Chapter 65: The Fundamentals of Time Travel
Rita’s face suddenly turned serious, and the aura around her body became more dangerous as she asked.
"An army?"
Viva nodded, and Rita’s frown deepened for a moment before she told Viva to follow her as she started walking up the stairs again!
"Come along. Percival should be able to answer your questions better."
Viva wasted no time, and she quickly followed behind Rita. The two women made their way down to the basement using the elevator, and they eventually arrived at the research lab where Percy was crouching over a bloodstain with a frown on his face. The moment Viva saw Percy, she felt her throat tighten as she swallowed in shock! Percy was only wearing a pair of trousers, so his perfectly toned upper body was on full display! Viva didn’t know why the sight of Percy half-dressed made her so flustered, but she couldn’t even look at him for more than a second without glancing at his body and blushing!
’Is a librarian meant to have a body like that!?’
"Baby, I brought Officer Kitty. She says she had some questions for you."
Percy turned to glance at Viva curiously, and Viva swallowed and did her best to control herself before she asked Percy the same question she had asked Rita earlier. Once Percy heard what Viva had to say, he hummed as a look of realization came over him!
"So that’s what happened."
Percy stood, and Viva nearly choked on her spit when she got a full view of his chest and abs. Viva immediately noticed Rita looking at her suspiciously, and Viva did her best to avoid Rita’s gaze as she listened to Percy very closely.
"There were three intruders, not two. And one of them had a time-traveling pendant with them. It was probably the General Lyra woman. She took off her pendant after these two were killed to try to escape from Roland. That’s why the army in the Valley vanished. The pendant was the only thing anchoring all those people to this time, so once she took it off, they lost their anchor, and they returned."
Rita’s hand tightened into a fist once she heard this, and everyone could easily sense the anger pouring out of her! Rita remembered warning General Lyra that she was going to kill her if she ever came into this library, and Rita intended to keep that promise!
Percy hummed as he thought about something for a moment before he gave out an order.
"Rita, go and check on Ethan upstairs. I have a few things I need to grab. I’ll be there soon."
Rita nodded once, and she began walking out. Viva was completely confused about what was going on here! Viva understood that there had been a break-in and the army vanished because one of the intruders used their time pendant, but Viva had no idea what Percy and Rita were trying to do now! Rita walked out of the room, and Viva turned to Percy and asked.
"What’s going on? What do you plan to do now?"
Percy made his way towards the center table in his lab and began to look through all the drawers before he found what he was looking for. It was a pendant that was identical to the one that Ethan and General Lyra both had! Viva felt her eyes widen when she saw this, and she asked Percy where the hell he got that from!
"That’s a time pendant, isn’t it? Why is it here? Did you take it from Ethan?"
Percy shook his head as he pocketed the pendant and spoke.
"It’s the pendant from the current timeline. I’ve been keeping it safe for a while now."
"The current timeline? T-Then what about the other pendants? The one with Lyra and the one with Ethan...where are they from?"
Percy grabbed a black t-shirt from his chair and threw it on, and he snapped his fingers. A magic circle appeared beneath him and moved up across his body to create a long black coat that completed his attire. Percy answered Viva’s question while walking out of the lab.
"Those pendants are from other timelines. I already told you that I can’t explain the fundamentals of time travel to you."
Viva walked quickly to keep up with Percy, and she narrowed her eyes.
"Please try. I just want to know what’s going on."
Percy glanced at Viva curiously, and he saw that she was genuinely interested in figuring this out, and he decided to give her a basic lesson in time travel.
"Time isn’t as linear as everyone believes it is. The past, the present, the future. They all exist in the same time, and the only reason we see time as linear is because all the events of time are filtered through the Sands of Time to keep things linear. But the Chronos Medallion is an artefact that was created outside of the Sands of Time, and it has the ability to break the strict rules of time imposed on the world. What I have with me now is called the Lock. It is one half of the Chronos Medallion, and it is a constantly self-replicating artefact that splits across all timelines...
"Let’s take this moment as an example. I’m explaining time travel to you right now, but in another timeline, I refused to explain the concept of time travel to you. That timeline has branched away from this one with another ’Lock’ existing there as well. In a third timeline, we never even met, and that timeline also has a ’Lock’ existing there. The Lock exists as a constant presence across timelines. But the Key is different. There can only be one key across all timelines, across all worlds."
Percy walked out of the elevator as they reached the top, and he left behind a completely stunned Viva! Viva was looking at Percy’s back like he had just given her the secrets of the universe, and Viva tried desperately to comprehend everything that she had just learned! Viva moved slowly toward the upstairs clinic, and by the time she arrived, Percy and Rita were standing over Ethan and questioning him about what had happened in the future. Lana had also returned from feeding the Basilisks, and Viva found herself wondering why those two dead bodies didn’t return to the future as well after Lyra took off her pendant.
’Maybe the magic couldn’t reach them because they already died. This is confusing. I’m going to get a headache.’
Viva put her hand to her head and let out a sigh as she felt a headache coming on. Even though Percy’s explanations made sense, it was just difficult for her to wrap her mind around how fascinating time travel was. Viva shook her head and tried her best to listen to the conversation happening.
"How many years into the future did Lyra come from?"
Percy asked this calmly, and Ethan said that Lyra must’ve come from the same future where the Ashtons had attacked the Pastoni and killed most of them.
"I’m from fifty years into the future from now, and I travelled five years into the future from my own time before coming here, fifty-five years into the past."
Percy nodded, and then he frowned in thought for a moment before he said.
"We have to take the pendant away from the Ashton. Lyra and the others who came to the past will probably die in a few hours from the Time Wraiths, but if we don’t get the pendant, someone else will just come back here again. We need to make sure no one from that future can come to the past anymore."
"Let me do it."
Percy turned in surprise as Rita suddenly spoke up, and Percy could see a fire burning in Rita’s eyes!
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