Chapter Eight
"Please, I can't take this anymore," a little girl gasped as she panted heavily. Her arms trembled as she tried to get back onto her feet. She cried out in pain when she felt the fire-like whip on her back once more. She fell onto her stomach and struggled to get back up but was kicked hard in the side. "Please, stop this."
"I won't stop until you toughen up," his sinister voice responded. "Now, do it again." The small girl let out a scream as many beyblades were launched at her and connected with her skin. Cuts formed on her arms, legs, and face as she tried to get away from the attacking beyblades. "This is what you deserve," he kept saying.
No one deserves this hell…
"Geeze," I muttered, shaking my head a bit, clutching my blankets in my hands. "Anymore of those dreams and I'll go crazy." I wiped the sweat off of my face with the back of my hand and let out a breath.
This was the fourth time these dreams got to me. I don't know why they are suddenly coming up but it was really starting to get on my nerves. I shook my head again, trying to take away the images that filled my brain.
I got out of bed, careful not to wake Mei, and tiptoed out of the hut. I took in a deep breath of air and smiled at the familiarity of the place. During the tournament I couldn't wait to get back to White Tiger Hills (I know, it surprised me too). But I really did end up missing the place, surprisingly. I missed the community-like atmosphere and the simplicity of it all. Don't get me wrong, I also really like the hustle and bustle of the city, but simplicity was my way of living. I just didn't think I would ever feel like I belonged again.
I was so pulled into my thoughts that I didn't notice I had walked all the way to the waterfall. The gentle mist dampened my face as the falls thundered over the edge of the cliff. I missed this place the most.
Glancing around I made sure no one was near before shedding my clothes and stepping into the cool water to bathe. Let me tell ya, there's nothing like bating under a water fall. A shower doesn't even compare to it. You get cleaner, I'm telling you
The Tournament was only a few weeks ago but I can still remember every beybattle as if they all happened yesterday. Just by watching the battles I got a good insight on the different blading styles which blew me away. I didn't know there were that many different types of blading. Unfortunately the only two players in the game were Lee and Ray and more than half of the time Lee second guessed himself and almost cost us our matches. I should've been blading with Ray, I could've done a lot better than Lee could, probably even helped move us to the finals at least but no. Apparently whatever Ray says we have to go along with so I sat on the bench every single dang time. It made me wonder why I even stuck around for the damn tournament. Once again Tyson ended up on top, which wasn't surprising but they had a few set backs along the way. They even called out Lee and Ray to a two-on-two battle, which they lost horribly but they ended up coming back in the end and Tyson beat Kai. I'll bet Kai was steamed but, as always, Kai seemed to take it well. I swear I even saw him smile at Tyson.
I was proud of him, but I was even more proud of my team, I guess. Ray and Lee fought hard in every battle and did the best they could. I wasn't attacked by that mysterious boy for the rest of the tournament, which I was happy about, but Mariah and I have been training together to make sure I was ready when he came to attack again. I guess we're getting close. We are the only two girls on the team and the boys can be so obnoxiously boyish sometimes. It's only natural for us to bond over something.
I glanced up at the sky to check what time it was before deciding to head back. I decided to take the long way back to the village to enjoy more time by myself. Unfortunately my walk back was filled with googly-eyed couples taking advantage of the beautiful morning.
"What's wrong with you?" Kevin asked as soon as I set foot in the village. He must've seen the look on my face. If it were me I wouldn't hesitate to figure out what caused a face as grotesque as mine.
"Too much love," I replied, shaking my head. "How you all can deal with being arranged to be married is beyond me. I don't know how you all can go through with it."
"Good thing I'm still little," Kevin said with a chuckle. "I won't have to worry about it for a while. As for you…well, you might as well kiss your life goodbye."
"Huh?" I blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you're fifteen right? Almost sixteen?" I nodded and he continued. "The marriages, despite you being allowed to marry at thirteen, are commonly performed in the seventeenth year of the girl so…your days are numbered."
"Kevin, don't scare her," Mariah commented, clamping her hand down hard on his shoulder causing him to cry out in pain. "He doesn't understand everything. You can get married as soon as you're thirteen however most women of the village get married around seventeen because signifies that you're old enough to be married and make your own decisions."
"Is that so?" I asked, bending at the waist and glaring down at Kevin who chuckled nervously. "You have five seconds before I chase you down. One…two…" He gulped, broke free of Mariah's grasp, and ran off screaming at the top of his lungs. "The boy's too gullible for his own good," I muttered. "What's up?" I asked, turning to Mariah.
"I was just on my way to the city for some food. Do you want to come?" She questioned.
"No thanks, I'll hang out here, maybe get some extra fishing in. But we can practice when you get back."
"All right, see you."
I gave a little wave and continued on my way only to be stopped by one of the elder woman telling me that Elder wanted to see me. I had to admit that I was freaked out, the Elder was a smart man and everyone in the village followed his word.
"You wanted to see me, Elder?" I muttered as I knelt and clasped my hands on my lap.
"Yes, I have heard a lot from your team, Crystal," Elder replied, smiling a little bit. "Good things. Each member of the White Tiger X team has come to me to tell me how you have changed and for the better."
"Um, thank you Elder," I said slowly, studying his face.
"Also I have heard from the village that you've done your share of the work and then some." He chuckled. "You've even helped a few of the children with their own beyblading skills and have watched then whenever the women needed some help."
"Well, that part wasn't easy," I said. "Getting them to trust me, I mean."
"I don't doubt that in the slightest," Elder said with a chuckle. "After hearing what they have to say I have come to a decision about your banishment." I held my breath as I waited for him to continue with his sentence. It felt like time stood still, I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. "Because of all of this I have come to the decision that you are allowed back into the village."
I blinked. "I was under the impression that I was already allowed back in the village since you let me stay here."
Elder laughed out loud. "Crystal, what I mean to say is that your banishment has been lifted."
I blinked again. "Are you serious?" He nodded. "Th-thank you so much, Elder! I won't let you regret your decision, I promise."
Elder stood and I stood with him. He held out his arms and said, "Welcome home, young one." I eagerly accepted his hug and let out the breath I didn't notice I was holding. "White Tiger Hills was a different place without you here," he said as he held me at arm's length. "We must move on from the past and focus on the future."
"Yes, Elder." I nodded. "I have to admit, I actually missed this place."
"You were never separated from it, not as long as you have Dricen with you."
I grinned and pulled out of his grasp, bowing. "Thank you, Elder." I gave him a wave and turned to leave the hut. As soon as I stepped out of it I grinned and ran back towards my own place to see if Mei was still there. I found her sitting in the chair in front of our place, rocking slowly as she kept her eyes on her sewing needles. "Mei!" I shouted once I saw my roommate. She looked up from her sewing and smiled as she waved.
"Heard you had a word with Elder," Mei commented.
I stopped and stared at her. "How'd you know that so fast?"
"Everyone's talking about it," she replied. Surprise, surprise. "You randomly coming back to beyblade for us? Don't think you're going to get out of the spotlight too soon. People are still waiting for you to mess up."
I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mei."
"You know I have your back, girl," she said with a laugh. "So what's up?"
"I just got back from talking to Elder."
"Annnnnd?" She stressed, never taking her eyes off of me.
"I'm back in," I replied, my heart swelling at the words that came out of my mouth. "I'm not banished or on probation anymore. I'm officially a part of White Tiger Hills again."
"That's so great, Crys! I'm so happy for you!" She said, her eyes shining.
"What's the sewing for?" I asked.
She shrugged. "I don't have much else to do here today. My new job doesn't start until next week."
"Speaking of which, have you seen Ray? I need to talk to him about something."
"Last I saw he was looking for some paper," she responded as she nodded towards a random hut. "What do you need to talk to him about?"
"It can wait; I want to tell you about the tournament."
"I'm all ears," she responded, excitement was in her eyes as she continued sewing while she listened to me recap the whole tournament. She was shocked to hear some of the turnouts as was I, even though I saw it first hand. I told her about how Tyson ended up winning the tournament again and how he, Max, and Ray kept the mysterious boy from hurting me even more than I all ready was hurt. I also told her a bit about some information I was able to receive while on bed rest about my predicament. "So some people just randomly came in the middle of the night looking for your parents? And that's the reason that you were banished and everyone blamed you?"
"It's understandable as to why they blamed me, I mean my parents were the cause of it, though I still don't know why," I responded. "But hey, if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be able to beyblade and–"
"Have your freedom," Mei interrupted with a laugh as if reading my mind.
"Yeah," I agreed. I picked at the hem of my shirt and she began to hum. Tossing a few questions around in my mind I finally settled on one to ask her. I was sure that this one would be a safe one. "Do you like your life, Mei?" I asked suddenly.
"It's a lot simpler than yours, that is all I'm going to say," she responded. We both started laughing as Ray walked by. He glanced over at us, smiled a little, and continued on his way. I turned back to Mei to say something to her but stopped when I saw the smile on her face; it creeped me out.
"What?" I asked her.
"Nothin'," she responded with a smile and a shrug.
"Uh-huh," I said slowy as I stood and dusted dirt off of my shorts. "I'll catch you later, all right Mei?"
"See you, girl," she said as she waved before going back to sewing. I ran to catch up to Ray who gave me a look once I fell into step with him. "Whatcha doin'?" I asked him.
"I'm going to write Tyson a letter," he responded. "I want to see how he's doing and what's going on over in Japan." He studied my face and asked, "Something you want to talk about?"
"Yes, actually, but I'll wait for you to finish your letter," I responded as we entered his hut. I sat down on the bed and watched as he placed the piece of paper on a box. He pulled off his gloves before dipping his brush into a case of ink that was by the paper. He made a face before he started to write, muttering his letter under his breath.
"Dear Tyson, just want to say congratulations. Too bad we didn't wind up facing each other in the finals; that would've been wicked. Everyone here at White Tiger X Base Camp is all ready practicing for next year's finals, so you better watch out. You and the gang should really come visit one day." He paused as a yellow butterfly landed on his brush. He smiled at it as he said, "White Tiger Hills is a truly awesome place."
I couldn't help but smile at the expression on his face and the statement. What he said was true: White Tiger Hills really was an awesome place. It was really peaceful and it would be perfect for people to go to for a little bit of relaxation and to see what living here was really like. I didn't think I'd ever say that too soon.
"You all right?" I looked up to see that Ray was twisted so he was looking at me. "What'd you want to talk about?"
"The Scared Spirits," I responded after a couple of seconds of silence.
"What about them?" He asked as his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"There should only be four," I continued. "Dragoon, Draciel, Driger, and Dranzer are the four Sacred Spirits, right?"
"Yes, that's right," ha greed with a nod.
"That boy, who I was fighting against, said that Dricen was the last of the Sacred Spirits. There should only be four, not five. Unless there was a part of the legend that was forgotten."
"That could be true," he said as he rubbed his chin. "But in all of the books I have read there were only four Sacred Spirits. Those books can't all be wrong, can they?"
"They may not be wrong," I said slowly, "But they could be trying to hide something about Dricen and the rest of the Sacred Spirits."
"You could be right. But there's not much we can do," Ray pointed out. "I mean, we can't go looking for information if no books have the information."
He had a point. I lifted my head when I heard footsteps and then saw the others at the door.
"What's up guys?" Ray asked before looking at the food in Mariah's hands. "Dinner all ready?"
"So there's a guy going around White Tiger Hills and showing off?" Ray questioned.
"Mhm, that sweetie saved my favorite bandana, guys," Mariah responded as she tugged on the bandana, which made her look like she had cat ears might I add.
I scoffed. "How can you call a stranger a 'sweetie'?" I questioned as I made a face. She just shrugged and smiled as she continued eating. "Do you think he's a threat?" I asked the question I could tell was on Ray's mind.
"He saved a kitten from falling out of a tree," Kevin responded. "If that was him being threatening then I don't think we have anything worry about."
We all laughed at his statement and we continued eating. I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched so I searched the area without drawing attention to myself or making the others worry. My eyes narrowed when I saw a figure standing on top of the water fall that was near us but, when I blinked, it was gone.
We trained for a while and even had a beyblade race to get to the top of a mountain where the best fruit was growing. Dricen got in second place and Driger was almost to the top when he fell back down. That's when we met the mysterious boy. His name is Mystel and he taunted us by making it seem like the White Tigers were stupid because we couldn't figure out a way to get our beyblades to the top of the mountain.
I could tell that he was getting Ray and Lee wound up because of the looks of hatred they were shooting at him. Especially when Mystel started flirting with Mariah. Lee chased after the guy, wanting to throttle him, but Mystel stayed out of Lee's reach by doing some acrobatic stuff. Mariah was impressed, which doesn't surprise me, but I wasn't. The guy was all talk.
I kept a close eye on him the rest of the day. I didn't see him for a while until Lee, Ray, and I tried to figure out how he got the cliff fruit down later, well into the night. That's when he showed up and showed us how he got it, by showing off obviously. Lee got so frustrated he challenged Mystel to a battle. I have to say, I was impressed by his skills, Mystel's I mean. He beat Lee and then challenged Ray, which ended in a tie because Ray found out about Mystel's weak point.
That's when things got really interesting.
"Maybe we'll meet again at the World Championships next year," Ray said once the battle was over. Lee nodded his agreement but I just glared at Mystel. 'Something's not right about him.'
"The World Championships?" Mystel repeated. He chuckled a little before continuing. "Please tell me you guys don't care about the World Championships." Ray, Lee, and I exchanged blank looks of confusion. "Aww. There are plenty of other things in the world that mean a whole lot more than the World Championships. Like the new Beyblade Association that just started up."
"What're you talking about?" I demanded as I took a threatening step forward.
"New Association?" Ray repeated.
"Mhm," Mystel confirmed. "It's called BEGA and it took over the BBA."
Ray and I burst out laughing. There was no way something as stupid as BEGA could take over the BBA. No way. That's impossible
"That's impossible Mystel," Ray voiced my thoughts.
"I'm a member," Mystel added. "But we're always looking around for new recruits." I flinched at the word 'recruits' and clenched my hands into fists. "You guys should think about joining, if you ever want to blade in a tournament again, or the finals."
"I don't understand," I said as I shook my head. "Is this another one of your tricks, Mystel?"
"Well, if you're not going to believe me, ask Tyson: our newest member," Mystel said with a hint of pride in his voice. No, he did not.
"What!" I hissed.
"Did you say…? Tyson would never be part of a group that's not the BBA!" Ray said in a dangerous tone.
"Never! No way!" Lee agreed.
"I didn't think so." Ray forced a smile. "Tyson would've told me about joining a new group." He started laughing at the situation, but I didn't think it was so funny.
"Tyson!" I growled under my breath.
"So…this Mystel guy," Mei started, moving to get out of the way of people on the crowded streets. Mei and I had decided to go into the city to gather some fabrics for the women to sew more clothes for the children that would arrive soon. The city was pretty crowded during the day but at night, such as now, it was ridiculous.
"Don't even, Mei, don't even," I said as I shifted the basket that was pressed against my hip and avoided hitting a little kid that ran by me. "The guy's been here two days too long."
"He's kind of cute," she admitted.
"You're engaged, remember?" I said, looking at her.
"You are too," she pointed out. I rolled my eyes while she smiled and nudged my shoulder. "I'm just saying he's a looker. But why would he come here of all places all of a sudden? It doesn't make sense."
"I was thinking the same thing to be honest," I sighed. "It doesn't feel right to me. We never have outsiders like that."
"Well…" she glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.
"Watch it," I said in a fake warning tone as I grinned.
"But I can't believe the nerve he has to just come in here and think he can put you guys on the BEGA team," she continued, seriously. "For as long as I can remember we've supported the BBA. I wonder why Mr. Dickinson would just up and quit like this."
"I don't think he quit at all, he loved his job," I replied as we began our walk back home. "I think he was forced out of his position."
"By a greater power?" Mei asked. I nodded. "But who would want to take Mr. Dickinson away?"
"Voltaire maybe," I replied, shrugging. "Gideon again? Dr. K? Any of those quacks could do it if they really put their minds to it and really tried. Unfortunately they must've known what buttons to push otherwise Mr. Dickinson wouldn't have stepped down that easily."
"You're talking like you want to solve the case," Mei noted.
"I would like to go back for a bit, just to hear what he has to say, he must have an explanation as to why all this is happening so suddenly," I said.
"You're talking like you've all ready made up your mind about going."
"You know me, I can never stay I one place for too long."
"Yet you always seem to find your way back here for some reason."
We finally made it back to the village in time for Mariah find us and tell us that Mystel was planning on leaving later tonight. We had one last dinner together than gathered by the entrance of the village to see Mystel off. I was happy to see Mystel go. He had this arrogant air to him that bothered the hell out of me. I don't know why Mei and Mariah fell for him. But the only thing that bothered me more than him was what he said about Tyson and BEGA. I didn't want to believe that it was true, but I wouldn't be able to know the truth if I didn't go back.
"Hold on Mystel, I'm coming with you," I said suddenly, which caused the rest of the White Tigers to look over at me in shock.
"What? But Crystal–" Kevin started.
"I have to see if he's telling the truth or not," I interrupted him. "I mean, I don't think he's lying, but I have to know if Tyson went with BEGA."
"I agree," Ray said with a nod. "I'm coming too."
"But Ray," Mariah said softly as her golden eyes shimmered.
"Tyson wouldn't do this to us. And I have to find out more about this BEGA Association," Ray continued as he picked up his bag and slung it over his back.
"You all ready had your things packed?" I questioned.
"You did too," he noted.
"Great minds think alike I guess."
He nodded and turned to the others."We'll be back as soon as we can."
"Stay safe," Lee said as the rest of them began to wave and we walked down the path.
"Bye guys!" Mariah called after us. "Goodbye, Mystel!"
"We'll miss you!" Gary added.
"Say hi to Tyson for us!" Kevin yelled. Ray, Mystel, and I waved back before turning our attention back to the path that would leads us to the city. I held onto Dricen before looking up and shielding my eyes from the setting sun.