Merlok's Nephew

Watching Clay Day 8

Lance had been avoiding watching Clay since day 1. He made all sorts of excuses to not watch him: dentist appointment, doctor's appointment, family things, anything he could to avoid to watch Clay but was soon forced to watch him since Merlok was unable to find anybody. Macy had a royal family thing, Axl was asked to help with something at him, Aaron was needed as a guard for the royal family, and Jestro was busy learning how to be a knight and teaching kids how to be jesters since his own jokes had gotten better, even magic, which he got from being possessed by evil magic twice, but he uses fun magic to impress his audience.

So, Lance is now being forced to watch Clay as much to his own dismay. While Lance had a little sister and he played with her when she was Clay's age but he didn't know how to care for one. He had servants to take care of his little sister. So, he was clueless about how to take care of little kids and he couldn't even ask Merlok for help since they were still trying to keep him from Clay. He could ask for help from Robin and Ava but they didn't know how to take care of someone's Clay's age either. The only positive for him was Clay and Hamletta got along very well.

It was about 8 AM which for him was an ungodly hour. He made a small breakfast which was fruit and cereal since he wasn't really a cook. He went to Clay's room and woke him up. The day went on normally as the others told him it would go. To be honest, Lance just didn't know what to with Clay. Macy just suggested that they watch cartoons since the new animations intrigued him.

Clay and Lance just sat in silence watching the cartoons until Lance fell asleep. He woke up an hour later and only to see that Clay was gone. "Clay?" Lance asked but there was no answer. "Clay, where are you?" Again, there was no answer. 'Oh, great. This is what happens when they leave me to watch a kid I barely know. He's gone and I have no idea where he went.'

Lance started to search the entire Fortrex for him but he found nothing until he went by his room and saw the door open. 'That door was closed when I left.' He walked in and saw Clay playing with Hamletta. He found it quite cute actually. Clay then noticed Lance watching him. "Sorry, I got bored and wanted to play with her. My mom didn't let me have a pet at home and I haven't been around too many animals. "Really?" Lance asked as he walked over and sat right by him. "Yeah, she said that it might attract too much attention to us."

"What did she mean by that?" Clay just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. She said that we needed to hide from someone. All she told me that is was someone who wasn't nice."

"Monstrox?" Clay shook his head then he balled his fists. "No, he's the one who turned my mom evil. I don't know his name but he wasn't nice." Then Lance asked, "Was it the wizard who turned you and your mom to stone?" Clat again shook his head. "No, I saw him once. It was late at night a few days before..." Clay stopped then Lance put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Clay, you don't have to talk about this."

"I know but my mommy told me that at times like this... I need to be brave. It was night time... and I woke up with the feeling of someone watching me. It... wasn't a good feeling. I looked out the window and saw a black figure with red eyes. I could feel them piercing into my soul."

"What happened after that?" Lance asked. "I ran to my mom's room and told her what happened the next morning. She used her magic to put a barrier around our home. After that, she told me to tell her if I ever saw him again," Clay told him. The two just sat in silence as Clay continued to scratch Hamletta's belly. 

At first, Lance did not want to take care of Clay but now he sees him for what he truly is, a kid scared and lost. Someone who was taken from the time he came from. Clay would have been their age by now and who knows? Maybe he and Clay could have been good friends. 

'Clay doesn't deserve to have the truth hidden from him. He may be young but he's very mature for his age. Guess that's from his time alone.' Lance thought to himself then he remembered something Jestro told them. Lance stood up and searched his drawers for something. Clay even noticed this. "What are you doing?" He asked curiously. He pulled out a medium sized box wrapped in a bow. "Jestro mentioned that maybe we missed your birthday."

Clay nodded. "Oh yeah... I'm six now." Clay never even realized that his birthday had passed. This year had been so long and hard that he even forgot about it. 

"Well, we thought that you might want something so we got together and got you something." Lance handed Clay the box who opened it happily. It was the picture of him and his mother from his home. It looked brand new and it was in a new picture frame. "Clay, I know you miss your mom and we promise that we will find her and cure her." 

Clay jumped and gave Lance the biggest hug he could muster. "Thank you." Lance hugged him back. He knew that what he said probably wasn't much but it was something Clay needed to hear. Suddenly, a three-layer cake with blue frosting appeared out of nowhere. "Oops. Sorry about that, Lance." He laughed and said, "Well, we needed a cake anyway. Let's grab it and share it with everyone else." 

"Okay!" That day, the others came back to help celebrate Clay's late birthday with presents, balloons, and the cake that Clay made with his magic. Clay got clothes, a new eagle stuff animal, and he even got a new blanket. For the first time in a while, Clay fell asleep peacefully.

After Clay fell asleep, Lance told everyone what he felt they should do. "What?!" Everyone said shocked. "We need to tell Clay the truth. Merlok, I know the risks but he deserves to know. I spent some time with him and he seems more mature then he looks. He knows that the world isn't perfect but we shouldn't keep him in the dark." Merlok sighed. "You are right, Lance." Everyone then said shocked, "WHAT?!" 

"Hold on, Lance is right? And he's being selfless? What happened to you?" Macy asked. Lance just shrugged. "I'm still Lance Richmond with my amazing hair, perfect smile, and movie star talent... but in a way, Clay is just a kid. He deserves to be told the truth even if it's hard."

"Yes, I agree. As Jestro said, Clay knows my name and I think if we tell him the full story then he will understand," Merlok said. So it was settled. The next day, they would tell Clay the truth but no matter what, they were still going to save his mother no matter what. "There's also something else." Everyone looked at Lance. "Clay mention someone who was watching him from his house when he lived there."

"Did he know who it was?" Aaron asked. "No... he just mentioned that it was someone evil and it wasn't Monstrox." This worried Merlok greatly.  He remembered a time when Monstrox was good and kind to others but someone tricked him into drinking a potion that made him stronger and evil. He could not remember their name but he knew that they were dangerous and not someone to be trifled with.

Unbeknownst to the knights, they were being watched, more importantly, Clay was being watched. 'Merlok has been weakened. Wanda Moorington is nowhere in sight. So Clay is all mine for the taking and he will be mine and together, we will destroy Knighton.'

Sorry, this took so long. I was stuck on what I wanted to do with Lance and school kept me busy but now I am on summer vacation. I can't promise faster updates since I'm working at a water park in my hometown. Lance isn't my favorite character but I don't dislike him. I wanted him to be a bit nicer since Clay is just a kid. I hope Y'all enjoy this chapter and I will see Y'all next time. Bye!