Bridget coughed as she stood up in the darkness of the clockwork giant’s interior. First she quickly checked herself, it was some measure of relief to find that she was unharmed. All that really happened was that her clothes were a bit ruffled. Still, it was damn hard to see as there was barely any light. There was only sound. That accursed ticking and clicking that surrounded her as much as the darkness was. For what reason? What was its purpose for capturing her like it did? And why her? Was it trying to thank her for restoring it? Well, if that were the case, it sure had a funny way of showing it!

“Great,” Bridget muttered. She thought about how worried Lavini and especially Akita must be right now on the outside. If only she could reach them to tell them that she was alright. For now at least.

Suddenly, the area was illuminated by a bright light, blinding Bridget momentarily. When she was done seeing stars, she was finally able to check her surroundings. It seemed that she found herself in a rather large room. Everywhere she looked, there were gears making each-other turn and tick. She guessed that they must be controlling the giant’s limbs in some way, but she couldn’t really tell what regulated them at all. Looking down, she was shocked to find that she was actually standing on top of what looked to be a clock, slowly ticking away the time. It was incredible to think that this massive thing had somehow been hidden in the pile of metal.

After a few moments, the center of the clock opened up and what looked to be a small pedestal rose up from it. Raising an eyebrow, Bridget carefully approached it. On top of the pedestal lay what looked to be yet another gear, only this one looked a whole lot more intricate. There were actually tiny gears within this gear, constantly turning and ticking. It also had a faint glow to it. It was as divine as the other gear. However, there was something more to this one. Bridget couldn’t really tell why or in what way but she was sure of it. Which probably meant she shouldn’t just touch it randomly!

“... Bridget…”

“What the…!” Bridget cried out. “Who said that?!” That voice… It sounded so unnatural. Mechanized somehow. It didn’t even sound male or female. Was the giant communicating with her?!

“I have waited for you,” the voice spoke calmly. It did not seem like it was going to answer her questions.

“... Waited?” Bridget asked. What in the world was going on here?

“I have a task to carry out but there is not much time,” the voice continued. It was coming from all over the place. It surrounded her as much as the ticking did.

“A task? What task? And… how do you know my name?” Bridget asked as more questions filled her head.

“All will be made clear… but first you must choose,” the voice spoke.

“... Choose?”

“You came here in the pursuit of knowledge about the goddess of time. You have found my missing gear in the Book of the Gods. Therefore, you are the one to bring about our renewal of faith,” the voice spoke.

Bridget fell silent. She thought back to the day she opened the Book of the Gods. How that fateful day had changed not only her own life but that of Akita and Lavini as well. It was true that all three of them had been working very hard and it had led her to this moment.

“What are my options?” she asked. She felt a lot calmer now.

“This is the Chronogear. It is rightfully yours. You may accept it or you may leave it be,” the giant spoke.

Bridget eyed the gear. “Is it… really mine?”

“Yes,” was all the giant said in response.

There was so much that Bridget wanted to ask about all this now. Why was it hers? Why had the Book of the Gods shown her Alinavious? Why her? Why not the mailman? Or one of her old classmates? Or even Akita? However, the question she found herself asking was “What happens if I take it?”

“You will become one with time. The Keeper of Gears. A faithful servant of Alinavious. Time will flow through you freely. And you will be given a task,” the voice said.

‘Become one with time’. What did that even mean? Bridget figured that it must be some kind of transformation but she had no idea what the end result would be. Time was something intangible. Would she herself become intangible as well? She had never heard of a transformation doing that before. And there was also this task that the giant had mentioned. What sort of task would that be?

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“You will retreat into the safety of clockwork. You will be an elemental of time itself. You will take your place as its protector. Permanently,” the giant spoke.

An elemental. A time elemental. Bridget had never even heard of such a thing even existing but here this machine was, offering to turn her into one. Truth be told, she had always wondered what it would be like to be an elemental and she had even thought of turning herself into one for a day but she had never been brave enough for that. Now though, this giant offered to transform her into one permanently! Permanent transformations were exceedingly rare. Most transformations were just a physical alteration. One could be transformed into a tree, into a centaur, or even tiny mouse but there was always a way back from that. Permanent transformations, on the other hand, did not just change your physical form. They could change you down to your very core. They could alter your soul. Your entire sense of self would change. It meant that there was a lot more weight behind this decision.

“And… what if I refuse?” she asked.

“You are free to leave but I will no longer be here should you change your mind,” the giant answered.

Okay, so Bridget had to make her decision now, that much seemed clear. Still, there were far too many questions left unanswered for her to decide on this just yet.

“Why are you giving me this choice?”

“Six others have come before you. Six others have made their decision. Now they are lost. Paused. Suspended. Stuck. They share a heavy burden that they can only barely maintain. Six new ones must stand up to lift their burden. To help them. Six new worthy keepers,” the giant explained.

Well… this was certainly not what she had anticipated. There were six others? Were they time elementals too? And what did the giant mean when it said that they were lost? How was turning herself into a time elemental going to help them? It seemed that every answer was only going to bring more questions at this point…

Bridget closed her eyes to consider her options here. It was kind of hard to think, what with the constant sound of ticking all around her, but she had to make do. If she said no here, she could just leave this place behind and put an end to this chapter in her life. She, Akita, and Lavini would just have to move on. Could she really turn her back on all of this though? After everything that had already happened? On top of that, there was the matter of these six lost souls. If she turned her back on them, they may be lost forever. Then again, she had no idea who they even were! How were they ‘stuck’? How was transforming into a time elemental going to help them?

Bridget then thought about her other choice. She could go for it. She would give up her humanity for the goddess of time. For these six strangers. She would become time. That which had dominated her life as well as that of Akita and Lavini for a good while now. She’d retreat into the ‘safety of clockwork’ as the giant put it. Did that mean she was going to be made up of gears much like this giant was? Would she get one of those wind-up keys, or was she just going to run on her own indefinitely? Truth be told, she was beginning to get rather curious about it all. What it would be like to be time. To have it flow through her like the wind. But was she really ready and willing to dedicate her entire life to this? How would Lavini react? Most importantly, how would Akita feel about it?

Still, there were some things that bothered her about all of this. “Why go through all this trouble? Why did I have to find your gear first?”

“When you found the gear, you were not ready yet. You had to be prepared. You now have all the necessary tools to make a proper decision.”

“And why me? Why now? It’s been a thousand years since the goddess died. Am I really the only one that’s… worthy of this?” Bridget asked.

“This is a question that I cannot answer. I simply know that you are worthy,” the giant responded. Well, that was unfortunate. She just had to trust his word then.

“Okay… but if that’s all true, why attack us and then separate me from my friends?” Bridget asked, a little angrily now.

“Forgive me. I am a rather bulky giant and it has been a long time since I was last able to move. I did not mean to attack. I merely wanted to stop you from fleeing. I separated you for you alone must make this decision today. No-one can interfere. Their time will come,” the giant answered.

Well… Bridget certainly didn’t expect that. To think that the giant was just being clumsy.  But wait, what was that?

“Their time will come… you mean, you’ll give this choice to them as well?” she asked, quite surprised.

“In due time, when they are ready, they will be given this choice but not by me. You mustn’t tell them of this,” the giant spoke.

Bridget lit up somewhat. Akita and Lavini had been the biggest reason to hesitate with all of this. If they were going to be given this same choice at some point, it made her feel a lot better about considering going for this transformation. In fact, she already found herself inching towards the pillar, and the trinket on top of it. Were Akita and Lavini really the only thing holding her back? She should really be a lot more hesitant with all of this! After all, this transformation was going to be permanent! There was no going back from this. She would no longer be human. Her soul would change. Would she even be the same person afterwards?

And yet, she found herself standing next to the pillar, eyeing the gear lying on top. Had her heart already decided? Was she really going to go through with this? According to the giant she was ready but was she really? She had already accepted the goddess into her heart but was she really going to dedicate the rest of her existence to this long-dead goddess? What of her own dreams? Her wishes? Or even her hobbies? Would all of that still matter after this transformation?

Bridget felt her hand rising and resting over the pillar. Was she doing this? Or was her body acting on its own? She looked around herself at the inner workings of the giant. This could be her soon. Her own body could be made up of metal. Her movement would be dictated by gears and cranks. Time would flow through her. She had no idea what she would look like by the end of it but… she felt strangely calm about it. As if she knew she would still turn out okay in the end.

“... Alright. I accept…”

The words left her lips and echoed throughout the room. Somehow it sounded even more deafening than the ticking. She had accepted. She would give herself over to time. Before she realized it, she had already picked up the DLC.

“Thank you,” the giant said. For some reason, this ‘thank you’ sounded different from everything else the giant had said so far. Bridget couldn’t really pinpoint why that was but there was a different tone to its voice.

There was little time to really think about it as the clockwork machinery around Bridget suddenly sprang into action. She was trying to figure out what was happening when, from the corner of her eye, she just barely caught a glimpse of a mechanical arm that snatched the trinket out of her hands.

“Hey!” Bridget shouted. She instinctively tried to get it back but the arm was much too fast. Was this a good thing… or not? But there was very little time to think about it as the large clock that she had been standing on actually began to turn. A set of cogwheels had interlocked with it that were now causing it to spin alongside the rest of the machinery in the giant. Bridget had to take a moment to steady herself, lest she fell over.

As the clock turned, the pillar that the trinket had been lying on receded back down and once it was fully gone, the large clock split into four and began opening up, slowly receding outwards.

“Uh oh…” Bridget muttered as she got to see what was below the platform: oil. A whole pond’s worth of it. How did all of this even fit in this giant? Sure, it was big, but this big?! Well, there was little time to think about it as it was slowly becoming harder and harder to stand on the gear-shaped clock.

“Please jump in,” the giant said matter-of-factly.

“WHAT?!” Bridget couldn’t believe the command. This was thick, gooey oil! “There’s no way I’m doing that!”

“It will be alright… trust me.” Again, that last thing was spoken by that different voice. It sounded soothing and calming somehow. Like a mother that was speaking to her child, or a teacher helping out his student. Which was really odd considering the fact that the voice didn’t even sound natural to begin with.

And well… Bridget found herself unable to argue. The voice sounded so genuine now. So soothing. She found herself trusting that it was all going to be alright somehow.

“Okay…” she said. However, as she looked down into the abyss below, she felt her stomach churning. This wasn’t going to be pretty. When this day started, she certainly hadn’t expected to dive into a pool of oil and yet here she was. She took a last good look at her human body knowing that, soon, she was going to look very different. Permanently. She could still chicken out now. She could still ask for all of this to stop.

But no. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. She had already accepted this. She was going to see this through. And thus, she got herself ready. Bridget unequipped her scimitar and took off some of the loose fitting clothing she’d been wearing as it would most likely only drag her down. Then, she took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and jumped down.

Landing in the oil almost felt like it was in slow-motion. First, Bridget’s feet entered the oil and this sent an almost instant sense of regret through her entire body as the oil felt incredibly cold. It was far too late to change her mind now though as she fell further into the oil. When her hips landed in the oil, the cold became almost unbearable. Frantically, she found herself trying to grab onto something. Anything that could get her back to someplace warm but everything was out of reach. The rest of her body soon followed. When her head finally entered the oil, she had a moment of disbelief. She couldn’t believe that this was really happening. That she had really, willingly jumped into an ice cold pool of oil. Yet when the moment passed, she found herself completely submerged. It was really happening.

Frantically, Bridget tried to swim back up to the surface but oil was not at all like water. She found herself sinking rather quickly and panic quickly began to set in. She carefully opened her eyes but she was surrounded by total darkness. Heck, she couldn’t even really tell anymore where ‘up’ was in this situation. All the while, her need to breathe was growing more and more dire. Was this really it? Had the giant tricked her? No, this couldn’t be her end! Images of Lavini and Akita flashed before her eyes. How could she have let this happen?!

“Relax, Bridget… It will be alright… Trust me… You can breathe,” the voice spoke again. Somehow, it sounded just as clear as before, even though Bridget was now surrounded by oil.

Once again, Bridget found her heart trusting this voice. She finally opened her mouth to breathe in. Of course, the first thing that happened was the fact that she took in a big gulp of oil… but it was actually not unpleasant. Not at all. In fact, the voice was right. She found that she could somehow draw air from it. Her mind screamed at her though, considering the fact that she was drinking oil but again, it was her heart that won her over. The oil didn’t really taste like anything and she wasn’t choking at all. This was good, somehow?

Bridget soon found herself touching the bottom of the pool, where she sat for a moment to consider what had been happening. She had somehow gotten used to the cold already. Which at least made some of the discomfort go away. However, she was still surrounded by total darkness and it was quite difficult to move her body down here. With some effort, she managed to sit herself upright.

This was all so weird. She was sitting at the bottom of a pond of oil that she could breathe in. Whatever this transformation was going to be like, she didn’t remember any of this happening at any of those transformation shows back in New Stepolis. Bridget didn’t feel herself transforming yet at all but she could feel that something was happening. There was a magical property to this oil but she couldn’t quite tell what it was doing to her, both on the outside as well as on the inside.

That’s when Bridget suddenly felt something grab a hold of both her arms. It surprised her and at first she wanted to pull herself loose again but she stopped herself from struggling rather quickly. It was simply time for the next step in her transformation process. The arms began pulling her up and, finally, she was lifted out of the oil. She had to close her eyes to shield them from the sudden burst of light that now surrounded again.

When they had adjusted again, she caught a glimpse of her body. Her entire body was fully coated in a layer of the black oil. None of her own skin was visible at all. What clothing she was still wearing was completely ruined now. No amount of washing was going to get all that oil out. However, it appeared that it wouldn’t be mattering anyway as a pair of mechanical arms swept in to remove them from her body. Normally, Bridget would panic about this but after everything that had already happened thus far, this was probably one of the tamest things. Below her, the gear-shaped clock closed itself again while around her, two metal sheets that had been indented with a human shape appeared to slowly close in on her.

“What’s happening now?” Bridget asked. She surprised herself by how calmly she asked the question. Had she really become so complicit in all of this?

“Your body will be molded and hardened, so time can flow through you,” the voice explained. It was the regular giant’s voice that was talking again now.

“Molding?” Bridget pondered when she felt the two metal sheets pressing up against her on either side. At first, nothing really appeared to be happening but that soon changed when she felt the sheets heating up. The sudden jump in temperature caused her to scream… but it actually wasn’t so bad at all. Just like earlier with the cold oil, she found herself feeling strangely calm with what was going on. The fact that she was fully encased did mean that she was unable to move though, so she couldn’t really see what was going on with the rest of her body. All she could really feel was that her skin somehow hardened. Suddenly, she felt something stirring down by her feet. It was as if something entered via the sole of her foot. She wasn’t certain whether it was something physical or magical but it soon made her entire left foot tingle… and then her right foot too!

The tingling didn’t feel unpleasant though. It felt quite nice. Blissful almost. As if her foot was being tapped by soft cotton wads all over. As the tingling slowly spread up her ankles and into her legs, she could actually feel a noticeable difference between her feet and the rest of her body. It felt as if her feet had become more… rigid somehow. Firmer. Bridget tried wiggling her toes and the way she felt them moving was so odd. It felt methodical. Stiff. More precise. Again though, it didn’t feel bad. Not at all. It felt great. Wonderful even. How could it though?

When more of Bridget’s legs were being replaced by this new feeling, she realized what was happening. The innards of her body were slowly being replaced by clockwork. This was what the giant meant when it told her to ‘retreat into the safety of clockwork’. Soon, all of her movements would be completely dictated by the gears and cogwheels, just as it was doing for the giant. And she found herself loving it. She actually giggled in glee when the tingling started affecting her waist.

More and more of her body was being converted into clockwork. Flesh and bones were being replaced by gears, cranks, and pistons, each turning and ticking in perfect harmony with one another. She was even able to feel each and every single gear turning within her lower body. It all felt so perfect. It all felt so right!

By the time the tingling passed over Bridget’s chest though, that is when she could feel her entire being shift, for she could now feel the transformation spreading directly enter her heart. She let out a gasp as she felt her heart beat faster. Was it trying to fight off the transformation now? Was this the last vestige of her humanity trying desperately to fight back?

“Do not fear this. You have chosen this. Embrace it. This is the destiny that you’ve chosen for yourself. This is what you’ve always wanted. Allow yourself to relax. Allow time to flow through you,” the soothing voice spoke.

“But I…” Bridget started but she halted again, knowing that the voice was right. This IS what she had chosen. She would take up her place as Keeper of Time. She had been waiting for this moment, even if she hadn’t realized it yet until now. With a smile, she accepted the transformation into her heart, turning it into clockwork. She let out a gasp as it was replaced by the ever present feeling of ticking and clicking gears.

With her heart now fully made of clockwork, the rest of her body followed suit. Bridget could feel that her lungs were replaced by simply more clockwork, causing her breathing to stop. It did not cause her to panic though. She felt rather calm about it. As if it was normal. As if it had always been normal. Her arms and her hands transitioned quite smoothly. She smiled as the transformation was finally going up her neck and soon, she could feel her entire face tingling. The transformation from human to clockwork was almost complete.

“Oh my goodness,” Bridget said as her mouth fully transformed. Her voice still sounded the same but there was a slight difference, only really noticeable if you paid attention to it. It was as if it was more mechanical. More artificial. Leaning only slightly to the same tone of voice as that of the giant.

The tingles soon spread into her eyes. It itched slightly as Bridget could physically feel them becoming clockwork. She closed them to try and adjust, but when she opened them again, she knew that the transition was done. There wasn’t much to see yet as she could only really look ahead of her but there was again something slightly different about the way she was now perceiving things around her. It felt… clearer somehow. The same thing happened with her hearing and sense of smell as her ears and nose were transforming into clockwork.

Finally, even Bridget’s brain was rather swiftly tingling all over. Unlike with her heart, she had absolutely no qualms about letting the transformation in. After all, her heart had already made up its mind about this whole ordeal and she would follow her clockwork heart.

As the last vestiges of her humanity were wiped away by the transformation, Bridget could feel the metal sheets finally cooling down again. It appeared that the hardening process was finished as well. It was only a few moments later that the sheets separated. This finally gave Bridget some room to move but there was ample time to really do so as she felt herself falling down to the gear-shaped clock below. She closed her eyes to embrace for the impact and she was very much surprised by the rather loud twang of metal on metal. Of course, now that she was fully made of metal, she had become a lot heavier! The shock of it actually caused her to lose her footing and fall over.

Only now did she finally open her eyes to inspect what had become of her body and she found herself gasping at what she saw. Her entire body had become polished, shiny, and rose gold. There were deep grooves here and there on her body, such as her shoulder joints, allowing for smoother movements. Otherwise, her body looked incredibly smooth. Even her long brown hair had become fully rose gold and shiny. She found herself curiously touching her entire body and she was so amazed by everything. Her sense of touch had become so heightened.

Even the simple act of moving around was feeling so alien yet so right to Bridget. She could feel gears setting into motion starting in her brain and causing a chain reaction to quickly kick her body into motion. On the outside, nothing seemed to have changed. She did not move robotically, nor was there really any sort of delay before she was able to move. On the inside though, she could feel every motion so much more. Every gear that clicked and ticked. She could feel it. It was incredible. Almost overwhelmingly so.

To her left, she could see something being pushed towards the platform. It was a full body mirror. How this could have possibly survived a thousand years without shattering, Bridget did not know but she didn’t complain. What she did complain about though was the fact that she still very much had to get used to her new body. She tried standing up but the moment she did, she felt herself getting quite wobbly, to the point where she just fell over again instantly.

“Let me help you,” the soothing voice spoke. No sooner had it said that than several of the mechanical arms rushed forwards to give Bridget support. They helped balance her. Get her back on her feet. Soon, she found herself standing upright again, trying her very best to stay balanced. It was quite a big shift, having to adjust to commanding the right gears to start turning while others should remain still. She knew she’d get the hang of it eventually but for now, she wasn’t going to complain about a helping hand.

Finally standing in front of the mirror, only now did Bridget finally get a good look at herself. Her whole self. Even the colour of her eyes had changed from gray to be more pinkish. She reached up to touch her face, moving over two grooves that ran across her cheeks and continued on above her eyes into her scalp. It felt weird seeing that… but not unpleasant. It did make her slightly worried for what Akita was going to think when she saw her like this.

“What do you think?” the soothing voice asked.

“I… this is incredible,” Bridget sighed in exasperation. Indeed. It all felt right. It felt as if this was what she was always meant to be. That said, she wasn’t really sure whether it was her own mind telling her this or if it was the transformation talking. Regardless, seeing the beautiful metallic clockwork woman staring back at her in the mirror like this… it made her feel wonderful. Inside, she could feel her clockwork heart whirring with joy. She decided to do a quick twirl, to check herself out from all angles and to her own surprise, she actually managed to do so properly. Was she already getting used to controlling her new body?

“Excellent. Then it is time to redress you before the second part of your transformation,” the giant’s voice spoke.

“Second part?” Bridget wondered. She wasn’t done yet? That is when the same mechanical arms that had stripped her down earlier returned. This time, they carried with them a new outfit. One that actually reminded her a great deal of her usual ballet outfit minus the tutu. There was a leotard with a gear-shaped pattern on the back. There were ballet shoes with tiny gears on them. There was even a hair ornament that reminded her of the winged tiara she wore for a ballet once, only way more mechanical.

The arms instantly got to work on dressing Bridget up. They expertly did her hair in a bun while putting the ornaments in. They gave her a necklace with a tiny clock on it. They put on the leotard with ease, which actually kind of annoyed Bridget given how she would always struggle putting the damn thing on herself. She easily slipped her feet into her new shoes, they felt so comfortable.

But there was still one thing that was missing: her tutu. The outfit simply wouldn’t feel complete without it. That is when one rather large mechanical arm lowered itself from somewhere above her. It was carrying the DLC. As it lowered though, it actually appeared to be expanding somehow, forming a sort of metal donut.

“Raise your arms,” the giant spoke.

Bridget simply complied with the command, allowing herself to slip into the hole in the middle. As it passed over her face, she was able to see the intricacies and details of the DLC. Some of the gears she was able to spot couldn’t have been bigger than her fingertips! She looked down curiously, wondering what was going to happen until the trinket finally stopped over her hips. It was at this point that the gear shrunk a little bit again, clasping itself around Bridget’s body and forming a perfect fit. It wasn’t done reshaping itself however, and the teeth of the outer gear expanded slightly, while smaller gears started forming themselves on top of the bigger one. Soon enough, the DLC had formed a skirt. The missing piece of her outfit.

And Bridget loved it. As the arms retreated, she admired herself in the mirror once again. Who knew that all of this clockwork could look so good on her? She really hoped Akita would think the same…

“Your body has been prepared to be a proper vessel. You are now ready to receive the gift of time. It will seal your transformation but only if you are ready and willing,” the giant said, interrupting her one woman fashion show.

“Wait… you mean I could still go back to being a human now?” Bridget asked.

“Yes,” the giant said matter-of-factly.

Well, Bridget had already accepted this transformation. She had let it into her heart. Her clockwork heart. She was even starting to get excited about what Akita would say about her now metal girlfriend. “I’m ready as I’ll ever be,” she cheered.

“Very well. Turn around, please,” the giant said as something else was pushed towards the platform. It appeared to be a regular grandfather clock.

“Uhm… okay?” Bridget asked, rather confused about what she was supposed to be doing now. She just approached the thing and examined it for a moment. At first glance, it didn’t really look like anything out of the ordinary. It was just an old-fashioned grandfather clock. As she approached it though, she could feel something emanating from this clock. It wasn’t anything physical though she could still feel the gears within her body whirring and twitching slightly in anticipation. Could this be time itself that she was feeling?

Every step Bridget took came with more of her inner gears ticking away rather chaotically. It kind of scared her, to the point where she took a step back again.

“There is nothing to fear.” It was the soothing voice again. “Your body is simply adjusting. It is natural for it to do so. Let it happen. Let time flow through you.”

Bridget lingered for a few more moments until she finally took another step forward again. Her gears whizzed to life once more and she could feel the turmoil within her body. It made her movements slightly erratic. She gasped when she actually saw her left arm noticeably shudder.

“It is okay. It will be alright. Let it happen. Let it in. Let it pass,” the voice spoke soothingly.

“I… okay!” Bridget said, though she still wasn’t all that certain about her current situation. Still, she took another step forward and she could now feel almost all of her body shuddering ever so slightly. Even her heart was adjusting to whatever was emanating from this clock.

Another step. There was an audible clang with every step she took. She could feel the sensations throughout her body constantly now and it was only increasing. There was almost a sort of rhythm to it. Chaotic yet uniform. It was hard to explain.

Another step, and the effects were now washing over her like waves from the ocean.

Another step. Like harsh winds, the effects were really blowing through her right now.

“Almost… there…” Bridget groaned as she took her final step to reach the clock. She was shuddering all over as her gears were going haywire. She tried desperately to regain control but it seemed an impossible task at this point.

“Let go, Bridget. Trust your heart. Trust in time. All will be alright. Let it into your heart. Let it into your mind. Let it into your soul. Seal your transformation,” the soothing voice said.

Bridget stared at the clock for a moment longer before closing her eyes… and then doing exactly as the voice said. She let go. She let go of her attempts at controlling the chaotic gears and just let it happen. As she did so… she found an odd calm wash over her like a soft blanket. She opened her eyes again, staring at the clock ticking away the time. It was 3:14 in the afternoon. And… she knew that it was correct somehow. To be specific, it was 3:14:35.

Bridget caught herself. She hadn’t even looked at the second arm on the clock. She just… knew. She turned away from the clock for a moment. How could she just know?

“Do you know how long you have been in here?” the giant asked.

“24 minutes and 54 seconds,” Bridget replied. Her eyes went wide when she realized what she was saying, and she gasped when she somehow knew that that was correct.

“Your transformation is complete. You are now the seventh Keeper of Time. you ARE time now,” the giant said.

“I… am time…” Bridget repeated to herself. She was. She really was! The transformation was complete! And she could feel it. She could feel time flow through her just as the giant had said. It was so hard to believe that she had now actually been fully transformed into a time elemental forever. Yet, here she was.

Bridget found herself absentmindedly walking over to the mirror again, still very much bewildered by everything. In less than half an hour, she had changed herself entirely from a regular human into a time elemental.

“Wait, what in the…” Bridget gasped as she noticed something moving within her eyes. Upon closer inspection, she saw that her eyes had changed slightly. Her irises had turned into clock faces!

“Do you like it?” the kind voice asked.

“I… I love it,” Bridget replied, a broad smile appearing on her face.

“Wonderful. You do the goddess proud, Bridget,” the kind voice said.

Bridget admired herself for a moment longer in the mirror. “Wait until Akita and Lavini see this…” she mused to herself when she realized something. “Oh no… they must be super worried about me out there!”

“Forgive me for that, but this was a transformation that couldn’t be rushed,” the giant said.

“I… right…” Bridget stammered. “But you can let me out now, right?”

“Almost. There is one last thing before I leave you,” the giant replied stoically.

“Oh, right! The task,” Bridget realized.

The pillar from before that had held the gear that was now her skirt earlier rose up from the middle of the platform again. This time, however, there were five trinkets lying on top, carefully placed into a small box. Sure enough, these too were just as divine as her own gear. One of them was an hourglass. Two others looked to be some kind of sundial but of two different colours for some reason. Were they supposed to be one whole? A third Bridget couldn’t quite identify. It looked like some kind of bracelet with a small, circular shape attached to it that had some numbers displayed on them. Numbers that were glowing in neon blue. It was quite a curious thing. Then there was the fourth and final one, which was a…

“My time is running out. I must bid you farewell,” the giant said, interrupting Bridget’s thoughts.

“But… but I have so many questions still!” Bridget said.

“Forgive me, for you will have to find the answers to your questions on your own,” the giant replied before morphing its voice back to the soothing one. “I leave you with your task. Find those worthy of us. Find the rightful owners of these five trinkets,” it spoke.

Bridget picked up the box and looked over them again. They belonged to five other people just like her then? And two of those other people could very well be Akita and Lavini. Well, she already figured that Lavini’s would probably be the hourglass but Akita? She had no idea, really.

“I will,” she said resolutely.

“Thank you,” the soothing voice spoke. Just like that, the gears surrounding Bridget hummed to life again and she could see that the gates to the outside were finally opening. She turned around to face it but she was momentarily blinded by the light. She shielded her eyes from it. When she opened them again, she could see that the gates had opened up enough for her to be able to see Akita and Lavini, standing right there.

The next 11 seconds were filled with silence, save for the ticking of gears coming from the giant and from Bridget herself of course. Neither of them really knew what to say or do. Lavini looked very confused while Akita looked absolutely devastated. Bridget clutched the box in her hands while a lump formed in her throat. She didn’t even know gears could form lumps like that…

“Bridget?” Lavini finally asked, breaking the silence.

Bridget opened her mouth to say something but she found that it was hard to form words. Throughout the whole transformation, she was so ecstatic and happy to undergo it but now that she had to face her friends again, she felt a twinge of fear. Of doubt. Had she made the right decision?

No… there was no reason to doubt now. Not anymore. It was too late for that. This was who she was now. Who she would be forever.

“Yes,” she finally said nervously as she stepped out of the gates, back into the ruins of the old church.

“What in the name of Alinavious happened in there? What did it do to you?!” Lavini demanded.

Bridget looked to the ground, finding it hard to face her friends now. “It… transformed me… into...,” she stammered at first but she then just took a deep breath in and tried again. “It transformed me into a time elemental.”

Lavini’s eyes went wide. “A time elemental? Those exist?” she asked.

“Well… yeah,” Bridget smiled nervously. “I’m living proof of that now.”

“I… see,” Lavini said, uncertain. “Is there a way to turn you back somehow?”

Bridget bit her lip then. “No…” she said, a little softer.

Lavini placed her hand over her mouth. “It just… did this to you?” she asked in disbelief.

“No it… it gave me a choice. And I accepted it,” Bridget said, looking down.

“So… you let yourself be transformed willingly?” Lavini asked, more curious now than concerned.

Bridget just nodded to her.

All the while, Akita remained silent, probably dealing with the inner turmoil of seeing her girlfriend turned into a clockwork imitation of her former self. It pained Bridget to see this. Akita had never been good at expressing herself and this was no different.

Just as Bridget was about to talk to Akita though, the three were caught off-guard by a bright light, illuminating the giant. It enveloped the clockwork structure completely and when it finally dimmed again, the giant had vanished completely. It didn’t take Bridget long to realize that it had now been exactly 30 minutes since she inserted the gear.

“Oh my,” Lavini exclaimed.

“It was only here to transform me,” Bridget said, feeling a bit awed at that.

“No…” came Akita’s meek voice.

Bridget gasped and turned to face her girlfriend, who by now had tears streaming down her cheeks.

“NO!” she shouted. “This isn’t happening! Come back here, you hunk of junk and turn her back!!”

“Akita…” Bridget stammered.

“How could you just let it DO this to you?!” Akita shouted.

“Akita, let me explain…” Bridget tried but Akita wouldn’t let her speak.

“I can’t believe this! How could you?! How could you…” Akita trailed off.

“Akita… I…” Bridget tried once more, extending her hand to reach for her lover’s shoulder but Akita batted it away. Or well, she tried to do so at least but Bridget’s metal arms wouldn’t budge that easily anymore.

“Let me go!” Akita cried out before running off, quickly jumping out of the room and vanishing behind some walls.

“Akita wait!” Bridget called out after her but she would not listen. This was an outcome that she had expected but she had hoped against all odds that it wouldn’t happen. She blew it… she really blew it…  She started sobbing herself now as her eyes watered up. She rubbed them, only to be surprised by the fact that her tears were made of oil now.

Lavini looked towards where Akita had run off to. She looked to still be deciding on her own feelings about all of this. “I would very much like to hear about what occurred in there but I shall speak with Akita first.

“Lavini wait… are… are you mad at me too?” Bridget asked, concerned.

“Bridget…” Lavini said, placing her hand on Bridget’s cold metal shoulder, a modest smile appearing on her face. “If what you say is true and you chose this for yourself, then all I can do is support your decision. Even if I will have to get used to… all of this,” she said. Calm and collected as ever, Lavini was often a voice of reason and she was quite skilled at breaking up fights.

Bridget sniffed and wiped away some more of the oil that had clouded her vision. “Thank you,” she whispered. She wanted to hug her friend but then again, she still had to get used to her newfound strength. Plus, she certainly did not want to soil Lavini’s clothes with her oil…

“Leave Akita to me,” Lavini said. With that, she rounded the corner and vanished from sight as well, leaving Bridget all alone again.

She sighed and looked down at the five trinkets again. The last request from the giant still echoed in her ears. ‘Find those worthy of us’. It seemed like quite a big task. There were so many people in the world after all and even if she could find them, they also had to be ready to accept this gift. Was she going to have to prepare Lavini and Akita in some way? And what of the other three? Where in the world was she going to find three more people as devoted to time and the goddess as she was?

Regardless, Akita was Bridget’s priority. She had hurt her and she would give anything in the world to make things right again but… how? Was there even something she could do? Or did she simply have to be patient for Akita to come around on her own terms?

What was she to do?

“Akita!” Lavini called out. Where could that girl have run off to? These ruins were dangerous! There could be temporal and spatial anomalies anywhere! However, Lavini was relieved to find her sitting by a broken column, curled up in a ball.

“Akita, dear…” she repeated as she approached but Akita did not respond. She was quietly sobbing and had closed herself off from the world around her. Lavini had seen her do this before when life got to be a little too much but this was different. Bridget was everything to Akita and now…

Calmly, Lavini sat herself next to her friend. She did not say anything, wanting Akita to start talking on her own and, after several minutes, she did.

“Why…” she said quietly.

Lavini looked at Akita, whose face was still buried in her arms. “I wish I could tell you, Akita dear. She must have had her reasons.”

Akita clutched her arms a little tighter in response.

“But whatever her reasons may be… it is ultimately her body and her decision,” Lavini added.

At this point, Akita shot up. She had been ugly crying as her face was wet from tears and snot and her eyes were red. “Well, what about me, huh?! Don’t I get a say in any of this?! I’m her girlfriend!” After that last line, she slumped back down again while her sobbing continued. “At least… I thought I was…”

Lavini felt so much sympathy for her friend. It was true that Bridget had kind of done this out of the blue. However, she still appeared to be the same young woman. “I… understand how you feel, Akita. It is a lot to take in. However… I believe that we can get through this. We will get through this.”

Akita did not respond any further. Instead, she leaned into Lavini, her face hidden from view again.

Lavini responded to this motion by wrapping an arm around her friend. It seemed that their time innocently studying and researching had come to an end. They had now been thrust into this for real and whatever awaited them, it was not going to be easy.