Chapter 19-The Daughter
"You… should have seen… their faces!" Bulma managed to gasp out, laughing at the memory. "Oh it was priceless!" The other women had been listening to how Bulma had taken them down to Lorn's lair and asked for their jewels with wide eyes. They soon joined in with her laughter as they imagined the guys' response to meeting the Supreme Kai.
"Oh Kami, I thought Piccolo was going to faint he was freaking out so bad. Goku, in typical Goku fashion, was happy that he'd have someone else who was strong enough to spar with. Krillin was so confused; he didn't even know what was going on and kept trying to ask questions until Piccolo, who seemed sincerely shocked at his ignorance, dragged him aside and started a whispering match. Vegeta was… well Vegeta; only he was more respectful after that. Man I could feel him thinking hard and doing some real quick reassessing." She laughed some more. "I didn't quite catch the exact thoughts themselves but I picked up the gist of it, you know how much he could improve with his training. Hey, I think I'm slowly getting the hang of this bond thing."
"Oh I wish I could have seen that! I guess we should have warned the guys that something like that might happen, but I guess since we grew up around it we didn't realize what it would be like for the guys to meet Shen." ChiChi chuckled as she tried to picture the scene her friend had described.
"No kidding. So where are they now?" 18 asked.
"Huh? Oh, after Lorn gave them their jewels he demanded that we all leave him in peace so Shen decided he wanted to test them to see if they were uh 'worth his effort'. I tried to explain to him that he's never had students like our guys, but he wanted to see them in action to decide for himself, 'I'd like to see how they handle themselves, so I know what they need more help with if I do decide to train them.'" Bulma mimicked the small purple man's manner of speech perfectly, even holding her head at the right angle, which set all of them off.
"So where's he taking them for this test?" a cultured baritone voice asked from the doorframe where the owner had been standing, unnoticed by the laughing women.
"Oh, hi Grandpapa, hi Daemonar." The four women scooted their chairs around to make room at the table for the two men who joined them. "He's taking them on a Run to test them."
"He's trying them on the Khaldharon Run? Right off? Isn't that dangerous?" Daemonar demanded at the same time Saetan protested, "I haven't even had the opportunity to meet them all yet!"
"Not really, since he's taking them on the Hell Run, and don't worry you'll get to meet them in a couple of hours," Bulma assured him as she poured the tea into a couple of fine china cups and sent them floating through the air to set them in front of the males who were staring at her with matching expressions of shock reflecting in their golden eyes. The shock became disbelief when carelessly 18 added, " I do hope they don't destroy too much while they're there. It would make the Eyrien warriors upset to find their most challenging training ground demolished when they arrived there."
"Well at least it will keep them occupied for a bit. And just think, if they don't do that much damage Gohan will have a place to play when he's not studying while we're here," ChiChi put in. "By the way Bulma did Lorn say anything about Gohan?"
"If he gets jeweled he has to do so with the birthright ceremony and if the guys want to reach their full strength they have to train and get stronger that way until they're ready to make the Offering. But if Gohan starts the original way, you can train him the traditional way and martial arts can be like a hobby or something for him that way."
"Oh good. Then he can actually go through a proper birthright ceremony while we're here," ChiChi announced contentedly.
"Are you two feeling well?" Marian asked, noticing how sick the males seemed.
"Grandpa? Daemonar? What's wrong? You look pale. Would you like some yabarah? Or some brandy?"
"The Hell Run?!" The handsome man with long black hair graced with silver triangles at the temples demanded through clenched teeth as his long black nailed fingers convulsed around the handle of the dainty teacup, causing it to snap off with a loud crunch. "He's taking them on a the Hell Run?!"
"Well, yeah, why shouldn't he? Were you needing it for something else today grandfather?" ChiChi asked him confused by his reaction. Saetan SaDiablo, High Lord of Hell, Prince of the Darkness rubbed his pressure points mumbling something suspiciously like, "... not strangle them… remember… dealing with… can't expect… throttling… won't help…" The women decided to ignore him since Daemonar seemed more in control of himself since he was only yelling at them.
"The Hell Run?!" Daemonar repeated in the exact same tone, although at a considerably louder volume. "That is used for the most grueling of the Eyrien tests, which are for only the strongest of our warriors, and he's taking them there? They aren't even trained to use their jewels yet!"
"Is that all that's bugging you? Well if you guys are that concerned about them messing everything up then why don't you go ask them to be careful. Actually that's not a bad idea. They can be rather careless with their blasts, especially Vegeta whenever Goku does anything that pisses him off. Which is everything Goku does, hm. Hey, we could all go!"
"You aren't going anywhere besides bed Witch Child!" Saetan said, desperately grabbing the first thing out of her previous statement that made sense.
"WHAT?! I still have to look some stuff up! I can see not going flying while I'm recovering but I have to find something. I need to go to the library and speak with Geoffrey to see if he has any of the types of texts I'm looking for."
"Fine," he grumped, "but I get to see what you looked up. I don't want any more surprises than I can handle."
"Hm… okay. If I find what I'm looking for," Bulma agreed, stretching before pushing her chair back from the table.
"Alright, I want to talk with Geoffrey as well, so I'll go with you. You three can argue over whom gets to go pay a visit to these males you brought to the Keep without introducing to me first." His voice was thunder as he made the last observation, disapproving.
"Sorry. We were more focused on getting Bulma better and then she wanted to get the guys jeweled," ChiChi said, trying for meek and almost succeeding.
Frozen yellow eyes watched the mates of the queens make the Run, along with that meddlesome Shen. He gave a hiss of rage as his eyes narrowed on the purple man who would periodically attack one of them, or dodge a blow.
He would have to be dealt with. They would all have to be dealt with. And they would be… soon. In fact, he gave a chilling smile, dropping the near lifeless form of the priestess he had been feeding on, now would be a perfect chance to try out one of his newest tricks. He slid into the darkness that was his home, returning to the Abyss, shifting, his body becoming the form he was meant to bear.
A sharp tearing pain shivered along his spine, causing him to shudder with the agony that grew so powerful it became ecstasy to him. The sharp crack of bones breaking, growing changing became a cacophonic symphony to his ears. Soon he stood upright in the mists, no longer huddled under the searing flashes that rippled along his muscles as his body began to transform, mutating to match the structure of his mind.
"Have some yabarah, it'll help," the pale hand squeezed his shoulder, as he sat slumped in a chair.
"I can't take this Geoffrey. You realize that don't you? It's going to be like having the coven back all over again, only worse because I didn't have anything to do with raising them," the older looking man sighed as he accepted the raven glass being offered. He looked up at the Keep's Librarian, watching as the older guardian with marble white skin, skin made even more so by his thick black hair and choice of black clothing, took the chair opposite of him. He still had the most sensuous lips that Saetan had ever seen on anyone, man or woman, blood red lips that helped to highlight the whiteness of his skin, lips that were presently quirked in an expression of skepticism.
"Of course you can. In fact you revel in such situations whether you admit it or not. Look, already your face has more color than I've seen since…" his voice faltered briefly before he carried on, "in a long time. And you get to meet Bulma's first consort and you finally get to meet ChiChi's husband. She's sent home letters describing him and her son, but it's just not the same as getting to meet them. Ha ha, have you met little Gohan yet? He's already paid me a visit. Impressive little boy, much better behaved than any of your children were when they were that age!"
"Do you always have to remind me about that? All right, I'll admit it again; it was a mistake to bring Lucivar into the Keep when he was that little. You'd think with all the help I've given you you'd be able to forgive me for such a simple mistake. Especially considering how many centuries ago it was."
"Don't worry, I'm sure I will, one of these days," Geoffrey acknowledged amiably. "…So what do you think your darling granddaughter is up to this time?"
"I'm not sure yet. She said she'd let me know what she was looking up if she found what she was looking for," Saetan spoke quietly, uneasily. His tone caused Geoffrey's eyebrows to form a v that perfectly echoed his pronounced widow's peak as he frowned in response. Before either of them could say anything else Bulma burst into the room.
"I have to go! I'll be back later!" The demon-dead librarians had jumped to their feet at her sudden announcement.
"Where are you going?" Saetan demanded as Geoffrey silently shifted closer in support. They were closing ranks, and they weren't letting her go anywhere without knowing what she was planning. Bulma wasn't paying attention.
"I'm coming, just hold on!" she sent the thought as she muttered it, flinging it like a comforting lifeline toward the dimming spark of psychic energy.
"Who needs to hold on? Witch Child tell me what's wrong so I can help!" The High lord commanded.
"Cassandra! I have to help or she'll die soon!"
"Witch Child you can't go in your state, you're just recovering."
"DON'T YOU CARE THAT BASTARD ATTACKED YOUR DAUGHTER?!" She shouted at him. The air was knocked out of his lungs and the room darkened abruptly.
A/N: Well, o_O This one didn't come out like I had originally planned it, but it did the exact same thing my first scenario did… weird. At any rate, You people should check out Raksha's other fic, SP, it's a DBZ A/U with a little Gh/V and hopefully some T/A, but she won't tell unless you R & R. ^_^ Sorry, all that wasn't necessary but I was enjoying the acronyms, lol. Also there's another chapter up on the Linking Song for Iceis, Vegeta's teaching Bulma how to fly O_O.
Empress Sarah-sama: Yup! That's who Shenlong really is for this fic! And as to sharing adrenaline... *shifty eyed look* there are ways! MWAHAHA! Lol, thanks for the review.
Silverstar: I'm sorry but Shen is going to be a permanent character since they need someone who can translate what the girls try to teach them into terms they can understand, besides I don't think he's pass up the opportunity to train students of this caliber, yes? Oh wait that's what you were asking for... well, request granted! ^_^ BTW, I agree, he was one of the coolest characters there and he was kind of in the background the entire time.
DragonLady: Thanks for reviewing again. I'm glad you liked it so much. I had fun with that, poor guys never knew what hit them!
Roya: As always your eloquence prompts me to respond, lol. A thanks to you as well for your reviews.
silmir: It wasn't a problem. I really like S. Kai too. He was so short and purple, and cute! Lol, I'm about to get struck by lightening for saying all that. I appreciate your input.
Raksha: It gladdens my heart to have your permission to continue with my tale. Lol, I thought you'd like that one though. I would have described their faces, but that would have been an entire chapter in itself to go into such detail. So I opted to shock the rest of the males while I was at it instead. Glad you have your zips back and tell your sis that if I get any ideas for a vague but good title, I'll post the first chapter to my Surreal/? story today. I need one seriously though, so if you have any suggestions about one that would work, let me know okay? I suck at titles. ~_~
Grimsister: CHARACTER DIES! Or not, lol, but I know that one's your favorites. Thanks for reading, and it pleases me that you have taken my lessons to heart. *snicker* I'll see you later. And call me when you can so I we can work on that thing some more.
