Dark Prince

CHAPTER 12 - Damage Repair I

Clockwork sighed, shaking his head. That had NOT gone well, he thought to himself. Of course Pariah Dark's complete lack of foresight would cause trouble, and Danny's natural tendency to panic at physical contact would kick in. And now things had just gone completely South, and Clockwork knew Pariah Dark was too proud to apologize again, and Danny would be too frightened to approach Pariah Dark.

...Sometimes, he honestly wished he had an assistant to carry out some help in the Timeline. But he didnt, and he would have to once more piss his bosses of by 'cheating'.

...Ha, like he really cared. This would be fun.

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Pariah Dark sat in his chair, staring into the fire with morbid fascination, as though the flames would give him answers to the riddles floating around in his head. Of course, the fire, though his element, didnt speak to him, so he was left with unsolved questions.

It had been nearly a week since he had last seen his fiance; Phantom refused to leave his room for anything, and so meals were brought to him. The only two people who even saw him were the lady-in-waiting Dorathea, and Fright, but even they had little to tell to him. Dorathea informed the Ghost King that Phantom did little more than sleep and eat, which was somewhat worrisome. Fright had tried to coax the boy out for some sparring sessions to no avail.

All Pariah Dark wanted to do was stalk up to the boy's room and demand Phantom start socializing again, but his common sense told him that it would have the very opposite effect. And now his hands were tied, and he had no clue how to fix what he'd apparently broken with his thoughtlessness.

He was so busy pondering over what to do that he didnt notice the other in the room until he heard the sound of tea being sipped. He jerked his head to the side to see a ghost in a purple cloak sitting in the chair Phantom occupied when he visited these rooms, sipping from a set of fine china that didnt really fit the room; the flower pattern was a strong attest to that.

Clockwork looked up and smiled at the stunned Ghost King. "Hello, Pariah," he said, his tone respectful, though laced with humor. Pariah Dark stared for a few moments more before making a move to get up, only to be halted by Clockwork holding up a hand. "Pause, please." He pointed to Pariah Dark's chest, and the Ghost King looked down to see a medallion hanging around his neck.

"What is this?" he demanded, pulling at it.

"It negates the effects of Time Out," Clockwork replied, looking into the fire, which was frozen in time. He glanced over at the Ghost King, who was looking about two seconds away from a total Time Ghost Holocaust. "I need you to listen to me, if you wish to make up with Daniel."

THAT got Pariah Dark's attention. "What do you know?" he growled, forcing himself to remain calm. Clockwork smiled at him.

"He and I are closely acquainted," he replied, taking another sip of tea. "I am also the Ghost of Time, so... I saw this little snag in your relationship coming, and decided to help."

"Why couldnt you have just stopped me from kissing him, if it was going to have such an... adverse effect?" Pariah Dark demanded. Clockwork shrugged.

"I dont fix every little error in the Timestream," he said. "Best let humans and ghosts make their own mistakes and rectify them... however..." He sighed. "...You have no clue how to rectify this. And I do hate to see my protege hurt, so I'm here to help." He smiled. "So, here I am."

Pariah Dark scowled at Clockwork. "You try my patience," he said tersely.

"Cant try what you have none of," Clockwork shot back, leaning in the chair. "I'm here to help you, Pariah, so I highly suggest you take what I am offering, lest YOUR timeline ends on another sour note." Ignoring the death glare the Ghost King was giving him, Clockwork banished the china away and laced his fingers together. "First, let us focus on what happened: you neglected to give Daniel details about the marriage, consummation, et cetera. Second, you make things worse by putting him into a panic. And Third, you're too much of a stubborn jackass to apologize and sort things out."