Like Clockwork: Chapter 8

That night after everything had calmed down and they finished dinner, Guy was in his workshop and Sara had gone upstairs to her room, tired. She could have gone with him to keep him company while worked, but she didn’t want to make him feel too uncomfortable. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get past the fact that he would always be distant in this manner. It was sad. She wanted to cry for him. So much was on his shoulders, while he dealt with the complete elimination of his family, as well as his fear for women.

Sara was standing on the small balcony connected to her room. It faced west, and the sun was just sinking over the water and the giant city of Grand Chokmah. It sent a blaze of red and orange across the sky, and reflected into the ocean. It seemed as if the sea was on fire. The burning sun, the dry landscape, the blood…

Tears started falling down Sara’s face. This had been why she moved to Grand Chokmah. The harsh rocky landscape of Sheridan brought back too many memories of that day when she had seen her family cut down before her very eyes.

Her gut clenched and her mouth felt dry and on fire. She choked out her tears, crumpling onto the stone floor on the balcony. “It’s so hard…mom…dad….Merrik, why did you…have to leave me.” Sara cried bitterly, holding her hand over her stomach as if letting go would mean spilling her insides out all over the floor.

The world had been too cruel. It took away the life she had always lived. Things would never be the same ever again. Living in Grand Chokmah had been like being born again. She was a new person. She wasn’t from Sheridan anymore. This was her life now, and she would make the best of it.

But she missed them so much. What did she ever do to deserve this? Things could only get better now. Already, she had been showed more kindness that she had ever imagined to receive. But it was as if she were really a new person now. Living in a manor, with a lord, colonel, and emperor as her new friends. They were all that she could ever want as friends and more, even if she had only known them a couple of days. Still, they wouldn’t fully be able to replace the hole in her heart that caused her nightmares almost every night.

“…Sara?”

She jumped, sniffing and wiping away her tears, and turned around to see Guy standing in her doorway, looking sad and concerned.

“I…I’m sorry, do you want me to leave?” He asked her as he looked her in her bloodshot eyes.

Her head screamed to say yes. She couldn’t bear crying in front of others. She didn’t want him to see her like this, so unhappy and broken. It was like her innermost secret, that the happy, smiling, and humble girl could be so depressed inside.
“Don’t…leave…” She finally said, trying to catch her breath. Sara shook her head at him. He gave her a curt nod, and closed the door behind him, and walked over to her.

Sara stood up, and wiped away the rest of her stained face, trying to act as if everything was normal. He stood watching, his face like a stern mask, as he stood a few feet away next to one of the chairs by the bed.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked, motioning to the bedside.

She shook her head again, but went to go and sit on the bed as he sat himself down in the chair.

“Just…just talk about something. Anything. I don’t care, I just don’t want to cry anymore.” Sara sniffed.

Guy’s eyes held understanding. She could tell that at one point in his life he had realized for himself that crying was pointless, and the only thing one could do to stop was to direct their mind elsewhere. She had cried enough for her family. She wouldn’t want to disappoint them and continued mourning. They would want her to keep them in her heart, remember, and move on.

A reassuring smile crossed his face. He was happy about something. She hoped it would cheer her up as well.

“Michelle. She’s finished. I used a bit a magic I learned about fon machinery and fon dolls to bring them artificial life. It’s amazing, she can actually walk.”

Sara’s eyes shot open, and she stared at him, surprised. Tears slowly stopped, and she wiped her face. “Really!? That’s great! Show her to me!”

Guy smiled wider, happy to see her excited. They left the room in a hurry, rushing down the flight of stairs and down the west hall into his workshop. When he opened the door, Michelle was sitting on the floor in a small rag for a dress. She looked up at the two humans standing in the doorway and blinked.

“Michelle!” Guy called. She blinked again. “Michelle, come here.”

Slowly, the doll leaned forward, and pushed herself up. Her movements were a bit rigid at first, but smoothed as she took one step, then two, towards them.

Sara smiled, and kneeled down. “Good job!” She praised, taking the doll’s hands in hers and shaking them up and down.

Michelle opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

“Ah…she’s been trying to speak, but I’m not quite sure how to engineer a vocal simulation device…maybe I can talk to Jade about it. He may know something about fon dolls and how they work.”

Sara looked up at him, confused. “I’ve never seen or heard of fon dolls before. What are they?”

“A long time ago, back in Yulia’s age, before the crust was raised and the Outerlands were separated from the Qliphoth, and when fontech was highly advanced, they had machines that came alive and protected the people. The knowledge about them was almost completely lost, but I’ve seen a few with my own eyes, in ruined places where I had visited in my travels. I had come up with the idea of creating one of my own for fun, you know, just for the sake of fon machinery. But then I had the idea to make her a girl, and in working with her I’d become less afraid of women.”

“Well, what do you think? Has it helped? Have you gotten any better since before you started working on Michelle?” Sara asked, standing up.

Guy chuckled, scratching behind his neck nervously and stepping back a step. “Ah, I think I’ve improved, but certainly not completely.”

Sara gave him a weak, crooked smile. “Well, keep working at it.”

He sighed heavily, nodding his head. She didn’t need to tell him, he already knew. But it only made situation that more serious.

Then there came an awkward silence as Guy looked up at Sara’s faintly pink face.

“Maybe…I could h-…” Sara started to say, but was cut off by a convenient knock on the door. Both of them turned with a start. Bernard was standing in the doorway as Guy opened the door.

“A letter just came in from Master Luke.” The butler announced as he handed Guy the letter in his hand. Guy took it, interest glowing in his eyes. “Thank you.” He replied and closed the door as he opened the letter with one hand.

Taking out the paper inside and unfolding it, he started to read. Sara watched as his eyes went back and forth. Then suddenly his eyes stopped and grew a little bit wider. He read it over slowly, and stole a quick glance up at her, but she caught his eyes. His face turned slightly pink as he finished the letter.

“…w-what is it? Did something happen?” Sara said, her head tilting to one side.

“…Ahh, not exactly. Heh, just my best friend, being stupid.” Guy said, laughing, and folding up the letter and putting it in his pocket. “A-anyway, I think I’m going to retire for the night. I’ll see you in the morning, Peony gave me the day off tomorrow, for some reason…” He muttered the last part under his breath. He knew exactly why. The emperor certainly had a keen interest in his personal life.

“O-okay…I’ll see you, then…goodnight.” Sara said, watching him open the door.

“Yes, goodnight. And sweet dreams.” Guy said, giving her a bright, innocent smile before leaving.

When he had walked up the stairs and was almost to his bedroom, Guy pulled out the letter and read it over again.

Dear Guy,

Two weeks. I know. It’s soon. Very short notice. But there were so many conflicts with the dates we wanted.  Since basically all the royalty of the world will be there, we had to keep from conflicting with any important political dates and such. It was either two weeks from now, or in a year and a half.

I enclosed the wedding invitation, and also, I need to tell you I’m sorry. You’re going to need to bring a date with you. I just don’t want you sitting all alone while everyone is dancing, you know? Haha. Maybe Peony could dress up as a woman, and you could take him? Hah, on second thought, that would just be disturbing.

So the wedding will be in the afternoon, at Yulia City. The season is perfect, and there won’t be any storms coming, so the sky will be beautiful. You’d better arrange your boat ride soon.

I won’t be able to write any more letters, now. All my free time will be in planning. So I’ll see you then, and good luck.

~Luke

Now sitting on his bed, Guy let out a heavy sigh as he pictured Sara in a beautiful evening gown in pale blue and soft white, accenting her sparkling eyes…

How was he supposed to ask her?