For those of you who don't know, I'm starting each chapter with a quote that represents the chapter somewhat, I did do it on the last chapter too, but that was after I've already put it up for a day so some of you might have missed it.
Lady Akuma: Thanx! Dreams are always good to use, thus the title of the fic, lol! I don't really like roses that much though.
The Great Kuro Neko: WHAT???????? Are you serious???? Tala's going to DIE????? AAAAAAHH, NOOO!!! Tala's supposed to be confusing, that all ties in, lol!
Kai Hiwatari: Yeah, nightmare, dream, I don't know, either one works fine for me, yay, it was FREAKY! ^_^
*Unicolyon ¤ Gurl*: It doesn't matter, you don't have to like Carly, her part doesn't come in for a long time. Roses are lovely! ^_^
Beyblader-grl: Wow, that surprised? I'll bet you're useful for lots! ~_^ Actually, the quote thing was inspired by you to be honest, lol! Thanx again!
SaKuYa: Yay! You finally reviewed! Happy, happy! ^_^ Thanx!
~kai~: Can't Hru meet Johnny? She likes him okay, doesn't she? Kiss Tala? On the lips???? O_o I can't include any other people cuz it's already hard enough writing about 12 people plus a few others who fit in from time to time. If I had that many people, I should go and write a novel!
dreamer_gurl: I like that pairing too, in fact I like it so much that I decided to write another fanfic along those lines.
~*~Prodigious girl*~*: Nope, not Holly's. ~_^ Yeah, Holly's looking out for everyone, lol! (except Tala, he doesn't even talk to her!)
whisper*2*imaginary: Me too, I'd love him for a friend, but nothing more. School's soooo hard now, so much work to do, it's crazy crazy crazy! What's SE? When's your birthday? O_o
Just-some-girl1: Don't worry, I will, ~_^
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* ~ ¤ ~ Quøte ~ ¤ ~ *
"I said that I would be all right, I said I would be fine, but once again I lied to you, and it's killing me inside."
~ Unknown
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Chapter 19: Just Too Busy
"Sorry we're late!" Carly called to the Guardian of Dimensions, "It wasn't my fault though!"
Johnny groaned, "Carly...it's waaaay too early for your booming voice."
Carly laughed and punched his shoulder, "Johnny, you're so cute when you complain."
Johnny turned red and when he opened his mouth, nothing came out, Holly snickered in the background.
"Did you all have breakfast yet?" the Guardian asked.
"Are you kidding?" Kai demanded, "It's only 7, of course not. I'm not awake enough to eat!!!!!"
"I have prepared breakfast for you," the Guardian said, "Sit down and eat, we're in no hurry."
"Wooooohoooooooo!" Cassandra hooted, diving in.
"Cassie, you've already cleaned out my cake," Kailee protested, sweatdropping.
"SO?" Cassandra demanded, through a mouthful of food.
They all sat down and began eating while the Guardian toyed with the machine.
"Sugar?" Ray asked Willow, holding a sugar jar.
Willow looked up from dully stirring her coffee, "Huh? Oh, no thanks."
Ray looked at her closely, "You okay? You don't seem yourself."
Willow couldn't bear to look at him, "I'm fine, didn't sleep well last night, that's all."
"Maybe you should get some more sleep before we go," Ray said, sounding very concerned, "We should be a in tip top shape."
"No, I'm fine, leave me alone," Willow said, moving away.
Ray looked taken back and he silently returned to his breakfast.
"Willow, you okay?" Holly asked.
"Yeah," Kailee chimed in, "You look really tired and beat."
"I'm fine!" Willow said crossly, "Do I have to get up and do a dance to prove it???"
"Hey, you stole my sarcasm!" Carly exclaimed, "But you do look awful, you should get some more rest."
"Carly," Kai whispered, "When someone looks awful, do you really think it's wise if you tell them so? She doesn't need more depression."
"Hey," Carly said easily, "I'd be lying if I said otherwise."
"I'm fine!" Willow insisted again, "Just had a bad dream last night, that's all."
"Willow," the Guardian said, "If you had a dream, maybe we should talk about it. Dreams can be visions and they should not be taken lightly. If you need more rest, please, go ahead."
Willow rolled her eyes, feeling on the edge of snapping, //I wish I never brought up my dream…//
"Yeah," Ray said, "Do you want to talk about it Willow? Maybe it'll make you feel better."
"NO! I don't want to talk about it!" Willow shrieked, jumping up and knocking her chair down, "Especially not with you Ray!!! Why can't you just leave me alone??? I don't need your sympathy!" She ran upstairs to her room and slammed the door.
Ray looked bewildered, "What did I say?" But everyone looked just as surprised as him.
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"Oh well, she probably just need some more rest, that's all," Enrique said, "People get testy when they get less sleep."
"Except when you're Carly," Johnny said, grinning, "Then you're testy all the time."
"Hey!" Carly tried to deck Johnny, but missed. Instead, she glared at her best friend, who laughed.
After a hearty breakfast, the Guardian showed everyone the huge screen that monitored the movement in the Elemental Galaxy, "Ray, let me show you your Kingdom. While you were gone, new residents have moved in and settled. Now they're clearing up the damage and rebuilding things, all of them are eager to meet their new king."
Ray watched the screen as the people were cleaning up the streets and strange fire creatures were replanting trees and such. He gulped, "They wanna met me?"
"Of course, they are all very happy to return to their home and only you made that possible," the Guardian said.
"I better practice my curtsy," Carly said sarcastically, "Otherwise the Fire Mage might be SO offended by my lack of respect to the new brave king."
Ray turned red at Carly's caustic tone, "Carly, you're not making this easier for me."
"That is not necessary Carly," the Guardian assured her, "For you are royalty too."
"Yeah, just what I've always dreamed of," Carly muttered, sighing, "You know how spoiled royal families are???? Just take a look at Robert!"
"Hey, you've just insulted me!!!" Johnny exclaimed, "I came from royalty too, remember?"
"That's right," Carly said thoughtfully, "Sorry pal, I forgot. You sure don't act royal though, your manners are way off."
"Excuse me???? Your manners aren't any better!" Johnny said, "You get up and leave in a middle of a conversation!! Excuse me if that ain't rude and you're a lady!"
"I am no lady!" Carly scoffed, "I'm a fighter, like you." She grinned as Johnny groaned.
"As I was saying Ray, it is your duty to take care of the Fire Kingdom now. You must consider many factors when you rule, such as the economy, your military, your subjects' needs, relationships with the other Kingdoms, climate, preparing them for the season changes, and such," the Guardian said, "It'll be up to you to keep the balance of life going."
Ray gulped, "That – is - a lot."
"Not really," Carly said, "If you ever play computer stimulation games, you'd fly. It's the same thing, you just have to be agreeable to your people that's all."
"You sound like you already have experience," Tala teased her.
Carly stuck her tongue out at him, "You and Johnny are hopeless teasers, you two are sooooo mean sometimes. At least I have my buddy, Enrique!" She grabbed his arm and spun him around and around.
"OOF!" Enrique gasped when Carly let go of him, "Carly! Quit that!" He plopped on a sofa and shook his head, but he was laughing though since he was used to Carly's tactics.
"Which Kingdom are we going to next?" Holly asked.
"Well..." the Guardian looked at the map thoughtfully, "I'm not exactly sure yet, I'll get Ray started in his Kingdom first, then I'll decide. Ray, don't worry about all those factors I told you about. The very first thing you should worry about is-"
"Housing your people," Carly interrupted again, bouncing up and down again.
"That's right Carly," the Guardian said, looking a bit surprised, "Very good."
"We learned it in Socials," Holly said, "We've got a pretty good idea of what to do."
"You have to create stable structures for your people," the Guardian told Ray, "That is the first, the rest can come later." She handed Ray a golden amulet with the fire symbol engraved on it, "This is for you. This will show everyone that you are of royalty in the Fire Kingdom and it will also open the portal to the Fire Kingdom for you whenever you wish."
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"This room is called the Vortex Machine," the Guardian said.
The Guardian had led them all to another room, it was also beautifully decorated. The room was circular shaped with 12 vortexes placed in the ring pattern around the wall. The Guardian indicated to the red swirling vortex with the Fire symbol above it, "This is the portal to the Fire Kingdom. It will lead you to the throne room of the Fire Palace Ray. Do go in and talk with your people, good luck fixing up your kingdom."
"Oh okay, thanks," Ray said, "Bye guys." He started in the vortex, then paused, his eyes worried, "What about Willow? She still hasn't come down yet. What if she's sick?"
"I'll take care of her," Holly assured, "I don't think she's sick though." She remembered the phone conversation she had with Willow last night.
"Okay," Ray said reluctantly, jumping the vortex.
Hru pointed to the other vortexes curiously, "Why can't we just go through these to our worlds?"
"Because it is very dangerous in your worlds right now," the Guardian replied, "It is much to risky to send you straight into the throne room, you must explore the lands first."
"That sucks," Hru complained, "All that walking for nothing."
Suddenly the white vortex turned black for a brief second and then back to white again. They heard a distant rumbling.
"What happened there?" Max asked.
"What's with the black and white effect?" Kai demanded.
"That was the Light vortex," Holly cried, "That's my world! Why did it go all weird all of a sudden? I don't see the others changing color."
"Your Kingdom has become unstable," the Guardian said as the rumbling continuing, "Come, I must find what's wrong."
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They followed the Guardian back into the monitor room and watched as she browsed the huge screen, pressing all sorts of buttons to try and find out what caused the disruption. After she stopped, she was frowning deeply.
"What is it?" Holly asked nervously, "Is my Kingdom in
danger? Should we go now??"
Kai put his hand on her shoulder, " Slow down Holly, don't worry, if there's a
problem, we'll fix it, no sweat."
"Yeah!" Johnny cracked his knuckles, "We'll kick some butt in there, Holly!"
"The Dark Kingdom has invaded the Light Kingdom," the Guardian informed them, "And the Light Kingdom is fighting a rapidly losing battle. The Dark Kingdom is gaining control much too fast, pretty soon the Light Kingdom will be shrouded in darkness!"
"The Dark Kingdom belongs to Willow," Cassandra said, "Right? Can't she do something?"
"Can't I do what?" Willow asked sleepily, coming down the stairs, rubbing her eyes, "Some rumbling woke me up."
"Your Kingdom's attacking mine," Holly informed her, "And I'm losing." She didn't sound very happy at all. "Can we please GO???"
Willow's eyes shot open, "W-what??? Why are the Kingdoms attacking each other? I thought they all worked for the same evil guy!"
"She's got a point," Max said, "They're all working for the Chaotic Devil, right? So why-"
"The Chaotic Devil does not care about what his minions do," the Guardian said, "All he wants is control over the Dream Realm. We should head over to the Dark Kingdom first and try to settle things there."
"Why not mine?" Holly demanded, "My Kingdom's dying and there's bloodshed everywhere! What if it collapses or something????"
"If we were to go to your Kingdom right now Holly, that would put everyone in danger. It's safer to attack the Dark Kingdom first, then it's evil will disappear from the Light Kingdom," the Guardian said gently, "Try to understand."
"Oh fine," Holly grumbled, looking angry.
Kai touched her shoulder and smiled softly, "It'll be okay, once we annihilate whatever's in the Dark Kingdom, yours will be safe."
Holly blushed and nodded wordlessly.
Meanwhile, Willow was more concerned about other matters, "Where's Ray?? He's not here."
"He went to the Fire Kingdom to start his reign," Holly told her, "He's fixing things up there."
"He could've told me," Willow muttered.
"You snapped at him in the morning!" Holly exclaimed, "I'm surprised that I'm talking to you. What went over you this morning??? I've never heard you talk to Ray in that kind of tone."
"Oh, don't push me," Willow moaned, covering her ears, "I don't want to talk about it."
"You can leave tomorrow morning," the Guardian said, "Rest up today." She took out a black flaming Locator card and gave it to Willow, "The map of the Dark Kingdom, examine it well, we'll began tomorrow."
Willow took it sulkily and they all spread out to do their own things.
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"Willow?" Holly knocked on her door, "Come out of there already, I want to know what you dreamed last night."
"Go away," Willow ordered, "I don't wanna talk about it with anyone, not even you!"
Holly wasn't about to give up that easily, "I'm your best friend, if you won't tell me, who else are you going to tell??? You have to talk it out, it'll help. Cassie and Kailee are both very worried about you. We're your friends Willow."
Willow sighed, "All right, come in. Bring Cassie and Kailee too. No one else, I don't want Carly's input on this." The three friends piled inside. Holly sat down on a chair while Cassandra flopped on her bed and Kailee sat on the floor. Willow was sitting at the edge of her bed miserably.
"Shoot," Cassandra prompted.
Willow took a deep breath and spilled out her dream, she was near tears when she finished. But she left out the part about the roses that turned pure black.
Kailee took a tissue and gave it to her, "That's silly Willow, you have lots of friends, we're your friends, for sure!"
"Yeah," Cassandra said, "Who cares what that wacko dream says? Huh? Dreams aren't supposed to make sense, most of the time, they're just the opposite of reality."
"And we're always here with you," Holly said, "You're never all alone. But the part about Ray and Mariah..."
"Do you like him that much?" Cassandra asked, bouncing on the bed.
Willow wiped her eyes, "You'd never understand. He means a lot to me..."
"I like Tyson and all, but it's not like I can't live without him," Cassandra said, "Occasionally he gets on my nerves when he sees another girl. But it's Tyson, what do I expect???"
Kailee giggled, "I can't imagine how Kai will react if I told him that I liked someone."
"But Kai likes Holly himself," Willow objected.
"He does NOT," Holly said crossly, turning bright red, "Be quiet! I've said this a million times, he – does – not – like me!"
Willow sighed, "Thanks for being here and all guys, but I'm still confused, I need to talk with Ray and find out how he really feels about me. I just hope I won't get my heart broken...I want to think some more guys, could you please just leave me alone?"
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At night, Ray returned to the Dream Realm through the Fire vortex. He seemed quite pleased with what he accomplished in his Kingdom. He barely talked about anything else and everyone was getting quite bored of listening to him talk, except, no one had to heart to shoot him down. Everyone except Carly of course, after she loudly remarked that perhaps Robert's family history was a tad more interesting, Ray stopped and they all turned in for bed. They woke next morning, fresh and ready to go.
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"Good luck Willow," the Guardian said sincerely, "I hope it won't be too much for you guys to handle."
"Thanks," Willow said, clutching her map card, "Let's go guys."
"Where's Ray?" Kai asked, sheathing his sword carefully, "He's not here yet."
"There he is," Kailee pointed to Ray who was still sitting at the table scribbling down notes.
Carly sighed impatiently, "He's still on about his Kingdom, O great Majesty, do you think you can use your Royal legs and join us over here?"
Hru laughed, "Hurry up Ray, we're waiting for you! That can wait, can't it?"
Ray didn't look up, "Oh you guys go ahead, I'm not coming."
That caught everyone's immediate attention. Willow couldn't believe her ears.
"What do you mean you're not coming?????" Holly gasped, "We need your help!!!!"
"Yeah," Tala said, looking annoyed, "We're supposed to help each other out, remember? We all helped you with your kingdom. Don't you think you can repay our favor?"
Hru looked angry, "I can't believe you're just shunning us out!!!"
Johnny was trying to contain Carly who looked as if she might break Ray's neck any minute now, "Ray, come on, this isn't funny man."
"I'm serious," Ray said, writing down more notes, "I'm
really busy. I need to rebuild the
Palace in the Fire Kingdom today, I have lots to do. I don't have time, sorry."
He didn't sound like he meant it though, in fact, he sounded too busy to
care.
Willow felt a rush of tears come to her eyes, //Why is he doing this to
me??? Especially since we're going to MY
Kingdom too! It's official, he doesn't
care a thing about me. If he cared, he
would've come without a word. He'd
rather rule his own Kingdom than come and lend me a hand. I've never felt so betrayed in my life!//
Holly opened her mouth to protest, but Willow cut it coldly, "Never mind Holly, I'm sure Ray has more important things to do than help us."
"I'm just busy that's all," Ray said defensively, "You guys will do fine without me, besides, Carly's as fit as ever and she can fight better than three of me! I have lots to do."
"You could at least come along for moral support!" Kailee burst out, "Because Willow-"
"You're being really selfish!" Cassandra put in angrily, eyes flashing.
Willow's eyes flashed, "Then stay here Ray! I don't need your help! I'm sure ruling your Kingdom is way more important than me anyways!"
"I never said that!" Ray argued, "I'm just-"
"Busy, that's all," Willow finished for him, her voice as cold as ice, "Too busy for me. Too busy to even talk to me. You haven't said a word to me ever since last morning! And to think I was worried about you when you were fighting the Fire Warlock. You probably wouldn't even care what happened to me!"
"That is SO not true," Ray said angrily, standing up and knocking over his chair, "I-"
"Save it," Willow snapped, "You made your choice and I made mine. Let's go guys. Guardian, please."
The Guardian hesitated and struck her staff in the air, the 10 bladers plus Kailee, minus Ray, disappeared for the Dark Kingdom. Ray's eyes glimmered coldly as he disappeared into his own Kingdom without a glance back.
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Finally, they're heading back, I think there's too long a delay between the chapters that they're home and when they head back. I'll think of something, oh well, Ray's sooooo mean, soooooo insensitive. :P You guys are lucky that I've decided to continue with my normal five-day update since school's weighing heavily down on yours truly and I've started a new fic. That's right, you heard me right, I've started a new fic, nothing to do with this one, no OCs at all, it's called Moonlight Shadow and it's a Salima/Ray/Mariah fic, so if you don't like those two pairings, you probably won't like it. But I had heavy inspiration on them all of a sudden and decided to give it a shot, I don't know how well it's going to succeed, but some of you already found it, good for you, lol! ~_^ I've already gotten a whole bunch of reviews on that fic, it's crazy, more than I get here per chapter, that's awfully strange. O_o Everyone likes that fic better than this one…O_o I think I'm slowly decreasing in reviews for this fic *cries*. Anyways, plz review!
PS: If you like Beyblade, check out my site @ www.geocities.com/ice_archergirl/. Thanx!