The Price For Immortality

Battle of Pain

The night is cold and dark. The wind blows and ripples the ocean. People run underneath his eyes with jackets covering their shoulders. The air sends shivers down everyone's spines, and goosebumps cover everyone's skin. Why are there so many people? The cold and the dark should've been enough to send everyone into their homes for comfort. There's a clock tower nearby. The time is two thirty in the morning. Half an hour to wait.

He stares down at the people on the streets. They better hurry up and leave. He has a feeling, however, that the entirety of this meeting won't be on the roof. The last time someone dared to join, they had ended their time in Lui's favorite place: the middle of nowhere. Nothing and no one for miles around. He starts to wonder if the person had even made it out of there alive, or if they died trying. It didn't matter either way. Lui had flashbacks to their blood staining the sand. He starts to laugh. That had been fun. He wonders if Valt Aoi will suffer the same fate.

When three AM hits, the witching hour begins. That's the only time they can truly test Valt's strength. Lui pulls his Bey out and stares at it. Lost Luinor, you know what to do. His eyes flash, and his Bey's spirit appears in his vision. The first thing Valt needs to prove is that he knows his Bey, and can communicate with it. The people who can't are the ones that are beneath the Supreme Four. The majority of Bladers can't see their own Bey spirit, let alone talk to it. Everyone fakes it. Everyone except for a chosen few.

Lui is always disgusted when he sees people talk to their Beys. He knows they aren't talking to it. They're faking it, pretending they have a bond with it. They're trying to seem stronger than they are. It's pathetic. Lui's hair begins to flame. The witching hour approaches. The Blading Hour is upon them.

His eyes flicker to the clock again. Five minutes have passed. It's going to be a while before the other three show themselves, and even longer before Valt does. Lui starts to think he'll have to get Valt himself.

"Lui," a voice says from behind.

Lui turns around. Zac has arrived early. He's wearing a cloak over his usual attire. The cold must be too much for him. The temperature meant nothing to Lui. Zac is physically the weakest of the Supreme Four. He's also weaker in power, too.

"Zac, glad to see you showed your face." Lui turns around and stares down at the people in the streets. "The street won't clear. I don't want anyone seeing what goes down."

"There's an obvious solution to that problem." Zac walks up behind Lui, and stands next to him. "Either we scare them away, or we take this meeting elsewhere."

"Once the others arrive, we'll retreat to our hiding place." Lui extends an arm and reaches his hand out. "Our powers still aren't at max level."

"The time isn't quite here, yet. We still have twenty minutes to wait." Zac sees a bench and falls onto it.

Lui looks behind and scoffs. "You can't even stand upright for more than ten minutes. Why did you have to share your powers?"

Zac sighs. "Because my team is my family."

"So? They'll die, you'll get new ones. Big deal."

Zac rises to his feet again. "I don't think you understand. What I mean by that is I love them."

"You love them? What are you, gay?"

Zac clenches his teeth. "I love them like they're my brothers."

"Family is overrated. You're stronger when you're thinking of yourself above all." Lui glares in Zac's direction. "It's made you weak."

"You've made yourself cold and heartless."

"It's a small price to pay for immortality." Lui turns back to the street. "I've given up more than just my kindness for this."

"The kindness that you've never had."