Theophile Paddington was born in London in 1914. His parents died shortly after his birth, and as such he was raised in an orphanage. As Theophile grew up, he began stealing, defying the law and abiding only by his own rules. Terribly scarred by the early loss of his mother and father, Theophile grew to be unruly and completely unwilling to accept any guidance from others.

His early destructive behaviour finally came to an end when he met Edward Carnby, as a 13 year old runaway, during one of Carnby's investigations. For the first time in his life, Theo felt useful and capable when Carnby enlisted his help. Aware of the young boy's abilities, Carnby invited him to live in his house - to study and make something of his life. The young Theo quickly showed great interest and invested his energy in both the art of sciences and the many mysterious experiences that Carnby shared with him. As time went on, he became wiser and wiser as he opened his mind to the world's ancient religions and philosophies. While he studied for himself, he also did so for Carnby, in whom he viewed as a strong surrogate father.

After a trip to China, Carnby returned home with a mysterious object that was a part of humanity's strangest and darkest history. Theo felt drawn to this object and both he and Carnby knew that they had fallen across something far greater than they could ever have imagined. Once Carnby realized the danger of the situation, he made the painful decision to take the object to Europe with him for an unknown period of time and leave his pupil at home to search for a way to counter the immense power of his burden. Carnby's sudden departure left Theo feeling betrayed by his mentor - though he soon found himself diving completely into his research while waiting for Carnby's return. But he never did return. Despite Theo's numerous efforts to locate his teacher, it was as if he had dissapeared without a trace.

Time has moved on and 30 years have passed in which Theo eventually had a fulfilling career as a professor and life as a happily married man. He had long since left his painful past behind and has taken comfort in his daily life. Hard times are again in store for Theo when his wife passes away. Around this same time, he begins having reoccuring dreams about his lost predecessor and he is driven deeper and deeper into his past research all the while feeling as though Carnby would eventually return. As Theo is aging he decides to move to New York, more precisely near the Metropolitan Museum, where he finds a job and obtains permission from a university to study ancient relics. His knowledge in alchemy and estoric dogmas is now as powerful as Carnby's before he left.

Everyone in the museum sees Theo as a kind old hard worker fascinated bgy the ancient arts (which he is), but his application for a job of curator in this museum was not a coincidence and through years of studying, the scholar has made startling discoveries there. Theo is now sure that something irreversible is about to happen, something that will change everything. And he feels ready for it, for he has waited his whole life for this moment.