"...Is it already time?"
A figure stood stock still in the middle of an open space, the sound of a clock ticking echoing all over the tower they stood within.
The spire extending on towards the very limits of the sky as if to touch it, the incessant click of gears grinding against each other rung out lifelessly in the steel shell of the tower.
Large hands of steel grasped each other as they roughly moved their limbs, connecting each portion of the tower to each other.
Intersped between the hands of metal locking the rusted gears together, large glass cylinders held several grains of sand that slowly accumulated before overturning themselves and dumping the golden grains of sand into another mechanism.
And as the spectator of such a mechanism, the figure in blue stared silently.
An orange glow leaking out of the helmet they adorned, the holes on its surface mirrored that of a circle with a cross in it.
With an exposed abdomen and upper arm, the skin it showed was a lifeless smoky grey.
Two blades hanging off of their body, the harem pants covering their legs puffed up at the sound of a noisy wind that suddenly whistled its way throughout the empty tower.
Orange glow flaring at the sound of the wind, the jingle akin to rain chimes sung out in the orange light as their gaze turned to their chest.
Hand moving, its bandage covered surface picked at their short shirt, fishing out a small amulet from underneath.
"And here I thought there was still a couple hundred more years left before I had to do it again."
Sarcastically joking to themselves, no sign of joy was evident in their movements as they turned their gaze back to the glass in front of them.
Carrying three large hands the width of a man, the three hands of a clock hung in the glass center.
Having not moved for quite some time now it seemed that it was now that those very same hands had to move once again.
Unsheathing the long thin blade from their back they pointed its edge at a large centerpiece they stood besides.
Stabbing it into the center they smoothly unsheathed the much shorter but thicker blade at their waist, slotting it in with the much longer blade.
Orange gleam shining brightly the amulet they held in their hands suddenly glowed brightly.
Extending several lines like the threads in a spider web, the amulet slowly opened itself, the several moving pieces went into its creation removing the seal meant to trap a damned curse.
"Why can't this damned disease just be quiet?"
Asking a question without expecting an answer the figure clasped their hand around the amulet in frustration
Turning their gaze to the island, a sight that could only be seen from certain places revealed itself.
A gargantuan glass dome hung all over the island as it encompassed all portions of the island in its entirety, taking up a significant of the surrounding ocean in its place.
And trapped within this glass dome hanging all over the island is an orange haze that hung over the island like a disease, a pollutant.
"Even after all of these years it still looks horrible."
Staring at the island, the amulet hanging off of their chest finally unlocked its final seal, revealing one of the sources of this haze.
Orange haze suddenly filling the entire towers insides the figure staggered, blood seeping out from the corners of their helmet as the orange glow coming from their helmet grew stronger.
"Kaf... Ugh..."
Groaning the figure pushed themselves up off of the ground and stared at the cursed item stuck within the amulet.
Blood still dripping out of their helmet, a red glob reminiscent of the cells that had revealed themselves ever since the initial infection.
Beating like a heart, it seemed like a heart.
But it was so much more sinister.
Orange streaks of light protruding from the purple center mass, a pink core pulsated like thunder.
And with every pulsation the figure felt another wave of pain.
"Stop admiring it you fool." Gritting their teeth from the pain, a glob of red left their mouth and dropped onto the grated floor, dropping through the cracks and falling into the darkness below.
Shaking their head, they turned their gaze to the blade they had inserted into the mechanism.
Glowing a nearly blinding blue, the orange glow in their eyes slowly dissipated as the pain was abated somewhat.
But if that was all, there would be no need for the tower would there?
Using the blades as a focal point, the several facilities in the tower finally were at full application.
Gears spinning, tubes tossed out sand as a flame burnt deep within the depths of the tower as a shrill whistle filled the entire tower.
Eyes still capable of thought opening, hands still capable of moving manipulated levers and pulleys while legs still walking moved carried lumps of fuel.
*Shhh
Blue light shining extremely brightly now the figure took off the amulet hung around their neck.
Red light piercing the gaps in their fingers, the orange gaze hidden within the helmet spat out more blood.
"May this seal last longer than the last."
Sending a prayer to the Gods who have long stopped answering, the figure placed the amulet against the pommel of their blade.
*Shring!!!!
A piercing whistle pierced the air as the sound of twelve tolls suddenly rang out within the clock tower, the clock keeper who managed it being consumed within the blinding mix of blue and red that suddenly exploded outwards with the amulet at its center.
---
Twelve dings and dongs echoed out from somewhere beyond here, the sound of the bells chiming against each other reaching my ears as I sat atop a chair within Cherry's hideout.
"...Do you happen to know what that is?"
"That's probably the Old Clock tower."
"Why is it ringing?"
Tilting her head, Cherry turned her head to a certain direction before continuing. "I don't know?"
"..."
She raised her hands "Hey? When are you going to forgive me? I just said I don't know."
"When I know you well enough to find out why you didn't tell me I was going to walk into certain death."
"You never asked."
"Isn't it proper courtesy to tell people when they're walking into certain doom though?" I narrowed my eyes. "Especially when you pushed someone into that certain doom."
"That was just the captain's way of saying hi! He's just a bit rough."
I narrowed my eyes even further. "Didn't you say that you gave me that insignia so that I wouldn't have to face his elite guard?"
"Did I say that? I guess I did huh." Staring upwards in an airheaded manner she seemed to be lost in thought as her eyes turned dazed and vacant.
"Nevermind that, about the clock tower you just mentioned, didn't you just mention that sometimes it doesn't ring? What's that about?"
"Huh? Ah yeah that tower." Snapping out of her thoughts, Cherry had a confused look on their face.
As if they themselve didn't completely understand what they were trying to recall.
"In the past it always rang out every hour, every day with no mistakes in its operation... But nowadays, for some reason the clocktower only rings out sporadically, much unlike the times when it stuck to a strict schedule."
"It's also funny, for some reason my friends in the Bronze Order and the Guards in the Iron Order get a lot more violent for a brief time..."
"Ugh..." Groaning she slapped her head as if to remove a thorn hugging her brain. "Wait... Doesn't the Clocktower always stick to a strict schedule? Why am I thinking that that it only rings sporadically now?"
Shaking her head Cherry turned her brown eyes towards me in confusion.
"...I'm sorry, who are you again?"
"...I'm Slade...?" Staring at Cherry who was acting awfully... off, I prepared to pull out my blade in the off chance that she turned feral or even worse turned.
Thankfully, I didn't need to prepare in the first place.
"Slade...?" She shook her head like a wet dog, a sudden bright light filling her eyes as she cheerfully spoke "Ah yeah! Slade! What was your question again? I forget."
"...Nevermind." Offput by the sudden change in personality Cherry had just output, I stared at her face trying to see what had sparked such a change before giving up when she didn't seem to return to her muddleheaded personality.
'What the hell was that?'
Frowning, it seemed as if this island was just one big mystery.
And seeing as I hated mysteries with a passion for the compilated reasonings behind them, I wasn't very happy.
"...So can you explain to me again why you sought me out?"
"Ah that's simple!" Joyfully clapping their hands together, she fished out a
"That's because you're the only one who survived when being introduced to the captain!"
'...Well that seems both gruesome and convincing.'
Having seen that absurdly large army that was able to replenish itself at the end of the month it was honestly stranger that she hadn't been killed off earlier by people holding a grudge.
And seeing as the nature of this island made dead people resurrecting for revenge entirely possible Cherry smiled.
"It's funny, every time I saw those guys again at the end of the month they always tried killing me." She tilted her head. "But I always ended up killing them, they're so fragile by the way."
Babbling away, a certain fragment of a memory suddenly manifested itself into my mind like a ghost.
"Oh yeah, and to think that they didn't even thank me! I saved them from being killed by the captain so that they don't die-"
"Wait wait wait Cherry."
"Yes?"
"By... Kill... Did you do something special?"
"I just time broke them" Waving off my question, she tried to continue her sentence before tilting her head to the side. "How do I know that?"
"Ah..."
"Uh... Where did I leave off... Oh yeah! The captain can also time break! Why do I know that again?" Tilting her head to the otherside like a lizard I subtly distanced myself from Cherry as I realized two things within my head.
'One, a timebreaker isn't as uncommon as I thought and two... An elite undead can also time break... Fun."
"Yeah! It's very fun!"
"Did I say that last word out loud?"
"Yes?"
"Damn it."
+++
Chapter was delayed due to it being my birthday
Tree :)