Time almost seemed to stop for Theodore in that moment. Lost and utterly bewildered by what he had just heard, he pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it with a disgusted expression. Without hesitation, he threw his phone aside. The already broken screen shattered on impact. The next moment, the device fell to the floor in pieces.
"Useless bastards!" he exclaimed. Pursing his lips, he gritted his teeth, turned back to Maria, and his expression darkened further.
'Why did I even waste my time with those abusive drunkards?'
Running out of time fast, desperate to help his caretaker, and having no hope of getting help from the proper sources, officials, emergency services, and the likes. And with the closest medical centre being nearly half an hour's walk away, panic started to settle in.
He had no way of helping Maria, who with every passing minute inched closer and closer to the edge. And that fact alone was enough to send him into a downward spiral. Along with the rage, a myriad of emotions overwhelmed him. Anger at the people who did this to Maria. Rage towards the wretches assigned to the outskirts who actively disregard their tasks, just because they live beyond a wall. Fear for what might happen to Maria if nothing was done. Honestly, it was all just too much.
Barely having had the strength to blink, let alone lift a finger, she reached out with her broken arm and cradled his face in her palm. Horrified by the sight of her charred skin being torn as she moved, he wanted to push her away. To tell her not to stress her battered body any more than was needed. But the warm touch of her palm brushing past his hair and resting on his cheek made his heart quiver. In that instant, he reflexively raised his hands and cradled hers in them.
"Don't worry, Maria. You'll be fine. I'll figure something out, okay. You're going to be just fine!"
Forcing her lips to part, Maria's body shuddered, and her lips trembled. As the faintest of smiles tugged at them, her eyes searched his face. For a moment, all she did was stare deeply into them, but after a while, she chuckled hoarsely, then said.
"Are those tears I see?" and as she spoke, tears pooled at the corners of her eyes. With her vision blurred by the tears and searing pain, Maria could barely see a couple of centimetres ahead. Despite that, Theodore's silhouette stood out to her. The white hair on his head crowning it and making his identity even clearer to her.
"Theo..."
"Don't! You'll just make it harder for..."
"No!" she refuted, pushing his hand away and forcing her words out. "I need... to say this,"
Theo froze. His hand hovered in the air where she had pushed it away, fingers curling slowly, afraid to touch her again. For a heartbeat, all he could do was stare. Then a long, fragile pause followed. Nearly a minute later, though, Maria drew a shallow breath. Her eyes fluttered as she gathered what little strength she had left. Looking to him with determination and vigor, her lips parted, then finally she spoke.
"Theodore, you have... been in my care for the past... seventeen years." Each word came slowly, carefully, as though she were afraid the very next one might be her last. Pushing past that fear, she continued with as much vigor as she began with. "And I have watched you grow... develop.... and mature faster than any other child I that time. You might not think it, but I believe you are a brilliant, strong, and amazing child with limitless potential. And I'm so happy... to have watched the development of that child."
Maria looked deep into his eyes, and the smile that had appeared on her face disappeared just as fast as it appeared.
"But Theo, the truth is that... there is something I've wanted to tell you for a while. No, since the beginning..." After another long pause, she continued. "You aren't who... or what you think you are, Theo!"
Raising a brow in utter confusion, Theo asked.
"Wha... What are you talking about, Maria?"
"Exactly what I just said."
Theodore stared at her with an utterly bewildered expression.
"What… do you mean?" he asked again, his voice low, strained. "What does 'I'm not who, or what I think I am' mean?"
Maria's breathing hitched. The effort it took for her to keep her eyes open was plain now, but she forced herself to hold his gaze.
"I know... it doesn't make any sense to you now... and I wish I could... explain everything to you. But I don't have much time left."
Theo stiffened.
For a second, he didn't, no, he couldn't breathe. His brows knit together, confusion cutting through his panic like a dull blade.
"What…?" he muttered. "Nothing you're saying makes sense, Maria."
Reaching out her broken and charred hand, she grasped his gently, then with her other hand, she reached for a pendant on her neck. Its design, unlike the material it seemed to be made from, was exquisite. Hanging from a beautiful linked chain, a piece of metal in the shape if a shield hung. At its centre, the image of a shattered sword was engraved.
Theo's eyes locked onto it. The silver-like metal contrasted sharply with the hue of her charred skin. So much so that he wondered how he hadn't noticed it before. In fact, staring at it intently, he wondered where the hell such an expensive-looking piece of jewellery came from. The thought, though, was no more than a momentary curiosity.
Before any other thoughts could take shape in his mind, Theo looked to Maria, then asked. "Maria… what is that?" unease creeping into his voice.
She pressed the pendant into her palm. It was warm. Unnaturally so. The moment it bit into her skin, a sharp pulse of light ran up her arm, making her flinch.
She clenched it tight and lay there for a moment writhing in pain. Before the pain could overtake his rationality, though, something strange started happening. As Maria seemed to be slipping farther and farther, her pendant began emitting a faint glow.