🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚.

『 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 』𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝘼𝙍𝘼𝘿𝙊𝙓.

#Nᴏᴄᴛɪꜱ.

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

“𝑨𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒂, 𝑰 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒆.”

— Cᴏɴᴛᴜᴍᴇʟʟɪᴀ ᴏғ Tɪᴍᴇ ᴀɴᴅ Sᴘᴀᴄᴇ.

✦ ⸻ 𝐴 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑓 #Nᴏᴄᴛɪs. ⸻ ✦

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

@Saiyadite — so to speak. And Lady Ariadne ruled over Ledgerdomain anyway, so we barely saw her anyway...

That... That surely was the first sign... That things were not okay, with her.”

He averted his gaze, looking down at the floor. Haunted, even if temporarily, by the memories...

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

@Saiyadite — I was under the training of Lord Merlin Revenio himself. Jade's father. As I remember you've met her already...?

I was, in many senses, as young as /you/ are at that time. And my interactions were mostly with Jade's parents, as I was directly under their... Guardianship, —

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

@Saiyadite — were /looking/ for me...?”

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

@Saiyadite — upon the gauntlet that now replaced his right arm.

And once more, faster than /mortals/ would be able to register, in another flurry of time energy, they suddenly appeared in front of his estate within the Temporal Zone.

“There— that's over with. Now... I believe you —

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

— the aliens that you show him aren't those you obtained in /key/ events of your shared near past meaning his near future, you should be fine.

If not. Get Jadeite. She'll be able to deal with whatever time rift that occurs until /I/ can handle it.

Have fun.”

[𝕺NE PART 𝙃𝙐𝙈𝘼𝙉 ᛝ ⋮ ┆ ➓ PARTS 𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙊. ⧗ @NotOnHisWatch]

@THENTHEREWASTEN take "no" for an answer when faced with a prime opportunity such as this.

〝 …Maybe it couldn't hurt, though? 〞Opening his eyes, he takes a bite of one last fry, prior to making his verdict. It's been a while since he acted as a mentor to another, let alone another——

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

— trying to reach it by force.

Or, alternatively, things like the... Egh, Spanner Situation occur, and you are all made to believe you don't /HAVE/ a choice nor free will in how your future goes based on a amateur's perspective on how time works.

@NotOnHisWatch, so long as —

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

Immediately freezes—.

“Sweetheart— That is a /Time Beast/.” He doesn't sound disgusted, more like more concerned than he was already —

She couldn't... Oh no, no, they couldn't! And he's warned her! Multiple times!

[— 𝒢 @civilanodite]

In walks in the Anodite, holding a bundle against her chest, heading straight for her husband.

“Richard! Look!”

Upon reaching him, she opens the bundle, revealing an infant Time Beast, an injured one, at that…

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

He thought so as well... Turns out the damned things really /are/ an invasive species.

She needs to look out for more rampaging ones and keep the eggs in a hermetically sealed shield made from her own cosmic energy— make sure /nothing/ can get out.

He'll go get them soon.

[✶「 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏 𝑶𝒇 𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒆. @ImperialCosmos]

!!!

Uh... Does he need help? She just took down one that made it's way into Undertown—

She... thought he and Aunt Rachel had destroyed /all/ the Time Beast clutches in the universe, though?

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

Not again—

Who found and hatched another clutch of /Time Beasts/, Again??

...Nrgh—! That comes later. Right now? A rather annoyed Paradox is currently chasing down and de-aging the Time Beasts, utilizing his wings to speed up the process..

There goes his calm sunday afternoon.

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

Cue very polite y a w n.

“Have I missed anything?”

( Technically possible, although he can see multiple events at once through the Timestream there... /is/ a limit. )

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

Oh, she misunderstands! He's not upset, more like amused.

those two have fought Ben and Jade even /knowing/ that the other existed across several timelines... one would think they'd give up by now!

[— 𝒢 @civilanodite]

She wishes he’d stop worrying about those two so much…but for now, she’s offering a supportive hand on his shoulder.

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

( Rachel and Starbeard will NOT be happy. )

[🕓 ─ 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙊𝙛 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚. @DeDominusTempus]

And somewhere, within the metaphysical space that held The Timestream— There was it's protector, leaning back on an invisible chair as he sipped a new cup of tea, watching the events of the timelines...

...He simply smiled. Looks like he was right, again.

[𝕺NE PART 𝙃𝙐𝙈𝘼𝙉 ᛝ ⋮ ┆ ➓ PARTS 𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙊. ⧗ @NotOnHisWatch]

@ImperialCosmos on the tender moment happening.

Irony is a funny thing, isn't it? Both Jade and Ben find themselves fearful about the future, in some regard. Neither had necessarily had the most positive experiences when it came to "love", but ultimately had chosen to take a chance——