3rd Tick: Second Town
1000 Words
They arrived at the next closest town. Thomas rubbed his neck while walking in, wondering why Rose was not talking as much as she normally would. He ignored it and walked in. He was troubled, if every general he faced was on par with Bry, he would not be able to achieve his goal that easily. Meanwhile, Rose was distracted, the sight of the boy had affected her.
A young child, he was short, a cheeky smile under the slip of paper covering his face. She had looked into his eyes, they were wide and bright, filled with innocence. She thought, there was no way someone like that would do any bad. Yet, she could not stop thinking that there was something hidden under that facade. Something dark, something evil.
“Do you have a wish?”
Rose did not answer, shocked as to what he had asked. The child had looked away, his face had the look of disappointment as he disappeared, Thomas soon picking her up. Something was up with that child, what was his magic? What was his name? Who in the world was he?
“Hey, watch where you’re going.” Thomas told her, tapping her forehead.
She was standing in front of a lamppost, almost hitting into it. She had seen Thomas disappear in front of her eyes, the people after them instantly reverted to their original selves. She did not understand fully, only assuming that Thomas had killed the demon in charge for the mess. However, it took him some time to return. His clothes were ripped and he had a few wounds. His wounds did not bleed, instead, the wounds were like holes in his body.
Rose took a look at Thomas in front of her, his clothes perfectly fine with not a single scratch on him.
“Where did your wounds go?” She asked.
He walked forward. “My body is special. When I get injured, time stops on my body, then reverses time to revert my body back to its original state.”
“Convenient.” She commented.
“Still hurts a ridiculous amount though.” He grumbled.
They continued their walk across the town before they came face to face with a building. Thomas looked around them and said, “Why is there no one around? Is it a human tradition to hide?”
“How would I know? Aren’t you human too?” Rose replied.
“You’re the human here, why are you asking me?”
“Hold on, you’re human, right?”
“Yes, the ClockKeeper is human. Congratulations, the man who introduced himself as a myth is human. When did you figure that one out?” Thomas said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“So, you’re human?”
“No!” He said, hitting the wall of the building. “Learn to read sarcasm.”
“Then what are you?”
“I’m a myth, I told you this when I saved you from being taken away.” He explained. “I am an entity that just exists, okay?”
“You look human. I thought being a myth was only a title.”
“I wish it was.” He muttered, a hint of pain in his voice.
“You look human though.”
“What? You want me to look like a dog?”
When he said the word ‘dog’, a dog ran up to them, barking. Rose crouched down to scratch it, the dog allowing itself to be touched. It was big, almost half the size of Rose. Thomas grabbed the collar of Rose’s shirt and pulled her back, sending her tumbling. She got up and shouted, “What was that for?”
The dog opened its mouth, bearing its set of teeth. Thomas hopped back, the ground beneath him being scraped and disappeared. Thomas cursed and ran back to Rose. The dog readied itself and ran after them.
“Stop time!” Rose shouted.
“Hold on. I don’t want to waste effort!” He shouted back.
Thomas turned a corner with Rose, both of them running hard. The corner disappeared, the dog running after them, mouth opened wide. Thomas stopped and turned around, planning to kick the dog. He hesitated and changed his mind, running to the side. As he planned, the dog followed after him while Rose ran another direction. Thomas ran, noticing the jarring lack of people in the town.
“Damn mutt.” He whispered.
He had nothing against the dog unless it killed a person. Judging by what he could see, there was a possibility. However, he did not want to make a mistake. He was the ClockKeeper, the one in charge of keeping things in order, not to kill under assumption. Thomas tried thinking about a plan to not hurt the dog. He stopped and faced it, fingers spread towards the dog. It opened its mouth and was ready to bite down.
“Zeroth Hour.”
A clock appeared on the dog, stopping it midway through biting. Thomas sighed as the dog hung in the air. He looked at the dog, wondering why an animal could use something akin to magic. Of all things, it seemed to use Spacial magic. With a close of its mouth, it deleted a certain amount of space in front of it. Thomas looked at it, noticing something strange, there was a gaping hole on its neck, small but noticeable. He observed closer, there was not only one, but two.
The dog could be useful to him in the future, maybe to open a door or something. He swiped at the dog.
“Twelfth Hour.”
A clock appeared in front of the dog, Thomas pushing it through. It was a rip in time, a place where Thomas kept most of his things. In that space, things like weapons, artefacts, even people could be stored. He patted his hands together and looked around, wondering where he had ended up.
Meanwhile, Rose had stopped running, realising that Thomas had acted as a decoy for her to escape. She walked along the town, wondering where Thomas was. The town was odd, did the demons kill everyone in it? But there was a lack of bodies, there was even a lack of the smell of blood. The houses were in good condition, there was no sign of a battle having taken place. There was only that dog that chased after them. She simply walked around, getting further and further from where Thomas was at.
- Writer
