Yep, I'm still alive'n'kickin'! With a new story for y'all! Enjoy!!! It'll probably be yaoi in the future, though I don't know how on Earth I'm gonna include that. Oh well. As usual, Majestics are here (I am such a Majestics fan). But this one will mostly revolve around Rei. Kapeesh? Good!!! Hope I didn't give too much away. ^_^;;

Disclaimers Note: If I owned Beyblade, there would be various spin-offs, and the Majestics would be the main team, not the Bladebreakers, and there would be YAOI!!! AND LOTS AND LOTSA IT!!!! Thus, it is a good thing that I don't own it, or else everything would be whacked.

* * * * * The Journey—Prologue * * * * *

Rei cast one final look back on his village. How sorry he was, to have to leave them, the villagers, and it, his home, and the only place he'd ever known. He couldn't remember ever being outside of his village in the mountains. But the time had come. He knew he had to go.

It was for the better, really. He had to do this, to protect himself. If he didn't, then he'd die. Well, maybe not die, but he would certainly not be alright.

Rei had seen it happen before. The Wraiths, whatever they were, would come and attack people. After the attack, that person would never be the same again. They would be like zombies, incapable of doing anything, save for staring straight ahead. Eventually, the victim would die. The Wraiths only attacked adults, oddly enough. Even more odd was that only adults could see them. Mariah, Kevin, Gary, and Lee couldn't see them yet. But Rei could, sort of. He couldn't see them clearly, which was good. That meant he couldn't be attacked. It was when you could see them clearly that you were in trouble. All Rei could really see were white patches of rippling fog where the wraiths were. But that had been enough to make Lee's grandfather worry. And now he had to leave his village, to journey to the West Continent, where the four Gods of the Treasure were. He just needed one treasure…one treasure that could empower him to fight any wraiths that attacked him, that would let him return home to his village, without fear of attack by the Wraiths.

And so now, here he was. Alone and cold, with all hopes of his survival resting on getting to the nearest God of the Treasure's lair was, to obtain the treasure he kept. Rei knew it would not be easy. He'd have to convince the god he was worthy of such a treasure. No one would merely hand over such a powerful object, least of all a god. He unfurled his map and took a look. Where was the nearest lair? Aha!!! There it was!!!

Rei was off. His journey had begun.

Onto the Cave of Italia!!!

* * * * *A few weeks later * * * * *

"Wake up, son." spoke a rough voice.

"Ugh…where am I?" Rei moaned, tired.

"You're here. In Veneza, Italia."

"Really? How far is it to Roma?" Roma, Italia, was where the Cave of Italia was…which was where Rei had to go to obtain his treasure.

"It's a good journey. We're in Northern Italia. Roma is in Middle Italia. I'd say a good few hours, by boat or wagon." replied the fisherman.

Shortly after leaving Nihon, his home country, Rei had stumbled across a canal. He'd paid some fishermen to take him to the country of Italia, on the West Continent (A/N: Nothing interesting happened here. That's why I didn't see any need to include his boat trip up until this point). They'd agreed to take him to Veneza. Now he just had to find his own way to Roma.

"How can I get there?"

"If you're willing to wait a few hours, then I can depart for Sicillia, an island off the coast of Southern Italia. I can drop you off at Roma on my way down."

"Really sir? Thanks! That'd be great!" Rei had never imagined how easy it would be to get to Roma.


"No problem, sonny."

Thus, Rei stayed the night in Veneza, Italia. It was a beautiful place. Then again, all Rei had ever heard about the West Continent was about the abundant wealth there, and the beautiful cities. He wound up going to sleep onboard the ship. By the time Rei had woken up, he was surprised to discover that they were in port. At first, Rei didn't think the ship had left Veneza yet. But there was something…different. Something different about this port.

"Excuse me, sir?" Rei tugged on the jacket of the captain.

"Yes, m'boy?"

"Where are we?"

"Roma, Italia. Just like you said."

Rei was speechless. He'd only been on the road for 5 weeks now. 5 weeks and he was already in Roma? He couldn't believe it!!!

"How far is it to the Cave of Italia?"

"Another 2 hours, sonny. It's on the outskirts of Roma."

"Really?! Thanks!" After paying the captain 5 chi for his trip, Rei was off with a bounce in his step. 2 hours!!! 2 hours until he could begin to plan his trip home!!! Well, of course, Rei would have to prove himself worthy of the treasure. But Rei didn't think that would be too hard. How wrong he was…

* * * * *Later that Evening* * * * *

Rei was exhausted from his trip. After getting a hotel room, he decided to take a nap. He could always go to the cave tomorrow, anyways. It would be better then. Early morning. Not a lot of tourists there. Plus, he'd be all refreshed for whatever the god decided to put him through.

On that thought, he snuggled down under the covers and went out like a light.

* * * * * Early the Next Morning * * * * *

Rei admitted it. He'd needed that sleep. That had been the most restful sleep he'd had in ages. He whistled as he approached the cave, a smile on his face. But the moment he saw the cave, his whole attitude changed. He realized now what he'd have to do in order to prove himself worthy of the treasure.

He'd have to get by the huge, 2-headed serpent that guarded it. If he'd have known that, he would have brought a weapon or something. Rei mentally slapped himself for being so stupid. Of course! Why hadn't he realized this before he'd left? Gods always require you to do something gutsy for them, like slaying a two-headed serpent. Rei felt like a fool. How could he have been so stupid?

From deep inside the cave, playful blue eyes sparkled. 'This should be interesting' the young god remarked. But he frowned the moment he saw the two violet lights glistening in between the foliage of the forest. The young mortal would probably not notice it, but the dragon sure would. The dragon would know that those eyes belonged to a certain young Francophone god, currently dressed as a peasant, also smirking. The smirk widened upon sensing the other gods concern. 'So, Enrique has noticed me, hmm? That's fine. I'll help the mortal out…in my own special way. Don't worry Enrique, I won't distract Amphilyon. Why do that when I can see a beautiful battle between him and the mortal?'

* * * * *

He he…just a few final notes.

1) I got the idea for the Wraiths from Philip Pullmans book The Subtle Knife. Great story. I highly recommend it.

2) This story takes place in an alternate world. The East Continent, where Nihon is, is the Orient. The West Continent is Europe. Italia, I believe, is the Italian name for "Italy." Veneza is the Italian name for "Venice." And Roma is "Rome." I could be wrong there, though. Also, Nihon is the Japanese word for "Japan" (I think).  I don't know what the Chinese call "China," so for the purpose of this story, China and Japan are one country, called Nihon.

3) As this is another world, there is a different system of money here, called chi. One chi is worth 2 dollars. Sorry for those of you that live in countries that don't have a currency of dollars and cents. I don't know how to convert it into other currencies.

Lastly, as it is late at night, I am prepared to rewrite this chapter if need be. Tell me whether or not I should rewrite it/continue it. Don't worry, the Bladebreakers will appear in later chapters.