The Clepsydra

Chapter 7

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Re-editing and a triple checking of grammar and punctuation will be done as soon as possible. Bare with me for now until I can make the changes.

From: M x

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I step into the lounge to see Aidan and his parents talking in hushed tones. They stop when they see me walk in and Aidan motions to the seat next to him on the couch, which would put me in between him and his parents. I take a seat warily, wringing my hands slightly in my lap.

All is quiet for a while then Aidan places his hand on my knee which has begun bouncing nervously and says "What would you like to know first?"

My body stills and I open my mouth to approach the first thing on my mental list. "In my first, ah....Crossover, I was in the body of someone called Ichika but then last night I was in my own body. Why is that?"

James is the one answers me. "As your Crossovers become more advanced, so they change. Any Clepsydras first Crossover is more of a repetition of a previous Clepsydra's experience, but your body and mind progress more and the better you become at controlling your Crossovers. I don't know if you did, but if you had tried to speak at all during your first real-life history demonstration, you would have found yourself unable to. You were more of a bystander than an actual participant in your first experience, it's an adaption the Clepsydra have developed to prevent unfortunate incidents with first-timers."

Hmm. Makes logical sense...you wouldn't exactly want a waitress on her first day working at a restaurant running the place. "When did you all find out about the Clepsydra? Do you all just start asking questions when you start popping in and out of history like a pop tart in a toaster or did you know all along?"

Aidan decides to tackle this question, and motions to his parents with his hands before replying with "My parents, as most families do, raised me and Clarisse from the very beginning to know about who we are. Some family's prefer to wait until the children experience their first Crossover, although I feel our way is better since it prevents situations like yours."

No need to back up that reasoning, since I would hate to impose what I'm feeling now on some poor kid. Waking up next to a Mayan princess is not the best introduction into growing up.

"Elena, if you don't mind me asking, why did you save Aidan from having his brain exploded after what he did to you last night. Surely with what you had experienced you wouldn't want to help him?" Evie questions.

Well now, that is a question I need to think about. "Um...it was the way he reacted afterwards. His willingness to explain everything to me made me feel I could forgive him, even if it was going to take a while to achieve that. Besides, he was the link to finding out more about this not to mention that he got me ice-cream with sprinkles." Everyone laughs at this, and it seems to break the tension in the air a bit.

"Better the devil you know than the devil you don't they say," pipes in Aidans mom, and I do have to say I agree with her. It was an easy choice to make between the guy with a gun or the guy who tried to make up for almost killing me by buying chocolatey frozen treats.

Clarisse joins us, laden with a tray of cups. She places the tray down, and we each take a mug which is filled with freshly brewed tea. "So, I didn't miss much right?" She queries, taking a seat on her armchair from earlier this afternoon. I take a sip, shaking my head at Clarisse before putting my cup down on the glass-top coffee table.

I lean back further on the couch I'm sitting on, crossing my legs before directing a new inquiry I had been thinking about to Genevieve. "You said something about helping me. How are you planning to do that since it's become apparent that I'm just about clueless?"