Previously in Clockwork Twist...
Twist’s life used to be as steady and predictable as the clockwork he repaired. He’d never left London, and he’d wanted no companion beyond his clocks and his books. Yet when he found that that the mythical clockwork princess was not only real, but was also in desperate need of repair and rescue, he gathered his courage and ventured out into the world. Traveling on the airship Vimana with a crew of treasure hunters—or possibly pirates—he crossed Europe and the middle-east on a journey to the clockwork princess’s palace in the mountains of Nepal.
Like few others in the world, Twist had a unique extra-sensory ability, a Sight, which showed him the cause of the damage in anything he touched. This was quite useful when mending complex clockwork, but it was also a terrible curse, as touching a person had the same effect. During his journey to Nepal, Twist discovered that a member of the Vimana’s crew, Arabel Davis, also had a Sight, as did her estranged brother the sky-pirate Jonas Davis. While Arabel’s Sight was fairly benign—allowing her to find any item or person she could clearly envision—Jonas’s Sight was just as dangerous as Twist’s. Jonas’s vision was greatly improved by his Sight, even allowing him to glimpse the future, but Twist later learned that it also showed Jonas a person’s death whenever he looked into their eyes.
Along the journey to Nepal, Twist got to know the crew of the Vimana: Arabel and her uncle Captain Howell Davis, Dr. Philippe Rodés and his vampire wife Aazzi, as well as the young steam engineer Zayle. Twist also learned that the treasure hunters had a long-standing rivalry with a sky-pirate named Adair Quay. Apparently, after a rather nasty falling out, Jonas had left the Vimana months earlier to join Quay’s nefarious crew. On a stop to re-supply, and to enjoy Carnival in the flying section of Venice, the Vimana made a sudden and hurried departure. Despite their attempt to flee, the Vimana was attacked by the sky-pirates the very next day.
After a brief episode of slavery aboard an oil-plundering submersible in the Caspian Sea, Twist was found by Arabel and once again reunited with the Vimana crew. He discovered that, during the battle that caused him to fall overboard, Quay’s crew was thwarted and Jonas had been recaptured by his family. Upon meeting him, Twist found that his Sight reacted very strangely around Jonas—a buzzing sensation in his neck that grew stronger as Jonas came near, and an inexplicable pull to reach out to Jonas despite Twist’s usual aversion to all human touch—while Jonas admitted to sensing the same. Curiosity led to compassion, and the two became allies by the time they reached Nepal.
There, Twist found the ancient puppet of the clockwork princess shattered, and princess Myra’s ghostly spirit haunting the empty palace. He set to work immediately, using his Sight to repair the vastly complex machine. However, his abilities were not enough to mend the sphere of crystal that was used to contain Myra’s spirit and to power the puppet. Before Twist or his companions are able to come up with a plan to resolve this, they are attacked once again by Quay. In the battle that issued, Twist nearly tumbled off the edge of a cliff but was caught in the nick of time by Jonas. The contact of Jonas’s grip on Twist caused his Sights to explode with brilliant white light, knocking them both unconscious.
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Twist awoke a day later, in a strange hotel room in Hong Kong. There he discovered that he and Jonas had been taken captive by Quay and his crew of bizarre pirates: A djinn named Idris who only granted wishes that he found amusing, the shadow assassin Jiran who never spoke, an abrasive American woman called Cybele, and Vane the shape-shifting fox. He also discovered that the contact with Jonas had changed the way his Sight reacted to him. While his Sight still functioned normally with everything else, Twist could now touch Jonas without any fear of an incurring vision, while Jonas could now look into Twist’s eyes as well. Contact between them now only brought a soothing white fog, whispering with the other emotions.
Meanwhile, finding himself at the pirate’s mercy, Twist agreed to complete the repairs of the clockwork princess, which Adair Quay stole in the battle in Nepal. By now Twist has grown very fond of princess Myra, and wished to save her from the sky-pirate, as well as repair her puppet. He and Jonas silently plotted to escape with her at the earliest opportunity. The djinn used his magic to discover that they might find a replacement for the broken crystal in the caves under Indonesia. The pirates set out right away, while Twist finished the last repairs to the clockwork puppet. The pirates found a suitable cave in Indonesia, but Twist fell down a hole not long after they ventured inside.
Cut off from the others, Twist discovered a crystal cavern deep inside the cave, which was inhabited by a secret society of clockwork people. Hearing his devotion to the clockwork princess, and his desperation to save her, the leader of the clockwork people took pity on Twist. She replaced the broken crystal, but demanded Twist’s total silence about the clockwork city’s existence in return. Once he’d made an oath to never speak a word about them, the clockwork people showed him the way out of the caves. Twist was reunited with Jonas and the pirates, and they all returned to the surface, only to find that the Vimana’s crew had followed them to Indonesia and brought the British Navy along with them. Totally outnumbered, the pirate crew surrender and the captain alone was arrested.
Twist was finally able to complete the clockwork puppet, and Myra showered him in gratitude the very moment she awoke. Twist’s Sight only showed him her sparkling joy and other warm emotions when he touched her fully repaired clockwork puppet. He vowed to continue to care for her until the end of his days, and Myra eagerly returned his sentiment. After everything they had been through, Jonas suggested that the three of them remain together. Twist found himself agreeing, and gained the first two real friends he’d ever had.
And now, the story continues...
