L'affaire Bob

10. Yeux d'Azur

-"Seriously, Mathias?" sighed Emma. "I thought we were over this! When will you finally understand that there's a specific room to land in after your missions? Lately, everyone here has been complaining about your sudden appearances! I told you about it, Amanda talked to you about it, even Old T has summoned you in her office a few weeks ago! We're all annoyed by this."

I glanced at the blond-haired guy who lay on top of me. He hurriedly retreated and stood up next to me, grinning devilishly.

-"So it's working," he observed. "That's great! I can now cross "Annoying everybody at the base" from my To-Do List."

I re-directed my gaze at Emma, who was having a hard time trying not to hit the poor fellow on the head.

-"You may want to add: "Never appear in the training room again" on your Not-To-Do List," I recommended, looking at him from below. I studied him carefully and noticed the disturbing color of his eyes. They were cerulean-blue eyes, just like the eyes of a certain someone. Someone I promised myself I will not think of ever again. Yet here I was, thinking once more about her. 

-"And you, Paul, may want to get up from the floor and return to your place immediately!"

Ah, Emma. One could always count on her to make me forget my thoughts and bring me back to the outside world. Just like you could always count on her to remind me that I was still lying on the floor, like a dead body. Or rather, like a helpless lad who couldn't stand on his own.

I got up and returned to my original place where Lucas stood on my left and Mathias on my right.

-"Now Mathias, will you be so kind as to leave the room right away?" Emma grumbled.

-"Fine, fine! I"m going," Mathias uttered and, throwing a last glance at us, removed an imaginary hat from his head and plunged in a perfect "goodbye" bow, before running to the exit and leaving the door open behind him.

Letting out a long sigh, Emma rushed to the door, closed it, and turned towards us.

-"And that, ladies and gentlemen, was Mathias, one of my former classmates. He is, as you may have realized, quite peculiar, and doesn't seem to understand simple, usual words, despite his unquestionable intelligence. Anyway! Let's get back to our lesson."

-"Wait! You didn't fully answer my question. Why is Paul able to go both backward and forward in time?" Zoe cut in.

-"Zoe, in some rare cases, the time-traveler can visit both the past and the future. But that is twice as dangerous as normal time-travel. It can have fatal effects on the traveler who possesses these powers."

-"Great! Thanks for repeating this. I wasn't sure I got it the first time. You just made me feel a lot better!" I quipped.

-"You're welcome. That's what I'm here for anyway! You're my student now. Just like everyone else in this room. Which reminds me, we still have to finish our lesson. No more distractions, please. Let's focus on the real work."

I looked around. All four of my classmates seemed eager to execute their first time-travel.

I couldn't say the same about my dear self, though.

If time-traveling meant landing face-down on a hard surface once again, I wasn't so keen on doing it. One humiliation was sufficient, thank you very much.

Alas, I knew deep down that I would have no choice but to do it. And this time, unfortunately, I would be on my own. I would have to rely on my powers, and Amanda wouldn't be here to help me.

But it couldn't be that bad, right? I would just have to follow step-by-step all the procedures Emma will be mentioning, and everything would be alright.