Stolen Hearts
Chapter 34
Vegeta was in a place where light and life fled altogether. All was silent. Some might say silent as death, for that is what he was surrounded with. As a living soul, the pressure of death would have crushed him had he not been bearing the pendent of Elentari.
Vegeta still knew he was not meant to be here. Every breath he took seemed empty and cold. His hands looked pale and lifeless, but surprisingly vibrant compared to everything else around him, in fact, his very life aura seemed to exude light that set him drastically apart from everything in this dismal place of darkness.
"So much for blending in," Vegeta grumbled to himself as he realized just how easy it would be to find him if one did not desire his presence here, as he was most sure he was not welcome.
He began to walk, in no particular direction, for there seemed to be no direction here, just darkness. It just seemed to him that he had to keep moving. His legs felt heavy and dragged with a strange listlessness.
There were gothic styled ancient walls and strange faces, of men, angels, or maybe devils, were carved upon them, black, worm eaten, and shinny. Gleaming testaments to their old life in their coffin like solidity.
This was not heaven. This was not hell. It was merely the land of the dead, somewhere lost in between the two, a sort of purgatory, a transition before one was condemned or blessed. All souls passed through this land. Some lingered for longer then others, but there was one thing that was certain. If one wanted to raise an army, this would be the place, and that was exactly Gorgoroth's plan. He had only one last step in the process of starting a war with the Gods, and that was to convert his dark queen and drain her of her powers.
The time was near. The land was in unusual and rare turmoil. The dead usually went quietly to their fate, but now the evil souls we being lured by Gorgorath's forked tongue.
Vegeta found himself on a road wrapped with shadows, frightful forms lingered on either side, Pale disease, avenging care, and hunger that persuades to crime, a great company of terrors. Death dealing war was there, and madness and discord with her snaky blood stained hair, and many other curses to mortals. It was colder then a shadow here, and Vegeta knew no matter how many garments he put on he would never dispel this frost. It was not a chill of the air, but one of the soul.
And then Vegeta began to see the dead. They weren't as frightful as Vegeta would have assumed them to be after seeing the terrors. They looked like their living form, but with the lack of color, and purpose as they floated along with blank eyes, their feet dragging soundlessly along behind them.
Vegeta wondered why none of them took notice of him, especially the terrors, which seemed to follow their victims with watchful eyes. Were they not the keepers who would dispel a living creature from this word where he did not belong? They showed him nothing at all, and he was taken aback that life of all things in this dreadful place would not be most obvious.
Then an idea came upon him: they could not see him, or sense him at all. The pendent he was given made a shield of sorts around him so he could walk alive in this place where there was nothing of the sort. It made sense that the dead could not see the living, or he would not be able to be here with breath in his body.
Vegeta gasped as he recognized one of the faces that walked by. It was his father Volsung, but his face was like he had never seen it before. It was free, it was kind, and Vegeta felt like he wanted to know this man. Just as he was about to reach out his hand to the ghostly figure passing him by, the air above Vegeta's head was thrown into a whirlwind by the beating of great wings
Vegeta looked up and to his horror he saw eyes looking back at him, narrowed with hate. This thing was different. This thing saw him, and it was not pleased with his presence.
It was a Harpy. A giant terrible half-hawk half-woman who guarded this land with her fierce talons and horrendous voice. She was the oldest and most terrible of her sisters, and she would not tolerate this living creature to stay in his present state in this land. To be in the land of the dead you had to be dead. She just had to finish the process.
Harpy set her sights on Vegeta, seeing through his barrier easily, and dove upon him with a shriek that deafened men, felled trees, and split stone.
Vegeta's whole body was in such a shock from the overwhelming bombardment of sound that it was only by pure reflex alone that he escaped the Harpy's death dive. Her talons still caught him on the shoulder though, and the cuts were angry and threw him to the ground.
As Vegeta lay bleeding and senseless all he could comprehend was the hollow, terrible ring that hung in his ear and haunted all his thoughts so he could think of nothing else. It was worse then anything he had ever experienced.
But there was something else, there, in the back of his mind. A voice. He couldn't hear what it was saying, he was straining with all his might but the ringing was to overpowering. It seemed like such a little thing, he didn't even know who the voice was, but for some reason he became sad to the point of tears. As if something was there that was supporting him all along, without him even knowing, but now that he couldn't here it he was shattered. All he wanted to do was hear it, his whole body shook with the need, his teeth ground together, sweat ran down his face, every muscle was tense and straining, if he could just regain that voice he knew somehow it would be ok and this pain would leave him, but he couldn't...maybe just a little more...more...he had to...
With a snap like a fire it was there.
A memory.
A face.
A voice.
"Vegeta I love you."
Vegeta gasped as if he was coming back to life. It was Bulma, and Vegeta could hear again, and he heard the sharp clacks of claws upon stone.
The Harpy decided to relish in the kill and take her time prolonging this creature's pain. It pleased her. But then she saw him relax and his eyes flew open. How could it be? No one had ever escaped her cry before! It was impossible!
In a wild fury the Harpy charged this insulting being in front of her with wild death in her eyes.
With a movement too quick to be natural, it moved and then a cold blade pierced her thick feathered skin. It took her a few moments for her to comprehend what had happened and when she did she screamed her angry and the entire world could hear her fearsomeness.
Hold on. He just had to hold on. The Harpy was held back by a crosspiece on his great sword with 30 inches of Oldstone in her. Her mood was foul indeed. If there had not been a crosspiece she would have run right up and devoured him anyway, even impaled on his blade. Her only object in life was to heave and weave until she could crush Vegeta into her talons. Vegeta's one object was to not let go of Iphis, clasped tight under his arm. If he could do this he knew there would be that length between them no matter how much she ran him round.
Despite the Harpy's fury, the blade of Iphis burned inside her even more furiously and she was weakening by the second, this was no normal blade. This was the sword Iphis, crafted out of the Oldstones and blessed by the Gods, and when she realized this she knew of her defeat.
The great old Harpy let out one last tumultuous cry before her body crumbled to the ground in an ashen flame.
Vegeta kneeled gasping for a long period of time, before he could convince his body to move again and his heart not to tremble. His wound, although it still pained him, seemed to be healing quickly. The water he had drunk atop the mountain was wonderous indeed.
Vegeta continued doggedly into the depths wondering what other horrid things awaited him here in the desolate place of the accursed dead.
But everything seemed to draw back from him after his defeat of the Harpy. Nothing had ever, ever, in all the timeless time of this place, came even close to harming the fearsome Harpies, and this strange creature had killed the oldest and the strongest of them. He was not to be bothered for the rest of his journey by the few creatures that could indeed see him.
Before too long Vegeta realized that the path he had chosen out of mere chance (or was it the intuition of his heart) was spiraling deeper into the abyss-like cavern. Deeper. Deeper was good. Somehow Vegeta knew they would be waiting for him at the bottom, in the darkest coldest spot. The dead heart of purgatory. The gateway. To Heaven, or to Hell.
Time again avoided him and all Vegeta knew was the rhythm of his steps in the silence. His thoughts began to drift away in the darkness and he simply moved out of repetition. His mind wandered to better times, far away from this dismal land, somewhere safe in the arms of the one he loved.
Then something caught his eye. Strange in this place where all blended together, and even stranger it seemed to be a light. A soft golden light. Vegeta's eyes could look at nothing else. The light drew him to it, faster and faster he moved untill he was sprinting toward it, all of a sudden horrified that it would go out and he would be left alone in the dark again.
When he was about to reach the mysterious light there was a snap like lightening blinding him and he knew no more.
AN- How do you like it? only one or two more chapters left! Please review