Hello everyone who's been waiting forever for an update to this story. I have a confession to make. I actually finished the last chapter of this story a LONG time ago. I haven't updated because the chapters in between the last update and the last chapter were giving me unbelievable writer's block. After two years, I have FINALLY decided to just change the amount of places Hilary and Judy visit and get this done! The next chapters will all be posted today, starting with this one. The flow may feel somewhat stilted but I hope you enjoy the rest of the story anyway. Read & Review.


Chapter 10: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hilary and Judy were in the main room of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hilary was flabbergasted at how large it was and by the sheer number of people there. The foyer was ivory all around with majestic pillars and beautiful glass windows in a semicircle built in a gothic style at the very top on the north and south sides of the foyer. In the middle of the display was a gorgeous fountain that only added to the awesome appearance of the building.

"I can't believe this..." Hilary said.

"I know. It's amazing isn't it?" Judy said.

"How many sections does this building have?" Hilary asked.

"Well, the museum as a whole contains nineteen departments each with its own unique form of art."

"Wow...there must be thousands of pieces here."

"Two million to be exact," an unfamiliar male voice said.

Just ahead they saw a man walking toward them. He sported graying hair as well as a receding hairline. He had on a gray business suit and wore glasses. From his facial features, Hilary estimated him to be in his early sixties.

Judy smiled at the man. "Oh hello," she said cheerfully. She turned to Hilary. "Hilary, this is Philippe de Montebello. He's the presiding director of the museum."

Judy and Philippe shook hands. "Hello Judy. It's been a long time," Philippe said smiling.

"You two know each other?" Hilary asked, looking perplexed.

"Yes. She's come here often so we've had time to get acquainted. Now as I was saying before, there are two million works of art in our collection. Everything from Greek sculptures to modern American and European paintings."

"Judy, will we be going to all the departments?"

"Hm? Oh God no! There's too much ground to cover. We'll just be going to a few select sections of the museum."

"Which ones exactly?" Hilary asked.

"Let me get my list," she said. Judy dug into her purse and pulled out a sheet of notebook paper."We're going to the Arms and Armor department, European sculptures, and the Greek and Roman Art department."

A cough from Philippe got their attention. "As you can see, this is a very large building so a map may be helpful to you." He handed Judy a large schematic of the building.

"It certainly would. Thank you Philippe," Judy said.

The two turned and walked down the hall. Hilary followed behind Judy and looked around at the architecture (considering she had no idea where they were going). The jarring sensation of bumping into Judy's back brought her back to reality.

The older woman turned to a slightly dazed Hilary. "Hilary, are you alright?" she asked, her face showing concern.

Hilary shook her head, trying to regain her senses. "I'm fine," she said. Hilary made a mental note to walk beside Judy the rest of the way to avoid another mishap.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"The Greek and Roman Art gallery," Judy answered.

Looking around, Hilary saw that the room had the design of an ancient Greek temple (without the obvious decay indicative of hundreds of years of abandonment). There were mostly sculptures and pottery.

"Come on, I'll show you a few of the standouts in this gallery," Judy said. She grabbed Hilary's arm and pulled her along.

The first display they came to was of a small bronze statue. It was of a person in a full body veil. The description indicated the statue was made sometime between the third and second century B.C.

Hilary raised an eyebrow. "Why is this one so special? I can't even tell if it's a male or a female."

"It's of a dancer with a mask, and I think the sense of mystery that it invokes is what makes it special," Judy said.

"More like confusing."

"Well, that's one of the great things about art. It can be interpreted in a lot of different ways."

"Let's go to another one," Hilary said.

"Alright."

Judy pulled Hilary again until they stopped at another statue, this one larger and made from marble. It was clearly an old woman. She was clothed in a long strapped gown. One thing struck Hilary as very odd. Her arms were missing.

"What happened? I know that statue couldn't have been made purposely without arms."

"I don't know. Maybe someone dropped it or maybe it got damaged in transport."

"Did they mess up the face too? Because she looks like she's in pain."

Judy laughed. "I think that was intentional. Come on, there's one more statue I want to look at."

"Okay, but don't drag me this time," Hilary said, rubbing her arm for emphasis.

The two walked over to another bronze statue. It was a little over four feet tall. It was of a boy probably no older than Daichi, with a robe covering him from the waist down and with his chest exposed.

"This one is definitely the best of the three," Hilary said.

"Why? Is it because the statue is a boy?" Judy teased.

"No! It's complete, you can see all the details, and it looks natural."

"Well, that makes sense. Is there anything else you want to see before we move on?"

Hilary looked around and saw a display with a colorful plate. She walked over and motioned for Judy to follow her. Upon closer inspection, they saw it was a bowl. It was white, blue, gold and purple. Each color covered a fourth of the bowl with all four colors meeting in the center of the bowl. Each side of the bowl was also decorated with a pretzel-shaped rope design painted on.

"Good choice Hilary," Judy said smiling at the pottery. "What made you want to see this one?"

"I just love the way it looks. The use of color is the best part."

"Well, you certainly have good taste. Come on, the next exhibit we'll see is the European Sculptures and Decorative Arts section."


Tyson woke with a start. He stretched and blinked several times to get over the lingering drowsiness.

"So you finally woke up. The flight attendant came by to serve lunch, but you were asleep," Annabel said.

Tyson's eyes widened in shock. "Why didn't you wake me up?" he half-shouted.

"Calm down! I saved your plate for you. You just looked so peaceful that I didn't have the heart to wake you."

"Well, I never want to miss a meal, so if I'm asleep and there's food, wake me up."

"Alright. Here you go," she said, handing him his plate.

Tyson took off the aluminum foil and saw barbeque, corn, salad, and mashed potatoes.

"Alright! Hey, where's the silverware?" he asked Annabel.

"Here you go." She handed him a napkin with a spoon, a fork and a knife.

"Thanks."

Tyson began shoveling the food into his mouth and it was Annabel's turn to be surprised. He finished in less than five minutes.

"I've never seen anyone eat a meal that fast. You must really love food."

He grinned. "Yep!"

Well, it's good to see him smiling. Maybe this will take his mind off that girl. Now that I think of it, I don't know her name. Oh well, I'll ask him later.


Hilary and Judy walked into a long hallway and stopped. Some of the pillars here were painted red and on either side were tall glass windows in the shape of a pentagon giving a view of the outside. Statues seemed to be the only things on display.

"Well, here we are," Judy said. "This is a large exhibit so stay by me. I don't want you getting lost."

The first statue they saw was one Hilary recognized almost immediately. It was of the Virgin Mary beside baby Jesus, with both apparently surrounded by baby angels.

"This is nice," Hilary stated. "The Nativity story is one I hear about every December from my mom."

"I told it to Max when he was a little boy, but it went in one ear and out the other. All he cared about was Santa and the presents under the tree." They both giggled at the image of Max as a child.

The two went to the end of the hall and stopped at display that had statues of two lions beside each other.

"I love the detail on these, especially the manes," Judy said.

"They're life-like alright," Hilary agreed. "But the facial expressions are off-putting. They look like their scared and it makes them seem cartoonish. I think the artist, in trying to make the lions seem more real, ended up overcompensating."

Judy looked at Hilary and smiled. "You know, you're very perceptive. Maybe you should become a critic."

Hilary shook her head. "I'd be one of those brutal critics who's impossible to please."

Judy laughed. "Let's go. The next hallway has mostly pottery, but what I really want you to see is the part of the exhibit that showcases whole rooms from different places in Europe."

"They have entire rooms here on display?" Hilary asked, her voice carrying both surprise and slight disbelief.

"That's right. Oh you'll love it!"

Judy grabbed Hilary's arm again and ran.

Not again! Hilary thought dismally.

Judy turned down another hallway and kept running, dragging Hilary along. The younger girl had to run to keep from losing her balance. When Judy suddenly came to a stop, Hilary nearly bumped into her again. After catching her breath, she looked up and saw a chalice. It was golden in color with sun rays on the cup and at the bottom. Lily petals circled a protrusion in the middle of a thin handle. Projecting from the base were twelve semicircles.

"Nice looking cup," Hilary said dryly.

"I was just noticing the design. It's very fluid. Whoever made this was very particular about what images to use and where to use them," Judy remarked.

"I see. It'd be nice to have something like that in your house for special occasions."

"Yes, I suppose it would. Well, let's see some of those rooms."

"Okay, but we're walking this time," Hilary said.


Annabel and Tyson had been sitting in relative silence for a while and the name of the girl that Tyson seemed so desperate to find was nagging at Annabel's mind. Turning to the young Beyblade champion, she took a preparatory breath before speaking.

"Tyson?"

Tyson looked up from the magazine he was reading and turned to her. "What is it?"

"Well, I just realized that you never did say the name of this friend you're looking for."

"Oh. Her name is Hilary Tatibana."

"Sorry if it seems like I'm being nosy, I was just curious."

"No, that's okay."

Well, I'm glad that's settled.


Hilary and Judy stood inside a small bedroom from a place called Sageredo Palace, according to the description. The bed was medium-sized with a pink top cover and a light red head board. There was a small chair next to the bed and on the ceiling was what looked to be a perfectly circular chandelier, dark brown in color. Hanging above the entrance door were baby angel statues.

"I know this is probably just a replica, but did someone actually sleep in this bedroom?" Hilary asked.

"Oh this is merely a work of art. The description simply says it's a bedroom, and doesn't give any details. It only exists in this museum, it was never an actual bedroom."

"Really? But I thought that the rooms here were reconstructions of actual places in Europe."

"Some are, but some are just made from scratch. All of them are works of architecture and were made purely for one's visual enjoyment."

"Well, they did a great job on this one."

"I agree, although from what I heard from Philippe, when this room was originally designed, it wasn't appreciated by the critics. I can't imagine why. Anyway, the last thing we'll see is the Armor department."


The two came into a large room with many different flags hanging from the walls. There were several glass cases throughout the room. Hilary walked over to the two knights on horses in front of her.

"This is must be the Medieval section," she said.

"It appears so. Can you imagine the men that went into battle in these heavy stuffy suits?" Judy asked.

"And some of them on horseback no less," Hilary added. "They must have stunk constantly."

They went around the rest of the room looking at helmets & other suits of armor.

"Are those flags supposed to represent something?" Hilary asked.

"They're national flags from different countries and I assume that they represent where the armor originally came from, but I don't know for sure."

"Well, are we ready to go now?" Hilary asked.

"I suppose. Is there any other section you want to see?" Judy asked.

"No, this is good."


Once they were out of the Met, Judy and Hilary rode down the now familiar entertainment center that was Fifth Avenue. Once they reached a four way intersection, Judy turned down Seventh Avenue. Because this was a section of downtown that Hilary was unfamiliar with, she decided to ask where their next destination was.

"So, what's the next stop on our tour of the Big Apple?"

"I never did understand why they call this city by that name," Judy said. "But that's beside the point. We're going to one of the most beautiful gardens in the world."