Chapter 3: Welcome to the Majestics
"Good!" I said, I was so happy I had gotten onto a Blading team. We could go to nationals, and even the world championships, and maybe win.
"Wait." Said Johnny; "You may be able to beat one of us, but what about training? Nothing's going to be the same with a girl around here."
"Like?" Oliver asked.
"Where is she going to sleep, what's she going to wear, she can't stay in that dress every day. What about our bathroom schedule, what if she's in there and one of us walks in? We can't have our teammates getting distracted anyway." I saw him flick Enrique's head with his finger, "Especially you, and not to mention, the Tournament's in TWO DAYS!"
"You don't have to worry," I said, "I'll go out later today and buy some clothes for myself. I'll sleep in the room I did last night, and I'll just add my name to the bath schedule. If any of you come in, you'll know never to come in again."
I saw Johnny shiver a little.
"Anyway," Oliver said, "what now?"
"Well," Robert said, "I suppose we need to know a little more about her since she's on our team, all we know is that she's a good blader with a wolf Bitbeast."
"His name's Orelin," I said, "and call me Ayia, not 'her'."
"Okay," Robert said, "just so we know you're not uncouth, what did you do before you came here?"
I suddenly froze. What if I told them I was a poor street urchin? They wouldn't want me on the team. They were all almost perfect, rich, and a Johnny and Robert were full of hot air. I looked over at Oliver, who had a small book with a drawing on the page. I suddenly snapped into an idea.
"I'm an—Artist." I said.
"Oh really?" Oliver said, perking his head up, "What happened to you anyway, you looked pretty beaten up when you came here?"
"Well the battle for Enrique's was tough." I said.
"Why don't you have any money with you?" Johnny asked.
"Because." I started, I'd have to continue my story to make it believable, "My Credit Card was stolen and my bank account was drained dry and I haven't had the money to put a picture on the market since."
"That's terrible!" Enrique said.
"Anyway," I said, "I get my inspiration by----living the life of simpler people. It makes me see the world in a different angle."
"That's very interesting." Oliver said.
"Well," I said, "I like to be original."
"That's good." He said, "anyway, I suppose we can just hang around the base until dinner and then we'll eat and then go to bed."
"That sounds good to me." I said as I grabbed Orelin and my launcher, "anyone want to train?"
"Sure." Enrique said as he grabbed his blade and launcher.
"Enrique, training, now I've seen everything!" Johnny said, "Maybe it is a good thing that she's here, she'll make him get off his butt and work."
"Come on." I said as I tugged Enrique by the collar down the hallway.
We walked into the Training Room.
"Let's battle." I said, "I doubt you could stand up to Orelin since it only took me one attack to defeat your Bitbeast when I battled it before."
"But it wasn't in my control." Enrique said as he held up his launcher. "Let's go!"
"Fine by me." I said, "3,2,1, Let It Rip!"
We launched our blades into the dish. The both spun around the dish, and then suddenly veered towards each other and clashed together, sending sparks everywhere. They were both pushed back by the clash and started to go at it again.
"Orelin!" I yelled as my blade clashed into Enrique's again, sending it sailing to the very edge of the dish. The blade luckily recovered and came back into the dish.
"Good thing that came into the dish," I said, a little confident, "I wanted a challenge."
"We'll show you, Amphilyon!" He yelled as the monstrous Bitbeast came out of its blade and glided around the field, "Attack!"
"Orelin!" I yelled as my Bitbeast came out of my blade.
Orelin was hit by the huge beast and knocked back to the edge of the dish.
"Come on Orelin!" I yelled as my blade recovered and fell back into the dish again.
I stared at Amphilyon trying to think of a plan. Wait, it has two heads, if they attack each other, he'll destroy himself.
"Orelin, stand still!" I yelled as Orelin stopped right between the two beast's heads.
"Well if you're going to just stand there, I'll take the advantage! Amphilyon attack!" He yelled as both of the heads closed in on Orelin.
"Now!" I yelled as Orelin jumped into the air, causing the two heads to become entangled and snare at each other.
"What's going on?" Enrique said.
"They're attacking each other." I said, "they have such a temper, they'll attack they're target without stopping, but now that Orelin moved, their target is one another."
"Amphilyon!" Enrique yelled as the beast tried to untangle itself. Suddenly, it started to thrash back and forth, veering out of control.
"It's loosing control!" I yelled as the two heads, turned around towards Enrique and started to charge.
"No!" I yelled as I ran across the dish. I had to push him out of the way. I ran full force at him and pushed him over to the side as the heads just passed the place where we were. I got up and had to take action.
"Orelin, ancient blast!" I yelled as Orelin opened his mouth and a large beam exploded from its mouth and hit Amphilyon, engulfing the stadium in light.
"Get down, quick!" I said as I pushed Enrique down again, "This is going to be huge!"
"As soon as I get up," he joked, "you push me back down."
The light cleared as both Blades landed next to us.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He said, "that was some attack!"
"Don't underestimate me because I'm a girl." I said.
"I didn't." He said, "you know how to battle and I honor that."
"Really," I said, "You're not like the others."
"Others?" He asked.
"Most people," I said, "they underestimate girls and take them for advantage, or all they do is fall in love a first sight."
"And what may I ask is wrong with that?" He asked.
"Because," I said with a laugh, "not everyone's what they are at first sight."
"Yeah, well," Enrique said, "what about you?"
"What?" I asked.
"You're the first exception." He said as I stared into his eyes again.
"Enrique," I said.
"What?" He asked.
"I-" I started. I wasn't able to finish. We just stayed there, staring at each other. I was feeling 'it' again. That was the only thing I could refer to it as, "I'm not really sure."
"That's okay." He said, "all of us loose our train of thought sometimes."
I suddenly closed my eyes, hoping that when I opened them, we would be back in the battle and none of this ever happened, he could have been hurt, but I opened them and he was still there. But I still felt something, and it was starting to take over. I laced my hand through his hair again and tugged at his ear a bit.
"You know that's called an ear." He said, "you've got a two for one deal too."
I laughed a bit; "I know that." I said, "It's just, yours looked kinda fun to pull."
"Yeah, well what about your ears?" He asked as he pulled my own ear. I felt a tingle surge through me.
"Alright, alright!" I said as he let go, "I'm really ticklish."
"Oh, really?" He asked.
"Why—oh no." I said as his fingers rubbed up and down my ribcage, "Ahhh, stop, stop!"
I twisted and turned trying to wriggle the fingers off my stomach. He finally let go leaving me gasping for air while I was laughing. I sat up.
"Okay, okay." I said, "stop before you make my stomach explode."
"Okay." He said as he sat up. I saw his eyes spark with an idea, "I almost forgot, come on!"
He grabbed my hand and pulled me up. He started dragging me towards a small door.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked.
"You'll see." He said as we stopped at the door. He opened the door. In the small room in front of us was a dark red color with four glass cases in each corner of the room and one in the center. They each had a set of armor in them. One was golden and red, one was dark blue and light blue, one was pink and green with a small horn in the center of the head piece, one was red and black, and the case in the middle was white and blue. It had a wolf in the center and the helmet was the shape of a wolf head and showed the bottom of the head, and there were two wolf paw prints around the head in the center of the chest plate. It also had a long metal tail that was connected to the leg armor; the tail itself stretched to the floor, along with a striped scarf that trailed around the neck.
"What is it?" I asked, staring at it in awe.
"It's your armor." He said, "every member has one, the red one's mine, the pink and green one's Oliver's, the red and black one's Johnny's, and the blue one's Robert's."
"So this one's mine?" I asked.
"Yeah, you should try it on." He said, "go ahead."
I slowly opened the case and took out the suit of armor. I slid on the chest piece and the leg and arm armor, putting weight on my body. I wrapped the scarf around my neck and finally rested the helmet on my head. I felt like I weighed an extra ten or twenty pounds even though the armor fit me tightly.
"I feel like a tin can." I said, trying to walk.
"But a very pretty tin can." Enrique said as he laughed, "if you could walk that is."
"Oh yeah?" I said, "I can walk just fine, see?"
I moved my foot, but lost my balance and fell over.
"Yeah, really fine." He said as he helped me up, "You should practice with it, it'll get lighter, and I could see if Robert or Oliver could make it a little lighter."
"You may want to make that a priority." I said as I tried to move, but fell over again.
"Yeah, I may." He said as he helped me up again.
"I'm taking this thing off." I said as I took off the armor and placed it back in the case, "that's better. Let's go, the others are probably waiting for us."
Suddenly, I felt him grab my hand and spin me back around on my heel so I faced him.
"Wait," He said, "I almost forgot, you'll need a new launcher too."
"Why?" I asked, "what's wrong with the one I have?"
"Nothing." He said, "It's just your blade could probably use some extra spin. The launcher's in the bottom part of the case."
I stooped down to see two long doors at the bottom of the glass case. I opened them to see a long staff that when it was stood upright, it reached my shoulders. It was a mixture of blue and white, with a large glass orb on the top. Right below the orb was a spot for my blade and ripcord. I stared at the orb again. It looked familiar. It was a mixture of different blues that seemed to move and come alive in the orb. I now realized that it looked like my necklace that I received Orelin from.
I pulled on the silver chain of my necklace until I saw the small gem. It resembled the orb exactly. Suddenly, the memories of Moscow flooded my mind. I remembered the pain I had been put through to be on that team. I didn't want that life anymore, but something still called me to be the ruthless blader I used to be. I shook my head.
"You okay?" He asked.
I snapped back to reality, "Yeah!" I said cheerfully, "I'm fine."
"Okay," He said, "Want to try your launcher out?"
"Uh, sure!" I said, removing the launcher. I looked for a place to put the ripcord.
"You don't need a ripcord." Enrique said, "just give it a swipe, and the blade will fly out by force."
I put Orelin in the slot under the orb. I put my other launcher in a small pocket in the side of my dress, and I walked out of the small room and next to the dish.
"Let it rip!" I yelled as I fired the blade. Orelin flew into the dish and buzzed around the outside five or six times before coming to its normal speed and settling its normal spot in the center of the dish, "Wow, this really puts an extra zip in my spin!"
"I thought it would." Enrique said as he watched the blade start to zigzag in evasive maneuvers around the dish.
"What's the use of that armor anyway?" I asked.
"Well, mine's from my family, passed down from generation to generation." Enrique said, "And the others are so they can control their Bitbeasts better.
"Why would you need armor?" I asked, "all you need is heart and a good bond between you and your Bitbeast."
"What?" Enrique asked.
"You and your Bitbeast share a bond." I said, "Some people just think that Bitbeasts are meant for fighting and winning battles, but they're there because they chose you for a reason. Sometimes it is said that a Bitbeast resembles its blader, not in looks, but personality too, like Orelin and I; we don't look precisely alike, but we do act alike, we always fight to the death and never give up."
"What about Amphilyon and me?" Enrique asked.
"Well you don't exactly have any scales," I said with a laugh, "but you both have a bit of a temper, and you're both very powerful. But you do give up a little too easily, you try to end everything in one move and use all your energy at the beginning of something. Try to spread your strength out a little more, that way everything will be just as powerful, but twice the amount of time."
"Wow." He said, "you're a whole team rolled into one person! You're a strategist, blader, and a supporter all in one!"
"Well." I said, "I've bladed by myself mostly all of my life, so I've had to learn to do everything myself."
"When did you ever blade with anyone else?" He asked.
"In Russia." I said, "I belonged to a team that stole Bitbeasts and used them as science experiments, but when I found out why, and I ran from the organization and lived here ever since I was about thirteen."
"You've been in Paris longer than I have." He said, "I used to live in Italy. But then we needed to train together to win the finals, so we built this base."
"I wonder how you all get along." I said.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Well you're all champions of Europe," I said, "and it must get to your head sometimes, so, sometimes you may rely on yourself too much. But, you don't get anywhere without teammates who always get your back and help you out."
"That's why we built the base." He said, "after our defeat from the Blade Breakers, we realized that we need to be a real team and start working together."
"I can't wait until the finals." I said as Orelin flew back into my hand, "the competition will be fierce, you sure you can handle it?"
"I should be asking you the same question." Enrique said, "you may be able to beat me, but the Blade Breakers are a force to be reckoned with."
"Oh yeah?" I said, "Who exactly are these Blade Breakers? The only one I've ever heard of is Tyson, and the only thing bigger than his skills is his appetite!"
"That may be true." Enrique said, "but his skills are way up there on the charts."
"Well just trust me." I said, setting my hand on his shoulder, "You need to have a little more faith in your teammates."
"Well who says I don't?" He asked.
"I don't mean it that way." I said, "You see, I used to only believe that once a blader stepped inside a dish, the only thing he, or she, could believe in was him, or her, self. But, after I was put on a team, I was taught wisdom by a young blader who helped me to learn that you may not like being on a team, but teamwork is something we all have to learn and come to ends with."
"He must have been a wise blader." He said.
"Yeah," I said. I suddenly thought about whether I should tell him if I could remember him or not. "The sad thing is, I can't remember him, I mean his name, or any of my team member's names, but they were all boys."
"Oh." He said, "do you remember what he looked like?"
"I only remember the color red and blue." I said, trying to piece my memories together, my lie was fading, and it was starting to break down. "And then the color black, and being extremely cold."
"Why is it so hard to remember?" He asked.
"It's not that I can't remember." I said with sadness, "It's that I don't want to remember."
I started to remember the pain again. The undying pain Orelin and I had been through, the things I had done, the people I had betrayed, the friends I had lost.
Small tears slid from my eyes as I turned around ashamed, not wanting to have him notice my tears.
"What's wrong?" He asked as his hand was put on my shoulder, "Are you okay?"
"I don't want to talk about it." I said.
"You know," He said, "I'm your teammate, you can tell me anything, and it'll be between us."
I turned to face him, tears still sliding down my face. I closed my eyes; last time I had cried, I was punished for it, this time may be no different. I tensed my muscles, expecting to feel the hard hit that was to come. But instead I felt a soft touch. I opened my eyes to see his hand on my face wiping the tears off my face. Comfort? But why would he comfort me?
"Why are you comforting me?" I asked.
"What kind of question is that?" He asked, "You're crying."
"So?" I asked.
"It's normal to comfort someone." He said, "last time I checked."
I felt myself breaking down slowly. I couldn't help it, all the pain. I felt it now more than ever. I lowered my head onto his shoulder and just cried, harder than I ever had before. I felt my tears drench his shoulders and I raised my head.
"I'm sorry," I said, "it's just that--"
"What?" He said, "It's alright, you don't have to worry, you're on our team, and we'll take care of you, don't worry."
"But--" I started to say; they had no idea what my teammates or my life was like before. I could only remember the pain, what if they came back for me? "What if--"
His hand slid under and lightly cupped my chin. He tilted my head upward as I stared up into his eyes. They had turned a soft, caring look, telling me he wouldn't break a promise.
"There will be no 'what if'." He said
I wanted to object. I wanted to speak, but I couldn't talk, or was it that I didn't want to talk? This moment, it was unlike anything I had ever felt before. I had only felt it once before, but I thought I would never feel it again. I finally put words into my mouth.
"Enrique," I started, "I--"
His finger slid down the front of my chin. "You don't need to say anything."
He said.
I suddenly felt uneasy. The time I had felt like this before I had felt exactly the same. Was this genuine, or just another feeling? But, I still remembered him; the one I had felt this with before. A part of my heart still called out for him, in hopes of what we had before, but it would never be what it once was. He had probably forgotten about me and escaped too, probably on another team, and maybe even at the tournament. I just closed my eyes, lied my head on his shoulder, and just searched my mind. I felt his hand rub up and down my back, easing my pain. I remembered that blader, the one that stole Amphilyon, and his eyes, they filled my mind with memory, but what did all of it mean? I needed to find out; I searched my mind again. I started with the article. The newspaper said that the only evidence the police could find was…. A Beyblade left at the scene.
"Hey Enrique," I said, "what did the blade that was left here look like?"
"What?" He asked.
"The person who stole Amphilyon." I said.
"Oh," He said, "I have it in a small plastic bag because the police wanted to check it for evidence. The Bitchip's not in it though."
"That's okay." I said, "Could I still see it?"
"Sure." He said as his hand dug into his pocket. He took the blade out of the bag and handed it to me, "here you go."
I gasped when I felt the blade in my hand. It had a reminiscence of a cold touch, as though something had caused the cold to almost fade away. It was a light blue-silver-like color with four wolf heads on each side. The wolves had red hoods and bright yellow eyes. I looked around the outside to see small traces of ice that melted in my hands. The small droplets of memory ran down my hand and fell to the floor.
I looked at where the Bitchip was supposed to be. It seemed as to have been taken out either for a fast escape…or for another use. Could it be?
"Come on." Enrique said, "The others may be waiting for us."
"Okay." I said, tearing my thoughts away from the blader and its owner. 'Coincidence.' I thought to myself, "not probable, but possible.'
I put Orelin into my pocket and put the launcher into its case and attached Orelin to the old launcher.
We walked back to the main room to see Oliver walking around the room. Enrique turned to me.
"I'll be with the other guys," He said, "good with you?"
"Yeah," I said with a laugh, "you don't have to ask me."
"Okay," He said as he walked down the next hall, "Seya!"
"Bye." I said. I turned around to come face to face with Oliver, "hello."
"Hi." Oliver said, "I wondered; if you're an artist, can I see your pictures?"
"Sure." I said, "did you put my Sketchbook anywhere?"
"Yeah." Oliver said, "It's right here."
He held out my Sketchbook and handed it to me, "I didn't look at it," He said, "I just kept it safe."
"Thanks." I said as I opened it to the first drawing, which was a picture of Orelin coming out of its blade. I thought it was a good picture, but Oliver insisted better.
"It's amazing!" He said as I turned red, "I've never seen anything like it!"
"Oliver?" I asked, "I wondered if you could do something for me?"
"What's that?" He relied
"Could you----" I started, "Teach me how to paint?"
"Sure!" Oliver said, "I'd love to; just meet me tomorrow after dinner here and I'll help you out!"
"Okay." I said, "that'd be great!"
"But," He said, "you have do something for me."
"What's that?" I asked.
"After I teach you how to paint," He said; "would you mind to paint me a picture of Unicolyon for me?"
"Sure!" I said, surprised that someone wanted some of my art.
"And," he said, "Would you not mind if you went on a---um---"
"What?" I asked.
"A date?" He said, "with me?"
"Oh well---I" I started. I looked at his pleading face. I almost laughed at it. I thought about Enrique though. But, did I love him, or not? I wasn't sure, but what could hurt a date between teammates? Besides, I needed to know a bit about everyone if I was going to fit in here.
"As teammates." I said, "but nothing more."
"Okay." He said, "that's fine with me!"
"Where at?" I asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know," He said with a smile, "It'll be a surprise."
I raised my eyebrows a bit, "Alright," I said, "I'll buy it."
"Okay!" He said.
I suddenly remembered my errands for the day, "Oh man!" I said, "I forgot to get some supplies for myself! I've gotta go!"
"Well here." Oliver said as he handed me a small card, "It's our team's credit card, and use it on whatever you want, money is not a factor here."
"Oh, okay." I said as I started to walk towards the front door, "thanks Oliver!"
"You're welcome!" He yelled as I walked out. I walked down the hill leading to the base. I walked into the main part of Paris and into the alleyway of stores I had only pressed my face against before, back when I wanted those things. I soon learned I couldn't have them, and needed to focus on the things it took to survive, I couldn't have nice things, only things needed to live.
I walked into a small store. From every side of the store were racks of clothes from t-shirts, to sweatshirts, to even swimsuits, even though it was December. I flipped through the racks. Mostly all the clothes were fancy and there were some dresses, but some things I liked. I picked out some shirts, pants, scarves, all enough too fill at least five or six bags, and paid for them at the counter. I walked out and into the store next to it. I was actually having fun at what I believed was the most boring and useless thing in the world.
The next store was filled with different things from what seemed like every country. I picked out a small hairpiece made of what looked like chopsticks that went through a small piece with a blue flower on it. I walked near the back, looking for nothing in particular, when I saw the most beautiful outfit I had ever seen. It was a body suit with a tight white top lined with red and red bracers that looped around the arms. The second part was almost like a gown that flowed out from the top and traced down in large ripples that was lined with blue. It went through the dark blue belt that hung around the hips and flowed almost to the ankles. The pants were dark blue and baggy and cut off right before a pair of dark blue Chinese-like shoes. It also included a pair of dark blue gloves that stretched to the elbows. I had to buy it. I didn't know why, but it looked almost perfect.
I took it off the wall and bought it at the register.
"Can I change into this in the Changing Room?" I asked.
"Sure." The woman at the register said.
I walked to the back room and changed into the new outfit, the dress was starting to get a little too tight for me anyway. I felt better when I put on the flowing gown and baggy pants. I put Orelin and my launcher in my new pocket and I pulled up my hair into a high ponytail and held it together with my new hairpiece.
I walked out of the back and out to the front of the store.
"Than looks really good on you." The cashier said, "we couldn't find anyone to wear it, because it wouldn't fit in someplace like the hip or legs, but you fit it perfectly."
"Thanks." I said as I walked out of the store.
I walked through the street with the bags and boxes piled up to my head to where I couldn't see. I walked around a bit aimlessly until I hit something, hard.
I flew backwards as the boxes went flying, opening, and causing clothes to fly everywhere and scatter around the small sidewalk.
I sat up, looking to find what I had bumped into. I looked to see a boy my age. I rubbed my eyes for a minute, thinking I almost saw Enrique. I looked again to see it wasn't him, but there was a bit of resemblance. He looked to be an American, and it showed well. His bright blonde hair stuck out in different angles. His face was thin, but had a bit of a wide wedge to it. His nose and most of his cheeks were covered in freckles and he had huge bright green eyes that stared back widely. He had a big smile on his face too. He was wearing long red pants with a red sweatshirt tied around his hips along with a loose black belt. He had a yellow T-shirt on with green sleeves with orange tips. The shirt also had a red 'M' printed on the right side. He also had green gloves on that showed his index, thumb, and pointer finger. I also spied a small black pocket attached to the belt around his hips; he was a blader.
"Hi." I said, I felt like I had seen him somewhere before, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
"Hi!" He said in a cheerful voice, holding his hand out, "I'm Max."
Max…Max Tate, one of the Blade Breakers! He was Tyson's best friend and I had seen him battle a few times. They must be here!
"Max Tate?" I said, shaking his hand, "you're a Blade Breaker, Aren't you?"
"Yup." He said, "that's me; who are you anyway?"
"I'm Ariana!" I said happily, finally being able to meet one of them, " But just call me Ayia. Anyway, do you have your blade with you?"
"You mean Draciel?" He asked, "Yeah!"
He pulled the green blade and launcher out of the small pocket and handed it to me.
I looked it over. It had four pieces sticking out that said 'Max' on them in white. The Bitchip had the picture of the ancient turtle, Draciel. It was huge and black with purple armor.
"Wow!" I said, staring at Draciel, "so you're the master of defense!"
"Well," Max said, rubbing the back of his head, "Not the master."
"Yes." I said, "and I'd be honored to battle you."
"Sure thing!" He said with a big smile, "There's a dish at the hotel my team's staying at, we can battle, and the others are probably there too."
"That'd be great!" I said. It would be better if I knew them all and their strategies.
We walked a little through town and I looked at the scenery. Paris looked a lot better when you had nice clothes on and money in your pocket. I looked at they sky to see that it was gray-tinted and covered with a blanket of clouds. Rain might come.
"Have you ever been to Paris before?" I asked him.
"Once." He said, "but that was for the European Championship."
"Oh." I said, "I've lived here for about three years."
"I already know you blade," He said, "But, do you have a Bitbeast?"
"Yes." I said, holding up Orelin, "this is my partner, Orelin."
"Wow!" Max said, "He looks really powerful, I bet Tyson, and maybe even Kai would want to battle you!"
I froze in my tracks.
