I do not own Beyblade. I only take ownership of Hua/any oc characters.


Treachery
-chapter 3-

Her gaze was frivolous, wonted fierce emerald eyes were astray this unsettling night. Her highness of the Northern Kingdom wanted to lose herself into the wanderlust night, just a night away from her duties as ruler. She turns to survey her bed, the beautiful red and blue robe adorned with gold flowers draped over the frame.

He had been the one to present the stunning kimono, as a 'peace offering' and early wedding gift. She recalled the morning one of his vassals delivering it to her doorstep, wrapped beautifully with purple satin silk. She was probably expecting too much to presume the bastard of a prince would've actually handed off his gift personally. His ego was far too superior to perform such acts of nobility anyhow; it was practically mounted on a pedestal.

When spring finally rose from the dead of winter ten years ago, the Southern Kingdom had brought the eastern domain to its mercy; its people's knees drilled deep and heads buried low in the dirt. In the midst of the rebellion, that never ending cold war became a rather bloody one, carnage permeated the law-abiding people. Numerous innocent lives were slaughtered, and the entire region transpired into dirt lands. Whatever was left of the East have now migrated all across the country, the eastern domain became a burial sight, nobody resided those parts anymore.

The late Lord Kinomiya and his wife Lady Mizuhara—who originally resided in the Northern Kingdom—both spared each other the misery and shared their last moments together. Lady Mizuhara's body was never found underneath the rubble, and as so Lord Kinomiya's.

They were merely a memory now. The entire eastern region was nothing but just a memory now, and this was all thanks to the late Lord Hiwatari.

She grits her teeth, may the old bastard rot in hell for all eternity.

She wonders if this could be the fate of the Northern Kingdom. This overwrought feeling stirs in the pit of her gut as the days go by. For the past three sunsets, Genbu continues to emit an impressive purple light. She could feel the pulsing of the disturbed tortoise spirit, and it only grows more and more restless. Lady Mizuhara had been the one to present her the jewel that housed the celestial beast, granting her guardianship when she had left the North to be with Lord Kinomiya all those years ago.

"Lady Julia?"

She casts her sight over her shoulder to the intruder of her thoughts, her ladies in waiting stood by the door frame of the balcony. One dressed in a pink kimono and the other clad in orange, heads bowed low.

"Shall we prepare a bath for you, princess?"

"Not tonight," she steps back inside, her long brown hair swaying behind her. She heads back to her study chambers, she needed to take her mind off this melancholic train of thoughts. Holding onto dear life of whatever freedom she had left.

The duo give chase after their lady, gentle steps following just behind her grace.

"Isn't it exciting, my lady? Lord Kai and his men are their way to the Asano castle as we speak!" One of them chimes, her rose quartz eyes virtually sparkling.

This fantasy the people of her kingdom were romanticizing between her and their potential king was utterly disgusting. Some have called it a blessing, while there were others who deemed it a relief. She long felt the knots twist in her belly, and she had fallen horrendously sicken by this move of 'marriage' to end bloodshed when the proposal was first coerced. What the late lord did was unforgivable, had the people of the northern domain forgotten what happened to their former queen? The evil man who started the uproar of that dwelling sanguinary battlefield, his son was now trying to worm him and his people into the Northern lands and take total control of both provinces.

She was not a fool, she was well-aware this haste of this miserable wedding. This unity to join kingdoms is merely a ploy to implant a coup d'etat in her own kingdom, and to also to take possession of Genbu.

"After years trying to fortify a treaty agreement, the northern and southern domains will soon become allies. It is such a relief that both kingdoms have decided to forsake the idea of a war and commence a unity instead."

Julia scoffs at that, "the infamous aristocrat Hiwatari Kai eager to marry the hot-headed ruler of the northern domain certainly brings premonition to the table."

As if she was going to allow that to happen. She grits her teeth at that mere cogitation, what the hell did they take her for? A love-struck wench, incapable of ruling an entire region? In need of protection of a husband and a male ruler? Ridiculous, simply ridiculous. She has her notions, and wasn't going to allow them to slip.

If the silence emitting from their princess was a comfortable one, that would surely be worth something grand. But it felt like a muggy cover draping over their heads, hefty and throttling. The pair have known of their lady's noticeably reticent and dismal demeanour, and it did not place a sense of merriment at all. It was fairly obvious of their princess' distaste of the southern domain rallying their land in a few short days, as well as her resentment towards the Hiwatari clan.

"Machiruda, Emirii, I want security heightened the moment my husband-to-be arrives."

The two nodded, "yes milady."

The wind brushes across his face and through his lush hair, it felt adequate in contrast to his unstable morale. He momentarily unveils his deep mahogany eyes, he was standing in the midst of where his dreams always lead him whenever slumber imbues his body and mind. The verdant meadow of eternal green that bestrewed small white and yellow flowers scatter like stars in the sky, the vast skies yields to the morning's break of light; thawing away the night's murk.

He subconsciously concedes this dream wasn't going to be any different from the night before or any of the previous ones, but it didn't stop him from harbouring that ounce of aspiration he desperately held. He could feel himself getting closer and closer every time.

His breath fastens when he sees the familiar figure within his proximity again. There from where they stood, endless midnight locks cascade in full view.

"Is it you?" he asks, wary as though his voice might frighten the silhouette that stood in the distance.

He kept his eyes enthralled, in case they disappeared.

"Kai," the voice answers back, soft and tender.

He knew, without having them turn and look at him, he already knew. The pivot of his own weakness, his own source of serenity and his place of refuge. Their deep raven hair acted as the red dot on a sheet of white in this ceaseless grass field, their beauty immeasurable. This ice king amour he conventionally bears unfastens every time the one he yearned stood close. Every single time.

The wind grows restless, it sweeps the long pieces of hairs that hid the figure's face. Peering over their shoulder, dark lashes loom over warm sunshine eyes, and their lips tinted by a muted pink.

It was enough to suffice the young lord's pining to see his only means of beautiful. Unworldly features that only this very person possessed that no mortal woman or man could ever possess. The memories remained fresh, every time he looked at the other. That warm summer night fifteen years ago, their first exchanged of words; he became captive. While he was only a child, the other person was but mere a kitten; frail and small. The ice prince did not know what compelled him to protect the young neko back then, but he did, and he vowed to always will.

"Rei," Kai softly speaks their name. Rei, the core lucidity of beauty.

Rei offers a gentle smile, "you're hopeless, you know that?" He turns his back again and begins to walk ahead, his figure fades into the whiteness.

"Wait!" Kai starts to agitate. 'Where did he go?' Fret stirs in his gut, he did not want to end it like this.

The latter reappears to his far left, their back still facing him.

Rei turns around this time, a longing smile gracing over his rose dusted lips. The young lord alleviates everything that made sense, consumed by the warmth emitting from his beloved to care about reality or his duties. The effect Rei had on him even in his dreams was incredible, and he wasn't going to treat this time like the previous. He wanted it to abide longer than the night before and the nights before that.

Rei holds out a delicate hand.

Without even thinking, Kai runs to Rei. His arms out, he seizes the other in his embrace; protective with no intent of letting go. He momentarily feels Rei's own arms envelop around his torso, he holds his precious love closer. He rests the side of his face on the top of ebony tresses. Rei's scent was so familiar, his fragrance was just as it used to be.

Rei shifts in his arms, his angelic face peering up at him. They gaze for a long time before the shorter male stood on his toes to capture the ice prince's lips. Without compliance, he lowers closer for their lips to meet and-

Kai shoots up.

He prowls around himself. His sheathed Dranzer tucked underneath the fold of his arms, he notes being inside a moving carriage. He peeks out behind the bamboo curtain of the small window on the side, he could still see his kingdom from a certain range. It was only the first day since he's left the castle, this only meant they still had more foot to cover. His soldiers march close by the carriage and horses. He sinks back where he sat and runs his fingers through his messy dual hair, a heft sigh of relief seeps from his lips.

"Another nightmare, Kai?"

"No," he answers too quickly, not sparing his vassal a glance. 'These meddling visions will not leave my mind.' He could feel a splitting headache erupt from the back of his head. For the past few days his slumber had been far from pleasant, even more than usual. Was it because the days were comprising in closer and closer? The ghost of his past emotions subsist his conscious. They were riding his back like an old war scar.

"Night will fall on us soon," Yuriy speculates. "We'll set up camp once we arrive closer to the waterfalls."

Kai simply nods, but bidding very little heed to what the other man just said. He glances back outside, he could see the sun lowering down; preparing for sunset as the skies turned orange.

'Even after death, he still haunts my dreams.'

The forest felt...different. Had something changed? No, nothing's changed. Or at the very least, nothing's changed yet.

For thirteen years of her life, the man who had been the only parent she's ever known was perceived as a monster by the country. Familiar whispers that echo in the dead of the night when she couldn't sleep, her papa would tell her the same story; one in which she could never get tired. The beautiful and powerful sorcerer, four sacred animals and a forever promise.

It has been five days since she's arrived this era, and this restless apprehension did not stop since. While her injuries were not completely healed, she was well enough to move on her own again and her sense of smell returned after the third day. She thanked the priestess who saved her life and left the following morning without a word. Although she did not stray far from the village, she was far enough for no one to come looking her. She still wasn't sure how long she was permitted in this world, but she also knew she couldn't taken this second chance for granted.

"I've decided to come with you."

Hua tightens the ribbon that held her hair up, "I prefer to travel alone." She responses without looking up at the source of voice.

Hiromi does not budge—instead, she tightens her grip around her bow. "I am well aware of the possibilities, I just... I just need to know if Rei is still alive—I've made up my mind."

The teen did not protest beyond looking displeased, "do what you must, Lady Priestess. So long as you don't get in my way of what I need to get to done."

"I understand."

"You say the Hiwatari estate resides in the direction of the goat and monkey?"

The priestess nods, "That will lead us to the border of the western and southern provinces. From there, we will have to continue on the path of the monkey and it shall take us right into the southern domain where the Southern Kingdom resides."

Hua simply nods and begins her long journey ahead, the miko following a few steps just behind the young girl.

Had the forest changed? Baba, is what she wanted to say. Perhaps things had changed, in this era at least. The village and its people was stripped of their once protector, their own refuge of reassurance and encouragement was gone. She was determined, she was compelled to seek even harder for Rei—for the both of them. Her existence was very proof that her baba was still out there somewhere. And secrets her parents harboured that may aid in ridding Ogami of this world.

The counting days passed uneventfully, but feelings of fraught prolong the Northern princess. It was only a matter of a few short days before Kai and his men arrive at her doorstep. She spent most of that time wandering in the forests near the castle.

She noticed more than a few yokai have been caught hovering the skies above the territories, and how they did not stray from the abodes of the nearby villages. As if she did not shoulder enough woes already, she wondered if she should be concerned about the unwanted appearances of these demons. She didn't want to ponder the implications, not when the Southern Kingdom was approaching them soon. These were merely weaklings, there is nothing to fret over. She knew her men could handle them on their own without her command.

Besides, she could not allow her people to see their ruler in this enervate state.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted tracks of red splatter across the ivory carpet that led to her private chambers, the familiar scent of iron permits the air. Julia furrowed her brows and decides to follow the trail into her bedroom. That was when her knees weaken at the sight in front of her.

"MACHIRUDA!" Julia cries, bolting right for her fallen vassal. To her left, she spots Emirii who laid in her own pool of blood, cold and unresponsive.

"Ah, Princess Julia."

Said heiress looked up at the voice, "who the hell are you?!"

"I go by the name Ogami."

omg i am so sorry this took so long... but life goes on, & I've been very occupied by it.