Memoria - Chapter 4 - Momentia

"Gather Momentia - force of will1

Darkness heeds to his call.2

Light of earth beckons,3

Save us!" - Infinitum Liberati4

After satisfying his hunger, Jason switched the CD player back on and made himself comfortable in his chair. Halfway across town, Graham Tessen was preparing to do the same. Once again that turn of some higher force, sometimes going by the name of Fate, or just coincidence, made that both Jason and Graham pressed "play" at exactly the same moment. Each heard a different song; both were drawn into the trap at the same time.5

A blast of cold air and a moment of vertigo caused Jason's eyes to snap open. He had been dozing in his chair. He looked around. Everything was dark, but a few steps ahead of him a light shone on a piece of paper lying on a black tile floor. He could not make out any details about the room he was in; it could be as small as a prison cell or as large as a banquet hall for all that he knew. Carefully he walked over to the paper. His steps echoed back at him, giving the impression that he was in a large empty space. The paper was a torn off piece of a newspaper: on the one side half a car advertisement for the latest Toyota, and on the other side the words "You're Not Dreaming". Jason frowned, and turned the paper over again, expecting to see the advert, but it was replaced with another sentence that read "You're not in Kansas anymore". This made him smile. For some reason he had really quickly gotten used to strange things happening. He glanced around again while putting the paper in his pocket. 6

Away in the distance he could vaguely see another shape illuminated by that disembodied spotlight. He tried to discern where the light came from, without success. The rays disappeared into the air and melded with the black cloak that surrounded him like a vacuum. He broke into a jog, and as he approached he could make out an armchair. The person sitting in it was Graham. He was wide awake and looking around him. When his eyes settled on Jason, he expelled a long shuddering breath.7

"Is this a dream?" he asked. Jason nodded slowly.8

"Then where are we?"9

"Well, we're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy" Jason replied, smiling.10

Graham glared at him, "That is not funny"11

"I think it's hysterical."12

"Of course you would, I'm dreaming about you and this dark... what is this place?" Graham asked, getting up from the chair. He was dressed in a plaid shirt and blue jeans, looking so much like a stereotypical lumberjack that Jason just had to smile again. 13

"I have an idea, but you wouldn't believe me even if I told you"14

"Yes, you're right. I've seen enough strange happenings during my time on the force to know that anything is possible. Especially in a dream."15

While Graham spoke, Jason looked around again, hoping to spy anything other than this unending darkness. Jason held out his hand and instinctively muttered a few arcane words. From his palm sprung a blue flame that cast an eerie light in a circle roughly four meters all around.16

Graham looked at this and took in a sharp breath. "How the hell?" his hand going, from reflex, to the place his holster would have been, of course finding nothing. He was off duty after all.17

"Let's just say I've remembered a few tricks I used to know. Eons ago this sort of thing was very common" Jason replied, poking the blue flame with his finger. It was neither hot nor cold, and had no substance. But the light it cast, even though slightly nauseating if stared at for too long, was comforting.18

Graham tapped Jason on the shoulder, pulling him out of his reverie. "Over there, what is that?"19

He turned around and stared in the direction Graham indicated. Another spotlight shone on a piano.20

"Yup, that is a piano all right."21

The flame in Jason's hand flickered as they walked the distance to the piano. Jason mused that he must have already traveled a hundred meters, and yet this place seemed unending. He realized the reason for that was possibly because it was unending. They were definitely not in any place he could remember, either in this lifetime or any from his past. As they walked, he wondered about this. Even though he could remember most of it, some parts of his returned memory was blacked out, as if an unknown force had erased it forcefully. This made Jason a bit weary; you never know what awaited you when your memory failed to perform.22

It was an old grand piano, black as the darkness around them. The only other color being the stark white of the keys that looked inviting, as if begging for one of them to sit on the little stool and play a melody.23

"Can you play?" Graham asked, glancing again into the darkness. He was getting edgy. Usually his dreams weren't this strange, and him thinking he was dreaming was already a bit disconcerting.24

"No... yes... I don't know" Jason replied, and glanced down towards his feet. He was wearing highly polished black shoes and a tuxedo, complete with handkerchief tucked into the breast pocket. He looked up at Graham, noticing that his clothes too had changed into a tux.25

"What the hell?"26

"You say that a lot, don't you?" Jason asked, but before Graham could answer, a noise filled the space. 27

Graham was so caught up in his new outfit that he failed to notice that they were now standing on a stage, in front of an audience that was barely visible. They were applauding them, and Jason could make out a few far off calls for an encore. Instead of trying to make sense of what was going on (he had already decided to just play it by ear), he made himself comfortable on the stool and placed his hands on the keys. As if of their own accord, they started playing a piece of music that filled the void with a song of such sorrow that Graham stood completely still, entranced by the music his unlikely companion was making. Never had he heard such sweet sounds. They filled him with a sadness that could stretch forever, and brought him to new heights of joy. He cried.28

The last notes faded into the darkness as Jason stood. Thunderous applause from the unknown audience rose to overwhelming volumes, and then disappeared. Along with the piano. Once again Jason and Graham were standing alone, in darkness. From his left Jason could hear Graham sniffing, and he made that blue flame again, its flickering pattern showing the man trying to wipe away his tears.29

"Where did you learn to play like that?"30

"Can't remember. Except..." Jason trailed off. He remembered the piece now. It was meant for two people, but somehow he couldn't remember who had always played the other part with him so many ages ago. A fleeting sense of loss filled him, as if he had forgotten something important.31

A thought occurred to him, and he turned back to Graham. "You didn't perhaps listen to one of those disks you took from the suicide victims, did you?"32

"Yes actually I did. The first time was outside your house. And get that look off your face; of course I knew you took one. Until a few minutes ago you were our only lead in this case."33

Jason glared at Graham for a moment, and then sighed.34

"That's what I get for mingling with the local authorities."35

Graham laughed, a joyless sound in this empty nothingness.36

"Jason, aside from a major mental breakdown, or a very disturbing dream brought on by last night's half cooked Steer burger, I would really love to know where we are."37

Jason tried to hide his face. A cop like Graham would spot the lie immediately.38

"I have no idea where we are, but I suspect we are going to find out soon enough."39

"And what makes you think that? I don't see anything."40

That's because you're looking with your eyes, Jason thought. From deep within himself he dredged up a long dead past and memories, and with those came an ancient knowledge so arcane that it predated all known history. A door stood a few meters from them, also cast in its own spotlight of unknown origin.41

"How the...?" Graham stopped himself.42

"You really shouldn't repeat yourself."43

They walked over to the door. Its dark red wood glowed in the light as if freshly varnished. Engraved deeply within the wood was that symbol they both recognized by now. Beginning from the top to the bottom, it was burnt into the wood, and cast feeling of foreboding on them both, as if this was the final warning. The golden handle gleamed, beckoning them to open the door.44

"Perhaps we should..." Graham started; wanting to warn caution. But Jason simply stepped over and opened the door casually. Beyond the doorway, all they could see was more darkness.45

"This is like something out of a very bad horror movie: "The Doorway to Nothingness". What a clichè." Graham's nervous laughter didn't help to alleviate the tense atmosphere.46

Jason stared through the doorway, hoping his suspicions were correct. Ryan had told him that there were places you go when you remember what you were, and he believed he was in one now. But how Graham came to be here with him, he had no idea. Perhaps by some mistake of that evil, the faceless, nameless darkness, that had descended upon humanity age after age, Graham was thrust upon this world without the benefit of remembering anything. Jason took a deep breath and stepped through the door. Graham blinked as the man in front of him disappeared. Moments later a strong force hurled him through the door, as if he were bound to Jason. He had no choice but to follow.47

They were in a dark room. At first almost nothing was visible, except the flames that licked up from a hole in the ground in what seemed to be a hearth in the middle of this dark and damp place. The smells were overwhelming. Rot and decay overlaid the darker stench of fear and hate that had permeated into the walls over years of use by those who only dwelt in the darkness of their own minds. After a while their eyes adjusted. They could see that the room was circular, built from old cold stone blocks, each as large as a man. The floor was covered with smaller stones that created a mosaic of differentiating patterns. Neither could look for long at the floor, since the pattern appeared to be changing all the time, alternating from one shape to another, making them both nauseous.48

At first they thought they were alone, but the sounds of a murmured chant drifted up to them where they were standing in the shadows. And pretty soon they noticed the man sitting by the fire, his head bent down, as if in deep prayer. Every so often a hand would appear, throwing powder onto the fire, causing it to change color briefly. With each flare his voice changed, sounding as if different people were speaking through him.49

Graham turned to look back to where the door had been, not really expecting it to still be there. He was not disappointed. He started towards Jason, but was stopped by a hand grasping him. Jason shook his head slightly, demanding absolute silence from him. Something about the man by the fire intrigued Jason. An urgent need to go closer forced him to approach silently. As he neared, the man spoke up, eyes still closed.50

"To remember is to be."51

Jason replied immediately, "In Memoria".52

The man's eyes opened, and Jason could finally see his face more clearly, illuminated by the flickering flames. He looked exactly like him, Jason, and in some way this did not surprise him.53

"You are me." he said, more a statement of fact than a question.54

"I am you now, the you of the past, and the you that has yet to come. Please sit down, and look into the flames with me." The man gestured to a spot opposite him, beyond the fire. Jason obliged, taking a seat that matched the man's.55

"You must have many questions, and the man you have brought with you as well. He does not belong here, but he is a part of your chain too."56

Jason glanced over to where Graham was standing. His posture indicated that he was listening closely, but trying to appear not to be doing so.57

Jason turned his full attention to the man that looked like himself, the flames obscuring some of the details of his face. In the distorting heat his face was swimming in and out of shadow.58

"Where are we?" Jason asked.59

"The answer to that is complicated, and ages ago you possessed the ability to come here on your own. But for now, let's say you are safe."60

The man once again threw powder onto the flames, which flashed green for a brief moment. In that instant Jason could almost sense the overwhelming chain of events that had brought him here, all the way back to the beginning of his existence.61

"I guess the next question would have to be, why am I, or we, here?" he said, shifting his position ever so slightly to avoid looking at the changing mosaic pattern on the floor.62

"Let me tell you a story. But we will have to make it short. Time, as you know, is fluid, and can run both forward and backward when you know how to turn it. A long time ago, so long ago that even the wisest of men in your present incarnation can't begin to fathom it's existence, humanity still lived close to the earth, in harmony with all the energies that existed there. And as with all such, men began to use those forces to their own advantage. It was a time of peace and tranquility, the proverbial paradise. It was the time of magic and myths, now long forgotten or scoffed at. After many decades, a young man, experimenting with his own gifts, discovered the Memoria chain, the only beam of energy that is untouchable by everyone. It is what separates each person from one incarnation to the next. It is the only constant in death, that none must remember his past. This young man broke his chain, a deed so infinitely evil that his darkness grew like a shadow on the worlds, both in reality and those beyond our grasps. This evil goes by many names. Some call it Pandora's Box, others Mpundulu, and some human nature. Where evil happens, it is there. And so it has been for all times."63

Jason listened enraptured to the man, breaking the silence only to ask a question.64

"Then what do I have to do with it?"65

"When your people discovered this darkness, they set about to correct it, but knew that because of the Memoria chain, they would never live long enough to stop it. So they broke the chain of a single man. Someone so utterly without evil that the breaking caused no darkness to come forth. The promise was made that one day this man, in his incarnations, would be gifted to remember, and stop the darkness from completing its quest."66

"And I guess we can all remember what that is."67

"Yes. To break the chain of every person on earth, causing them all to remember, and go insane. Because that is what evil is; insanity, the absence of light and love."68

"I am that man."69

"Yes"70

The man tossed another handful of powder onto the flames, and this time a full color spectrum shot out. The flames reached high into the sky and swirled around Jason for a moment. With them came such a torrent of images that it almost broke Jason's spirit. He saw the endless stretches of time, both forward and backward. He experienced each pain ever suffered, each smile and joyous moment of every person throughout infinity. No man in creation could survive it, but Jason was no ordinary man. With revelation came understanding, and then, realization.71

"Enderton is the focal point. What it is planning to do here will make World War II seem like a bar fight."72

"You know enough now. Take the man with you, he is your key."73

Jason started rising to his feet, but was stopped by the man, who threw him a book.74

"Don't forget this."75

He glanced at the cover, it was his diary. Smiling he went over to Graham, who only looked at him with an awed expression.76

"Come on Dorothy, click your heels three times, and remember; there's no place like home." He grasped the old cop's arm, and waved at the man, as reality melted before them, revealing far more familiar surroundings.77