Betrothed (chapter 1)
The air was heavy and oppressive with the mist that covered the river Styx; the black gondola cutting through the glass-still water like a knife. The ripples bobbed to the shore and disappeared quickly, the water returning to its still state. Not much moved here, even the insects refused to venture this far. That was the way of things here. Quiet, dark, and obedient.
The boatman who carried the souls of those who had died to this dark place had finally delivered his last two, and was ready to report back to his master. Tying off his vessel, the black shrouded man followed the worn path, descending even deeper into the darkness. He was a large and powerful man, but even he knew better than to trifle with his master. The being that ruled the underworld was unpredeictable and volatile; being stoic one moment and explosive the next. The boatman had long since bore the brunt of his masters temper, and knew his triggers well enough. So when he entered the master’s chamber, he was surprised to see him looking with quiet, intense interest into the looking bowl.
The master didn’t even seem to notice him, until his baritone voice called him, “Nappa, come here.”
Nappa swallowed; it made him nervous to hear his birth name used. He ducked his head and came to stand beside the ruler of the underworld, “Master?” He asked.
The smaller man didn’t bother looking at him, black eyes still staring intently into the glowing bowl of water, “What do you see?”
Nappa peered over his masters shoulder armor into the ripples. There was a woman. She was beautiful, almost obscenely so. Even other deities Nappa had come across couldn’t compare. Her long hair was an unusual shade of aqua, and her large eyes matched the blue of her loosely curled locks. The curves on her body would make any woman’s teeth clench with envy; the black off the shoulder blouse and red pencil skirt clinging to her. She was standing before a large crowd of people, pointing at figures on a wall. This woman was holding everyone’s attention; surely she was a ruler in her own right.
“Do you see her?” His master asked.
“Yes, my King.”
“What do you think?”
Nappa swallowed. What did he think? He thought it would be nice to bend the woman over, but knew to say such a thing about a female his ruler was looking at was not the smartest idea. He went with a smarter response, “She is attractive. Why do you ask sir?”
“…I want her.”
Nappa bowed slightly, “Any female would be happy to have you; but, she’s a human. Don’t you think that-”
The ruler, though smaller than the boatman grabbed him by the front of his robes, dragging his face down close to his, “I said, I want her. Send Raditz to retrieve her for me.”
Nappa felt the sweat bead on his forehead, “Y-yes sir.”
“Good.” The boatman was released abruptly, causing him to fall backwards a few steps, “Leave me now. Fetch him. Tell him to bring her to me immediately.”
“Y-yes sir.” Nappa bowed far more times than necessary and walked quickly towards the cave opening, leaving his master to watch his back as he retreaded towards his boat.
Left in silence once again, Vegeta, lord of the Underworld looked back at the woman in the looking bowl. and smirked. She had concluded speaking to riotous applause, and her picture with a name had appeared on the wall behind her.
Bulma Briefs.
-
It had taken Bulma some time to leave the theater, each and every member of the scientific community wanting to shake her hand on the way out; a few even offering her marriage proposals. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy the attention, but it was tiring and irksome. Not to mention she’d already used up an entire bottle of hand sanitizer and smelled like a doctors office.
She walked down the hall towards the parking garage, her black and red Louis Vuitton heels clacking loudly on the tiled floor. Her presentation had gone as well as could be expected; her theory on the mechanics of possible time travel was as of now undisputed and revolutionary. She’d been quick to patent it and was happy she did. No doubt that by tomorrow the three rival companies to Capsule Corp. would be challenging her with authenticity claims. She was ready for them. It was often challenging being the female head of a large science firm, but Bulma was cut throat and not afraid to play dirty.
The electronic doors to the garage slid open, and Bulma reached into her purse to retrieve her keys-
There was a heavily muscled man leaning against her red sports car.
She froze, keys in hand. The feeling of being torn between fear and ogling him openly waging war against one another.
His black hair was long and wild, hanging down his back almost to his knees. Large arms were crossed against his broad expanse of chest dressed in a plain white t shirt and the thighs straining against his jeans looked like they could crush watermelons. The man raised his raybans at her and smiled, “Hey! This is a gorgeous car! I wanted to see who owned it!”
Bulma hesitated, he looked friendly enough, “Oh, thanks. Um, it’s a Porsche.”
“I knew that!” He laughed, “I love sports cars. I figured the person owning it was one of those old farts at the conference today. I didn’t expect it to be a hot babe like you.”
Smiling in spite of herself, Bulma twirled the keys around her fingers, “PFT. Those crinkly old scrotums wouldn’t even know what to do with this baby.”
The man snorted, grinning, “Pretty girl, I like you! What’s your name?”
“Bulma, what’s yours?”
“Raditz,” The large man grinned, flashing his teeth, “I don’t mean to sound forward, but want to give me a ride? This thing looks fast and we can go grab something to eat? Lets leave these old farts in our dust.”
“Sure!” Bulma chirped, rushing forward. It wasn’t often a younger, handsome man like this paid her attention. It was usually someone much older…with a lot less hair. As she came nearer to him though, a sudden feeling of dread washed over her, an indescribable heaviness that caused her to stop a few paces in front of him.
Raditz blinked, pushing his sunglasses on top of his head, “You okay? What’s the matter?”
This man… he was, just off somehow? Bulma couldn’t place her finger on what exactly was bothering her. Raditz spoke like she would expect a man his age to talk, and looked normal; handsome even. Bulma was usually pretty good at picking out dirtbags because she’d dated several. So, what was it?
Raditz’s thick eyebrows knitted together, concerned, “Aw hey, I’m really sorry. I came off too strong didn’t I? Geeze, I must look like such a jerk. I have my own car… if you’d be more comfortable I could drive myself? I meant lunch to be my treat.”
Bulma wanted to feel comfortable, she really did. So she plastered on her best fake smile and said, “Yeah, let’s do that.”
The long-haired man in front of her grinned, “Aw hey that’s great! Thank you for not shooting me down! I’ll just go get my car, I parked one level up-”
The feeling itching at the back of her brain erupted, and Bulma once again felt her heart sink, “How did you get in here?”
Raditz blinked, all innocence and confusion, “What do you mean? I drove in.”
“No,” Bulma said firmly, “You need a special key card to get in here. It was only given to the people attending the conference. I didn’t see you while I was presenting, you’re hard to miss. You aren’t supposed to be here-”
A large hand covered her mouth from behind, and Raditz’s once kind voice now whispered menacingly in her ear, “Listen, you’re coming with me. If you don’t listen, I’m gonna break your pretty, little neck. I’ll get a load of shit for it, but it might just be worth it.”
Heart pounding furiously in her chest Bulma attempted to struggle and break free, but Raditz’s arms were like steel. What had she gotten into? How had he gotten behind her when he was right in front of her face only seconds ago? Why had no one come into the parking garage? The questions whirling in her head were making her feel panicked. She’d taken self defense courses a few years ago, but all of those memories went flying out the window.
In spite of how tightly he was holding onto her, Raditz wasn’t actually hurting her. He chuckled, “Pretty girl, you’re in for a rude awakening.” His large hand moved from her mouth to cover her eyes, and suddenly Bulma slipped into unconsciousness.
~
Hi there my lovelies! I couldn’t hold in my excitement anymore! I adore all of you to bits and pieces, so I’m releasing chapter one here first before it goes on ff.net!!
I’d love to give extreme thanks and gratitude to @dragondancer28 and @itsmandymo for their support on this fic. Guys, you are the best!!
I hope you all like my newest story!
XOXO
