Jason woke up abruptly and realized there was a presence next to him. Groggy, and barely awake from the nightmare he experienced, Jason's body reacted instinctively and he grabbed the person by the throat.
"Ja . . . son," the person called out through a constricted voice as she gasped for air.
Hearing her voice, Jason looked over and immediately released his grip. The girl standing near him dropped to the ground while sputtering, gasping for air while looking at Jason. Her dark eyes shone brightly while her sharp nose and arched eyebrows, similar to Jason but more refined and elegant, flared. Jason noticed he was on a sleeping bag, but he crawled out, moving backwards and away from the person.
"Hel? How?" Jason asked before shaking his head. He curled into himself, hugging his knees while shaking his head repeatedly. "No. No, no. This . . . this is . . ."
"Jason . . ." Helen said with a weak smile. "It's alright Jason, it's alright."
She was comforting Jason, telling him it was okay, that she was there, and that it wasn't his fault for choking her. She slowly walked to Jason who flinched when she raised a hand. Gently, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
It's warm . . .
Tears leaked out of Jason's eyes and he closed them to stop the burning tears from falling. He hugged Helen back and the two stayed like that for a while. After a few minutes of consoling, Helen finally let go and looked around. They were still in the alchemy room, but Helen had found a sleeping bag and wanted to place Jason down on it when he woke up.
"Where are we, exactly?" Hel asked. "I saw that there were several rooms and a hallway but I wasn't able to open them nor could I find a way out."
"We're, uh, in here," Jason swallowed before raising the Dragon pendant he had with his hand. "This . . . was made by my previous incarnations, I think. It's . . . I don't know what it is exactly. It's like a pocket dimension? But at the same time it has its own set of laws."
"I have no idea what you just said right now," Helen said while Jason smiled wryly. "Mind translating that?"
"It's a separate universe that doesn't conform to the laws of physics on earth . . . ?" Jason said after thinking for a long time. He wasn't sure exactly how else to say it. "I mean, I can manipulate space, time, and matter in this place so . . ."
"Right. That . . . makes sense. I think," Helen mulled over it before shaking her head. "That doesn't matter. Instead, I'm more interested in this marriage thing you mentioned the last time. Yes, I heard it. I may have been in a coma, but I'm still awake. Sorta."
Jason and Helen chatted for a long time, with Helen teasing him about the women around his life. She also wanted to see Alina, but at the same time was immensely worried about how Alina would react to her; they were very similar after all and she didn't want Alina to feel like she was just a replacement. Both Jason and Helen understood this, but neither of them brought it up and they instead skirted around the subject.
"So what's your plan?" Helen asked while placing her arms on the table and leaning forward with her head on her hands. "Juggling multiple women like this will probably end up with them ditching you. Or killing you."
"I don't know," Jason said. "Maybe it's better that way. It would save them a lot of pain."
"Why not just take them all at once? Make a harem, that's every man's dream!" Helen said before pausing. "Although I'd castrate any man that'd try that on me."
"And . . . you just answered your own question," Jason pointed out with a wry chuckle. "Besides, they would have a miserable life if they ended up with me."
"Why? Cause of the Curse? Please," Helen looked at Jason with disappointment. "Does it matter? Even if it's just a passing moment, live life the way you want it to."
"You know how bad it is," Jason said. "A curse to live a loveless life, blessed with women, only to have it torn apart . . . every damn time. I'm tired of it all, Hel, tired of fighting it, tired of living. But right now, all I can think of is . . ."
In his mind, Alice appeared. Her big blue eyes that were seemly innocent and naive, soft blonde hair that was straight like her mother's, that sweet smile she gave while saying something scathing . . . and he couldn't help but hesitate. To him, she was even more important than his any other woman; he finally understood why parents would dote on their children while ignoring their spouses.
"It's true. You have a point," Helen said softly, interrupting Jason's hesitation, unaware of what he was thinking. "Maybe they're all falling for you because of the curse and maybe - maybe - they'll have to go through hell and back because of it. But if they care for you, if they truly love you ... then to them, it would be worth it. Trust me, I know from experience."
Jason looked at Helen, ignoring everything but her last words. It wasn't that he dismissed what she was saying, deep down he agreed with her as well.
"Hel … do you … are - you're starting to remember?" He asked hesitantly.
". . . Maybe. Oh, alright. Some, not all of it," Helen wanted to avoid answering but she gave in when she saw Jason's puppy eyes. "Some are happy, others …"
Helen looked at Jason and turned the question to him.
"How about you? Do you remember everything?" Helen asked and Jason shook his head.
"It's not like that. It's . . . it's different for me," Jason said quietly. "Each incarnation, or reincarnation, has a different personality, a different life . . . experience. Connecting to those - to them . . . well, let's just say I almost went insane. I can't handle th-the voices . . telling me what to do, showing me what to do. Thankfully, it stopped, they stopped, when I sealed my powers."
"I'm sure you'll be fine," Helen said softly. "You always find a way to make it through."
Jason turned to look at Helen and smiled softly but sadly.
"This, this was nice," he said. "Even if it's not real."
"What do you mean?" Helen looked at Jason. She tilted her head, a knowing smile like she knew what he meant lingered around her lips. But she was waiting for him to say it. For him to realize it.
Jason smiled sadly and looked down, his eyes were staring down at his legs when he closed them for a moment. Burning tears leaked out once more, stinging his eyes and he sighed for the umpteenth time today.
"Meaning, this isn't real," Jason looked up and found the room completely empty; there was no one in the room, nor was there even a hint that there ever was. "I'm hallucinating."
Jason felt hollow inside when he realized that his assumption was correct: he had been talking to himself this entire time and Helen was still in a coma.
'Ooh, he's finally figured it out,' a voice said cynically. 'Took you long enough!'
'Hush, don't interrupt! It's a good scene,' another said with a snigger. 'Such familial love …'
Jason's face changed and he looked at the direction of the voices. He just remembered the fact that he released a bit of his Practitioner limit, meaning the voices of the previous incarnations were now free.
'Not there, over here,' the first voice said mockingly with a chuckle. The sound of his voice came from the opposite direction of where Jason was staring but the latter just closed his eyes.
'Enough fooling around,' a third voice, aged with wisdom, said. 'Tell me, have you resolved yourself yet, or are you still refusing to take heed of our advice?'
"Advice? You manipulated me," Jason answered quietly. "Each one of you has tried to … to mould me into your own image. But I won't ever become any of you. So, go back and fuck yourselves."
'Language,' the third voice chided. 'I admit . . . we may have been a tad bit . . . enthusiastic, but that does not mean you should lock us away. That will only harm your progress.'
"Shut up," Jason said before standing and walking out. The voices ignored him and continued speaking louder as more voices joined the three. Jason gritted his teeth and began ignoring them, trying his best to drown out their voices with his thoughts, unaware that they were also voicing their thoughts as his own.
'Hmph,' a new voice snorted violently. Jason could feel this incarnation sifting through his recent memories. It paused at the recent fight he had with Elizabeth and Melanie. 'You are still soft when it comes to women, what a disgrace.'
'Now now,' the second voice chided the newcomer. 'He took care of those two perfectly. Although, as a man, you should've pushed forward. Look at them! A little more training and those two would've been on their knees begging for your -'
'Ah, shut it, you frivolous playboy!' the new voice roared. 'As a warrior, you're a disgrace to us all!!'
'Ungh. What a barbarian,' the second voice muttered dismissively, causing the new voice to shimmer with anger.
"Both of you, shut up!" Jason yelled out loud.
'Haha,' the first voice chuckled before sneering. 'If only he could see how ridiculous he looks, screaming at an empty room. Ah, I can't wait to see everyone's reaction when you lose control. Tick-tock, tick-tock. You've gone cuckoo' [2]
Jason rubbed his eyes and ignored everything else the others were saying. Unfortunately for him, he was unable to seal his powers again so quickly. The only thing he could do was bear with the voices while pretending to be sane.
I - I can't bother with this, Jason thought. I need to focus on protecting Alice, on keeping her safe. That's all that matters right now.
Exiting the dimension, Jason appeared back on the roof of Feng Shui apartments but paused with surprise when he saw the bright sky and morning sun that came with it. He realized immediately that he had been gone for the entire night.
Shit, Alice! Jason thought before racing off to the Loft while dialling Alina's phone. He cursed himself for not paying attention and for falling asleep for hours, instead of protecting Alice.
[2] Each voice sort of represents a different personality and incarnation. Right now, there's a pessimist, a sadistic playboy, a muscle-headed warrior, and a Sage-ish (pun intended) voice.