Worlds of Waves and Shadows

Nine

Darkness swirled around him, fluid and cold. Yet, it didn't bother him. He liked it. Being so weightless as the void around him, unburdened by anything. He didn't remember the last time he had been like this.

Just....existing without a care in the world. In fact, Rolan wasn't even sure if he had ever felt that way. There was something different about this darkness. It wasn't alarming or daunting. No. It was simply....there. And strangely enough, it made him feel like he had all the time in the world. For the first time, he was truly relaxed.

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He stood on the concrete again, surrounded by roadside vegetation for the millionth time. He had lost count after the seventh time. Rolan was stuck. Inside, a time loop.

It had been confusing at first, scary even. Because the last thing he remembered was standing in a bare room with stark white walls and then flicking his wrists. No. There had been more. He clearly remembered the fog setting in followed by a blinding flash too. But everything else was still a blur.

Now, he stood on the side of a road, in the same spot, in the same position. Unable to move at all. Just like all the previous times this had repeated.

Around him, autumn was just beginning to set in. He had learned of that fact after his third time experiencing it.

And yet, it ended in tears every time. Even though Rolan was well aware of what was to come, it still hurt. So bad.

By now, Rolan was sure that he stuck in somewhere around the twenty-forties.

The silver vehicle advancing towards him confirmed it. The car was sleek with feline headlights and a black glass windshield. The kind you couldn't peek into from the outside.

It had probably been the best model available by then.

His heart almost leapt out of his throat, a zillionth time when a supersonic boom later the car flipped over onto its back after somersaulting in the air.

Again.

His eyes darted to the other end of the road where exigent sparks of green and white flew in every possible direction, a few feet from where he stood.

A resounding clang rang out as two weapons collided once more, held by their wielders.

One of which was armoured in an intricate network of navy plates, lined with gold. They seemed like a completed jigsaw puzzle no matter how many times he looked at it. Though his face was obscured, by a shield of black, encased in the headgear that he wore.

He parried against the glitching rod that pulsated, expanded and contracted in the hands of the other man, dressed in what Rolan could only describe as flowing robes.

So black that they seemed to absorb the light around them. But his face too, was covered with the same onyx material that constructed his robe, leaving only his eyes exposed.

But what hypnotised him even still, was the way they fought. Just like two partners in a ballroom, elegant and perfect. It never got old.

And Rolan would have never been able to look away if it weren't for the loud bang that drew his attention to what once used to be a car. His heart pounded against his rib cage, unable to comprehend what was unfolding in front of him.

He found himself paralysed once more, cold sweat beginning to gather on his forehead. The door to the passenger seat lay across to the road, in the dirt. And from the wreck had emerged a woman, dazed.

But that wasn't why he felt his colour drain away, heart screeching to a stomach-churning halt. It was the colour of her eyes.

Green like the spring, tinged with the deeper shades of the forests and the earth. They were magnificent. She was magnificent. With ash brown hair and high cut cheekbones, she could easily have been an angel. Though she was more familiar.