Chapter Text
"It's just a little further, just over that crest," she wheezed to herself for morale. Nightfall was less than an hour away, but she was just too close to stop and make camp for the night. Progress aside, she had spent too many nights alone since she started on her trek, and if she had anything to say about it, tonight would be her last. A small smile graced her lips when she remembered what she was doing this for.
Bulma squeezed the straps of her backpack and shook them a few times, ensuring they were ready for what she hoped was the final ascent. Her breath was ragged and her gauze was in desperate need of changing, but if what she was told was right, hope was waiting on the other side of the summit.
Tiny pieces of wayward gravel forced her down onto her hands, but she continued on, gripping at rock and obsidian with determined fingers. The smell of precipitation sat heavy on the horizon, teasing what was left of her fragile patience. Geological engineering wasn't her M.O., but she knew inclement weather and loose ground was a dangerous enough cocktail to set her back more than she could afford.
She shook all the negative thoughts from her head and forced herself to keep moving.
Jagged shards gnawed at her swollen ankles and whistling insects buzzed in her ears. It was surprising how many bugs could survive at such high altitudes, but she reasoned the air really only felt thinner to her human body. She forgot that the rest of the animal kingdom adapted to their environment while humans expected their environment to cater to them. Her mind started wandering to differences between species in the animal kingdom, wondering how all animals were mostly carbon based, yet could exhibit such opposing attributes.
Bulma stopped to shake out the gravel impressed into her hands and spared a glance behind her. During her internal entomology dialogue, she'd covered much more ground than she thought. With perspective being skewed at such heights, she guessed she'd already gone a mile, with possibly one more to go. With renewed vigor she stood as upright as she could and carefully waded through the craggy earth.
When she finally reached the peak, she pulled herself over the sharp ridge and laid flat on her stomach, ignoring the aching in her abdomen. Her hamstrings and quadriceps felt like heated columns of over-fatigued metal. They had been used well past their breaking point, but she couldn't celebrate, not yet. And apparently, no time soon either.
Her eyes followed an intricately wrought column of equally intricate stone at least fifty feet in the air. It was white and cream, alabaster and other pastel hues. She squinted at the top but could only make out what looked like a flattened half sphere. It paled in comparison to the size of the mountain she climbed, but with its slick shaft and no means of upward conveyance, all hope was sucked out of her. She stood up but fell right back to her knees in defeat.
"Just fucking great!" Bulma slammed her hands on the ground and screamed into the dust it created. Her back rounded like the mountain she conquered and for the first time in three nights, Bulma let her frustrations roll down her cheeks, leaving moist circles on the ground.
A sudden flash of light forced her back onto her haunches, sniffling with a mixture of fright and awe at sight in front of her.
An almost cartoon-like creature with full, red lips and odd looking skin, like that of a sea-lion sat on a levitating carpet in front of her.
She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound would come out. A few months earlier, Bulma would surely have peed herself in fright or pinched her arm raw attempting to wake up, but all she could do was try to place all of her questions into a neat, tidy order.
"A..Are you a genie?" She asked slowly with a grimace, not knowing if she was fully prepared to hear the answer. Worried her puffy, red eyes would somehow send a threatening message, she wiped her face and choked back another sob. "I mean, can you grant wishes? You have a turban and a magic carpet, so you must be able to right? I know you don't all look like that but-"
Bulma froze when he stepped off the carpet and slowly walked towards her. She was still on her knees but as he approached, his height remained largely unchanged.
"Please.." she clasped her hands together, religiously, for the first time since she was a child. "I need help."
A rotund hand with a soft, padded palm reached out gently placed one finger on her forehead.
"PoPo"
0-0-0-0-0
Bulma's bleary eyes focused in agonizingly slow on a pair of pointed, cloth like shoes. A blanket had been thrown over her body, but her cheek had red creases where the tiles joined together. She placed her hand on her forehead and moaned weakly, slowly rising up to meet an elderly green humanoid type creature standing over her.
"Hello my child. I trust you were welcomed adequately?"
Bulma's stomach lurched at the site before her and copious amounts of green and yellow bile swirled around in methodical patters on the hard tile. With no resolve left, she let her hand slip in her own mess and accepted a second defeat, face-down in vomit.
Something salty in her mouth mixed with the permeant metallic taste she'd been sucking on the past few days. Her body autonomously swallowed, but what felt like a large pill stuck to the sides of her parched throat. She jolted upright and pounded her fist against her chest until she was sure air could make its way through again.
The animated creature from earlier swiped a heavy, rust-colored curtain aside and granted himself access to the small room she was taking residence in. One hand carried a serving tray with a small cup, the other was tucked neatly behind his back.
"I see you're awake. I hope I did not frighten you earlier. And no, to answer your question. I cannot grant wishes." He bowed in front of her and placed the tray on the table beside the bed.
Without asking, Bulma grabbed the cup off the table and began chugging vehemently, dislodging any remnants of the pill. She drank until the only liquid was from the small ring of condensation it collected on the tray. A strange, tingling sensation washed over her when she was done. Her vision was still weary and her head was heavy, but there was no more pain in her side or ankle.
"How did you...?"
"It's called a Senzu bean. Kami wanted to make sure you were feeling better before you took your leave."
"No, you didn't frighten me." She smiled gingerly and brought her knees up to her chest. "Truthfully I had no idea what to expect. It's just been a long journey. And what's a Kami?"
"This way please." As quickly as he entered the room, he left the same way.
Bulma jumped up and quickly plodded after him. They stopped in a what looked like a lush, indoor garden with blooming newlings and thriving foliage.
The green creature she passed out before earlier was sitting at a dainty, round table alcoved near the garden, sipping out of a tiny cup. He stood when they approached and he gently took her hand in his and guided her to a chair across from him. His flesh was cool and taut, but eerily similar to human skin otherwise. Bulma accepted the beverage he offered and picked it up for a drink when he was done pouring.
"What is it that you seek, my dear?"
The cup in her hand chattered nervously against the saucer when he spoke. She sat it down in frustration and laid her hands into her lap. What was she going to say without sounding crazy. She looked between the two of them and decided looking crazy should be the last thing she was worried about. She was already crazy for being there. "I've come a very long way to help a ...friend."
"It's a noble gesture to help others, yes. Please continue."
Bulma nodded and inhaled a cleansing breath. "His time is coming soon, but you see," Bulma partially laughed and partially cried at her explanation, "he's in a very obscure predicament; not really of this world even, but I would do anything to help him. I haven't even used my last wish because I thought I could use it on him, but apparently the rules are so convoluted, I can't do anything." Bulma knew everything that was coming out of her mouth would be lost on anyone who hadn't lived her life the better part of the last year. "Damn it, I"m sorry," she slowed down. "I know, I sound crazy. I think I need to start from the beginn-"
"Well, Mr. Popo, it seems Vegeta has moved on after all. And he's done much better this time around. Such a lovely woman to risk her life for him."
"Yes, Kami, as expected. It has been almost five hundred years. Almost poignant, wouldn't you say?" He tilted his head up with a smile and placed his fists behind his back. "Would you care for some more tea?"
"Yes, that would be most appreciated. Would you care for some more tea, my dear?"
Bulma's beautiful face gnarled at the words exchanged between the two creatures in front of her. She struggled to reshape her vision from the tunnel it was in, but she was just so utterly lost. Thirty years and she had never been at a loss for words. Never not knew what to say, how to retaliate, but for the second time in less than the full rotation of a clock, she was rendered speechless.
Kami gestured Mr. Popo off with a nod of his head and pushed himself away from the table. "Come with me child." He reached for her hand again, this time taking it without waiting for permission.
Bulma sulked along behind him as they walked back out to the overlook. Kami continued walking until he reached the precipice, his staff tapping at a metal edging that circumvented the base of the tower. "You must be very confused by all of this." He turned his head behind him, waiting to see if she would join him.
"I don't understand." She slowly walked closer to the edge, stopping when she stood perfectly parallel to him.
They both peered down into the emptiness below them. It was well past dusk and not the tiniest speck of light reached the hardened earth below them.
"I can imagine not. Seeking answers only to find more questions can be frustrating."
"Just...Just please tell me everything you know," she begged, "I don't think I have the time to ask you all the questions I have."
"My dear, not a lot happens that I don't know about. You definitely don't have enough time to ask, nor for me to answer everything I know," he chuckled lightly. "It would fall on deaf ears long before-"
"Stop," she admonished. "Please. You know I mean about Vegeta. What do you know about him? And what did you mean by he finally 'moved on'?"
"If time really is of the essence as you say, then I shall not spend it excessively. You came here to see if I could break Vegeta of his obligation and reverse his sentence. But I'm afraid, I am not the one to help you."
"What?" Bulma's face fell and Kami could see a deep pain in her eyes.
"I understand the trouble you've gone through to get here and the time it has taken you, but Yemma is the one you seek." His voice was ripe with empathy, but it did little to comfort her.
"Fine, whatever. Can you call him here, please?" Her voice cracked as the last threads of patience were being plucked to nil.
"Waste not your time, child. Yemma's work cannot be retrofitted if you will. Vegeta's fate was written long ago. He knew the consequences."
"So he knew he was going to die and still went through with it anyway?! That's bull shit if I ever heard it," she yelled, unconcerned with the ramifications of yelling at the deity before her. "He was obviously tricked into it. If he knew then what he does now, he-
"You misunderstand Bulma. Vegeta knew exactly how long his subjugation would be. Whether or not he carefully calculated the finite outcome of his decision, we... well, we can never take that from him. If there was enough time left in his human body, then he would be free to live the remainder of his days. Never have I bear-witnessed to a half-millennium old human though. Alternately, after 500 years, don't you think he might be tired?"
"I'm sure he's exponentially tired!" She roared. "I'm positive he's had his fill of living on borrowed time while being forced to watch everyone around him age and die while he lives another year only to serve someone else lucky enough to stumble upon him." Salty liquid trailed from her nose, stinging her cracked lips.
"I don't care what he did, he doesn't deserve that," she whimpered solemnly.
"Are you unaware of the conditions that met him such fate? Why he was subject to serve for so long?" Kami stepped away from the edge slowly wandered about with no direction. "And I think serve is a bit of a misnomer. I can think of far worse fates than the human condition.
"And what happens when his time is up?" she demanded, ignoring his question. "Where does he go? Heaven, hell? Where?"
"He will be gone from this world. That's all I can answer."
Bulma threw her hands up in defeat and screamed until all the air was expelled out of her lungs, collapsing to her knees. Kami knelt beside her and placed a hand on her back. "Now is not the time to exhaust your self, Bulma, you still have a long road ahead of you."