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Shadowdancer

By Dracon

[Notice: The characters and events within are inspired by the "Gargoyles" TV Series and as such credit goes to the creators of said series. If any characters appear in the story from said series, those characters belong to their creators.

Should anyone wish to use the characters or events within in their own works, permission is hereby granted to do so. I just ask that you let me know if you are going to do so and provide credit in your work.

Underage viewers should not read this series, and all readers do so at their own risk.]

"A Voice From The Other World..."

----Chapter X----

As she slept, Jamie wondered what Alex was doing in Tokyo. She'd have to visit there some day, she decided.

Mostly though, she dreamed. As a human, she had never really remembered her dreams. She assumed she must have had them, but by the break of morning, they always faded into nothingness.

In this form, though, she experienced and remembered her dreams vividly, not that most of them made any sense to her. She had to wonder if any of them were Jessica's memories trying to surface within her.

There was a downside to this intensity of dreaming that she was only now becoming aware of. A nightmare had gripped her, and her stony countenance prevented her from waking herself, or otherwise reacting to the dream, leaving her no choice but to simply let it play itself out.

She dreamt that she stood before the Earth, watching it silently tumble along its meandering path through the cosmos. She could feel the teeming masses of humanity packed onto its surface, unaware that they were being watched from amongst the stars.

She also began to sense another presence, watching the fragile sphere of life, with a less benevolent purpose to its vigilance. As she continued to watch the Earth turn, she felt this Other presence draw closer.

She turned to block its path, but could see nothing. Then she watched in horror as a fell shadow began to blot out the very stars themselves, consuming all in its path towards her home.

A shard of the darkness plunged toward the Earth, and spewed out a hail of shadowy darts, which descended into the Earth's atmosphere and began destroying historical, as well as military, sites.

In a matter of moments, the Great Pyramids, the Wall of China, the Sistine Chapel, and many other monuments to Man's ingenuity dissolved into glassy craters. A hole was driven into Cheyenne Mountain, atomizing the stronghold of NORAD. A squadron of the shadowy craft began to strafe the Amazon rain forest.

She could do nothing to stop the terrible destruction, and she felt that the collected screams of Earth's people would drive her mad. She called out with all her might, and felt a faint echo, somewhere else...

To her relief, but also to her frustration, the nightmare faded at that point, as her body began to revert to its normal, fleshy composition.

While the basic premise of aliens invading the Earth was one she was quite familiar with, she felt that this nightmare heralded some greater meaning, and it angered her that she was not able to see its end.

She felt her muscles spasm as blood began rushing through them again, and tore through the stony shell surrounding her body. With a roar, she warned the night-shrouded city that she stood ready to defend it.

She gazed out over the city, wondering whether the shadows of her dream would strike here, too. She realized that she had no idea when this nightmare might come to pass, if indeed it was anything more than a mere dream. Knowing this, she watched the skyline, wondering if this would be the last time she would ever see it in its full glory.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and placed her own atop it, squeezing softly. "Good evening, Branson."

He sat down next to her, concern showing in his eyes. "You look like you've got something bothering you. Anything you want to talk about?"

She sighed, "Branson, did Jessica ever talk to you about nightmares? Especially in the last, oh, two or three weeks?"

He nodded, a wistful expression on his face. "Yes... yes, she did. One had bothered her in particular lately. Why do you ask? Did you have a nightmare during the day?"

Conviction coloring her voice, she began to relate the dream, emphasizing the destruction she had seen, and the unshakable feeling that this was something that would happen, one day.

Branson listened intently, and watched tears rolled down her cheeks as she told the story.

Exhaling his held breath, he swore in a whisper. "Damn. That's the same dream Jessica had, all right. You even used a lot of the same phrases that she did. Well, you're bringing another perspective to the problem. When do you think these 'fell shadows' will come?"

She shook her head. "I cannot know. Dawn came before the dream could finish, and even if it had finished, I can't be sure I would have been able to learn a date from it. But I'm convinced they will come, some day."

Branson squeezed her shoulder, trying to reassure her. "Well, maybe it's just a dream, after all. Try not to worry about it, okay?"

Sounding unconvinced, she replied, "Yeah, sure. Maybe I'm overreacting. It's just so terrifying not to be able to wake myself from a dream like that."

Nodding, Branson agreed, "Yeah, that's one of the downers of the stone sleep. Well, Trent asked me to tell you that he wants to see you up here in an hour for weapons practice again, that might help you get your mind off of the dream."

She thanked him for passing on the message, and returned to her room to change and take her sword, still distracted by the pleading nature of her dream.

She read through the Libre Blanc while she waited for Trent, not gleaning much from the text, but unwilling to do anything more active. She felt lethargic and drained, much as if she had not gotten a good night's sleep.

Hearing footsteps coming up the stairway, she set the book down, and rose to her feet. Trent eyed her, assessing for himself how she felt. He could tell that something was bothering her, but felt that it could make for a useful lesson.

Shrugging off his coat, he drew his sword and called out to her. "Well, we haven't got all night. Let's get started, yeah? Come at me, run me through."

With a sigh, she drew her blade and started advancing towards Trent. Her guard was sloppy, but when she drew close enough, she lashed out in a blindingly fast strike. Trent batted it away with his sword, then slammed into her with his shoulder, knocking her on her butt.

As she rose, he taunted her, "Well, what was all that, then? You're not even trying!"

She hesitated, then lowered her sword. "I guess I'm just not ready today, Trent. I'm really not in the mood right now."

His eyes bulged out in mock rage as he shouted back at her, his voice taking on a theatrical air. "Mood? What has mood to do with it? You fight when the necessity arises; no matter the mood! Mood's a thing for cattle or making love, it's not for fighting."

Jamie paused for a moment, then began to laugh, relief washing through her. "I'm sorry, Gurney."

He grinned at her and replied, "Not sorry enough!" With that, he dashed towards her, swinging his sword, forcing her to go on the defensive to fend him off.

He reeled from the force she used to parry his blow, but continued to stumble back once he'd cleared his head, acting as though he was not in control of himself. When it seemed as though Jamie was not on guard, he dove toward her, sword pointed at her heart.

She didn't have time to block the blow, so she let her instinct take over. She leapt into the air, wings open, flipping over Trent's head, then landed on her talons and lashed out with a kick. Trent dropped to the ground and rolled away from her foot, unwilling to take the blow.

He came up in a defensive crouch, smiling at her, a faint white glow wreathing his eyes. "You seem to have gotten into the mood, yeah? Good move, too, where'd you pick that one up?"

Jamie watched him warily, looking for any indication that he was trying to distract her, but answered, "I don't really know... it just sort of happened."

He nodded. "Well, however you did it, it worked, and that's the important bit." He walked forward, sword lowered, as though to shake her hand. She didn't fall for the oncoming floorsweep, though, having gotten used to his unique method of training.

The two practiced for several hours, with Trent insisting on pushing Jamie to her very limits. Jamie finally asked him to stop, too exhausted to want to continue. He realized that too push her further would be simply cruel, and calls a halt.

He told her, "You fought very well today, and you're constantly improving. Give it another couple of weeks, and I think I'll be taking lessons from you! I don't know how it happened, but I would swear that you'd been taking lessons from Jessica. You fight so much like her, it's uncanny."

He told her to head to the showers first, claiming that he had something he needed to do first, though Jamie figured that he was simply trying to avoid a repeat of the last time.

She allows her body to maintain itself, bathing with a simplistic efficiency, taking the time alone to sort through her thoughts. She felt torn between her promise to Branson, to attempt to find and return Jessica's mind to this world, but she also felt that something had to be done about the terrible omen her dream presented.

Inspiration shot through her mind like lightning. She had assumed that this switch, whatever it was, had either been a fluke of nature or else something Jessica had wrought.

But what if it was a first strike by the Others? What if they had felt that Jessica was too much of a threat to her plans, and this was the only way they had been able to remove her? Perhaps Jamie could meet both obligations at once!

Feeling invigorated by this possibility, she dried herself off quickly and dashed back to her room. Perhaps one of those Pentagon memos from the database would mention something about an energy spike or something else that would help her in her quest.

She switched on her screens, clearing her mind to concentrate, but was surprised to see a cluster of new icons on the desktop. Much to her puzzlement, the first one that caught her eye was titled: "James - READ ME".

Opening it, she realized it was a letter, and by scanning through it, she came to the conclusion that it was from Jessica!

"James Harrigan, 10/30/2027

By now, you surely must have begun to theorize as to why you've been brought to this world in my stead. Let me reassure you that it was my will that brought you. You've surely begun to see the vision by now. James, you must understand that I have lived with that vision infesting my mind almost every day for the last three months.

I believe that it is no mere nightmare, but is instead prophecy. It would not be the first time I've seen the future, certainly. Though rarely so forcefully... I have made many preparations since I began to see the vision, but I believe I have done all that I can do for this world. I may be of some importance to Chicago Clan, but it is not in my nature to make a grab for power, and there is little that I can do here that I have no already done.

However, I believe this threat faces not only my world, but many others, yours included. To that end, I exchanged my mind with yours. I'll make my intentions clear to you, James: I intend to revive magic in your world, for I believe that it will be one of our greatest weapons against the Enemy.

There is at least some degree of latent magic present in your world, or the exchange would not have been able to work, and you would not now be reading this letter. But, from the scrying I have done, there appear to be very few trained in its use.

I intend to spend my life, if need be, recruiting a corps of sorcerous soldiers to fend off the invasion for your world. All that I ask in return is that you continue my work in mine. I believe that your innate magical ability, combined with your skill with computers and programming, may allow you to craft sorceries of a power unknown to any but the Fey. Magic and programming are really not so different, as you will no doubt find.

You might have begun to wonder by what sorcery I speak to you now. Unfortunately, I've never gotten the knack of merging magic and electronics. I simply gave these files a five-day hidden status. I felt it would be best for the others to start to respect you for who you are, rather than simply as 'the replacement'.

You now have full access to all of my files. I couldn't take them with me, so they might as well do some good. I believe that you and I are, in a manner of speaking, the same person. There are many alternate worlds in the whole of existence, according to my scryings, and you are the person I might well have been, had I been born in yours. That is, in fact, one of the keys of my process. I believe that it would have been deadly to both of us were we not linked in that manner, because the magical and mental stresses would have been too great.

This is not to say that your personality will become subsumed by mine in time. Were that the case, there would be little point to bringing you here. Instead, I believe that your personality, your self will become an amalgam of traits from both of us. You will retain your memories, but should also gain some of mine. I cannot be certain, as this process is wholly untested, but that is what my research indicates to me.

I have three instructions for you, and I expect you to carry them out to the utmost of your abilities. Firstly, there are letters to my clanmates, as well as to Alexander Xanatos. Branson will know how to reach him. I demand that you deliver these messages, and I also ask that you do not read them yourself. One advantage you will have in this world, I believe, is that you have not been tainted by pain and sorrow the way many of my brethren have. There are details in those letters that are not mine to give to you, I'm afraid.

Secondly, have Branson show you my safe, and how to access it. There are things you must know, and I believe that the most efficient way to do this will be for you to enter a trance. I've made arrangements with a contact of mine, he will guide your mind in the trance. But to enter the proper state, you will require the use of the powdered mescaline in the black leather bag. Take about a tablespoon, and make absolutely certain you have someone with you. If used improperly, it is incredibly dangerous. I will leave it up to you as to when the proper time is to use it, but I feel that you must, before too much longer.

Finally, I order you not to try and retrieve my mind. Branson will no doubt ask you to, if he has not already. This would be an unacceptable interruption of my work, and the preparations for my process are quite intricate. It would set me back at least a month, and I am not absolutely certain that we have that much time. I brought you here for a reason. I repeat, do not try to return me to this world. I also ask that you try not even to contact me unless there is no other option. It would be exceptionally difficult, anyway, and could come at a most inconvenient time.

I am truly sorry that I must tear apart your life this way, James, but try to understand that the fate of both our worlds, and possibly others, may well hang in the balance. Make no mistake: War is coming, and sacrifices must be made in war. It is my fervent hope that you will be able to make a place for yourself here, but that is only a secondary concern.

I wish you well in your new life, James Harrigan. Your clanmates are excellent allies, and I have no doubt that they will help you fit into this brave new world. I believe that Kee-lau-naw, my spirit companion, will pledge his allegiance to you. Use his abilities well, for he will be your best source of magical instruction.

It is with a heavy heart that I now go to complete preparations for the transfer. Use my gifts well, James, for they may be your only hope to survive in this world. Be wary, and watch the stars.

Greetings and Farewell,

Jessica"

Jamie stared at the screen, struggling to comprehend the letter. It explained so much about her new circumstances, and yet raised as many questions as it answered. Having begun to experience the vision that Jessica alluded to, she was forced to agree with Jessica's motives.

Breaking this news to Branson, though... she felt that he would not take it well at all. And yet, she couldn't just keep it from him, either. She decided that she might as well get it over with.

She called Branson on the intercom, telling him that he needed to come over immediately. He listened to the intensity of her voice, and chose not to argue, saying that he would come.

Jamie looked at the letter once more, trying to commit its message to memory, as she waited for Branson to get there.

He opened the door without knocking, breathing a little heavily. It was apparent that he had run directly over, taking Jamie at her word about the urgency of the request.

With a somber voice, Jamie said, "Branson... there's a letter here for you... from Jessica, I mean. I think you should read it."

His dark, sage green skin turned pale as she made her pronouncement. It almost looked like he was going to faint, but he recovered himself and sat down, wordless and numb.

It took him some time to read through the letter, and on more than one occasion, Jamie could hear him choke back his tears as he read some particularly moving segment. When he finished, he turned to Jamie, a haunted look in his eyes. "Jamie... how long have you known?"

She knelt down next to him and tried to reassure him. "I swear, I called you as soon as I had finished the letter addressed to me. Branson, what do you want me to do?"

He swallowed, and spoke in a flat tone. "Give up your search. I won't go against her wishes."

He sighed, placed his arms around her neck, and began to weep, his body wracked with sobs.

----The End----