The Return of the Beloved Son

The Guardians

The clock tower stood tall. It barely surpassed the height of the trees, it was lucky that Ken was able to see its glowing face the night before. With newly found determination, all three members of the group made their way toward the tower.

Oki was panting after having to crawl under a large amount of branches that stood in their way, "How much...how much farther?" He stretched his back and pressed against it with his one good hand to crack it.

Rem looked at the clock face in the distance, trying to come up with an estimate time on which they would arrive, "Ummmmm....Rem wants to say 5 hours," she squinted her eyes, "but it looks more like 6."

Oki closed his eyes, "Alright, that's it. Carry me, Ken." He spread out his arms and started to fall backwards towards Ken.

"Hell no!" Ken summoned a wall of ice between them. When Oki hit the wall, he slumped down onto it, causing his neck to touch the ice.

"Coldcoldcoldcoldcold!" Oki jumped away from the wall, his neck freezing.

Rem smiled, enjoying the sight of her two friends getting along one way or another. They were different, yet they were also the same. Oki was big and muscular while Ken was small and skinny. Oki was a big softie while Ken was a man hardened in life's struggles. Oki had grown to fight, but didn't like it, Ken had also grown to fight, and got a thrill from it. Oki complimented while Ken mainly criticized. Despite all these differences, they saw true friendship in each other that Rem never thought could be possible, and it made her happy.

The two may not see each other as the bestest of friends, but in truth they trusted each other more than anyone else in the world. Oki usually did what Ken advised him to do, while Ken followed Oki, mainly to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, and also advise him otherwise when he does do something stupid.

.

.

Oki fell to his knees in front of the clock tower, "YES! WE MADE IT!"

Ken walked past Oki, "We're not done yet, now we gotta get inside."

The tower was roughly 300 feet tall with a square base of 60 foot sides. A clock face was located on each side, glowing slightly in the bright sun. People in Subaru's world would say it resembled the looks of the clock tower in England, Big Ben.

[AN: I've never been up close to a clock tower so don't judge me.]

Moving around the clock tower, Ken found a massive door. Mechanical gears and pistons made up the door, interlocking and packed together. Sections of the door held giant bars that kept the door shut. There was no handle on the door, but a small circular plated part of the door had a small key hole.

"We need a key." Ken looked around the door for any way to find a key on it. Surely, Subaru would've told Rem we would've need a key.

Going back around, Ken saw Rem feeding Oki bocco fruit. Oki gladly took them, eating an entire handful at once. "Hey, Rem! Did Subaru tell you about needing a key?"

Rem gave Ken a puzzled look, "No, Subaru-kun said no no such thing. Why?"

Ken put a finger up, "Umm, no reason.....I'll be right back." He went back to the entrance door. Looking intently at the door, Ken began touching parts of it they he wondered moved. A puzzle maybe? Can I move this? No. This? No. Please. No. Damn it. No, no, no. In frustration, Ken kicked the dirt beneath him, his foot rubbed against a weird material. Looking down, he saw a blue tint in the brown dirt.

Ken began digging feverishly. A blue mat was revealed as Ken removed the dirt covering it. To his surprise, it was a welcome mat. A black text was on the blue mat, saying WELCOME.