| ~Chapter1: A ghostly mansion~ From the air you could see it: a big old mansion in the midst of the woods. The gardens were neglected and some of the windows were broken. It was obvious that no one had occupied it for a very long time. Life had abandoned it a long time ago. The style of the exterior dated back to the days that even Kami did not watch over the earth yet. And maybe it dated even before that era. Vegeta noticed it from afar, as if the house had his own Ki. When he was nearby he slowed down until he fully stopped. Bulma, whom was lying comfortable on her stomach on Vegeta's back, noticed the sudden change in movement and looked up. 'What's wrong, Vegeta? Why are you stopping?' Vegeta aligned himself vertically so that Bulma now almost was falling. With a quick move he took her in his arms. Again she asked him what was wrong. Vegeta frowned. 'I sense a Ki. It's power is all over the place.' He descended down and finally landed on a path that led to the entrance of the mansion. To the left and right of them there was a garden. The only plants that lived in it were dark red roses that grew on thorny strands. The roses frightened Bulma. In spite of what she felt, she touched one of them. A feeling of sadness and remorse suddenly coursed through her. She let go of the rose and ran towards the door, where Vegeta now was standing. 'This house creeps me out.' She whispered to him. 'It seems to be deserted. I don't think anyone has been here for a very long time. Or else they had done something about the roses.' She pointed her finger in the direction of the garden. Vegeta put his hand on the wooden door. Bulma saw him flinch through which he pulled his hand back. 'This house has a Ki. I felt it in the air.' Bulma also laid her hand on the door and closed her eyes. Again the feeling of the rose coursed through her veins. She took one step back and turned her head to face Vegeta. 'What was that?' Bulma asked him. She knew that Ki's didn't feel like that even though she'd never sensed one. He said nothing. Bulma looked at the door again. She slowly stretched her hand towards the doorknob. Before Bulma had opened the door, Vegeta had already given it a kick. The door now held a big hole in it. 'You could have just opened it with a soft push, you know.' Bulma stepped through the hole and looked around. The light that shone inside from the hole lit up the hallway. The dust that was there for perhaps centuries had settled on the floor. On the place where the door had crashed down, the dust had flown in the air. When Bulma headed to another door, she left footsteps in the thick layer of grime. She opened the door. Vegeta had already flown up the stairs. He flew because he didn't think that the staircase would be intact after so many years. Why he chose to go upstairs he didn't know. When he was in the hall that came out at the end of the stairs, he didn't land on the floor but kept flying in fear of the whole place crashing down. I should be training. Why does this house interest me so much? Something was drawing Vegeta to the door at the end of the hall. He flew towards it and flung it open as if saying, Fine I'll see what is in that room, just know that you do not control me. Inside there was a double bed with curtains around it. Vegeta softly landed on the floor, making sure that it wasn't going to crack. He then walked to the bed and shifted the curtains aside. What he saw even startled the Saiyan prince for a brief moment. In the bed lay a skeleton. It was clear that it had been there for a very long time; the flesh had completely rotten away. The only thing left were bones and the clothes that the sleeping dead person was wearing. Whether it was male or female, Vegeta could not see. However he did see the necklace the skeleton was wearing. It was a big key, larger than normal. Without thinking about what he was doing, Vegeta ripped it from its neck. The head of the carcass rolled from the bed and crashed to the ground. On that moment Bulma walked in. 'Ah, here you are. I have been looking for you. I called you a thousand times why didn't you answer?' 'I did not hear you.' He said vaguely, still holding the key in his hand. He placed himself in front of the bed to hide the dead individual he had just so harshly dishonoured. 'I need you with something. There is a big large blue box downstairs and I really want to know what's inside of it. Maybe you can use your laser beam or laser eyes to open it.' Vegeta gave her an angry look. 'My power is not to be mocked.' Even though he didn't want to take orders from Bulma he decided, no again he was drawn; something was making his decisions for him, and was telling him to go with Bulma. So he and Bulma walked outside of the room. But he stopped her when she came near the staircase. He grabbed her and flew with her down the stairs. 'This house is old and in bad shape, don't climb any shaky stairs. The whole place could come crashing down in a minute.' 'Who's the scientist here? But you're right it is quite old and shaky.' She let go of him as soon as they were down and walked over her own footsteps in the dust to the open door. Vegeta followed her into the ballroom-like chamber. It had nothing in it except one big blue box. In this room there were a lot of windows, many of which were broken. It at least smelled better than the bedroom he had been in. Vegeta headed for the box and wanted to smash the lock that sealed it, but he stopped as soon as he noticed the keyhole. He looked at the key in his hand and then back to the box. Suddenly Bulma grabbed the key from his hand and pushed it in the lock. 'Great, where did you find it?' The lock clicked. The blue box could be opened like two doors so Bulma pushed the two sides from each other. Light shone on the contents, light that hadn't reached inside for a very long time. <<-- -->> |