It was about two months since they started their training. The days on Angel Island were hot and humid, making the training harder. The triangular temple was the biggest structure located there, and it was Tikal and Chaos' home. It was built from stones, and various plants and moss were covering it, hiding it in the green jungle that was occupying most of the area. Amy soon noticed they were probably the only ones on the island, but she had hardly any time to explore.

The training started early morning with the task reaching the top of the temple. That had meant overcoming more than three hundreds of stairs. It was an exhausting assignment for children, and at the beginning, it took them an hour to get there. But the pink lass was a stubborn girl, and she didn't give up, climbing the stairs every day, until she wasn't completely out of the breath when reaching the top.

Eclipse was stronger than her, so he completed the task earlier. Overcoming the stairs wasn't just for strengthening their bodies, but the breakfast was server only there, and Eclipse hated feeling hungry, so he had another reason to climb. However, he never started to eat before Amy, waiting for her regardless of how much his stomach was rumbling. The one awaiting them at the top was Chaos who gave them towels to wipe their bodies and served the morning meal.

As the time went, Amy noticed he was at the top most of the time alone while Master Tikal was teaching them or traveling to far away town on the mainland to buy supplies. In the latter case, it was Chaos who oversaw their training. It kept bugging her for some time, so one day she decided to bring him something.

That morning Eclipse was climbing the stairs alone, as Amy told him she would come later. He had no idea what she was having on a mind, but he didn't question it. He waited for her at the top, feeling hungry, as he didn't want to start eating without her. After a couple of minutes, the demon heard her voice.

"Mr. Chaos!" she shouted not being seen, but after a few of seconds, she reached the top as well, having a bucket in her hands. She was short on breath; however, her face was bright.

Chaos, the water familiar, merely lifted his head a bit, so it was impossible to say if he was angry at her for being late or not.

"What did you need to do?" Eclipse asked her, feeling a bit grumpy as his stomach was loudly rumbling. In the recent days, they reached the top at the same time, so there was no delay. He looked at the bucket.

"I'm sorry, for being late." She took a deep breath. Strangely, she wasn't that tired, as Amy thought she would be, it must have been because of the training that made her body stronger. "I have brought a small companion for Mr. Chaos." She looked at the goldfish swimming in the bucket that was half-way full. "He is here alone all the time, so I'm sure he feels lonely."

Her demonic familiar scratched in his quills. He never thought Chaos was having any emotions. There was no way to tell if he felt a thing. Eclipse was always feeling a bit uneasy under his stare. It was blank and empty, giving him shivers.

"I have noticed a small school of fish in a shallow pond, and it struck me one may be the perfect companion for you," she said to Chaos who didn't provide any visual sign of his mood neither responded. "You both are strongly connected to a water, right?" She kept her smile, but when the water familiar didn't move or made any gesture, she got nervous.

What if he saw this as a bad thing? "Don't worry," she quickly added, "I want to get for it a big aquarium, this bucket was just for transport."

Again, there was no reaction. She squinted her eyes a bit, trying to at least read Chaos' spiritual aura, but it was still no use, as she was unable to visualize it beyond the foggy image.

It made her sad, so she said, "If you want, I'll return it back to the pond." She felt he might be angry.

Finally, Chaos reacted by lifting his hand, putting the fingers in the bucket, and the fish swiftly swam into his body. Amy gasped, as she wasn't expecting the fish to enter his body. The goldfish was swimming around, not minding it's a body of familiar and not a pond. After a while, the girl giggled. It looked so cute.

"I guess this solves the aquarium problem," she added, looking at the moving fish.

A few hours had passed, and Master Tikal was returning from the errand. Her big backpack was full to the brim, and her hands were carrying equally loaded bags. Despite how heavy it was, she walked normally, showing no signs of tiredness, not even when climbing the stairs. She was living here most of her life, and she underwent similar training she made Amy and Eclipse do. There was no way some stairs could stop her from advancing.

Her eyes blue eyes trailed the nature around. The jungle was green all year round, never losing its colors and life. It was her sanctuary and home. More of a home than the land she was born into.

She pondered how her students' meditation was going. Amy proved to be more talented and mature than she expected from the child of her age. Despite her face hardly shown any emotion, she wasn't happy getting a student from a rich family. Like many people, her opinion about the upper class wasn't exactly the best.

In a normal case, she would voice her wish to deny her, but Mr. Nigel told her Amy was demon tamer, and that made both very similar. Tikal wasn't exactly a tamer, but she had a close bond with a Spirit of The Water that chose her once she was three years old, making her special person.

So she had to accept her. Her first impression was a pleasant surprise as Amy asked her not to call Chaos it. Unbeknownst to the girl, this was her first test, and she passed it with flying colors. The other one who surprised her was Eclipse. She wasn't exactly expecting a docile demon, but his behavior was unusual.

In the first weeks, she made Chaos to keep an eye on him, as Tikal was sure Eclipse would try to kill his master. However, that didn't happen he actually proved to be rather clingy, for the lack of words to express his behavior. He was doing his best to complete each task, helping Amy or getting help from her.

This duo was puzzling her, and she slowly started to like them, regardless of her promise to never create a close bond with another person. She for too often saw the cruelty they were capable of. The Order was an exception since it provided her a place to stay and gave her a chance to use her powers for good.

Tikal shook her head a bit, as she was reaching the top, now wasn't the time to be nostalgic. She had to hurry to oversee their meditation that was part of afternoon lessons. Her head appeared above the top step, and her eyes witnessed surreal scene she would never expect, not even in her wildest dreams.

Not just Amy and Eclipse weren't meditating, Chaos wasn't trying to make them, or punishing them, or anything. She made a few more steps, standing on the highest floor with her eyes open, showing for the first time any emotion – a shock.

"Ch-Chaos?" she whispered, both bags slipping from her hands, alerting the students of her arrival.

"Master Tikal!" Amy shouted, quickly bowing and Eclipse mimicked her. "Welcome back," she added when she straightened.

Her master Tikal barely heard her, as her eyes were locked on her water familiar whose body drastically changed. It wasn't about outer appearance, but inside of his body were small fishes, the lower halves of his limbs were filled with sand and seashells with wavering seaweed, and in the chest were floating rings and big shells where fishes could hide. In other words, Chaos turned into a big aquarium.

Tikal said nothing, looking at her familiar.

"It seems Chaos is very fond of fishes," added Amy, trying to break her master's silence. However, there was no reaction, Tikal merely put the backpack down, not letting her eyes stray from the water spirit Chaos.

Amy got nervous. What if she was angry? She forgot to consider her master's opinion. She must be angry at them for skipping their training. The pink hedgehog was tempted to read Tikal's soul, but she was afraid it would make her furious.

Tikal walked toward Chaos, cupping his face in her hands, gazing into big eyes. The next seconds were tense, but then suddenly Tikal's face brightened up, and a small smile appeared on her face. She turned toward astonished Amy, saying with a gentle voice, "Chaos says he is happy and thank you."

The pink lass blushed before her face was beaming with happiness. She turned toward Chaos, doing a curtsy. "You are welcomed, my friend."

"But your training will be doubled for today," added Tikal strictly, but her face was giving her away since the smile was still there.

"Ugh," muttered Eclipse, clenching his stomach. It was past noon, and since the quick breakfast, he didn't eat anything.

Tikal slightly turned her head towards Eclipse while tilting it to face the sky. "However, let's have the lunch first."

"Yahoo!" the demon threw his hands in the air, grinning widely before quickly crouching, looking docile. After all, getting too much attention wasn't good for his secret mission.

Tikal headed to the main building, walking past Eclipse, gently petting his head. "Chaos, can you bring the supplies inside?" she asked her familiar who nodded, turning to get the backs.

"Let's help too, Eclipse!" Amy clenched her fists, grabbing the first bag, almost grounding herself. "Uah! What did you buy, master?" She almost added 'Rocks?' but she refrained from it. She put it over her shoulder, slowly walking forward, following Chaos who picked the backpack.

Eclipse took the second bag, noticing it was quite heavy. It ensured him he had to be really careful when near Master Tikal to not get discovered.

"... at that time I was really worried Master Tikal will be angry," Amy said at the end of her story. "But I'm happy Mister Chaos likes his small friends. He taught them to jump from one palm to another, and they can perform a simple dance. It's amazing!"

"I guess I shouldn't judge others based on their face," Adeline felt a bit ashamed.

"It's alright, mom. It's hard not to do so, but it would be bad if you let it get in the way of knowing someone better."

Her father nodded. Amy grew into a wonderful woman like he hoped.

"Let me tell you about how he surprised me shortly after our training began."

Adeline poured her daughter a new cup of tea, wondering what Mr. Chaos did that time.