I stared out of a castle window, watching the empty zone, and wondering why exactly I was destined to be evil. "My liege," I turned and saw Fred Knightly bowing. I felt uncomfortable letting him do that, but I did nothing to stop him.
"There is an intruder. He claims to be an old friend of yours. I think Clockwork was his name. Should I let him in?" I could feel my eye widen, and nodded, because I was too shocked by Clockwork's appearance to say anything.
The Fright Knight left, and Clockwork floated in. He was in his adult form, and he smiled slightly when he saw me. "Hello Pariah." He said quietly. I glared at him.
"Why are you here? I assume it's not to say, 'Oh I made a mistake, you're not going to be evil'. What do you want? I'm sick of you meddling. If you know what's going to happen why don't you just let it happen?"
Clockwork shook his head. "Pariah, I am not meddling." He looked into my eyes and said. "A long time ago, I met a young ghost who became my friend. We were friends for a few years until he discovered that I was not what I seemed. What happened to that ghost?"
"He died when He was taken to jail on the whim of a bully, had his eye was removed, and his best friend told him that he had to become evil. He won't be coming back." Clockwork sighed. "I'll ask again. What do you want Clockwork."
"To apologize." Shock hit me. "I should have just let time run its course, but I tried to ease your pain by speaking to you and that only made things worse." He smiled sadly "For once I was wrong. It's not often a ghost becomes friends with me."
I stared at him. "I am the master of all time. That doesn't mean that everything comes out the way I would like. Every little change has consequences." He smiled and turned to leave. "Good luck Pariah." He vanished and I was left staring at the empty air where he had just been floating.
I left the castle and floated invisibly around the Ghost Zone like I had when I was younger. It was a lot more crowded than it had been before. Suddenly a ghost appeared in front of me. She appeared to have just died. Her hair was long, and she seemed to be a harem girl. She was extremely attractive.
I turned visible and she blinked and started crying. "What's wrong? I said softly."
"I'm dead!" she sobbed. "I'm in the land of the ghosts! I was so close to having my own kingdom until his wife threw me out, and now I'm dead!"
"Well, everyone is dead here." I said trying to comfort her. She only sobbed harder. "Look, why don't you come back to my castle, I can help you adjust-"
"Did you say castle?" she said instantly smiling sweetly. "You mean you're a prince?"
"Um, king actually." The girl smiled and swirled around me.
"I'm Desiree. You're awfully young to be a king. But you're awfully handsome." I blinked at her with my one eye and then smiled. "Lead the way to your castle." We flew back to the castle, her talking all the way.
We entered the castle and she looked around almost disapprovingly. "Hmm, not as big as the sultan's palace, but it will do." She smiled at me. "Where should I stay?" I showed her up to her room and she kissed me on the lips. "Thanks…"
"Pariah." I said.
"Oh what a dreadful name. Goodnight." She slammed the door in my face and I stared at it a while longer before leaving.
The next day she smiled at me and kissed me again. I simply stared at her, perplexed at why she seemed to like me so much. She swirled around me, her smoky tail curling around my leg. "Oh Pariah, I'm so glad you found me and brought me to this place." She kissed me again.
"You know, I would really like a castle of my own." I glared at her, suddenly realizing why she had had a sudden attraction to me. I grabbed her by the hair.
"So you just wanted to use me for your own personal gain like you tried to use that sultan of yours." I slammed her into a wall and brought my face inches from hers. "Get out of my castle now, and you'd better hope that I never see you again."
She flew away and I glared after her angrily. I realized now that there were going to be a lot of people trying to take advantage of me. I looked over at the Fright Knight, who had watched the whole thing from a doorway. "Give me your sword."
He started to protest. "My sword? But, its custom made-" I glared at him. "Fine my lord." He handed it to me. I concentrated and felt all of my anger and hatred flow through me and into the sword. Finally I felt calmer and drained. I held the sword and stared at it as it glowed in a fiery purple light.
I handed it back to him. He took it carefully and stared at it. "It's called the Soul Shredder." I said. "It sends anyone you hurt with it to a dimension where they live their worst fears. Here's a warning before you get any ideas. It doesn't work on me."
"Why have you given me this?" He asked.
"So you can protect the castle. Destroy anyone who comes within a hundred feet of here. I have no use for the pitiful ghosts who dare to come near my domain."
"Even Clockwork?" He said, remembering him from yesterday.
I thought about it. Clockwork could see everything. He knew that I would give the fright Knight this sword and that was probably why he had shown up when he had. To say goodbye while he had a chance.
"We won't be seeing Clockwork for awhile."
