Chapter five – Heads or Tails
She almost fell out of bed when Vegeta burst through her bedroom door at four a.m.
"Wake up woman," he growled impatiently.
"What the… Vegeta? Are you crazy? What time is it?"
"Four in the morning. Time to get me my tail back. I'm healed."
"Geez…" She rubbed her eyes. "Well, since you've asked it so nicely… I'll be right out. Just give me five minutes."
She sighed when she grabbed some clothes and put them on, after splashing some cold water in her face. He's such an impatient bastard, she thought. Sometimes I don't even know why I'm trying to help him. She picked up a bag with supplies she got earlier this week and walked out the door.
"Follow me," she said to Vegeta. "Oh, and one very important thing: I'm not in the best of moods right now, so don't question anything I ask of you. ANYTHING. Understand?"
He nodded. They were standing outside now.
"Alright. I need you to take me to the place where you lost your tail." He took off without hesitation and she followed him.
"Right here," he said when they had landed.
"Great. Make yourself at home, this is going to take a while." She started with the preparations; drawing a pentagram, putting special torches on the tips of it, chanting softly while she was busy. Finally she was completely satisfied with the results. Rituals like these required perfect performance, or else it wouldn't work. Or even worse, it would only work halfway. It happened to her once and she was determined never to relive that experience. It had been horrible. She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Vegeta staring at her.
"Your turn, my Prince. Take off your clothes."
His eyes went wide. "Excuse me?"
She lifted a finger and said warningly: "Not in the best of moods, remember? Trust me, it's the only way."
He got to it, while muttering: "I swear to Kami, if you're playing games with me, I'll personally torture you to death."
"Stop flattering yourself, Prince. I have no intention at all to play with you. I'm dead serious." Her voice had changed slightly, but his Saiyan ears could detect the difference with ease. It sounded harsh, commanding him to obey.
"Lie down in the middle of the pentagram with your face down. Close your eyes and try not to move whatever happens."
He did as he was told and felt fear in his heart. He had never dealt with a Magician ritual before and he hated not to know what to expect. Lying there, naked and completely depending on another person, made him feel more vulnerable and insecure than ever before in his life. He rested his head on his arms and tried to relax, thinking about the purpose of all this: getting his tail back and eventually becoming a Super Saiyan as he should be.
"Here, bite down on this," she told him, offering him a thing that looked like a small branch. "I've seen human teeth shatter during rituals, I don't even want to imagine what would happen with the ones of a pureblood Saiyan."
He grunted. He couldn't imagine that this thing, whatever it was made of, would survive the pressure of his jaws when he was in real pain. Still, he obeyed her. He felt her hands on his back and wondered what she was doing. It felt like she was drawing symbols on his skin, perhaps for protection? It relaxed him to the point that he was almost asleep.
He was ready for it now, she could see it. She really wished she didn't have to do this, but it was his own will that got him into this in the first place. She whispered the ritual prayer to the gods of this planet in Magician language. Then she turned her face up to the sky and stretched out her arms to the stars.
"Airel, hear me and heed me. See here, before me, the story of a man who lost his own race. Return to him the symbol of his people, return to him his tail. Grant my wish, for I ask you humbly and in need."
Dark clouds gathered right above them and the wind increased its power to a storm. Lightning struck at the horizon, the rumbling was closing in fast. She looked down and saw Vegeta move.
"Hold still!" she cried to him telepathically. She wanted to reach out her hand and help him get through this so badly, but she knew she wasn't allowed to. Through the instant telepathic bond that was formed during the ritual, she had seen his fear of the things that were happening right here and now, things he couldn't understand. Lightning struck again, hitting Vegeta in his lower back. She heard his screams of agony mixing with the incredible noise of the raging storm and a lonely teardrop went down her cheek when her prince was hit by lightning again and again.
