Chapter 4-----A rude awakening
Mai heard voices. They were so irritating that they woke her up from her slumber…
Hilary: "Tyson, stop changing the channels! Can't you just pick one already!"
Tyson: "I can't help it if they're all boring… Hey! Give that back.-remote gets snatched away by Hilary-"
Max: "Will you two stop fighting? You're gonna wake her up,"
Mai: "Will you guys just shut up! -tries to prop herself up on her elbows- Can't a girl get some sleep around here?"
Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and just stared at her.The girl had deep blue eyes, her blackish-brown hair framed her oval-shaped face nicely and she was slightly tanned. But the most distinctive feature was her eyes. They held a lot of emotion in them, so much so that you could easily get lost in them. You could feel them penetrating through your soul if she stared at you. 'Such beautiful eyes,' they thought. 'Why're they all staring at me like that…idiots.' Just then, a lady wearing a white coat walked into the room.
"Ahh, I see you're awake now. You've been asleep for three whole days, I was beginning to get worried," the woman smiled.
"Three days!"
"Yeah, you came in badly bruised and your blood pressure was really low. How'd you get so badly injured?" The woman asked, while recording some readings on a clipboard.
Mai hesitated… 'Crap, what am I gonna say…'
"Uhh…I…I fell down a hill…" Mai forced a weak smile. 'She's not going to believe me…' The doctor raised an eyebrow but didn't press on the issue.
"Thanks for taking care of me…"
"Aahahah, you should be thanking these guys instead. They're the ones who found you. Your condition was so serious, you could've died."
'Died huh… Why didn't they just let me? At least I'll be with mom and dad…' Mai turned to look at the group of people in the room then took a deep breath and said "Thanks."
A blonde kid smiled. "No prob! Oh yeah, when can she check out of the ward Doc?"
"Her condition is fine now, guess all she needed was a little rest. She should be able to go home by tomorrow." The doctor smiled and left the room.
Mai slumped back into her pillow -her back's kinda lying against the pillow- She knew what was going to happen next and she wasn't going to like it…
A raven-haired kid spoke up. "So, what's your name?"
'Should I lie? Can I really trust these people? Heck, they saved my life, least I could do is tell them my name right?'
"Mai, Takuya Mai."
"My name's Rei, the blonde guy is Max -gave a little wave-, that's Hilary -said hi-, the guy leaning over there is Kai -grunted-, kid on the laptop is Kenny and Mr Loud-mouth here is Tyson," Rei pointed at a kid who had pizza stuffed in his mouth. 'Ugh…'
"Hey, ish nuh ay fauht! Ish Hiruhree" (translation: Hey, its not my fault, its hilary)
"Your parents must be worried, you should give them a call to tell them you're ok." Hilary handed you a mobile phone.
"There's no need, they know I'm ok…" Mai replied in a monotone. "O-kay…" Hilary kept her mobile, feeling slightly dumb that her efforts were in vain.
Then Mai remembered her blade. "My clothes! Where are they?" She sat up, only to wince in pain. She hadn't fully recovered yet.
"Relax, they're here." Max handed Mai her clothes. She rummaged through the pockets searching for her blade. 'Where is it…where is it?' She sighed with relief as she felt a bulge in the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her blade. Yup, her blade was beautiful as ever.
"Woah, is that a beyblade? I haven't seen one so sparkly before!" Max's eyes widened at the sight of Mai's blade. "Hey maybe we can battle after you've recovered."
"Uh…yeah, sure." Max gleamed. "Sweet!"
"Hey guys, check this out" Kenny looked up from his laptop. "What's up Chief?" Tyson questioned.
"It says here that archaeologists have found an ancient civilisation hidden under the rocky mountains of GuangZhou, China. They've discovered a huge boulder with inscriptions warning about the Ultimate destruction. Apparently, it has something to do with bit-beasts. The rest of the inscriptions are unknown. A report has it that there is only one existing tribe that still practices the language. However, the tribe had been wiped out by a huge fire just a few days ago. Investigators are looking into the matter and finding out if there are any survivors. You know what this means guys?"
"What, Kenny?" Tyson said, scratching his head.
"It means that there is a possibility that the Ultimate bit-beast exists within those ruins!"
Mai wasn't really paying attention to Kenny but when she heard him say something about a fire wiping out a tribe, her head shot up. "Hey, can you repeat that again?"
"Repeat what?" Kenny titled his head.
"The part about a tribe getting…Oh just pass me the damn laptop."
Dizzi: "Hey, I'm not damned! This girl's got some nerve…"
"Excuse Mai's impoliteness, Dizzi…She's umm…lost a lot of blood recently…"
Mai's finger tapped impatiently on the laptop, scrolling down to read the report. Could this talk about an Ultimate bit-beast be the reason why her Grandfather had wiped out her tribe? But why...? And why was he after her? 'Am I somehow linked to this bit-beast?' Questions raced in Mai's head. She needed answers but who else knew about this except her tribe members? She couldn't seek answers from her Grandfather… Was there anyone else?
"It's there something wrong Mai? You look worried." Rei asked.
"No, it's nothing…I'm fine. Hey Kenny, is there any website that shows a picture of this boulder?"
"I think so. Lemme check." Kenny took the laptop from Mai and began searching.
"You seem really interested about the discovery. Do you happen to know something about it?" Tyson eyedMai suspiciously.
"I'm just curious…" 'Yeah, more than you'll ever imagine' Mai replied in her most innocent voice.
"Found it! You can even see the inscriptions on it" Kenny handed the laptop over to Mai, everyone else gathered around to sneak a peek at the rock. Mai studied the inscriptions on the rock.
Here lies the beast asleepling,
Cautious souls will heed this warning:
Dare disturb its peaceful slumber,
Thy will regret what lies beyond yonder
It is good when good does yield it,
But it destroys when evil unseals it
Two souls will decide its fate,
The power to destroy or to create
The legend has been told,
Through the generations of old
Turn away for humanities sake,
Or thy life will be forever at stake
"Some of the symbols look like variations from the Chinese language but I can't make out the rest," Rei said disappointedly.
'This must be some great power…'Mai pondered on the warnings. 'If it is then I need to find out how I'm connected with it…I need to get ou------- -da-dumb da-dump-' Mai winced as her head throbbed.
"No, not again…"
"What's wrong Mai?" Max asked with a worried look on his face.
"It hurts….my head hurts…"
premonition-
The scientists panicked…They couldn't control you…The tank burst sending broken glass piercing through the air…
I watched from a corner... "Seal it! Quick!" was what the voices were saying. I couldn't understand but I knew you were in trouble…Then you looked at me…why did you choose me?
End of premonition-
"No, get outta my head!" Mai shook her head, trying to erase the images in her mind. Then all of a sudden, the pain stopped.
"Max, quick! Call Doctor Klein!"
Mai grabbed his hand before he could leave. "No! Don't call her…please. I'm fine…the pain's gone."
Mai released her grip as Max turned away from the door. "You sure you're alright?" Hilary received a small nod from Mai.
"What happened? You were screaming for something to get out of your head." Hilary asked. Everyone looked at Mai as if she had gone mad.
"… It's nothing" She hung her head. 'They must think I'm crazy…but I can't tell a bunch of strangers.'
"It's not nothing, I'm calling Doctor Klein." Hilary started to make her way to the door.
"No, don't!"
"Then tell us!"
"…" Mai hesitated. Hilary put her hand on the door handle. "Alright,alright! I'll tell you…" Mai blurted out. She had no other choice, she didn't want to be put in some asylum for mental people. "But you can't tell anyone else about it…"
"Spill."
All eyes and ears were on her. Mai took a deep breath and began…