Chapter 9

"Angel… wake up…" Wherever I was, I was comfortable. I hadn't had a good sleep since I'd gotten stuck in this world either, so needless to say, whoever was trying to get me up was just gonna have to wait. "Angel, come on, wake up." No. Sleeeeeppppyyyyyy… I heard a heavy sigh… "THE SAND MONSTERS ARE ATTACKING!"

"GAH! WHERE!" I leapt to me feet, my body ready to turn and run at any given moment.

"Finally. Lazy girl." I sprung around again, ready for a fight, but luckily, there was nothing there to immediately consider an enemy. There was a woman sitting on the ground there, her long, smooth legs tucked underneath her. I'm glad to say that she looked much friendlier than Mike. She had short, light blonde hair, light skin and light blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of a white blousy V-neck, skintight denim shorts and light brown suede boots that reached her knees. "I can understand being unconscious for a long while after almost being turned renegade, but goodness, for a moment, I thought you were dead!" She got up and brushed herself off.

"Uh… sorry?" I apologized, unsure if I should act friendly or not.

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, are you alright?"

"…I think so."

"Are you sure?"

"…No…" Sighing and smiling at the same time, she reached in her pocket and retrieved a small glass bottle filled with a clear blue liquid. She came closer, uncapped it and put it in my hand.

"Here. Drink." I eyed the liquid suspiciously.

"What is it?"

"Water from the Fountain of Life."

"The what?"

"Water from those underground fountains you and the Prince have been stumbling across."

"Oh… ok…" I gulped down about half of the contents before giving it back to her. A moment later, just like if I were drinking right out of the fountain, I felt that familiar tingling, followed by some slight light-headedness, then I felt great! "So… who exactly was that guy?" I asked, handing the bottle back to her.

"Mike? Oh, he's just another annoying renegade, trying to bully you into becoming another of his kind."

"His 'kind'?" she looked at me a moment, then shook her head.

"Sorry, I forget that you're new to this whole thing. Let's start over," she extended her hand. "Hi there, I'm Gabriella, a fellow Angel, but please call me Gabby." I shook her hand.

"Naomi Fox." Again, she looked at me oddly.

"Is that your human name or your Angelic name?"

"Uh…"

"It's your human name. Well, rule of thumb is that angels call each other by their angel names. But since you're new, and you're used to your human name, I think we'll make an exception."

"What's the deal with all these names? Mike made a big deal out of knowing my other name… I didn't even know I had any other name!" She laughed.

"I figured you wouldn't. Most new angels don't even know they have another name until they get to the Academy. It's written on the backs of our necks in angelic calligraphy. Here, I'll read you yours." She stepped around behind me and started pulling my hair out of the way. To make it easier, I just grabbed it all and pulled it over my shoulder. I felt the tip of her finger lightly brush against my neck. "You're name is… Angelina Samira."

"Angelina…Samira…" I echoed. I don't know why, but I automatically liked the sound of it.

"Unless I miss my guess, I think it means 'angelic guardian.' Well, I bet I know where you're going."

"Where?"

"Guardian Angel ranking, of course!" I turned and gave a look of pure confusion. This whole thing was really starting to run so far ahead that it was losing me real fast. Actually, I take that back. It already lost me. It lost me when Mike showed up. Gabby just sighed.

"You'll understand it all when you get to the Academy. They'll teach you all there is to know."

"What's the Academy?" I inquired again.

"It's a school. It's where most of the new angels go to learn our ways," she explained, "They teach your all you need to know, from how to fly to how to tell what rank someone is."

"Okay… that makes sense… I think." Yeah, my poor brain was still trying real hard to catch up. At the rate it was going, though…

"Well, back to business, my job was to find you and bring you back up. I've found you, so all that's left is to—" I cut her off.

"Hold on, go back up where?"

"To the heavens, of course! Where do you think?" At that point, I would've loved to say "Great! Let's go then!" or "Well, what are we waiting for?" but unfortunately, I couldn't just leave. I still had the Prince and Farah to think about. I'd said I was going to stick around and help put things back in order, so just taking off and leaving them dangling with no idea as to where I'd run off to would almost be cruel. Gabby folded her arms. "Why? Don't you want to go?"

"I…" I had to stay… at least long enough to help those two fix this mess. "Sorry, I'd really like to… but…" She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Let me guess, you have some kind of obligation with those mortals?" she asked, exasperated. I bit my bottom lip and nodded. She sighed again. "Alright, I see. If you must, then I'll hang around the skies and wait for you to finish whatever business you have with them. But be quick about it, I don't have all the time in the world." I couldn't keep the big, goofy grin off my face as she said this.

"I understand," I said simply, wondering what going through the rest of the game with Princy and Farah would be like.

"From what I gather, the Prince should be near the waterfalls by now. If we hurry, we can catch him. You can fly, can't you?" I glanced quickly at my wings.

"Yeah… just not real well."

"Well, it'll have to do." I watched as she fished a necklace out of her shirt. It was a tiny silver figurine of an angel in a long, flowing gown, her hands clasped together in prayer, and her wings extended out. Gabby held in tightly in her hand and struck the same pose as the figure. A small white aura surrounded her, and a moment later, her wings sprouted from her back and spread out. I was almost jealous. Why? Because they were beautiful. They were bigger than mine, and a gorgeous silvery color that shined brilliantly and radiantly in the sun.

Gabby stuffed the necklace back in her shirt and nodded at me, "Let's get going." She gave them a big flap and hauled herself into the air. I did the same, and in a moment, the two of us were soaring through the sky, over the palace and the city, towards the waterfalls.

For whatever reason, I felt that I could trust Gabby. She seemed nice and friendly enough, and she did save me from whatever the hell Mike was trying to do to me. Probably trying to molest me… But she befriended me real quick. Whenever I decided to go with her to this Academy, I think she would most like end up being my only friend. If there were other angels there like me, then it was probably right to expect it to be like a high school, or a college.

About half way there, my wings got tired. Funny thing, too, I didn't even notice until Gabby asked if I needed a rest since I was lagging behind. I guess I was too preoccupied with the sight seeing. Seriously, the place was gorgeous. Everywhere I looked, there was green vegetation, vividly colored flowers, or crystal blue water. Maybe there would've been animals, but they were all infected by the Sands, and likely hiding out, waiting for some innocent yayhoo to come skipping by. All that, and the wind in my hair and the sun at my back was enough to keep me going strong.

Within minutes, we came across a large hole in the ground. Upon closer inspection of it, it was the area after the underground falls with all the ladders and wood platforms.

"The Prince should be in this area, or getting close to it. Good luck to you, Naomi." Before I could respond, she flapped away.

With nowhere else to go, I glided down into the cavern and looked around. I could feel the heavy moister in the air from the falls and I could feel it start to weigh me down. Decided it would be best to land, I looked around, suddenly hearing some commotion below. I couldn't help but grin when I spotted the Prince of the Red Lions swatting mercilessly at a flock of bats down near the bottom.

By the time he'd dispatched them I'd reached him. He didn't notice me at first, until I landed rather loudly behind him. Probably expecting me to be a monster, he drew his sword and rounded on me, ready for battle… then his mouth fell open at the sight of me.

"Naomi!" he exclaimed. I grinned.

"Hey, stud. What's shakin'?" I knew he had no idea what I meant, but smiled anyway and sheathed his sword.

"Where did you go all that time?" he asked, folding his arms. I shrugged.

"Long story." I wondered if I should tell him. I wondered if it would be all right if I told him. What if there was some law against interacting with humans or something? Well, I was already with him… might as well spill it. "Let's get moving and I'll tell you."

When we reached the bottom of the area, I started at the beginning and told him everything there was to tell, since when I ditched him to go investigate to the moment I saw him swatting bats. I told him about Mike, and how he'd chased me down and almost 'converted' me. I told him about gabby and how she'd come to the rescue and I told him everything she told me.

"And that's about this jest of it," I finished as we walked into the well area.

"So that's what all that yelling was," he commented, "I climbed up to see if you were there, but by the time I reached the hole, there was no one to be seen."

"Because Mike took it upon himself to drag me far enough away that I couldn't yell at you for help. Real piece of work, that guy." I shook my head, "But it's over now. Let's just get out of here. All this moister isn't doing my wings much good."

"Right." He looked around. "Those ropes are suspended from metal grates blocking the wells… I'll bet one of them it open. If we can find it and get to it…" He left it at that.

"Looks like that will require some climbing on your part, princy. You up to it?"

"Have I much choice?" With that, I spread my wings and flew up to find a well with a missing grate. That wasn't hard, but it was hard to stay in the air, since all that extra weight from the moister in the air was weighing me down.

"Here it is, over here!" I shouted at the Prince, whom was well on his way over. He had a pretty roundabout way to go, but he found his way over. We even discovered another hidden fountain in the process.

"…You know something, Prince?" I asked as he jumped back over to the rope leading out. While heading to the fountain, something had suddenly stuck in my mind and I almost slapped myself for not thinking of it in the first place.

"What, Naomi?" he responded, getting a good grip on the rope.

"We've been together all this time, and not once, to me or Farah, have you mentioned your name." HA! Now I get to know his name! After three games of anonymous, I get to know his name! I almost feel giddy!

He looked at me for a moment, with a look that almost looked to be panic. …Maybe that wasn't a good idea, after all.

"I... uh…" he stuttered, but then quickly, "My name is Prince!" I raised an eyebrow to let him know I wasn't about to buy that. There was no way his name was Prince. Even if it was, I'd be teasing him about having the same name as the singer.

"You know I'm not about to believe that, Princy." He got that nervous look back.

"Uh… well, it… it's true. My name is Prince." He gave a nervous smile.

"Uh, no, it isn't. I'm pretty certain of that by now, because you're giving me that nervous smile, you're sweating, you didn't look me in the eye when I asked you, and you stuttered. So out with it. What is it really?"

"Fine, fine, prince isn't my name… but I would really rather you didn't know it." He started climbing.

"Why not? What's wrong with it?"

"I just don't like it, alright? Will you please just drop it?" He sounded on the verge of whining.

"Just tell me and I won't have to bug you about it."

"Really, Naomi, I'd rather you call me 'Prince.'"

"Ah, come on! Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No!"

"PLEASE?"

"No!"

"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE?!"

"NO!"

"PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR LUMPS ON TOP AND LOTS AND LOTS OF MARSHMELLOWS AND CHOCHOLATE SYRUP EXTRA SPRINKLES AND TWO CHERRIES?!"

"…no." He pulled himself out of the well and leapt onto solid ground just before the thingies holding the rope broke to pieces and fell into the well. I followed.

"Please?" He growled.

"NO!" Just as he finished yelling that, Sand Creatures appeared. Both of us readied our swords.

"Come on, I'll be good! I promise!" I shouted as I jabbed at a fat clubber.

"Just drop it!" he yelled back aggregately, leaping over a solder.

"PLLLLEEEEEEAAASSSSEEEEEE?!?!?!"

"CAN WE PLEASE DO THIS AFTER THE SAND CREATURES ARE DEAD!!!" This whole thing was reminding me of an online fan fic I'd read before I came here. I think it was called 'Dark Dreams.' The point is, in that story, the prince didn't like his name either. But maybe if I pestered him enough, he'd give up the gun and tell me.

"Oh, fine! Have it your way!" …For now. Tee hee.

Kiri: Another chapter!

Naomi: Now you've got me curious...

Prince: ...Don't even think about it.

Naomi: Come OOOONNNN!!!

Prince: No.

Farah: As amusing as it is when you to quarrel, I think we should get to the FAQ. Kiri?

Kiri: Righto. FAQ... who want's to do it today?

Prince: I did it last time.

Naomi: I'll do it!

Kiri: Actually, I was thinking of letting Mike do it...

Naomi: HELL NO!

Mike: (snickering)

Q: Who's Gabby, exactly?

A: Gabriella? No one... just an annoying goodie-two-shoes angel who rudly interupted Naomi's initiation.

Naomi: YOU FORCED ME, YOU JERK!

Gabby: She's right! I caught you in the act of turning her against her will! I had to do something!

A: Anyway, she'll be back later. But until then...

Naomi: Don't even think it.

A: (scoffs)

Q: so, eh... what all this stuff about an Academy and heavens and whatnot?

A: Well, it's really quite simple. All those goodie-goodie Angels up in the Heavens have what they call the Academy for all the newbies to go to and learn how to be a good little angesl and that if they aren't careful, those big bad meanie renegades will get them! Pah.

Q: What are the renegades, anyway?

A: I would answer that, but the authoress wishes me to keep it a secret for now.

Q: Aw, come on, please?

A: Nope, sorry.

Q: Fine. So... what's the prince's name?

A: Wouldn't you like to know.

Naomi: He's too busy being a mystery man...

Prince: That's right! I'm the mystery man! No one knows my name but me!

Kiri: And me.

Prince: ...and you... (grumble, grumble)

Farah: What's so horrible about it, anyway?"

Prince: You have no idea...

Kiri: Oh, he's just being a baby. I happen to like it.

Naomi: Great! So you'll tell us what it is?

Prince: NO!

Kiri: Nope, sorry. that's for me to know and you to find out. and Prince, at least be thankful that I even gave you a name in the first place!

(Flashback)

Kiri: Hey, prince! Guess what? You get a name in this fic!

Prince: A name?! A NAME! I get a name! (tears of joy)

(End Flashback)

Prince: ...I had no idea what name you were gonna give me then!

Kiri: Deal with it. Anyways, one final note. Yes, I made a reference to Rhea's Dark Dreams story. Those who haven't read it really need to. It's awsome! I'm using her reason why the prince keeps his name all secret. I couldn't help it, I HAD to use it. It was just too funny. But anyways, so ends another chappy. Read and Reveiw and all that stuff and I'll see y'all next chapter!