Sorry that I've been busy and can't update semi-weekly like I usually do. Anyways, thanks for the support. Enjoy!

CHAPTER TWENTY

~ A Folklore Told ~

The dazzling radiance from the sun is eclipsed momentarily as a cloud floats in front of it, obscuring it from view and then revealing it again. A small winged creature soars through the air and over a residential district in the city. Amidst a great many houses in this area lies a fair sized dojo. Eleven of twelve youths sit in a circle inside this dojo. The last one, a two tone blue haired boy, leans against a nearby wall as the others converse.

"So what have you guys been up to?" Tyson asks. "We haven't seen you guys in like two years."

"We've been doing ok," Ozuma replies. "After that tournament, we went back home and told our elders what happened. They were glad but…"

"But what?" asks Hilary.

"It seems a very important item was stolen some ten years ago or so." Ozuma continues. "Our elders only found out while we were out trying to take your bitbeasts."

"Whoever took it did a pretty good job cleaning up their mess, too." Joseph adds.

"That's why we didn't notice it was gone all these years." Dunga explains.

"What kind of item is it?" Max asks, a little curious as to what that item might be.

"It's a small gemstone." Ozuma replies.

"Is it important?" asks Hilary.

"Very." He replies. "Our ancestors sealed an evil bitbeast into it a long time ago."

"An evil bitbeast!" exclaims several voices.

"Yeah but you guys don't have to worry about it, we're the ones responsible for getting it back." Joseph tells them. Then he turns to Daichi and Lux. "By the way, who are the new faces?"

"Oh that's right, you guys haven't met before." Tyson realizes. "That's Daichi and Lux. Daichi was my partner in last year's world championships and Lux…well…Kai saved her from some freak a while ago. She's been our friend ever since."

"I see," Ozuma turns to Daichi and then to Lux. "Nice to meet you two. I'm Ozuma and these guys next to me are my teammates – Mariam, Joseph and Dunga."

"Hello." Lux says in a soft voice.

"Hey," Daichi greets through a mouthful of chips. His muffled greeting caught Tyson's attention.

"Daichi! So that's why you've been so quiet," Tyson tries to take the bag of chips from him. "You're eating my snacks again!"

"It's not like it has your name on it, Tyson!" Daichi retorts, scrambling away from Tyson and heading outside.

"Hey, get back here!" Tyson yells after the small boy as he starts to run after him. "Daichi!"

As the two of them disappear off, the remaining ten turn back to each other.

"So about that gemstone that got stolen," Ray starts. "How are you guys doing with finding it?"

"No luck so far." Ozuma answers him. "We haven't found any traces of it yet."

"Actually we're not even sure if it's a gemstone we're looking for." Joseph tells him.

"Why's that?" asks Max.

"You see, since it was stolen like ten years ago, chances are whoever stole it already extracted the bitbeast from it." Mariam explains. "Of course, we hope that's not the case."

"I see," Max says. "Well, maybe you guys can tell us what that bitbeast is like and we can help keep an eye out for it."

"Sure, I don't see why not." Ozuma replies. "It's a pretty special bitbeast though."

"What do you mean by special?" Kenny inquires.

"Legend has it that it used to be human." Joseph tells him.

"It used to be human!" Ray responds, shocked.

"Well, the story goes like this…" Ozuma starts. "Long ago, there was once an accomplished philosopher in the western lands by the name Cupidon who was young and had a passion. He wanted to uncover the secrets of the human soul and so began to study it. When his twin brother, Cupide found out and offered to help him, he accepted the help, not knowing that Cupide really only wants to do it so he can claim the credit for himself."

"Then what?" Hilary urges on.

"One night, Cupide accidentally extracted the soul of a young woman by the name Lenore while experimenting without his brother's permission." Ozuma continues. "Turns out, the young woman was actually Cupidon's lover and when Cupidon found out about what happened, it was too late to reverse the process."

"That's terrible." Ray comments.

"After that, Cupidon never returned to his studies again. He felt that he was responsible for what happened to Lenore and left his studies to wander the world. It's said that sometime later, he met a strange raven and turned insane after talking to it."

"But what does the bitbeast you guys are looking for have to do with this story?" Kenny asks.

"Well the bitbeast is Lenore." Mariam replies.

"You see, when she found out that she could no longer return to her body and be a normal human being, she began to hate Cupide for what he did to her." Ozuma further explains. "But it didn't stop there. Overtime, she grew lonely wandering by herself and in her loneliness she began to hate everything. Using this hatred as power, she changed herself into a bitbeast and took on a new name. Under that name, she tried to wreck havoc upon the world. That's when someone came to our clan to ask our ancestors to stop her."

"There's one thing about this bitbeast that no other bitbeast has, too." Joseph adds.

"It has no attack power whatsoever but it also cannot be destroyed or defeated." Mariam says.

"The only way to stop it is to seal it but you can't even do that unless you weaken it with the help of a pair of special bitbeasts." Dunga says.

Kai gets off the wall he was leaning on and comes closer to the rest.

"Ozuma," Kai calls to him. "What was this bitbeast's new name?"

Ozuma turns to him.

"Psyche." He answered.

Upon hearing this, Lux reacts with a start.

"Kull…"

The others turn to her.

"She said…Lady Psyche…" Lux tells them.

...

Elsewhere, a small boy with iridescent glowing eyes in a dark cloak sits on the branch of a dense tree. Gentle rays peek through the green leaves of the tree at this young boy but he shows no care for it. Instead he continues to observe a mansion directly up ahead, as if looking for something or someone. His concentration was so intense, it would seem nothing could disturb it. A young man with light blond hair and blue eyes clad in a sleeveless, black, leather coat treads along the path towards the mansion, catching the youth's attention.

"You might as well come out," the young man tells the small boy. "They're not inside."

Almost silently save for a small rustling of the leaves, the small boy emerges from the tree and lands on his feet. He takes a few steps closer to the young man but stops some ways from him.

"You know, Ventus," the small boy says, slightly amused. "You really are good…"

"…for a failure?" Ventus finishes for him.

"You finished my line for me."

"I did." Ventus goes on. "But I wonder, who really is the failure?"

"What do you mean?" The small boy narrows his eyes.

"I guess your response answers my question."

Ventus begins to walk pass the small boy. He is stopped when the boy stands in front of him to stop him from approaching the mansion further.

"Ventus," the small boy growls. "Tell me what you're doing here. I know you can't be on a job."

"I'm not if you mean from Bizmark." Ventus replies. He ignores the boy and tries to walk pass him again, but is stopped again.

"Answer me, Ventus."

"If I don't?"

"You don't have a choice." the boy states, taking out a white launcher loaded with a blade and pointing it at Ventus. On the launcher reads the word, "Extend".

"So you think just because you are a Magnanima, you are above all others…" Ventus muses. "You amuse me, do you know that?"

"How dare you speak that way to me, you-" the small boy is cut off.

"That's enough, Sparky." a voice calls to him.

"Zane!" the small boy called Sparky searches his surroundings for the owner of the voice. His eyes eventually land on a cloaked figure some ways from the two.

"Don't mess with him." Zane tells him.

"But why?" Sparky turns back to Ventus. "He's only an ordinary human anyways."

"Don't do it." Zane says again.

"Fine." Sparky lowers his launcher. "But you better tell me why afterwards and the reason better be a good one."

Zane nods and turns, gesturing to Sparky that they should go.

"You got lucky this time, Ventus." Sparky growls at the light blond haired youth before leaving with the one called Zane.

Ventus watches as the two disappears from view. He then takes off the contact lenses he wore and cleans them gently before reapplying them to his blueish, iridescently glowing eyes. He walks up to the mansion and stops at the mailbox, slipping in a small envelope before turning to go.

"We, the Magnanimae are only human in the end."