A/N: Guess I should have mentioned this sooner, or again, or whatever. Words Italicized are thoughts while words surrounded by ** are thoughts sent on a psychic communication thread. Thanks to manga for pointing out the mistake I made in spelling Black Widow Priestess. I rarely go back and actually read my work directly after I finish it so most mistakes go unnoticed. Sorry for that.~_~
Chapter 9-The Loss
*Chichi! 18! * Bulma flung the thought out as soon as the pain passed, not noticing the expressions that passed over Vegeta's watching face. She waited tensely until their responses came.
*Whassamatter? * ChiChi's sleepy thought projected itself back at her.
*Bulma, what's wrong? You never use your powers if you can avoid it. * 18's mental voice was instantly alert.
*Did you feel that? Jaenelle's spirit was destroyed. I want you the two of you to get the guys together and get everyone ready to travel through the gates to Kaeleer. Tomorrow. *
*Witch is dead?! …I understand. I'll get everything packed tonight so that I won't have to worry about rushing Goku and Gohan tomorrow. I think we'll bring Piccolo as well. * ChiChi spoke grimly, no longer asleep.
*Krillin and I'll be there in the morning. * 18 assured her softly. They both sent a feel of comfort back to their new Queen, who accepted their sympathy quietly before dissolving the contact.
She looked at Vegeta who raised a brow and asked her, "What was that all about?"
"You heard that?" Bulma asked him in a tired voice.
"Yes."
"And the scream?"
He nodded, not quite able to keep the concern he felt for her from his face.
"A curious thing this bond of yours. All of the Blood remaining should have been able to sense her passing, but I was probably the only one, who heard her, felt her last minutes. He didn't kill the last dreamer, he destroyed the dream itself," she shuddered, tears filling her eyes.
"ChiChi and 18?"
"I told them to get the guys and get them ready to travel through the gates because with Jaenelle's powers no longer there, the webs she maintained will be fading, leaving Kaeleer open to rediscovery. We'll have to move fast to keep that from happening. But tomorrow is the soonest we can leave." She settled down against his side, carefully folding her wings, drawing comfort from the feel of his strong body, unable to stop the tear sliding down her cheek. It felt like fire where it landed against Vegeta's shoulder.
"Kaeleer?" he asked quickly, hoping to distract her for a bit.
"Mmm, Earth used to be broken up into three territories; Terreille, Kaeleer, and Hell. After the war between Kaeleer and Terreille, even after the purging of the taint, many of the Kaeleer Blood didn't trust Terreillians, so they did the same thing they after the last war, closed their borders completely from the people of Terreille. Of course all of the corrupted Blood were destroyed when Witch unleashed her full power across the lands, but they were still afraid. Some of the people of Kaeleer were willing to help the people of Terreille rebuild, but most of them wanted nothing more than to be left alone by them. The Blood of Terreille, those that remained alive wanted to learn how to be Blood, Blood as it was meant to be. So those that were welcomed moved to Kaeleer. There weren't that many Blood remaining there after the purging and so the landens inherited Terreille."
"Yes, but what happened to these Blood people? You mentioned earlier that you were one. And what are landens?" Vegeta questioned, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Well, landens are the non jeweled Blood, the normal people that occupy the Earth, if you will. They pretty much took over what was Terreille and they inhabit the larger portion of the world. But we keep them safe, in spite of themselves. As to the Blood, they mostly returned to Kaeleer. As I said, they had closed their borders against the rest of the world; the tangled webs that Jaenelle created to keep Kaeleer's presence from being detected reinforced the natural barriers to entry. The only way to safely enter Kaeleer is through the gates, and you can't do that without a Black Widow priestess. She can't do that without a mark of safe passage showing that you have permission from a Queen to travel between the lands," the last words came out a yawn, and she buried her head against his shoulder, mumbling an indistinct apology when she felt her horn poke something warm and yielding.
"Don't worry, I'll live," Vegeta murmured dryly. "Now why are we meeting with the others? Are they the only ones with these marks of safe passage? Woman? Bulma?" He glanced down to see her perfect profile outlined against his slightly darker skin. She was asleep, the path of nearly dry tears glimmering softly in the light from the window. He sighed, and pulled the blanket up around them, careful not to impale himself on her horn.
He couldn't, wouldn't believe her. It had to be some weird trick, pulled off with mirrors and stuff or something. Come on, she's a genius. You know she's more than capable of pulling off something that would make you think she's telling the truth. But do I really want to risk it? He took a swig of the José he had been drinking. No way. He looked up when a shadow fell across his light. His eyes trailed up the slender female figure before him, taking in her unnaturally large bust and up into the gorgeous face of the blue eyed, blonde haired angel smiling down at him. Then again…
She quickly rummaged through the chest that she hadn't even opened since before Gohan was born. Craft books, I hadn't realized I missed them. Dried herbs. She wrinkled her nose. Those can go, thank you very much. And…here they are, safe and sound as ever. She pulled a Red-jeweled ring from the pouch she had finally found tucked in the corner of the old cedar chest. Then she pulled out the pendant, a matching yellow gold tipped in white gold, in a jagged edged mountain design that encased the Gray jewel. She smiled slightly, laying her jewels on top of her very first and still favorite black spider silk dress. The jewels glinted softly from the small ball of witch light. She wrapped the cloak she had laid everything on around the dress, books and stones, making a small bundle that she vanished.
She glanced around; making sure that there was nothing else that she would need. No. I have everything I need from in here. I better go start to make breakfast though, we'll have to leave early to meet the others on time. She let the ball of witch light fade and slipped out of the small room that she insisted on having added onto the house when they had first moved in. She'd never explained why, but she knew that wasn't going to last much longer. All of the males were going to get snarly over the fact that they had never told them before. She sighed, hoping that Bulma had found someone and would be able to make the Offering once they returned to Kaeleer. If not it would have to be soon.
She was outside. The nights were so much prettier here. Much prettier here than in that gilded cage. She glanced up to see a star shooting by. How was he going to take it? Would he resent the change in lifestyle this was going to demand? Would he leave her because of this? Kami, no! No he would understand. He would. But…just in case, she'd like to pretend, just for a little while that they were a normal couple. Or as normal a couple as a trained monk and android could be.
She turned and went back into the house, watching him as he slept. He was so peaceful when he slept. She sat down next to the bed and watched him. She would tell him. Soon. But just in case, for now she would pretend that everything was going to be the same when the morning had passed. Everything Krillin would need was packed, as well as her own belongings. Everything except the Sapphire stone that was attached to the choker chain at her throat, and the Ebon Gray jewel that was embedded in the silver bracelet clasped abut her wrist.
Hard yellow eyes coldly watched the preparations of the three strongest females on Earth with amusement. They thought they could stand a chance against him: them and their weakling mates. He laughed softly. He turned away, looking at the giant web that had been fashioned so diligently, so carefully. Almost all the threads were in place. It didn't matter what those pathetic fools did, nothing could prevent him from having the newest little Witch. Everything has a price, and I'll see that they all pay! With that thought he strode away, not noticing the crunch under his booted feet. As he faded into the mists a pale light refracted from the crystal shards that lay shattered on the ground. The shards that had once been Jaenelle's mind… Jaenelle's power.
A/N: Please don't hate me for doing that to poor Jaenelle. I really like her, but it was important for plot line. If it's any consolation her body has been dead for centuries. Sorry. ~_~ Slowly getting around to answering your wonderful questions so I hope this covered some of that, if not it created the openings I'll use later. Kissing Bloody Roses is still getting updated so you might check Icia's work out. Hm, I think that's it this time.
bura400:They haven't made a movie about this as far as I know. If they have PLEASE TELL ME! lol, I'm glad you liked my Vegeta. I was trying to do seductive while keeping him in character. Very difficult with that man. I'm still not positive I quite pulled it off. *shrugs* Glad you liked the tangled web for Yamcha. If you didn't figure this out with the hint I dropped in this chapter, it actually is a bit worse than what Bulma admitted to Vegeta. *wicked grin*
Raksha: I think you're right about Yamcha, especially if a person willingly reads a V/B fic. I'll get into Bulma being Witch thing in the next chapter or so, so hopefully you're questions will be answered then. Thanks for your reviews, as always. The Darkness embrace you.
saiyangirl16: I'm glad you love my story. I hope I do it justice.
moonkitty: Graci` ^_^ (I am sooo white, can you tell?)
Black Panther: I get it, it's another one of thse, you can't kill me cause then you won't know what happens next things right? ^_^ Um, ok! I plan on having fun with this, thanks.Lol
IneiTenshi: I'm glad you approve of my labeling, lol. Thanks.
kapies: Thanks for the review. I was going to go with like angel wings till I realized I'd never heard of any race that had feather wings so I just stuck blue Eyrien wings on her. Glad you liked it though. I was kinda partial to the tail though cause that put her more on Vegeta's level. ^_^
DragonLady: Blessings. I'm glad you approve of it.
DBZBeauty: Um, did this chapter answer your question?
Bunni Girl: I wouldn't get too worried...yet. lol, thanks for your reviews.
nattie: Yay! Another convert! Just wait, you'll love them. Anne Bishop writes way cooler than anything I can come up with. I'm glad my efforts have caught your interest in this series, it's worth it.
