A new day had started in Aether, home of the bey spirits. Our group of little legendary bladers were walking down the hallway from their rooms to the castle's dining room for breakfast. It was a bit tricky at first since the castle was still a complex labyrinth for them. Luckily, a kind maiden was able to guide them to their desired destination.

When they reached the dining room, the bladers were met with the sight of their partners already at the table. The spirits noticed their presence and greeted them.

"Oh, good morning, guys!" Valkyrie said. "Did you all get a good night sleep?"

"Yep! Safe to say that we all slept like babies." Aiga said, stretching his arms and body.

The boys went to sit at the table. Their breakfast was simple; just some toast, eggs and butter. But as they sat, they noticed another addition to the table. Sitting in between Helios and his sister, Eos was another person. Said person was female and seemed to be the same age as Helios. Her skin was fair like the pale moonlight, her hair was long and dark purple with little white dots covering it, as if it was made out of the night sky. Her eyes were a bright yellow like a toddler-drawn star. Lastly, she wore a simple white dress.

The girl noticed them and smiled. "Hello," she greeted. "You must be the bladers that father invited."

"Are you Selene?" Hikaru asked.

The girl chuckled. "Indeed I am. I guess my father and siblings mentioned me to you."

The bladers all nodded in confirmation. But then, Selene took a closer look at them.

"Wait, aren't you the bladers from the Tag Battle?" she asked.

"Eh?!" the boys exclaimed. "How did you know?!"

"We watched it of course!" Eos said. "In fact, all of Aether was watching!"

"WHAT?!" the boys exclaimed again.

"What the princess said was right," Achilles confirmed. "The king himself was participating. Of course everyone wanted to see him and his son win!"

"I guess that makes sense," Valt scratched his head. "But if everyone here watched the Ultimate Tag Battle, how? I'm pretty sure you guys don't have TV here in Aether."

Hyperion laughed. "Oh, Valt. We may have limitations in technology, but with the knowledge of magic in our hands, we can achieve almost anything."

Hyperion proceeded to conjure a ball of light in his hand. The orb floated and flew out of the dining room.

"Now, watch." Hyperion said and snapped his fingers. A big, bright rectangle appeared at the end of the table. What was shown on the rectangle astonished the bladers. It was the rest of the castle's interior, moving like a live video captured through a flying drone.

"S-So, that light acts like a drone? That's incredible!" Hikaru said in amazement.

"I asked my advisor to send these to the Tag Battle so all of my subjects can see the event for themselves."

"But, how come we didn't see them?" Drum asked.

"Simple. Those orbs were in the invisible plain. It's a plain that human sight cannot pierce through. Only spirits and animals can. There are a few humans that are able to see within this plain, but the numbers are extremely small." Helios explained.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing they were invisible. If everyone saw them, people are gonna start making weird alien conspiracy theories." Hyuga said.

Everyone laughed at this. They all enjoyed their breakfast. The bladers were happy to spend time with not only their partners but also the family of their partners as well.

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An hour passed. After breakfast, the boys were allowed to roam around the castle and hangout with their partners. Unfortunately for Hyuga, Hyperion wasn't able to tag along since he had some important duties to attend to. This made the younger Asahi a bit sad.

"It's okay, Hyuga," Hikaru comforted his brother. "Hyperion's the king after all. It's his job to look after his people."

"But...I have so many questions about him! What it's like to be king?! What's his relation with Lane's bey?! How it's like to have a partner like me?! Ugh! All of those questions are messing with my head right now!" Hyuga complained.

"How about we look for Helios?"

"Helios? But he's your partner-"

"Yeah, but he and Hyperion are family, right? Maybe we can learn more about Hyperion from him."

"Huh? Why didn't I think of that? Let's go look for him!"

🔸🔶🔸

Hyuga and Hikaru searched for the sun prince high and low. They were looking for the fabled alchemy room that Eos mentioned as one of her brother's favourite places in the castle. They tried not to grab the attention of the guards and maidens. They wanted to navigate through the castle on their own.

Their search eventually led them to the library. The brothers explore almost every corner of the area but found nothing. They were about to give up until...

"Hey, do you smell that?" Hyuga said, sniffing at something invisible.

"Smell what?" Hikaru questioned.

"You don't smell it? That perfume?"

At this, Hikaru's nose immediately caught a distinct fragrant scent. The one that his brother just described.

"I smell it but, where's it coming from?" Hikaru said.

"It must've came from this way!" Hyuga pointed at a certain aisle of the library. "The smell is stronger here."

The brothers proceeded to walk down the aisle. With every step, the fragrance became stronger and stronger. When they reached the end of the aisle, they were met with a door. Smoke seemed to seep from the slit below the door.

"I knew that smell was coming from here." Hyuga said. "Why would they wanna hide perfumes here? Are they that valuable?"

"Uh, Hyuga...I don't think what we just smelled was perfume. Those were probably chemicals."

"Ch-Chemicals?!" Hyuga suddenly panicked. "You mean the perfumes were poisons all along?! No! I'm probably gonna die from smelling them! I'm don't wanna die this young! I still have so much to do! I need to eat every food in the world, get some good night sleep and most importantly, settle all of my battles! Especially with Sisco and Lane-"

Before Hyuga could continue his panicked rant, the sound of a door opening interrupted him. The brothers turned to the door, the chemical fragrance filling up their nostrils and causing them to cough a bit. There stood Helios himself. He looked down at the two with a face of confusion and a hint of dismay, as if upset that whatever work he was doing was disturbed.

"What are you two doing here?" Helios asked.

"Uh...we were looking for you," Hikaru answered nervously. "We thought if you would like to hangout with us. You know, to get to know each other more."

"Yeah. Besides, your dad has some work to do, so you're the only one who can tell us more about him." Hyuga added.

"So, you wish to know more about my father?" Helios asked again.

The brothers nodded in response. Helios sighed and said, "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you some stories. Alright, wait in the library. I'll be there in a minute."

"What's in this roo-" Hyuga was about to enter the strange scented room when Helios promptly grabbed him by his jacket.

"No. You're not allowed in the alchemy room. I wouldn't want children running around with potentially dangerous substances in their hands." With that, Helios released Hyuga. "Now, do as I say and wait for me. I still have some things to do."

Helios went back into the alchemy room. "Oh, don't worry about the smell. These chemicals only kill when consumed." he said to Hyuga before closing the door.

Hikaru and Hyuga gave each other a look and shrugged. They did what Helios said and went in the library.

🔸🔶🔸

The Asahi brothers were in the library sitting on one of the sofas. While Hyuga was just sitting while polishing his beyblade, his older brother was reading one of the library's books. It was in a language that he neither understood nor heard of. There were no illustrations in the book, making it harder for Hikaru to understand its contents.

But the wait wasn't long, as Helios finally appeared.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said as he sat down beside his blader. "I had to clean up the place."

He noticed the book in Hikaru's hand. "Were you trying to read that?" he asked.

"Uh...yeah. Do you know what it's about?" Hikaru responded as he gave Helios the book.

Helios inspected the book. "Oh, it's just a history on the entire kingdom. Do you want me to-

"Uh, no. There's no need. Valkyrie kinda already told us the story."

"I see. So what do you want me to talk about?"

"We wanna learn more about Hyperion!" Hyuga said in excitement. "Uh, and maybe about you too."

Helios pondered at this for a moment. "I don't know where to start honestly. We've been alive for centuries. So many things had happened throughout our lives, even before we became your beyblades. But maybe I'll tell you one thing my father loved to do."

"Tell us, please!"

"When I was still young, father always visited your realm. He would collect many valuable items from that time. Instruments, furniture, you name it. He even brought a gift for my twin, Selene." Helios told, the memory playing in his mind.

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"Helios! Helios!" the voice of a young girl called out. "Look at what father gave me!"

"What is it, Selene?" a younger Helios asked his sister.

The girl, Selene, giggled as she showed the item she had to him. It was a silver metal box with a crescent etched onto it.

"It's called a musical box," she said. "If you open it, it will play music! Father brought it from the human realm."

The young Helios felt a feeling of unhappiness in his heart when Selene mentioned the human realm; but suppressed these emotions. He didn't want to see his little sister sad.

"Really? Can you show me?"

"Of course!" Selene happily opened the musical box. However, it didn't work as intended. There was no music playing.

"Eh? Where's the music?" Selene questioned.

"Is it broken?" Helios asked.

"No! It can't be broken! Father showed it to me awhile ago! It's brand new!"

"Let's go to him. Maybe he knows what's wrong."

"Alright."

The twins walked through the castle in search of their father. On their way, they bump into someone who wasn't him, but still someone they loved dearly.

"Hello, dear," a woman with dark purple hair and eyes as colourful as opals greeted them. She held a sleeping little girl in her arms. "Are you two looking for your father? If so, he's in his work area."

"Thank you, mother!" the twins said happily.

"Your welcome! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to take your little sister to bed. She had quite the energy burst today." the mother flashed a smile to her children before heading off.

The twins managed to reach their father's work area. When they entered, they saw him doing some paperwork, a quill tipped with black ink gripped between his fingers. When their father, Hyperion, saw them, he temporarily stopped his work.

"Helios. Selene. What you two doing here?" Hyperion asked with a warm smile.

"Selene is having problems with this box," Helios explained. "She said it will play music when opened but when she did, nothing happened."

"I see. Well, it's quite easy to solve this actually. You see, when I bought that musical box, it came with a little something else."

"Something else?" Selene asked.

"Yes. I was about to give it to you, but you were so excited to show it to your brother that you ran away." Hyperion went to his work table and picked up something. He then returned to his children.

"Here." The father showed the thing he had. It was a small key.

"A key?"  Selene asked curiously.

Hyperion gestured to Selene to give him the box. She did and she and her brother were surprised to see a hole in the box. Hyperion inserted the key into the hole, turned it a few times and opened the box. A melody started to play.

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Little Selene had never been so happy before. She jumped around with joy at the sound of the tune before rushing towards Hyperion to hug him.

"Thank you, father! You're the best!" she exclaimed.

Hyperion couldn't help but smile and pat his daughter on the head. Helios let a small smile creep onto his face at the sight of his twin's bright expression.

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"She still holds that musical box dearly to this day." Helios told.

"Wow, you really care about your sister." Hikaru commented.

"Of course I do. You would care about your brother too, right?"

"Absolutely! He may be lazy at times, but he's my brother, and I'll do anything to protect and support him!"

"Hi-Hikaru..." Hyuga was almost speechless at his brother's words.

Helios smiled with satisfaction at this. "That's the spirit. After all, it's natural instinct to protect your own kin. It doesn't matter how much they annoy you, they are still connected to us through blood. As the saying goes; blood is thicker than water."

"Do you have another story? Please....? Just one more." Hyuga pleaded.

"Maybe one more is fine. This is the moment me and my father became your beys."

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"Father!" Helios exclaimed, rushing through the halls in search of his father.

He stopped at nearby guard and asked frantically, "Where is my father?!"

"He-He's in the the throne room, Your Majesty." the guard answered.

Without thinking, Helios rushed towards the throne room, bursting through the door.

"Father! I have something important to tell you-" before he could tell him the problem, Hyperion interrupted him.

"Ah, my son. You're here! You're probably not going to believe what I'm about to tell you." Hyperion looked happy for some reason, which confused Helios.

"I'll let you speak first, father."

"This morning, I heard the voice of a young boy calling my name! Then I got a glimpse of what he looked like. He had red hair that almost looks like a pineapple and-"

"The same happened to me. I heard a young boy calling out to me. Then I was teleported to a room with a boy working on something. Does this mean..."

"Yes, Helios. We're going to have masters! This will bring great fortune to Aether!" Though the father had a heart and face filled with joy, the son had a heart filled with doubt.

"But, father. Have you forgotten what happened to grandfather Uranus? He was used by his master to cause chaos! What if the same fate befalls us?"

Suddenly, both of them were transported to somewhere else. It was a room. In that room, there were two to boys sitting on a desk, both seemingly hard at work. The father and son seemed to recognise them.

"That blue haired one. He's the one I saw in my vision!" Helios said in shock.

"Ah, and the red haired one's mine. I learnt his name is Hyuga Asahi. I sense great tenacity and energy within him." Hyperion said. "Do you know the name of your master, son?"

Helios' attempted to tap into this new found bond. He learnt his master's name.

"Hi-Hikaru...Hikaru Asahi is his name." he said quietly, though making sure his father heard him.

"Huh, they're brothers. No wonder you and I got these visions at the same time."

The father and son walked closer to the boys, their presence completely unknown to them. They saw what they were working on.

"No way. Are those...?" Helios spoke, seemingly recognising the objects the brothers were creating.

"Beyblades. The legendary objects that brought peace between spirits and humans." Hyperion said. "Helios, remember the Oath?"

"Yes. The oath that says that a spirit whose name is conjured by a human shall serve that human till their bond withers away."

"Exactly! This is what's happening right now. With this bond, it will benefit both us and our masters. Besides, an old enemy has been unleashed from his centuries long imprisonment. Perhaps this is our chance to end this conflict once and for all."

"But, I still have my doubts, father. What if they abuse us for power like what happened to grandfather?"

Hyperion laughed at this. "Oh, son. Tell me, what do you sense within that boy?"

At this, Helios' tapped into his bond again. This time, he sensed a boy filled with kindness and gifted with unmatched intelligence. He realised that this boy had no plan on using him as a tool for power.

"I see a heart of good intentions and the need to enjoy the thrill of sports." Helios simply stated.

"See what I mean? If our ancestors were able to make close bonds with humans, then so can we! What do you say?"

Before Helios could answer, they heard Hikaru cheer.

"It's nice to meet you, King Helios!"

Helios could not believe his ears. Did the boy just call him King? A title that he has still yet to inherit? With this, Helios could only smile, as if he had foreseen a bright future ahead of him. He turned to his father and said,

"If this is our only chance to defeat Lucifer, then let's give these two our best." In his right eye, a blue flaring sun manifested within the blackness of his pupil.

Hyperion could only return the smile as a yellow shining sun formed in his own left pupil.

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The Asahi brothers were almost speechless. They didn't believe their partners would see them in such a positive light.

"Y-You really think of us like that?" Hyuga asked. "I mean...we kinda suck at first."

"Yeah, we were pretty weak back then. Plus, we weren't strong enough to prevent you two from breaking." Hikaru added.

"No, Hikaru. It's not your fault that I was broken. You were just following your instincts to protect your brother. I felt the same when I saw that my father was getting the life sucked out of him. I wanted to protect him because he was the only one me and my sisters had left." the prince explained.

He then turned to Hyuga. "And you, Hyuga. You're not the cause of my father's fall. You were only forced by Valhalla to battle him since he gave you no choice."

"You two were never weak. You just didn't realise it back then." a new voice appeared. It was Hyperion's.

They turned around and saw him, smiling warmly. You could see little stars in Hyuga's eyes as Hyperion walked into the library and sat with them.

"Think of dust building up in your house. At first it seems unnoticeable but over time they pile up and can be spotted easily. No matter how many times it is cleaned up, it will always return. That's what strength is all about." he explained.

The boys seemed to be inspired by the king's words. That is until...

"I don't get it." Hyuga said.

This made the others fall backwards anime style.

"What he's basically saying is, our strength builds up over time and it will stay that way even if things try to stop us." Hikaru elaborated.

"Oh.... Why didn't you just say it like that? I'm not good with cryptic messages!" Hyuga said to Hyperion.

"Well...dust is a common thing in your house. I thought that would be a good comparison." Hyperion explained while sweat-dropping.

Suddenly, the ringing of a bell could be heard from outside of the library. The brothers had heard that sound before. It signalled that a meal was ready.

"Seems like lunch has been served." Hyperion stated.

"Great timing. All this story telling is making me hungry." Helios said before turning to the brothers. "Are you two coming with us?"

"Absolutely! Can't miss a good meal with our best partners! Right, Hikaru?" Hyuga said to his brother.

Hikaru nodded in response. "Let's go!" he exclaimed.

With that, the four headed towards the dining room for the second meal of the day. As Hikaru and Hyuga chatted happily behind, Hyperion and Helios gave each other a smile of respect and recognition.

"Helios."

"Huh?"

"Thank you for taking care of Hyuga while I was on my duties. The guards and maids will surely appreciate you."

"Are you saying that the Celestials and maids aren't capable of handling a hyperactive human child?"

"I'm afraid they wouldn't have the patience to. Unless if we gave them to-"

"DON'T mention her when they are present!" Helios suddenly shouted, face red from anger (or is it something else?). The Asahi brothers were alerted by the sudden noise.

While Hyperion laughed nervously at his son's reaction, Hikaru and Hyuga could only display confusion on their faces at the moment.