Thirty

"Okay, where to start," I mumbled, looking around the room but not at anyone else. This had to be handled delicately but trying to find the best place to start I feared would be the hardest part. I didn't want to leave anything out but I felt the strange urge to jump all over the place until everything fit.

"The beginning's usually the best place," Tala commented somewhat sardonically.

I stuck my tongue out at him before tilting my head slightly to tug at my ponytail, my nervous habit. "Okay, you all know the story of the four Sacred Spirits by now, I'm guessing," I said slowly, gauging their reactions. "As you know there are four Gods that each protects a part of Kyoto. They're also associated with the seasons and certain elements. There's the Azure Dragon, Seiryu, representing Spring and Wood to the East; the Vermillion Bird, Suzaku, representing Summer and Fire to the South, the White Tiger, Byakko, representing Autumn and Metal/Gold to the West; and the Black Turtle, Genbu, representing Winter and Water to the North. They—"

"Hey, that sounds like their bitbeasts!" Daichi interrupted boisterously while jabbing his finger in Tyson's direction.

I smiled patiently. "That's the point, Daichi," I told him calmly. "Seiryuu is Dragoon, Suzaku is Dranzer, Byakko is Driger, and Genbu is Draciel. They're the Sacred Spirits and among the most powerful spirits in the world. But you can also add in the Yellow Dragon, Koryu, representing the changing of the Season and Earth, he's at the center of it all."

"Like my Strata Dragoon!" Daichi said happily while digging into his pocket and shoving his purple beyblade into my face.

"Right, like Strata Dragoon," I agreed while pushing his hands out of my face. "With those four or five spirits—depending on if you prefer Japanese or Chinese legends—they kept the world balanced and at peace. Being the strongest, and being that you four own them, it's no surprise that you're a walking talking target for the spirits. If fallen in the wrong hands, it could be devastating to the world."

"What does any of that have anything to do with you?" Hilary asked bluntly.

"I'm getting there," I replied, noticing how anxious the others were getting. "Anyway, as you know, Driger was passed down to Ray from the Elder of our village. The White Tiger isn't only what our village is named after, but it's a sort of…way of life. The White Tiger is our protector. It's why the White Tiger bit is passed down to those who their predecessor feels is worthy enough…pure enough to honor him and our home. The thing is, our village prays to two different Gods, two different White Tigers: The White Tiger of the Moon and the White Tiger of the Sun. Yin and yang if you will. Driger is the White Tiger of the Sun, or yang. Yang is characterized as fast, hard, solid, focused, hot, dry, and aggressive while it's associated with fire, sky, the sun, masculinity, and daytime. Which means the White Tiger of the Moon, is yin. The White Tiger of the Moon is—"

"Dricen," Kenny interrupted me. I smiled and nodded at him while the others turned to look at him. His mouth was slightly parted and, if his hair weren't so long, I'd guess he had a look of astonishment on his face.

"Wait," Tyson said holding his finger up. "Driger…Dricen…the names sound the same. I always thought that was a coincidence," he said while scratching his head.

"Hmm, and they just so happen to come from the same village, Ty? That'd be a heck of a coincidence," Max pointed out. Mr. Dickenson and Grandpa Granger, who were sitting in chairs near the back of the room chuckled quietly as a disgruntled look came across Tyson's face and he crossed his arms over his chest.

"As I was saying, yang is characterized as slow, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, and passive; and is associated with water, earth, the moon, femininity and nighttime," I continued, scratching behind my ear. I glanced at Ray to see what his reaction would be but he sat still in his seat, staring at me intently. I shifted my gaze away from him and could practically feel his golden eyes burning holes in the side of my face. "Dricen was passed down to me from my family instead of through the Elder of the village because Dricen is different. As you all know, he's not part of the five Sacred Spirit Guardians. Legend has it that Byakko split his soul in half, so if something were to happen there would be another of him to protect his portion of the land.

"That's where Dricen comes in, as well as Boris and Voltaire. As seen in folklore dragons and tigers are always fighting. That's because it's speculated that that tigers and dragons have eternal rivalries. It's been said, since ancient times, the dragon has been the only beast that could stand equal to the tiger," I explained, looking around to make sure that no one was lost in my explanation. The storytelling was needed; it got me here, where I could finally explain everything without having to look over my shoulder. "Voltaire, though an evil man, is smart, and probably has heard of that statement before. He most likely knew of Dragoon and the rest and knew that it couldn't be Driger that was Dragoon's rival seeing as the four Sacred Spirits work together to protect the world. So, it'd have to be Dricen."

"And because of that he and Boris came to the village looking for your bitbeast," Ray summed up for me, finally speaking up. It was so suddenly that I jumped a little from my position on the edge of Tyson's hospital bed.

"My grandfather's the reason your parents are dead," Kai spoke up. I couldn't tell if he was making a statement or asking a question. His eyes remained glued to the ceiling but the look of disdain in his eyes seemed to intensify the longer he looked at the ceiling.

"It would seem so," I agreed. "But I don't blame you," I quickly added just to clear the air. I knew he didn't have anything to do with it, he'd be merely a kid himself but he blamed himself for his father leaving, who knew what else he blamed himself for. "So, after that, I got banished as you all know. On my way out I was captured by Boris and Voltaire. Seems they were waiting for me to be alone before they tried anything. The next thing I knew I was moved to Russia and kept at the Abbey. At the time it was run under the guise of a homeless shelter but I knew better. I stayed there for…a day, a day and a half before I managed to escape. I've been on the run from Boris ever since."

"…How powerful is Dricen for them to chase you around the world for years? I imagine it's why you haven't entered yourself in any tournaments, I'd imagine," Kenny spoke up.

"I didn't enter for fear that they'd find me easily, yes, but I also didn't enter because I never saw the point. All you get out of tournaments, I think, is glory or fame. If your opponents don't leave you with a challenge and you can blast your way to the top, what's the point?" I asked giving a little shrug. "Anyway, I think what they were after was a bitbeast to control that could rival Dragoon's power based on those legends. They never took into consideration what being equal actually meant."

"What does it mean?" Max asked.

"That, I don't know yet, but I know that Dricen's power doesn't match Dragoon's," I replied. "Especially now. If it did I'd be able to defeat a handful of people that have beaten me, Tyson included." I lightly slapped Tyson's knee when he made a scoffing sound at my last statement.

"And what does Kai's father have anything to do with it?" Ray asked.

"Ah, yes, Kai's father I met on the street one day while I was here in Japan, this was after your first tournament. He took pity on me and gave me a place to wash up and get something to eat. We eventually talked about beyblading and it was then I realized who he was. Kai's father is a beyblade engineer, a very worldly known one might I add. He had heard about Black Dranzer and enlisted me with the task of delivering a letter and making sure that Kai never used Black Dranzer again.

"So, extremely long story short, I'm here not only to do what Kai's father asked of me but also to find an answer to my question. It's the only reason I've stayed this long. Well, that and you weirdoes have grown on me," I said, chuckling after my last statement. "Otherwise I would've ducked out as soon as BEGA came around but I figured it was time to stop running and to face my problem head on or else I'd be running to the ends of the Earth to protect Dricen."

I let out a long sigh and rolled my shoulders. Surprisingly it felt like a gigantic weight had been lifted from them. No one said anything for a while. Hilary looked as if she were still trying to process the information given to her, Ray looked as if he were meditating, Tyson looked as if he had too much information crammed in his head, the smile that never seemed to leave Max's face faded, Daichi's head was tilted so far I thought it'd fall off his shoulders, and Tala and Kai were talking quietly to each other.

"Wow," was all Tyson finally uttered.

A/N: Short, sweet, and to the point. Originally I was going to add scenes after Tyson said "wow" but it felt forced and I couldn't get it out right so I left it here. The story of the four guardians is true, however, the story that Byakko split his soul is something I made up to fit the story. I hope it all makes sense, don't hesitate to message me if I need to clear things up. Peace.

~C.M.