Set Alight

Chapter 29

 So you might be wondering what the heck brought this on. Me too. I was just standing there, running scenarios through my head, when suddenly Sovaĝa Fajro shouts at me over and over and over again that I needed to go somewhere to visit someone.

She's guiding me. I'm not just blindly searching the Ghost Zone. Promise.

At least, she promised me.

We fly into a part of the Ghost Zone I can tell is less explored. There are no purple doors and the ectoplasm sky is darker green, as if the energy is dormant. In the distance, there's a tall tower.

As we near closer, I see etches of cogs, clockwork pieces, and olde English words periodically decorating the deep gray stone. The whole place oozes history. It feels ancient.

I go to the door, opening it without an invitation. Somehow, I know the person inside can sense we're here.

The inside has clocks on every hanging surface, all ticking at the same time. I float forward, Sovaĝa Fajro leading the way to a large circular room of blue gold disks. Shrouded in a light purple cloak, an old figure watches an image playing on one of the disks.

I see flashes of myself, Danny, and Ashton, before it winks out and the figure turns. He looks five. I tilt my head, confused, before the ghost shifts to a form of a man about thirty years old. I shake away my confusion. Ghosts have quirks. I myself go blind when conversing directly with my fire.

"Wildfire," he greets.

I bow my head respectfully. "Clockwork," Sovaĝa Fajro answers with my voice. "It's nice to see you again, even given the circumstances."

He nods grimly, and his form shifts older, starting to bow with age. "We technically should not interfere."

"But we've never really followed the rules, have we?" "I" say.

"No. I suppose not." He smiles.

"What?" I ask. Me this time. "Sovaĝa Fajro and I make the rules, don't we?"

Clockwork shakes his head. "You judge those who break them. I suppose sometimes you do make the rules, change unspoken to spoken, but there are fundamental rules that cannot change that even an enforcer cannot break."

"Like what?"

"Life and Death. You cannot bend those rules. Speaking the dead secrets of others, changing the outcome of a future trial."

"Messing with time?" I ask with a smirk.

Clockwork smiles wanly. "Perhaps I should start from the beginning."

"Yes."

"Sovaĝa Fajro and I were very good friends. Justice is almost as old as time itself. She is the sister of Karma, and the twin of Revenge. Originally, Justice was not a part of fire. She used simply the power of Justice. She and I were very good friends. She was at my coronation to become Ghost of Time. In turn, I watched as she received the title of Keeper of Justice."

"Official," I snipe. He gives me a look and I shut up.

"We are both held by the laws of interference, though me more strictly than her. This restricted both her and me from warning the Ghost Council of Pariah Dark's true intent with the Ghost Zone."

"There was a Ghost Council?"

He nods. "Daniel, while quite the hero, isn't very original."

"I've noticed," I say with a smirk.

"However, the Past Ghost Council wasn't in nearly as much raw power. They had influence, which kept the ghosts calm and level-headed, but Pariah Dark was far more influential and powerful. This Ghost Council is made of the most powerful and the most allied ghosts of the Zone. Daniel could not defeat all four--well, three-- at the same time. Nor, in turn, could any of the others."