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THE SKY WAS MISSING.
Lying on his back on a damp, cobbled street, it was the first thought that came to him. Smog blurred the air above him into just an amorphous sheet of white. Fog curled in the narrow passageway, shrouding the buildings with a blue-white veil. Building lights gleamed yellow through the mist, hundreds of square eyes watching their every move.
Mori couldn't tell the time of day. The last he'd remembered, it had been late afternoon.
Where am I?
With a start, everything came back to him. The tower crumbling, gears spinning out of control —
Mori bolted upright, heart hammering. He caught sight of Ren, unconscious on the ground beside him, and cursed.
"I must say, the two of you really know how to make an entrance."
Mori spun to face the unfamiliar voice. A boy about Ren's age lounged against wrought iron railings of the stone stairs opposite him. Shrouded in fog, he looked like a ghost: spindly limbs, white hair, pale skin. His arms were covered in tattoos. Mori traced the patterns along his forearms, from beneath the rolled-up sleeves of his dark jumper, right down to the silver bands glinting at his index and ring fingers.
Mori froze. His fingers reached for a timepiece at his waist and wound the screw. He heard it ticking, felt the mechanisms turning within, but—
— nothing.
Fear curled up in his stomach. "What did you do?"
"Me?" The boy vaulted over the railings and walked towards them. "Nothing. Your timepieces won't work on other worlds."
Mori's throat tightened. "Other..."
He shook his head. It couldn't be true. Ren said she'd been trying to delay the tower's collapse...
"You didn't know?" The stranger quirked an eyebrow. "This is pretty basic stuff. Ren didn't tell you?"
Add that to the list. Mori shook his head. More importantly, if they were on a different world, how did this stranger know Ren? And about the timepieces?
Unless...
"You're a clockmaker," Mori muttered.
The boy smiled, amusement in his dark eyes. "She didn't tell you about me either? That's just rude."
Beside him, Ren jerked upright, her wide eyes flicking around her surroundings. She hissed as she moved her leg, still cloaked in drying blood.
The stranger clapped his hands. "Ren, perfect timing! We were just discussing your apprentice's woeful lack of knowledge."
Ren stared at him for a few seconds, brow furrowed. "Argent...?"
Mori saw the realisation dawn slowly on her face. Her fingers gripped her knees. "Shit."
