FINALLY, I CAN UPDATE!!!

Took them long enough. I've really been waiting to update this for a few weeks, so you have no idea how frustrated I was. What was the problem anyway?

But I'll stop talking about that.

This chapter also hasn't got any Gohan/Videl action. I've gotta make a base for this story, before I go into the love stuff. The chapter was really dificult to write, too much detail and too few words to describe it, since my vocabulary doesn't reach that far ;) But I still hope you like it...ohhh, I really can't wait for some G/V love, but I guess that's only in three of four chapters...why did I have to make Gohan a general again?

Anyways, have fun reading!

"Woooow………" Was the only word Videl could utter when she first laid eyes upon what would be her new home.

It was a really HUGE castle…like those you only thought existed in fairy tales. It was at least as big as the Royal Palace in Tauvega, maybe even bigger, and it was completely white, except for the roofs, which were blue-ishly black. The castle had a lot of windows, and probably a lot of rooms behind them. If there were two windows for each room, then the castle probably had over a hundred rooms. Videl saw that the roofs were decorated by numerous white statues of eagles, lions, dragons… even people!

When the carriage the slaves where transported with reached the entrance of the magnificent building, Videl noticed the huge iron gate, build in a solid stone wall, and a small gatehouse. At each end of the gate a humble tower was built to protect the entrance.

Videl followed the walls, which ended both a few yards away from the gate and after that made a turn to the castle, encircling it completely. A tower was built at each turning point.

When they went through the gate, they reached a small courtyard where Videl saw the first two Saiyan guards, who looked at the whole procession of carriages with a menacing frown on their faces. Videl would have been frightened, had she not been informed of the fact that the guards were not allowed to harm any slave in any way.

Their carriages then rode towards another wall, the inner wall, Videl presumed. This wall was less high and less thick than the first, but still looked very solid. Again, there was an iron gate in the middle of the wall, which was already open to let the procession of carriages in.

After that they finally reached what was called the inner courtyard. It was tiled with small grey-white tiles, except for a few square feet of small fields of grass and flowerbeds. In the middle of the large courtyard two lines of stone benches, lined up vertically and with stone fountains between them, were creating a fifteen feet broad path, which led directly to a huge tree with brown, yellow, red and orange leaves, what appeared to be exactly the middle of the courtyard.

Behind the tree was the main entrance of the citadel; A small, but broad stair of six or eight white steps and with equally white stone rails, led to a huge wooden gate, which was open at the time and guarded by two other Saiyan guards.

Finally, Videl's carriage made a turn and stopped on the right side of the inner courtyard and the young woman stepped out along with June and Ellie who had been in the same carriage as Videl.

After every slave from all the carriages (four altogether) had stepped out, they immediately scattered, sometimes alone, sometimes along with another slave, and entered the castle through small entrances on each side of the courtyard, while June gestured Videl to come to her.

Videl obeyed and walked over to June and Ellie who was standing next to her, while her gaze was still on the overwhelmingly beautiful castle.

"So, how do you like your new home?" June asked cheerfully as Videl approached the two woman.

"It's…it's amazing, wow!" Videl answered as she tore her gaze away from the building and fixed her eyes upon a smiling June.

"Of all the things I've expected from the general's house, this certainly didn't cross my mind." Videl continued while the amazement was still evident in her expression. The two older women looked at each other with expression that seemed to say 'I told you she liked it', before June spoke up again.

"You are at Chrystler Castle, which is the former Royal Summer Residence."

Videl looked at the castle with awe again. Of course it had been the summer residence of the royals. The castle was fit for a king.

"You will find that living under the general's roof will be comfortable and pleasant, but only under one condition." June continued more seriously.

Videl again turned her gaze away from her surroundings and faced June again, to see the serious expression on her face.

"And that condition is…?" She asked with one cocked eyebrow.

"That you behave according to the rules, that you will work with diligence and loyalty and that you not only treat your master with respect, but also your fellow slaves. We have been living as some sort of community here and it has made our life more satisfying since we consider each other as family. I would like to see you act that way too, I don't want you to be an outsider or a loner. Trust me, any newcomer will be treated like a long lost sister here, so you won't have trouble finding your way into the group." June said.

"Oh, don't worry. I have been brought up with the idea that everyone is equal and that all should be treated with respect, even those who mean no good. I promise, I won't be acting like the arrogant daughter of a world-famous freedom fighter." Videl assured while she smiled at the older woman, who smiled back after she heard the reply of the younger woman.

"Alright then," June continued happily, "then we shall proceed. Now, come along dear. We have a lot to show you today."

To Videl's surprise, the two women walked to the main entrance of the citadel and not to one of the smaller entrances. But the blue-eyed earthling followed them obediently. When they reached the stone staircase, Videl saw a smaller animal statue on each end of the rail. With awe she looked at them. The animals were…swans. Graceful swans, which were ingeniously carved from white marble and were immensely detailed. It was as if it were real swans, which were about to fly away with their wings already spread.

Videl tore away her gaze and climbed the stairs, when something else caught her attention. A relief was carved out of the stone right above the 20 feet tall entrance, and the figures were, again, swans. On the relief, the two swans seemed to be fighting each other. It was sheer art.

"What's with all the swans here?" Videl asked as the three women walked through the open door and entered a huge hall.

"This castle was built by the king of four generations ago. His wife was very fond of animals and especially swans, hence all the statues and the relief." Ellie explained.

"Oh…" Was all that Videl muttered before she aimed her full attention at the hall she was in now. And what a hall! It was in one word breathtaking. The floor was made of pure light beige marble with black patterns. The walls were also made of marble, the same shade as the floor, with black marble pillars. There was a huge white stair, again made of marble on the opposite side of the door, which led to the second floor. The daylight shone through a row of windows above the wooden gate, the sunlight lightening the huge room, and at night the hall was lit by torches, as Videl saw dozens of torches hanging on the wall. Though the hall was not as big as the hall of the Royal Palace in Tauvega, it was still impressive and beautiful by it's simplicity.

When inside, Videl followed the two women to the left, into a long corridor, through a small alley, when they eventually reached their destination. It was a room with a few tables with crimson tablecloths and chairs with crimson cushions, a classic mahogany fireplace, a few auburn cupboards and a large men's high window opposite the door with crimson curtains. The floor was made of wood and the walls were painted white. A few small paintings and a few vases with flowers Videl had never seen before, but were lovely nonetheless, gave a finishing touch to the room, which looked very comfortable indeed.

June explained this was the sitting room of the slaves, where they could chat and drink tea in the morning and after a long day of hard working. When Videl heard that this room was meant for slaves, she was pleasantly surprised. She had not expected this beautiful room to be meant for slaves.

Videl was asked to take a seat and wait for June and Ellie to return, before the two elder women both exited the room to call for another woman they had talked about before.

Videl sat impatiently on the chair, first with her left leg over the other, then with both feet on the ground, then with her right leg over the left, while she observed the room, until her gaze went over the strange looking flowers again. The young raven-haired female rose from her chair and approached one of the cupboards with the vase of flowers in it.

She silently admired the flowers, which grew on a small branch that had been cut off from some sort of plant. On each branch were three flowers and they were soft-pinkish with a brighter shade of pink on the ends of the leaves and with a pure white centre. They actually reminded Videl a little bit of daisies; the flower looked both lovely and innocent, as the daisies she used to collect on earth to make long necklaces from when she was just a little child. After a few minutes Videl found herself bending forward to take in the scent. With closed eyes she inhaled one time, smelling the mild, fresh and flowery scent and exhaled with a deep sigh, opening her eyes slowly with a content expression on her face.

She approached the huge window on the other side of the room and admired the view in front of her, which she presumed was an enormous backyard. The yard had the greenest grass she had ever seen, even greener than on earth, and it was mowed with the greatest perfection. From what she saw there were several flowerbeds with a gigantic variety of flowers and plants and she saw a few trees. In the distance she saw a path leading to a pond, which was surrounded but what she thought were willows. The path led into a small forest behind the pond. Videl leaned closer to the window in order to get a better look at the yard, and she saw that on her right another path split into two and one led to a fountain. On the left, the grass stretched out even more.

As Videl watched the scenery, she couldn't help but think that this was way different than her idea of planet Vegeta. When she was still living on earth, she heard stories about fierce warriors and ruthless monsters, killing the innocent, wrecking homes and destroying all that was beautiful. And then they came to her home, her earth, and she experienced them at first hand. She had seen their cruelty, their aggressiveness, their hate, towards everything she believed to be beautiful and good in this world. From the day she experienced the death of her father by the hand of the Saiyans and she miraculously escaped that same hands, she believed the murderers to be savages, having no eye for the beauties in the world. She imagined how their own planet looked like and thought in probably was a hellhole. In her imagination, the plains were broken and barren, the rivers had dried to sand and dust, the forests were either destroyed by fires or they had died completely, and the flowers were killed by the frost. She had imagined grayness, she had imagined a wasteland. She had not imagined the castle of sleeping beauty in the middle of a valley rich of trees, plants, flowers, water, animals…loveliness. And she had certainly not imagined that the mighty general of the Saiyans, who led his legions to so many victories and who had ended so many lives, lived in this peaceful, wondrously beautiful place. Heck, they were savages, right? So why did they live in such places and build such castles? It contradicted everything she had believed. It was a paradox!

And so Videl stared out of the window for a couple of minutes, thinking. Since Videl's mind was occupied by her thoughts, she didn't hear the door cracking and somebody entering the room. A loud, jovial voice announced the presence of another being in that room and made Videl turn around with a start.

"Well, well…What have we got here?" The loud voice said. Videl saw the voice belonged to a tall, black woman, with friendly features and a broad smile on her face. The woman's hair was tied in a bun and it was graying a little above her temples. She was wearing a simple green dress that went all the way to the ground and covered almost everything except her neck. Videl could not make out her age, though she wasn't really young anymore.

The woman approached Videl in a quick pace and stretched out her hand to her. When the woman was in front of her, Videl accepted her hand and shook it questioningly.

"How do you do, hun?" The woman said with a grin on her face while she shook Videl's hand vigorously.

"The name's Stella, and you are Videl aren't you?" The woman asked, though she already knew the answer.

"I am. Uh, it's nice meeting you, but how do you know who I am?" Videl asked shyly because of all the friendliness coming her way. Stella's grim widened and she chuckled before she answered.

"June and Ellie informed me about your arrival. They were really tired from the journey, so I offered to show you the way around here" Stella started. "They told me everything about you: about how you were horribly mistreated by your former owner, about our master purchasing you and about you being the daughter of Hercule and all. But most of all about your condition."

Stella took a step back to investigate the young woman in front of her and her cheerful expression made place for a serious one. Videl was still awfully thin and pale, though she had regained some of her strengths because of the good care of June and Ellie.

"My, June and Ellie were definitely telling the truth when they told me about your physical state. Sorry to say it girl, but you don't look too good."

Videl smiled slightly and looked to the ground.

"Yeah, I do look like a mess, huh?" She said with a bitter smile. Videl was aware she looked awful but it was still kind of harsh to hear you don't look very good. Fortunately, Stella's cheerfulness made her forget about that soon enough when the older woman put a hand on Videl's shoulders and spoke up.

"There's no need to be all down-hearted about it. Believe me, with my food and my special care, you will regain your beauty faster than you can say 'recovery'." The woman said encouragingly while Videl turned her gaze to Stella again and decided to observe her now that she was closer to her. Stella had a perfectly shaped oval face, with a broad nose, well-defined cheekbones and thin eyebrows. Her eyes were big and dark brown and were encircled by thick, brown lashes, which gave them the look of a deer's eyes. She had a big mouth with full lips, the lower lip being fuller than the other. Apart from the gray strands her hair was pitch-black and a little fuzzy, seeing the few strands that fell out of her bun. Stella's figure was not too thin, but most definitely not fat. She was slender and healthy and she had graceful women's curves. Though Videl could tell she was not really young anymore, she noticed that Stella possessed a particular youthfulness, which made her look like she was in fact ageless and the younger woman immediately thought of her mother. Stella also looked like a mother and there was no question about it that she had children of her own, there was just something in her manner of speaking and acting that made Videl presume it, and, actually, made her trust the woman right away.

While Videl was observing Stella, the latter was observing the first in return. She looked at the thin, fragile body of the young woman, the pale face with the dark circles under her eyes, the dull hair which had lost any volume and was sleekly framing her face, the shrunken cheeks which lacked any color. So this was the daughter of Hercule? This fragile woman was the daughter of the strongest human in the universe? Stella found herself hardly believing it, but somehow she did. She had once seen the great Hercule when she was younger and she never forgot his eyes, the same eyes the young female in front of her inherited.

Stella had heard many rumors of the daughter of Hercule, both on earth and here on Vegeta. Videl Satan was said possess the same strength of her father, but at the same time was blessed with a beauty that would make anyone fall at her feet and desire her. Kings, warriors, leaders, enemies and just the ordinary man, no-one would be immune for her looks. Videl's supposed beauty was almost as legendary as her father's strength and that was saying something! But here she was, standing right in front of her, and Stella saw nothing legendary about her. Just a young woman that desperately needed aid.

Stella smiled inwardly: Now what were they waiting for? The sooner they started, the sooner Videl would regain that legendary beauty. She wondered if it was true what the rumors said.

Stella led Videl to practically the entire castle. Videl found out Christler Castle had six floors and also found out that her room was on the fifth floor. After almost fifteen minutes of walking through the castle, Stella and Videl reached a long wooden double-door. Stella reached out for the doorknob and pulled it down. She opened the door and with a smile on her face, she gestured Videl to enter the room. Videl walked through the door and entered it and she found her lips part slowly in awe. Her bedroom was in one word amazing. The room was enormously big for her standards, let alone for slaves. The floors were wooden but a huge red carpet with amber patterns was covering half of the floor. The ceiling and walls were cream colored, with on the ceiling a modest but very beautiful glass chandelier and some paintings of landscapes and animals were covering the walls. In front of her was a huge, really huge window which went from knee-height to the ceiling and almost from the left side of the room to the right. It had beautiful crimson curtains tied together with a white ribbon on both sides of the window. The window-sill, with white pillows lying on it, was so big that a few persons could easily lie down on it. On her left side, Videl could find a classic auburn fireplace, pretty much identical to the one she saw in the slave's sitting room, only less ornamental, and a fire was cheerfully cracking in it. Around it were a few wooden chairs with crimson cushions and two cupboards with candlesticks. On her left side, Videl found a huge wooden double bed with white sheets and pillows and a crimson bedspread and two auburn nightstands. A few feet next to the nearest nightstand was a highly decorated, also auburn, closet. A few feet in front of the closet, standing next to the wall with the door, stood a beautiful dressing screen with a wooden frame and a cream colored fabric filling the empty spaces between the frames. Behind the screen and next to the closet, was a big mirror with a silver frame. The whole was just breathtaking.

Upon seeing Videl's face, a huge grin appeared on Stella's face.

"You like it?" She asked confidently, before Videl looked at her wide-eyed.

"Like it? I LOVE it!" Videl answered with an expression of awe plastered on her face. Slowly, while she was looking at the beautiful interior, the young woman walked to one of the cupboards and touched one of the candlesticks. Her eyes widened even more when she saw what she had been touching.

"Wait, is this…?"

"Silver, yes." Stella chuckled playfully. Videl just looked at her questioningly.

"But…but how?" Videl stammered. "How can he afford all this?"

Stella crossed her arms and looked at the interior of the room before she answered.

"The general is an extremely powerful man, Videl. And filthy rich too!" She explained. "I believe he is the third man in the entire empire, after the king and the prince, which makes him one of the wealthiest men in the universe. Plus, everyone wants to please him because they're scared to death of him and so he receives a lot of things for free." Stella scratched her nose before she continued, while Videl was bouncing on the bed. "But no matter how much he earns, he doesn't value money. He'd rather spend it then keeping it locked up in some safe somewhere. He has enough money in safes, you can trust on that."

Videl looked up from her bouncing and looked at Stella.

"How rich is he exactly?" She asked.

Stella thought for a while before she answered, bringing her finger to her chin and looking at the ceiling.

"Well, I don't know for sure…You'll never know after all. But I think it's safe to say that he has more money than everyone on this planet combined…except the king and his family of course."

Videl let herself fall back on the bed and she looked at the ceiling with dull eyes.

"Richer than everyone combined. Gosh, I don't even want to know how much that is." She muttered softly.

"More than you could spend in a couple dozen of lifetimes, I dare say." Stella answered while she had her eyes fixed upon the ground absently.

A small silence followed before Videl spoke up again.

"Does every slave have this kind of room?" She asked while she got up.

"Yes, ever one of us." Stella answered while she nodded.

"Wow." Videl let out.

"Yeah…Guess being a slave here is not that bad, is it?" Stella asked with a smile on her face. Videl didn't answer. She only walked to the huge window and looked outside absently.

"I'd still rather be on earth." She replied stubbornly. Stella smiled bitterly while she walked over to Videl and lay a hand on her shoulder.

"We all do." She replied softly. "But right now, I think we were lucky with having the general as our master. We could have gotten much worse than this."

Videl nodded, while she crossed her arms. Stella was right, it could really have been worse. This place wasn't so bad, she actually imagined herself being happy here. She would really try to make the best of it and pursue happiness.

Stella squeezed a little in Videl's shoulder before she let her go.

"Right. Now about your clothing…"

Videl turned around and looked at her questioningly, while Stella looked at her with a cocked eyebrow, one hand on her hip and one hand brought to her chin.

"…I think we can do better than that."

The older woman grabbed Videl's hand and pulled her to the closet. She opened the double doors and in the closet hung at least a dozen of dresses in all different colors and fabrics, all waiting to be worn. Stella looked at the open-mouthed Videl slyly.

Nope this wasn't that bad.

This wasn't that bad at all.

That's it. I'm working on the next chapter already so it shouldn't take that long (though you never know with me)

And I've got a question for you all...I wanna change the title but I have no ideas...so does anyone have an idea?

Oh and review

Puuuu-leaseeeeeeeee:)