Gods of Beyblade

S2Ch7. Odin (Pt 2)

"You're me," Orochi pointed out.

"Yes, nice observations," his past self replied.

"But younger," Orochi observed.

"By many years, yes," Orochi said. "We are from the past, unvolunteeringly, but nice to meet you."

"Yes, nice to meet you all and myself too... Let me get this straight, younger me, you claim to be from the past, but I don't remember time traveling when I'm younger," Orochi's eyes narrowed and looked around. "Where... where am I exactly?"

"According to someone named Heracles... we are trapped in time," Shu explained. "And, well... according to future Xhaka," he shot Xhaka a look, "the future is somehow changing, so you shouldn't know we're coming."

"I see..." Orochi's shoulders visibly relaxed and gave a small smile. "This is very strange, talking to your own self."

"Yup, same as talking to your future self," Orochi smirked.

"Wait. Who is Heracles?" Orochi asked.

"Some human possessed by a Bey spirit, we don't know much about him," Shu said.

"Is he the dude with the hella long ponytail and tattoos?" Orochi asked.

"Yeah, how do you know?"

"I don't remember how long I've been asleep, but he was the one who threw me here," he answered. "I must have been here for long... Do you know what that guy is here for? Anything important about him? I need to know."

Zac bit his lower lip in thought. "He wanted to ove...overthrow Asgard, I think. He even went to the present- ah, our present- to did something to our Beyblades and our spirits are d-d-di-d-" the blonde stopped, swallowing hardly.

"They're dying," Akira softly finished for him, eyes casting below. "We don't how he did that, but our Beys started to lose their original... spark. It was another one of Heracles' cruel but smart plans, and we think he is planning to stop Asgard before it even began by killing the Bey spirits of the past. But whatever this is, we have to stop it. We have to or..."

The pink haired boy's head hung low, and the rest of his sentence didn't need to be said for the others to understand. How terrifying and sad the result would be if the Bey spirits of the past weren't saved in time.

Zac looked at his friend, kohai and fellow blader. The rising star, with a bright smile that could almost rival the sun, the adorable boy full of jokes and a head covered in fluffy pink cotton candy- It was both infrequent and heart breaking to see the ball of positive energy so sad. Akira must love Anubis. His kohai was not the naive, loud kid he once known, Zac suddenly realised, Akira had grown up. The spin emperor's heart ached; he felt proud and painful at the same time.

His eyes shifted to pay attention to the bruise covering Orochi's lower arm. It seemed to be there for a week already, but still looked nasty and painful.

"Uh... Is your arm okay? I can heal that for you if you want," Zac offered, pointing at the bruise.

Orochi eyed the area. "I don't even notice that. It's okay, it doesn't hurt, and you don't want to waste your energy," he waved him off. "I think it's from the moment Heracles trapped me here... I recall him pulling me by my arm. And," he said hesitantly, "I think I sort of know why he put me here."

"Is it to threaten-"

"No, not that, no threatening nor all those old fashioned schemes," Orochi said. "I see Heracles had done some historical research before all of this. You know, have you ever wondered why he captured me instead of the kings?"

"Why?" The bladers asked.

"While capturing the kings can greatly disrupt the rule of this kingdom and even cause the fall of Adgard's civilization, Asgard is still home to all spirits and raw with power and without the agreement of the spirits, he still would not be able to have any control over the realm. However... If he takes control of Odin, then it's all over," he let out a small laugh. "I have to die in order for him to fully have Odin, but he could not easily kill me since Odin wouldn't let him lay a finger on me. I guess he originally planned to let me rot here and die.

"Odin... let's say he was the first spirit born, much earlier than Spriggan, Zeus, Xcalibur and Longinus, and stronger than the four of them combined. He was the father of Asgard, the life of Asgard, and the kingdom's first ruler. He was the king of gods before he gave Zeus his crown, and once even controlled all nine realms. Too powerful, Odin was, and that caused him to be the greatest advantage yet disadvantage to the realm," Orochi said.

"I have a question-" Shu started. "How could the power of sound be that powerful? That, and what made him, how do I say it, give up his throne to... us? If he was stronger than our spirits, wouldn't that make him a more suitable king?"

Orochi shook his head. "Power isn't the most important element in a ruler, it's leadership. You have traveled to the future, but do you know why time travel is a taboo?"

The bladers shook their heads.

"Sound is only one of Odin's primary powers among all the other ones, and his main one, is time," Orochi took a deep breath. "I won't tell you much about his deeds, since that's between him and I, but I am just going to tell you that he once was not a merciful king. No, he was ruthless and prideful, taking what he wanted with his overpowered control over time without even blinking, and- Odin regrets it deeply, I can see it. He feels too guilty to continue his rule and gave up his crown. Asgard was left without a proper leader for centuries above centuries, until, until you four appeared."

His lips lifted upwards.

"Odin was overjoyed, you know, that there are someone out there to be good leaders of Asgard unlike him. Hardworking, smart, strong, good leadership, and loves blading. When I was you," he looked at his younger self, "I was jealous of them, ya know. Why they were the best when I wasn't, even I worked so hard, is that right?"

Orochi looked away, embarrassed.

"Odin set the time traveling taboo himself and swore not to use that power again. He was a kind spirit and friend, the best spirit and friend in my opinion, now. He stepped down from his throne and handed it over to you four, Spin Emperors," his eyes hardened. "The thing is, Odin is still the life source and center energy of Asgard, and this realm is tied to him despite the fact that he is not king."

"So that means..." Shu started.

"All you have to do to end Asgard is to kill Odin," Orochi finished. "But he can't. Which leads him to mess around with time, hoping to end the rule of Asgard before it even starts."

"We have to stop him then," Orochi said. "But how can we do that, future me? We can't let our Bey spirits be in contact their future selves, and-"

"Whose Bey spirit hasn't been summoned before?" Orochi asked.

"Valkyrie, Anubis and Quetzalcoatl," Valt answered.

"They are our only hope in getting out of here, I suppose," Orochi said. "The kings are wise. They have ruled for decades. We will discuss what to do afterwards. I cannot risk summoning Odin; that's what Heracles wants from the start."

"I will summon Quetzalcoatl then," Quon voiced. Everyone looked at him. "I mean, I wasn't doing anything the whole time and I want to help."

Everyone else nodded in agreement and encouragement.

"Nice, Quon!" Xhaka laughed. "Get us out of here!"

Closing his eyes, a icy green tinted light surrounded the blader and his bey, glowing brighter at each memory of their bond. At this, Quetzalcoatl was summoned.

The creature looked like a serpent but with feathers and wings, scales glimmering as if adorned with emeralds. It doesn't give any facial expression, nor opened its mouth.

"Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent and embodiment of wind," Jin said in awe.

"Wind? Like Zeus?" Zac asked.

"No, he doesn't control wind, he is wind," Jin said.