Thanks to all of you who have read my story so far.
I especially want to thank ShadowedFang and I-AM-THE-LOVE-MONKEY (great name) for reviewing and becoming my first followers.
So here it is chapter two. This one's a little longer but I hope ya'll like it.
Once again
Nocturne, Clockwork and the Observants all belong to Butch Hartman
Clockwise and Dusk belong to xwocketx
The rest of the characters belong to me.
"Marie, Mon amour`, I have a surprise for you." A redheaded youth called out as he made his way across the camp. His face was spotted with freckles and his green eyes held a mysterious glint. Despite his Irish features he spoke with a pointed French accent that no one in the show could tell if it was real or fake. He walked lightly on his feet with almost a strut to the old woman he had been calling out to, hands hiding behind his back. She looked up from the log she was sitting on and put down the costume she had been mending.
The old woman, Marie, smiled as she put aside her work. She was in her late sixties. Her long silver hair was braded and put into a bun. Her face was wrinkled with a long life but her purple eyes still shined with a happiness that told the life had been a good one. The wrinkles around her mouth showed that she smiled often. When she spoke it was also in a thick French accent.
"Anthony, you rouge, what are you up to?" She asked, trying to get a look behind the young redheads back.
Anthony grin got wider as he stood in front of Marie. From behind his back he produced a small paper box with a red bow on top, which he deposited into the old woman's lap.
"For you my dove." he said.
"Oh Anthony you shouldn't have," Marie exclaimed, eyes lighting up at the smell of the chocolates she had such a fondness for. "But where on earth did you get the money for these?"
"Let's just say the cards were in my favor tonight," he said with a wink.
"Anthony," the old woman scolded, "You know Raul has told you time and again not to gamble with the errand money. What if you had lost?"
"I never lose my sweet. Not at the prospect that I can use my winnings to buy you a little treat."
"And what winnings would that be?" Asked a voice from behind Anthony, causing him to freeze.
He turned slowly already knowing who the voice belonged to. There stood Raul, the circus strongman and guardian of the performers. He was extremely tall, just barely missing seven feet. He wore dark leggings and a tunic that barely covered his bulging muscles. His brown hair was pulled into a tight ponytail; he was clean-shaven except for the thick mutton chops that ran down the side of his face. He stood there arms crossed with an annoyed look on his face.
At his side was thin woman with raven hair and eyes. Anne, the circus acrobat. Her body was thin and toned from years of training in acrobatics. She was barely five feet and seemed tiny compared to the giant man beside her. She stood next to him grinning at the caught young man.
"You never learn do you?" she said in a thick Russian accent.
"Anthony," Raul began, "How many times have I told you that gambling in town is not allowed, especially gambling in town with the show's EARAND money."
"Ah, Raul there's no harm in it. And it brings your dear mère some happiness." Anthony pleaded.
"I'll take care of my mother's happiness, Anthony, thank you very much." Raul said flatly. He held out his hand. "The winnings."
"But Raul," Anthony pleaded.
"That money was won using the show's errand money therefore it is going back into the errand fund." Raul said sternly. Anthony sighed and took a coin bag out of his satchel and handed it over.
"I won't tell Victor you've been gambling but don't let me catch you at it again," Raul said tucking the purse away, and turned to his mother with a nod, "Mother you may keep the chocolates, but please stop encouraging him."
"I did no such thing," Marie said faking an air of innocence.
Raul was about to make a comment back when a ruckus at the entrance of the camp caught his attention. Raul walked up to the crowd that was beginning to form, followed by his mother and the other two performers.
As he moved though the crown Raul saw a large cart that was covered with a cloth. Next to it was a huge hulking mass of muscles. Where Raul was muscular the other man was huge his hair cut short to his face which was written with cruelty. Titan, the shows guard and Victor's second in command. So that's where he'd been the last week. On some errand of Victors.
Next to him was a man covered in an entirely black cloak. There was an air of darkness coming from the man that made Raul shiver.
"So the rumors were true," Annie said from beside him.
"Rumors?" Anthony asked.
"There's been talk around the camp that Victor made a deal with a sorcerer trying to get some new spectacular exhibit for the show." She said not taking her eye off the cart, "they say he has the ability to summon demons."
"Would Victor really do something like that, it could put the whole camp in danger," Anthony exclaimed. He was shushed by Marie as Victor the owner of the sideshow came into view.
He was medium in height with black hair slicked back. His gold eyes were cold and hard and he held himself with an air of superiority. His mouth framed with a well trimmed beard was formed into a cold smile as he strode eagerly up to the cloaked figure. He was followed by his sister Margareta. She was dressed in a gaudy red dress and her curly red hair was tied in ringlets. Unlike her brother she seemed bored with the whole thing.
Victor stepped eagerly up to the hooded figure. "Well Jervis, do you have them?" He asked anxiously.
The sorcerer, Jervis, nodded. "I have them," he replied in a raspy voice that made Raul's skin crawl. "They will make nice additions to your little show."
He made a sign to Titan who pulled the cover off of the cage. Inside the cage were two small figures. Raul craned his head to get a better look.
"Two demons as promised." The sorcerer said proudly.
The first figure in the cage was small and dark. His entire body seemed to be covered with stars and instead of legs he had tendrils that met at the bottom making it impossible to see if the creature was male or female. The thing's face was humanlike except for its red eyes. The only thing that it wore was a purple helmet with horns that twisted like a rams. The creature's red eyes darted back and forth obviously scared.
The second creature in the cage could have almost passed for a human child if it had not been for the blue skin, red eyes and silver hair. The "boy" wore a purple cloak that covered most of his body. Like the first its eyes were looking around the crowd. But unlike the other creature he seemed to be studying everything with an eerie calm. Both of the creatures had an iron collar around their neck.
"They're kind of small aren't they?" Margareta said wrinkling her nose. Victor bent down to study the blue one. He stared back defiantly.
Margareta continued," The dark one is unique enough I suppose but the other you could get the same effect with a wig and some face paint. How do we even know he's genuine?"
"Ah, but he is the more unique of the two" Jervis stated. He turned to the cage, "Boy, show him your chest!"
The child glared at him and clutched his cloak tighter to his body. The sorcerer snapped his fingers and Titan stepped forward and unlocked the cage door. Both creatures scattered to the back of the cage but there was no room to maneuver away from the large man. He reached our one giant hand and grabbed the blue demon by the arm. The demon struggled against his capture but the other man was too strong. The other demon rushed forward to try to help his companion. "Let him go," it screeched. But it was easily shoved away by Titan.
Titan brought the "child" in front of Victor. With one hand he held the demon's arms and the other he pulled back its cloak from the body. Raul's eyes widened and there were some gasps through the crowd.
In the middle of the creature's chest there was a glass case with a clock in the exact spot where its heart should be.
"Is that real?" Victor asked never taking his eyes off the case.
"Of course," Jervis said, "Here look."
With one swift movement he opened the case and reached for the clock inside. The demon broke into a panic and began thrashing about wildly.
"Don't touch it! Don't touch it!" It screamed in a panicked voice.
Jervis brushed his hand against the clock for a second and the creature let out a shriek of pain. He then closed the case and motioned Titan to release the creature. It fell to the ground shaking and clutching its chest. The other demon rushed to its companion's side and put its hand on the others back. Jervis turned back to Victor.
"As to their size, well they are still children in demon terms but they'll grow. Like with wild creatures its best to get them young so you can train them properly." He turned and smiled at the creatures. The dark one met his smile with a hiss.
"And how are we to keep these monsters from mauling us in our sleep?" Margareta asked.
"I am quite glad you asked," he pulled out a strange key like medallion from his cloak. He spoke a word and both creatures froze unmoving. He said another word and they began to move again.
"This controls the collars around their neck. If they try to run away or attack then you simply speak the proper phrase, which I will teach you, and they will remain frozen in one spot until you release them. The medallion is included in the final price."
"Fascinating," Victor said reaching for the medallion. Richard tucked the medallion back into his cloak.
"Of course there will be some adjustments to the price, the spell used to summon them was quite difficult and the collars and medallion are ancient artifacts. They won't come cheap but then can you put a price on having real live demons in your show?"
Victor glared at him and then gazed back at the demons. Raul moved to Victor's side.
"I don't like this," Raul whispered, "We don't know what these things are capable of. Putting them in the show is a danger to the entire troop."
Victor looked at him considering his words.
"I can of course find other offers," The sorcerer said casually, "I simply thought you wanted something no other show has."
Victor's eyes hardened. "Your opinion is noted Raul," he turned to Jervis, "Let's go into my quarters where we can discuss fee's. Titan take them to the south tent and put them in the old tiger cage for now."
Titan picked up the demons and carried them off as Victor walked back to his quarters with the sorcerer. Raul followed then with his eyes. This did not bode well. He heard his mother's voice behind him.
"Those poor children."
Clockwork and Nocturne were taken inside the tent and thrown roughly into a cage. The big guard locked the cage sneering at them. "You're not so scary." He said.
"Yeah well you're not so smart," Nocturne retorted sticking his tongue out at the hulk. The brute growled and made a grab at Nocturne through the bars. Nocturne jumped back out of reach.
"You're lucky Victor wants you in good condition," he snarled and stomped out of the tent. After he was gone Nocturne began shaking the door of the cage trying to pry it open.
"Stop that, you're only going to hurt yourself." Clockwork said as he sat up. He was pale and still shaking slightly.
"You okay," Nocturne asked concerned.
"I'll be fine," he said. "We need to figure out a way to get out of here."
"But how?" Nocturne asked, "We can't run away with these collars on."
"If we can just get that key we can get them off. Maybe we can get out of this cage somehow you can put the guard and ringleader to sleep before they can stop us."
Nocturne shook his head. "I can't I dropped the dream dust master gave me when we got taken through the portal and I can't make my own yet."
They sat in silence for a few minutes.
"Do you think that our masters will be able to find us?" Nocturne asked hopefully.
Clockwork fingered the collar absentmindedly.
"I don't know." He finally said. "That human was right about these collars being artifacts, they're thousands of years old and have some powerful magic in them. Clockwise might not be able to see where we are and they may also keep Dusk from being able to find us through our dreams. Even if they could, I doubt that they'll think to look in this particular time period. At least not immediately."
"So you're saying we're stuck here," Nocturne stated his shoulders drooping.
"For the time being. We'll just have to be patient and hope our masters will be able to track us some other way." Clockwork said, then he added, "Of course I hope its Clockwise that finds us. Dusk would probably kill me for getting you caught."
Nocturne snorted, "Nah he'd probably just torture you for a couple hours. I don't think he'd ever kill you. He says he enjoys playing with you too much."
"Forgive me if I don't enjoy his form of 'Play'," Clockwork stated dryly. He made himself comfortable in a corner and wrapped his cape around himself like a blanket. "We'd better try and get some rest. Who knows what this Victor has in store for us tomorrow."
Nocturne nodded and curled up on a pile of hay that was in the cage. He closed his eyes. Clockwork listened to his friends breathing as he fell asleep. As he drifted off himself he couldn't help wondering if Clockwise had noticed he was missing yet.
Back in the Ghost Zone Clockwise paced the tower nervously. Where could Clockwork be? He wondered.
He once again glanced at one of the clocks in the tower, a pointless task since his own internal clock kept him constantly aware of the time. Clockwork was never this late coming home. A thousand different scenarios went through his mind.
He at first thought that Dusk might have gotten his hands on Clockwork again. It certainly wouldn't have been the first time. The nightmare ghost seemed to take a sick joy in harassing his young apprentice. That however did not explain why Clockwork was currently being hidden from his sight and why Clockwise was unable to locate him using his viewers. The dream ghost was powerful but even he did not have the ability to interfere with the timekeepers powers.
He then thought that the Observants had enough of Clockwork's disobedience and they had locked him up, but he dismissed that theory as well. The Observants may get angry at Clockworks antics but they always left his discipline up to Clockwise. And he refused to believe the Observants would imprison Clockwise without notifying him.
Another theory was that Clockwork was playing a prank and hiding himself from Clockwise's site on purpose to get back from the punishment he'd given him earlier that week for playing another prank on the Observants.
He sighed remembering how angry the Observants had been. He just didn't know where Clockwork got this rebellious streak that had been showing lately. He certainly didn't like punishing his apprentice but he seemed to be purposely finding new ways to defy the Observants lately. Clockwise was beginning to wonder if some of Dusk's hair or ectoplasm from their last battle had been on his cloak when he formed Clockwork. Perhaps staying out late was another form of his rebellion. Clockwise dismissed the thought. Clockwork may have a rebellious streak in him but he still took his duties as an apprentice timekeeper seriously, and he would never intentionally make Clockwise worry about him.
No something was wrong. He could feel it. He looked at the clock again. Finally he grabbed his staff and walked to the door. Perhaps Clockwork had simply been playing and lost track of time. It couldn't hurt to search a couple of his favorite hideouts.
Several hours later Clockwise found his way to the Observatory. He was exhausted. He had been searching all night without any sign of Clockwork. He had finally decided that something was wrong and came to the Observatory in hopes that the Observants would help him to find his missing apprentice.
"I'm sure he's fine Clockwise," dismissed the Grand Observant when Clockwise explained the situation, "The boy is probably off somewhere trying to cause some form of mayhem."
"Sir you don't understand." Clockwise explained. "It's not like Clockwork to stay out all night without alerting me and I'm unable to locate him with my sight." The Grand Observant was unconvinced.
"As a timekeeper the boy is more than able to hide himself from you site. Besides it's only been a few hours. I'm sure you're worrying over nothing."
Clockwise was about to reply when a cry of: "Where is he!" came from outside.
Clockwise and the Grand Observant flew outside to see what the commotion was about.
Dusk was outside. The dream ghost was causing a commotion outside trying to break in the observatory. He was barely being held off by the guards.
"What is the meaning of this Dusk?" demanded the Grand Observant.
The Dusk turned to them eyes glowing dangerously red.
"Nocturne has gone missing!" he yelled, "He's been gone all night. I know you one eyed creeps have taken him and I want him back!"
"Your apprentice is not here Dream keeper, leave now or we'll have you thrown in the dungeon." The Observer snapped.
"I'd like to see you try it bug eye!" Dusk snapped, crouching ready to attack.
"Calm down Dusk," Clockwise said placing a hand on Dusk's shoulder. The dream ghost snatched his shoulder away.
"Stay out of this timekeeper this doesn't concern you." He snarled.
"Actually Dusk I believe we have the same problem. Clockwork has gone missing; he's been gone about the same amount of time as your Nocturne. The two must be connected." Dusk snapped his head up upon hearing this.
"The brats gone too?" he said raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, he and Nocturne often play together; perhaps they've gotten lost somewhere. Clockwork never stays out late without permission. I was suspecting you had something to do with his disappearance but if Nocturne is missing too then something must have happened." The timekeeper said with a worried look on his face.
"Can't you find him with your almighty omnipotence?" Dusk asked sarcastically.
Clockwise shook his head. "I've tried but he's been completely hidden from my sight. I came here to try to enlist the observers for help but they don't believe anything is wrong. If we work together we might be able to find them."
"I don't need your help Timekeeper!" Dusk snapped turning away. Clockwise put his hand on Dusks shoulder, stopping him.
"Dusk think. Whatever is blocking Clockwork from my sight will surely be blocking your ability to search for Nocturne through dreams." Dusk didn't say anything.
Clockwise continued, "We both know the boys better than anyone. If we are to find then safely we have higher chance of doing it together."
Dusk stood for a few minutes considering ghost's words. Finally he turned back to Clockwise. "Fine," He said, "but this truce only lasts till I find Nocturne."
Clockwise nodded, "Agreed, now where do we begin?"
"Wake up my little stars!" Victor said banging his cane against the bars of the cage. Clockwork shifted, opened his eyes and glared at the man.
Victor only smiled back. "Today is your first day as members of our little troop. Now you may stay out of the cage provided you don't try to escape and you make yourselves useful outside of the camp. Are we agreed?"
Clockwork and Nocturne looked at each other. It was humiliating but there was nothing to do till their masters came for them or they managed to escape. Clockwork turned back to the human and nodded.
"Good," the dark hair man said as he opened the cage door. The two boys stepped out of the cage and stretched. They then followed Victor outside of the tent blinking at the sunlight.
The camp was in a flurry of activity. People were running about setting up tents, carrying boxes, putting together backdrops. They passed a group of performers practicing. Nocturne watched as a pretty dark haired woman walked across a tightrope so lightly she seemed to be almost dancing. Underneath the rope a large man sat lifting heavy weights. Not far off a red headed man was juggling various items.
As they walked by everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the two ghosts. Clockwork could see the concern and fear mixed in their eyes. He couldn't read minds but Clockwork didn't have to know what they were thinking: Monsters, demons, unnatural.
Victor walked passed them all as if not noticing the stares.
"Now your first show isn't until tonight. I have them working on your exhibit now. You two won't have to do anything since you're interesting enough to look at. All you'll really have to do is stand there and look frightening. Like all of the other performers when you're not performing you'll do chores around the camp. You two cost me a pretty penny so I'll need to get my money's worth.
He led them up to an older human woman who was sitting on a log around the campfire. She was in the process of sewing some type of costume and looked up from her work as Victor approached with the boys. Clockwork saw a slight look of shock over the old woman's face at the sight of him and Nocturne but it was instantly replaced with a calm smile.
Victor stepped up to the old woman, "Marie I'm leaving these two in your care. See that they make themselves useful."
The old woman, Marie, continued to smile as she laid her work in her lap. "Well Victor have you finally brought an old woman some much needed help?"
"Of course," he turned to the boys. "This is Marie our camp seamstress and one of the oldest members of our show. You two are now her assistants so don't cause her any trouble."
"Are they safe?" came a voice from behind them.
Clockwork turned to see the tall muscular human standing behind him. Clockwork was impressed; he'd never heard the human walk up. A little further behind him were the acrobat and juggler from earlier, both of them eyeing the boy's warily. No doubt concerned for the old woman's safety.
"Don't worry Raul they are perfectly harmless," Victor said with a toothy grin holding up the amulet that controlled their collars. He patted Nocturne on the head and the dream ghost had to hold himself back from biting his hand. "I would never put your dear mother in any kind of danger."
He then turned to Marie and bowed, "I leave them in your care."
After watching the show leader walk off they turned to face the old woman who continued to smile. "Well mes petits, here we are."
Well what did you think so far? I've been dying to get Dusk and Clockwise in this story. They're fun to write. Especially Dusk. XD
Anyway thank you again for all of you who have read at this point. Once again I appreciate any reviews you can give. Whether you have some tips for me or just wanna leave a complement.
