As Aqua stepped deeper into the sanctum, she attempted to split aether and conjure a simple spell, yet she couldn't call upon it, nor was her divinity present. Not even the Black Flame could reach her.
She closed her fist. For the first time in centuries, she was a normal woman, or she would have been a normal woman if not for a single fact.
Her Authority of Time became stronger. Within the sanctum, she felt as if she could bend and shape the timespace without as much as a thought; the threads were loose and malleable. She gripped one, making sure to remember the feeling.
What is this place?.
She stepped forward, and then the entity pushed himself up from the throne.
"Curious entity you are, a denizen of the lower cosmos yet with your own power you rewrote the temporal flow. I will require an explanation. Why?"
The very moment the words left the shrouded entity, he appeared in front of Aqua, making her step back. Who is this?!
She raised her arms instinctively, yet she dared not attack an unknown entity.
She could feel his power. It was as if the universe itself was collapsing upon her. Yet it was neither divine nor was it based in Aether. Instead, the suffocating power came from a single source.
The [Authority of Time].
The time around her became oppressive, threatening to erase her from the annals themselves, yet her own authority forced her to remain.
"I was left with no choice," Aqua spoke confidently. For her Azure, she had resolved herself to use any means necessary.
She would not lose her like she did Umbra. I couldn't take it. I couldn't lose my home, my friends, and my love again.
The entity stepped forward. "No matter the loss, no matter the pain. Those who wield time must not use it recklessly. If we do, the consequence won't be a single world."
Of course, she had understood the consequence. She knew that a single wrong step would have resulted in cosmos-wide destruction.
Yet, she couldn't agree with the entity.
"I understand the consequences. I have not dared do something like this for centuries; this time it is different. I had no choice. I could not take the loss…"
She couldn't bear to look at the entity; she turned her head to the side, and a tear rolled down her face. Despite the entity being unknown, she couldn't help but trust it. He reminded her of Sun God.
The white man stood silent; the time around her relaxed. At long last, Aqua could stop resisting the accelerating end. "Perhaps I was foolish to expect a denizen of lower cosmos to be free of emotion, despite your power," he said calmly.
"Perhaps I should ask you something else then," He said, his gaze upon her. "What would you have done if your reckless and sloppy use of time caused the end of everything you loved? What would you have done if a major paradox emerged?"
Aqua reeled. Sloppy?
She wiped her tears and resolved herself, standing tall in the face of the powerful entity. "I would have done everything in my power to restore it. I would spend millions, nay billions of years if need be, just to fix my mistakes!"
The entity stood silently. Contemplating the woman's answer.
"Curious, you are the most unique denizen of the lower cosmos I have ever laid my gaze upon."
Aqua closely followed the man's movement. Despite her answering his questions, she was ready to fight at any sudden move.
"May I ask a question?" She asked.
"Yes," he stated.
"Who, or what are you?" She asked, carefully observing the man. The authority and the clock behind his back cemented him in her mind as something far above even the world souls or the cosmic terrors.
It was one of the reasons she wished to avoid having to fight, no matter what.
The man was able to make her unable to utilize aether. It was considered impossible, even to her, yet he had done the impossible.
"I…" He said. "Am the Lord of the Beginnings, I am the arbiter, and the warden of time. I am the first judge of those worthy of becoming the Timelord"
Timelord? She tilted her head.
She crossed her arms and plunged into her mind. Soon, her eyes widened. Is this the man from Hikari's fairy tale?
Memories flooded into her mind; the white thread that resisted her shared the color. They were surely connected. "Is it your gaze I had sensed when I was rewriting history?"
The Lord stood still for a moment. "It was. If I had not intervened, your authority would have unraveled everything within the isolated time; I must commend you on one point," He said.
Aqua awkwardly smiled. She had never played with time on such a massive scale; it was no wonder the Lord of time was annoyed with her. "On what?"
"You had foresight of isolating the part of the cosmos you had rewritten. Such a feat is rather impressive considering you are an entity of the lower cosmos."
"I only wished to restore my home and my family. It was never my intention to spread my authority further than a single country," She said. "I do not even want to think of what could have happened if I had not."
He stepped forward, placing his hand onto Aqua's forehead. Instinctively, she stepped back, yet he closed the distance.
"Bare your heart and mind to me. I will witness everything and decide your fate."
Aqua wanted to protest; it was one thing to allow her memories to be shown to Valerie, but to let a powerful, unknown entity peer into her mind was something she wasn't keen on.
Yet, despite his power, the Lord seemed to respect her and lacked any malevolent motives.
She sighed; she was in no position to deny. She stood silently before the lord. "Go ahead."
He nodded, placing his hand on her forehead once more, her mind unraveling before the Lord's gaze.
From the very beginning to the present. The Lord had witnessed everything. Her pain and her study.
His hand separated from her head, and he stepped back. "I see it now. You spoke true. You truly believed there was no other way. Perhaps I was too hasty in my judgment of your character."
Aqua tilted her head in confusion.
"I, the Lord of the Beginnings, will not allow one like you to remain at your stagnant level; the damage you could cause to the lower cosmos is immeasurable. This is the reason I shall name you… The Timelord candidate."
Aqua did not even have a chance to speak before the Lord continued.
"I state now, before the Truth of Time. The denizen of lower cosmos, the one named Aqua, will henceforth be named a Timelord candidate as declared by the Lord of the Beginnings."
The time wrapped around her. The structured threads of history circled around her, embedding themselves into her very soul. "Huh?"
The [Authority of Time] within grew.
"Your grasp on Time was surface level, yet despite that, you were able not only to grasp the flow but to shatter and stitch it together. Yes, primitive, but still impressive," he said. "You stand at the top of the lower cosmos, yet your heart is pure."
Is he seeing me like I did the natives of this world? She chuckled.
The threads of time merged with her mind.
Aqua stared at her palms; her eyes widened in shock.
She couldn't find words to say. Her grasp on time increased a hundredfold.
"Timelord Candidate, Aqua. Your sloppy usage of time had caused paradoxes over the area of the lower cosmos you rewrote," he said.
Aqua shrank back, and she rubbed the back of her head. "I… I am sorry."
"The entities you had rewound and rewrote exist both in and out, and some were protected by the Hand of the Beginnings that was stolen from the pure one."
She could not speak.
"However, this time and this time only. I will allow the changes you had made in the timeline to persist, but I will remove paradoxical elements."
Aqua tilted her head. "Paradoxical elements?"
"Your actions had caused the existence of paradoxical entities. Your actions caused a clone of existence you know of as a goddess to appear, together with the appearance of many what you would call mortals. "
Aqua frowned. Was one of the gods there? Were they responsible?!
"I will expunge these anomalies. However, next time, it will be your duty to do so."
Aqua nodded. While he had mentioned duty, it was more of cleaning up after herself. It was not something that would bind her to the service of the Lord. Someone so powerful yet doesn't wish to enslave me- what a refreshing sight.
However, her actions, causing the appearance of another god, had irked her. A small, sadistic smile formed. "As long as you do not erase people I wanted to bring back, I do not mind."
The threads of time stretched out of the Lord, weaving and filling the place where a gap formed. This time, Aqua witnessed the beauty of time directly.
The clockwork behind the Lord spun to life and just as quickly stopped.
It was a mere second, and the damaged threads repaired, the paradoxes erased.
"It is done, Timelord candidate. Now, just like the previous Timelord, you must learn to gracefully bend the threads of time. You will learn how to state a command before the Truth of Time."
Aqua nodded; however, a question tugged at her mind. The Lord kept referring to her as the Timelord candidate, and he had given her more authority over time, which cemented him as someone far above even the Black Flame and Sun God in the cosmos.
She raised her hand meekly. "Sorry to interrupt, but could you tell me more about this Time Lord candidate title you gave me?"
"Of course, Timelord candidate. In this sanctum, you will learn all you will need."
Aqua sighed. There were so many more questions she needed to ask, and considering how Lord carried himself, he was a true enigma that she needed to probe to the best of her abilities.