Ch. 7: Father Time

A white wood mansion home sat idly by, the Irish rainfall all but forgotten at the summit of Mt. Everest; not much was remembered there, except for the important details. What wasn't remembered was recorded in thousands upon millions of wooden cabinets, each built into a large clock. From miles away, it was possible to hear the ticking of the clocks, the ringing of the bells, but people were often too busy to spend time listening to such things.

Chronaldis Merritime sat in his thick, cushioned sofa, scribbling notes into a large journal quickly, the quill scratching across the paper at speeds faster than any human could see. This was needed after all; one doesn't record all of human history as it happens without learning to write fast.

Chronaldis… In truth, he hated his name, thrust upon him by no one but himself. He was one of the oldest spirits, his face wrinkled but strong, meaning that he had always had a name. Over the years, however, the humans had given him a new name, one that he had taken to quite fondly.

Father Time.

Now, he was not the creator or even manager of time; time had always been, an element that made up the world. Rather, he was in charge of tracking time, ensuring that nothing fell out of place in the world.

A knock on the door broke him free of his thoughts. He sighed, his pen stopping. He knew that somewhere in the mansion, a Scriber machine had jumped into life, scribbling down notes for the sector that Chronaldis had been covering. "Come in," he called, smiling as he stroked the stubble on his chin.

Slowly, the door opened to show a gaunt, humanoid figure standing in the crack of the doorway. The clockwork animatron was like a brother to Chronaldis, even if Grandfather Clock didn't always get his jokes.

"Aldis," Clock said, his face ever smiling, "you have a visitor."

Chronaldis stretched, his back cracking as he stood and straightened his pressed, grey suit. "Ah, I see. I thought maybe you had come in for a personal call, old friend."

"Maybe another time, Aldis. I assumed you would want to attend to this guest promptly," Clock said, bowing slightly.

"Well," Time said, his eyes dropping quizzically, "who is it then?"

Clock stepped aside, a beautiful woman dressed in green striding into the room. With a smile, she crossed to the older man, hugging him tightly.

"Your wife, Aldis," Mother Nature said, smiling up at her husband.

Father Time kissed the woman on the forward, smiling down at her. "Oh, how it is good to see you, my love!"

"As it is to see you, Aldis."

"Why have you come? Not that it is not a joy to have you here, but you are so busy with the seasons that I assumed you wouldn't be back until winter!"

Mother Nature's eyes darkened. "I think it is best to talk in private, my love."

"Ah, I see," Father Time said. "Let us go to the garden than! We shall be able to relax and speak with leisure!"

"As you wish," Mother Nature said, smiling despite herself. She truly loved this man, her only true companion in the millennia since this world's birth. She took his hand, far smaller than his callused palms. She led him through the hallways of her youth, pulling them both through memories. Despite the tragedies of the world, despite the pain, the suffering and the coming darkness, they could be happy here.

Opening a large wooden door, Mother Nature led the man into a room, closing the door behind them. The air there was so pristine, so fresh, the scent of lilacs and tiger lilies defused throughout. Walking slowly on the cobblestone paths, Mother Nature laid her head on her husband's shoulder. For this one, brief instant, she would let herself be happy.

They made their rounds of Eden, Mother Nature seeking her words carefully. She knew that Father Time would know about the disbanding of the Guardians; he always seemed to know things. Whether he had seen it himself or had simply inferred it from what had already happened, he seemed to be three steps ahead of where anyone could possibly be.

While they walked, Father Time told her about several of the major events that had happened in the world, though what he believed to be major could simply have been considered trivial. In his mind, a major event was one that greatly shifted the course of destiny, of the direction the world was taking. This broad range of events could fall anywhere between Nuclear war to a pen being dropped in the street.

"And so this little child smiled at this older woman, a hugely bright smile, missing several of his teeth, and she looked at him, thinking she should call her grandchildren, and-" Mother Nature held her fingers to his lips, quieting him calmly.

"Did you hear about what happened to the Guardians, Aldis?"

Aldis looked at her, lost in thought, his eyebrows lowering over his grey eyes. "I can't say that I have, but one of the Scribers probably caught it. We could go check and…" A solitary tear crept its way down Mother Nature's cheek. "My love, why are you crying?"

Her arms wrapped around her husband in a strong hug, one of desperation and sadness. He wrapped his arms around her, his eyes closing as he held onto her, trying to strengthen her with his presence.

They stood like that for hours, intertwined in each other's arms, Mother Nature crying into his chest. "The Guardians are gone," She said between hiccups. "Michael disbanded them."

"He did what!" Aldis said, surprised. Mother Nature looked into his eyes shining with shock, wondering at how she had never seen that look from him before. "I never- I couldn't- I can't believe that he would have done that!" He shouted, his body tensing from the mental overload. He held his wife tighter.

"I'm scared, Aldis."

"As am I, my love."

"What are we going to do? There has to be something!" She sobbed, her hands clenching into fists in his suit coat.

Father Time stood there for a long time, thinking. In truth, his perception of a long time was simply a few seconds, his mind working through probabilities and plans at an incredible rate. He knew there was a plan, knew that something had to be done, but what and where? "We should beseech Michael!"

"That will not work. He was very set on his decision."

"Then we find a way to unset him!" he said, looking into her eyes.

"I love you, Chronaldis, but Michael doesn't think like I do, and he definitely does not think like you do," she said, shaking her head, "When he makes a decision of this magnitude, he sticks to it, as long as it in some way is best for the children."

"But how can disbanding the Guardians be considered best for them?!" he yelled, his mind working faster than his mouth. "Their only concern is the children and will only ever be the children!"

"A child died, Aldis."

Aldis sat down on a nearby bench, his legs shaking as he broke the hug. Mother Nature had seen him this way before, his mind working at the same time as his heart, the two not meshing in their opinions. "I understand that a child died, Abilene. Her name was Mary Marshall, aged eight years, ten months, 12 days, 13 hours and 2 minutes. I could go into the seconds and lower if you wanted, but they mean little in this situation."

Mother Nature sat next to him, grasping his strong hand. "What are we to do, Aldis? Are we supposed to sit back and watch as the storm rips apart the world?"

"In some cases, that is all we can do. You and I have been a part of this world for a very long time, seen many things that we didn't believe we should, but we don't have the strength to aid in this battle, not yet. We can only watch, providing what aid we can."

Mother Nature looked out the windows at the white mountains around them. "I'm just afraid that we won't be able to."