Echo
Chapter 1
"SWING BATTA BATTA BATTA! SWING BATTA BATTA BATTA!" Tala warned as he stood, poised on the mound.
The Abbey children were enjoying a rare treat, a game of baseball. It was Natari Parker's only solace, her one tie to her past. She played it with all her heart, knowing that somewhere on the other side of the world her twin might be playing baseball too.
It was the bottom of the ninth, the bases were loaded, and Natari Parker was at the bat. She spat on the snow, which froze. The game was boys against girls, and the score was dead even.
Her father's advice came back to her. Close your eyes. Center your weight. Flex your shoulders and take a gooooood grip. Focus on the pitcher's chest. That will tell you when they're ready to move. Then when he comes after you keep your eye on the ball.
Ian had a self-appointed himself male cheerleader. He grinned at her from the opposing dugout chanting, "Lose your shirt, lose your pants, let's all do the nookie dance!" Natari did not rise to his bait.
Ian had a habit of trying to say funny things during a sports game to try and distract her. After all, it's hard to hit a homer when you're busy laughing your ass off over a sick joke. Luckily for her Bryan calmly whacked him on the head with a random bottle of powerade.
There, Tala's chest muscles flexed, he wound up, there was the pitch! WHACKK! The Ball went deep, deep into the outfield. The girls cheered. Natari dropped the bat and pounded toward first. The dead grass was tall in the outfield and Spencer was still busy searching for where the ball had gone when Natari reached first base. Spencer threw it to first, but she was loooooonnnnng gone! Natari was now at second.
The baseman, King, cried. "Give it to me! Give it to me!" King was not very popular, and happened to be rivals with the first baseman, who took the opportunity to peg him in the face with the ball. While Ian was busy cackling in glee and King was trying to rub the stars out of his eyes Natari pelted towards third. The shortstop ran after the ball since King was out of it and threw it to third. Natari was halfway down the homestretch when the third baseman got the ball, but not for nothing was Natari the fastest female message runner in the abbey.
"SAFE!!!" The umpire cried.
"YEEEEEEHAAAAA!!!" Natari heard somebody cry from the fence surrounding the field. "Hey Emily! I didn't know the Abbey played baseball!"
The girls were celebrating, but Natari turned, panting, and studied the two at the fence. A guy and a girl. The girl had orange, chin length hair, glasses, and liquid green eyes. Despite this, her face seemed to be drawn into an expression of hauteur that ruined the attractive quality of her eyes. The boy had twenty-four hour red hair and blue eyes that sparkled with mischief. He wore an USA Olympic Team baseball hat turned backwards to protect the back of his neck from the biting wind and the sun reflecting off of the snow. The sun off of the snow could burn you as easily as a week in Florida. Too many of the foreign beybladers currently visiting Russia were getting sunburned. The redness of sunburn was already covering his nose.
"Hey." Natari came to the fence.
"Nice hit!" The boy grinned, punching his hand into his catcher's mit.
"They call me the demon of home plate." Natari grinned. "Where you from?"
"New York." The girl answered in faultless Russian.
"You don't need to use Russian with me." Natari told him. "I speak English, it's my native language."
"Oh." The girl rolled her eyes. "Well done. I'll bet you could actually beat Mikey here. He does it for the girls."
"Really? I do it because it reminds me of home." Natari said with a smile. "So which one is it Mikey, the Yankees, the Mets, or do you hate both and prefer the Red Sox."
"The Red Sox suck." Mikey answered. "They shouldn't have traded the Big Bambino, he was the best thing that ever happened to 'em."
"Cool… Yankee's rule." Natari grinned giving him a high five. "Hideki Matsui, Derek Jeter, and The Moose!"
"Da Moose is loose yo!" Mikey agreed. "Right Emily? Da Moose is loose."
"Retard." Emily commented.
"Natari…" Natari said, extending a hand.
"Natari???" Michael asked, eyes widening.
"M… MICHAEL??" Natari's voice cracked.
Everything came down on her. It was like all those years there had been a veil over her eyes. Now the veil was gone and Natari was back. Her twin… they were together again… yet deep, deep in her heard Natari knew it could never be. She could feel what was left of her heart after all those years at the Abbey breaking. It hurt too much… and yet maybe…
Then they cried. "OH MY GOD!! IT'S YOU!" The two of them bounced up and down on their respective sides of the fence.
"Oh my God it's who?" Emily demanded.
"Emily, I'd like to introduce you to Natari. She's my… my best friend from a loooonnngg way back. She's the one who gave me Trygle!"
"Then what are you doing in the Abbey?" Emily asked skeptically.
"Because my parents gave me away to Voltaire. Or my mom did. She signed the custody papers giving Voltaire custody of me." Natari said darkly, looking out over the field. It was frozen. They had had to shovel out the bases and spread salt on the field.
"Oh…" Emily said softly. She was a lot more respectful after that.
Natari had picked up on Michael's referring to her as a friend. He didn't want his teammates to know that she was his sister. The Michael that Natari knew didn't want their pity. The Michael that Natari knew would try to be strong, do everything to help his sister, even give his life. But nobody could EVER know.
"NATARI COME ON OVER!!" Carola called. "WE'RE GOING TO THE STALINGRAD CAFÉ TO CELEBRATE!"
"COMING!!" Natari sighed sadly. "Well Mikey… I guess this is good-bye, again…"
"Yeah." Michael wiped the tear away from his eye. "Yeah I guess it is."
"See you on the other side." Natari gave the usual Blader's farewell."
Michael watched her go. "Hey Natari, what's wrong?" Queen asked.
"Nothing… just thought I saw a ghost." Natari said with a sad, twisted smile.
"A ghost." Queen rolled her eyes. "A GHOST she says. She's worried about ghosts when she just got us three RBI's and a Home Run."
"Yeah… yeah it's silly isn't it." Natari said, wiping her eyes.
"Are you CRYING?" Demanded Ian.
"Nope… just got something in my eyes…" She said, trying to put on a cheerful smile. But then she thought, 'After all, I've cried enough tears to last a lifetime. I have nothing left to cry.' Or so she had thought until she saw Michael at the fence.
The Stalingrad Café had been named by Diana Giancarlo. She had written a poem at its opening two years ago that compared the Abbey to the Siege of Stalingrad in World War Two. 'For from it's Hell hole Dogs flee and stones crumble. Only we, the soldiers endure.' Ever since then it had been a favorite hangout of Abbey Students and Journeymen. The adults bought beer and hot mulled wine. The children feasted on cocoa, coffee, cookies and biscotti, pasties of different kinds, and even ice cream sodas!
Of course, Rei didn't know that when he walked in. He had noticed that a lot of people were staring at him of course. But he was foreign and they made an allowance for that. So soon most of the kids turned back to their pizza and the adults turned back to their drinks. And Rei sat down at the bar.
Rei listened as Carola told about her exploits as a Beyblader. The Saint Shield had developed quite a sense of humor since she'd come to the Abbey. She picked up a stick of Pocky and, puffing at it like a cigar she said, "So then Bryan has Falborg grab muh Kid Drashiel shee? And he has him drop Kid Drashial shee? But that didn't work shee, so he had Falborg peck at his shell shee? And Falborg's beak shattered shee? An ya wanna know what happened then shee?" The eager abbey apprentices gathered around her. "Well den shee, I hash Kid Drashiel use his headbuttin' technique shee, and she butshim out of the dish shee?" They nodded eagerly. "And thish chigar ain't real it'sh a pocky shtick sheee??"
The kids laughed as Carola took a big, thoughtful bite of pocky. She chewed, and the apprentices waited eagerly. "Yup, and that's how I beat the crap out of Bryan."
Rei laughed too. "Oh you think it's funny Blade Breaker?" Carola asked slyly, arms crossed over her chest. "You just watch. If the Demolition Boys don't get you, my cousin Ozuma and his Team Saint Shield will." She said with a smirk. "You just wait and see."
Rei made a mental note of that. "I'm sorry, it's just the way that you told the story."
"Don't be sorry, I was going for the effect."
That was when Diana came onto the stage. They had been doing an open stage kareoke day at the Stalingrad, and Diana had come up with an act inside of the fifteen minutes they had been there. There was a saying that Abbey Women had voices like songbirds and repertoires like funeral parades. Diana had been responsible for that!
The Emcee said, "We've got a volunteer. Diana here is going to sing 'At the End of the Day' from Les Miserables."
"Oh no! Not that old thing again!" Carola moaned. But Rei had never seen Les Mis. He looked on with interest as the purple haired teen
At the end of the day you're another day older
And that's all you can say for the life of the poor
It's a struggle, it's a war
And there's nothing that anyone's giving
One more day standing about
What is it for?
One day less to be living!
And the shirt on your back doesn't keep out
The chill
And the righteous hurry past
They don't hear the little ones crying
And the winter is coming on fast
Ready to kill
One day nearer to dying!At the end of the day there's another day dawning
And the sun in the morning is waiting to rise
Like the waves crash on the sand
Like a storm that'll break any second
There's a hunger in the land
There's a reckoning still to be reckoned and
There's gonna be hell to pay
At the end of the day!
Rei watched, awed, as Diana depicted the plight of Fantine, a lowly factory worker. But Carola seemed to have heard all of this before. When he whispered that, Carola cackled softly to herself. "Diana's from the Abbey, do you know what they say about Abbey Women?"
"No." Rei admitted.
"They say that Abbey Women have voices like songbirds and repertoires like a funeral parade." Carola hissed in his ear. "Diana comes here a lot. She's the one who named this place. She's got a fondness for it."
"She probably identifies with the song." Rei suggested.
"Just you watch yourself. Diana's bit beast, Master Drigar, can chop up enemy bit beasts to pieces!" Carola whispered.
Diana finished her solo and, amid thunderous applause, she stepped off the stage and joined the crowd around the dancefloor.
Natari gathered herself to sing. The Emcee announced that she would be singing, "Who am I?" Also from Les Mis.
Rei got up, flushing a bit, and went over to her. "May I have this dance?" He asked.
Diana grinned wickedly. "If you like sore toes." She said, taking his proffered hands. And they danced. Rei was certain that people were staring now.
"Diana wasn't it?" Rei asked curiously. "I heard your singing. I've never gotten to see Les Miserables. Is it good?"
"Very!" Diana said with a grin. "It's my favorite."
He thinks that man is me
He knew him at a glance!
That stranger he has found
This man could be my chance!
Why should I save his hide?
Why should I right this wrong
When I have come so far
And struggled for so long?
If I speak, I am condemned.
If I stay silent, I am damned!
Rei sighed, then he tripped slightly. "Oops, sorry."
"Follow me then." Diana said with an understanding smile. "I probably dance better. I've been dancing since I was two."
"Really? I didn't think they'd allow such things at the abbey."
I am the master of hundreds of workers.
They all look to me.
Can I abandon them?
How would they live
If I am not free?
If I speak, I am condemned.
If I stay silent, I am damned!
"They do. We can do whatever we want as long as we do whatever they say."
"Sounds complicated." Rei said with one of his eager smiles.
"It is, kind of. I mean, if they say we can't do something, then we can't do it. But other than that we have the run of the place. The D-Boys have more restrictions on them because they're competing. Me, I'm on the secondary team, but I don't have it nearly as bad as they do."
Who am I?
Can I condemn this man to slavery?
Pretend I do not see his agony?
This innocent who bears my face
Who goes to judgement in my place.
"Besides, I have somebody out there who cares for me. I just came because I wanted a private school. Little did I know that this was more than just a school." Diana said with a crooked smile.
"Don't you have any family?" Rei asked, eyes wide.
Who am I?
Can I conceal myself for evermore?
Pretend I'm not the man I was before?
And must my name until I die
Be no more than an alibi?
Must I lie?
"I don't have much. My parents are dead. Boris is my cousin. He convinced Voltaire to take me in until I'm legal. My little brother has his own beyblade team and it's turning up roses for him last time I checked. Even Mr. Dickinson has spoken favorably of them." Diana explained. "So we didn't try to convince him to follow us when my brother had his own life to live. I went with Boris, because I had nowhere else to go. He's legal. I'm not, almost though, and then if I want to I can get out of this Hellhole."
"It must be hard." Rei commented.
How can I ever face my fellow men?
How can I ever face myself again?
My soul belongs to God, I know
I made that bargain long ago
He gave me hope when hope was gone
He gave me strength to journey on
When Robert saw Rei dancing with his older sister he felt obliged to intervene. He made his way steadily over to where they danced. "Diana!" He called. Diana jumped, letting go of Rei. She turned to face him.
Who am I? Who am I?
I am Jean Valjean!
"So, little brother." Diana grinned as she turned to leave…
Robert tensed…
And so, Javert, you see it's true
That man bears no more guilt than you!
Who am I?
24601!
"How do you like war?" Diana asked, looking at him out of the corner of her eye with an incredible mien of drama. Diana left the dancefloor and left Rei dumbfounded.
END NOTES:
I LOVE LES MISERABLES!!!!!! I'm taking the lyrics from two of the songs from it. The first one is called "At the End of the Day." The second song is called, "Who am I?" It's also labeled on the sound track as, "Valjean's Soliloquy." I was kind of comparing Diana and Robert to Valjean and Javert. Poor Javert, here's the thing about him, he committed suicide at the end of the play.