Revenge of the Rogue Angel.

Chapter 53-- And so it begins...

Chapter 53--And so it begins...

Guardonian Earth-base:

The friends gathered together, much as they had done prior to their very first earth visits; it seemed incredible that they had been in Guardonia for little over three years in total and yet, so much had happened in one respect and time had flown on the other hand.

Kirsty and Josh had been accepted back into the friendship group eventually; Casey, Laura and Aaron still mistrusted them both, as did Deus and Lacerta to some extent, as they were often secretive and to be found whispering in corners on more than one occassion but the rest of the group just shrugged it off as a completely different type of relationship than she had experienced with Mundati, or Christian as he was then known.

The group sat much as they used to, drinking lattes and white chocolate mochas, trying to be as nonchalant as they could manage about tonights impending battles.

They were divided in their opinions; some, like Mundati, Laura, Casey and Angel felt that War was imminent and that Destrodia wouldn't back down at the last minute.

Others in the group, Kirsty and Josh included, as well as Ana and Tom felt the battle would be called off by Guardonia requesting some time to mediate and find a common ground.

Secretly, Mundati felt, as he had confided to Catelyn in the privacy of their apartment, still shared with Adriano and now Star too, that it was slightly dishonourable towards Guardonia thinking they would back down from the very challenge that they had issued but, as Catelyn admitted herself, she really hadn't been there long enough to have a valid opinion although she did feel it was kind of a weird reaction to have. She was still counting her blessings at firstly having met Mundati and secondly being given a new life in Guardonia; as long as that didn't come under threat, she was perfectly happy to let Mundati protect her in any way he did.

Unlike Destrodia, the Guardonians did honour their females and ensure they were treated in a gentlemanly fashion at all times but they were also allowed to fight on the frontline should they wish to do so. Both Mundati and Catelyn were secretly glad that she was too inexperienced in both combat and magix to contemplate this option, instead deciding to work in the well-equipped and hopefully safe environment of the medical wards.

Mundati had yet to decide what he was going to do about their recent discovery of Pictors' double-agent role; it would be impossible to outright accuse him of treacherous behaviour but they were all at risk should he even be contemplating defecting.

After a sleepless night, Lacerta had convinced him to tell Deus and Catelyn, which was an emotive conversation in itself.

Deus was highly loyal to Pictor because, after all, he had allowed Deus to 'change sides', become a valued member of the Guardonian hierarchy and marry Lacerta too. Although it never crossed his mind to disbelieve his wife and their adopted 'little-bro', he would never had doubted Pictor whatsoever and could think of far more likely candidates to double-cross them.

That said, he knew what a wizard Mundati was with both technical and magix related systems and if he had said that only Pictor had accessed the secure area, then Deus believed him 100%.

The main sticking point was what to do with the information and it was here that the group was divided; Mundati, in his boyish exuberance, wanted to challenge the man himself and see if he could justify himself, whereas Deus, having a lot more experience, suggested they hang tight and see what transpired, acting later if it became necessary. Both of the girls agreed with this approach too, which Mundati had to admit was the sensible thing to do, despite his wish to expose Pictors' relationship to Malum.