REFLECTIONS - aventurine

002 - seance

"It really is you." you breathe out, barely a whisper. "But... how? I thought you were..."

But who are you, and what have you become?

"Dead?" Kakavasha softly chuckled, leaning closer to tuck a few stray hairs behind your ear and eyeing that branding on your neck. "I thought the same for you, though it's a long story. I'm here for collection."

"Collection?" your brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

He sighed, gaze intense. "I'm here to collect your debt to the IPC. I work for them."

Your debt that had slowly accumulated in your countless attempts to gamble every chance, every game, every part of you. Just in hopes that one day, Kakavasha would be the one sitting at the opposing end of the table.

"So... you didnt come here for me." The realization had settled in, leaving a bitter taste on your tongue.

"It's not like that." he shook his head, eyes softening as his fingertips lightly grazed the brand. "I'm here to offer you a way out of this life. A way to live without being manacled to a cruel fate."

"So here's my offer, you can either pay your debt in full right now, or..." he continued after you chose to stay silent. "you can join me in the IPC."

The former option was completely out of the question. You had no funds to pay off the large sum you'd borrowed from the IPC over the years, considering you had developed a crippling gambling addiction that was a result of the death of the man standing right before you. So... you're left with the latter.

"Join you?" you question. "What would that entail?"

He sighed once more. "Perhaps I should have worded that differently, I'm here to invite you to a future I've planned for us both. To protect you."

Your eyes narrowed. "Protect me? From what?"

"From your past, from this cruel world," Kakavasha replied cryptically. "I can offer you a way out, a chance to start anew."

You were intrigued in a way, though that was accompanied by wariness. "What do you mean?"

Kakavasha leaned in closer, if that was even possible. His warm breath mixed with the cold air around your ear. "Join me. Join the IPC. We can leave all our sins behind. Or rather, leave this whole world behind."

"What I'm offering you is a chance at true freedom. A chance to leave behind the mistakes of our past and create our own future."

Your mind raced with thoughts and questions. Could you really trust him and his offer? Right after he had shown up after years of absence?

After a moment of silence, Kakavasha spoke again. "Think about it. This is, quite literally, your only chance at freedom from both your debt and your past. But the choice is yours."

-

Some things are better left forgotten, banished to the void of the past where they belong. Yet, there are memories of moments that imprint themselves so deeply in the recesses of the mind that they become immortalized, engraved into the very fabric of the subconscious.

Kakavasha's rigid form stood before you, frame barely filling the tattered clothes that hung on his emaciated body. Yet he was still as beautiful as ever, almost glowing in the moonlight that shone through the prison bars. He cupped your face into his trembling palms, probably from the hunger that gnawed at your stomachs all the same.

These moments lie dormant, tucked away from conscious thought, until a situation arises that serves as a key, unlocking the memories that have briefly slipped through your mind, into the depths of forgetfulness. When roused, these memories briefly unveil themselves, casting a fleeting impulsivity on your current decision making.

"You're beautiful." he breathed out, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Whether these memories are good or bad, there is a reason they were tucked away. The good memories incite a violent longing, a pull at your heartstrings, a yearning for times that can never be reclaimed. The bad memories, on the other hand, provoke a different kind of reaction. They churn in your guts, wringing it out.

You lean in, so careful. You feel his warm breath on your lips and suddenly the hunger turns into yearning, the cold emptiness that fills your whole being turns into him, and his lips are softer than anything you've ever had the privilege to place your lips on.

Sometimes, it may be better to let these memories rest undisturbed, to allow them to remain buried and avoid them interfering with your current circumstance.

You think your hunger might just be satiated for another century just from the taste of him.

But perhaps, rekindling and acknowledging these memories may help you find peace in your past and your future.

-

You were lost in thought for a moment, but you eventually meet his expectant gaze.

"Show me your dream of us."

"Then let's go, beautiful. Dreams do not wait for us, restless ones."