I don't own Beyblade, or any of its characters, please do not sue me.
Fate
Chapter 7
""Talking
''Thoughts
Flashback
Cafe
"Kai, come on, it'll be fun!" Celestia pleaded, unable to evoke an answer from him. "Kai, please, everyone wants you to go." Kai still said nothing, Celestia pouted a bit and glanced down. Then, with a defeated breath, she walked over and sat next to Kai. "Kai, please, I want to go as well." She said quietly and shook his arm, earning him to turn and look towards her.
"Kai, Celestia." A voice said from behind them, they turned and looked up to see Kenny with an elegant lady beside him.
"Kenny..." Celestia trailed off and looked at the lady beside him. She has pale pink hair, half of it tied up, and the other half trailing down her back, curled. Her grey eyes beautiful... but they have no life in them.
"It's nice to meet you, my name is Malarin." She bowed and gave them a gentle smile. Celestia looked at them curiously. Malarin looks to be about 20, what is her relationship to Kenny?
"Kai... are you going to the amusement park?" Kenny asked, Kai's face turned up, Celestia quickly gave him a pleading face. Kai glanced at both of them before nodding his head slowly and softly, Celestia and Kenny smiled immediately. Malarin just stood off to the side and plastered a smile on her face.
Amusement Park
The loud noises form inside the park was unleashed the moment they stepped through the doors; Kai walked at the back of the group, glaring at everything and everyone that comes his way. Celestia walked with Kenny in front of him.
"Kenny, where's Malarin?"
"She has something to attend to; she's constantly being tied back by her family business, since she's the only child." Kenny said quietly.
"How long have you known her?"
"About a year. My family wants me to open a computer company when I grow up, just like the Quintilla family. Malarin's major in university is business and technology. When my dad was teaching her, she came over a few times and we became friends. My dad then asked her to help me with business and technology to prepare me for my future." Kenny explained.
"So, she is older than you." Celestia murmured softly.
"Yeah, she's 20 right now, is... there a problem?"
"No, no!" Celestia shook her head quickly and put on a bright smile. However, she's not so sure about Kenny, it seems like there's some kind of lingering emotion for Malarin. The day she met Malarin, she gave Celestia a feeling of mature woman, someone who's married, giving off a feeling of a perfect wife. However... that's just her feelings.
"Celestia!" Jamice called, Celestia turned, a questioning look on her face. A light flashed, a snap shot was taken. She blinked in surprise; Jamice smiled and waved her camera in the air. "I want to capture your every expression."
"Whose idea is this?"
Jamice pointed to Aeris immediately, whom smiled nervously and pleadingly, knowing that she doesn't like taking pictures. Celestia rolled her eyes at Aeris, unable to prevent another snapshot taken.
The whole day, home was the amusement park; snapshots were taken everywhere, her face taking up a whole roll of film. Just for this day, they forgot about everything and unleashed the kid within themselves.
Later, as Kai and Celestia walked home, too late to call for any kind of transportation, Celestia wobbled here and there, too sleepy to even open her eyes. Kai looked at her as she stumbled on something, he reached out and grabbed her arm, steadying her quickly.
"Come on, climb on." Kai said and squatted down in front of her; Celestia looked at him sleepily and climbed on slowly.
After a moment, Kai stood up and started walking again, his arms under her knees, her arms around his neck and shoulder.
"Kai, what are you going to do tomorrow?" Celestia mumbled into his neck.
"I'm going to wake up in the morning, then wash up, then get dressed, then I'll go pick you up, and we're going to eat breakfast, then we're going to..." His voice faded away into the dark night as they moved on.
End of Flashback
He opened his eyes when he felt the cool air brush past his face, in front of him, the grand ocean roared. He looked around the deserted and vast ocean side, no one is around. As if drawn by the ocean, he picked up his feet and walked towards it.
Kai...
Suddenly, he heard a voice. A voice that is so familiar. A voice that he has been chasing after for his entire life. He snapped his head around, looking for that voice.
Kai...
Her voice is getting closer and closer, he turned around and around and finally he saw her. His eyes widened as she looked at him with such a pained look and such a helpless expression. She stands in the midst of the angered waves, her entire body buried within the none-stop waves one after another. She is starring right at him; her brown hair sometimes would blow in her face and cover her eyes. However, he felt her eyes. He didn't need to see them, he can feel them.
Celestia. He wanted to call out to her, he wanted to tell her so much, but his mouth wouldn't open, his voice wouldn't come out.
Kai... Where are you now?
I'm right here! I'm right here in front of you! Kai wanted to scream, he wanted to shout, he wanted to tell her everything. Not wasting one more second, he ran towards her, despite the fact that he's on large boulders, despite the fact that he's not wearing any shoes.
Kai... Where are you now? It's so lonely here.
I know! Just stay there and I'll see you soon! Kai's legs moved faster, carrying him towards her.
Kai... Where are you now? It's so lonely here. Why aren't you looking for me...
Celestia! Kai reached out to grab onto her, but his hand past right through her body. And under his shocked gaze, tears fell down from her eyes and she slowly vanished in front of him.
Kai...
Kai...
Kai...
Kai sat up abruptly and starred in front of him at the colorful wall paper. His breathing came in ragged and short gasps.
"Celestia." He whispered and looked down at his hands. He had touched... no, reached through her with these hands, but he still couldn't bring her back.
He still remembers her look. That pained look, so lost and so lonely. Where is she? Where is she calling out to him from? Taking in a deep breath, he ran a hand through his hair and plopped back down onto the bed with his eyes closed. After a few seconds, he opened them again and scanned the room. This is definitely not his room!
First of all, his room does not have colorful flower wall papers. And second of all, his bed is not this small. Third of all, his room definitely does not have the scent of perfume mixed with other floral scents draped over it. Then he blinked and it flashed back to him.
Last night... he wasn't able to resist her after all. She clung onto him and cried for God knows how long and then she fell asleep. He still doesn't know where the sympathy came from as he didn't want to wake her and just laid back down and went to sleep with her.
Rolling out of bed, he hurried to the door while buttoning up his shirt properly. He threw open the door and was greeted by two smiling faces, almost too dazzling in the morning.
"Morning sweetie, you're awake." Celle said first with a sweet smile, as if that crying girl was just an illusion last night.
"Morning Kai." Ray said with a small smile and nodded towards his direction.
Kai blinked and blinked, his mind is definitely not up to speed this morning. "Ray, what are you doing here?"
The two sitting by the table laughed and Ray looked at Kai with amused eyes. "Kai, I'm supposed to be her chef, don't you remember?" Then he narrowed his eyes and a playful look entered his face. "I guess last night must be really rough, huh?"
Celle laughed shortly wanting to make a remark about it, but before she could say anything, Kai frowned immediately. "We didn't do anything." His voice was as cold as ice.
How can he even stand to listen to any joke when Celestia was calling out to him so desperately? The other two dropped their smiles immediately and Celle looked down at the table trying to contain her emotions. Kai looked at both of them and dropped his frown, but without missing a beat, he grabbed his coat and looked at the two.
"I'm going home."
"Wait, Kai." Celle looked up and caught Kai's eyes. She shivered involuntarily at Kai's cold eyes. Her eyes dimmed, sadness whelmed up inside of her and she looked down, hiding her eyes. She thought that after last night, they would be on better terms so that Kai would at least stay for breakfast or something.
"What is it?" Kai's question was cold and straight to the point.
"Kai... can we go shopping today?" Celle asked. "I need new cloths and I really want to hear you opinion on it. I really want you to like what I buy and I want to know what a girl should look like in your heart as well." She said quietly.
"No." Kai refused without a second thought. Ray glared at Kai immediately and rolled his eyes.
"Please?" Celle pleaded and looked up at him. Kai's eyes flashed as that familiar face appeared once again. Celle's face is sad, and her eyes are pained and dim. She looks as if she's going to cry if he refused her.
And most importantly, she looks exactly like Celestia when she's begging for Kai to find her.
After a moment of silence, Kai's eyes softened to that face and sighed heavily. "I'm going to home to clean up; I'll pick you up when I'm done."
Celle's eyes brightened immediately as she jumped out of her seat and looked at him excitedly. "Are you serious, Kai?"
Kai just nodded, and looked at Celle in front of him. He never knew such a simple action could bring so much light into her eyes. Then he ceased his brow and shook his head mentally. What is he thinking? He chided himself inside his mind. He only loves Celestia. "I'll see you later Ray." With that, he turned and walked towards the door of the hotel room.
"Yeah, later." Ray called after him lazily. After the door closed, he turned back to Celle, whom is practically glittering and glowing. Such a simple action from Kai, and she's already in heaven. Smiling a bitter smile, he rose up the cup of juice and downed it.
Why isn't this a cup of sake?
Mall
Standing inside a fancy store where the price tags has not numbers that are below 3 digits, Kai sighed again and uncrossed his legs. The moment he set foot inside the store, his head started hurting. Suddenly, taking her shopping appeared to be a horrible idea. However, whenever he thought of saying 'no', Celestia's face and Celle's face mingled together. Those pained looks in their eyes made the words roll back down his throat.
And surprisingly, Celle has been very considerate. She didn't talk much in the car, which is quite a change from the first time he met her. He distinctively remembers that she had coyly invited him on in that meeting room, and totally shattered his hopes of her being Celestia.
However, now she is just getting very annoying.
How long does it take her to get one set of cloths on?
Kai glanced at his watch, it only marked the passing of a minute, but why does he feel like it's been forever? Finally, the change room door opened and Celle stepped out. She's wearing a white, sleeveless shirt. It's a turtle neck so everything from her chin down to her stomach is covered. The skirt has a white background with little purple flowers, it flows down to the mid of her calves. She looks very elegant and pure, almost princess like, so innocent.
She looked at him with a smile and put her hands behind her back. "How do I look?"
Kai glanced at her and nodded his head. "Take this one." He doesn't even know the first thing when it comes to females' clothing. Sure, he has seen the different styles, but he has never dealt deep into them. Celestia wasn't one that was big into clothing, her cloths were all really comfortable. And during the time that she lived with him, he never saw her wear anything as fancy as this.
Lianna and Aeris are those ones that dress properly and comfortably too. Perhaps a bit sportive sometimes. Neither one of them liked to dress up for no particular reason, and always argued that comfortable clothing fit them the best. Jamice likes to show off her body to some extend, especially after she got that belly button piercing, she's got more reasons to wear cloths that show off her mid-drift. She's the one that keeps up with the latest fashion and always is looking good and ready to go wild and party.
The older female, Malarin. She's always elegantly dressed. Even more than what Celle's like in front of him right now. He doesn't remember see her in pants at all, she's always wearing either a skirt or a dress. They have to be folded correctly, ironed properly and always accentuated her slim figure. Her hair is wavy and long, she somehow always made her hair look like as if she's doing a photo shoot. She's always so glamorous.
And that's as close as Kai has ever come to female clothing, those girls are his friends, he notice what they wear from time to time.
"Kai, there's only one more set! I'll be out in a minute." Celle declared happily and whirled back into the changing room again.
Another set!
Kai rubbed his temple, and tried to think happy thoughts. If he can sit through more than 10 sets of cloths, then he can wait for one more set. The sales clerk inside the store smiled at him politely, he just glared back and looked at his watch again.
The door opened and Celle stepped out again. This time, she's in a dress of pale lavender, just a little touch of the color. The dress has a small V-neck that showed her collar bones and pulls in at the waist using a thin leather belt. The bottom goes down to her knees, the back slightly longer than the front. The sleeves are connected to the dress by strings, pulling at them. Thus, there's a gap between the sleeves and the shoulder blade. The sleeves widen at the bottom and flows down naturally.
"I really like this one." Celle admitted and pulled at her sleeves playfully.
"Then take it."
Celle nodded and went into the dressing room again, and soon that dress was thrown on top of the door for a place to stay. Kai stood up and grabbed his jacket while the sales clerk bagged the sets of cloths that they have agreed to purchase. Kai fished out his wallet and opened it up to grab a random card.
"Kai, I'll pay." Celle said as she walked out of the changing room and walked towards him.
Kai glanced at her but said nothing. He just gave a card to the sales clerk and followed him to the front desk so he can sign the receipt. Celle looked down and walked towards them slowly. Does this mean that he's finally accepting her?
Walking out of that shop with a happy sales clerk waving after them, Celle looked around for more stores to go to. Then, the shining diamonds caught her eyes as she saw Tiffany, the world famous jewelry store. Immediately, she latched onto Kai's free arm, as the other one is holding the bag of cloths. "Kai, let's go there."
She dragged him behind her, not caring if he's going to shake her off. And he didn't. Walking into the large Tiffany store, her eyes widened at the sight of jewelry. She loves all sorts of jewelry and makes a habit of collecting them. "Oh my God... Kai! Look at the rings!" She exclaimed excitedly and ran towards the counter with all the glimmering rings in them. Kai walked after her calmly and looked down at the rings.
He ceased his eyebrows slightly. He had bought a ring when he was so young. It was nothing like these sparkling ones. It was just a thin diamond ring that was earned by spending the money that he worked for. At that moment, he felt relieved and he felt happy. He thought that she was going to be his wife and his for this life time.
And then she disappeared.
"Kai, since you already bought those cloths for me. Why not buy a ring as well?" Celle asked hopefully and bit down on her bottom lip when waiting for his answer.
"Do you not know what that means?" Kai asked back.
Celle dropped her smile and looked around. "Is that a no?"
Kai didn't say anything, he just turned his body sideways to look elsewhere in the store. "Do you like these? I'll buy you a necklace instead."
"No, I want a ring." Celle stomped her feet, her old personality is back again. "And besides, it's not like you've ever bought a ring before. This can be your practice time." She suggested playfully.
Kai turned to her and looked at her for a moment before answering. "I have bought a ring before."
Celle paused and her hands slipped down from his arm. She looked up at him expressionlessly. Actually, it might appear calm to him, but inside everything's turning over. "Oh, you have? For whom? Celestia?" She asked as if nothing is bothering her.
Kai looked at her for a moment longer and nodded his head firmly. Celle gave a short and forced laugh, she pretended to be examining the rings again. "Oh. I thought she was just your girlfriend."
"She's the only person that I want to marry."
Celle's hand froze on the glass, she bit down hard on her lower lip, almost drawing blood. Then taking in a shaky breathe, she slowly let it out. Her heart felt like it has just been ripped into two, the pain is unbearable. Then, she smiled widely and turned to Kai. "Then, what about that necklace that you wanted to buy me?"
He searched her eyes carefully, as if trying to find out something that's hidden deep inside her mind. After a moment, Kai turned and walked across the store to where the necklaces are being held. Celle looked after him and pouted regretfully. Can't he at least lie to her just a bit?
Airport
Lianna and Tyson sat in silence as they waited for his flight to be called. He is going to Singapore today for some contract with a stadium owner. Lianna glanced at his profile and saw that he's still reading the report that his secretary had sent him this morning.
He has changed so much.
Lianna's eyes dimmed and she looked down at her folded hands on her lap. He has become such a powerful and successful figure that no one ever thought was possible. And she is merely an author, someone that moves her fingers to earn money. Rubbing her hands together, she suddenly feels very low compared to Tyson.
These couple of days, she has been over at his apartment, mainly preparing his three meals for him. He has been busy at the BBA with his staff meetings, conversations over the phone, and this business deal. This morning, his secretary called and faxed him a handful of last minute details about this deal. And that's all he has been looking at for the entire morning.
"Ladies and gentlemen. Flight number JA711 is now ready for boarding, please take your carry on bag and move to the boarding check desk. Again, ladies and gentlemen. Flight number JA711 is now ready for boarding, please take your carry on bag and move to the boarding check desk."
Both of them looked up at the sound of the announcement, Tyson sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose while standing up. His right hand gripped onto his briefcase tightly and grabbed hold of the information package as well. Lianna stood up and faced him, they looked at each other without knowing what to say.
Silently, Lianna reached up to fix up his tie and tucked it inside his suit slowly. She kept her eyes at the level of his collar, her hands have now moved to his shoulders. Tyson encircled her to him using his left arm and breathed in the smell of her shampoo, a light lily smell. "I'll miss you." He murmured.
Lianna nodded and closed her eyes against the rough texture of his suit. "Please have a safe flight."
Tyson tilted his head downwards and kissed her forehead, and then he released her and they looked at each other again. After a moment, Tyson smiled and nodded his head. Then he turned and walked towards the checking desk. Once again, reading the information package.
Lianna held her jacket in her hand and looked after Tyson. She starred at him as he walked into the long tunnel that led onto the airplane and watched as he turned the corner and disappeared. Just then, her cell phone rang and jolted her out of her day-dreams.
"Hello?"
"Lianna, this is Malarin."
Lianna looked back at the plane again as they shut the door to the tunnel, signaling that the plane is about ready for take-off.
"Malarin, is something wrong?"
"Are you free tonight?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Lianna glanced towards her cell phone.
"Nothing, I just wanted to share my research results. We'll meet at our usual spot, is that okay with you?"
"Of course."
"Oh, don't bother calling Kai, Celle, and Ray."
"Why not?" Lianna asked curiously.
"Because I don't want them involved in this. Lianna, just trust me, I have my reasons."
Lianna was silent for a few seconds before agreeing to Malarin's comment. Then after a short goodbye, they both hung up. Neither of them are the type of people that likes to talk a lot. Looking back at the airplane, it has already begun its journey on the runway, eventually; it lifted its front wheels and carried off towards the sky.
Ray's Apartment
Ray blinked and moved aside as Celle stomped in slowly, her shoulders are slumped and her eyes are dull. In her hands, there're bags after bags of stuff. Walking in a few steps, she exhaled loudly and dropped everything onto the ground near the door. Ray closed the door slowly, not averting his eyes from her. Then, an amused smile appeared on his face.
"Did you have fun?" Ray asked teasingly and went into the kitchen to pour her some of that hot tea that he had just prepared.
"Oh please! Do you see the joy and excitement on my face?" Celle replied sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.
"At least you got all this stuff! Don't tell me Kai made you carry everything by yourself for the whole day." Ray chuckled and set a cup of tea in front of her. He remembers Kai was brought up with better manners than that.
"No, not that. He carried them, until the time when he received an urgent phone call from his secretary and he nearly flew back to his casino without even bothering with me." Celle sighed and curled her hands around the cup, her lips curved into a bitter smile.
"He's a workaholic, don't mind him." Ray said lightly and took a sip of his tea as well.
None of them said anything; both of them just sat and drank their tea in silence. The atmosphere is warm and comforting.
"This is nice." Celle finally said at length.
"What?" Ray raised his eyes to her.
"This. And Kai."
"What?"
"Well... this. You know, us being friends and are able to sit down and share a cup of tea together comfortably." She said, almost in a trance.
Ray looked at her and hid a sour smile behind his cup, she sees him as a friend. He still sees her as...
"It's really nice. I really wish that I could share this with the others as well." Speaking of them, her eyes dimmed a little. Even though after her concert, they've been really nice to her, but she still feels that distance between them. She knows that she shouldn't push them, after all, everyone needs time to fully open up to someone else. It's just that...
It's just that when she would stop and look at the group of them. They seem so close to each other, joking and laughing always. Even Kai cracks a smile here and there when around these friends of his. She knows that they're trying to be nice to her, to accept her, but she hates it when there's a distance.
"Give them time. They're all slowly opening up to you. Especially Aeris, after your concert, she couldn't stop talking about how talented you are." Ray said with a smile, Aeris's expression was pure excitement and amazement. He hasn't seen that face on her for a long time.
"Really?" Celle looked up at Ray surprised and earned a nod from him. She looked down and smiled thoughtfully. "That's... I thought she'd be the least willing to accept me."
Ray frowned a bit, knowing what she's getting at. After Aeris told him that she likes him, he has been trying not to be different around her. He can feel that Aeris is trying to act all normal and casual around him, but there's always a thin veil of difference. He has considered what she said very seriously, and is still thinking. Aeris is someone that he trusts with his heart, and is someone that he wants to protect with all his might. However, is this love?
"Though, no matter what you say, I know Malarin still does not accept me. Was she like this to Celestia as well?" Celle asked seriously. She wants to know if it's just her, or if it's this face of hers.
Ray looked at her and concentrated on the past. He does not communicate with Malarin much, in fact, none of them really do. It's only Kenny that contacts her most often. And in the past, there's no sign of any conflict between Malarin and Celestia. In fact, Malarin took care of Celestia very well. She treated Celestia like a little sister, so there shouldn't be any conflict.
"Celle, don't worry about Malarin, I think it's just in her nature." Ray paused and then went on carefully. "Malarin's older than all of us and I think she has this feeling inside that she needs to protect us from everything that's bad. She doesn't like mysteries, she likes to solve everything and have everything clear in front of her. She's very realistic and with your resemblance to Celestia, she's just trying to find a more reasonable explanation for it."
Celle looked down and tasted his words, he might be right. Malarin might just be a more up-tight person than she thought she was. Anyways, it doesn't matter; no one in this world can have everyone like them. "It's okay. I'm just happy that Kai's making the effort to like me."
Thinking back on the shopping trip, she smiled to herself. She could tell that he was forcing himself to be nice to her for the entire day, and that it wasn't done willingly. However, she still thanks for him at least trying. It makes her feel much better, much more appreciated. It gives the hope that maybe her persistence is paying off, and that it's not going to waste.
Looking up at the silent Ray, who is just drinking his tea and looking curiously at the bags she carried in with her. Her smile deepened. Ray's a wonderful friend, but is also a man easy to fall in love with.
She knows he loves Celestia and often gazes at her face and zones out quite often. She can understand, she can relate to it. Perhaps the other thing Celestia and she had in common is the fact that they're both extremely luck to have Ray as a friend.
Club
"So, what made you call us here?" Jamice asked the moment she sat down, her eyes burning with curiosity.
"Let me ask you a question first." Malarin smiled and ignored her question. She looked around at everyone's faces... everyone that's here anyways. "What do you think of a very detailed, yet vague life description?"
"What?" Jamice, Max and Aeris asked together.
Kenny looked at Malarin but didn't say anything. Lianna put down her glass of drink and looked up at her. "Most likely it's fake."
"Exactly." Malarin moved her eyes onto Lianna quickly. It's a good thing that at least someone's easier to talk to. "Fake or someone had written it for fun..."
"Or for blinding purposes." Lianna finished her sentence; she understands where Malarin's going now.
"Wait. Back up. Rewind. Mind filling us in?" Aeris raised her hand quickly, objecting to this confusing conversation.
"When I was researching, I looked through Celle's biography mostly. And every single website had the same thing, same exact wording even. So I thought they must have copy and pasted off each other, so her official website's got to have more information. And when I looked on the official website, it was the same thing over again." Malarin paused and leaned forward a bit.
"And what's even stranger is the fact that no one seems to know her birthday, all we know is that she's 22 this year. Don't you find that peculiar?"
"True... how can you not know her birthday when she's so famous?" Max said thoughtfully.
"Wait, aren't official sites usually made under the supervision of the celebrity themselves?" Kenny inquired and sat up. "Then could that mean... Celle doesn't even know her birthday?"
Everyone's eyes widened at that and frowned at that possibility, Malarin smiled and looked at Kenny. "That's exactly what's going through my mind."
"But... couldn't it be that she just doesn't want to give out that information?" Jamice questioned slowly.
"It could be. However... if she can write embarrassing tales about her childhood and share it publicly, then what's wrong with sharing her birthday?" Malarin countered and looked around the room again. "And let me ask you another question."
Everyone's eyes were on her again.
"Can you tell me at least one embarrassing story from every year you've lived? Obviously, discounting when you were a baby."
Everyone frowned yet again at that question, everyone is deep in thought. Lianna looked at the table intently. "That's impossible. I can remember a bunch, but definitely not from every year. I doubt even my parents can remember something in such detail."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and Malarin's smile deepened.
"Exactly. However, she's able to remember the year and the embarrassing tales. And she can even remember more than one for some years and remember the exact date and approximate time for it. Now, isn't that a good memory?" She ended with a light laugh.
That sent the entire room into silence, every one of them having the same question on their mind. Malarin looked at her quiet friends and put down her glass of drink as well, she then sat up straight and looked around before speaking out the question on everyone's mind.
"So then, who wrote this detailed life story of hers?"
TBC...
Thanks for reading, and please R&R.