Out of Paradise
"Tear colored Venus"
Mercenary Bolt Crank opened his eyes once more, and knew that everything so precious that had happened to him had been nothing but a dream.
The last thing he had seen before waking up in that cold, impersonal room was sweet Dr Jessica Wobart knelt down on the Black Forest, crying for him, desperate.
And he had been in the arms of a witchy-looking Death, scythe included.
And that woman, Death, had brought him back to reality, after a small vacation on a real Paradise island.
It had been so miraculous, that even that Death had told him, surprised, "You've become like everyone else".
Indeed, he had been a regular guy at that island. He had been found near the Black Forest by Milly, a little girl who had tons of energy and loving. And he had been treated by Jessica, with whom he had felt really comfortable with, at long last. He had been doing some carpentry and painting works.
Most shocking thing ever, he didn't need bolts and claws to eat.
And nothing came out from his hand.
He had feel quite relieved, indeed, even if he didn't know well what he had done in the past.
He had been happy in the island, enjoying the little pleasures of a normal life. He had sort of fathered a little girl who had saved his life, along with Jessica, who now had to suffer the jokes of the townspeople who seemed keen to pair her with him.
He wouldn't complain about it, mind you.
Luckily, she guessed it at time, and they could enjoy a bit of their loving.
She had helped him to recover, he had helped her with some chores, like painting a fence "the color of the ocean", the type of blue that Jessica and Milly enjoyed so much.
He also enjoyed it, who was he to hide it? It made him at ease.
That sea had meant so much for them. He had realized he had been found what he had been looking for in that place. He had found a great woman who understood him, and who wasn't afraid of his past in front of that sea. And he had first kissed that woman in front of that sea.
That blue ocean was like a source of life and peace to him.
But that peace had to end, and so quickly.
Now, he was sitting in a strange place, with a strange woman he had never seen in his life, who seemed to be too eager to start talking.
He felt sort of lost, and empty.
A sense of needing, it was like a void opening within him.
It was a long list of needs, the one he got from that little trip to Paradise.
He needed them… he needed Molly, he needed Jessica.
He needed living as a normal human being.
He needed to be called "young man", rather than "mercenary"
He needed Jessica's lovingly, tender body next to his.
He even needed those old fashioned dressed people, with their old-fashioned minds.
He needed calmness to rely on.
He was out of Paradise, and wanted to return. To that beautiful island where he thought he had found what he had been looking for.
He had been dead… and it had been the most marvelous situation he found himself into.
Now that he was alive, realizing that he had lost all that, made it horrible.
He recalled Jessica's last words. She was right, reality was too hard to confront.
He barely paid attention to the woman who had resuscitated him; she was talking about some mission and stuff that it didn't matter to him anymore.
He was more interested in the big machine that was at her back. That thing was supposed to have kept him alive in a coma after whoever knew what had happened to him.
There was something on it that couldn't leave him at ease…
Those bright red lights… they were familiar, and at the same time they weren't. The shone in a cross-shaped artifact made of some gray metal. Then, he recalled Jessica's cross, the one she had around her neck all the time. It did have a small red stone that shone brightly. More or less like those red lights around him.
He kept on staring at the machine, and for some reason, he could feel it would be a shy young woman if it were to have human form.
He reminded him of Jessica a bit… but it wasn't her. It couldn't be her.
No, it was really her. And he was certain of it.
If you got rid of all those metals and shinning red lights, which resembled more of a brothel, there she was, waiting for him to notice her.
For some reason, he wasn't surprised. What could you expect from the man that had nails and bolts for breakfast?
Somehow, having a love interest made out of wires and plastic, bits and bytes didn't seem too extraordinary.
Still, he had to make sure of his assumptions.
"What color is the fence?", he finally asked her, adjusting his sunglasses.
A small silence took place before the mechanical voice with hints of polite girl could talk.
"The color of the ocean", Jessica finally replied.
Indeed, it was her.
Why did it have to end up like that? He had found a life he felt comfortable in, he had met people who liked him… and he had to be brought back from all that. Only to find that no one was still around in the real world. Jessica would never be able to talk to him, not even walk by his side… It was like a fate worse than death itself.
He knew she still existed, but wouldn't be able to hang up with her anymore. She wasn't really real anymore.
So that was why Death seemed surprised that Jessica could harbor such feelings…
There was one faint hope left… even if it was hoping the impossible.
He asked her about Milly, and she told him what he already knew: that she had been dead for a day and a half before he awoke.
When he had first awoken in the island, he had believed her to Venus, as she seemed to have every little detail he liked in a woman.
When he had last seen her, his Venus was crying her heart out.
Now… it was awful.
His tear-colored Venus, reduced to a pile of metal, cables, and a synthetic voice.
And Milly, the sociable and full of life child that he had befriended, dead.
If that wasn't something to cry for, then he didn't know what it could be. And he had seen way too many strange things in his trips around the world.
Then, the female stranger started trying to explain his mission to him, but he wouldn't listen to her.
He wanted to end his days as a mercenary. He had seen he could have another life, even if it would take him too much to achieve…
But he also knew that he was in the real world once more.
Where he was living was a wasteland, a desert, unlike the green and small island he had lived in the best moments of his life.
And there were no Jessica or Milly around… and no possibility of having them, either.
He knew he would most likely give in to that woman's request, but not soon, not right now, when he had the flavor of tears stuck up in his throat.
Tears… Jessica had been crying madly the last time she saw her…
No one had cried that much for him before.
Maybe, if he took the woman's request, he could find a way to reunite with Jessica again.
He wondered if she could be eternity, and their little island would be their own little Paraside…
He didn't know it, but a bolt he couldn't eat had remained in the beach… maybe as a proof that he had been there.
Or maybe as a token of a possible return…