Chapter 16
In the morning, Kora and Lia packed their bags. Kora looked around, frowning. Something wasn't right. Glancing to her left, she saw Bulma making breakfast in the kitchen, reminding Vegeta to not eat raw bacon in her presence. He ignored her, of course, and dangled the strip of meat in front of Bulma's face before swallowing it whole. Bulma giggled and smacked his face lightly while Kora finally realized that Trunks wasn't awake yet.
"Oh, I should tell Trunks goodbye!" she said while climbing the stairs.
Lia's eyes shot wide open. "NO!!!" she cried, pulling on Kora's arm. She released her arm quickly, and Kora's eyebrows narrowed.
"Why not?" she asked sharply, as Lia's eyes converted to the ground in shame. She had just given away her secret!
Bulma wiped her greased hands off with a dishtowel and turned around. "Trunks might not be up yet, he usually sleeps in. Unlike Vegeta, Trunks gets tired, but you can leave him a note or something and I'll give it to him!"
"Good idea! I wouldn't want to wake him up or anything." Kora ran past Lia and scribbled a note on a piece of paper:
My Dear Trunks,
I'm going on a trip with Lia. We are becoming good friends, and she wants to see her
family again. I guess it's a good idea for me to get out of the house for a while, although I'll miss you terribly. You won't get this note until you wake, but by then I'll be gone. I wish I could watch you sleep but I wouldn't want to disturb your rest; you're so handsome while you're dreaming (well...you're handsome ALL of the time ^_^). I hope you think of me, I can't wait to see you when I get back!
Love you too much ^_~,
Kora
Smiling at her paper, she folded it and handed it to Bulma. "Be sure to give it to him!"
Bulma grinned, "He'll probably throw a fit when you're gone, but he'll survive."
"Yes..." smirked Vegeta, "He'll survive, he just won't have a bed-mate for a while!" Laughing, Vegeta stuffed some sausage down his throat and poked his head into the fridge.
What Vegeta had just said finally sank into Bulma's head. She gave a small grin to herself as Kora's face turned pure red.
"Let's go!" cried Kora, grabbing onto Lia's arm while dashing out the door with their suitcases.
Vegeta and Bulma watched the door slam and listened to the squeal of the tires as the car sped out of the driveway. The couple exchanged glances and started laughing as Bulma set down a stack of pancakes. "I had no idea!" she admitted. "How did you know Vegeta?"
"Well, let's see here...it was EXTREAMLY hard to figure out!" she said sarcastically. "I saw them in the same bedroom, sleeping together, without clothes on-"
"OKAY, OKAY! I don't need details dear!" sighed Bulma in exasperation, shaking her head as she sat down at the table beside her husband.
The wind swept through her hair as Kora rode in Lia's convertable. She still loved the thrill of it. It seemed weird, as if it was her hobby to fly like this...
Lia's hands gripped the steering wheel, still shaking from the close- encounter back at Capsule Corp. They almost found out my secret, and it was too early! she thought to herself, grinding her teeth. I'm not being careful enough!
"Hey Lia?" shouted Kora, since it was hard to hear when the wind was whipping through your ears.
"Yeah?" she shouted back.
"I just wanted to say 'thanks', you know, for being such a great friend! We're really close now in my opinion, it feels like I've known you for a long time! Since we were children or something!" smiled Kora.
Oh, but we HAVE known each other for a long time, Odessa, you just can't remember it! whispered Lia inside her mind. She turned to face her 'friend'.
"I know! Thanks for being my friend, too!" grinned Lia. She could have screamed in glee. I have her now! She is completely trusting of me! This is too perfect! laughed Lia inside of her head, stopping the car. The breaks squealed and the car slid a little. Lurching forward suddenly, Kora shot a glance at Lia.
"What are you DOING?" she asked, bewildered.
"You have to trust me. Just for a moment." Lia cried, placing her hands on either side of Kora's head.
Kora could feel her mind being shut down. It was painful, but she trusted Lia for some reason. She didn't know why she was letting Lia inflict this pain upon her, but her subconscious told her to, so she didn't fight it. A few moments later, she passed out.
Chapter 17
Kora thought she heard someone telling her to wake up, but she couldn't be certain. She opened her eyes, but her vision was blurry and made her dizzy. After a while of being confused and in pain, Kora's grogginess stopped. Her headache went away, and her eyes opened instinctively. Letting them focus, she realized she was in a very dark room, lying in a bed. The bed was silky- red and very comfortable. There was a black, lacy canopy above her head that was attached to the bedposts. The room's floor had a deep red carpet with dark walls, but she could determine the color of the walls because there was a fire-place in front of her, and its flames flickering, making the walls change from orange to red instantly.
Finally, she could feel parts of her body. Her legs had been numb before, but now she could move her toes. Her arms tingled as they regained feeling, and after a while she felt someone beside her.
She tried to move her head to the side, but her neck hurt. Kora felt fingers running through her long, bronze hair and massaging her head. It felt good, but she was frightened because she had no idea of who was doing it to her.
Feeling a sharp pain in her neck as she tried to turn it, Kora gasped and closed her eyes as she shook and warm tears slid down her cheeks. She cried because she missed Trunks, and needed him now. She had no idea about where she was and what was going to become of her.
An arm wrapped around Kora's waist and head, moving her from a sitting position to a laying position. Kora heard a soft sigh and whoever was beside her continued to run their fingers through her hair, and occasionally tracing their finger across her cheek.
Calming down, Kora let out a few sobs and fell asleep again.
Oralia (known before as Lia) opened the big wooden door and found her master and Odessa (known before as Kora) lying in bed. He was awake, watching her sleep. There were dried tears on her face.
"I'm sorry I had to do that to her, master, but it was the only way her body and mind would be able to withstand the transportation. Her body weakened on Earth, but she should regain her normal strength after I give her this pill. She'll still need training to become strong again, and, of course, a lesson."
"Lesson?" asked Asher lazily, still watching the mystical Odessa sleep.
"Yes, she lost all memory on Earth. The cause of it is uncertain, but-"
"Do you have the pill? All I care about right now is making her pain go away."
Surprised at her master's compassion, Oralia handed over the pill with a blank look on her face. Asher took it and opened Odessa's jaw with his hand. He shot a sideways look at Oralia.
"Oh, sorry, I'll go now." she apologized, leaving the room. Oralia was a bit jealous of the treatment that Odessa was recieving. The master wasn't kind to anyone else like that, and mostly held disdain for them. She flipped her blood-red hair over her shoulder and walked down the corridor with a spring in her step, happy to be home.
Odessa's jaw was in Asher's hand, opened slightly. A soft sigh escaped her lips, and Asher couldn't control himself anymore. He placed his lips upon hers, but then realized that he should give her the pill. He placed it on her tongue and moved her jaw up and down to help her swallow it. Odessa's eyebrows twitched and she finally swallowed it down.
"There, darling, that should make your pain go away." Asher whispered in her ear, observing how small her face was in comparison to his hand.
Odessa woke up. The sight of her eyes shooting open surprised Asher, but made him happy at the same time.
"Where am I?" cried Odessa, moving herself into a sitting position. Looking to her left, she saw a man. He had a build, but wasn't as muscular as Vegeta or Trunks. He had jet-black hair that lay in disheviled spikes on top of his head. His eyes were icy-blue. Not the type of blue that Trunks' eyes were, though. Looking into Trunks' eyes was like looking into a clear blue sky on a day when everything was perfect and hapy. Looking into ithis/i man's eyes was like looking into a glacier. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but he did have on black sweatpants.
"Ah, you're awake my precious! I enjoyed watching you sleep, but I'd also love to gaze into your emerald eyes, I haven't seen you for so long."
"Who are you?" she asked, trembling. "Where am I?"
Asher once again took Odessa's face into his hands. He directed it to face him, and started at her.
"You are immeasurably striking, Odessa."
"That's not my name, it's Kora." she said, tears welling up in her eyes. They slid down her cheeks and onto Asher's hands.
"No it's not..." he corrected, kissing her forehead. She was too weak to resist him. "But you'll find out about your past soon enough, and when you do, we'll be together forever." he said with merriment, hugging her. "And nothing...and nobody...will stop it."
Odessa cried herself to sleep, but woke again. This time, she was alone and there were clothes laying by her bed. She replaced her old clothes with these fresh, clean ones, and proceeded to walk down the corridor. Her footsteps echoed even though she was tiptoeing. A small boy was walking briskly her way. Funny, she didn't see him before.
"Ah, you must be Odessa...you ARE as pretty as they say you are! If I didn't know better, I'd say you were from Up There. Well, we must be on our way, there is much for you to learn, and so little time.
They boy gently took her hand. "By the way, my name is Aiden and I'm a Sixteenth."
Odessa was confused. "A sixteenth? You mean you're sixteen years old?"
"Something like that. I suppose they said it different on the planet that you were on."
"Why does everyone call me Odessa? My name is Kora."
They boy chuckled, as if she were a toddler saying something incorrectly but it was still cute. "You can't remember past five revolutions ago...or shall I say five YEARS ago...so how do you know your name is Kora?"
"Well, that's the name I remembered in my brain. When I first woke up....I mean, that first instant that I could remember....the name Kora repeated itself in my brain. So I guessed that my name was Kora."
"No, your name is ODESSA. Remember that."
"Where am I? I don't like it here."
"You will eventually, when you remember."
"Remember what exactly?"
"Remember your past. What happened all those years ago. Past those five years that you roamed the Earth."
Odessa gasped. She would give anything to remember what had happened, yet she was scared. What if she didn't like her memories? What if she didn't like her past?
Aiden led Odessa into a room. The room looked just like all the other rooms that she had scene; it was like that bedroom and the corridor. The room had a dark interior, consisting of maroon and black colors.
"Sit down. This will take a while."
Odessa did as she was told, and sat down in a huge chair. Aiden placed his hands on either side of her head. She was frightened again, because this is exactly what Oralia did to her, and it caused her intense pain. But before she could run, Aiden was already in the process of restoring her memories. Odessa felt sleepy as drifted into her own sub-consciousness.
There were people, hundreds....no....tens of thousands of them. All running away. There was a great fire blazing in the background, and the heat rose in great swells, making everything seem rushed and chaotic...it was perfect. Our hearts were pounding with excitment...with glee. Suddenly, there was a big flash...a flash coming from one of those who stood their ground. She was sneering. When that big flash faded, there lay hundreds dead, coughing up blood and screaming. Most of them had body parts that disingrated away. Others had blank expressions on there face. They were dead, although fresh blood was pouring from them. All too perfect...
The woman, the one who caused the flash, the one who had sneered at that massacre, she had a huge scar on her cheek. She had her hair cut short. She was the ONE. The one Odessa saw in her horrid dreams, the woman that had sat upon that throne! Ah yes, Odessa remembered that dream well. She had it that night before Trunks took her outside in the morning to fly...she didn't know who that woman was until now. It was her own mother!
Odessa's eyes shot open, making her vision fade away as quickly as it had come. She glared, wild-eyed, at the boy who was gazing deep into her eyes, with his hands still inches away from her on either side of her face. His head was tilted to the side a bit, and his expression-along with his eyes- were blank. Sighing, his eyes regained their bright brown color. His navy- blue hair was covering his face in flat spikes, so he brushed them aside as he smiled at Odessa, who was trembling now. She resembled a deer who was trapped, hypnotized by the headlights of a car, unable to move away from the danger it faced.
Aiden chuckled as Odessa gave a small cry of hopelessness before she began to sob. Patting her back, he said, "Now now, that wasn't that bad, was it?"
"I can't believe you showed me that, now I know why I remembered that name, the name Kora. That was my.........my.........my mother wasn't it? She's the murderess who killed those people in that vision you gave me!"
Aiden laughed harder, his brown eyes sparkling with hilarity.
"No is the answer to both of your beliefs. Kora isn't your mother's name. No one knows who your mother was, nor do they care. Kora is Arok spelled backward. Arok was the man we stole you from! He wasn't your father, either, because no one knows who your father is either. I'm guessing he was your boyfriend or something. No need to care about him. You obviously don't remember him much, and we killed him anyway. And that woman wasn't your mother. That woman was you."
In the morning, Kora and Lia packed their bags. Kora looked around, frowning. Something wasn't right. Glancing to her left, she saw Bulma making breakfast in the kitchen, reminding Vegeta to not eat raw bacon in her presence. He ignored her, of course, and dangled the strip of meat in front of Bulma's face before swallowing it whole. Bulma giggled and smacked his face lightly while Kora finally realized that Trunks wasn't awake yet.
"Oh, I should tell Trunks goodbye!" she said while climbing the stairs.
Lia's eyes shot wide open. "NO!!!" she cried, pulling on Kora's arm. She released her arm quickly, and Kora's eyebrows narrowed.
"Why not?" she asked sharply, as Lia's eyes converted to the ground in shame. She had just given away her secret!
Bulma wiped her greased hands off with a dishtowel and turned around. "Trunks might not be up yet, he usually sleeps in. Unlike Vegeta, Trunks gets tired, but you can leave him a note or something and I'll give it to him!"
"Good idea! I wouldn't want to wake him up or anything." Kora ran past Lia and scribbled a note on a piece of paper:
My Dear Trunks,
I'm going on a trip with Lia. We are becoming good friends, and she wants to see her
family again. I guess it's a good idea for me to get out of the house for a while, although I'll miss you terribly. You won't get this note until you wake, but by then I'll be gone. I wish I could watch you sleep but I wouldn't want to disturb your rest; you're so handsome while you're dreaming (well...you're handsome ALL of the time ^_^). I hope you think of me, I can't wait to see you when I get back!
Love you too much ^_~,
Kora
Smiling at her paper, she folded it and handed it to Bulma. "Be sure to give it to him!"
Bulma grinned, "He'll probably throw a fit when you're gone, but he'll survive."
"Yes..." smirked Vegeta, "He'll survive, he just won't have a bed-mate for a while!" Laughing, Vegeta stuffed some sausage down his throat and poked his head into the fridge.
What Vegeta had just said finally sank into Bulma's head. She gave a small grin to herself as Kora's face turned pure red.
"Let's go!" cried Kora, grabbing onto Lia's arm while dashing out the door with their suitcases.
Vegeta and Bulma watched the door slam and listened to the squeal of the tires as the car sped out of the driveway. The couple exchanged glances and started laughing as Bulma set down a stack of pancakes. "I had no idea!" she admitted. "How did you know Vegeta?"
"Well, let's see here...it was EXTREAMLY hard to figure out!" she said sarcastically. "I saw them in the same bedroom, sleeping together, without clothes on-"
"OKAY, OKAY! I don't need details dear!" sighed Bulma in exasperation, shaking her head as she sat down at the table beside her husband.
The wind swept through her hair as Kora rode in Lia's convertable. She still loved the thrill of it. It seemed weird, as if it was her hobby to fly like this...
Lia's hands gripped the steering wheel, still shaking from the close- encounter back at Capsule Corp. They almost found out my secret, and it was too early! she thought to herself, grinding her teeth. I'm not being careful enough!
"Hey Lia?" shouted Kora, since it was hard to hear when the wind was whipping through your ears.
"Yeah?" she shouted back.
"I just wanted to say 'thanks', you know, for being such a great friend! We're really close now in my opinion, it feels like I've known you for a long time! Since we were children or something!" smiled Kora.
Oh, but we HAVE known each other for a long time, Odessa, you just can't remember it! whispered Lia inside her mind. She turned to face her 'friend'.
"I know! Thanks for being my friend, too!" grinned Lia. She could have screamed in glee. I have her now! She is completely trusting of me! This is too perfect! laughed Lia inside of her head, stopping the car. The breaks squealed and the car slid a little. Lurching forward suddenly, Kora shot a glance at Lia.
"What are you DOING?" she asked, bewildered.
"You have to trust me. Just for a moment." Lia cried, placing her hands on either side of Kora's head.
Kora could feel her mind being shut down. It was painful, but she trusted Lia for some reason. She didn't know why she was letting Lia inflict this pain upon her, but her subconscious told her to, so she didn't fight it. A few moments later, she passed out.
Chapter 17
Kora thought she heard someone telling her to wake up, but she couldn't be certain. She opened her eyes, but her vision was blurry and made her dizzy. After a while of being confused and in pain, Kora's grogginess stopped. Her headache went away, and her eyes opened instinctively. Letting them focus, she realized she was in a very dark room, lying in a bed. The bed was silky- red and very comfortable. There was a black, lacy canopy above her head that was attached to the bedposts. The room's floor had a deep red carpet with dark walls, but she could determine the color of the walls because there was a fire-place in front of her, and its flames flickering, making the walls change from orange to red instantly.
Finally, she could feel parts of her body. Her legs had been numb before, but now she could move her toes. Her arms tingled as they regained feeling, and after a while she felt someone beside her.
She tried to move her head to the side, but her neck hurt. Kora felt fingers running through her long, bronze hair and massaging her head. It felt good, but she was frightened because she had no idea of who was doing it to her.
Feeling a sharp pain in her neck as she tried to turn it, Kora gasped and closed her eyes as she shook and warm tears slid down her cheeks. She cried because she missed Trunks, and needed him now. She had no idea about where she was and what was going to become of her.
An arm wrapped around Kora's waist and head, moving her from a sitting position to a laying position. Kora heard a soft sigh and whoever was beside her continued to run their fingers through her hair, and occasionally tracing their finger across her cheek.
Calming down, Kora let out a few sobs and fell asleep again.
Oralia (known before as Lia) opened the big wooden door and found her master and Odessa (known before as Kora) lying in bed. He was awake, watching her sleep. There were dried tears on her face.
"I'm sorry I had to do that to her, master, but it was the only way her body and mind would be able to withstand the transportation. Her body weakened on Earth, but she should regain her normal strength after I give her this pill. She'll still need training to become strong again, and, of course, a lesson."
"Lesson?" asked Asher lazily, still watching the mystical Odessa sleep.
"Yes, she lost all memory on Earth. The cause of it is uncertain, but-"
"Do you have the pill? All I care about right now is making her pain go away."
Surprised at her master's compassion, Oralia handed over the pill with a blank look on her face. Asher took it and opened Odessa's jaw with his hand. He shot a sideways look at Oralia.
"Oh, sorry, I'll go now." she apologized, leaving the room. Oralia was a bit jealous of the treatment that Odessa was recieving. The master wasn't kind to anyone else like that, and mostly held disdain for them. She flipped her blood-red hair over her shoulder and walked down the corridor with a spring in her step, happy to be home.
Odessa's jaw was in Asher's hand, opened slightly. A soft sigh escaped her lips, and Asher couldn't control himself anymore. He placed his lips upon hers, but then realized that he should give her the pill. He placed it on her tongue and moved her jaw up and down to help her swallow it. Odessa's eyebrows twitched and she finally swallowed it down.
"There, darling, that should make your pain go away." Asher whispered in her ear, observing how small her face was in comparison to his hand.
Odessa woke up. The sight of her eyes shooting open surprised Asher, but made him happy at the same time.
"Where am I?" cried Odessa, moving herself into a sitting position. Looking to her left, she saw a man. He had a build, but wasn't as muscular as Vegeta or Trunks. He had jet-black hair that lay in disheviled spikes on top of his head. His eyes were icy-blue. Not the type of blue that Trunks' eyes were, though. Looking into Trunks' eyes was like looking into a clear blue sky on a day when everything was perfect and hapy. Looking into ithis/i man's eyes was like looking into a glacier. He wasn't wearing a shirt, but he did have on black sweatpants.
"Ah, you're awake my precious! I enjoyed watching you sleep, but I'd also love to gaze into your emerald eyes, I haven't seen you for so long."
"Who are you?" she asked, trembling. "Where am I?"
Asher once again took Odessa's face into his hands. He directed it to face him, and started at her.
"You are immeasurably striking, Odessa."
"That's not my name, it's Kora." she said, tears welling up in her eyes. They slid down her cheeks and onto Asher's hands.
"No it's not..." he corrected, kissing her forehead. She was too weak to resist him. "But you'll find out about your past soon enough, and when you do, we'll be together forever." he said with merriment, hugging her. "And nothing...and nobody...will stop it."
Odessa cried herself to sleep, but woke again. This time, she was alone and there were clothes laying by her bed. She replaced her old clothes with these fresh, clean ones, and proceeded to walk down the corridor. Her footsteps echoed even though she was tiptoeing. A small boy was walking briskly her way. Funny, she didn't see him before.
"Ah, you must be Odessa...you ARE as pretty as they say you are! If I didn't know better, I'd say you were from Up There. Well, we must be on our way, there is much for you to learn, and so little time.
They boy gently took her hand. "By the way, my name is Aiden and I'm a Sixteenth."
Odessa was confused. "A sixteenth? You mean you're sixteen years old?"
"Something like that. I suppose they said it different on the planet that you were on."
"Why does everyone call me Odessa? My name is Kora."
They boy chuckled, as if she were a toddler saying something incorrectly but it was still cute. "You can't remember past five revolutions ago...or shall I say five YEARS ago...so how do you know your name is Kora?"
"Well, that's the name I remembered in my brain. When I first woke up....I mean, that first instant that I could remember....the name Kora repeated itself in my brain. So I guessed that my name was Kora."
"No, your name is ODESSA. Remember that."
"Where am I? I don't like it here."
"You will eventually, when you remember."
"Remember what exactly?"
"Remember your past. What happened all those years ago. Past those five years that you roamed the Earth."
Odessa gasped. She would give anything to remember what had happened, yet she was scared. What if she didn't like her memories? What if she didn't like her past?
Aiden led Odessa into a room. The room looked just like all the other rooms that she had scene; it was like that bedroom and the corridor. The room had a dark interior, consisting of maroon and black colors.
"Sit down. This will take a while."
Odessa did as she was told, and sat down in a huge chair. Aiden placed his hands on either side of her head. She was frightened again, because this is exactly what Oralia did to her, and it caused her intense pain. But before she could run, Aiden was already in the process of restoring her memories. Odessa felt sleepy as drifted into her own sub-consciousness.
There were people, hundreds....no....tens of thousands of them. All running away. There was a great fire blazing in the background, and the heat rose in great swells, making everything seem rushed and chaotic...it was perfect. Our hearts were pounding with excitment...with glee. Suddenly, there was a big flash...a flash coming from one of those who stood their ground. She was sneering. When that big flash faded, there lay hundreds dead, coughing up blood and screaming. Most of them had body parts that disingrated away. Others had blank expressions on there face. They were dead, although fresh blood was pouring from them. All too perfect...
The woman, the one who caused the flash, the one who had sneered at that massacre, she had a huge scar on her cheek. She had her hair cut short. She was the ONE. The one Odessa saw in her horrid dreams, the woman that had sat upon that throne! Ah yes, Odessa remembered that dream well. She had it that night before Trunks took her outside in the morning to fly...she didn't know who that woman was until now. It was her own mother!
Odessa's eyes shot open, making her vision fade away as quickly as it had come. She glared, wild-eyed, at the boy who was gazing deep into her eyes, with his hands still inches away from her on either side of her face. His head was tilted to the side a bit, and his expression-along with his eyes- were blank. Sighing, his eyes regained their bright brown color. His navy- blue hair was covering his face in flat spikes, so he brushed them aside as he smiled at Odessa, who was trembling now. She resembled a deer who was trapped, hypnotized by the headlights of a car, unable to move away from the danger it faced.
Aiden chuckled as Odessa gave a small cry of hopelessness before she began to sob. Patting her back, he said, "Now now, that wasn't that bad, was it?"
"I can't believe you showed me that, now I know why I remembered that name, the name Kora. That was my.........my.........my mother wasn't it? She's the murderess who killed those people in that vision you gave me!"
Aiden laughed harder, his brown eyes sparkling with hilarity.
"No is the answer to both of your beliefs. Kora isn't your mother's name. No one knows who your mother was, nor do they care. Kora is Arok spelled backward. Arok was the man we stole you from! He wasn't your father, either, because no one knows who your father is either. I'm guessing he was your boyfriend or something. No need to care about him. You obviously don't remember him much, and we killed him anyway. And that woman wasn't your mother. That woman was you."