Jessie's feet hit the soggy grass with a dull thump. A cold, clear wind blew past, playing with her hair. She opened her eyes and brushed aside the shock of hair in her face to see the dull sky, lonely field, and distant mountains of the Time Traveling World's current age. However, it seemed ever so slightly brighter than before; the sun struggled to smile through the clouds and the flowers perked up when the time-travelers landed.
"Ahh," Petra sighed with relief, lightly beating a fist against the shoulder of her armor. "Back in my real armor. No more stupid dresses."
"These magical artifacts are astounding!" Ivor mused. "I'd love to just examine them sometime."
"I can't believe we actually traveled through time!" Lukas chirped. "We're dimension hoppers and history-hoppers! Oh, this is definitely going in my journal." He whipped out the little book. His quill flew over the pages as he wrote about their experience. Jessie leaned over slightly, hoping to catch a peek of what he was writing.
"You have nice handwriting," she complimented, admiring his cursive script.
"Hey, hey, hey," he said, pulling the journal away from her view. "You're not supposed to judge a book until the first draft is done."
"Just a glimpse? Please?"
"I'm just...I'm not totally confident about it. I want to make sure I'm ready before I ask for critiques."
"Oh, okay. I can respect that."
"Here," Clockwürk said to get their attention. "Jessie, may I have the Spark of Creation now, and Petra, do give me Pixelibur? It'll be easier to give the three treasures to Father Time all at once."
"Gotcha." Jessie pulled the amber stone out of her Pocket and tossed it to Clockwürk, who caught it one-handed. He caught Pixelibur by the handle in his other hand. Jessie grinned, impressed.
"Thank you very much." Clockwürk stowed both items in his own Pocket. "Now, we'd best hurry our way over to the throne. It won't do much good to loiter out here with the treasures."
"Over there is the walled-off spot," Ivor stated, pointing at the round yellow-brick walls.
"We're just a few steps from the goal now!" Clockwürk proclaimed. "Ha-ha! Shake the lead out of your boots, friends, and follow me." He started off at a brisk walk toward it.
"Well, he's awful chipper since we got Pixelibur," Ivor observed. "I wonder what's got him all excited. This isn't his quest, per se. The whole journey is for our benefit."
"I dunno, Ivor, but I need to talk to him." Jessie had some last-minute questions she wanted to ask Clockwürk, so she ran ahead of her friends to catch up to him. After she reached him, she slowed down to match his pace.
"Hello, Jessie," he said, smiling.
I haven't seen him this happy since before we left on the time traveling trip.
"Has any time passed while we were gone?" Jessie inquired as they walked to the walled village.
"I wouldn't think much more than a few minutes," Clockwürk answered. "But Father Time might have fallen asleep again in that time. I've seen him wake up from a snooze, check his favorite hourglass, and then fall right back into dreamland again. There couldn't have been half a minute elapsed between the two naps."
Jessie chuckled. "And we all know that he's a heavy sleeper. Do you need to sleep, Clockwürk? Or can immortals just stay awake indefinitely?"
"I'm only half immortal," Clockwürk rather hesitantly corrected her.
"Half immortal? How does that work?"
"Nature is tangible unlike time, so I was born to a technically mortal mother. It's cosmic stuff. You wouldn't understand."
"That's uncharacteristically condescending of you," she said.
"Condescending?!"
"Supremely supercilious."
"...Do you have one of those word-a-day calendars or something?"
"How did you know?"
He just gave her a look.
"So do you need to sleep, or what?"
He shrugged. "Every so often. I can go longer without it than you could."
Jessie fell back to meet pace with her friends as they gradually caught up to Clockwürk. The company had reached the walls, which shone a buttery yellow in the slowly-emerging sunshine. Walking around the perimeter, they found the gate from before, still looking as secure as ever.
"I don't think Father Time locked it," Ivor said, crossing his arms. "Not when he's expecting us to come back." He strode up to the door and tried pulling on the metal bars running across it. The giant wooden panels refused to budge.
"Push, not pull," Jessie reminded him.
"Oh. Right. Oops…" Ivor gave them a shove and they creaked open this time. The party proceeded into the small walled-off area, their boots tapping on the tidy stone tiles. They passed the forest of white pillars and garden of timepieces, not paying that much attention to them in favor of getting to Father Time's throne. They had already gotten a good enough look at the clocks and hourglasses, they decided.
The pathway ended at the foot of a golden chair, standing regally amongst two grandfather clocks and three hourglasses that were taller than Jessie. And, of course, As before, an elderly man sat in the chair, hunched over and snoring heartily as he slept.
"Ahem," Jessie said. "Father Time? We have returned with your treasures."
The silver-bearded man's head bobbed. "Zzzzz."
"Father Time? Not again…"
"Poke him," Petra said. "That's how I woke him up before."
"Okay, fine." Jessie padded up to the throne and jabbed Father Time in the arm. "Father Time, we're back!"
"Ga'ah!" he cried, snapping awake. "Oi! I am stabb'd!"
"I only poked you."
"What? ...Oh, 'tis only the mortals of the strange world. O child, thou hast returned from thy quest? Is thy mission complete?"
"I think so. We have all three treasures now."
"Splendid!" Father Time smirked. "That be exceedingly good. In that regard, thou hast the Spark of Creation, Tear of Ancients, and the legendary sword Pixelibur? Aye?"
"Well, I don't, but Clockwürk does. Petra and I gave the Spark and sword to him."
"Verily." Father Time turned his attention to his son. "Son? Dost thou have the treasures I requested?"
"Yes, father," Clockwürk answered.
"Then I beseech thee, give them to me." He held out his hand.
"I will. First, the Spark of Creation." Clockwürk took the amber rock out of his Pocket and placed it in Father Time's hand. The old man closed his gnarled fist around the stone, feeling its internal heat.
"Next, the Tear of Ancients." Holding the crystal in both hands, Clockwürk gave it to his father. The ocean-blue prism caught the shy sunlight beautifully, before Father Time hid it away in the same hand that held the Spark.
"And finally, Pixelibur, sword of legends. Be careful. It has no sheath." Pointing the blade down, he passed it along to Father Time, who gripped it by its rune-inscribed handle.
Father Time twirled the blade around so its point faced up instead, and examined his reflection in the platinum shine of the steel. "Mine eyes hath never glimpsed a finer weapon. May it be that only the noblest hearts wield it."
"May it be," Clockwürk agreed.
Father Time regally rose from his seat, holding the treasures. Jessie's heart lifted. Wordlessly, the ancient man strode over to the quartz-and-gold frame behind his throne. The sun finally poked through the clouds enough to wash the world in a faint but sure glow. It was a nearly reverent moment, as if he was preparing to do a ceremonial rite.
"You're going to open the portal now?" she asked.
He grinned at her; she grinned at him.
Then he gave his answer. "No. I have other plans for these treasures."
The clouds rolled over the sun again.
The smile dropped off of Jessie's face instantly. "What? You can't do that. You said that you were going to open the portal if we found the treasures to activate it!"
"Thou seest, Jessie, thou and thy friends have merely been means to an end."
"No. We had a deal…"
"I felt no obligation to keep that deal. Yes, I admit with regret that I had to use thee and thy friends, but I have an important purpose intended for these items. Sacrifice, to a degree, was required."
"Lies," Petra said darkly. "You lied to us."
Blatantly ignoring the friends' anger at the betrayal, Father Time took the two gems and touched them to Pixelibur's hilt, one on either side of the blade. They instantly, magically fused and held fast. White gleams shot up the sword-blade in waves and sparkled at the tip.
"He was supposed to use those to open the portal," Jessie moaned, "not fuse them together into whatever he's making."
"Aha," Father Time said to himself, admiring the shine. "Now this sword ought to be sufficiently powered. I will be in need of this later. ...But first I must deal with these wastrels."
"Either open the portal or give that back," Petra threatened. "This is your last chance, or else I'll have to show you what I can do with a sword." For emphasis, she drew her golden weapon and pointed it at the old man.
Furious at Father Time for duping her, Jessie turned on Clockwürk. "Did you know that he was going to do this? Were you in on this?"
Clockwürk didn't say anything. He looked away uncomfortably.
The girl shook her head in disgust. "Why did I trust you? You led us right along in this deception."
"You fools are no longer needed here," Father Time said to Jessie and company. "Get thee gone."
"Father, don't be harsh with them, please," Clockwürk said. Whether it was genuine or just patronizing Jessie couldn't tell, but she didn't care enough anymore to find out.
"Of all the cheek!" Jessie exclaimed. "He shamelessly fleeced us and he has the nerve to tell us to get out? If he weren't immortal…" She whisked her diamond sword out of her Pocket.
"Wait," Ivor said, putting a hand on her shoulder; he spoke in a low tone so that only Jessie, Petra, and Lukas could hear. "We should do what he says. If we leave now, he will think that we've simply given up and resigned to staying here. Then, later on, we can return and take back the items while he's asleep."
"Ivor, you're a genius," Jessie whispered back.
"Oh, don't start with that now," the alchemist sputtered. "You'll make me prideful."
"That's a good plan," Lukas agreed. "We know that Father Time sleeps a lot and sleeps pretty heavily. We'll skedaddle from here and wait a few hours until night-time, then come back and take the treasure. We'll have to figure out how to separate the gems from the sword, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there."
"I be waiting," Father Time hissed to the friends. "Show thy faces here no more."
"You could've helped us and then you wouldn't have had to see them," Jessie countered, then spun on her heels and ran out of the walled village. Petra, Lukas, and Ivor followed none too far behind. Past the timepieces, past the pillars, and over the tiles they charged, then out the door and into the field beyond. They stopped by a sparse grove of dead trees.
Petra was grumbling and shaking her head. "I still don't believe it. Why did we trust that slimeball?"
"Him and his son both," Jessie said, her tone biting. "Clockwürk knew—he knew!—full well that this was a trick. And he still led us through that whole Herobrine-hunt anyway." ("Herobrine-hunt" was a term that meant the same thing as "wild goose chase" or "snipe hunt.")
Lukas walked up to her and patted her on the shoulder. "It's okay, Jessie."
"No, it's not, Lukas. I'm really steamed here. All that time we spent time traveling? All those worlds we visited, all those treasures we collected? All for nothing."
"We'll get them back," he reassured.
"What do we do now?" Petra asked, kicking a stick on the grass.
"All that's left to do now is wait for nightfall."
It was time. Night-time had thrown a black cloak over the world, with only a crescent moon and a smattering of stars to break up the darkness. Judging by the moon position, it was maybe an hour and a half, maybe two hours, before midnight. The air had turned chill and the grass was damp with dew.
Jessie drifted out of a light, dreamless doze. She had been leaning with her back against one of the trees. Looking around, she saw that the others had done the same, except for Lukas, who lay on his side on the grass, journal hugged to his chest. He'd fallen asleep while writing in it.
He's cute when he's sleeping, Jessie thought, and tiptoed up to him to rouse him for action. She half-considered pulling the journal out of his hands first and secretly reading an entry or two, but ultimately decided against it. Number one, they had more pressing matter to attend to first; number two, it would probably wake him up and he'd be upset that she was "stealing" his diary; and number three, she wanted to respect his wishes that the book only be read when it was complete.
"Psst. Lukas. Wake up," she whispered, poking him gently in the shoulder.
"Mmmph...Jessie?" he mumbled.
"Time to go."
"Okay, I'll wake the others." He stowed his journal back in his Pocket and stood up. After Petra and Ivor had been roused as well, they walked back to the walled-off place and slipped through the doors. They stole through the courtyards until they reached the throne.
"Shh," Jessie admonished as they approached it. "Don't make too much noise. He's a pretty heavy sleeper, but still."
Father Time was, once again, fast asleep in his throne. (Did he even have a bed?) He held the powered sword as he slept, the tip touching the ground. There was no sound except for the rhythmic ticking of the numerous clocks around his chair. It was so quiet that Jessie could almost hear the sand slipping through the hourglasses.
Her heart thumped as she nervously drew closer, calculating each step. She had to be as quiet and careful as possible in order to take the sword from Father Time without his noticing. She crept right up to the throne, then balked as she looked at the weapon in his hand. How was she going to take it without alerting him?
She cautiously moved Father Time's fingers off of the handle, one by one. When his grip on it finally released, she snatched the weapon up before it could hit the ground. Then she drew back and darted away from the throne, panting from the suspense. That was harrowing!
"I've got it," she croaked to the others once she had rejoined them. "Now quick, let's get out of here before he wakes up again."
"But the portal's right here, not out there." Petra pointed at it.
Why did the portal have to be right behind his chair?
They frantically glanced at the portal and then back to each other. Should they try here or flee?
"The portal is right here!" Ivor almost shouted, catching himself before he actually did. "If we run away to take apart the sword, then how are we going to get back here and activate it without Father Time knowing? Moreover, we don't know how to use the items to activate it in the first place!"
"But if we stay put, then he'll catch us!" Petra shot back.
"If we run away, he'll catch us. Because there's nowhere to run once we reach the mountains."
"Oh snap," Jessie whimpered, clutching the sword. "This is bad."
"It's now or never," Lukas said. "We can break apart the sword, take the pieces to the portal, and pray for the best. Maybe something will happen."
"What kind of a plan is that?" Petra snapped.
"The only option we have now, that's what."
Jessie yanked at the Spark and Tear gems embedded into Pixelibur's hilt, but they refused to budge. She tossed the blade on the ground and attempted to wedge the point of her own sword into the seams of the gem insets, hoping that she could pry them out.
"Come on...come on!" she growled. "Rrrgh! I can't break them out!"
The minutes slipped away like they had been greased with canola oil. There was no telling when Father Time would wake up and notice that his artifacts had been taken.
"Let's get out of here," Lukas said. "It'll buy us a few minutes when he comes looking for us. Keep trying to pry out the gems, we'll keep a lookout for trouble."
The gang sprinted back out of the walled area, returning to the grove of dead trees. Jessie barely noticed the frantic dash as she focused on trying to remove the gems. She knelt down, dropped the sword on the ground again, and continued to pry, still to no avail. The others stood by, looking around anxiously.
"Please," she begged.
A church bell clanged harshly in the background. A warning bell.
"He knows," Lukas gasped.
"Hurry, Jessie!" Petra yelled.
"Can't you see that I'm trying?" Jessie almost roared.
It was a scary sight to see the friends at each others' throats in their panic. But it was too late. A shadow loomed over them, blotting out the moonlight.
"I knew it," said a voice shaking with hardly-controlled anger. It was Father Time's voice.
"Please...please understand," Jessie pleaded, not even looking up at him. "We need this."
"And you think I don't?" He was so upset that he had snapped right out of his antiquated speech pattern.
Jessie jumped to her feet and spun around to face Father Time, gripping the sword so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. The ancient-as-time man stood before them, somehow looking larger and taller than before. Instead of the air of amusing absurdity that had surrounded him previously, his impact now was one of pure menace. Clockwürk stood by his side; his expression was unreadable, but he was holding the chain of his clock as tightly as Jessie held the sword.
Father Time pointed a crooked finger at Jessie. "Give me that. Now."
Something clicked in Jessie's psyche. She felt her muscles tense, standing her ground.
"We don't owe you these artifacts," Ivor said to Father Time.
"You tricked us. You used us," Petra added. "You don't deserve to have them."
"Who are you to say a thing like that?"
"Someone who has a sense of right and wrong."
"Jessie, please…" Clockwürk pleaded. "Just give him the sword. You don't understand what's going on here."
"Shut up, Clockwürk!" Jessie yelled at him. "I never should have trusted you."
"Give me the sword or I shall take it by force," Father Time threatened.
Petra vehemently shook her head. "I can't believe you. You would use us for your own purposes and then you have the gall to act like the victim? You're selfish. It's disgusting."
"And you don't have the foggiest idea of what you are truly doing!" he retorted.
"I trusted you and you betrayed us," Jessie said. "You and your son both betrayed us. I'll never forgive you for this, even if we die here in this blasted dimension."
The church bell clanged again.
"Jessie," Clockwürk gasped hoarsely. "I'm sorry."
Clockwürk shuddered, put his hands over his heart, and then collapsed to the ground. He hit the stones with a thud, landing on his side.
The whole dimension seemed to quiver and heave. Even the moonlight flickered.
The fighting halted. All eyes were on the fallen boy.
"What...What the?!" Jessie couldn't make sense of what just happened. "What was that? Clockwürk fainted…?"
"Something isn't right here." Lukas ran up to him. He knelt down and brushed the red bandana out of the way, then felt by the base of Clockwürk's neck. After a few seconds, he drew back and looked up at Jessie with a shocked expression.
"Clockwürk didn't faint," Lukas said. "He...died."
To be continued...