Clock slowly opened his eyes. It was dark, but the sun was about to rise. Ugh, why did I wake up now?, he thought. He closed his eyes again to go back to sleep.

Clock...

Clock's eyes snapped open. His ears perked. He raised his head and looked around. "Wh-who's there?"

Just me. Of course, who did you expect?

"And... who..." He blinked, finding a stag not too far in front of him. "Who are you?"

Edward. You should know that.

This stag was almost... scary. There was absolutely no emotion in his voice. No enthusiasm, or even sadness. Just... there. He was black, with a skeletal pattern along his body. His antlers were small, with little spikey hand-shaped ends. His face was plain, with green strikes above his eyes, and his upper lip was slightly lighter than the rest of his face. His eyes were a piercing red, dull and listless.

"Edward?... What do you want?" Clock asked cautiously.

I just came to visit.

"How do you know me?"

"Clock?..." Stopwatch rose his head slightly. "Everything okay?..."

Clock looked over to him, nodding slightly. "Y-yeah... Yeah, I'm fine."

"Who are you talking to?"

Clock looked over to where Edward was. But the stag was gone. He looked back over to Stop. "Uh.... No one..."

He lowered his head to the ground. Although he couldn't fall back to sleep.

***

Stop went over to his parents. Clock was gone, off for a run. Nobody knew when he would be back, sometimes he would be gone for hours. His parents lifted their heads to greet their son.

"Mom, Dad... I think there's something wrong with Clock..." His gaze was down to the ground, he didn't bother trying to make eyecontact.

His mother looked to him, "What do you mean?"

"Well... I thought it was just in recovery, but.. It's been going on for a while. It's not normal."

"What's he been doing?" his father flicked an ear.

"Well... Sometimes, when the weather's cloudy or something like that... He becomes a different person. He's not... Clock anymore. Like one time, I came to him while it was raining. He told me his name was Down Town."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Is there anything else? You know, there are some deer who are... possessed... Although I don't want that to be the case, maybe that's what's happening."

"No, no... This is different. Just a few nights ago, I heard him talking to nobody. He was asking it questions like there was really someone there, but there wasn't..."

The parents looked to each other. "That... is a little strange..." the mother said. She looked over to where she saw a white flash. She knew it was Clock. "Then what should we do?..." she mumbled.

Later that day, Clock was at the pond. He took a sip, then went for gulps. He saw a reflection in the water, raising his head slowly. It was him again. It was Edward.

Not too far away was Stop, along with his mother. They were going to approach him, but his behavior stopped them. "I think he's doing it again," Stop said. "Hang on a minute..."

"What do you want with me?" Clock asked the stag.

I want to know why I am here. And you will be the only one to answer that.

"W-what?? How would I know? I've never met you!"

I am sure you will find out soon. After all, you are the only one who can see me.

"I... Wha..." He looked down for a moment, but when he looked back up, he was gone. "What... the hell?..."

Clock looked around, then trotted away. Stop and his mother followed him until he was out of sight.

His mother sighed, "Oh Clock..."

***

"Dear..." The mother came over to the father anxiously.

"Yes, what is it?"

"There is something wrong with Clock. I've seen it. He was talking to nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, yes!" she shook her head slightly. "What are we to do?..."

The father looked down, then to the side. He didn't know, actually. It wasn't a normal situation for anyone to go through. Clock was old enough to be on his own, but how were they supposed to help him without being there? His coma made them realize he meant more to them than they thought. Letting him go would be the hardest thing to do. And leaving would be worse.

But to him, it was the only choice. It would be the choice of the gods to help him. This was too much for one family to bare. He sighed, lowering his ears, "Get Stop... I know what we should do..."

That night, Clock was fast asleep. Three deer rose from the ground, quietly going to the east. By the time it was morning, they were long gone...