Chapter 9

It was awhile before Piers came back, but before he did, I had an interesting conversation with Clay. He was on my lap, I was lying on Natasha's bed. She went over to Lauren, for some reason Lauren was crying, I guess Natasha was comforting her. I was looking at her, being the big sister as she is. I guess I dozed off because Clay was head butting my stomach to get my attention, he was a strong little bugger.

"Hello? You in there Xero?" He asked.

"Wha, o, yeah I'm here." I quickly answered.

"Well, do you, or don't you?" He asked. It sounded like he asked me this question earlier, I guess I dazed off.

"Sorry, what was it again?"

"Jeez, and Cloud wonders why I'm impatient. I asked you if you like Natasha?"

"…Isn't it obvious." I said while my head was down low, and I was blushing like crazy.

"Well yeah it's obvious, but I want to hear it from you. Wait I have a better idea." He said, then glowed with a brownish golden color, and then practically merged into my body. I was astounded. Is this what it felt like to have a Djinni on standby?

'Yes it is what it's supposed to feel.' What the? Was that Clay?

'Yeah, it was me, I can read your thoughts now'

'Great, so my personal secrets are unlocked to you now.'

'No actually, what ever you think I can hear, as if you actually said it.'

'So in other words we can have conversations in thought instead of speech?'

'Right.'

'Can this get any cooler?'

'It can, and it will, just wait for Piers to come back.'

'Why? What will happen when he gets back?' Then Natasha broke my concentration.

"Xero? Are you all right?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm all right. It's just I figured out that I can talk to Clay in my head."

"It's about time, I didn't learned how to talk with Cloud that way for a couple of weeks."

"Still, what is Piers talking to your parents about?"

"Do you know where Cloud is?" She asked mischievously.

"Don't tell me he's eavesdropping."

"Okay, I won't tell you then."

This was getting crazy, the only reason I said that is because I know the travels Piers was in, and he'll know that Cloud is spying on him. Then, we heard some footsteps travel up the stairway. I sure hope that was Piers, I need to know what's going on.

Next a knock on the door. Natasha answered.

"Come in Piers!" She said.

As he was walking in he grabbed a chair and sat down right in front of the bed. He didn't say anything at first, he just looked at us, like we were delicate flowers and he wanted to savior every moment he had with us. He didn't have a gay look upon him, more like we were his children.

"So these are the two warriors I must bring with me to my homeland." He said.

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked.

"You've heard of the rumor going around that I would come back to Imil in search of two warriors to bring with me to Lemuria?"

"Yes, we heard of the rumor, even Xero has heard of it."

"Ah yes, Xero. Tell me do you know what an adept is Xero, or better yet, are you an adept?" He asked.

"An adept is someone who can wield one of the four elements, Earth Fire Wind and Water. I cannot tell you if I am an adept or not because I show signs of three of the four elements."

"…Interesting. Which three might I ask?"

"Water, Fire, and Wind. I think it's a matter of time till I show a sign of earth." I said.

"We'll see. But for now, get some rest. You two are coming with me to Lemuria." Piers said.

"W-Wait! What about my parents, they need to know that I'm leaving." Natasha said.

"O yeah I forgot." He said as he returned Cloud to Natasha. "I saw him spying on us, so he's going to be asleep for awhile. Don't worry, he's not hurt in anyway shape or form, he's just finally taking a break." So he left the room without anything else said.

I can't believe it, we're going to Lemuria!

'I can't believe it either, one of my friends live there, I can't wait to meet him again'

"You won't keep quiet for two seconds will ya?" I said aloud.

"If your gonna talk to your Djinni, do it quietly." She said, while snickering to herself. I'll never understand women.

Morning came and went. As soon as the afternoon came, we decided to go outside and train ourselves before departure.

"Do you know any good clearings?" I asked.

"Ya, the place where we kissed." She said. O man, as soon as I realized what I said I blushed again. I seem to be doing this a lot, I guess it's just a reaction.

"Well, okay, let's going." I said. And we bolted for Lover's Rock. You know, she never did tell me why it's called Lover's Rock.

Once we arrived, we took a moment to ready ourselves. I took my Bo Staff in hand, and she took her sword in hers.

"Let me ask you, what type of sword is that?" I asked.

"I don't really know, I heard that it was called the Wing Blade."

"Hmmm, I think I heard that before, I just can't remember where." It didn't matter though, we practiced anyway. The spar was very invigorating, not only was Natasha a very tough opponent, I was actually winning a part of the match. It was very difficult, only because I'm afraid of blades, so I was a bit hesitant to defend.

After a couple of hours, the sky began to get dark, and we were getting really tired. Once we returned home, we sat down and ate a meal. The rest of the family wasn't there, I guess they went somewhere else. Once the meal was consumed, we headed upstairs.

"I guess we should get some rest for tomorrow, I never been sailing before, and I don't know if I can handle the seas."

"Sure, I'm getting tired myself, good night Xero."

"G'night." You know, I never did tell Natasha that my name was Josh, not Xero. I guess that can wait for another time. Besides, I heard sailing takes awhile.