Alright. First and foremost, all of you - any of you that are still following the story, anyway - deserve a sever apology. I haven't updated in a while (obviously) and for that I apologize. I had these chapters done a while ago, but just didn't get around to posting them. But now that we're out for Winter Break (aka Christmas/Channuka/Kwanzaa Vacation), I'm going to set sime time away from shopping to bring the story up to the point where it should be. But there's one problem - my Dreamcast is broken. So for now, I'm going to have to go by the story by memory.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Fore-warned is Fore-armed
In case you don't understand the chapter name, it means that being warned about something before-hand gives you a defense against it when it actually does happen. Duh.
She frowned slightly as she adjusted her ear-piece, then watched as her children did so. Was all of this really necessary? Were they really in that much danger?
She looked to her left and cast a worried look toward Clarice, who was sitting on a table with her feet up in the seat of a chair.
Clarice seemed fairly nervous - she had taken off the gold headband that she'd had on and was now gripping it so tightly that her already pale knuckles were turning white.
Her face was expressionless, though she watched the three of them closely, her eyes narrowing every once in a while as they prepared themselves for what was to come.
Bulma sighed and walked over to Clarice, who was completely still - she didn't even seem to take notice when she sat beside her on the table.
It was only when Bulma began to speak that Clarice blinked and glanced quickly at her from the corner of her eye, but made no other movement.
She sighed. "I really appreciate you doing this for us," said Bulma, frowning. "If I'd known that we'd put this many lives in danger, including our own, we never would have come here-"
"It's not your fault," muttered Clarice suddenly, interrupting Bulma.
Bulma opened her mouth to say something else, but Clarice shook her head to stop her before she begun. "It's not. You didn't know what was going to happen. Dryphus did."
Bulma stared at Clarice, then down at the floor. Was she angry at Dryphus?
Clarice suddenly stood and replaced her headband, the gold catching the light of the chandelier above and creating the appearance of a halo above her head.
She cleared her throat, calling upon the attention of the others in the room.
"We'd better get down to the Main Hall," she said, her voice serious. "The ceremony will begin soon."
Clarice's eyes fluttered open and she inhaled deeply as consciousness captured her mind. She opened her eyes and didn't even flinch as the sunlight blasted her face, causing the pupils of her eyes to shrink dramatically.
Rubbing her eyes with her fingers, she squinted as she looked around her bedroom.
Breathing deeply, she stared down at her sheets, which were all white, as where her pajamas.
She liked the color; it was a sign of purity, which contrasted the terrible planet she lived on.
Though one might argue that she always wore black; a color which she liked just as much, if not more than white, since it reflected a part of her that only her worst enemies ever saw.
Yawning, she threw the white down comforter off of her legs and swung them over the side of the bed, standing and stretching as her sleepiness finally began to subside.
She turned to the window for a moment, where both suns - one red and smaller called Mobius, one orange and larger, called Ubillon - were slowly rising over the horizon, Mobius higher than Ubillon.
Her eyes half-lidded, she turned and walked toward her door, grabbing a white robe and pulling her arms through it as she walked.
She stopped short, however, as a strange sound met her ears. It was coming from a bedroom a few doors down from her own, and it sounded like...
'Snoring.'
Clarice frowned deeply, causing her to suddenly look much more old and grave than she actually was.
Rubbing the back of her neck with her right hand, she walked over to the bedroom door and pushed it open with her left hand, to meet the sight of Dryphus, who was sleeping (of course), her body half-off of the bed.
Shaking her head sadly, she shut the wooden door silently and continued walking down the hall, her mind beginning to recall the events of the night before.
As expected, Dryphus had gotten drunk, the reason for her over-night stay at Clarice's home; but thankfully, besides Dryphus' horrid rendition of "It's Raining Men" while standing atop a table in the Main Hall, the night had gone off without a hitch; Bulma, Trunks, and Bra were staying at Clarice's castle-like home, not having been found out by any of the Royal Guards, and Vegeta was at his own home, the Royal Palace of Vejitasei.
'Speaking of which...'
Clarice turned and walked down a hall adjacent to the previous one, then opened another door, frowning as she found it empty, the bed made up. After checking the next two bedrooms, she found her prognosis to be correct; they had already woken up and were probably downstairs.
Clarice paused for a moment at the top of the wide staircase and closed her eyes, opening them again as a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Hey! You still asleep?"
Clarice growled beneath her breath as Bulma walked to the bottom of the stairs, grinning.
Ever since the day before, when she discovered the truth about herself, she'd hated that woman.
"Where are the others?" she spat.
Bulma frowned at Clarice's sudden brusqueness. "What's the matter with you?"
Becoming impatient, Clarice walked quickly down the stairs, her robe flying behind her, and turned toward the kitchen.
Bulma's frown deepened as Clarice passed by her. Why was she in such a bad mood toward her?
Deeply confused, Bulma turned and followed Clarice into the dining room, where Trunks and Bra watched as they passed by, and then into the restaurant-style kitchen.
"Avram?" called Clarice, looking around, frustrated. The cooks turned to look at her, distracted from their work.
"Yes, M'Lady?" she heard a voice call from behind her. She turned to see Avram heading quickly in her direction, a look of apprehension on his face. "You called?"
"Yes, I-" she suddenly leaned toward him and began whispering quietly in his ear; Avram listened intently, then muttered something, the volume of his voice even lower than Clarice's.
"What's going on here?" cried Bulma, frowning.
Clarice nodded to Avram and then thanked him, squeezing his arm
in appreciation.
"Nothing," said Clarice, suddenly smiling.
She walked around Avram and headed toward the dining room, where Trunks and Bra stared, wide-eyed, as she walked back into the room and leaned against a wall parallel to the table.
"What was that about?" asked Bra, frowning. "..Ohmigod, did someone find out about us?! Are we gonna be killed-?-"
"No," interrupted Clarice quietly, smiling. She crossed her arms and leaned slightly forward, still with her mysterious, Mona Lisa-like smile.
Trunks shrugged and continued eating. Bulma, however, stood beside the table and glared at Clarice.
"No, it wasn't nothing," she spat, her eyes wide. "You were freaking out. That was something."
"I was only making sure that Avram hadn't accidently informed anyone of your true identities. He's a very intelligent person, just a bit forgetful at times. That's all it was."
Bulma was about to continue her hounding of the woman, but something in her eyes and the finality of her voice told that she was telling the truth.
Clarice continued to stare at Bulma, her gray eyes like silver bullets peircing through her.
Bulma suddenly squirmed uncomfortably.
Clarice's gaze was so...
Probing.
Bulma suddenly felt naked - it was as if Clarice could see right through her, know everything about her without having to ask a single question, tell if she was lying no matter how believably she was acting, know what type of person she was without knowing her at all.
No wonder people were intimidated by her - it was that stare... that piercing stare...
Suddenly shuddering, Bulma pulled out a chair and sat down at one side of the table, setting her elbows on the shiny wooden surface and resting her chin in her hands.
She could still feel Clarice staring at her.
A sudden fear swept through her.
'Why is she staring at me? What does she want?'
She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, now biting her lip.
'Wait a minute,' thought Bulma, 'While we were on that ship heading here... Dryphus told us that Clarice was really loyal to the King... What if she's setting a trap for us to get caught?'
She turned and gave a fake smile to Clarice, who smiled back her mysterious, "You'll never figure me out" Mona-Lisa smile.
Clarice smiled as Bulma turned to grin at her.
Fake. That was such a fake smile.
Clarice, amused by Bulma's character, probed her even more.
She still couldn't figure it out.
Why her?
The memory of the day before burned her brain - she finally knew the truth.
()FLASHBACK()
'What have I done to deserve this?' she asked herself suddenly.
"Well it's your fault," said another voice in the back of her mind.
"I know," said the other voice, whining slightly. "But why...?"
Both of the voices suddenly went quiet, as though they were thinking, as though each really couldn't figure out what had prompted Clarice to put her life on the line for Vegeta. He'd been terrible to her when they were younger. He owed this to her!
She lay that way for nearly half an hour, trying to come up with a reason. What the hell was going on---?
Clarice whimpered.
Both of the voices suddenly gasped.
"No," gasped both of the voices simultaneously.
"It couldn't be...that's probably n-not the case, Clarice, I mean, c'mon..."
"And what if it is?" said the other voice, sounding slightly scared.
"Of course it isn't," said the tougher of the two voices defensively, though it seemed a bit unsure. "Y-you're not goin' soft on me, are ya?"
"No, but-"
"Then the case is settled. She can't... she doesn't. It's final."
()ENDOFFLASHBACK()
Clarice frowned at the thought.
She'd finally begun to convince herself that it was the truth. There was just no other explanation.
No matter what she thought, something always told her differently.
It was the truth.
And it had already begun to affect her.
Her attitude toward Bulma that morning had only been a tiny micro-sliver of how she felt toward the woman.
And her hatred toward Bulma was only growing stronger with every moment.
DUN-DUN-DUN.... Is Clarice really setting a trap for Bulma and the others to get caught? Why does Clarice hate Bulma? What is this thing that's affecting her? What does it have to do with Vegeta? Like I said before, the answer to that question is one of the main focuses of the story and will be the reason for the conclusion at the end.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Fore-warned is Fore-armed
In case you don't understand the chapter name, it means that being warned about something before-hand gives you a defense against it when it actually does happen. Duh.
She frowned slightly as she adjusted her ear-piece, then watched as her children did so. Was all of this really necessary? Were they really in that much danger?
She looked to her left and cast a worried look toward Clarice, who was sitting on a table with her feet up in the seat of a chair.
Clarice seemed fairly nervous - she had taken off the gold headband that she'd had on and was now gripping it so tightly that her already pale knuckles were turning white.
Her face was expressionless, though she watched the three of them closely, her eyes narrowing every once in a while as they prepared themselves for what was to come.
Bulma sighed and walked over to Clarice, who was completely still - she didn't even seem to take notice when she sat beside her on the table.
It was only when Bulma began to speak that Clarice blinked and glanced quickly at her from the corner of her eye, but made no other movement.
She sighed. "I really appreciate you doing this for us," said Bulma, frowning. "If I'd known that we'd put this many lives in danger, including our own, we never would have come here-"
"It's not your fault," muttered Clarice suddenly, interrupting Bulma.
Bulma opened her mouth to say something else, but Clarice shook her head to stop her before she begun. "It's not. You didn't know what was going to happen. Dryphus did."
Bulma stared at Clarice, then down at the floor. Was she angry at Dryphus?
Clarice suddenly stood and replaced her headband, the gold catching the light of the chandelier above and creating the appearance of a halo above her head.
She cleared her throat, calling upon the attention of the others in the room.
"We'd better get down to the Main Hall," she said, her voice serious. "The ceremony will begin soon."
Clarice's eyes fluttered open and she inhaled deeply as consciousness captured her mind. She opened her eyes and didn't even flinch as the sunlight blasted her face, causing the pupils of her eyes to shrink dramatically.
Rubbing her eyes with her fingers, she squinted as she looked around her bedroom.
Breathing deeply, she stared down at her sheets, which were all white, as where her pajamas.
She liked the color; it was a sign of purity, which contrasted the terrible planet she lived on.
Though one might argue that she always wore black; a color which she liked just as much, if not more than white, since it reflected a part of her that only her worst enemies ever saw.
Yawning, she threw the white down comforter off of her legs and swung them over the side of the bed, standing and stretching as her sleepiness finally began to subside.
She turned to the window for a moment, where both suns - one red and smaller called Mobius, one orange and larger, called Ubillon - were slowly rising over the horizon, Mobius higher than Ubillon.
Her eyes half-lidded, she turned and walked toward her door, grabbing a white robe and pulling her arms through it as she walked.
She stopped short, however, as a strange sound met her ears. It was coming from a bedroom a few doors down from her own, and it sounded like...
'Snoring.'
Clarice frowned deeply, causing her to suddenly look much more old and grave than she actually was.
Rubbing the back of her neck with her right hand, she walked over to the bedroom door and pushed it open with her left hand, to meet the sight of Dryphus, who was sleeping (of course), her body half-off of the bed.
Shaking her head sadly, she shut the wooden door silently and continued walking down the hall, her mind beginning to recall the events of the night before.
As expected, Dryphus had gotten drunk, the reason for her over-night stay at Clarice's home; but thankfully, besides Dryphus' horrid rendition of "It's Raining Men" while standing atop a table in the Main Hall, the night had gone off without a hitch; Bulma, Trunks, and Bra were staying at Clarice's castle-like home, not having been found out by any of the Royal Guards, and Vegeta was at his own home, the Royal Palace of Vejitasei.
'Speaking of which...'
Clarice turned and walked down a hall adjacent to the previous one, then opened another door, frowning as she found it empty, the bed made up. After checking the next two bedrooms, she found her prognosis to be correct; they had already woken up and were probably downstairs.
Clarice paused for a moment at the top of the wide staircase and closed her eyes, opening them again as a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Hey! You still asleep?"
Clarice growled beneath her breath as Bulma walked to the bottom of the stairs, grinning.
Ever since the day before, when she discovered the truth about herself, she'd hated that woman.
"Where are the others?" she spat.
Bulma frowned at Clarice's sudden brusqueness. "What's the matter with you?"
Becoming impatient, Clarice walked quickly down the stairs, her robe flying behind her, and turned toward the kitchen.
Bulma's frown deepened as Clarice passed by her. Why was she in such a bad mood toward her?
Deeply confused, Bulma turned and followed Clarice into the dining room, where Trunks and Bra watched as they passed by, and then into the restaurant-style kitchen.
"Avram?" called Clarice, looking around, frustrated. The cooks turned to look at her, distracted from their work.
"Yes, M'Lady?" she heard a voice call from behind her. She turned to see Avram heading quickly in her direction, a look of apprehension on his face. "You called?"
"Yes, I-" she suddenly leaned toward him and began whispering quietly in his ear; Avram listened intently, then muttered something, the volume of his voice even lower than Clarice's.
"What's going on here?" cried Bulma, frowning.
Clarice nodded to Avram and then thanked him, squeezing his arm
in appreciation.
"Nothing," said Clarice, suddenly smiling.
She walked around Avram and headed toward the dining room, where Trunks and Bra stared, wide-eyed, as she walked back into the room and leaned against a wall parallel to the table.
"What was that about?" asked Bra, frowning. "..Ohmigod, did someone find out about us?! Are we gonna be killed-?-"
"No," interrupted Clarice quietly, smiling. She crossed her arms and leaned slightly forward, still with her mysterious, Mona Lisa-like smile.
Trunks shrugged and continued eating. Bulma, however, stood beside the table and glared at Clarice.
"No, it wasn't nothing," she spat, her eyes wide. "You were freaking out. That was something."
"I was only making sure that Avram hadn't accidently informed anyone of your true identities. He's a very intelligent person, just a bit forgetful at times. That's all it was."
Bulma was about to continue her hounding of the woman, but something in her eyes and the finality of her voice told that she was telling the truth.
Clarice continued to stare at Bulma, her gray eyes like silver bullets peircing through her.
Bulma suddenly squirmed uncomfortably.
Clarice's gaze was so...
Probing.
Bulma suddenly felt naked - it was as if Clarice could see right through her, know everything about her without having to ask a single question, tell if she was lying no matter how believably she was acting, know what type of person she was without knowing her at all.
No wonder people were intimidated by her - it was that stare... that piercing stare...
Suddenly shuddering, Bulma pulled out a chair and sat down at one side of the table, setting her elbows on the shiny wooden surface and resting her chin in her hands.
She could still feel Clarice staring at her.
A sudden fear swept through her.
'Why is she staring at me? What does she want?'
She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, now biting her lip.
'Wait a minute,' thought Bulma, 'While we were on that ship heading here... Dryphus told us that Clarice was really loyal to the King... What if she's setting a trap for us to get caught?'
She turned and gave a fake smile to Clarice, who smiled back her mysterious, "You'll never figure me out" Mona-Lisa smile.
Clarice smiled as Bulma turned to grin at her.
Fake. That was such a fake smile.
Clarice, amused by Bulma's character, probed her even more.
She still couldn't figure it out.
Why her?
The memory of the day before burned her brain - she finally knew the truth.
()FLASHBACK()
'What have I done to deserve this?' she asked herself suddenly.
"Well it's your fault," said another voice in the back of her mind.
"I know," said the other voice, whining slightly. "But why...?"
Both of the voices suddenly went quiet, as though they were thinking, as though each really couldn't figure out what had prompted Clarice to put her life on the line for Vegeta. He'd been terrible to her when they were younger. He owed this to her!
She lay that way for nearly half an hour, trying to come up with a reason. What the hell was going on---?
Clarice whimpered.
Both of the voices suddenly gasped.
"No," gasped both of the voices simultaneously.
"It couldn't be...that's probably n-not the case, Clarice, I mean, c'mon..."
"And what if it is?" said the other voice, sounding slightly scared.
"Of course it isn't," said the tougher of the two voices defensively, though it seemed a bit unsure. "Y-you're not goin' soft on me, are ya?"
"No, but-"
"Then the case is settled. She can't... she doesn't. It's final."
()ENDOFFLASHBACK()
Clarice frowned at the thought.
She'd finally begun to convince herself that it was the truth. There was just no other explanation.
No matter what she thought, something always told her differently.
It was the truth.
And it had already begun to affect her.
Her attitude toward Bulma that morning had only been a tiny micro-sliver of how she felt toward the woman.
And her hatred toward Bulma was only growing stronger with every moment.
DUN-DUN-DUN.... Is Clarice really setting a trap for Bulma and the others to get caught? Why does Clarice hate Bulma? What is this thing that's affecting her? What does it have to do with Vegeta? Like I said before, the answer to that question is one of the main focuses of the story and will be the reason for the conclusion at the end.