Chapter 59:
Tazani rubbed her temples as they exited limbo. She had spent her entire life within the space between realities. She had known that there was an existence outside of limbo and new haven, the limited knowledge of the origins of New Haven made that quite obvious, but she had never dreamed she would ever get to see any of the other realities. She moved from the window of her room and left to wonder the ship, knowing that they would likely be landing soon to help the girl she'd been told was called Angel. As she felt the ship begin to descend she made her way to the hanger where she waited for whoever was going with Nosedive and Angel to arrive.
"We don't have much time." Nosedive said as he carried an unconscious Angel in his arms like a child. "everyone got their space shields ready?"
"Everyone but her." Sara pointed to Tazani, whose cheeks went pink. Sara rolled her eyes and tossed something towards the saurian. Said saurian caught it easily, "You need to put that on your wrist and press the green button."
"Um, okay." Tazani did as she was told, and a protective shield appeared around her like a second skin.
"The atmosphere out there is uninhabitable," Nosedive explained, "you take these off out there and you're dead."
"What if they malfunction or run out of power?" Howie looked at his wrist warily.
"Then Moogie and I will create a shield to protect you." Tzuki told them, making those who had not heard her speak in their minds before jump. The feline like creature seemed to roll her eyes at the reaction. "As it is, I will need to revert to my smaller form to conserve energy for the ritual that is to come. A shield is quite simple in normal circumstances, but even we have limits and the lack of oxygen out there means we have to use more power to ensure you can still breath." With a flash, she was closer to Moogie's size and she began trotting to the hangar door of the ship. "Come along! We don't have much time!"
"You heard her." Nosedive adjusted Angel in his arms, making sure her head was resting against his shoulder and not dropping back at an uncomfortable angle, he followed after the white feline. The others followed behind with Moogie trotting after them.
The group travelled in a sombre silence, most looking warily at the piles of bones littered across the ground. Tzuki led them to a large statue that looked as if it had once been the centre of a fountain. Tzuki stared up at the statue and her eyes glowed. After a few moments there was a low rumble as the statue began to move backwards, revealing a passageway, much like the one that had led them to Tzuki in New Haven.
"Great." Sara muttered, "More dark tunnels."
"Quickly now." Tsuki hopped down the stairs with the group hot on her heals.
"How much farther?" Dive asked as he adjusted Angel once more.
"Want me to carry her?" Howie offered, concerned that Dive was tiring.
"I'm fine." Dive said quickly, "She's just… She's getting weaker, we need to help her now!"
"Not long now." Tsuki assured.
"What's that up ahead?" Tazani squinted as she looked, where she spotted a blue glow.
"That is our destination." Tszuki told them. Within a few minutes, they found a room decorated with blue and white crystals that illuminated the room. Crumbling statues littered the cavern and there was a doorway to the back of the room. In the centre of the cavern was a clear pool that glowed as much as the crystals. "Moogie, create the shield. The rest of you, strip her down."
"Excuse me?" Howie answered for Nosedive who looked equally as shocked and embarrassed at the order.
"In order for the ritual to work, we must remove anything that can corrupt the heart's tears." She told them, "The young priestess, Moogie and I will require your assistance."
"I was not ordained." Tazani pointed out in a worried tone. "I was never made a priestess."
"Perhaps not, but you have the training. Time to put it into practice child." Tzuki said kindly, changing into her larger form again with a flash, as Moogie did the same.
"I'll do what I can." Tazani gave a low bow.
"Well! Get on with it!" Tzuki snapped at Nosedive. The blonde looked at his fellow male and knelt down. He smiled gratefully as Sara and Tazani came over to assist.
"If we can't let anything mess with the water," Howie frowned as he turned away to be polite, "how are we going to get her into the water?" Tzuki walked over to Angel's limp form, her face almost frowning.
"She will need to be anchored to this realm." Tsuki told them, "It will take the combined strength of myself, Moogie and Tazani to perform the rituals needed to activate the heart." She looked into Nosedive's eyes, "You will need to take her into the water and use your own mystical energies to ensure that her spirit remains with her body."
"What?!" Nosedive looked up suddenly feeling sick, "I don't know how I've done the stuff I've done up till now!" He protested, "And when I tried to use whatever I can do on purpose to help her, nothing happened!"
"Trust in yourself boy." Tszuki sighed, "The heart will guide you."
"Um," Tazani raised one of her clawed hands, "I have a question." She carried on when Tzuki nodded to her, "What is this heart you keep talking about?"
"I was wondering that myself." Sara admitted.
"The heart is pure mystical energy," the white Psion explained, "The legends say it was our link to the gods. In reality, all planets have some form of energy that a skilled mystic can draw energy from. Some inhabitants of planets embrace and learn from this energy and others fear and destroy anything and anyone who dares to attempt to tap into their planet's energies. The Amayan people were a people who embraced their planet's energy. Worshipped the spirits called forth from the energies and nurtured their power. Your people once did to." She looked at Nosedive, "Your people were once much like the Amayan people. So much so, that my lady Ayeka theorised that Puckworld and Azmaria might have been alternates of each other. During the first invasion, your people held out against the saurians for almost a decade before they finally fell. Your people enslaved for another seven years before the accident that brought Ayeka and I to that enchanting planet." The group stayed silent as they listened, so she continued. "When lady Ayeka and her crew appeared in Puckworld's orbit, and saw how the Saurian people treated the Avians, her first thought was to help them.
I remember it as if it were yesterday. She rallied her crew and made the first strike against an outlying slave camp. Using the ship as a base, she and I battled alongside the crew to free the slaves and bring them to the safety of said ship. From that first battle with a small force of 50 crew, we began building a resistance. Eventually we had enough of a force to spare, that we were able to build a static base within a large mountain range, far from any camp or saurian stronghold. It was there we found a group known as the Brotherhood of the Blade."
"The Brotherhood?" Nosedive gaped.
"Weren't they a criminal organisation?" Howie scratched his cheek.
"Yeah, but their leader joined the strike force." Dive told them, "He's a friend of mine."
"Oh." Howie looked a bit unsure.
"He's a good guy now." Dive shrugged but didn't explain further.
"The Brotherhood were certainly not criminals when we met them." Tszuki told them, "They had been guardians of the avian royal blood, of which Ducaine and his son were the last of that blood. Just like those with the ability to use Avian mystical powers, the remainder were murdered. Drake only survived because he had fallen for a girl below his station. His family disapproved of the union and when they had discovered that the pair had eloped they were disowned. It saved his life. He was able to hide among his avian brethren as if he were any other. He lost his wife early on in the wars but managed to keep his young son alive. His son was the reason he and Ayeka met.
He and his son were in one of the camps created around the eastern citadel. It had taken time to garner the strength among our forces to defeat the enemies at the camp. The citadels had the better defences to protect them because each one housed a general." Nosedive resisted the urge to point out it sounded like a video game; the thought would have been funny had he not been holding his seriously ill best friend. "It transpired that they had been trying to get information from the slaves about the whereabouts of the resistance. They had begun demanding answers from the slaves every morning and when no one would tell them anything, they would take a random group of slaves and execute them. In response, Ayeka planned a strike on this particular camp the same day that Drake's son had been chosen. Drake himself had brought together a small force. A group of friends who had been planning an escape for months. When Drake's son was chosen for execution they had to bring their plans forward. The group of Avians attacked just as the Saurians were about to hang the poor souls. With charges stolen from the mines, they set explosives and in the confusion Drake, freed the prisoners and led them out of the camp. But they weren't enough and there were soon guards chasing the escapees down. In Drake's desperation to save his son he split from the group and sped away.
It was in this panicked state that Ayeka came upon him. She and I watched and followed him for several minutes. When three Saurian soldiers also came upon him and his son. Ayeka watched as Drake pushed his son behind him and began to fight the Saurians with his bare hands. Ayeka was entranced as this one Avian fought for his son's life. But he was outmatched, and he was soon overwhelmed. My lady Ayeka leapt to his defence. Once Ayeka had defeated the Saurians, Drake thanked her before asking her to protect his son whilst he went back for the rest of his friends fighting at the camp. She was surprised of course but assured him that her crew had the rescue of his people in hand. From that point on, he and Ayeka became friends and later more."
"More?" Sara frowned.
"They fell in love." Tazani smiled whistfully.
"Yes, they did." Tsuki confirmed. "Drake made my mistress very happy right until the end." She sighed, "But enough reminiscing, that is the past, and we must save the future!" She turned to Sara and Howie, "I would recommend that you two wait outside the cavern. This ritual will be raising some powerful energies and it may be dangerous." Sara looked as if she was going to object but instead she grabbed Howie's elbow and dragged the younger along with her and out of the glowing room. "You will need to remove your clothes as well Nosedive."
"What?!" Nosedive's skin went a dark pink under his cream feathers.
"Isn't it obvious, Nosedive," Sara rolled her eyes as if it should have been obvious, "if Angel has to remove her clothing before she gets into that pool, then whoever takes her in has to as well. I mean, your clothes are just as dirty and gross as hers are right now." She smirked at the last part.
"I'm gonna go wait outside and keep an eye out for enemies or something…" Howie shot out the door.
"To save your blushes" Sara's smirk grew, "I'll go keep him out of trouble." With a chuckle at Nosedive's horrified look as she walked off to follow Howie.
"Are you sure this is necessary?" Dive asked giving the water a wary look. "Can't Taz do it or something?"
"No, her power is needed elsewhere." Tsyuki almost growled. "You must hurry before it is too late boy!" Nosedive gulped before gently placing Angel down on the ground and reluctantly removing his clothing.
"Wait!" Nosedive stopped as he got to his space shield, "What about breathing?!"
"That's what Moogie's shield is assisting with ensuing the air is breathable." Tsyuki told them as her eyes began to glow, "Come priestess, I trust you know the sonata of life ritual?" Tazani nodded and stood the opposite end of the pool. She pulled one of her bangles off her belt and Dive blinked when it was suddenly a staff with a bladed ring on one end. The smaller rings hanging from the larger made a jingling sound as she lifted it into the air and began chanting, which resulted in her hands and then body beginning to glow. "Bring Angel to the pool" Nosedive gulped and picked up his friend.
"This feels so wrong." He muttered but did as he was told.
"Hold her so that she is floating in the water. The ritual will put you to sleep and your astral form will be drawn to Angel's. I can already feel her fading, so you must find her astral form quickly. Once you have found her, keep her with you. We will do the rest."
"Okay." Nosedive said as he dipped a toe in the crystalline water with its faint blue glow. He frowned. The sensation was strange. It didn't quite fee like water, more like he was stepping into some sort of steam or gas. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling as he stepped further into the water and submerged Angel and himself into it. He sat against the natural stone walls of the pool and settled Angel so that her body was submerged in the water up to her neck. He adjusted himself so that she wouldn't go under when he passed out. Nosedive jumped slightly as Tsyuki and Tazani's chanting grew louder and the pool began to bubble and glow brighter. He felt a moment of anxiety rise into his heart as he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. An image of his brother flashed into his mind and he wondered if his older brother was okay just as his world went dark.
/
"Where in the…" Nosedive looked around himself and saw a sickeningly familiar room.
"I have been watching you." Nosedive froze in place, "You have nothing to fear, but I do have a favour to ask of you."
"Who are you?" Nosedive asked. He looked around but could see no one.
"Who I am will become apparent soon. Right now, time is of the essence. This way." The disembodied voice said as a door opened to Nosedive's left and a light illuminated his path. "What is Anyuka to you boy?"
"Her name's Angel and she's my friend." Nosedive told her.
"Is that all?" Nosedive faltered. As he looked around he saw a woman and recognised her instantly. The empress Hisanna, Angel's mother stood smiling at him. She looked exactly like Angel, except older and she had navy blue eyes that almost looked black. She chuckled, "Perhaps I expect too much from one so young. Answer me this." She moved closer to him, "Why do you wish to save my daughter?"
"I..?" Nosedive's eyes widened.
"Well?" She urged.
"Because I don't want her to die." He clenched his fists.
"Why?"
"Because she doesn't deserve to die!" He snapped as if it were obvious.
"Many people pass on that don't deserve it." Hisanna told him, "Including Angel's siblings. Every one of them were executed, simply because they were born into a single family. If you wish to save my daughter, you must give me the real reason. Or I will not help you find her before she joins that same family." Nosedive hesitated for a few moments.
"Because she's done the same for me. Because she's the reason I'm even alive right now! Because I…" Nosedive stopped. He looked at the woman before him in shock. She was smiling at him as if she knew what was about to pass his beak.
"You love her?" Hisanna asked.
"I…" Nosedive held his head trying to sort his thoughts out, "I don't know, I…"
"I will ask again." She lifted his beak to make him look at her, "Why do you wish to save my daughter? Is it because you want the honour of saving a princess?"
"No!" Dive snapped offended at the implication. "I could care less about that!"
"Is it because she is useful to you?"
"She could be helpless, and I would still help her!" He growled getting angry with Angel's mother.
"Then why?"
"Because I love her!" Nosedive bellowed, "She's kind and brave and selfless! She never got to be a kid, but she still fights for others and helped me even though she didn't really know me! Trained me, just cause she thought I could be better! No one has ever treated me like I'm more than a nuisance except my brother! And I don't want to lose my best friend!"
"And what if she doesn't return your feelings." Hisanna asked, her face unreadable.
"Then I would still protect her." He looked at her with a determined face. Hisanna smiled brightly at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.
"You are ready." She pulled away smiling at him like a proud mother would her child. "It's time we find my Angel."
Angel was confused. The last thing she remembered was waiting for Nosedive on the ancient Amayan ship. Now she was standing in literal darkness wondering if she was dead. There was nothing around her for some time until she heard a distant voice.
"..uka!" She strained to hear it.
"Anyuka!" The voice called again. This time closer. She turned towards the sound of the voice and saw light in the distance. She began walking towards it and heard people laughing. After what felt like an eternity figures came into view. Several people of varying ages from around 5 to young adults stood waving at her. All had purple or black hair of varying shades and markings on their faces. In front of them was a man she recognised from pictures. She had known him as the emperor when she had seen those pictures but now? Something in her knew who this man was to her.
"Father?" a sob stuck in her throat as she moved closer.
"My Anyuka." The emperor of Azmaria smiled at his daughter, "Your siblings and I have been waiting for you."
"Where have you been little sister?" The one she knew was her eldest brother asked. Her memory supplied her with Kaoru as his name, garnered from the information she had picked up about the royal family of her planet.
"We're sorry we missed you!" The youngest known as Miku said waving eagerly at her. "I wish we could have met you when we were alive!" The young child smiled brightly but with a sad glint in her eye.
"You have grown well sister." The second eldest known as Asami said calmly with a small bow.
"My family." Angel felt tears run down her cheeks. "I had a family!"
"Come on little sister." Kaoru said with kind eyes, "you look so tired."
"Yes." Asami agreed, "It's time to rest with your family."
"You don't have to fight any more!" Miku added happily.
"Take my hand Anyuka." Her father held out his hand. She nearly took it, but she hesitated. "What's wrong my child? Don't you not want peace? To rest?"
"Yes, but." She turned to look over her shoulder, "There is something I'm forgetting. It feels like I'm needed somewhere."
"They can do without." Asami soothed.
"You've fought so hard sister." Miku said sadly.
"It's time you laid down your swords." Kaoru agreed.
"Come with us Anyuka." Her father beckoned. She took a step forward and reached out her hand for his.
"Angel!" She stopped and looked back in the direction of the voice she'd heard. Instead of darkness she saw terrifying creatures in a chasm that hadn't been there before. On the other side of the chasm was a male blonde duck with piercing blue eyes. She cocked her head to the side wondering why this person looked so familiar and why part of her wanted to reach out to his hand instead of her own father's. "Don't go with them!" The blonde yelled to her with a hint of desperation.
"If you go with him, you will have to continue fighting." Her father said in a pleading voice, "you have fought enough. Please, it's time you rest with your family."
"But…" Beside her was someone else. Someone she remembered. "Mother!" She breathed.
"You have a choice my Angel." Her mother told her. "To go with your family will mean eternal peace. But with that you leave behind those who care for you that still live."
"I…" Angel felt tears slip down her cheeks.
"Which will it be?" Hisanna asked. "Will you be Anyuka?" She held her hand out to her husband and other children, "Or will you be Angel?" She indicated to the blonde duck who was staring at her with terrified eyes. Her mother sighed, "Who is that boy to you?" She asked the same question she had asked Nosedive. Her daughter looked at her with confusion. Clearly, she was so near death that her memories had already begun fading. "Think my Angel."
"Angel, please!" Nosedive called out to her again. Angel stared at the young man calling for her and tried to remember who he was. All she knew was that she didn't like how distraught he sounded.
"Nosedive?!" She muttered then took a step towards him, "Nosedive!" She called, "What is this place?"
"A nightmare." He called, "Please, you have to come back to me!" Angel looked to her mother then back at her father and siblings.
"Who do you choose?" He mother asked her again. "Are you Anyuka or Angel?" Angel looked back at Nosedive who was trying to find a way across the chasm. She took one last look at her family.
"I'm sorry." She said, "I would do anything to know you all. Anything!" She clenched her eyes shut for a moment then looked back at them again, "But you're dead. And I can't do anything to help the dead." She bowed to her family and leapt across the chasm, using the creatures as steppingstones to make the distance. As she reached the other side, Nosedive was there to catch her and he pulled her away from the creatures, still threatening to pull her into the depths of the chasm. He held her close as he pulled her back the way he had come and away from certain death. He only stopped once he was once again in the nursery where he had met Hisanna.
"Well done." Hisanna appeared before them, "Both of you."
"Um, what happened, exactly?" Angel asked as she leaned into Nosedive. The mallard tightened his grip around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry my Angel." Hisanna said sadly. "I should have been there to teach you myself. I should have held my tongue and not angered Misaru."
"Hindsight is a wonderful thing." The trio turned to find another purple hair woman approaching them. She was much older than any of them, even Hisanna. So much so her purple hair was now almost white.
"You are the lady Ayeka!" Hisanna breathed with a small bow.
"I am." Ayeka nodded, "I understand you have found and freed my Tsyuki." She looked to Nosedive who merely gaped, "And I believe you are the one who Drake was waiting for. Hopefully now he will move on so that we can be together again."
"Why doesn't Puckworld know about you?" Nosedive asked.
"That I cannot say." Ayeka replied, "Drake and I chose to remain in limbo to ensure that the saurian overlords were well guarded. We created quite the haven there for Avians, Amayans and saurians alike. We only returned to Puckworld to bury Drake when he finally passed. By then he was already nothing but mere legend and the wars nothing but a fairy tale to scare the children. We buried him at the base of twin beaks. It was his request to have a simple grave. He never considered himself a hero. Just a drake who was doing what was right." Nosedive nodded.
"My daughter," Hisanna got Angel's attention, "You have a hard battle ahead. Akane is stronger than even your father was. It will not help you master the arts, but I can help you by teaching you the spells that will help."
"And I can teach you," Ayeka placed her hands-on Nosedive's shoulders, "what I know of the Magi arts from your own planet. You must stop he saurians and the Amayan fools who assist them."
"Won't that take years?" Dive asked with a frown.
"As Hisanna has said," Ayeka pointed out, "This is not something that will make you masters. All we can do is implant the knowledge of how and you must do the rest to perfect and use what we have given you."
"But once we have done this, our spirits will no longer have the strength to even appear in the astral plane." Hisanna told them.
"So, I'll never see you again?" Angel asked sadly.
"No, our souls will return to the well of souls until we are chosen to live once again." Ayeka told them. "It is a very childish hope of mine that the fates allow Drake and I to meet in our next lives and live a happy, battle free life together. A selfish wish, I know but if you see that old fool," She smiled at Nosedive, "tell him to hurry up and come back to me. Just in case, okay?" Nosedive looked back at her sadly but nodded to confirm that he would do so.
"There is not much time," Hisanna said, holding her daughter's cheeks with each hand, "I sense trouble ahead." She pulled Angel's forehead to her own and the elder's markings began to glow, more markings, that reminded Nosedive of tribal tattoos appeared along Hisanna's arms and around her neck. These markings reminded him of the spells performed on him by Akane, causing a shudder.
"You need not worry," Ayeka took his cheeks now, "As with the power of your people, the mystic arts are not inherently evil. Akane twists the ancient spells she uses. Spells that were hidden away for a reason. She is what makes the mystical arts evil, not the spells or power itself." Again, Nosedive nodded but this time looked apprehensive. "I can sense that this spell is familiar to you, but it will not cause you any pain this time. This is how the spell is designed to work. A spell cast by a true master of the arts." Despite this, Nosedive closed his eyes and instinctively held his breath. He gasped as information was suddenly flashing through his mind. As promised it didn't hurt and he opened his eyes as he felt Ayeka's hands leave his cheeks.
"Akane must be stopped." Hisanna stated pulling Angel into a warm hug before approaching Nosedive, "I and my late husband would be proud to call you our son." She whispered to him, giving him a short hug as well. "Goodbye." She turned and began walking towards a doorway with a blinding light shining through.
"Good luck." Ayeka bowed to them both before following after the younger Amayan woman. Nosedive felt Angel's hand find his as they watched them leave, so he squeezed it in hopes she would find comfort from it.
/
As the room finally faded, Angel awoke first and she panicked a little when she realised she was in some sort of pool and would have slipped under water if it weren't for the warm body beneath her. She turned her body slightly so that she was resting on top of his still unconscious form. As he stirred she looked up at him. He tensed slightly at the contact and looked down at her noticing that the markings on her face had disappeared. Angel noted Nosedive's eyes looked different, more blue, almost ethereal.
"Thank you." She said quietly. "I have no idea what any of that was, but you came after me." She smiled at him.
"Well, yeah." Dive smiled back, "I wasn't about to let you cash out on me that easily."
"I'm sorry I forgot… well everything… Forgot you." Angel buried her head into his chest and felt his arms wrap around her.
"It wasn't your fault." Dive whispered, "I'm just glad you're alive. I don't know what I would have done if you had…"
"Dive…?" Angel said quietly leaning into him more than before.
"Yeah babe?"
"Why are we naked?" Angel looked up at him with a blush, not seeming to actually worry about her exposure to him.
"Uh, well Tsuki said…" Dive looked around to see both Tzuki and Tazani passed out on the ground, "She said our clothes would wreck the ritual or something."
"Oh." Angel replied before pushing away from him and standing. Nosedive's eyes widened before he looked away from her naked form. "Dive, you've just been holding me in that pool whilst we were both naked. Why are you embarrassed now?" Angel laughed. The playful laugh that he hadn't heard in such a painfully long time. "You worried I'll think you coped a feel." She smirked. Nosedive looked up to see a familiar playful shine in the girl's eyes. They weren't quite the same as they had been. There was a dullness there as well, but the shine he saw brought a chuckle to his beak which turned into a full laugh when he saw the disgusted look Angel gave the robes she had still been wearing from her imprisonment. "What?" She asked as Nosedive got out of the pool himself and quickly pulled on his gear.
"Nothing. Just," He stood and pulled the now clothed girl into a warm hug, "welcome back Angel." He said quietly. He felt Angel tense for a while, which gave him a pang of sadness, but she still wrapped her arms around him and held him just as closely as he did her.
"I'm sorry I forgot." She whispered.
"You said that already." Dive squeezed, "Besides, nothing to apologise for. I'm the one who got caught. Twice! So…"
"Stop!" Angel interrupted and she pulled away to give him an angry look, "It's not your fault either! So, don't start blaming yourself!"
"Yes ma'am." Dive smiled them looked up at a gagging sound coming from the entrance to the cavern.
"I knew it!" Sara grinned, ignoring Howie and his attempts at embarrassing the pair, "I knew you had feelings for her!" Nosedive blushed but didn't make any effort to object, "So you gonna let that idiot call you boss now without going postal or what?" She added with a smirk.
"Let's just wait for those two to come too then get back to the ship." Dive rolled his eyes before activating his and then Angel's space shields.
