"The Unlikely Team"

X-over

Sephiroth: Leader (Final Fantasy VII)—After Advent Children—Height: 6'1 Age: 32

Vegeta: Foil/Ego (Dragon Ball Z)—After Omega Shenron—Height: 5'6 Age: 67

Lang: Arbiter (Legaia 2 Duel Saga)—After End of Game—Height: 5'4 Age: 16

Ziggy: Order (Xenosaga)—After End of Xenosaga III—Height: 6'3 Age: 128

Chapter 11: Towards the Light

Bulma did not think about abandoning what seemed like her last hope of returning home, but more than that she simply could not bring herself to do it. Sephiroth seemed to think that he was going to die. However, until he drew his last breath, Bulma believed the opposite. She kept checking his vitals; he still had a pulse. She stayed and waited for the swordsman's consciousness to return.

He recovered on his own. He'd been eerily motionless for nearly two days before his eyes opened once more and Bulma had been there to see. She was relieved when she was able to meet his gaze once again. She could not read his expression, but she supposed that he was surprised to still be living.

"I knew you'd be fine," Bulma said with a smile, "You are fine, right?"

He was in a slight daze as he sat up slowly, his usually sharp eyes a bit clouded and narrowed in the afternoon sunlight. "How long has it been?"

"Only a couple of days—you didn't miss much," Bulma said with a grin.

He looked around himself and took in the environment. Of course, it would be impossible to tell whether they were in the same spot, but Sephiroth assumed that this was the case. "That man from before," Sephiroth began.

But Bulma shook her head knowing what he was about to ask. "I didn't know him at all. He just came out of nowhere. I'm...glad you were here."

"His target was not you. You simply happened to be there when he decided to make his move. I didn't know him either, before you ask, but I suppose it makes little difference now."

"Even still, I feel safer with you than by myself."

Sephiroth could not stop himself from grinning at the irony. If only she knew who she was talking to, she'd think a little differently. On the other hand, for now Sephiroth had sufficient interest in keeping her alive.

Bulma started up a fire again knowing that the other must be ravenous and was soon handing him more of her food stores. He ate without question. It wasn't long before they were off again in no particular direction. A fact that made their situation feel even more hopeless.

She kept trying to gauge the other's health, but he was none too vocal about it. Bulma felt as if she had a lot of pent up energy from sitting around for so long and knew that this couldn't be the case for Sephiroth. However, even asking him directly gave her non-descriptive answers. "Fine" just didn't seem right. How fine, exactly? Do you still feel weak from before and you're just playing it off or are you 100% better? To make it worse, Bulma didn't quite understand what had happened to him in the first place or why he had been so certain that he had been dying before.

For his sake, she suggested that they took a brief rest, but Sephiroth seemed more annoyed than relieved. Bulma sighed to herself, she'd forgotten how stubbornly stupid men could be sometimes. In interest of his precious pride, Bulma pretended it was for her sake instead and then he grudgingly complied.

It was difficult for her to keep up conversation with the enigmatic swordsman. He gave her little to go off of and offered up little about himself. In the time she had known him, she learned almost nothing about him aside from his name. Though Vegeta could sometimes be aloof, he was at least responsive to her. She knew that Vegeta was far more powerful than she and that at any moment he could easily kill her, but she'd not been afraid in the least. However, with Sephiroth, even without knowing the full extent of his strength, she could not push back the cold hands of fear. What was he thinking about behind those cold green eyes? Was he already plotting her demise in the most horrendous way possible? Despite these misgivings, he'd not done anything to support her uneasiness and he was still the only person she'd come across.

The day seemed to drag on as soon even Bulma became silent. The day's activities dissolved into simply putting one foot in front of the other. Where were they going? And was this ever going to end? Her eyes perked up when she saw something on the horizon. Though it was still a subtle change on the horizon, Bulma's eyes had been trained on it for quite some time. She pointed it out to Sephiroth immediately. He followed the direction of her eyes and found it easily.

"Let's hope we are moving closer to it."

"Alright, alright, we don't have to take a break for—

"No," he said shaking her head and cutting her off. "You misunderstand. This land can be quite deceiving. One might see something in the distance, but never actually reach the place."

Bulma's eyes grew wide at the news. "Geez, really? Well, it's the only thing different I've seen out here for ages. We at least have to try, right?"

"Of course," Sephiroth replied in his too-calm voice.

Sephiroth's lack of excitement dampened Bulma's spirits somewhat, but then when was he ever excited about anything? Bulma got the feeling that she had likely already seen the full range Sephiroth's emotions. For the most part, he lacked expression and his voice lacked natural inflections. It was all quite eerie. She was glad he didn't turn to look at her too often if at all.

His sword, Bulma noted, was quite long, longer than she'd ever seen or even thought could be real. For a man so tall, however, it seemed to suit him. Bulma grinned at how ridiculous it would look on her husband. The sword might even be dragging on the ground. Though Vegeta with any sort of sword would have been entertaining to watch. He was such a master at his own craft that a sword would seem out of place.

The day continued to wear on and the thoughts Bulma once had soon turned to nothing at all. The hours dragged, but the structure did seem to be getting closer. Bulma wanted to make it there before the sun set that day so she walked a bit faster and Sephiroth kept up with her without even batting an eye. Perhaps he was anxious as well.

She began to see it more clearly and decided that they were walking towards a house set in the middle of nowhere. Who in their right minds would live there? It was a bit exciting to think that they'd eventually meet a true denizen of this world. She hadn't been on this sort of adventure in a while and she still found that she enjoyed it.

The sun was now racing them across the sky and Bulma unconsciously picked up the pace. Sephiroth tailed her as opposed to walking beside her in her mounting excitement, but she did not notice. What if they didn't reach it that day and when they were able to see again, the house was gone? Bulma wasn't sure how much more she could take of this place accompanied only by an aloof stranger. Maybe she'd lose her mind before long.

Her pace increased again as the sun threatened to set. They were so close now. She was nearly jogging and not paying much attention to the other. Eventually, her panic paid off when she was able to reach the door. She knocked on it instinctively, but no one came to the door for the longest time even after knocking several more times.

"There's no one inside," Sephiroth said startling her.

She'd forgotten he was even there and his sudden voice sent shivers down her spine. She realized that there was nothing friendly or inviting about his voice. She tried the doorknob and it turned easily. After pushing the door open, she was presented with a perfectly normal looking home. No signs of dust, but also no signs of people living there. Everything was clean and neat. In fact, too clean and too neat as if it was a house up for sale.

She was stepping into the living room where two long couches lined walls across from each other and then a nice rectangular wooden and polished table sat in the middle. On another wall was a large window with no blinds. Beyond through a doorway led to a kitchen which had a window that let in the dying rays of the sun. Bulma explored this place thoroughly looking for any signs of food.

The refrigerator was spotless and painfully empty and after checking the drawers and cabinets she found them in nearly the same condition. There had been no food, but she'd found plates, bowls, cups, cooking utensils, serving utensils, and the like. All of these were spotless as well. None of it made sense to her, but then the location of this house made no sense either. Had they stepped into a trap?

She'd lost track of Sephiroth again so she stepped back out into the living room hoping to discuss whether they should stay here or not. When she found him fast asleep on one of the couches, she supposed the decision had already been made.

"That was quick..." Bulma said noting how quickly he'd made himself comfortable.

She'd not been able to look at him properly all day as she'd been trying to avoid his gaze and perhaps he'd been doing the same though not as deliberately. Without even knowing, she made her footfalls quieter than usual. He was in the perfect position for her to see him since he was on his back.

He breathed deeply through his nose and his mouth was slightly parted. Upon close examination she realized that he was sweating. It was difficult to see in the dim light. Cautiously, she placed the back of her hand against his forehead. There was no telling if he might wake up angrily at the breach of his personal space or that he had some reflex that would wound up with his hands around her throat. Nothing happened and she breathed a sigh of relief. A brief touch was all she required to learn that he was quite feverous. She might have been upset that he hadn't told her about it, but then there was little she could have done for it anyway. There still might not be anything she could do.

She looked about the room quickly and found a door that looked a lot like a closet. Perhaps there were rags in there. Looking into the room, she found rows upon rows of towels and hand cloths. She took a hand cloth, went to the bathroom further down the hall and then ran ice cold water over it for a good half a minute. All the while, she looked around for a light switch. There was none to be found so she had to be quick about all of this before it became too dark to see.

She came back to the couch and ran the cold rag lightly about his face. Her hand shook a bit in apprehension. What if he wakes up, what if he wakes up... her mind kept saying over and over again. Yet it didn't happen. She did the same procedure several times until it became dangerously dark. His fever still hadn't broken so she wet the cloth one more time and then placed it across his forehead. She'd seen it done like this before and trying something was better than doing nothing at all.

She made her way around the table and laid down on the opposite couch. It was then that she realized that in her evaluation of the place, she'd not found bedrooms. What a strange house indeed.


Bulma was the first to wake or at least she thought she had been when she noted Sephiroth's resting form. When she climbed off the couch, she noticed that the cloth she had placed over him was now placed on the table and not haphazardly on the ground as if it had fallen. The cloth had been deliberately placed there, folded neatly. His position had changed as well. He was turned to his side and head buried betwixt his arms, his silvery hair draped over his arms and couch as well. She could no longer make out his face and she wasn't sure if he was still feverous or not. She decided she'd let the matter rest. Besides, now that they had a kitchen, she could cook properly.

Her cooking skills were poor, but it was the little things that brought happiness to her these days. She took out a pan and decapsulized some breakfast food and began on it the best she could. She was sure the smell of bacon would wake up the slumbering swordsman especially if he was hungry. At least, it worked that way for her husband. Then again, the bacon could have barely touched the pan and Vegeta would suddenly appear and it was never a question of whether he was hungry or not...

She made plates for both of them: bacon, toast, and fried eggs. There was no dining room, but there was a nice large table in the living room. She set her plate on the table and then set the second plate on the other side.

"Oh, Seeeephiroth," Bulma called out.

The only thing she received in response was a groan and several garbled, muffled words.

"I know you're hungry. I made some food in that brand new kitchen so it doesn't taste like campfire."

There was no response that time, but she assumed that he was awake so she took her seat on her couch and began on her plate. It wasn't until she nearly finished her food when she realized the other had fallen back to sleep much to her annoyance, but she dared not disturb him again. She left his plate there as well just in case he decided he would eat something.

Bulma eventually found herself bored after she thoroughly looked over the house thrice. There were no lights, but there was electricity. How the place could have electricity or running water for that matter was another mystery in itself. She walked outside, but not too far away from the house and gazed up at the featureless sky. She sat down on the small porch which lacked any outdoor furniture and took out a deck of cards from her purse—it was simply something she kept in her purse and she'd done so for as long as she could remember having a purse. Now it would finally come in handy. A deck of cards could only keep her occupied for so long, but she was desperate.

Every few minutes, she would look back into the house to check on Sephiroth, but he was largely unchanged. At some point, he'd switched positions again though still thoroughly asleep. She wondered how long he would be that way or when she should start worrying if this continued for the rest of the day.

She played herself out as far as card games went and they were boring single player ones at that. In the end, it simply became something to do other than staring at the four walls. Sephiroth hadn't said a word to her or moved from the couch and she'd also partook in the cold plate of food she'd made for him. Night time came and went; still there was no change from him. That was when she became worried.

Despite her initial fears, she dared herself to try and wake him up with a bit more force. With a shaky hand after calling out his name, she shook him a bit after she placed her fingers on his shoulder. Then she snatched it away. No response. It was a good thing he was still breathing deeply otherwise she might have thought he was dead. He might as well had been. She tried this thrice more before her nerves gave out. She'd rather not press her luck.

Her heart skipped a beat when there was a knock at the door. Who in the world could be out there? Was it possible that there was another person who shared their predicament? Bulma took a deep breath and went to answer the door. There was no peep hole and the curtainless window was not wide enough for her to see who it was. Still, she decided she would open the door.

She opened it slowly and only a crack so that she might see who it was. No one was there. She opened it wider so that she could see further and was greeted only with the endless sea of green grass and clear blue skies.

"Hello?" she asked with a cracked voice. She cleared her throat so that she could speak properly. "Hello?" she repeated. She hadn't actually spoken words in days it felt like. "Anyone there?"

More silence much to her disappointment. Perhaps it was a good thing. There was no telling if the person she met might have been a friend or foe. This, however, did not put her mind at ease. She'd clearly heard a knock and there hadn't been anyone there to do such a thing. She stepped out of the house and looked all around while looking outward as well. Who in the world had knocked?

With a sigh and determining that there was nothing more she could do, she went back inside and sat down on the couch. She rested her elbows on the armrest and leaned her head against her open palm. She watched the swordsman for a while who seemed blissfully ignorant to her apparent boredom. She hadn't expected to stay here for this long. Now he was turned towards the back of the couch, his hair still draped over the front of the couch. She sincerely hoped that nothing was wrong with him, but as the day wore on, she continued to run out of reasons for his strange behavior as of late.

There was another knock on the door. This time instead of wondering if she should answer, she ran over to the door and yanked it open. No one there. Suddenly a great burst of wind rammed into her causing her to fall flat on her back. She might have been able to recover from this, but soon she found herself coughing. Something was tickling her throat internally and she could not stop herself. It was to the point that she feared she might suffocate from the effort. She couldn't yell out Sephiroth's name and even so, he probably would not have responded.

Now she heard footsteps. Despite herself, she forced herself to look up. With watery eyes she made out a man grinning down at her. Surely, it couldn't have been the man from before...

"I finally have you both where I want you. I'm not sure why it didn't work on you the same way it did him, but there are plenty of ways to get what I need."

The man bent down and Bulma began to desperately crawl backwards. No, please! She was hardly moving at all. His hand came upon her and pressed firmly against her mouth and nose. Her head shook with the effort of trying to breath and she tried feebly to bite his hand, but none of this worked. Soon darkness overtook her.


She woke up in a dimly lit room. It took her a moment to realize that she was in some sort of holding cell. Thick metallic bars stared back at her menacingly. She was not alone, she realized as her eyes grew accustomed to the lighting. Sephiroth was there as well with eyes still closed. There had been something wrong after all, Bulma thought, and she hadn't picked up on it. If only he'd been awake! He would have been able to take down that man in no time at all. She crawled over to him almost angrily and began shaking him with far more force than she had in the first place. Fear or not, she was not going to wait and see what was in store for them.

It was like shaking a ragdoll. No matter what she did, he would not respond.

"Oh I wouldn't bother with him, doll," a man's voice said cutting through the silence.

Her eyes immediately went to the bars where the voice had emitted. It was the same man who had abducted her.

"He's already succumbed to the odorless colorless gas which still permeates the air. Don't worry, it's harmless. In fact, it's quite easy to obtain in these parts. While it's still present in the air, however, it's simply impossible to wake up—perfect for those suffering from insomnia, don't you think? For some reason or another, it doesn't affect you. Perhaps your chemistry works differently—who knows?"

Bulma had heard enough as she finally stood up and stalked over to the bars. "What do you want with us?"

"With you?—nothing for now, but I've been tailing this swordsman for quite some time."

Bulma became confused by this. "You've been tailing him? But why?"

"There are certain things...that I desire from him. I first spied him at a small village on the beach. I always look for my victims there. The good ones always wound up there. I've wanted him ever since. But it was impossible to get to him as he was always surrounded by three other very attentive people and one of them never sleeps. None of them were affected by anything I exposed them to through the air. It was just my luck that he became separated from the others and even luckier that you two stumbled across an abandoned house. The enclosed area made it so much more easy for me. Then I—

"I don't want to know the extent of your terrible plans. I just want to know why you even bothered? What things do you 'desire'? Maybe there's a better way to get them," Bulma tried to reason.

The man shook his head. "Only he can give me want I want."

"What's so special about him?" Bulma asked still not quite understanding.

The man merely grinned at her. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose," he said and left it at that. He began to walk away fading into the surrounding darkness.

"Wait! How long are you going to keep us in here! I have a lot of money back where I live—I'll give you anything if you just let us go!"

She might as well had been yelling at the brick wall. Angrily, she stomped back to the other side of the cell where Sephiroth was still out like a light and Bulma didn't even bother looking his way. At least someone wasn't freaking out. Though judging from what the man said perhaps Sephiroth should have been worried. She was practically here for no reason. It was only in her association with him that she had been taken as well. Still, she felt her best bet was to stay by his side. Despite everything, she did feel as if she was getting somewhere. If not for all of this, she was certain she'd still be in that awful place of grass and more grass.

"Hey," came a hushed female voice from the bars. "I see I've gotten here in the nick of time."

Bulma had no clue who this person was, but anything was better than waiting for her doom so she stood and made her way back to the bars and beheld the stranger. A woman was standing and she was quite shimmery and bright from her elaborate jewelled clothing to her bright red hair and light green eyes. She was certainly a sight for sore eyes—fresh and beautiful not dingy like she felt at this moment.

"Who are you?" Bulma asked immediately.

"Your benefactor it would seem," the woman said. Her eyes travelled to the resting form further in the cell and she tsked. "No man should have to sleep for so long. Here," she said handing Bulma a small vial. "Give this to him and he should come to soon enough."

Bulma took it and held it tightly in closed hands. "So you're here to help? Why don't you just get us out of here?"

"Now, now, that would just be too easy, wouldn't it," the woman said grinning, but seeing Bulma's angered expression caused her to change tunes. "No, I would, but you see I have no time. I barely have any now as it is. Avalon is keeping me on a short leash. While I wasn't looking, however, everyone has managed to separate themselves and little to no progress has been made. Good help is so hard to find," she said with a dramatic sigh. "Once Sephiroth wakes up, it should be nothing getting out of here."

"Wait, do you have his sword too?" Bulma asked finally warming up to the idea. It was their best shot after all.

"You mean he doesn't have that as well?" the woman said shaking her head in a patronizing way. "I have no idea where it is and I have no time to search for it, but I'm sure it's here somewhere. That man is obsessed with Sephiroth. He probably has that miserable sword framed and hanging up. Now, goodbye, I have a tight schedule. Oh and when you manage to escape keep running straight, you should arrive at the gates of a city. I plan to have everyone meet up in that city. Good luck."

The woman vanished in the blink of an eye. Even if Bulma had further questions, it was impossible to ask them now.

"So just have him drink this..." Bulma said to herself.

If he was asleep then, it would be impossible to get him to swallow. Maybe she just had to get it into his mouth. She hoped this was the case because that was all she could manage at this point. She got down on her knees and then with some struggle sat the resting man upright against the wall—he was just as heavy as she had imagined.

Now that she knew that he would not wake no matter what, she was less gentle and less afraid of touching him without his permission. She had to prop his head up some with one of her hands. She had a bit of trouble just trying to open his mouth and then she placed a few drops of the fluid onto his tongue. Then, on second thought, she placed a bit more of the medicine on his tongue, closed his mouth and titled his head backwards against the wall. With this done, she sat down a good distance away from him not knowing what to expect or even if this would do anything. She might have just poisoned him and killed him off for good, but attempting this was still better than doing nothing at all.

It didn't take long, maybe a few minutes before Bulma knew he was awake. Perhaps it was because she'd forced liquid down his throat, but he was coughing profusely until it had all come back up again. She was relieved though, finally they were making progress. She made her way cautiously to him as he wiped his mouth clean with the back of his sleeve.

"Sephiroth?" Bulma asked in quiet tones so as not to startle him.

His hands were pressed against his eyes now and Bulma wasn't sure if this was a good or bad sign.

"Where...?" he muttered wearily.

"We're in some kind of holding cell and, yes, it's a long story."

He sighed long and heavily. He was trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes, but evidentially it wasn't working quite so well as he still covered his eyes after some time.

"Here," she said gently as she tentatively took hold of his arms and pulled them away from his eyes. "Just let them adjust for a while, okay? I think we still have some time; we're in no rush."

To her surprise, he allowed this. Even in the dimness of the light, she could tell that his eyes were quite bloodshot making him seem even scarier than usual, but Bulma was not too perturbed by this.

"It feels as if...I've been asleep for ages..." he said in low tones.

"You have been. For days actually. That guy from before, he said he's been following you since 'that village on the beach'. After you were separated from the others, he thought it was the prime opportunity to make his move so he drugged you with some sort of a gas. It didn't affect me. I'm still not sure what he wants from you, but this woman who says she was here to help gave me this antidote," Bulma said holding the half empty vial up. "And now, here we are in this cell awaiting whatever cruel thing that man has in store for us."

"The woman...describe her," Sephiroth said. He seemed to be having trouble with forming words, but slowly he was regaining his speech.

"Red hair, green eyes, very beautiful clothes," Bulma summarized.

"Yes...that's her."

"You know her?" Bulma asked rhetorically.

He merely nodded at her and said nothing further on the subject.

"Oh and she said once we escape that we should keep running straight until we see the gates of a city where we'll meet up with everyone else."

He leaned back against the wall. "Let's hope her instructions are true this time."

He was still bleary eyed, but eventually he did regain his bearings. Bulma was quiet for a moment, but then finally spoke what was on her mind.

"I should've been paying closer attention. I knew something was wrong, but..."

"Bulma," he said, his voice clear now. He looked towards her now. "I suppose there's a first time for everything, but you saved my life. No one has ever done that for me before. I generally don't require such help nor ask for it, but you gave it freely. What I'm trying to say is: Thank you."

Bulma was not used to anyone gazing at her so intently. Her ears were beginning to turn red from his singular attention. In her state of sudden muteness, Sephiroth took this time to climb to his feet which he did with the assistance of the nearby wall.

"Hm, of course my sword is missing..." he noted aloud. He must have noticed the missing weight immediately.

Bulma climbed to her feet as well. "That woman; she said it was around here somewhere."

"Well then we have nothing to worry about then," Sephiroth said sardonically, "If she took time out of her busy schedule to 'visit' me, then she could have at least been a bit more specific on the whereabouts of the only weapon I have."

He seemed more talkative now and Bulma preferred this to his usual quietness. She wondered what he was doing as he moved towards the bars. He sought out the door, glanced around probably looking for a lock and then shook the bars a bit as if to test it.

"Don't tell me you're just going to rip the door open," Bulma said with crossed arms. "I'm sure that guy is going to be back to get you. You could pretend you're still asleep and then wrestle him to the ground or whatever it is you want to do and then we can get out of here easy."

He still had his hands on the bars. "That plan sounds refreshingly sensible, but I have little patience as of now and he has managed to get on my last set of nerves."

"Okay, then—what are you planning to do?" Bulma asked.

His eyes were on her again as he gave her a grin that sent chills down her back. She counted herself lucky to never have gotten on his bad side. Without much provocation, he gripped the bars and with astonishingly little effort ripped the door off its hinges as if they had been made from paper.

"Come on, we have a sword to find," Sephiroth said to the gawking woman.

That was all the motivation she needed to unfreeze herself and follow the determined swordsman. The halls were dimly lit with torches and quite wide and airy. This, however, did not deter him nor the fact that he could not possibly know where he was going. Something told Bulma that he must have shared some sort of connection what that massive sword of his. Whatever was the case, they found the sheathed blade easily and with no incident. They had found it in a room full of other magnificent weapons and when placed amongst the other shiny, polished weaponry, the Masmune didn't seem quite as impressive. Sephiroth had the katana back on in no time flat. Bulma was sure that it was quite the confidence boost for him.

"Perhaps you should take one for yourself," Sephiroth said referring to all the other weapons about.

"Sorry," Bulma said shaking her head, "I don't do weapons."

"It is just as well. You won't need it for the time being."

Bulma wasn't sure, but it did sound a lot like he was fully willing to protect her. They moved at a quicker pace now. She knew he was looking for the man who had started it all and he began to check all the rooms. It was exhausting work, but eventually they found him on the second floor in the midst of pouring himself some wine. Just like all the other doors, Sephiroth had thrown it open and this time he had startled the man inside.

"Avert your gaze if you don't wish to see a spectacular display of bloodshed."

Bulma did more than avert her gaze, she closed the door as well. However, even the closing of the door didn't block all the cries of terror within. When Sephiroth re-emerged, there wasn't a spot of blood on him, but that did not quell the imaginative images she had in her mind to the poor state of the man inside and that's even if he was still alive.

"Let's go," he said calmly.

He seemed at ease. In the midst of such violence the tall swordsman appeared, well, peaceful as if he had just then finished doing something he felt was quite fulfilling. It was something that gave Bulma pause. She wondered just how monstrous this man could become and how easily could that hostility be turned on her? She forced herself to follow him anyways—it was her only way out.

They made their way down to the first floor again and then searched around until they came to what seemed like the entrance. When Sephiroth pushed the door open, the two were greeted with the bright sun. Their eyes scrunched at this and Bulma found herself holding a hand over her eyes for shade. Sephiroth was literally blinded and it took almost a full minute for his eyes to adjust.

"Geez, that's some sun!" Bulma said with surprise.

"We've been inside for far too long, but the sun does seem brighter than usual, don't you think?"

Bulma didn't look directly at the sun, but she did take note of its brightness. "Maybe...It's hard to tell."

"We are from entirely different places. It stands to reason our suns would be different."

Bulma could only shrug at this. Simply seeing the brightness of the sun was no way to properly measure it. All they had were their opinions. There was grass before them, but unlike before, there was also a path. They followed this without question largely because there was nothing else that could be done.

They had more walking to look forward to, but for once, she was not completely annoyed about it. Besides, they didn't have long to walk. Was it her imagination or was Sephiroth actively trying to make small talk with her? Sure they were feeble and he was no conversationalist, but she appreciated the effort. Three hours had passed quickly and they began to make out the before mentioned gate.

"Her name is Veil Publius," Sephiroth said out of the blue.

Bulma, though slightly confused, waited for the other to continue.

"The woman you spoke to back in the holding cell, that was her name. She's long since sent me and the others on this ridiculous goose chase for unknown reasons. She gave us a reason before, but I've not been able to confirm its validity or even if she can be trusted."

"She did help us get out of there," Bulma reminded the other.

"Yes, but she did so only in a small way and for some reason, she did not show her face to me as if she wanted to avoid being seen."

"She claimed she was short on time; that Avalon had her on a short leash," Bulma said.

"She might still be leading us all on, but for now there is nothing more I can do until I have more information."

Bulma thought back on Veil. She could not remember anything untoward about her. Although, it was strange that she didn't simply open the door for them. That in itself would not have taken much time. Even if she knew that Sephiroth could probably easily get out on his own why make things any harder than they needed to be?

The two of them were stopped at the gate by two guards armed with spears. Sephiroth instinctively positioned himself in front of her. Bulma wondered if it was intentional or that he simply wanted to speak first. They'd asked for their names and Sephiroth gave them, but only the first names. The guards seemed not to have a problem with this.

"You must be new around here," the guard on the left stated, "I've never seen the likes of you or her before. What is your relation to this woman?"

Bulma thought that was a strange question to ask. Wasn't it enough that they'd given their names? Was the city on lockdown? Before Bulma could say that they were just two people who happened to be going the same way, Sephiroth spoke.

"She is a dear friend to me and we have been traveling together for quite some time."

Bulma almost gawked at his answer. It had to be for show, that was the only way she could rationalize it.

"Per our laws, we must thoroughly check your persons," the guard on the right said.

"You will do no such thing," Sephiroth said frankly. "If you step any closer, you will be decapitated," he stated with no inflections whatsoever.

"It's not a big deal," Bulma said after her initial shock, "Really, I'm sure it's painless and—

"I will not have you belittled in such a way," Sephiroth said, his gaze still on the two guards. "And I will not repeat myself," he said to the guards.

Something in his tone, perhaps in his presence told the poor guards that he was serious. They made no further fuss, stepped aside and let them enter. Bulma mouthed the words "sorry" to them as she followed the tall swordsman into the grand city beyond. When they were out of earshot of the guards, Bulma found herself unable to hold her tongue.

"Why in the world did you do that? It would have been nothing at all to get searched. Who knows if they might tell their superiors about us? And...did you really mean what you said about us back there?" The words had come tumbling out and she could not stop herself.

"Firstly," Sephiroth said stopping and turning to her, "I meant every word. Depending on how thorough their search was, they would have stumbled upon your capsules which I'm sure is not native to this world. More questions would have been asked and they might have overreacted to it thereby wasting our time. I don't like unknowns—I try to avoid them at all costs. It is a headache we can do without."

Bulma noticed that he did not go into the fact that he had outwardly called her his friend, but she decided it would be wise not to push the issue. Besides, she'd rather be on good terms with him. They hadn't walked five yards into the city filled with sky scrapers and strangely enough, buggies, before they were hailed by an older squat woman.

"You must be Sephiroth. Welcome, welcome to the City of Oddities," the woman said joyously.

Bulma wondered if he knew her, but clearly he didn't when he frowned at the woman.

"You know my name, but I do not know yours."

"Oh, it's Elizabeth. Our Seer foretold of your coming—you and your companions."

"Another seer?" Sephiroth questioned the woman.

"Well, it ain't so strange, newcomer. Why this world would fall completely apart without its Seers. People would hardly get any work done or even be able to travel between places without them. Now, who's this with you? The Seer spoke of four men."

"This is Bulma," Sephiroth said simply.

Bulma took her cue to give a courteous smile, but Elizabeth seemed none too happy with her presence.

"I was told you and the others had an important mission to do—the most important mission in the universe. Do you know how many people would kill to be in your shoes and now you're lollygagging about talking to random girls and such?"

"Hey—!" Bulma began, but was interrupted by Sephiroth.

"Bulma is a friend of mine and without her, I would not be standing here now. Wherever I go, she does as well. If you have an issue with that, then you're simply wasting my time."

"A friend, you say?" Elizabeth said treading carefully now. It seems she wasn't completely oblivious to his ominous aura. "I just...wasn't informed about that."

"What did you want with me?" Sephiroth asked curtly.

The woman blinked a few times. "Well, I am to present you with a place to stay here in this city. The Seer said you and the others would require lodging as you await further instructions from your benefactor."

"I see. It seems you are useful after all. Lead the way."

The way he had concluded that she was useful made her imagine the hidden consequences that might have been in store for Elizabeth had it been the other way around. Elizabeth was efficiently shaken up as she began down the sidewalk. She might have been talkative before, but now she was simply a moving statue.

They were brought to a complex of upscale condominiums that were all one floor each. Elizabeth handed Sephiroth the key to the place that was theirs and scampered off without further ado.

"Finally! A real place to stay," Bulma said unable to contain her excitement as Sephiroth twisted the key and opened the door. "I bet it has showers, actual bedrooms...I can't wait to clean myself off."

"Me as well," Sephiroth said simply as she bounded off to check out every nook and cranny. Lo and behold there were bedrooms, four in all and two and a half bathrooms. The place was pretty well decked out with dark blue thick carpet throughout (aside from the kitchen), the refrigerator stacked with foods, living room already furnished with television, couches and sofas, and bedrooms with queen sized beds in all. It was more than she could ask for especially since it was all free.

Before she left Sephiroth completely in the dust, he stopped her. "I think I'll go explore the city," he told her, "It would be better if you stayed here. I may not trust Veil, but she's always been accurate when it comes to what's going to happen in a given place. The others will be here soon and if you explain yourself well, I don't see why they wouldn't take to you instantly."

"You're leaving me here all by myself?" Bulma whined.

"And where is all that excitement about showers and warm beds," he replied with a grin that wasn't entirely evil. "You'll be safer here than out there where there are many unknowns. Rest and enjoy yourself."

He left it at that and turned to leave. Before he closed the door behind himself she called out to him.

"Be safe, alright!"

Bulma imagined that the other heard her, but simply had nothing to say back. She stared at the closed door for a few moments, then went back to what she had decided she would do before. A shower first, some food, and then to bed.