The next chapter is posted! Enjoy :)
Things have been different since the night Frieza saved Angel for a second time since they've been here. It did cause a setback for them, this was true. But what really surprised them both was the very intimate kiss they shared later that night. Angel was pretty surprised herself that she allowed him to kiss her. Especially since he made her uncomfortable in the past with touching her. Still, it seems that within the time they have been stuck here, there has been a lot of shifting between them.
She likes to think their latest behavior had more to do with the fact that they were alone together for about seven and a half months now. They had no contact with other beings like themselves within all their time spent here. Though I think no one is more stunned than the galactic emperor himself. He found his odd behavior and these new bout of feelings very strange. Probably because he's never felt them before in his life. The only time he ever felt anything close to such feelings was when he was a very young child. His mother was the only one who ever showed him love and affection in his youth.
But such notions were a weakness. His father never allowed for something so trivial as love to thrive within their family.
"It has no place in our empire nor will it help accomplish success. Banish these foolish notions from you mind or die with the rest of those spineless weaklings." Is what his father would say.
Frieza knew his father was always aloof and cold towards his family. But it came to quite a shock when a young Frieza witnessed his father kill his mother. King Cold was furious of the fact that his wife tried to bring love into their sons lives. So he murdered her to keep her from projecting that weakness onto his sons.
'Love', is that what he's been feeling lately towards Angel? Is that why he feels like he hasn't been himself these last couple months? Is that why he's worried for her wellbeing? Since they woke up the next morning after the incident with those strange reptoid creatures. Angel could move again, the paralysis had worn off. But a fever took it's place that very morning. At first it was more of a low grade fever.
Frieza wanted to stay where they were a little longer until she got better. But Angel said, she can still travel and talked him into continue traveling. The heat of that day was unforgiving. As the day dragged on Angel grew more pallid and lost her appetite. There was no help around if they needed it. When they woke up the following day, Angel seemed to get significantly worse. Her flying became erratic and she kept going up and down, and side to side. All this and he was becoming very concerned over her health.
He offered to carry her. But being the stubborn person she was, Angel refused. She told him he worries too much. Then convinced him she can still carry on. Frieza practically had to fight with her to eat something. Eventually she did, but it wasn't much. He also made sure she had enough to drink. Stopping at ever stream or lake during their flight. She was still looking worse as they went. Angel was also growing weaker from the fever. Frieza knew it had to do with the paralysis. Those creatures claws must've had poison in them. If that's the case, then what can they do to stop the spread of it?
It was now the morning of day three, since the attack and Angel's fever. Frieza awoke early that morning and he turned to check Angel. She appeared to still be asleep. He contemplated waking her. He reached over to gently shake her shoulder.
"Angel?" He said, while shaking her shoulder.
She awoke with a loud audible gasp. Then another came shortly after. Soon, Angel looked to be gasping for air and her whole body shook.
"Angel!" He said, for the first time in a long time. Horror was etched in his eyes.
The young woman didn't respond. She had her eyes on him. But she could hardly get any words out. It almost looked as if she was having a panic attack. But he knew that wasn't the case. It was the fever. Frieza felt her head only to find that she was burning up. He quickly scooped her up and took to the air. She was still writhing in his arms as he looked around trying to sense anymore of those beings.
To his luck, he was able to detect the energy of one single being. This one seemed different than the ones they were tracking. But right now that didn't matter. He needed to get Angel some help and fast. Frieza looked down at her, Angel was extremely pale now and her lips were turning purple. The energy signature he's sensing is not exactly in the same direction as the beings they were following. But this one was a lot closer to them and didn't appear to be moving away. A slight whimpering sound caught his attention drawing his crimson gaze back down the very sick woman in his arms.
"Angel, hang on! I'm going to find someone to help." He told her.
Frieza took off in the direction of that stray energy signature. He was traveling at great speeds now, trying to get aide as quick as possible. During the flight, he can feel her energy dropping. The horror he felt, was quickly giving away to fear. For once the tyrant was scared. Not for himself but for another. He peered down at her, noticing Angel drifting in and out of consciousness.
"You have to stay awake. Don't close your eyes." He told her while picking up the pace.
But her eyelids were starting to feel heavy and Angel just felt like she wanted to go back to sleep. She almost did, until Frieza lightly jostled her and kept her from doing so. Despite the wind beating into them as he flew. Angel felt like her whole body was burning up. She's been sick before a couple times growing up. But neither ailment was as painful as the one she was dealing with now.
Frieza felt a sense of relief when he could feel they were getting closer to this being. They were almost right on top of them. Straight ahead, he saw a very large tree. It was larger than the rest of the surrounding trees. The energy was coming from that direction. So he made a B-Line for it. Once he got within miles of the tree. He started to feel something else. It wasn't an energy signature, it was something else entirely. Something that could be best described as having an electrical charge mixed in with something other worldly or supernatural.
'Is...that magic I'm sensing?' He thought as he drew closer.
Frieza was able to lock onto that energy signature. It was surrounded by the magic that seemed to permeate the air around them. He started descending. The energy signature seemed to be coming from someone near the base of the large tree. When the base came into view, Frieza saw what appeared to be a tiny wooden hut built into the roots of the oversized tree.
He landed in front of the door and shifted Angel in his arms so he could knock. Yes, knock. Because something told him, she would be on his ass for barging into someone's home. Either that or she was really rubbing off on him. He lifted his knuckles to the door. But before he could knock, the door swung open, and the being he sensed now stood right in front of them.
Frieza was surprised at the being that stood in front of them. He appeared to be of the Brench Race. He knew quite a bit about their race. Plenty of them were on his old force. One of the Ginyu Force Warriors, was of the Brench Race. What would a Brench be doing all the way out here though? Frieza knew for a fact this wasn't their planet. He had no time to ponder it.
"Please, my friend here is very sick. Can you please help her? She was scratched by one of these strange green reptoid creatures. First she became paralyzed, then she woke up with a fever that seems to have gotten much worse these last few days." Frieza informed the stranger.
The taller orange/reddish man's eyes widened and he opened the door wider to let them in. The place was pretty cramped and small. Books, jars, and other strange small objects lined the walls. A few were open on a wooden table in a corner.
"Set her down over there please." The strange man said, while gesturing to a blanket on top of a pile of dead leaves and shrubs.
The arcosian was a bit skeptical at first, but he did just that, and laid her down gently onto the blanket. A sheet of sweat covered her body now. Strands of hair were sticking to her temples and neck. Frieza looked over to see the Brench man putting together some herbs and mixing them into some weird thick liquid. It took him about four minutes to mix it all together thoroughly.
Then he poured it into a cup and walked over to Frieza and Angel. He sat down beside them.
"Pick her head up." The man instructed.
Whatever the liquid was, it smelled funny. Frieza didn't like the looks or smell of it.
"What is that?" He asked, with distrust in his voice.
The Brench man gave him a pointed look.
"The girl is dying. This is what will save her life. She's been poisoned, this antidote will kill the poison and stop it's spread." He told Frieza.
Angel whimpered again in pain. Frieza gently lifted her head and the man brought the cup of strange liquid to her lips. Frieza told her everything was going to be alright and to drink the medicine. She parted her lips just enough and they poured some of the medicine in. She slowly swallowed it. Then they gave her more. Angel made a slight face. Must've tasted pretty bad, but she drank the rest anyway.
The man informed Frieza that she needed to finish the whole cup since her condition was very severe. Angel groaned at hearing this, but did as they asked. When she finished, she coughed a few times before settling back down. After a few minutes, the young woman seemed more at ease and began to relax. Angel opened her eyes, sluggishly turned her head, and looked up at Frieza. He let out a sigh of relief and smoothed back the damp hair off her temples.
The strange man stood up. "She will be fine, though she will need to rest up for a while. It's going to take a little more time for the antidote to make its way through her whole body."
"Thank you." Frieza said, never taking his eyes off Angel.
The man nodded before his gaze landed back on Angel.
"In all my years, I thought I'd never actually see one up close. Especially when they are known to be extinct." He said, while gesturing to the young woman lying down on the makeshift bed.
Frieza narrowed his eyes. "What do you know of her race?"
The man walked across to his book case and pulled out a rather hefty volume of a book.
"A lot actually. I've studied in many different fields. But learning about ancient races was a personal hobby of mine." He then paused and looked back at Frieza.
"I find it strange that she would be in your company as well, Lord Frieza. Especially knowing the bitter history between the Arcosians and the Kandusai. Even more confusing is why you two would be here of all places." The stranger said.
"So, you know who I am then." Frieza stated, ignoring the man's intrusiveness.
The man smirked. "Of course, your reputation is well known throughout the entire galaxy after all."
"Who are you? And how is it a Brench Man finds himself all the way out here?" Frieza asked.
The man walked over with the thick book and took a seat across from the tyrant.
"I am Rydge. And I've stumbled upon this world long ago when my ship malfunctioned and crashed here. Since then, this has been my home." He replies.
The man, 'Rydge' then opened the thick, heavy book and started skimming through the pages. Before he settled on a page. The one on the left had writing, while the page next to it on the right was actually a picture of someone.
"Is magic part of your studies as well?" Frieza asked.
The man looked at him with furrowed brows at first then chuckled.
"No, I've studied many things. But I'm no sorcerer or magician. Nowadays, I specialize in herbs and medicine. You'd be surprised on how many deadly creatures live on this world." He said.
"Then why did I sense magic as I drew closer to this area?" Frieza asked, trying to get more out of this strange man.
"What you feel is not magic at all. You notice that this tree is much larger than the others around this area. That is because this tree has special properties to it. In fact, it's where I find a good bulk of my herbs. I can't exactly pinpoint the strange energy it radiates. But I can tell you there is nothing magical about it. I've been living here for so long, I think I would've taken notice if this tree had a supernatural air of it." Rydge stated.
Frieza finally looked down to the large volume in the Brench man's hands. The detailed sketch in it was what caught his eye. To his surprise, the woman in it looked a lot like Angel. Certainly peaked his curiosity.
"What is that book about. And just who is that?" He asked.
Rydge shifted the book for Frieza to see better.
"This book talks of the history of Planet Kandu and the Kandusai. It was one of the last volumes printed, right before it's demise. And this, is a picture of a member of the last royal family to rule there. This is one of the last images of Princess Mila." He said.
Frieza raised an eye ridge. "And what do you know of the Princess of the Kandusai?"
Rydge smirked. "Just about everything that there is to know."
He shifted his gaze to Angel, who fell asleep a few minutes ago.
"I must say, the resemblance is uncanny. And it supports the theory of the Princess escaping before it's destruction. This young woman must be her descendant." Rydge added.
"Perhaps, but that was a theory that has been around for a very long time and already known to be a true possibility." Frieza replied.
"True, but it still doesn't explain why she would be in your company. This woman is not only Kandusai, but flowing through her veins is the blood of another race you despise, the Saiyans. The Princess along with her brothers were half breeds with a Kandusai Father and Saiyan Mother. That would mean the Princess's descendant would be a half breed too." Rydge stated.
Frieza was starting to get suspicious of Rydge's keen interest in Angel and her Race.
"Again, these are facts that I already know. Learning about Ancient Civilizations was apart of my education." He said.
He would've asked Rydge if he knew of a way off this world. But something tells him the strange Brench man hadn't an idea. Otherwise, he still wouldn't have been stuck here all this time. It made no difference that Frieza wanted to take Angel and leave this man's dwellings. He helped cure her and Frieza is thankful for that. But it didn't stem the fact that he felt this man could not be trusted.
"Still ironic that the descendant of the one who murdered them all would be in this woman's company and hasn't killed her yet." Rydge replied.
Now Frieza was getting annoyed. It seemed like all this man really talked about is the past from three thousand years ago.
"What I do, is my own business. I thank you again for your aide. But I'm afraid we must take our leave now." He told the strange man.
"Are you sure that's wise? Shouldn't she rest more before you take off? Plus, where were you headed anyway? There is only one race of intellectual beings here. But the Zeniths are very elusive and excellent at camouflaging themselves and their energy signatures. I've only stumbled upon them a few times since I've been here. And their very wary of outsiders." Rydge said, while Frieza picked Angel up.
"Everything will be fine, you need not concern yourself." The arcosian said.
Frieza left with Angel and took off into the sky again. He hovered for a few moments trying to pinpoint these beings again. At least he now knew what they were called and why he and Angel had a hard time trailing them. Frieza finally caught onto their energy signal. It was a bit far but luckily, they didn't get too far behind these last few days. He surmised that they would catch up to them within the next few days.
"Frieza." Angel said, still a bit sleepy.
He looked down and smiled. "Angel, how are you feeling?"
She gave him a tired smile. "A lot better. I don't feel the pain anymore. Just still a little tired."
"Good to hear. You can rest more. I have no problem carrying you." He told her.
Angel rested her head against his shoulder.
"Who was that man? And what was that nasty ass shit he had me drink?" She asked.
Frieza chuckled at her choice description of the medicine.
"It was an antidote. That creature poisoned you when it slashed you. As for the man, he's apparently a resident of this world. I'll explain more on the way. Do you want to stop and find food first?" He asked her.
"Yeah, sounds good to me." She paused for a moment and grinned. "I should start making a list. That's what? Three times you saved me now?"
"Don't worry, you will have plenty of time to thank me when this is all over." He teased.
Angel rolls her eyes. "Can't wait. Anyways, let's go Casper. You said we would get food and I'm actually pretty hungry."
Frieza smirked while shaking his head. Then leaned in and kissed her forehead.
"As you wish, Little Warrior Princess." He said.
He liked calling her that because he knew she hated it. The face she would make when he called her that nickname, was rather amusing. As Angel opened her mouth to scold him for calling her that for the hundredth time. Frieza took off, headed in the same direction where these Zenith people were and to get food on the way. Unaware that a pair of coal colored eyes were watching them go from down below.
Another close call for our favorite couple. Luckily there was medicine that could cure Angel. But what of this Rydge character? And why does he have such an interest in Angel and her Race? And will these Zenith people be able to help them? Perhaps they have information about the lost Daigon Sphere that is located on their planet. Until Next Time ;)