Chapter 33 – A haunted inn

Author's Note: yus, you guessed it, I've been lazy again. Evil school... and evil driving school. Ahwell. Atleast now you'll have yet another ultra-haunted chapter. Typical me. Enjoy...

"Okay… that was unexpected," Haruka slowly said.

"It just couldn't have been that easy, or what?" Seiya asked with a grim frown. The two Saiyan brats had surrounded Goku. "What is it, huh, huh? Is it a treasure map? Or a gem?"

"Looks like a note," Goku replied, examining the white square.

"What does it say? What does it say?" Trunks and Goten hopped around him, completely forgetting that they were able to fly. Goku read the note and said slowly:

"Dear Dragonball summoner, due to my vacation there will be no fulfilling the wishes this year. Please contact my agent for further instructions. Yours sincerely, Eternal Dragon Shenlong."

(Author's note: This could now use some general falling over anime-style but things like these only have their effect on TV…so either use your imagination or let's stick to good olde mouth-falls-open staring.)

"Vacation? Eternal Dragon Shenlong can't possibly go on vacation!" Bulma yelled.

"I know I'd need a vacation if I spent most of my time stuck in seven crystal balls all over the planet and only got out in order to fulfill someone's dumb wish," Vegeta commented. Bulma glared at him.

"Yeah, but it's a divine dragon, not a job at McDonald's!"

"And therefore his job is a lot harder," Vegeta agreed. "Remember those guys at McDonald's? It took them fifteen minutes to get me that burger. And it didn't have any taste at all."

"What exactly do they mean with "contact my agent?" Michiru interjected, peering over Goku's shoulder. The others pondered that for a moment.

"Is there a phone number or something?" Yaten finally asked. Goku turned the card around a few times and finally discovered a tiny number at the bottom of the card.

"I think it's 5483-52094-429something0343…" he said, narrowing his eyes.

Seiya frowned. "That'll only get you to some pinhead who gives you another long phone number and suggests you to call this-and-that. I know a thing or two about agents, believe me. They hate being found by random people."

"Okay, so where would you go if you were a giant eternal dragon?" Vegeta asked, picking the stone Dragonballs up again.

"Far away from humans," Hotaru said firmly.

"Somewhere spacious," Trunks guessed. "That dragon is big."

"And sunny," Gohan added. "You know how the sky always turns dark when he shows up, I bet he's sick of it."

"But still a place where he could get everything he wants," Bulma claimed. "You know, like lemonade, or sun lotion."

"Sun lotion for a seven-mile dragon?" Goku asked, raising a brow.

"I think I know a place that'd be worth a try," Vegeta remarked. The others glanced at him. "Yea?"

The Saiyan prince frowned and yawned widely. "If I told you now, you'd all eagerly want to run down there and grab the dragon. It's getting late, why don't we all hit the hay and take care of the whole Dragonball business tomorrow? I believe the town has some decent inns."

"That kind of town is always filled with cockroaches," Michiru claimed.

"Oh come on…!" Trunks and Goten were instantly on Vegeta's side. "How often do you get to spend a night at a medieval town?"

"Luckily not very often," the girl agreed and snorted quietly. "But if you really want to sleep in a place where nobody has ever heard of bugspray, sewers or liquid soap…"

"We do!" the brats announced.

"Yeah, it's just as good as that recording studio in Tokyo's northern part," Yaten remarked.

"And I thought I'd been to places…" Bulma murmured when they started back towards the town. Seiya laughed.

"Recording studios are a whole new world. By the way, I really don't think they accept your money here. Does anyone have," he peered at a menu on a tavern's door, "any golden dubloons?"

The others glanced at each other. Bulma took a deep breath and then pushed her chin up like the confident, marches-over-dead-bodies woman she had always been.

"Give me ten minutes. Vegeta, come with me." She dashed down the street and the prince of the Saiyans followed her, raising his eyebrows. The others remained in the middle of the crowded street, waiting and feeling a bit uncomfortable as the locals were curiously staring at them because of their bizarre clothes.

"Is she planning to rob a bank or something?" Goku asked. Trunks frowned a bit.

"Since she took Dad along… I wouldn't be surprised, really. What did medieval people do with thieves?" asked then, peering at the open door of the restaurant. Ooh, those wonderful scents…

"Hard labour, death punishment or the hands got chopped off," Hotaru replied. Trunks bit his lip. "Even for, let's say, a slice of pie?" The girl nodded.

"Sheesh…" Trunks muttered and then sensed his father's aura again. "They're coming back!"

Vegeta and Bulma showed up a few minutes later, arguing fiercely over something. Vegeta was carrying a huge bag.

"Woman, you've completely lost it!" he declared by the time they had gotten close enough to the others so that they could hear the argument. "Actually it had to happen sooner or later but really – a goddamn handful of one-pound golden rings? I can understand coins but I can assure you that you are never ever going to wear some huge massive golden ring as long as I live!"

"And why not?" Bulma snapped, obviously very upset. "Women like to look pretty, thank you! And I'm a woman, in case you haven't noticed!"

Vegeta muttered something sarcastic and then added in a louder voice: "Just for the record, looking like a goldmine doesn't equal with looking pretty. Besides, too much jewellery makes you look old."

This time Bulma hesitated. "Really?" Now they had gotten to the others and Michiru had a chance to say something as well.

"He's right, Bulma. So many old women swarm themselves with jewellery, thinking that it'll make them look more attractive. Sad, actually."

"No, they're almost right," Vegeta commented with a slight grin and put the bag down. "Jewellery does make them more attractive. At least for robbers." The bag fell open a bit and everyone gasped, seeing that it was full of gold and silver coins. The bag was about the size of a potato sack so there had to be a real fortune inside.

"They robbed a bank," Trunks declared.

"Not a bank," his father replied, "a pirate ship. I don't think they'll even notice that something is missing… why would any human in the whole world need so much gold?"

"Yeah, you have no idea what it looked like in there!" Bulma stated enthusiastically. "So many jewels and coins and beautiful artefacts and necklaces, rings, bracelets, tiaras, oh, you should've seen that!"

"Random junk made of shiny metal," Vegeta translated. "One way or another, now we have something to buy food for. Pick a random inn now, people."

"I believe they're all equally horrible," Taiki guessed.

Goku sniffed the air. "But I believe that there's one that has a good cook."

"Well, your stomach has already proved itself, so let's go," Haruka agreed.

The narrow streets and Goku's nose finally took them to a small wooden inn that had a golden anchor above the door. The place was quite big and not very crowded. The housekeeper was a fat man with a red face and he was wearing a clean apron. That and the scents coming from the kitchen proved that this was no dirty tavern that served beer and steaks only, at least that's where Goku's nose was never wrong.

"We would like to have something to eat and a few rooms to stay overnight," Haruka told the inn-keeper, stepping towards the counter. The man gave her a short look and said:

"Aye, ye can get somethin' to eat… if ye have gold to pay fer it. But I will warn ye right now: this inn be haunted. Yer welcome to stay, but fer that ye must have nerves of steel."

"Thanks loads, Goku," Seiya commented. The Saiyan shrugged.

"Who cares about some ghosts? As long as they have good food and a soft bed, this place can haunt as much as it wants."

"Yeah, after everything we've been through so far I'd even be happy to see one normal ghost in a white bedsheet," Goten supported. "Let me see the menu now…"

The food was indeed great and as they had a real fortune with them, everyone was full by the time the sun set. And as it turned dark outside, all the other guests left. They had come to drink a beer or two but none of them obviously wanted to stay overnight. When Goku pointed that out, the master sighed and nodded.

"Like me said, this place be haunted. Years ago an old and powerful pirate captain be killed here in a fight and he be hauntin' here ever since. Along with most of his crew. T'was a long and bloody fight, aye…"

Vegeta snorted quietly, for him Planet Earth had never seen a real long and bloody fight, at least not among humans. But Michiru turned a bit pale and moved closer to Haruka.

"Perhaps we should still find another inn…?" she asked. Haruka frowned.

"Don't be silly… even if this place is haunted by some old captain, ghosts are nothing but ectoplasm. They can't hurt you."

"Unless they throw a knife at you," Trunks agreed. "But don't worry, Michiru. We'll protect you."

"Yeah? Are you planning to scare the ghosts away with your snoring?" Goten asked with a grin.

"How come you're able to live in this house when it's haunted so badly that nobody wants to stay?" Taiki asked the master who sighed again.

"I be leavin' food fer the ghosts on the doorstep ev'ry evenin', otherwise they'd driven me out a long time ago."

"They actually eat?" Bulma asked, raising her brows. The master shook his head and sighed for the third time. "Me simply have nothin' else to give them. I be not rich. But they be fine with the food and let me stay here fer that."

"Well, that's not very nice," Goku snarled. "Taking your food just so that you could live in your house even though they never eat it? Sounds like those pirates need a little lesson."

Vegeta stared at him with his mouth full. "Aw cwom won, Kakawot…" he swallowed the steak, coughed a little and then carried on: "You're not planning to play some caped superhero again, are you? Seriously, all that saving-little-people-in-need stuff is getting a little repetitive."

"But he really is in need!" Goku argued.

"Oh please…" Vegeta frowned and grabbed another steak, "there's always a bright side. This man never has to fear any thieves, or what?"

"Aye," the man agreed very grimly, "luckily the thieves livin' under me roof keep the other thieves outside." For a worried man he managed to sound pretty sarcastic.

"Don't worry," Michiru comforted, "perhaps we can help you."

"Nobody can be helpin' me with that," the master claimed. "But if ye want a room and be not afraid of the ghosts then yer all very welcome to stay."

"We'll see who's going to be afraid of whom if they dare to disturb my sleep," Vegeta predicted when the master led them upstairs. The house wasn't small but it gave that impression because or its narrow corridors and dark walls. There were no lamps or torches, not even a window and the corridor would've been pitch-black if the master wouldn't have had a lantern. Trunks tried to form and energy orb to show more light. Vegeta and Bulma smacked him.

"Unfortunately the rooms be in bad condition at the moment," the housekeeper apologized, stopping behind a door. "The ghosts flooded the inn some days ago and most of the furniture be not dry yet. But the beds that remained dry be big and me hope ye can manage this."

"Don't worry, as long as it's dry and a bit softer than a rock, we can sleep on it," Goku reassured. The master opened the door and showed them a vast room that was filled with all sorts of furniture. A gigantic bed stood by the wall, another one was in the middle of the room and a cupboard was standing next to it. There were also a few sofas, armchairs, tables and chests. And not much room to even turn around.

"This be the only room that be not damaged in the flood," the inn-keeper explained. "We be keepin' all the furniture that be not damaged in here. Tis be only temporary but I be very sorry that I cannot offer ye anything better."

"How come this room was the only one that wasn't damaged?" Seiya asked. "It's in the middle of the house, the other rooms couldn't have possibly be flooded without leaving a single mark here!"

"Read more ghost stories," Trunks suggested, rubbing his fresh bump. "Those pirate ghosts haunt in this room and that's why they spared it."

"Aye, ye be a smart lad," the housemaster nodded. "Now, can I get ye anything? Would ye like to be waked up in the morning at a specific time?"

"No!" everyone replied firmly. The man blinked, nodded, wished them a good night, warned them once more for the ghosts and then closed the door. The gang looked around in the room and then tried to settle down somehow.

"Not exactly the Hilton Hotel," Seiya remarked, sitting down on a sofa, "but I guess it'll do for tonight."

"We're all full of great food, we have a bunch of soft beds and sofas to spend the night on and if we get lucky, we even get to see ghosts," Goku replied enthusiastically, plumping down on one of the beds. "What else do you want?"

"Well, I for example want that bed," Vegeta said with a frown, "so move it, Kakarot. You were planning to sit up all night watching ghosts anyway."

"But I…!" the Saiyan argued and the others spent five interesting minutes watching the two Saiyan warriors fight over a bed. Of course, Vegeta won. He had always been better at logic and as soon as he said that one of those bumpy sofas would give Goku a lot better view at the ghosts, the other one moved over instantly. The rest giggled and found a softer spot for themselves as well. There was plenty of room and the girls could even find pillows and blankets. It was getting late and they all had a feeling that the night wouldn't be peaceful so they fell asleep pretty fast.

CLANG!

"It's midnight, huh?" Vegeta asked with a grim frown without even opening his eyes.

"I guess so…" Bulma muttered from under a pile of blankets. "Get back to sleep, I s'pose they'll let us know when they need us…"

"Mhmm……" Vegeta's reply faded into calm breathing and the room was quiet for a while, until another loud CLANG was to be heard. It was distant and had a metallic echo, an eerie and ominous sound that would give anyone chills. Or anyone who doesn't happen to be a Saiyan/Sailor warrior with a long journey behind them. Nobody woke up. Only Trunks scratched his leg a little and then curled up again.

"Yarrrrrr…" someone howled nearby and still far away. It was an odd sound, hard to describe and reminded of very good movie effects… if there had been anyone to appreciate the effort. The room was again quiet for a while, then one white figure floated in through the wall.

"What the hell be that?" he asked with a hollow voice that lost most of its creepiness because of the surprise in it. "Mateys, come 'ere, ya hear me?"