Title: Visiting Day
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade. I don't make any money from this.
Author's
Notes: Finally the last part. I want to thank everyone, who took
the time to review. It's been a pleasure to write for you! And of
course I thank everyone, who just read along as well. I hope you all
enjoy the last chapter.
So this chapter is dedicated to
you: Aries1391, Kawaii Yuki, CyborgRockStar (I'm happy they
seemed in character for you, cause that was one of my big questions:
what have they been like when they were younger?), Kinaua (you're
lucky, here's more of Tala's mother and you got creepy Voltaire too!)
3. Chapter – The End of Visiting Day
At the knock on the door Boris looked up from the new report he had gotten from his scientists this morning at had now already been studying for quiet some time with interest.
"Come in!" He made sure that it didn't sound like admission to the request but like an order.
In
came a guard. Obviously nervous, Boris realized with revulsion. Just
like when one of the boys was standing in front of him, knowing he
would receive punishment.
This thought caught his interest.
Hopefully there wasn't another problem he needed to take care of this
evening. His mood turned grim, somehow there seemed to always be
problems.
"Anything to report?"
The guard fidgeted
a bit more, as if he knew about his masters temper. "Yes I have
sir. I forgot to inform you about something." There he stopped,
waiting for an angry remark about his stupidity, but none came,
instead he received a nod to go on.
"There has been a messenger
earlier this evening. He was send by Mister Voltaire."
Voltaire! The old man made always complications. This was the fourth messenger this month now. Every single one of them reporting a new date of Voltaire's arrival. At first the abbey's owner had planned to make it for visiting day, then he send note that he wouldn't make it for two more weeks, three days ago had then come the message that he would come the day after visiting day. That would have been tomorrow, so what new changes had come now?
When Boris still didn't answer
to that, the guard reluctantly continued his report, knowing that
even when Boris had somehow managed it to stay quiet, now would come
the part where he wouldn't being able to hold onto himself
anymore.
"The messenger informed me, that Voltaire won't come
tomorrow as planned, but will arrive earlier. Sometime this night,
probably every minute now."
As expected lilac haired man made no attempt at hiding his anger any longer. He literally jumped from his seat. The sudden movement caused several files to fall of the desk. That only seemed to make Boris even more angry. He furiously stamped on the fallen papers, shouting at the guard while doing so.
"You useless fool!" The guard winced slightly at the harsh voice. "We would have at least needed about two hours to prepare everything! You're lucky that I don't have any time now to decide your punishment. Leave now, get everything arranged!"
The guard sighed and hastily turned around to leave the room. "Wait!" The burly man tensed immediately. "Wake Kai up and bring him here. I want to talk to him, before Voltaire sees him."
The guard nodded and fled from the room.
Tala brushed away the tears from his mother's cheeks. "It's alright mom, I'm fine."
"No you aren't." The small woman shook her head vehemently, while looking shocked at her son's bruises. "You can't even open that eye."
Tala had to mentally admit that she was right. He really didn't feel so good. Everything hurt, his vision was blurred and he was more than exhausted by now. But of course he wouldn't tell that his mother, it was just nice to know, that she cared so much she even cried.
He gently kissed her forehead. "I just got into a fight. You know how boys are." He winked at her.
She turned her head to Kai. "The same fight he was in?"
Kai had stood silently in front of the window
until now. He had found it quiet interesting to observe the reunion
of mother and son.
The hugs, the kisses, the soft words, the
eagerness with which Tala had ask about the rest of his family, all
this was an unusual sight for Kai and that was not only like this
since he lived in the abbey.
Mrs. Valkov's pointed glance caught
his attention and Tala's embarrassed look encouraged him to help his
friend.
"Actually we two had a fight."
Tala stared open-mouthed at the younger boy. That was probably one of the most stupid things he had ever heard from Kai. Did he really believe that his mother would buy that her son would let himself be beaten up by a small kid?
"You did this?" The woman gaped at Kai,
indicating to Tala's injuries. Kai suddenly realized that perhaps his
explanation hadn't been such a smart move.
He blushed slightly,
stuttering around a bit. "Yeah... well, he bruises really easily."
The half-Japanese boy blushed even more, really wanting to slap
himself right now.
"Mom please don't listen to him! Kai just likes to show-off."
The woman's face turned stern now. "Then why don't you tell me what really happened?"
Tala fidgeted a
bit. He was used to the Boris' demanding commands, but his mother's
look got somehow even more under his skin. "It wasn't just we two
fighting. Actually we got beat up by some of the older boys."
He
stared nervously at the dirt on his shoes, unsure of what was to come
now.
Kai nearly chocked. This situation confused him. Hadn't Tala made him promise not to tell anything bad about the abbey? And from his point of view Jakov and his goons were something very bad.
Tala looked up, when he felt his mother's hands stroking
his hair back. He searched her face with his eyes, not sure about
what he might find there.
What he saw made him visibly relax. His
mother's eyes only spoke of concern and compassion for her son.
"Have
you told one of the teachers about what happened?"
"Boris
knows, he's the boss of the abbey. He took care of everything. Don't
worry."
Tala felt ashamed. He hadn't been flat-out lying. Boris
had taken care of everything, probably not as his mother expected,
but still he hadn't lied. So why did he feel bad about it?
Mrs.
Valkov didn't speak for some time, then she nodded and relaxed back
against the thin wooden wall of the shed.
"So you got better in
beyblading?", she asked and the conversation immediately turned
back to lighter topics.
The black-haired head leaned against the wall and crimson eyes fell shut shortly afterwards.
Kai was reminded of how tired he was, when he realized the soft Russian conversation becoming more and more distant, until sleep finally caught him completely.
xxxxxxx
Boris was furious. Voltaire had arrived even earlier than expected. The guard hadn't even returned with Kai yet, and he hadn't found the time for a shower and to change his clothes.
Now the imposing old man stood in front of him. The arrogant look on Voltaire's face made Boris even more angry. If he wouldn't need the old man's money, he would have kicked the insolent pensioner out already.
But as
it was, he greeted the man, who held the most power over him, with a
small bow and an unnatural smile on his face.
"Voltaire, what an
honor. We were already expecting you."
The man at question
didn't even reply, but looked sceptically around the room, obviously
turning up his nose at every single corn of dust he could find.
Boris
had to ball his fists in order to hold himself away from shouting out
loud. In the middle of his furiousness Voltaire finally decided to
acknowledge him.
"Is my room ready?"
"It should be. I send someone to prepare everything for you." He really hated the submissiveness in his own voice.
"I wish to see my grandson
before I depart for my quarters."
Voltaire wandered through the
overloaded office until he stood on the other side of the desk, where
he let his eyes glide over the still open files.
The figures and
words he caught glimpses of were promising, and his mood lightened in
consequence. So he didn't even made a comment when Boris bluntly
closed the files in front of him and hindered a closer look.
"The boy should be brought here soon. I already arranged so."
The
two man stood face to face opposite each other, saying nothing more.
Luckily a curt knock on the door broke the silence.
After he
answered it, Boris watched the door being opened and the guard he had
send away earlier coming in. His employer's obvious nervousness
disturbed Boris. The man looked even more frightened than before when
he had confessed that he had missed to deliver the message of
Voltaire's coming. But what could possibly be worse?
Just at that
moment he realized, that Kai hadn't come along as ordered.
"What
are you doing here alone? Where is the boy? Didn't I order you to
bring him here?"
"Yes Sir, you did order to bring him here." Stuttered the guard, who was now not only the center of Boris' attention but Voltaire's as well.
"So where is he then?" Demanded the lilac haired man impatiently.
At first
it didn't seem like the totally devastated guard was about to answer,
but then suddenly he started to babble like a small child confessing
his parents that he had thrown a ball through a window.
"I
didn't know. And it's absolutely not my fault. I mean I am sorry, but
I am not responsible for the corridors in that sector. So it's not my
fault, when something happens there. And it happened before I came
there, so it wasn't me, who didn't take care. When I arrived in the
room, they were already gone. I was the one, who told the others.
It's not always the messenger that is responsible for the bad news he
brings! I..."
Voltaire stopped the flood of words with just a raising of his hand. "Shut up! Boris! Did I hear the man just say 'they were already gone'? Is one of 'they' possibly my grandson? Tell me Boris, has Kai run away?"
Boris was so angry he couldn't even answer the accusation or he would have chocked on his words. Instead he pushed the helpless guard out of the door and into the main corridor in front of his room. "Show me! I want to see for myself."
The guard stumbled through the abbey, followed by a
highly angry Voltaire and an unnerving quiet Boris, who hadn't said a
word after the had left his office and just concentrating on
non-too-gently pushing him every few steps.
In front of Tala's and
Kai's room stood some more guards nervously whispering between them,
but they too fell silent when the saw the three men approach, of
which they feared two more than anything else.
Boris
immediately grabbed for the door handle, but was hindered by an
impressive tall guard. "Sir wait. We've locked the door."
The
abbey's manager didn't respond, but Voltaire snorted from behind.
"What good is it now. The trick is to lock the door before the boys
escape."
When the door was opened, both Voltaire and Boris walked in. Inside Boris moved in a circle, not only observed closely by his employers but by the old man as well.
"So they are
really gone." The voice was quiet and tense, and send shivers down
the guard's backs. Voltaire on the other hand watched with sick
interest.
"They really escaped. You fools let two kids escape of
whom I told you they were high-security! And now all you do is
standing in front of an empty, locked room, doing nothing but talk."
There was a pause in which none of the guards dared to look up.
"Start to think, start to finally use your brain, prove to me that
there is a reason that I employed you! Why the hell aren't you out
there searching for them? If I were you, I would run out immediately
and hope to find Tala and Kai or it will get really uncomfortable for
you."
He again made a small pause, and again nobody moved, that
changed quickly when he started from new. "Why are you still here,
haven't you listened to what I said? Leave!"
When
it again was only the two of them. Voltaire decided that is was time
to show once more that he was the higher-ranking.
"So tell me
Boris is it coincidence that just at the day on which I decide to
visit, two boys, of which one happens to be my grandson, run
away?"
"I know that you might not believe it, but this never happened before. Worry not sir, we'll find them in the next hours. When you wake up tomorrow, the boys will be back and regretting they ever tried to leave at all."
Voltaire knew
when he was being dismissed, and he hated it, but at the same time it
somehow amused him. "So it was coincidence indeed.", he smiled.
"If I depart for bed now, then promise me that you won't harm the
boys in any way if you find them tonight. I want it to be my
privilege to judge over them in the morning."
He started to walk
out of the room, not waiting for Boris to actually promise for it was
more of an order than a request anyway.
"Oh and Boris, make sure
they don't escape again." He gave a small chuckle, that still
echoed in the corridor after the man himself was already out of
sight.
Boris was left behind balling his fists in anger.
xxxxxxxxxx
Tala crouched nearer to Kai, his mother stood behind him, smiling affectionately at the picture of the small, sleeping boy.
"Kai, hey Kai wake up. It's time to go back." The black-haired boy slowly opened his eyes at the shake of his shoulder, and is was even longer until he seemed to realize where he was and what was happening.
"Are we going back?" He asked, still a little dazed.
"I just said so." Tala wanted to add a comment about Kai not only being stupid but deaf too, but a stern look from his mother helped him to hold his tongue. "Get up, we can't climb through the window with you sitting in front of it."
All three climbed out without
any trouble. Kai enjoyed the fresh night air outside, and stood a
little apart when mother and son said goodbye to each other.
Jealousy
grabbed his heart again at the sight of pure love between two
people.
Mrs. Valkov kissed her son on the head one last time. "I promise we'll see us again. Just keep your faith and behave. Don't annoy Kai too much. It doesn't seem like he has enough siblings, who showed him how prevail against others." She turned to Kai and smiled. "Or how to lie."
Kai felt heat rising up
into his cheeks at the reference to his earlier actions. It was true,
he really couldn't lie. But he couldn't dwell on his thoughts for
long, because a heartily laugh and a wide smirk from his two
companions made him smile too.
Mrs. Valkov laid a hand gently on
his left shoulder. "I hope, I'll see you again too."
"I'd really like that."
"Good, than that's settled you two. My train is coming in forty minutes. If I want to catch it, I need to go now."
Tala nodded bravely, hardly betraying any emotions, but Kai thought he saw his friend's shoulders shake softly.
"Bye."
Both boys watched the kind woman
leave with regret. They stood next to each other even after Tala's
mother was out of sight.
Finally nodding to each other the turned
around to make their way back to the abbey, though they were totally
unmotivated to do so.
xxxxxxxxx
The door opened and two boys were roughly pushed inside. Tala stumbled and fell to the floor, groaning as his already bruised body hit the floor.
"We caught them just outside. They tried to climb back in over one of the balconies."
Boris leaned pleased back in his chair. "Good. You can leave now, wait outside the door, this won't take long."
The guards left, leaving Boris, Kai and Tala alone in the office. Both boys were now standing once again, though Tala discreetly favored his right leg for his left knee hurt where it had hit the floor only moments ago. The kids were breathing hard, and Boris was enjoying their anxiousness.
"I knew you two would try to run away someday, but I hadn't expected it happen quiet so early. I hadn't expected to make it so easy for us to catch you again either. To be honest, I'm kind of disappointed of you two. I thought you had learned better in here." The words were taunting, and Tala had to bit his lip to keep himself from shouting something he surely would regret.
"We weren't running away. We just climbed back in, when they caught us." Kai's words were true, but childlike and innocent. Not of the right kind to make an impression on Boris.
"Oh really? You know what I think?" The man taunted further. "I think you two are cowards. You ran away, but got frightened and came back. There is only one thing that I hate more than disobeying little boys and that are cowardly little boys!" Boris had raised his voice at the end, and Kai had flinched at the hatred that was directed at him.
"We are here now, aren't we? It would have been more cowardly to run away when we had the chance, wouldn't it?" Tala got more and more angry the longer he talked. "And anyway Boris, you don't know us one bit. We are not here, because of your force or power. We aren't afraid of you!"
"So why are you here?" Boris voice was deadly calm.
Tala realized that his temperament had perhaps gotten them in even more trouble. But now there was no going back. "The money Boris. And you know it, it was the money. You were there, you've seen the conditions in which I lived, and you knew that you'd only get me here if you promised money. And you know what? You were right! But now don't act like we are here for anything else, cause we both know that that's not true."
Kai was impressed. He had seen many new sides of
his friend today, and to talk this much was a highly uncharacteristic
side of him. Boris on the other hand, saw for perhaps the first time
the need for something to be done. When the children stood with less
fright in front of him than the guards, then something was terribly
wrong.
He needed new staff and he needed to put more fright into
the boys.
"You two think you're so clever. You think you're so good beybladers, that you're irreplaceable. Now let me tell you something, you are not! I could find others just as good as you each day. You are replaceable and if you not start to act differently, you'll feel it first hand. So if I were you, then I promptly start to behave."
Kai wasn't sure if he had
understood it right. Was Boris threatening to kill them? He looked
over to Tala, who had suddenly become deadly-pale. Yes, it seemed
like he had indeed understood right.
Boris came out from behind
his desk and circled the two boys like a lion did with it's
prey.
"But you got lucky again. I won't punish you right
now, cause Voltaire doesn't want you harmed, when he decides what
will happen with you in the morning."
He gave an amused chuckle,
when he saw Kai flinch at the mention of his grandfathers name. He
sneered the next words directly in the small boy's face.
"Isn't
it always touching, when a grandfather comes to visit his grandson.
Oh, don't worry. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you again. Perhaps
he'll even forget about your punishment." Boris made sure that the
sarcasm was visible in his voice.
He walked two steps to his right, so that he stood in front of Tala now. "And if he'll be too lenient with you two, I'll be sure to correct that mistake after he left. For now I wish you a good night."
The door opened and three guards walked back. "Bring them downstairs and make that they stay there."
The abbey's manager sat back in his chair and observed the two most problematic boys he had to care for being let out.
xxxxxxxx
Tala and
Kai were more pushed than let down the stairs. They both scraped
their knuckles on the stone wall by desperate attempts to hold
themselves on their feet.
Kai let out a sigh of relief, when they
finally reached the bottom in one piece. With angry guards there were
no joking around and these guards were very angry, for had they
searched for the two run-aways the last few hours, they normally
spent with sleep.
'Yeah, angry, tired guards!' Kai thought, when his head connected with the wall after an unexpected push from behind.
"Get moving. You two made enough trouble for a night."
The boys obeyed since they were tired, frightened and hurt too, and wanted nothing more than to be alone so they could get some hours to collect themselves.
Shortly afterwards Tala found himself in a claustrophobic small cellar room. It obviously hadn't been used for some time. There stood boxes all over. Everything was covered in dust and spiderwebs. There was no window. So when the door closed behind them, all they could see was black.
Tala hated the dark. Through the slit under the door he
could make out some light, and he tried to sit down as near to this
as possible. He waited for Kai to sit down next to him. Surely the
younger needed to be just as exhausted as he was, but still there was
no movement and no one was on the ground beside him.
"Kai?
What's up. Lie down, now you can sleep some."
"You don't think they are gonna let us out soon?" The younger boy sounded nearly desperate. Tala realized that he must dislike their sleeping arrangements just as much as he did.
"No, you heard what Boris said. Voltaire will come in the morning." When there was still no reaction, that told him that Kai was going to lie down, he tried a different technique. "Look if you lie down here, you can see the light coming through under the door." There was a body on the ground next to him immediately.
Kai lay on his side, so
that he could face the door. He couldn't decide what to do, sleep was
nearly impossible to fight now, but at the same time the bruises on
his ribs protested to lie like this. It was all more than
frustrating.
"This must have been the most terrible day, I can
remember. First I run the whole morning through the abbey searching
for you, then we get beaten up and punished for it, after that we
climb over balconies in the middle of the night, get caught and
locked up, and of course on top of all that Voltaire is here!"
"It's not all so bad. We met my mother today."
"And she will surely rescue us tomorrow morning, when Voltaire is up on us." Both boys were taken aback by the sarcasm in Kai's words, because he normally spoke innocently straight-forward.
Tala wondered if
this was the moment his friend began to change. All boys in the abbey
started to change, to grow cold, sooner or later here. But somehow
Tala hoped, that Kai would stay like he was a little longer, for his
naivety had always had a soothing effect on him.
"I want to
thank you for everything you did today, you know helping me meet mom
and all."
Tala was very disappointed, when he got no answer.
It wasn't every day that he thanked someone and this was important to
him. He at least wanted an acknowledgment.
Kai felt his hand being
grasped, and tried to pull away out of reflex, but found it
impossible, when Tala held onto it only stronger.
"Kai listen to
me. I don't know what they will do with us, but no matter what will
happen, I want you to know, that I think it was worth it. I'm sorry
that you are together with me in this mess, but still thank
you."
Kai felt the need in his friend's words to get an answer, so he put his other hand on top of Tala's and spoke in his normal soft voice to him. "It's okay. You know, your mother is really nice?"
Even though they sat locked up in a dark, cold cellar, both boys smiled softly. Somehow their friendship seemed natural to them, and everything was okay. They had survived visiting day, and together they could survive what lay ahead of them in the morning.
The End!
July 2005 by Lichtblick
Okay, that was it! So what do you think? Any final comments? I hope you all enjoyed this and that I'll see you again, when I post my next fic. Until then, goodbye.