Lost Hours Audition - Page 2

For a long while, Dlaigo was silent. Agitated, gritting his teeth.

He wanted to mutter out that he'd find Gust's parents eventually, or that he could find someone else to take care of Gust if he wasn't around anymore.

But Mayfly's words struck truer the more Dlaigo thought about it. He couldn't rule out on never finding Gust's parents or even a proper surrogate family that Gust would eventually outlive. And he did promise Gust that he would never leave him. And because of his invulnerability, Gust was sure to live through any apocalypses or maybe even the end of a universe or two, doomed to float through space, alone and broken inside.

"...dang it, I ain't thought of that before..." The t-rex muttered beneath his breath, looking down as he felt his body weigh down with guilt.

Mayfly made a sly smirk. "But you do a choice, however."

"What?" Dlaigo snapped his head up, facing the grotesque immortal.

"Being immortal after all does have its perks, and I'm one of the few who can grant immortality to others...provided you do me a favor." Mayfly swung his pocket watch around before catching it in his human hand.

Dlaigo glanced at his left and caught a glimpse of Gust, who was still under the rock and oblivious to everything, before it faded away in the mindscape. Is this how Gust would feel about Dlaigo in the end - just a few passing memories of joy and laughter before time banished those youthful images away to the depths of his mind?

"I...I ain't letting anyone go through all that crap alone!" Dlaigo said, his voice echoing deep. "What dya want me to do?"

Mayfly grinned wider and with a wave of his hand, he projected an image of a clock-shaped portal. "There should be a portal like this somewhere close to where you are now." Then came images of various golden trinkets of sorts. "These are the Hours and I need you to gather all 12 of them in Valda, my home planet, which is where the portal will send you.  There may be others who will want the Hours for themselves, so do whatever you need to get them back."

Watching the images fade away, Dlaigo mused to himself before answering, "Fine. And I'm taking the kid with me, so ya don't try any funny moves with him like kidnapping or any of that crap."

Mayfly crossed his arms and shrugged. "If you believe the child will help you attain the Hours any faster, I won't stop you. Just don't do anything with him that you might regret - we immortals can hold long grudges, after all and the child may not be as merciful as us."

Before Dlaigo could bring up some witty retort, Mayfly and the mindscape had already vanished by now, leaving the t-rex in the park.

"…Ya don't have to tell me twice, Maggot-Face," the t-rex murmured, blinking and turning around. He walked up to Gust's 'hiding place' and kicked the rock off.

The young lizard apparently had closed his eyes, wiggling his tongue out as if licking before realizing he was found. "Yay, you found me, Daigy! Now you go hide and- whoa!"

Dlaigo abruptly pulled Gust up by his scarf, which somehow functioned as some sort of a noose as the lizard hung idly off a few feet. "Sorry, kid, but we got some urgent business to do now. So no time for games."

"Yay! Sounds like another adventure!” Gust excitedly whipped his arms and tail and spun in place which twisted the scarf, prompting some eye-rolling from Dlaigo.

"Yeah, whatever, just stay close to me and don't do anything funny, got it?"

"Got it!" Gust saluted as he spun back the other way before stopping and being dropped to the ground.

*~*~*

After a short while of searching, the two found the portal hidden beneath several pine trees, as they stood a few feet before it.

Dlaigo took a deep breath and traded glances with the young lizard. "Well, this is it, no turning b-"

"You colossal jerkass, you’re not leaving me behind this time!" came a feral cry from behind

Dlaigo and Gust looked around in time to see a huge, orange, anthropomorphic t-rex lunging straight ahead.

"Tammy?! What the- ack!” Dlaigo gasped as the female rushing t-rex tackled him head-on, plunging both of them through the open portal.

Gust blinked and grinned as he jumped in. "Wait for me, Daigy!"

And with that, the portal faded away, taking the trio wherever it meant to take them.