CHAPTER NINE

~ Prelude of a Coming Storm ~

Yellows, oranges, reds, pinks and purples took over from the infinite azure as the shining, golden orb starts to sink lower and lower in the sky. The sub's nocturnal silver twin was rising from the east and the clouds greeted her readily. A gentle breeze brushed through the trees and carried with them a gentle tune sang by a soft voice. The fading golden light of dusk stretches the shadows of two figures. A boy with two toned blue hair and a golden haired girl with iridescent, heterochromatic eyes walk casually together towards a mansion up ahead.

Two weeks have passed since the last attack by the cloaked man. Things have grown quiet again as they wait for Max's mother, Judy to finish her analysis of the bitbeast fragment. However, the past week has certainly not been uneventful. A family of stray cats and a stray puppy had made their home in Kai's mansion, all of which are directly under Lux's care. Kai could not help but notice that the way stray animals loved her almost seemed like something that popped out of a fairytale. He had observed, during the past two weeks, that the birds would gather to hear her sing in his garden and they would perch on her hand when she allowed them to do so. As for the family of cats and the dog that had moved in with them, every night they would fight over who gets to sleep on her bed. Luckily the bed was decently sized so usually all five spending the night with her anyway. Lux, sweet and kind at heart, returned their love for her as best she could. Everyday, for about three hours or more, she would play in the garden with them and she would bring as much food as she can carry from the kitchen to give to them.

In addition to her animal friends, she had also made sure to spend time with her new found human friends, Tyson, Max, Ray, Daichi, Hilary, Kenny, and last but not least, Kai. When she was with Tyson, Daichi, and Max she would often practice her blading, which she can now remember afterwards. This was apparently due to the removal of the bitbeast fragment in her launcher which led each of them to sway even more to the possibility the cryptic fragment was behind the strange phenomenon that occurred during her initial battle with Tyson. Kai observed that her talent for the sport could perhaps be compared to that of a beyblade genius he had encountered before and it was not unusual to see her hold her ground against any of the three for a little while. He wondered if her talent was natural or if it had to do with her unknown past. Sometimes he even wanted to battle her himself but instead he merely watched her.

Though she did not beyblade with Ray as often as she did with the other three, she spends one hour with him each day to learn how to cook. Her interest in the culinary arts had apparently started when she had tried one of the pastries Ray made and was so in love with the taste, she wanted to learn how to make it. Her attempts initially prompted much supervision on her mentor's end due to her lack of knowledge of danger associated with many kitchen utensils but she soon learned better and was able to practice on her own. She also began cooking for Kai every night to practice her new skills. Kai had to admit that she was getting good at it too, and fast. When he asked her why she likes to cook so much, she answered cheerfully, but with much effort in wording, that she was scared she might loose her memory again one day but that if she does, she wants these skills, whether in beyblading or in cooking, to remain with her as a token of her friendship with each of them.

Lux's interest in the way beyblades worked and with how Dizzi worked led to a mutual friendship with Kenny. She eventually grew interested in the physical sciences as well, particularly physics. Although her mathematical skills were initially terrible, she soon improved at an incredible pace. Surprisingly, she also seemed familiar with a vast number of programming languages despite her barely-above-basic ability to speak a human language. Ray theorized that this is a possible result of her past.

The obvious fact that Lux had limited vocabulary and her ignorance of everyday customs made Hilary sympathize with her and take it upon herself to help educate her. Both being girls, they also often went shopping together whenever when they weren't hanging out with Tyson and his friends. Since Kai had to pay for the things Lux wants to buy, he usually ends up tagging quietly behind. Lux often looked very cute in the clothes she and Hilary picked out and that in turn would usually make Kai look the other way so that the two would not see him blush. Luckily for Kai, as the two were usually occupied commenting each other or picking out more clothes, they have not noticed…yet.

Kai had been enjoying the soft tune as he walked toward his home. He soon arrives at the front gates and he opens his mailbox to check for new mail. The mailbox mostly contained the usual mail delivered by the mailman. Then, he found something that caught his eye. Amongst the envelopes of mail inside was one that was not stamped and did not seem to have been delivered by the postal service at all. It also lacked a return address and all that was written on the envelope was the words,

"To Kai"

Kai ignores the other envelopes and opens the mysterious one, careful not to set anything off if it contained anything hazardous and was relieved when there wasn't. The envelope was relatively light and contained only a small slip of paper which appeared to be a note. It read,

"Kai, we'll be waiting for a chance to take Lux back. If that chance does not come, then we will confront you for her.

-No one."

Kai stares at the note for a while, causing Lux to stop her singing. He could not help but notice that the handwriting on the note seems like it belonged to a five year old who just learned to write for the first time. The words were also slanted in an awkward way. He examines the note a bit longer. The sender seems confident he would care and would oppose the idea.

'How can they be so sure that I'd care?' Kai asks in his mind. The sender was correct though, he does not want to hand Lux to them. The very thought of her getting hurt provoked a strange fear in him. He then wonders why they are even sending the note to him. In the end, he concludes, 'These wiseguys must be either cocky or dumb.'

"Kai?" a soft voice calls to him, breaking his train of thought.

Kai turns to Lux who was looking at him curiously, wondering what he was thinking of. She then turns to the note and reads it, worry filling her countenance as she does.

"What's wrong?" Kai asks her.

"I don't want to go with them…I don't want to say goodbye to you guys…" she answers honestly.

Kai assures her, "You won't have to."

She looks up, still a little unsure. "Really?"

"Unless you want to go with them," Kai turns from her as he replies and heads inside.

Lux, feeling more assured, follows after him, unaware of the three pairs of eyes that watched them from a nearby tree. As the two disappeared inside, clouds started to gather above.