All eyes were currently on Theodore!
Turia and Duunim were sure that he had something to do with it!
After all, something impossible had happened around Theodore before!
The disappearance of the implants in his arm was an example.
Turia's mind was racing to discover the best way to include the little lord in her plans.
Although supremely offensive, his advice was spot on!
It would be a shame to ignore the options it brought.
A sudden and bold thought crossed her mind!
'Would the little one be able to identify what Theodore was capable of?'
"What about him?"
She asked while looking at the little lord and pointed at Theodore.
The little sphere's crude face raised it's "eyebrows" at Theodore and thought hard.
"That one there, is a very chronologically confused bastard."
Theodore took offense to this!
Theodore and his mana were, by all accounts, responsible for the little lord's birth.
Ever since their initial disagreement, the air had been miserably foul between the two.
There the little thing went and insulted him yet again!
"Screw you, idiot!"
"I am perfectly aware of what you meant!"
"I know exactly what time it is!"
"No you fool, that is not what we meant! You may think you know what time it is, but you have no clue what time you are in right now!"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Don't play us for a fool! Your arm is the evidence, foolish lad!"
"It appears as if the implants had never been installed there and we both watched them disappear that night!"
"Our ability can tell that your fault lies there!"
"Your body is confused about what time it should exist in, time boy!"
Theodore's mind ground to a halt as he looked at the ground.
'What does the little guy mean?'
'Did he somehow see my dream? No that can't be right!'
'Was what I saw the future?!'
Theodore's figure shrank into his chair as Turia and Duunim both were giving Theodore their undivided attention, their highest form of respect.
Every heartbeat, every minor muscle movement was scrutinized and examined in real-time.
Of course, they soon noticed how nervous and disturbed Theodore was at this moment.
His posture and worried face spoke volumes about something bothering him but Theodore did not argue with the little lord at all.
Turia had her mind blown by the little lord's revelations and its implications.
'It could be a [Time] ability!'
'This has never happened before!'
'We must figure out how Theodore's ability works or things will become dangerous!'
'Theodore's ability is precious but it could be potentially dangerous as well.'
'Just like my own [Space] has destroyed many subspace pockets accidentally, Theodore could potentially destroy a lot more! Being unable to control his ability could expose him!'
'Using a criminal offense as a pretext, he could become hunted by unsavory elements that would stop at nothing to exploit his power for their benefit!'
'The only safe place for him right now is here on this island, thank goodness he is already here!'
Turia had realized that everything had become a race against time and decided to warn Theodore:
"Theodore, no one else must know of this, or else it would become a catastrophe!"
"..."
"You want to see them, my memories?"
Theodore's reply left her stunned.
His voice was very hoarse and spoke of massive effort on Theodore's part to speak.
His voice grew worse as he continued:
"I must warn you though, I would rather you not see them but a deal is a deal."
"Do not end up regretting your choice."
"I kept telling myself that it had to be a nightmare and no way that it was real, I would not wish those sights on my worst enemies."
There was silence in the pavilion and only a slight breeze played in the air.
The noises of the pond's flowing water were the only sounds and the world itself seemed to come to a halt.
Turia had the impression that something remarkable was about to happen.
Something remarkable did indeed happen the very next moment.
In the top right corner of her view, a tiny notification window appeared!
It was a friend request from Theodore but his following words shook her deeply:
"I regret that our relationship has to start this way but I never intended for any of this to happen."
"Turia, for the first time in my life, I feel so lost that I don't know what to do."
"I don't need a teacher, what I need is a friend! Someone that can help me to fight."
"..."
"Fight? Fight what, Theodore?"
Theodore carried an empty, soulless gaze as he looked at his left arm.
She felt a little intimidated by what could possibly terrify Theodore this much.
Turia became worried about Theodore.
The awakening of his ability had taken a bigger toll on him than she had expected.
He was clearly willing to forego all rewards and glory of wielding mana and stood truly alone.
He was an orphan, a nobody.
He had no true friends.
Whatever he had seen still troubled Theodore greatly and he carried this burden on his own.
She felt her "heart" bleed when Theodore simply asked for a friend in tough times.
"click!"
With a thought, she accepted Theodore's request and connected her mind to his.
Both of them closed their eyes at the same time but each held different expressions.
Theodore's expression was that of a soft dread while Turia's was resolute and warm.
She had decided that she would help Theodore with whatever she could.
"Woosh!"
Theodore and Turia both appeared in the pure white space of his virtual reality interface.
Here he could show Turia what he had seen and both were able to observe his memories.
With a wave of his right hand, Theodore and Turia traveled back to the moment when he first awoke inside of his "dream".
Turia's heart broke when she saw Theodore's badly mangled body and heard his coughs and groans of pain as he tried to get up.
When the creature appeared, her eyes narrowed!
Seeing Theodore running away with all his might, she wept and cried for the dead and dying she saw all around.
She saw the destroyed buildings ripped open like prey and felt like parts of herself were being destroyed and defiled.
And at last she understood, that the world truly was about to change forever.