Chapter 26:

Angel wondered through what had been the capital city of Azmaria, once upon a time. It was a strange feeling to her. Angel had never known the planet, she had been born just after the destruction of the majority of her people. Evidence of the massacre that occurred in this city was all around her. There was a pang in her heart everything she saw the remains of an Amayan scattered in piles around the crumbling buildings. She had to wonder what it had been like before the Plutarkians had attacked.

"You can't help them now." Nosedive guessed what she was thinking. Angel turned to look at him.

"That doesn't make it any less tragic." Angel said, "They can't all have been warriors," she pointed out, "and I've counted at least three sets of bones belonging to children." Nosedive moved closer to Angel and held her upper arms.

"Maybe we should go back to the ship?" He suggested.

"Not yet." Angel replied stubbornly, moving away from him and heading onwards. "There's supposed to be a palace somewhere up ahead. I want to check it out." Nosedive merely nodded and followed her. Nosedive found it strange. He had heard Angel in the midst of one of her regular bad dreams the night before. He had almost decided to knock on her door and see if she was okay when he had heard her leave her room. He had swiftly got dressed and caught up with her as she had been fitting a space shield to her belt. It was a device that would create a field around her to protect her from the toxic air on her home planet, a result of the Plutarkians and what they caused with their strip mining the planet. She had noticed him quickly and had tossed him a space shield without uttering a word. Then she had left the ship without even looking to check that he was following her.

After half an hour of looking, Angel looked up at what she believed to be the palace. There were whole sections that were nothing but rubble. Other parts were still standing but she could see that they would topple at the slightest pressure. She and Nosedive would have to be very careful exploring the building.

"Maybe you should stay here?" She suggested.

"Not a chance." Nosedive glared at her and crossed his arms in a defiant manner.

"Ugh fine." She said with an eye roll, "Just be careful. I'd rather not be digging you out from under any of those dodgy looking walls."

"Yeah, yeah. Be careful. I know." Nosedive gave her an eye roll of his own and confidently strode past her into the building. Angel watched him go before trotting after him. "So, if this is a palace," He asked jumping over some rubble in his way, "Does that mean your planet had kings and queens and stuff?"

"It was an Empire." Angel told him, "At least that's what I heard. I don't really know more than what little information I've come across since I esca… Um," She paused to rethink how she was going to word her response. Nosedive gave her a curious look, but Angel carried on before he could ask about it, "Since I became a pirate. The Plutarkians hit the palace first. From what I understand the Emperor and his family, not to mention his army and the royal mystics were a force to be reckoned with."

"If that's the case, then how'd those lousy Plutarkians take them down?" Nosedive asked.

"There are good and bad in any race." Angel told him, he turned to look at him, "They were betrayed. I don't know who by, but I do know that the Emperor and his family were all slaughtered thanks to someone they trusted."

"That sucks." Nosedive leant against some rubble which suddenly gave way, causing a plume of smoke to engulf the blonde. Nosedive coughed and spluttered then moved out of the dusty area.

"Goof." Angel chuckled with a shake of her head in amusement. "Told you to be careful."

"Hey, what's that?" Nosedive pointed to a large wall with what was left of a painting on it. Dive approached it and lifted up part of the torn and tattered canvas. He looked at the woman staring back at him, then back at Angel. The resemblance was uncanny. Same hair, same eyes. He lifted the torn canvas a little higher, so he could get a better look at the pair in the painting. The woman wore a crown and, where she sat on a throne, a man stood beside her looking lovingly down at the small child in her hands, another crown sat on his head. The woman looked older than Angel and she'd be much older now, if she was still alive. "But there's no way they can be related." Nosedive thought to himself, "I mean she said that they all died in the attack. I know she was born off planet, so it must just be a coincidence." He looked over his shoulder to see that Angel had found something. He took one more curious look at the painting before wondering over to see what his friend had found.

"It looks like an old computer console." Angel explained as he got close.

"Does it still work?" Nosedive asked.

"Even if it did, there's no power." Angel pulled off a panel before rooting inside the old machine. She finally pulled out what looked like a mother board and placed it in a shoulder bag that she had brought with her. "Let's get back to the ship. I wanna see if I can pull anything off this."

"No complaints here." Nosedive shuddered, "this place is beyond creepy!"

"I guess now is probably not the time to tell you about the Amayan philosophies surrounding lingering spirits then?" Angel asked him innocently, a small smirk on her face. Nosedive had been looking around from left to right as she had asked the question. Angel managed to pick up and throw a small piece of rubble so that it landed somewhere to their left without his noticing. Nosedive let out a high pitch yell and looked in the direction of the noise before turning to glare at the now laughing Angel.

"You can be a real brat sometimes, you know that." Nosedive pouted.

"Awe come on," she batted her eyelids at him, "Can't I be a goof sometimes too?" Nosedive looked at her with a shocked expression that turned into laughter.

"Girly girl, I am a bad influence on you!" Nosedive almost doubled over with laughter. Angel laughed with him when something caught her eye. She narrowed her eyes as if trying to get a better look at whatever had caught her attention. "What is it?" Nosedive looked behind him with a worried expression trying to see what had suddenly killed their moment.

"I'm not sure." Angel said before walking in the direction of what had caught her attention. She frowned when she realised it hadn't really been something she had seen but something. That something was still drawing her forward. She stared at a large pile of rubble as if she could see through it.

"Am I missing something?" Nosedive peered over her shoulder. "It looks like a regular pile of rubble to me."

"I think there's something underneath." Angel muttered, she knelt down and began to pull at the smaller pieces of rubble, working around the larger parts she wasn't strong enough to move herself.

"You think?" Nosedive asked. "Wait, does this have something with that weird psychic thing you did when I had that flash back?" Angel gave him an offended look and Nosedive added sheepishly; "I meant cool, I swear!"

"Sure, you did." Angel said sounding a little hurt, "Will you stop pointing out how weird I am and give me a hand. I'm sure there's something under here that I'm meant to find." Nosedive knelt down and began to help her dig.

"I'm sorry Angel." He said quietly keeping his eyes on the rubble he was working on clearing. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't upset me!" Angel said a little tersely, "Who's upset?!" She added pulling a large piece of rubble backwards and falling on her behind. Nosedive was quick to catch it before it could land on her foot. Angel pulled her foot away and Dive let the piece go. It landed with a thud and they sat there in silence for a while.

"So, you're not mad at me, huh?" Nosedive asked in a teasing tone.

"Shut up blondie." Angel got to her feet and began digging again. Nosedive joined her.

"So, what's with that psychic thing of yours anyway?" Dive asked her, "I don't see you use it much."

"I don't like to." Angel shrugged, "I don't really know how it works. I've been trained in martial arts, and I know that my people had mystics. I'm guessing what I can do has something to do with that. But I also know that what I can do, just like my hair colour, is still rare for my people. So, finding someone who can teach me how to use whatever it is I can do, is pretty much impossible."

"Why," Dive stopped to look at her, "I thought you said there were still some Amayans left. Kimaya and her mom being two of em right? Maybe they could…?"

"All the mystics were killed." Angel shrugged, "I looked into it when the power first, um, I guess you could say, developed. Even if there were new Amayans with mystical abilities, they'd be just a clueless as me."

"Man that…" Nosedive stopped as he spotted a flash of gold, "What's that?" He tossed the piece of rubble he had been moving to the side and leaned forward to get a better look. In the hand of a skeleton was, what looked like a sword hilt.

"It looks like a traditional Amayan blade." Angel replied she reached out to pick it up and as she did her eyes went wide. The markings on her face glowed and she let out a gasp. Angel was bombarded with images that suddenly flashed through her minds eye. They were moving too fast to really focus on any one image, but she could feel the fear of the beings within those images and it was overwhelming. She felt the sword being wrenched form her hand and someone's arms wrapping around her. After a few moments she could hear Nosedive trying to bring her back. She wrapped her arms around his sides and buried her face in his neck as she tried to get herself under control.

"You back with me?" Nosedive asked as the teen's breathing seemed to become less panicked. Angel tightened her grip and he could feel his neck become damp, "Is she crying?" Angel never cried, at least not that he had ever seen. He rubbed his friend's back and glanced at the sword. Using his left foot, he kicked the offending object away from them as if it was offensive.

"I'm sorry, I…" Angel looked up at Nosedive who chuckled. Without thinking, Dive wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand before realising what she was doing and quickly moved away from him with a blush.

"We should go back to the ship." Nosedive told her, "I don't wanna see you freak out like that again today." He told her, trying to figure out why he felt so disappointed when she had moved away from him, "And Kim's mom is supposed to be here tomorrow, so we can figure out how we're gonna rescue everyone." Angel just nodded and hurried past him in the direction of her ship. Dive followed closely to make sure his friend was okay.

"I'll make dinner." Angel said quietly, "Just have to wash up and change first." Nosedive watched her go cautiously then made his way to the ship situated next to Angel's, the Orion.

"Hey Nosedive!" Kim greeted as he found her with the rest of her group looking over a map laid out on a table in one of the more spacious rooms.

"What's up kid?" Vinnie asked the young duck.

"Yeah you look like Rimfire when he's about to do something stupid." Kim quipped.

"Hey!" Rimfire whined.

"You know anything about mystics?" Nosedive asked Kim directly.

"As in Amayan mystics?" Kim asked, receiving a nod in the affirmative, "Well yeah. I mean I haven't actually met any. As far as I'm aware, all mystics and their families' remains, are somewhere on this planet. The Plutarkians made sure to round them all up and bump them off as soon as they could. Same with the royal family. Why?"

"We were out exploring earlier, and Angel found this sword." Dive tried to explain, "When she touched it her face markings and eyes glowed and it was like she was in some sort of trance. It took me forever to get her attention and pull her out of it."

"Hmn," Kim turned slightly so she could lean against the table. "You seen anything like that happen before?"

"Well, she pulled me out of a flashback a little while back." Dive shrugged. "She said she doesn't really know how to use whatever ability she has so she doesn't use it much."

"Makes sense." Kim shrugged, "Plutarkians only allowed any captured warriors survive so they could sell them to the entertainment industry in their sectors." Kim growled. "Finding someone to teach her our way of fighting wouldn't be impossible, but finding a mystic to train her? Well that's another story."

"Could it hurt her?" Nosedive asked a little worried what the answer would be. The group looked at each other at the strange question, then turned to him with a smile.

"I guess they could, if she ever lost control while using them." Kim walked over to Nosedive and placed her hand on his shoulder, "I don't think you'll have too much to worry about. It sounds like she's in control most of the time." She paused and looked at him curiously, "You really care about her, don't you?"

"Of course, I do! She's a friend and…"

"Seems more than that to me." Vinnie chuckled.

"Yeah," Maisey chimed in, "I see the way you look at her." The white furred female winked at him, grinning at the blush she caused.

"Come on guys," Rimfire shook his head, "Cut the guy a break!"

"I'd better get back to the ship." Nosedive said awkwardly as he avoided all of their gazes.

"Nosedive," Kim called, "my mom will know more about the mystics than I ever would. She was in the royal guard before the invasion. The mystics formed part of that guard. So, she would have worked alongside them. At the very least she might have some information on how Angel should go about exploring her abilities."

"Thanks." Dive rubbed the back of his neck and left.

"Hey Angel." Mookie greeted as she and Molly found Angel cooking in the kitchen.

"Hey." Angel responded without even looking up.

"You okay?" Mookie frowned. Moogie trotted up to his owner and purred as he weaved to and fro between her legs, rubbing against her. Angel smiled and leant down to scratch her pet behind the ears.

"I'm fine." Angel replied, although it seemed like she was talking to Moogie rather than Mookie.

"So," Mookie chose to change the subject, "We know what's happening yet? With rescuing Tanya, I mean." Angel looked back at them before serving up the food she had been making onto plates.

"We're waiting for Mimosa and her crew to get here." Angel replied, "Apparently they needed to pick up something from the GA before they could rendezvous with us." Angel placed a plate in front of Mookie first then Molly, before grabbing Moogie's food and placing his bowl on the floor. The psion mewled at her and quickly tucked in. "Where's Nosedive?" Angel asked as she sat down with her own food.

"Not sure." Mookie shrugged.

"He said he was going to have a shower." Molly told them. "I saw him go into his room right before I went to find Mookie and he told me so." Angel briefly wondered what Dive had been up to that had meant he was only just showering but she decided to leave it be and began eating her food.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mookie asked suspiciously. "You're not normally this quiet."

"I told you I'm fine!" Angel snapped then instantly regretted it when Mookie and Molly looked at each other in shock, "Sorry." She added quickly before taking her plate and emptying the rest of her food into the incinerator. "I'm tired. I think I'm going to get an early night. Tell Nosedive his food is in the warmer and to help himself."

"Okay." Molly replied. Both she and Mookie looked at each other again, "Is Angel upset with us?"

"I don't think so." Mookie scratched her cheek, "Maybe something happened when they were out."

"I hope she's okay." Molly said.

"Yeah squirt, me too." Mookie looked in the direction Angel had left.

Later that night Nosedive jolted awake. He looked at his ceiling whilst wondering what had woken him and when he'd become such a light sleeper. That was when he heard whimpering from the neighbouring room. It wasn't uncommon, and not for the first time, he wondered if he should check on Angel. Normally he would convince himself that Angel wouldn't appreciate him letting on that he knew about her night terrors. He sat straight up at the blood curdling scream. That certainly wasn't a regular occurrence.

"What's going on?" Molly asked from the room she shared with Mookie. Molly stared fearfully at Angel's bedroom door as she held Moogie in her arms. Mookie was behind Molly rubbing her eyes.

"Not sure yet." Nosedive replied as he tried to open Angel's door. "Locked!" He growled and slammed his fist against the door. Angel screamed again and Moogie scrambled out of Molly's arms. He bounded over to the door and changed to his larger size. With one paw he unlocked the door and shrunk back to his normal size before trotting in. Nosedive followed and almost panicked when he saw the empty bed. He heard more whimpering and found Angel in the far corner of the room curled up as if trying to get away from something.

"Please don't." Angel whispered her plea. Nosedive leant down and studied Angel for a moment. Her cheeks were wet and, while her eyes were open, they seemed to be focussing on something that wasn't there. Her thin night clothes of a shirt, long pants and a cardigan covering her arms, were drenched in sweat.

"Angel?" Nosedive asked as he moved closer. The girl before him looked like she was trying to melt into the wall. "Angel, it's just me. It's Nosedive. No one's gonna hurt ya here girly girl." He reached out a hand to her and touched her right arm. Angel squeaked and shied away from him. "Come on Angel. You're worrying me." He muttered before gently placing a hand on both of her cheeks. "Angel." He said sternly, "Angel listen to me! You're safe here. I don't know what you're seeing but it's not happening! So, come back to us girl!" Angel breathed heavily for several minutes, but Dive could feel the tension begin to leave her body. Her eyes seemed to finally focus on him, "Hey."

"What?" Angel looked around and saw Mookie and Molly in the doorway looking worried, she looked back at Nosedive and felt her face go bright red.

"Angel?" Nosedive said gently, "Are you okay? And don't lie to me." Angel's face crumpled, and she burst into tears. She flung her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder. "Hey, hey!" Dive was only mildly conscious that Molly and Mookie was watching the scene as he wrapped his arms around Angel and shushed her as best he could. "Angel, please tell me what's wrong." Dive tightened his grip when he felt her hold on more tightly. She mumbled something into his neck, "What was that?"

"I said," She pulled away from him and stared at her hands that she rested on her knees, "You might hate me."

"You're crazy girl!" Nosedive shook his head.

"Why would we hate you?" Molly asked sitting next to Angel.

"Because I'm not who you think I am." She replied. "I'm not some tough space pirate. Not really. That's all just an act I put on and…" Nosedive and Mookie started to laugh. "What's so funny?!" She asked self-consciously.

"We already knew you were putting on an act!" Mookie informed her, still chuckling.

"Yeah," Nosedive agreed, "You're terrifying on the battlefield, but you're completely different around us. If that wasn't a clue that the pirate thing is just an act, then I don't know what is!" Dive brushed a tear from her right cheek. He stopped when he felt eyes on him. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Please Angel. Please tell us what's wrong." He begged. Angel looked to each of her friends. She sensed nothing but concern from them and took a deep breath.

"I was born a slave." Angel began taking off the cardigan covering her arms to reveal an ugly scar on her right arm. Smaller scars littered both arms, Nosedive recognised some as whip marks. Others he was sure were made by a blade.

"Is that why you always cover your arms?" Molly asked looking at the scars as if they would jump off Angel's skin and attack her. Angel rubber her arms, looking very uncomfortable and very young in that moment.

"This larger one," Angel indicated to the one on her upper right arm, "it's a brand. It tells anyone who sees it exactly who owns me." She told them bitterly. "It was smaller at first, but then I was gifted to my master's son and… well they modified it, so it would relate to the younger."

"I'm afraid to ask," Mookie held her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, "But…"

"Did they do stuff to you?" Nosedive finished, with a dark look on his face.

"Not at first." Angel hugged herself, "My mother bore the brunt of everything at first. One day our master got angry with her. I can't really remember why, all I know is that he beat her until she stopped breathing." Nosedive felt sick, from Angel's face, it was clear she had seen what she was telling them, and it still haunted her. "When he realised what he'd done he took me and told his other slaves to clean up. A few months later, he had gifted me to his son."

"If you were a slave," Mookie asked, "where'd you learn to fight?"

"To start with my mother trained me in secret." Angel shrugged, "After that I kept training in secret and watched Ikaru and his father train to learn more. After I escaped them, I found someone who could train me properly. When I had learned all, I could I took this ship and went to raise merry hell on the Plutarkians and to help anyone who needed it."

"How did you escape?" Molly asked.

"The boy I was gifted to was called Ikaru…"

"Ikaru?" Nosedive exclaimed recognising name from somewhere.

"That's right."

"So, it wasn't one of those stinky fish people?" Mookie asked also sure that she'd heard the name Ikaru from somewhere.

"No, it wasn't a Plutarkian." Angel brushed some hair behind her ear, "But they were allies to them. In fact, they were part of the reason Azmaria fell and my own kind. I don't know if they were the ones close to the Emperor and his family, but they certainly supported whoever it was."

"Traitors?" Dive asked.

"They were high standing and well thought of citizens of the Empire. Misaru, Ikaru's father used to brag all the time about how clueless our people were." Angel replied, "anyway, I was some kind of pet to them, Ikaru would lead me around with a collar and lead when I wasn't in my cell. As I grew he began looking at me strangely. I didn't understand it at first. Then one of the older slaves had let me know what they had planned." She took a steadying breath, "When he came of age, he would get to have his choice of slave for his… personal needs. Apparently, it was me that he had his stone-cold heart set on."

"Did he…?" Dive asked with a growl finding he was beginning to dislike this Ikaru more and more.

"I didn't give him the chance. I was so repulsed when the other slave told me what would happen and what I would have to do, that I was determined to escape before he could turn 18." She admitted, "I wish I had some elaborate story of how I escaped, but I just snuck out and stowed away on one of the regular supply ships that came to Kyoza's fortress before finding another ship to stow away on and getting the hell away from there. I pulled it off and even made it looked like I died in the attempt. The second ship I found was bound for a nearby planet and that's when I came across this ship, Moogie and their original owner. A man known as Kyoza. Another Amayan." She smiled fondly at the memory, "I thought for sure that this man would take me back. I was terrified when I was discovered lurking around his ship and even tried to fight him. But he told me I could stay if I wanted. It was him that trained me to be the warrior that I am now."

"What happened to him?" Mookie asked.

"He got old, gave me his ship and took a job with the GA." She shrugged, "They offered to train me up to be one of their agents too. But it was too restrictive for my tastes. That was a few years ago now and I've been making a name for myself ever since." She looked at them nervously. "I'm sorry for not being the person I pretended to be. I'm just a worthless slave."

"Bull!" Nosedive said angrily. All eyes turned on him, "You damn well are the space pirate Angel! You're the best fighter I've ever seen!"

"Yeah!" Mookie pipped up, "And no one worthless would help people the way you do." Mookie spotted Molly's huge yawn and got to her feet, "Come on squirt. It's still late and your mom would kill us if she thought you were up this late!"

"Okay." Molly replied tiredly, she grabbed Angel in a bear hug, "I like you Angel. Those mean people are the ones I hate, not you." She leaned back and beamed at the pirate. Angel smiled at the child gratefully. Moogie mewled at his owner.

"I'll be okay." Angel told him, "Go sleep with Molly." Moogie trotted after the two humans leaving just Nosedive and Angel alone in the room. Nosedive got up to leave too but a hand taking his stopped him. He looked down at Angel, who was still on her knees.

"Stay." She said with a visible flush across her cheeks. "I don't want to be alone." Nosedive sighed and pulled her to her feet. He sat her down and turned to grab some fresh bed clothes from her closet. When he found something similar to what she was already wearing, he tossed it to her and turned his back on her to let her change. He then made sure Angel was securely under the covers before sitting on the floor and leaning against the bed.

"You won't be alone Angel." He said as he leant his head back against the side of her bed and closed his eyes. Angel blinked at him. She had expected him to get into bed with her. She was sure that was what most men would do. She smiled before shifting onto her side. Her left arm reached down and wrapped around his chest. She felt him tense in surprise at the action, but when he rested his head on her arm and brought a hand up to hold it, she smiled and fell into a dreamless sleep. Her first dreamless sleep in a while.