, a new deity in its place.
"Yes."
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This was written for the September 2017 BVDN, hosted by The Prince and The Heiress.