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This time, Clockwork hadn’t had a hand in choosing the new ghost king. He hadn’t wanted to interfere, hadn’t wanted to change things he could see. He knew the king that was chosen would be great, in time. He could see him negotiate agreements among the different ghost factions, uniting them, bringing peace, at the head of any army as the Realms faced a terrible evil. For all the foresight Clockwork had, he did not know what the boy was like now, right after he had become the ghost king.
It had been a long time since Clockwork had paid tribute to a new ghost king. He was usually one of the people choosing the ruler, after all. One did not pay homage to someone they had chosen. But Clockwork hadn’t chosen this king, not directly. Not really. So he would meet him in the position of a supplicant, like so many other ghosts did when a new king was appointed.
The Keep was very different than it had been under Pariah Dark. It was purple now, light purple, vibrant, with delicate golden vines weaving around the outside of the structure. It seemed to radiate golden light, warmth, welcome. It was pleasantly open, chilly, and the servants hummed as they floated through the hallways. There were flowers on tables, swaths of cloth on the walls, colors overlapping everywhere. It was wonderfully chaotic, beautiful in the same way that a child’s paint splashes on a page were beautiful. It wasn’t alive, that wasn’t a description in the Realms, but it was something like it. The Keep hummed with a new energy, a little anxious, but happy, eager to please. The Keep reflected its owner, so Clockwork thought this to be a very good sign indeed.
The Keep itself made the sight when he entered the throne room even more shocking. Clockwork was not entirely sure what he had expected of the new ghost king, but this wasn’t it. If he had a heart, it would have broken at the sight of the child with a crown of ice crying on the throne.
The boy was small, smaller than Clockwork had expected from the visions he had of him. He was clad in white robes patterned with swirling snowflakes, icy, crystalline patterns. His hair was the same soft snow white as his robes, and his eyes were green and glowing brightly, seeming to take up too much of his round child’s face. As soon as he caught sight of Clockwork his tears stopped and he smiled, as if they had never been there in the first place. This was not particularly reassuring.
“My King,” Clockwork greeted, sweeping into a bow.
“Call me Danny, please,” the boy insisted, drifting down off the throne.
Clockwork offered the child king a smile. “Danny.”
Danny nodded, seeming satisfied. “You know, I didn’t think when I helped lock Pariah Dark back up that that meant I’d end up having to do his job,” he offered, with a little half chuckle.
“You are qualified, I’m certain of it,” Clockwork comforted.
“How do you know?” Danny asked, drifting around the room, his back to Clockwork.
“I am Clockwork, the Master of Time. I am well equipped to know these things.”
Danny turned back around, lighting up. “Really? That’s so cool!”
Clockwork found himself smiling. “I do my best.”
Danny shrugged. “That’s really all we can do, isn't it?”
“Why were you crying? When I came in?” Clockwork asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
Danny blushed green and shrugged awkwardly. “I didn’t want to be king,” he admitted.
“So why are you?”
“Well, I can’t really spend my time complaining about people being hurt and no one helping them and then turn down an offer for me to help them, can I? Just because I don’t want to be king doesn’t mean I don’t want to help people, and this is the most meaningful way I can do that.”
“Why did you not wish to be king?” Clockwork insisted.
“I have life. Well. I did, anyway. I’m only half ghost. I had school, and my friends, and my parents...but I can’t do both. Everything. All of that. It’s not an option. It’s become time for me to choose one life, so to speak, and this one is it,” Danny answered, waving his hands around emphatically as he spoke.
“I see,” Clockwork answered, neutrally.
Danny huffed, and his eyes welled with tears again. “It’s not fair.”
Clockwork wasn’t sure what possessed him to float up to the boy and tuck him into a hug, under the folds of his own cloak, but that’s what he did.
“Hush now, child. This experience will find its place.”
Danny sniffled against him. “I hope you’re right.”