CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

~ In the Night ~

The stars glitter across the sky over a sleeping land. The soft chorus of the crickets sounds quietly in the night on the grounds of the Alfhild's estate. In this serene scenery, a lone figure with ice-blue hair floats in midair outside a large window in the dim starlight. His eyes are fixated on the sleeping golden haired girl inside.

Wyvynn has been watching the girl and her friends for the whole day almost unnoticed by them except for the incident where his stomach almost gave him away. Although his orders were to keep track of the group, it was obvious that he should take the girl with him back to Lok. He watches as the girl turns over in her sleep, now facing him. If he wanted to bring her back, now would be the perfect chance while everyone is asleep. However, he could not bring himself to do it. Having seen the girl and her friends interact, he had to admit it, it looked like fun. Lok had told him before that there was no way that any of them would ever live out a normal life happily ever again because they were now inherently different from everyone else. Specifically, Lok had promised him that the only way for the six of them to find happiness would be to recreate the world for themselves.

'But what about this girl?' Wyvynn questions in his mind.

Surely the girl before him isn't special amongst the six of them. She underwent the same experimental procedures as he did, yet those around her don't hate or ridicule her for it. They all seem to get along fine.

'Do they even know that she's different from them?' Wyvynn wonders.

He is certain that Ventus knows that she's different, but the two of them are blood relatives. He then recalls what he saw just earlier in the day before. Kai had seen the scar on her back but he chose to cover it up so that she wouldn't see it.

'Did he know how she would react if she saw it?' Wyvynn wonders as he continues to watch her sleep. He then looks at his own scars on the side of his wrists. Their scars weren't the ugliest thing in the world but it was still not too pleasing to the eye. 'Kai could have been covering it up just because he didn't want to see it…'

While that could be, there was another contradiction. Each of the Magnanimae had a very distinct feature: they all have an iridescent glow in their eyes that manifested when they were forced to awaken in the lab. There was no way any of them could have missed that.

Wyvynn moves closer and places a hand on the glass. As he does, the force of his hand causes the window to open slightly, causing a loud, screeching creak to become audible.

'Crap…' Wyvynn curses in his mind as he flips his body behind the wall in midair to avoid being seen by the pair of iridescent, heterochromatic eyes that fluttered open.

Lux rubbed her eyes a little and sat up. Looking around, she saw that her window was opened slightly but no one was in the room. Unsuspectingly, she lays back down on the bed and closes her eyes.

'That was close…' Wyvynn sighs mentally as he peaks back in.

A while passes but Lux has only been tossing and turning in bed. She pulls the sheets over her head but begins to find it stuffy that way. Annoyed, she throws them off and sits up. Afraid that he'd be caught by her, Wyvynn hides again from her view.

Lux looks around for the time. A nearby clock reads two thirty. There was still much time before the sun even rises. Deciding that a walk might help her fall back asleep, she finds a shawl and wraps it around her upper body and leaves the room.

...

At the small amphitheater, an obstacle ridden course made primarily from stones is traversed carefully by a silver beyblade. A tall red haired Russian youth stands at the edge of the center of the amphitheater. He watches as his beyblade travels skillfully through the course he had set up but grunts when his blade trips at a rather difficult part of the course. Picking up his blade, he attaches it to his launcher and tries again. This time, his beyblade successfully makes it through the miniature stone maze and arrives at the center where a pile of rocks sit waiting to be attacked. Now was the perfect time to perfect his new attack move from his current Snow Meteor attack.

"Ice Vortex Breaker!" Tala calls to his Wolborg.

Cold air waves begins to spiral inwards, concentrating on Wolborg, eventually forming a sharp, spiking armor of ice around it. Icy particles, condensed in the air nearby, continue to swirl around it like a vortex as Wolborg appears and leads the blade to the pile of rocks. The spiking armored blade smashes into the rocks, breaking both the armor and the pile into rubble. As the rubble falls nicely around the still spinning blade, the sparkling icy air subsides.

Satisfied with his new performance, Tala holds up his hand and catches his blade as it returns to him.

"Pretty…" a voice not so far away compliments him.

Tala turns to see Lux standing on the edge of the amphitheater, her hands holding the ends of the shawl wrapped around her. The sight of her causes his mood to change completely as he remembers what Kai had told him back in Russia. He walks out of the amphitheater past her and would have left but is stopped by her voice.

"Tala?" Lux calls to him softly as she turns to him. "Do you…dislike me?"

"Why do you ask that?" he asks her. He had certainly not intended to leave this impression on her.

"You walk away from me…a lot" she points out, her eyes staring at his back.

"That's not it…" Tala tells her.

The two of them stay silent and Lux removes her eyes from him. Wyvynn listens from behind a tree, his back leaning on it. He wonders if maybe Lok was right afterall.

Tala then speaks again, "I…knew you. The past you, I mean."

A moment passes quietly.

"The past…me?"

"Yeah…the you from before you lost your memory." Tala turns to face her. "Listen…"

Wyvynn turns and peaks out from the tree at the two of them.

"I'm the reason you lost your memory," Tala admits to her. "It was me who sold you out."

Wyvynn, now fully interested in this, leans in closer to listen better.

"This was some years ago, back when I was still living with my father in Russia." Tala begins his tale. "Back then, we were poor. My mother left us and I was forced to steal for a living since my father was drunk all the time. One day, you and your family came to our town to do some charity work…"

"My family?" Lux disrupts him, stepping a little closer to him. "My mother and my father? And Ventus?"

"I think it was just your parents." Tala answers her. "Anyway-"

"Sorry." Lux apologizes, cutting him off again.

"Huh?" Tala reacts, confused. "What are you apologizing for?"

"I interrupted you." Lux answers shyly. "Hilary and Kenny told me it's rude to do that…and that being rude is bad…"

"Uh…no problem." Tala continues, "Anyway I was there that day and that was when I first met you…"

Tala pauses as the memory of his first meeting with her fills his mind. He remembers the young girl's affectionate interactions with her parents and the way she had attempted despite her small size to help pass out soup to the poor.

"I was envious of you." Tala mouths unintentionally.

"Envious…?" Lux repeats, her curious eyes staring at his. "What does that mean?"

"Uh…" Tala turns away, his eyes searching for words to define the word he just used. "It means…kinda like when you see someone who has something that you don't have…and you wish you had it…I guess…"

"Did I have something that you wish you had?" Lux asks simply.

Tala keeps his gaze to the side.

"Yeah…a warm family, sufficient food for dinner…"

Upon hearing that, Lux casts her eyes downwards.

"I secretly followed you that day." Tala goes on. "I knew you and your parents had money and I thought…maybe if I asked for it, you'd give me some. If it came to it, I was gonna steal…"

"Steal…?" Lux repeats. She then glares at him, backing away a step. "Tyson said that's a bad thing to do."

"Well I know that!" Tala snaps. "But it was either that or I get a nice beating before I starve to death. Your family's bodyguards caught me that day anyway."

"Oh." She relaxes. "And then?"

"Well I went back to try again at night."

Lux backs away again, giving him the same look as before.

"Don't give me that look." Tala responds. "If it makes you any happier I don't steal anymore."

Tala's expression then became more serious.

"Your bodyguards…they were dead when I got there and there were some strange men outside the building you were staying in." Tala continues, "I heard some screams from the inside too. I was confused what was going on so I just stood and watched from the side of the building. Then out of the blue, you fell on me and asked me for help. I think you jumped or fell out the second floor window."

Lux blinked at him and then looked downwards.

"I'm sorry…" she apologizes. "…for falling on you…"

"Don't be." Tala resumes his story. "As a result of that though, the guys in the front of the building heard you and we both had to run. We got away clean but you were without a place to stay so I took you to an abandoned building at the outskirts of town. Those guys stayed in town but luckily they didn't see my face that night so I was able to bring you food regularly."

Lux timidly looks up at him. "Thank you."

"What for?" Tala turns to her.

"You took care of me…" she replies. "like Kai is doing now…right?"

"Uh…yeah…I guess." Tala turns away again. He thinks for a moment about telling her that the food he brought her was stolen but decides against it.

"Although…" Tala continues, "You kind of shouldn't thank me…"

"Why not?"

"About three weeks later, we…sort of…had a fight." Tala keeps his gaze away.

"A fight…?" Lux repeats, her eyes asking him for more information. "What…was it…about?"

"It doesn't matter now." Tala tells her. "The point is, I got really mad and I did something stupid…something I really shouldn't have done."

Lux blinks and waits for him to finish.

"I made a deal with those guys…the ones who were after you." Tala's eyes now shows a hint of regret mixed with shame. "If they gave me enough money to buy food for a month, I'd tell them where you were hiding."

"Hm…" Lux looks downwards with disappointment.

"They agreed…and I led them to you." Tala's hands form a fist now. "But it was a lie! After I brought them to you, they just beat me up and left with you. That's when I sorely regretted what I did…I'm sorry."

Lux looks up at him now.

"I had no idea what they were going to do to you…" Tala finishes, keeping his face down.

Lux steps up closer to him now.

"You feel bad still…because you did that?"

"Of course I still feel bad!" Tala exclaims. "How can I not after I did something so awful! I didn't even realize the full extent of what I had done until I learned of that lab…"

Silence ensued.

"I do not…remember…" Lux tells him, breaking the silence.

"Even if you don't remember it!" Tala insists.

"Hm…" Lux stares downwards at the ground.

"What?"

"Cause and effect…" Lux says.

"Huh?" Tala looks at her puzzled.

"Hilary taught me. If you do something…something else will happen."

Tala blinks as he stares at her, still confused.

"You did that…and now I am here." Lux turns from him. "But I don't think all is bad now."

"What do you mean?" Tala asks her.

"If you had not done that…maybe I would not have met everyone."

"I guess not…"

"I don't like…not remembering…and I don't like…that scary place…" Lux looks up at the stars for a moment. "But I'm glad I met Kai and the others…I had fun…I have things to remember now…and Kai…"

"Are you trying to say you forgive me?" Tala asks, trying to piece together what she is trying to say.

"Forgive…yes. That word is the one." She stop gazing at the sky and nods. She then turns to him and smiles. "I forgive."

"Well I'm glad you do." Tala tells her. He had expected her to react differently to all this. "It has been weighing me down for a while…"

Wyvynn turns back around and leans back against the tree. He then comments to himself in a whisper, "Wow it must feel nice to be complete airhead. If that was me, I'd have beat the crap out of whoever put me in that hellhole."

'But then again…what's so wrong about this?' Wyvynn asks in his mind, recalling some of his more gruesome experiences in that place. 'She doesn't remember any of it…and she seems happy with these people…is anything wrong with that?'

He then takes another peak at them.

"You should go back inside and get to bed." Tala tells Lux. "It's going to get even cooler in a little bit out here. No one will be happy if you get sick."

"Ok…" Lux turns to go.

"By the way…" Tala starts after she has taken a few steps.

Lux turns back to him.

"How's your eye been?" Tala asks her.

"My eye...?" Lux repeats.

"When we met before…you told me you had a problem with one eye. Something about a genetic disease."

Lux then holds out one hand in front of her and looks at it, blinking several times.

"Eyes are for seeing…I can see…" she says.

"Well…then nevermind." Tala wonders if maybe they fixed her vision at the lab. "Go to bed. I'll see you at breakfast."

Lux nods and leaves.

From behind the tree, Wyvynn gets ready to follow her but is stopped by a vibration in his pocket. He takes a few steps deeper into the grove of trees in the landscape garden and pulls out his phone.

"Yes?" Wyvynn greets his caller.

"It's me, Zane." the voice on the other end says. "Report back. These are Lok's orders."

"Yes." Wyvynn replies.

'Well…this is it.' Wyvynn comments mentally. 'What am I going to tell them…'

...

Lux enters her room and puts down the shawl on a nearby table. Although she hasn't remembered a thing about her past, at least she was able to learn about a small part of it through Tala. She makes her way to her bed and climbs in, drifting off to sleep soon after.

...

In another part of the building, soft, steady footsteps sound as Kai treads on the carpet covered floor of a brightly lit hallway. It would seem he, too, had been up for a stroll. Although he had not slept the night before, he had only been able to sleep for about four hours before waking up again. Unable to fall back asleep, he decided to walk around with no particular destination in mind.

By now, Kai had gotten over his initial reaction to the information that Ventus had gave him. He had to admit, he is still appalled by what he had learned. The knowledge of some of Lux's body's enhancements had even made him feel just a little as if she was otherworldly. However, having been through the day with her made that feeling disappear completely.

Kai stops and gazes out a window of the hallway. Although mostly still dark outside, it was starting to light up just a little. He recalls the last few times he had seen the sky like this. Other than the night before, the most recent times were because he had been looking for a kidnapped girl or caring for her after he had found her. Then, Lok, the one who kidnapped and assaulted her popped into his mind. He had never even met the guy directly. According to Ventus, he had lost his sanity sometime when they were still carrying out experiments on him.

'What will he do next?' Kai wonders. "Whatever he has in mind, he needs Lux for it…"

Kai removes his eyes from the outside and continues down the hallway. Taking a turn, he eventually realizes he has wandered to the wing where Lux is staying. Glancing around the empty hallway, he notices her bedroom door is left ajar. Finding it peculiar and somewhat suspicious, he moves closer and takes a quick peak into her room.

Inside, the girl sleeps peacefully in the dim light of the morning twilight. Her body is partially covered by the bed sheets and facing towards the window. It would seem she had simply forgotten to close her door fully. Relieved, Kai slips inside and gently closes the door before approaching her in silent steps. Having made his way to her bedside on the window's side, he stands and watches her for a while, allowing her tranquil features to capture his eyes. Bending over the bed slightly, he gently strokes her hair with one hand, careful not to wake her. This was certainly not the first time he had seen her sleep, but his eyes enjoyed the sight nonetheless.

Then, without realizing it, his eyes rests on her slightly parted lips. Soft and moist, they appear to be strangely enticing under the rosy glow of dawn. He begins to lean in closer, his desire to taste them and the apparent lack of witnesses getting the better of him.

However, when their faces are only a few inches apart, he stops.

'What in the hell am I doing…?' He asks in his mind. 'I don't even know what she thinks of me…'

At that moment, as if sensing his proximity, Lux's eyes flutter open. Seeing this, Kai pulls back completely from her as she slowly sits up and begins rubbing her eyes.

"Kai…?" she greets him, "Good…morning…"

"Uh…morning." Kai returns, looking away to hide his slightly flushed expression.

"What were you doing?" she asks innocently, her eyes still a little teary from sleep.

"What indeed…" There was no way he was going to tell her what it was he was really about to do. Not knowing what to say to her next and still slightly embarrassed by the fact that she had caught him like that, he leaves the room and closes the door behind him, leaving the girl staring after him confused.