Sorry for the long wait, my professor gave me a stack of books for the summer...
Anyway, enjoy the new chapter and reviews would be highly appreciated! Thanks to those who have been following!

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

~ Prophecy ~

The morning was quiet and the sky was barely lit. Kai, Lux, Tala, Spencer, Bryan, and Ian traverse carefully in the terrain of melting snow. Above them, dawn slowly paints the sky with a soft rosy glow. The stars, once brightly spread across the clear night sky begin to fade into the light of daybreak.

Kai looks around his environment a bit. The entire place was barren of plant life save for a few small, barely noticeable shrubs poking out through the fading snow and permafrost. Fauna was certainly not going to be a common sight here; the entire scenery looked empty and had it not been for the current celestial phenomenon, it would look very much close to dead. Nonetheless, he treads on east with the rest of his former teammates and Lux.

Soon the sun began to peak out from the eastern horizon. Almost in line with it, a gigantic wreck begins to come into view ahead. Beginning to feel the need to be more cautious, the group stops for a moment and takes a look around. Lux, who had been walking behind everyone else could not help but stare at the wrecked metal behemoth ahead of them. It was a familiar sight, despite its current state. Although the last time she had set eyes on it was about nine months ago, she could still remember a small portion of her life there. The memory of her time living inside of the facility causes her to freeze with fright.

"Well this is it" Ian indicates after it becomes clear that no one is there but them. "That wrecked thing over there is where the lab was."

Ian had gotten everyone to focus their eyes on the wreckage ahead. Kai, from the corner of his eye notices Lux's uneasiness at the sight of the thing. Seeing her expression made him slightly more nervous as well but beyond this feeling, he wanted to sooth her anxiety. However with Tala and the others around, Kai could not bring himself to open his mouth to say anything so he simply took her hand in his as a way to show her his support. The simple action, having stopped Lux from her thoughts, causes the girl to turn to him as the rest of the pack began to move forward.

"Let's go," Kai leads the girl to follow the rest, still holding her hand.

Tala, having noticed the actions of the two behind him moves on with the rest pretending as if he had not perceived anything. He had noticed Lux's expression as well and also had the urge to do something for her but he hesitated and chose not to do anything.

Approaching the fallen behemoth now, the group looks around. From up close, the place looks nothing less than completely ruined. All windows were broken and the infrastructure of the building appeared torn by some violent force. The many towers and turrets around the main bulk of the structure have fallen, their remnants scattered about nearby. A sickening smell of rotting flesh was occasionally apparent. Any normal person passing by would've taken a route as far from it as possible, but Kai, remembering Ventus's words steps up closer to the wrecked facility and is soon greeted by a voice.

"I'm glad you could make it."

All eyes turn to the owner of the voice. A young man with light blond hair holding a large sack of items stood at what appears to be an entrance or exit to the dead structure. Tala recognizes him instantly as the one who he had briefly met outside of Kai's mansion. Not knowing who he is, the Blitzkrieg Boys react with a glint of hostility in their eyes while Kai remains calm. Lux could not help but stare at the blond young man. She remembers him. He was the one who had led her away from the scary building where they had done things to her that hurt her.

"Ventus…" Kai began to approach him. "So why did you tell me to come here?"

"If you want to know, come with me." Ventus tells them, beginning to lead them southward. He then addresses the Blitzkrieg Boys, "Don't worry, I'm no enemy of yours."

...

Elsewhere at this time, a moderate sized bird soars across the sky over a sunlit dojo. Sounds of a hardworking practitioner of kendo are audible in the grounds on the dojo amidst the cheerful chirping of birds. The warmth of late spring adds to the place a certain air of laxness and order.

Inside, in a certain well lit bedroom, loud snoring erupts periodically from Tyson, who is still asleep in his pajamas despite the late hour. He turns over, voicing his desire for mango mousse briefly in his sleep. As he starts snoring again, an envelope flies into the room, and hits the navy haired sleepy head in the nose, causing him to wake up briefly. He looks around sleepily to find no one inside and promptly falls back asleep without noticing the envelope.

...

Kai, Lux, Tala, Bryan, Spencer, Ian and Ventus stop just at the edge of a large clearing. The group at had walked southward in silence from the ruined lab for quite a while now. They have left the semi frozen tundra and entered a coniferous forest. Though they have not gone too far, the scenery here is quite different. Whereas the area around the lab was mostly void of life, this area is populated by many shrubs and evergreen trees as well as an occasional forest creature.

"We're here" Ventus announces.

The group looks around.

"You're probably wondering why I brought all of you here." Ventus begins. All eyes fell on Ventus now as he began to explain. "My intention in bringing you all here is to prepare you all in your upcoming battle against the King."

"The King?" Tala repeats. He remembers hearing the phrase when he saw Ventus muttering something to himself outside Kai's mansion. His fellow teammates look at one another equally puzzled and even less familiar with the phrase.

Seeing this and the obvious need for further explanation, Ventus goes on.

"The girl who has been living with Kai," he begins, refocusing the group. "She is my cousin and she was forced to become a specimen of the lab we had just came here from. The one known as the King is not very different."

All members of the Russian Beyblading team, including Tala, now have their eyes set on Lux, making the silent girl slightly more nervous.

Ventus continues. "Experiment No. 7 and Experiment No. 101 were the numbers assigned to them respectively. As for the King's real name, it's Lok Asenna. He has been active since the Blitzkrieg Boys' incident at the laboratory grounds and Kai's meeting with Lux."

"Active doing what?" Tala questions.

"For example, laying ruin to the laboratory we had just walked here from." Ventus answers. "Kai and Lux experienced some of his other activities first hand as well."

"By any chance…does he have a wing sticking out of his head?" Ian asks.

Ventus replies with a nod. The Russian team to whom this is all new information is frozen by what they have just heard.

"What in the world did they do to him in there…?" Spencer reacts astounded by the information.

"I could tell you but I think that's something best left out for now." Ventus resumes, "The King, or Lok, from what I know of him, is completely insane at this point. His mind was warped since his time in the laboratory, mostly as a result of his rage and the changes to his body. Whereas the guys who ran the lab wanted a means for world domination, Lok is simply intent on its destruction."

"And how is he planning on doing that?" Kai inquires.

"Lux and Lok…both possess augmented souls; they are both Magnanimae."

Lux's grip on Kai hand tighten slightly, causing him to turn to her.

"And?" Tala urges him.

"A seer once prophesized that an age will come when seven Magnanimae will awaken all at once." Ventus continues, "She called these seven The King, the Sage, the Dragon, the Urchin, the Knight, the Witch and the Princess. In her vision, the seer foresaw a gathering of these Magnanimae at a place called the Temple of Ouroboros and the consequence of it as well as a way to avoid it."

"Consequence?"

"The union of the Magnanimae's souls allow one of two rituals to be performed and completed." Ventus explains. "One of them summons and restores all fragments of any spirit or soul to their original form. The other ritual however, will directly grant the wishes of one of the Magnanimae at the cost of all seven of their lives."

Ventus pauses to allow his audience to take in the information. Seeing as no one has any questions, he goes on. "The King, when he was a specimen in the laboratory made a deal with a rather dangerous bitspirit that was also a specimen of the lab. The goals of the two are in fact exactly the same, hence their partnership."

Kai remembers the bitbeast fragment in Lux's launcher now and Ozuma's story. It was beginning to all connect now.

"The King intends to restore the bitbeast Psyche to her original form. In her restored form, Psyche has the power to extend parts of herself to all other bitbeasts around the world from the Temple of Ouroboros. She only needs to feed on the soul of one Magnanimae to do this. In doing so, she will gain control of every bitbeast in the world and their powers. If she feeds on all seven of the Magnanimae…"

Kai holds Lux's hand in a protective grip now. Lux looks up at him and remembers her experiences with Kull and when she had been led to the warehouse.

"You said your intention in bringing us here was to prepare us for the battle against the King." Kai let's go of Lux's hand and steps forward from the back of the group.

Ventus nods. "In particular, Lux's innate abilities as a Magnanimae must be unlocked to succeed. It is my intention that all of you here will aid in accomplishing that goal. Her abilities will be an essential asset to that of your own if we are to succeed, Kai."

Kai looks to Lux. Her face shows an unmasked and honest display of uncertainty.

"If I unlock those abilities…" All eyes turn to her now. Lux looks up at Ventus. "Does this mean for sure that all this will be stopped…that I can go back to the way I had been living?"

There is a long silence.

Finally, Ventus breaks it. "There is no guarantee for anything in the future. Maybe by some twist of fate, Lok will regain his sanity and stop all this. However, the chances of that are slim. You can keep running away from this with Kai, but you will not be able to run forever."

Tala watches Lux, his expression showing his concern for her and his frustration with himself manifests in his clenched fist. He relaxes it however and gently makes his way to her. Kai sees this but does nothing to stop him; it would be best for Lux if Tala eventually got a chance to tell her about her past.

Tala puts his hand on her shoulder. "It's ok. If you do agree to do this, I don't know about Bryan, Spencer and Ian…but I know at least I will support you through it… and I'm sure Kai would too."

Lux looks to Kai and he nods at Tala's words. She looks around more and seeing the support she is getting, she makes her decision.

...

The quiet residential neighborhood glow with a golden hue as the sun is descending from its perch in the sky. The place was quiet, especially in a certain room in a certain dojo. Tyson, now fully dressed reads the letter he found in his bedroom, his eyes showing a serious attitude in regard to the contents of the note. His door is slammed open, though not harshly, but with a serious force. He turns to see an equally serious Ray, Max, Daichi, Hilary and Kenny. In each of their hands is a note identical to the one he received.

The notes read:

"Member of the Bladebreakers, by the time you have received this, Kai and Lux will no longer be in the country. I have enclosed an airline ticket as well as some relevant information you may want to know."

...

Assembled under the same twilight, a one winged being stands tall over his two remaining subjects.

"Have you finished making arrangements for me to travel to Russia?" Lok asks the two before him.

"Yes, I have." Zane replies. "We depart tomorrow at noon."