As you (should) know, this is my second full-scale Beyblade fic. In fact,
it's the sequel to my first one, The Hilanov Prophecy, so this would be The
Hilanov Prophecy 2: V Force. So, without further ado, let us begin!
==============
"Nine months and progressing as planned, sir."
"Good. Let us have a look?"
The scientist moved out of the way to allow a clear view for him. The man analyzed the object suspended in the middle of the reddish liquid in a large tube near the stone wall. The object was a young child, though not yet born. Its umbilical cord extended through the liquid to the platform at the top of the tube.
"One more week's gestation and it's ready to be brought out into this world," the scientist added.
The man stood back up at full height. "What about the other one?"
"The female?"
"Yes. Is she in the same league?"
"Precisely. Since conceived at the same time, they are both, to our surprise, thriving well with no problems occurring or that we can see occurring."
"You and Irina truly are geniuses. Without your leadership for your team of scientists, we would never have had this formula. But you're sure that their abnormal growth will stop when they're born?"
The woman nodded. "Yes. We'll just have to make sure we keep giving them the formula for as long as we want them to grow. If they get a serving at every meal, their growth time should elapse one month into one day until we reach the desired age to begin training them."
"Excellent. Any idea on names for them yet?"
The woman glanced wistfully at the tube containing the unborn baby. "Well, Irina suggested that we have their parents name them, instead of giving them our usual scientific acronyms. The only problem with that is..."
"Both of his parents aren't here and only one of hers is. Her father doesn't even know about this experiment, does he, so that doesn't help..." he concluded.
"No." She stared absently at the floor, her eyes watering. "I just hope her father will live to see her..."
The man reached out and extended an arm around her sulking shoulders. "That's the way life is. I'm truly sorry about your loss. She meant everything to me, too. At least Alexander, Rhea, and Samson are there to mourn her."
"Anya never knew the actual truth about Alex..."
"I now feel that I should have told her."
The woman raised her head again. "Will the Hilanovs know?"
****
THE HILANOV PROPHECY 2: V FORCE
****
1. Prologue
Receiving command...
Searching databases...
Search results: eleven megabytes found...displaying information...
"Kenny here."
"Don't forget the all-important Bit Beast!"
"And Dizzi. So, here's the recap of what's happened recently. Last year, the Bladebreakers participated in the Russian World Finals, and they won with flying colours. Shortly after that, we found that the girl, Kochab that we had allowed to travel with our Bladebreakers team wasn't really who we thought she was. She turned out to be a girl from Kai's past at the Abbey and she was the leader of a team called the Celestial Myriad. We were embarrassed when we found that out, but learning that the other teams had also been deceived by the Myriad made us feel a little better..."
"I knew there was something fishy about them all along, but does anyone listen to the Bit Beast trapped in the computer? No..."
"Moving on... The Celestial Myriad and the Bladebreakers faced each other in a default tournament where we were defeated badly. The Myriad moved on to face a team called the Blade Sovereign, who were none other than Kai, Tala, Sarah, and Eva's older siblings. Of course, the Myriad won again, but then things got weird with the next team they faced after that; Vitality Extortion.
"They were a truly powerful team that would do anything to achieve a win including harming the opposing Beyblader with their strange Bit Beasts which were the souls of actual humans, we later learned. The souls of Tala's father and both of Kai's parents, to be exact. All three were deceased."
"If I may continue, Kenny? Vitality Extortion worked for a company called Goadbwa, and under the command of Boris' old colleague, Gilepse, they challenged Enrique, Eddy, and Kevin to a battle after which they stole their souls. At that point, the BBA and Biovolt syndicated to create one powerful force against Goadbwa Enterprises."
"We found an old prophecy underneath the grounds of Balkov Abbey that suggested Kai, Tala, and Sarah as the ones chosen since the beginning of time to lead the fight against Vitality Extortion and Goadbwa. They became the ones that led us to victory after many difficult battles. Many trainees were lost on both side, including Spica, Telesto, and Kuiper of Vitality Extortion themselves. Ophelia and Gilepse on the side of Goadbwa were also lost, while on the side of Biovolt and the BBA, Kieran and Anya failed to return from the field alive. The Hiwatari family also gave us a scare, with Rhea becoming possessed by the extra soul lurking within her since she was seven years old. As for Voltaire, he was loyal to neither side, being the vice president for both major companies and then turning to Goadbwa by almost killing his own grandson and Sarah. But then Kai turned on him, and now we no longer have to worry about Voltaire. We were all quite shaken after Tala's numerous malfunctions."
"But our venture wasn't over yet. After that, the Bladebreakers were confronted with the challenges of Team Psykick and the Saint Shields. What would they have done without Hillary, you and I, huh?"
"It becomes hard to imagine, Dizzi. But now that we've faced King, Queen, Zeo, Gordo, Zaggart, Dr. K, Gideon and Dr. B, we're pretty much off the hook as far as we know. As for the Celestial Myriad, Demolition Boys, All Starz and the rest of them, they're in their home countries, resting, including Rhea and Samson. It sure would be nice to see them again, though-- things are getting boring here in Japan."
****
Dejected and tired, the black-haired woman sat staring out the plane's window. The tray of airline food lay in her lap, untouched. It would probably poison her, anyway.
"How could he do that to me?" she muttered to herself as she watched the greenery below. "I was his best researcher. I could have helped that kid win that battle against the Bladebreakers. It's just unfair."
She took her head away from resting it against the chair and looked straight ahead at the man's head in front of her. She reached into her purse and brought out a mirror and lipstick, applying it carefully to her lips. She examined her face in the small pocket mirror before closing it and turning back to the window.
"Even though the company's gone down, I know he will have something for me to do in Russia. And even if he doesn't, he'll fire someone to make room for one precious to him as I...I can help him rebuild the company." Through the window, she saw the night lights of Moscow. "Though maybe I should have kept contacts with him over the time we've been away..."
****
"This is pointless. I can't concentrate." He dropped the pencil on the desk in front of him and looked at the small picture frame on his desk, hidden well so that only he would know it was there.
He picked it up and stared at the smiling faces in the picture. They were all overjoyed and proud, as if they had just saved the world from ultimate destruction and were being praised for it, which they were. They were each still in bloodied uniform with horrible wounds that should have killed them, but hadn't.
He set the picture down again, unable to look at it anymore as his eyes were becoming watery, and if anyone was about to march in, he wanted to be seen as merely doing his homework, not sulking over his past. He sat back in his chair and raised his head to look directly at the ceiling, closing his eyes to blink away the tears.
"Kai?"
Kai brought his head back down and whipped around in his chair to face the boy that had just entered through the doorway. The boy closed the door behind him and moved towards where Kai sat.
"What were you doing just sitting there and staring at the ceiling? I thought you said you were doing your homework?"
Kai moved closer to the desk and hunched over his work once more. "I am. Leave me alone."
"I just wanted to ask for your help. I don't quite understand this math question, see, and I knew you would know, so-"
"I'm busy, Wyatt."
"You weren't busy a moment before."
"I was thinking."
"About what? Don't you daydream enough in class?"
Kai didn't reply, but kept staring at his work, unblinkingly. He didn't intend to write anything, nor was he reading it, he just needed a place to stare at until he could think of something sensible to say.
Wyatt noticed his sudden reticence. "Is there something wrong, Kai? Was it something I said? Because you know I wouldn't mean to say anything hurtful to-"
"I know."
Wyatt almost sighed in relief. "Oh... Good. Uh, well, then I'll just..." he swivelled away on the ball of his foot and sauntered with his math paper towards the door. "I'll just leave you in peace, Kai. I'll... see you later..."
The door closed quietly behind him, as Kai continued to stare absently at his papers. As he breathed in, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest where the gunshot wound his grandfather had given him had once been. He winced in agony and looked at the picture again.
"Maybe there is something wrong with me..." he grunted.
****
"That one looks like an elephant, doesn't it?"
"Cat."
"Since when do cats have huge ears?"
"It looks like a cat!"
"Elephant!"
"Cat!"
"It's a capybara, alright?" Philemon sighed to quiet the quarrelling Elvin and Eva.
"What's a catybaba?" questioned Elvin. "You're being nerdy again, Philemon."
"Capybara," Philemon corrected. "It's the largest species of rodent."
"Wow, Philemon, and I thought that brain of yours was only taking up space in there," Eva jested with a smirk.
For a while, the four were quiet as they lay on their backs watching the clouds pass overhead. Eva then broke the reticence with a long sigh.
"It sure is good to be back in Canada, isn't it? It was too cold in Russia for me."
Elvin chuckled. "You call that cold? What a wimp-"
"Well sorry, but we're not all as cold-resistant as you, Elvin," Sarah said flatly.
The three turned their heads to her.
"What's up with you?" Elvin demanded.
"The usual. Her psycho problems again," Philemon groaned.
Eva leapt to her defence. "Hey, leave her alone, guys! If you two rats have noticed, she's been down the past few days! You all know I have, too."
"Down about what? She's no longer with Kai and Tala? What about him? And Eva-you don't seem so down. In fact you seem to be happier these days than when he was alive." Elvin taunted.
"I'm trying to put my past behind me. The only way I can keep myself from crying all the time is to think of the happy things and not Kieran's death before my eyes."
"Tell us exactly how it happened again, will you?" Elvin pressed.
Philemon glanced to Elvin and interrupted Eva's sigh with, "Who's 'him'?"
Elvin smirked and closed his eyes, remembering that day, obviously taking Philemon's hint to drop the depressing subject. "You know, that team that we battled a couple of weeks ago-the one that was travelling around the world to learn about different cultures and blading styles?"
Philemon and Eva stared blankly upward for a moment before it dawned on them.
"Oh! Of course!" Philemon relished with a laugh.
Eva's sullen face became a grin and she looked to Sarah. "How could I forget something like that?"
Sarah blushed and glared angrily at the clouds. "Come on, you know it didn't mean anything."
"That's what they all say!" the three chorused in unison.
"There had to be some reason why he wished you good luck and not me!" Eva added.
"Because she's a guy magnet, as you said, Eva!" Elvin chanted, rolling over onto his stomach and resting his chin on his arms.
"What?!"
"Euh, Elvin, you realize the 'guy' category also fits us," Philemon pointed out dully. "And believe me, that's not why I'm on the team."
Elvin replied without hesitation. "I'm a girl, not a guy!"
Eva gave him a disgusted look. "You're a disgrace to girls everywhere, then..."
"But seriously," Philemon continued, sitting up and crossing his legs. "Not every guy would do that, you know. He could have just been a lady-charmer like that flirt, Enrique-but then why didn't he do the same to Eva?"
"Leave me out of this!" cried Eva.
"Why? Because you're jealous?" Elvin jeered.
"Ew, no!"
Philemon adjusted his glasses. "Let us think of why the 'travelling' team functions in the way they do by recalling the day this incident happened. First of all, we were Beyblading among ourselves, minding our own business."
(A/N: One of those flashback things- Philemon and Eva are standing on either side of a dish and battling in field with hill and playground and it's sunset)
"Go Pegusar! You can take him!"
"We can't lose to a girl, Lephar!"
Philemon continued with his retelling. "When all of a sudden, these four kids came up to us and said we looked like pretty good bladers."
"The blue-haired one that we supposed was their leader extended his hand towards Sarah to challenge her," added Elvin. "And she agreed, so they fought."
"And of course, Sarah won," Eva joined in.
"Um-hm," Philemon nodded. "Unbelievable as it is."
"Hey! You almost lost your battle!" Sarah interjected.
"Then Eva battled the red-head and only girl, Elvin, you battled the tall black-haired one, and I battled the shrimpy blond. We each won our respective battles with no problems."
"Then they told us their life story," Eva groaned. "They said their names were Kane, Salima, Jim, and Goki."
"Those were some great battles, I don't think we've ever met anyone as strong before," Salima congratulated.
Then Jim intercepted. "Hey-haven't I seen you before? Your face looks familiar," he said, pointing to Sarah.
"Who? Me?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it, you're right, Jim. She was on TV, or something, wasn't she?" concurred Goki.
"Oh, now I remember! She was one of those Hilanov people! The ones that saved the world from utter disaster!" exclaimed Salima. "Wow, to be in the presence of someone that important!"
"Me? Important? No, that was just by chance I was one of the prophesied ones..." Sarah drawled in embarrassment as she waved her hand dismissively.
"Yeah-sure!" Eva said with a smile.
"At that point, Kane stepped forward to shake hands," explained Philemon.
Kane moved closer to the Celestial Myriad and extended his arm. "As Salima said, good battle."
"The rest of the team did the same, and we each shook with the one we battled."
Elvin chimed in. "Yeah-and then it happened."
Eva had sat up by now, leaving only Sarah on her back to stare at the clouds. "Sarah was about to let go of Kane's hand but he didn't let go and- "
"Yah! Be quiet, all of you! It meant nothing!" Sarah yelled, leaping up and running down the hill, away from them.
The three each leant toward the middle and said in one hushed voice altogether, "He kissed her!"
****
He lay sleeplessly awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He tore his eyes away from it and turned to where the source of his teammates' snores came from. Each were sound asleep in their beds except for him. He fixed his eyes on the wall, where shadows of flying birds cast themselves from the light of the window. The shadows took different shapes than birds as he stared at them.
"Anya..." he whispered. He glared with tearless eyes for a while longer at the symbolic shadow before blinking. "It's hard to believe she's really gone," he continued in the same quiet tone. "I never really knew her, come to think of it, so why am I so emotional now? The first time I remember meeting her was soon after Kai and Sarah ran away from the Abbey all those years ago... She was the one who came to me and acted like my big sister, though I didn't know it at the time. We were only close friends for a short time before I began to find her annoying and Ian chased her away. Then, what a shock it was six years later when I found out that she really was my older sister. She became one of the deploys, and she helped me through a lot before, during, and after the battles.
"But I'll never forget the talk that I had with mom and her the day I short-circuited and had to undergo reprogramming. She said, 'Don't worry, Mom. I'll always be here for you. I'm not going to die on you.' But she broke her promise. She died. A Hiwatari-Voltaire Hiwatari killed her. One bullet to the head and she was out like a light, leaving Samson, mom and I to weep over her grave behind Balkov Abbey. She broke her stupid promise. I didn't make one, and I'm still alive. Why-I don't know. Seems I'm only here to waste away-no one to live for-nothing to live for. Tomorrow I'm going to wipe myself off this earth by taking one of the guard's guns and-"
He was interrupted by a loud crash that seemed to shake the very floor of the Abbey. He sat bolt upright, glancing at the other three, miraculously still sound asleep.
Tala leapt out of bed and looked out the window. Across the courtyard, screams could be heard and something bright and orange was rearing in the downstairs window. "Fire..."
He ran out of the room, throwing the door open. He looked from side to side in the hall, trying to think of the fastest way to get to the testing labs where the distress was. He took off to the left where the staircase was a few doors down. One trainee came out of his room and stepped in front of Tala unconsciously.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, kid!"
The boy looked up groggily. "Oh... Sorry, Tala. I was just woken up by a loud sound and I came out into the hall to find out what it was..."
"I think there's a fire in the Abbey, but don't go spreading it around in a panic. I want you to wake up everyone on this floor, just in case, okay? I'm going to go check it out."
***
"Here we are, miss..."
"Thank you," she said gruffly as she unbuckled her seatbelt, gathered her things and stepped out of the helicopter. Her long hair whipped around in the zephyr of wind caused by the rotating blades as she watched the aircraft rise and move out of sight.
She scrutinized the area. The ground was snow covered, and a gust of icy air made her clutch her coat closer to her with her single hand that wasn't occupied with her luggage. She advanced slowly forward across the patterned stones towards the castle that loomed before her. Coming to the large wooden doors, she put her luggage down and reached for the button on the intercom.
"This is Ms. Galsky speaking. I'm here to see Gilepse."
She took her finger off the button and stood back to await a reply, but none came. She pressed the button again. "I repeat, you have Ms. Galsky at your front doors. I'm here to see Gilepse."
Again, she stepped back and held back a temper for a few seconds before she pounded an angered fist against the door. "Open up and let me in!"
When the innards of the building remained silent, she picked up her luggage, reached for the doorhandle and yanked on it, being utterly surprised when it flew open in her grip. She stared at the brass handle in wonder for a moment before giving a short, "hmph" and strolling regally inside.
She gazed around the circular room at the tapestry that covered the walls. It seemed to depict the events of all that had happened to the company since its founding in the 1980s. There were two people shaking hands to mark its beginning, then numerous inventions, revolts, and triumphs, and then, nearing the end of the fabric were recent happenings- what looked like a war. The war was between two sides and two sides only- this company itself and then another that she couldn't quite recognize except that they seemed to be the "evil" side. They seemed to be just normal Beybattles until her eyes strayed to the very end of the tapestry- impalements, beheadings, bullets, and drownings-and they all seemed to be from this side, too.
"This must have been why the company fell... Gilepse went into a depression after seeing so much death occur from... hey... wasn't this in the news a couple of months back?" she muttered to herself. "Something about the Biovolt Corporation and Goadbwa Enterprises having a row over the right to use human souls as Bit Beasts... They must've gone all-out over it. It all seems pointless to me..."
She looked to the second door that seemed to lead to the rest of the castle. "Maybe I'll find some civilization there," she mused, picking up her bags again and opening the heavy wooden door, again, with ease. Just to be heard, she slammed the door noisily behind her.
She listened to its echo reverberate off of the red sandstone walls, but there were no footsteps or signs that anyone had heard and was coming. She dropped her bags to the floor, creating another loud noise. "Hello? Is anybody in here?" she yelled. "I'm here to speak to Gilepse and I am Katherine Galsky, his daughter!"
~~~~
Thank you for reading, NOW REVIEW! (sorry, been watching to much Azumanga Daioh lately)
==============
"Nine months and progressing as planned, sir."
"Good. Let us have a look?"
The scientist moved out of the way to allow a clear view for him. The man analyzed the object suspended in the middle of the reddish liquid in a large tube near the stone wall. The object was a young child, though not yet born. Its umbilical cord extended through the liquid to the platform at the top of the tube.
"One more week's gestation and it's ready to be brought out into this world," the scientist added.
The man stood back up at full height. "What about the other one?"
"The female?"
"Yes. Is she in the same league?"
"Precisely. Since conceived at the same time, they are both, to our surprise, thriving well with no problems occurring or that we can see occurring."
"You and Irina truly are geniuses. Without your leadership for your team of scientists, we would never have had this formula. But you're sure that their abnormal growth will stop when they're born?"
The woman nodded. "Yes. We'll just have to make sure we keep giving them the formula for as long as we want them to grow. If they get a serving at every meal, their growth time should elapse one month into one day until we reach the desired age to begin training them."
"Excellent. Any idea on names for them yet?"
The woman glanced wistfully at the tube containing the unborn baby. "Well, Irina suggested that we have their parents name them, instead of giving them our usual scientific acronyms. The only problem with that is..."
"Both of his parents aren't here and only one of hers is. Her father doesn't even know about this experiment, does he, so that doesn't help..." he concluded.
"No." She stared absently at the floor, her eyes watering. "I just hope her father will live to see her..."
The man reached out and extended an arm around her sulking shoulders. "That's the way life is. I'm truly sorry about your loss. She meant everything to me, too. At least Alexander, Rhea, and Samson are there to mourn her."
"Anya never knew the actual truth about Alex..."
"I now feel that I should have told her."
The woman raised her head again. "Will the Hilanovs know?"
****
THE HILANOV PROPHECY 2: V FORCE
****
1. Prologue
Receiving command...
Searching databases...
Search results: eleven megabytes found...displaying information...
"Kenny here."
"Don't forget the all-important Bit Beast!"
"And Dizzi. So, here's the recap of what's happened recently. Last year, the Bladebreakers participated in the Russian World Finals, and they won with flying colours. Shortly after that, we found that the girl, Kochab that we had allowed to travel with our Bladebreakers team wasn't really who we thought she was. She turned out to be a girl from Kai's past at the Abbey and she was the leader of a team called the Celestial Myriad. We were embarrassed when we found that out, but learning that the other teams had also been deceived by the Myriad made us feel a little better..."
"I knew there was something fishy about them all along, but does anyone listen to the Bit Beast trapped in the computer? No..."
"Moving on... The Celestial Myriad and the Bladebreakers faced each other in a default tournament where we were defeated badly. The Myriad moved on to face a team called the Blade Sovereign, who were none other than Kai, Tala, Sarah, and Eva's older siblings. Of course, the Myriad won again, but then things got weird with the next team they faced after that; Vitality Extortion.
"They were a truly powerful team that would do anything to achieve a win including harming the opposing Beyblader with their strange Bit Beasts which were the souls of actual humans, we later learned. The souls of Tala's father and both of Kai's parents, to be exact. All three were deceased."
"If I may continue, Kenny? Vitality Extortion worked for a company called Goadbwa, and under the command of Boris' old colleague, Gilepse, they challenged Enrique, Eddy, and Kevin to a battle after which they stole their souls. At that point, the BBA and Biovolt syndicated to create one powerful force against Goadbwa Enterprises."
"We found an old prophecy underneath the grounds of Balkov Abbey that suggested Kai, Tala, and Sarah as the ones chosen since the beginning of time to lead the fight against Vitality Extortion and Goadbwa. They became the ones that led us to victory after many difficult battles. Many trainees were lost on both side, including Spica, Telesto, and Kuiper of Vitality Extortion themselves. Ophelia and Gilepse on the side of Goadbwa were also lost, while on the side of Biovolt and the BBA, Kieran and Anya failed to return from the field alive. The Hiwatari family also gave us a scare, with Rhea becoming possessed by the extra soul lurking within her since she was seven years old. As for Voltaire, he was loyal to neither side, being the vice president for both major companies and then turning to Goadbwa by almost killing his own grandson and Sarah. But then Kai turned on him, and now we no longer have to worry about Voltaire. We were all quite shaken after Tala's numerous malfunctions."
"But our venture wasn't over yet. After that, the Bladebreakers were confronted with the challenges of Team Psykick and the Saint Shields. What would they have done without Hillary, you and I, huh?"
"It becomes hard to imagine, Dizzi. But now that we've faced King, Queen, Zeo, Gordo, Zaggart, Dr. K, Gideon and Dr. B, we're pretty much off the hook as far as we know. As for the Celestial Myriad, Demolition Boys, All Starz and the rest of them, they're in their home countries, resting, including Rhea and Samson. It sure would be nice to see them again, though-- things are getting boring here in Japan."
****
Dejected and tired, the black-haired woman sat staring out the plane's window. The tray of airline food lay in her lap, untouched. It would probably poison her, anyway.
"How could he do that to me?" she muttered to herself as she watched the greenery below. "I was his best researcher. I could have helped that kid win that battle against the Bladebreakers. It's just unfair."
She took her head away from resting it against the chair and looked straight ahead at the man's head in front of her. She reached into her purse and brought out a mirror and lipstick, applying it carefully to her lips. She examined her face in the small pocket mirror before closing it and turning back to the window.
"Even though the company's gone down, I know he will have something for me to do in Russia. And even if he doesn't, he'll fire someone to make room for one precious to him as I...I can help him rebuild the company." Through the window, she saw the night lights of Moscow. "Though maybe I should have kept contacts with him over the time we've been away..."
****
"This is pointless. I can't concentrate." He dropped the pencil on the desk in front of him and looked at the small picture frame on his desk, hidden well so that only he would know it was there.
He picked it up and stared at the smiling faces in the picture. They were all overjoyed and proud, as if they had just saved the world from ultimate destruction and were being praised for it, which they were. They were each still in bloodied uniform with horrible wounds that should have killed them, but hadn't.
He set the picture down again, unable to look at it anymore as his eyes were becoming watery, and if anyone was about to march in, he wanted to be seen as merely doing his homework, not sulking over his past. He sat back in his chair and raised his head to look directly at the ceiling, closing his eyes to blink away the tears.
"Kai?"
Kai brought his head back down and whipped around in his chair to face the boy that had just entered through the doorway. The boy closed the door behind him and moved towards where Kai sat.
"What were you doing just sitting there and staring at the ceiling? I thought you said you were doing your homework?"
Kai moved closer to the desk and hunched over his work once more. "I am. Leave me alone."
"I just wanted to ask for your help. I don't quite understand this math question, see, and I knew you would know, so-"
"I'm busy, Wyatt."
"You weren't busy a moment before."
"I was thinking."
"About what? Don't you daydream enough in class?"
Kai didn't reply, but kept staring at his work, unblinkingly. He didn't intend to write anything, nor was he reading it, he just needed a place to stare at until he could think of something sensible to say.
Wyatt noticed his sudden reticence. "Is there something wrong, Kai? Was it something I said? Because you know I wouldn't mean to say anything hurtful to-"
"I know."
Wyatt almost sighed in relief. "Oh... Good. Uh, well, then I'll just..." he swivelled away on the ball of his foot and sauntered with his math paper towards the door. "I'll just leave you in peace, Kai. I'll... see you later..."
The door closed quietly behind him, as Kai continued to stare absently at his papers. As he breathed in, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest where the gunshot wound his grandfather had given him had once been. He winced in agony and looked at the picture again.
"Maybe there is something wrong with me..." he grunted.
****
"That one looks like an elephant, doesn't it?"
"Cat."
"Since when do cats have huge ears?"
"It looks like a cat!"
"Elephant!"
"Cat!"
"It's a capybara, alright?" Philemon sighed to quiet the quarrelling Elvin and Eva.
"What's a catybaba?" questioned Elvin. "You're being nerdy again, Philemon."
"Capybara," Philemon corrected. "It's the largest species of rodent."
"Wow, Philemon, and I thought that brain of yours was only taking up space in there," Eva jested with a smirk.
For a while, the four were quiet as they lay on their backs watching the clouds pass overhead. Eva then broke the reticence with a long sigh.
"It sure is good to be back in Canada, isn't it? It was too cold in Russia for me."
Elvin chuckled. "You call that cold? What a wimp-"
"Well sorry, but we're not all as cold-resistant as you, Elvin," Sarah said flatly.
The three turned their heads to her.
"What's up with you?" Elvin demanded.
"The usual. Her psycho problems again," Philemon groaned.
Eva leapt to her defence. "Hey, leave her alone, guys! If you two rats have noticed, she's been down the past few days! You all know I have, too."
"Down about what? She's no longer with Kai and Tala? What about him? And Eva-you don't seem so down. In fact you seem to be happier these days than when he was alive." Elvin taunted.
"I'm trying to put my past behind me. The only way I can keep myself from crying all the time is to think of the happy things and not Kieran's death before my eyes."
"Tell us exactly how it happened again, will you?" Elvin pressed.
Philemon glanced to Elvin and interrupted Eva's sigh with, "Who's 'him'?"
Elvin smirked and closed his eyes, remembering that day, obviously taking Philemon's hint to drop the depressing subject. "You know, that team that we battled a couple of weeks ago-the one that was travelling around the world to learn about different cultures and blading styles?"
Philemon and Eva stared blankly upward for a moment before it dawned on them.
"Oh! Of course!" Philemon relished with a laugh.
Eva's sullen face became a grin and she looked to Sarah. "How could I forget something like that?"
Sarah blushed and glared angrily at the clouds. "Come on, you know it didn't mean anything."
"That's what they all say!" the three chorused in unison.
"There had to be some reason why he wished you good luck and not me!" Eva added.
"Because she's a guy magnet, as you said, Eva!" Elvin chanted, rolling over onto his stomach and resting his chin on his arms.
"What?!"
"Euh, Elvin, you realize the 'guy' category also fits us," Philemon pointed out dully. "And believe me, that's not why I'm on the team."
Elvin replied without hesitation. "I'm a girl, not a guy!"
Eva gave him a disgusted look. "You're a disgrace to girls everywhere, then..."
"But seriously," Philemon continued, sitting up and crossing his legs. "Not every guy would do that, you know. He could have just been a lady-charmer like that flirt, Enrique-but then why didn't he do the same to Eva?"
"Leave me out of this!" cried Eva.
"Why? Because you're jealous?" Elvin jeered.
"Ew, no!"
Philemon adjusted his glasses. "Let us think of why the 'travelling' team functions in the way they do by recalling the day this incident happened. First of all, we were Beyblading among ourselves, minding our own business."
(A/N: One of those flashback things- Philemon and Eva are standing on either side of a dish and battling in field with hill and playground and it's sunset)
"Go Pegusar! You can take him!"
"We can't lose to a girl, Lephar!"
Philemon continued with his retelling. "When all of a sudden, these four kids came up to us and said we looked like pretty good bladers."
"The blue-haired one that we supposed was their leader extended his hand towards Sarah to challenge her," added Elvin. "And she agreed, so they fought."
"And of course, Sarah won," Eva joined in.
"Um-hm," Philemon nodded. "Unbelievable as it is."
"Hey! You almost lost your battle!" Sarah interjected.
"Then Eva battled the red-head and only girl, Elvin, you battled the tall black-haired one, and I battled the shrimpy blond. We each won our respective battles with no problems."
"Then they told us their life story," Eva groaned. "They said their names were Kane, Salima, Jim, and Goki."
"Those were some great battles, I don't think we've ever met anyone as strong before," Salima congratulated.
Then Jim intercepted. "Hey-haven't I seen you before? Your face looks familiar," he said, pointing to Sarah.
"Who? Me?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it, you're right, Jim. She was on TV, or something, wasn't she?" concurred Goki.
"Oh, now I remember! She was one of those Hilanov people! The ones that saved the world from utter disaster!" exclaimed Salima. "Wow, to be in the presence of someone that important!"
"Me? Important? No, that was just by chance I was one of the prophesied ones..." Sarah drawled in embarrassment as she waved her hand dismissively.
"Yeah-sure!" Eva said with a smile.
"At that point, Kane stepped forward to shake hands," explained Philemon.
Kane moved closer to the Celestial Myriad and extended his arm. "As Salima said, good battle."
"The rest of the team did the same, and we each shook with the one we battled."
Elvin chimed in. "Yeah-and then it happened."
Eva had sat up by now, leaving only Sarah on her back to stare at the clouds. "Sarah was about to let go of Kane's hand but he didn't let go and- "
"Yah! Be quiet, all of you! It meant nothing!" Sarah yelled, leaping up and running down the hill, away from them.
The three each leant toward the middle and said in one hushed voice altogether, "He kissed her!"
****
He lay sleeplessly awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He tore his eyes away from it and turned to where the source of his teammates' snores came from. Each were sound asleep in their beds except for him. He fixed his eyes on the wall, where shadows of flying birds cast themselves from the light of the window. The shadows took different shapes than birds as he stared at them.
"Anya..." he whispered. He glared with tearless eyes for a while longer at the symbolic shadow before blinking. "It's hard to believe she's really gone," he continued in the same quiet tone. "I never really knew her, come to think of it, so why am I so emotional now? The first time I remember meeting her was soon after Kai and Sarah ran away from the Abbey all those years ago... She was the one who came to me and acted like my big sister, though I didn't know it at the time. We were only close friends for a short time before I began to find her annoying and Ian chased her away. Then, what a shock it was six years later when I found out that she really was my older sister. She became one of the deploys, and she helped me through a lot before, during, and after the battles.
"But I'll never forget the talk that I had with mom and her the day I short-circuited and had to undergo reprogramming. She said, 'Don't worry, Mom. I'll always be here for you. I'm not going to die on you.' But she broke her promise. She died. A Hiwatari-Voltaire Hiwatari killed her. One bullet to the head and she was out like a light, leaving Samson, mom and I to weep over her grave behind Balkov Abbey. She broke her stupid promise. I didn't make one, and I'm still alive. Why-I don't know. Seems I'm only here to waste away-no one to live for-nothing to live for. Tomorrow I'm going to wipe myself off this earth by taking one of the guard's guns and-"
He was interrupted by a loud crash that seemed to shake the very floor of the Abbey. He sat bolt upright, glancing at the other three, miraculously still sound asleep.
Tala leapt out of bed and looked out the window. Across the courtyard, screams could be heard and something bright and orange was rearing in the downstairs window. "Fire..."
He ran out of the room, throwing the door open. He looked from side to side in the hall, trying to think of the fastest way to get to the testing labs where the distress was. He took off to the left where the staircase was a few doors down. One trainee came out of his room and stepped in front of Tala unconsciously.
"Hey! Watch where you're going, kid!"
The boy looked up groggily. "Oh... Sorry, Tala. I was just woken up by a loud sound and I came out into the hall to find out what it was..."
"I think there's a fire in the Abbey, but don't go spreading it around in a panic. I want you to wake up everyone on this floor, just in case, okay? I'm going to go check it out."
***
"Here we are, miss..."
"Thank you," she said gruffly as she unbuckled her seatbelt, gathered her things and stepped out of the helicopter. Her long hair whipped around in the zephyr of wind caused by the rotating blades as she watched the aircraft rise and move out of sight.
She scrutinized the area. The ground was snow covered, and a gust of icy air made her clutch her coat closer to her with her single hand that wasn't occupied with her luggage. She advanced slowly forward across the patterned stones towards the castle that loomed before her. Coming to the large wooden doors, she put her luggage down and reached for the button on the intercom.
"This is Ms. Galsky speaking. I'm here to see Gilepse."
She took her finger off the button and stood back to await a reply, but none came. She pressed the button again. "I repeat, you have Ms. Galsky at your front doors. I'm here to see Gilepse."
Again, she stepped back and held back a temper for a few seconds before she pounded an angered fist against the door. "Open up and let me in!"
When the innards of the building remained silent, she picked up her luggage, reached for the doorhandle and yanked on it, being utterly surprised when it flew open in her grip. She stared at the brass handle in wonder for a moment before giving a short, "hmph" and strolling regally inside.
She gazed around the circular room at the tapestry that covered the walls. It seemed to depict the events of all that had happened to the company since its founding in the 1980s. There were two people shaking hands to mark its beginning, then numerous inventions, revolts, and triumphs, and then, nearing the end of the fabric were recent happenings- what looked like a war. The war was between two sides and two sides only- this company itself and then another that she couldn't quite recognize except that they seemed to be the "evil" side. They seemed to be just normal Beybattles until her eyes strayed to the very end of the tapestry- impalements, beheadings, bullets, and drownings-and they all seemed to be from this side, too.
"This must have been why the company fell... Gilepse went into a depression after seeing so much death occur from... hey... wasn't this in the news a couple of months back?" she muttered to herself. "Something about the Biovolt Corporation and Goadbwa Enterprises having a row over the right to use human souls as Bit Beasts... They must've gone all-out over it. It all seems pointless to me..."
She looked to the second door that seemed to lead to the rest of the castle. "Maybe I'll find some civilization there," she mused, picking up her bags again and opening the heavy wooden door, again, with ease. Just to be heard, she slammed the door noisily behind her.
She listened to its echo reverberate off of the red sandstone walls, but there were no footsteps or signs that anyone had heard and was coming. She dropped her bags to the floor, creating another loud noise. "Hello? Is anybody in here?" she yelled. "I'm here to speak to Gilepse and I am Katherine Galsky, his daughter!"
~~~~
Thank you for reading, NOW REVIEW! (sorry, been watching to much Azumanga Daioh lately)