Damaged
Chapter Nine: The Light In the Dark Tunnel
The next morning Bulma woke up in an empty bed. She huffed and pushed her feet over the edge of the huge comfy bed. With a loud groan she dragged herself to the bathroom, letting her baby blue night gown fall to the ground as she stepped out of it. She reached for the door handle and hissed in pain, remembering why she happened to get her approval to roam around aimlessly. It was quite a price to pay, but it was all worth it in the end...
Shrugging the thought off her mind, the female decided she would take her time to examine the Palace as she had intended at first yet had no permission to. Somewhere along the lines she made herself sure to find ChiChi and Goku. She needed to talk to a friend desperately.
The lavender haired woman sighed as the hot water flowed down her pale cold skin. She had really needed that one...
x.x.x.x.x.x
After the refreshing shower, Bulma made her way towards the kitchen. She watched from the corner of her eye how every single guard watched her carefully without moving their heads her way. It made her feel… filthy. And low. And so different from all of them. And definitely not "different" in the good way of saying it…
If she had to be honest, she felt as if the gown she had been given to roam around the castle with felt torn apart by their predatory eyes rather roughly by the way the Saiya-jin guards stared, throwing daggers her way, as if trying to hint her just by their gazes that she was not wanted, she was something that just got in their way and the way of their leader. What was their fucking problem? She never did anything to the Saiya-jin race, did she? Not to mention that she was the one to revive them. Speaking of gratefulness…
Shaking her head, the fragile female made her way towards her destination, trying not to pay any attention to the creatures that seemed to hate her guts. Well, that was their problem, not hers, right?
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
"What do you mean they haven't found anything? How is that possible?" The Saiya-jin King hit the table he had been sitting in front of rather roughly and brought it down in the blink of an eye. His rage was growing uncontrollable. His present subjects swallowed hard and each took a mental note to mind what they were saying and the way they were going to say it.
"All that is left of the planet is ruins, master… They have not found any trace of the -"
"I heard the fucking report, you imbecile!" The regal bellowed at the other man who let his head face the ground. Taking a deep breath in, Vegeta made his way towards his throne at the back of the room. With a heavy sigh, he let his train of thought trail off towards the indefinite future… What if his planet followed Earth's lead? What if he didn't manage to stop the bastards before they have reached his newly revived home only to send it back down the shitter? Growling lowly, the short man threw himself back to his feet and made his way for the training ground. He'd be damned if he let that ever happening again.
"Sire?"
"What?" He snapped, whipping his head back at the direction where the voice came for. The pathetic creature cowered at the volume his voice had reached. With a glare he made clear he wasn't ready to wait for another second for the weakling to recover.
"What should we say to the crew?"
"Tell those weaklings to come back." He said and turned back around on his heel. "We have things to settle…" A malicious grin graced the Saiya-jin no Ou's face. The subjects swallowed with dry throats and did as told, not letting any thoughts of what a painful death awaited their comrade.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Bulma slammed the door to the King's chambers shot, her eyes wide in shock and her nerves wrecked to the point of absolute madness. She needed to know that it was all just a bad dream… All of this… This idiocy! She was a queen! She wanted to be treated as such! By her own subjects, not some pathetic Saiya-jin scum!
She breathed a heavy breath. No… Even he… Even Vegeta could not be so atrocious… He couldn't possibly be as monstrous, could he? Was it his order?
During her little trip around the Palace, Bulma had penetrated the deepest places in it. She had seen almost… almost everything. Every single drop of secret was revealed before her as she passed down the corridors, scurrying around and examining the whole place for months.
How long was it since her planet had been destroyed? Thank God for her diary. It was the only way to keep track of time as she did not have any watch or clock on the bedside, whatsoever. Nowadays Vegeta had become even more restless, violent and bad tempered. He got in constant arguments with her that he usually lost, which only pushed him further over the edge of sanity. There was something really bothering him, she could tell. She just wondered whether she cared or not. She decided on the latter.
The woman crawled into a little ball on the floor as she stared out the huge window with eyes as wide as saucers and a psychotic look covering her face. She winced and her arms flew to her ears, trying to deafen the screams and cries that resounded in her head. No! Stop that! She screamed mentally. She didn't want to see any of it anymore. She could do nothing. Of what use was that information for her?
She had seen it… The monstrosity… The pain and agony of the writhing slaves that begged for mercy… Enemies of the Empire caught and slaughtered down in the dungeons, their flesh barely hanging on their crushed bones as they were pinned with heavy chains to the walls while Saiya-jin hangmen whipped their rotten bodies with scourges like iron. What have they done to deserve that? Did even the worst villain deserve such painful and disgraceful death!
But it was not the fact that such things were happening that had scared Bulma… It was the thought that had plagued her head ever since she had arrived. She wondered how much her lover had changed for all this time. How much did he change? She knew for certain that back on Earth, those five years ago, he would not tolerate such behaviour, for the only exception of Freeza, perhaps.
Yet now… Every single of his enemies was dragged down to the Hell of this accursed castle, built on the grief and sorrow of other, defenseless, races that were slaughtered mercilessly for the wellbeing of this Empire… An Empire that she learnt was supposed to stay dead for good, yet she so thoughtlessly had invited back to the living, only to serve the whole Universe's demise.
She had believed in Vegeta she knew. She still believed in him. But she wondered whether this creature that had taken over the Saiya-jin heritage was still the Vegeta she knew… He was egoistical, egocentric, self-conceited and arrogant, but she knew that she showed him what emotions were… And he had accepted her, if even for a year… He had been with her and had let her taste of true passion for life…and now of death too…
Bulma was not one to be paranoid… but she couldn't help but wonder what was to happen of her if she was disobedient and stood up for herself… Would he throw her back to the hangmen? Would he personally torture her to death, raping her untainted corpse?
The lavender haired woman collapsed against the floor, letting her tears of panic flow. What had she done to deserve this place? Was her crime so unforgivable!
x.x.x.x.x.x
Vegeta stormed out of the throne room and made his way to his chambers, finding himself in a desperate need to get away from those fools or otherwise the thought of sending them to oblivion might become too tempting to resist.
Their incompetence was far beyond the acceptable levels. Whenever he needed to do something right, he always had do to it himself. He didn't know why they were so…clumsy around him, as stupid as the word sounded in the case. Was the fact he scared them to death? Well, they should be afraid of him, his mind reasoned. He did not know, nor did he care, why they were so worthless. He needed proper staff and crew to work for him!
As he pushed the door to his chambers widely open, something hit against it and it winced. The Saiya-jin King raised an eye brow forgetting completely what he had been ranting in his thought about until he had entered as he spotted the woman on the floor, crawled into a little ball. She had obviously cried herself to sleep that had overtaken her of exhaustion, judging by how red and swollen her eyes were.
The man sighed and closed the door carefully on to wake her after he had already done enough damage as he hit her with the door. How could he know she had been there? Why was she there in the first place, eh? He shook his head at the stupidity and foolishness of this creature.
Doubling over, he snatched her in his arms and took her to the bed, putting her under the soft covers that pressed lightly against her warm body. He looked at her closely. Oh, how long it had been since the last time he could freely let his eyes roam over her features, so pure, so angelic… While his were foul and demonic… Her light skin, almost to the point of paleness, contrasted violently with his dark tanned one.
He pondered back what actually drove him to this creature. They were incompatible, not only different, or even opposite. Opposites attract, they say. But how could such an incongruous union such as theirs last more than it did? It was sweet, but bitter as well… It was a two-sided blade. And either one of them got hurt, no matter how it struck.
Vegeta remembered how passionately he had taken her, five years ago… He had let her taste the last of his half-devoured heart… He had not yet given himself in to all of the pain and hatred from his past… because he had her. And he secretly hoped he could keep her by his side, so she would have all his purity that was left…
But he had been foolish to develop anything for the young princess. She had been nothing more than just a tool to get his revenge back and reach his goal - turn Super Saiya-jin and avenge his race. The fact that he got his kingdom and people back were just an additional extra to all that he had suffered to achieve his purpose.
The man with sharp dark features shook his head in dejection. He would never again let himself fall victim to her, no matter how pretty and seducing she appeared to his shattering soul… It was too late for him. He knew that well. And even though he claimed he cared none about her, he didn't want to drag her down with himself.
With an angry mental slap, he pushed himself back to his feet, leaving the woman to rest her head down a bit as he made his way for the training grounds. He was going to make sure he beat the shit out of himself for his foul thoughts.
x.x.x.x.x.x
A few hours later, Bulma awoke with a throbbing headache and a sore neck. She noticed her surroundings and still could not recall getting up on the bed as the memories came flooding her head. She decided to shrug it off and she reached out for her diary, reading the last few things she had written yesterday. She had what to share with herself.
x.x.x.x.x.x
Vegeta kicked and punched his own shadow in the Gravity chamber that he gave his scientist the basic design of to have them create a few for him. He tried to make tactics and strategies for the survival of his Empire, but he could not bring himself to think of something else than her. She was all that his mind revolved around…
Her touch, her scent, her voice when she was screaming, yet not in anger… Those few months ago… When he let her do as she pleased… When she cuddled to him… He felt it again. That strange tugging feeling when she clutched to him. A feeling that urged him and a voice that yelled in his ear, 'protect!' How could he resist to her soft flesh caressing his own? How could he resist her sweet coaxing voice that spoke lightly sweet words to him?
With a raw growl, he Saiya-jin sent a blast towards a training drone, which reflected it and - caught in a moment of weakness - the Saiya-jin was hit down on his knees. He collapsed hard against the floor, looking with disbelief down at his hands that were supporting his upper body. Before he could get his composure back, another blast reflected from the second drone and burned his back badly.
That did it for reaching a boiling point…
The flame-haired alien let out a bellow of a strange mixture between rage and pain as Super Saiya-jin was still quite an energy-demanding transformation. The ground shook beneath him and the drones were turned to dust as the wave of raw power rushed over them. The red light of the gravity chamber was deafened by the golden light that bathed the whole premise.
Collapsing in exhaustion, Vegeta watched as the sweat from his brow collided with the cold floor and left droplets that resembled the Earth rain… Why was he remembering all of this? What good was it to him? Earth was gone… For a long time. So why bother himself with it? He did not know the answer to that… But he knew he needed to get the woman out of his thoughts.
Getting back up to his solid feet, he went to pay a visit to a 'friend' of his…
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
The waist-long auburn hair of the semi-short girl swung around as she heard the sliding door to her working room open to reveal her lord. She smiled brightly at him and went to him.
"Sire! What brings you here?" She asked in pure adoration. Her Lord was a person who rarely trusted anyone, dare she say no one at all, yet he submitted his wounded body to her every time after training.
"The damned robots caught me off-guard." He growled out and turned his back to her as he sat on the med bed waiting for her to do her magic over his damaged side. "I made them pay for all that they were worth." A malicious smirk crossed his face in a flash.
"Sire, you should be more considerate about your servants. You want them to work well and be productive when you let them have little time for new researches and other things besides repairing your training drones…" Ariane said with a heavy sigh. Vegeta quirked an eye brow at her.
"What are you implying?" He asked suspiciously.
"Nothing, your Majesty. I just thought I could share my opinion." The innocent-looking maid replied, dipping the cotton ball in the cleaning liquid.
When she was done with his burnt side, he pulled her closer to himself and looked at her from a very close promixity. The girl swallowed hard as his mouth trailed down to her neck, placing random kisses here and there.
"What are you doing, sire?..." She asked, her voice shaky and uncertain, but most of all afraid.
"You know well enough what I am doing, Ariane..." He spoke softly, letting her name roll off his tongue unceremoniously. She swallowed again dryly. "You should feel honoured that your master needs you so badly, servant girl..." The emerald-eyed human-alike creature pushed the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes. She knew what this was about. But was she ready to push him back, with all the power she possessed, and probably earn a punishment that would cost her her life?
"Why do you deceive yourself so, Majesty?" She spoke softly, her trembling voice snapping Vegeta out of his trance and thirst for feminine flesh. He needed a release. And he needed it badly. Now. But her voice of reason seemed to do wonders as it stopped him on his pursue.
"Deceive? Who am I deceiving? What makes you think I'm trying to deceive myself?"
"I know you are, sire..." She paused to swallow some more tears down her dried sore throat again. The action was beginning to hurt her. "It is not me who you are so willing to have." She laid out for him. His expression shifted from the one of confusion that was on his face to one of realization at what she was referring and finally into anger and rage, the feelings that seemed to reign forever in his complex being.
"How dare you reject me! You are nothing to this planet and to me! I may do whatever I want to you! You have no right to object whatsoever! Now shut up, or-"
"You are still deceiving yourself, sire..." The girl spoke softly, as another fit hit her. He thought so little of her? She couldn't believe it... She refused to buy it, but even if she did, that was not her main purpose. "If you do as you wish with me, so be it. I am not standing in your way of any kind... But think about yourself first... Is this what you want?" She pointed at herself. Vegeta let out a low growl and pushed her away.
"I shall deal with your insolence later... Go back to work, bitch." He hissed at her as he brushed past her. Before he exited, he heard her say,
"Today is her Majesty's birthday, sire. Please follow my advice and what your heart says..." She yelled after him and went back to her work.
Vegeta snorted as the sliding door closed behind him. Her birthday...? He had completely forgotten about it... He shrugged the topic off without remorse, but then again if that was true, what was with the pangs of conscience that were threatening to invade his being?
x.x.x.x.x.x
As he left the chambers he shared with the enigmatic human, Vegeta let a smirk cross his features. He had left the woman something to waste her time with until he found out what its real purpose was. His smirk was quick to falter, however. He still had work to do with those imbeciles. He had spent most of his day slacking. With a heavy sigh, he collected all of his patience and left for the command room.
x.x.x.x.x.x
When Bulma came back from the balcony she had been staring out of for the last half an hour, she noticed that there was a strange object that strangely reminded her of a pocket mirror on her side of the bed. She quirked a delicate eye brow and went over to examine it with open interest.
She flicked the thing between her fingers and studied it closely but she still couldn't find a way to open it. She sweat dropped and a faint hint of red crossed her cheeks when she remembered who she was, or more who she had been, and tried to pull it open with a little force, as not to crush the fragile thing.
When it eventually opened, it revealed its little secret to her. Upon further observation, it proved to be some mini-super computer of some sort. She still had problems with opening its contents, however, as it was protected by some stupid password she could not break! Stupid Vegeta! She knew this was his doing! Why was he torturing her like that?
She had already tried the "Queen", "Princess", "Human", "Earth"... But none of it was correct. She also tried a few words connected with him - "King", "Saiya-jin", "Prince", "Arrogance", "Power". Still nothing! She was beginning to lose all hope and patience with this thing when she remembered. The Dragon Balls! That was what revived his race! Maybe that was the key! She typed the letter ecstatically, only to have the blinking message "Unmatching Password! Access Denied!" Darn that thing to Hell and even after it! And him along the ride!
"What else could it be?" She wondered out loud. What was the Dragon's name again? Shenlong?
'Password Matched. Access Approved.'
Bulma's jaw dropped to the floor when she noticed what was hidden beyond the 'gates' to the little computer. Saiya-jins probably possessed a quite different way of storing information as there were tons of files and information on this tiny thing. It held everything that had to do with the Saiyan development.
She knew better than to try to use this against him. After all, it was him who gave it to her. She shook her head, wondering whether he was aware today had been her birthday. Maybe keeping out of her way was what his true present was.
x.x.x.x.x.x
Bulma had made her way towards where was pointed at the file recorded on the small desctop of her active-screen little computer. She read another one before it that told her she was to quit just laying around doing nothing the whole day and that she was hired as an assistant to the main scientist in the research laboratories. Of course, 'hired' is a word too strong for someone who doesn't get paid for all day hard work. But Bulma was content with what she got. She had dreamt forever of having such a machinery in her hand and now she did. She had a partial freedom and she hadn't seen Vegeta's mug the whole day. What else could she possibly ask for?
As she entered what looked exactly like a maze, she found out that everyone was expecting her. It was quite a surprise how civilized those Saiya-jins were. Unalike their brothers-in-arms back up there.
"Miss Bulma, I presume?" An old Saiya-jin with balding head and swishing faintly brown tale extended an arm for her to take. She obliged and still eyed the stranger suspiciously. "Excuse my rudeness. I am Mikhail, head scientist of this department. We are very pleased to have such brilliant scientist as a colleague." The Saiya-jin bowed a little.
"Um... Thanks..." She said dumbly, slapping herself mentally. Thanks? Was that all she could think of? She bashed herself in her head, but she had little time to do that as the gentleman on her front started again.
"You work place is going to be over there." He pointed to a wide desk. "You'll find all of the information you might need on the computer you are holding in your right hand." He informed her and with a light bow that she returned he resumed whatever he had been doing before she arrived. Everyone began talking ecstatically behind her and she preferred to act as if she didn't hear them.
As she appraoched her new work place, she noticed that there was a dark box that looked like a cage on the front. She let her eyes narrow in anger, wondering why would someone place a caged animal on her desk. The lavender haired woman reached out to free whatever was held in the small cage when it shook, making her hand pull back.
Composing herself, she took a braver assault and freed a small... creature. It had sharp big pointy ears. Its tail reminded her of an earthly fox. It also looked like one. Yet its fangs were sharper and longer and appeared like a vampire's, sticking out of the fuzzy creature's little muzzle. It seemed that it was not quite old. Its paws looked like a cub's. All in all, it was a cute and cuddly-looking thing. She smiled and reached out for it, but it growled at her with its fur standing up on its back and its huge tail erecting in the air.
Bulma noticed that hidden in the being's fur hung a pendant. She slowly reached for it, trying not to challenge the little anime-warrior. She looked at what her hand had grabbed and her eyes widened slightly. It was her necklace, the one Vegeta gave to her on Earth, for her birthday. Tears welled up in her eyes at the remembrace. The thing in front of her eased when it noticed that the female in front of it was upset. It tried to brush against her, but she pulled away, storming off towards a very particular place in the castle she spent most of her time in.
x.x.x.x.x
Just as Bulma entered, the King was changing into something more comfortable. The creature was right on her tail, running around with pure enthusiasm and joy. It seemed to like the woman. He smirked at that and looked back to her.
"I see you found the argida."
"Why!" She demanded as she slammed the door shut. Vegeta raised an eye brow at her.
"Why what?" He asked out loud.
"Why are you doing this to me?" She yelled louder, failing to pull the tears back in her eyes. Her outburst startled the Saiya-jin to no end. And there he thought he had done something right...
"I have no idea what you are talking about." He said with annoyance, sitting on his bed. He was drained. It had been quite a shitty day for him...
"This!" She pointed at the creature that was playing with the curtain. "And the device! Why! Why?" She demanded again.
"You're lazying around here the whole day. You should sit up your ass and do something. Besides, you could prove quite useful for my race." He grinned maliciously. "And the young beast I left for you since I was sure you were going to bitch about not seeing your friends that have been sent off to the country on duty." He shrugged.
"If you wanted me to 'sit up my ass', why did you provide all of the technical information of your Empire? If you knew I'd bitch, what do you care? You can always leave, slamming the door behind you. Isn't that what you always do?" She yelled through tears. Her voice was solid, but only when the volume of it was raised.
"What the fuck is your problem, woman? Why are you questioning me? What's it to you? I do whatever I wish to!"
"You're playing with my feelings again, Vegeta, that's what it is to me!" She bellowed. "I have feelings, unlike you!" She continued to scream for her life's worth.
"And just how am I playing with your so precious feelings, eh?" He asked her in a snort. She brushed her tears angrily away.
"You actually make me believe you might be capable of still caring about me. Why are you doing this to me? Why are you still pushing me to the edge of sanity!"
The lavender haired former Queen had been suffering horrible nightmares last days. She had thought about him, all the time. He was haunting her life again... Her days, her consciousness... Everything. He was taking over again... He was taking his toll on her... And his fake kindness towards her wasn't going to help her. She hated him for doing this to her fragile being... She hated herself for wanting him so bad, for agonizing in need for him. She could never allow herself to give in again, could she? Then why was he doing that to her? Why was he making her believe he cared, even just a little?
"I am not pushing anything, woman. Besides, I am not in the mood for your screeching. Go and bug someone else." He said with a dismissive wave. Her words had touched a spot. Was it really what he showed by those small insignificant gifts of his? Maybe he should stop making them?... But... He wanted to... Just for a second... Again... A faint touch... A single brush...
"What do you want from me, Vegeta? Tell me! I want to know! What's your fucking problem with me?" She stood proudly in front of him. The same fire burning in her eyes. Oh, how she wanted her. He felt as if screaming in her face, 'You! That's what I want!' but, as you can assume yourself, that was not quite the correct comeback at such a time.
"You're getting truly annoying and you're already dancing on my thin nerves. I advice you to leave before you got me any madder than I already am because of those incoherent fools I am forced to work with..."
"I can see it in your eyes, Vegeta." She informed him calmly now. "The same need burns in them just like those five years ago... The same need that you are trying to enforce on me..."
"The fact you are weak does not mean I had to 'enforce', as you said it, anything on you. It is your own fault you have surrendered yourself to me so unceremoniously. And don't try on applying the same for me, woman, because you know it isn't true, as much as you may like it to be otherwise." He showed her his white teeth as he hissed at her and turned around on his heel.
"Then why do you avoid looking at me?" She countered him. He turned back around and glared daggers at her. But she had taken a few steps closer to him and was now right in front of him, their chests touching. A drop of sweat slid down his face. "Look at me and tell me you don't want me. Look at me and deny everything that has happened between us in the past." She dared him.
"You have used the keyword, woman. Past. That's all it is. The present is very different, altered. You can have what you have long since lost." He said sternly as well, using all of the will-power that was left in his body.
"Fine then." She reached out for his bare neck with her hands slowly. Vegeta pulled back, as if a jolt ran through him at the contact.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He snapped at her. A sly smirk crossed the woman's face as she leaned in again.
"If past is all what happened between us to you, reject me then, just like you reject your past." Bulma said as she leaned in to capture his sealed lips. He refused to let her overtake him and his senses. No, he was stronger than that. But his soul... It was crying... Weeping... 'Surrender', it whispered in his ear. Oh, how he longed to, but did not dare to. He pushed her back roughly, but she stood up again and walked around him, hugging him by the waist from behind, licking his earlobe passionately.
"Stop..." He muttered weakly, mentally kicking himself for being so vulnerable to her. The beast in him raged to push her back, break her neck, twist her spine and make her beg for mercy for performing such an invasive act against the King of All Saiya-jins, the mightiest race in the Universe. But he couldn't. He stood there, stoned, not knowing how to react as his mind was still engaged in a gruesome battle.
"You don't sound really convincing." Her hands slid up his abdoment and to his chest, slowly massaging his muscular body. Oh, how she missed this... His warmth, his masculine scent near hers... She needed him... Just as he needed her.
Vegeta squeezed his eyes shut. He had been neglecting himself for five whole years... Whenever he started pondering about the woman, he would go and beat all of the silly thoughts out of himself. He was conquering and causing grief all over the Unvierse...because of the grief that wrecked his heart. He never knew love or devotion before this creature behind him fell in love with him and he developed a strong feeling of devotion for her. But his instincts did not let him enjoy his night with her completely. He wanted her badly in this same instant as well... but he dared not let himself take her, as things were just going to get complicated ever the more.
'What do you care?' A voice in his head called. 'Take her. She's the one who's offering herself. All you did was concur.'
However, taking her would mean much more than just getting sexual release. She would know his weakness for her, that he was unable to deny her anything... That was a way too strong card. He wasn't going to let her have it. Yes, that was correct! He was going to win over her! He would be the victor in this battle! As he always was.
The thoughts continued to race through Vegeta's head mercilessly, beating all of the sanity out of him, while his hands roamed over the woman pinned beneath him, moaning loudly in desire as his body brushed against hers and his mouth trailed hungry kisses down her exposed flesh while both their clothes were slowly disappearing from their bodies...
Neither realized at the time just how much further the whole situation had screwed up for the two of them...
