Chapter 16 – Thief

"So…" Sai was still hesitating "… Will the awakened weapon disappear like the one earlier?"

"No…" Baba was not expecting this stupid question from him. No matter, how irked he was, He had always admired Sai for his wits "…The awakened weapons or tools for you will become yours and will always stay yours until you die." Baba explained.

This is how Sai learnt about awakening.

Sai was staring at the Scythe with twinkling eyes. He waited for a while for it to illuminate, but nothing happened. He sighed heavily and put it back in the compartment. He was a bit disappointed.

He then, walked back to the door lifelessly, grabbed the doorknob and looked back at the spectacular view, one last time. He sighed again and was about to open the door when he glanced at the ball-like tool in the adjacent compartment.

'Maybe I should try the tools too.' He thought and walked back in.

He stood in front of the compartment and stared at the ball.

"There is nothing to lose anyway." He exhaled and grabbed the ball in his one hand.

He examined the ball closely; it looked like a simple ball made of glass.

"Bomb…? A Crystal Ball?" Sai murmured as he inspected the ball.

'Whatever.' He shrugged as he stared at the ball and yelled!

"Wake Up Crystal Ball!"

The ball suddenly lit up brightly enough to blind someone. Sai turned his gaze away.

After a few minutes, the light faded, and the ball turned back to normal.

Sai was smiling ear to ear; His first success in last few months.

"It worked." He exclaimed with joy and excitement.

He put the ball in his bag and quickly went out the room. He stood there for a while, looked around and took a deep breath.

"Goodbye." He said and kneeled like a sprinter.

He suddenly got up, ran at full speed, and slammed into the Door of Opportunity.

"Ugh" He cried as he fell on his back. He failed to escape this time again.

Sai had been doing this for last 4, 5 months; he would get up when Baba was sleeping, try to wake one of the tools up and then attempt to run away from where he had appeared.

Disappointed, Sai got up, whisked his clothes off, and went back to the spirit room. He wanted to place the ball back in the compartment before Baba woke up.

He opened his bag and was shocked; the ball was not there.

"Where did it go?" He exclaimed as he looked in the bag thoroughly, but the ball had disappeared.

He was now confused. He checked again and again but in vain; Crystal ball had disappeared.

'Where could it go?' He pondered 'Baba said that an awakened weapon will not disappear.'

"Oh…" He snapped his fingers like he just realized something "…Maybe It was not awakened by me, but it finished it's Cooling Period and disappeared or someone summoned it." He smiled as he murmured to himself.

'That makes sense.' He felt a bit relieved.

'What a coincidence for it to disappear at the exact moment I called it.' He was amazed.

Amazed, he returned to his room, put his bag back in the closet and went to the kitchen to cook something; he was famished.

"Ahh…" Sai gleefully inhaled appetizing aroma of his food, set the plates on dining table and sat in. He was so hungry that he was literally drooling. He was about to dig in when he heard a knock on the door and Baba yelling.

"Sai!"

"Yes?" Sai screamed back.

"I smell food; I am hungry." Baba said and entered the room.

"I have cooked only for one person. Wait…" Sai tried to protect his food "…I will cook something for you too." Baba briskly entered in the kitchen and sat in front of Sai.

Without delay or any sort of permission he dragged the plates in front of him and started eating.

"Yum! It's really delicious." Sai was staring at him angrily and helplessly; he felt like he would die of hunger "Mo meed to moomk for me. I'll adjust." Baba said as he chewed his food. He ignored Sai's staring.

Sai got tired of staring. With sad heart and empty stomach, he went back to the stove.

"Nice. You have turned out to be a nice cook." Baba praised him some more. Sai was still cooking; his praises were making him angrier and angrier.

Sai prepared his breakfast again and without delay dug in.

They both finished breakfast and now they were sitting in the dining table. Sai was staring at Baba; he was still annoyed.

"Problem?" Baba noticed his bad mood.

"Yes!" Sai almost yelled "You- You ate my food. You always do this. I cook foof- I mean food for myself and…" Sai stuttered.

"Foof? Hahahahaha…" Baba laughed hysterically. Sai quieted down: he looked angry as well as embarrassed.

"I am full of foof? Would you like to have some foof?"" Baba mocked him. Sai was now shooting lasers at him.

"Hahahaha…" Baba laughed at him until his eyes cried and his heart gave out.

"So…" Baba was tired of laughing now "…why did you get up so early?" He looked at Sai with amusing smile.

"I wake up at dawn everyday…" Sai pouted "…I am not lazy ass like someone, we know."

"Shut Up!" Baba yelled "That's how you talk to your elders?" He pretended to be angry. He had a mischievous smile on his face.

His smile was making Sai sulk even more.

"Y- You…" Sai stuttered "…You do the dishes, I prepared breakfast." Sai pointed at him angrily.

"Okay." Baba said nonchalantly.

"No. There is no discussion..." Sai did not even hear what Baba said "…You do the dishes or… WHAT?" He yelled as he realized that Baba had agreed.

Baba just looked at the dishes and they vanished. In a few moments, the dishes reappeared clean as new and got stacked in the dish-stand.

Sai was flabbergasted at his magical feat.

"You… You could do that?" Sai's eyes were popping out due to shock.