Like Clockwork
(by Crystal Medalis-Chan)
"I am tired of the imposed rhythms of men,
Tethered time, restrained and trained
To a monotonous beat
Digital time blinking exactness
Unliving."
- Phillip Pulfrey -
The crystal flouted above his hand, looking as harmless as any normal clock. But this was no normal clock; it wasn't even technically a clock.
The crystal inside the glass casing glowed, as if in greeting. Perhaps it glowed because of his relation and kinship to its creator, or because his power was so similar to its current one. The black band that had once tied to a belt flouted freely, since the clock was being levitated above the large hand.
Brightly glowing golden eyes gazed at the talisman, turning it over and staring at it with a curiosity that would be more suited to his brother. He was rarely this curious about something; he had watched it, and its wielder, from afar, but he wanted to see it up close.
He didn't dare touch it; his brothers may be able to do so, but he had no such luxury. Perhaps that was the exchange for his never-ending peace and solitude.
The crystal stopped glowing, as if suddenly realizing he was not its creator, nor its wielder. He brought it closer to his face, glowing golden eyes narrowing as he gazed at it with a careful and scrutinizing eye.
Never-ending patience was another of his strong-suits, and one his dark brother shared. The light held little of it, only enough to not give up on something. He wondered how the youngest of them could spend all that time sleeping when he barely had enough patience to wait for their creator to tell them their purposes.
He turned the crystal around again, tracing the outlines with his finger. Glowing ruins carved themselves on the metal surface, before he flipped the clock around and applied the same technique to the other side.
He clicked the glass casing open, drawing the fragment inside out. It flouted off nearby; he would return it to his youngest brother later. Instead, he reached out to the crystal on his podium. It was made of the same crystalline structure the blue crystal was, but instead it glowed purple with bright fractal lines. He shaped it into the clock-hand shape the other crystal had been in, and placed it into the slot. It fit perfectly.
When he was finished, he looked over his handiwork. The clock was far more like the talisman it should be; inscribed with ancient ruins, words of time itself… yes, far better than what he had taken. He had a feeling the wielder would like it.
He pulled away, but the clock continued to flout, still suspended by his energy rings. He snapped his fingers, and the clock disappeared, leaving the rings behind. They flouted back over to him, joining the many that surrounded his body.
With a sigh, he turned his head and returned to work.
---
Detroit City Prison…
Samantha Lomow, better known as Slow-Mo, added another knick in the wall next to her. She sighed in aggravation; more than a month had passed since she had been thrown in here, without her teammates, without Nino, left to rot in this wet cold cell.
She groaned, rubbing her forehead. Good newspapers in the sky, she hoped they would let her out. Then again, Nino wouldn't be let out for a long time, so… what was the point?
Well, then again, she could set their hideout up to be more of a house, since none of them actually had one. Not even Penny; she was an orphan. No need to send the poor girl back to the orphanage.
That thought disappeared as she got a really weird feeling; like something was going to happen. That feeling was one of the reasons she had decided to be time-themed villainess; her weird déjà-vu feelings and foresights were a strong suit.
The air in front of her twisted, forming two circles around a orb of some sort. The circles disappeared, and something clattered to the ground. Something made of gold metal…
By the great clock above, was that…
It was! She reached forward, and tenderly picked her time-piece up. It had changed; it resembled some sort of ancient artifact now, and the crystal was now purple and had a bunch of colors that made it look like… something. Something familiar. Something really familiar.
She picked the talisman up, and blinked a little slip of parchment slipped from the clock. She picked it up, and unfolded it.
The letters on the parchment were neat, and resembled old English. The ink looked like a shimmering purple, which was weird since there was no such thing anymore. She decided to ignore the oddness of the writing, and focus on the words instead.
I have a feeling this shall help you, Samantha Lowmo. Time Stones are more useful to those who can control them.
- Chronarchitect
Chronarchitect? What kind of name was Chronarchitect? Maybe it was a villain name, or a penname. She'd find out later.
Carefully, she hid the talisman in her jumpsuit, along with the note. She would get out of here soon enough… just give it time.