The Time Master
By Kendra Ellis
It was another cloudy summer day in London, 1871. That is how I remember it. The clouds were dark enough for a thunderstorm, but the rain never came. This was an area that you did not come across often. A city surrounded by forest, invisible unless you are looking for it. Caves were littered across and if you weren't careful you might fall in one. Buildings packed together like sardines on both sides of the uneven, cobblestoned street. We were forbidden from leaving the area and entering the forest. I was never one for rules, but I survive by them now.
Carriages drawn by horses clopped down the street. Children were running around, sometimes getting in the way. In the marketplace people shouted out items; fish, jewelry, fruit, grains, and clothes. The prices were always a bargain, but I understood. They were trying to make a living and I had to help my family survive. Most kids who lived in poverty learned to steal at a very young age. Sometimes it was a family business; parents were the distraction while the kids stole the goods. My family was lucky and we only just scrapped by, but stealing things were too much fun. It was a game.
Then I was known as Miranda Rider, an only child. That was considered lucky for my family, only three mouths to feed. My best and only friend was not so lucky. Jasper Buchanan had a family of five, or at least that was what he had told me. He was my only friend for quite a few reasons. He shared my love for adventure, trouble-making, and the occasional charity work. He also did not mind that I wore boys clothing instead of dresses. Dresses constricted your movement when you went out into the forest. That's where I'm starting, when I was originally sixteen years old.
"Come on Jasper", I had shouted, "We need to reach the cave before the storm hits!" I was already down the tree I had climbed when Jasper appeared. His blonde, almost white hair was blowing in the wind.
"May I ask why we need hike 3 hours to get there Mira?" he asked. That was my nickname back then. Jasper gave me this new name because I hated my original.
"Because Blondie, it is beautiful on the inside. If only the sun was out".
"Well…Brunette-y? Why could we not go a later day?" He had seemed genuinely annoyed at the fact of a storm. I guess I should have known, he never liked the warm weather. Without another word I had grabbed his hand and we were off to the cave. Remember what I said about dresses restricting your movement? You cannot trek through the foliage that is a forest in a dress. It was hot and I was glad I had pulled my hair into a ribbon. A few times my pants had caught brambles and low braches caught Jasper's shirt, but eventually we made it.
The cave was covered by mosses and ivy that had grown over it. Like our city it was invisible to the naked eye unless you were explorers like us. I pushed through the ivy and into the secret cave we went. The outside was nothing compared to the inside. The walls glittered like ice had frosted all the way around. It had to have been at least twenty degrees colder and how I still don't understand. As we walked deeper into the cave the light never dimmed.
"Told you it was beautiful", I said taking out my ribbon. You could see your breath it was so cold. Jasper, however, had enjoyed the sudden drop in temperature.
"You were right". He had walked further into the cave when I started to hear a cracking sound.
"Jasper be careful", I had turned to look at him, "and I think it- Jasper!" He was no longer there; in his place was a hole. I ran up to the edge and peered down. Jasper was gripping his ankle; his expression had a mask of pain. Seeing as how to drop was not far I jumped without thinking first. "Are you alright?"
"Yea, but I think I twisted my ankle".
"Well at least it's not broken". I was trying to lighten the mood, get his mind off the pain. Not even a chuckle had escaped his lips. He had mumbled something about needing to rest for a while. I went looking for a way out, if I didn't we would die. Something shiny had caught my eye. It was a watch, like a pocket watch only smaller. There was an owl on the front and a chain was connected near the button, like a necklace. I had reached out to grab the chain, but the face of the watch was more interesting. I had picked it up, only after a few seconds did my brain register the immense pain. I guess when it comes so quickly you're in shock before you actually feel it.
A scream had torn through my throat and I was on the ground, writhing in agony. Jasper, his ankle forgotten, had been up and over trying to restrain me. He had looked at my arm in horror before ripping the watch from my hand and dropping it. It was the only new thing so it was the obvious source. The veins in my left arm were turning black, but that wasn't where the pain was located. My mind had felt like it was going to explode, images of a time that has yet to come flashed across it. Jasper had kept whispering that I was going to be okay, but I could see the tears and fear in his icy blue eyes. After a few minutes the black in my veins stopped and the pain receded. Only halfway up my forearm had black veins, the rest were normal. Today they're past my elbows because of my mistakes.
Jasper was still on top of me. He then sat up and had pulled me into a hug, I didn't accept them often. In this instance I made an exception. "What the heck just happened?"
"I don't know", my voice had said. It was raspy, barely above a whisper from my screaming.
"Come on", he picked me up bridal style, "Let's get you home". I never asked how he knew the way.
I had fallen asleep on the way home. When I woke up my arm had been wrapped so no one could see what happened. I felt something breathing on my neck. I turned my head slightly and saw that Jasper had curled himself around me, as if he could protect me from everything. He was taller than me so it was easy. Looking further around I noticed I was in my room lying on my second-hand bed. It was darker outside and the sounds of the storm had met my ears. Trying to move I found that Jasper also had draped his arm across my waist.
Carefully I had untangled myself from him to get up. I had to grab the nightstand to keep myself from falling over. After the dizzy spell disappeared I reached into my pocket. Before Jasper took us out of the cave I had grabbed the watch without him knowing. There was no pain that time. Examining it I found nothing special when it opened all by itself.
A city, my city, was frozen over. There was only one survivor, me. Next the world was shone, slowly being encased in ice. I realized this was a second ice age, I was seeing the future! "Yes Rikki, you are seeing the future".
"Who said that? Who are you?" I was scared; I didn't understand what I was seeing. "My name's not Rikki, its Miranda!"
"No, you are Rikki Clock, Time Master", the watch was talking, "The images I am showing you are a possibility of what could happen. There are many other time lines, but I am not at liberty to discuss them with you".
"Why not?" I was becoming irritated.
"This particular time line involves you and your choices. I cannot show them because you may easily discover the correct way. Frost Giants from Jotunheim have awoken. Only you have the power to stop them. There are rules you must now live by and in time you will find them out. Be warned, every time you interfere with something you should not there will be consequences".
I never heard from the watch again. I was left on my own.
Everything stopped. I was returned to my bedroom. The watch in my palm had closed and Jasper was still asleep. It was as if no time had passed since I had seen the future, my future. The watch had said that I needed to stop this from happening, I didn't want to. Besides it said that this was only a possibility of what could happen. It's not like it would. I was wrong. Over the next couple of weeks the weather became colder. We had to make fires and dig out the winter gear we had put away for the spring. Jasper made sure that my arm was still wrapped. The story we had told everyone was that I had broken it falling out of a tree. My parents, including most of the town, made sure I never went out again. That meant you are never allowed out in the forest, ever.
I was panicking, events were coming true. I did the only thing I could think of at the moment; I told Jasper. He did not take the truth well.
"Why are you sitting here doing nothing?" he had yelled.
"I was scared, I didn't know what to do" I was pleading with him, trying to make him understand.
"You weren't thinking about anyone but yourself. You are a selfish, insolent-". He never finished. I was so angry that I just wanted him out of my face. The power in me had kept building and building that it released on the object I was angry with. Jasper had flown through my bedroom wall. I had read in stories about moving objects with your mind, I was telekinetic.
"Jasper are you all right?" He was laughing; I took that as a good sign. He stood up and brushed the dirt off of himself. He then proceeded to grab me and twirl me around in the air.
"See, it is you". He was right, only I contained the power and the knowledge to save the world. I had agreed to go, but only if he came along with me. We immediately packed essentials and snuck out in the dark of night.
The load of equipment and our heavy clothes were slowing us down. We needed to reach the cave, or at least a safe place, before my parents sent out a search party. Even if we had lived in poverty they were not ones to cross. How do you think they had everyone in the city trying to keep me out of the woods? A job they were not very admirable at.
By dawn we reached a clearing Jasper had deemed safe enough to stop at. I was on an adrenaline high, so sleep had not been an option. Jasper claimed had received enough sleep when he had been in my bed. I had still blamed his lack of sleep on an adrenaline high as well. Now I understand that was never the case. I looked to him as a friend and a mentor. He helped me train, even if he was brutal.
"Again", he sighed. I had already tried so many times. It was now past noon and we had only hide once from the people of my city. I was wheezing, panting from the effort. Who knew that lifting a boulder with your mind was so hard? Again and again I had tried, each time I could only lift it off the ground a few more inches. "You have to keep trying Mira".
"What do you think I am doing?!" I was tired and very hungry. My adrenaline was gone an exhaustion was beginning to win over. Our attention was on each other, we did not see what was happening. As we argued the boulder had lifted higher off of the ground, now at half my height.
"Practice makes perfect".
"Nothing can be perfect". That had been the final straw. With a loud screech I had used all of my power to push the boulder. It had smashed into a tree, snapping it exactly in half. Splitters had flown everywhere, cutting into everything in their path. Jasper scrambled to grab me and pull us to safety. That time we were both laughing, I was improving quickly. The next time I had tried using my power was easier. By mid-evening I had levitated trees out of the ground and rocks bigger than my bed.
Jasper had finally fallen asleep by the time the moon arose. I had taken to wearing the watch around my neck. Taking it off I examined it closely, wondering how it worked. On the last occurrence it opened by itself, I could try doing it manually. I had pushed the button and images flashed before my eyes.
I saw people from another world, those only from Norse mythology. Another world, realm they would call it. I was seeing Asgard, I didn't understand how I knew the information I just did. There was no voice, only my thoughts. Somehow I knew that the watch came from this realm. Images had started to travel by so fast I caught glimpses; this was obviously another power I would need to master. Two small boys not related by blood but by bond and neither knew. War, growing old, a king, banishment, betrayal, the government, Earth in a different time. Frost Giants. It had felt like my head was going to explode with all that new knowledge.
It was over and I was able to close the watch. Again no time had passed, but I had begun to hyperventilate. A nervous breakdown, no, it was a major depressive episode. Knowledge from the future had mixed with my knowledge from my past. Ideas were becoming jumbled and I would soon start to speak like the future. I had started to stumble around the woods, trying to make sense of it all. I hadn't noticed that Jasper awoke to my ramblings.
"Yotunkheyme, gigantes de hielo, Asgard, frères", I was rambling about everything I had seen, all in different languages. Jasper was shaking me trying to snap me out of it. When that didn't work he had slapped me, hard. I fell to the ground and then grabbed my cheek. He had knelt to the ground and took me in his arms.
"I'm sorry Mira, but it was the only way to snap you out of it", Jasper had apologized. He had me in his lap and kept rocking me as if I were a child. I had let him, I was scared and felt as if I couldn't finish what we had set out to start. "You were muttering nonsense. I can only guess that they were different languages because I understood two". We had learned French in school, but then I somehow knew every language that has or will exist.
"They were, but I've never learned them". We had sat together for a while until I finally fell asleep.
I had woken up to a bitter cold. The temperature was dropping a degree every hour. That was not what had caught my attention. Something was moving in the tree line. We were not safe anymore and had needed to move immediately or be attacked. I had quickly shaken Jasper awake and we readied for an attack. From what then the watch had not let me see. It would never show me my future unless being involved was inevitable. From what I could tell it was only one stalking around us. Like an animal stalks its prey. We both had tensed up when it stopped moving, knowing it could pounce at any second. It had felt like hours before it assailed.
Icicles, not the small ones that hang off buildings, had shot out at us. I dove to the side, but not before one grazed my upper right arm. Jasper had gotten off unscathed, but that would not last for long. It stepped out into the clearing, not anything like what I'd seen in my visions. The Frost Giants were big, twice my size even though I am short. He looked like an ordinary man except his skin was blue. That was one of the only features that marked him as a Jötunn, so did the red eyes and markings. He had yelled a battle cry and ran for me, forming an ice knife in his hand. Jasper had tried to get between us but he was knocked to the ground without a second glance.
I had used telekinesis to fling him to the side and into a tree. A force of that magnitude would have knocked a man unconscious, but this was no man and he was not even dazed. More icicles had come from his hands; I had stood there casting them aside with a flick of my wrist. Jasper had been correct practice really did make things easier. When that thought had entered my mind I took a single glance around for him. He was lying on the ground trying to rise to his feet. That single peek was all the Frost Giant had needed. He had created one final icicle; it had cut through the air…
…and went straight through me.
I was thrown to the ground from the momentum it had caused. I had become incredibly cold with both fear and pain. My eyes must have been wide because they were nearly popping out of their sockets. I had grasped the icicle embedded in my abdomen. Blood was trickling out, I knew I could not remove it or I would have bleed to death. I was shivering; I could feel the life being drained out of me. I was struggling to get any air into my lungs. Looking up I had seen the Frost Giant leaning over me sneering. "Sleep tight little princess". His voice had been deep and raspy. As he had walked away my eyes closed while the watch opened. The last thought that had run through my head was Jasper. When they had gone no one was there to notice a soft white glow wrapping around my body.
When I had awoken I was disoriented and very cold. From the look of the sky I had been out for little more than a day. At first I didn't remember anything until I had looked at my shirt. Blood had blanketed it, my jacket, and the top of my pants. I had lifted my shirt up to look for a wound, but there was none. Before the panic set in I had looked around for my pack, it was still there. Discarding the bloodied clothes I dressed in a heavier set and set off for the cave. There was no need to look for Jasper. I knew they had taken him for what I knew not, yet. Surprisingly I had remained calm until I came to a stream. It was frozen, but that was not what had shocked me to freeze.
There were dark shadows under my eyes as if I wasn't sleeping at all. My cheeks had become hollow like I was dying. I still look the exact same way today, I can hide it with makeup, and I know why.
"No, no. I did not die my body just needed time to recover. Yes that's it; it just shut down to recover". I was talking to nobody but I didn't care. As long as I could make sense of the situation I felt fine. Hearing me speak out loud was calming and I had set out again, refusing to look in any reflective surface. When I had finally reached the cave I was not surprised to find that the vines had frozen over, as well as most of the ground. Moving them out of the way had been easy, getting in without slipping on my rear not so much.
I had heard arguing coming from deeper within the cave. I had stepped around the whole Jasper made last time we were there and moved along the sides. Straining my ears I had caught some of the conversation.
"…throw me so hard?" a man said. He had sounded young and his voice wasn't deep and raspy like the others. He sounded very familiar.
"I had to make it look realistic for the girl", this was the one who had attacked Jasper and me.
"What does it matter she is dead. She is no longer a threat to us", a women had spoken. That was what she had thought. When they found of I was alive they would realize how powerful I really am.
"She has…had a name", again the human sounding one had spoken. Inching closer, trying not to make a sound, I saw there were five Frost Giants in all. Four of them had obscured the fifth from most of my vision. From what I could tell he had a human skin tone.
"Gone soft have we brother?" even the child that had spoken had the same voice as her elders.
"Spent too much time with the mortals?" the last to speak was a girl child. From what I could tell the youngest were twins. At those comments the normal one had bristled with anger.
"Never!" he had replied. That was when I realized why he sounded so familiar. Jasper hadn't died, he was one of them. I had clamped my hands over my mouth to stop myself from crying out. Too bad that slapping my hands together made a sound that had echoed. They had heard and were not pleased at what they had found. I had definitely not thought my plan through. None had moved except Jasper, he had stepped forward as if I was an old friend coming to visit. "You're alive!" he had worn a smile, but it never reached his eyes.
I had backed up, "You're one of them, a Frost Giant from Jotunheim". It would do me no good stating the obvious, so I had changed my tactic. "What, runts or the litter are we?" They had been unmistakably ticked at that comment, but with a wave of his hand Jasper held them back. At least I then knew who the leader of the group of misfits was.
"Sadly yes, we were thrown out of our home. An embarrassment to our people", he had looked away remembering his past, "All we wish to do is return home. This is why we must freeze your planet". I had understood why. They wanted to prove their worth, show that they were not a humiliation. I would never let them turn my home into a gift. As stealthily as I could I had moved my hands to start cracking the ice above. When I was ready I had spoken again.
"Never going to happen" and I had let loose. I had thrown my hand down; ice from the ceiling had followed along with my movement. They all had fallen to the ground buried under the ice. I then made my escape, not out of the mouth, but sliding down the hole. I could hear them scrambling to escape and pursue me, none knew where I had disappeared to. These creatures couldn't keep freezing the Earth, Midgard, all on their own. They had to be using some sort of technology to help them. I had used telekinesis to lift my body back up the hole, which was not easy to do at the time. I had moved back to where they were conversing and traveled further into its icy depths. I had not expected to find a machine generating in the back. It was releasing cold energy into the Earth's very core, freezing it from the inside, out. They had either built the machine or it was not from here. I had known that destroying the machine couldn't be that easy. She had attacked me from behind, but I had been anticipated it.
I had dodged to the side and turned, swiping her feet out from under her. Where I had learned these moves I did not know at the time. She fell but rolled back to her feet in a second. For a same girl she had packed quite a punch. My gut had felt like it had been hit by a hammer, sending me tumbling back. She had proceeded to keep punching, but I blocked them with both my hands and powers. We had fought for what felt like forever, each of us had landed blows here and there. She made a mistake. I was standing in front of the machine when she had charged. Moving out of the way she ran and had crashed into it. Electric pulses coursed through her body, she convulsed with them. Each electric shock had brought heat, Frost Giants cannot survive like that and she had died instantly, pity. Using telekinesis I had finished the job on the machine and the Earth's temperature had begun to rise from the summer heat. I then pulled the battery from it and pocketed it, feeling it may be important.
There was no need to find the others, they would die eventually. I could already feel the temperature returning to normal, slowly, when I had stepped out of the cave. I had begun the trek home, limping. Only after an hour of hiking did he finally make an appearance. Jasper had adapted to the heat over many years unlike his family. Wasting no time he and I had clashed, lashing out with all we had. Very soon I had had him on the ground, he was submitting like a wolf would when surrendering in a fight. I realized that he was too close to me; he cared and couldn't stand to hurt me.
"I only wanted to return home", he had begged. That was why I could not allow him to remember his home. He would keep trying to prove his worth, even if he had to do it alone.
"I know and I'm sorry for this". I had placed my hands on both sides of his head. Somehow I knew how to do what I had done next. I had focused on his hippocampus, the part of the brain that stores memory. Using my powers I had started it wipe clean. Jasper had started to struggle, gripping my wrists trying to pry them off his head. His screams of anguish had brought tears to my eyes, but I had kept going. I could not stop until his entire memory was gone. It had taken a minute and then all was silent. Jasper could still remember me and our city, but not what he was or could do.
"Mira…what happened?" he had asked. When he had looked at my watched he was happier. "Did we stop the second Ice Age?"
"Yes", I had laughed, "We did, we won". Together we had walked home not ready to face our consequences.
"You two are so irresponsible. Do you have any idea how worried we have been?" my mother had preached. I had received this speech many times before about sneaking of into the woods, but I had never come back hurt. My father had a doctor come to check out our injuries, bandaging up what he could find. My rib had been wrapped and my right arm was I a sling. Not even he could explain my black veins.
"Yes I do, but you wouldn't understand the reason". There was no way I could tell my parents what had really happened! They would never believe me anyhow.
"Enlighten us", my father demanded. Jasper wasn't able to explain, but I was. I had lied. I told my parents that we had gone hunting; trying to kill a bear we had seen out on our last adventure. I had to explain that when we confronted it he had been very angry. He had knocked Jasper around and he was unconscious, waking up with amnesia. Seeing my friend in danger I had immediately thought of a plan to scare the bear off, not getting off unscathed. Amazingly they had believed my story and gathered a hunting party to hunt for the nonexistent bear. They had left us to rest, something I could not do. Jasper had been exhausted and had fallen into a deep sleep.
I had paced around, not knowing what to do. I was a psychic and telekinetic; certainly destined for something to come. Without a second to lose the watch had opened as I had dropped.
Brooklyn, New York 1942. I saw a man standing next to technology I had never seen before. He was in a government building. There were many men in lab coats, suits, and some with military uniforms. A small man had entered with a taller young lady leading. Dr. Abraham Erskine, the creator of the super soldier serum, had spoken to them and everyone started to move. The small boy was Steve Rogers, the test subject of the serum. He had stepped onto the table and the assistants had prepped him. Erskine had addressed the spectators and we began.
They had made the experiment start; turning dials while telling the doctor the percentage. At seventy Steve had started screaming in pain. Everyone was yelling and trying to make sense of the matter. Erskine had told the man to turn the machine off and he complied. The table Steve had lain down on opened up and he fell out. He had become deformed; only half of the muscles had become enlarged. His body couldn't handle the stress. Even with all of the doctors and nurse he died, the project was a failure. Then it had changed. Turning back like nothing had happened. That time I was there standing next to the man. I had aged nothing, only my hair had grown.
"Stabilizing at seventy percent", he had said. That was the man who stood next to me. Then Steve had started to scream, it had sent chills down my spine again. Dr. Erskine told him to turn it off, everyone else had started screaming as well and so was I.
"Don't you dare turn it off Stark do you hear me?" I had yelled, my accent gone. Rogers seemed to agree with me.
"No!" he had shouted, "I can do this!"
"Keep going", I had smiled. I was seemingly truly in command here. Grabbing the wheel I had turned it up until it had reached one hundred percent. It was over; the experiment was a success that time. Rogers had emerged taller and stronger, becoming Captain America. However, a life was doomed to be taken. Before the doctor was shot I has turned to look at him and mouthed, "I'm sorry".
When I had awoken I was on my bed. In that experience time had moved forward. I had been deprived of another day. Jasper was gone, but he could not have gone far with nowhere to go. My mother had come in with breakfast; apparently she had forgiven me of running off. She was now more worried about my health and state of mind. My health was fine, my mind, however, was not.
"How are you feeling sweetheart?" she had asked. "When we came in you were passed out on the floor. I guess you were exhausted". I had merely nodded and had taken a look at the food. The smell was too much and I had run for the toilet, retching into the bowl. There was hardly anything in my stomach so most of it was dry heaving. Mother had rushed in and helped to hold my hair up, rubbing my back in the process. When I had finished she had taken me in her arms and carried me to my bed. For a petite woman she had been quite strong.
"We might just want to stick to bread and water", I had suggested. She had laughed, I miss hearing her but they're long gone. Over the next few days I had gotten better and eating foods, only then did my family allow me to arise from bed. I wasn't very talkative around anyone and was becoming more depressed as more images came. The future was terrible, war and violence were everywhere. Sometimes they changed, but most times they did not. That is what I can do; I see every possibility that can change the future. The results of what could happen depend of the decisions made. I still don't know everything and I am no better in control of what I see then I was back then. Then one day I couldn't take it anymore, I was done.
Behind the new church was an old abandoned one. No one ever entered it because it was in danger of falling apart. On the next Sunday I had snuck off to approach the old church. I had no idea that Jasper had followed me. He had tried everything to get the real story out of me, he still does.
I had climbed up the dilapidated staircase to the top of the bell tower. I had needed to find the highest, and loneliest, place to do what I had to. Some heroes would have no plans to die, I was no hero and that was the only way to keep everyone safe. At least that was what I had convinced myself. Now I realize I was trying to keep myself safe from me.
The wind had blown, making the treetops sway as if waving goodbye. I had taken one last look around at my home knowing I'd never see it again. I had wished that I had time to say goodbye, but that would only make my problem harder. Taking one step forward it had felt as if I was breathing for the first time. Rich, clean air had filled my lungs. I had closed my eyes; no one wanted to see their own death rushing to meet them. When they say your life flashes before your eyes, it's true.
The first Christmas that I remember, I was four. When I was six and my father gave me an education. For my seventh birthday we had gone to the theatre. At the age of eleven is when I had started to wear pants, not caring what others thought. Then when I was fifteen I had met Jasper and he became my only friend. Then it was all over, I had hit the ground and I was dead.
April 10th, R.M.S Titanic was setting off for New York. It was the only way I could get to New York, to America, before World War I. Over time I had gained much money to afford travelling aboard this ship. It wasn't first class, but it would do. I had enjoyed my stay until we hit the iceberg four days later. Everyone was panicking and only women and children were allowed to enter the lifeboats. A crewman grabbed me and forced me into one. We were all forced to witness The Titanic's sinking and the deaths of 1,514 people. Two hours later The Carpathia came to help us continue our journey to New York.
I had woken up again to my disappointment. I was lying on the grass, but found that I could not move my lower half.
"You've been out for three days", Jasper said, "You broke part of your spine and are paralyzed from the waist down".
"If that's true then why did I see myself walking in 1912?" I was confused; I should have been dead from that fall. My leg had twitched, it was healing. Then I had realized something terrible. The watch would not let me die. I was needed for the future, to save many lives or to kill them. Whatever the watch let me see I must comply to do the correct thing. To intervene of let things run their course.
"I don't know, but don't you ever try something that stupid again Mira!" he cried. He was upset with me for almost leaving him. He did not know that I would be leaving him anyway. Jasper had not understood that I had said something that would happen years later. I would never try to kill myself again, the world needed me. I cannot die, but I can. It is very complicated and I still don't understand the methods of the watch.
"My name's not Mira, Jasper". He had looked at me, shocked.
"Then what it is?"
"My name is Rikki, Rikki Clock", I had said, "I'm the Time Master". I had to stay alive and leave everyone I once knew behind. I was essential for Earth's survival in the many coming wars. Some between different worlds like Asgard. More than half a century later I would help a man create the First Avenger. A man named Howard Stark, who was the beginning of a whole line of heroes. He helped create one which starts a chain reaction for others.
I had stood up with the help of a tree. Jasper couldn't believe that I was walking. "What are you doing?" he had asked.
"I'm leaving Jasper. Tell everyone that I'm dead".
"What? Why?"
"Because I have to", turning to him, "I will never age and I know too much about this world to leave it be". I had ripped off the bandage covering my arm. "I will see you again one day".
"Won't I age?"
"No, you are not human. You will age slower than most". He had opened his mouth to ask something else, but I stopped him. "No, you are not human and that is all the information I will give you". I had started to leave again, but he called me back.
"Rikki wait!" He had grabbed me and spun me around, kissing me. "I love you".
"I know", I had kissed him again, "Goodbye Jasper". I had left and never looked back. My adventure was not over, it had only just begun.