The Archaeologist

Who is Abhay?

The reason for all this hesitation and fear was that he indeed could be facing drastic consequences, going as far as the complete forbiddance of travelling through timelines.

Usually, it wouldn't take a second thought to consider risking his freedom, he would never do anything to even bring him close to that reality. Abhay loved his world a little too much to even think in that direction.

Then what changed? The answer to this question lay in the fact that he, despite having travelled through plenty of cities, civilizations and cultures, still sought the serenity of true human connections. He had, as a child, seen way too many sacrifices being made in the name of blood and family, it had deeply scarred him, so much so that even thinking of having to go through anything close would send shivers through his body. The boy who saw people he loved and looked up to sacrificing practically their lives and all chances at happiness, with each of his growing years, in the name of family and blood relations, wanted nothing to do with any relations, no matter how close, he just wanted out and he found it. He found it in travelling. Travelling that began from one place to another and then morphed into one timeline to the next, thanks to the group he met in a village on the outskirts of Spain. He was happy, finally, away from anything to hold him back or pull him down, Abhay went from one era to the other and explored his will. Nothing stopped him and he didn't mind the limits and rules that were to be followed, because what more could he ask for when he had so much more than most brains would even fathom all their lives. The Rules, he was told, were meant to keep him safe while he assisted in the vigilance for the safety of the timelines, especially from the notorious "Volatile Voyagers", a term assigned to ones who liked to mess things up within the timelines, sometimes by webbing up different eras and other times by just simply leaving random things in places and times they shouldn't be in.

Abhay's job wasn't as intense as that of the Defenders, who were technically time travel police. His job, as a Keeper was to just keep an eye on things, mostly going wherever, on his own will, sorting unnecessary conflicts and informing the Defenders in case of suspicion. He hadn't taken much time in considering when he was offered this job because who would in their sanity refuse an opportunity to time travel with little responsibility, while most of their expenses were being taken care of, their ageing slowed and identity concealed? Though he sometimes thought if he should have reconsidered the clause of either a life-long bond or leaving with no memories of this life yet he was content with his life for the majority of the part.

He loved how he was an observer not only in the creation and writing of history but also a spectator of what the future would have in store for humans, he did feel bad about it once, but well didn't humans bring that upon themselves? Now, he only sympathised with the other creatures. From the riches of royalty to the horrors of World Wars, he had seen a lot, a little too much maybe. He was in total adoration of how people came up with new ideas, what passion could give to the world and even when the most horrifying of destructions happened, how humans held the capability of rebuilding it all with peace and compassion. It pained him to know though that it took disasters for people to realise one another's value and capacity for love, over and over again. There were times when he went and spent time with artists, musicians, painters, writers and just be there to listen to what they had to say, these were moments when he regretted on behalf of humanity that those words, those minds and thoughts never reached the world.

He had witnessed so much that at times he really wanted to share it with someone, someone who would listen to him talk and not just hear him reporting the events.

Through the decades of living like this, Abhay had almost forgotten the essence of relations and connections, that was until he met Vedansh. He was first sent to Delhi to check about a missing artefact in one of the museums as it was suspected to be the work of a Volatile Voyager. Although that wasn't the case and all of it was merely the carelessness of a worker, he was now free to roam around and he took the chance, inevitably. That was when he first came across Vedansh, who was part of the team that was examining and studying a monument for its restoration purposes. He kept watching Vedansh from a distance and knew that he had found another peculiarly passionate person with an equally unique devotion towards history.