Pillars of Magic: Paradox

Earthlings

Darkness surrounded Marco. There was a peaceful stillness in the encompassing black. His head swam dizzily, and he felt as if he was floating, uncertain of which way was up or down. He slipped in and out of mental awareness, his mind a part of the serene liberation that was half sleep, half waking, hovering limply through its rather viscous embrace.

How long he remained in that pleasant stupor, he did not know, but he didn't mind it, not even fully aware of if he was indeed dreaming or not. That thought alone was a comfort, as there was peace in feeling nothing at all.

But the tranquility started to become pierced with snippets of memories. They came and left in quick blurred images that darted from left to right before him. He barely had an opportunity to recognize a vision before it was swept away again, unable to materialize into something more. It was as if someone were fast-forwarding through parts of his brain, trying to find a memory to settle on and watch. Each time a new memory broke into view it was wiped away again with a muffled pulse.

Such moments were interspersed with more of the quiet inky black, but the images came and went faster, the space between shrinking, the pulsing sound coercing his own heart rate to keep in time. He was being roused unwillingly from the stupor he was perfectly happy to remain within.

The images demanded attention; he felt forced into watching them clip by. He wanted to remain oblivious to any of it, eyes kept blissfully closed... until one blur of recollection was finally allowed to take shape.

Marco's eyes opened fully and he found himself partially walking, partially swimming towards the figure which molded into the likeness of Jackie. She was alone, standing firmly in the blackened expanse of nothingness but lit with enough light he could make her out as clearly as if she were standing at the beach beneath the sun, a reverse silhouette.

It was as if the part he had to play began to move his body on que. He had to reprise the role even though everything in him cried out not to.

She had her arms crossed over her chest while he was trying to explain himself. The words that came out of his mouth were so thick and muddled that even he couldn't understand them. When Jackie spoke, it was as comprehensible to him as if he were living in the exact same moment, but all over again.

"It can't work. You said yourself, this is my life. I want to keep it."

Marco again replied, inaudibly, struggling to hear his own words but hearing only muffled sounds.

Jackie's face flushed red against the whiteness of her hair, her inner fire plain to see spreading over such pale skin.

"We can't, Marco. It's two very different wants."

Again, even more forcefully, he tried to shout at Jackie. She was tearing herself away from him and he was struggling to try and hold on, the words completely inept. And Jackie kept on talking, interrupting his failed attempts at speech.

"... it would be wrong for me to keep you wanting something you'll never have with me."

Marco's arms swung slowly through the thick air around him, trying to make it over to Jackie but gaining very little ground. She merely stood there, staring him down as he struggled.

Then she grabbed hold of his face in her hands, the huge gap between them instantly bridged in half a breath.

Jackie's voice started to merge into another familiar tone, her white silken hair turning almost as black as the hue surrounding them, her skin darkening down several shades. Her eyelids dropped to cover half of her eyes.

Suddenly it was Janna that held his face in her hands, her voice coming through the dark in a sarcastic tone.

"I am sure. I've never doubted it, just the same as you've never let it go."