Picking Up The Pieces

22. Earthly Teachings

   "And... done!" Azulan said excitedly, removing his paintbrush from my back. "Don't move though! I need to record it in the book." I did what he asked and heard him sketching fervently, occasionally using some of the bioluminescent dye to show the color. "You're good now!"

"What does it look like?" I asked him curiously, and he presented the picture. I had to hold back a gasp. The design was beautiful. It was like a tattoo, but it wasn't. It looked similar to Henna, but from what the Centaurian had told me, it would only appear with black lighting, or whenever my emotions were high. "Woah..."

"You like it?" Azulan asked me, showing a few fangs with his wide smile. I nodded in astonishment. "I must say, this probably is my best work. I say that to all customers, but this time I mean it."

"I can't thank you enough," I gushed. "Even though I was kind of forced to be here, but I never expected to receive something so beautiful." I reached backward to touch the art on my back, but Azulan slapped my hand away.

"Don't touch!" he warned. "The ink will stain your hands." I nodded, and Azulan started to put away his tools. "I can't thank you enough for coming," he told me. "Less and less people come every day now, especially since..."

"Since what?" I asked him. Azulan rubbed his hands against each other. "Azulan, since what?"

"I can't say his name," he said, looking around as if someone was coming for him. "But there's someone coming. Someone awful. He's been waiting for a long time, and he's becoming restless." I guess he was talking about some enemy on his planet. "Miss Gamora is with you; you can ask her." Azulan straightened himself. "Anyways, the job is finished. It's time Mr Quill gets the information he wanted. Marnin!" he yelled, and the other Centaurian swam into the house hurriedly.

"Yes, Mr Azulan?" he asked, panting.

"Go fetch Mr Quill," Azulan told him, and Marnin swam off. "Marnin needed a favor a long time ago," he explained. "Information on his parents. I told him that if he served under me for two years, I would give it to him."

"How do you get this information?" I asked him, a little suspicious. "If you don't leave the house, what is your source?"

"From the other people who come to see me," he laughed. "You saw my art book; many people come from across the galaxy to take a piece back to their home. Even the grand Ayesha visited with one of her handmaidens." Azulan swam back to his art book and showed me the front cover. I saw a gold shoulder with what looked like the sun painted on. "She insisted on her species being the front cover," he chuckled. "But the information she gave me was very unique."

As if on cue, Quill stumbled inside the room, accidentally crashing into a bookshelf. and looked back at Azulan, who set his prized book down, not amused. "You know," he told me. "I think I prefer Terran-Kree mixes over the other ones." I looked at him strangely as Quill gathered his bearings.

"Quill isn't a full human?" I said, unaware of this. I turned my attention back to the Guardian. "You told me you were human!"

"Half human," he said in his defense. "I don't know the other part."

"Which is why you are here, Mr Quill," Azulan reminded him, his fingers twitching as he tried to keep himself from fixing his precious art pieces which had fallen on the ground. "To-"

"To get information on my father," Quill interrupted, annoyed. "You know who he is."

"I do," Azulan agreed, sitting down beside me. "I only know his name, but not where he is or what he is."