He was there. He was always there. Why was he always there? That's something Clock wanted to know.

Every day, the same stag, the same grave. A smaller, tan-pelted deer, sitting at a poorly placed grave on the side of the Ruins. That grave hadn't been there for too long. The stag never said anything. Never even made a sound. No one ever talked to him. And he didn't talk to anyone. He just sat there.

Clock could sense that the tan stag was always thinking. He had the right look on his face, the same pensive look in his odd eyes. Even from a distance it was clear. Clock badly wanted to go up an ask why he sat there, who was buried there, and what he was thinking about. Thankfully, Clock knew better.

He eventually decided to leave well enough alone. And by that time, the stag stopped visiting the grave. It was strange. Clock felt strange. Why did he seem so important to him? Maybe he would find out soon.

Clock picked his way to the Twin Gods hill. It took a little time, since he was so achy from a recent beating, but he eventually got to the top. The two statues sat in their places, overlooking the forest on possibly the highest point in the area. They were very well placed. The brown teen sat himself down infront of the statue. He was still young. His pelt, though still a little light, was almost fully grown in. His antlers were still small, but they started to take a little shape. And he never decided on a mask, if any.

Thankfully, Stopwatch or his friends weren't around, so he could rest easy. If he knew he would have to go through this kind of fawn hood, he would've run away a long time ago. His family didn't seem to care at all, and his brother had no regard for maturity. Once he could live on his own, he could finally get away from all that. Maybe then his parents will know how to miss him once he's not there.

Clock had always wondered what his family would do if he died. It was a grim topic for anyone to think about, but he couldn't help but wonder. His mom didn't do anything to help, but she never really hurt him. Sometimes she'd get Stop in trouble. His dad didn't do much either, but he seemed to appreciate the fact that Clock had a good head on his shoulders. Stop... He had no idea how Stop would cope. At first he thought he would just be happy and get on with his life, but death does strange things to tough deer. He wondered if Stop would be phased at all. He concluded that he would be, at least a little.

The young stag sighed, looking up at the statues. "Why can't my family love me like they should?"

The statues said nothing.

"I mean... You must know... Can't you at least give me a clue?"

The two stones continued to stare into the distance, not saying a word.

"Can't you make them see how much they should miss me? I must fill some gap in their life, right? Have they just forgotten?"

Silence. Clock looked down at the ground. He was talking to a rock, what kind of responce was he supposed to get? A flaming chariot with a blinding angelic deer to give him all the answers? He hoped so, at least at the time. He looked back up at the statue again. He blinked.

Something wasn't right there...

The figure on the right stood exactly in the same spot, looking out where it always had. But something was wrong with it. Clock slowly lifted himself and got closer to find the fault. It took him a few moments, but a keen eye helped him find it.

A crack. There was a crack in the right statue. A crack? Why would there be a crack in the God's statue? It wasn't just a crack... It almost seemed like a tiny piece was taken out, revealing what was on the inside. Clock had always figured the statue was a solid piece of stone. The crack seemed to contradict his thought, showing the dark, hollowed inside of the statue.

Who in their right mind would crack the Twin God's statue? The young stag examined it. A little special mud ought to fix that up. He knew just what to make it out of, too. But... Curiosity got the better of him. Clock put his face close to the statue, and put his eye to the crack, just where it opened to reveal the inside.

Something flickered inside. A bug? No, a light... A light... It was growing brighter. A light? Brighter. A light... He couldn't pull away. Soon, there was nothing but white.

The loudest of noises was heard. Clock was thrown back, all the way down to the bottom of the hill, landing hard. His ears rung. What's going to happen? He thought. Am I being punished?...

He felt his mind becoming undone. It was only seconds before the most terrifying thing in his life would happen.