CHAPTER FOURTEEN
~ Remnants of Bliss ~
A winged creature soars across the vast azure above as two voices quarreling loudly are then joined by a third. A black haired boy with golden eyes and a blond one with blue eyes watches three youths around their own age bicker as a smaller brown haired boy sits near them on a wooden porch-like structure typing away furiously on his laptop. The breeze came by and carried the sound of chirping birds with it as a two toned haired boy and a golden haired girl approaches the six.
"Hey Kai, Hey Lux," Ray greets them.
"Hello," Lux greets back while Kai leaned back on a wooden pillar of the dojo nearby.
"Oh, hey guys!" Kenny greets greets them. "Did you and Kai get my message last night?"
Lux nods with a smile.
"Well…here's what Judy found out," Kenny says, getting back into his usual tone, as he flips his laptop around for the others to see. "That bitbeast fragment, based on its DNA was originally from a butterfly-like bitbeast. What's unusual about this bitbeast is that unlike the ones we're used to this one is corporeal and it's able to live even after it is cut up into pieces. Judy also found out that it doesn't have any offensive power but it does have a special ability though Judy hasn't been able to determine the exact nature of this special ability yet."
"I wonder what kind of special ability it has…" Tyson wonders out loud.
"Well," Dizzi chimes in. "That's what we don't know yet."
"But if that's the case, then what was it that made the crater in the ground?" asks Max.
"And beat Tyson in one hit!" adds Daichi.
"We don't have that information yet." Kenny says. "Though like I said before, that could have something to do with the strange readings we got during the match."
"Then why don't we put the fragment back into Lux's launcher and get some more data?" Tyson suggests.
"Uh…Tyson, that's not a good idea." Hilary answers him.
"Why not?" he asks loudly.
"She made a huge crater and completely defeated you in one hit last time." Ray reasons. "Who knows what might happen if we put the fragment back in and tell her to use it a second time."
"I guess you're right…" Tyson says softly, agreeing with him.
Lux takes out a flat, translucent case with an unlabeled disk in it and holds it out. "I got this yesterday."
Kenny takes the disk curiously and asks, "What's in it?"
"I don't know…"
"Well then, let's see." He pops the disk into his laptop. A window popped up on the screen and two items were present in it. One of them was a folder while the other was a text file. Kenny opened the text file and read aloud the contents.
"Dear Lux,
Please see the contents of the folder.
-Someone"
"What's this all about?" Tyson mouthed.
Kenny then opened the folder.
"That's a lot of pictures…" Max remarks as Kai gets off the wooden pillar and comes closer to see the pictures.
The pictures featured mostly a young golden haired girl with heterochromatic eyes of pink and blue. Most of them contained at least one other person or a pet. Some appeared to be family photos while others featured her with a pet or with a boy with light blond hair.
"Hey Lux, the girl in these pictures kind of look like you." Daichi comments.
"These photos seem to be sorted by date." Kenny points out.
"Hey guys, look at that couple that's in all the family photos. They have the same golden hair as the little girl." Ray points out, "I think they might be her parents."
"Is that a mansion in that one?" Hilary asks, pointing to one of them.
"Hey who's the guy with the light blond hair?" asks Tyson.
"Maybe her older brother?" suggests Daichi.
"Then why's he not in any of the earlier pictures?" Max asks.
"You're right…"
"Maybe a friend?"
"Or her boyfriend?"
"No way, she's too young! At least in these pictures…"
"Could be a next door neighbor…"
"I know! It's her butler!"
"Daichi, he's not even dressed like one…"
Kai turns from the photos to Lux. The girl seems unable to take her eyes off the pictures and the slight iridescent glow in her eyes seems to have almost diminished. It was clear she was deep in a trance of thoughts.
"Lux," he calls her softly. "Do you recognize any of this?"
Lux snaps from the pictures and turns to Kai. The slight glow that was normally present in her eyes returned.
"No, not at all..." she turns back to the pictures while Kai continues to watch her.
...
In a place where light was not so abundant, a large, black wing lined with scales spread and glides down to the center of four lounging, cloaked figures. A pair of feet protected by boots of metal plates soundlessly makes contact with the gray cement. The four figures clad in black cloaks turn to acquiesce the presence of the one winged creature before returning to their individual activities. Sounds from a hand held gaming device and constant spamming of buttons echoed and is accompanied by the occasional turning of pages. A yawn sounds from a corner of the dark, spacious place.
"I'm bored…" sounds a voice from the same corner as the yawn.
"Yeah, so?" sounds another voice from the same direction as the source of the occasional turning of pages.
"I want some action…" whines the voice from that complained of boredom.
"You'll get it when the time comes." A voice from the corner silent so far assures.
"Quiet, I'm trying to concentrate!" yells a voice from the corner where the button spamming and gaming sounds originate.
"I wonder if she'll come…" the childish voice of the whiner wonders out loud. "We would make best friends for sure!"
"Maybe she will…" the voice from the magazine reader answers. "…or maybe she won't"
"I hope she does…" the childish whiner says. "...if she doesn't, I'll have to hurt the sweet, pretty thing."