Disclaimer: I think I am running out of amusing disclaimers. I don't own DBZ, yet. MWA HA HA HA
A/N: OK, here is the first real chapter of this fic. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the prologue it means heaps to me. Ok, if Juuachi 18 is reading this, can you please send me an e-mail, I wanted to send you one so we could chat, but I went to your bio and your e-mail wasn't disclosed. And Chrissy, A/U means Alternate Universe ^_~ Hope you enjoy this chap and please review. ~D.B
And Then You'll Know
Chapter 1
"This is Bullshit" 17 muttered to himself as he continued to rake the leaves. It was a pointless task, the king liked to do that to him, assign him to tasks that would do nothing but waste his time and energy. It was the middle of fall and every time 17 finished raking one section of the ground the pervious section would be dirty again. He finally gave up and threw the rake to the other side of the garden, nearly smashing a window, then he turned and stormed inside.
On his way back to check his task sheet he passed the throne room, and for a brief moment he entertained the notion of going in there and blasting the kings head off, yes, that would be fun. But the king on the Sayians was a smart and powerful man, the second 17 opened the door the king would have him in a headlock or some other form of unescapable grip, that would most probably be followed by unimaginable torture and finally end in death. 17 shuddered and continued down the hall, he had been serving the king for nearly 7 years now and he knew better than to stand outside that door. When he arrived at the wall, which had the task sheets on it, he stopped and ripped the one with his name on it off. His next task was "ugh" 17 moaned "floor scrubbing". He ran his hands through his knotty shoulder length black hair and straightened out the worn white top he was wearing. All the guy slaves had to wear the same stupid uniform, which consisted of a white tank top and very old and unfashionable black pants. 17 had had his for so long now that they were all faded and ripped they were barely even wearable any more.
It was inhumane the way the were treated, just because the royals were too lazy to do a single goddamn thing themselves.
***
"Hey you, get up now," when no reply came Chi-chi prodded the old woman with her foot. "I said get up!" she said it a little louder this time.
"Chi-chi hun," said Bulma from behind her best friend. "I hate to tell you. But I'm pretty sure she ain't waking up".
"Damn it" yelled Chi-chi and she kicked the corpse to the other side of the room then she turned to face Bulma. "That's the 5th one this month. Why the hell do they all keep dying on me?". Bulma giggled a little, wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulders and lead her out the room towards the kitchen.
"It's not a big deal, it was just a slave. We'll just go and ask you dad if you can have another new one". Chi-chi's eyes lit up. "Good old daddy, I can get anything from him".
The two girls walked into the kitchen and sat down. Vegeta was on the other side of the table, an un holy amount of food in front of him, it was even unusual for even a sayian male to eat that much. Chi-chi looked at her older brother in disgust, she was glad that female sayians only ate a normal amount.
He put an empty bowl down on the table and a lady with red hair quickly removed it, and new bowl was placed in front of him shortly after, but he declined it after. "I'm full," he said then he turned to face the two girls. "What the hell do you want?"
"Food" replied Bulma and Chi-chi at the same time.
"Why didn't you just send Miji down here to get you something?" asked Vegeta. Bulmas giggles returned then and she had to cover her mouth and turn away. This caught Vegeta's attention.
"You, bluey. What the hell is so funny?" he demanded to know. Bulma narrowed her eyes at Vegeta, she hated it when he called her bluey, but soon she was giggling again.
"Chi-chi killed Miji".
"I didn't kill her," Chi-chi defended herself "She just died".
Vegeta rolled his eyes "Father will not be impressed with you" he said. Chi-chi stood up and re-adjusted the tiara in her hair, she wore that stupid thing everywhere. Vegeta despised his crown, he only wore it when absolutely necessary.
"Are you kidding Vegeta?," asked Chi-chi "Daddy won't be mad at me. I'm Chi-chi" and with that she bounced out the room, Bulma close behind. Vegeta shook his head and left the room to go and train.
***
"Ok you wait out here Bulma" said Chi-chi and she pushed open the huge door to the throne room and disappeared inside.
Her father seemed to be in a heated meeting with his right hand man Nappa, but he stopped when he caught sight of his only daughter approaching him.
"Ah Chi-chi dear. What can I do for you?" he asked. Chi-chi bowed to her father and smiled, curling her long black hair around her finger.
"Daddy," she said in her sweetest voice "I kinda need a new assistant"
"Chi-chi," King Vegeta sighed "There aren't enough female slaves left for you to just have a new one when ever you get sick of the old ones" he said.
"Well that's the thing daddy, Miji died" Chi-chi pretended to wipe a tear off her cheek for affect, her father was to far away to see there was nothing there.
"Oh" he said, he scratched his chin thoughtfully "I'll see what I can do ok". Chi-chi's tail swung back and fourth in excitement, "thanks daddy" she said and she skipped out the room.
"Well?" asked Bulma. Chi-chi finally dropped her sweet innocent 19-year-old act and reverted back to her old evil self, "I told you. I always get my way with him". Bulma smirked and both girls headed outside to the pool.
***
She was dressed in an obscenely short red dress, with a halter neck and an extremely low-neck line. Her shoulder length blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail on top of her head and she was wearing heavy red eyes make up and lipstick. But if that was what the harem guys wanted her in, then that was what she would wear. Cleo walked into the room then, she was dressed the same way as 18 except in emerald green. She had mascara smudged on her cheeks from crying 18 looked up at her for a split second then looked back at her spot on the wall.
"Stop you whingeing," she said "next time they call you in there just give em hell".
"Shut your face hoe" snapped Cleo. 18 stood up, she was considerably taller than Cleo, which was understandable considering Cleo was only 15 and she was nearly 18. Cleo swore at 18 loudly then stormed off into the washroom. 18 sat back down at continued to apply mascara to her already long lashes.
Suddenly the doors to the harem slammed open and King Vegeta stormed in. 18 didn't even look up, it was normal for him to come in here.
"You" he shouted, before pulling 18 up by the hair, she flinched but held her ground.
"Get off me" she hissed. The king smirked, "18, you know better than to speak to me like that". He let go of her hair and grabbed onto her tail instead. She screamed out in pain and fell to her knees. The king forced her back up. "18, your services are no longer required in the harem, instead you will be on slave duties. Follow me". The king strode out the room and 18 cautiously followed behind him.
She was lead down hall after hall, each one was less elegant that the last and towards the end of her journey a foul smell was invading her nostrils and she had to cover her face to stop herself from gagging. A cool breeze blew down the hall and she suddenly became aware of just how short her dress was, it only just covered her butt, she wrapped her arms around herself and looked around. The walls and floor were made of cobblestone and there were little slits in the walls every now and then which were supposed to serve as windows.
Suddenly the king stopped in front of her and she nearly walked into him. "You will be in here from now on, my daughter should come and fetch you sometime this afternoon. But for now just get in there and stay there" roared the king. 18 cowered at the sheer volume of his voice then quickly disappeared into the room.
***
The door creaked open and everyone in the room looked up. Many jaws hit the ground and many eyeballs popped out of sockets. The girl was dressed in a skimpy red dress and nothing more, not even shoes. She shut the door and looked back at the people with a deadly stare. One girl stood up and approached her, she looked to be about the same age.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"18" 18 introduced herself, as she looked the girl up and down. She had very long brown hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed for years, hazel eyes and she was wearing an white shirt and a black skirt, both item were old and worn.
"I'm Tarie" the girl said. Another woman came up to them then, she took hold of Tarie's arm and looked her in the eyes.
"Do you know who this is?" she asked.
"Not really Kori".
"This is the 18, you know". Tarie's eyes grew wide as her brain made the connection, her tail flicked around excitedly.
"Oh my god, you're right. Where is he?" she asked
"Where is who?" asked 18, she hated to be out of the loop. Both Tarie and this Kori woman completely ignored her.
"I think he had to scrub the floors, he shouldn't be much longer now" said Kori, then she faced 18.
"Come with me" she said, and she led 18 into another room, she was too confused to protest.
***
17 was scrubbing away when he heard the door opening, he didn't look up, until a pair of bare feet was all he could see. He sat up and saw Tarie standing in front of him, puffing and out of breath. He stood up and put his hands on his friend's frail shoulders. "Tarie, what the hell is wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing. Come with me" she replied.
"Are you insane. King Vegeta will kill me"
"Trust me. This is worth it". 17 cocked his eyebrow, but then decided if Tarie was willing to leave 'hell' as they called it then it must have been important.
"Lead the way" said 17. Tarie didn't need to be told twice, before 17 even had the chance to blink she was gone.
***
"You let go of me right now" said 18, she forced Kori of her and stood up.
"Fine, just stay there and I'll find someone who might like to talk to". After this was said Kori left. A few minutes she came back with a woman who looked to be in her early to mid 40's. Her hair was greying and she was frail and wrinkled, but 18 knew exactly who she was.
"Astrid!" she exclaimed, more than a little happy. Astrid gave 18 a quick hug then took in her appearance. She knew the myth of the harem, but she had never actually believed it was any more than just a myth, until now.
"18, what happened to you, what happened to the sweet little 11 year old girl I remember?"
"She died along time ago," said 18 "I'm all that's left of her now"
"Well you certainly are beautiful" said Astrid. 18 heard the door open again, but she took no notice of it, and she saw a figure standing in the archway but it didn't click who it was until a few second later.
"17!," she screamed and she launched her self at her brother and hugged him extremely tight. "I thought you were dead".
The tears were streaming down 17's face, he too had thought his sister dead, but here she was, in the flesh. It was almost too good to be true.
"18, is it really you?" asked 17 once he regained the ability to speak.
"Uh-huh," came his sisters muffled reply, she pulled her head off his shoulder and looked up at him "I don't believe it". 17 looked at his sister's attire and shuddered.
"Where have you been?" he asked.
"The harem," she replied "it was horrible," 18 looked around the room, "but something tells me this is going to be worse"
"Who are you serving?" asked Kori. 18 shrugged her shoulders, "The king said I was to serve his daughter, but that's all I know". Tarie covered her mouth with her hand and gasped. Everyone knew of Madam Chi-chi, she was the biggest, meanest bitch on Vegeta. She had killed 5 slaves in the past month and if 18 was to serve her now that meant Miji was also dead.
"Oh 18, you have all of our sympathy" said Kori as she sat on a pile of old hay, everyone else sat down too.
"Why?" asked 18.
"Madam Chi-chi will work you hard, she's worked 6 of us to death this month alone, all of our friends. Bailey, Nikki, Nisu, Rita, Imisha and now Miji. They're all gone" said Tarie sadly.
"Wow" said 18. Well there was no way she was going to be added to this Chi-chi's death toll. She was tough, and she was going to prove it.
In the other room, the door creaked open and a girl with long black hair stepped into the foul smelling room. She stepped over piles of hay and dirt, looking for someone, swearing she would get Bulma back later for not coming in here with her. She walked into the room were the others where and stopped.
"Which one of you is 18?" she asked, there was a tone to her voice that let everyone else present know she was superior to them. Slowly 18 stood up, Chi-chi eyes her up and down, which was extremely nerve racking for 18.
"You are 18?" she asked, very displeased.
"Yes," replied 18 firmly "I am. What is it to you anyway?".
Chi-chi groaned. Great, she had an attitude, oh well, not to worry, a few weeks of working for her would set her straight, and if it didn't, well she would just beat some respect into her. "Well then, come with me and we'll get you ready". Chi-chi walked off
18 turned to face her brother, she was scared and he could see it. He stood up and gave her another hug. "Just ok with her and do what she says, it'll be okay" he said.
"Thank you 17" she said.
"NOW 18!" came Chi-chi's angry cry.
"I'll see you later," said 18, "it was nice to meet you both" she said to Tarie and Kori. Then she turned and quickly made her way to the door, towards her future.
***
A/N: Well that's the end of this chap. School starts tomorrow '__' But I will try to update again soon ok. Remember, please review, or I'll think you don't like this anymore and then I won't update. ~D.B