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Chapter I: Like Clockwork

"My name was Harm Chronos. I am a Wulfun, had my name legally changed to Hunter Hart a few years back and was a twenty-five year old level 4 starship engineer for the H3C1 Lasting Armageddon when the shit hit the fan. I was... special... I guess when people grow up normal, all they want to be is extraordinary. It also works the other way around. I just wanted to be ordinary all my life.

"There was something seriously wrong with me. It's actually a funny story... made even funnier by the fact that it really was never my story to begin with.

"And it all began when the hands of the clock started turning."

******

Clockwork was simply a technological marvel. In the world of Incendius, the city built on gears, cogs and constantly moving parts was simply breathtaking. The sidewalks were built out of polished, thick glass that showed the constantly ticking gears beneath the city's surface. Cobblestone roads were interrupted by the iron tram lines and the ringing bells of carriages warning the passing gentlemen dressed in their brightly coloured formalwear to move out of the way. Ladies with wide, frilly iron frame dresses giggled as their male escorts offered their arms with a light bow and tipped their tall hats.

Towering smokestacks spewed acrid black smoke into the air, the constant churn of industry at work. Homes built out of wood and plaster glistened with golden plating. The rich abodes were clearly marked by constantly moving, exposed gears and bright, magical runes that kept mischief makers from meddling with their internal workings.

Amongst the hustle and bustle of the twilight, a lone Wulfun openly gawked at the magnificent machine city, his long, fluffy tail with a light, grey underside wagging cheerily behind him. He didn't mind the countless people brushing past him or the fact that his dark green utility jacket stuck out plainly in the fashionable world of Clockwork. No one paid him any heed though they gave him a wide berth when he pulled open a broad, map and regarded it intently, a small dribble of drool coming from the edges of his smiling lips.

The Wulfun grinned broadly when the Solamps suddenly sprang up, the large orbs of light springing to life where they bobbed on top of stylised lampposts. Tucking the map away, he made his way through the crowd to the Diving Moon Inn. The doorman gave him one look and wrinkled his human nose. The Wulfun towered over him at his 7' 2'' inches but it was likely the foul stare came from the fact that he was dressed like he had just come off a starship with his grease stained jacket and faded, torn cargo shorts. The side pack he wore on his left hip with the strap decorated with various tools probably didn't help.

Still, despite this, the doorman opened the door for him.

The Inn's atrium was lavished and simply gilded with more moving cogs and gears than he could possible take in. He gawked at the water fountains that constantly channelled water into a large pool through quietly ticking cogs. Even the massive effigies of the winged Sun Goddess Apollia were built with moving parts.

"Ahem."

The Wulfun's triangular ears perked up, the little tufts of brown fur at their edges jostling slightly.

"Can I help you, sir?" asked the Bovios clerk.

Coughing slightly to contain his excitement, the Wulfun bounded over the front desk and pulled out his passport from his side pack. "Yes. I'm Harm Chronos. I have a reservation for a week of shore leave?"

The Bovios gave one look at his grease-covered paws and shook his head, forcing a smile. "Ah yes. We have been expecting you, Master Chronos."

"No need to be formal," Harm laughed, holding out his paw and tucking his passport back away. "Pleased to meetcha!"

Again, the Bovios refused any contact, making Harm's smile waver a little. Slowly, the clerk reached behind the desk and pulled out a golden key, holding it at the tips of his fingers and gently depositing it into Harm's paws. "Room 14. Second floor." He winced the moment Harm closed his grime-covered paw over the key.

"Thanks."

"My pleasure."

Harm maintained his smile as he strode away from the clerk and mounted the steps to reach his room. He didn't give the cold shoulder from the clerk any second thoughts. Captain Rushwater back at the H3C1 Lasting Armageddon had warned him that Incendians tended to treat guys like him like common grunts. Not that he minded.

His room was relatively close to the end of the hallway. Part of him wondered if the key would fit at all considering the chilling welcome he got. Thankfully, the knob twisted open and he was greeted to a modest, single bedroom room with internal plumbing. The first thing he did...

"Wooot!"

The feathery bed caught his weight easily, even bouncing him up slightly as he spun in place and kicked off his heavy military-issue boots. The Wulfun threw his backpack and duffel bag on the floor, pulled off his jacket, tossing it aside to reveal the black shirt that lay beneath that barely contained his firm, muscular frame.

Unable to keep himself from giggling, Harm lay on his back across the bed, staring at the wooden ceiling with a broad grin on his muzzle. "I am a level 4 starship engineer in what has got to be the most mechanical city in the world!" He sat up, tail beating the sheets lightly. "If I didn't think it'd be really sad, I'm pretty darn sure I'd orgasm right now."

His grin faded instantly.

And that is a little scary..., he thought to himself, not to mention creepy to admit to myself...

Pushing the initial signs of psychosis out of his head, he reached into the pocket of his jacket and fished out a small, glass cube that was surprisingly sturdy. With a practiced paw, he peeled away at the edges until it became he had a slightly bigger square in his palm with a dizzying display of numbers floating on the main screen. He tapped a few numbers and then folded the cube back upon itself.

An image of a white Wulfun just like him but with hair stylised and coloured like fire appeared within the cube.

"Eeey! How's it goin' lil bro!"

"Hey Jerry," Harm answered, smiling at his brother's face that was partially hidden by a pair of sunglasses shaped like skeletal claws. The fingers of the claws actually raked halfway across the oversized lenses. "Partying hard?"

Jeremiah Chronos grinned broadly and stuck his tongue out at Harm, showing his diamond studded tongue piercing. "You should try it some time, bro! Hey! Aren't you supposed to be on holiday?"

"Shore leave, yeah. I've got two weeks to myself. Spending it here in Clockwork to take in the mechanical wonder that is an entire city. Did you know that it is built entirely like a massive, autonomous machine that -"

"Blah-blah-blah, mechanical, boring engineering stuff! Bro, you know what you should do?"

Harm took the moment where Jerry took a swing from a bottle of beer to finish his sentence before another fictional rant with bogus historical figures and events came his way. "Loosen up."

Jerry swallowed and let out a loud belch. "You should loosen up! You know how Clockwork was founded?"

Quietly murmuring, 'here we go' under his breath, Harm leaned back in his bed, one arm behind his head as he only partially listened.

"Clockwork was founded by the Chronomancers, man. And you know what? They knew how to have some fuckin' fun! Two thousand years ago, they built that whole city out of nothing and you know what they did? They put the biggest fuckin' dick right in the middle of it and Time Locked it!"

Harm's attention flicked straight back towards the cube in his paw. "What?"

"Dude, the clock tower is a massive penis! Look at it! Go on. I'll wait."

He didn't move.

"Didja look?"

"Yeah, Jerry. I looked. It's a big dick."

"Totally! And you know the best part?" Jerry leaned really close to his similar device, dropping his glasses so that Harm got a good look at his green eyes; a colour that they both shared. "They Time Locked it," Jerry whispered in a hushed, awed tone. Then, he straightened and lifted his beer over his head. "They made an everlasting dick, man!"

Of course, in his drunken state, Jerry wasn't paying attention to where he was holding his beer. The amber fluid began pouring down his face. Being Jerry, he just stuck out his tongue, shaking his head like a wild dog and howling to the beat of some music Harm could barely hear.

"Okay, Jerry," Harm laughed softly. "Take care, okay? Don't get too drunk."

"You can never be too drunk, lil' bro! Check ya later, Hunter!"

Harm shook the device lightly, ending the call. For a moment, he pondered what to do next and then unfolded the device one more time, dialling a different number. After he closed it, the image of another Wulfun appeared, this one appearing much older with grey flecks running through his slightly darker brown hair. His features were crossed in a severe expression. The spectacles didn't help.

"Harm," Klaus Chronos said.

"Hi nii-san."

Klaus scowled at him. "We are too old to be playing that game, Harm. Stop it."

Oh right... Why did I call him again?

The smile on Harm's face didn't fade. "Come on, Klaus, I'm just having fun. I'm on holiday!"

"That makes one of us."

"Hey! I've been working non-stop for the past seven years! I deserve a break!"

"Of course you do. After you broke mother's heart for joining the military and shattered father's expectations of you after you didn't go to college, no one else but you deserves a holiday."

Okay... Ouch.

"And suddenly, I'm reminded why I thought this call was a bad idea," he muttered loudly enough for Klaus to hear. "Look, you may be the corporate big shot there on Haven with enough pups to make your own goddamn nation, but I am not a clone of dad. Engineering is my call."

Klaus pressed the tips of his fingers together, something he always did when he knew he had the advantage. "So you've said but had you finished college you could have your own engineering firm by now or maybe had some fantastic mechanical device named after you. Instead, you're wasting your time in some heavily retrofitted, archaic heavy cruiser serving patrol runs across the safest places in the Void."

Don't let him get to you, Harm told himself mentally. Just... don't.

Harm tried not to growl. It would just show Klaus that he was winning. "How's the paternity cases, by the way?"

His oldest brother's steely façade broke slightly with a twitch to his left eye. "None of your business."

Gotcha.

"Awww, come on, Klaus. If I'm going to be an uncle, I ought to know my nephew's names. Even if they are bastards."

Klaus suddenly lunged forward. For a second, Harm thought his brother would actually lunge out of the Telecube and kill him. "You stay away from my sons, you hear me, Harm? I don't want you or your filthy, grease-covered paws anywhere near them!"

I win.

"It was nice talking to you again, Klaus. See you for the holidays."

He shook the cube, ending the call. With the faintly glowing, blue cube in his paw, he pondered his next move. A soft sigh escaped him as he reached over to his jacket and pulled out a pair of noise cancelling headphones. He drew a semi-transparent chord made out of solid light from the base of the right headphone, attaching it to the cube. After rolling the cube around, he accessed the music player menu and chose his favourite playlist.

Whilst bobbing his head to the pop tune, he rolled the cube to the messenger face, picked his top contact and then tapped a message.

'Hey. I made it. Clockwork is amazing. Wish you were here.'

Two seconds after he hit 'send', he got a message back.

'Glad to hear you're safe. Wish I was there too. What're you going to do while you're there?'

He smiled at the fast response and replied. 'Sightsee probably. Get to know the inner workings of this city. Might go to Corona for the Sunrise Festival. Thinking about visiting Ironfrost and maybe Mirecragg if I have time.'

'What? Not going to Chillfarn?'

'Nah. Too cold.'

'Awww. You know I'll always here to warm your butt.'

'And you do such a good job of it too.' Before he hit 'send'. He paused and added three last words. 'I miss you.'

The answer from Daniel took a little longer than usual. 'I miss you too, Hunter.'

Harm sighed wistfully and lay himself let himself relax on the bed, setting the Telecube on the bedside table. He twisted it towards the movie player face and hit replay on the top played movie. The three dimensional image of himself and a heavy set Draconis with beautiful, golden scales danced within the confines of the cube.

A smile touched his lips as he let himself drift off to sleep.

It was the scream that woke him.

Sometime during the night, the headphones had fallen off, letting the little girl's cry startle him awake. He quickly rubbed the sleep away from his eyes while his ears remained perked.

The cry came again.

Harm hastily staggered out of the bed, angrily throwing aside the bed sheets as he approached the window. His eyes widened as a little Avios girl shot down the dark, empty streets. Her white feathers were caked with blood and the dress she wore was also drenched in the fluids. Behind her were a dozen dark figures, shambling towards her with arms outstretched.

"Oh shit..." Harm whispered.

He spun and snatched his Telecube from the bedside table. He hastily tried to open it but dropped the device, making him curse. Thankfully, it was very durable and he snatched it back up. After calming his nerves somewhat, he managed to dial the first digit of the emergency number before her scream set his thoughts to a jarring halt.

Damnit... I know this a bad idea but...

Military training and instincts took over. Harm grabbed his jacket, pocketed his Telecube and pushed the window open. A drainage pipe beside his room allowed him easy access to the ground. His paws stung from the friction of the descent but no more so than his bare footpaws on the cold ground beneath him.

The girl's scream pumped him full of adrenaline. As the girl crossed the front of the inn, Harm intercepted her and scooped her up in his arms. In that moment, he caught sight of her pursuers. Holding back a loud swear, he took note of the rotting, flesh, missing patches of fur, bones sticking out at obscene angles and glowing red eyes.

His pants got caught on his heels and the ground came crashing up towards him. Pain exploded from his chest and his muzzle where it slammed against the hard, cobblestone ground. Panic quickly began to set in. A low moan sent a bolt of fear through his system and turned in place. In the light of the Solamps, he got to really see the monsters approaching him.

Thick, pulsating veins throbbed beneath flesh and fur. Bloodied gashes covered their features. Some shambled on stumps where their feet had been severed while others raised half-attached arms towards him. All their eyes held an eerie, red glow that pulsated with an unholy light.

"Fuck me..." Then he remembered he had company. "Sorry kid, I -"

The girl was gone. She ran off without him!

"Sonofabitch! Not again!"

Harm scrambled to his feet. A jarring pain exploded from his left ankle. The ground came rising up to meet him again, slamming against his knee and sending a fresh wave of pain through his system. Cold, clammy hands suddenly seized his shoulder. Putrid, rotting breath wafted into his nostrils, mailing his stomach coil in revulsion.

Time seemed to slow at that moment. Slowly, the rotting features of an undead human came into view, red eyes angled straight towards his shoulder rotting teeth were slowly exposed. Drops of sickly saliva fell from those blackened teeth with agonising slowness.

A burst of courage flooded through Harm's system and he yanked at the screwdriver hanging by his hip. He jammed it right into the left eye of the monster hanging over his shoulder, bringing a scream from it. Time suddenly resumed its normal pace. He panicked and pushed the creature off as drops of its cold blood fell on his cheek.

The Wulfun staggered away at an agonisingly slow pace that the undead could easily outrun.

"If there's some superhero out there, now's the time to make your dramatic entrance!" he bellowed into the air.

His wish came true.

Just a few feet in front of him, three, blood-red gashes appeared and the sound of tearing cloth echoed in the night. Blackness appeared through the rips as they widened. From the darkness, a slim Leomian about a foot or so smaller than him stepped out, wearing the jet-black cloak of a Paladin trimmed with the white of Haven. He bore the right pauldron of an Initiate but his other arm was covered by an enormous, jet-black and red gauntlet that stretched all the way down to his feet. There was a wicked look to the gauntlet. Every edge was jagged, spikes left no surface truly flat and a wicked, serrated blade jutted out from the elbow.

"Did someone call for a superhero?" the Leomian asked, grinning broadly and puffing out his chest.

"Lame."

From behind the Leomian strode what had to be the biggest wolf Harm had ever seen. The feral creature stood at five and a half feet tall from paw to shoulder. Its fur was dark grey with a creamy underside and belly. Heavy, black and gold armour covered his torso and rolled down his back to the tip of his tail.

Harm's eyes widened as he watched the wolf's muzzle move to form words.

"Honestly, you could come up with a better dramatic entrance than that," the wolf said.

"Oh come on, Tanar, it wasn't that bad was it?"

Yep... They're superheroes. They banter when there's danger afoot.

Another cold hand seized Harm's shoulders and the Wulfun let out a panicked shriek. He spun around wildly -

Shing!

Just to have the tip of a silvery spear shoot through the mouth of the undead and come within an inch of his muzzle. The monster gripping him was suddenly hurled into the air as the owner of the spear hoisted it up with all her weight and sent it crashing back down upon the remaining foes. Harm found his breath suddenly caught in his throat at the sight of the stunning woman. Platinum blonde hair glistened in the faint light of the Solamps. Her dual pauldrons designated her as a Templar, a station befitting her regal bearing even as she wielded the mighty spear with ease.

Whoa...

"Stand back, citizen!" she ordered with a commanding voice that could have sent Harm scrambling for the mountains. "This is no place for your heroics!"

"Totally agree with you!" Harm exclaimed, giving her a quick salute. "I'll just go off into the corner to piss myself now."

He heard the rough guffaw of that wolf. The intelligent beast padded up next to Harm, eyeing him with steely, grey eyes. "You, I like." Then, with a voice just as intimidating as the Templar's, he shouted, "Rage and rend, Blade Legion!"

The wolf's armour suddenly sprang to life. A thousand mechanical arms sprang from its length, each one unfolding to reveal a long, thin blade. They roiled and coiled in the air, metallic clinking filling the air as they brushed against one another, sparks flying every time the blades. The fur on Harm's arms and the back of his neck stood on end, a sure sign of magic... or in this case... a Valour.

"Holy mother of fuck!" he cried, leaping back. "Y - You're a Paladin!?"

"Try not to ogle, pretty boy," rumbled the wolf with a sly wink his way. Suddenly, the wolf was leaping into the midst of the undead, fangs flashing just as the multitude of arms around him swung wildly, slicing through the rotting corpses with ease.

Another cold paw fell on Harm's shoulders and he was on the very of wincing his frustration.

"Don't worry about Tanar," the Leomian said, grinning at him. Harm took a moment to realise that the cold 'paw' was actually the enormous gauntlet that the Leomian war. "He's just cranky because he didn't get to finish his nap." The lion held out his paw. "My name's Andrew, Andrew Konran. Everyone calls me 'Andy'. What's your name?"

Harm blinked a few times, wondering if the shorter Leomian's friendly and surprisingly cheery demeanour in the face of a swarm of undead was a sign of psychosis or blind optimism. While he was still deciding, he took the young fur's free paw and shook it. "Chronos. Harm Chronos."

The sounds of fighting abruptly stopped.

The woman and Tanar were both staring at him as if he had blasphemed against the gods themselves.

"What?" he asked, utterly baffled.

"Why don't you go off to that corner and piss yourself?" Tanar rumbled, one of his mechanical arms lashing out to pierce an undead right between the eyes. "We'll be with you in a second?"

What does he mean by that?

"Don't worry," Andy said, patting his shoulder with that massive claw of his. "It'll be fine."

Harm winced and hobbled away. "I get the eerie feeling it's going to be anything but."

Andy leapt into the fray, his massive claw cleaving through the zombies - or whatever they were - just as easily as the other two. Harm leaned against a lamppost, watching the three officials of the Church of the Tower at work. He made a mental note to requisition a personal pistol next time. Or to get himself checked out with a psychologist.

What idiot would actually rush off into the middle of the night after a little, bloodied girl?

"Only you. Just you."

He let out another yelp and turned around, quickly getting sick of spinning around in place. Behind him, standing against the darkness of an alleyway, was that little girl. Her bright, fiery red eyes sending chillsdown his spine.

"Please don't tell me you're some creepy apparition that only I can see," he whimpered.

"I'm afraid so."

"I'm dead, aren't I?"

"No."

"Insane?"

"Didn't you get tested?"

"Standard military health check. So no." Harm grimaced. "Magical 'chosen one'?"

"Bingo."

"You make it sound like I won something I wanted."

The girl tilted her head to the side, smiling pleasantly. "Don't you want to have an active life like your older brother or success and fame like your eldest?"

The Wulfun shook his head furiously. "Oh hell no! I love being a lowly engineer. No fame, no fortune and definitely no need to be in the media spotlight."

She narrowed one eye at him. "I have no idea if you're being serious or not."

"One of my many talents." He rolled his eyes, shoulders sagging. "So... Can we please get this epiphany over with so I can reject it?"

"This isn't your first time being petitioned by a seemingly innocent, ethereal being that only you can see?"

"Innocent?" he repeated incredulously. "You're covered in blood! If anything, you're playing the role of the creepy ghost girl that invited everyone to play only to add a second later" - then, in his creepiest, highest voice - "forever and ever and ever."

"Would you rather I be naked?"

"No!"

The girl giggled. "So, not your first time then?"

Harm groaned and ran a paw over his head. "Every time. Every time I take some shore leave, I always run into dead people. They keep telling me to do shit and quite frankly, I don't give a shit! It's why I prefer being cooped up in a hot, stinking, grease-covered starship billions of miles away from my family! I don't have to deal with you assholes!"

She didn't seem perturbed. "Has it occurred to you that if you helped us, we would stop bothering you?"

"And what exactly do I get out of it?" he barked back. "The satisfaction of sending a soul to eternal rest? Well let me tell you something kid, last time I did that, all hell broke loose and the asshole that petitioned me had the balls to come back asking for more! So no! Whatever the hell you want, no!"

Harm spun around for the last time...

And found himself staring at the three Church soldiers staring at him like he was a crazy person... which, to them, he really must seem like one.

"Oh fuck me..."

"So... You see dead people?"

Harm buried his head in his paws, unwilling to look into the piercing, cold eyes of the Templar that quietly circled him. Andy sat on a chair nearby, taking down notes while Tanar lay on his bed, poking at his Telecube with a paw.

"No... I don't know... They might be dead. They walk through walls. Appear and disappear out of nowhere and they can be really creepy when they want to."

"Creepy how?" Andy chimed in. "Do they speak with hollow, disembodied voices? Do they giggle in occasionally whenever you're in a dark hallway alone? Do they poke their heads in to your room while you're masturbating?"

Harm jerked upwards. "What!?"

"Andrew," came the stern voice of the Templar. She locked gazes with him, her amethyst eyes marking her as an Angel. He knew instantly it was a mistake to look into her eyes. Angels had the uncanny ability to tell if a person was lying using something called 'Compulsion'. It was something in their eyes. He had to admit... they were mesmerising.

"What is your name?" she asked slowly.

Don't answer! Don't answer! Don't...

"Harm Chronos," he answered.

Damnit!

"What is your occupation."

"4th Level Engineer on His Holiness' Heavy Cruiser Lasting Armageddon."

"Really?" Andy asked, scribbling more on his page. The Leomian really looked quite young as he stroked his goatee. There was no mane on his tawny features though his reddish brown hair might have been a suitable substitute. "4th Level? How old are you?"

"That's classified!" Harm snapped.

"How old are you?" the Templar repeated.

Oh come on!

Like a drooling idiot, Harm replied, "Twenty-five... Turning twenty-six in three months..."

Andy grinned broadly, bouncing in his seat. "Ooh! Ooh! Make him say he's a dirty butt sniffer that eats his own poop when he's bored!"

What!?

He growled at the Initiate. "You take that back you -"

The Templar placed herself in front of him, their eyes locking. "Call yourself a dirty butt sniffer that eats his own poop when bored."

Of course, he had no choice.

"I am a dirty butt sniffer that eats my own poop when bored." Harm growled and turned away from her eyes. "Sonofabitch!"

Andy clapped his own knees in laughter while Tanar muttered something about that being a racist comment.

"Look, everyone has their little quirks, okay?" Harm muttered. "I knew this guy that had a second pair of arms and this girl who didn't need to use magical words to conjure fire. I talk to... or rather, I'm pestered by creepy ghosts whenever I'm on-Station. That's why I prefer being on a ship."

The Templar straightened. "Do you have anyone special in your life?"

"No."

"What is your home Stations?"

"The First Station, Haven.." Harm stood up, keeping his gaze down and away from the Templar. "Look, you have no right to keep me here. If you want to interrogate me, get the Inquisition. I'm sure Captain Rushwater will be more than happy to vouch for me. I'm just here on shore leave, okay?"

Tanar's ears perked up. "Alone? Don't you military times usually like to go in big groups, hit the local bars and fuck anything that moves?"

"I'm not a combat engineer," he scowled. "Just... a regular engineer."

"4th Level too," Andy said, scribbling something on his notepad. "Second highest rank of engineer. You don't have your own command."

"Non-combatant, remember?"

"Oh, right."

The Templar's lithe, gloved hand pushed Harm back down into the chair, forcing him to inadvertently look back up into her eyes, a gesture he instantly regretted. Strangely, he did not feel the pull of her Compulsion on his mind.

"You are correct in that I have no right to keep you here," she said calmly. "But it may interest you that I am on a mission to hunt down a particular criminal." She offered him a gentle smile. "But first off, let me introduce myself." She took a step back and bowed to him, the silvery armour beneath her coat not even making a sound as she did so. "My name is Aria Valkyrie, Templar of the Eccelsia Turim, member of House Valkyrie, an Angel."

Harm wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. Should he introduce himself as 'Harm Chronos, engineer of the H3C1 Lasting Armageddon? They already knew that. So, he just lifted his paw and said, "Yo."

That seemed to catch her off guard but she straightened and regained her composure. "My mission is to capture the man responsible for calling the demons to Haven five years ago, devastating the Havenese Fleet and shattering the fragment of Chrysalis on Haven. This criminal is also responsible for the massacre at the Gate Cathedral that occurred a two weeks ago."

Flashes of that terrible time came across the Wulfun's memory. The beautiful, floating spires of islands of Haven, the magnificent golden and crystal ground-based structures and all of the lush, green gardens burned before his eyes. Demons rampaged across the streets, maiming and slaughtering. Those that did not die at their claws screamed as their forms were horribly twisted into demonic shadows of their former selves. Havenese starships fell out of the sky, devastated by some terrible force. It was estimated that millions of people died.

"I heard about that," Harm said. "Kind of a big leap, don't you think? Calling demons, destroying the mightiest fleet of the Church and destroying a seemingly indestructible structure that holds all of Tower Thirteen and her Stations together and then killing twenty people? Pretty weak link, don't you think?"

"Very much so but we have visual confirmation that it was the culprit."

Harm sighed, rolling his head back and staring at the ceiling in exasperation. "And let me guess... for some unknown reason, because I can speak to dead people, you wish to enlist my help in identifying the guy. Thus begins our love-hate relationship where we solve crimes together while learning important life lessons and using this major criminal of yours as a driving plot device, right?"

Andy laughed. "That actually sounds like fun!"

"It was... for the first two seasons. Then it got repetitive."

"That is not why you are here," Aria said sternly.

Harm met her gaze again. "Then tell me already so that I can get back to my holiday."

She looked like she was trying to say something but couldn't. Tanar broke the silence.

"The criminal we are after is a Chronomancer."

Harm's tail went on edge, his ears instantly perked. "Seriously?"

Chronomancers were the vilest creatures in all of Tower Thirteen. Two and a half millennia ago, they had ravaged all of Tower Thirteen with their Time-bending powers. Harm was not a religious man but according to the Church, they had attempted to obtain godhood and blaspheme against all that the Stations held sacred by granting themselves immortal, ageless bodies and then attempting to take over the domain of mortals. Only the Church through their faith and righteousness defeated them. They were all meant to have been killed during the Purge of Time.

"Yes," Aria answered grimly. "And his name... is Harm Chronos."

For a second, the Wulfun could just stare at her for a long moment. He ran that name over and over his mind again and again. Then he recalled his birth certificate... actually, he had no idea what his birth certificate looked like. Klaus locked it up somewhere, unwilling for the media to discern the link between them. His passport definitely said 'Harm Chronos' though.

He burst out laughing. "Oh you have got to be kidding me! You think I'm this crazy Chronomancer who destroyed the Havenese fleet and did all that shit!? I lost my mom to that fucked up shitstorm you assholes couldn't contain! In fact..." Harm got up and swiped his Telecube from Tanar's paws. Quickly he dialled Jerry's number. "Look, this is my brother."

Jerry appeared... all of him appeared. Harm let out a soft 'eep' as his brother flashed him a grin. Jerry threw him a thumbs up and pounded the girl he had beneath him, their lusty moans filling the dark inn room broken only by Jerry's dirty talk.

"Fuck yeah! Take it you bitch!"

He quickly hung up and stared at the others. Aria's eyes were wide while Andy was scribbling something hastily on his notepad.

"I swear, that wasn't a video! That was my brother!"

In retrospect, he should have known better than to call Jerry of all people. Considering how he was partying just a few hours ago, there had been a nine out of ten chance he was going to get laid. At least he wasn't sandwiched between two guys this time or Harm would have had to endure the scrutinizing gaze of the Templar and his own arousal.

Tanar moved off the bed, his tail brushing against Harm's leg lightly. The bed sighed in relief from the massive wolf's weight leaving it. "Perhaps it is just a happy coincidence. This Harm Chronos looks nothing like the one that assaulted the Gate Cathedral a week ago. That Chronos was a foot shorter and definitely wasn't as well built as this one."

Relieved to have someone on his side, Harm said, "See! He agrees with me!"

Sadly, Aria did not seem convinced and it was she who held the most authority, it seemed. Still, she said, "Very well. Sorry to have bothered you, Harm Chronos. Enjoy your stay on Incendius. Do not wander out into the night. The streets are far more dangerous than those on Haven."

"With guys like you patrolling the streets? Somehow I doubt it."

The three paused and gave him a surprised look.

Okay, that probably wasn't wise.

"The ghost made me say it!" he exclaimed.

Tanar shook his head. "I have no idea if you're being serious or not."

"It's one of my superpowers."

Andy's soft, blue eyes brightened. "You have superpowers?"

"Oh yeah. What? You think just talking to the dead is my only trait? That'd make me a pretty lame hero." Seeing Tanar's confused expression and Andy's blissfully innocent one, Harm switched his gaze to Aria's. The Angel's amethyst eyes locked with his and for a moment, he saw their pupils dilate.

"He is joking," she said, turning around. "Have a pleasant evening... Harm Chronos."

He winced. Just the way she said his name made him seriously doubt he had seen the last of them. When the door shut, he collapsed into his bed, the scent of the enormous wolf that had lain there making him gag. Still, he was too tired and far too annoyed to do something about it.

He had enough energy for one thing, though.

"Not a word!" he barked, pointing at the corner.

The bloody, white-feathered girl there just shrugged. "I wasn't going to say a thing."

*****

Having a brother like Jerry meant Harm was no stranger to being drunk... or hangovers. But what really annoyed him this particular morning was that he hadn't had a drop of alcohol the previous night and it felt like he had downed an entire keg. His head pounded like there was a drum solo being played continuously inside his skull, his tongue felt fuzzy and thick and his muscles ached terribly. Nothing was worse than an undeserved hangover.

The Wulfun grumbled as he staggered over to his suite's private bathroom, thanking the gods for Incendian indoor plumbing. He doused himself in a warm shower before realising he hadn't taken off his clothes. Growling at himself, he just let his clothes soak for a good long while so that the water could get into his fur and he could wash off the blood from the previous night. Once he was satisfied, he peeled off the wet clothing and let them sit at the bottom of the shower stall while he scrubbed his tall, muscular frame.

As he ran the sponge through his fur, trying to make sure the shampoo and conditioner got through his short coat, a strange sensation hit his spine. He sighed and pressed his head against the shower's walls. It was an open stall in the middle of his en suite. No barriers to separate it from the rest of the bathroom save for a low wall anyone could step over to prevent stray droplets of water from hitting the rest of the shower floor.

"You getting off on this?" he growled.

"You are a fantastic specimen of a Wulfun," the girl admitted.

He snarled at her from where she sat on the toilet, her feet swinging lightly in the air. "Can't I get a moment of privacy, here? I'm in the shower!"

"Okay. I'll leave." She jumped off the seat and passed through the door.

"Thank you," he muttered.

He turned towards the showerhead, angling it down so that it could sprinkle water across his broad, chiselled chest. The water washed away all the suds that clung to the grey crest across his chest that formed a distinct cross, following the lines of his pecs and travelling directly down the ridges of his abdominals.

"Why is the fur over your groin grey when your hair is brown?"

"Whaaaa!" Harm leapt straight for the towel and snatched it up, covering his private parts as the girl stood behind the shower, regarding him curiously. "For fuck's sake! What happened to giving me some privacy!?"

"I gave it to you," she answered innocently. "Didn't you like it?"

Growling at her, he switched off the shower and tied the towel around his waist. He growled a little as it barely reached his knees. He made a note to talk to the clerk about having Wulfun-sized towels in this place. He yanked out his clothes from the floor of the shower and laid them out on the sink. Wracking his brain for inspiration, he held out his paws over them before muttering, "Vestimenta arida."

Miraculously, the clothes began instantly to dry up. Within seconds, they looked like they had been freshly dried and smelled of roses. At least the grease that had clung to them had somewhat been washed away... or merged with the fabric even more. Harm didn't care, he threw on the clothes, taking extra care not to expose any incriminating parts of the little girl that constantly tailed him. Once he was done, he reached into the pocket of his deep, navy-blue cargo pants, pulling at a golden chain that hung to the rim of the garment. It was still slightly wet but as he pulled at it, he took out the golden pocket watch with the words 'Zero Hour' written across the back.

He flicked it open.

The hands were still frozen at 12 midnight like it always was. On the opposite face, engraved in cursive writing were the words, 'The time is now.'

"What's that?" the girl asked.

"You're the omniscient, omnipresent ghost." He snapped the watch shut and marched out of the en suite. "You tell me."

He slammed the door behind him but, naturally, the girl just passed through and watching him put on his heavy, military boots.

"I'm neither of those things. What is that watch?"

Harm sighed as he finished with his boots and plucked his jacket from where it rested at the foot of his relatively undisturbed bed. "It was a gift from my best friend, Daniel. He gave it to me when I first got shipped onto the Lasting Armageddon."

"Was he special to you?"

Harm picked up his Telecube from the bedside table, switching it to the movie mode where he watched a younger version of himself grinning and waving at the camera alongside Daniel. "He was my best friend. Figure it out." He shook the device and pocketed it.

He gave her a quick, agitated flick of his tail, put on his jacket and stormed out of the room. It took him a second to realise that it was fairly early in the day. Still, the breakfast buffet was ready.

The smell of bacon, eggs, pancakes and fresh fruit made his mouth water. Freshly baked bread pulled him instinctively towards the bakery section where he flashed his room key and they let him pick out any pieces of bread he wanted. He got two honey crusted almond loaf slices. Some Incendian sausages, a small stack of pancakes and a dozen slices of bacon later, he was seating himself near one of the windows staring out into the Clockwork morning. The salty taste of the cured meat mixed with the sweetness of the bread and butter-covered pancakes soothed whatever worries he held.

That is, of course, until a cheery Leomian sat right next to him, giving him a light shove of the shoulder and a cheery grin. "Morning, Harm!" The massive gauntlet that had consumed the Initiate's right arm was gone. In its place was a normal arm to match his right and a jagged, dark pauldron that seemed to contrast against the white and gold one he wore on his left shoulder; the mark of an Initiate.

Tanar seated himself behind Harm. Even on his belly, the wolf was incredibly large, his head easily clearing the height of the table. Sharp, blue eyes just like Andy's stared at him.

The Wulfun sighed and then broke into a smile. "You know what?" he asked, waving a slice of bacon. "I am not going to let you guys get to me today. This is the first official day of my holiday. I'm in the city that has been described as an 'engineer's wet dream'. Neither of you or your creepy angelic Templar are going to bring down my mood."

He tossed the slice of bacon at Tanar who gobbled it up eagerly. "Thank you," muttered the wolf.

Harm fixed the lupine with a faint smile and offered him a pancake. "What are you exactly, if you don't mind me asking? I've never known wolves to be so big."

Tanar, took the edge of the pancake in his muzzle and gently lowered it on the ground between his paws. "I am a Dire Wolf."

"Dire Wolves aren't usually as intelligent as you... are they?"

"Secret Church initiative. 'Artificial Paladin Program.' Attempted to create Paladins by forcing Valours onto otherwise incompatible members of the Church." The Dire Wolf bit down on the pancake, nodding his approval. With a full muzzle, he said, "After the disaster five years ago, we lost a lot of people. The Church was desperate to refill its ranks. Since Valours are indestructible, they try to force ones that have lost their Paladins onto others." The Dire Wolf smacked his lips loudly. "I was one of the lucky ones. Can I get another pancake, please?"

Harm lifted the small jug of maple syrup. "Syrup?"

"Please."

He poured a healthy helping onto his stack and offered the top pancake to Tanar. "Why are you telling me this if it's a 'secret Church initiative'?"

The smile on Tanar's muzzle was far from encouraging. "Come now, you're smart. You know how this goes. You're the reluctant hero. Andy is the hyperactive know-it-all. I'm the down-to-earth, warrior with a cuddly soft spot and Aria is the girl that gets to die first and, with her last breath, utter 'I told you so'."

Ignoring the fact that Tanar had just flagged a Templar to 'die first', Harm was not too pleased with that assessment. "Hold on. I never agreed to anything. I thought I made it perfectly clear last night that I am, in no way, that guy."

Tanar shrugged and munched on his pancake loudly. "You can't help it. I can see it in your eyes. You're going to join us whatever the case. It's destiny."

Harm pointe a fork at him, interestingly one that had speared a sausage. "Oh no! This isn't destiny! This is conscription! Actually, I'll go one step further! This is kidnapping." It occurred to him that Andy hadn't said anything throughout the entire conversation and he turned towards the Leomian. A big notepad sat beside the Initiate and he was scribbling everything Harm said and even describing his tone. "Stop that!" he snapped, swiping the pen away from Andy's grip. "And I am not being confrontational!"

"Don't fight it," Tanar laughed softly. "You know you're going to end up joining us in the end. If only to find out who the real Harm Chronos is."

"I am the real Harm Chronos!" he barked back.

Okay, he thought hastily, I just said I wouldn't let them get to me. Now they are. It's just stupid Church mind tricks.

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he focused on his rapidly cooling breakfast. Without saying a word, he pulled his headphones over his ears, put on an extremely loud track and began eating. Even the delicious crunch of the bacon was drowned out by the high energy music. The world became simple again. Just the food, the music and the automatic movement of his arm that lifted his fork to his muzzle. Andy's incessant scribbling, Tanar's attempts to engage him in conversation and even the creepy girl sitting on the edge of the table staring intently at him all vanished as he finished his meal.

Harm downed a glass of milk to finish off his breakfast and stacked his plates together. As he got up, Andy reached forward and pulled the headphones from his ears. At that point, he had sufficiently mellowed out and regarded the Leomian with a surprisingly serene gaze.

"Where are you going?" Andy asked.

"To brush my fangs and then probably head out for a run."

"A run?"

Harm placed his plate on a dirty tray being carted around by a maid. "I don't know how you Paladins keep fit but for grunts like me have got to exercise."

"I'll come too! I've got to walk Tanar."

The Dire Wolf flashed the Leomian a piercing stare. "You don't walk me. You get to walk me."

Harm held up his paws, pulling his headphones halfway to his ears. "Oh no. Things blow up when Paladins are nearby. I am not going on a run with you guys."

Placing his headphones back on ended the conversation and he quickly jogged back up to his room, still feeling a little hungry despite the colossal meal he had consumed. He didn't give his voracious appetite any further thought as he headed back to his room. The entire time he had his headphones in place, utterly ignoring the presence of the small Avios girl that tried to block his way.

When he had his music blaring, the world just became a blur and he was able to break down his tasks into simple, manageable bits. It was like he could see the world as a single machine and he could focus on each working segment, making it work to his advantage as he moved through the cogs and gears, tweaked this bolt, adjusted this gear and pushed this lever. Every action he took was small and he could see its results. All the pieces fit together and he had all the time in the world to address one problematic segment of the machine. Andy, Tanar, the Templar and even the little girl were other malfunctioning bits he could get to when he wanted.

He brushed his fangs mechanically, left the hotel in the same fashion and began a brisk jog through the city. There was no time or any need to take in the beauty of Clockwork. He would get to that later. Right now, he needed a second of just... simplicity.

One thing stood out and broke his trance, however.

In short... a giant, eternal dick.

Harm stood at the central plaza which housed Clockwork's trademark clock tower. Through his haze of running gears and twisting cogs, the tower stood out in full, lightly haloed by the Sun Spire's light. A small smile touched Harm's features as he gently pulled his headphones from his ears. The sounds of the city came rushing back towards him like a wave of sound but he ignored it, his eyes up on the tower.

It was magnificently crafted, typical Temporal architecture. Vaguely rectangular in shape, the tower rose well above the other structures of Clockwork, made of a jet-black, glossy stone like obsidian but hard as diamond and when struck, it reverberated like metal. The edges of the carefully crafted pillars that lined the tower were made completely out of gold and the motif of cogs and hour hands of clocks decorated the flanks. Ever since the Purge of Time, the Church had attempted to retrofit the tower with decorations to hide its Chronomancer origins. Statues of the Sun Goddess Apollia were erected at the base and banners of red and white that signified Incendius hung from its many gears. At the top of the tower was an enormous wire frame of a clock face. Its hands were frozen at the one minute before midnight. Hanging on either side of the tower were two, enormous bells that had never been rung as the tower was permanently Time Locked.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

Harm turned to his right.

A smaller Wulfun stood beside to him, probably just about 6'5''. His white fur glistened with an unnatural sheen and his features were set in a gentle smile. The white scarf around his neck billowed in the wind. He was finely dressed. The brown vest he wore was gilded with gold and the white shirt beneath hugged his athletic figure. His formal attire was broken by his red and white sneakers but redeemed by his dark blue, pinstriped slacks.

"Yeah," Harm admitted, gazing back up at the tower. "Hard to think that this was made by the Chronomancers..."

"Is it really so hard?" asked the Wulfun. "Chronomancers had a fixation on Time. That's a clock tower. Have you seen any other clocks on Incendius?"

"You mean apart from the digital ones on the starships?"

The Wulfun laughed softly. "Touché."

The bells atop the tower sudden chimed loudly, its thunderous toll ringing all throughout Clockwork and making everyone freeze. Harm regarded the tower in shock, watching in awe as the minute hand began twitching... and its second hand began ticking away slowly around its orbit.

"What the...?"

"Would you look at that," the Wulfun laughed, his golden eyes filled with mirth. "Over two and a half thousand years of lying dormant and only now does it decide to wake up. Must mean something."

Harm watched the clock tower for a long moment, his jaw slowly dropping open as the second hand completed a full rotation and the minute hand flicked to indicate a minute had passed.

How...?

He turned towards the Wulfun... but found himself staring at nothing. A crowd began amassing, all of them pouring in from various corners of Clockwork to stare at the marvel before them. There was no sight of the Wulfun with the scarf.

"Screeeeeee!"

Sharp, rusty claws dug into the depths of Harm's ears and raked across his eardrums. He was driven to his knees, clutching his ears and crying out in agony. The chorus of screams from those around him did nothing to lessen to terrible cry that came from high above them. Somehow, he managed to angle his head upwards and nearly fell back in horror at the sight before him.

Dark, gaseous tendrils came bursting out of the clock tower like missiles covered by black gas. They twisted and curled in the air in a dizzying dance. Ominous thunderheads came streaming out of nowhere, blotting out the light of the Sun Spire. The shadows came shooting downwards towards the plaza, striking the ground with a thunderous boom and another wave of deafening screeching. Those too close to the impact were thrown into the air. Some invisible force caught their bodies and directed them straight towards nearby lampposts. Their bodies gave off a sickening crack as their spines were impaled on the sharp, metal poles.

Harm tore his eyes from the gruesome sight and gawked as the gaseous mass gave way to a terrible winged creatures... that quickly dissolved into another flurry of darkness. The figure that stepped out of the darkness was beautiful, regal and held a composure of utter elegance. She had long, blood-red hair that was swept back behind her long, pointed ears that stretched well past her angled head. Her supple, pale skin glistened in the dim light of the overcast. The dress she wore did wonders for her figure but its silken, pink frills were broken by the hideous, scaly claws that jutted out of her fingers.

"Vampiri," he whispered softly.

The woman was joined by two others dressed like her. More missiles of darkness exploded into the plaza and more shot out from the clock tower, streaming to various corners of the city. From those emerged heavily armoured Vampiri, each one was dressed in the blood red armour of their kind lined with silver.

The first Vampiri to appear scowled, her supple, rosy lips peeling back to reveal wicked fangs. "What a bore." Despite those gruesome claws, he managed to yawn rather delicately, even tapping her lips lightly. The future became increasing apparent to Harm and he saw a single order from this woman that would spell the doom for anyone standing within the plaza.

Harm pulled himself from his shock and quietly began creeping backwards through the crowd.

"Well?" the woman asked, her voice suddenly becoming shrill. "What are you all waiting for?" All the Vampiri soldiers around them snapped to attention. "Kill them."

Called it!

Harm immediately flung around and dove past the Vampiri soldier that had been blocking the street. He dove for the ground, rolling nimbly forward and using the gathered momentum to propel himself down the street. The soldier shouted after him and began to give chase. Vampiri were normally supernaturally faster than most Wulfuns but dressed in such heavy armour, they were only slightly faster.

Come on! Where are those goddamn Paladins when you need them!?

The screams of all those citizens being slaughtered by the Vampiri suddenly brought down an epiphany.

Oh wait... They're probably going to go where all the people are dying_._

Good job, Chronos, you just happen to run away from the one place you're safest!

Something exploded behind him.

Or... maybe running to your doom might have been preferable.

Grunting, in frustration, he ruffled his hair angrily.

Okay! Fine!

The Wulfun quickly jerked towards the right, diving into a nearby, dark alleyway. The smell of urine and garbage assaulted him. Stifling a gag, he spun around, facing his pursuer. The Vampiri blocked the exit even though there was a perfectly good path leading to an adjacent street behind Harm. Clad in blood-red armour, the Vampiri drew a wicked looking halberd, its blades shaped like bat wings.

"Do you guys ever get tired of the whole bat motif thing?" Harm asked, reaching into his pocket. He gripped his pocket watch and flicked it open. A brief glance told him the hands were still frozen in the same place.

The soldier was unresponsive and advanced slowly.

"I - I - I mean, you guys are already half bat, right? Don't you think you've got enough 'bat' in your system?"

Another step forward. Harm swallowed hard as he steeled himself, clutching the watch tightly.

"Not much of a conversationalist, huh?" he said with a shaky smile. "Can I just say something before I die?"

For a second, the Vampiri paused, his red eyes regarding Harm curiously. As the man nodded, Harm saw that his lips had been sewn shut. A chill of disgust rippled across his spine but he brushed it away as his claws scraped lightly against the surface of his golden pocket watch.

"The time is now, Zero Hour!" he cried.

Golden light exploded from the watch, lashing outwards in a dazzling display. It branched out into two streams, one latching itself onto Harm's left paw and the other firmly shooting upwards from his right. The light coalesced into a mighty, golden blade, its razor-sharp edges glistening with silver. Hilt and pommel were linked together by the large, ring guard that was shaped like the teeth of golden cogs. In his left paw, a golden gauntlet wrapped itself firmly around his fingertips and wrists, a clock face sitting at the back of his palm, quietly still at the midnight position.

Harm easily lifted the longsword, resting it against his left arm, the blade pressed against his gauntlet and pointing it straight at the Vampiri. He positioned his left foot in front of the right, crouching slightly with all his weight on his toes just like he had been taught.

The Vampiri's eyes widened and he peeled open his lips, blood breaking through the scabs. Only a muffled sound came from his throat, his severed tongue gurgling deep in his mouth.

"Bet you wish you could scream, huh?" Harm growled.

The Wulfun charged forward, sweeping his sword - Zero Hour­ - out to his right. The blade cleaved right through the alleyway's walls with ease. Where the blade passed, black dust erupted, seemingly disintegrating the hard wood and plaster with just a touch. He had crossed half the distance between himself and the Vampiri before the soldier began lifting his halberd. Harm pivoted on his right foot and swung his left out wide, catching a nearby trashcan and sending it hurtling towards the Vampiri. The soldier instinctively ducked but had to lower his ungainly weapon to do so.

Harm crossed the last few steps between them, seizing the man's face with his gauntlet. Bright red eyes stared up at him in horror, maybe even pleading slightly. He just growled back, flashing his fangs and drove Zero Hour right into the man's chest.

The Vampiri went rigid. Flesh, bone and metal began to disintegrate. Like a horrible virus, the matter around the wound began to blacken, the infection spreading wildly across the man's body. Harm pulled the blade away from the soldier, letting heavy metal greaves clank onto the ground before they too turned into black dust and were blown away in the winds.

He never realised he had been panting.

He also didn't realise he was being watched until he turned his gaze towards the alleyway entrance.

Andy and Tanar stood there, jaws wide open.

"Oh fuck me..."

*****

"You have a Valour!?"

Harm growled at the Leomian as he spun around and stormed away in the opposite direction. He heard the Leomian scramble after him. Tanar was suddenly on the other side of the alleyway, blocking his exit.

"So what if I do?" he barked back.

"And you learned its activation phrase all by yourself?"

"I didn't learn it. It was written on the damn thing." Harm quickly checked his gauntlet. The hands had moved. It now showed the time was six thirty-seven and it was ticking down. Instead of a row of zeros showing the year, however, it showed 44 years, 8 months and 21 days.

Andy was suddenly in front of him, reaching for Zero Hour. He quickly yanked it away, holding his left paw over it for added protection.

"Don't touch it!" he growled.

"Why not?"

"Didn't you see what happened to that guy? Anyone who touched the sword gets..." He stopped himself.

"What?" Andy insisted, his eyes wide and inquisitive. "They get what?"

Tanar sniffed loudly. "They get their Time drained out of them and added into that neat little gauntlet he's wearing."

Harm's eyes fell on his left gauntlet and twisted it away so that the clock face wasn't so obvious.

"That's it, isn't it?" Tanar asked sternly. "Your Valour is a Time-based Valour. Perhaps the only one in existence."

The Wulfun growled loudly and quickly flicked his wrists. Zero Hour and its accompanying gauntlet vanished in a burst of golden light. Once again, a golden pocket watch was resting in his paws, showing the same time as his gauntlet.

"Yes, okay?" he muttered. "It was given to me by my best friend... I don't think even he knew what it was. Bloody thing's been nothing but trouble ever since I got it. Church rats are always after me, Inquisitors always pestering my family for traces of a Valour and time always acts all fucked up around me. It's one of the reasons I had to serve on a ship. No Inquisitors, no questions asked and no one cares."

Tanar plodded up next to Harm, sniffing the watch. "Why don't you just get rid of it?"

"I... can't."

"Valours pick their wielders," Andy said. "It's destiny."

"It's my fucking guilty conscience," Harm snarled back. He shook the pocket watch in front of Andy's face. "Daniel gave this to me and the goddamn demons that attacked Haven five years knew what the fucking thing was! They came after us because of it!"

Harm felt more than saw Tanar's eyes wide in understanding. Perhaps it was a wolf thing. He just knew the Dire Wolf understood.

"That's why I can't get rid of this fucking thing... It was a gift... from him..." His eyes flicked back up to Andy and then towards Tanar. "Neither of you can say anything about this. Especially not to your Templar friend."

Andy winced loudly.

"What?" Harm demanded.

A supple, gloved hand snuck out from somewhere behind Harm and gently plucked Zero Hour from his fingers. A chill ran down his spine as Aria Valkyrie stepped up beside him, examining the golden watch.

"I have never seen a Valour undergo such a drastic transformation upon activation before," she admitted, amethyst eyes bright with... was that warmth? "Most Valours merely activate a hidden compartment or sprout extra, magical components. But yours undergoes a complete transformation from a simple pocket watch to a gauntlet and a sword. It has the power to drain an individual's Time as well, does it not?"

She locked gazes with him.

Damnit!

"Yes," he murmured, completely held under Compulsion.

"And what do you do with the Time you've stored?"

"Not much... If I get hurt, some of the Time is used up to heal my injuries. Massive toll though. A single scratch could take years off the supply."

"And once you run out of Time?"

"Years are stripped from my lifespan and I draw closer and closer to dying at the ripe age of thirty."

She frowned at him, one eye narrowing and the opposite eyebrow rising. "I have no idea if you are telling the truth or not." Aria leaned forward, their noses almost touching. "You honestly do not know, do you?"

A sheepish grin crawled onto his features. The effects of her Compulsion were strangely ebbing. From the corner of his eye, he saw the hands of Zero Hour rapidly spinning backwards. "I can honestly declare that I have no foreknowledge of not knowing any information pertaining to having not any information of what happens when I am injured after I run out of Time."

... I think...

Aria pulled back, surprised. "What?"

"He's saying that he has no idea," Andy translated.

Harm shot him a surprised look. "You got that?"

The Leomian grinned. "Nope. But you just confirmed it."

"Sonofabitch!"

Aria handed him Zero Hour once more. "You realise, of course, this means you must recruited into the ranks of the Church."

Harm rolled his eyes and slumped against the wall. "Oh great... Just what I need. My brothers are going to have a field day."

"One would think becoming a Paladin, a chosen of the Mother Goddess herself, is a great honour."

He snarled at her. "Are you kidding me? Paladins are chaste, stuck-up, glorified puppets of the Church! Never mind the fact that I'll have to spend the next eleven years trying to study on how to speak only from verses in religious scriptures and to dress in what has got to be the oldest fashion statement in the world" - Andy regarded his black cloak and frowned at that comment - "but I like sex! Hell, not even sex! I like masturbating! If I put on that cloak, it's like I'm pretty much putting my cock in exile and a butt plug up my ass so deep that you'll have to reach into another dimension to get to it!"

The Leomian smirked while Aria's eyes widened in incredulity. She looked like she was on the verge of spouting off some religious rant about the nobility of the Church but Tanar turned the tides with two simple questions.

"Butt plug? Are you gay?"

Harm's fur instantly went on edge, his tail fluffing out like he had been electrocuted. Realising what he had just said and what his body language might insinuate, he forced his tail down. "What!? No! Never! Of course not! Hell no!"

"That's one too many."

"Can I take one back?"

Tanar smirked. "No."

"Damnit!" Harm flashed the Dire Wolf a fierce stare. "Not. Gay."

"Uh-huh."

Desperate to flick the conversation away from himself, Harm spun towards Andy. "Okay, so you think becoming a Paladin is so good?"

A broad grin crossed the Leomian's features as he spread his arms. "Of course! It's the best! You get to go to every Station, explore every aspect of every culture and have unlimited resources at your fingertips!"

"You mean if you were a Paladin, Initiate" Tanar pointed out.

"Quiet you."

Harm didn't let their friendly banter deter him. "Great. So how often do you masturbate?"

"All the time!"

That made his tail fluff out even more and for Aria to exclaim Andy's name incredulously. The Leomian merely shrugged and said, "What? I'm not a Paladin."

"You've been an Initiate for twelve years!" Tanar exclaimed. "You're basically a Paladin!"

"But I'm not," answered the Leomian brightly, his tail flicking behind him and doing happy loops. "That means I get all the perks of being a Paladin and jack off whenever I want!" He winked at Harm. "Think about it."

"I'd rather not, thanks," Harm grumbled, pulling away even more. His eyes went back to Aria. "Come on, please... I don't want to be a Paladin. It's just not me. Jerry will be all up in my business over never having sex or getting a girl and Klaus will constantly remind me of how I've disappointed the family. Plus, I'm pretty sure the moment I take on that mantle, my parents are going to rise from their graves as zombies and fornicate in front of me in an attempt to show me 'what a real son' is like ."

The Templar was in deep consideration, completely ignoring his vivid imagery. Her steely, amethyst eyes focused on the distance. The screams and explosions of Clockwork around them didn't shake her deep contemplation. Harm was getting worried she had been shocked into unconsciousness by Andy's confession of chronic masturbation.

"Um... Lady Valkyrie?" he asked, waving a paw in front of her face.

Her hand snaked out, seizing his wrist in a vice-like grip. He gasped in agony. When she began twisting, he was forced onto his knees, muzzle open in a silent cry of pain.

"We cannot force people to join the Church," she said softly, releasing him in the same sentence. "But I would still like to enlist your aid in at least stopping this assault from the newly independent Vampiri nation."

"The what now?" he asked. Harm shook his head. "You know what? Never mind. If you promise that you won't ask me to join the Church again, I'll help you. Deal?"

Aria reached out with her hand. "Deal."

He shook her hand.