A/N: I'm in a major rush now, so I'll keep things short and simple. This chapter is a continuation of the previous one as you would notice it's written in the same style.
Special thanks to…princessmoi, Merffles, kay1fire, Calli Maxwell, RoseOfSharon28, faith,. brezzybrez, chibi Setsuna-chan, dark angel, baby angel, Sarah M.G, SapphireSword, Lady-Helena, Phoenix of the Northern Lights and WolfClaw56.
P.S: By the way, here's the bad news. This the second last chapter of this story (unless of course I find more inspiration to prolong it but I think I have drawn it out for too long already.) The good news is that there'll be sequel (provided I have sufficient reviews asking for it…)
Enjoy!
Chapter 46
Lightning flashed across the evening sky, a warning of a storm about to shower down on the city of Moscow. Many scurried to find shelter, a place to keep them, dry and safe from, not the rain but the lightning. Yes, it was mostly the lightning that was far more dangerous than Heaven's tears. Thunder soon followed after its countenance, a roar of the skies. Seconds later, pitter-patter drops fell from the grey skies, some turning to ice the moment it touched a cold surface.
Kai felt as though his heart was as cold and as heavy as the weather outside as he stood within the safekeeping of the hospital walls, just watching in silence. It weighed on him, slowly crushing him from within. Everything seemed so brink, pointless. Without meaning. He wanted to punch the wall, to vent out all his frustration and misery and even then he could not muster his energy to do so.
He was just so damn….tired.
A second flash of lightning lilted up the darkening skies, illuminating the weariness on his face, the shadows under his eyes, the fatigue due to the lack of proper food for the last several days…the tears that wanted to escape.
In that solitary moment, he wasn't Kai Hiwatari, the infallible captain of the Bladebreakers, the matured one in his team, the one who knew what to do and how to do it. No, he wasn't any of those right now. Because in the end, he was just a sixteen year old kid. Just like his teammates, not much different from them in any way. The only difference was he had been forced to grow up too fast while he was in the abbey under Boris's dictatorship, leaving no place for a happy memorable childhood. Of that he was certain even if he didn't have all his memories back.
And right now, he felt lost.
So very lost…
"Kai?"
He did not turn to acknowledge Max as the blonde blader stepped into the room. He kept his arms folded across his chest and his eyes adverted on the hospital garden below. The landscape looked at gloomy as the room did.
Max's gaze ticked over to the unconscious girl in the bed, wondering what was it like to be in a coma. He knew Tala had been in a coma once. Maybe he should ask him…He looked at his captain now.
"Tyson told me to check on Jade. See if there was any improvement. I guess not by the looks of it…" Max's sentence drifted off when he realized Kai wasn't exactly paying attention to his words. He sighed. "He also told me to ask whether you wanted anything to eat."
Kai turned his head slightly then to face Max, slightly surprised that Tyson would ask such a thing. Eating was Tyson's favorite hobby after blading of course. While most people ate to live, he lived to eat. It was often that habit that disgusted Kai. Then again, in time of trouble, the navy-haired boy knew his priorities and his friends were often among his top concern. These were one of those times.
"I mean you haven't eaten since you brought her in yesterday. You haven't slept a wink. Kai, I know you don't like it when we worry about you, but we're your friends and that's what friends do." Draciel's master said quietly. "We worry about you, Kai."
Kai watched his teammate, reading the sincerity in his words from his young child-like face. His gaze went to Jade, reluctant to leave her alone in her weaken vulnerable state.
Max must have guessed his hesitation for he offered. "I'll stay here with her while you're gone. And if there're any changes, I'll let you know right away."
Finally to that, Kai nodded and slowly headed to the door, his scarf drifting behind him like a white shadow. Max smiled in relief and encouragement as he stepped away from the door. Honestly to him, sometimes trying to ask Kai to do something against his will was like trying to drag a mother dog away from her pups. Nearly impossible.
"Don't worry, Kai. I'll be just like you, watching over her. Except less brooding and gloomy…Okay, maybe not like you. But I'll still watch over her like you would." the blonde boy said energetically. "Jade won't even know the difference. Not that she notices anyway."
He must have had too much candy tonight, Kai guessed as he gave Max a quizzical look.
Max caught the look and promptly cut off his babbling, thinking perhaps his captain was annoyed at him for talking too much. "Sorry."
Seeing Max's guilt-ridden look, Kai couldn't help the small smile that broke through his walls, showing upon his face. "Thanks, Max."
Surprised by Kai's unexpected reply, Max stared at him, blinking in confusion. Not only had Kai smiled but he had also said thank you. That was highly unlike him. Even after Kai had left the room, he continued to stare at the empty doorway. It's the stress, he told himself.
"He must really be worried about her." he mumbled as he sank into the chair next to the bed.
I'm so tired of
being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have
to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence
still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
The Abbey was probably one of the biggest and ugliest buildings she had ever seen. Mesmerized, she stared up at it and decided there and then, she didn't like it at all. It gave her the creeps and she had to fight down the shivers that wanted to escape. There was something…dark about the building, a sinister feeling that seemed to waft in the cold air surrounding it. It smelt like death to her.
"This'll be your new home from now on. Come." the purple-haired man said, beckoning to her to take his out-stretched hand.
She didn't. For some reason, she didn't. A sensation she couldn't describe twisted her gut, a warning of some sort. The secure feeling he portrayed at the orphanage seemed to have dimmed at their arrival at the abbey and her senses told her this man was just as bad as this place. She just stared at his hand as though she had never seen it before and as she did, she couldn't help but notice how callous and rough his hand was. How can it be the hand of a businessman?
He frowned when she made to movement to take his hand. She wondered if he was displeased with her. But before she could ask him, a smile was back on his face, hiding his thoughts and with a nod, he turned and led the way through the gates of the Abbey. She knew she had to follow him. Sadly, she casted one last look at the world outside, caked with snow, pure and white. Then very reluctantly, she picked up her hand luggage and trailed after him.
All the while she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. Was it her mother?
These wounds
won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too
much that time cannot erase
The sign showed that the cafeteria was just down the hallway on his right. Kai started to head down that way when he heard the sound of someone snacking hard coming from behind the closed doors. Had to be Tyson. No one else could eat as loud as him. A grimace crossed Kai's face when he heard a loud burp that followed.
"And that's the sign that the tank is full." Tyson announced loudly.
Kai could already imagine Tyson patting his bulging tummy with a satisfactory look on his face and Kenny and Ray sighing in surrender for they could never change their friend's eating habits. Unbelievable. Just when he changed his mind about the other boy, Tyson has to do something to swing it back round the other way again. Well, that's Tyson alright. Kai shook his head in disgust and resignation as he prepared to enter the cafeteria. Then he paused, his thoughts heading in another direction. Abandoning his earlier plan to get something to eat –he wasn't hungry anyway– Kai started walking toward the wards, seeming as though he was heading back to Jade's room. But no. His destination this time was a different room occupied by a different female blader.
To his surprise when he got there, Alexis was not alone. The Demolition Boys surrounded her in a protective manner, talking and listening in a carefree manner they were trained not to reveal to the outside world. They did not notice Kai standing outside the room, watching through the window.
Ian sat in a wheelchair, Kai noticed with a white cast around his right foot. Later he learnt that the short boy of the Demolition Boys had twisted his ankle while escaped the Abbey. But now, he watched silently as Ian seemed to be enjoying himself in the wheelchair. He especially enjoyed rolling around across the room, much to the amusement of the others. Alexis laid in her bed, propped up by the pillow, laughing at his antics. She seemed to be recovering well to Kai's eyes. Apart from her, Spencer and Tala were the only ones who tolerated their teammate's unusual immaturity with slight smiles on their faces to show. On the other hand, Bryan looked annoyed but he held his silence as he leaned against the wall.
The scene seemed…odd but strangely comfortable.
In his mind, Kai could picture his own team in a similar scene. It would be odd because like Alexis, Jade stood out as the rose among the thorns. Many times he had wondered how she tolerated being the only girl in the team then he realized, it wasn't always about gender. She could tolerate them because they were the closest she had to a family. It was the same with Alexis here. The Demolition Boys were her family and maybe in Tala's case, something more.
The same way he was to Jade.
Kai felt his heart wrenched at the sight. Overwhelmed by an emotion he was not unfamiliar with. Envy. A feeling he had grown accustomed to whenever he had watched Tyson trained and improved in such a short period. Yes, in that moment he was envious of Tala and his team for they had their teammate back. But his jealousy was only a brief as another much more positive feeling assailed him.
Relief. He was also relieved. Because now, they were safe and free. Free from Boris's hold, to do whatever they want without fear. Free to experience things they never did get to experience under Boris. Free to live the life of a normal teenager who is only interested in Beyblading and the opposite sex.
Free.
And for them, he was glad.
When you cried
I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away
all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these
years
But you still have
All of me
Pain flared through her shoulder as she took a blow to where her flesh had not healed properly from the beating she had endured several days ago. She had misbehaved then, talking back at her trainer and refusing to obey his orders. Her punishment was no food for dinner and a beating that left her weaken for the next few days but not broken. Only more determined.
More determined to escape this hellhole of which served as her home for the last five years.
Gone was the child who was a child. In her place was a harden fighter, trained to serve the purpose of Biovolt. The Abbey could do that to a child, no matter how old.
She was five when she set foot in this place. During her first week here, she was treated with care and was given the rich proper food which she learnt later on was only to restore nourishment to her body and to make her feel welcome. A trick. And she had fallen for it. How could she have not fallen for it?
They had given her the freedom to wander the abbey upper grounds without an escort, saying it was to let her to grow accustomed to the building. Being the curious child she was, she wandered and that was how she came across a certain blue-haired boy. The state he was in when she found him surprised her and she had rushed to help. She has never seen anyone so badly wounded yet a part of her mother, the part her mother often portrayed around others emerged and she knew what she had to do. After ensuring his trust, she had attended to him briefly, doing the best she could with nothing but her skirt to stop the bleeding on his arm. She had, at one point, tied the bandage too tight, earning a pained hiss from the boy. She had apologized sincerely.
He had thanked her. She had been puzzled by the uncertainty in his voice when he did. It was as if no one had ever helped him out of the goodness of their heart. She wondered why.
A week later, she was shocked to discover the abbey's true intention when Boris had slapped her after another one of her victories battle against a senior student. Usually he would praise her and congratulate her for her show in skill but not today. He had scolded her for expressing emotions and punished her with a harsh training session and no dinner. But fortunately that night she did not go to bed hungry.
A boy with flaming red-hair and azure blue eyes had gone to her cell to offer her bread. She did not trust him at first, still shaken by Boris's sudden change in character but he had coaxed her a little more and she had been hungry. In the end, she had succumbed to the temptation of plain bread and while she ate it gratefully, the young boy had explained to her the rules of survival in the abbey.
His name, she learnt was Tala.
For the next five years, Tala was like her older brother. He would look out for her, not because Boris told him to but because he saw her as his little sister. Another reason he seemed so protective of her was probably due to their Bitbeasts for they both wielded wolf spirits. To him, he was the older wolf while she was the pup of the pack. Even though they were of the same age, he had been in the abbey much longer than her. He knew how it was run by Boris. It was he who kept her out of trouble most of the time. Through him, she had survived. Through him, she had learnt. And learn well, she did. Within a year, she had surpassed all of Boris's expectations and by far one of the more talented bladers for someone her age. She heard rumors of how Boris and the abbey's investor were planning to pit her against one of the abbey's best blader.
A certain Kai Hiwatari.
She knew of him, having seen him in a Beybattle before. To her surprise he was the young blue-haired boy she had helped. But how different he was when he was in battle from the injured untrusting boy she met. In battle he was emotionless, ruthless and swift to put his opponent out of their misery.
The perfect Biovolt blader.
She could see why as she watched him. Boris had permitted her to watch but he did not allow her to reveal herself to him. She was not to challenge the blue-haired boy until she was ordered to. For some reason, her presence was kept a secret from Kai.
Then came Black Dranzer. The true pride and joy of the cooperation. Numerous times she had stolen out to watch the Bitbeast while the scientists experimented on it. Its power was truly enticing and dark. And it seems she wasn't the only one drawn to it. Kai was too and unlike him, she resisted the dark phoenix's black fire power and focused more on her training. Tala told her much later that Boris intended Kai to wield Black Dranzer.
A perfect match, she had thought.
One day soon, she was to fight Kai in a Beyblade. But her sole goal was not to fight the bluenette. It was to escape. And she had trained to that purpose, silently drilling herself into the perfect fighting machine, both in mind and body. Boris was pleased with her progress but angered by her continues acts of rebellion.
It was her own rebellious decision that placed her in her current condition now as she glared at the boy who had kicked her in the shoulder. He looked back at her with unreadable eyes but she caught the silent flare of his nostrils, a sign that he was preparing to attack again. And when he did, she dropped to the ground, effectively dodging his spinning kick and cut his footing right out from under him with her own kick. He went down but absorbed the fall in a cartwheel. Impressive enough for a ten-year old.
But Boris wanted more than that and she knew it just by the way he watched them from an observation deck. For one brief moment, she glanced up at him expecting him to call off the match. They had already been sparring for ten minutes and they were both tiring. But he didn't. Boris just watched in silence while her opponent took that opportunity to knock her off her feet and slammed her into the wall. Spots flickered before her eyes and she cried out from the impact. He grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back and held it there until she felt the strain.
The cheers of other students, boys, roared forward, urging the boy to dislocate her arm already. He was trying but she was resisting. In a moment of panic, her eyes sought out help from the other students and found none. No one was willing to risk themselves for some girl. Then she spotted Tala watching her from right behind the crowd. Spencer, Ian and Bryan were with him and they watched with mild interest. Tala's eyes locked with hers and she read the urge and encouragement in them.
"Come on, Green Eyes. You can do this. Fight back." they seem to say.
Pain rocked through her again, telling her that her arm had just about reached its limit and was about to pop. She growled, twisting the pain into rage and frustration. Without warning, she stomped down hard on his feet, causing him to let out a yelp of pain and an elbow to his face forced him to let her go. She broke free and swiftly finished him off with two kicks to his middle and a spinning kick to his temple. The cheers had dissipated from the moment she had fought back. They were now silent as the boys stared at her with a mixture of fear and respect. As he cradled himself in pain in the middle of the floor, she stood over him, glaring down at him with dislike. Then slowly the feeling faded and she was left with regret and sorrow for the boy. He was only doing what he was told to do and in failure, he would be punished.
Speaking of punishment, Boris had entered the training room. The other students parted to allow him through and now he stood opposite her with an unreadable expression, a mixture of pleased and displeased. She couldn't explain it any better.
"Well done, Jade." he said.
She nodded back, still breathing hard.
Then the director looked back at the boy at his feet and with a tone of disgust and disappointment, ordered the guard to remove him. It was not needed to be said what was about to happen to him. They all knew. She did. And she rather it happened to him than to her.
Because in the end, it was survival of the fittest and so far, she had emerged victorious.
You used to
captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life
you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant
dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me
"And with the arrest of Boris Balcov, the Balcov Abbey was officially closed down by the authorities just today morning. Charged with child abuse, drug trafficking and unauthorized human experiments, Mr. Balcov will be placed on trial as of tomorrow and will probably face a life sentence in prison. At the moment, the police are still searching for his said benefactor, Voltaire Hiwatari who is the chairman of the world renowned cooperation, Biovolt. A certain source claimed…"
Max heard no more after that. He muted the television with the remote control and with a heavy sigh, tossed it onto the sofa. What the reporter said had occurred a thought to him. What was to happen to those children from the abbey now that it was closed? What was to become of the Demolition Boys and others like them? Since most of them were young orphans whose minds have yet to be corrupted by Boris, he was guessing they would be placed into foster care under the BBA of course. But what of Tala's team? They have been trained and raised by Biovolt for so long and feared by the blading world that finding a place for them in the real world was almost difficult. Max felt sorry for them.
He glanced back at the only other occupant of the room. The unconscious one. He wondered what would she do if she was awake? He walked over to her and touched her bandaged hand attentively, stroking it.
Please, Jade…wake up. Come on. Just open your eyes…It just isn't the same without you, gurl…
Slowly he cradled it and he felt something in her hand. He opened it and was surprised to find her Beyblade with her fingers wrapped around it. Strangely the top of the blade looked back at him and he could see the missing piece.
Draizer was gone.
"Hey, Max."
He looked at the door and nodded a little at Ray standing at the doorway. The neko-jin entered the room and glanced only once at the silent television. What he saw he didn't like for now the reporter on the case was standing in front of the abandoned abbey. It was hard to imagine that several days ago they stood in front of that God-forsaken place.
"Mr. Dickenson dropped by earlier. He came to tell us that he managed to keep the media from finding out how Jade was involved with Biovolt. They won't know that she's in this hospital or that she's in a coma." he said.
"Good. That way we won't have much to worry about." Max said distractedly, staring at the empty bit again.
"The bad news is that Mr. D can't postpone the prize-giving ceremony any longer. It'll be held two days from today. If Jade doesn't wake up by then…"
"We'll go on without her." Max finished. "Can't Mr. D hold off it off for, maybe, a week more? She might wake up by then."
"Max…" Ray hesitated, thinking before he spoke. "Mr. Dickenson has done all that he can for us. We're already a week overdue for the prize-giving ceremony. We don't know when she's gonna wake up. Could be tomorrow. Could be weeks from today. Or maybe months. The public can't wait that long."
Screw the public, Max wanted to say but he couldn't. It wasn't in his nature and to a certain extend he realized the Chinese blader was right. Maybe if they got this whole ceremony over and done with, it would be better. Taking a deep breath, he nodded to say that he understood. "What did Kai say about this?"
"I haven't told him. He may not like it." Ray said.
"Didn't he join you guys at the cafeteria?"
"Nope. There was only me, Kenny and Tyson." Ray said with a frown. "I thought Kai was with you."
But Max shook his head, suddenly tensing. "No. I sent him to the cafeteria to get something to eat. Maybe he's with Tala and the Demolition Boys."
"I checked in on them on the way here." the raven-haired boy said. "They are in Alexis's room with Ian's making a fool out of himself with his wheelchair. But so far…no Kai."
"That's odd. Where could he be?"
These wounds
won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too
much that time cannot erase
"Come on, Jade! Pick up the pace!" Boris's voice shouted at her through the intercom.
Obeying his command, she concentrated more of her energy into her blue Beyblade, spinning and turning in the center of the dish. Her hands made tight fists. She gritted her teeth, biting on her lower lip as a bead of sweat slipped down her cheek. An unruly stray hair fell into her view, obscuring her eyes in its shadow but she made no attempt to brush it away. Right now, her mind was focused solely on taking out the five other blades in the dish besides her own.
"Transferring data." a scientist's dull voice reported.
Irritated, she commanded her Beyblade to dodge the five blades coming at her and remove them with the similar brutality as when she had defeated one of the boys in a hand-to-hand combat. The sound of blades clashing rang in her ears. She relished it, drawing out the match for the sake of putting on a show for her audience. Boris and Voltaire.
Both men seemed impressed by her current progress and she kept it up. They will never know just how much has she improved until it was too late. She will escape soon. She felt confidence in herself, felt certainty. If not tonight, then maybe tomorrow or a week from now. She just had to be patient and wait for the moment when the abbey's guard is down. Until then, she was merely Boris's obedient protégé. Boris thought he had finally gained control over her. He couldn't be anymore wrong.
The last of the opposing blades were thrown out of the dish and her own blade remained in the center, its spin unaffected at all. She lifted her head and summoned it back into her held out hand. It obeyed and she stole a glance up at the observation deck where the two men were. Boris nodded his approval and she as expected, nodded back in obedient respond. It was what she was expected to do after all.
"A match well done." Boris announced. "Although in my opinion you could have ended it sooner but it appears my comments are unnecessary. Have your Beyblade checked and examined before you retire to your room."
She scowled at the word 'room'. Obviously they had a different definition of room for his meant the pathetic space that was boxed in by four grey walls. None of this she said aloud but her moment of thought did not go unnoticed by him.
"Well, girl. You have your order." he said harshly.
She nodded again and left the training room quickly. A guard accompanied her to the lab where Beyblades were checked, examined and modified if needed. She for one did not like a stranger prodding and taking apart her blade and she was sure the ancient spirit that resided with her blade felt the same way. But for her safety it refused to retaliate and chose to tolerate being held and fiddled by a scientist who knew nothing about a Bitbeast's feelings.
So while the man scrutinized Draizer based on her earlier training sequence, she had to stand in one corner, watching warily in case he did anything to upset her wolf. When it seemed as though he wasn't going to take it apart like he usually did, her gaze wandered the room, realizing she had overestimated its size. It was actually smaller than most labs or maybe it seemed smaller because there were spare parts on almost every surface in that room. And among the mess, sitting on a table near her, on a silver tray near her, she spotted a safety pin.
It may seem useless at the moment but she knew better than to give up a chance to get her hands on something like that. Keeping her eye on the guard and the scientist, she subtly made a motion of raising her hand to push back her hair and 'accidentally' knocked the tray where a set of spare parts sat. The parts scattered with the tray in a loud clang that startled even the guard. In a brief second, the scientist was on her, scolding her for being so clumsy in his lab.
"You stupid little fool!" he practically hissed. "Look what you've done now!"
She apologized silently as she knelt to the floor to pick up the parts. She pretended to be clumsy with her hands as she gathered many spare parts at one time. In the midst of it all, she managed to lift the safety pin from its position on the floor and slip it into her boot. Then in haste she cleaned up the mess she made and returned them to their proper position on the table.
The scientist however was not pleased with the disturbance she had caused and ordered her to be punished for her klutziness. He was annoyed when she made no attempt to remove herself from his sight.
"Are you dumb as well?" he snapped in Russian. "Get out of my lab now!"
"My Beyblade." she said stubbornly, glaring back at him.
"Take it and leave! Now!" he ordered as he threw the blade at her.
With an agility and grace she did not show earlier, she caught the blade and left the lab quickly before the man could think of reporting her insolences to Boris. She didn't really care if he did. What mattered now was that she had her means of escape. She just had to sit back and wait for that opportunity to present itself.
It soon did, in the form of Black Dranzer.
When you cried
I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away
all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these
years
But you still have
All of me
Barely two days in the holding cell and he already had a visitor. At first Boris was delighted to think that it was a lawyer Voltaire that was sent to bail him out but when he saw who it truly was, his sadist smile only widened.
"My, what a surprise to see you so soon, young Kai." he said in Russian as he was seated down and handcuffed to the chair.
Kai sat across him, his face set into an expression of coolness and calm as he faced the man who just refused to leave his nightmares. To speak the truth, his heart was drumming against his ribcage like thunder, so loud he could hear it in his ears. He only hoped Boris couldn't detect how uneasy he was to be sitting across the man who placed his girlfriend and half his closest friends in the hospital.
Boris stole a glance at the clock in the room and remarked casually as though they were discussing the weather. "Why, it's awfully late for you to be here. Alone nonetheless without your 'team'. Tell me, how's dear Tala doing. And Alexis, is she still…well, among the living?"
"Unfortunately for you, they are recovered just well." Kai answered in equally fluent Russian.
"Unfortunate indeed." the former director agreed. He leaned forward or at least as much as the cuffs on his hands would allow him to. "So tell me, why is it that you're here, Kai? Because I suspect it's not to see how your old teacher is doing behind these bars."
Kai pursed, thinking for a moment. He needed information and the only person who had that information at the moment was Boris. But he didn't want to make it seem as though he was asking a favor. "We need to talk." he said simply.
"I know why you're here, Kai." Boris said after a moment of silence between them.
"Really? Enlighten me then." Kai drawled sarcastically.
"Gladly. You're here because you want to find out what sort of drug was injected into her body. Am I right?" the man said slyly. A confident smirk on his aging face, he concluded. "You want to save her."
As usual, Boris had hit it right over the nail. "Since you put it that way, then yes."
"And what is in it for me if I tell you?" Boris enquired further.
His muscles tensed as his eyes narrowed in displeasure. "You are in no position to bargain for anything, Boris. Not after what you did to Jade, Tala, Alexis and the others."
"And what are you going to do about it, boy?" the man retorted. "You need the information I have and without it, your little girlfriend will just wither away in her sleep." noticing the tight expression on Kai's face, he smiled again. "Yes, Kai. I know of the condition Jade's in now. I did after all place her there, didn't I?"
"Then you would know how to help her." Kai demanded quietly.
"So what if I do?" Boris said. "Like you said, I won't reap any benefit from telling you what I know. In the end, I would be left here to rot. Not a very bright future if I might say."
"You brought this onto yourself." the bluenette said.
Boris nodded thoughtfully, accepting the accusation. "So I did. But you can change that, Kai. Help me and I will tell you what I know."
"If you think I would help you, you must be crazier than I thought." Kai sneered.
"Maybe I am. But let me ask you this, are you willing to lose the girl you love just so I could rot here in prison?"
Kai stared at the table, at his clenched fists, anywhere except the knowing look in Boris's eyes. "No." he admitted.
"Well then, we have reached an agreement then." Boris said with satisfactory.
If he expected his ex-apprentice to agree with him, Kai was happy to disappoint him. He looked up at the abbey director and met his gaze coolly. "No. We haven't."
Boris's eyes narrowed at him, a vein in his forehead already pulsing visibly. "What?"
"You heard me, you bastard. Like I said, you are in no position to tell me what to do anymore. You don't run my life like you did when I was a kid. In case you have forgotten, I'm no longer your puppet, Boris." Kai gritted out. "We could do this my way or the hard way. And I might warn you that my patience is wearing thin with you."
Seeing the smothering flames in the boy's crimson eyes, Boris knew he meant truth to his words. And he knew he had lost this round. "Fine. What do you wish to know, Kai?"
The question was asked in a tone of cold steel and determination. "How can I save her?"
I've tried so
hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with
me
I've been alone all along
The firemen have gotten the worst part of the fire under control by the looks of it but the damages were still…unaccountable. A wide section of the abbey was sealed with a good reason too. The ground surrounding that sealed building was black and cloaked with ashes, dust and broken rumbles that were all that was left of that building. Firemen were still hard at work trying to put out a fire that was threatening to bring down a smaller part of the abbey. The powerful stream of water from the hose splashed unto the already withering flames, dousing it out completely. Black smoke rushed upwards, greedy for more oxygen. Its acidic smell filled the cool night air, contaminating it.
The swirling red blue lights of ambulances were blinding and their sirens kept shrilling through the air as if there was no tomorrow. Medical trainees and assistants were rushed about attending to children, some her age, younger or older. Some of them had to be rushed to the hospital for more intensive care. Although she didn't know how many but there had been deaths as well.
The scent of death reeked in the air.
Standing among the masses of curious bodies that had gathered just outside the partially wrecked abbey, she was sure to keep her face hidden from plain view less someone she knew might spot her. All the while her eyes watched as the horrific scene before her unfolded.
This was the abbey where she had spent five years of her short life?
Impossible yet no matter how many times she blinked her eyes free of unshed tears, the illusion did not vanished. The building still remained where it was, half-broken and destroyed and there were children suffering. Only she among the crowd of people watching knew that their suffering shall continue on long after this abbey's rebuilt.
All this destruction…caused by one boy and Black Dranzer?
It only showed how even the strongest will fall when struck in the proper place. Very much a David and Goliath story.
"What happened?" a young woman next to her asked aloud.
The man she was with, probably her husband, only shrugged and shook his head. "Looks like someone has been playing fire."
"Those poor children." she cooed with clear sympathy.
Jade had to bite her lip to keep herself from telling the woman to adopt one of those children if she felt sorry for them. The mutters of people around floating reached her ears. They were making ridiculous theories and stories about what really happened here tonight. Only she knew the truth and as much as she wanted to, she couldn't just go from one person to another, telling them of the abbey's cover-up, of the experiments that went on beneath, of the torture the children faced day by day in there. No one would believe her for she was just a dirty little girl. And if she made a scene there and then, Boris will know too soon of her escape. Because of this, she would have to wait it out.
And while she did, others will suffer.
Standing there in the snow, staring up at the place where she was raised to fight, trained to eliminate the weak, Jade felt sorrow and unspeakable sadness flooding into her ten-year old heart. She was only ten years old and she had already tasted the pain of losing a love one, of leaving behind people she cared about…of making a decision so hard it hurt her heart just thinking about it.
She could go back to help the others escape or she could keep running while others suffered.
In the end, the latter choice won out and she hated herself for it.
Tala…I'm so sorry…
As the crowd seemed to grow thicker, no one noticed a young girl, alone with nothing but the clothes on her back and a small object in her hand, slip away through the mist of smoke and into the night, fleeing from the past she just left behind.
When you cried
I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away
all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these
years
But you still have
All of me
"You can't save her, Kai. No one can."
The finality in the purple-haired man's words made his world turn cold around him. Boris was lying. He has to be. He always lied to him even when he was a student under him. Why should that change now?
"You're lying." Kai hissed, eyes narrowing.
The amused look on Boris said many things for he knew his ex-apprentice will not probably believe him. "Believe what you want, boy. But like I said earlier I placed her in the condition she's in now. I know of the outcome."
"What did you do to her?"
"You want to know why Alexis was a failure?" Boris asked instead. "The strongest Bitbeast was instilled into her but yet somehow thanks to Jade, she managed to break its hold over her. Not once but twice. So I asked myself, where did I go wrong? Then I realized the only reason she broke free was because she wanted to. God made man with their own free will so that they could choose to obey or retaliate. She retaliated. Having identified the problem, my scientists sent to work to produce a drug that would remove such a free will."
Kai felt himself tense up as he listened to the man, his old mentor brag about the work and trouble he had gone through just to control teenagers like him and Jade for the sole purpose of world domination.
"The drug used on her was not only meant to keep her in a comatose state. It also forced her to face their darkest fears in order to break her spirit completely. It worked and the next part of the procedure was supposed to bring her out of the coma and maintain her under my control. Unfortunately, due to several interference…" at this part, Boris glared at Kai but the teen remained unfazed. "…we couldn't proceed into that phase and the experiment was incomplete. As a result, the coma state your little girlfriend's in now, is more…permanent."
A scowl in his face, Kai lifted his head, eyes meeting Boris's steel grey ones as he tried to catch a glimpse of deceive in the man's expression. The phoenix was usually excellent at reading hidden emotions and feelings just by watching and study them but Boris was a different story altogether. It was after all he who taught Kai the art of deciphering emotions from faces of ice.
The heat of the phoenix's glare warned Boris he was treading on thin ice for prolonging his explanation and that ice was still melting, swiftly.
"To put it plainly, my dear boy, there's an existing possibility that Jade's never gonna wake up."
A/N: The song in italic is 'My immortal' just for your information. Do I really need to say who it belongs to? Just a quick pointless question, anybody interested in Prince of Tennis? R&R pls! Ja ne!
