"Revelations, Repercussions and Robots Oh My" by Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen
email: rybreen@therries.ns.ca
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The Brief Home, Future City, 1:30 p.m
"So, Bulma said that a demon from Sunnydale may have come here." , Gohan stated with a friendly smile, "Any idea what she wants?"
"Well we are fairly certain that Glory is after the dragonballs." , Giles replied as he took off his glasses to clean them for a moment, "We found numerous references to them in some ancient tombes in her apartment when we raided it."
"Yeah right after Faith tripped a time explosive that almost blew us to kingdom come." Anya stated as matter-of-factly while ignoring the 'did you really have to state that'.
Ignoring the former vengence demon Giles continued "We believe she intends to use them to open a dimensional doorway back to her native demon dimension or if that proves impossible to locate another means by which she can return home."
"Well half your problem is solved right now." , Trunks said as he opened a cupboard, "We have two of the seven dragonballs right here."
Taking them out of their box the half saiyan teen placed the two orange spheres on the center table for everyone to see without any trouble. In looking at them it was amazing that such little things could hold such power within them, the power to restore life and in some cases grant immortality to the one who speaks the wish. According to what Giles had stated back in the magic shop while they were preparing for their trip the eternal dragon Shenron was actually made up of several different dragons corresponding to each region and element on Earth. Separately they were powerful enough to give even a super saiyan a hard time if they came to blows but as a single dragon they were nearly unbeatable. Willow had made an inquiry about what might happen if Shenron was ever split into the seven separate dragons and Giles noticeably blanched at the thought. According to him it would not be pleasent due to the fact that if this were to happen chaos would rule as each dragon needed the other in order to remain stable. It would be like someone splitting him into seven different Giles' with each version representing a different part of him. Each Giles alone might be uniquely qualified at a task but without the others to act as a counter-balance there would be nothing to stop one or more versions of Giles from spinning out of control. The Watcher then stated that the same would be the case for the seven dragons, powerful as they might be in their non-united forms they would be out of control and cause great amounts of chaos around the world. Seeing the two spheres before them the Scooby gang hoped that nothing would ever cause the dragons to split into their seven separate selves.
"Yes, we had counted on the fact that you would have at least one of the dragonballs in her possession." , Giles stated with a modicum of relief, "However all that means is that Glory and her forces will have to come here to get the last two dragonballs before she can make her wish."
"Just how powerful is this Glory woman?" Goku asked from his seat next to Chi-Chi.
"Powerful. Last time we fought I went all out against her and could barely land a single punch." , Buffy replied with a frown as she recalled her ineffectiveness against the hell goddess, "Energy blasts weren't that effective against her either, she either dodged them or let them hit just to show that they didn't hurt her one bit."
"Ha, that isn't very powerful!" , Vegita mocked from his position leaning against the wall, "I'll make short work of her if she has the guts to face a true warrior."
"Don't underestimate her Vegita." , Giles stated with a bit of caution in his voice, "We still have no idea what the full extent of Glory's powers and abilities and it is perfectly feasible that she is capable of much more than we've seen thus far."
"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if she had been toying with me the entire time we fought." , Buffy said in agreement as she tried to justify why she couldn't beat Glory, "I don't think psycho girl takes anything seriously except maybe finding the Key or feeding."
"Key? What is this Key thing?" Krillin asked from his seat next to his wife and daughter.
"Um, that would be me." Dawn said uncomfortably.
"WHAT!?" exclaimed all of the Z-Crew as they almost fell out of their seats.
"I am speaking English right? I. Am. The. Key." Dawn stated with a bit of irritation concerning their reactions to her revelation.
"What? How?" asked Trunks in surprise with looks on the rest of the Z-Crew's faces that made it clear that they shared his shock and bewilderment.
"I think I would be best suited to answer this question." , Giles said in an effort to divert the stares of half the room's occupants away from Dawn, "Originally the key was a storehouse of massive arcane energies, a battery of sorts whose origins are vague to say the least. A little over a year ago it came into the possession of some Italian monks who thought to use the Key's powers for good. Unfortunately they didn't count on Glory hunting the key down so quickly and were forced to get rid of it in a hurry. They performed a ritual that would send the Key to the safest place they could think of which was to the Slayer and so they changed it into the form of a younger sister for Buffy knowing that she would protect it no matter what."
"So why hasn't Glory just tracked Dawn down and grabbed her?" Goten asked while eating a bowl of apples.
"Goten! What did I tell you about eating with your mouth full?" Chi-Chi scolded as she gave her youngest son a cold stare.
"Sorry mom." Goten said in apology as he quickly swalled the chewed bits of apple that were in his mouth.
Deciding to answer the question for Giles Willow replied "We think that the Key being in human form and being so close to the Hellmouth has kept Dawn safe from being detected from most scrying spells."
"Thats why we're hoping to settle this quickly before Dawn pops up on Glory's Key radar." Buffy finished with a firmness that made it clear that one way or another she would remain diligent in her protection of her sister.
"Yes, well, despite the fact that we already have two of the seven dragonballs I do not think we should just sit back and wait for Glory to come to us." , Giles stated to the rest, "We should begin looking for the remaining dragonballs immediately and hide the ones we already have in our possesion. After all Glory does not need to beat us in a contest of strength or battle prowess, all she need do is find the dragonballs and make off with them in order to achieve victory."
"*Yawn* Yeah, then we can blast that bitch's butt into the next dimension and finally return to the relative piece and quiet Sunnydale usually has to offer." Buffy said in agreement as she gave a rather decent yawn.
For a moment the mothers in the room, Chi Chi and Bulma almost admonished Buffy for using such foul language in front of their children but before they could Buffy's yawn set off the other visitors from Sunnydale into a chorus of yawns. With the apparent fatigue of the foriegn guest plainly apparent Chi Chi and Bulma no doubt assumed that it was Buffy's fatigue that caused her to swear in front of their children. Therefore they were willing to let it go and decided it was time to start making sleeping arrangements for the guests of Future City.
"In the mean time though it looks like you guys could use some sleep." , Bulma said as she got up from her seat, "Once we heard you were coming I had Trunks help me prepare a few guest rooms for you guys in the house."
Giles breathed a silent sigh of relief at this since it meant that they would not have to find a hotel that took yen or American dollars. That had been one of his concerns when it had been decided that they would be travelling here, that neither Bulma, Goku or any of their other friends would have room for them in their homes. After he had assumed that if they had built their own houses that they wouldn't have planned to have more than three guest rooms at the most and if they didn't build their own homes than there was probably less than three rooms. With that knowledge it had been something of a conundrum as to where they would fit eight people between Goku, Gohan, Bulma and Master Roshi's. That of course had been before he had seen Bulma's home as well as the pictures on the walls of the homes of their various friends. It would still of course be a tight fit but he was certain if they thought things through carefully that they should have no trouble figuring out who should go where and in what house.
"I hope you don't mind but it looks like we're going to have to divide you guys into groups of two and split you up a bit." , Bulma said with a bit of regret, "Due to security precautions there is a size restraint on how big a house can be and how many people can occupy any one home so guest rooms are at a minimum."
"Still we figured that between the four houses that we have available we should be able to fit all you guys in somehow." Goku stated with his usual smile present.
"Well I'm sure Dawn and I could stay here with you Bulma." Buffy suggested as she looked over at Vegita and made it clear that her suggestion was meant to annoy the hell out of him.
"Well...if you're sure about that then I guess its settled where you two are sleeping." Bulma said as concern over what might happen with the Slayer and the Prince of all Saiyans in the same house.
The look of joy was clearly on Trunks' face which made it clear what he would be doing during their stay in Future City. Goten on the other hand looked like he had just lost to Trunks in another important competition and hadn't gotten a thing in return. The two of them were best buds but when it came to young women they were bitter enemies, almost as bad as Goku and Vegita were a few years back. Hopefully though it wouldn't deteriorate into a brawl between the two otherwise Dawn would undoubtably be given a swelled head as a result and would be impossible to live with once they returned to Sunnydale.
"Xander and Anya could stay with us at Master Roshi's." Krillin suggested with his usual smile.
It had taken less than half an hour during their first meeting for Krillin and Xander to become best buds since in many ways they were similar, especially in who they married. After all both Anya and Android 18 had previously been the causes of death and destruction and had both reformed only to have fallen in love with the most unlikely of men. After all at the time that 18 had met Krillin the first time he was among the weakest of the Z-Fighters and remained so even after the big battle with Cell. Xander was much the same among the Scooby gang, although truth be told he was becoming less and less of a hinderance than he had been in the beginning. Still it was nothing short of a surprise that those two guys managed to become involved with such beautiful women considering the prescence of more stereotypical images of male perfection.
"NO WAY XANDER! I AM NOT BEING STRANDED ON AN ISLAND WITH THAT PERVERTED OLD GEEZER!" Anya whispered with authority into the ear of her significant other.
From almost the first moment Anya had gotten out of the car Master Roshi had been eyeballing her like she was a goddess straight from heaven. Although she would be hardpressed to disagree with such a statement she had been absolutely repulsed by the way Roshi had been leering at her during the entire discussion. She could almost sense that he had been undressing her in his mind the entire time and had so far gotten down to her under clothes. Not willing to stand it a moment longer she grabbed an ash tray from a nearbye table and chucked it at Master Roshi in the hopes that it would decapitate him or at the very lest render him unconscious. It came to within half a foot of hitting the old man before it was caught by Krillin who looked as surprised as everyone else that their longtime friend had inspired such a reaction in the young woman. Android 18 though was less surprised since she had been tempted to do similar things to the old man but had restrained herself by keeping in mind that Roshi owned the house they lived in at the moment.
"Don't worry Anya. Master Roshi knows exactly what would happen to him if tries anything like that to any of us." , Android 18 said as she gave the old Master her best icy stare, "Don't you Master Roshi?"
"Y-Yeah! I sure do! I promise to be on my best behavior!" the old man responded with the thought of two angry violent women in the same house with him making sure he kept that promise.
"Well I suppose....." Anya said with less reluctance than before now that she knew that 18 would protect her from that yucky old man.
"Well that's two down and two to go guys." Gohan said in his usual cheerful mood.
"I'm sure Willow and Tara could stay at our place." Videl suggested from her spot next to Gohan.
"I'm okay with that." , Willow stated, "Tara?"
"Sure." Tara replied even though she would gladly sleep in a garage as long as Willow was there with her to keep her warm.
"Then that's settled." Videl declared with a mysterious glint in her eyes.
That glint came from the fact that the moment that Gohan had gotten back from that trip to America he had been acting way nicer to her than he had when he left. She had at first assumed that he had simply been happy to be home with his wife and child but as time went on she suspected it might be something else. Whenever she attempted to broach the topic of Buffy and the others Gohan had quickly driven the discussion away from the Slayer and to Garlic senior and the big fight they had taken part in while they were in Sunnydale. This made her suspicious and somewhat eager to find out exactly what had happened over there that was making her husband so reluctant to give her an honest answer. By inviting Willow and Tara to stay at their place not only did she have a possible way of finding out what happened but also a means of getting revenge on Gohan if what she thought had happened actually did happen.
"Then I guess that leaves Giles and Faith to stay at our place." Goku said stating the plainly obvious to everyone.
With that settled and the reason for the two groups coming together like this explained all that was left to do was to settle in and then once the Scoobies had a chance to catch a few hours of sleep the hunt for the dragonballs would begin.
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Goku's Home, 3:30p.m
Thank God we're back on solid ground! Giles thought to himself with a bit too much reverence.
When he and Faith had stepped outside the Brief home to prepare for the trip to Goku's place he had assumed that it would be via one of the hover cars that he had ridden in with Bulma. Unfortunately virtually every member of Goku's family knew how to fly and so the car that they did own was hardly ever used except when Chi-Chi had to make grocery trips. That being the case and not wanting to impose on Bulma any further than they already had he had reluctantly allowed Faith to carry him while the group flew to their destination. Now while he was not normally squeamish about flying there was an exception to every rule and this was most definitly one of his exceptions. He had no problem flying in planes, helicopters or even gliders but when it came to flying via someone carrying him he became rather nervous and remained so for the entire trip. One might ask why he was so averse to flying in someone else's arms and the answer was because while machines may be reliable humans are not. All it would take would be a slight distraction or a loss of concentration and both he and the person carrying him would plummet to the ground. While it was more than likely that the person carrying him would survive he himself would probably wind up in the local hospitol with multple fractures and possible paralysis. With this in mind it is not too unreasonable to see things from his perspective and condone his reactions as perfectly justified.
Now that he was on the ground right in front of Goku's home he could already feel his uneasiness receeding which allowed him to gaze about the area without distractions. One thing that had caught his attention since he had first arrive in this bizarre world of futuristic technology was the dome like design that seemed to encompass at least half of the buildings. Almost everywhere he had looked during the drive to the Brief home and the few examples he had deigned to notice when he wasn't checking his grip on Faith's arm were dome shaped. While he understood certain advantages that such a building would have in terms of the weather he could not shake how odd it looked when compared to the buildings back in Sunnydale. After all it was a fairly severe change to go from a rectangular brick building to a dome-like home made out of some sort of advanced white material. Still Goku and his family seemed to have adapted to it fairly well although he thought that Goku was a bit simple minded and Chi-Chi a bit obsessed with proper study habits. The children on the other hand were more or less what he was used to with the exception that they could destroy an entire mountain range if they got mad enough. The youngest of the two was Pan and the family resemblence to Chi-Chi was obvious although there was a bit of Goku in her appearance. During the flight here she talked at length to Faith and unfortunately thanks to his proximity forced him to listen to their inane banter. From what he could tell she was more or less like Dawn, concerned with things young girls her age were normally obsessed with like boys and clothes but at the same time possessed with a hunger for adventure. That was more than likely her Saiyan side peeking out from her human self as it seemed that all Saiyans treated life and death situations like some sort of game. Deciding whether they were insane or just a bunch of bloody daredevils was troublesome to say the least.
"Well what do you think of the place?" Goku asked as he turned to the two people who would be his guests for the next little while.
"Well, i-it's unique." Giles replied in as honest a manner as possible.
Truthfully he wasn't quite sure what to say in reply to a question given by one of the most powerful beings on the planet much less with his family around. They were all quite powerful in their fighting capabilities but given the fact that his repetoire was limited to a few good punches and kicks they were all leaving him feeling a bit intimidated. However from the look on the newest Slayer's face it was clear she had no such problems expressing her opinion in front of such an intimidating audience.
"Not bad, a kind of 'back to nature' approach but a nice change from the big city. I just have one question." , Faith said as she saved the verbal jab for last, "What's with the chrome dome look?"
Giles cringed at this and hoped that the kind family that was agreeing to put them up while they looked for Glory wouldn't take offense at the ebon-haired Slayer's comment. When he looked over at Goku though he was surprised to actually find the Saiyan looking at his house as though he were actually considering Faith's question. This was most bizarre for Rupert since if he were in the Saiyan's position he would be a bit miffed and would have just given Faith a terse reply about it being the style around these parts. However the tall warrior never ceased to amaze him in how he could not take offense at most things but get seriously perturbed at other things that would be a mere trifel for most people. Eventually though it seemed as though Goku had finished examining his home and turned to give Faith her answer.
"I guess it does look kinda funny compared to the houses you guys have back in America but we're happy with it." , Goku replied, "Anyways this was just the style at time I built it so I didn't think it would be too bad looking."
Faith just shrugged her shoulders and said "Hey whatever floats your boat."
The Watcher gave out a sigh of relief as that particular bombshell was avoided and followed his gracious hosts into their home. The place was substantially roomier on the inside than it was on the outside but that was more than likely due to the prescence of the furnature. It looked like your average quaint Asian home with colorful patterns on the dishes and several proverbs hanging on the wall. Then he recalled how Buffy had told him that Gohan's mother Chi-Chi was somewhat obsessive about her children's study habits and saw that a few things in the home were meant to have a more educational purpose than aesthetic. Almost immediately Chi-Chi began to assign sleeping quarters with Giles sleeping in with Goten while Faith would be staying in Pan's room. This made Giles somewhat uneasy as he recalled his past sleep overs with children younger than himself and hoped that Goten wouldn't be one of those chatterboxes who never stopped asking questions. He had gotten quite enough of that when his cousin Albert dropped off his two twin five year olds while he went into L.A for a conference. Rupert knew all too well that Albert was really probably meeting with some floozey in some cheap apartment but without proof he was stuck tending to the little brats. It had been a tortuous two days but he had managed to get through it intact with little more than some damaged volumes and more than a few frayed nerves. True Goten was a teenager but he had never really spent the night sleeping in the same room with one of them since Buffy and the others only came to him when trouble was abound. In any case he was stuck with the arrangement since he was certainly not going to bunk with Pan and he was quite certain that Goku would rather sleep with his wife. Walking into the bedroom of Goten he was quite pleased that it was not filled with the usual rock band posters and the room seemed bare of all but the most practical necessities. There was a desk at the far end of the room by the window and a bed to the immediate right of the door with a small bedside table there with a lamp on it. On the ground there was a small bed made out and assuming it was for him he began to arrange his things accordingly hoping that the hard floors would not wind up hurting his back too much.
"What's a Watcher?" Goten asked as he helped Giles put his things in their proper places.
"W-well, it's like a teacher, sort of, who teaches the Slayer what she needs to know and provides assistance in battle when it is required." Giles replied as he tried to answer the teenager's question in as breif a manner as possible.
"What sort of stuff do you teach the Buffy?" Goten asked with his attention as sharp as ever.
"Well, I teach her the various names of all the demons and entities in the world that she will have to confront and how to defeat them." , Giles replied though he mentally added, Although it would be wishful thinking to assume that Buffy has retained even a tenth of what I have tried to teach her during training sessions.
"Is that all?" Goten asked as if he was getting impatient that his questions were taking so long to be answered.
Giles sighed silently as he realised that this was the beginning of a trend for the young Saiyan-human hybrid.
"No, I also teach her new hand to hand combat techniques as well as how to use different types of swords." Giles replied and almost immediately regretted mentioning hand to hand combat techniques.
"Wow! Do you think you could teach me a few of your moves?" Goten asked as he was clearly eager to learn what he could from the teacher/Watcher of the Slayer.
This is going to be a long trip! Rupert thought to himself as he had to forcibly restrain himself from looking to the heavens.
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Turtle Island, 3:45p.m
Hoo boy! This is *NOT* going to be a walk in the park! Xander thought to himself as he watched his wife-to-be walk upstairs with Android 18 and Marron while he stayed downstairs with Krillin and Master Roshi.
They had arrived at the turtle hermit's home a few minutes ago and already he could see the proverbial storm clouds forming on the horizon. Krillin had wound up being the one carrying Anya to the island after the former vengence demon had absolutely refused to sit in the hover car with Master Roshi. That had left him in the hover car with Roshi while 18 and Marron flew overhead and talked about things that girls usually talked about no matter what their age. With this done he had been left with quite little to do but sit still and hope that the rest of their stay in this world of tomorrow was as peaceful. Xander automatically slapped himself mentally as he realised that by wishing for a peaceful stay in this wierd city he was practically daring whatever Gods or Goddesses that were listening to make it the complete opposite of peaceful. He shook his head in dismay as he remembered that when you hang with the Scooby gang positive thinking and survival went hand in hand. After all if it wasn't the rest of the gang he never would have managed to stay as sane and *healthy* as he was right now. Heck he would probably have either been turned into a vampire or been killed by Mantis-lady when she tricked him into her home. He shook his head again as he tried to change his train of thought to something that wouldn't jinx him and the others to another world-at-the-edge-of-destruction-crisis that seemed to follow them around.
Looking about the inside of Master Roshi's home he found some comfort in the fact that it was similar to his place back home. Not a single incomprehensible future gadget that could make him sterile if he pressed the buttons in the wrong order. The living room and kitchen were right next to each other with no wall to keep them apart and of course there was an oh-so lovable TV perched next to a window that looked to be twice as big as his own back home. All in all this place looked like it would be endurable but that would depend on whether or not he could keep Anya from killing the landlord. Taking into consideration where the rest of the gang was staying he would have to say that he and Anya lucked out with this little tropical paradise. It was quiet, peaceful and far enough away from any Saiyans to ensure that he did not go through more than one pair of pants every day or two. Not that he was afraid of them of course, it was just that when they started blowing up moutain ranges with a flick of their wrists he tended to get a bit ansy. After all it was bad enough that they could fly on their own but did they have to make the rest of them look like complete weaklings by making it look so easy.
"What are you thinking about Xander?" asked Krillin who seemed to be able to tell when someone was distracted.
"Oh I'm just wondering how long Master Roshi is going to last with two volatile and violent women in the same house as him." , Xander replied as he tossed his bag on the sofa, "I mean Anya might not be able to toss him into the next time zone like 18 but she can throw a mean frying pan."
"Hahaha! Don't worry, 18 and I have been living here for over ten years now so I think that Master Roshi knows the rules by now concerning attractive female guests." Krillin replied with a slight laugh.
"So what are the bed arrangements going to be for the next few days?" Xander asked as he began to ponder where he and Anya would be sleeping.
"Well naturally 18 and I will be sticking together and Master Roshi has his own room so I guess that would put Anya in with Marron and you would wind up getting the couch." Krillin respond with a bit of an apolagetic tone in his voice as if he was saying 'I know how uncomfortable the couch is going to be but that's the best I can do for you'.
"Don't worry. After Anya found my collection of men's magazines under the bed I spent a great deal of time sleeping on a couch." Xander replied as his back spasmed in protest of the coming pain.
Walking over to what would be his bed for the foreseeable future he grabbed the remote for the TV off the table and immediately pressed the power button. It immediately turned onto a televised martial arts tournament with some balding guy with a big mustache dressing in a brown-shirt-white-pants-black-boots outfit was fighting some guy that looked like he had swallowed a wrecking ball. Content to watch this for a while he sat back and enjoyed himself he watched as the match develop, hoping that they had some sort of bikini wearing babe that would walk around the ring to tell everyone what round it was or something. He knew that he was engaged to Anya and everything but that didn't mean he couldn't admire beauty as long as he didn't make his lust all too obvious. He looked over to Krillin to ask if the guy would do him a favor and grab him a can of pepsi out of the fridge but when his eyes set on the ol' cueball head he saw a person completely disgusted with what he was watching on TV. Looking back at the television Xander tried to determine what was making his compadre and fellow tenent give such a sour-puss look to the screen. All he could see was the guy with the mustache who the announcer was calling Hercule raising his arms in victory and then going into a few fancy poses for the fans in the audience and their cameras.
Seeing nothing out of the ordinary he turned back to Krillin and asked "What's wrong? You don't like this guy or something?"
"That's putting it mildly Xander. Hercule is the biggest fake I know of and he keeps getting the credit for everything when Goku or Gohan save the world!" Krillin said in a barely contained anger tone of voice.
"So why didn't Goku or Gohan step foreward and tell everybody the truth?" Xander asked with curiousity.
"They didn't because neither Gohan or Goku wanted the press swarming their home and didn't really care if Hercule swiped all the credit for himself." , Krillin said with crossed arms and a frown, "Personally I would have rathered deal with the press than have to see that showboat gloat everytime he's asked about the Cell Games or the last World Martial Arts Tournament."
"I head about the Cell games back in Sunnydale but whats this Worlds Martial Arts Tournament all about?" Xander asked as an idea was forming in his head.
"Huh? You don't know about the World Martial Arts Tournament?!" , Krillin asked in disbelief, "It's only the biggest and most prestigious martial arts tournament in the entire world! Only the best get to enter it and even then you still have to get past the qualifying rounds to participate in the eight matches."
"Realllly?! Is there some sort of prize money involved or do you just get some sort of plastic trophy?" Xander asked as the gears in his head began to turn.
"Well they have prize money but it changes every year depending on how the grup who organizes it did in the previous tournament." , Krillin said with some concern as he saw the proverbial dollar signs shine in Xander's eyes, "In the last tournament it was ten million zeni for first prize, five million for second prize, three million for third, and one and a half for fourth and fifth place."
Ka-ching! , Xander thought to himself as ideas began to fly around in his head, "When would the next World Martial Arts Tournament be taking place?"
"Let's see the last one was about two years ago so the next one would be in about three years time." , Krillin responded carefully, as if unsure he was doing the right thing, "Why do you ask?"
"Oh nothing, just thinking about the future." Xander replied as he turned back to the TV where the next match was about to start.
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Videl and Gohan's House, Satan City 4:00p.m
Wow! This place sure is big! Willow thought to herself as Videl and Gohan set them down on the ground after their long flight from capsule corps.
When Videl said that they had a big place thanks to her father she had thought maybe a two story house or something like she had seen on their way here. She had definitely not expected an almost mansion sized house that had a three car garage and a fountain in the front yard. She found it hard to believe that this place couldn't have held all of them but then she remembered those silly security restrictions that Bulma had talked about and understood. Once they entered the house she was amazed once again because if she thought the outside of the house was big than the inside looked humungous. It was so big it looked like they could play football in here without having to worry about hitting anything or breaking any of the more expensive things that were no doubt in the house. Obviously Gohan had struck it rich when he married Videl because either she is loaded or she has someone who is wrapped around her little finger. A few feet away from the door was all the proof Willow needed that Videl and Gohan were well off as far as money went, they had a butler. He was the standard old person type and when he opened his mouth to ask if 'Miss Videl' or 'Master Gohan' wanted anything he was definitely British in origin.
What is it with butlers and British accents? Willow thought to herself as the butler, named Jefferson, relieved them of their bags and said that he would take them to the guest rooms.
Not one to argue with someone who obviously knew his way around here better than she or Tara did Willow followed the butler as he led them up the stairs and down a long hallway. All the way along Willow and Tara were exposed to more and more signs of big money and expensive tastes in the furniture and the material used to construct everything. Unfortunatelty this made Willow a little nervous as she was constantly moving away from anything that she thought might break if she looked at it the wrong way. She being a wicca in training made that very possible and she was sure that if she did wind up breaking anything it would take her at least ten years to make enough money to replace it. Gohan, Videl, Pan and Tara were trailing behind her and were apparently talking about all the stuff that had gone on in Sunnydale when Gohan had taken over for Buffy for a while. Pan just couldn't seem to stop asking questions about all the things that they had experienced and done in Sunnydale since that is pretty much all she had been doing since they left Bulma's place. She and Tara had switched back and forth as far as answering the questions went but as things kept drifting back to the times before Tara showed up it was left to Willow to answer. She tried to be patient but all these questions were starting to give her a headache and add that to the fatigue brought on by their trip from Sunnydale and all she was longing for was a nice comfy bed.
Finally after what seemed like a dozen hours they arrived at the room that had been prepared for them and Willow silently sent up a prayer of thanks to whatever diety had arranged events so that they would arrive at the room sooner than later. Upon entering the room she was pleased that unlike the rest of the house this one looked more or less what you would expect from a family's guest room. Turning she thanked Videl, Gohan, Pan and Jefferson for each of their contributions to her and Tara having a bed to sleep in and said that right then she wanted to sleep. They said their "you're welcomes" in turn although Jefferson had managed to put a British tinge to it making her feel like some sort of princess. Whatever the case all she wanted was a solid eight hours of uninterrupted sleep and a decent breakfast waiting for her when she woke up to bring her back to her old self. Dropping her bag to the floor she dug through it and took out her silk nightgown, the one that Tara had gotten her last Christmas, and immediately changed into it. By the time that she was done she figured that her girlfriend would be as well but instead found Tara staring out the window out into the city. It wasn't one of your run of the mill stares that a person has when they're listening to something boring or daydreaming about a better place. This one was definitely mystical in origin and it had the less experienced wicca's complete attention to the point that the rest of the world might as well not exist. Worried about what was happening Willow approached Tara with the intention of asking her what was going on but as soon as she stepped on a squeeky floor board Tara seemed to snap out of whatever daze she had been in.
"Tara? What's the matter?" Willow asked as she walked to her lover's side.
"I just got this strange feeling a few moments ago, like I was looking at something big but while my emotions were reacting to it my mind couldn't percieve it." , Tara said before shaking her head incredulously, "I'm sorry if I'm not making any sense about this, it's just that I'm not sure if I understand it myself."
"Don't worry about it, babe! I'm sure if it's anything important you'll get a handle on it and if not than write it off as just a case of hellmouth withdrawl." Willow said as she comforted her significant other.
With that Tara changed into her night clothes and got into bed with Willow to enjoy a good rest before they tackled the problem of stopping Glory. Yet as Tara tried to put her mind in the proper form for sleep she couldn't help drift back to her experience just a few minutes ago and wonder what it was that left her so uneasy. She hadn't been completely honest with Willow a few moments ago, she did have an idea of what this was, just not a very clear one. It had happened to her a few times before but it was never any clearer than this experience had been and it had always left her feeling distracted for days afterwards. The last time that it had happened the night her mother and father had gone through one of their more violent arguments which had resulted in her mother storming out of the house and driving off in her car. Less than twenty-four hours later the local sherif showed up at their house to inform the family that her mother had been in an automobile accident. Her father and brother had all the appearances of a shocked and mourning family but something inside of her, some little voice, told her that was not entirely truth. She hadn't allowed herself to dwell on such a painful memory but she was certain that the experience back then and the one she had experienced just now were the same. She went over it again and again in her mind but all she could say for certain was that something big was on the horizon, something that would change things for everyone.