The Shaper's Timepiece

Prologue - Mr. Hendrix

    "Should we really be working with Alcohol in a classroom? Isn't that illegal or something?"

    Beth's shrill pseudo-valley girl voice was never a welcome sound in Simon's class, but he stuck to the teacher-code of conduct like glue; all students would be treated equally.

    "Dad's always like, Alcohol's never a solution to your problems man," Luis whispered, but Simon's sharp ears caught everything.

    "Hah. See, contrary to what you're parents say, Alcohol is in fact, a solution. Get it?" Simon reveled in the hodgepodge of laughter and moans. Regardless of their prowess in his class, Simon loved his students; even Beth - to an extent. It was still early in the day, and the students had only just settled in for class. The windows were propped open like always to allow whatever gaseous fumes the class may conjure a proper escape.

    "You'll do anything for a reaction," snickered Cory, one of his favorite students.

    "Well I am a chemist after all." The entire class groaned and protested, all except for Cory, who reached back and high-fived his buddy Lucas.

    "Heh. Terrible chemistry joke. Please don't laugh, it was mere luck that one of you set me up for such a punderful remark." Simon regained his composure and displayed a vial of Alcoholic solution. "But regardless, Alcohol as a chemical is relatively harmless. Just don't combine it with bleach and you're good."

    "That's definitely something you should be telling us," wowed Colleen sarcastically, who typically remained fairly quiet, except for little quips here and there. Simon eyed her briefly, but passed over her knowing that this was the way she learned. If she wasn't able to express herself in some way, she'd lose focus and her grades would fall even further. It wasn't incredibly distracting to the class, as they just rolled with it for the most part. A hand shot up in the back of the class.

    "Yes, Brendon?" Simon leaned against his desk.

    "Can you use any of these chemicals to blow up a school?"

    "That's a highly inappropriate question," snapped Simon without raising his voice. There was a lingering and thick silence for about a minute before a subtle smirk appeared on Simon's cheek, and he brought his finger up to his lips. The entire class exploded with laughter.

    "That's pretty good isn't it?" Simon asked Brendon over the laughter. "That's how you blow up a classroom my boy! Today, we are going to be using Alcohol to dissolve soap. Everybody cheer! Exciting stuff."

    Simon loved his students, and his students loved him. He was the teacher kids would brag about in the halls. The school board didn't mind that he spent about twenty percent of his class time joking around, because his results were unparalleled. Simon gazed at his students with a loving twinkle of the eye; but in that very moment of peace and serenity, something snapped, and the floodgates of the past broke free. He found himself leaning up against the whiteboard with sweat starting to bead on his forehead. His mind swelled with vivid images, visions of a veiled battlefield, and death.

    "Mr. Hendrix?" asked Cory, noticing his teacher hadn't spoken or moved in several seconds. Simon snapped out of his trance and continued with his lecture, but he was on autopilot. Horrifying images of a blasted landscape and a ruined city flowed spilled into view as clear as the class before him. Bodies were strewn about the streets like scattered confetti. Looming over the sea of destruction stood a single man. His name was a blur, but his long and skeletal features were in high resolution.

    "Come back to me," screamed a voice in Simon's head.

    "Hey, he doesn't look so good," Beth's shrill voice carried over all others.