Marco's Heart

[peccatore]

You find yourself in a bright white, circular room. It's nearly empty; too bare, almost clinically so. But the bareness of it means that what is visible here stands out:

A podium in the center, where a familiar figure sits, head buried in his hands. Three paths running from the podium to three different spots near the edges of the room - not corners; circles don't have corners - where three doors leading seemingly nowhere stand with no regard for their complete lack of structural support.

It doesn't take you long to figure out where you are, does it? You only have to decide where to start.

Comments

[pyrrhicviktory]

Oh, I think not.

[ Viktor takes Marco's hand ]

Marco. Time to go.

[peccatore]

"Wha--?"

Marco seems perhaps more alarmed to be in Viktor's grasp than he is by the intruder - who is, of course, the uncanny, spidery figure guarding the door that should have led here.

"Go where, pal?" the figure asks.

[pyrrhicviktory]

Away from you.

[ Viktor has no intention of staying to talk to this man. Now that they're touching again, Marco can hear Viktor's voice in his head. ]

Picture a place of calm.

[peccatore]

"Calm? C-- Calm..."

He tries. He tries, and...

They are pulled away to what looks, at first glance, like a restaurant, or some kind of bar. But all the patrons are pale and fanged, and the shelves behind the main counter are stocked with bottles upon bottles filled with blood.

At the counter stands a girl who visibly does a double-take at the sight of Viktor and Marco.

[pyrrhicviktory]

[ Viktor nods to her calmly, like nothing is out of the ordinary and he isn't a walking dinner in a bar full of vampires. ]

Good evening.

[peccatore]

Hey, how bad can this place be if it's Marco's safe space?

"What..." She enunciates with the kind of care and enunciation that no 10-year-old on Earth could have. "... on Earth is the meaning of this?"

[pyrrhicviktory]

There was an unpleasant man I wished to get away from. So I brought us here. I hope that is acceptable.

[peccatore]

"How?" She looks at Marco, demanding answers as if she didn't have exactly as much information as he does.

Marco, meanwhile, still seems to be trying to process what happened.

[pyrrhicviktory]

A skill I regained recently. I would not worry too much about it. I have no intention of going anywhere in your mind without your permission.

[peccatore]

"I... I-I appreciate that," Marco says.

[pyrrhicviktory]

Now, I think we should sit.

[peccatore]

"... Please, make yourselves comfortable," the child says.

Marco signals at Viktor to pick a table and just... sits wherever he picks. Any place is good.

[pyrrhicviktory]

[ Viktor will pick a cozy booth by the wall, if there are any of those available ]

[peccatore]

Sure, why not. It's a dreamscape.

[pyrrhicviktory]

[ once they're settled-- ]

So. Let us talk about what we just saw.

[peccatore]

"... Al-- Alright."

Marco clasps his hands tightly, seemingly reluctant to look Viktor in the eye right now.

[pyrrhicviktory]

... I do not wish to press. But... it seems to be part of the reason I am here, no?

[peccatore]

"... I think it is the reason you're here. Yes."

[pyrrhicviktory]

It obviously did not end well, given that it seems to be a memory that is tormenting you.

[peccatore]

"Of course it didn't end well. That man... exposed me. The green-haired man. But--"

He takes a deep breath.

"But then again... if I hadn't been exposed..."

[pyrrhicviktory]

If you hadn't been exposed...?

[peccatore]

Marco's hands are shaking. This is... very clearly difficult for him.

"I-I wouldn't have stopped until I was the last person on Earth with supernatural abilities. That was the plan. And then... Then I'd expose myself."

[pyrrhicviktory]

Why such a drastically violent plan? Why not help to facilitate ways the supernatural and humanity can live together peacefully? They cannot all be evil.

[peccatore]

"Of course not. Of course they're not. But I, I thought-- I-I wasn't thinking straight, Viktor." His shoulders slump. "I thought the spirits of my parents were bringing me messages from God, watching me, judging me. Everything-- Everything I did, everything I said... All of it stemmed from that."

[pyrrhicviktory]

... What was the outcome, in the end?