Lucy chapter 27
"We need to move fast," Lucy tells them as they walk down long and winding, thick carpeted corridors
"Is this hell, it looks kinda nice here?" Goku peeks through the many office doors they pass, taking in the luxurious offices behind them
"What do ya think dumbass, this is just the offices, this aint proper hell is it, aint ya neva read about hell before?" Lucy snaps
"Well, no I can't really read too good" Goku says with a shrug. Lucy rolls her eyes. She can't quite believe that Vegeta would pick this big lumbering idiot over her, I mean yes, he is good to look at but fuck me is he stupid. Vegeta doesn't seem to care though, he is looking up at Goku with big, pretty doe eyes, all loved up and shit, holding his hand tight like he is the greatest person in the world. There's not a lot she wouldn't do to have the prince look at her that way, just once.
"What do you even see in this fool?" Lucy mumbles under her breath
"Obviously a lot more than what he sees in you," Goku chirps merrily," That's why he's holding my hand not yours," He greets Lucy's evil glare with a huge grin, annoying her even more
"suck a dick," She hisses
"I will for sure, as soon as we get out of this dump, Right Veg," he chuckles
"For Christ's sake will you two shut the fuck up, this is not the time for childish bickering," Vegeta scolds
"Sorry," Both Lucy and Goku mumble, feeling bad for upsetting Vegeta
"Where are we going anyway?" Vegeta asks
"We gotta go down through purgatory to get to propa hell, there's an elevator just down this corridor," She tells them
"An elevator!?" Vegeta exclaims
"Yeah, how else would we get down there?" Lucy looks puzzled
"I don't know I just thought going into purgatory would be a little more dramatic than just getting into an elevator, it just seems a little mediocre is all," Vegeta wasn't sure what he was expecting but it wasn't this.
The elevator is nice, mirrored walls all round, thick carpet, irritating muzac, just like a hotel really. Goku stands in front of Vegeta as the lift smoothly glides down for what feels like forever.
"What is…in purgatory? Is there anything I should be worried about?" Goku must admit he is a little nervous, had it just been him here he would be excited at the prospect of fighting strong demons and maybe even the devil if he was lucky, but with Vegeta here, it made it so much more intense. He couldn't just have fun fighting he had to keep Vegeta safe too, he couldn't let anything happen to Vegeta, he feels he has let his husband down enough already, there is no way he is gonna let him down again. He will get him out of this mess if it kills him.
Goku never thought he would say this but he was quite pleased that Lucy is here with them, as annoying as she is, and despite the fact that she is trying to steal away Goku's reason to live, she is strong, and Goku is gonna need her if he is gonna get Vegeta out safe.
"Purgatory aint to bad, we shouldn't get much trouble ere, there are a few guards that are a bit rotten, they are strong but if one comes near him I'll take it down before ya can even blink, don't worry Vegeta I won't let nothing hurt ya baby," She tells him, her voice full of affection as she smiles at the shorter Saiyan, he smiles back and Goku feels his blood boil
"Don't call him baby, he's not your baby, he's mine," Goku snaps
"I think you'll find it's up to Vegeta what I call him not you, and I don't hear him complaining," Lucy answers sassily
"I don't need to hear him complaining, I just know he doesn't like it, I suppose that's coz I know him so much better than you do," Goku says smugly
"or maybe you are just speaking for him like some kind of control freak who…..."
"Shut the fuck up," Vegeta cuts her off, "Have I really got to travel through nine circles of hell listening to you two bitch at each other like a couple of school girls, Lucy you are supposed to be the princess of darkness, act that way. And Goku stop being such a jealous fool, it doesn't suit you,"
The three of them stand in uncomfortable silence as the lift rumbles to a stop, the door sliding silently open.
The first thing Vegeta notices is the smell, the air is thick with the pungent smell of stagnation, it's the kind of smell that clings to the back of your throat and makes you want to heave, he swallows repeatedly and resists the bile rising in his mouth, he would look like a right sissy if he started puking.
"Boy its funky down here," Goku declares loudly, flapping his hand in front of his nose to try and dispel the stench
"Shhh, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves," Lucy scolds him, shaking her head in disbelief
That's when Vegeta notices the second thing, they are not alone down here, hidden inside the long dark shadows are figures, dark and hunched over, it's almost impossible to distinguish one person from the next, they huddle together, shivering and whimpering, he wonders how long they have been down here. Vegeta turns his face and continues down the long black corridor.
Goku is not as unfazed as his partner, he looks on in horror at the terrible conditions these people are being kept in, the dark, the cold, the dripping walls, the silence only broken by the occasional groan of agony, this place is disturbing.
"Can we help them?" Goku asks, worry in his tone.
"Nope, they have ta stay here till they are purged, then they can go up ta heaven, till then they ave ta stay ere," Lucy explains with a shrug, she also is unfazed by the sights around her
"Vegeta, is this where you came before?" Goku asks, horrified that his beautiful Vegeta could have ever been in this stinking, dirty place
"No, I was somewhere much worse," He answers shuddering at the thought of it "Will we have to go there, Lucy?" Goku screwed up his nose at the sound of Vegeta saying her name
"Nah, bubs, I've deliberately avoided it, I know ya don't like it there, ya was in limbo, this is purgatory, these people will see heaven one day, the people in limbo are there forever,"
Vegeta visibly shudders again and Goku puts his arm round his shoulders, mistaking his shudder for a shiver from the cold, the temperature is not bothering Vegeta, but he doesn't tell Goku this, he likes walking along with his Kind of husband's arm draped over his shoulder. It feels great to be back by his side, even if they are in literal hell.
The long wide corridors opened into vast halls, filled with thousands of people scuttling like rats as they passed, it seems the deeper into purgatory the trio travel the more pungent the stench becomes, the only thing helping Goku to hold it together is the fact that he knows these peoples torment will end one day, and they will get to heaven, they certainly deserve it after this.
"This place gives me the creeps," He whispers
"if ya can't handle this ya sure won't be able to handle the other circles, what are ya some kind of sissy?" Lucy answers, looking at him as though he is pathetic. Vegeta shoots her an angry glare
"It's ok Kakarot, it's not nice here," He turns back to Lucy "Give him a break, he hasn't seen death like we have," Vegeta defends Goku.
Up ahead running water can be heard, and very faintly Vegeta feels he can make out screaming, and a strange whirly, roaring sound.
"What is that sound?" Vegeta asks
"Shhh," Lucy hisses and pushes Goku and Vegeta up against a wall "Don't scream," She warns in a low voice, looking mainly at Goku.
For a moment Goku wonders if the woman has lost her mind, how dare she push Vegeta like that, who does she think she is? Then a creature comes into view, its hideous, Goku is no stranger to horrible looking creatures, he has met a few in his time, but this one takes the biscuit.
It walks on two legs, if you can call the vile, bloodied stumps that protrude from its body legs. Its arms are like a long, curved blade, sharp and dangerous looking. Goku sees the people around him cowering in fear, not a sound is made as the creature limps past them. It has no face to speak of, just a mass of muscle and vein, the only thing that distinguishes it as a head is the two milky coloured eyes that stare blindly out of the mess.
Lucy holds her finger to her lips, silently telling the other to not to make a sound, just like everyone else around them, Vegeta quickly figures out that this creature is blind, if they are silent it doesn't know they are there.
The creature has nearly slumped out of sight when a shrill screech rings out from across the hall, a woman stares in horror at the monster, the moment the sound leaves her the thing is on her, slicing her skin with its sword like limbs, she screams louder, not helping herself at all. The three of them look on horrified as the creature cuts the woman. Vegeta and Lucy both turn their heads away, but Goku can't, he can't just stand by and watch this
"KAAA…. MAAAA…HAAA…MAAAA…. HAAAA," He shouts slinging a blue wave of energy at the monster, it hits and blows the creature to smithereens.
"What did you do that for?" Lucy yells, grabbing hold of Vegeta and running towards the swirling noise
"I couldn't just watch could I," Goku answers jogging to keep up. He notices the worried look on Lucy's face, hears the whimpering from all the people around him, sees how they scuttle to the far corners as if something bad is about to happen. Maybe he shouldn't have done that.
An inhumane roar interrupts his regretful train of thought and behind him he sees a huge, terrifying version of the creature round the corner, chopping through people like butter as it goes, screams fill the air and the rancid smell of death hangs over them as they witness hundreds of people get cut down by the huge beast
"Keep moving," Lucy instructs. And Goku does, maybe he is better off following her instructions from now on.
In the distance they see a river, its water is black with a foreboding fog resting heavy on the water. On the bank site a dark wood boat, big enough for maybe ten people, Goku guesses they are heading towards the boat, he really doesn't like the look of the boat, or the river, or the vast expanse of black that is all that can be seen on the other side of the water. This whole place gives him the heeby jeebies, its worse than inside majin buu.
They arrive at the boat and climb in on Lucy's request
"Charon," she calls to apparently no-one, in a few moments a figure seems to rise from the mist like a ghost materializing from the air, it takes on the form of a small old man, his wispy grey beard blending into the fog that floats around him
"Luccccy, what can I do for you?" His voice nothing more than a raspy sigh
"I need ya ta take me an me friends ere across," she tells him, still glancing back to make sure the huge monster is still busy with the people of purgatory and not coming after Vegeta
"The firsssst cccircle issss no placcce for a princesss, you don't belong over there," He lisps, showing of his yellow gnarly teeth as he smiles at the three in the boat
"Just take us, Charon, I'm sure I can decide meself where I belong and where I don't," She snaps
"Assss you wisssh," He chuckles, pushing away from the river bank using a long stick, the boat glides smoothly out onto the dark water
"Keep your limbsss inssside the boat, if you wisssh to keep them that issss," he says and laughs again. Goku holds Vegeta a little tighter as they slowly drift across the water.