A Little Princess
AUTHOR'S NOTES: It's off to Greece, everybody! Takao can't wait to hit Medain (although not in THAT kind of way, folks...O.O;;), Max's all for the scenery and doing tourist-y things, Lei meets an old friend, Kai's very quiet, and Yuri's in understandable yearning pangs on the side. On an added note, it's the advent of the little French Princess, Selenay Herrault! Plus, the coming of...WHITE DRANZER?! Enjoy! :)
"YAY! We FINALLY made IT~~~!!!" SD Takao was grinning as soon as he stepped off the bus that took them straight to their hotel from the airport. "I can't believe we're actually HERE!"
"Don't go swinging through the revolving doors, Takao, or we'll forget you ever existed," Kai told him quietly as he came down after the overly genki 13 year-old and his 2 other teammates.
"Heh heh heh! MAN! I'm really HUNGRY," Takao said, oblivious to Kai's dagger looks of pure hatred. "I wonder what's for breakfast?"
"Gee Takao, I thought downing ALL those 18 deluxe o-bento packed meals back at the airport was your BREAKFAST," SD Professor asked, blinking.
"Nah, that was ONLY his APPETIZER." Max grinned. "Yup, he's the Omega Metabolizer, Takao Kinogu. I wouldn't be too surprised if he totally drains the ENTIRE hotel reserves of food."
"Sure hope not, or else we'll have 600 guests breathing fire down our necks," Kai fumes.
"THAT, and flying claws and feet." Lei blinked. "They're staying here too?"
They all looked to where Lei was staring at. Sure enough, 3 sleek limousines came one after the other, from which emerged Medain, Shizue, and Kikka.
Kikka waved gaily at them.
"Oh NO," Max mutters.
Takao swelled up like a very angry bullfrog.
"Fancy meeting YOU here," Medain mutters as soon as she reached the main entrance of the Royal Astoria Helena.
"..." Yuri was just quiet.
"WOW! You guys staying here TOO?" SD Kikka asked, blinking.
"Don't worry, we're staying at the OTHER end of the building," Kai told Medain. "Come on, people."
The bellhops came and retrieved the girls' luggage from each of their respective limousines as the BBA Team entered the hotel and went right up to the check-in desk.
"Boy oh boy, this is going to be some INTERESTING trip," Shizue says with a sigh.
"Mmm-hmm!" SD Kikka held up her Nokia Athaelion i150 (I am just making this UP; BTW, I do not own Nokia...don't sue me. PLEASE.). I'm going to send a video of this back to Selenay. She's going to FLIP when she sees THIS!"
"Yeah, she's going to raid the whole of Greece trying to get her Athaelion i180." Medain nods. "Alright, let's go."
Lei sighed as he walked through the Agora, the ancient marketplace of Athens, Greece's capital city. Located at the foot of the Acropolis, the Agora (composed of Keramakios and Thession) beckons with its many shops and quaint taverns where foreign tourists and locals alike enjoy a glass of wine and ouzo (a strong colorless liquor) under a sunny, blue cloudless day. There were lots of interesting things to buy, but then again, Lei decided to tighten up his pocket money pouch strings for a while before deciding to splurge on something. It was a tourist's deadly sin.
Lei was looking at some beautiful glass bead jewelry he was thinking of buying Mao when he returns back to Japan when a hand reached out and tapped his shoulder. He turned around and blinked.
"MICHIKO!"
"Hey, it's been quite a while, Kon." Michiko Rinori grinned. With her shiny blondish brown hair, well-developed body belying her true nature as a 13 year-old ace soccer athlete, and beautiful creamy skin that told any boy within a 500 mile radius that Grecian atmosphere totally agreed with her, Michiko was as good as ANY Blader out there can be. She and Lei met some 2 years back, and she was the best traveling buddy he'd ever had when he did his European tour the minute he left White Tiger Valley and had several won Bey battles under his credit. She had been most helpful, letting him stay the entire Grecian run on her family's Greek sea "villa" off the coast of Lesvos, Greece's third biggest island. Her father works as a UN Medical Corps doctor, which explains her volatile international mobility; her mother runs a Greek restaurant somewhere in Athens. Thinking of that made Lei realize that he was somewhere within its vicinity.
"How have you been doing?" Lei smiled at his friend. "I've heard you've terrorized the local all-boys' soccer team and they NEVER showed their faces in the National Finals League..."
"Yep, that's me! They were all so humiliated to even show up at the old soccer field back at the 'villa' the next day, and Philippos and I had belly-aching laughter for weeks." Michiko gave him a playful punch to the shoulder. "Eh, I heard you're doing pretty good yourself."
"Nah, not really," Lei told her. "I just had some good luck, is all."
"Still as humble and as polite as always, Lei Kon. No wonder all those Delphi Drooling Lei Kon Brigade fangirl members are short of actually having instantaneous aneumerysms when they just hear you BLINK." Michiko nodded. "Well, do you want to swing on by and have a glass of ouzo while you tell me stories of your exploits as the Legendary Fanged Blader?"
Lei laughed. "Yeah. I'll do that."
"Bottoms up, Kon." Michiko grinned. "YEAH! Come on, let's go down the street. Mom's going to hyperventilate to know you're back here again."
SD Max was very giddy when he practically ran down the ancient streets leading to the Acropolis. Several tourists were there with their own tour guides; some were deep in hushed conversations with their cell phones (^^;;); still others were just marveling at the architectural and elegant Hellenistic splendor that was one of the glories of the ancient world.
"WOW!" SD Max nodded. "This is SO WONDERFUL! I wish Mom was here, though." He looked around, and took a whiff of the gentle breezes that fanned the hill. "Ah! Just what I need...the air of ages. Mmm, it feels SO good to be here."
He wandered off, intent on seeing the entire Acropolis as much as exploring it thoroughly. Built of Pentelian marble, the Propylea forms an impressive entrance at the site of the Acropolis which includes a central building with 2 wings. There was the Temple of Apterou Nikes, or the Temple of Athena Nikes, built by the architect Kallikrates, and was completed during the period of 427 - 424 B.C. And the famous Parthenon, built on the ruins of pro-Parthenon, the first great marble temple that was destroyed when the Persians first occupied the Acropolis sometime during 480 - 479 B.C.
Max was going through his Greece Travel Guide and was lost in his own thoughts when Takao appeared some time later with his tongue sticking out.
"Man...Max...why didn't you wait for ME..."
SD Max grinned happily. "Eh, Takao, you DID say you wanted to experience Greek culture at its best."
"But it doesn't mean that I have to almost barf my insides out chasing you all the way from the hotel up to here," SD Takao said, looking green. "I just ATE."
"What's a little exercise to keep your metabolism going?" Max pointed to where a dozen tourists were standing "Let's hobnob with our fellow tourists! Come ON!"
Max ran off again and SD Takao just sighed. Yup. Going out on a tourist day-off with a sugar high Max was definitely becoming very bad for his health. He should've stayed in with Kai and Professor back at the hotel when he had a chance.
Yuri was just staring off into the calm, blue waters of the Saronic Gulf, where sails of fishing boats out on a day of trawling fish or just plain lazing around were scattered off like many triangular jigsaw puzzle pieces. Sea gulls screeched overhead, and a calm breeze was blowing in from the placid sea.
He never saw the sea. This was the first time he's actually seen one up close, and it was strangely comforting. Life at the Balkov Monastery was really hard, and he could barely remember how his life was before Balkov took him in. He might have come from a seaside village or something, for he found comfort in the waves that lapped gently at the shore.
He sighed, his eyes becoming confused. It had been all too blurred for him...his newfound freedom from the terrible claws of the Monastery was just getting a little too much for his health, he thought, and he felt listless and his mind was painfully blank. It was strange, trying to act like any normal 15 year old would, and trying to act casual about the whole deal. He had always lived a life filled with harshness and cruelty, and it was hard not to half-expect a double backhand every time he tried to stretch his wings out in the world that was taken so cruelly away from him. It was really hard to believe he was here, and he was very thankful for the Bey Blade Battle Association to take him into their wings when he was hopelessly lost and very much alone, and thankful for his new teammates even if they were still trying to adjust to the fact that their most hated enemy was in there with them. And...
***Would I be seeing you again soon...?***
The silhouette of a young slender girl half-turned to face him, the lower part of her face revealed to show a smile of utter tenderness.
***Don't worry. We'll be seeing each other again...very soon. I'll see you, Yuri...***
Yuri's eyes became expressive then he turned and walked away from the wharf. But just as he was about to blend inconspicuously into the crowd...
A white blur shoots out and cut across Yuri's right of way, where it ricocheted against the wall of the warehouse and spun right in front of him.
Yuri gazed down at it blankly. As he stared, the object came into focus: it was a white Bey Blade.
It was so strange. Yuri leaned over to pick it up from the ground, where it willingly spun into his palm. It stopped as soon as he inspected it intently.
His eyes widen.
It was pure white in color...but there was no mistaking the central bit.
It was White Dranzer.
He stood there, motionless, as the crowd went about him, like he was nothing more than a mere non-existent shadow.
What could it possibly mean...?
Yuri glanced sharply to his right. He turned around just in time to see a shadow disappearing off behind one of the warehouse buildings just a few feet away from him.
He broke out in cold sweat.
Was the resurrection of Black Dranzer not too far behind?
"...no. NO! I specifically said EVIAN, not just any tap water. I don't care if it's Perrier! I WANT Evian. Get IT?! Good. Please deliver it by the truckful to the hotel. Make sure it's ice cold. What?! I don't care HOW, haul it inside an iceberg block for all I care, I want my Evian ICE COLD. OK?! Yes. Thanks." Selenay Magdalene Chandralle Saint Couer-Herrault, heiress to the Chateaux Heroux and only daughter of the Duke of Heroux, pouted as she pressed her Athaelion i180 off and stared off into the passing street life right outside her window. "Butlers. You can't live with THEM. What's with a truckful of Evian, anyway? I'm the one who's going to NEED it, not HE."
"Yes, my Lady. He does not know anything."
"If I had my way, I'll have all DHL call centers on hold just to be able to have it delivered this AFTERNOON, but then, Papa has those meetings with the wine barons again," Selenay mutters as she lightly shuddered, as if she was totally revolted at the very thought. "Why is he so persistent about those vineyards anyway, Uncle's just going to ruin everything again. Hn, he should just be spending what he could AFFORD, not what he could afford to dilapidate the WHOLE estate with..."
"..." The chauffeur just nodded. Only 13, Selenay was the wealthiest prize of those society balls her mother was just so fond of attending, being the heiress of one of the oldest titles of France (^^;; I'm just making this UP...), with a bloodline tracing back to the Middle Ages, to the times of the wealthy lords and manors, and was distantly related to the Bourbons. She was born with the proverbial golden spoon in her mouth, and as she grew up, Selenay had been accustomed to living the life of utmost elegance and luxury, having been to boarding schools spanning 3 European continents and credit cards and her own private yacht sure to make even the hardiest of the old rich to redden with shame.
But...even with her very privileged status and somewhat spoiled brat demeanor, she was really a soft-hearted person at heart, even if her concerns were of a very frivolous matter. Sure, her vices include weekly Harrod's splurges and Parisian haute couture night-outs, with a little Bvlgari here and there, but that was all that was evil to her. She has a soft spot for animals, and was very much into protection of animal rights, and was a full-fledged vegetarian. She wouldn't be caught dead wearing a sable coat on one glittering evening at the opera with her mother and her mother's friends. And she hates all sorts of softdrinks and goes for all-natural food and juices, and if they want her to go all-out ballistic, all Kikka and Medain have to do was to suggest that they were to have an all-girl night out. And Selenay would practically be screaming throughout the night well into the morning.
Selenay's Athaelion rang, to which she pressed it on again and held it to her ear. "Hello...? Oh, yes, Miss Lisette. YES, I'm in GREECE. WHAT?! Didn't I leave him a note specifically stating that I'm away on ABBEY BUSINESS?! Mon DIEU! Oh, whatEVER. Try to make some sense out of it, and if you have to drop him, then DO it! OK?! Lady Celes would not want to be 'tampered' with, so to speak. Yes. GOODBYE." Selenay pouted again as she quickly pressed it off. "I just CAN'T get good help nowadays."
The man she was dropping was just one of her many book keepers seeing to her stocks in London. The chauffeur nodded then just sweatdropped.
Just another day in the life of Selenay Herrault.
