Notes: This is a vignette based on "Absolute Power."

Possession
(a dream within a dream)
by Keiko Kirin

The world was made of sand and gold, the world was bleached with the light from a thousand suns that never set. This was his world, the world he had made. And it was a beautiful world.

He walked among the effigies and tombs of people once his friends. He read the walls of the shrines he had built to honor his dead wife. He sat for hours in the vast libraries, studying endless texts under the constant glow of gold light.

The wind shifted, the sand rose and fell. An amphitheater formed in the ground. In its center were black, forbidding cages. In the cages were false gods who cried with glowing eyes and begged for mercy. He circled them, ignored them, saved them for later.

There was something he wanted. He wanted it now. It was close, within reach. He could sense it, a presence he'd been waiting for since his world began, a possession he'd wanted even before that.

The rings descended and transported him to the high temple. Sand blew between golden columns, and the wind whispered here. No one else came here. No one else was allowed to come here. But it would be here, he knew, where his gift would arrive.

He touched a ring he wore. Elsewhere, a gate spun to life. He opened the door he had once locked.

The wind shifted, briefly brought the sounds of marching, battle, slaughter, agony. All life is suffering, the fools just did not know it yet.

When all was quiet, he sat on the temple's throne and waited. Streaks of light bled between the columns. At last a shadow moved among them, a wary, cautious shadow. He sat back and waited for Jack.

"Nice set-up you have here."

"I'm glad you like it."

He waved a hand and sand poured across the temple floor, upsetting Jack's balance. He watched Jack fall to his knees and drop his weapon. He held up his palm and directed his power at Jack. Jack cursed and looked away, tense with pain.

"I knew you would come," he said. "I knew you would find me, so I led you here."

The beam made Jack crumple before him. He lowered his palm. A thrill like no other pulsed through his veins as he stood over Jack and watched him struggle to breathe and move. When Jack righted himself and knelt before him, he reached down and lifted Jack's chin with his gold-tipped fingers.

"You belong to me now."

Jack's eyes flashed disgust, insolence, resistance. It made his blood rush and pound, and his breath quicken. Clouds of sand closed around the temple, and gusts of wind shrilled through the columns.

He leaned closer. "You belong to me."

He kissed his possession, so violently that he tasted blood on his lips. His possession was now marked, a small mark, the first of many.

For now, it was enough. They had eternity. He had what he wanted.

(the end)

1/25-26/01
For Kathy
Thanks to Kathy for long discussions and inspiration.