Chapter 37

Jaden had picked up his powers a lot faster than they'd expected, going from hopeless to reasonably skilled almost overnight. Still it wasn't enough and Jo was determined to have him an expert by the end of the day; something which could be easily achieved with the help of Crovell.

'Interesting,' a smirk suddenly appeared on her brother's face.

'What is?' She frowned at him.

'Looks like the trio were smarter than we thought.'

'Huh?'

'Can't you sense it sis?'

Closing her eyes she took a deep breath in. Almost instantly something blipped onto the edge of her consciousness.

'Oh… I see,' a slim smile tugged at her lips.

'See what?' Jaden sounded confused.

'Things are about to get a lot more interesting,' she opened her eyes.

'They are?'

Just as he was saying this, two lads appeared out of nowhere; turning Jaden's rather baffled expression into a more excited one.

'Chazz, Chumley, glad you could drop by.'

With a slight smirk on her face, Jo tilted her head and waited for what she knew was about to happen next. It didn't take long. Jaden's eyes bulged and his whole body rolled back, causing him to blink in a strange and awkward manner.

'This is strange,' he laughed, only the voice he used wasn't his it was Arados's.

'You three have caused a lot of trouble,' Crovell folded his arms, 'and last I checked that was my job.'

'Consider yourself usurped,' he grinned.

'You know this isn't permanent right,' Jo shot him a serious look, 'Taylor really doesn't know what he's doing with this power of his yet; he would only have managed to trap a small part of your essence in those pictures and every second that's degrading.'

'I'm aware of that,' one of the other two lads spoke using Taylor's voice. 'What I want to know is how you know that's what I did, when I barely know what I did.'

'Because she's Jo Lutoni,' Arados-Jaden rolled his eyes, 'there isn't much she doesn't know.'

'You need to get Lus into the boy staying with Yugi,' Crovell tilted his head to one side, 'that way they'll all benefit from this situation.'

'I understand,' the boy hosting Taylor nodded.

'You better hurry,' Jo sighed and gave a dismissive flick of her hand, 'your rate of degradation has sped up since you entered those bodies.'

'Yeah, I sensed something like that happening,' his face filled with a sad little look, 'so we'll do what we can, I promise.'

Drake was numb. It had been nearly midnight when he'd finally managed to drop off to sleep and now, in the cold light of a new day, he was lying in his bed trying desperately to forget everything that had happened to him. But how could he forget? Forgetting would be like pretending everything was okay. Pretending everything was normal. But it wasn't. How could it be? How could it ever be again?

Suddenly there was a gentle knock at the door. He didn't make a sound hoping whoever it was would just go away and leave him alone. Unfortunately after a few moments the door opened.

'Hey there,' a richly exotic voice sounded from his doorway, 'so this is what you really look like, huh? Kind of like Nicolie as a kid, from what I can remember.'

'Wouldn't surprise me,' he gave a dull and heavy sigh, 'what with my parents being the Khines of his. So you did switch places with me after all?'

'Not exactly,' Simüte came into view. 'But it is true that I am here because of you, because of your gift.'

'I told you, I don't have a gift.'

'Ah, but you do. And a very dangerous one at that.'

'Which is?'

'The ability to grant the wishes of others.'

'Oh…' a numb realisation crept over him.

'Yes. When you unknowingly granted my wish you sent me here. And now there are only two ways for me to return to my own time. To complete my wish and teach my Khine about discipline or to make another wish in order to cancel out the first.'

'And which do you choose?' He blinked slowly.

'If it were up to me I would choose neither. Wishes are dangerous things, but I want to go home.'

'Then you want to make a wish?'

'No,' he shook his head, 'I want to complete mine. Only, it would appear to be a harder task than I thought. My Khine is very stubborn and has not taken kindly to… well I'm sure you understand.'

'Ulk Veronie can be stubborn,' he sighed, 'but why have you come to me about it?'

'Because I…' he hesitated. 'Because I came here to kill you.'

'What?' He almost leapt up in fear.

'Sen Kayma are retched creatures, they do not deserve to exist. You are not only one of them, you are a mortal one. That should not be allowed.'

'You can't kill me!'

'I think you'll find that I am more than capable of doing it or at least I was,' he lowered his gaze sadly. 'You have no need to worry child, now that I've seen you really are but a boy, I do not have the heart. Fortunately for you I am not like my brother-in-law or else I would do in a heartbeat what needs to be done. But I do not have the will or the conscience to kill a child.'

'So you came here to kill me then changed your mind?'

'Yes.'

'But you would still rather fulfil your wish than wish yourself home?'

'Yes,' he nodded.

'And what will you do once you've completed your wish?' Relaxing slightly, he pulled his blanket up round him.

'I'm hoping that it'll return me home, so that I may pick up my life from where I left off.'

'And if it doesn't,' he shifted his gaze, 'if things have moved on without you?'

'Then I shall pick it up from whatever point in time is needed.'

'Doesn't it worry you? I mean, your daughter could be married or…'

'I have not been gone so long yet and even if it takes me a long while to get home it does not concern me how much has changed during my absence, I will learn.'

'Wouldn't it be easier to just wish yourself back now?

'Sometimes the easy way is not the correct way.'

'You mean like letting me live,' he flicked his gaze back up towards him. 'I mean, isn't it easier to let me live than to kill me? Even though you know it's not the right thing.'

'Actually it is harder to let you live, knowing what you are, than to kill you.'

'But you said you didn't have the will or the conscience to do it. Doesn't that make it harder?'

'You are a wise child,' a soft smile filled his face, 'and I do believe I have made the right choice in allowing you to live.'

'Thank you. But you didn't answer my question.'

'I see you are also a perceptive child.'

'Are you going to answer my question or not?'

'Drake,' his face filled with an imploring look, 'sometimes the easiest choice is also the hardest.'