Shattered Past
By Kitty-Kris
Chapter 9: Hidden Portrait, Hidden Past
Robert groaned lightly as he opened his eyes to find himself sitting on his private nursery's couch 'My! I can't believe I fell asleep on this couch… how uncouth!' he yawned covering his mouth politely, and turned to the beds where his team mates rested. Since there were only three beds, he had insisted, as their captain, that he'd stay on that couch while they could sleep on the beds. A sharp pain on his back made him regret his choice as he stood up "Argh! My aching back! I'll need a massager today…" he sighed and walked towards Enrique's bed, placing his hand on his forehead 'Hum… at least the high temperature's gone…along with those IDIOTS of his friends…'.
A groan from behind him indicated that Oliver and Johnny were waking up as well ":yawn: What time is it Robert?"
The older teen stared down at his watch "9 AM…" he suddenly jolted his head up as he remembered something. "Holy Mother of All Couth Men! I forgot about Melody! I was supposed to meet her and Kai at the kitchen last night!"
Johnny stared blankly at him and shrugged "Meh, as if they'd go and meet you anyways… they probably spent the rest of the night singing around the castle! They're probably sleeping on some corridor as we speak…"
Robert ignored him and left the nursery, asking every servant he found the whereabouts of the drunken couple. Unfortunately for him, none of them seemed to have seen any of them after the concert. Then, he finally found Gustoff, his trusty butler, but he too wasn't sure about where they were "Master Kai and Miss Melody? Oh, last time I saw those two, they were running up these stairs together and causing utter chaos on the second floor…"
The boy sweatdropped "Uh… thank you anyways Gustoff…" he sighed and went up the stairs, motioning for his room which he had locked the night before to prevent any "night-time activities" on it like last time Enrique had invited all his so-called "friends". He opened the lock and moved to the bathroom for a nice shower, trying to forget about Melody 'Maybe Johnny's right and they're just sleeping on some corridor… but why can't I cease feeling uneasy?'
(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)
Meanwhile, in another room, a blue-streaked, purple haired girl woke up finding herself staring at someone's bare chest 'What the?' she supported herself on one elbow and stared at the guy sharing the bed with her. She had to cover her mouth to muffle the gasp escaping from her lips. 'Kai? How'd he get in here? And where the hell am I?' Then, she finally sunk in the image in front of her: his bare chest. Blushing a bit, she risked lifting the sheet covering him and took a peek. Blushing even harder, she took a look at herself and realized that she too was on nothing but her birthday suit. 'Oh shit, OH SHIT! What have I gotten myself into?' she hurriedly got out of the bed, being careful not to wake him and picked up all her clothes cringing at everytime she moved her legs, since the sensitive flesh between them was positively burning 'Damn! For once I wished Boris HAD raped me the night I left… at least I wouldn't be in pain NOW!' a little voice sounded in her head 'But then you would have felt it then. And probably it would have been worse…' Melody stood up already dressed and thought about it "Hum… good point…"
Suddenly, a groan sounded from behind her making her blood freeze 'I said that out loud, didn't I?'
'You most certainly did!' the voice chuckled.
Melody growled deep in her throat as she looked around, hoping none of her belongings were left back.
She then noticed Kai's clothes all scattered around the floor and had an idea 'Hum… if I don't remember anything of what happened last night (even though I KNOW what happened…) maybe HE doesn't remember neither… so… to make sure he really doesn't have a clue of what happened…' she grinned evilly as she motioned around the room, picking up all of Kai's clothes and placing them by the end of the bed, making it look like he had tossed them there himself. Then, after getting rid of anything else that could show someone else had been there the night before, she turned around and quietly got out of the room, carefully closing the door behind her.
She sighed in relief, and ran out of the corridor to the room she was staying at, trying her best to ignore the pain she felt at every step she took.
When she got there, she opened the door slowly, first making sure that no one was inside. After realizing that luckily none of the boys had spent the night there apparently, she went in the bathroom and closed the door. She took her clothes off and entered the shower instantly.
When she finally had managed to make the blue streaks disappear, plus the dirty feeling she felt all over herself, she got out and stared at herself in the mirror. Her eyes ran up her body, her mind cringing whenever her skin had those horrible lines and marks she so desperately tried to hide from everyone. She looked at her face in the mirror and glared at herself, muttering "You better pray he doesn't remember anything… you better pray he didn't SEE anything at all…"
Melody closed her eyes and jerked her head down, fear and regret taking over her mind. "Don't worry… he doesn't remember a thing…" she jolted her head up as someone whispered in her ear. She turned her head on that direction but found no one. She stood up and wrapped a towel around herself as she left the bathroom, shaking her head 'I'm just tired… that's all…'
She went in the room and after she got dressed, she went out to the corridor, trying to her best to disguise her worry and regret.
(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)
In the dinning room, Tyson fiddled around with his fork dropping it now and then, which made him very impatient, and everyone else want to kill him. He eventually stopped and cried out to the ceiling "ARGH! When are those three coming? I'm hungry!"
Oliver grinned "Be patient! I'm sure Robert, Kai and Melody will be here in no time!" as if he had spoken the magic words, the door burst open as two teens argued heatedly with each other. "You STILL have not answered my question! Where were you last night? And why were you looking so gloom when I found you?"
Melody glared at him "That's none of your business!"
"What do you mean, "None of my business"? I told you specifically to wait for me in the kitchen! And where's Kai?" Robert stormed to his usual chair and kept glaring at Melody, who sat as well, not bothering to answer him.
Minx glanced from one to the other one and couldn't hold back a laugh "Ya two are soooooooo sweet! Ya shou'd mahrry or sumthin' ya kno'?" she laughed out loud as the two teens blushed and glared daggers at her.
Melody suddenly remembered something and turned to the still laughing girl "Minx! Do ya know where Greg is?"
"Huh, sorry Phoenix-Girl… bu' the boys left last night…"
Melody pouted "Aw…"
The other girl giggled "Dun worry! We'll see their asses yet again!"
Melody half-smiled for a few seconds until Tyson whined again "I want my breakfast! WAAAA!"
The couth castle owner rubbed his face 'I'm surrounded by BABIES!' he turned to his butler, who felt exactly the same way "Gustoff, would you please bring the meal before I forget I'm a gentleman and do something I regret?"
Gustoff sweatdropped and bowed a little as he left the room to get everything. He was back in no time with some other servants who placed several plates on the large table. "Alright! FOOD!" Tyson filled his plate with a LOT of everything and stuffed it all into his mout, helping himself with some more when his own plate was clean. And I really DO mean clean…
Everyone shrugged at him and started eating as well, except for Melody, who was typing something on a laptop Deenix had given her a while ago and still looked pretty upset.
"Wut awe u doin?" Tyson asked between two HUGE pancakes.
Melody blinked at him unintelligently "Say what?"
He swallowed and repeated "I said what are you doing? The food's great! And ya should eat too!"
She nodded "Yeah, just let me finish your training program… I'm almost done, so after breakfast we can start training."
Tyson whined as he ran to her side "NOOOOOOOOOOO! Can't we start training tomorrow?"
"No."
"How about after dinner?"
"No!"
"After lunch?"
"NO!"
"How about-"
"I SAID NO! Now go finish your breakfast! And you better not try to slow things down or else…"
The boy went to sit back down with a sad expression upon his face. He was about to start eating again when the door opened abruptly and someone stormed inside, taking a sit next to Melody. It was Kai. And BOY, was he looking pissed off! "Pass the eggs!" he sneered to Max.
Melody breathed sharply as he sat down, and quickly turned back to her laptop, trying not to appear worried like she really felt "Hum, good morning to you too… I see you're on a huge hangover today… and didn't you forget something?"
He glared at her "What?" he asked taking the eggs from his blonde happy team mate roughly. The girl sighed "How about "Mr. Please" and "Mrs. Thank You", Hm?"
Kai glared at her even harder and turned his head back to his own plate, ignoring everyone's chuckles and stares.
In spite of Kai's bad humor, the rest of the meal went well, and after Gustoff had collected all the dishes, Melody stood up and grabbed Tyson by his collar "Time to train! Dee, will ya come along too?"
The robot shook her head "No, I want to stay with Maxy-Chan!" Melody shrugged an ok and turned to the door.
"Wait! We wanna go and watch!" Enrique stood up and ran to her side, dragging Oliver and Johnny along. Robert just sighed and walked behind them as well.
Johnny turned around just before they left "Hey cuz! Are ya comin'?" Minx giggled and ran after them too, leaving the rest of the Bladebreakers alone. Max blinked and looked around the room, feeling a bit awkward "Huh, anyone for Twister?" n-n'
(O)(O)(O)(O)(O)
A vein popped in Melody's forehead as a Beyblade flew past a can, not even touching it narrowly for the hundredth time that hour. She turned to the boy who had launched it with her eyes making a dent on his head "TYSON! IF YOU MISS THAT CAN ONE MORE TIME, I SWEAR TO GOD THAT I'LL SKIN YOU, RIP YOU, CUT INTO LITTLE TINY PIECES, BURN YOU, AND THEN FEED YOU TO THE PIDGEONS IN RED SQUARE FOR DINNER!"
Tyson's eyes were as big as saucers as he hurriedly picked up his top "S-sorry Melly… it w-won't happen again…"
Melody glared and pointed at him menacingly "It BETTER not! Or else!"
The raven haired boy nodded frantically and ran back to his position, launching again. This time, he hit the target. "YAY! I did it! I did it!"
The girl smirked "Good, now do it again!"
"WHAT? But it's already lunch time and I'm hungry!"
She rolled her eyes at him and leaned against a tree "So? You'll do it again, and again, and as many times as it takes until YOU GET IT RIGHT!"
"But I already hit the can!" he whined
She gave him a bitter smile "Yes, but in the tournament we won't be fighting against cans now, will we? THAT had to be the lousiest shot I've ever seen ya know? It was too slow, weak and most importantly, it was PATHETIC and YOU narrowly hit the STUPID CAN! Now quit whining and DO IT AGAIN!"
Tyson growled in annoyance as he walked back to his launching pose.
A few floors above them, a better humored Kai watched with the rest of the Bladebreakers as Melody strictly trained Tyson into "top shape", like she had said. Kenny winced as Melody fisted Tyson's head when he terribly missed the can again "Don't you think she's being a little rough on him?"
Kai grinned "No. for the first time since I've met him, Tyson is actually improving. Guess she is a good trainer afterall… she accomplished in ten minutes what we never did… but I still wish I knew who did she train before she met us…"
Max blinked "Yeah… Huh, about the "accomplishment"… what was that?"
Ray laughed "She made Tyson go up to the next level! Ain't it?"
"No, not that much… yet…" Kai smirked "But she was actually able to keep Tyson training for more than two hours… AND during lunch time too, lets not forget that…" 'Just wish I knew what's wrong with her today… she looks so… pensive and worried… I wonder if something happened to her last night…' Kai was awakened from his thought as everyone laughed, looking at the castle's main yard, where Robert and the rest of the Majestics plus Minx watched the training with amused expressions. Minx meanwhile, was playing her guitar and singing out a funny song about Tyson.
"Mama sahve mey!
Can'tcha see she mahkes mey workyeeeeee!
Can'tcha see Ah wanna eat n' sleeeeeep!
Not work n' suffa',
Not even tah win da stooped championship!
Oh, mah lunch's calling,
For tha' Ah'll run n' run!
Bu' da Demon whips mey,
She makes mey stay!
Sum'on' save mey from this!
Sum'on' please, feed mey!
Help mey on this hard time n' feed mey!
Cuz, mama! Mama mah stomach buuuuuuuuurns!
It BURNS so muuuuuch!
Ah want food n'-"
Minx couldn't go on because she had burst out laughing along with everyone else watching the scene, including Tyson himself and Melody, who managed to actually smile for the first time that day.
Ray chuckled "She sounds pretty good and I must say I agree with the lyrics. Even though they suck…" Deenix giggled and jumped from the windowsill as she smirked at Kai, who was smirking at Tyson, who had finally hit the can again "Heh! See? I told you Melly-Chan was a good trainer!"
Kai nodded "Yeah, but I never said she wasn't…"
Gustoff suddenly interrupted them, as he bowed a little anh signalled to the table behind him "Excuse me, but lunch is now served. Would you please sit down while I go get Master Robert and his friends?"
The boys and the robot nodded and took their sits. Deenix started feeling a bit funny, a weird shiver went up her spine sometimes and she felt like she was being watched. She looked around the dinning room, but since she didn't see anything suspicious, she just shrugged it off 'Hum… probably just my imagination…'
Meanwhile, the training continued and Melody kept showing no compassion towards Tyson's hungry noises "PLEASE MELLY! HAVE MERCY! I need food!" he whimpered and howled, stomping his foot childishly, but since the only answer he got was the same "Quit whining and get to work!", he turned back to the can and launched his top for the thousandth time that morning.
"He, the girl's got some stamina! To think that just a couple of days ago she fainted out of weakness… guess breakfast helped in restoring her energies!" Johnny laughed as Tyson earned another glare and threat from his new trainer.
Oliver chuckled "Yes, but I think she's being a tad too hard on him… poor guy is not used to training anymore…"
Robert said nothing, his expression remaining the usual; calm and calculative as he watched Melody 'Quite an odd girl we have here… how can someone be so nice and so… I hate to say it, CRUEL at the same time? Not to mention STRICT! And WHY THE HE- huh, HECK, is she so… gloom today?' he narrowed his eyes at this thought.
"Master Robert? I thought you'd like to know that lunch is served…"
Robert nodded and stood up, quickly followed by his team mates and Minx, who were still laughing at Tyson's disgrace "WAIT! Don't leave me here! She'll kill me! HELP!"
Melody rolled her eyes and pulled him by his collar "Just learn to hit the Goddamned can decently and you'll be free…"
Tyson blinked twice "I will?"
She nodded and he quickly launched his top against the can, finally knocking it out "decently".
Everyone was gaping at Tyson while he danced around singing "We are the champions" at the top of his lungs.
Melody gaped at him "How- how did you knock it just like that? You couldn't even hit it most of the other times!"
"Oh, I guess food makes me do stuff I never thought I could do! Can I go now? Please?"
Melody placed the can back on the tree stump again and turned to him "No. You've accomplished it, that's great. But now I want you to practice until you can do it by heart, without thinking. Understood?"
Tyson sighed and dragged himself back to his position.
A quarter of hour later, everyone was having lunch and chatting happily, when suddenly the dinning room(more like SALOON)'s door swung open, revealing a demented looking, drooling Tyson. "FOOOOOD! I WANT FOOD! AND I WANT IT NOW!" he screamed his lungs out as he dove over the table grabbing everything he could.
Behind him, came Melody, with the same worry in her eyes, besides a tired expression and a frown "Kai, I need to talk to you about "World Champion" over there… I refuse to continue training him if he keeps being such an IDIOT! My patience has it's limits ya know?"
Kai stood up and walked towards her smirking "But I was watching the whole thing and you did pretty good!"
"Yeah, but it took me FOUR HOURS to teach him something that only takes six year-olds twenty minutes to learn! If he doesn't concentrate on what I tell him, my training won't have any effect!"
Kai chuckled and led her to the table, making her sit. After shoving Tyson off the table, causing the boy to drag along some of the trays as well, he sat back and picked up one of the remaining trays, turning it to her "The beef's really tasty! Want some?"
She gazed at the dish in distaste and back at him with really wide eyes "Ok… Who the HELL are you, and where's our Kai?"
Kai frowned "Geez! Can't a guy try being nice for once?"
"Hum, no."
He blinked at her "Why?"
"'Cause you're Kai. And Kai doesn't do nice normally. Have you been drinking again?"
He growled "Just have some beef already…" Melody stared down at the tray and scrunched her nose "Ugh! No thanks, I think I'll pass…"
Robert huffed at her "Might I recall you that last time you didn't eat you fainted?"
She sighed "So? I don't care! I'm not hungry anyways…"
Gustoff leaned next to her "There's some roast duck too if you'd like some Miss…" the girl smiled at him, but still shook her head "No thanks… I'm really not hungry… I'll just have some soup…"
The rest of the meal went alright until everyone was finished. Gustoff started collecting the plates and was suddenly interrupted by Melody "Stop right there! You've already spent the whole day getting lunch ready AND you already did that on breakfast! So let me take care of this now!"
Gustoff was gaping at her for a second "Oh no Miss, you're a house guest, I can't let you do my own work!"
"Oh but I want to! Now you go and rest and I'll take care of this! Ok?" she smiled at him and took the rest of the plates in the table, trying to grab the ones he was already carrying afterwards.
"No, I'm sorry but I can't-"
She pouted "Can't I at least help you?"
"Oh, very well Miss… if that is what you wish…"
"Banzai!" she grinned.
Deenix was smiling at the scene, pretty much like the rest of the table, when her eyes suddenly picked up something from behind a curtain. She could barely see a woman's figure standing there… and apparently, she was staring intently at Melody while she made a calling movement with her right hand, her eyes never leaving the girl as she talked to the butler. Deenix frowned and suddenly heard Gustoff's worried voice "Miss? Are you feeling alright? Miss?" Deenix quickly turned her head to her mistress. Again she was pale and stammering a bit. "I- …" she croaked.
Realization quickly hit her. In an instant, and trying desperately to ignore the fear consuming her, Deenix jumped on the tabled and pointed her arm at the woman behind the curtain, shaking a bit "LEAVE! Go away and leave us alone you… you GHOST thing you!" everyone turned to look at Deenix, whose arm was currently glowing strangely, including the mysterious woman who lowered her own arm and glared at the robot. Then she was gone, and Melody collapsed to the ground with a gasp, causing some of the plates she held to shatter. Luckily, this time she wasn't unconscious, if only a bit dizzy. "Miss! Oh my! Are you alright?"
She rubbed her forehead and looked at the broken pieces around her "Oh! I'm sorry I broke them I-"
"MELLY-CHAN! YOU'RE BLEEDING!" Deenix jumped off the table and ran to her mistress, trying to take of her gloves. However, Melody pulled away looking at her robot warningly and muttered "Deenix, please… don't…"
"I'll go get some bandages!" Gustoff placed the plates down on the table and left the room hurriedly.
Everyone stared down at Melody, who was currently exchanging glances with her Bitbeast. However, one of them wasn't too happy about being left in the dark… "Would somebody please explain to me what the hell is going on?" Johnny glared at everyone around him, waiting for an answer "Well?"
Robert looked around and took everyone's confused faces "I suppose we'd all like to know, and apparently, Deenix knows that… don't you?"
Deenix turned around sighing and approached them as if to explain. She was about to start, when she felt a strange shiver going up her spine again, indicating that something was definitely wrong. She immediately turned around and walked to where Melody was kneeled, her head jerked down "Melly-Chan?" she mumbled.
The girl just rocked back and forth, her hair covering her face and mumbling something.
Kai frowned and approached her "Melody? Are you ok?" he was about to nudge her when she slapped his hand away sneering "Don't- touch me…!" She glared at him and stood up, picking up one of the bigger and sharpest shattered pieces, looking down at it as if astounded by something.
Robert felt danger in her eyes, and approached her very slowly as well "Melody, don't do anything stupid now…"
She backed away from him, her eyes glossy and her hand still clutching the piece of ceramic. She stared up at Robert's eyes and spoke with a cold voice. A voice that didn't even belong to her, but to someone else Robert knew and recognized. "Why are you so blind? Why can't you see me for who I really am? Have you forgotten me?" she sent him a hurtful gaze when he didn't reply, just staring at her dumbfounded. She gritted her teeth and lowered her head. She closed her eyes tightly and jolted her head in his direction screaming at him, an inhuman voice that caused everyone in the room to back away a bit "WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THE TRUTH?"
Everyone stared at her as if she was crazy and backed away a bit more at Robert's signal. He approached her, not wanting to believe who that voice belonged to. "I- don't understand…" she chuckled softly "Of course you don't… you've even forgotten your own family… Guess you don't care about me neither…" she looked down at her hand. Blood had started flooding down it as she fisted the piece harder and motioned it towards her other wrist, anger and betrayal radiating from her eyes "No one cares…"
Kai gasped and stepped quickly towards her "Melody, don't do that…"
She gave him a weak smile "I'm sorry…"
"DON'T!"
With a quick movement, she made a deep cut on her left wrist, moaning as the blood started flooding down her hand.
Deenix ran to her looking furious and shook her violently "I THOUGHT I HAD TOLD YOU TO LEAVE! GO AWAY AND LEAVE HER ALONE!"
Melody just grinned evilly at her as she kneeled down again. Denix growled and pointed her arm at the girls chest, and before she could do anything to stop her, a jolt came out of the robot's arm, causing Melody to get thrown against the wall and scream as some vapour-like cloud came out from behind her, gaining form again right in front of her, though Deenix still couldn't see it properly. It was the same figure again, and this time, she looked really angry.
Melody breathed hard clutching her wrist, and snapped her eyes open as she felt a cold wind right above her. There, standing right in front of her, was the woman she had seen the day before. "What-" Melody couldn't continue because the woman's nails dug into the soft flesh of her cheeks, cutting them repeatedly with deep blows while she yelled out at her.
The boys watched horrified as something they couldn't see kept attacking Melody repeatedly, while she just winced and protected herself with her left arm in front of her face, without a single complaint.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Deenixes' enraged voice echoed through the castle as she let out another jolt, this time, hitting her target perfectly.
The teens gaped at everything, still horrified as they saw Deenixes' blow hit something, a transparent figure, that screeched loudly as it got hit and flew past them out of the room, leaving a cold wind where it passed.
"Melly-Chan!" Deenix clutched Melody's hands and tried pulling her down to make her sit again. The girl breathed hard for a few seconds and turned to her robot "Where- did- she- go?..."
"Not now, let me try to heal you first…"
Melody nodded reluctantly as her robot placed her hand on her wrist cut and mumbled something. When she removed her hand, the wound was gone. She then did the same to her face cuts, making them fade away. The robot sat back, looking very tired and sighed as her Mistress talked to her again. "Thanks Dee… Now tell me where she went…I want to… try to talk to her…"
The robot's eyes widened at her question "WHAT? Are you crazy? She'll just hurt you if you go anywhere near her! And you know that!"
Melody chuckled and stood up "She- she was trying to tell me something… and she possessed me too… now THAT was interesting…"
Deenix sweatdropped and growled, while Johnny finally snapped "WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT JUST HAPPENED? WHO IS THIS "SHE" YOU GUYS ARE TALKING ABOUT? WE DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING!"
Melody glared at him "Lucky you… I think I'll have nightmares with mangled corpses for weeks!" she muttered "We'll explain everything when WE understand what's going on here. Just wait…"
Deenix sighed in exasperation and called Melody's attention again "Well, she definitely has an original way for trying to talk to you… normally they write a message on the walls or something… but this case is different… no message, no words, nothing! According to what I saw, all she did was possess you and make you try to kill yourself, and then she just slashed your face and arm! Which reminds me… let me heal that too…"
Melody nodded and turned away from her and everyone else blushing a bit. She removed the long glove and stared at her inner lower arm. She smirked as she saw the wound "No Deenix… you're wrong… she did leave a message… it's different from anything I've ever seen, but it must have some meaning… Here… see if you can… understand this…" She carefully covered her upper arm with the glove and showed her lower arm to Deenix and the boys, watching as they gasped and their eyes widened in shock. Written in multiple cuts, were the words "YOU'RE A LIE"
She turned away again and put her glove back, sighing in resignation "Guess Lady Specter doesn't like me… What do you think we should do?"
Deenix sighed and started pacing around the room "Ok, let's start from the beginning. You said that you saw a woman sitting at one of the castle's window just before you fainted the other day… right?" Melody nodded.
Deenix stopped her track and turned to her "I think that woman you saw was in the dining room a while ago too, behind a curtain. Just before you started feeling dizzy, I saw a woman's figure making this calling movement with her hand towards you. And she wouldn't get her eyes off you neither. When I told her to go away, she just disappeared out of thin air…"
Melody bit her lower lip "Huh hum… so what do you think we got here?"
The robot shrugged "To be completely honest… I'm not sure… I'd say it's a specter, a particularly ANGRY specter, so we need to be extra careful… the other day she just made you feel weak all of a sudden, but now she started using other means to hurt you…"
It was Enrique's turn to snap "HELLO? We're still here? IN THE DARK?"
Melody cringed and turned to Enrique and the rest of the boys (who had sat down to listen better in the meantime) with a fed up expression "So you are…"
They all fell over and cursed at her while Tyson nudged Deenix curiously "Hum, I was just wondering… how did this woman look like? Was she pretty?"
Deenix shrugged "I don't know… I never saw her properly… Melly-Chan on the other hand…"
Melody thought for a moment "Hum, she had lavender hair, I THINK her eyes used to be crimson, and er… like most specters, she was very pale… besides her, hum, wounds and open abdomen and stomach areas, plus the multiple cuts on her face… I'd say she was kinda pretty yeah… Not to mention pretty familiar too."
Robert gasped as his eyes widened "WHAT? Are- are you sure?"
Melody nodded "Yes… like I said, she was the person I saw the other day too, before I fainted… Only that time… she didn't have her wounds… she looked fine… hum, interesting…" she gave it a thought.
Robert sat back in shock as The Majestics held worried expressions too "My mother… how come we didn't see her?"
Melody's expression was really serious "Believe me… you wouldn't want to see her… not in the state she was in anyways…" she sighed and stared at the door as Gustoff went in again. She smiled at him and turned back to the older teen sighing "So it was your mother huh? Was she murdered here or something?"
Robert signaled for Gustoff to leave, which he did looking pretty confused and curious, and answered her question, stuttering a bit "No… she… er…" he bit his lower lip "…she died in a car accident years ago…"
Melody gasped as she felt her arm suddenly throbbing. She turned and pulled the glove down, looking down at her wound to see the word LIE bleeding again. She smirked as she turned back at him, her glove back up. "You're lying… aren't you?"
Robert gaped at her as she walked towards the door fiddling with something inside her pocket "Don't worry… I won't make you say anything you don't want to… I know how the past sometimes brings painful memories…" she sighed as she opened the door "I'll ask her myself, don't worry…"
"NO!" Deenix panicked and ran to her Mistress, clutching her tiny hands on Melody's black baggy pants "Melly-Chan, PLEASE don't-"
"Dee… you stay here… I'm sure they want to know what this is all about, so please explain…"
Deenix hugged her Mistress's knees tightly "But she'll hurt you! You can't go no your own!"
Melody just smiled sternly and picked her up "Quit whining and do as I say…"
Deenix sighed and obeyed, as her mistress prepared to leave the room and try to find the specter.
"Wait…"
Everyone turned their heads to Robert, who motioned towards Melody "I'll go with you. It will be safer that way…"
Melody shook her head "No it won't. I must go alone. Besides, you'll make me loose my concentration and-"
"I'll be quiet. I promise."
She sighed and took a pendulum-like thingy from her pocket "Fine... let's just go before I can't sense her presence anymore… I think she went upstairs…"
Oliver raised an eyebrow "How can you tell?"
"Melly-Chan can see and feel the presence of things most people can't. I can see ghosts too, but I can't tell exactly how they look like since I can only see their frame and a few of their features… barely… all Bitbeasts can, anyways."
Melody, who in the meantime had been swinging her pendulum thingy, suddenly snapped her eyes open "Let's go… she's moving again…" she walked out of the room and turned left towards the staircase, with Robert following close behind.
Deenix stared at her mistress as she left and prayed to all Gods she knew for her to be safe. She turned to the rest of the boys "Hum, I guess I should explain, hum?"
Johnny took a seat again and everyone else copied him, except for Kai, who leaned against the wall next to the door through which Melody and Robert had gone.
Kenny opened his laptop and nodded for Deenix to start.
The robot sighed and started pacing around "Ok, now… where to start…"
Kai rose an eyebrow "How about from the beginning?"
"Oh yeah… he he... herm, well er… I think Melly-Chan's been able to talk to ghosts ever since I've known her… I remember once, when we were supposed to be asleep, hearing her talking to someone. I was simply living in a bit then, but I was able to see it barely."
Tyson cocked his head "See what?"
"Well, you see… back where Melly-Chan lived… children weren't exactly treated nicely, and sometimes they couldn't resist the wounds and starvation, so they… died… THAT, or they eventually killed themselves out of desperation…" Deenix paused for a bit as the rest of the room gaped at her "Well, a few days before that, a friend of Melly-Chan… the one that had killed himself, paid Melly-Chan a little visit because he didn't finish something he wanted before he died. So he went to her and asked her to do it for him…"
Kenny hugged Max in fear while he just asked excitedly "Oh! What was it?"
"I don't know… she never told me and I couldn't hear what he was saying… but anyways, the point is, Melly-Chan can communicate with those not among the living anymore, and most importantly, she can help them and they know it. Sadly… That's why they always go to her and… hurt her too sometimes…"
Ray stretched "Well then… why did this… ghost hurt her like that?"
"I- don't know… it's different from anything we've ever seen… I mean, we've had specters that have tried to talk to Melly-Chan through hurting, but it was never like this… and I'm afraid she might hurt her for real… if only I could understand what she meant with those words… Oh, I hope she'll be alright…"
Enrique rose his hand student-like "Just something I've been wondering about… what's the difference between a specter and a ghost? Isn't it the same thing?" :3
"Hum, no… but I'm not really sure about the differences… you'll have to ask Melly-Chan about that…"
Minxes' eyes were bright and shiny as she stood up staring at the ceiling dreamily "Wow! Melody's sooo cool! Wish Ah knew all tha' 'bout ghosts n' stuff! The paranormal's sooo fascinatin'!"
Deenix sweatdropped "Trust me… it's not "fascinatin'" when you wake up in the middle of the night to find "Do this or I'll kill you" written in blood on the wall in front of your bed. It's depressing and :gulp: SCARY…" she shivered "I don't know why Melly-Chan ALWAYS goes along with what those ghosts tell her… if it were me I'd be running!"
"Well, duh! They go tah her exactly b'cause she doesn' run from them! An' 'cuz she's nice n' carin' towards everyon'! Now ain't she the sweetest gal' around Kai?" she nudged him winking.
Kai just rolled his eyes and looked away, blushing a bit "Whatever…"
Just then, Robert's voice echoed through the whole castle "MELODY DON'T!"
The teens quickly stood up and ran towards where the screams had come from. A few seconds later, they could hear Robert screaming again "NO! MELODY!" They sped up their pace and in no time, they saw him fisting a locked door with all his might "LET HER GO! MELODY! SAY SOMETHING! MELODY!" he then saw the boys standing there "S-something's pulled her in there! She won't answer me!"
Deenix yelped "MEEP! Quick! Tell me everything that happened!"
Robert growled as he fisted the door again and tried to remember.
Flashback
Melody lead the way, as the two teens left the room, her right hand still holding the pendulum thingy. They stopped every so often and Melody would close her eyes, her arm stretched, and she'd wait for a few seconds. The device would always swing sharply to a different direction, which they followed, repeating this several times until they got to a really dark corridor. Melody kept her pendulum back in her pocket and looked around "This place… no one's been here for quite a long time… right?"
Robert nodded and looked at the three doors in that corridor. He didn't like it there, those doors brought back too many painful memories… He looked at the middle door. It had been "her" room before the "accident"… Robert closed his eyes tightly, trying not to remember those hard times again…
He was suddenly awakened by Melody's soft voice "She's over there. Standing right next to the centre door. Can you see her?" he looked at where she was pointing at and realized in shock that someone was in deed standing just by "her" old room. He couldn't see it very well, but he could tell it was a woman's figure. She just stood there, anger radiating from her, creating a cold atmosphere around her and themselves. Robert couldn't take his eyes from her, and without even minding the cold that had suddenly started surrounding him, he stepped closer, absently.
As soon as he moved, the woman's figure glanced quickly at the girl beside him and turned to the door closest to herself. She crossed it and the cold disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Robert swallowed audibly and realized he had been so scared he had started sweating. Taking a handkerchief from his pocket, he started wiping his face. When he looked back at the corridor in front of him, he found Melody standing just in front of the same room through where the woman had gone into, her eyes closed and her hand resting against the door. It was "her" room… "Melody?"
The girl turned to him, her eyes half-closed and her voice slurry and mechanical, as if she was in some trance "She's in there… waiting for me… calling me… I must- go…"
Robert's eyes widened as she turned the knob and opened the door "No… please don't go in there…"
Melody ignored him and pushed the door, taking a look inside it. It was even darker than in the corridor. She couldn't see anything but a glowing figure standing right in the middle of the room. Melody gave a step towards it.
"MELODY DON'T!"
She jumped back a bit and shot him a scared look as the glow vanished "Sh-she disappeared…"
Robert sighed and motioned towards her, stopping as Melody signaled him to. "Wait, she's still there…" she took a better look and realized that the woman hovering towards her "She- she's moving this way!"
Robert gasped "Move! Close the door! Don't just stand there!"
Melody looked down at herself and turned her face to him, looking pretty worried "I can't move…" she looked back into the room and realized the woman was getting too close to her.
Robert started walking towards her when suddenly something caught his eye. He froze as a hand reached out of the room towards the girl's wrist "Melody… don't' move…"
She followed his gaze and saw it too. The woman was now standing right in front of her, her hand wrapping itself on her wrist. She realized that she still couldn't move so, realizing that there was nothing neither of them could do, she turned to him "Robert?"
The boy stuttered as he too couldn't find it in himself to move from where he was standing "Y-yes?"
She turned her eyes to him, a weird calmness shining in them as another hand clutched her neck "Get Deenix… She'll know what to do… I hope…" she closed her eyes tightly as the woman smirked, tightening her grip on her neck and wrist and pulling the girl into the room, the door immediately slamming and locking itself afterwards.
"NO! MELODY!" Robert ran towards the door and started banging on it with his fists until he noticed the presence of his friends.
End of Flashback
Deenix stared up at the door, scared as Robert told them what had happened. She then knocked lightly on the door, waiting for some sort of response.
Minx looked at the door as well, terrified and risked a mumble "Wha' are ya doin-"
"Ssh!" Deenix tried to listen, her head completely against the wooden surface, and suddenly turned to the boys with a worried gaze "I can hear something! Someone's talking in there, and it's not Melly-Chan!" Deenix focused harder and harder until she could hear better, but she still couldn't understand what they were were saying. She sighed in resignation and moved away from the door "It's no use… whatever it's being said in there, only Melly-Chan can hear…" the robot sighed sadly "I hope she'll be fine…I hate to say this but… all we can do right now is wait and pray she'll be alright…"
Kai touched the door frowning "…or, we could try to take this door down… it's pretty old so I think we could-"
"NO! We should NEVER do that unless we really have to! Now sit and wait…"
Kai glared at her and sat down by the door, worry spread all over his face 'God let her be ok… please…I… WHY CAN'T I DO ANYTHING?' he pounded his fist on the floor in frustration. The rest of the boys and Minx sat down by the wall across his, worried as well. Tyson and Max were crying together in an embrace while Minx, The Majestics and Kenny sat together looking lost and Ray paced around the corridor, looking really worried. He stared up at the ceiling, whispering "What if it kills her? I don't even want to think about it…" he sighed and sat down together with the rest of the boys minus Robert, who wouldn't stop trying to listen in through the door much to Kai's annoyance, since he had already been accidentally kicked by him several times. "Why can't I hear anything?"
Minx looked up at him "Ahh think it's b'cause we simply can't like Deenix said…" her features softened at his desperate face "Aw, dun worry Robbie! Ah'm sure she'll be fine! Melody's a strong gurl! She's a total Phoenix, juss like her beasty thingy ova' there! An' ya kno' phoenixes dun' die…" she stood up and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, smiling at him "Nah sit down n' wait…"
Robert sighed and did as he was told. Minx sat beside him and leaned her head against his chest, sighing as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. About five minutes later, everyone whipped their heads up as a scream followed by several loud crashes came out of the room. Deenix quickly stood up and stared at the door wide eyed as a click signalled that it had been unlocked. She quickly went for the door as loud crashes and screams kept coming out of the room. She quickly opened it and turned on the light switch, revealing to everyone a woman standing on the middle of the room, Melody down lying down at her feet. The woman seemed fine and healthy (well, as healthy as a ghost can look like… what I mean is the wounds weren't showing…), but the girl on the floor wouldn't move and wouldn't say a word, making everyone expect the worst.
Minx covered her mouth in horror "Oh mah God! Melody!"
Deenix glared at the now visible spectre "What have you done with her you… you… THING!"
The woman smirked at the robot and moved back a little, lifting the girl up by her collar afterwards. Melody moaned as she felt her picking her up again and slowly lifted her head to look at them. The teens were horrified as they saw her face. It was covered in bruises, and she had a split lip, besides a deep cut on her left cheek and a trail of blood running down her forehead. Melody breathed hard as the woman holding her nodded in the direction of her son and whispered to her in a cold, freezing voice "You see him? Well he can't see you… he doesn't see your true-self… he's blind…"
Melody stared at Robert not really understanding her point "What do you- mean…?"
The woman narrowed her eyes and growled "You don't see it neither? WELL TAKE A CLOSER LOOK!" she screamed as she swung Melody back and tossed her against a wall, making the girl, who had only had time to cover her head, crash against a large portrait, breaking the frame and cutting herself on all the shattered glass.
Deenix couldn't take it anymore and ran to right in front of the ghost "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO HER! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?"
The woman stared blankly at the robot for a second before locking her emotionless gaze with Robert's. She narrowed her eyes at him and flashed to right in front of him, standing now mere inches away from him. Then, she spoke, with the same voice, cold as ice "I want YOU to stop being so blind… why can't you see it?"
Robert just stared at her, wide eyed, too scared to speak without stuttering "W-what do y-you m-mean?"
She growled and turned away from him, turning to Kai this time "Just to warn you, that I might have destroyed what you treasure the most… I'm sorry if I did… it wasn't my intention… you…" she glanced at the girl behind her "…she…" and looked back at him "…neither of you deserve that…"
Kai's eyes widened in realization as he stared at the woman in front of him. "What? Are you?" She smirked at him "Glad to see you still remember me…" Chuckling a bit, she approached the unconscious girl again and lifted her up, this time to carefully lay her on the bed. She hovered her hand above Melody's body and turned to Kai again, this time with a nice smile "Looks like you're lucky… your "treasure" appears to be safe… for now". She laughed at their confused faces, and after glaring at Robert again, she stroked Melody's temple "I'm sorry I had to do this to you… but it's the only way…" she sighed and disappeared, leaving Kai in a shock and everyone staring suspiciously at him.
Deenix ran to her Mistress and shook her gently "Melly-Chan? Can you hear me? Melly-Chan?" the robot panicked when she got no answer whatsoever "Why won't she wake up?" she cried softly against Melody's hand, and suddenly jumped back with a yelp as her Mistress sat up abruptly, staring around her in confusion "Where- Where did she go?"
Enrique ran to her side and hugged her waist tightly, crying his heart out "WAAAAAAA! I'm so happy! I thought you were dead! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Melody blinked at him and patted his back, cringing as he tightened his grip around her "Ow! Not so hard! Huh, why would you think that?"
He was pulled away by a crying Minx who hugged her as well "Phoenix!" she raised her eyes up to meet with hers "Ya wouldn't move, so we was soooooo worried 'boutcha!" She kneeled down beside her, tears streaming from her eyes. "Bu' yar okie now… rite?"
Melody stared at her in shock "You guys were… worried about me?"
Ray rolled his eyes "No, we didn't give a shit! Of course we were! What did you think?"
Melody smiled, blushing a bit and closed her eyes as Deenix once again healed her wounds. Unfortunately, Deenix was still very tired, so she could only heal her face wounds and a few she had on her arms. After that, Melody picked up the robot and laid it down on the bed, trying to stand up afterwards.
Melody cursed as she failed to do so, and looked around for support. Kai sighed and got his arm around her waist and her arm around his neck "You should lie down ya know…". She giggled and tried motioning towards Robert, who was sitting on a nearby couch, his hands covering his face as he mumbled "Thank God she's alright now… Thank GOD!"
Melody approached him "Robert?" she whispered. The boy stared up at her with worried eyes. He cringed as he looked her over. Her body still had some cuts and bruises all over it, and even though her face was now healed, a few bruises were still visible but for some reason, she didn't seem to care much about them, nor for the rest of her wounds. 'If only I had stopped her from going in… she wouldn't be like this…' Robert lowered his head again feeling extremely guilty. The girl sighed and kneeled down beside him, along with Kai, who wouldn't let go of her waist. She stroked his hair gently and spoke to him softly "Your mother… she said she wanted you to see… "her". Who was she talking about? She said you'd tell me…"
Robert glanced down at the floor, rubbing his forehead. He sighed and was considering whether he should answer or not, when Tyson cut through the silence "WHOA! Look who's in the pic!"
Everyone turned their heads to where Tyson was pointing at. It was the portrait Robert's mother had tossed Melody against. Somehow, it was still intact, besides the glass, now scattered around the floor and the broken frame.
The Bladebreakers plus Minx stared at it in awe. Apparently it wasn't recent, since Robert appeared to be 9, 10 years old. They moved their gazes to who else was in the portrait and they got immediately trapped on a couple standing by his right side. The man looked pretty much like Robert himself, except for his blue eyes, and the woman, was the one they had seen, with lavender hair and the same crimson eyes as Robert. Then they realized that the three of them were staring at someone else standing beside Robert. It was a little girl, with violet hair and sapphire-blue eyes. She was smiling happily at the camera while clutching Robert's hand behind her head.
Kai gasped at her sight 'Jesus! For a second there I could have sworn that was… but that's not possible… or is it?'
Max gave him a weird look as his face scrunched up and blinked at the little girl, cocking his head to his side "Wow, she looks A LOT like you Melly!"
The rest of the Bladebreakers and Minx looked from the portrait to the girl, and soon they were all nodding in unison, while The Majestics just gave worried looks at their captain and looked at the girl they had met a few days ago.
Melody stared at the portrait feeling strangely nostalgic and nodded slightly "Yeah… doesn't she… Except maybe for the hair and skin tone…" she turned to Robert "Is she who your mother was talking about?" Robert nodded, trying his best not to look at the portrait. Melody stared back at it and whispered "Where is this little girl now? And who is she?"
Robert lowered his gaze again and covered his eyes, shaking his head. Oliver kneeled down beside him patting his back "Robert… I think you should explain that… it'll be best for you to let it out…"
Melody sat down on the bed together with Kai, who still had a suspicious look upon his face AND his arm around her waist; and everyone else took random sits, as Robert sighed and started telling them about his past, about what he had spent most of his life trying so hard to forget.
RR PLEASE n-n
