It was late when the Mayor entered the prison with Jack. I was half-conscious. It had been hours since I lost grasp on where I was.
"So, what did you say she did?" Jack asked.
The Mayor croaked, "We found her in the town. She's from the real world. And you know what we have to do!"
Jack seemed doubtful. He thought he recognized her…
"Are you sure? I just can't say that we kill her, it may not have been her fault. But I do say that we take precautions. Put her in my dungeons. I'll take care of this."
***
The next time I woke, I was lying on a pile of straw in a completely new place. I also realized that Jack was staring her in the face.
I jumped, but then discovered my feet were bound, as were my hands. I sufficed by drawing myself as far away from his prying eyes as humanly possible. That of course wouldn't be enough in this world, though.
He was curious. I could tell. But what he was curious about, I couldn't tell.
After a few minutes of silence, Jack stood up and walked out. I was left to my guesses and memories.
***
"I just can't seem to remember…there was a line of verse, but what was it? I just know it has to do with whoever it is in my basement…" Jack muttered in his tower. Zero stood by, watching.
A line of poetry floated in Jack's head just then.
When love unites with portal near
The broken one falls into queer
What once was lost, now is found
'Tis up to lost one to rebreak ground.
That's it! Jack knew it. Once, a long time ago, he was told this: if a being loved another being on a different plane of reality, not just loved, but truly and undyingly devote themselves, some sort of obscure portal would open allowing the two to meet.
And Jack remembered, a long time ago, that a jolt went through his skull while walking in the woods. It must have been when they were both in the same place at the same time! Just in different "dimensions", so to speak.
It was a known fact that in their world, when one in the real world somehow managed to have feelings for them, they were let known somehow.
Jack had been let known a long time ago. The feeling was always with him, any and every time. Until just a few years ago, when it began to dull, then went away altogether. He was left miserable. Jack felt as if a part of his soul had been ripped out forever. Just faded away.
But could it really and truly be that person who had once loved him? Without ever meeting him? Down in the dungeons, right now? The person who held that piece of his soul…
Jack couldn't wait a moment longer. He raced down to see for sure…