A commotion from behind the closed door suddenly yanked Theodore from his stupor and instead dragged it over to the hidden room, just in time for those hidden there, to disperse. It was then that he found himself confronted with a rather depressingly domestic sight: that being of a gaggle of people dressed for the day's work. Three of them were clearly tradesmen, all dressed up in their boring blue overalls with the company's logo (DS UMBRELLA MFG & CO) stitched onto both the breast & the shoulders. Whilst a prim & uniform navy dress adorned the figure of a greying woman bent over her cup of coffee and a girl more around Theodore's age sat curled up in the corner of the kitchen counter, cradling her own steaming cup.
Despite their rather dated uniforms (at least, in the Garde's eyes) they were young; well, younger than he had expecting them to be. Theodore didn't know why he thought everyone in the olden days would be old & grey, but he did & they weren't. The tradesmen held themselves in such a way that Theodore was reminded of the older high school kids who likes to hang around the bodega after school, smoking this & that whilst they twiddled away the afternoon hours.
The woman however, was clearly older (though, not by much) and was seemingly married, if that glinting wedding band on her finger was anything to go by. As for the girl, she wore this pastel dress & pinafore, both of which were doused in lacy collars & hems and a bow of some kind, kept her hair back. It was a rather bland outfit, save for the bright red shoes upon her feet. Considering how out of place they looked, Theodore rightly assumed that this girl, with her fire engine boots, was the mysterious Garde whom was attending the same programme as himself. This was Delilah "Lila" Pitts, the only other Garde here.
All of this ran through his head at a million miles an hour as Theodore froze at the sight of those old-timey people, blood running cold and eye(s) blowing wide as the world grew muffled to his ears. Absently, he noted the surprised acknowledgement of the fleeing tradesmen when they noticed him standing in the doorway and the puppy eagerly dancing about his feet. Theodore probably would've bolted sooner if not for the constant ache of the Lien du Lorne which kept him rooted in place whilst Mr Pennycrumb excitedly made his way over to where Lila stood in the kitchen, alerting her of their presence. All eyes swung his way when the happy pug came trotting in and, as if on cue, the lights all around them began to flicker dangerously.
It wasn't necessarily the sight of Lila and the other occupants of the house (who were already making their way out of the front door, towards the day's work) that made Theodore freeze like a deer in headlights, the sconces on the wall threatening to wink out at a moment's notice, but the concerned expressions to the two women wore reminded him very much of his (late) vera. He could see her in the way the elder woman quickly & quietly shooed the unnamed tradesmen out of the door, following after them with a quiet nod to the girl. Whilst Lila tried to approach the boy, hands outstretched in a placating manner.
She was there in the plaid ribbons that she wore, there in the cautious smiles and soothing tones. And Theodore could've sworn that if he listened close enough, that he would hear the whining of a bow dancing across taut violin strings. But she wasn't Vera. Aside from the big age difference & ethnicity, Lila wasn't Vera, no matter how much of her he saw in the girl and his vera was never coming back no matter how much he wished & pleaded otherwise. It made him sick, those cocktail of feelings, spiralling thoughts and the aching pain of the Lien du Lorne.
Theodore couldn't deny his own feelings of helplessness as he gazed at this teenager who was his vera-not-vera; helplessness and guilt that swirled inside him when he thought of what he had done. Tears gathered in his eyes, pricking at the corners and swelling up inside empty sockets as he fought (and failed) to keep them from falling. Here was someone who looked—who acted—so much like very own vera that it physically hut and she hadn't even opened her mouth; she didn't even know him (or maybe she did, if those letters upstairs were anything to go by) or he, her.
But there was still a part of him, a sad childish part, that begged him to launch himself across the room and wrap himself up in the arms of that vera-not-vera. Maybe if he closed his eyes, he could pretend that her floral perfume was that of Vera's musky scent; of the polish that she used to clean her violin, of the rose in her shampoo (but never cinnamon because it reminded her too much of choking down bowls of oatmeal as a child) or even the clogging fog of New York. But he couldn't because she wasn't and would likely never be.
It saddened him to acknowledge that, how tenderly. To know that the one person who was his whole world, was gone and that the rest of the world continued to tick on like it didn't even care. Now that—that—made him angry, boiling up inside like the bubbling of a pot on the stove. The frustrated growl almost escaped past his lips as it rumbled in the back of his throat, echoing somewhere deep in his chest. Lila barely faltered in her steps as she continued to approach, although a little more cautiously than before.
"It's okay, Teddy, it's okay" Lila soothed, her hands coming to rest on Theodore's shoulders. "You've just got the Spins"
Theodore blinked at that, tears barely kept at bay. "The—the Spins?"
Lila spared a quick glance over at the door where the others had fled through, making sure that it was fully closed before she began to explain. "Okay, look, fapping about with time travel is a massive head trip, I'll admit"
"That—that was real?" Theodore sniffled, tears welling up. "Everything—everything that happened b-before was r-real?"
"Yeah, everything was real" Lila smiled pityingly at him, head tilting to the side as her hands clenched against his shoulders in comfort. "And everything that's happening now is still real. They're just moving by so fast that you get dizzy when you try to see all of the changes. Its like…like with figure skaters! And—and their triple salchow doggy-style…whatever it is"
"Is that even a thing?" Theodore wondered, wetly. He wasn't exactly versed in those kinds of things.
"Who knows" She shrugged, "Look, you just gotta pick a focus point—something concrete for you to lock onto, no matter what changes around you"
"And—and what if…what if I had one and I lost her?" It didn't take much longer for the tears to spill over after that.
"Then you need to find another one" Lila replied sternly. "Find another one or you'll fall down"
"Buh…but I-I-I don't wanna find another one!"
"Do you wanna fall down?"
"N-n-no…"
"Then that's the way its gotta be"
"I want Vera…!" Theodore sobbed, falling into Lila's arms as great heaving sobs made him shudder like he was about to shatter.
"Oh—okay, okay, you're okay, you're okay" Lila awkwardly soothed him, rubbing comforting circles into his back as the pair all but collapse to the floor. Sobbing like a babe as he buried himself into Lila's embrace, Theodore didn't notice as the lights overhead flickered once, twice, thrice and then went black. But the other occupants out in the hall certainly did, for surprised squawks sounded as they were plunged into darkness.
No, things definitely weren't the same anymore.
Nearly two hours later (as told by the sickly sweet clock stapled to the nearest wall) Theodore was finally coaxed from the cramped position on the floor like a frightened animal and herded back towards their apartment, where Lila not-so-gently shoved him into one of the armchairs in their apartment's tiny sitting room. There, he sat buried amongst the saggy cushions with a woollen blanket wrapped securely around his shoulders, whilst Mr Pennycrumb had clambered up & plopped himself down in the space between his crossed legs.
Lila, meanwhile, had the arduous task of prying answers out of him. Although, that in or itself was like trying to pull blood from a stone because Theodore had all but clammed up and refused to give more than the most basic of answers. He grunt here and there, whilst he tried to figure out what he could say, what she already knew, what would make sense and what would get him locked up or worse. It was a very daunting task and Theodore found himself exhausted just doing the mental gymnastics required to sort it all out.
The Garde boy buried his face into the rear of Mr Pennycrumb's scruff as his thoughts soured, unable to keep the tears at bay for much longer. He couldn't help but feel this crushing weight of depressing grief of his vera's death and it shook his shoulders something fierce as he began to cry again. Mercifully the chimaera in question seemed to have given up on any attempts to escape and instead the puppy just sort of slumped over in his grip like a ragdoll that occasionally rumbled with a quiet woof.
Here was this girl who was trying to help him—him, a monster who had ended the world and lost his vera, separated from the rest of his family all in one fell swoop—not that Lila was privy to all of that, of course. As far as he was concerned, all that she saw was an upset & frightened child quietly weeping as he shook from the ache of it all. It made his cheeks burn with embarrassment, but Theodore couldn't find it in himself to stop, even as Lila slumped over in her own armchair neighbouring his, with a thoughtful pout on her lips and a concerned gleam in her eye.
As for the Junior Corrections Officer, she found herself forming a story of her own; one that she fed to the poor confused boy, spoon feeding him a story that would soon become common knowledge. They were peers—students who had signed up for the study abroad programme run by the Sparrow Academy on Lorien. They didn't interact much at school, but she'd been there when he had received the note about his vera's death halfway through the trip.
There hadn't been enough fuel to turn around and go back, so they'd kept going to Earth. But Theodore had fallen sick with the dreaded Lien du Lorne at the news of his late vera, so medicine had been provided by the A. and their Greeter(s) had directed the pair to the suites shortly after landing. Their Greeter—H. Andler—was their benefactor whilst here. He had a relation—R. Hilde Hargreeves—who often visited Earth, but there was no guarantees he even knew about the boy.
She had said that the time travel thing had been one of the exclusive options available to them. Apparently it had been something that had been suggested by one of their Cêpans back on Lorien; afterall, what better place to study than back in time when the earth was still young? She told him that after their study abroad thing was done, they'd be collected by their Greeter(s) and brought back to Lorien, in its current time & place from whence they'd departed. Lila ended by stating that they would be attending SAINT PATRICK'S COLLEGE & BOARDING HOUSE out in Fort Worth, in the near future, when he was more on his feet.
Lila knew that she was heavily relying on the boy's current predicament to make sure that the story—and everything revolving around it—stuck. Like how he was clearly suffering from the Spins as most first time, time travellers tended to; the confusion & lack of focus allowing her to implant certain ideas into his head that would've otherwise been rather difficult. There was also the Lien du Lorne to contest with. It could clearly be seen peppered across Theodore's pale skin, cutting him deep even whilst still. Ironically however, it was the very same Commission-supplied carfentanil that kept the pain at bay; funny only in the fact that the very same drug which had suppressed his vera's powers years before, was now the only thing keeping him conscious.
She hoped that it would be enough. Lila had only ever heard about the Lien du Lorne in stories and through secondhand accounts, she'd never actually known someone who had personally been through it. Then again, most died before they could give their accounts, either because of the sickness or by their own hand in an effort to end the pain. In any case, it didn't take an expert to see that the illness was quite painful. Just look at Theodore, he was hopped up on enough painkillers to down an elephant and he was still sitting there, grimacing at the pain.
The only small mercy they had was that the Lien du Lorn had yet to reach anywhere vital, instead remaining hidden beneath layers of blood & sinew. It was unfortunate that his extremities had fallen victim to the blue webbing because they shook almost constantly. But at least those veins could be hidden by gloves, long sleeves and perhaps the use of a walking cane—something that was blessedly on trend in this era—could mask the weakness of his legs. At least until they got out of this damn dead end town.
Sure, the two teenagers could've of used the time travelling briefcase to get wherever they needed to, but Lila had shit to prove and her mother had made it quite clear where misusing the briefcase would land her. No, for this assignment she had to everything by the book, no matter how restricting, exhausting or boring it may have of been.
By the time that Theodore had calmed down some more and Lila had pried enough information from him to confirm what she already knew, the time travelling assassin was just as tired as her fellow Garde who was practically asleep where he lay curled up around Mr Pennycrumb. He had been frustratingly tight-lipped about how he had ended up on their doorstep or what had happened to him, overall (if he could even recall). The most that she had been able to confirm was his name, his age (plus his birthday, thanks to the soggy party hat he had been wearing when she had found him) and what had happened to his family.
It wasn't much—barely anything at all—but she knew enough. Enough to know that when Lila went to fix herself some tea with her shoulders set back straight in determination, that although Theodore was alone now, he would not be again. At least, until this mission was complete and by Lore, she make sure that it was the best mission to ever be completed!
And that, as they say, was that.