CHAPTER 9, THE ISLAND IN THE MIST

For some reason, I feel something calling me there, a voice or something. Telling Master this, she decides to head fir the island. We headed for it but as we closed in on it's shores, we were encroached by mist but the mist parted revealing a path straight to the island.

Upon arriving at the island the scenery seems familiar to me. Rogue and Jade lower the plank and Master gives us orders to search the island and report in if we find anything suspicious. We all go in groups, me, Alexi and Chryso. While we all walk across the shores I feel deja vu. Have I been here before? Just then I notice a small shine on the shores so I rush to it and without a doubt, this is the necklace that woman I met in my dream made me. "Master, could everyone please gather at the ship?" I ask via communicator.

"Okay." She says and all of soon gather at the ship.

"What's up Haru, why'd you call us here?" Dia asks.

"I know this might sound strange but I have a question." I say and she raises me an eyebrow. "There should be stone silver in color that should be along the shoreline, have any of you seen it?"

"Yeah, tons of stone by the shoreline." Dia answers obviously unhappy pointing to the stones on the shoreline.

"No, a larger one, big enough to be sat on, there should also be a small river not far from it." I say.

"We saw one like that." Neph says. "It wasn't far from here but that place made me feel a little weird."

"How come?" Rose asks.

"The stars were out with the moon and it felt like I was being watched." He says and with that I immediately dash to that spot. "Hey Haru-"

"Where are you going? You could get lost-!" Aria shots but I cut her off.

"I won't, I've been here before without a doubt!" I say and rush to spot where I last met that woman.

As I run as quickly as possible the scenery becomes more and more nostalgic, this it without a doubt. That stone is the stone she was sitting down at. I touch the rock and it feels smooth I look around and then start calling out. "Aqua! Aqua! Where are you?" I shout repeatedly.

"Haru, what are you doing?" Aria asks, she chased after me and it seems everyone else did too. "Aqua is right here." She says as Chryso and Alexi's younger brother Aqua stand in front of us.

"I wasn't looking for Aqua, I'm looking for Aqua." I say.

"Haru are you sure you're fine?" Storm asks concerned.

"I can assure you he is." A familiar figure says emerging from the water, it's Aqua. "Greetings, I'm Aqua though my full name is Aquarius."

"Aqua!" I exclaim and run to her. "I knew it, the moment I saw this I knew this was the island I met you on."

"This? Oh the necklace I made you?" She says as I hand her the necklace. "I've been searching everywhere for this. Haru, keep this with you at all times okay?"

"Sure but why?" I ask and just then she takes my face in her hands and kisses me. Everyone looks at me with a shocked expression after she let's go. "I'm really never going to get used to that."

"Treat me well, master." She says, I've really disliked that whole master treatment. "Master?"

"Aqua, when you disappear do you go to where Leo and my other familiars are?" I ask her.

"Yes, we head into a separate pocket in space and there we wait for you to summon us. Why do you ask?" She answers.

"Tell them to stop with the whole master treatment, I feel rather distant if they use master as a way of reference to me." I say with a frown. "Tell them to stop it."

"Understood, now then. Haru I think I owe you an explanation right?" She says as she sits down in the sand.

"Yes, I would like one. Where is this place? How did we meet in my dream and many more." I say.

"Before I answer yours, you might want to answer your friends' questions." She says as the others look at us.

"Come on everyone, sit down on the sand and I'll explain." I say.

I end up explaining everything to them, about the songs I was hearing, about the dream I had that one night, about the kiss that's used for forming a master-familiar contract. After explaining Aria hands me a bottle of water and I drink it, my throat is parched beyond compare. "Sorry I kept quiet about it for a while now." I say with a sincere apologetic look on my face.

"It's fine Haru, it must've been hard to say something as embarrassing as havibg your first kiss with a guy." Dia teases and some of the members even Master holds back their laughter.

"Geez, you have no mercy whatsoever." Aria says. "It's alright Haru but from now on tell us everything okay?"

"Yeah, we're family after all." Neph says after he recovers from laughing.

"Okay." I answer and then look at Aqua. "Your turn to explain Aqua."

She then explains everything, the dream I had was indeed here and it was done with a special spell. Familiar Link, a spell that allows a familiar to connect to the master they have chosen. The place that we met was a replica of this place, it was apparently a pocket in space where master and familiar may meet. She also says that the song I was hearing was her song to call her master to her, as song of summoning. She also explains why we got lost. She apparently rewrote the waves direction and summoned us to this island so the two of us could meet. She apologizes but everyone just forgives her.

After the explanation she bids us farewell as she returns to my body. After that we all decide to spend the night on the island, it has a nice view after all. As I walked around I feel on my knees from the sudden headache. Memories, here they come again. The memories this tien were about combat, swordfighting, marksmanship, leadership and lots more. These memories they keep showing me a different side to myself they only scare me more and more. I feel like I'm no longer myself. "Haru! It's time to eat." Aria called out to me.

"Okay." I answered her.

As we all dig in everyone shows a happy face as we all eat. Even if I change because of these memories, I know that the 'Haru' here and now is happy and wants to be by the side of these amazing people more. And that's what I'll do.

The enxt day, as the shipped departed, I watched the island disappear into the mist. Aquarius said that the moment we leave the mist we'll be at our destination and she didn't lie. What we saw up ahead after leaving the mist was the Morganite Town our next destination.