Of Love and Death.

The Future Chapter 14: There's No Such Thing As Coincidence Pt. 2

Why hadn't Bel been able to figure out that it was his sister he'd been battling? It all made so much sense in retrospect. How she'd intentionally spelled his name wrong to avoid suspicion. How she'd gotten the note into his book. Giving him Strix so she didn't have to keep hiding the owl with Lilac. The way the Masked Blader hadn't been phased by his shapeshifting.

Then again, you know what they say, hindsight is 2020. Which was really ironic, because the year 2020 kind of sucked, according to the history books. Which was even funnier, considering that saying had been around since before 2020 CE. Bel loved coincidences!

This was what he was thinking about as he ate his  scrambled eggs. Then, he was taken by surprise. Namely by a coincidence walking through the door "Hello everyone!" Zac the Sunrise shouted, throwing open the hotel doors with all of the drama one would expect from the pop star. Next to him, was a much calmer man with azure hair and eyes. Who seemed absolutely mortified to be where he was at that moment. Bel and Jamie's uncles had arrived.

That's some timing, Belfyre remarked. Yes, yes it was. Turning to Jamie, Bel tried very hard to keep a straight face. His sister was spared from his very un-collected face by the fact that she'd already buried her own head in her napkin. Which only made Bel laugh harder.

From a few tables away, Bel had a clear view of his parents. Both of whom did not seem to have been prepared for this turn of events. Which, honestly, made sense. Bel wasn't sure anyone, including himself, could have been prepared. Venice and Zac were people who certainly left their mark, and this time was shaping up to be no different.

Across the table from Bel, Den had a look that was somewhere between total shock and absolute fan-girling glee. "Oh my word, Zac the Sunrise is here!" She exclaimed, tensing up. "Guys, Zac the Sunrise is here! This is awesome, he's like my favorite music artist ever, he's so good, guys, why do you think he's here? Is he here to watch the battles? Is he going to get to see me battle?" It was clear Den was trying really, really hard to keep her voice down. She was also succeeding, much to Bel's surprise.

It was interesting how every single member of the junior team who'd come to watch the battle turned to Bel and Jamie, save Payne and Den. Because they were all well aware of the twins' connection to Zac and Venice. Not that anyone but Ranzo knew about the whole "magic universe Forces" thing. All of their eyes also put Bel on the spot.

A very large part of Bel wanted to gently kick his sister's shin to make her deal with this chaos with him. Somehow, he managed to repress the urge. It was hard though. But just because he was the slightly younger sibling (not that he'd ever admit that) didn't mean he had to be a jerk 24/7. Which was a stereotype he'd encountered a lot.

So, taking a deep breath, Bel turned to face Den. "I really don't know why he's here. He literally could have smelled the food and decided he wanted to check it out. Or this could have been planned for twenty years." As Bel spoke, he carefully avoided calling his father's brother's boyfriend uncle. Because that would have raised more questions from Den than any human was capable of answering.

Zac took a small bow to all of the cheers that erupted when he introduced himself. The singer also took in the mildly terrifying way Shu glared at him. It was a lot unfriendlier than the last time they'd met. Next to him, Venice rolled his eyes. "I know you literally live to be a music sensation. But do you think you could take it down a notch?" he asked, even as the sun started walking towards Valt, Shu, Honcho, and some curly haired guy.

Shaking his head, Zac raised one finger. "Of course I can't! Besides, unless I'd worn my Masked Blader costume, everyone would have recognized me anyway. Might as well get it over with!" At that, Venice rolled his eyes yet again. It almost sounded like Zac's boyfriend muttered something like "that wasn't even a disguise" under his breath. Which was preposterous! Just because he and Nightfell were opposites in every way, didn't mean they had to be opposites in their disguise capabilities!

The train of thought that was going through Zac's head was interrupted with out-loud words. Namely the joyous greeting between his boyfriend and Valt. The two embraced in a brotherly hug. "Hey, long time no see, Menu! (Bluee_here)" The former number one blader announced.

That took a second to process in Zac's head. It went something like this. Venus sounds like Venice. Which was Spirit's human alias. But then Venu sounds like Venus as well. And then Menu sounds like Venu. Which more or else seemed to be the thought process Valt had taken. Which was ridiculous. Seriously, even for Valt. "OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" Venice exclaimed.

To which Valt broke down into chuckling laughter. "I'm just joking!" He defended himself, raising up his hands in mock-surrender. "I know your name's Venus!" At that, Zac's boyfriend had to physically turn around and take deep breaths. All while Valt watched on, somehow still confused as to what he'd done wrong. You really would think that he'd have learned by now. But, somehow, no. He hadn't learned.

Extending his hand, Zac tried to shake his former Supreme Four member's hand. Ah, those had been the days. Blading and singing. As well as absolutely no knowledge that Shu had actually been Fire. Although, it was slightly obvious in retrospect, what with how their personalities and mannerisms had been almost identical. That same unrelenting drive and intensity. And a surprisingly soft side to boot.

However, instead of shaking Zac's hand, which would be the perfectly reasonable thing to do, Shu glared at him. With enough intensity that Zac nearly picked at his black nail polish. Which would have been a disaster! He was playing a concert in just a few hours. And that nail polish was the perfect color for all of the rock songs he was covering.

Ah, how Zac loved rock.

Nervously, Zac chuckled. "Ummm...hi Shu. How are you?" The fiery blader seemed to be having some kind of internal conversation with himself, tilting his head back and forth. Then he seemed to abruptly come to some kind of consensus with himself.

With a sigh, Shu finally spoke. "Zac, you're a horrible influence on our children. It's great to see you, I'm now going to go get breakfast." With that, the white-haired blader walked past Zac, only cuffing him on the shoulder as a friendly greeting. Which succeeded in thoroughly confusing him.

"What was that about?" Zac asked at the same time as Venice did. He turned to look at Valt, who only shook his head.