“I’m… not following time anymore, am I?” As the last sound left her lips, a giant tree composed entirely of luminescent silver came into view, larger than anything she’d ever seen in her life. Pulsing through it in time with the voices that melded together were colours from all over the spectrum. Branches upon branches split and spread out infinitely, streaks of silver finally fading into nothingness as they became too thin for the human eye to see. While she was focused on the grandeur of the whole scene, a sound like ruffling feathers caught her attention. Some dark form was sitting on one of the larger branches of the tree, and she watched as the form pushed off the branch to float slowly down towards her. She might have been mistaken, but she almost thought she saw nearly-transparent wings illuminated by the light of the tree. When the form was close enough, Kiki could discern that is was in fact a young man, but that’s all she managed because said man raised his hand and brought it down on her forehead in a rather harsh karate chop. Kiki stumbled backwards onto her butt in shock, holding her forehead. The man’s face was drawn into a terse frown.
“Took you long enough!” The voice was unmistakable; the same guiding person who’d been with her on her other trips into the strange realm.
“Y-You…! Why did you hit me?” She shot back up, noticing that the top of her head was just shy of reaching his shoulders.
“It took you thirteen years to realize all this! Thirteen years to recognize your birthright! In case you haven’t noticed, with time not actually passing here, I’ve technically been waiting an eternity for you!” All of Kiki’s anger dissipated and she pointed to herself with a tentative finger.
“Me? You’ve been waiting for me?” The man groaned.
“This is your domain, little Time-Shaper. You’re one of the few born Shapers that Earth has seen; of course I'd be waiting for you!" Kiki could only stare at him as she tried to process that. In fact, as she was staring, she managed to take in his appearance. His hair was a dark brown colour with what looked to be sandy-brown highlights, not unruly but it was not neat, falling past his ears and jutting outward at the nape of his neck. His clothing was simple; a long-sleeved black turtleneck over dark slacks with a silver-studded belt and two belts layered beneath that. He had a single earring clipped all the way up the edge of his right ear, a solid piece of metal with a graffiti hourglass engraved in it. His eyes were as dark as the night, but they shone almost forest green when the silver of the tree pulsed and brightened all the surroundings. When the man began to tap his feet, she was snapped out of her trance, looking up to see one of the man’s brows was quirked in anticipation.
“You barely look eighteen,” she murmured, earning herself a karate chop.
"Would you focus! I just said you were a Shape-" Rubbing her forehead, she looked up at the man and cut him off before he could even finish, curiosity getting the best of her.
"What are you? How old are you? Do you have a name?" Kiki couldn't be deterred, so the man sighed.
"I'm as old as that tree, but at the same time I'm only as old as you are in a sense. My name is..." He hesitated for only a second, "Chrono. My name is Chrono," he said with more conviction. It was obvious from her expression she wasn't so much curious as confused now, so Chrono continued. "I'm a time-spirit of sorts. I've always existed as a possibility, but until you were born, I'd never truly existed. I guess in that sense, you can think of me as a conscious form of your powers." Kiki blinked.
"So... I have time powers... That look like a borderline punk dude?" Another chop. "Nnnnngg!!" She held her head while Chrono shook his hand out.
"This is all over your head right now, but you'll understand soon enough. All you need to know is that I can guide you through your powers." Kiki didn't really know what else to do but nod before she pointed at the tree.
"So, the tree there..." Chrono glanced back at the iridescent form.
"Yes, the timeline."
"Why is time a tree?" She chirped. Chrono turned back to her.
"That's simply how your mind perceives time because the concept is a little too vast for your human mind." Kiki's brows furrowed.
"I thought I was a time-shaper."
"You are," he answered simply.
"But... I'm human?" Chrono nodded, closing his eyes and crossing his arms leisurely.
"You seem convinced the two have to be separate. It's simply that abilities like yours can manifest in two ways when they're born into a physical body. One, they can go towards becoming a 'spirit' on the time-line like myself, or remaining in the physical body. The only reason you have the pocketwatch is because a human body can't handle the stress of your abilities." Chrono cracked an eye open too see a shell-shocked look on Kiki's face and a completely blank look in her eyes. He grit his teeth. Yet another karate chop.
"Would you cut that out?!" She clutched her head and shouted, tears pooling in her eyes.
"Not unless you start paying attention and think about what I'm saying!"
"But how can the pocketwatch end up being related to my powers? It was my father's; he gave it to me!" Chrono shook his head.
"Your father knew your powers would stabilize in a human body, so as soon as he was able, he manifested them into an external form before they tore you apart."
"You know my father! Do you... know why..." The question stopped before it even finished as she kicked her foot out. Chrono glanced down at her sympathetically.
"I don't know anything more about your father. I'm bound to your pocketwatch, bound to your powers, not him." Kiki took a shaky breath and nodded.
"Okay... Uhm, this is kind of a lot for one day, how do I leave?" Chrono shrugged.
"Just leave. Let the power fade back into the pocketwatch, you'll know how." Kiki fidgeted and wrung her hands.
"Mmhmm... And how do I get back?" The question was extremely quiet and Chrono bent over a little to hear her better.
"Just press the button on the top of your pocketwatch and it will lead you back here." Kiki frowned and her voice cracked a little,
"But I've clicked the pocketwatch before and I've never come here." Chrono smiled slightly and reached out, touching his fingertips just below the point between her collarbones. Kiki glanced down at his hand in befuddlement.
"But you've never listened for my voice when you clicked the button, have you?" Kiki's eyes shot up to meet his, which were twinkling with his smile. "I'll lead you back at first, but soon you'll be able to arrive here without my help. For now, you should return to the real world." He pushed against her chest, and Kiki lurched forward; it was like all her energy had just been shoved out through her chest and came out her back. But, she was kneeling against solid pavement now, under a streetlight a few blocks from her house. She stood up a little uncertainly, her knees wobbling almost imperceptibly. Still, she turned to go back to her house, one hand wrapped tightly around the pocketwatch as her face split into a wide grin.
Well, this was quite the turn of events.
