18th Tick: Two Days Left
1057 Words
In the paused word, Thomas walked around, thinking about how he could find the monk. He looked at the place where he and Rose had met the monk. He pointed at it and said, “Third Hour.”
An image of the monk flickered into existence, walking off in a direction. Thomas followed after the image, hoping the monk was a reasonable person. He walked quite the distance, passing two towns and eventually reaching a completely new region.
There, in that town, there was smoke drifting into the sky. Thomas continued to follow the image, the image taking off his straw hat, words floated off his hands to form a flame.
Thomas ended the replay, walking into town. The monk stood there, not a single drop of blood on him, the town burning around him. Thomas walked up to the monk and observed him. He was wearing his straw hat again, and he was looking down on something. In his eyes, as Thomas looked into them, a deep hatred, so dark that it threatened to consume everything in his path. Thomas stepped away and looked at what the monk was looking down on, a corpse at his feet. A demon, assaulted beyond recognition, laid on the ground, dead.
Time resumed.
“What’s going on here?” Thomas asked.
The monk looked at Thomas, barely surprised. He gave Thomas a gentle smile and said, “Well, I’m just doing what I need to do.”
“By killing your own kind?” Thomas asked.
“You have no rights to judge me, ClockKeeper. Are you not basically aiming for the same thing?” The monk chided. “And what would need from me today?”
Thomas looked around him, then at the corpse. Despite the destruction of the town, Thomas could only see one, there was no sign of any other casualties.
“Who is this demon?” Thomas asked.
“Is it any of your concern?” The monk countered. “There are some things in the world better left unknown. Things like Myths, curses, magic. All of these, how troublesome to deal with, don’t you agree?”
“Are you picking a fight?”
“No, if I do say so myself, I am a rather peaceful person, I hardly resort to violence.”
“Yeah right.”
“Do believe me.” The monk put his hands up. “I only do what is necessary, what is needed to be done.”
“Then why did you kill this guy?”
The monk did not even look at the corpse when he said, “He took something away from me, someone I loved dearly. Not only that, he now threatens to attack the town of left alone. I had to do it, not only for my sake, but for the town’s as well.”
“Okay...”
The monk looked into Thomas’ eyes. “ClockKeeper, what do you need of me today? Last I checked, I am not your target.”
“Where’s Amon?”
The monk looked at Thomas, as if he had already predicted that question. “And where did you hear that name?”
“Just tell me where Amon is. The town is in danger.”
“Danger?”
The monk walked up to Thomas. Although the demon was slightly shorter than Thomas himself and about as slim, the monk somehow looked massive in front of Thomas. He looked Thomas in the eyes, his red eyes reflecting a hint of anger. He asked, “Who would attack the town?”
“Humans.”
The monk nodded, tipping his straw hat to cover his face. He turned around, saying, “I’ll inform Amon, so for now, please, go back to the town and stall the enemy for some time. Amon might take some time to reach the town.”
Thomas nodded and paused time, finding his way back to the town and sitting back in his seat, in front of the bartender. He apologised and said, “I feel bad living in the tavern for free, so I’ll be going to camp outside the city.”
“Are you sure about that?” The bartender asked, slightly concerned.
“Yes. There’s no need to worry.”
He stood up. “Zeroth Hour.”
He exited the tavern, passing by Rose who was trying to eavesdrop on them. He needed to stop the humans from destroying the town until that Amon person could arrive. Hopefully, Amon was strong enough to drive them away. Thomas sat passed the guards, finding a place to sit in the forest. He could try to kill the humans, but there were simply far too many, and Thomas was not fond of killing to begin with.
Myths were strange beings, unique characters. There were four Myths, First was the ClockKeeper, Third was WishEarth. They were incapable of doing much on their own, it was not the matter of ability, but their moral compass. The four Myths had mutually agreed to not affect each other directly, and to not use their powers to kill randomly. Thomas could remember that meeting they had, it was not a pleasant experience, he would have rather it never happened to begin with.
“What a pain.” Thomas whispered to himself.
The Myths, including himself, he wished they never existed in the first place. They complicate things, make them strange and in the end, cause grief.
Thomas looked in the direction of the town, wondering if he was really going to wait for two days. The next day, after he waited through the night, he saw Rose making her way towards him, holding a basket. He sighed, he had explained countless times that he did not need to eat, or sleep.
“What are you doing here?” Thomas asked.
“Right back at you.” Rose retorted.
“There’s a reason for it.” He assured.
“Well, I’m here to deliver some food, and I don’t care whether you eat or not.”
“What did you bring?”
“A really nice dish made of artificial meat.”
“What?”
“Just try it, trust me.”
Thomas spent some time talking with Rose before they sat down, next to each other. Thomas looked at the tree that shaded them from the sun. He asked her, “After we finish our business here, don’t you want to stay here?”
“Hm?”
“It’s a nice place, good people, good food. It even seems like you can find a job in the tavern.” Thomas said. “You can stop following me around and settle down in the town.”
“I thought so too.” Rose said. “I thought that I followed you only to see the end to demonkind, but after seeing what I have seen, I think I change my mind.”
Thomas tapped the ground, more out of boredom than anything.
Rose continued. “I want to see and explore the world!”
“It’s not a vacation. It’s going to be dangerous.”
“I’m fine with it, so after this, let’s continue travelling.”
Thomas laughed slightly. “Sure.”
- Writer
