The Geranji Ships

Xen's POV: Lost and found

The sharp change of the atmosphere from a well lit elevator to a vast vision of pitch black darkness suddenly injected the memory into his mind.

Why Graceful only took the stairs. 

It was as if he had a sudden memory loss for years, or his relentless desire to fit in and rule the nerds clique in Geranji that has had him erasing his past. The last thing he wanted haunting him back is how he used to be smitten by any girl who gave him 5 minutes of attention, including his cousin Linda and.. Graceful.

But there was something about her that always pulled him towards her. She always was so.. understanding and empathetic to the many weird quirks he held. She may not share his lifelong indulgence in bey-blades or his unwavering dedication to remember the name of every element in the newest version of the periodic table. To add on, she always had an infectious smile, with an ever glowing face, one he realized he had missed that Thursday.. when he was forced to drive Tequila to school because they unluckily became neighbors.

His eyes tried to adjust to the darkness, and suddenly spot a small glow of white light from the ground.

Graceful is using her phone, but who is she texting? Is she dating the technician or something?!

As he cautiously approach her, his hands and knees scraping the elevator ground carelessly due to the lack of vision. As he reaches her, all he could hear were incessant and helpless sobs of a trauma victim. 

He stops on his tracks as the glow fades off and the only sound that echoed across the small metal box were painful, small cries, with a mixture of heavy breathing and slight coughs. 

Knowing he will get pushed off, or slapped, or strangled, Xen decides to take the risk, and did what he did to her 10 years ago...

With our eyes sharp on the prize, my brother Xing and I clashed our bey blades together as we watch the tops fight with fury against the hard ornate floor of our bedroom. It was the final battle between my attacker style heavy metal system against his.. yes! It's a stamina type of bey-blade. My well trained bey blade, whom I lovingly named Bob, easily knocks out his stamina bey blade, Robbie, and I cheer loudly beside my disappointed brother. 

I was instantly shushed out, and when I wanted to complain that it was due to his jealousy, he points over to our parents' bedroom, in which we could hear a heated conversation... at midnight!

My brother and I decided to slowly sneak out to their door, pressing our ears on the meticulously carved door, which were filled with various mythical creatures iconic in Chinese culture, such as the dragon and tiger, known as Lóng and Hǔ.

With a sharp slam, we hear an argument that was brewing,

'That dirt you got on the Hunters is way too dangerous! Hamid's on us and they know about what Yuan Press will be publishing tomorrow. Yuan Chen, you NEED to get out of town by the end of this week! It won't be long until they find your home, your family-'

'How.. how sure are you about this intel?'

I recognized the cracked and sorrowed tone. It was dad's!

The voice continued, 'I-I can't just take off and leave town suddenly! I-I need to have an excuse to my family, hold off the meetings, shutdown-'

'There is no time for that! Your life is at risk!! And more importantly, your sons..'

My ears perk up at that line. What does he mean about our lives.. being at risk!!