Rating: T+

Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, grammatical errors(?), torture, death, a dash of angst, yaoi, confusing if you haven't read MIAB.

Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own Beyblade, only the plot and the OCs. Beyblade belongs to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.

Dedication: Everyone that went through all the shit in MIAB. Everyone that favorited and followed this story. Lots of love from me!

Ship(s): Kai x Tyson, Chaos x Night, onesided!Erebus x Chaos, onesided!Erebus x Haru, Hikaru x Kaori, Shun x Nami, Hiro x Aya, ? x Rin

Anime: Chapter 3, it's been so long! I'm back!

Rin: Not that long.

Anime: We finally see what our villain is up to and Kai has his first appearance in EDIH! Also, we might find out something about a being named Ragnarok. Well, on to what you guys came here for.

~~~EDIH~~~

3: Proof of Life

Twilight Castle, Fifteenth Dimension, 15th Universe

Erebus sat on the throne made of human hands in the Fifteenth Dimension, a land that Fifteen had gifted to him centuries ago when Eden's Rapture had to hide away from the gazes of the Elders.

He was inside Twilight Castle, the only kingdom in this world. The throne room was in ruins, however, with tapestries Night had once made for him so long ago lying on the ground. Those tapestries had been made in the days when it was just them so Erebus cherished those ancient tapestries more than anything in this ancient throne room.

The floor had no red carpet, just bare black stones, and the room was barren of any materialistic item as Erebus found no need in creating anything lavish. It was nothing impressive, compared to the majesty of the former castle.

He frowned, remembering the day he had destroyed it the first time. It must have been when he had heard of Haru's death twenty years ago in that fire. He'd been so angry at the world, even Persephone and Hypnos had kept their distance from him. After that, he had allowed them to restore it.

The second time he had destroyed the castle, it had been when Night had died two years ago. He couldn't have believed it if anyone had told him the news but he had felt his heart slow down and his eyes had filled with tears as he had felt his other half die.

Perhaps he had resented Night because Chaos had loved him – Chaos loved everyone but him – but he didn't hate him – not the way he had hated Sasha – because he was his other self. Still, he found it fitting for Night to have died. After all, Night didn't belong in the physical world. He belonged in the land beyond the stars, becoming one with Yggdrasil's essence.

After Tyson had sealed Chaos two years ago, he had been angry but not enough to destroy the ruins of Twilight Castle. He had to be careful or else he'd end up destroying the bodies and souls of the ones he cared for.

A dark patch of darkness formed in the corner and a young woman came out of it. She was dressed in a light green sundress and wore a flower crown made up of black roses. She had long flowing dark purple hair and electric blue eyes and flowers seemed to be intertwined with her hair. She was beautiful yet her aura of darkness showed her true, twisted nature.

"Lord Erebus, Fifteen has successfully taken over the Council as planned. He has sent the Elders to the branches of Yggdrasil to join Susumu Hiwatari," She reported, bowing in front of him. She looked up, her gaze as cold as the room she dwelled in, "However, Third was able to evade capture and is currently in Earth, in the primary dimension. First is still missing and Seventeen is in her prison with Chaos and a fragment of Night."

Erebus stood from his throne, morphing his two-piece black suit into black robes. He gave her a soft smile that betrayed his cruel nature, "Thank you, Persephone," He turned to look at the balcony and his dark eyes reflected the world outside the castle, "Have you located what dimension and universe the Forsaken Fallen are imprisoned in?"

Persephone looked at him in shock, stumbling over her words as she spoke, "W-Why would you want to know that, my lord? You know that they'll never join us, especially because they hate us for what we've done. I know Hades hates me. Besies, even if you are able to recruit them, their loyalties will always lie with Chaos."

Erebus stared at the other beast with a cool, calculated look before answering, "I would like to know because I don't want Third to unleash them if the need for them comes. You know that the Elders wouldn't hesitate to use them once again."

Persephone paused and nodded, remembering that's how they were defeated in the first place. The Forsaken Fallen were the greatest enemies they had ever faced and she wouldn't like to try to fight them again. They had grown stronger over the ages, as it was shown when they battled the humans two years ago. She could still feel the wound Hades had inflicted her that would've killed her had Fifteen not saved her. She would never say it but Chaos and his army frightened her.

"Rise, Persephone." Erebus said as he walked towards the balcony. The female beast did so and the two went outside. He grinned as they stopped at the railing of the balcony, grabbing a small root and looking up to take in the view of the World Tree, "Don't you love this? We're in a world that has a wonderful view of Yggdrasil, even if it is his roots. It'd be more impressive if he wasn't dying, though."

"He must have already chosen a successor, Erebus." Persephone said as Erebus touched the roots with admiration and something that could be love, "I think that he might have chosen the husband of darkness as his successor."

Before she could even continue, she felt the darkness wrap around her throat. She gasped out for breath as the tendrils squeezed her neck and she clawed at them desperately.

"You know how I feel about you calling Yudai like that." Erebus hissed, his dark eyes showing his rage as he squeezed her neck, "His name is Yudai, Persephone, not the husband of darkness. He has a name. He is someone that needs to be remembered!"

"I apologize to you, Erebus," She choked out, "and I apologize to Yudai as well." As soon as she did, she could breathe again. She coughed, holding her neck, as she fell to her knees. She looked up at Erebus, who in turn was looking at Yggdrasil with a forlorn expression, no doubt reminiscing about Yudai.

She hadn't known Yudai. None of the other members of Eden's Rapture had. It had been during that time period where Fifteen had stripped them of their power and hid them in Earth to prevent First and the other Elders from learning about their survival. She had hated that time period, as she had been treated in an awful manner by the villagers that had taken her in. She had her revenge when her powers were restored years later, though, so she bore no grudge towards those humans.

Erebus, however, had lived a much simpler life. He had been taken in by the young lord Yudai and cared for by said boy. The two fell in love – oh, she hated Yudai for that – and left the estate they had lived in to be in a secluded village where they could be happy. They were happy for two years until Yudai caught a disease Erebus couldn't cure and he died.

The story probably would have ended with Erebus committing suicide in his grief.

It didn't.

As it turned out, Yudai was part of a family that had been blessed by Chaos to give birth to his tamer. The Elders cursed the family – after Daisuke's death at the curse of Chaos – so anyone of the family that closely resembled Chaos would die before they turned thirty. Unfortunately for Yudai, he had resembled Chaos too much and had died at the age of twenty-one.

Erebus's hatred for the Elders grew after that. He even stalked the male's family and collected the souls of those that died for resembling Chaos. It was a morbid hobby and one Persephone thought Erebus would stop trying to do. Luckily, he had missed the soul of one and that was Haru Mizushima twenty years ago.

In total, Erebus had twenty-seven souls but only two had their bodies and those were Yudai, Erebus's beloved husband, and Tsubasa Mizushima.

Persephone was jolted out of her thoughts as she heard footsteps run towards them. She and Erebus turned to see the golden haired, silver eyed beast burst into the room. She frowned, "Hypnos, what is it? Why are you-?"

"Lord Erebus, terrible news!" He said as he bowed in front of them.

Erebus frowned, "Hypnos, you're supposed to be watching over the souls of the Mizushima tamers. Why are you here?" Hypnos and Persephone both flinched at the coldness of his voice and she began to pity Hypnos for incurring the wrath of their cold leader.

"It's because of that that I am here, lord," He answered, looking up to face Erebus and Persephone, "The bodies and souls of Lord Yudai and Tsubasa Mizushima are gone."

"What?!" Erebus said, his eyes wide. He paused before growling, "Hypnos, dispatch the Moon Team and head to Earth with them. Persephone, go with the Sun Team to aid Fifteen in finding Third. I want Third in the branches of Yggdrasil and Yudai and Tsubasa in the roots of Yggdrasil. Go!"

"Yes, my lord." The two answered before they left the unstable beast by himself. It was time to get back to business, after all.

~~~EDIH~~~

Bey City, Japan, Earth

"Rin!" Rikku was the first to announce before she ran to the male and hugged his arm, "When are you going to give Ritsu his break? He must be bored playing your lobbyist and secretary."

"He got on his break two minutes ago so I know he's going to check up on you, Rikku." Rin answered as the trio made their way towards the others. Tyson saw Eden inch away from Rin, looking down with downcast eyes.

"Hey, Rin. Glad you're out of your cave and joining us simple humans." Aya said, waving at her longtime friend. Rin smiled weakly at her – he was still learning to do that naturally – while Riku waved at them from his place in his wheelchair.

"I heard you guys were here with Rikku. I had to see if you weren't all hurt, especially Rikku." Rin said. Riku tapped the back of Rin's hand, a signal that he had so he could start wheeling himself, and Rin let go of the handles of the wheelchair.

"You were worried about me?" The young girl asked before she smiled, "You're so nice, Shu, no wonder big brother likes you. You would make a nice wife." At that, Eden just cringed as if he had been hurt. Rin glanced at him and looked away just as quickly, dismissing him.

Tyson wondered briefly what their relationship was but decided not to pry yet. He already had his suspicions, though. Especially because Eden kept glancing at Rin with longing in his eyes while Rin was looking at everyone but Eden.

He remembered when Voltaire had wanted Kai and Rin to be married. The old man had mentioned that he had never given up hope that Rin would marry Kai, even when he had been involved with someone named Eden. Sure, there were a lot of Edens in the world but Rin's reaction to Eden was what confirmed Tyson's suspicions over the relationship the two had.

"I don't think so, Rikku." Rin answered with a brief glance at Eden, "I don't know how to cook and I can't clean very well. I'm also pretty strict so I think I'd be pretty scary."

"Nah, you'd be fine." Rikku said before going to Tyson, "Do you think Shu would make a good wife."

"Never mind all that, Rikku," Riku said with a sigh before looking at Kaori, "Did bringing Tyson here help Rikku repress some of Loki's darkness?"

Kaori nodded, "Believe it or not." Tyson thought it was odd that Riku wasn't refering to them the way he usually did and noticed that his eyes were sharper and less dull than usual. How strange.

Something felt wrong.

"Tyson."

That voice, that familiar voice, wasn't the voice of Dragoon or Night. It wasn't the voice of any human or beast that he knew of. That voice, that distant voice, was the voice of First Elder.

"Tyson, beware of the arrival of Ragnarok," She whispered, her voice seemingly fearful, "Destroy the vessel of destruction. Find Irregular and Yggdrasil's successor before the death of the World Tree. Combine the broken halves of the same soul before they're destroyed. Keep Erebus away from his heart and seek aid from the witch of darkness. Find the child of universe and save all those who are lost. Save the worlds. Save me."

"First Elder, where are you? Why do you need help? Are you okay?"

"Save me . . ."

"-yson!"

Tyson blinked and found Kaori standing in front of him with a frown in her face. He scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, I zoned out. What's going on?"

"Honestly, Tyson, you've been distracted a lot these days." Hilary sighed from the background. Tyson caught Rin's eye and those sharp eyes told him that Rin knew that Tyson had not been idly daydreaming as the girls had thought.

"Well, what were we talking about?" Tyson asked.

"We were talking about how much Rikku has improved in just these couple of minutes in your presence, Tyson." Aya snickered before elbowing the youngest person in the room, "Is it because you like Tyson, Rikku?"

Rikku blushed before shaking her head rapidly, enough to probably give her whiplash. Aya raised an eyebrow, "Well, then, problem child, why is it that you've improved?"

"It's because-." Rikku paused and her whole body went rigid. Her eyes were wide open and glazed over with green from what could be Loki's influence. Her hairband ripped and her long green hair covered her eyes. She was quiet for a very long time before she began to scream.

The world seemed to explode.

~~~EDIH~~~

Australia, Earth

Kai was beginning to wonder why in the world First Elder had said that Nico Tsukino was someone that they had to find when the boy didn't even know how to blade and had zero abilities from what he could see using Dranzer's eyes.

Nico Tsukino was ordinary. He had short dark purple hair, sky blue eyes and an olive complexion and wore grey pants and a black shirt, the only clothes that he owned at the moment so there was nothing extraordinary about this boy.

"You're not even holding the launcher right." Kai informed the young man and sighed when Nico tried to fix his grip on the launcher and failed before said launcher fell to the ground.

"Sorry, Kai-sensei." Nico said with a deep bow.

Kai didn't respond, thinking back on how he had found Nico Tsukino. The obviously Japanese boy was found by authorities two months ago washed up on the beach with no memory other than his name and "BBA". He had been declared dead at the scene so Australian authorities were baffled when Nico suddenly came back from the dead.

Nico clung to Kai for the first month, following him around like a baby chick and it had been annoying, especially when he didn't seem to understand a word anyone said and couldn't speak. He could now but the first days were the hardest.

"Nico, I told you that you had to get ready to go back to Japan. You know that you're going there now."

"You're sending me to Japan today? Isn't it too early?" Nico asked, looking very distressed. Getting so attached to him was going to give Nico seperation anxiety when he's in Japan, Kai thought with a groan. He was no babysitter so why did he get stuck with Nico again?

"It could be because he decided he liked you." Dranzer answered.

"Thanks for your insight."

"Not really. We need to find your family, your home and who you are, Nico. Don't you want to know?"

Nico frowned and crossed his arms, looking pensive, "Well, you're like my dad, aren't you? And Tyson in Japan is like my mom, no?" That was not how Kai wanted Nico to think things were like. Sure, he was older than Nico - probably by at least four years because Nico looked to be fifteen - but not old enough to be his father.

"No, Nico. I mean your biological parents."

"What does 'biological' mean?" Nico asked, smiling at Kai with a foolish grin. Kai wanted to punch him for it but found that he couldn't. He was becoming to soft and the reasons for that were named Tyson and Rin.

Kai would hate to admit that he missed Tyson but, to be honest, he did miss him. He missed being in the dojo with Tyson, Grandpa and their cat Aiko. There must be something wrong with him because he even missed Hiro. He wanted to go back to Japan, go back home.

"The ones that made you, Nico." Mariah answered as she ruffled the hair of the young male. Nico smiled at her gently before she placed a plane ticket on his hands, "The flight leaves in three hours so I suggest you go with Mathias and Liam, Nico."

Nico nodded sadly before wrapping his arms around Kai's neck. Kai was caught off-guard, even though he should have been used to Nico's shows of affections. He patted the boy's back awkwardly and Nico seperated himself from him.

"Do you want me to give something to Tyson?" Nico asked, holding out his hand.

There it was.

The feeling of missing something.

If Kai closed his eyes, he'd be able to imagine himself in the dojo, sitting down in the living room with Tyson and Aiko, Tyson leaning on his head while they watched reruns of old shows that bored Kai but only watched them because they could keep Tyson entertained.

Riku would be playing random keys on his small electronic piano as he wrote songs, Takao would be sketching Tyson and Kai and Ann would be trying to sleep amidst all the noise.

He would be able to hear the sounds of Aya and Hiro trying to make lunch with Hiro insisting that putting that much salt on their food would kill them and Aya saying that it would give the food flavour.

He would be able to hear the distant sounds of Grandpa Granger teaching Rin kendo since Rin was the only one that bothered to be his student with Alexander berating the man for being so hard on his delicate master and Rin insisting he wasn't made of glass.

Hilary would be off to the side with Kenny talking about plans for better systems of beyblades for other people while Hikaru and Kaori were informing Kenny about numbers Kai couldn't remember what they represented. Shun and Nami would be playing a game of poker with Ray and Max and Max would be losing because he was terrible at that game.

But he wasn't in the dojo, was he?

Kai removed his scarf and passed it to Nico, who took it without a word. The young boy smiled at him before taking off to gather the few belongings he owned. Mariah watched without a word as Kai had done and raised an eyebrow in question, "Why the scarf, Kai?"

"It's not like he's going to have it for very long." Kai replied and hid a smile, "I'll be in Japan before he knows it."

Unbeknowst to him, the world began to shift and Clockworker laughed at fate's cruel design. The battle was about to unfold.

~~~EDIH~~~

Anime: So much advancement to the plot. We get to meet Nico and find out a little bit more about Tsubasa Mizushima and Yudai. I wonder where the Third Elder is at.

Night: Do not be afraid of writing us a review as they are appreciated.

Chaos: Tune in next time for chapter 4.

~~~EDIH~~~

Next chapter: A Tale of Six Trillion Years and a Night

Song: A Tale of Six Trillion Years and a Night by IA