Numb by Phoenix-Blaze on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

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''It was still a shock to the system. Visiting the spot again made him feel a jumble of emotions. The first time he had come, Markov had been with him and Kai had made sure to keep his face expressionless. Now he was here alone and he found that he could not muster the strength to keep his anger in check.

He stared at the crumbled, faded boulder by the tree, jaw clenched so tightly that the muscles were starting to ache. Was this supposed to be some kind of sick joke? Voltaire had not even possessed the decency to bury his son and daughter-in-law in a graveyard. He had not even possessed the dignity to build his son and daughter-in-law a respectful monument and bury them within its enclosed, protective doors. He had selected a place that he knew nobody would visit; a nameless, unknown location in the middle of nowhere, marked only by a single tree and the large rock that rested beside it. Underneath the deep depths of snow were the corpses of his parents. Buried in the wilderness, as if they were undeserving of remembrance. As if they were undeserving of any form of charity from the living.

Unable to bear looking at the pitiful sight any longer, Kai turned away from the tree and the boulder, an unknown, unfamiliar feeling throbbing deep within his chest. His eyes felt as if they were on fire, and not only from the sheer livid fury that coursed through his veins like molten lava in its outraged and scorching heat. They stung as an incredibly bitter emotion swept over him. Dark, angry, gold tinged amethyst eyes stared at the bleak scenery ahead of him. It was starting to snow again, covering the vast space ahead of him in a thicker blanket of white, providing a deceptive vision of innocence and peace.

He suddenly wondered why Voltaire had chosen this spot in particular. Were there other bodies buried here? Did this location, being a safe distance from the outskirts of the city far behind Kai, hold any significance? Had other people lost their lives unlawfully and been buried here too? Had other people been murdered by those who were supposed to be closest to them; those who had meant to be their protectors in life?

The harsh, biting wind whipped his slate hair across his face, sent his long dark navy Trent-coat flapping wildly around him. But for the first time in his life, Kai did not feel the cold. As he stood with his back to the boulder and the tree, he realised, with a dizzying kind of calm, that he knew why he felt nothing.

He was numb. Unfeeling. Inhuman and unreceptive to anything but anger and bitterness. Just the way that Voltaire had always wanted him to be.''

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Excerpt from an upcoming scene in AngeLhearteD's post G-Revolution set story ''Slave for You'', which focuses on Kai and the Blitzkrieg Boys. Here is the link to her work on FanFiction.net:

[link]

AngeLhearteD requested some artwork for her story some time ago. I was originally going to draw her one with Kai, Spencer, Tala, Bryan and Ian watching a house burning, but I realised I wouldn't have time to draw/colour such a detailed piece of work. So I told her to choose just one character that she wanted drawn and coloured. She selected Kai, and provided me with the above excerpt from her story, which my artwork is based on.

It is really not my way to promote other people's works...but since this artwork is directly tied to someone else's story, I suppose I ought to make a general recommendation. If you like Beyblade and read Beyblade fanfiction, go and read AngeLhearteD's work. She is one of the few Beyblade writers who consistently keep all the character personalities true to their anime selves.

Apart from the colour of the trench-coat, I could choose the other colours for Kai's clothes. He is around 18 years old in the story, so I was free to re-design him anyway. I put the silhouettes of Russian buildings in the background to give the impression that the city is behind him, as is written in the excerpt. I also added a pale red colour filter to give the impression of the location (particularly the ground) being tainted with blood from Voltaire's evil deeds in the story.

I rushed the drawing and shading of the ground snow. That should be very obvious. But I have never drawn snow in Photoshop before, so I am not bothered to make it look all perfect.

No reference images were used apart from for the Russian building structures.

Sketched, inked and coloured by mouse in Adobe Photoshop 9.0.