Emptiness
By: Black Dranzer
".." speaking and thinking
/../ Russian translation
---------- Scene Change
--flashback sequences—
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. I only own any of the characters that you haven't seen in the original Beyblade series.
----------
In the last chapter of Emptiness:
(("Mrs. Balkov?" he asked hopefully. But he was disappointed as he looked at a surprised hospital nurse.
"I'm sorry little boy, but Mrs. Balkov didn't make it after the collapse of the abbey," she said in Russian. Balkov Abbey was known for its vast grounds and the many orphans it took in, but the darker side of it was never shown to the public.
"You're lying," Kai whispered but gasped as the nurse handed him a newspaper. The front-page news was:
"Abbey Collapse Kills Headmistress."))
(("We have located them," a flat, toneless voice replied on the other side of the line.
"Where?" Boris asked shortly, as he had already identified the voice to belong to one of his abbey spies.
"In Scotland, they were seen at the Scottish BBA Offices." The voice said, "They seem to be planning a Scottish tournament."))
(("Tala," Bryan started, ignoring the redhead's glare, "Why don't you just wake her up? It's not as if she's going to die the second she opens her eyes."
Tala made a move as if to advance on Bryan, but decided against that and replied calmly, "If it bothers you so much that even the emotionless is annoyed, then just leave. I'm not making you three stay here,"))
((With a hand on his forehead, the boy pushed the questions out of his head and closed his eyes. But the face of another popped up in his mind. One of a companion he had 'lost' long ago, and the last words they had shared as friends.
"Run. Run and never come back,"))
----------
Chapter Twenty: Mission
"..Dorothy Cadelonia, Raphael Illyge, Cain and Merryweather Hargreaves, Gabriel Weselyn.." the long list of names emitted from Jackie's mouth as Oliver jotted them down in his quick and neat handwriting. They were preparing the guest list for Jackie's birthday ball in the living room and Johnny was getting annoyed.
"Why don't you save us the trouble and write it all down yourself?" he sighed, his little sis had hundreds of friends, it would take all day to list them all.
"Because, Oliver's nice and you aren't." Jackie said and stuck her tongue out at her brother.
Oliver chuckled at Johnny and said, "It's okay Johnny, I need to practice my handwriting anyways as my literacy professor has suggested."
Johnny raised an eyebrow, Oliver's perfect handwriting was beyond neater than his own and he still needed to practice?
"Come on guys," Jackie suddenly said, "Let's go window shopping. I can't wait to get my hands on that blue necklace I wanted so much. Johnny said he'd buy it for me. Right big bro?"
Johnny looked up in surprise, "A necklace?" he asked unconvinced, "Since when did you want a necklace?"
"Since now," she replied, winking, "Come if you want, but I'm sure you've already got the necklace all wrapped up for me right?"
"Right," Johnny replied sarcastically, "I told the future and now I know what you want for your next two birthdays as well."
"Come on," Jackie laughed, "I was joking. But that necklace would still be nice,"
Johnny shrugged, "We're family, you don't need a present from me,"
"Fine." Jackie replied and turned away, "But it would be nice. You haven't given me a present since.." the last few words trailed off into silence.
Johnny's eyes widened a bit, and the other Majestics watched on with confusion.
"Let's go," Jackie said, finally looking up, her face was as cheery as ever, "Before the stores close,"
Johnny turned around and tramped down the hall without looking back.
"What was that all about?" came Tyson's voice from down the hall. He had just finished another round of meals and was being dragged out of the dining room by Kenny.
"Oh, nothing," Jackie said dismissively.
"I believe you Jackie," Tyson tried to sound sarcastic, "I really do."
"Good," Jackie countered and went out the door before Tyson could say another word.
Tyson just opened and closed his mouth, still trying to think up a smart response.
"Come on Tyson," Robert laughed, "you know that you can't out-talk Jackie."
"I just couldn't think straight at the moment, that's all," Tyson said, "I ate a little too much."
"A 'little' too much?" Oliver laughed with the rest of the Majestics and walked downstairs after Jackie.
"Let's go Tyson!" Kenny complained.
"No, wait, let me just get another plate of food.." Tyson struggled as he tried to free himself from Kenny's grasp.
Kenny just sighed and let Tyson go, making him crash face-first into the floor.
"Oww.." Tyson complained as he rubbed his chin. After a few seconds, "I'm coming my food!" he called, jumping to his feet and immediately headed for the dining room again.
"I give up!" Kenny said in defeat and went downstairs.
----------
There was blood again. The red sticky liquid was coming from the same place as before. Tala had noticed it when he pulled the covers over Kazuki; her left arm was bleeding. Curious, he carefully pulled up the left sleeve of Kazuki's shirt. Widened eyes settled upon etched characters on the pale skin, the source of the bleeding. Wiping away some of the crimson fluid with his white fingers, he made out the first word:
ybNBAb
"Oobeevat?" he read in his native tongue. Russian wasn't used much in his daily dialect, but he knew for sure that that word means 'to put to death' or, in simpler words..
"Kill," the word slipped out of his mouth unconsciously and he mused over it for a few moments before shifting his sight over the second 'word'. But he frowned as he raised an eyebrow to the foreign kanji.
He was startled out of his thoughts though when he felt Kazuki suddenly jerk beside him.
"What are you doing?" she practically shouted at him as she made a move to strike, but pulled back her hand at the last moment.
Tala was ticked off too, "I was just wiping that blood off of your arm," he said back, as he stood up, turning his face away to hide anything that would betray his knowledge of what he had seen.
Kazuki looked suspiciously at Tala as she pulled her shirt sleeve back over her bleeding arm, wincing a bit as she thought about having to change shirts as this was her favorite top.
"What did you see?" she asked, and Tala knew from the tone of her voice that she knew that it was useless to lie.
"Just the Russian word," Tala replied shortly, "the second is foreign to me."
"Keep this a secret, especially to f-I mean Boris," Kazuki said firmly as she stood up to go.
A nod from Tala gave Kazuki the signal to leave. But she paused at the door and said in a low voice, "Spaseeba, /Thank you,/"
There was another nod from the silent boy. Kazuki was slightly hurt from Tala's cold shoulder, but she kept her expression in check as she headed down the hall.
----------
"Hey guys," Jackie greeted Max and Ray as she appeared in the lounge with Oliver, Enrique and Robert. The four had just finished their window- shopping and the three boys were looking very tired.
"How does she endure this every time she goes shopping?" was showing on Robert's face as Enrique's illustrated "And she didn't even buy anything." Only Oliver seemed to have survived the long walks through the malls.
"I just beat Ray again!" Max boasted.
"Aw, come on Max! It was just luck!" Ray tried to convince the blonde boy.
"Luck? For fifty-one straight games?" Max teased.
Ray turned away and mumbled, "I play better at Chinese chess.."
"I really think that you guys should put a lock on that dining room of yours, Jackie," Kenny's voice sounded as he followed down the stairs.
Jackie laughed, "What? Tyson raiding the kitchens again?"
Kenny sighed, "Yeah,"
Jackie assured the younger boy, "Don't worry, we have like enough provisions to last us five Tysons,"
"Can we get on with the plans?" Johnny's annoyed voice sounded somewhere behind his sister as he came downstairs with a regular set face.
Jackie looked worriedly at his brother for a while before sitting down on the couch next to Kai.
Kai immediately stood up and moved to a sitting position beside Ray.
Jackie raised an eyebrow at this and snorted, "I don't bite you know," She raised a gloved hand to pull down one eyelid as she stuck out her tongue.
"But you might be hiding claws underneath those gloves," he replied, looking pointedly at her cloaked hands.
Jackie frowned, she had hoped that Kai wouldn't notice, "All the better to scratch you with," she rolled her eyes and turned to the other three boys who had sat settled around her.
"Oh, and I forgot to tell you Jackie," Johnny suddenly interrupted before his sister could start.
"What?" Jackie asked as she turned back to look at her brother. She was relieved to see none of the hurt that had appeared before when she had mentioned her birthday present.
"Mother and Father are coming back for your birthday ball." Johnny replied with a half smirk.
Jackie jumped up, "Really?" she said excitedly.
"No." Johnny replied sarcastically.
"When will they be here?" Jackie asked eagerly.
Mr. McGregor was a big-time businessman and billionaire being the owner of a large company. Mrs. McGregor was also a successful businesswoman and the vice-president of her husband's company. In the time being, they were both away on a business trip.
"Well, since your birthday is two days after tomorrow, they will be arriving tomorrow night." Johnny predicted, "They didn't say exactly."
"I can't wait," Jackie said enthusiastically.
"Me neither," Johnny said with a hint of sarcasm though he smiled as his sister hugged him in delight.
----------
Kazuki looked at her new living quarters. The new room seemed to have a large contrast to her old one. For one thing, it was twice as big. That made not much of a difference though, she observed, since she was hardly there at all during day.
In a corner, there was a bed with a soft mattress a nice improvement to a wooden bed with a thin layer of blankets.
A new wooden wardrobe with double mirrored doors replaced her old, worn closet.
Bright electric lamps replaced the oil lamp in her old room, and a newly polished wooden table replaced the small desk she had used often for remodeling her Beyblade. It had two drawers on each side and wooden chair was placed in front of it.
Even though her furniture was old and rusty, she liked the dim way they looked. New things didn't really suit her.
"At least the mirror's fixed," she muttered to herself and summed up her room again with a glance.
As her eyes flashed past the corners of the ceiling, she caught something shiny. Curious, Kazuki stood up to check it out. Reaching the edge of the wall, she saw a mechanical object shining its motorized eye on her.
It was a video camera.
Sighing, she whispered, "Why are you always monitoring me father? Is it that I have not yet gained your trust?"
In reply, a voice came out of the camera's speaker.
"It is meant as an extra precaution Kazuki,"
Kazuki froze, she hadn't meant for Boris to hear that.
"Father, I.." she didn't get to finish because just then, the voice interrupted her.
"We have a..job for you."
Kazuki's ears perked up. A job? Was this what she had been training for?
"We would like you to travel to Scotland and monitor the Bladebreakers."
"Bladebreakers?" Kazuki asked, her heart skipping beats.
"Yes, especially Voltaire-sama's grandson, Kai, we will need someone to look into their movements and report back. Both he and I think that you are best suited for the job." Boris' voice sounded.
"Mission accepted," Kazuki replied without a hint of the emotion that was welling up inside her: vengeance.
She was going to meet her foe more easily than she thought, and when she does..
"I will tear you to shreds," she whispered, her eyes flashing silver.
--To be continued
By: Black Dranzer
".." speaking and thinking
/../ Russian translation
---------- Scene Change
--flashback sequences—
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. I only own any of the characters that you haven't seen in the original Beyblade series.
----------
In the last chapter of Emptiness:
(("Mrs. Balkov?" he asked hopefully. But he was disappointed as he looked at a surprised hospital nurse.
"I'm sorry little boy, but Mrs. Balkov didn't make it after the collapse of the abbey," she said in Russian. Balkov Abbey was known for its vast grounds and the many orphans it took in, but the darker side of it was never shown to the public.
"You're lying," Kai whispered but gasped as the nurse handed him a newspaper. The front-page news was:
"Abbey Collapse Kills Headmistress."))
(("We have located them," a flat, toneless voice replied on the other side of the line.
"Where?" Boris asked shortly, as he had already identified the voice to belong to one of his abbey spies.
"In Scotland, they were seen at the Scottish BBA Offices." The voice said, "They seem to be planning a Scottish tournament."))
(("Tala," Bryan started, ignoring the redhead's glare, "Why don't you just wake her up? It's not as if she's going to die the second she opens her eyes."
Tala made a move as if to advance on Bryan, but decided against that and replied calmly, "If it bothers you so much that even the emotionless is annoyed, then just leave. I'm not making you three stay here,"))
((With a hand on his forehead, the boy pushed the questions out of his head and closed his eyes. But the face of another popped up in his mind. One of a companion he had 'lost' long ago, and the last words they had shared as friends.
"Run. Run and never come back,"))
----------
Chapter Twenty: Mission
"..Dorothy Cadelonia, Raphael Illyge, Cain and Merryweather Hargreaves, Gabriel Weselyn.." the long list of names emitted from Jackie's mouth as Oliver jotted them down in his quick and neat handwriting. They were preparing the guest list for Jackie's birthday ball in the living room and Johnny was getting annoyed.
"Why don't you save us the trouble and write it all down yourself?" he sighed, his little sis had hundreds of friends, it would take all day to list them all.
"Because, Oliver's nice and you aren't." Jackie said and stuck her tongue out at her brother.
Oliver chuckled at Johnny and said, "It's okay Johnny, I need to practice my handwriting anyways as my literacy professor has suggested."
Johnny raised an eyebrow, Oliver's perfect handwriting was beyond neater than his own and he still needed to practice?
"Come on guys," Jackie suddenly said, "Let's go window shopping. I can't wait to get my hands on that blue necklace I wanted so much. Johnny said he'd buy it for me. Right big bro?"
Johnny looked up in surprise, "A necklace?" he asked unconvinced, "Since when did you want a necklace?"
"Since now," she replied, winking, "Come if you want, but I'm sure you've already got the necklace all wrapped up for me right?"
"Right," Johnny replied sarcastically, "I told the future and now I know what you want for your next two birthdays as well."
"Come on," Jackie laughed, "I was joking. But that necklace would still be nice,"
Johnny shrugged, "We're family, you don't need a present from me,"
"Fine." Jackie replied and turned away, "But it would be nice. You haven't given me a present since.." the last few words trailed off into silence.
Johnny's eyes widened a bit, and the other Majestics watched on with confusion.
"Let's go," Jackie said, finally looking up, her face was as cheery as ever, "Before the stores close,"
Johnny turned around and tramped down the hall without looking back.
"What was that all about?" came Tyson's voice from down the hall. He had just finished another round of meals and was being dragged out of the dining room by Kenny.
"Oh, nothing," Jackie said dismissively.
"I believe you Jackie," Tyson tried to sound sarcastic, "I really do."
"Good," Jackie countered and went out the door before Tyson could say another word.
Tyson just opened and closed his mouth, still trying to think up a smart response.
"Come on Tyson," Robert laughed, "you know that you can't out-talk Jackie."
"I just couldn't think straight at the moment, that's all," Tyson said, "I ate a little too much."
"A 'little' too much?" Oliver laughed with the rest of the Majestics and walked downstairs after Jackie.
"Let's go Tyson!" Kenny complained.
"No, wait, let me just get another plate of food.." Tyson struggled as he tried to free himself from Kenny's grasp.
Kenny just sighed and let Tyson go, making him crash face-first into the floor.
"Oww.." Tyson complained as he rubbed his chin. After a few seconds, "I'm coming my food!" he called, jumping to his feet and immediately headed for the dining room again.
"I give up!" Kenny said in defeat and went downstairs.
----------
There was blood again. The red sticky liquid was coming from the same place as before. Tala had noticed it when he pulled the covers over Kazuki; her left arm was bleeding. Curious, he carefully pulled up the left sleeve of Kazuki's shirt. Widened eyes settled upon etched characters on the pale skin, the source of the bleeding. Wiping away some of the crimson fluid with his white fingers, he made out the first word:
ybNBAb
"Oobeevat?" he read in his native tongue. Russian wasn't used much in his daily dialect, but he knew for sure that that word means 'to put to death' or, in simpler words..
"Kill," the word slipped out of his mouth unconsciously and he mused over it for a few moments before shifting his sight over the second 'word'. But he frowned as he raised an eyebrow to the foreign kanji.
He was startled out of his thoughts though when he felt Kazuki suddenly jerk beside him.
"What are you doing?" she practically shouted at him as she made a move to strike, but pulled back her hand at the last moment.
Tala was ticked off too, "I was just wiping that blood off of your arm," he said back, as he stood up, turning his face away to hide anything that would betray his knowledge of what he had seen.
Kazuki looked suspiciously at Tala as she pulled her shirt sleeve back over her bleeding arm, wincing a bit as she thought about having to change shirts as this was her favorite top.
"What did you see?" she asked, and Tala knew from the tone of her voice that she knew that it was useless to lie.
"Just the Russian word," Tala replied shortly, "the second is foreign to me."
"Keep this a secret, especially to f-I mean Boris," Kazuki said firmly as she stood up to go.
A nod from Tala gave Kazuki the signal to leave. But she paused at the door and said in a low voice, "Spaseeba, /Thank you,/"
There was another nod from the silent boy. Kazuki was slightly hurt from Tala's cold shoulder, but she kept her expression in check as she headed down the hall.
----------
"Hey guys," Jackie greeted Max and Ray as she appeared in the lounge with Oliver, Enrique and Robert. The four had just finished their window- shopping and the three boys were looking very tired.
"How does she endure this every time she goes shopping?" was showing on Robert's face as Enrique's illustrated "And she didn't even buy anything." Only Oliver seemed to have survived the long walks through the malls.
"I just beat Ray again!" Max boasted.
"Aw, come on Max! It was just luck!" Ray tried to convince the blonde boy.
"Luck? For fifty-one straight games?" Max teased.
Ray turned away and mumbled, "I play better at Chinese chess.."
"I really think that you guys should put a lock on that dining room of yours, Jackie," Kenny's voice sounded as he followed down the stairs.
Jackie laughed, "What? Tyson raiding the kitchens again?"
Kenny sighed, "Yeah,"
Jackie assured the younger boy, "Don't worry, we have like enough provisions to last us five Tysons,"
"Can we get on with the plans?" Johnny's annoyed voice sounded somewhere behind his sister as he came downstairs with a regular set face.
Jackie looked worriedly at his brother for a while before sitting down on the couch next to Kai.
Kai immediately stood up and moved to a sitting position beside Ray.
Jackie raised an eyebrow at this and snorted, "I don't bite you know," She raised a gloved hand to pull down one eyelid as she stuck out her tongue.
"But you might be hiding claws underneath those gloves," he replied, looking pointedly at her cloaked hands.
Jackie frowned, she had hoped that Kai wouldn't notice, "All the better to scratch you with," she rolled her eyes and turned to the other three boys who had sat settled around her.
"Oh, and I forgot to tell you Jackie," Johnny suddenly interrupted before his sister could start.
"What?" Jackie asked as she turned back to look at her brother. She was relieved to see none of the hurt that had appeared before when she had mentioned her birthday present.
"Mother and Father are coming back for your birthday ball." Johnny replied with a half smirk.
Jackie jumped up, "Really?" she said excitedly.
"No." Johnny replied sarcastically.
"When will they be here?" Jackie asked eagerly.
Mr. McGregor was a big-time businessman and billionaire being the owner of a large company. Mrs. McGregor was also a successful businesswoman and the vice-president of her husband's company. In the time being, they were both away on a business trip.
"Well, since your birthday is two days after tomorrow, they will be arriving tomorrow night." Johnny predicted, "They didn't say exactly."
"I can't wait," Jackie said enthusiastically.
"Me neither," Johnny said with a hint of sarcasm though he smiled as his sister hugged him in delight.
----------
Kazuki looked at her new living quarters. The new room seemed to have a large contrast to her old one. For one thing, it was twice as big. That made not much of a difference though, she observed, since she was hardly there at all during day.
In a corner, there was a bed with a soft mattress a nice improvement to a wooden bed with a thin layer of blankets.
A new wooden wardrobe with double mirrored doors replaced her old, worn closet.
Bright electric lamps replaced the oil lamp in her old room, and a newly polished wooden table replaced the small desk she had used often for remodeling her Beyblade. It had two drawers on each side and wooden chair was placed in front of it.
Even though her furniture was old and rusty, she liked the dim way they looked. New things didn't really suit her.
"At least the mirror's fixed," she muttered to herself and summed up her room again with a glance.
As her eyes flashed past the corners of the ceiling, she caught something shiny. Curious, Kazuki stood up to check it out. Reaching the edge of the wall, she saw a mechanical object shining its motorized eye on her.
It was a video camera.
Sighing, she whispered, "Why are you always monitoring me father? Is it that I have not yet gained your trust?"
In reply, a voice came out of the camera's speaker.
"It is meant as an extra precaution Kazuki,"
Kazuki froze, she hadn't meant for Boris to hear that.
"Father, I.." she didn't get to finish because just then, the voice interrupted her.
"We have a..job for you."
Kazuki's ears perked up. A job? Was this what she had been training for?
"We would like you to travel to Scotland and monitor the Bladebreakers."
"Bladebreakers?" Kazuki asked, her heart skipping beats.
"Yes, especially Voltaire-sama's grandson, Kai, we will need someone to look into their movements and report back. Both he and I think that you are best suited for the job." Boris' voice sounded.
"Mission accepted," Kazuki replied without a hint of the emotion that was welling up inside her: vengeance.
She was going to meet her foe more easily than she thought, and when she does..
"I will tear you to shreds," she whispered, her eyes flashing silver.
--To be continued