Work Text:
Clockwork hummed in curiosity as he watched the timeline play out.
“Well this is an unexpected turn of events.”
He gestured to the air and a heavy worn book appeared in his grasp. With a flick of his finger, the pages flew open, eventually stopping at a specific page.
Cosmos
Clockwork’s eyes skimmed over the page that was now warping, the words skittering off the page as new ones arrived. For the moment though, he could still see the most important piece of text:
Obsession - Outer Space
A young boy of 14 ventures into an inactive portal to the Infinite Realms. Curious as to the science behind his parents' work, he does so while his family is away. While inside, he triggers the portal's activation sequence and dies. The portal fails to fully form, and the resulting ghost is stuck briefly in the mortal realm…
He could no longer read the rest of the text, but he had known the path of the boy's destiny well enough. His brother, Sojourn, would find and take the child on as his apprentice. Their Obsessions compliment each other well.
It seemed, however, that this was no longer the case. The words near the top of the page had shifted into place, the text having almost completely changed.
Danny Phantom
Obsession - Protection
Clockwork arched an eyebrow. The child's new Obsession was certainly an interesting turn of events.
A young boy of 14 ventures into an inactive portal to the Infinite Realms. While his family is away, his closest friends encourage the action. Once inside, he triggers the portal's activation sequence and dies. As his ghost begins to form, he hears his friends cry out for him. Due to an exceptionally strong need to help reassure and protect them, the ghost used the energy of the activated ectoplasm around him to bond to his mortal form, reviving it. The portal, having a stable anomaly to anchor to, forms and becomes a reliable entry point to the Realms.
The rest of the page continued to fill out, but what interested Clockwork the most were entire sections where the letters refused to settle into words, instead constantly shifting around.
“A liminal that can defy the course of time, how interesting.”
A smile spread across the ghost’s ever-changing face. Perhaps he could take on an apprentice instead of his dear brother.