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Fan Fiction
Dragon Ball: PROLOGUE
THE ANDROIDS ARE NO MORE; CELL HAS BEEN DESTROYED; AND
UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYE OF TRUNKS, SURVIVOR OF THE ONCE
PROUD SAIYAN RACE, THE BATTLE-WEARY PEOPLE OF EARTH HAVE
FINALLY TAKEN THEIR FIRST CRUCIAL STEPS TOWARD A
HARD-WON PEACE. “Forbidden Union.” The emperor looked down on the woman in disgust. Silence dominated the Great Hall of the palace, punctuated only by the quiet weeping of the woman before the throne. She lay prostrate upon the cold stone floor, face pressed down, begging her lord for forgiveness and mercy. The emperor’s face was a mask of calmness, but the trembling of his clenched fists showed his true feelings: rage barely kept in check. Emperor Gilliam had an air about him that could only be called powerful, and his subjects both feared and respected him. His dark green hair showed little gray despite having ruled for nearly a century, for his people were long-lived and he would not show the ravages of time for many years. After what seemed like hours, the emperor of Galdria, the oldest and most respected planet in its solar system, spoke. “Arise, Lady Ellia, and prepare to hear your sentence.” He spoke through clenched teeth, biting off every world clearly. Slowly the woman rose, her face pale but her expression firm in spite of the fact that death was almost certainly just days, maybe even hours, away. Her eyes, which were usually a brilliant shade of purple, were now red and bloodshot, lacking the clarity that was usually there. Her light blue hair was a mess after having spent the night in the palace dungeon. She stood proudly before the emperor, unashamed of the tears that continued to stream down her white cheeks. Again there was a long silence, for all assembled in the hall were listening intently to what their ruler would judge. “Lady Ellia, you have broken our greatest law by entering willingly into a relationship with our most hated enemy, a Saiyan. He has already paid the price for his part in this, and you will do the same. It will be death.” He slowly stood from his throne, ignoring the restraining hand of his wife. He walked down the eight steps that separated the Royal Dais from the rest of the hall and stood before the silent, trembling woman. “If you were a commoner then maybe your punishment would not be so fierce, but you are no commoner. You are of the Blood Royal! You are my cousin, and you have been raised to know better!” Gilliam stopped again, and it looked as if he might strike Ellia. He turned and made his way back up the dais. Quietly, almost too soft to be heard, Ellia spoke. “My lord Gilliam, I… I loved him. I will make no excuses for my actions, but I ask you one question: why enforce a law that is now completely pointless? Planet Vegeta was destroyed years ago, and Pare may have been the last of his kind.” She stopped, overcome with emotion, but after a moment she continued. “He posed no threat to you! It’s been hundreds of years since the war between our people, yet you refuse to forget it!” Her words echoed through the hall as she fell to her knees again, lost in her own misery. Gilliam turned and stared coldly at his cousin. “Love? Feeling love for an animal like that is not possible.” His body was trembling as he tried to contain his anger. “How could you forget what his kind did, the damage they caused here?!” The emperor once again turned his back on Lady Ellia, closing his eyes as he tried in vain to hide his wrath. “They killed thousands of our people…” “And we killed thousands of them!” Ellia shouted as more tears began to stream down her pale face. “Both of our people were at fault! Not just his, and not just ours!” Ellia’s voice broke as she was once again overwhelmed by sadness and desperation. “Why can’t you see that? How can you still be jaded by something that happened so long ago?!” Again it was silent, except for several gasps of disbelief that this criminal, royalty or not, would raise her voice to Emperor Gilliam. Pheris, the wife of Galdria’s emperor, sat quietly observing, concern etched upon her beautiful features. More than any of the other nobles assembled in the Great Hall, Pheris understood the hopelessness that Ellia now felt. The condemned woman was now severed from the one thing that she had thought would protect her: her royal status. But Pheris came from a poor family, a family that had never before known the protection granted by royal blood, and it was only by Gilliam’s grace that she had ascended to such a high position, although none would argue that her exquisite beauty also had much to do with it. Like all Galdrians, Pheris was fair of skin, with bright pink eyes that seemed to peer into the soul of those she watched. Her dark hair, blue but appearing black unless hit by direct light, was lightly streaked with gray, like her husband’s. Beyond the grief of her condemnation, Pheris felt that something else was also troubling the young noblewoman. Rising from her throne, the empress descended the Royal Dais and faced Lady Ellia. Pheris spoke without hesitation, her voice quiet so that only the woman before her could hear. “What is it that you’re hiding, lady?” Pheris asked. “There’s something about you… Some weight on your shoulders,” she paused as Ellia’s eyes once again filled with tears. “I understand,” the empress said as she placed a comforting hand on Lady Ellia’s trembling shoulder. Turning to face her husband, Pheris again spoke, allowing all within the Great Hall to hear. “This woman cannot be put to death, for by killing her you would be breaking another of our most ancient laws: the murder of an innocent life form.” The assembled nobles of Galdria began muttering amongst themselves as Gilliam stood from his throne, all effort to hide his rage now gone. “Liar!” he growled at his wife. Those nobles gathered in the hall fell silent as the echoes reverberated through the spacious throne room, for never in the long history of their planet had an emperor dared to insult his wife in public. The emperor strode down the dais and stood before his wife and cousin, his body shuddering with anger. “What nonsense is this?!” he screamed. “She has admitted to breaking our law! We have witnesses who saw the two of them together! She is far from innocent, my wife, and she will be executed!” Gilliam turned and walked toward the entrance of the Great Hall, the echo of his footsteps breaking the tense silence. “She will not be executed,” Pheris said calmly. “She is with child, carrying inside of her an innocent being. By killing her you would also be killing the child, and not even you can break that law.” The emperor stopped, saying nothing for several moments. When at last he turned to his wife, his face was contorted with rage and hatred. “We will discuss this in private, Pheris, but I assure you that Ellia and the abomination growing within her will both be dead by sundown tomorrow. This court is adjourned. Guards, return the criminal to her cell.” With that Emperor Gilliam left the hall, followed closely by his wife, who was lost in thoughts of her own: how was she going to save this unborn child, condemned to death by the crimes of its parents? ________________________________________________________________________
Ellia awoke to the sound of her door being unlocked.
She sat up, trying to get her bearings in the darkened cell. It was impossible to tell what time of day it was, for there were no windows this low in the palace, but she felt as if she’d only been asleep for a few hours. She was exhausted, both physically and emotionally, but her sleep had been restless and she felt no better than she had before. As she let her eyes adjust to the darkness of her cell, Ellia saw a woman come in through the open door. The young noblewoman was shocked to discover who her visitor was. “E… Empress?” she asked, afraid to believe what her eyes showed her. She bowed low, showing the deference of a commoner to her cousin’s wife. “What are you doing here? Surely it can’t be morning already.” Pheris stood quietly, looking down on Ellia. After several moments tears began running down her cheeks, and Ellia was surprised to see such a show of emotion from her empress. Realizing what was occurring, Ellia’s own tears began to flow. “I’m still to be put to death… My child and I will soon be with its father,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. Pheris knelt down next to the sobbing noblewoman, putting her arm around her trembling shoulders, trying vainly to give as much comfort as she could. Eventually Ellia stopped crying long enough for the empress to speak. “All is not lost, Ellia,” Pheris said softly, patting the young woman’s arm reassuringly. “You will be put to death, I could not save you from that fate. You knew the consequences of your actions. I’ll not say that what you did was wrong, for love is a strange force, often binding together those who seem to be the most unlikely. But what you did was foolish, and you broke the law.” Pheris was silent for a moment, letting her words sink in before she spoke again. “Your child, however, will live.” Ellia looked up, the misery in her eyes replaced by hope as the empress continued. “Your execution will be put off until the baby is born, but you will remain here in this cell. Once a day you will be allowed out, to walk and get fresh air. You will be fed well, and you will receive the proper medical attention when the time comes.” Ellia wiped away her tears and took a deep breath to calm herself. When she spoke, her voice sounded weak and afraid to her own ears. “What of my child?” She stood up, helped by Pheris, and looked her empress in the eyes. “What will happen to my child?” she asked again. Pheris said nothing for a moment, as if unsure of herself for the first time in her life. Finally she spoke, “Your child will be taken from you before your execution and given over to one of our noble families. It will be raised as a Galdrian lord or lady, and it will be educated and given rank in our court. There… There is even a chance that, if your child is a male, he may actually become our next emperor.” At this Ellia gasped, for of all the possibilities she had thought about, her child rising to a position of power seemed impossible to her. “What did you say?” she asked. “Emperor… you must be joking.” Pheris lowered her eyes. “I wish I was… My son, Dorian, left us several years ago on a journey of enlightenment in preparation for his future role as emperor, as I’m sure you know. Several weeks ago we lost all contact with him. We… We fear that something may have happened to him; that is why Gilliam was so on edge. But Ellia, please don’t think badly of your cousin. This has been harder on him than you think, you know. If contact is not regained with Dorian… If my son is dead… Then your child, if male, will be the closest male kin of Gilliam.” Pheris looked at Ellia with a sad smile. “You see, Gilliam would have no say in the matter. It is the law.” Ellia nodded, relief obviously etched into her features. If she was to die, at least her child would live on. “Thank you, Pheris. You’ve taken a great load off of my shoulders.” Ellia sat upon the hard wooden bench that doubled as her bed as the empress turned to leave. Before the door was closed, Pheris faced the condemned woman. “Ellia, you have my word that I will do everything in my power to make sure your child grows up safely. As long as I live, I swear to you that no harm will come to him or her.” With that Galdria’s empress exited the dark cell, leaving Ellia alone with her thoughts. My child will live on, she thought as she drifted into an uncomfortable sleep, plagued by dreams of her child’s uncertain future.
To be continued...
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