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A soft, childish laughter floats through the air and drifts to Kai's ears, a welcoming presence in the never ending world of darkness. He tilts his head ever so slightly towards the noise, then glances over his shoulder.
There, behind him is a room, a room that is oddly familiar. Suddenly, the door opens and a small boy, no older than five years of age. His wild stormy gray and midnight blue hair slightly damp as if he has had a shower recently, his eyes a most stunning ruby, wide and full of excitement. He is carrying a large, old and heavy book, so heavy that the child has no choice but to stop and place it, with a huff, on the floor to get his strength back, before picking it up again and walking towards his bed.
Behind the child appears a man, no older than twenty-five, his hair a messy stormy gray, his eyes also a deep ruby. He smiles warmly when he sees the little one struggling with the book. "Kai," he tisks, "You're not reading that book again, are you?"
The little boy drops the book to the ground and pouts, his hands on his hips. He turns around and looks crossly at the man. "It's heavy."
The man chuckles, before leaning forward to look the child in the eyes, smiling. "Tell you what, I'll carry it and read it to you, but only if you promise to go to bed early tonight and not to sneak out to watch the dolphins again. Promise?"
The child smiles brightly and claps his hands in front of him. "Promise!" he then squeals with joy when the man scoops both him and the book into his arms and jumps onto the bed.
"Oh god, dad!" Kai gasps, his hand flying to cover his mouth in surprise. "And that's…that's me…when I was a kid. Is this a memory?"
He watches, his heart in his throat as the man he recognizes to be his father sits with his back leaning against the head of the bed, and opens the book, young Kai snuggling under his arm, to rest his head on his father's chest.
"Where were we?" he mumbles, flipping through the pages of the book, the book Kai seems to recognize.
"That book…"
"Ah, yes, Hippocampus," he smiles and looks down at his child. "Do you remember what a Hippocampus is, Kai?"
"A mythical water horse!" the child giggles as his father tickles him.
"Good boy!"
"I remember now," Kai whispers, his hand clutching at his heart, his eyes shimmering with a hint of sadness. "It was my father's books that I read about the Crocotta. My father, he loved to read me stories about mythical creatures. He used to tell me that all sacred spirits are real and all have different personalities," he laughs and curls a stray strand of hair behind his ear, as he recalls all the Bitbeasts he has met during his time as a blader, and especially Dranzer. "He was right."
The door opens and a young and beautiful woman pops her head in, before opening the door fully and stepping inside, her hand on her hip, playfully tisking the two. "You boys, honesty."
"Mummy!" the child squeals.
"My mother…" Kai releases a half sob, resisting the urge to throw his arms around his parents and hold them, telling them that he loves them and how much he has missed them. The urge is strong, but he knows that this is only a memory, a long forgotten memory.
Memories…that's all he has left of them.
"She encouraged me to read as much as I could," he sniffles, tears flowing freely down his cheeks, silent and gentle. "She said that it would help me understand the wonders of the world better. And to realize that I am never alone…" he sobs as the woman moves to sit on the bed as well, the child sitting snuggly between the two adults, looking like the perfect family. "It looks like I've forgotten those lessons…thanks to Voltaire and the abbey…" he trails off and shakes his head slightly, trying to remember the good times, rather than the bad.
"Still," he mutters, wiping his eyes with the palms of his hands. "Why am I remembering all this now?"
"This is a Crocotta, Kai. You must be careful with this one."
"Crocotta?" Kai whips back around, looking towards the bed, listening intently as his father begins to describe the characteristics of said mythical beast.
Maybe if he remembers, he can help Rick!
-----
"Where could that useless pile of manure be, I wonder?" Bat Fang smirks, a sadistic and definitely unsettling smirk. Malice radiates out from his aura, causing those who are highly sensitive of other's emotions, to reels back and cringe in fear. He licks his lips as he continues to scourer the streets, looking for any sign of his pray.
"Did you hear?"
Bat Fang stops walking as he hears two teens talking rather loudly in the street.
"What?"
"Kai Hiwatari was sent to the hospital!"
"You're shitting me?! Dude, he's like, invincible! Or something. What happened?"
If at all possible, Bat Fang's smirk grows even more evil, with a hint of smugness. He crosses his arms over his chest and leans against the wall, content -for now- to listen to the teens talking about what he managed to do, less than a day ago.
"Dunno. Just heard that he's been rushed to hospital in a pretty bad way."
"Will he be ok?"
"All I know is that he's still alive."
"Alive?" Philbert mumbles, before he slumps against the wall he's leaning against, sighing loudly with a huge sense of relief. "I didn't kill him. That's good."
Fool! Philbert screams and clutches his head, his fingers clawing at his scalp to stop the pain. You failed! That's unacceptable!
"Sorry," Philbert whimpers, sliding down the wall to sit on the ground, curling his legs to his chest, shaking uncontrollably. "I'm sorry, please, stop…"
This ends now. You are going to make that heathen pay once and for all.
"How?" he whimpers, still shivering.
That boy…Kill him. Now!
-----
Wandering through the darkness again, Kai murmurs out loud, "What's happening now?"
Suddenly, he hears the sound of feet pounding, almost frantic, on the pavement. The sounds of beyblades spinning, clashing, grinding, battling, locked in a fierce struggle between powerful bladers.
"Huh?" Kai murmurs out loud again. "Another memory?"
He turns around just in time to see two youths, one about 14, the other 9, running past, down a dirty alleyway, only to run into a deadend. The older of the two spins around, a hateful scowl on his face, his steely gray eyes hard as ice.
"Rick?" Kai murmurs, and blinks a few times, slowly realizing that this kid is in fact Rick, but a few years younger. His hair isn't as long, he doesn't have as many muscles as he does now, but that has to be him. That scowl hasn't changed a bit. He blinks again as he watches Rick push the smaller kid behind him and gets into a fighting stance.
The sounds of the blades draw closer, then three more youths appear, their blades circling their feet, this time they look to be either 16 or 17 years of age. The tallest of the three steps to the front, a look of madness on his face. "Lets play."
"What's this?" Kai murmurs as the scene continues to play out, watching with a hint of concern as Rick launches his blade, knowing all to well that this is not one of his memories. "This isn't mine. I've never met Rick before," he winces again as Rick battles three blades all at once.
During the fierce battle, two blades, which two Kai isn't sure as the memory seems a little hazy on the details, seem to ricochet off a loose bit of debris, and head towards the young boy.
"He's going to get hit," Kai says out loud on reflex, vaguely remembering that he can't interfere, and can do nothing but watch. His eyes widen in fright, alarm and horror as both blades hit the child, one slashing violently at his throat, causing blood to flow from the wound like a river, and the other to hit the side of his head with a sickening crack. Immediately the child falls to the ground, blood pooling around him, his eyes vacantly staring towards the sky.
"Macky!" As quickly as humanly possible, Rick scrambles over to the fallen form of the child. He drops to his knees and carefully picks the child up and cradles him in his arms, holding him close to his heart, while trying vainly to stop the flow of blood from his throat with his hand. But, there's far too much.
"Shit, that wasn't suppose to happen!"
"Dude, we've killed him! We've killed him!"
The leader of the three merely stands there, looking at the scene with his eyes wide, his face pale, his expression contorting into one of absolute horror. He stumbles back a couple of steps, shaking his head, muttering something under his breath, before abruptly turning on his heel and tearing back down the alleyway, and out onto the streets, disappearing. Soon, the other two follow, both stumbling over their own feet, frantic to get away.
"Mackey…" Rick mutters, his eyes shimmering. "Hold on, kay?"
"You know, big brother?" the child manages to gasp out, blood appearing on his lips. "This is the first time I've seen you cry," his eyes then roll towards the back of his head and he releases one last, shuddering breath before falling limp in Rick's arms.
"No…" Rick whispers, dropping his head to his chest. He suddenly throws his head back and screams into the night sky, asking why.
Kai covers his mouth with his hands, tears once again flowing down his cheeks, his heart absolutely aching at the sight of a young Rick, cradling the body of his younger brother against him, as he rocks back and forth, cursing everyone and everything.
"Oh Rick," Kai whispers, falling to his knees as the memory, that is not his own, begins to fade away. "I didn't know. I wish you told me…" he sobs, hiding his face in his hands.
Is this the reason why Rick is so protective of him? Does Rick see him as a little brother, or something similar? How is Rick taking all of this?
There's no doubt in Kai's mind that Rick is replaying the events of that night over and over again in his head, all because of him. It makes sense now, why Kai finds it easy to speak openly with Rick. He understands. He understand all too well. He lost his family too, in a violent way. And now, all they have are memories.
It's not fair. How dare some human play god and take an innocent life like that? What right do they have?
Suddenly, Kai is aware of a presence standing before him and he snaps his head up to look, tears still shimmering in his eyes. His gaze immediately meets up with that of the child's steel gray eyes. "Mackey?"
The child frowns, sadness in his eyes. "Please," he whispers, begging. "Please, help my big brother."
"Brother?" Kai whispers, before lowering his gaze, his mind repaying all the times he has caused Rick to fret or worry or become annoyed with him. How can he possibly help? "But…I only seem to cause him problems."
"Please, he needs you. You make him happy."
Kai gazes sadly at the child, who's own expression is nothing short of heartbreaking. "You…" he then smiles softly, tears still in his eyes. "You love your brother so much, don't you?"
The child smiles brightly. "He's the best big brother anyone could have! I love him."
"Why did you show me this memory?"
"Because you love him too!" Kai blushes as the child blurts it out so easily and like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "Big brother, blames himself," Mackey continues, becoming sad once again. "I didn't want to leave, but I had too. Please, you can't leave him too."
"I don't want to," Kai admits, his lips twitching into a warmer smile as the child before him practically lights up with happiness. "I want to go back. I want to help him. Pay him back for everything he has done for me. Please, can you help me get back?"
"Yay!" Mackey cheers, before throwing his arms around Kai's neck, and a bright light engulfs them both. Kai feels himself growing heavy, and the last thing he hears is Mackey whispering in his ear, "Take good care of him."
Kai gasps, a heavy, crushing feeling around his neck and his eyes heavy and feeling like they have glue holding them together. With all his strength, Kai manages to open his eyes, only instead of seeing Rick or any of the others like he is expecting, he sees a sinister, dark-eye youth.
And that youth has he hands around his throat.
"Philbert?"
Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuuuun! Another little cliffy for you to enjoy. I hope this chapter managed to really tug at the heart strings. I know I sniffled a couple of times when I was typing it.
Please review.