Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Slave ❯ Another Layer ( Chapter 35 )

DISCLAIMER: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters from it.

A/N - I'm neglecting important uni work to write this for you all! Please review and let me know what you think.

~*~

Vegeta shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, eager for the proceedings to begin. His coronation ceremony had gone ahead two days ago as planned, despite his determination to stop it. If anything, the ceremony had taught Vegeta one thing - he couldn't afford to take his royal advisors or his council for granted. The mere fact that the ceremony had continued despite his wishes had shown him that the council wielded considerable power and that they were indeed a force to be reckoned with.

Of course, the coronation ceremony had been far less decadent then his council members had wanted. Once they'd caught wind of Vegeta's negative attitude they had moved quickly in order to make sure things went ahead as planned. The ceremony itself had been a rather hushed affair, conducted by a High Priest of the Saiyan Army and attended by only the highest ranking council members and those who could claim a direct blood relationship with Vegeta.

It had taken less then an hour for the rites to be performed and afterwards Vegeta had felt no sense of achievement nor had he felt any new power awakening. The whole affair had proven to him that the only ceremony that was needed in order for the next in line to claim his power was the 'Eating of the Heart' ritual. Certainly the coronation ceremony had been nothing more then a political show.

Although Vegeta had been unable to prevent the ceremony he was able to draw up a draft for a new decree that would make the ceremony no longer a necessity in the saiyan culture. He had allowed only Nappa and Cora, two of the oldest and more trust-worthy council members, to view the draft and they had both given it their approval. Vegeta planned to announce his first decree tomorrow.

He would have done it sooner but his wedding had been moved forward at the councils urging. He was getting married now. Their wedding was being publicly broadcast to the entire saiyan community (despite the short notice).

Vegeta was certain that the cameras were picking up on his most unfriendly demeanor.

He wanted the wedding to be over. He didn't want to be marrying Zucchini - he didn't want to marry anyone! The war with the Ice-jin Empire was looming ever closer and every day Vegeta felt the pressure to turn the battle in their favor squeezing his heart. He couldn't believe that the mighty Saiyan-jin Empire was threatening to fall despite all the efforts of the armies.

Frieza's forces grew each day, and with each day more and more of Vegeta's troops fell in battle. The public was aware that they were at war - there had never been a time when the saiyan people were not at war - but they had no real idea of how badly the Saiyan armies were losing. Vegeta himself had never truly known how dire the threat was until his father had died. Vexing as it was, he had to concede that even with the added technology that capturing the planet Earth had provided they would be unable to beat the weaponry that Frieza was mass-producing.

The Saiyans had relied upon battle strength for so long that they had neglected the field of science and mathematics. Only in the past one hundred years had the saiyan economy begun to bloom in the scientific field - and only then because of the planets they had absorbed into the Empire. Much as Vegeta hated to admit it, the Saiyan Empire looked primitive when stacked up against the might of the Cold Empire. They were outdated, outnumbered and outclassed in every respect.

It was only a matter of time before they fell.

~*~

Bulma Briefs wringed her hands together, her stressed and unhappy expression deepening as the doctor returned to her side, a clipboard held in one of her talon-like hands. The eerie red eyes that Bulma was learning were typical of ice-jins gleamed coolly at her as the doctor glanced down at the clipboard and then looked back up again.

"Asides from being pregnant you're physically fine." The doctor murmured, glancing at Ilandra and then looking back to the human once more. "Although, I'm recommending you be taken for psychoanalysis as soon as possible." She paused again and smirked. "I know an excellent doctor in that area if you'd like a recommendation." She licked her purple lips and a heavily scarred tail twitched behind her, drawing Bulma's attention to it like magnet.

No matter how many ice-jins she saw she was never able to get over their gruesome appearance. They looked like snakes. Nasty vicious snakes. The voice in Bulma's head agreed. The voice was…odd. Every now and again Bulma's would see someone in the corner of her eyes when she heard the voice speak, but she never caught sight of whom it was who was speaking to her, and no matter how many people told Bulma that the voice was all in her head she refused to believe it. She could hear the voice with her ears…she was sure of it.

"Pregnant?" Bulma repeated weakly, she raised a hand to her head and swayed dizzily. "But…to who? What if I'm pregnant to one of the slave traders?" The dismay in Bulma's voice made both the doctor and Ilandra cringe - although half of Ilandra's cringing was due to her having over-looked the possibility that Bulma was pregnant to one of the slave traders.

"Oh…you were raped on Earth." Ilandra whispered dumbly, terrified of what her father would do if he found out that there was a chance that Bulma was not pregnant to Vegeta as she had told him. No. No! Bulma's had to be pregnant to Vegeta! Even if Bulma had somehow been impregnated by the traders Vegeta would surely have killed any embryo in her with his rough sex. Yes. It had to be a saiyan child!

"If there is doubt as to who the father is, then it is possible to do a paternity test to determine the race of the father." The doctor swished her tail and her mouth twisted in what Bulma guessed was a smile. "Saiyan DNA is remarkably distinctive." She added slyly, her red eyes locking onto Bulma's face.

"I don't know if I want to find out." Bulma swallowed convulsively and began to bite one of her nails. She laughed suddenly, a desperate barking laugh. "It doesn't matter who the father is. All the men who used my body were little better then animals. All of them were monsters."

A hollow, empty look washed over Bulma's face and for the briefest of moments Ilandra felt a chill trail down her spine. Then the look was gone and Bulma seemed to return to herself, life poured back into her life and she sat up straighter in her chair.

"I think I'd like to be alone. If you'll excuse me I think I'll return to my room." Bulma stood slowly and without waiting for either Ilandra or the doctor to acknowledge her statement she left the room, scurrying away as though the devil himself was on her tail.

"Can you do the paternity test?" Ilandra faced Skice, a woman who had treated her family for years.

"We have Bulma's blood sample, a simple paternity test wouldn't take more then twenty four hours." The doctor paused, her tail swinging gently behind her in a soothing manner. "What will you do if the child turns out to be human? Would you like it…destroyed?"

Ilandra studied her nails and avoided the doctor's eyes. "That's for Bulma to decide. She's been controlled by enough people, it's only fair that I give her a chance to take control of her own life. You know how primitive saiyan beliefs are - women who aren't warriors are treated little better then animals!" She tossed her hair over one shoulder. "Now, what's the name of the doctor you recommend I take Bulma to see?"

~*~

"I'm going to me a mum." Bulma traced her reflection in the full-length mirror, trying to imagine what kind of person her child might be. Would it be a boy or a girl? Saiyan or human? A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of being pregnant to one of the slave traders. Sure, Vegeta wasn't a better candidate for fatherhood either but at least he had occasionally shown her something resembling affection…well…kind of.

Was it safe for a human to carry a saiyan child? As far as she knew no halfling had ever survived. The saiyan law enforcers saw to that! Not only was the halfling child destroyed but also the mother and the father. The saiyans were unscrupulous in making sure that this law was enforced and obeyed - they didn't hesitate to kill their own race if they disobeyed it.

Would she be killed if she returned to planet Vegeta with a halfling child? Surely if the baby was a half-son of Vegeta's they wouldn't kill it…but what if they did?

Why are you even thinking about it? You're not thinking of returning to Vegeta are you? Ha! I knew it! You're nothing but a desperate little whore!

Bulma gritted her teeth as the voice floated through the room, laughing mockingly when she whirled around to try to find the source. She didn't want to listen to the horribly smug voice anymore!

"Go away!" Bulma spat out viciously, her pregnancy momentarily forgotten as she searched for the voice. "Of course I'm not going to go back to Vegeta! I was just wondering what would happen, so shut up!" Her blue eyes flashed icily and she turned back to the mirror, determined to ignore the voice.

I'll never go away. You tell yourself what ever you want to about Vegeta, but no matter what happens I won't go away. You never know. Maybe one of these days you'll wake up and realize what you are!

"What does that mean?" Bulma whirled around again; only just unable to make out the flash out blue that disappeared beyond the edge of her vision. "What does that mean?" She yelled harder, her face becoming flushed when the voice remained silent. Bulma threw back her head and screamed in frustration, gnashing her teeth and clenching her fists.

"Fine! Be that way!" She closed her mouth with a snap and threw herself onto her bed, burying her head under a pillow. "Why me? I don't want to be pregnant!" She pulled the pillow off her face and stared at the ceiling, blowing a few strands of hair off her face with a puff of breath.

What should she do? What could she do? She was alone on an alien battle cruiser, heading towards an alien planet when all she really wanted was to be home again. She wanted to sit in a park and bathe in the sunlight again. She wanted to eat cookies and chocolate and…and…

It was useless even imagining it - she was never going to see the Earth again!

~*~

A/N - Let me know what you think about it! I'm too tired to write any more tonight!