Midnight Calling

❍ 𝟒 - 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐍𝐨𝐨𝐧

Author's Note: This chapter goes out to Gin, an Aussie with true grit, whom I hope one day will pen the stories of her grand real-life adventures.

Midnight stormed off Eleventh's sigil. 

Nearly half the Circle was now obscured in shadow. Turning on his heel once he reached the centre, Midnight glared deep into that darkness peering. 

"Who else knew?  Who among you knew about this supposed child of Twenty-third's?"

There was no reply from the morning Hours, each standing upon their places.  Eyes closed to their surroundings, asleep in suspended animation in what should have been their shining robes of ethereal light, now dimmed.

Midnight swung back around.  What had been a leisurely stroll through the morning had now become a race against time. How annoying. 

How invigorating.

He could not take over Twenty-third's watch until it was her time on the Circle. He had no choice but to progress through the Hours of the Day one by one, for each was interconnected, a temporal chain.  Even if he was Supreme Hour, Midnight could not jump to the Future. He could not skip a link to reach the end faster.

Twenty-third.  The Hour who handed off the end of day at the last minute so he may commence the next.  And yet, he had never been close to her.  Not that he'd ever been with any of the lesser Hours.  Only Noon ranked somewhat in his estimate; shifting ante to post meridiem.  Even so, the Twelfth Hour was beneath him.

Or soon would be.

Midnight recalled how Twenty-third had always been one to enjoy watching humanity. She'd been among the first of the Hours to leave the Circle. Not long after her diurnal twin Eleventh. Midnight threw a frown at that guardian's face. Uncle Kanje's deep umber complexion was ashen in the shadow.

Twenty-third has a child. How? Could she have adopted a mortal as part of her existence in a Here and Now?  He had to find out for himself.

And therein lay his current dilemma.  To ensure the smooth takeover of the Circle, Midnight had been subduing the Hours just before their watches commenced. To seek the child now would mean seizing Noon's watch while she presided over it, when she would be at her most powerful.  Midnight scoffed.  No matter. Let his sister believe she could oppose him.  It had been so easy so far. Too easy.  A little mock showdown would relieve some boredom.

So, how to find Twenty-third's child in her Here and Now without it being her watch next on the Circle?  The cosmic wind ruffled the silver locks of his pompadour as he stared off into the distance, tapping off the seconds with his cane as he focused his thoughts. 

The tip paused in midair. 

A slow smile snaked across Midnight's lips as he looked back at Eleventh.  The last morning Hour standing guard as he always should have did not react to Midnight stepping back onto his sigil.

Midnight may not be able to jump ahead to Twenty-third's watch, but he could sift through her closest brother's memories to discover what he needed.

_____

'Here it is!' the student had scribbled.  The curvy-tailed arrows he'd drawn looked like a cluster of sperm all vying to fertilize an egg where the circled 'x' marked the spot.

Math teacher Virginia Smith pinched the bridge of her nose under her gold-wired reading glasses. 

'Find x' was a straightforward enough question to calculate the hypotenuse of a right triangle, no? But in this early 21st century, there was always the odd joker of a student who loved to plug their favourite web meme answer.