Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Hallowed ❯ Part 03 ( Chapter 3 )

Authoress' Notes: Part 03! Sorry it's taking so long, everyone. It's crunch time in university for me so…yeah. Stick with it! For those who don't have a clue about Halloween, I hope I'm able to educate you a little with this chapter…but even I don't know everything. I just wanted to give everyone a little history and overview of it, help you understand some of it better.

Disclaimer: Don't own! Don't sue!

Warnings: Yaoi, language, fluffiness, etc. FF.Net readers: if you're looking for the NC-17 version of this fic, go to either my homepage (see my bio), Only TyKa Hotness, or Mediaminer.org (FireKali).

Pairing: TyKa! Hints of ReMa and Kenny/Hilary, too.

~ Hallowed ~

Part 03

It only took an hour and a half of following Tyson around for Kai to get bored. He did realize that everything might have been more interesting if he knew more about this semi-holiday these people were making such a big deal about. Like many foreign people, Kai only knew that Halloween was a day where children (and adults for that matter) would put on costumes and run from door to door in their towns asking for candy by saying "trick or treat!" and that Halloween was supposed to be a spooky night for reasons Kai didn't understand.

"I don't get it." He muttered for the millionth time as he and Tyson left yet another store that had caught the bluenette's attention. This time it was a music store and Tyson had just had to buy a couple of CDs. Actually, Kai hadn't minded that so much, and he'd found a CD for himself. It was better than the last store. He thought with a shudder. That costume place was insane! So crowded and all those masks and things were very unnerving.

At least he'd managed to keep Tyson from buying anything from there.

"Okay, already, Kai!" Tyson rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I get it! You don't have to keep repeating yourself."

"Do you get it?" Kai demanded.

"Not really. But it doesn't matter! It's about the fun, Kai. Lighten up, would you?"

The crimson eyed blader just grunted and kept walking, making Tyson sigh and hurry after him.

They walked for another five minutes until they reached the end of the street. As they were waiting for the lights to change so they could cross, Tyson spotted as tore that he just had to go into - well, make that two stores.

"Hey! A hobby shop that sells Beyblade stuff!" He exclaimed, pointing. Kai looked and finally showed some interest.

"Now that's more like it." He declared, stepping off the sidewalk as the `walk' light lit up. "We're going in there for sure."

"Well, I really want to go to the one next to it." Tyson glanced from one building to the next as they stopped outside the Hobby Shop. "After all, we get our gear and stuff directly from the BBA and even then Kenny does his thing and personalizes everything for us. What could we possibly find in there?"

"I don't know, Kinomiya. That's the fun part you keep telling me I need to have." Kai shot back. "What's the other one supposed to sell?"

"I think it's a new age store. You know - the kind that sells crystals, tarot cards, candles, books, etc."

The older teen gave him a look. "What could you possibly want in there?"

"I just want to look! Maybe I'll find some cool souvenirs for the others." Tyson huffed defensively.

"Tyson, you already bought each of them those little pins of ghosts and those miniature fake pumpkins with the weird faces carved into them."

"So? Max and Rei couldn't come so I'll bring them back lots of stuff, and the same for Kenny and Hilary since the Chief was too freaked about coming here."

"Whatever." Kai sighed in resignation, turning to go into the hobby shop. "It's your waste of money."

"Wet blanket. I'll be in this store if you're done here before I am." Tyson huffed again and went his separate way. Kai rolled his eyes and went inside to browse for blade parts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Tyson stepped over the threshold and into the store, aptly named Mystic Illusions, accompanied by a tinkling noise from the door chimes above his head, he felt like he'd entered a whole new world.

The building itself was old, which Tyson had known from its appearance outside. Inside it seemed even older. Everything was made of wood - the floor, the walls, the ceiling (which was vaulted) the shelves - everything. And it was quite obvious that the wood had been around for a very long time, not only by how it looked but by how the store smelled of old wood.

It was also quiet inside. The bluenette realized he couldn't hear any of the sounds and noises of the world outside. The only thing he could hear was a soft melody of music coming from the counter toward the back of the store, upon which sat a small CD player.

And it was quite dark compared to the brightness of the afternoon sun outside. Unlike the other shops and stores he'd been in today, this one wasn't being illuminated by florescent or halogen lighting. There were only a few regular electric lamps scattered around the place and quite a few candles lit to brighten the interior up.

Intrigued, Tyson moved slowly among the shelves, browsing idly with interest. He found a display of brightly coloured stones and crystals. He became so absorbed that he failed to notice the pair of bright emerald green eyes staring down at him from just above his head.

Choosing a crystal piece for himself and each of his teammates (even Kai, who wouldn't buy a souvenir for himself if his life depended on it), Tyson accidentally dropped one on the floor. "Oops." He said, bending to pick it up and put it back.

As his hand closed around the crystal, a black blur suddenly leapt down from above and landed on him, knocking him over to do a face plant on the wooden floor. Tyson yelped and groaned as he sat up. "Itai…my nose!" He raised a hand to gingerly poke at it and came away with a bit of blood on his fingers. "Gweat. A bwoody node." (1)

"Merow?"

Tyson blinked, feebly reaching into his coat pocket for a tissue and pinching his nose to try and stop the bleeding. He turned his head and glared into those emerald eyes that belonged to a very black cat.

"Hello? Is there someone…oh! Oh dear…" A young woman appeared at Tyson's side, crouching down next to him. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Dat." Tyson pointed at the cat. "Jumbed on me."

The woman looked at the cat and scolded it softly. "Nicodemus! Shame on you!" She helped Tyson stand up and led him to a chair behind the counter. "Here. Have a seat. I'm so sorry about that. Nico is usually quite friendly and he doesn't normally jump on people." She sighed, shaking her head and pulling out a box of tissues for the bluenette. "I think it's because tomorrow is Halloween and because we just had that full-moon and total lunar eclipse a couple of days ago. It makes many animals act a bit strangely."

"Hn." Tyson settled for making a Kai-noise since he couldn't really say anything coherent at the moment.

"Let me see…" The woman pried his hand away and studied his nose critically. "Well, it's not broken. And it seems to have stopped bleeding. You may have a bit of a bruise though."

Tyson frowned and poked at his nose gingerly once again, testing it for himself. "Itai! Okay, I'm not doing that again." He glanced at the woman. "Who are you? Are you the store's owner?"

"Yes. My name is Maggie MacGowan." She gave him a soft smile. "Welcome to my shop."

Tyson tried to smile his usual, personable grin, but his nose hurt too much. "Ah…nice to meet you. I'm Tyson Kinomiya." He held out his hand and she grasped it lightly, shaking slowly.

"A pleasure. I apologize again for Nicodemus."

"It's okay. I've had worse bumps and bruises from my grandfather." Tyson shook his head, chuckling. At her surprised and concerned look, he laughed. "Oh! Not what you're thinking! My Gramps is a Kendo expert. He's been training me since I was little."

"I see!" Maggie sighed in relief and smiled again. "Goodness!" She leaned her hip against the counter and folded her arms. Tyson finally took notice of her appearance. She wasn't quite as tall as he was, and her petite frame was draped with a white dress that looked more like complicated layers of sheets of material - different kinds of material, even. The gown-like dress gave her an almost ethereal look. Her hair was a deep chestnut brown and held in an elaborate, thick braid that was draped across her shoulder and hung almost to her waist, with a set of smaller ones wreathed around her head like a crown. Maggie's eyes were a vibrant amethyst, the same shade that reminded Tyson of the orchids his grandfather had planted once last summer.

Those eyes studied the bluenette curiously for a moment. "Tyson Kinomiya…? That name sounds very familiar to me for some reason."

Tyson turned pink and looked down at his shoes. "Ah…probably. Do you know anything about Beyblading?"

"A bit. I know how the game works, and of course I know the power of the spirits many bladers have, but I'm afraid I don't follow the sport on TV and such." She gave him an apologetic smile. "I may pick up a few tid-bits on the evening news, though."

"I see. Well, I'm a three-time World Champion, if that helps. My team and I are the Bladebreakers - though my last championship was with a team known as the BBA Revolution." Tyson explained, unable to help the bit of pride he still felt over his career at blading and the teams made of his closest friends that had helped him to do it.

"Oh! Yes, of course." Maggie nodded. "I remember now. That was two or three years ago, wasn't it? I remember because those were the matches I had kept an eye on. There hasn't been power and skill like that which was demonstrated then before or since." Maggie tilted her head and laughed at Tyson's somewhat astonished and puzzled expression. "Your Spirits' are those of the Four, are they not? Dranzer and Dragoon, Draciel and Driger?"

"Yeah…" Tyson confirmed, wide-eyed. "I'm curious to know how you know about our bit-beasts' true selves. Only a few other people, besides us, know that."

"I'm a witch, Tyson. We are fully conscious of the powers that exist in this world and the Sacred Spirits are just a few of them. The Four are, of course, quite special on their own, so naturally I would know of them."

"A witch? Really?" Tyson's silver-blue eyes went even wider - if that was possible.

"Certainly. But don't worry…we aren't the evil, spell-casting crones you're probably thinking of." Maggie winked at him and the black cat, Nicodemus, suddenly jumped up onto the counter beside her, purring loudly. "True witches are what you might call `white witches', who practice only good `magic'. It's part of our faith, called Wicca."

"Wow. I didn't know that." Tyson smiled, careful not to bother his nose more. "I've never met a real witch before. I have met a team of bladers that are pretty freaky guys, though." He shivered at the memory of his encounters with the Dark Bladers.

Maggie grinned. "Well, it is an honour to meet the Chosen of Sacred Dragoon. If I may ask, what brought you to Salem, and what led you to my humble shop?"

"Well, we're in Boston for an exhibition tournament, but for some reason our battles got rescheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday." The dragon explained. "So we found ourselves with nothing to do for a whole weekend. Rei caught a could, so he stayed back at the hotel, and Max doesn't go very far from him so he stayed, too, supposedly to make Rei `rest'." Tyson snickered. "I don't believe that part of it for a second, but whatever. Kenny decided he wanted to check out Boston and Hilary wanted to go with him, so that left me and our captain, Kai. Kenny suggested we come up to Salem to check this place out, what with this Halloween thing going on and all, so here we are." He looked around the shop. "Kai and I decided to do some shopping while we were here. Well, I wanted to get souvenirs for the others. He just tags along and keeps me from spending all my money at once." Tyson rolled his eyes. "We split up `cause he wanted to go look at Beyblade stuff next door and I wanted to check out your store `cause I thought I'd find some great stuff for the others. Like those crystal-things I was looking at when that cat jumped on me."

"Oh yes! I meant to pick those up and set them on the counter for you." She went around the counter and over to the shelves where Tyson had been, picking the crystal-pieces up from the floor and returning to the counter. "And as an apology from Nico and myself, I want you to take those for free, and anything else you might want I'll give you a 50% discount on it."

Tyson blinked. "Uh…thanks, Maggie, but you don't have to do that…"

"No, but we insist!" She replied firmly. Nicodemus meowed quite loudly in an echo of his mistress' words. Tyson eyed the cat warily.

"That's very generous of you. Thank you." He accepted.

Maggie waved it off. "I'd offer to heal you as well, but I'm afraid I haven't got my supplies here at the shop for such things. Now, why don't you look around some more and see if you like anything else. I'd be happy to help you find something…"

"Okay!" Tyson nodded and stood up slowly, to avoid the possible vertigo from his nose bleed and pain from the injury.

"Tell me about each of your friends, and I will lend a hand, if I am able."

For nearly ten minutes, Tyson told Maggie about his friends, chatting amicably with the pixie-like Wiccan and telling her stories of their adventures and travels. When he finally decided he had better stop before he got to far ahead of himself, Tyson ended up with two books for Kenny and Max, an Egyptian-style statuette of Bastet (2) for Rei, a set of Celtic tarot cards for Hilary and some incense sticks for Gramps, on top of the crystals he'd chosen for them already.

He still had one last person to get something for, though. And Kai just has to be the hardest person in the world to buy for, too. Tyson groaned inwardly.

"What do you give to someone who can afford to buy whatever he wants, whenever he wants - if he doesn't already have three of it?" The young blader asked mournfully. "I have to get him something. He'd never buy something for himself in a million years."

Maggie thought about that for a moment as she proceeded to ring up his other purchases and carefully box and bag them. "Well…"

It was then Tyson noticed a sign on the counter. "Hey! Charms! `For prosperity, for luck, for dreaming, for protection, for wisdom, and…'" Tyson stopped as he read the last one on the list.

"Love." Maggie nodded, watching him. Her expression went soft at the look on his face. "You look quite sad about that subject, Tyson. Perhaps you need one of those?"

He looked over at her and blushed slightly. "Am I that obvious? I suppose you know who, already, too."

"I have an inkling, yes." She gave him a gentle smile. "I'd be happy to make one for you, Tyson. It might help. But you have to realize that love is something no one can control. The charm's purpose is only to encourage one to find their mate and to draw one's mate to them - if indeed there is someone out there for you. It can not make someone fall in love with someone else."

Tyson looked rather horrified at that. "Gods, no! I would never do that to…" He swallowed back Kai's name quickly. "…That person." He continued. "They've been forced to do a lot of things in their life that they didn't want to do and I couldn't try doing that ever to them."

Maggie reached out and patted his hand fondly. "You have a good and honest heart, Tyson. Wait right here, and I'll go make you a charm, okay? It won't take more than five minutes."

"Alright. Kai knows where to find me. He can't really leave me behind. If Rei doesn't get better by the start of the tournament, they'll really need me for it." Tyson shook his head wryly. He waited patiently for Maggie as she disappeared into the back area of her shop to make his charm.

Less than two minutes had passed when the chimes above the shop's door rang out in the quiet as the door opened. Tyson glanced back and felt a jolt of apprehension as he saw Kai come inside and glance around as he made his way carefully through the isles toward him.

"You're still in here? What's taking so long?" The dual haired blader eyed the bags on the counter and sighed resignedly. "What did you buy, now, Kinomiya?"

"Uh…some stuff for the others, that's all. A couple of books, a little statue, and a couple of other things. Don't worry, Kai! I didn't spend all my money." Tyson hastened to assure his frowning captain.

"You do remember we have to take all this stuff home, right? Through customs and everything?" Kai gave him his best raised eyebrow look and Tyson sighed.

"Yes, Kai. I remember. I didn't buy anything…questionable. Geez! Give me some credit, would you?"

"Hn." Kai peered at Tyson in the low lighting, noticing the darkening area around his nose with a concerned frown. "What happened to your nose? It looks bruised. Did you walk into a door or something?"

"No-o. I didn't." Tyson huffed indignantly. He explained what happened and by the end of the tale he nearly fell over at the sight of his serious captain looking like he was trying really hard not to laugh. "It's not funny, Kai. It hurt like hell!"

A snicker escaped. "I'm sure it did. A cat?"

Tyson gave him a glare and looked away, blushing.

"Heh. Why are you still in here, anyway?" Kai let it go, not really in the mood to deal with a peeved Tyson at the moment. "There's no one even here."

"Yes. Maggie's in the back getting the last of my purchases for me. She had to make it." Tyson pretended to be absorbed by a display of scented oils beside the counter, avoiding looking at Kai as best he could.

"What?"

"Just a charm." Tyson responded vaguely.

Kai watched him suspiciously but didn't get the chance to make further demanding inquiries because Maggie reappeared then, the black cat Tyson had told him about riding partially draped over her shoulder and supported by an arm. Her eyes met his and he could have sworn she looked straight into his very soul for a brief second before she smiled in welcome and handed something to Tyson.

"There you are, Tyson. You just need to place that under your pillow when you sleep at night and wear the necklace all the time, not removing it for any reason until or unless you find what you're looking for - or it finds you." She instructed. Turning to Kai, she said, "And you must be Kai. It is certainly an honour to meet the Chosen of Sacred Dranzer, and to have you both in my shop."

Kai blinked in surprise, completely taken off guard, and glanced at his team member for a an explanation.

"Maggie is a witch, Kai. She's Wiccan. She says she knows all about our bit-beasts and stuff."

"Is that so." This time Tyson got a sceptical, `are you serious?' kind of look. Kai obviously didn't really believe it.

"Whether you believe in that sort of thing or not, Kai, doesn't matter." The bluenette just shrugged. "Anyway, thanks for everything, Maggie."

"You are most welcome here anytime, Tyson."

Kai studied the woman with his customary suspicion and gave her a considering look. "Perhaps you can explain something to me." Tyson glanced at him, looking vaguely worried.

"Kai?"

"What? You say she's a witch…so she ought to know what Halloween is about, right?"

Tyson sighed, giving up. "You're still going on about that?" He waved a hand. "Whatever."

Maggie leaned forward over the counter with interest. "I definitely know something of Halloween, Kai. What would you like to know?"

"Everything? I know nothing but what I've seen on television - kids running around asking for candy."

"Ah. Well, in truth, that wasn't what Halloween was originally. `Halloween' comes from a holy day known as All Hallow's Eve. And that night is the one night of the year, it is said, that the spirits of the dead are said to be able to walk among the living again. Before the candy and commercialism, it was believed that on that night wearing a costume would protect children from mischievous or malevolent spirits because the spirits couldn't distinguish the costumes from themselves. Many of the little things you often see now are based on very old traditions. Like the carving of pumpkins - jack `o lanterns, they are called. It was believed that the strange faces scared away evil and protected homes or shops."

"I think I understand. But where do all these beliefs come from? Old superstitions from settlers or something?"

Maggie shook her head. "No. They are really very old. The true name for Halloween is Samhain. (3) It's an ancient Celtic day - a high holy day, in fact. It marks the end of the year on the Celtic calendar, the end of the 13th month."

Both teens blinked. "Thirteenth?" They chorused, then looked at each other and blushed. Maggie smiled.

"Yes. It seems a little strange, I know. The last month is actually less than a week long. It's all a great deal more complicated than this, of course, but I don't think you really want to hear the entirety of my beliefs as a Wiccan. It's the old Celtic traditions that most Wiccans follow, you see."

"Oh. Well, I still don't understand all that…" Kai gestured over his shoulder at the world outside the shop. "But I suppose it makes more sense now. Thank you." He said politely.

"My pleasure. I don't mind answering questions like that. It's very sad that many people even here don't realize the true roots of many special days we celebrate."

Kai nodded. He couldn't disagree with that. "We should go, Tyson."

"Okay." Tyson reached for his bags. "Oh! Is there anything in town that you'd recommend us seeing or doing while we're here?"

"I put some pamphlets and brochures in one of your bags. All the shops and stores along the street here in the old district are supposed to distribute them to the tourists and such. The graveyards are really quite interesting, if you go during the day. I don't recommend going at night, though." Maggie informed him. "I don't pay much attention to the tourism around here, truthfully. I find it in bad taste." She shrugged.

"Great! Thanks, Maggie! See you!" Tyson waved as he followed Kai to the door.

"Fare well, Tyson!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kai popped open the trunk of the car and left Tyson to stuff his purchases in it. The older blader opened the driver's side door and got in.

Tyson joined him a moment later. "Here's those pamphlets. Let's see if there's anything cool to do." He handed a couple to Kai and opened one himself. "Hmm…let's see…"

Reluctantly, Kai flipped one open. "This one's the special events being held in the bars and clubs. You're not interested in that, are you?"

"Me? Nah. I don't feel like clubbing." Tyson shook his head. "There's a tour of the Salem museum…"

"No thanks."

"Ri-ight. I'll just not bother looking at these other tours, then." Tyson dropped a bunch back in the bag. "I thought the Chief said something about mock witch trials. That could be cool to go watch."

"Maybe, but they're not until tomorrow evening." Kai responded, pointing at another flyer.

"So? We can stay at the BBA hostel, can't we? They must have one here, right?"

"I can phone the Chief and ask him, I guess." Kai gave the bluenette a pained look. "Do you really want to see those trials that badly?"

Tyson turned in his seat and met Kai's gaze. "Aren't you even the least little bit interested? Can't we just relax, have some fun, and maybe learn something new while we're at it? Come on, Kai…"

"Kinomiya…no, I'm not really that interested. I'd much rather go back to Boston and train."

Looking absolutely crestfallen, the younger teen gave it one last try. He didn't want to go back yet, not when he was beginning to get to see sides of his captain he hadn't seen before - or at least hadn't seen for a while. "For once can you please not be a total wet blanket, Kai? For me?" Tyson said it half-jokingly but in his heart, he meant it.

Kai stared into midnight blue pools and found himself drowning. He discovered he couldn't look away - didn't want to, really - and caved in. "Fine. I don't know why I'm agreeing to this but…we'll stay. However!" He cut off Tyson's impending exclamation of happiness and gratitude. "I'd much rather stay at a hotel than a hostel. If we stayed at a BBA hostel, word would get out too quickly and we'd end up signing autographs and being challenged right, left, and centre."

"Good point. But can we afford a hotel?" Tyson looked at the phoenix worriedly.

"Kinomiya…who am I?"

The dragon had the grace to look sheepish. "Oh. Right." He gave Kai a tentative smile of gratitude as he started up the car and pulled out into traffic. "I'll owe you for this, Kai. Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah." Kai flushed pink and didn't look at his friend. "Don't worry, I'll find a way for you pay me back."

Tyson leaned back in his seat with a grin. "I know."

***********************

Authoress' Endnotes: (1) Yes, I know the spelling's weird. It's on purpose - to sound like one does when one's pinching one's nose. (2) Bastet, for all those who don't know, is the Egyptian Cat goddess. For more info on Egyptian Mythology, go here (take out spaces and c/p to browser): http:// www. pantheon. org /areas/ mythology/ africa/ egyptian/ articles. html (3) Okay, so I'm making it easy on you. If you wanna know more about Halloween or Samhain, go here (again, removes the spaces and c/p to browser): http:// www. neopagan. net/ Halloween-Origins. html That's all I have to say at the moment. Please R/R!!!!