00/05/12-14

~~~~~~~~~~

Okay I'm having a BAD day and I think some of this chapter is gonna reflect that. Anyway, lots of SPECIAL thanks to GiannaChan, FairyQueen (heh heh heh, rat time!) and Crooked Fork for making me feel better on this really lousy day.

I warn you I have lemons on the mind thanks to Jiggler and EOC. Though there won't be anything of that nature in this chapter, be warned of the subtle hints. I have pictures of some of the characters from this fic posted on my page under artwork and such then under If I Dreamed.

~~~~~~~~~~

Bulma leaned on the doorframe of her lab, eyes staring blankly ahead while her mind slowly went over the spell. As she came to the last line she stopped thinking and looked up at Potatirs, "What do you mean by magic-user?" "A magic-user is...well was S'Imer, she and the other slave girl are the only ones we've ever encountered. They were the last ones left, now they are no more." She bowed her head, letting her black hair tumble over her shoulders. "Where can we find more of these magic-users? I want to reverse this spell before any bad things happen." Her mind pulled flashes from Vegeta's assault to her inner vision. "Like I said, there are no more Magic-users." Her flawless face was grim as her Saiyajin mind thought of the effects of the incantation. "I don't believe you!" Bulma set her jaw in a determined line and stated firmly, "There has to be more."

Potatirs opened her mouth to respond but stopped as she felt the Prince's ki rapidly approaching. He burst into the room and glared at Potatirs and Bulma, "What is the meaning of this??" He stalked over to the Chikyuu woman and pulled her out into the open. "You lied to me!" He held up Bulma's belt, stocked with capsules, to her face and brought his face inches from hers. Hot breath tickled her nose in a seductively deadly dance, keeping her paralysed, unable to move away. "I did not lie." she whispered faintly the words barely audible to his Saiyajin ears.

Bulma was really frightened now, more so then she'd ever been of anyone and it wasn't helping that the spell's incantation was playing over and over in her head. As suddenly as Vegeta had grabbed her he released her and let her fall to the ground then turned away and lay down on the perfectly made bed. Potatirs was absolutely confused and looked back and forth between the royal couple, unsure of what to do. Vegeta lay on the bed and closed his eyes, in a fraction of a second he was in a deep sleep, breathing deeply and evenly. From the floor, Bulma exchange a frightened glance from the Saiya-jin no Ouji to Portatirs. She slowly stood up, her precious belt in hand, and whispered to the female guard, "We need to find a magic-user soon, I think it’s getting worse." The guard nodded and slowly began to slink out of the room; this had just gotten a little too strange for her tastes.

Out in the hallway Bulma and Potatirs broke into a run, this situation had just become far too serious for them to handle alone. They skidded onto the bridge with Bulma panting hard, "I need... need... computer..." The female Saiyajin ushered her over to a console and a matching keyboard, covered in Sayian characters. "I can't read Sayian." A man who was a few steps away reached out a hand and pushed a button on the touch-screen keyboard and the characters instantly became English. The Chikyuu scientist was in her element now and her fingers danced their own dance over the familiar keys, pulling up files from everywhere, creating a file on possible species to help their dilemma. The search came up with two possibilities; one was the N'yosta, S'Imer's dead race, and something called the Rychaiyuu with little to no available information. She pulled up the file, impatient that it was taking so long to load onto her console. Other officers on the bridge had gathered around her in a small crowd, watching her work. Realising she was being watched, Bulma began to feel self-conscious.

The file loaded slowly, it displayed the place that the scouting party had first encountered the Rychaiyuu. It was on...she read the caption over twice, Chikyuu. An alien race on her planet and she wasn't aware of it, impossible. Her eyes quickly scanned the rest of the file, catching on brief words, "...slaughtered...green haired woman...goddess intervention". Her fingers tapped on the plexiglass-like keyboard screen and the sound file of the scouting party's encounter played loudly into the bridge, while the pictures blossomed on the screen in front the woman.

"We've got all we need, everyone regroup." The voice was soft yet commandingly and belonged to a female warrior with close-cropped short black hair. "Hai, Sergeant Leaka." came a louder, more gruff male voice and he walked closer to the woman. Sergeant Leaka then looked over into the night darkened city street as if something had disturbed her. There was a flash of a fist and Leaka's scouter was on the ground, looking upwards at the attacker. A woman, no older than twenty, stood with green hair fluttering in the wind around her, clad in a pair of tall boots and dark pants with a long leather coat sitting sharply on her small frame. Leaka sunk into a battle stance and thrust her fist forward into the stranger's stomach. The stranger doubled over briefly then resumed her upright position. "I want back what is mine, you cannot have the vile." She lunged forward at the Sergeant and in mid air she changed, her lips curled back and revealed sharp canines that glinted in the moonlight. Her eyes took on a predatory look as she landed atop the Saiyajin.

The other guard came bounding onto the scene and attacked the woman with all his force. He brought his hand up and let loose a magenta beam of ki at her. The blast snaked towards its prey but never connected, the laser stopped in its assault and dissipated into the air. The frightened guard looked around as the surrounding phased and changed into a cavern that Bulma knew all too well. "STOP!" It was the voice from Bulma's dreams. The fighting woman who was struggling on the ground stopped and looked up at the ceiling where the fallen scouter couldn't see. The male guard looked up and was met by a blinding light and his scouter transmission ended. "You have been warned about this once before, return what is theirs and you shall go free." The green haired woman had gotten off the Saiyajin and knelt on the ground, her coat around her like a robe. Leaka lay on the ground, panting as she reached into her uniform and pulled out a vial of crimson liquid.

In a flash the vial was gone and it lay before the kneeling woman. She looked upwards at the ceiling again and nodded towards the entity concealed from the scouter’s view. She clutched the vial in her hand then slid it into the top of one of her boots before walking over to Leaka. She pressed a foot down on the Saiyajin’s neck until Leaka began wheezing for air, the soldier fought against the foot but to no avail. She began to hack and cough, then she launched her final attack with all the energy she had left. She tossed the woman off and stood up, still slightly wheezing but preparing of an attack. The energy gathered in her palm and she began to call out her attack when something grappled her from behind and sent her falling to the ground. There was another of them, a man this time. He had on a long black coat and silvery white hair tied at the nape of his neck. Leaka rolled on the ground in pain; the green haired woman took her chance and discarded her coat on the ground. She sauntered over to the downed soldier in a sleeveless black shirt. In a simple and swift movement she plunged her hand through the Saiyajin armor and into the Sergeant’s chest. Leaka's face convulsed in one last silent battle cry before she lay still. Her black eyes were glassy and dead, staring straight ahead in a stare. Blood pooled out of the wound in her chest and dripped down the sides of her empty body, her gloved hand had dropped a few inches from her scouter. It twitched once then was flattened against the weight of her heart; the green haired woman had plucked her heart from her chest then dropped it in her hand in a sadistic final act of battle. The two turned and began walking away. At the same time as the walls began to disintegrate back to the street they'd been on before.

Bulma, who'd looked away during the gory death, turned her eyes back slowly. Seeing that the death was over she peered closer at the screen, trying to read the street signs. She almost made out a few of the letters when the transmission was suddenly cut short. "Is that it?" She questioned to no one in particular. The whole crowd was silent; they all seem stunned at the death they'd seen. Even with all the death they'd caused themselves, what they had just seen on the screen shocked them.

The doors hissed open from the other side of the room and the Chikyuu native tensed up. 'Please don't let it be him' she prayed silently. Two men pushed through the solemn crowd, demanding what was going on and fixing all the crew with deadly stares. Potatirs and Corais, who'd been standing directly behind Bulma, refused to move when the two men tried to push past the couple. Bulma watched the scene in the reflection of the monitor.

"Move you two." The bald one demanded. "Bite me, Nappa, you over grown bowling ball!" spat Potatirs, somewhat childishly. Nappa stopped and looked down, towering over her. "Runt! Move before I send you on your way to hell." Potatirs shrugged indifferently then spoke up. "I doubt the Prince would be too happy to learn that you've killed one his personal toys." She stepped aside and turned the chair that Bulma sat on to face Nappa and the other man. Like a frightened child, the Chikyuu woman looked up, almost guiltily, and met the eyes of the other man. He had hair that tumbled down all the way to the back of his calves. Nappa exchanged glances and a few words with the other man. "We should check this out with the Prince." The one with the mane of hair put his hand up to his scouter when Corais jumped into the verbal fray. "The Prince is sleeping, it would not be wise if you woke him." "They are obviously lying. The Prince does not sleep during the day." The other man jumped into the conversation. 'He can't wake up, I need more time to find a magic-user.' Bulma thought as she slid out of the chair and took a step towards Nappa. Hands on her hips, she gave him her best don't-mess-with-me look. Nappa was obviously going over the possibility of his losing his life if they were right. Flustered, he turned and left the crowd while yelling for them all to get back to work.

The human turned back to the computer and began to type at it once more, calculating how long it would take to get back to earth; 12.6 standard day flashed on the screen. "Shit" she muttered and turned to her guards. "What now? He'll kill me before we make it to Earth." Bulma's shoulders slumped in defeat. Corais remained staring at the screen while Potatirs put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Bulma stood up and turned, pushing her way through the crowd, her mind frantic with ideas of her own survival.

Vegeta-ouji was trapped in his own personal hell while he slept. The world was dark and foreboding; it was like limbo. He floated helplessly, unable to do anything to save himself. Green flames licked at his soul, making him arch his back from the torment the flames induced upon him; they bit at him on more then the physical plane. The green gluttonous flames squirmed upwards, covering half of his body. He groaned but refused to cry out, his pride was too strong.

"I can make it stop if you wish." The voice echoed in the vast emptiness of the abyss. Through clenched teeth the Prince called out, "Then do it!" The flames faded and he lay panting on a marble floor, his head whipped around looking for the source of the voice. He was rewarded with an eyeful of a petite woman. She wore black pants, cropped just above her knees, and a strange looking bodice with an alien looking tattoo on her right bicep. Long purple hair fell down her back between two large white-feathered wings. To Vegeta, her face was blurred and he could not make out any facial features of this strange creature. "It hurts, doesn't it? S'Imer was a strong one; she did a good job of messing up my plans." Her voice was light, almost like she was toying with him. "What do you mean?" he grunted out, forcing his body to his knees. "This," she gestured to him then herself, "Was never supposed to have happened. I was just supposed to make sure things went smoothly for the bonding then leave." She was almost chiding him. "I will make you a deal." She watched him, making sure he wasn't feeling any after effects of the spell. "I wish for a favor from you, to be redeemed at any time for any purpose." He narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the winged creature. "No, I have no use for anything you can offer me." He crouched in a fighting stance. "Oh, but you do, Saiya-jin no Ouji. Things haven't been really going your way, have they?" She put her palm outward in front of her, in the center was a miniature moving image of the prince struggling against the green flames.

The Prince tensed his muscles and prepared to jump at the strange taunting creature. "I would not advise you doing that, especially if you ever wish to be free of the spell cast on you. Now let’s not fight, besides, you have no chance of beating an immortal. Do you accept my deal?" The angel-like creature opened her wings to their full wing span and small little blue sparks of light began to gather around her and Vegeta. "Then I will return you to the clutches of the spell." They both began to fade out and the Prince found himself alone again in his room, the words of the winged woman echoed in his mind, "Do we have a deal?" He sat up and pondered over the aspects of the spell. Every time he neared the Chikyuu woman a thick fog would envelope him and he would wake up later in his own bed.

Bulma was getting desperate and afraid; her mind wasn't working properly as it usually did under pressure. Sparks of pain erupted in her chest, forcing her to her knees. She squeezed her eyes closed, forcing tears of pain out. The guards sounded so far away. She felt like she was dying, it hurt so badly, the ebony ink of darkness was closing in on her rapidly. The last thing she heard was Potatirs yelling at her before she let the pain take her away.

The pain was back, though this time it didn't hurt as much as before. It was as if there was a barrier between the pain and her. Her eyes refused to open, there was a soft hand brushing down the side of her face then a voice, gentle and soothing. "I can make the pain go away, just promise me you'll help me in return." The voice was almost desperate in its plea. Bulma forced herself to nod; the pain was slowly beginning to lessen to a bearable level. "You need to get this in the Saiya-jin no Ouji's system. Hurry, I'm not strong enough to keep the spell from overtaking him for long." The voice was fading quickly, along with the cool hand on her face. More sounds began to overtake the voice, "...Stable...Unsure of the cause..." A new voice. "Her ki was off the charts, almost as high as the Prince's..." Fluorescent light glared down into Bulma's half closed eyelids and it took a moment to move her head to avoid the blinding luminescence of it. A mental check of her body reassured her that nothing was broken. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up slowly. A man instantly tried to shove her back down, but she resisted. "I have it, the cure for the spell." She held up her hand and unfurled her fingers. There in her palm sat the vial of red liquid, she could swear it was the same vial from Chikyuu and the fight with Leaka.

"I need to..." "You need to nothing." It was the Prince. He leaned on the doorframe of the room glaring sinisterly at Bulma with a strange color to his eyes. "Out, I wish to be alone with her." The room was vacated quickly without a word. Bulma pulled her legs up to her chest and whimpered as he advanced towards her, clutching the vial tightly until it broke. Small pieces of glass were imbedded in her hand, letting blood mix with the red liquid. He reached out a hand towards her and hesitated, like something was holding him back. She seized her chance and pressed her hand to the side of his face. Brilliant sparks of emerald green blazed from the connection of her hand with his cheek. Tears flowed down her face as a thousand emotions rushed through her. She watched teary-eyed as the color from his eyes faded and he slumped down on the bed. Her hand came away from his face, her palm facing towards her, all traces of the liquid were gone.

She sat on the bed with her legs pulled up to her tightly; she rested her chin on her knees and watched the fallen Prince. "Well done, he is cured." It was the Voice again, Bulma wiped her eyes on the blanket that covered her and looked around the room. Something pulled her vision upwards and she spotted the Voice for the very first time. She was no more than five inches tall, with beautiful white-feathered wings and flowing purple hair. The Voice had an ageless face of perfect smoothness, with brightly colored blue eyes and smiling lips. She floated down softly as came to stand on Bulma's open palm. "You've done well. I've held up my end of the bargain, now it’s your turn to hold up yours. Wake him." She nodded in the sleeping man's direction, "He's cured but exhausted. Vegeta won't harm you." Bulma's, free hand shaking, gently shook his shoulder just above where the shoulder guards started. Instantly Vegeta was on his feet in a fighting stance glaring at any possible intruders. The fairy woman turned lightly on Bulma's palm, a smile tug at her lips. "Saiya-jin no Ouji, it is your turn to fulfil your share of our deal." Vegeta glared death upon the tiny figurine. "I have made no deal with you, Immortal. Leave me be." The woman sat down on the edge of Bulma's palm. "Oh, but you have. Now call the fight and leave us be. I have preparations to make."

Vegeta was being increasingly stubborn and the fairy woman had been forewarned of this and made a subtle change in her approach. She jumped off the Chikyuu woman's hands and floated to the floor, away from the reach of Vegeta's feet should he get any ideas. Surprised and completely confused, Bulma looked over the edge of the bed, not sure what to expect. On the floor, the fairy woman sat concentrating, gathering energy and growing in size. Soon she stood life size and a few inches taller than Vegeta. She smiled once and fluttered her wings, letting a soft breeze flow through the air. The sudden updraft seemed to have a paralysing effect on the other two occupants in the room. She slowly put a hand forward and pulled the scouter off of Vegeta's face and attached it on to her own ear. Her long bony fingers began to manipulate the single button on the ear-piece until she found what she wanted. "Nappa, I'm ordering a mating battle." the fairy woman imitated the Prince's voice perfectly before pulling the scouter off her own ear with a giggle. With a twitch of one wing, the breeze flew over Bulma and she was able to move once more, but chose not to. "Who are you?" Bulma stuttered out. "My name is Stataris. I'm sorta your impromptu guardian angel for the moment." She grinned and stepped up closer to Vegeta while reattaching the scouter to his ear. "Something you might want to remember for the future is that he has sensitive ears." Stataris patted the side of the Prince's face and her grin spread a little wider. "I'll collect my share of the bargain from you later, Bulma-san." And with that the quirky angel left, leaving a sole white feather on the ground.

Vegeta roared as he regained possession of his body; that bitch had made a fool of him, touching him no less. He took one look at the Chikyuu woman and turned stomping out of the medical room having no recollection of coming down there in the first place.

* * * * *

1* refers to the many names Vegeta uses. Saiya-jin no Ouji (Prince of the Saiya-jins) Vegeta no Oiji (Prince Vegeta) and Vegeta-ouji (Prince Vegeta) are just some.