Chapter Text
Sitting.
Watching.
Day after day.
Year after year.
The watchman stays.
Why? No one is sure. No one seems to care anyway unless they want to pass the border straight to the sphere.
However, it always seems as if it doesn’t want to be known. It doesn’t want people to cross up anyway. Yet, the spherites always manage to pass down. Some manage to live, many die as they hit the ground from the fall. The watchman stays unmoving, head unseen, still as a tomb.
When certain people had fallen, the watchman rarely noticed them. Sometimes it lets the people pass and live to the next day if the ground lets the sphereite live. It can sense the power of someone, or it’s simply daydreaming and lets them pass. Many cast down have nothing of the sort, so it’s no reason for them to live past the border.
Few have taken notice of that. Even if they did notice they are called crazy, or call themselves crazy for thinking it. Watchman isn’t a sentient being with a soul, eyes, organs or any of that, right?
No one knows its age, how long it’s been there, its purpose. Or the fact it was once a human. Still technically is one in many ways. It feels, it breathes, it reacts just as one when provoked or introduced to a form of stimuli. Why is that? Well it’s a giver of course! Why else would it have taken that form… Why would there be this magical border and a sphere in the heavens? Many groundlings never noted that, or seemed to care. Just hated the sphere for throwing junk at them, polluting their air and squashing people with trash.
The watchman knows this. Always has. They remember everything before they were who they were now. Why not go back to remember that past on their break time where no being disturbs them?
👁✴
It was a warm day. Really warm. Recently, a new thing formed in trash heaps the groundlings formed, far from huge towns. It was done for generations, because trash was hard to get rid of. No one liked the smell close to their homes anyway, unless you lived in a small tribal village and somehow just were born immune to that stench.
Recently, something had formed in those heaps. It was a terrifying beast, travelers and the merchants were talking about in scared tone while coming into town. A beast of sorts had formed in the mountains of trash. Everyone was in shock, terrified even. How could it possibly have happened? A small group of people head out to go check it. Supposedly they’re the strongest of the town… or whatever. The watchman and their friend were hanging out on one of the tallest buildings the town had. Other people were there as well. It was a normal hangout spot, where people would get high from a plant they had found or brew something unimaginable to modern people. It was the community's place.
“You know what would make life better..?” Their friend says as he writes in that little book thing he always had. He never told them what he ever wrote in there but he’d blab on about the old gods that would roam the ground. He always sounded insane
“What?” They say with a small tilt of their head. They’ve both been drinking then, so the world was a little wobbly, and neither of them could really keep their heads up anyway.
A small silence hung between them as he finished writing
“A new world.” He says as he turns the book, showing a sphere like shape and his crazy writing that they could never read without his help. It was very messy indeed.
“What?” they say with disbelief. Their eyes marked with x’s wide open
“You heard me, c’mon! It would save us from that beast or whatever the people around here yack on about. We’ll also get away from the crazy people!” He says with a huge smile and an overjoyed tone
“That’s impossible, you know it” They say with an annoyed tone
He grumbles at their response and closes his book
“Ya know… Your jinki can make it possible”
He already knew they would want a new world. The town treated them like a disgrace of sorts. Not really, but no one respected who they were. Not their name, not their identity. Nothing. It wasn’t one of those towns anyway. Not like they can remember their name now.
“..How?” They softly ask
“Your little jinki can attract stuff towards it. Your lucky necklace, with your jewel or whatever it is. Can’t you control the earth with it?” He says with a wide toothy grin. His teeth were crooked, they remember each way his teeth pointed, and how they caused him pain
“Yeah, but I hate using it. It makes people stare at me more than they usually do. It’s useless anyway” They say with an embarrassed face. Their hand finds their jewel necklace in their pocket. A light blue stone, aquamarine as they were told.
“It’s not useless! Jinkis are rare anyway, especially with that power! We can even make a buck by making scared rich people pay for a new world” He says with a mischievous tone
They give him a small look.
They nod “I guess. I mean, we do need the money. It’d let us be able to get a good home. What’s your plan?”
“We use your jinki to pull up the earth, keep it in the sky and let people who pay us a lot live up there! It keeps their paranoid minds safe, but to keep losers from getting in or out… I haven’t found out how to do that yet.” He says with a sigh. He opens back his little book and continues to write
“Well we won’t give refunds… and we can just get their money and not protect them?” They say with a soft tone
“We’ll figure it out when we actually do it. We can just get money and advertise for now… wanna go on a trip with the merchant guys? They’re about leave town soon anyway” He says as he stands up
They nodded their head yes, and so they were on their big trip.
👁✴
The watchman opens their eyes. They miss him. A lot. For the past 100 or so years (they have lost count), they’ve felt lonely. A deep want lingers in them. People aren’t brave enough to interact with them, nor does the watchman allow anyone.
Recently a man has been looking at them from afar, standing on a heap. So has his little buddies, they’ve noticed.
However, when they open their eyes today. The man stands a few yards in front of them.
No mask? Foolish man.
A man with white hair with black tips, weird red eyes, pale skin stands in front of them.
And he has a stupid ass outfit on.
“Hello.”
Brave enough to speak to them as well
“Can you get me to the sphere? You let sphereites fall down here. I’m curious to see it anyway.”
Foolish. Foolish. Foolish man.
“You have guts to speak to me, human” They say in agitated tone
His eyes widen
“Yeesh you sound like you’re sick. And sound like an old hag”
However, despite his insult. They don’t kill him
“Look I just want you to put some crazy anima into my prized possession. And let me pass freely through the border. Then allow my descendants to do the same thing as they have one or more of my objects. You get what I mean right?”
Honestly, they are shocked.
“I’ve been lonely recently. I need help with some things anyway. For your bravery. Why the hell not?”
The man smirks “Thanks. I’m Canis Surebrec… you got a name or something?”
“...Watchman. Call me that.”
“Nice to meet you, friend.”
He smirks. They move their skinny long arm from one of their knees. They stretch it out and open their hand. Then they place it on him. He passes out.
“Whoops. Too much anima.”