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brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics · 7 months

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Fanfic - I see what you'll become

(ao3 here) (ff.net here)

This was written for @valentines-core-exchange. I've been wanting to write a story like this for a while, though I'll admit this is outside my comfort zone. I've never written a story like this before, but I definitely had fun writing it.

Written for @pennerjones (who for some reason tumblr will not let me @)

Most thought Clockwork had always existed, he was the Lord of Time after all. It made sense. Clockwork was content to let people think that. But Clockwork didn't always exist, there was someone before that.

Cassius flew through the forests. The scouts were wrong. The enemy had encroached so much farther than they had thought. A dozen ghosts, infected and corrupted by the Avatar of Malice, were chasing him through the woods. Cassius was fifteen minutes out from any of the outposts that Dark had set up to watch for the encroachment, but hopefully he could make it.

The internal clock in his head told him he only had a minute till he was caught.

Above the treetops, enraged spirits let out screeches as they clawed at each other. Too filled with hate to even recognize that they were clawing at who should be their allies. Behind him, the Infested scrambled along the ground, their arms and bodies distorting as they all tried to chase him down while also trying to tear into each other.

Even though they recognized Cassius as something they wanted to destroy, it only marked him as slightly above each other.

Cassius felt something grab his cloak. The cloak was of a good make, it held firm even as it forced Cassius to stop suddenly. Cassius cried out as his body impacted against the ground, and for a brief moment, he saw the infinite green of the realm of the dead above him.

Before the Infested blocked his view.

“No! No! No!” Cassius shouted. He swung his staff around trying to beat off the infested. Their bodies had been so infected, that the ectoplasm had turned red, and hardened their skin. Each movement they made was enunciated with a cracking sound that rang sharp, and their clawed fingers tore apart Cassius’s armored clothes, making short work of the token protections he wore.

But there was one part of Cassius that was not even protected by those.

Cassius saw the hands above his face, glowing red eyes forming in their palms as they searched to try and find a weak point so they could tear him apart. The same way they once had been.

It happened so quickly, Cassius hadn’t had time to recognize what was going to happen.

He only felt it.

He let out a guttural scream that tore his throat as the hands reached into his face, tearing chunks out of it. The first Infested had struck quickly, shoving its fingers deep through one of his eyes. But it wasn’t the only one, and they all wanted the pleasure of tearing him apart to themselves. The next infested tore into Cassius’s face, trying to pull away the first so it could have the release of destroying something. Its claws didn’t sink in as deep, but in a wider area.

Then a third followed suit, digging into the cracks the others left behind.

Cassius didn’t so much fight back as thrash about in pain. He screamed and screamed. “Help me!” He cried out, futilely. “Please someone!”

A roar shook the ground and rattled the trees. The infested recognized a threat to their existence, and hesitated. A moment later the ground next to Cassius cracked, as mace crashed through the piled up Infested. Their armored hides did nothing to stop them from being smashed into pieces.

Cassius was ripped off the ground as one hand cradled him to an armored chest. His savior roared and screamed, with enough anger in him to match those contorted by the Avatar of Malice itself. He was pressed further into the arms of the one who saved him, as they swung their weapon about.

This continued for a minute and fifteen seconds, before there was the sound of spears piercing the ground, and everything went still. Cassius was shifted, finally able to look up. “Dark?” He whispered.

“I have you,” Dark said, cradling Cassius in his arms. “I have you. You’re safe now.”

“Dark, they… they tore into me,” Cassius cried, “I’m… I’m going to-”

“No, you’re not,” Dark cut him off. “That is an order, you will not be corrupted. Understand?” Dark twisted and started marching through the woods. “Fetch the healers! All of them! The Frozen Tribes want to swear allegiance? Fine! They can prove their worth by saving this man!”

Dark pulled Cassius in closer to his chest. Even though they were all dead, Cassius could still feel a rise and fall of his king’s chest through the armor he wore. Dark’s steps grew faster and faster as Cassius tried his hardest to keep his eyes open.

Or rather, his remaining eye.

It was futile, darkness had taken him over before the warrior gave up on walking and began to fly.

***

When Cassius came to, it took him three and a half seconds before he recognized where he was. The stone arched ceilings weren’t something he often looked at, usually in this room he watched his king. However, the crimson banners gave him a clue to where he was.

Cassius sat up, causing a cry of shouts to begin to ring out. He was helped up to a sitting position by a large furred man. “Careful,” he said, a low baritone voice echoing out in a calming manner, “Do you know where we are?”

“Dark’s keep,” Cassius said, tearing his eye away from the man. “How did I get here? We were on the outskirts of the kingdom.”

“Ghosts are creatures of emotion, when we want something, when we desire it. We can do much more than we’d expect. The king was quite insistent.”

Cassius tried to see the throne, but he was surrounded by too many healers. He turned toward the one who was helping him. “I’m afraid I don't recognize you… but your form looks familiar.”

“Yes, I am from the Far Frozen, I am one of the many yetis who have come to rally against the Avatar.” The yeti reached over and a piece of ice materialized in his hand. “You may call me Frostbite.”

“Frostbite, thank you.” The yeti hummed as he pressed the ice against Cassius’s head. Cassius let out a gasp as the chill, greater than even death, sunk into him. Pain he hadn't even recognized began to fade as the ice pressed against wounds. Cassius took another breath before he tried to speak again.

He didn't get a chance to, instead a bellowing cry of “Enough!” rang out. The entire throne room grew quiet as the sea of healers began to part. Cassius turned to look and saw Dark trying to push his way through, too impatient to wait for the healers to move. There must have been at least two dozen of them surrounding his bed.

Dark forced his way through. And Cassius gasped as he saw him. A feeling of relief washed over him, as he realized that, yes, he did survive, and he got to see Dark again. He tried to memorize the sight of Dark approaching him. After four seconds, Dark had made his way through and knelt down next to Cassius’s sick bed. “Cassius, my Cassius, you’ve awakened.”

Cassius had to turn more, further than he would have had to before the loss of his eye. He looked down at his hand which was encased by the much larger Dark’s. Cassius felt his chest twitch as he mentally caught up with what was happening.

“Dark…” he whispered. He smiled at his lord and met his gaze. Dark’s lips thinned as two eyes met one. “Dark, I believe you’ve missed several meetings.”

A laugh burst out of Dark's mouth, curving his lips into a smile. “I think I have bigger concerns than a few unimportant meetings.”

Cassius huffed. “Dark, unless I’m wrong, I've been unconscious for 13 days and 7 hours. Which means that you should be meeting with Lord Nocturn-”

Dark squeezed Cassius’s hand possessively. “Cassius, I’ve told you not to call any other Lord or King by their title. You serve me, not any other Lord.”

“Lord Nocturn- and his army of dreamers. They are just as needed to fight this threat as any.”

Dark scoffed. “And what point is there of any of that if the ones I care about are left by the wayside.”

Cassius couldn’t think of anything to say to that. So, he didn’t. Instead, he simply decided to continue staring into Dark’s eyes and squeeze back with a smile on his face..

There was a clearing of a throat, and the two of them looked up at Frostbite. “I hate to interrupt, but there is something important we need to address.” He turned toward Cassius and fixed him with a look. “This treatment was very experimental, and it won’t be without consequences.” His face fell. “I would hope it’s already obvious, but your form has been damaged. Permanently.” Dark raised a hand to turn Cassius’s face toward him. Cassius watched through one eye as Dark’s eyes roamed over his bandages and his lips turned into a frown.

Frostbite’s stern look turned soft and he gave them both a smile. “But, other than the loss of your eye, you should fully recover. The rest is up to you, and bed rest.”

Dark stood. Cassius turned to listen to his announcement, the others in the throne room hadn’t quite caught the way his stance widened, or the set of his shoulders before he gave a demand. “The healer has spoken, Cassius needs rest. Everyone, unless you are a healer, a messenger, or one of the ancient lords, get out.”

Cassius raised his hand and grabbed Dark’s. “Dark, I can sleep in our chambers.”

Dark’s hand squeezed, practically crushing it. Dark’s eyes snapped to Cassius. “No.” The statement was final. There was enough force behind it that Cassius was reminded just why everyone was flocking under his banner. “I nearly lost you. Once in that forest, and once under the doctors’ hands. You’ll stay right here in front of me, where I can see you.”

Cassius felt his mouth dry as Dark continued to focus on him. “As you wish…”

Heavy footfalls approached the two of them, and Dark turned to face him. He addressed the knight that approached them, “What is it?”

“My Lord, what of the captured Infested?”

Cassius blinked. “Captured? We took some of them prisoner?”

Dark didn’t turn, but answered him. “Yes, the healers had said it would help them figure out how to cure you.” He turned toward the knight and waved his hand. “We have no need for them anymore. Bring them to the dungeons.”

Cassius sat forward. “Could they be cured?” He hadn’t intended to shout, but many of those who hadn’t yet left turned to face him.

Dark turned and looked at him, his eyebrows raised. Even the knight seemed surprised Cassius had asked. “Well,” Frostbite began, “It’s not impossible. It’d be much more difficult, you only had a small infestation of malice, and those ones are completely taken over.” Frostbite raised a hand and pointed to a corner of the room. Now that the hall was clearing, Cassius could see the cage holding them.

It wasn’t as large as he would have expected, in fact, it was quite small, it would take Pariah two steps to cross the short side, and three to cross the longer, and it wouldn’t even have reached up to his shoulders.

But the unique thing about it, were the spikes that were pointed inward. Even in the dark of the throne room, he could see them glowing. Not quite the same dark green that permeated the ghost zone, but bright and sharp. Just looking at it made a chill run through the entirety of Cassius’s body that Cassius would never forget.

It was the chill he felt as he lay dying.

“It’d be a long shot,” Frostbite continued, ignorant of Cassius’s discomfort, “but we could theoretically cure them.”

Cassius barked out a laugh. “That’d be great! We might be able to save them!” He turned toward Frostbite. “I doubt we’d be able to reunite them with anyone, but… at least they’d have a chance?” He turned back Dark. “It’d be nice to do something good after all this.”

Dark hummed thoughtfully, and reached over and ran his thumb along Cassius’s jaw. “It would, wouldn't it?” He turned back toward the knight. “Still though, they can’t stay in the throne room. Bring them to the dungeon.”

The knight bowed and turned to follow orders. Dark turned and walked up the steps to the throne. He glanced at Cassius, and raised his fist. The bed Cassius was sitting on began to shake, and Frostbite shouted, before Cassius was raised up, and a horde of skeletons carried Cassius up to Dark’s side.

Dark reached over and placed his hand on Cassius’s shoulder.

“Now then, who needs to be heard first?”

***

The next several hours were a long slog of conversations, the longest of which was a very long conversation between Dark and one of Nocturn’s messengers. With that one, Cassius had to get involved quite often to calm Dark down, as Nocturn had demanded an apology and if there was one thing Dark gave out, it was not apologies.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the dead did not need rest. Physically at least, so 53 hours later, Dark had managed to answer everyone who had come to him.

The moment the last messenger had been dealt with, Dark called in for Frostbite.

“What do you need of me?” Frostbite asked as he approached the throne. He gave Cassius a soft smile before turning back to Dark and turning serious again.

“I want you to check on Cassius’s health.”

Cassius rolled his eyes. “I’m fine, my lord.”

Frostbite scoffed. “Between the three of us, who’s the one with any medical training?” He asked, before bending over Cassius’s bed. His large frame covered all of Cassius’s remaining vision. “Dark is doing the right thing. He’s being cautious.”

This time Dark scoffed. “Cautious? No. I’m being proactive. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this war, it’s that victory favors action.”

“War? Is that what we’re calling it?” Frostbite voiced sadly. “I thought it was a fight for survival before the Infinite Realms are cleared out for the next age.”

“Exactly, a fight I intend to win.”

Cassius felt something touch his face and he jerked. Frostbite leaned back at the same time that Dark’s head snapped in their direction. “Sorry,” Cassius said, shaking his head, “That… surprised me.”

Frostbite shook his head. “No, that was my fault, I should have announced what I was doing. I’m taking off the bandage around the remains of your eye.”

Dark’s lips flattened into a thin line. “Are there options?”

Frostbite paused as he unwound the bandages, just for a quarter of a second. He continued unwinding the bandages. “Options? To fix the eye? His form is damaged, it is not an easy thing to fix.”

Frostbite bit his lip as the wraps came off. “Well, you certainly are a tough one. This is much better than I had even hoped. I’m going to touch your face here to inspect the scar here.”

Cassius glanced at Dark and uttered quietly. “Well, my lord gave me an order to recover from this.”

Frostbite chuckled. “Well, that would do it…” Cassius sat still as Frostbite poked and prodded. He leaned back and shook his hands and dusted them off, clouds of snow drifted off of them with each movement. “Just to confirm, you two know nothing about necromantic medicine?”

Cassius shook his head as Dark leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees. “The only information I have on the subject is about how to destroy.”

Frostbite nodded. “Humor me, tell me what you do know.”

“Unlike our mortal forms, our forms are not a physical construct. I could flay the skin off any ghost and they’d be able to recover eventually. But, if I strike with enough intent, when I want to crush and kill, their forms can be broken. That being said,” He glanced at Cassius for a brief moment before looking back at Frostbite, “We still feel like we use our senses. We don’t truly have a form, but we think we do, so we do. So if one were to do enough damage to a ghost to the point that they feel like they have been torn to shreds, and keep them there in a period of time, they’ll be destroyed even without the intent.”

Frostbite nodded. “Excellent, that’s a perfect spot to start.” Frostbite put a hand to his chin and stroked his fur (or perhaps that was his beard? It was a bit long compared to the other Yetis). “The term infested for these wasn’t chosen randomly, they quite literally have a piece of the Avatar of Malice shoved into their forms. And even the Avatar of Malice’s most passive intents are enough to overwhelm most ghosts.”

Frostbite began to pace in front of them. “The operation we did was to excise that infection out of you, but to put it frankly, we had to remove the concept of an eye out of Cassius’s form.”

Dark leaned back, surprise quietly clearly written on his face. “That’s something that can be done?”

Frostbite smiled. “We are the best healers for a reason.” The smile quickly turned into a frown again. “But to that point, Cassius’s form subconsciously feels that he should not have an eye so therefore he doesn’t. I was fearing that there’d be more damage done to his form, but we were cleaner than even I expected, the excess damage is minimal.”

Cassius began to reach up to touch his own face, but Dark’s hand shot out and stopped him. Cassius looked down at Dark’s hand, before reaching up with his other hand and gently prying it off his wrist. “May I see?”

Frostbite nodded and held out a hand. Ice formed in hand taking the shape of a hand mirror. He handed it over to Cassius. He held it up and looked at his reflection in the perfect ice.

Cassius felt his throat seize as he looked at the wound. There was no weeping ectoplasm, or anything of the sort that would indicate this was an injury, but he could see into part of his face. It was like someone had sliced out a chunk of his head, like one would slice open a cake. He could see a static barrier of ectoplasm that acted like a facsimile of skin, but it glowed brightly as compared to the rest of his pale skin.

“Oh…”

“So, options.” Dark demanded.

Frostbite huffed. “Well, going back to your comments about intent. It’s theoretically possible, but-”

“But what?” Dark interrupted. “What would I need to get you?”

Frostbite huffed. “I was getting to that. What we would need is to fill Cassius’s form with something. We removed the concept of an eye from Cassius, so we’d need to put it back in.” Frostbite waved his hand about in the air, “It’s not like we can just create such a thing. Much like to forge a sword, you need to find the ore first before forming the blade, we’d need to find the material to create that concept. That material is a concept, a part of someone’s identity.” Frostbite sighed and ran a hand over his head. “So, in order to fix Cassius’s eye, we’d have to rip it out of someone else.”

“I can have my army go out and capture a thousand ghosts.” Dark dismissed with no hesitation, “Finding someone to take it from is a trivial task.”

Frostbite’s jaw dropped, as Cassius turned. “No, that’s not… I don’t want anyone else harmed for my sake.”

“If it’s for you, I’d send my army into the Avatar of Malice’s clutches myself.”

“Regardless,” Frostbite said, a bit of panic leaking into his voice. “Even then, it’s not so simple.” Frostbite held out his arms as if to try and get Dark’s attention on him, though nothing would tear it away from Cassius. “If it were a simple matter of a transplant from one host, willing or otherwise, to another, that’d be one thing.”

Frostbite lowered his head to look up at Dark and took a step closer. “There’s also the fact we are splitting someone’s soul. That isn’t something to be considered done trivially. If the donor is too weak, it’d be overwhelmed by Cassius’s own will and it’d be like we did nothing. Too strong, and it’d overwhelm him and change him permanently. It’d have to be of equal power to him… or back to the concept of intents, be given willingly.” Dark’s eyes narrowed and Frostbite reiterated. “If it was given willingly, if the donor was stronger and had the intent of giving Cassius his eye, then it’d take with minimal damage.”

Dark let out a hum. “I see… that makes sense.” Dark sighed. “Is there anything else of note that you’d like to share?”

“No, I think that covers it.”

“Then you are free to go.” Cassius cleared his throat and Dark grimaced. “Thank you for your time.”

“My pleasure.” Frostbite said bowing.

As Frostbite left, Cassius turned to look at Dark. Dark’s eyes never left Frostbite’s back before he exited the door and stayed fixed on the exit as it closed. Cassius reached over and grabbed Dark’s hand. Carefully, he removed the gauntlet off of it as Dark watched his fingers entranced. Once the metal was gone, he linked his fingers with Dark’s.

“Does it bother you?” Cassius asked. “My appearance now?”

“You being hurt bothers me, not your appearance.” Dark clarified. “You could look like the good doctor for all that it matters to me, but I don’t like seeing you wounded.” His lips tightened and he swallowed. Cassius could hear it clearly in the silence of the throne room. “It does bother me, it reminds me that I nearly lost you. That I let you go on your own into a land my scouts said was safe, and that I had stayed behind and nearly got you killed.”

“You did nothing of the sort. It was my decision to be alone for a bit.”

“And it was my decision to not send any soldiers with you. I should have known better.” Dark sighed and stood up, not letting go of Cassius’s hand but turning just the same to face him. He sat down on the bed and scooped up Cassius into his arms and sat him on his lap. “I nearly lost you, and I was playing king.”

Cassius leaned into Dark, but pressed gently against his chest. “I may need to remind you, the doctor said I should rest.”

Cassius could feel Dark’s face shift into a smile against the top of his head. “That’s why we are here on your bed. Besides, he also said you’re recovering well.”

“I suppose that he did.”

***

It was 26 hours later when Nocturn arrived. It was herald by the endless green void darkening to the point that even the oldest ghosts remaining remembered the night sky from their lives. Some marveled at the change, the Infinite Realms were not known for change after all, but most grew restless as the entire realm began to accommodate the Lord of Dreams.

It took another hour and a half for the Ancient to arrive. The doors burst open and a dark mist spilled out. Some of Nocturn’s sleepwalkers marched in, their sackcloth forms forming a corridor. They knelt down as Nocturn entered.

To say he walked in wouldn’t be quite right, the Lord of Dream’s form was more like a mass of darkness than anything else. He slid into the room, ducking his head underneath the doorframe and then stretching up to the full height of the room.

The darkness spread to the foot of the throne, a few torches keeping the dark at bay. Nocturn stopped just outside the light. “So, you are the one called Dark.” Nocturn looked him up and down. “I am not impressed.”

Dark scoffed. “Considering how few can destroy the Infested, you should be. If we counted how many warriors outside of your army can defeat them, we’d still have a hand left.”

This time Nocturn scoffed and bent down, “Yes, let’s ignore the greatest defenders of the Infinite Realms. Are we ignoring the Ancients who survived the last Calling as well?”

“The point is that if we hope to survive this, we should be working together. Or are the stories of the fallen ancients just that?”

Nocturn stood back up. “No. No they are not.” Nocturn looked around the room, at all the ghosts that had fled to Dark’s banner. “Even if I dislike it, this is beyond any of us. If we wish to survive, we’ll all need to work together.” Nocturn turned toward Dark and pointed his finger at him, “Make no mistake, I have heard stories of you, Dark. Stories that I hope are just stories. Stories of how you treat your men, stories of how you treat your allies, stories of-”

“He’s not like that.” Cassius interrupted. “Yes, he can be terrifying, but he’s been keeping us all safe.”

Nocturn turned toward Cassius, then glanced at the bed he was resting on. His gaze shifted towards Dark, before he looked back at Cassius . “Forgive me if I don’t find your words convincing.”

Before Cassius could say anything more. Dark spoke up. “I don’t care if you like me. I’m not here because I was liked, I am here because I am strong.”

“Not strong enough,” Nocturn said, folding his arms. “You speak of strength, but your strength only extends as far as your arm. Unlike me. If it were not for Helios telling me to visit you, you’d be beneath my notice.”

Cassius could see Dark’s jaw work as he bit his tongue. Cassius knew that Dark had much to say about that, but none of them should have been antagonizing each other. Cassius knew Dark though, and knew exactly how to keep him from snapping back. “Helios? I don’t know this name, though it feels familiar.”

Dark’s jaw loosened immediately and turned to Cassius. “Another Ancient,” he began explaining, to ensure that Cassius never felt lost in his presence. “Nocturn is the Lord of Dreams, Helios is the Lord of Vision. He sees much. If he is forcing us to work together, then it is the best chance we have.” Dark huffed through his nose and turned back to Nocturn, “If you have a suggestion, I’m all ears.”

Nocturn laughed. “If you could, oh mighty king, you’d have an army to match mine. No, your royal army doesn’t carry your strength.”

Dark stayed quiet for a moment. “Explain that.”

Nocturn looked down at Dark, confusion spreading across his face. “Explain what, it’s a simple concept.”

“What does kingship have to do with the armies?”

Nocturn frowned, and for two and a quarter seconds, Cassius thought he wouldn’t answer. Then Nocturn reached into the darkness swirling about his feet. “Simply put,” he said, drawing out a sleepwalker from the mists. “This soldier here, carries my intent. He is my hand, carrying out my will. You don’t have enough intent to have your troops carry it.”

Dark leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees. “So… if I were a king, my troops would all be able to fight the Infested?”

Nocturn froze. “If you were a king?”

“I am not a king, I am just a warrior who others have been following. This castle wasn’t made for me, it was where I found a handful of fearful ghosts hiding from the Infested. It suits our purposes as a lair, but I have never called myself a king. It is others who call me king.”

Nocturn shrunk down so that he wasn’t towering over Dark. “And how many of those are also capable of fighting the Infested?”

Dark glanced at Cassius, and Cassius refused to meet his eyes. There was a reason he was injured. He was not suited for battle. He hated that, he wanted to stand with Dark as an equal, but what could a ghost who had a knowledge of time do?

“Of those that go into battle? All of them.” Dark stated.

“Exactly… as a king, as a ruler, they carry your intent. If you intend to destroy the Infested then they can too.”

Dark stood up. “Frostbite,” he demanded.

Immediately the Yeti made his way to the front of the crowd that was gathering around the edges of the room. “Yes?”

“I have another task for your craftsmen. I apparently find myself in need of a crown.”

“We’ll have it ready soon. Is there anything else?”

“No, that’s of utmost importance. If we can go from 5 warriors capable of fighting the Infested to a thousand, we will have a chance.” Frostbite bowed before turning and running out the door.

“Another order?” Cassius asked, “What was the first?”

“Nothing of importance. Just a token for myself, a promise to never let you get hurt again.” Dark said, turning to Cassius. He placed his hand on Cassius’s head before moving to cup his cheek.

Nocturn grumbled. “Cute, but we still have matters to discuss.”

“Vortex.”

“He won’t listen to you.”

“Will he listen to you?”

“It’s possible, but unlikely. He’s…”

“Volatile?”

“I was deciding on stubborn, but yes, that as well.”

“I might have a plan, though I’d like to know what someone who fought with him in the past would think of it before deciding on any decisions.”

“What plan could possibly force him into the fight?”

“The yeti’s have a metal, it causes a feeling of fear in those who are in close proximity-”

Nocturn rolled his eyes. “You seek to use that on Vortex? Each of the Ancients can resist such paltry-”

“I don’t intend on using it on Vortex, I intend on using it on the Avatar of Malice.”

Every single ghost in the room, including Cassius turned toward Dark with various levels of incredulity on their faces. “Dark,” Cassius began, “How could that possibly work?”

Dark smiled. “I have fought many of the Infested, and I know one thing. They still have fear. The Avatars of Malice will tremble as I crush them beneath my heel. I have reason to believe that the Avatar of Malice does as well. Aren’t some expressions of malice born of fear?”

Dark stood up. “Additionally, a Calling happens in a place of calm, yes?” When Nocturn didn’t correct him he continued. “If we scatter the spaces where the calling can occur, we can shift it. Pushing it to the nearest stable realm.”

The room was silent as everyone processed the plan. Nocturn never broke eye contact with Dark for thirteen seconds, “You wish to force the Calling to happen in Vortex’s realm.”

Dark nodded. “He will fight, whether he wishes it or not.”

“I don’t know if you’re insane, foolish, or both. This idea could only come from a madman…” Nocturn paused as he thought a bit more. “But it could work.”

***

After that proclamation, the castle broke into a flurry of activity as orders began to be given. Nocturn’s sleepwalkers weren’t the talkative type, but they were quite efficient as messengers carrying written orders to and from the castle. Even better, they didn’t feel fear, so they were quite helpful in moving in spreading the metal that the yeti’s were providing.

Cassius was taken away from the throne room and brought back to his bed at Frostbite’s insistence. Dark practically threw a fit over it, but Frostbite pointed out the fastest Cassius had healed was when Cassius was sleeping and at peace as compared to the last several days of being in the throne room. Convinced of its importance, Dark carried Cassius to their chambers himself.

Cassius threw himself in his bed – big enough for both him and Dark to have plenty of room in – curled under the blankets, and slept for 16 hours straight.

He would have slept longer, but he was awoken by a knock at his door. It would not have been Dark, as Dark would have just entered their chambers. Cassius thought about ignoring it, before there was a second knock.

“Come in,” Cassius called out, not getting out from under the blankets. The door creaked open and heavy footfalls echoed in the chamber.

“Comfortable, are we?” Frostbite chuckled, standing somewhat near the bed.

“Very,” Cassius stated. “And though I am dead, I feel quite warm under here.”

“Unfortunately, I’m going to ask you to scoot over this way and come out from underneath. I am not going to sit on Dark’s bed to get close enough to check your wounds again. I fear our king would splatter me against the walls if I were to be in the same bed as you.”

“He would not, he is a just man.”

“Hmm…” Frostbite hummed.

The sound dragged Cassius out of the bed. “Do you not believe so?” He demanded.

“He is protective of you, very much so. I think when you’re involved, reason flees him, as it does anyone in love.” Cassius felt himself blush at that. He knew Dark loved him, but Dark would never say such a thing outright. “But also, he is a warrior first, and a king second. Even though many called him a king, he refused to accept that title.”

Cassius nodded and sighed. “He called what he was doing playing king quite often. He’s probably quite unhappy to actually have that title.”

“Yes, well, that’s why Dark is having me check on you. He wants you by his side at the coronation.”

“That’s already happening?” Cassius asked, scooting over to the edge of the bed. “It was only twenty hours ago that he gave that order.”

Frostbite nodded, a grim expression on his face as he knelt down. “I’m going to be touching your face here,” he warned. “But yes, apparently after I left to come here, Helios appeared to my tribe. He told them that a crown was needed, and gave them the orders to forge it. I have yet to see the crown myself, but…”

The fact that Frostbite trailed off while inspecting Cassius made him nervous. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, everything is fine. The rest has done wonders. I think at this point you’re as healed as you can be.” Frostbite said standing up. “I hear the crown was made to Helio’s specifications. It’s not just a crown, but an artifact.”

“Forgive me, but I don’t know what the importance of that is.”

“An artifact is… it’s something that brings out more potential. For example, there’s a gem somewhere in the infinite realms that can alter something else’s form at will. It can make someone’s intent so strong that nothing can stand against it.”

Cassius narrowed his eye at Frostbite. “You did not mention that before when Dark was asking about ways to heal me.”

Frostbite gave a quick nod. “I would have if it was within reach, but it fell through a portal into one of the living realms. It’s out of the reach of any ghost. Even if one were to escape into the living realm to find it, there’s no telling if they made their way into the living realm before or after it, and then it’d be nearly impossible to find their way back, and for all we know, they’d wind up before even the very first Calling, or after this one.”

“So quite impossible.”

“Indeed.” Frostbite took a step back from Cassius and looked him over. “You’re handling this much better than I’d have ever expected. Most would be quite bothered by any damage to their form, let alone as much as you have received.”

Cassius chuckled and indicated his good side. “Well, as you can see, I am lucky to have a spare.”

The door opened again, the wood crashing against the stone and making both occupants of the room jump as Dark strolled in. “Are you well?” He asked.

“I am, thank you.” Dark reached out and took Cassius’s hand. Cassius was brought to his feet and then pulled next to Dark’s side. “Frostbite just gave me a clean bill of health.”

“As clean as it can be, at least.”

“Then let’s not delay any longer,” Dark said, scooping up Cassius.

Cassius pushed on Dark’s chest. “Did you not hear the man? I’m healthy, I don’t need to be carried everywhere!”

Dark laughed. “Need to, no, but I do want to.”

“I’d like some dignity, thank you very much!” Cassius protested, though he did stop fighting to be carried.

“Cassius,” Frostbite interrupted, “I’ll have you know that most of the keep is more terrified of you than Dark. No one truly fears a chained beast, they fear the one who can release it.”

Cassius sighed. “I guess there is no getting out of this is there?” He groaned, placing his head against Dark’s chest. Though he could feel Dark breathing, there was no heartbeat.

None of them had one anymore.

“No, there is not.” Dark chuckled carrying Cassius. Though eventually he did put him down, once they could hear the sounds of a horde of warriors.

Dark held Cassius’s hands in his. “Cassius, I have a favor to ask.”

“Anything.”

“I want you to be the one to crown me. I had no interest in being a king, I was content to battle through all the Infinite Realms before you came into my life. I think it’s fair to have you place the crown on my head.”

“I already told you, I’ll do anything you ask. You don’t need to explain it to me.” Cassius chuckled. “Where is it?”

Another yeti walked forward, holding black box. The box was much smaller than Cassius would have expected. Cassius moved to take the box when the yeti opened it.

Cassius froze as he stared at the crown. Immediately, he knew that there was something to Frostbite’s claims of this being an artifact. A feeling of unease swelled up in his chest as he looked at the unassuming metal.

It was simple, just a golden crown with a few gems inlaid in it.

But as Cassius’s fingers touched it, he knew that this was nothing but simple. This was it, the way for them to survive the Calling. To actually make this a war, not just a desperate fight to survive another day.

“Cassius?” Dark asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Cassius grabbed the crown and looked at Dark. “We will survive this.”

Dark smiled. “When this is over, you’ll need a crown yourself. I believe as a king it is within my right to declare anyone married.”

Cassius froze at that and his eyes widened. Cassius had been content to never put a name to what they had. It was just what it was. Yes, he wanted more, but he was content. There was so much going on that thinking of the future felt like a fool’s task. But… he dreamed.

Dark leaned down and placed a kiss to his lips before Dark turned and walked out onto a balcony. “Denizens of the Infinite Realms!” He shouted, raising his voice so that it could be heard.

Frostbite pushed on Cassius’s shoulder. “Come on now, you can come to grips with the fact you're apparently now betrothed to one of the most important ghosts besides the ancients later. For now, you have a job to do.”

Cassisu stumbled out onto the balcony, and realized that Dark’s statement before that he had a thousand troops was underselling it. He did not just stand above a thousand men. The green of the Infinite Realms sky was blocked by so many bodies, and the ground beneath them was similarly hidden by all the troops.

Dark turned toward Cassius and knelt down, snapping Cassius out of his stupor at the sight. He went to place the crown on top of Dark’s head.

He hadn’t had the time to realize that this crown was tiny compared to Dark, before it stopped in place slipping out of his fingers. The moment his hands came away from the crown, it lit on fire, and the air shifted.

There was a weight to it now, like a pressure waiting for something to just snap. When Dark rose, the already tall ghost felt larger. His presence was unmistakable and impossible to ignore. Dark turned towards the army and threw his fist out in the air. “Now go! Destroy the Infested! Let not a single one claim another! This is my first order as the King of All Ghosts!”

His order was met with screams and cheers and every ghost started flying off to do what he ordered. Dark turned and marched back into the castle. They hadn’t gotten far when Nocturn stepped out from the darkness behind the curtain. “King of All Ghosts, quite the title you’ve claimed for yourself.”

“It's far too late to come up with another one,” Dark snipped. “You had plenty of chances to suggest a better one.”

“Hardly, between the moment you decided to become a king and you receiving the crown, we had much more to discuss than titles or speeches.”

A knight marched into the room, “My Lord! You’re needed in the throne room at once!” Dark turned to say something, possibly to demand who thought he could give him demands, when the knight continued. “Helios is here!”

Dark glanced at Nocturn for just a second before they set off, leaving Cassius and Frostbite to chase them. They made their way into the throne room to find the Ancient of Vision standing there. Cassius couldn’t see his face due the high collar around his neck until the Ancient turned to face them. A golden halo floated behind his head giving the inside of his collar a golden glow, and he stared at them with three eyes.

“Dark, Nocturn, it is good you are here.” He brushed the grey cloak that covered most of his form before he held up a hand in Cassius’s direction. There was an eye on his palm that looked over Cassius’s shoulder. “Frostbite, you are taller in person. And Clockwork…”

“Who?” Cassius asked, looking behind them to see who he was referring to, but there was no one.

“Ah, sorry, I forgot, my vision of you is a bit… scattered. A side effect of how time affects you. We have not met quite yet, but I know you quite well.”

Dark stepped between Cassius and Helios. “Helios…” There was a coldness to his tone that Cassius couldn’t quite place, but he recognized the way Dark stood in front of him. Cassius placed a hand gently on his back, letting Dark know that he was there with him.

Helios turned. “Greetings, King of All Ghosts.”

Dark folded his arms. “From my understanding, it is your idea that I take this title.”

Helio’s head tilted slightly and his eyes roved over him as if he were observing Dark. “It wasn’t my idea, though I was involved in it.” Cassius felt Dark’s shoulders tense the way they always did when he was unsure. Helio’s head titled the other way and he continued to explain. “I see all; things that will happen, things that are happening, and things that have happened. It was already set in the timeline that I’d help you.”

“Do we survive this?” Nocturn demanded. Dark’s head snapped towards Nocturn sharply, which made Cassius jump at the sudden movement. His hand pulled away from Dark for a moment. Dark whirled and swept his arms around Cassius before looking back at the two ancients.

Helios didn’t answer at first. “I… believe you do.” He said quietly.

“Believe?” Dark snapped. “Didn’t you just say you see what will happen?”

“I do, up to a point.” Helios turned toward Dark, a frown marring his features. “I see things that will happen, up until my destruction.”

“Oh…” Cassius was unsure of who spoke, it could have been Nocturn, whose shoulders slumped, it could have been Frostbite who was covering his expression with a large meaty paw, or it could have been himself.

But it never could have been Dark.

“So you’re just giving up?” Dark growled, his hand slid from one of Cassius’s shoulders to the other across his back as he stepped forward. “You’re just going to-”

“If you think I am merely lying down and dying like a dog, you can bite your tongue,” Helios interrupted, his tone dropping with his face. “I am doing what I can to ensure things move along the path it is supposed to.”

“If it weren’t for you and the other ancients’ existence, ghosts would say that we’re intended to be wiped out.”

“We’ve survived a Calling before, and you will do so again…” Helios trailed off before turning to Nocturn. “Though, Nocturn, I’d ask a favor of you. If you would be so kind as to send a message to Undergrowth. He will listen to your message.”

“I’ll… send one of my sleepwalkers immediately.” Nocturn began, his tone soft like a dream. “Are you-”

“I’m alright,” Helios interrupted again. “I’ve known this would happen since I gathered strength to fight the previous avatar.” He let out a slow breath. “I think we all have much to talk about.”

“Would one day be acceptable?” Nocturn asked. “If you don’t expect to survive this then…”

Dark nodded. “I think that should be expected,” he turned toward Cassius. “I have some things I need to get in order as well.”

Helios nodded. “As expected, come Nocturn… And Frostbite? If you’d join us?”

“Me?” Frostbite’s eyes widened in shock as he pointed toward himself. “You wish for me to join you?”

Helios nodded. “I think we have much to discuss as well, as two ancients to a future one.”

Frostbite started moving forward, though his face didn’t change its expression. But, Cassius hadn’t had time to react to that. Instead, Dark pulled him along the halls towards their chambers. When Dark closed the doors behind them, he breathed deeply.

Cassius put his hands on Dark’s back. “You wished to talk.”

Dark straightened and turned around, taking Cassius’s hands in his. “Yes… It’s…” he stopped and steeled his expression. “What kind of crown do you want?”

Cassius laughed. “Is that what you wanted to ask? Really?” Cassius tilted his head and gave Dark his biggest smile. “You know, you never let me answer the question you were asking.”

“Does it need to be?” Dark asked.

Cassius looked down at the ground. “No… I think… I think we both knew this was where we were going, but I thought you were content to leave it be and just let everyone make their assumptions.”

Dark pulled Cassius into his chest. “No, I never intended to leave it. I found you, and I intend to keep you, forever. Death can’t take us apart.”

Cassius squeezed Dark tightly, tighter than Dark was holding onto him. “No, no it can’t.”

***

Twenty three hours later, Cassius was back in the throne room, though now he no longer rested on a bed and instead stood at Dark’s right side. Helios and Nocturn were standing in a corner, partially hidden by the shadowy mists that followed Nocturn everywhere.

Dark had just sent away another messenger – one with good news that Dark’s army was now truly making headway into the calm areas of the Infinite Realms – when a yeti walked into the throne room.

Cassius frowned as he observed his approach. Even without announcing his presence, people gave him distance. He stopped some distance away before opening the box. “Your…” the yeti glanced at Cassius before looking back down at the box, “... ring… sire.” Dark waved him forward and the yeti approached the throne. Dark reached into the box and pulled out the ring.

It was all Cassius could do to not step back away from it.

When the crown was given to him, the feeling of awe was overwhelming, but it wasn’t truly fear that he felt looking at it. But this? The band was solid green, with a gleaming skull on the top. While the skull was a bit morbid – though not unusual in the realm of the dead – that wasn’t the problem.

There were two red gemstones inlaid in the eyes that made the wound on Cassius’s face itch. It was a deep crimson. They seemed to glimmer in the light, but then Cassius realized that it wasn’t the flickering fires from the crown that were causing this, but a facet of the gems themselves.

“Dark…” Cassius began, as he tried to find a way to explain to him that he felt this was a bad idea.

Dark took the ring and slipped it on his own finger. He did not take off his gauntlets to do so, the ring was sized for him to wear it on top of his armor. When it settled into place, everyone jumped as the flames from his crown intensified.

Then he stood, his eyes’ gaze burning. “The Avatar of Malice wishes to inflict us with rage. I’ll admit, it succeeded. So, let’s show it what rage means. Malice only knows anger, it doesn’t know loss, it doesn’t know desperation. I want everyone to go out and make it understand.”

The throne room exploded into a flurry of activity again. Cassius looked out across the throne room as everyone began running around, though he could see that Helios and Nocturn weren’t moving at all. Cassius turned toward Dark and reach over to get his attention, “Dark-”

The moment his hand touched Dark, he whirled to look at him. A snarl was on his face and his eyes were full of hate. Cassius took a step back as the sudden stranger appeared in front of him. Dark realized it was Cassius trying to get his attention and schooled his features. He gave Cassius a soft smile and reached over to touch his face.

With the hand wearing that ring.

Cassius flinched as the hand approached, as he felt a shiver of something run though him. He gasped and took a step back. Dark gaped at Cassius before his hand dropped to his side. “What is it?” Cassius shook his head. “Can’t you feel it, Dark? There’s something wrong with that ring.” Dark looked at the ring on his finger. “I… what is that? That’s not just a normal ring. Even now I feel…” Cassius paused as he tried to describe what he felt. He felt agitated, like there was too much noise around, or that he was waiting on something that should have been completed a while ago. “...angry,” he finally landed on.

Dark clenched his fist. “I am aware, but I won’t turn my back on this.” He held up his hand next to his face. “This ring is a reminder to myself. To make sure that I never let what happened to you happen again. You are mine, and I will never let anyone hurt you.”

“Dark… I’m worried that that will hurt you.”

“It’s not up for discussion,” Dark said tersely. He took a deep breath and looked at Cassius. “Speaking of…” he turned and barked, “Frostbite!”

Frostbite pushed his way through the crowd, running up to them. “Here!”

“What you said before, about one with a powerful intent and willingness? Would I suffice?”

Cassius frowned as he tried to think about what he was referring to. Frostbite got it first. “Sire… are you sure?”

“I now have twenty thousand men under my banner and more are flocking to it by the day. My intent to crush the Avatar of Malice is strong enough that each and every one of them is capable of destroying his Infested. I think it’s fair to say I have strength to spare.”

It finally clicked for Cassius. “Wait, Dark, are you giving up your eye? I don’t need it! What good is giving me an eye? I’m not a warrior and-”

“You are mine, and I refuse to leave you imperfect,” Dark said curtly, before turning back to Frostbite. “Well?”

“You certainly have the power for it, and you quite obviously are willing.”

“Then we shall start this tonight.”

“Dark! I don’t want-”

Dark turned toward Cassius. “Cassius… Helios called you Clockwork…” Frostbite froze as Cassius’s brow furrowed. “He called you something else… you’ll change.” Dark sighed, and turned back to Frostbite. “Frostbite, you said that taking something from a more powerful ghost would possibly change Cassius permanently, correct?”

Frostbite stared at Dark for a moment before he slowly nodded. “Yes, that would be the outcome if you were to try and steal a piece of a greater ghost.”

Dark turned back to Cassius. “I don’t want you to change. I want you to remain as you are, but if you must change, I want it to be because of me. Is that acceptable? I ask this of you…”

Cassius felt his throat tighten, even as his words from earlier echoed from his mouth. “I’ve told you before, I’ll do anything you ask…”

***

Cassius watched himself as he stumbled through the encampment. A handful of ghosts sharing the light of a fire with their backs turned toward it. Each of them watching the woods for signs of Infested. A ticking feeling in the back of Cassius’s head told him this was one year, three months, twelve days, and six hours from where he should be.

The first time he met Dark.

There were twelve warriors, Dark among them. At this time, he wasn’t the great lord that he was now. He was just one face amongst many. There were five others, Cassius was one of them. The five were scurrying about the camp like rats, trying to put together and repair weapons and armor for the fighters. It was a hopeless task, one couldn’t forge a blade without aid, but the five did what they could.

Cassius was stumbling amongst them. Unlike the others, he had a perfect understanding of how long they all had waited, and each second felt like another gamble. Cassius ran toward Dark, though he hadn’t known his name at the time.

“Sir!” Cassius shouted, as he approached.

“Silence! Or do you want the Infested to find us?”

“Your weapon…” Cassius said, handing it over.

Dark had taken the weapon, and then looked back at Cassius. His eyes widened as he took in his appearance. Cassius laughed as he watched himself flounder under Dark’s gaze. “What’s your name?” Dark asked.

“Cassius, sir.”

“You’ll take care of my weapons from now on,” Dark demanded.

Cassius looked down at the weapon. “But… what if I didn’t do a good job?”

There was a screech from outside the camp, and Dark pushed Cassius back, taking the mace in both hands. A pile of Infested pulled themselves along the ground, rapidly approaching. Dark heaved his mace high up into the air before bringing it down on top of it before, smashing it into pieces with one fell swoop.

Dark inspected his mace before turning. “You’ll take care of my weapons from now on.”

“A-as you wish…”

***

Cassius gasped as he woke up. Seeing out of both eyes again. Frostbite was leaning over him. “Cassius, Cassius can you hear me?”

“I-I I can,” Cassius blinked. The Frostbite he knew was no longer there. His fur was longer, and his arm was gone, replaced by a structure of ice. Another blink, and Frostbite was helping him up. “What’s wrong with me?”

“It’s… Dark is way stronger than we thought. Your forms are merging, your own essence and purpose are growing stronger.”

Cassius processed that information as he looked up at Frostbite. “We’re merging?”

Frostbite blinked and pulled back. “Yes, I was just about to explain that.”

Cassius put a hand on his chest, and he could feel… something. Something inside of him, it seemed like sand falling, with each grain hitting the bottom with enough force to shake the universe.

“Cassius, Cassius can you hear me?” Cassius blinked and looked up, Frostbite was leaning over him.

“I can.” Cassius stated, letting Frostbite pull him up. “I’m merging with Dark?”

Frostbite blinked and looked at the other yetis in the room. “Yes, that’s what we think is going on… how did you know?”

“You told me, just a moment ago I-”

“Cassius, Cassius can you hear me?” Cassius’s eyes snapped open and he sat up quickly. “Whoa, careful! You just got done, there was a-”

“I’m changing. Merging with Pariah…”

Frostbite frowned. “Who’s Pariah?”

Cassius blinked, that name… it felt so familiar and yet, he didn’t know it. It rolled off the tongue like he had used it for a millenia. “I… I don’t know.”

“Cassius, Cassius-”

“Stop!” Cassius opened his eyes to see Helios pushing Frostbite away. “You can’t help here anymore, go calm Dark down.” Helios looked down at Cassius and turned his head to face him. “You’re observing too much. Focus, you must silence the rest. There is the present, that is it. Think of this moment right now, don’t try to remember.”

Cassius nodded. “This moment…” he breathed.

“What are you feeling? Tell me.”

“The table beneath me, it’s cold and solid. Your hands, I can feel the eyes in your palms searching…”

“Good, good, try not to-”

***

Cassius watched himself as he entered the tent, four months after Cassius had met Dark. It had taken a bit of convincing with the others of this unmerry band that bringing such a large tent was worth it, but the twenty warriors in the group found it useful.

Though, of the original twelve, only four remained.

The eight in the tent looked up to see Cassius enter. One of them, one that made even Dark look small, towered over Cassius. “This is not a place for the likes of you.”

“I-it’s soon for a change in the watch,” Cassius said, trying to step away from the larger ghost. “The others said that last time the change was late and they had to stay longer than they should.”

The giant stepped toward Cassius and brought up his club. “Who are you to-”

“Enough.” Dark’s voice echoed in the tent. It was loud enough that Cassius could feel his chest rattle. Everyone turned to look at Dark as he came around. “Changing the shifts is important. We all find it tiresome, and a tired guard is a dead one. We’ll go change the shift now.” Dark grabbed the ghost that threatened Cassius and pushed him out the tent. He turned and smiled at Cassius. “Thank you, Cassius…”

***

“Focus on the now!” Helios ordered. “Stop looking in the past, you’re needed here, and now.” Helios pulled Cassius up and held his hands up, the eyes in his hands staring into Cassius’s. “You shouldn’t look back there yet.”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“Because you won’t like what you see.”

“What would I-?”

***

Cassius hadn’t been here before. In fact, he couldn’t place this moment. Oh he knew exactly when it was, it was four months and two days after he met Dark. He was floating next to the giant ghost from before.

The ghost was looking out into the infinite void, searching for any sign of the Infested. He huffed. “Nothing,” he muttered to himself. “I suppose that’s good but…”

Cassius turned, knowing that something important was going to happen in a few seconds from now. Dark came out of the woods, his mace held tight in his grip. Stealthy he was not, and his footfalls rang out.

The giant turned. “Dark, has it been that long? I thought I had another hour or two before the shift change.”

Dark didn’t say anything, instead he approached. The warrior knew something was wrong and brought his club around, but then Dark smashed right through it, breaking it into splinters. The giant didn't have a chance to react before Dark smashed his legs with enough intent to destroy them, and the man screamed. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“You raise a hand against my Cassius,” Dark explained simply, as if one were explaining that water was wet. Before he brought the mace down and crushed his chest. Cassius floated there transfixed as Dark smashed him over and over again, until there was nothing left but a wet smear of ectoplasm on the ground, before that too disappeared.

***

“You knew?” Cassius asked, looking into Helios’s eyes.

“I see all, Clockwork.”

“I’m not Clockwork.”

“You will be.”

***

Cassius didn’t recognize where he was, though he knew the time. It was four hundred and thirty two years after the Calling, but not truely. Something about what he was seeing was off. He could tell it was off, but he wasn’t sure he could describe how.

It felt like he was watching something, but his head was skewed to the side, or like he was hearing something that wasn’t there. It was all off and made his eyes water.

Despite the strangeness, Cassius knew what he was seeing. It was a timeline that could happen, but wouldn’t.

The green sky of the Infinite Realms was blotted out. Not like Nocturn’s darkness, where the realm was listening and bending to a being of great power. This was smoke from a thousand forges. Cassius stood in the middle of an encampment, he couldn’t see where the encampment ended and the ground had been trampled till the ground was as hard as any stone.

Warriors, wearing armor in Dark’s colors, were carrying a ghost. Cassius couldn’t tell anything about the ghost, not because he couldn’t see it, but because its form was so weak. The poor thing had been beaten down so much that it no longer looked like it had once been a person, but instead was a shapeless ball.

Cassius intended to follow them, to see where they were taking it, but then it faded away entirely into a mist. The two warriors looked at each other and then shrugged, going on about their day as if what had just happened wasn’t a great tragedy. The encampment continued doing what it was doing.

Preparing for the next invasion.

***

Cassius shook his head and pressed his hand over his new eye. “I will survive the Calling?”

Each of Helios’s eyes blinked and he leaned back a bit. “I had guessed, but I wasn’t sure. I can’t see beyond my own destruction.” Cassius started pulling his hand away, but Helios reached out and put it back. “No, keep it covered for now. Seeing out that eye is what’s causing your vision to run amok.”

Cassius glared at Helios with his own eye. “Couldn’t you have started with that?”

Helios smiled sadly. “No, and for once. I know why. You did need to see what you have.”

The door burst open and Dark entered the room. A bandage wrapped around his head, wet with ectoplasm that dripped down his face. “How is he?” He shouted, making the entire castle shake.

Cassius turned and felt an infinite number of responses pour out of his mouth with each having an infinite number of consequences attached to them, not just for this moment, for thousands of years afterwards. Some resulted in the destruction of everyone in the room, and some resulted in them failing to survive the Calling.

But Cassius knew Dark.

“It seems there was a minor problem, Dark, but nothing we should be upset about,” Cassius began as Dark marched over to him. “You were too powerful, and as such, I am much stronger now too.”

Dark knelt down next to Cassius’s bedside. “How?”

“Dark, you are the strongest ghost in all of our histories, and now, I have a part of you inside me. We should have seen that this could have consequences.”

At those words, Dark whirled toward Helios. “You… you should have warned that this would have happened!”

Helios tilted his head. “This is how things are meant to be, but… even if I could have changed it, I wouldn’t have. Cassius must be by your side in order for us to survive the Calling.”

Dark raised his fist, and Cassius could see the multitude of consequences echo out across eternity, and he brought them all to a close by simply standing up. Dark whirled around. “Cassius, you should rest!”

Cassius pulled his hand away from Dark’s eye in his head. “I’m fine, I can already see how-” then he glanced at the ring on Dark’s finger.

***

This wasn’t long ago. It was after Cassius had woken up after Frostbite had removed the infestation from him. Frostbite and Dark were standing outside the hall so they could talk without bothering Cassius as he rested. A knight went up to Dark, “My lord, what should we do with the Infested in the dungeons? Containing them is an arduous task…”

Frostbite hummed. “Well, like Cassius suggested, we could try to cure them. If we could we-”

Dark cut him off with a simple, “No.”

“No?” Frostbite repeated.

“No, even if you were to pull them back, how much of them would there be? They wouldn’t be of much use, partial pieces of weaker ghosts. No, they have no value cured.” Dark straightened his back and he looked down at Frostbite. “I want them destroyed, crushed into tiny pieces so that they’d never harm anyone again, but you, yeti, I hear that your kind have many skilled craftsmen. I want you to take those pieces and forge them into a ring for me.”

“A ring?”

“Yes, one that can fit over my armor. So that I can always look at it and remember what I let happen to my Cassius.”

“That… can be arranged.” Frostbite began hesitantly.

“See that it does.”

***

“-how i will recover…” Cassius got out, schooling his features. He wasn’t well practiced in it, and he thought for sure Dark would notice that something was wrong.

But Dark thought he knew him. He believed that Cassius would never lie to him. Sixteen hours ago, that would have been the truth, but now…

Cassius looked at Helios behind Dark, a grim frown on his face.

No, it still was the truth. Cassius would never lie to Dark.

Clockwork however, would.

Clockwork reached up and stroked Dark’s face. “I’ll be okay, Dark. I promise you.” Dark leaned into his touch. “Your Cassius is as fine as he can be. But… I’ll need some time. Your power is… much. I don’t understand how your form can contain it all. I need to rest, to let it settle within me.”

Dark smiled. “I got used to it.” He kissed Clockwork’s palm before pulling his wrist away. He picked him up and began to carry him. “You’ll be more comfortable in our bed instead of this cold room.”

“Thank you, Dark.”

***

Clockwork awoke to something entering his room. It was not through a door or window, but instead very fabric of the realm beneath them shifted. He sat up and looked at the glowing blue ring of light in front of him.

And out came himself.

“I forgot I used to look like that… it has been ages.” Clockwork took his appearance in. He still wore his favorite cloak that was a gift from Dark, and he could see a scar down his face where Dark’s eye had been implanted. But just when he thought he could recognize himself in the version in front of him, he shifted. Turning from a young man to one that looked older than any ghost he had seen in the zone.

“How long has it been?”

“Long enough for us to get a handle on all our powers,” his future self frowned. The long beard covering up much of his face vanished as he turned into a child. “Forgive me, but until we have them under control, we need to be careful. I’m sure you’ve already felt the reach of our actions.”

Clockwork bit his lip for a moment, but unlike before he couldn’t see the infinite possibilities of every action he could take. “Yes, I could, but I can’t right now.”

“You could say this event is scripted,” his future self began. “I am controlling the outcome of these events. Helios can see the past, present and future, but he doesn’t see all the twists and turns it can take. We can guide it like a river.”

“That sounds impossible. Changing the course of a river?”

“Oh, it wasn’t in your time, but eventually, yes it is.” His future self turned back into a young man again after that statement. “But that’s not the purpose of my visit. For a being that controls time, we have very little of it. And you need to have a grasp of some of them before the Calling.”

“Is that… transformation part of them?”

“A sacrifice to use some of our powers, but I won’t tell you about them yet.” He looked morose for a moment before turning to him, “You’ll want to discover them after…” He sighed and held out his hand. “Come, I’ll show you what we can do.”

***

Dark walked into the room five hours later. He froze at the door frame as he looked at Clockwork. “Cassius?”

Clockwork put his staff down on the ground. “Ah, Dark, right on time.” He gave him a smile as he pulled his cloak about his shoulders. “I’m glad you kept my cloak. I’ve missed it since I got injured.”

Dark closed the door behind him. “Yes, well, it was one of my first gifts to you. There was no way I was going to let anyone else touch it.”

“I’m surprised it survived the Infested.”

“I had it repaired, it had been torn to shreds.” Clockwork walked across the room and pulled Dark down into a kiss. Dark’s lips curled into a smile underneath Cassius’s. “Well, it seems that this was very much a good thing in the end. You’re taking what you want, I like that.”

Clockwork stepped back and looked up at Dark, trying to ensure he memorized his face. “Yes, well, I can understand you a lot more now.” Dark was now sporting an eyepatch instead of bandages, but it seemed that the damage to his form was minimal. Clockwork supposed that Frostbite was overzealous with him, and was much more careful with Dark.

Dark’s face fell. “Speaking of… there was a reason I was checking on you.”

“The Calling is soon, isn’t it?”

“We might have a week. The plan seems to be working, the calling is happening in Vortex’s realm.”

“Then you should hurry.”

Dark twitched under Clockwork’s hands. “Helios… made it sound like you’d fight with me…” There was a soft undercurrent of disappointment in that statement, though it was also cloaked in relief. Dark might have enjoyed the idea of Cassius being behind him in battle, but he’d prefer to keep Cassius in the castle, safe and unblemished.

Clockwork smiled from ear to ear to hide the frown that wanted to form. “Oh, I will, but…” He reached over and touched the top of his staff. “Time out…”

Dark looked about as the world shifted around them. “Is this a power of yours?”

“I can stop time for a while…”

Dark laughed. “In that case… Maybe I can take some time before we leave for the battle?”

“I believe you just read our future.”

***

Three hours later, Dark had left the castle with his army. But Clockwork didn’t leave quite yet, instead, he went down underneath the castle. He never went here before, he never had a need to. The dungeons were not a place he was ever brought to, Dark wouldn’t have let him.

After what he had seen, he knew why Dark kept him from here.

It was also a good spot for those who didn’t want Dark to find them to talk.

He opened the door to the dungeons. The hinges of the door creaked as it slowly opened. He walked down deeper into the dungeon where there was a room meant for the guards to get some time away from the prisoners between shifts. As he approached the door opened, revealing Helios.

“Welcome,” Helios greeted.

Clockwork didn’t acknowledge him as he entered, but he took a place along the wall with the other five members in the room. “Him?” Nocturn spat, “Dark’s little pet?”

“Cassius died on that table,” Clockwork interjected. He turned toward Frostbite. “No fault of your own, but the one who woke up was not him.” Cassius turned to face all the occupants of the room. “Call me Clockwork.”

A mass of vines and leaves rose up from under the table. “And just who are you?”

“I was, as Nocturn put it, Dark’s pet. He kept his nature secret from me, but he gave me his eye, and with it, a chunk of his power,” Clockwork’s hands tightened around his staff. “Like Helios, I was able to see the past, and I can see what will become of us under Dark’s rule.”

Helios turned. “Oh? I can only see what will happen. Not other possibilities. What did you see?”

Clockwork looked up at the ceiling. “Dark will not stop once the Calling is ended. He will start to expand his realm. Conquering along the ghost zone. Thousands… millions of ghosts will be fed into his war machine. Those who can’t fight will be forced to work and those that can’t work will be destroyed. Dark will not stop until he is destroyed but…” He shook his head and looked at Frostbite. “The ring that was made, it was made out of those that he had destroyed. He’ll feed off every single destroyed ghost. He’ll grow too powerful for anything to stop him.”

“I… I can confirm what he’s saying. We didn’t know what was being forged until it was. There’s intent behind forging an artifact… and it was forged with pieces of the Avatar of Malice.”

“How could you be so foolish?” A four armed woman in armor cried out. “Frostbite, you’ve seen what my box is meant to contain! It’s meant to stop things like this!”

“I wasn’t there Pandora. If I had known what was going to be forged, I would have stopped it.” He sighed. “The intent was to forge something that could hold Malice back. But… it was corrupted in the process.”

“And you still gave it to him?”

Frostbite threw his hands up in the air. “I wasn’t informed! The carrier brought the ring directly to Dark, his favored knight intercepted him and brought him straight to Dark.”

Clockwork turned toward her. “What’s done is done, we shouldn’t be fighting amongst ourselves. It’s good to meet you, Pandora. This would not be possible without you.”

Pandora opened and closed her mouth a few times. “I see. I think I can see why you say that you are like Helios then.”

Nocturn looked between them. “What makes her so special?”

Pandora straightened to her full height, the top of her helmet scraping the top of the room. “I am the guardian of what’s known as Pandora’s Box. I created it to try and seal as much evil in the Infinite Realms as I could.”

“If anyone can seal Dark, she can.” Frostbite vouched. “I’ve inspected the box myself with the ghost that apprenticed me. It’s a fine artifact.” Frostbite’s face fell, “If there’s any ghost here that should have doubt cast upon them, it’s me. I am just a healer. I am a warrior too, yes, but I don’t have the strength to be compared to one who controls nature, or one who commands an army.”

Helios shook his head. “You’ll have a very important task to do when the battle comes. You’ll be ready for it when it comes.” Clockwork nodded in response, though it didn’t seem to comfort Frostbite any.

“We don’t have much time,” Nocturn said, his presence looming over the others. “We’ll have to get Pandora’s sarcophagus to the site of the battle. Our best chance of stopping Dark will be right after the Calling… if we win. Are we all in agreement?”

“We will…” Clockwork stated. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “And yes, we are…”

“Good,” Nocturn said. He pulled himself away from the wall and made for the door, “Then let’s declare him a Pariah and get on with it.”

***

Clockwork approached Dark, and stood next to him. “You’re staying this far back?” He asked as he looked over the expanse in front of them. Here, in this part of the Infinite Realms, land was scarce. In front of them nearly as far as the eye could see there were storm clouds, swirling about with a calm spot in the center. The army float in the space around them, but they stayed far enough away that Dark and Clockwork had some privacy.

Dark turned toward him and raised the eyebrow over his missing eye. “I thought you said you can now see the future?” The question was laced with concern, and Dark reached over and pushed off Clockwork’s hood to see him better.

Clockwork smiled. “I can, but while Helios sees one possibility, I see many.” He leaned into Dark’s side. “I can see many choices that you could have made, I don’t just see one… path… I see thousands. I’m still experiencing this moment with you.”

Dark let out a hum and reached up and grabbed Clockwork’s shoulder. “I’m glad. Part of me hated the idea of you being like Helios and doing whatever he wanted because he believes that’s how it’s supposed to be…”

“The other part?”

Dark smiled and squeezed Clockwork tighter. “Part of me hoped you were, because it meant that you were meant to be here.”

“What’s better? To force someone to do something? Or to have it be given willingly?”

“Hmm… a good question,” Dark said. Clockwork raised an eyebrow as Dark didn’t answer. Dark pointed ahead, at the center of the storm. “To answer your earlier statement, the Calling is going to happen in the center of Vortex’s storm. Any closer though, I’ll be within his realm.”

“And… you care what he thinks?” Clockwork asked.

The incredulity in his voice must have been apparent because Dark laughed. “No, no I do not, however,” the smile slipped off his face and was replaced with a sneer. “Vortex refused to come to help, even Nocturn came, and though Undergrowth never spoke with me, my troops told me of the Infested he fed to his plants.

“No, I’m not waiting here because I am afraid of Vortex, I want the Avatar of Malice to attack him before we go in for the kill.”

Clockwork was saved from having to respond, when the realm shook. Not physically, but every ghost could feel something inside them quiver. A wave passed through them, shaking them to their very soul. Some of Dark’s army immediately turned tail and fled.

“Tch,” Dark spat, “I’ll track them down and deal with them later.” He held up a hand and shouted, “Hold!” The order echoed down the line as his commanders repeated his order to their own men. Then he turned towards Clockwork, “It’s almost time,” he said, leaving a kiss on his cheek.

Dark started marching forwards and stopped next to one of his knights. “My lord?” The knight asked, looking down from his horse. “Is there something you need?”

“You’ve served me well, and so, I have a gift for you… and a task.” Dark reached down to his hip and pulled a sword out of its scabbard. The ghosts nearby all took a step away instinctively, before turning to look to see what made them so uncomfortable. Dark handed the glowing green sword to the knight. “Take this blade, it’s forged from the same metal we used to push the Calling here. It’s pure, stronger than any other weapon in the army. Go behind the troops, and if any turn and flee, cut them down. Strike fear into them.”

“Understood, my king,” the knight said, taking the blade before turning his steed around and flying overhead.

Clockwork approached Dark. “Was that necessary?”

“The cowards in this army need to know that fleeing the battle won’t save them.” Dark didn’t explain more, instead looking up as the realm began to change color.

The green skies began to change, they began to darken before turning to a deep crimson. In the center of the storm, the space between began to distort. Wisps of something that looked liquid in nature began to flood out, seemingly out of nowhere as something pushed through.

“Hold!” Dark shouted one more time. A few ghosts turned and began to run, the unlucky ones were caught by Dark’s knight, who flew across the sky and cut down any ghost that he caught. They weren’t cut in two, but instead they screamed before vanishing.

That stopped the tide of fleeing ghosts.

The waters continued to pour into space, slowly beginning to fill an invisible vessel. Eventually, a giant red orb floated in the center of Vortex’s realm, and then the water shot out in ribbons snaking their way into the clouds around it.

The storm instantly came alive with lightning and a furious roar echoed out.

“Hold!” Dark shouted one more time, as bolts of lightning shot from the storm. They impacted against the surface of the sphere before spreading across the surface. It seemed to have done nothing.

But every single ghost felt it, as a spike of rage rose in their hearts. Even Clockwork was not immune, he had to stop himself from raising his fist against the closest ghost near him.

“Charge!” Dark screamed, spittle flying from his mouth. He had totally forgotten that he wished to wait till Vortex was hurt, now he only cared about destroying the thing that was making him angry. This time the order was not echoed, as every ghost broke their formations intent on riding forth and sinking their blades into the avatar in front of them.

The hordes of ghosts flew forward, weapons drawn. Glitters of green speckled the sky in front of Clockwork as they drew their weapons designed to strike fear into the Avatar of malice.

Dark turned toward Clockwork, “Cassius, come!” he shouted before taking off. Clockwork chased after him following behind. It did not take long to cross the distance, but by the time they arrived the troops had already made it.

And thousands had fallen.

The Avatar of Malice didn’t kill. It inflicted those it struck with the water gushing out of it with a Malady of rage. One Infested could turn another.

One became two, two became four, doubling over and over again as the enraged army sought only to try and kill the Avatar of Malice, choosing destruction over their own safety. The safest ones were surprisingly those closest to the avatar itself. Instead of choosing to attack their neighbor, the new Infested kept their focus on what they already hated and tried to tear into the Avatar of Malice instead. They’d splatter themselves against its side trying to tear into it, swiping and slashing the entire time they were absorbed into it.

Then the sky darkened even further, Nocturn’s sleepwalkers charged in themselves, picking up the weapons dropped by Dark’s falling army.

Clockwork and Dark were handling themselves. Clockwork could not stop the avatar entirely, even when he brought time to a standstill the avatar could still move. But he didn’t need to just stop time. Dark and Clockwork dodged around the ribbons that sought them out, their own time slowed down. What seemed like what couldn’t be dodged was instead moving slower than a leisurely walk.

Not just for them though, it was them and every ghost in a hundred meter radius around Clockwork.

“My Lord, our weapons have no effect!”

“Don’t be daft!” Dark shouted back as he continued to hack and slash at the parts attacking him. “You can feel the thing twitch with every blow!”

Someone else down the line shouted back, “But how do we kill this?”

“We don’t!” Dark answered. “This thing was never alive and can’t die. It can only be made so uncomfortable that it determines that it doesn’t want to be here anymore.” Dark grabbed a weapon out of another ghost’s hands and then began stabbing with a weapon in both hands. “So get back to work!”

True to Dark’s words, Clockwork could feel something in him shiver with each and every strike someone made against the surface or the water’s gushing out from it. Though both he and Dark knew it wouldn’t be enough on its own.

Clockwork reached across time, and pulled every ghost he could down a hundred meters, as something sailed through the air above them. A giant bolt, five meters across the shaft, stuck out from the Avatar of Malice.

Pandora’s weapons were a sight to behold.

More bolts began to fly through the air, and this time the avatar reacted. The whips of water that had been corrupting the armor flipped through the air attempting to knock the ballista bolts off course. It succeeded with some, others were stopped as they impacted against trees that sprung out of thin air.

First one struck true, then another. Over and over again until fifteen bolts stuck out from the surface of the Avatar of Malice. Suddenly every ghost fell, as the rage and anger they had been feeling suddenly left their bodies. Some ended on the spot, vanishing into thin air, along with every Infested that had been attacking everything in sight.

The parts of the Avatar that had come through into the Infinite Realms began to fade, losing their cohesion and turning into what looked like a vapor before disappearing entirely. Dark scoffed. “Someday, I’ll find a way to hunt that thing down and end it for good.” He turned and looked over the remains of his army. “It came and slaughtered all my men. I’ll have a chunk of its hide for that.”

Thunder boomed, and Dark brought his weapon up to block a bolt of lightning that was coming for him. He was thrown back several feet as a voice screamed, “DARK!” Clockwork looked up to see Vortex flying at them. “You brought this into my realm?”

“He wants to challenge me? Fine. I wasn’t quite done fighting today.” Dark yelled back as he threw himself towards Vortex. The two met for a moment, Vortex’s hands pushing against Dark as Dark tried to bring his weapon around.

Then Nocturne’s sleepwalkers attacked.

Dark changed targets, striking a sleepwalker in the head and instantly killing it. He frowned for a second, as he wondered why it was there. Then, the others started pouring in. Dark out a scream of rage as he realized that both Nocturn and Vortex were attacking him.

Dark started swinging wildly, crushing each and every sleepwalker that approached. Vortex, even though he didn’t know why Nocturn was joining him, gave the sleepwalkers space so they could surround Dark.

The sleepwalkers were many, but each one was fragile. Dark eventually let out a scream and swung his mace in a wide arc, sending off a wave of ectoplasm that killed many of the sleepwalkers.

“What’s the meaning of this, Nocturn?” Dark shouted.

Nocturn didn’t answer, instead he sent another wave of sleepwalkers at Dark. More rose up to form a wall between Dark and the other ancients, their sole purpose to hide the approach of Pandora and Frostbite, holding a sarcophagus between them.

“He’s distracted, go,” Nocturn ordered. The two of them split, Pandora taking the bottom half while Frostbite took the lid. Nocturn glanced at Clockwork, “Any chance you’re going to help out.”

Clockwork bit his lip as a million possibilities unfolded in front of him, but only a handful had the outcome he wanted. “I’ll only have a moment.” He explained, “Each one of us except for Frostbite is too powerful for me to stop fully. If he realizes I’m betraying him too early, he’ll grow stronger.”

“Likely,” Nocturn spat, but didn’t force the issue. Instead choosing to focus his attention on controlling his forces.

Then Undergrowth struck, his vines snaked through in between the sleepwalkers and wrapped around Dark’s limbs. Immediately Pandora and Frostbite began to close in, moving as fast as they could with the intent of sealing Dark inside the coffin. They weren’t fast enough, Dark roared in rage and with all his strength broke one of the binds holding him. With one arm, he stopped Frostbite’s in his place. “So you all are betraying me? Fine!” A flame enveloped him, burning away Undergrowth’s vines and burning Frostbite. “I’ll destroy you all!”

And he ripped Frostbite's arm from its socket.

Frostbite screamed in pain, as another complication came in. “Sire!” His favored knight shouted, coming in fast with the intent of stabbing Pandora in the back.

And then Helios was in front of him.

The blade pierced right through Helio’s center, and Helios screamed. Though he didn’t disappear. He curled around the blade grabbing onto the knight’s arm. When it seemed he couldn’t scream any louder, his back began to bubble.

It was like he turned into sea foam. Dozens of forms flew out of him, each wearing his robes, as his form shrunk in size. Eventually, they stopped, when there was nothing left of the original form of Helios.

The knight looked up at the things that had circled around him, each one staring at him with a single unblinking eye. “What is the meaning of this?” he shouted.

“Now!” Clockwork shouted, and all the ghosts turned to look at him. Dark back at Clockwork, a snarl on his face before he realized what he was looking at. Clockwork reached across time and dragged it to a stop around Dark. “Time out!”

Dark had an intent powerful enough to fight back against the Avatar of Malice, he was capable of powering through Clockwork’s power. Slowly, he continued to move. The snarl on his face slowly fell off it, replaced with confusion. He knew he was looking at Clockwork, but he didn’t know what the significance of that meant.

Then his jaw slackened, as he realized that it wasn’t just the ancients that betrayed him.

But, his Cassius did as well.

Frostbite slammed the lid into place, shutting Dark within. The sarcophagus glowed, as it began to try to work its powers on Dark, but the lid shook as Dark pounded against the inside. It was well made and thick, the walls able to stand up to Dark’s strength.

But Clockwork could still hear inside. “Cassius! Cassius, why?”

Pandora reached around, jammed a key into the lid and twisted. Their forms shook as the artifact began to work, and they all winced as a blinding light came off of it. But two seconds later, the area was still once again.

“Why have you done this?” The knight shouted, turning his blade toward them. “I’ll have your-”

He cried out in pain as a shadowy hand reached out and grabbed his head. “Let’s have you sleep for a while, shall we?” Nocturn mocked. Immediately the knight’s eyes closed, but Nocturn wasn’t done. Slowly the knight's form began to change, until all that was left was a gourd.

Nocturn raised an eyebrow. “This… is what he wishes to dream about?” He chuckled as he grabbed the sword. He raised it high and then stabbed it through the vegetable.

“There was no need to kill him,” Pandora spat.

“I didn’t, but do you have a sheath for this blade? It was meant to inflict fear into the Avatar of Malice and instead this Pariah had his man turn it on his own troops. I don’t have a desire to leave it out.”

Clockwork glared at Nocturn. “He has a name.”

“Not to me he doesn’t.”

Frostbite groaned and everyone turned to him. Pandora reached over and picked him up. “Frostbite! Are you okay?”

Frostbite looked around, looking down at his missing arm and the ectoplasm smeared across the front of the coffin, before turning and looking at each of the ancients. Eventually his gaze landed on Clockwork. He smiled, “I’ll live, fortunately I’ve been given a spare. I’ll be able to continue my work despite this.” His smile fell. “What about you?”

Clockwork could have answered truthfully. “I’m fine. In some ways, I’ve had more time to process this than the rest of you.” Frostbite’s lips flattened into a frown. Clockwork shrugged. “I can see into the future, and I can see into the past. I didn’t just learn my powers in a day, I had to learn how to unfreeze time again before I could continue moving through it.”

“I see…” Frostbite said quietly.

Undergrowth spoke up, “What do we do with this now?”

Vortex spat on it. “I say we destroy it.”

“No,” Pandora shot down, “destroying it would just let Dark out again.”

“I know where to put it,” Clockwork interjected.

Nocturn laughed, and it was all Clockwork could do to not punch him. “Leave Pariah with you? His little pet.”

Clockwork glared at Nocturn. “Pandora,” he said, “You made this, could any one of us destroy it individually?”

Pandora hummed for a moment, “Well, Undergrowth or Vortex probably could. And I, as the creator, would know how to take it apart. I don’t know about… them.” She admitted glancing up at their observers.

“We have no interest, nor ability, to damage that thing. We are here to observe. Nothing more.”

Clockwork didn’t take his eyes off Nocturn. “What about you two?” he asked, addressing Undergrowth and Vortex. “Do either of you want to release him?”

“No,” Undergrowth growled.

“Maybe a little,” Vortex admitted. Nocturn snapped his gaze to him and he huffed. “Fine, fine!”

“I’ll hide the sarcophagus, Nocturn, you take the key. None of us will have the ability to open it on our own that way. Will that make you happy, Nocturn?”

“Nothing will,” Nocturn admitted. He snatched the key out of Pandora’s hand. “But I’m done with this.” Nocturn seemed to fold in on himself before disappearing a buff of black smoke.

Pandora looked down at Frostbite. “I’ll bring him to his people so they can heal him. Or… heal him as much as they can.”

“That… would very much be appreciated.”

“Good good!” Vortex shouted, “Get outta my realm! All ya!”

Clockwork grabbed the sarcophagus and picked it up. He maneuvered it under an arm and brought his staff around. “Time out,” he said, leaving the two ancients in place. It wouldn’t be long before they broke out of his power, but by then he’d be long gone.

Clockwork dragged the coffin into Dark’s keep, bringing it down into the dungeons. He’d take it to the throne room later but for now…

Cassius wept.

#danny phantom #dp fic #clockwork #Pariah Dark #Dark Ages (ship)#Valentine's Core Exchange 2024 #hazafic

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