The next chapter is up! Enjoy :)
Another few months here and Angel felt like they were still getting no where. It was like they were flying in circles, not knowing where they should go. Frieza claimed he sensed other beings again. Though she couldn't call him out on bullshit for it this time. Because she could sense them too. They picked up speed in the general direction of the multiple signatures they were picking up. There was something else too.
She started sensing the Daigon Sphere again. Shockingly enough, it's signature was blended in with these other mystery beings they were trailing. Did that mean these beings had it with them? If so, how did they come by it? And why do they have it? There were so many questions that needed to be answered. And Angel was eager to get those answers. But there was one problem.
'Frieza'. She's worried what he will do when he reaches these mystery beings. Even more so when and if he sees they have the sphere. It's because of this, Angel thought of leaving him behind. But that's easier said than done. For one, unlike her; he doesn't require much sleep. So he's up most nights. Two, he can sense her. That lead her to believe that if she somehow managed to elude him. She may unintentionally lead him to these beings if she found them. And Angel wouldn't forgive herself. Especially, if she became responsible for the death of others; because she lead a monster straight to them.
Angel turned her gaze to the tyrant. He had a look of concentration on his face as they flew at high speed through the sky. It's either she's been stuck with him too long, or she just doesn't perceive him that way as of late. Since their angry spat three months back, which lead him to knocking her out. He's been acting a little different around her, even a bit odd. Either way, he definitely doesn't seem like quite himself. Not like how he was when they first arrived here; six months ago.
Their stops would last a little longer than they use to. And he even goaded her into short sparring sessions. Of course that only confused the hell out of Angel. Since when was he ever interested in participating in such activities with her? For a long time, she thought the only thing he was interested in, was using her to find the sphere and...well, she didn't want to go there again. Though in truth, he hasn't made any attempts to touch her like that again, since their first deadly dip in a lake that in fact; housed a large octopus monster.
At some point, Angel may have thought they entered the twilight zone a couple weeks ago. Because lately, he's been acting more civil with her and arguments really decreased between them. If Frieza's up to something, then she has yet to figure out what that is. Hopefully, not some kind of manipulation into getting her to trust him. Odds are that's probably what it was. Gain her trust, so she will agree to use the sphere to bring them to her universe. And if that's the case, then he has another thing coming.
Angel knows how he works, she's seen how manipulative he can be. Or is she really basing too much of the show off of him? No, so far since she's been in this universe. The evil emperor has lived up to his expectations. She was starting to get a headache though, as her mind flip flopped back and forth. Frieza turned his gaze to her; right as she started rubbing the sides of her temples.
"There a problem?" He asked her.
She looked over at him. "No, just have a slight headache."
Frieza stared at her for another moment before speaking.
"You want to land? It's been a while since you had water today." He said.
Now she was confused. Was he...no, he couldn't be concerned. At least not for her wellbeing. Angel already came to terms that the only reason he saved her life from that octopus creature was because he still needed her, nothing more. Just how convincing is he going to be? Since, she didn't answer. he decided to answer for her.
"You look a bit pale. I think we should land." He told her.
He saw there was a waterfall up ahead. Frieza made a slight gesture with his head.
"There, up ahead. We'll get some water." He informed her.
She licked her dry lips, realizing that she is very thirsty and hot. It was very hot that day and the heat was starting to get to her.
"Yeah, ok. That's fine with me." She said.
It wouldn't take long to get there. It was only a few kilometers away. They should be there in a few minutes. Which was good, because she was sweating her ass off. Good thing she gotten faster with flying within these last few months. Angel was finally getting better with speed control and stopping. A lot of it ironically was coming out not long after they started short sparring sessions. And by short, majority of them were never longer than an hour.
Within the next eight minutes, they were touching down near the waterfall. Though Angel was contemplating landing in the water. She quickly approached the water's edge and began lifting handfuls of water to her mouth. Frieza was a few feet away doing the same thing. Though not as sloppy and rushed as she was. She scooped up some water and ran it over her face, head, and neck trying to cool off.
The young woman was too busy trying to cool down that she didn't notice how Frieza inched his way closer to her. Or when she felt something whack her in the back. Sending her face first into the pool of water. Angel came up and leveled the arcosian warrior with a glare. He just gave her a mischievous smirk.
"What the hell you do that for?" She snapped.
He shrugs with a chuckle. "Just figured you could do with cooling off."
Angel sent big splashes his way. He moved out of the way. But part of his thigh and feet still got wet. A few moments later, Frieza joined her in the water. He won't admit it, but it was rather refreshing, especially on a scorcher of a day like today. Near shore, the water came up to their waists. But as Angel moved closer to the center of the pool, she couldn't touch the bottom anymore. So she leaned back and floated. The water was very relaxing and soothed some of her aching muscles.
Angel felt some disturbance in the water and opened one eye to see Frieza making his way over to her. She didn't think anything of it and continued floating, enjoying the break. Something bright glinted over her closed eyes, causing her to squint from the sudden brightness. When she opened her eyes and looked for the source. Another bright reflective flash came from her right. It turned out to be Frieza's mystery bracelet. The one he lied to her about when she inquired what it was for. She's beginning to wonder if he will ever tell her what it is. Because Angel just knew it was more than a flashy piece of jewelry.
Frieza caught her looking at the bracelet again. So he moved it from her sight.
"Something tells me we are close to finding these elusive beings. We're closer now than we were before. It shouldn't be much longer now." He informed her.
Instead of being happy with the news. Angel frowned and looked away, which confused the tyrant. He thought she couldn't wait to get off this planet. So why did she seem upset instead?
"What's that look for? I thought you'd be happy that we might be getting close to leaving this world." He said.
"Probably, because I'm worried what you will do when we come across them. I have no doubt that you will hurt them." She grounded out.
He drew closer. "You think I will cause mayhem as soon as we find them? Is that it?"
"I certainly wouldn't put it past you." Angel said, still looking away from him.
Frieza looked to the waterfall for a moment, before shifting his crimson gaze back to her.
"No, I'm not one who starts carnage everywhere I go. I wait until I get all the information I need out of them first. Then I dispose of them." He said, nonchalantly.
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. Because Angel threw a thoroughly pissed off glare his way.
"Tell me again, how much of a fucking savage you really are." She spat.
Before swimming away and making her way back to shore. She didn't stop once she was on dry land. She kept going until she passed the trees. He didn't think anything of it. Other then she went to blow off some steam and probably wanted to get away from him a bit. While he stayed where he was, slowly treading water. 'This must be one of those moments where they say; you may as well shove your foot in your mouth.' He thought. With a drawn out sigh he looks up at the sky.
Angel briskly walked away from the watering hole. Still seething over what Frieza just told her. Why is she so shocked by his answer? When she already knew how cold blooded he truly was. For some reason, angry tears made their way down her cheeks. Just when she thought things weren't already complicated enough. She didn't know what to do, once they found these beings. Her first initial thought was, she wanted to protect them from him. But how? Despite training, Frieza was still stronger than her.
So wrapped up in her thoughts, she wasn't expecting for the ground beneath her feet to suddenly just give way. But it did and she fell down a hole. Angel was so surprised she didn't think to stop herself midfall. So she ended up hitting a hard rocky ground. Grass, leaves, and clumps of dirt came tumbling down and landed on her. It hurt, but at least she didn't break anything. Comes in handy being part of a race that's built stronger and sturdier.
Angel stood up with a slight groan, wiping the forest debris off of her wet clothes. She looked up and noticed she was probably about thirty feet down. Then she inspected her new surroundings. It looked like she fell into a cave system beneath the forest. It was spacious with various sizes of stalagmites and stalactites. Almost similar to the tiny cave they took refuge in. When they first got here to get out of that crazy storm. She spotted something on the walls on one far end of the cave.
She made her way over and noticed there were what looked like words from some ancient language. Along with some pictures carved into the stone walls. Obviously, she couldn't read or decipher any of the words and symbols. But Angel wonders if she can put some of it together by looking at the pictures. They look to tell some ancient story, from a long time ago. She was shocked at how detailed they were. Kind of reminded her when she was watching an interesting documentary on some ancient pyramid carvings that were supposedly from ancient Babylonian or Sumerian times.
Before she could look further into the pictures, she heard Frieza's voice from above.
"Angel?" He yelled down.
His voice echoed off the cave walls. He was looking down into the hole trying to see if her could see her. But Angel moved away from the hole so he didn't see her. And besides the light coming down from the hole. It was pitch dark down there.
"I'm down here!" She shouted up to him.
Not long after she finish her statement. Frieza jumped down with ease. He then looked around the place in curiosity. Before spotting her on the far left end of the cave. As he made his way over, he noticed some odd cylinder shapes lying across the the cave floor. Some of which, were lying between a couple stalagmites. He moved closer and instantly recognized them as stone pillars. He found it very strange that there would be pillars in a cave system. Unless, these are some ancient ruins that perhaps gotten buried and forgotten over time. There were some strange etching on the fallen pillars as well.
Frieza hopped over a couple and made his way over to Angel, who was still studying the wall. He noticed what she was looking at and saw the strange words, symbols, and pictures carved right into the stone. He ran a finger over a couple of the carvings. They were chipped and warn. Indicating they were put here long ago. Possibly thousands of years ago. Even though he recognized and knew a lot of alien languages, this language was a complete mystery to him.
"I'm trying to see if maybe I can decipher something from the pictures. After all, they always said; pictures tell a story." She told him, while still eyeing the carvings in front of her.
"That is true, but it's challenging getting the story right. Especially, if you don't know the origins or culture." He replied, while study the pictures himself.
The first one they saw, was of an odd group of people. They weren't depicted as really doing anything. Some looked to be holding something, like food or even some kind of baskets. The next picture showed the same group of people. Only this time, another different group of people were standing on the opposite side. They were facing the first group of people. It looked like a large meeting, possibly between two different races.
The next image was a little more disturbing. It showed a circle, or what once was a circle. It had the appearance of being blown to bits. There were four odd circular shapes with markings on them and they looked to be leaving the blast zone. But what caught Angel's eye, was the being standing or floating on the opposite side of the blast. Their arm was outstretched in front of them towards the destroyed circle. This being had an oddly familiar long whip like tail and what appeared to be a set of horns on their head.
Angel covered her mouth and gasped. Because she finally realized that this destroyed circle was in fact a planet. Whoever this horned being was, they must've had a hand in the planet's destruction. This story was making her gut turn. Mainly because it seemed eerily familiar. She then moved onto the next image. It was of one of those strange circular shaped pods.
It appeared to have landed in some forest, since it was surrounded by trees. And the pod was open, with one of those people standing in front of it. With the short hair and physique, it was easily identified as a man. What was more disturbing, is now this picture of one of these people was bigger, and with more detail. And he looked like a human man!
The next picture showed the same man. He was now surrounded by the first group of people from the very first image. The man had something in his hand. And his arm was outstretched as if he were handing the item to one of the other people. As they took a closer look, Angel realized it was a sphere of some sorts. In the next image it was a picture of the same sphere only enlarged. There was something swirling around within it and there were streaks surrounding it, giving off the idea that they were beams of light.
She shook her head slightly. 'No, no way. It looks like a clear depiction of one of the Daigon Spheres!'
If that picture didn't stun her enough. The next one certainly did. Those people were surrounding one person in particular. But instead of it being a man like the last couple images depicted. This individual was clearly a woman! Her arms were outstretched above her head. With the sphere hovering just above her palms. More beams of light were emanating from the sphere.
Angel slowly approached what appeared to be the final image. This one held an enlarged picture of the woman. She was in some peculiar pose and there were these swirls surrounding her body. Angel had a feeling those swirls were power. Power that was coming from the woman. Whoever she was, they depicted her as someone who was very powerful. And several inches below her feet; were people. They were much smaller than her. And it gave the appearance that she was hovering far above them.
'Like a hero of the people.' She thought.
"These carvings are quite interesting. If only the walls could talk. I'm certain they would tell quite the tale." Frieza said, finally breaking the silence.
"Do you see it?" Angel asked, just above a whisper.
"Pardon?" He asked, brow ridge furrowed in confusion.
She turned to face him. "I don't think it's just this world's history. It talk's of another. The two different races meeting. A planet blowing up and from a rather familiar figure. Pods escaping the blast. That sphere in the being's hand. You seeing it yet?"
Frieza rubbed his chin in thought.
"I see, you think it has to do with your people and the demise of their world. Am I to assume right?" He asked.
"Yes, just like what Lord Beerus and Whis said. And like what you said." Angel replied.
He crossed his arms, as his tail swayed back and forth a couple times.
"I'd say it's rather farfetched. I mean this planet is virtually unheard of by most. And whatever beings are here, what would they know of the Kandusai or the destruction of their home world? This could be a coincidence. We don't know for sure that this world being depicted as being blown up, is Planet Kandu." He told her.
Angel pointed to the lone figure with the tail and horns.
"And next your going to tell me he doesn't look familiar to you too?" She said, with a hint of sarcasm.
Frieza gave it a good hard look. There are very few higher beings in this universe with a tail and horns. His race being one of them and the most well known.
"Ok, so perhaps they have knowledge of the Arcosian Race. It still may not mean anything." He told her.
But she wasn't convinced and shook her head.
"No, that is Planet Kandu being destroyed. And that being with the tail and horns is your ancestor. This is too much to be coincidence."
He sighs, "Angel, Froze destroyed many worlds in his day. So even if this were in fact a depiction of him. What makes you think that that is Planet Kandu he's destroying in this image?"
She pursed her lips. "And what of the depictions of the sphere? You going to tell me that they don't closely resemble the Daigon Spheres?"
"To be honest, I don't know what they resemble. I've never actually seen the Daigon Spheres in person. Only depictions and pictures in historical documents and books." He replied.
Angel arched a brow. "If that's the case. Then how did you know if they still in fact truly exist? You knew about their existence before you kidnapped me. How?"
He clenched his fists into his biceps.
"The same way I find out about a lot of what's going on in other worlds. I have spy drones sent out to record information." He admitted to her.
She narrowed her eyes. "So, that means you overheard Lord Beerus and Whis explaining everything to Goku and Vegeta when I first arrived. That's how you found out."
For once, this was not something he could lie his way out of and he knew it.
"Yes." He confessed.
Frieza expected Angel to retaliate with attacking him like she usually did in the past. She marched over to him and he tensed up waiting for a fight. But to his utter shock, she stepped around him and started walking away. Back towards the round circle of light that came from the hole above. Once she was within the light, Angel glared at him from over her shoulder.
"Let's just get out of here and go back to what we were doing. Finding a way off this world." She snapped coldly.
Then Angel leapt up and flew out through the hole in the ground above. Frieza watched her go and gave once last hard glance at the wall depictions. It made him think of the 'What Ifs' and if she were actually right in her assumption. But he shook his head and headed back to the small lighted area created by the hole. He shot through it, until he was back on the surface. Angel was already flying out ahead. All he can do now, is catch up to her and go back to trying to find these beings. And hopefully, a way off this world.
Looks like some puzzle pieces are starting to fall into place. Just what could these strange depictions mean? And was Angel right in assuming it was portraying the actual destruction of her race and their home world? If so, what does that mean for Frieza & Angel? Until Next Time ;)