Guys, for the next few chaps, Angelica's voice will have her monologues throughout the flashback. Bold letters will indicate her monologues. ^^

This adds some drama to this~

~~~

Angelica sighs, "That's how I met Bernardo. Then everything else followed. He took me, and brought me to the mansion." She says.

"Didn't anything happen between you two on the way?" Asks Felicita with a puzzled look.

"Nothing. But we did trade information about each other." Angelica replies calmly. "Surprisingly, we did developed feelings for each other." She adds with a pained face.

"How did that happen?" Asked Luca with his arms crossed.

The woman shrugs, "Love works in mysterious ways. Ways that even you cannot comprehend." The others muttered among themselves until Angelica interrupts their thoughts with a sigh, "But in my opinion. . . love could be. . . a pain."

Her friends were immediately wide-eyed at her words. After her kidnappoing, her attitude and outlook at things had drastically changed. The trauma must have taken a toll on her. They couldn't believe the words that have been spoken out of her mouth. Did her kidnappers do something to the gypsy whose smile had never faded before? Had they said something that changed her outlook in things?

But what about her earlier rescue? She had saved Felicita and her unit with no problem. It was almost as if she had complete control over her emotions. Angelica had grown cold and pessimistic, but her words of wisdom were still there. And strangely, she actually kept distance from them after the rescue. What had happened?

"H-How could you say that??" Felicita bursts in disbelief. "Y-You can't mean those words!"

"And what if I did?"

"Angelica. . ." Thought Pace.

Jolly frowns, "Something definitely triggered her change of character." He thought, "What is in her head?"

"Angelica, why-"

"You will know once you hear the rest of my confession." The woman interrupts Felicita.
The others stay silent as they stared into Angelica's cold dark violet eyes. The warmth seemed to have faded a little. But enough to be noticeable. Her smile had faded from her face. Debito stared intently at Angelica, his forehead crumpled into a scowl. He himself was shocked. Debito realized that his efforts to make her fall for him weren't enough. Not enough at all.

Mondo clears his throat, interrupting everyone's thoughts, "Could you please continue?" He asks.

She takes a deep breath before explaining anything else. Sumire saw the pressure Angelica was in, she sympathized the girl knowing that she herself was a product of prostitution. A child of a prostitute. Sumire realized that Angelica has been hiding her true feelings ever since they had met. She was never ready to reveal her secrets.

"As I have mentioned before we got. . Interested in getting to know wach other, so we exchanged information. . ."

****Flashback****

Night falls as the first stars appeared on the dark sky. The owl's hoot echoed through the forest. Leaves rustled as the wind passed by. Pounding hooves sounded as his horse sauntered through the forest under the moonlight. It neigh at the sight of a bat, but her rider quickly calmed her.

"We'll be staying at an inn." Bernardo tells the girl as he steered his horse to avoid a tree branch.

"I understand." Angelica replied in a monotony voice.

At this point, at the point of turning into a prostitute, I finally thought that I should forget about having a life. Forget about everything. Forget about love.

He halts his horse, "For a girl who attacked me on stage, you seem too quiet to be her." The man remarks.

"Mm."

"Is something the matter, Angelica?" He asked.

"I'm pretty surprised that you didn't even tie me up, or even see the need to haul me into that prostitution house." She calmly remarked, avoiding his earlier question, "Even more so letting a future prostitute ride behind you."

"Heh. You aren't retaliating are you? I don't see the need." Bernardo replies with a smirk on his face.

"And if I did?"

"Things would get ugly then." He said rather enthusiastically.

"Of course it will. . Idiot."

"Rather sharp tongued I see." Bernardo remarks sarcastically, kicking the sides of the horse, causing it to move forward.

"I could be sharp tongued if I want to." Angelica answers nonchalantly.

He chuckles, "I see." The man replies. "You still haven't answered my earlier question."

"Question?"

"The 'what is bothering you' question." He replied.

"Why should I bother answering that?" She asks replies bluntly, "Why would I man such as yourself bother asking a slave what's bothering her?"

"Is there something wrong with asking?" He asks, getting irritated by her elusive nature.

"I guess not."

"Then could I have a proper answer?"

Angelica scowls, "You sure are confident about me listening to you." She remarks.

"Of course. All the women are infatuated with me."

"Disgusting."

He laughs, "And you will, too, Angieletto."

Italian endearment of "angel"

"You porca miseria!" She hisses. Bernardo simply laughs and the two went their way.

Miserable pig in Italian

********

Angelica sighs as she sat on the soft bed. She was already wearing her nightgown, feeling tired like this was new. But she quickly scowls, her fists clenched. The girl became agitated when she found out the Bernardo had only rented one room for both of them to stay in. The thought of sleeping in the same room as the wolf was revolting. And about the earlier question he had asked her, she refused. She refused to answer him and he simply gave up.

The room they were in was surprisingly fancy. A single bed, dresser, a bathroom. Even a balcony with a table with chairs. She wondered if he was choosy. Despite the nice room, itt actually made Angelica more upset than happy. It reminded her of home.

A door slams. Turning to the sound, Angelica caught sight of Bernardo bringing in a woman with him, "What are you doing, Bernardo?" Angelica asks coldly. "And to think you rented only one room." She adds, clearly disgusted with him.

"People such as myself don't need to worry about a slave do I?" He asks with a smirk plastered on his face.

"Then I'll be leaving you two alone." She replies darkly, turning to the door. Walking briskly to the door, Angelica heard the bed sheets rustle on the bed. Her hand on the door handle, she she pushes it down, only to be restrained by the man.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bernardo asks her, his smirk grow louder.

"I'll be leaving you two alone then-" Angelica suddenly felt an arm snake around her stomach and her arm held high. Glancing behind her she saw the man responsible of restraining her.

"You aren't going anywhere. And to top that. . . You'll watch us have fun." He leers at her.

Her eyes widen in this then it changed into a scowl. The man was despicable. She lifts a leg and dropped it with full force. Bernardo winces in agony as Angelica continued to lash at him. He avoids every kick she sent him. Flustered, Bernardo dodges the girl and decides that they stop fighting. The woman he had brought in earlier screams and hid herself in the bathroom. As she continued to lash at him, Angelica realized that the man seemed to have already recovered from the earlier blows and was resorting to stopping her. He did just that. And the girl found herself tied up as she listened to the girl's giggling and moaning.

"Are you awake?" Angelica heard the man ask. There was no response. Her ears listen to the shuffling on the bed.

She has been lying on the floor for several hours. Her wrists tied to the leg of the bed. Angelica actually tried to force herself to sleep, but the noises of Bernardo and his woman were pretty annoying. And it kwpt her up all night. The girl glances at the balcony. It was covered by curtains, but no light seemed to seep through so it was still nighttime.

"I need to go home." The girl's voice spoke finally.

"I see."

"Goodbye." Footsteps. Then she hears the door close.

Angelica sighs in relief and closes her eyes to rest her heavy eyes. She hears shuffling on the bed. "Bernardo seems restless." She thought. Feeling drowsy, Angelica succumbs into a deep sleep.

She awakes with a start at the touch of lips on her neck. Her eyes adjusts to the darkness and realizes that Bernardo was in front of her, caressing her neck. She grunts in anger when she found herself on the bed, but her wrists were tied to the head of the bed. Angelica realized that Bernardo must have transferred her there. Glancing on her chest, she saw that her dress was lowered and her chest was practically showing. The girl adjusts her position by lifting herself, but sje realized that this was a mistake.

"What are you doing??" She fumed as the man sniff her slender neck.

"This is practice for you." He leers, "Telling by your looks, you'll most likely be picked by the customers."

"Enough already!" Angelica yells angrily.

"And besides. . . the ladies I find will always have me be their first." He tells her as he places butterfly kisses on her neck.

"Tch. Get off me!" Growled the girl.

"So annoying mouth." Remarked Bernardo and suddenly places his lips on Angelica's. Her eyes widen in shock as she recalled a similar situation before. Tears started to swell in her eyes, causing Bernardo to stop.

"Why are you crying?" He asks playfully, "Do you want it more passionate?"

"Stop." She tells him bluntly. "Enough already."

He chuckles, "I assume that something like this happened before, right?" The man asks.

Angelica remains silent, letting the tears stream dowm her face. Suddenly she felt the tie on her lips loosen, surprising her. His hand wipes the tears from her eyes, then was followed by a kiss on her lips. She felt herself get pulled up into a sitting position. Bernardo's eyes suddenly embrace the girl, shocking her. His arms were strong. Strong enough to protect the woman of his desire.

"Whenever I'm at the mansion. . . You're mine." He tells her sharply. His embrace tightening.

"I. . . I understand."

And just as he said, I was brought to the mansion. The men were immediately swooned by the sight of me. My arrival caused a commotion with which I couldn't understand.

****End of flashback****

The clock ticks away as silence lingered around the room for a moment. Felicita couldn't take her green orbs offf of Angelica and the same went for the others. Sumire watches the embarrassed look on the woman's face. She didn't want Angelica to force herself to tell them her story. "You don't have to force yourself into telling us you know." She says to the former prostitute.

"'The truth will set you free.'" Quotes Angelica, "I have to."

Felicita decides to take a peek into her friend's heart to see what she was thinking. She gasps at the result. "No. . You can't, Angelica!" Felicita's voice screams in her head.

"Before we continue," starts Jolly, "I have been wondering why you were able to control your powers with little practice. Some of us took weeks, or even years to master our Arcana powers."

Angelica raises her eyebrow, "Isn't the answer to that pretty obvious? I have full control over my emotions, I am not-never was I confused over my feelings." She corrects herself.

"Full. . . Control. . . ?" Thought Felicita.

"Am I correct?" Asks Angelica, "The strength and the stability of your powers will vary based on your control of your emotions. The more confused you are, the less control you have over your powers."

Mondo's eyes widen at this, "You're pretty well informed."

"But my assumption is correct isn't it?"

"Wait. No one told you??" Asked a shocked Luca.

"Did you asked La Stella?" Asks Debito.

"I figured it out," replied Angelica, "It was the only way to control my powers."