Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Good evening ❯ The colector of beauty ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The story begins... what more of a summary could I give for this one chapter? By the way, I forgot to say, as you all know, I don't own Rei or Kai or any thing else beyblade, just this story that only exists to make me happy ^^;

Anime/Manga: Beyblade Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Shounen / Romance / Fantasy / Drama / Suspense | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.21.2006 | Updated On: 06.10.2006 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.5K | Visits: 530 | Status: Work In Progress

Hey all, Authoress here, And I'm sorry if the grammar and stuffs in this story are a little messed up or if the descriptions are too long or too short… Comments on this story would probably force me to help these problems that readers and readers alone can see… (and if you think up a better name than basic file name given to me by Microsoft word, please I would love to know) ^-^; I'm a little new at fanfics because I hate them with a passion, or so I love to say and try to convince myself (as you see, that is obviously not true…). Erm…. I'm sorry that this story is a little short thus far, I'm working on it right now when we have people over and thus I have really no time right now… anyway, please R & R because it helps… and I truly hope that you enjoy the first bit of this fic ^^ (And I'm sorry for the lack of name usage here too… T_T)

Edit: I did manage to fix the errors that I've been wanting to fix (though there are probably more around…) and I've re-worded some stuffs so that it sounds better.

“Good Evening,” Rei said for the hundredth time that evening, a forced smile was set firmly on his creamy face as he walked across the large ballroom for the door. He paid little attention to the usual light blue and pink streamers hanging from the marble dome ceiling, the tall marble statues only in place for an event, the scent of different foods as they were brought out… and the constant sound of voices echoing throughout the room, reverberating off of the walls only to grow ten times louder. He hated these parties that his parents threw; he supposed he would not mind them so much if he weren't forced each time to come and mingle with the guests for at least an hour or two. Despite his usual social personality, he would rather hide out in his room all night and wait for the people to leave. It would be better if there weren't so many women there trying to get his attention, only to marry him and finally achieve every girl's dream of being royalty.

The large oak door shut hard behind him, filling the long passageway with sound for only a few moments. He took a deep breath of the somewhat cool air, it being much cooler than the air in the other room. `My absence won't be noticed among so many people,' he thought as he walked. He could already here his father yelling at him, something along the lines “Rei, why weren't you down there with the guests? You know what I've told you, any good royalty wouldn't leave his guests alone and go off on his own accord!” he didn't really care though, they weren't his guests after all.

Soon he was at the base of a marble spiral staircase. He paused and looked up. An unexplained shiver ran down his spine as he peered into the darkness above him. He shook his head to brush off the uneasy feeling and started up the stairs.

When he reached the top, he found a wooden door. It swung open easily to revile a large room made of marble like the rest of the castle. In one corner stood a large four-post bed hidden by dark purple curtains. Beside it was a dresser of an unknown wood type covered in small odds and ends. The rest of the room was furnished as one would expect the rooms of royalty to be, with bright and expensive cloth, deep red carpeting, hand crafted art and other expensive furniture.

The room was cold, which caused Rei to shiver slightly. Golden eyes scanned the room until they landed on the open glass door that lead to the balcony. “Huh…” he thought aloud, “the window's open…” he crossed the room, his feet making no sound as he went. He walked out onto the large balcony and looked out at the lush green vastness that reminded him of a labyrinth more than a garden. Red brick peeked out along the walls that now were covered over in creeping ivy of sorts and overgrown bushes. Flowers were scattered randomly along side the walls and in the very center where the narrow passages converged. The garden had once been more beautiful than this, but it had fallen into disrepair when the head gardener had left the palace. Nobody ever visited the plants that ran amuck anymore, none but him. He didn't care how ugly the garden looked to everyone else because it was heaven to him.

He turned and entered his room once more, being sure to close the door behind him. His eyes flicked around until they landed on a golden box peeking out from under the bed. He strode over to it, and lifted it to the bed. He removed the lid quickly and pulled out the silky soft white Chinese style clothing folded neatly inside. He laid it on the bed quickly before he turned his eyes down to what he wore now. A dark blue shirt of high prices and high quality, and finely tailored black pants, with his feet hidden by black leather shoes. He hated dressing in these starchy suits forced upon him by his parents. They always told him that as a prince, he was expected to wear such beautiful clothing despite their discomfort. He quickly stripped himself of these items only to replace them with the clothing from the box. He grinned, “sorry mom, but I like these a lot more.”

Once he was again clothed, he turned and walked to the wall across from the door. He knelt down and pushed on the wall, moving across it until at last a panel moved. He pushed it fully open and crawled down the small dark passage on the other side. He knew he could have gone the regular way with out anyone seeing him, but taking the chance didn't sound good to him. All that he wanted was to get away from everybody now, not to be dragged back to the party merely because he was a bit careless.

When the passage ended, a mere push was all that it took to set him free to the outside. A smile graced his lips as he climbed to his feet and looked around. He was now in the garden. He pushed the small door behind him shut until only a small crack was left open. If he closed it, he would have to go around the long way. He quickly filled his lungs with the cool fresh air to replace the musty air of the passage he had breathed on his way down, and then began to walk forward. A sigh escaped his lips at the soft feathery touch given by the grass on his bare feet.

As he walked, his wandering eyes landed on a single flower standing alone. It's petals were a pale shade of purple; most of them lay at its base. Its head drooped close to the ground, almost kissing it. A pane of sorrow shot through his body and he quickly went to kneel beside the dying flower.

“What's wrong?” he asked softly as he lifted its head carefully, “is this a bad place to grow? Are you lonely?” his eyes fixed on the flower, watching it longingly, “are you sick?” he ran a slender finger up and down the frail green stem. A small smile drew itself across his slender face and he carefully let the yellow head drop as it had before. He stood and dashed off. When he returned he carried two large twigs and some thin vines with their roots still hanging lazily at their ends.

He knelt down again beside the flower, and carefully dug two small holes on either side of it. These were quickly occupied by the twigs, which were promptly checked for their security within their new homes. Next, the flower was straitened carefully, and vines were wrapped around it and the twigs and tied securely before their roots were planted in a new hole made in the soft earth where grass blades did not poke up.

He again stood, looking down at the flower as he did, “the stem is weak…” he murmured, “but it'll be alright now that it has some support.” He chuckled as his thoughts drifted back to his mother telling him that his so called strange powers over plants wasn't natural. She believed it to be witchcraft and wanted him to go on with life pretending that he couldn't speak to plants. In truth, he actually didn't speak to the plants. It was as though he could feel their ailments, which helped him to save them and nourish them. He wasn't sure why he could do these things, he just could… ever since he was small and knew nothing of the world or how it worked.

Soon soft, silent footfalls carried him into the maze of false hedges, which he had helped to grow. His eyes turned toward the sky, bathing his face fully in the soft moonlight. The moon was beautiful in her fullest state, but she wasn't the most beautiful thing out there. The glimmering stars, her children, were more beautiful than she. Perhaps they were more beautiful because there were so many more of them than her, or perhaps because so little was known of them. Whatever the reason was, they were beautiful and tremendously overlooked by people who captured beauty in the forms of art and literature.

With his full attention on the stars above him, he didn't notice as a shadowy figure came up behind him. A gasp was the only sound he found he could make as warm fingers wrapped around his thin throat and a handsome but icy voice came to his ear, “What is such a treasure as you doing out here by yourself? Shouldn't you be inside?” he failed to repress a shiver caused by the warm breath against his skin. “Will you not speak to me?”

The fingers around his throat tightened slightly but loosened quickly, a reminder that the man behind him was in charge right now whether he liked it or not. “N-no…” he managed, trying to force away his fright. He failed to calm himself as thoughts of possible motives raced through his head. Would he be kidnapped? Murdered? Taken and sold as so many strong young men such as himself were? He shuttered to think of worse scenarios that he could soon find himself in.

“You're tense,” the voice hissed softly, teasingly, “don't you trust me to be so near you?”

“I would trust you more,” Rei started firmly, voice quavering slightly, “if I knew who you were.”

“Then I will tell you. I am a collector of art of high quality and great beauty. Hand shaped diamonds, paintings, even the silken garments of royalty such as your self. My art comes from all over the country side from many different willing homes and galleries.”

Rei gasped, “a-a thief…”

“A thief.” The other confirmed with out so much as a small attempt to hide the cruel amusement in his voice, “A thief well known by your class, who have been robbed by my cunning time and time again. Every kingdom that I have been to, I have stolen the most beautiful of their possessions from, and now this kingdom,” he paused for a moment, “your kingdom, has become my target.” A cold chuckle followed before he continued, “do you know what I have come to steel?”

Rei shook his head; he had a few guesses, but there were too many to truly know. Maybe this thief was after his mother's cherished diamond statue of a flower of some sort, beautifully handcrafted just for her by a once upon a time suitor; perhaps his target was his father's large painting of a far away ocean that hung in the ball room, this was most commonly called the most beautiful thing in the land; or his target could be the ancient ivory throne which stood in the center of the palace to show to the people and peasants their royalty.

“I've come for you.”