"I will give you a summoning spell," Time spoke to Amisha in private, "We have to leave now, but do not think that we left you alone in this unknown country with strangers. As soon as you speak the words I tell you, I'll be here in the blink of an eye."
Amisha smiled at Time. He was just like her dad, caring and always so untrusting of the people around her. It was nice to know that there were powerful creatures in this universe who were looking after her.
"Thanks, Time," Amisha replied, "But I'm sure you're worried about nothing. If Love feels I'll be safe here with these nice people, I'm sure she's right."
Time nodded, but passed the summoning spell to Amisha as a precaution anyway. He didn't chant the spell as it was sacred and didn't need to be spoken out loud unless it had to be used, hence he wrote it down in a tiny piece of paper he'd borrowed from Ben.
Amisha took the piece of paper from Time's hands and took a look at what was written – "Te voco, Tempus." Amisha neatly folded the paper and put it in her pocket and that is when she realized she was still dressed in her school uniform which was now super dirty and looked like rags.
"Oh no!" Amisha exclaimed.
"What is the matter?" Time asked, concerned.
"Umm, Time?" Amisha asked sheepishly, "Do you think you guys can arrange for some clothes for me before you leave?"
Relieved, but also amused by the young girl's antics, Time called for Love from across the room and relayed Amisha's dilemma to her. Love was instantly excited! She loved shopping for clothes and not to forget, they were in Paris! The fashion capital of the world! This was going to be so much fun!
***
Love and Time were back at the beach house. They stood at the beach listening to the turquoise waters and the coconut trees. It was such a peaceful haven and it was their safe haven too.
"What did you do to Louis and Marcie?" Love asked Time.
After Time had driven off with the Beauforts in their limo, everyone including Love wondered what "punishment" did Time have in mind for them? But at this point, Love was worried about Time. It was important for him to keep pretending to be loyal to the Moon and her allies, but if Life found out that Time was responsible for botching his kidnapping, he would definitely suspect that Time was lying to them this whole time.
"I drove them to the hotel Life stays at," Time smiled, "I told them to do my bidding."
"Wait a second…" Love was confused, "you need to elaborate because I don't understand."
"I threatened them. I am older than Life and I made them believe that I'm way more powerful, so I told them that if they didn't want to face the torture I'd promised them, they could go back to Life and pretend some random people took Amisha while they were using the washroom at the gas station."
"And you think Life will let them go? What if he punishes them so much that they're forced to spill out the truth?"
"Don't worry about that. They're more scared of me than him. I made sure they were."
"And what next?"
"The Beauforts will not relay all of Life's plans to us."
Love couldn't believe how smartly Time had tackled the situation. It was indeed a given Time would manage this, considering he was the wisest of them all, but this was something to be extra proud of.
"Thank you for being on our side." Love smiled.
"You don't have to thank me, Love. I'm just doing what feels right to me."
And then the duo walked back to the beach house. The sun was setting in the distance and the house seemed awfully calm as they entered. Usually, they'd find either Shiuli or Faith in the kitchen, but no one was to be seen.
Time walked up to the room Death and Shiuli shared and knocked on it a few times, when he didn't hear any response, he entered the room only to find it empty. Love then walked towards Faith's room and saw her weaving a sweater on her bed.
"Thank god you're here!" Love exclaimed, "I thought nobody was home."
"Death and Shiuli are out on an assignment. I was bored, so I thought of knitting a couple of sweaters for the lovebirds."
"Sweaters for the both of them?" Love laughed out loud, "Death would never wear it!"
"I made sure it is all black to match his style. Also, if Shiuli insists, he will do anything."
"You are right about that. He'd never refuse a request made by Shiuli."
***
Death dropped Shiuli off at the beach house before heading towards the Judgement Grounds with the soul in his briefcase. The mood was pretty dull, but also quite peaceful. Shiuli kissed Death goodbye as he vanished into thin air. Sighing, Shiuli walked into the living room only to find Time already there, typing away on a laptop.
"Time?" Shiuli was delighted, "you are back? Is Love home too?"
"Yes, we are both back." Time smiled back at the girl.
"But where have you two been?"
Time gulped uneasily. He didn't like lying to innocent people like Shiuli, especially since she cared so much about Amisha and it was hard to keep from her that she'd been kidnapped, rescued and was staying with strangers, all of which happened within the last 24 hours.
"We had some errands to run."
Shiuli nodded, but her heart knew something wasn't right. First, Death disappeared stating he had to fulfill his duties, then Time and Love had to suddenly go handle some work, all the while the creatures walked on eggshells around her and looked stressed? They were definitely hiding something from her.
Shiuli walked away to enter her room. She then flopped on the bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking. What could've happened that they were all being so secretive? But no matter how much Shiuli ran her mind, she wasn't able to figure out what it was.
"Shiuli?" Love peeked through the door.
"Oh hey!" Shiuli sat up, "Come on in."
Love walked into the room and sat down on the bed next to Shiuli. The girl looked tired and sad, but considering she was just coming back from taking a soul with Death, it all made sense.
"I wanted to talk to you about Amisha." Love spoke.
"Amisha" Shiuli didn't know what to say, "What about her?"
"Well, has she ever talked to you about a crush, what she'd like in a partner or any of that boy talk that you'd usually share with your best friend?"
"Oh," Shiuli almost laughed, "I didn't expect you to want to know."
"Why not?" Love pinched her playfully, "I'm the creature of love, remember?"
Shiuli thought hard about Amisha's love life. Amisha was obsessed with Harry Styles and Charlie Puth. She had a major crush of Jimin from BTS too. So, Amisha was definitely one of those extra fangirls. With respect to having a boyfriend, Amisha never had one yet. She always preferred spending more time with her family and friends and believed that she'd only get into a relationship when she knows she has solid feelings for that person.
Shiuli conveyed all this to Love who listened to her with full attention. As Shiuli finished the last of the details, Love held Shiuli's hands.
"How would you feel if Amisha had a boyfriend?"
"I would be delighted, Love," Shiuli smiled, "Falling in love with Death was the best thing that ever happened to me. I can't wait for Amisha to find her person and feel the things I feel for Death."
"Because of my powers, I know she's found her person."
"Wait a minute! What?" Shiuli screamed.
"Shh… the others except Time don't know. But I thought I should tell you."
"Who is he? How old is he? What does he do?"
"Calm down! I'll tell you everything when the time is right."
Shiuli couldn't believe that Amisha had a boy in her life! But why hadn't she said anything to her? Well, maybe she didn't even know she was going to fall for this person? That was possible considering it took so long for both Death and her to find out they had fallen in love with each other.
"You know what, Love?" Shiuli smiled and calmed herself down, "Forget it."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you don't have to tell me anything about Amisha's love life. I want to hear it from her. So, I'll wait until she thinks she can share it with me."
"That's a better idea," Love smiled back at the girl, "you are so much wiser than me, sometimes I cannot believe you're a human and not a creature who's been alive for eternity."
"I learn from you lot."
With that, the duo giggled. Love felt so young again when she was with Shiuli or Amisha. They brought out the young teen girl in her.