AUTHOR'S NOTE: Alrighty! This is my next installment on the whole 6-working-day-a-week run. I really have to write things down fast, before our PC decides to crash down again. Yup, our PC crashed and ALL FILES were LOST! Now I have to start everything from scratch. Don't worry, I'm quite inspired at the moment, so I really, really have to write it down. Thank you for all your unwavering support Bookie and Fluffychans! And A-leng, too! Hmm, you guys deserve a GOOD reward…hee hee hee…8)
Lao nodded briefly to the maids who opened the carved cinnabar wood double doors for them to come in. "Thank you. Please see to the other guests, please. Make sure that we are not disturbed."
"Yes, Lord Kon."
Chairman Daitenji, Lee, and Llewelyn followed suit. The maids closed the doors behind them with a soft click. Lao puffed at his pipe and gestured to the squashy seats inside the lavishly decorated room. "Please make yourselves comfortable. I'll just go get something from the library."
Lee raised an eyebrow. Chairman Daitenji smiled. "There's really no rush, Lao. Do take your time."
Lao nodded, then left the room, entering a cleverly disguised door that doubled as a carved wall that depicted the Buddhist paradise. Llewelyn blinked. "That was quite unusual…"
"…" Lee shrugged. "Well…Grandfather's pretty out of this world sometimes, but he's a good man. Provided he doesn't see a skirt within a 500 mile radius around him."
Llewelyn shrugged. "Figures. The way he pounced on ASAYA a while ago was like a tiger pouncing on an unsuspecting prey. Forgive the comparison, Lee."
"He gives tigers a very bad name." Lee sighed. "Oh well. You'll get used to it. I've lived with him for the last 10 years and I managed to survive."
Chairman Daitenji sat down on one of the chairs beside the antique cinnabar wood table up front. "He was quite a skirt-chaser, but a very good man, as you say. He's one of the few men who donated for the cause of the World Bey Blade Championship Tournament."
"Of course. Dr. Leimrey told us, Chairman Daitenji. He's OVERJOYED to know Lao Kon has taken quite a fancy to sponsoring the tournament." Llewelyn turned SD. "I suppose it's for your comeback, Lee? The 'mere coincidence' thing is just too SUSPICIOUS."
"BA-KA."
"For one thing, it DID bring them all back together again, right? There's really no need to worry," Chairman Daitenji says with a nod.
"You said it right, Chairman," Lee answered.
"…" Llewelyn bit his lip and looked around the room. It was quite huge for an office, having been lavishly decorated with ancient Chinese antiques that included huge jars and priceless works of porcelain and hanging calligraphy scrolls. The wall behind the table was made of glass with a tall folding antique lacquered screen that depicted Chinese nobles in ancient flowing regalia of an empire long gone up front. The antique shelves were filled with books and bric-a-bracs from all around the world, and Lao's collection of sea navigational implements and old, yellowish maps painted on brittle parchment and mounted in frames.
"Sorry for taking so long." Lao appeared from the invisible doorway, carrying something that was covered in brown cloth. "I had to take this from the innermost corner of the library."
"!" Lee's eyes became wide.
"Uh…what's THAT?" Llewelyn asked, turning SD.
"The treasure of the 4 Gods." Lao set the box (it looked like a box) on the table then looked at them. "The place where no one dies…this treasure comes from there."
The old man removed the cloth to reveal a very old-looking box that looked like…
"Yes, it's one of those devilish Chinese boxes you've heard so much about," Lao told Llelwelyn as the young man was about to say that question. "The people who put it in there took tremendous care as not to let the treasure within fall into the wrong hands. Dr. Ninomiya was very fortunate enough to discover the secret of the box."
"Dr….Ninomiya…?" Llewelyn asked.
"He's a very famous archaeologist, very much in demand the whole world over," Lao explained. "He's been to digs more than the times we spent thinking. Anyway, he was the one who taught Takao Kinogu's father, and…Dr. Althens Leimrey. Very good man, he was. He died in that horrible plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean 16 years ago. Asaya didn't get to meet him."
"…"
"He's famous for his works about the –Holy Beasts-, which his student, Dr. Hideo Kinogu (I'm making Takao's father's name up, I haven't really caught it…^^;;…please e-mail me if you know! THANKS!), continued after his death. So, the secrets of the –Holy Beasts- were revealed to the BBA Team 4 years ago, after 12 years of intensive research. But…Dr. Leimrey wanted to take it one step further. Always been very impulsive and irrational and stubborn. He found out about the –Aurans-, which Dr. Ninomiya discovered while studying the –Holy Beasts-. –Aurans- are so powerful only 7 or so are born in a cycle of 500-700 years…these people were gifted with the power to call upon –Edains-…or, in our human language…-Forbidden Holy Beasts-. These –Edains- were the guardians of the Shrine of Eden, the fabled place where all –Holy Beasts- have been said to come from. The –Aurans- were the keepers of the Shrine's balance, and countless times, bloody wars have been fought again and again in a never-ending cycle, waiting for the Scarlet Moon to arise. The time for the moon to turn like so is when the broken winged goddess has been found, and the Gates to Heaven shall open, and tear everything asunder. Dr. Ninomiya knew of that dangerous secret and wished to seal everything, for the human race is not and will not accept this fate.
"Time and time again, -Aurans- were feared and despised. Dr. Leimrey really tried to find all 7 of you to make his dream complete. He wishes to find that broken winged goddess and submit us all to our doomed fate. And to do that, he needs the power of the most powerful –Auran- to summon the –Sealer Edain-."
Lao gestured to the box.
"This treasure is what we have left of that civilization who was the first to have controlled –Holy Beasts-. For some strange reason, they have sealed the –Holy Beasts- and were scattered throughout the world, when something happened 10,000 years ago and destroyed their entire civilization…and the –Holy Beasts'- purpose…was forever lost."
They were all quiet. Lao nodded then his eyes became deadly serious.
"The Shrine of Eden was where everything began…everything was sealed. Who alone but the broken winged goddess could have guarded them from harm? But somebody, or some THING, has broken the seal and the –Holy Beasts- are upon us, as guardians and as friends. But…are they really there for US…or US for THEM? Why would this ancient civilization think of even sealing them when in 'truth' they were good? What is their purpose? What is OUR purpose? I guess Dr. Leimrey would be showing his ace cards very SOON. But as long as we have this treasure, not everything would be LOST." The old man gazed at Llewelyn very intensely. "Dr. Ninomiya gave this to me before he died. He somehow knew it would all come down to this. Are you ready for what you are about to learn, my young friend?"
"Yes, sir," Llewelyn answered him.
"Good." Lao nodded. "Then I'll show you."