Eternally Bound

°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø Dedicated to Lia, my best friend, twin and source of eternal inspiration, without you I dread to think what I’d be. °º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°°º¤ø

Disclaimer: I do not own, I only own this plot, Arnia, and any other characters you may not recognise.

Author’s Note (1): Ok, I could fill this with the millions of apologies for not uploading in an age, but I guess since I’ve taking so long, you won’t want to wait any longer, so go ahead, and I hope you enjoy.

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Chapter 5

Reaching up to wipe the stray trail of cheese from the corner of my mouth, I licked the grease from my lips, whilst picking up another slice of pizza from the nearly empty box on the floor. Using only the pads of my fingers, so as not to smudge the still sticky silver varnish Mariah had applied to my nails, I brought the pizza to my mouth, took a bite, and let a sigh escape from my lips, happy to enjoy the simple pleasures of the company of my two best friends.

Turning to look at them, Mariah was leaning against my chest of drawers whilst nodding her head, singing softly to the music emitting from the radio. Her own slice of pizza remained in her hand, forgotten, with a strand of cheese dangerously close to dropping onto my carpet. Mariam was sat opposite me, idly flicking through a magazine, pausing only to take a bite of her own slice as she nonchalantly turned the pages.

Putting the last piece of crust into her mouth, she rubbed her hands together before leaning forward to grab another slice, but her hand froze halfway, and she lifted her head to stare at me and Mariah, a darkened expression covering her features. Both Mariah and I hastened to look away, both lacking the courage to meet such a stare.

“Who took the last slice of pizza?” She growled at us.

Having just over a bite of mine left I quickly popped it in my mouth and innocently shrugged. Mariah tried to copy but had far too much left, leaving half of it to remain still in her hands.

“You!” Mariam shouted, diving at Mariah, in hope of achieving what purpose, I didn’t know.

Unmercifully tickling her, Mariam attacked, leaving Mariah squirming and wriggling on the floor, revealing her weak point just underneath her arms. Kicking out her legs, she caught the wine glass I had put on the floor next to the pizza box, and sent it in a graceful curve through the air, releasing the golden liquid in a spray across the carpet.

Instantaneously they both stopped dead after realising what had happened. Turning to face me, their faces where a picture, shock and remorse dominated their expressions as they waited for my reaction. Quickly arranging my features to mimic my mothers I raised my finger to point it at the spill.

“Look what you’ve done.” I said sternly.

“I’m really, really sorry Arnia, I…I didn’t mean to do it.” Mariah said sheepishly.

This was too much for me and I dissolved into a fit of giggles at her apologetic tone.

Realising what I was doing, Mariah screeched, “That wasn’t fair!” before snatching up a pillow and threw it at me where it caught me square on in the face.

Picking up the pillow I threw it back at Mariah, but she dodged it causing it to hit Mariam who was still sitting behind her. Grabbing two more of the deep purple pillows from my bed, Mariam swung them at the two of us in turn, causing a full scale pillow fight to break out, lasting over ten minutes, until a second glass of wine had joined the first, and the bowl of crisps was lying empty at my feet, its contents strewn across the floor.

“Oops,” I said as I started to scoop the cheese puffs back into their container.

Mariah disappeared into my bathroom, and returned a few moments later with a damp cloth and started to scrub the marks left on my carpet.

“It’s a good job mother isn’t here, she’d go spare at the mess,” I said laughing as I placed the now refilled bowl on the side, out of harms way.

Mariam looked up from what she was doing and studied me, “Why do you call her that? Your mum, mother, I mean.”

I sat silent for a while contemplating the answer, I knew and had seen people growing up around me, calling their parents mummy and daddy, progressing to just mum and dad, but for me that never seemed right.

“That’s just how it’s always been I guess. I respect my parents; I’ve seen all the effort that they’ve put in to get to where we are, to have the lifestyle we lead, so there’s too much respect for me just to call them by their first names. But there has never been any real love between us, they’ve never treated me particularly badly, but sometimes I wonder if they love me at all. I wonder if they even love each other, or whether or not it was expected of them and was most convenient.”

As I finished I let out a sigh, it didn’t really bother me, it was something I was used to and accepted, but sometimes others didn’t see it that way. Most who heard the full story believed my mother and father to be bad parents, but I could never see it that way. Sure they moved a lot without my consent, and where never really here for me if I wanted to talk, but I was never in want for anything really. For the most part I was happy and healthy, so what more could I want.

Love, a niggling thought at the back of my head whispered, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. I had love, Mariah, Mariam, Ray, Tyson and Max had all shown me that, but was it enough? For now it had to be.

“Convenient?” Mariah asked snapping me out of my reverie.

“Mm Hm,” I agreed with a nod, “It was a common enough story at the time I guess. Both my Grandfathers are owners of fairly large companies, my paternal grandfather in England, and my maternal in Russia. They had been in discussions to merge the companies for years but both of them where so paranoid that the other was out to ruin them that nothing much had happened. What they needed was security, and what better means then giving up your only child and heir to marriage, with a very carefully worded pre-nuptial agreement. My parents have since learned to like and more importantly respect each other, which maybe is better than a love that could just fade away.

“Do you really believe that? About love?” Mariah asked softly.

Shrugging slightly, I brought my legs up to my chest and rested my chin on my knees. Taking a deep breath, I summoned my feelings on this subject, and then exhaled, ready to begin.

“I don’t really have any choice but to hold onto that thought. Remember I’m the single heir to my parents company now, what’s going to happen to me. They want someone who cans secure the financial aspects of the company, so what choice am I going to have but a marriage based on wealth and influence. If I don’t hold tight to that thought, that single thread of hope, it’ll destroy me.” I said feeling my mood drop as it ever did when talking of my future.

“But what about Max, Tyson or even Ray,” Mariam asked casting a furtive look at Mariah, “They have managed to amass an immense wealth over the last few years, would they not be good enough for your parents.

“I doubt they’d ever be acceptable in my parents opinions, I mean can you imagine Tyson ever running a business?” Expecting even a slight laugh at this comment, I was surprised to hear nothing from the two girls. Looking over at them I noticed Mariah fix me with an intent gaze. Realising what Mariah really wanted to know, I almost laughed out loud. “Ray’s my friend, that’s all I see him as, no matter how anything appears to be. I would never stand in your way Mariah, honestly believe me on that. I can see how much you care for each other.”

“Mariah and Ray sitting in a tree, doing something they shouldn’t be,” Mariam sang childishly at Mariah, “First comes love, then come se…hey!”

Picking up the pillow that still lay beside her, Mariah swung it at Mariam, cutting her off mid song, and then preceded to bury her glowing face into it, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“Aww, Mariah you really do like him, don’t you?” I said pulling the pillow away from her face.

Shrugging, she peered intently at her cuticles, determined not to meet our eyes.

“She does, she really does.” Mariam mouthed, nodding furiously at me over Mariah’s head.

“I don’t know, it’s just I’ve known him forever, we grew up together and so he became near enough just as much a brother to me as Lee, but these past few years which we’ve spent apart, I find myself missing him in a way that’s different to how I miss Lee. Is that just because he’s becoming less of a brother and more of a friend, or is it something more? I don’t know.” She sighed, lifting her head, hoping to find an answer from Mariam and me.

Both Mariam and I stared blankly at one another, having never been in a situation like Mariah’s current perplexing one, neither of us knew exactly what to say to her. I had never been in one place long enough to develop such an intimate relationship with another, and Mariam having dated Ozuma on and off since childhood, knew now, their relationship suited them best as nothing more than friends.

“I don’t really know what to say to help you, Rhy. But how do you feel about him? Do you like him?”

Shrugging once more, she seemed reluctant to answer my question. It was now painfully obvious to the two of us the depth of Mariah’s feelings for Ray, but unless she was willing to embrace them, there was little either of us could do about them.

“I don’t know how I really feel, perhaps if I give it some time, it’ll figure itself out. But anyway enough about me, we were talking about you after all.”

As Mariah pulled the subject round to me once more, Mariam snatched up a hair brush from its position on the floor, left over from when we styled each others hair. Gripping it just under the head, she held it slightly below her lips, mimicking the style of a microphone.

“Welcome back Ladies and Gentlemen,” she announced to an imaginary audience in the general vicinity of my bedroom door. “To today’s The Cole Show, with me, your host Mariam Cole. Today we have an extra special guest, so please put your hands together and give a warm Cole welcome to Arnia Arakawa.”

Mariah clapped and cheered enthusiastically from her place on the floor, as Mariam pulled me up to stand beside her.

“Hello Arnia, it’s nice to have you here on the show with us. We’d like to use this opportunity to just clear up a few things about your future. So if Ray, Tyson and Max are no-no’s for future betrothals, who do you think your parents may choose?” asked Mariam in her best impression of a talk show host.

“Someone tall, dark and handsome I suppose.” I tried to smother the laugh that was bubbling within me, and go along with Mariam’s act.

“Well what about the rumours we’ve been hearing connecting you to a certain Mr Hiwatari. The word on the street is that he’d be perfect, having all the right traits and a certain lack of personality,”

“Kai’s the type of person I want to avoid” I said with a sigh, unable to keep up the carefree conversation any longer. I knew where Mariam was coming from though, Kai would be perfect in my parent’s eyes, cold, calculating and malicious, perfect for running a business, but someone I’m not sure I could ever come to like. Fortunately for me my parents very rarely discuss my future in relation to the company, so for now who knows.

“Well it’s a good job you’ve got Mariah and I then, we can find you some rich, handsome, powerful, heir to a successful company, no sweat.” Mariam said, lighting the mood was again with a natural ease, as she peeled the covers of my bed back and slipped beneath.

“Oh yeah, don’t worry about it Arnia, theirs plenty of those types of men in Mariam’s hometown,” Mariah agreed to which Mariam raised an eyebrow, questioningly. “In Delusion City, God Mariam, if I come across one of them, I won’t be so quick to offer him up to Arnia, forget Ray I’ll be after him in a flash.” She finished with a sly grin.

“Aaah, so you do like Ray then?” I jumped in noticing her slip.

“I’m feeling ever so tired all of a sudden, don’t you think it’s time to get some sleep?” Mariah said quickly, avoiding the subject of a certain raven-haired youth.

Thinking quickly, a retort was formed on my tongue, but succumbed to the yawn that forced its way out first. Even knowing that she was only saying that to avoid being questioned on Ray, I had to admit Mariah was right, I was tired and at half past two in the morning, rightly so.

“You’re right,” I admitted reluctantly, “but don’t think you’re going to get out of talking that easily, I will remember.” I warned as I slipped into the bed beside Mariam, and Mariah squeezed in the other side of me. I quickly offered a prayer to whatever higher being thought to give my parents the notion of getting me such an over-sized bed, and I’m sure I’ll thank them even more In the morning after getting an decent amount of sleep.

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Further and further through the building we travelled, with each step going deeper into its depths. The air around me had steadily been dropping in temperature, and my breath was now clearly visible as I walked. Hunching further into my shirt, I tried to keep warm as I was pushed ever onwards.

How long we had been walking, I didn’t know, but the hand around my neck never loosened its grip. Pushing me forward, I stumbled slightly, but before I fell I caught the wall, grazing my hand down the rough surface. Letting out a gasp of pain, the grip only tightened.

“Keep walking or you’ll never see you’re brother, or the abbey, again.” the voice whispered from over my shoulder.

However cold the air was, his voice sent my shivers deeper, till they reached my core. The unmistakeable chill of fear racked my body, and I did as I was told. His voice left no room for disobedience, and I was unwilling to show him any.

The floor beneath my feet became uneven, and the walls seemed to be closing in. The light was starting to dim, and fear was beginning to well in my throat. I was never going to get out from here, I was lost, it was cold, I would be abandoned, left to die, never to escape, I would be forgotten, no-one would find me, this was it, the last day of my life, I would never see the abbey, my friends, Wolf.

That last thought allowed a final desperate hope to fill my veins, reviving me like oxygen, Wolf always knew where I was, he’d worry and search until he found me. Never had we gone longer than a few hours without each other, and even then we always knew instinctively where the other was.

But where was I? Even I didn’t know, how was Wolf to find me if I didn’t know where I was. Panic once again coursed its way through my system, and a solitary tear found its way down my face, until I tasted the salty wetness upon my lips.

Pain filled my body as I was slammed hard into a metal door; one that I hadn’t noticed lost in my current state of hopelessness, and fell to the floor. Forcing me aside with his boot, Boris wrenched open the door, allowing me my first sight of the consuming darkness many referred to as ‘The Cupboard’.

Stories of this place hovered over the abbey, a continuous cloud of misery that pushed us to work harder to avoid the gloom that it was. But to us, that was all it had ever been, stories, no-one had ever been brought down here, so we had little proof to show it actually existed.

Yet here I was, facing the abyss that had surfaced in my nightmares, more times then I had cared to keep count of. Looking up into the face of Boris, I allowed my eyes to plead, to beg that he didn’t force this punishment upon me.

He either didn’t understand, or just didn’t care, as he picked me up by the collar and threw me into the cell so effortlessly, my fear of his capabilities doubled, and caused another shock of pain to lurch through my already injured shoulder.

Slamming the door closed, he sent the room into a cloying darkness, so thick it choked me, and I found myself gasping for breath, even though I could feel a cold draft blowing in through a crack high above.

“Failure is not an option here in the abbey, and you will remain here until you learn that. And if this still doesn’t solve it you can say goodbye to the abbey and that brother of yours, for good.”

Boris’s voice filtered through the door, every syllable laced with venom, followed by the soft pattering of his footfalls, gradually decreasing in volume until the unmistakable roar of complete silence, descended upon me.

I was alone, he’d left me, in ‘The Cupboard’ all alone. Only now had my whole self finally succumbed to the full scale panic which had been residing just under the surface. He’s done it, he’d left me alone.

Jumping to my feet, I pounded the door with my fists. Long after they’d gone numb with the pain and the cold, long after the blood started trickling down my arms, I still continued to pound them hard against the door.

“Wolf, please, anyone, I want to go back to the abbey, please, I’m sorry, help, please help, Wolf” I shouted, aware that no-one could hear me but still unwilling to stop, “Help me, anyone, Wolf, Wolf, I want to go back to the abbey, Please, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please, take me back, WOLF!”

I didn’t know how long I’d been trapped there, each minute taking an hour to pass. My voice became hoarse, and I allowed my arms to fall limply by my side, no longer possessing the strength to keep them upright. Hopeless tears fell freely down my face but there was nothing I could do to stem them.

Leaning forward, I pressed myself against the cool metallic surface, allowing it to soothe my burning face, giving me a slight reprieve from the pain I was enduring.

“Please Wolf, help me.” Speaking with the last of my voice, it came out as a whisper, even to my own ears, and I knew it didn’t have the strength to penetrate my prison.

A resounding screech filled the darkened room, and I found my self falling forwards, plummeting through a black abyss until I was caught and pulled back by strong arms. Looking up into the pale blue eyes of my rescuer, and the crimson eyes of his accomplice, my heart sang, and I let a small smile tug on the edge of my lips before I once again lost myself to the darkness.

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A slow rocking brought me too, and I curled up closer to the warm body who held me securely. Opening my eyes, I found a pair of unfamiliar golden eyes staring back at me. A wave of fear hit me as I didn’t know where I was, and I thrashed out, struggling against the grip that held me.

A second pair of hands grabbed hold of me, and I was pressed between the two bodies.

“Arnia, calm down, it’s us, your ok now.” The voice penetrated through the mugginess of my mind, and the dream finally released me from its clutches.

“Mariam, Mariah, thank god.” I gasped grabbing hold of them, “It was just a dream, a stupid dream.” Letting out a shaky laugh I let the relief wash over me, I was back in my room, with my two best friends, where nothing could touch me.

“But was it...?” Mariam said quietly, so softly I thought I’d misheard her.

Mariah’s questioning gaze mirrored my own and we implored Mariam to explain.

Leaning towards me, Mariam put her hands to my face, and gently brushed away the tears that still lingered on my face.

“What happened sweetheart? What was in your dream” She asked, her voice soft, full of concern.

Looking down into my lap, I gathered my thoughts. I was reluctant to re-enter my dream, but telling Mariah and Mariam would make it less real and perhaps make me feel better too.

“I was in a dark place, there was a man, leading me through a strange building only I didn’t want to go. It was getting colder and colder, and I was so scared, and I didn’t know what was going to happen. This man, he threw me into an…an almost cell, and said I wasn’t strong enough, and if I didn’t try harder I would never see Wolf again, Wolf, my brother. He locked the door on me, and I pounded hard on it, shouting, my hands were bleeding but I didn’t care. I thought I was going to die.” I broke off, the tears forming once more; taking a deep breath I forced myself to continue.

“I thought I was going to die, and there was nothing I could do to stop that, I was helpless, but he came, my brother came for me. I only saw his eyes but I knew it was him, eyes just like mine, icy yet full of warmth and there was another, almost red eyes, eyes that I knew, that I know, and at that moment I finally felt safe, my brother and best friend holding me, protecting me.”

“How can that be though? It felt so real, yet…” I sighed and pondered over the enigma of the dream. “It wasn’t an ordinary dream; I know that much, yet what else can it be, some sort of past life?” I said with a shaky laugh at the absurdity of even the thought.

“Yeah, just that.” Mariam spoke softly, a faraway look upon her face.

“Don’t be stupid Mariam, dreams don’t mean anything, they’re simply filled with what the mind has been lingering on recently. Arnia had a strange day; her dream was just influenced by it all, simple as that. It may have felt real but that doesn’t mean it was. It was just a dream” Mariah broke in, pulling me close.

Even as Mariah enveloped me, allowing me a shred of comfort through her tight embrace, I couldn’t quite ignore Mariam’s statement, and it reverberated through my mind. For some unknown reason I was unable to grasp what she meant by such a distant comment, or where it could lead.

Emerging from Mariah’s hold, my stare instantaneously landed upon the form of my blue-haired friend. With her eyes staring into blank space, she was unmistakably deliberating over something that I wasn’t privy too. Unable to contain myself for a moment longer, I found myself questioning her, and bringing her back from her reverie. “What do you mean by ‘just that’?”

“Nothing,” she responded swiftly, avoiding meeting my questioning gaze.

“Come on Mariam, I know that you have something more to say than that. It’s not like you to say something so serious and not be able to justify it. Please tell me.” Almost pleadingly I looked at her, earnestly hoping that she would have something on the tip of her tongue that would be able to assist me in understanding that which seemed to be confusing me even further then I was before.

“Back home, from an early age I was always taught the utmost importance of dreams. No dream is ‘just’, they are the eyes to the future, the keys to the past and they shouldn’t be disregarded. Too many times are dreams taken too lightly, when they can help unravel many of the mysteries in ones life, if you can only find the place to start.”

I wasn’t sure whether Mariam’s words were ones I wished to believe and what exactly did they mean anyway. Was my dream to be taken literally and it was in fact some past life, or was it merely suggesting a state of entrapment in which I would be rescued from.

“Ok Mariam, I’ll give you your dues as many of the values the Saint Shields hold do tend to be right, but where do we start with this mystery?” Mariah asked Mariam, her interest clearly held.

“Look girls, it’s nothing to worry about, even if it does mean something, it’s nothing you need to get messed up in. I mean you’ve got your matches coming up soon, right? My problems are the last thing you need on your minds.”

As much as I was coming to love the two girls, and I knew they cared deeply for me, I was still reluctant to expose so much of my inner self to them. I was unsure of what I may learn of myself or what Mariam and Mariah would come to think of me because of it.

Feeling a heavy weight upon my shoulders, I turned my head to find Mariam with her arm slung across them, and Mariah taking both my hands into her own.

“We’re your friends Arnia, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. We’re not going anywhere, and we’re always going to be here for you. Everybody has problems, I have a fair share of my own, but if we can solve any of them, together, then nothing, not even a Beyblade match, will stop us.”

At Mariah’s words I once again felt my eyes well up, until the tears cascaded down my cheeks, onto Mariam’s hand as she caught them. Pulling them both into a hug I squeezed them hard, trying to convey all my gratitude to them in such a simple gesture.

“I’m not sure being with the two of you is good for me, I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much. First yesterday, now today, I’m terrified of tomorrow. But thank you.” I whispered into their hair. “Thank you.”

“This dream, it doesn’t have anything to do with the match does it?” Mariam asked tucking my hair behind my ear.

“Yeah, Arnia, did the dream stem from yesterday?”

“No they where completely unrelat…” I broke off as the reality hit, and my heart beat intensified. The two incidents weren’t completely independent of one another, a common occurrence stretched across them both.

“Wolf.” I gasped, and upon seeing the looks of puzzlement gracing the girls feature’s decided to elaborate. “The boy in my dream, my brother, that was his name, at least that’s what I called him anyway, and at the match, I know it sounds strange, but it was as if something within me called out that name, something out of my control. Only now can I see that the two are connected, but how? Was he at the match in some way, is that why I’m dreaming of him.”

Both girls just looked vacantly at me, I knew to them it must make little sense, but somehow I may be a step towards my own understanding. They may not be able to help me, but perhaps I could help myself. Another thought crossed my mind, The Abbey, the name of which had been constantly uttered by my own lips, whilst in my unconscious state. I knew it must be another of Mariah’s ‘keys’ and something which I needed to know of.

“Do either of you know of The Abbey?” I asked.

Expecting a similar response to that which I had just received from my previous question, it was to my surprise and delight as both Mariah and Mariam’s faces lit up with the self satisfaction that they where finally able to help me with the mystery as they had dubbed it, and allow me to make progress.

“Neither of us really know anything of The Abbey.” Mariah answered, and I felt my heart drop, I obviously knew them less than I had thought, being unable to decipher their facial expressions.

Laughing at the obvious look of intense disappointment upon my face, Mariam managed to gasp out, “But, we do know of some people who do.”

“Really!?” I shouted in delight pouncing on Mariam, “Who?”

“Aaah, now that would be telling, Arnia my dear, you shall have to wait and see. Now we really should be getting some sleep, since we’ll have to get up in a couple of hours if we want to catch them.”

Mariam wriggled free from my hold on her, and clambered back under the covers, instantaneously closing her eyes, and snoring a little too loudly to be entirely convincing.

“Meanie,” I said childishly, whilst sticking my tongue out, followed by a pout. “Mariiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiah?”

Turning round to face her, feeling that she would be a much easier victim, I was disappointed to find she had quickly and quietly followed Mariam’s lead, and seemingly appeared to be in a deep slumber.

With a slight frown upon my face and a quick shrug, I took my place in the bed and pulled the covers up to my neck. Although I was extremely tired, it was long after Mariah and Mariam’s real snores filled the room that I finally succumbed to sleep.

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Authors Note (2): I’m crappy, I know I am. I have the odd excuse for not uploading exactly on time, like passing my driving test, my sister getting engaged, and returning back to college after the summer, but even I can’t think of enough to cover a 6 month gap. So all I can say is sorry, and I hope, I sincerely hope, it doesn’t happen again.

If it wasn’t for Lia (Cascadingiris) who knows when this would be updated, so all thanks must go to her for giving me the push I needed to finally get this finished, since I did start it at least 5 months ago. If anyone wanted to show their appreciation to her, how about checking out her Beyblade fics, Falling Short and Haunted Essence.

I just want to thank everyone who read the last chapter (and this) but the biggest thanks go to those who took the time to send me a review. So kudos goes out to , Cascading Iris, Hibiki-Chan, Neptune-Saturn, BottledSpooky, Ruby, Cecily and Quinten Moore. You are all very much appreciated.

Erm…I think that’s about all for now, if you want to ask a question feel free to send a PM, an email, or even add me on myspace all the addresses can be found in my profile –Thanks again for reading, and please leave a review telling me what you thought.

Lots of Love

Kirsty

xoxox