Falling in Darkness – English Translation

It was night. Soft, enveloping, endless night. Why is it so horrifying? Because it hides our deepest demons. Evil, perverted, discusting demons, who with a single touch, a single breath, a single movement have the power to take us to utterly despair. We fight with all we have to send them away, but it's no use, they're always there to opress us. It was night, and the creatures of darkness hunted in freedom, with their sharp claws shining.

Bryan Kuznetsov carressed the night who developed before himself with his eyes. For a long time this same night meant opression, pain, suffering. Endless nights, which dured for so long, while he remembered the harshness of the daily training, his own current search for perfection and Tala's indiference towards him.

Not that Bryan showed any kind of feelings safe for an inocent friendship for the Wolf. He, as many other within the Abbey, was always instructed to hide any kind of emotion, even erase it, who wasn't connected to Beyblade and the thirst for victory. Everything that meant weakness should be eliminated. Those were the rules Bryan and the others absorved, and little by little that made them strong, cold and emotionless, at least in the outside. So, this quimic between Bryan and Tala was of course ignored by both. The two knew that they'd be murdered for that sin, so a long time has passed and neither of them opened his heart to the other. Nevertheless, the feelings would keep growing and growing until none of them could resist it anymore.

Bryan smiled softly as those thoughts crossed his mind and put his arms around his chest. His defeat at the finals made Boris incredibly mad. As soon as he got the chance he took Bryan and punished him severely, even more brutally than Alexander. Those were extreme painful hours, and even now Bryan felt a shiver down his spine , althoug at the time he didn't even sighted. At least the Boris's hard training was useful to turn them into souless puppets.

With no one spying him, the Falcon let the shiver he ws trying to supress took hold of him, and recalled that time when Boris forced him to where his team mates were. There he threw him ceremoniless to the floor, but he didn't complain, as bloody and weakened as he was, and simply fell, defenceless.

--Flashback--

Boris summoned the remaining Demolition Boys and told them in a harsh and dull tone - "May be serve as an example to all of you. Bryan had a pretty easy mission, and failed. I don't care about the reasons, he just did. What I hope of you lot – especially you, Tala – is a victory. Win, or die trying."

"There" Bryan thought. Here ends the speech. His team mates knew what to do, answer obedientely "Yes sir" and ignore him. He'd be lying there until he could stand up again – if he could. Those were the rules, and he didn't hope for more, it's been a while since he last did.

However, he thought he just saw something shining in his captain's eyes, some emotion he never showed until then. With a confident atitude, Tala murmured the words and then got on his knees to help Bryan. The Falcon looked at him speechless, no strength left to push him away while Bryan Boris gazed at Tala astonished.

"Perharps my words meant nothing to you, Ivanov?"

"No sir, I'm just helping him." Tala received Boris's glare, forcing the empty expression that he was known for. Everything he wished, though, was to break that sadistic and repulsive's neck but he controled himself and kept eye contact with his coach, who just shuddered in utterly disdain.

"May you face the punishment that awaits you in case you fail bravely, Ivanov"

"The smaller of my worries, sir." with no further words, Tala grabbed the Falcon's arm and put it over his own shoulders and put his arm around his waist to keep him standing. Then he left the room, having both his mates' chocked glares and his coach's own, who secretly was burning in rage.

"You will take back those words, Ivanov. Sooner than you expect"

- End of Flashback - -

Back from the depths of his mind, the Falcon let go a frail sight, so soft and imperceptible as the wind that blowed softly in the other side of the window. So much that they have suffered at such a young age...So many screams, unjuries, hurting, yelling, fruitless fights for perfection, torture, pain, punishes, curses. Everyone that lived or succombed at the Abbey got sadness and abandoning in the heart.

But for now the suffering has ended. Although they were always there, Falcon's ghosts won't haunt him as before, since now he was safe. Now Bryan could fight them and win...Now he had someone to fight for.

With that thought in mind Bryan smiled, a smile that never iluminated his face at the Abbey times, and looked at the person asleep in bed next to him. It was him who made it possible for Bryan to be able to get back the feelings that he long thought lost, feeling other than pain, loneliness and hurt but happiness, joy, and love. Yes, the blader with cold ice eyes could love after all. As much as Boris changed his body and mind, he couldn't destroy his soul, since it didn't wandered alone anymore. Now Bryan had founded someone to give that feeling that he thought dead, someone to trust, someone to be his real self...and someone to die for.

Bryan feel from the window he was seated on, and got close to the sleeping person and gently caressed his hair, slowly.

"And you were always there, and none of us noticed for so long. You were always there...Tala"

End of Chapter One