As you grew older, you learned more about the world around you. Clockwork taught you about the Ghost Zone ever since you were seven. The history, how everything worked, the areas of the Ghost Zone that you couldn't see from the safety of the tower and the ghosts that existed out there.

Clockwork showed you human history as well with his infinite knowledge and Viewer. All that was law, war and death, which you didn't care for.

But most of all, you'd been taught about time. After you were old enough, Clockwork gave you the speech on how he existed outside of time and he could teach you about time travel without you falling asleep.

A little enlightenment never hurt.

For time travel to be possible, time looped continuously. One could go back or forward to a certain moment in time, and for that to be possible, the moment of the day would still have to exist presently. Meaning that the past wasn't really the past, it was just days that were no longer accessible to anyone. The loop would stay the same unless someone traveled back or forward and changed something, even the smallest thing, and it would affect everything down to the millisecond.

There were parallel universes and temporary timelines, but that could only occur when something in a universe was forcefully changed. The same went for time traveling to the future as well- this is boring, isn't it? Clockwork was right, the patience to wrap your mind around how time worked had to be learned.

Anyway, you've picked up a lot about time, more than any other being, other than Clockwork of course. One thing, however, that you never found out and Clockwork never explained to you was how you could age while existing outside of time. Ten years dragged on since you first showed up and with time, you eventually wanted to know where you came from. He didn't tell you everything, after all. He'd always said that you couldn't know about your own past because you weren't meant to.

It was a struggle, sometimes. The answers were so close. All it would take was the Viewer and good timing... but you wouldn't destroy the space-time continuum over curiosity, even though the thought of it kept you awake sometimes.

Did you have parents? Did you only have one of the two or two of each? Was your family nuclear or unconventional? Did you have siblings or pets? Were you happy before?

All these questions and yet there you were, fourteen years old and without having met another human. Pathetic, right? The only way you could see anyone of your own species was through Clockwork's Viewer.

It was one of the best pastimes, watching the most authentic reality TV there was. You'd seen a lot. Beautiful people that made your heart flutter, competitions, fights, crime solving.

Your favorite was watching the more domestic aspects of life.

In fact, you were sitting down floating mid air, observing a family. A brunette boy at the dinner table with his two brothers, sister, and parents. They talked about the reunion they'd have around the holidays and the dad made a cheesy joke about their mountain house being a 'snow-man's land'. The brothers groaned. The boy's sister gave him a pitiful laugh, and the boy snickered, his mom shaking her head while her children's reactions only egged her husband on.

"Someone needs a new sense of humor." You said, amused.

Their conversation continued, moving on to the subject of school and grades.

Like always, they couldn't hear you.

"(Y/N), may I speak with you for a moment?"

You looked at him from the corner of your eye, Clockwork floating a few feet away. You shrugged, "Nothing better to do."

"I know." He chuckled.

Of course he did.

"I have a task for you."

That itself wasn't a big deal, you'd assisted him plenty of times. He said it was a good way to learn about time hands on, even though he never actually needed your help. Giving you a job now and then kept your interest in a repetitive life.

You nodded your head with confidence, "What do you need?"

Clockwork smiled, his form shifting to from an adult to an elder, "How would you feel about going to the human world?"

"The human world? I mean, I'd like to visit, sure... why would you ask that?"

He floated over to the Viewer and waved his staff across it. The screen changed from the family to a bird's-eye view of a town.

"This is Amity Park, where you will stay for the next year."

"A year? Why?"

Clockwork beckoned you over with his hand and you drifted to him.

"There is a boy there I need you to protect for me."

You nodded. You could do that. A year in the human world wouldn't feel half as stretched out as a year here. Without the sun and moon or light change, days blended into a long existence. You went to sleep, and the Ghost Zone was green. You woke up, and it would still be green.

"Who is it?" You asked.

Clockwork's staff waved over the Viewer once more, zooming in on two boys and a girl walking on a sidewalk.

It zoomed in again on one of the boys, the pale one out of the two.

"Him."

"What's so special about him? Does he end up making a cure for a disease? Bring world peace?"

"This boy is half human, half ghost."

A surprise, but not impossible. There was already a hybrid somewhere in Wisconsin. It was bound to happen again, eventually.

"His two friends know his secret, and he uses his powers to protect the town, Amity Park." Clockwork said.

"That's nice, better than the other one. So, what does he need protecting from?"

"There are many dangers, but speaking generally, those who wish him harm like the ghosts from here and his parents."

"His parents?"

"He comes from a family of ghost hunters. His mother and father want to experiment on and dissect his other persona."

The explanation took you by surprise, and you felt your gut twist in disgust.

"They'd really do that?" You asked.

"They've come close before."

"… So, I protect him for a year and then I leave?"

"Yes. But (Y/N), you must understand before you agree to this that there are other things you'll need to defend both him and yourself from. This is a very dangerous thing I am asking of you."

"Where would I stay? And how would I pay for necessitates?"

"I would take care of it. Money, however, would be your responsibility to make."

"Would I have to attend high school?" You asked, placing your feet firmly on the floor, the trick you used for not phasing through the stone tiles.

"Yes."

"Would I still be in touch with you?"

"Unfortunately not."

You fell silent.

"It's alright to refuse." He said, "I would never wish for you to be in harm's way, but this is what you've been wanting and I trust your judgment. I understand that it may be too much for you to handle-"

"I'll do it."