Kingdom Come /// Beyblade Burst Fanfiction

Chapter 2: Something's Wrong

A deep, dark shadow covered all the kingdoms.

The first to awake to the shadow was the queen of Hikari. She had always been an early riser, waking to the first light of dawn.

But that day, the light of dawn was so much later than usual.

The queen opened her eyes to a slant of sunlight. She stared out the window. Dark clouds were all in sight, and the beam of sunlight that had awoke her was long gone.

What has happened?

To the south, the citizens of the Kaen Kingdom were already awake. Using the light of flames to guide them in the darkness, they headed north to warn the Heiwa Kingdom and the Anzen.

The five princes were still asleep, not realizing that dawn had come and gone hours earlier. And so were others. Without the light to wake them, almost the whole of the Anzen slumbered peacefully, not knowing what was yet to come.

The head of the Anzen, the Heiwa king's best advisor, Xu, woke to the warning bell being rung. He instantly alerted all students. To his horror, the sky was black with clouds and not a sliver of sunlight shone through.

Xu grouped students together, making sure each group had at least one student from the Kaen Kingdom to light their way.

"What's wrong?" one student murmured to the other. "Why did Xu wake us up at midnight?"

Once Xu had made sure every student was safe, the princes, commons, everyone, he decided to allow them gather their things.

"Class is cancelled today," he announced. The hall erupted with cheers, a few students looking upset scattered among them. Xu hurried to the Anzen Home, leaving the children shouting behind him.

"Why does it still look dark outside?" Valt murmured to Shu sleepily. Before the other prince could answer, Daigo hurried up. Usually, the Kage prince would have been surrounded by a creepy aura of darkness. But on that day, everything was so shrouded in shadow that for once Daigo looked normal. Ryota clung to his arm, while Toko and Nika ran after him.

"This isn't normal," Daigo said, out of earshot from the younger kids. "It isn't like an eclipse or something natural like that. It feels like... someone wanted this to happen."

Lui crossed his arms. "I'm all for skipping school, but this is inconvenient."

Shu extinguished the fire in his hand. "Not everything has to go your way," he hissed angrily. Listening the the soft wailing of Ryota and the twins, he lit the flame again, although this time it was a little fainter and kept flickering.

Zac had a small light in his hand too, like a miniature sun. The "Z" on his belt glowed a bright gold. "It'll be alright," he whispered comfortingly. Singing quietly, he added, "The sun will come back, for what else is the darkness foooor?" Lui plugged his ears and glared at Zac. "Shut up." Zac crossed his arms and pretended to pout.

Stifling his laugh, Valt watched the other students. Most of them seemed unconcerned. Like Lui, they treated the darkness like an inconvenience rather than a threat.

Lights flickered on through the hall, yet were immediately turned off again. Three adults, all from either Kaen or Hikari, lit small lights in the torch holders. The sudden light was warm and surprising. Many students sighed with relief upon seeing the light. Flames and miniature suns flickered out all over the room. "They fixed the problem!" a student whisper-shouted.

But the princes knew that everything was far from fixed.

Free could sense what others couldn't. He wasn't really Zac's cousin; he and Zac only shared a common ancestor. Free had come from a line of nomads, and because he was different, he wasn't like the other people of Hikari. Free had been born far, far east of the kingdoms. For three years, his family traveled west. Free had almost never seen sunlight, until he entered the kingdoms and was given to the Anzen. Having lived in darkness nearly all his life, Free was more like a prince from Kage Kingdom rather than Hikari. He had the ability to sense darkness, trouble, conflicts, and most importantly, threats. The king and queen of Hikari accepted him as a prince for his power and Free was referred to as a prince. Free knew that the lights turning off wasn't the decision of Xu. He had tried to turn the lights on, but an outside force had intervened and turned the lights off. But Free stayed silent, not letting any hint of the danger through his dark, emotionless eyes.