Vaggie spent a large amount of time scouting the area, determined to make sure that danger wasn't close by. When all appeared to be safe, she went back to the camp. Suddenly she heard the sound of something heading in the same direction she was going in. The figure was moving quietly, careful of it's steps, as if it was attempting to sneak up on someone. Vaggie suspected danger so she quickly crept up to the figure and pounced on it.

"Hey! Ow!" It was Angel she had tackled. "What was that for?"

"Oops. Sorry Angel." Vaggie got off of him immediately. "I thought you were a robber or something. What are you doing sneaking around the camp?"

"I wasn't sneaking. I had just come back from bathing and I figured that Al and the princess were asleep by now. I was trying not to wake them."

"Oh."

"Sheesh, paranoid much?" He said standing up.

"Old habits die hard." She said. "When you spend sixteen years constantly going up against knights, it sticks with you for awhile."

"Yeah Charlie told me about that. The collar."

Vaggie rubbed her neck which bore a scar from the metal brace.

"It all feels like a bad dream." She said. "I can't remember any of it but it comes back in terrible images."

"Is there anything you do remember clearly?" Angel asked. "That is if you even want to tell me."

"I remember my life before that damnable collar. I never knew my father, my kind mates for breeding purposes only and it is the females who raise the young. My mother and I were very close. In fact she's was the only person I ever had. I had hoped that she would always be there for me but she took ill when I was still young and she eventually died. I wasn't on my own for long though, one day I was captured by King Lucifer's men. They were looking for a dreaded beast to guard Charlie."

"Why did they choose you? Why not choose a dragon or something like that?"

"King Lucifer wanted something dangerous but also capable of looking after Charlie. I could grow and shrink so I would be able to enter her tower to bring her food, water, and other necessities. I fought back but I could do nothing against four men at my average size and before I could grow any bigger, Lucifer constricted that brace right on to my throat. Everything turned dark and was only partially aware of things. I had gone completely primal."

She felt a sharp pain in her mind as she tried to remember.

"You can't imagine how horrible it feels to spend so many years living in a nightmare where you uncontrollably kill and consume people like a monster only to wake up to find that nightmare was real all along."

She fell to her knees, clutching her head.

"I didn't mean to kill those men, really I didn't. And I didn't mean to keep Charlie locked up for so long but...But God forgive me, I couldn't help myself! No matter how loud my mind screamed, my body just wouldn't listen!"

Her good eye began to shed tears. She hated to cry, especially in front of others. It made her feel so weak and pathetic.

But Angel didn't think of her as weak or pathetic. As he watched her cry he felt very angry and empathetic to her situation. He may not have had his mind altered to a primitive state but he knew exactly how it felt to be forcibly taken and used against your will. To be treated like some tool for labor instead of a living creature with feelings.

"The bastards." He cursed.

Vaggie looked toward him.

"What?" She sniffed.

"What they did to you was monstrous. They're the real monsters not you. They forced you to do their dirty work and took away your free will. That makes you completely innocent of what you've done."

"You don't understand-"

"No I do understand. You had no say in anything you did. You didn't even have your own thoughts. That king and his men are the ones truly responsible for all those deaths. How the Hell could anyone do that?!"

"I really don't know."

"Did Charlie go along with this twisted shit?"

"No!" Vaggie defended. "She's nothing like her father! She'd never want anyone to go through that horror. She knew for years that I wasn't acting of my own will and she wanted to free me but she didn't know how."

"You mean she never knew about the collar?"

"No. I was brought to the keep first and no one told her about my circumstances but she figured it out on her own. She's very smart you know."

"You know there's something I can't wrap my head around. It's obvious this King Lucifer was a psychopath so how could he have a daughter as sweet as Charlie?"

"I suspect she took more after her mother in matters of personality. Poor Queen Lilith, she loved Charlie so much. When King Lucifer sent her away she died of a broken heart."

"She's dead? What about the king?"

"When the queen passed, the guilt and grief drove him mad. So mad that he took his own life. The throne was then given to Lilith's kinder and wiser brother Gabriel."

"If Gabriel was kinder and wiser, why didn't he come for Charlie?"

"He didn't even know Lilith had a daughter. Gabriel was just a boy when Lilith married and he was sent off to a boarding school when she ascended the throne. King Lucifer made sure no one outside the Ninth Kingdom knew about Charlie."

"But why?"

"I can't say."

"Can't or won't?"

"A little of both."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I gave Charlie my word that I wouldn't tell and I can't ever expect to be her friend if I can't keep my word to her."

"Oh...So there's more to this pretty princess than we were led to believe." He said raising his eyebrow.

"I warn you Angel." She said sternly. "Do not meddle in affairs that don't concern you."

"You know it's never really been specified why Charlie was locked in that tower. You wouldn't happen to know that little detail, would ya?"

"As I said I gave my word not to tell."

"So you do know?"

"Yes but I can't tell."

"I can keep a secret you know."

"I don't care if your a Catholic priest, I'm not telling you any of the princess's secrets. She trusts me and I won't betray that trust, and if you have any decency you will respect that."

Angel wanted to argue further but Vaggie had a point. When a friend trusts you with a secret, provided of course that it's a non-dangerous one, then you must keep it no matter what. That's what true friends did.

"You're right." Angel said. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry it's just...Well...I never had any friends before and I really want to get to know you all."

"You..." She paused. "You want to be my friend? Even though I've killed hundreds of people and sexually harassed you?"

"As I said you're completely innocent of everything you did while wearing that collar. And you didn't go too far with the harassment part so being near you doesn't freak me out. Actually what you did was minor compared to..." He trailed off.

"Compared to what?" Vaggie inquired.

For a moment he looked very ashamed.

"It's not important." He said. "Just remember this sweet wings, you're not the only person in the world who's had no say in things that ya did."

His words caused Vaggie's curiosity to become peeked but she had never been one to pressure someone into revealing secrets or stick her nose where it didn't belong. So she would repress her curiosity and respect Angel's privacy.

"It's really late." She said. "We should probably go to sleep now."

"Good idea."

They continued on to the camp. Angel laid down close to the fire while Vaggie approached the tent. She paused at the entrance.

"Angel." She said.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Before, I've never had any friends either, so thank you." She smiled softly.

"You're welcome." He blushed, then smiled nervously with finger guns. "Hey anytime…Babe."

Vaggie rolled her good eye amused and finally entered the tent.

"Aww shit, did I actually call her babe?" Angel said embarrassed.