Chapter 24
Jump
I woke up the next morning, my face sore and stained with tears. I turned over and saw Enrique sound asleep beside me.
"What would I do without you?" I asked the sleeping form.
"Who's to say?" I heard him say as he opened one eye.
"Who would want to say?" I said as I gave him a small kiss that he returned.
"As much as I'm enjoying this," he said with a smile, "we need to get ready for our flight."
"Yeah," I pouted, "Alright."
I got up and grabbed some new clothes. I walked into the bathroom and took a short shower and then got dressed in jeans and a green and brown shirt that had a tie around the middle and the word free printed on the front in light green. I dried my hair, tied it up into a bun walked out to see the rest of the team ready. I must admit, it got kind of annoying that I was the only girl on the team, and we had to get ready separately. Oh well, I still loved my team anyway, boys or girls.
"Ready to go?" Oliver asked.
"You bet!" I said, picking my Majestics jacket up off my bed and putting it on. We got all our bags and checked out of the hotel, "is everyone going to the airport on the same bus?"
"Yeah." Johnny said, "but it's just us and the Bladebreakers."
We walked out of the hotel and saw a large bus, the Bladebreakers already inside. I saw Maxy hanging out the window.
"Hey Ayia, sit by me!" He yelled.
"I will Max." I said with a smile. I loved little Maxy, he was a cutie and he was like the little brother I never had.
"Come one you guys!" I heard Rei say.
I ran onto the bus and flopped into the seat next to Maxy. We smiled at each other and jingled our bracelets together.
"Maxy!" I said.
"I'm so glad to see you, Ayia!" He said.
I wasn't sure whether to ask the question I wanted to.
"How's----your mom and the others?" I asked a little quietly.
"She's doing great!" Max said, "and so are the others. They got released today, and they're coming to the match!"
"Oh Maxy, that's awesome!" I said as he gave me a hug.
"I know, right?" He said, snuggling into my shirt, "I'm so happy Ayia, they could have really been hurt."
"Yeah." I said, my mind drifting off to the Demolition Boys and Tala. I remembered what Max had said about Tala when he had seen their Bitbeasts stolen:
"We were all in the square, and we were looking at shops." I remember Max saying, "My mom said she knew a shortcut to a near-by restaurant and the All-Stars started to follow her down the alley. I told her I would catch up in a minute and kept looking at a few things. I suddenly heard them all screaming and ran off to find them. I found them all with broken blades and hurt. I looked on and saw Tala with a smile on his face. Then I got angry. Really, really angry, and did something totally stupid. I charged for Tala by myself, not knowing that Motoki was at his right hand. He called out Motoki, who was the one that really did some damage to me and flung me against that wall."
Then what he said next, about Motoki, it scared me a bit:
"I had never seen something so terrifying. He was so black, with piercing red eyes that seemed to look right into my heart and introduce me to what true fear really was."
I gave a small shiver.
"Ayia," I heard Max's voice calling me out of my memory, "you alright?"
"Fine." I said with a smile.
"No one was that badly hurt." Max continued, "Michael's on crutches because his ankle was broken, Eddy's got a broken wrist, Emily's just bruised a bit, and Steve's ACL was torn. My mom was just fine, too. But there was one extremely startling injury."
"Wh-" I started, wishing I wouldn't have asked, "What?"
"Every one of them have suffered from a broken spirit." He said, "there's nothing worse that can happen to a blader than a stolen Bitbeast and a broken heart and spirit."
My eyes suddenly looked sullen.
"Yeah, there's nothing worse than a loss like that." I said.
Max seemed to understand, "I'm sorry, Ayia." He said, "I forgot about--"
"It's fine." I answered quickly. I didn't want to hear Matt's name again because he didn't know him or what happened, and I wasn't up to listen to it, even when it was Maxy.
"You're facing me tomorrow, aren't ya'?" He said excitedly.
"You know I am!" I said, feeling a little happier.
"I can't wait until we battle," He said, "it'll be the coolest battle ever!"
"I know," I said, "I can't wait, but I have an—errand to run today."
"Oh, what's that?" He asked.
"It's supposed to be a secret, but," I said, whispering in Maxy's ear, "I asked Kenny to make me a new blade for Lee."
"Really, that's so great!" He said.
"I can't wait until he sees it!" I said, I really couldn't wait until Lee saw it, he would hopefully be happy.
I forgot, Kenny!
"Kenny?" I said, looking frantically around the bus.
"Behind you." I heard a voice. I turned to see Kenny.
"Oh Kenny. There you are." I said. I hushed my voice, "is it ready?"
"Here," he said, handing me a purple and black blade, "just finished it last night.
I looked the blade over. It was a bit smaller than the original Galeon, but it was more formed. The claws that used to be on the edges of the attack ring were replaced. The entire top of the attack ring was shaped like the front of a lion's body, but was more circular to fit the shape. The top of the ring was the lion's face, which was roaring proudly. And the bottom was the lion's paws, claws extended. The slot for the Bit Chip was in the perfect spot, right on the lion's chest, where the heart would be. The Bit Chip was just a blank purple one. That, I wanted to change.
"Can I borrow something small, Kenny?" I asked, "something to write with?"
"Here," He said, handing me a white ink chisel that I started to use to carve around the outside of the Bit Chip three words:
Power
Faith
Spirit
I then carved a small message into the center:
To the One who Truly has the Heart of a Lion, Lee of the White Tigers
"There." I said, "Thank you so much Kenny!" I said with a big smile on my face.
"Sure thing." He said.
I gave him back the chisel and showed the blade to Maxy.
"How awesome!" Maxy said, "He'll love it!"
"I sure hope so." I said, one thing I was a little worried about was what if it reminds him of Galeon? I don't want to depress him anymore than he already was.
"Something wrong?" Max asked.
"I just don't want to depress him." I said, "I mean, seeing this blade could bring memories of Galeon back."
I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Ray.
"Oh, hey Ray." I said.
"You shouldn't worry, Lee will love it." He said, "blading is all that keeps him hanging on, and having this new blade will really help lift his spirits up, Bitbeast or no Bitbeast."
"I suppose you're right Ray." I said, "only time will tell."
"I'll take you there as soon as we check into the hotel in Beijing." Ray said, "Okay?"
"Sounds good to me." I said.
I put the purple blade into my pocket. "About how far out is the village?"
"Uh—it's a little far..." Ray said.
I didn't expect it to be THIS FAR.
Ray and I had now been hiking out in the wilderness for about five hours now. I'll admit, China was a beautiful place. Tall, lush, green trees surrounded us and birds chirped in the background, singing sweetly. It would have been perfect, except the fact that every time I took a step, the blisters on my bare feet would sting like crazy, and the beauty would be shattered, and the sweet singing would be cracked by my yips of pain. I didn't cry out that often, but when I did, everyone, and everything could hear me. How I lost my shoes...uh...
"Come on, Ayia, we're almost there." I remember Ray saying happily as we came to a large river.
"You said that three hours ago, Ray." I said.
"It's okay, I promise we'll be there, right after we cross----" he said pointing to the raging river, "that."
I gulped.
"Th-that!" I said.
"Sure, we can do it!" he said enthusiastically, a little too enthusiastically. I wasn't so sure when I looked at the pulsating water that could easily carry me under in it's harsh current.
"How do you expect us to cross?" I asked.
I saw him walk down to the edge of the river and pull back some reeds to reveal a small path of rocks, little rocks, leading across the river.
"By these." He said, gesturing to the rocks.
"You---" I started, "Can't be serious----"
"Sure I am!" Ray said, "I've done it before."
"That's you Ray," I said, "You've lived here for mostly all of your life, and me, I'm from Russia!"
"Aw..come on." Ray said, stepping onto one rock, "I'll help you."
He held out his hand.
I gulped, and took his hand as I got onto the first rock, trying to balance my feet evenly. I lightly stumbled, but Ray held on tight.
"It alright." he coaxed me, "don't worry about it, I'll make sure you stay above water--"
My foot touched the rushing water, and before I knew it, one brown sandal was torn off my foot and halfway down stream.
"For the most part." He said with a laugh.
"Sure." I said with a nervous smile. Only one thought was passing through my brain:
I'm gonna die.
But, we moved to the next rock, then the next. This wasn't going as bad as I thought it would, plus now I could breathe again.
This was reminding me of something. It reminded me of the things I had faced up until now. My past life in Moscow was so horrible, and so awful, I seemed to have no other choice but to turn and run away from it all. Then I met the Majestics, and at first, to admit it, I was afraid. Afraid of how my past would haunt me, and afraid to love, and when we got into the tournament, I felt like falling. But there was someone there to hold on tight:
Orelin, who had helped me move towards the light.
Enrique, the one who truly loved me.
Johnny, who taught me tag-teaming was possible.
Oliver, who showed grace, beauty, and teamwork like no one else.
Robert, who at first, didn't like me, but now had become a true leader in my eyes, and I looked up to him.
Kai, the one who helped me move on.
Max, my first and true friend.
Matt, who helped me start my journey towards the light.
Tala.
Tala.
Who taught me to never to give up on someone, no matter how far into darkness they were. Who first taught me what love was.
We were almost to the other side, and I breathed a sigh of relief, only to find that a second later it was caught in my throat. The trail of rocks had disappeared, just like my faith in myself had when I thought of Matt.
"Now just grab this branch," Ray said, pointing to a large branch of a ginkgo tree that had been toppled near us. The tree sloped lightly into the water and its branches lightly skimmed the surface, it's yellow flowers lightly decorating the top of the water that was eerily still for the moment, its beauty frozen in time. "And jump across to the other side."
Ray grabbed the branch, making more golden petals burst into flight and land on the top of the momentarily placid water. He seemed to catch his breath before taking a mighty leap across the gap, and landing gracefully on the other side. He turned back to me.
"Your turn." He said.
Then it hit me.
I was alone.
I looked down to see the water had begun to rapidly flow again. And I was standing here, on a small rock, alone, wearing only one sandal. I was on my own, just like I would be during the battle with Tala. Just like I have been during the battle with myself.
But, I had a team. I had friends, who could help me over whatever gap I needed to cross. But, during that battle, like now, I would only receive their words of wisdom, the rest was up to me, and only me. But I had to take some risks and win for Tala.
I breathed hard as I grabbed the branch, and more yellow petals alighted onto the water, but instead of meeting soft, stagnant water, they were torn under the surface of the wall of water, like I could be. Like the darkness that had tried to drag me and Matt under so long ago----like the darkness that was dragging Tala under now. I needed to jump, I needed to win, no matter what it took.
I bit my lip, and jumped.
