From Scratch

Chapter 2: The Herald of What's to Come

A.N. The issue that should be addressed is whether or not Danny will utilise the main ability Subaru had. The answer is not really. He doesn't have the power to rewind time, so he gets only one go at everything. Except maybe a couple of cases when there will be something a tad bit different.

"To order! To order!"

The uproar lording over the spacious halls of the colossal arena never seemed to cease, and the demands to calm down were only a droplet added to the ocean of noise. The reason behind the ruckus was as simple as that. The Observants were charged with maintaining order within the realm of the dead by the authorities long gone. The green-skinned, one-eyed creatures were old, ancient, all but lacking personalities in order to present a united front on every issue. And yet, in spite of their very nature, they often argued and reacted vehemently to every major issue. Some would say that the Observants were nothing but raging, petulant children. But it had been working out. The people upsetting the balance were punished. The major crisis they now faced, however, was caused by the absence of one major figure of that world.

Lord Phantom was the figure that everyone present feared. It was they who had summoned an army to fight the newly-fledged ruler, and it was they who begged for his mercy upon suffering defeat. He had been the first one to have a chance of annihilating them, the creatures backed by the Time Master himself. The conditions Phantom set, however, were far more condescending than they could have ever dreamed. The king all of a sudden accepted being a ceremonial figure not at all involved in the dealings of the world. They almost began to believe that he wanted nothing to do with his power. They feared the man who slaughtered Clockwork himself. Without the Time Master, nobody respected the Observants; nobody feared them, as they were weak ghosts, as if the power of one powerful spectre was split among a thousand of these meagre creatures. Then came Phantom, presenting an opportunity for them to act 'on his behalf'. He was a metaphorical scarecrow, a boogeyman for every ghost around, as they didn't want to incur the wrath of the half ghost. But now he straight up vanished.

And the vacuum had to be filled soon.

"What are we supposed to do? You tell us!"

"We cannot let the news about this leak out!"

"Then stop shouting it for all the Realms to hear! Now calm down!"

Everyone was going to eventually tire themselves. The brighter a candle burns, the faster it dies. The louder the person, the sooner they shut up.

"This matter cannot be ignored, and your anger is felt by each one of us," one of the Observants, the advocate for silence, spoke up, "Phantom assured us that he has no intention of leaving his domain without notifying us. This agreement has lasted for barely a month, and he has already violated it."

"But is this really that much of a problem? We do not detect him in his own world, nor do we in ours. For all he is worth, it might be a good thing that this sword of Damocles does not hang over us anymore."

"You are being awfully naive. He is the Lord of the Infinite Realms, the most dangerous creature to ever roam its surface. He cannot be left out of our sight for even a minute, lest he decides to finally make his move."

"Make his move?! He's been rotting away in his self-imposed imprisonment, and it was after the Ancients died by his hand! He could have done it back then!"

"It was one month ago. We must remember that he is still half human. They are the creatures of inconsistencies and change. And no matter how powerful a person is, he might want to minimise the risks by striking the weakest spots of a chain. We MUST find him before anything happens! We will find him through our Sight! That is what we all are here for!"