Well hello! So glad to see you! )

I hope you like chapter 2. In this update I mention two major deities of saiyan religion, Ophelia and Bolero. Lol ill tell more about them next time. Please R+R and enjoy )

Disclaimer: I don't own characters that you recognize from the dbz series. But I do own the characters and names that you don't )

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Bardock was not looking forward to seeing the man who had once tried to get him burned alive as a witch. Especially now that he was in such a weakened state. The flight across the freezing waters of the Farir Sea towards the kingdom of Ganymede had taken three days and two nights.

He stood shivering on the mountaintop, but it wasn't completely from exhaustion, or even the cold night wind coming off the Sea. It was because he had forgotten the power of the Palace of Bones.

For a little while he simply stood transfixed, taking in its sheer scale and magnificence. It was one of the biggest structures in the world—making Vegeta's palace in Hyuka look like a cottage by comparison.

"Hard to believe that all of those bones are from a single demon, isn't it?"

He jumped at the sudden, unexpected voice, and whirled around wide-eyed.

A tall, beautiful woman was standing there, watching him curiously. "I didn't mean to startle you…is everything okay?"

"Oh yeah—yeah it is, everything's fine" He gestured vaguely in the air toward the palace "Have you seen---"

"The tour group? They're right over there—see the smoke from their fire?" She cut in.

"Actually I meant…'tour group'? You mean that king Pellinore is letting outsiders into the village on a regular basis? What's the occasion?"

"Well I don't think there's any real 'occasion', but I did hear one of the locals say something about the changing state of the world, and how letting outsiders in to sightsee is supposed to help a little. Who knows…maybe it will." She gazed at the palace hopefully. "I mean look at this place! The Divine Ophelia made this herself. She slew the demon to protect our ancestors, and then made the palace to protect them during the storms that followed. In these dark times its important to remember that She's always watching over us. And not to slip back under Bolero's rule and all…you know?"

He nodded. He could understand the need for that completely. Especially if any word of what the tuffles had been up to managed to leak out…ah god either way it was gonna be the end of the world as they knew it—if it went public that meant a massive civil war, utter anarchy in the streets, and every last tuffle on the planet killed off. If no one knew about it too soon, it would still divide the kingdom and every last tuffle would still be killed.

He felt an absurd urge to tell this lady everything and he didn't even know her name…

You know the city of Mensa? He would begin. Well earlier this year, a bunch of college kids went camping in the wooded areas nearby. They weren't causing any trouble in the tuffle city-- they were just goofing off and minding their own business--and suddenly this guy's buddies realize that he's been missing from the campfire for too long. So they tracked his scent and found a used sedative dart, and two sets of footprints. They followed the trail all the way to this ratty looking warehouse.

One of his buddies left to go get some help—something about the situation didn't seem quite right to them. When help finally came, and they went in…

Instead of a dusty old catch all, they found a laboratory full of holding cells, dead saiyans from all walks of life—men, women and yeah, kid's too. Lots of data, and lots of traumatized captives that--Praise Ophelia, we were able to save.

Yes, I mean 'we' meaning I was there too. When queen Dynasty and I were growing up, we lived in small villages that were near each other. We go way back. So when king Vegeta needed scientists he could trust, I got a call. And now I have mountains of records and codes to process and machines from those slaughterhouses that, frankly, scare the hell out of me and anyone else who gets near them. We're supposed to find out what those arcane things were used for…and all of our modern civilization hangs in the balance of what comes of this mess. We've found a few labs like it since then, too. You're right; we desperately need Ophelia, if She hasn't given up on the whole lot of us by now. But my dear, you have no concept of 'dark times'…and you know something else? Despite me telling you this, I hope that you never do.

The rising smell of smoke and roasting meat snapped him out of his dark reverie. He blinked, and looked forward to finding a nice, warm, inn later on so he could rest awhile and clear those mad half-thoughts from his head.

"Hmmm, smells like dinners ready." She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet happily for a second. "You should join us—we caught a huge griffin, we couldn't eat the whole thing if we tried to."

"I might just take you up on that." He grinned, "—right after I take care of something…"

She started walking toward the happy sounds of a large gathering. "Ok! Maybe see you in a while!"

"Oh yeah! Hey what's your name?" He called after her.

"Seraphim! And you?"

"Its Bardock!" he yelled.

He thought that he detected a little smile from her before she went around a corner and was lost from view. After waiting a second to make sure she wasn't coming back, and noting how cute she was, he walked nonchalantly to the open palace doors, and peered inside.

Nothing could be seen but the massive entry hall. Dancing torchlight illuminated paintings of runes and great warriors on the demon-hide walls, and holy symbols and spells were written on the massive bones that held up the ceiling. From his vantage point he could barely see the edge of a great double staircase; he'd once seen pictures of it in a book. It really was an impressive sight.

A hand gripped him by the scruff of the neck and threw him forward into the palace before he could react. He regained his balance and turned just in time to see a fist inches from his face. Without thinking, he grabbed his attacker's arm and dropped down, hurling him across the room…and into a torch stand…that wobbled dangerously before righting itself.

Bardock's relief over not causing the sacred palace to catch on fire was overshadowed by a new concern.

The still swaying torch threw the scattered shadow of the barbarian around the room like a flock of monstrous bats. He got up from his ungainly heap against the wall—powerful energy roiling off of him in waves.

Bardock wasn't weak by any means, but he had no illusions about where he stood. Even if he had have been at full strength, he knew there was just no way.

"I come here as a messenger. I must speak with the great king Pellinore." He kept his voice authoritative and calm, as if he wasn't measuring the distance between himself and the door.

The barbarian closed the distance between them with shocking speed, though he didn't attack. He stopped a few feet away, and Bardock noticed the various claws and fangs he wore around his neck and wrists as a sign of strength. "Did you think that we wouldn't remember you? You who stole from Ophelia's Jewelry box?"

"What!" He shouted in genuine outrage, "That's ridiculous! How dare you accuse me of stealing from the murals in the church!"

"Don't even try to weasel out of this. I'm not the only one who saw you with the jewel. And don't try to run away again either…the last time you took off like a coward you only got away because the old priestess pitied you and prayed for your spirit to be reformed." A crooked smile touched the corner of his mouth as he held out a hand and started to gather energy in it. "But this time there will be no escape. Or forgiveness."

There would be no talking to him, and certainly no fighting him. He had to get out of this mess and then try and get in contact with Pellinore some other way. All at once he saw his chance! Bardock fired energy blasts at a few of the torches on the wall. They nearly tipped over, the guard dove back to steady it, and Bardock turned and dashed for the door and open air as though his tail was on fire.

He got close enough to feel a light breeze that carried the scent of the Sea. Then he was slammed to the floor by a few more guards that dropped down on him from the ceiling. They had snuck around into position just as their comrade was distracting him. Bardock struggled until one of them grabbed his tail, nearly breaking it. The pain was unbelievable. He couldn't move, or make a sound. And dimly through the roaring in his ears he knew was his own heart, he heard the voice of the one who had set him up for this…

"I see the fire that group of visitors set up earlier is still going strong…are they finished using it?"

"Yes, sir—I saw them leave. They went to watch the fights. I think they'll be gone for a few hours at least."

"Excellent."

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Exiting eh? Heh heh heh… I figured this would be a great place to break it off for now—nothing like a cliffhanger for interest, hooks, and….is that an angry mob!

AAAggghhh! Alright, alright ill update soon! Sheesh!

Lol—same drill as last time—a few days or a week or so—until its ready!

Please R+R! But like I said before--no flames!

Visit my profile if you wanna know more about how its coming along! Peace! ;)