To call Theodore Klein "Young" was more than inaccurate, it was offensive. Of all the quasi-immortals springing from the woodwork, he has given the most. If one looked in his eyes for too long, they would see the truth behind them. An old soul lingered behind those eyes, hidden well by a fountain of youth.
This boy has experienced many lifetimes. He retains every moment spent in every Incarnation. Ted has died more times than he'd like, but he had to continue his work. The body he wore had an athletic build with golden hair. His 17th birthday was less than a week away, a fact that gave him a sinking feeling. He knew he wouldn't have another. He didn't want to die. This Incarnation happened to be his favorite.
He sat in the Paris safe-house, used as a place of rest by the members of The Oxford Cabal. He felt like he had been stationed there for ages, though Dizzy made the time bearable. His mind drifted to nowhere in particular as he listened to the endless ticking. Clocks of various shapes and sizes filled the room on every patch of wall that could hold one.
Pocket watches hung from hooks and hangers while digital clocks sat silently on desks and nightstands. Each clock was a testimony to Ted's skill. They were well behaved, ticking in perfect time to one another, all except for one.
He looked to his pocket watch and sighed. The hands were ticking clockwise. He heard footsteps approaching, and looked up to see a blonde haired, blue-eyed woman slipping her dress back on. Dizzy was something special. He would miss her in his next life. He watched her, and when she smiled he returned it in kind.
"Something I can do for you, sir?" she teased, picking up the envelope of cash on the table.
"Oh, no. You've done more than enough." he replied. She laughed, slipped on her heels and walked over. Ted stood up, received the kiss she offered, and reached into his pocket. He felt silly. Surely the feelings weren't mutual. He spoke up anyway. Her life depended on it.
"I want you to take this, Diz," he said. The boy held a pocket watch out to her, the product of many weeks worth of work.
"It's beautiful. Why do the hands move backwards." He blinked trying to find a way to explain. She nodded. "Ah, weird stuff?" she said, watching it swing. She wondered if it would ever stop.
"I made this for you," he began, "It's quite special. I need you to keep an eye on it. If the hands ever begin to move clockwise, you should reconsider whatever you planned on doing, and get the hell out of there." He caught a glimpse of a clock on the wall. The hands moved clockwise and were just passing the 9 on the clock face.
"Allright." she said.
"One last thing," he said, smiling, forcing the watch to stop swinging with his hand. This should be her decision, he thought. "Since this is the last time I'll see you," he began, those particular words catching in his throat, "I would love to know your name. Your real name."
She smiled and seemed reluctant at first. It was against the rules, after all. She eventually leaned in and kissed him deeply, not like the usual lustful assault, but calm, and caring.
"Lea Herbert."
He smiled in reply, letting the watch swing. "I like Lea more."
The watch swung back and forth, and she seemed to focus on more than ever, her eyes sagging as if about to faint. He placed the bottom of his palm over her eyes. "Sleep."
Her head dropped on cue as he continued, "Lea?" he whispered with a smile. She perked up at him with a mile long stare. "I want you to run," he said, forcing the words out as he glanced at the clock, "do not stop until you reach the train station." she nodded. "Then I want you to go home, you will wake up when you reach your front door." she nodded again. "Now go, I'm sorry about this. It isn't right, but I can't risk you staying behind to help." She stood and bolted quickly out of the apartment. Ted plopped down onto the couch, a tear in his eye. He turned to the clock, again, the hands swinging past eleven.
He went to work, grabbing several random parts, littering the shop and placing them on his workbench. He attached a strange clockwork device to a metal box. He grabbed his pocket watch and saw the hands nearly reaching twelve. He put on a tan vest, and a black wool peacoat. He turned and walked out of the apartment, pulling a small chain on the device he made as the door shut.
He hit a full sprint down the road. It was several minutes later that a rumble was felt underfoot. An enormous explosion rattled the night. He slowed and spun around seeing the trap he set had worked. He took no time to admire the plume of flame and debris that erupted into the Parisian sky. He continued running, doubling back to the safe-house with a gun drawn.
The flames were everywhere, as were several bodies. He scanned the street, noticed a woman with dreadlocks in her red hair, disappear down an alley, and followed her. When he reached the opening of the alley, the woman lashed out with a curved blade. She missed, and When she saw him, she quickly backed away. She tossed the knife aside and held her hands up when she noticed the gun aimed at her.
"Don't shoot." she said.
Theodore lowered his gun. "Did I miss something?"
"I'm not your enemy, please hear me out."
"I'm listening." he said.
"You're with the cabal? I need you to get a message to someone at The Estate."
" Who? Morrigan? Damon?"
"Anyone who can speak to Isla Walker," The woman said.
"Isla?" Ted asked, laughing. "The Discordian?"
"Yes."
"Okay then." Ted said, stuffing the gun into his belt and grabbing his phone from a coat pocket. "I can reach her myself. What's the message."
"The Fiery Lock plans to launch an assault on The Estate. I don't know when, but the mansion needs to be evacuated."
"Even if that was possible, Morrigan is at The Estate. It shouldn't be that bad."
"No, she isn't. Trust me. send the message and go. I'll do the same. Tell no one you saw me."
"If you insist." Theodore said. When he looked back up from the phone, the woman was gone. He hit send, and walked away, breaking into a sprint when heard the sirens. He had to get to the airport. If what the woman said was true, The Cabal would need the help.
I remember this kid. This quasi-immortal kid, forever stuck in a cycle of death and reincarnation. I can't remember what article it was in, but I still love the concept. Even presuming that he retains all memory and knowledge, it'd still take him a good 4 years to be able to return to whatever he was doing. And at a great disadvantage at that, as a four-year-old walking around doing weird things would raise a few eyebrows. I do love the way his immortality is just as much of a curse as Morrigan's, though he doesn't suffer the same memory loss and has a more "godly" form of immortality. I also am intrigued as to whether or not he is born to new parents and what kind of attachment he gets to them/how they react to his strange behavior. Either way, onto the article. Firstly, the sudden third perspective really surprised me as I wasn't expecting you to randomly throw in another character 37 chapters in. Secondly, your formatting is a bit odd in this chapter due to copy-paste errors, presumably. I'm still super interested in where you'll take the red hair considering it just showed up again, and as the only detail given about a character. I'm going to bet it has something to do with the Fiery Lock and the Red Maiden. Time is a bit weird in this chapter as I can't tell which hands on the clock you're referring to as this could take place over the time period of a minute or an hour(I'm rounding based on the hands of the clock). However, as you never specify, I originally thought he was looking at the hour hands meaning this would happen over the course of 12 hours. Which doesn't seem quite right. You give very little context as to Lea and Theodore's relationship, nor any information about The Oxford Cabal -- speaking of which, you haven't really suggested that Morrigan and Tyler are in the company of the Oxford Cabal since they first arrived at the Estate meaning it would be quite easy for it to slip the mind of a reader that they are the Cabal and Theodore is heading their way. I am very interested to see how practiced Theodore is and how he can use the Prestige as I am guessing it has a lot to do with time since he seems to be focused on it -- though that could be a side effect of his quasi-immortality. Super interesting chapter. I really liked the switch, even if it was a bit jarring at first.
Rereading the Theodore article and most of the things in the first part of my comment are already addressed. Just not in this chapter, since you don't explain most of it here.
Ooooo yes. This chapter is meant to introduce Theodore, build that mystery behind him and slowly start expanding the overall world. The Oxford cabal is mentioned loosely but the specifics aren't yet revealed. This is where that kind of changes. Where is the formatting error if it's possible to say? The only copy paste I did was at the the first paragraph. It does need a little more fine tuning. Also.... Oooooo you may have it on the red hair. That's exciting. I did want this chapter to be a little jarring. Ted is mentioned once previously. Only one time, and it's not even particularly important. I wanted it to 'shake the reader awake' if that makes sense. I wanted it to hint at a bigger world beyond Tyler and morrigan before returning. I'm glad it seemed to work out, and that you remember. You actually had the first comment on the article in question. I'm glad it left an impression! Thanks again and I'll work on the edits soon. I'm currently still working on the chapter fiasco back in chapter 9 lol
Very exciting. It does well to expand the world by completely removing itself from the perspectives of Tyler and Morrigan. The "formatting error" as I called it is in everything following the second paragraph as your formatting essentially makes it into a singular, large clump of text. It's happened before, though I have no idea how you fixed it. That does well here, though the most jarring part is the perspective shift, after which it becomes super interesting. I actually went back and reread the Theodore article and noticed that. Apparently, I just forgot the majority of what I had read in that article, though I definitely remember the character. Good luck with sorting out your chapters!
Ohhhh man. Yes my line spacing and paragraphs are a bit of mess. I'm working on it, but oof.