The cube.
The cube spoke to him. It made him stronger, smarter. There seemed to be no limit to his power. Every moment of studying it brought him new discoveries, new perspectives.
Igole also felt it. He was lying under the counter, staring at the cube.
The cube...yes the cube. The cube was extraordinary, he heard its voice. It advised him in his research, in mastering his powers. He had tried to ask it about its origins, its creator, but it remained silent to his questions. Whatever. As long as the cube continued to advise and guide him, he could finish his project. And then he could...
He could what?
He had the feeling of forgetting something, it seemed important. What should he do after finishing his project? Maybe he should ask Galanthe. She always managed to remind him of what he was forgetting.
He left the cube and walked towards the door of his laboratory or rather his clock as he likes to call it. He walked on the earth towards his house. He absently noticed that the once green grass seemed to have blackened. He thought no more about it. All he had to worry about was asking Galanthe what he should do after he finished his project so he could return to the cube.
The cube…
He opened the creaking door and headed upstairs. It was dark outside, she must have put the little ones to bed and was waiting in their bed.
"Galanthe…I forgot something…" He looked at the bed and saw that it was empty, full of cobwebs and dust, the window broken.
"Galanthus?" He called louder in the house. No answer…
Where could she be? Maybe she was out with the kids in town. In that case he would go back to work and wait for her return. Yes go back to the cube...
He descended the stairs and prepared to join the cube, there was still a lot to do. A lot to discover, a lot to...
"Noximilian! » There was a loud knock on the door. It wasn't Galanthe's voice. Nor that of the cube.
The cube… he had to go back to the cube. He had to finish his project and then...
"Milien ! "
He recognized that voice. It was that Vargas vulture. Surely came to take back his money. He took one of the remaining purses from the cupboard and slowly descended the stairs.
He heard the door creak and the debt collector taking hesitant steps inside.
"Clockmaker? Are you there ? »
A window slammed in the wind and Vargas jumped in fear. What a weakling. He didn't want to see him in his house any more than necessary. So he stepped forward and walked into the light.
Vargas heard his footsteps and seeing him backed off again for some reason.
"Mi..Milien?"
He teleported outside and called him.
"I'm here..." His voice was hoarse...like he hadn't had a drink of water in days...but he had. The cube had confirmed it...
Vargas stared fearfully between himself and where he had just disappeared and nearly tripped as he walked away from the door.
He had to go back to work. Wasting time with him would not benefit him in any way.
"Pay yourself and go…" He lifted the bag full of kama and dropped it not wishing to drag on. The cube was waiting for him.
But surprisingly Vargas did not throw himself on the bag of gold before clearing off. Instead he clasped his hands against his clothes hesitantly and spoke.
"I.. I'm not here for that. For several months already Galanthe has been paying your debts, you no longer owe me anything. »
Galanthe paid him? How ? For months ? Why didn't she tell him anything? And if he's been paid… why is he bothering him? No matter he had to go back to the cube.
The cube was waiting for him.
"This is going to seem strange to you.. given our relationship... with your family. But when I learned that the island of Mayara where your wife lived had been swallowed up by the waters…"
.
.
.
What ?
He slowly approached the fat man who tried somehow to finish his sentence.
"I…I thought i should let you know right away…"
"Swallowed by the waters? » He repeated with still approaching the man who backed away at the same time.
" Ogrest's Chaos has caused the sea level to rise. The island, like many others, was submerged in a few moments... There were no survivors. »
He stopped, trying to understand what he had just said.
Galanthe, their childrens...
Dead ?
He suddenly had a headache, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth before hearing the voice of the cube.
I will always be there for you Noximilien…
That sweet voice, the cube wanted him to come back to him, to finish his project, so he could finally...
Return to his family...
"Grr.. liar ! » He shouted at Vargas who was now looking at him in terror. He didn't care. It was just a bunch of lies.
"You've come to steal my inventions, right ?! And you think you can get me with your tall tales?! »
They were all lies and he was going to prove it straight away. With his new powers he could see beyond mortal vision. He could see his family and was proving they were okay.
His vision changed, he flew through the clouds and over the oceans, soon he would see the island of Mayara and...
No….
No…. no… NO! NOO !
« AaaaaaAAaaAaaahHHhhhh ! »
A pain, an emptiness settled in him… nothing mattered anymore. It all came back to him all of a sudden...
His discovery of the cube, his wife begging him to throw it into the sea, the departure of his family, he who stayed for the cube.
"I lost everything…all that for you…now it's too late…"
Too late ? How could it be too late? Or too early?
" How could it be too late or too early for those who master time? OH YES ! YES ! »
An idea took hold, whether it was his own or someone else's was irrelevant.
" I can do it! I will FIX the clock of my life ! I will face time, that great deceiver ! I will soon be as powerful as the god Xelor! Yes... more POWERFUL even! »
His laboratory collapsed behind him. It fell to pieces.
" Control the space between each second to reduce the time, then bend the world and erase the HISTORY of my life!" And rewrite the future without limits! I can bring them back! Can you hear me XELOR ?! I will surpass you ! And I will bring my family back ! »
It rebuild itself… the cube heard his cry and answered him, legs emerged and saw a clock erect. A terrible thing… fueled by the grief of a mad man.
"NOTHING CAN STOP ME ! »
A vision of hell presented itself to him. The earth, ravaged. Vargas, forgotten. Noximilien the watchmaker, a name unworthy of being borne.
"My children called me Daddy..."
Wakfu. He needs Wakfu. A lot of Wakfu, the greatest amount…
"My wife called me Milien… "
Nothing will stop him... He will make time wait or destroy the world trying...
" From now on...the world will come to know me as... "
After all... his family is waiting for their father.
« Nox….. »