Chapter 2

Natasha sighed as she stumbled through the door to her flat and threw her keys down on the table next to the door and her bag on the floor next to it. She disliked working at the restaurant; it was always too hot, too greasy and much too noisy for her to enjoy it there. Yet she had made some friends of the staff, and the regular customers. They were nice people; they didn't ask too many questions.

Natasha looked through her mail that Adalia had left on the kitchen table. Bills, bills and more bills. Then a box caught her eye, she had assumed it had been full of make-up or some such thing for Adalia, but on closer inspection it had her name on it. It looked like a trinket box, mother of pearl inlays, well cared for oak panelling. Curious, Natasha opened it, but inside, instead of a spinning ballerina, there was a strange spinning top like object. It was bright red and on it was the picture of a dolphin. Natasha pulled off the top layer of the box to reveal underneath what looked like some sort of launching device and a letter written in the same hand as the label tied onto the box. She sat down at the table and took out the letter, all of a sudden shy and nervous. She wasn't used to not knowing things and the box and its contents were certainly unknown to her. On opening the letter she read aloud:

Dearest Natasha,
This is your Beyblade, use it well.
The address of a school that will guide you, and teach you how to wield the power of the Beyblade, is enclosed on a separate page, along with details on how to enrol. It is imperative that you go to this school Natasha, only they can help you now.
All my love,
Your Father.

Natasha read the letter again, and then for a third time. It didn't make sense to her. Why should her father write to her now, after so many years had passed without a word, after she had had to deal with losing her mother all by herself, with no one to truly confide in? She folded the letter up again and put it back inside the envelope and inside the box. She turned her attention to the red spinning top with the dolphin. It was a pretty dolphin, and she reached out to stroke its picture. Natasha had always felt a close affinity to the animals, even though she had never seen one in real life, only ever on television.

However, as soon as Natasha's fingers came in contact with the Beyblade a sort of haze appeared and the dolphin seemed to come out from its picture, like a spirit form of a true dolphin. A voice, old yet young, playful yet tired, then began to echo in Natasha's head. It was like nothing she had ever experienced before, this presence before her that was invading her consciousness. It told Natasha that the dolphin was Delphinus Borealis, but didn't mind being called Delphi, like the town in Greece. It talked about the passing of generations, and of true partnership and friendship. Then, as strangely as it appeared it vanished, and the whole event had been so surreal that Natasha had to wonder whether it actually happened or if she had finally cracked and it was time to call the loony bin.

She didn't have much time to dwell on her thoughts though, as Adalia came home from her college class at that very moment, with her boyfriend Johnny in tow. Natasha had to admit she liked Johnny; he came from a similar background as she did, and had been an invaluable source of humour in the first few tentative months living in the flat. Today he seemed quite interested in the box that Natasha had snatched off the table and was cradling in her arms. Johnny may be funny, but he also had a tendency to break things by accident.

Strolling over he flashed a cheeky grin at Natasha before questioning her on her box. In many ways Johnny was like an infuriating older brother. His ears pricked up though, when Natasha mentioned the Beyblade. He said that he had been in a Beyblade team once, a few years ago when he had been younger and had fewer responsibilities. He had even made it to the world championships! Natasha mentioned the school to him, but he said that he had learnt all his skills from a tutor who came in and battled him twice a week, and who taught him about maintenance, repairs and strategy. All of which went in one ear and out the other. He had never heard of a school solely dedicated to training young people in the sport.

Natasha sighed inwardly to herself, and then left the kitchen with her box so that Johnny and Adalia could have some privacy. Back in her room Natasha regarded the Beyblade, the box and the letter once more. She read through the enrolment form for the school, BTA, the Beyblade Training Academy. It seemed simple enough, but something didn't feel right about it. Surely getting into a school with as niche a student body as this would involve tests, both written and practical, with only the top ten percent getting in. Yet the form gave nothing like that. All she had to do was fill out the relevant details and sign on the dotted line.

Natasha stretched out on her bed and thought about everything that had just happened. She had never been to a real school before, but to sit in a classroom to do her national qualifications. Everything she knew she had learned from her parents. In many ways she was very fortunate to have missed the government ruled curriculum, as on beginning her new life she found it was not deemed 'normal' to be very near fluent in various languages, both writing and speaking, and that the average child did highers when they were sixteen, not thirteen.

Despite Natasha's vast education however, she wasn't interested in being thoroughly academical. Her entire being craved for adventure, although maybe not the adventure she had ended up with, the loss of both parents, a care home and eventually a life filled with mind numbing work. When she had been growing up she had read books about girls in boarding schools and other stories about children and families that lived in the village nearby that went to an ordinary school. She had wanted friends that weren't picked out for her, she wanted to go and explore the world beyond the gate at the end of the driveway without her parents being there watching her every move, keeping her away from people.

Now she had been given the chance to have an adventure, something more than working every day and night. She had saved up quite a lot of money over the past few years, enough that would cover her if she went away for a few months at the very least. So she decided, and went over to her tiny desk that was tightly packed into the corner she filled out the form, signed her name and got the letter ready to be sent.