He found her in the garden behind her villa, staring at the wild flowers with a yearning in her eyes and a deep sadness in her demeanor.
Taking a moment to calm his nerves, he teleported from the roof of a building across from her villa, into her garden, keeping just a few meters of space between them.
Aware that she must have recognized his presence, Alex didn’t bother with pleasantries as he remarked. "We need to talk."
"You are two days too early." Thera calmly replied, not bothering to look back.
"The time loop," Alex remarked, taking a step forward as Thera turned to regard him.
She managed a brief smile before turning away to regard the wild flowers once again.
"And I do not have the answers you seek," Thera replied. "It would do you well to leave now."
"Not without you answering my questions," Alex remarked.
Thera paused, letting out a sigh before turning to regard him again.
"You won, in the previous loops, the Timeless Serpent came into Eventide and he released his Authority, engulfing everything in its cycle. Yet, the loop exists. This pushes me to believe that the source of the loop is not the Serpent."
Just then, an amused smile briefly adorned Thera’s lips, a gesture Alex quickly read meaning into.
"Unless the source of the loop is the serpent..."
"... It’s neither and both at the same time."
This time, there was no smile, merely a knowing look in Thera’s eyes, prompting Alex to remark.
"The Timeless Serpent is the source of the loop, but it isn’t the one in control of it."
At this juncture, a light bulb seemed to flash in Alex’s mind, causing him to begin to pace back and forth.
"But because you let me win consistently and haven’t bothered trying to stop the loop, that means you aren’t the one in control of it, and... you don’t have a means to put a stop to it, so you let me win in the hopes that I’d be able to stop it. Am I right?"
Thera silently shrugged, seemingly enjoying watching Alex rack his brains in a bid to solve the mystery behind the time loop.
Pursing his lips while taking the time to ponder the implications of her reaction, Alex intoned. "Which means, apart from you, there’s a second party I’m not aware of, another character with Authority over Time. But where are they hiding and why a time loop?... What exactly are they after?"
Thera turned away and began to walk towards her villa with Alex following closely behind.
"I’m guessing you can’t tell me anything directly because it might cause changes to the loop, but I need to understand what’s happening if we are going to have any chance of stopping the loop."
Thera didn’t say anything as she continued moving forward, prompting Alex to be a bit bolder as he reached forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Finally, the Councilwoman stopped before slowly turning to regard him.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, she pulled out a mystical card, causing Alex to back away while attempting to snap as he thought she was about to attack.
However, she grabbed the hand he’d used to touch her and then, exerted her Will on the aether, causing time around them to slow down to a tenth of its usual speed.
"Would you like to hear a story, Alexander?" Thera inquired with Alex taking a moment to understand what was happening before he replied.
"There was once a woman, who had lost her husband and children to a terrible disease. She despaired and wondered why the disease hadn’t claimed her as well. Fate, clearly a jokester, decided to inflict the disease on her as well. The pain, the suffering... drove the woman to realize that despite the sadness she felt from losing her family, she didn’t wish to die and despair at the fact that she was going to die, drove her into a corner and it was in that corner that a serpent whispered sweet nothings to her."
Taking a moment to let out a sigh, Thera continued. "Naturally, she accepted the serpent’s words and foolishly began to do its bidding. Realizing too late the bargain she had struck with the serpent, she made the decision to split herself into three separate persons: a past without a present and a future, a present without a past and a future, and a future without a present or a past. Each has a distinct personality, each unable to truly act without the agreement of the other two."
Alex, having deduced that this story was most likely Thera’s story, had another light bulb moment though he didn’t try to interrupt Thera, aware that time was of the essence.
"Of course, even though her actions had managed to preserve some of her humanity, it still remained that she could not escape the clutches of the serpent, leaving her no choice but to hope for help from outside to correct the mistakes she made."
Taking a deep breath, Thera intoned. "A pathetic story, don’t you agree?"
"... I guess," Alex muttered.
"You know, Alexander, you are quite smart. Given the right clues, you can figure things out rather quickly. I would have to applaud you for that."
"But you got a few things wrong in your little tirade just now. Firstly, even if I wanted to, I cannot divine your future actions. Your past, present, and future... everything is shrouded in darkness. In the same way, your assistant’s past, present, and future are hidden.
"Secondly, I do have a means to stop the loop, I just can’t stop it. Thirdly, you were wrong to say that my saying anything to you would cause changes to the loop. From the moment you came here, changes have already been made."
Alex’s expression fell at this juncture, realizing the error in his judgment.
"Indeed. This loop is about to end."
Almost as soon as she said that, there was an audible crack, and the sky above shattered, revealing the Timeless Serpent in all its twisted glory.
"My advice, Alexander Regulus, follow the progression of the loop, because the more changes you make... the more they will reset the loop."
Clicking his tongue, Alex inquired as the Authority of the Serpent rushed towards them. "Who are they?"
"Follow the music," Thera said, after which the wave swept past them, and then, everything was reset.