Time Conquers All

“Jacky, we’ve been here for three days. Let’s just go home!” exclaimed Sylvia from the ground, her round blue eyes pleading with Jack to concede to her demands. Jack only responded with a huff and a sideways glance, before electing to ignore her and climb further up the moss-ridden statue. His mind conjures the image of himself bathing in gold and riches, and being waited upon by servants dressed in silver chains. Jack was by no means poor, but like any young man who had never been told no in his life, he wanted more. So when he heard a story about the ruins of what had at one point been a prosperous and mighty city, he was elated. His heart at once filled with greed, and it was not long till he found himself wandering through the abandoned city. Enraptured by the streets paved in gold, and statues encrusted in jewels.

Had Jack not been blinded by greed, he might have noticed that the statue he had climbed looked eerily familiar. He might have listened to Sylvia’s pleas to leave, had he not been so foolishly distracted by the gem he was prying from the statue's bejewelled crown. He might also have remembered the words spoken by the villagers some many nights ago…but Jack, greedy as he was, was a fool. Sylvia on the other hand had a good head on her shoulders and remembered well the fear in the villagers' voices. She remembered how they had huddled close together, and spoke in hushed voices about a mysterious city. A city left in ruins, with streets that shone like fire, and yet no one dared to enter its pearly gates. Why, you may ask; because it had not existed before a few months ago. Seems to have rolled in with the fog, and planted itself in the Diorne Mountains.

Sylvia knew the city was enchanted. She also knew that not all enchantments were good and that the longer they stayed in the city, the more likely they may never return home. Sylvia’s eyes shifted warily along the edges of the street, her ears drawn back and her hooves shuffling nervously. “Jacky! P-p-please, let's go home! Something isn’t right with this place!” she pleaded. Tears welled in her eyes as she gazed up at Jack, who had just finished prying the gem from the statue and was inspecting it in the sun. He cast her another glance, and sighed in annoyance, berating himself for bringing such a cowardly faun with him. Originally he wanted to bring Johnwyn because he was the strongest faun he knew, but chose Sylvia instead because she was a mage and a healer. Although he was regretting choosing her as she once again nagged for them to leave, “For the last time Sylvia, we are not leaving until I say so!” he yelled at her angrily, his brows pinched together in a glare. Seeing his glare Sylvia cowered and bowed her head, and a sick satisfaction filled Jack as he began his descent from the statue. After all, no faun is allowed to talk back to the great Lord Jackson Del Sol, especially ones that he owned.

Once Jack had reached the bottom of the statue he roughly grabbed Sylvia and began dragging her through the ruins, ignoring her whimpers to leave. “ Enough!”  he shouted in her face, making her flinch “ We. Are. Not. Going. Back.” he seethed enunciating each word “ Until I say so, do I make myself clear” he hissed, and Sylvia nodded weakly in return. “ Good, then let us go and explore the castle!” he stated excitedly, a wicked grin crossing his features as he said “Perhaps I’ll find myself a fancy new crown.” So on they went through the ruins, stopping now and then for Jack to marvel at various objects, before stuffing them in his pockets. 

With each step towards the crumbling castle, Jack's steps became faster, whereas Sylvias became slower and more agitated. They walked like this until they arrived in front of two large gold doors. The doors were guarded by two large statues that once again looked eerily familiar, but neither man nor faun noticed as Jack pushed open the doors. His eyes ablaze with greed, and a wicked grin on his face. Everything in the castle was lined with gold from the floor to the walls, even the roof was made of gold, and the few items that were not made of gold were made of the most lavish fabrics. Jack immediately ran through the doors, but Sylvia hung back frozen by fear because no sooner had Jack opened the door she sensed a great evil was lurking in the castle. 

Noticing her hesitance to follow him, Jack immediately grabbed her hand and began pulling her roughly into the castle with him, her hooves clattering on the golden tiles in her attempts to escape. Jack couldn’t understand why she was being such a pain, and was begging to get angry. So after pulling her along for a long while, he finally turned and smacked her hard across the face. The smack resounding through the large hall they had entered. Sylvia's eyes filled with tears that streamed down her cheeks, and he watched in shock as a hand-shaped mark began to appear on Sylvia’s right cheek. They stood there for what seemed like hours, and for the first time in his life Jack began to feel guilty for hurting someone else. Sylvia was such a kind and gentle creature, and he had just struck her. Had it been any other faun he would not have cared if he had struck them, but Sylvia was different, she was the only one of his slaves who didn’t look at him with ill contempt or fear.  She was always smiling at him, but now her eyes were looking at him with recognizable fear, and he hated it. He took a step towards her and she backed away from him eyeing him warily, and his heart broke. Jack could not bear to have her hate him, and so for the first time in his life he decided he would apologize, but just as he opened his mouth to apologize a spine-chilling laugh began to echo through the hall.

It was at this point that both Jack and Sylvia realized they were in a very large throne room,  and that they were not alone. At the end of the hall was a very large man, dressed in golden robes, a jewel-adorned belt, a brilliant crown, and a long sword lying across his lap. The man looked all the part of a very wealthy and mighty king, but something didn’t seem quite right about him. The longer they looked at him the more they noticed how his skin was decaying and peeling away from his bones, how his eyes were sunken in and his teeth exposed. The once radiant robe was riddled with holes, the jewels on his person looked dull, and his crown had become brittle and rust-covered. However, that was not the worst part. It was his large bulging eyes that made Sylvia and Jack shiver with fear, made their minds scream to run and never look back. For the eyes of the man were sharp and full of a hunger that knows no bounds, a hunger known as greed. 

The man eyed the pair with a wicked grin before a long white tongue poked out from his cracked lips and slithered back again. “Well, isn’t this a surprise?” He said in a booming voice that grated on poor Sylvia and Jack's ears. “It has been centuries since I last…” he paused, eyeing them sharply before continuing  “Spoke to another living thing. Let alone thieves!” he screeched at the end. The pair watched trembling as he began to unsheathe his sword, his horrid white tongue slipping from his mouth once more. “We are t-t-t-terribly s-sorry, we thought the c-c-c” Sylvia tried to explain, but lost her nerve when the man's gaze landed solely on her. Seeing this, Jack decided to finish for her “We thought the city was abandoned.” Although Jack had said it bravely, he felt anything but brave. He felt like cowering before this man but tried his best to be brave in front of Sylvia. However, no sooner had Jack finished speaking, then the man before them gave a very loud piercing scream that could be likened to a banshee. 

The pair had covered their ears and closed their eyes in fright, feeling as though the man would never stop screaming. So on and on the man screamed, seeming to have unhinged his jaw. Finally, Sylvia screamed “Please Stop!” and then there was silence, aside from Sylvia's soft whimpers. Sylvia and Jack looked at each other before turning their attention to the man who stood frozen with his jaw hanging open, and his tongue rolling from side to side.  His eyes seemed glazed over as if he were remembering something. Jack felt frozen in place, just what was this man he kept asking himself, what was wrong with him, what did I do to make him scream like that? He probably would have gone on sitting frozen in place for hours, had Sylvia not put her hand on his and startled him out of his inattention. He opened his mouth to speak, but she put her hand over his mouth. “Hush, he seems distracted. Follow me quietly.” She whispered, glancing nervously at the giant man. Jack deemed it wise to do as she said and elected not to argue with her as she led him quietly to the exit.

“Sylvia~” Cooed the giant man freezing the faun in her tracks, her fur standing on end and her ears pinned back. She tightened her grip on Jack as she turned to the giant man. “I remember you~” The man said in a sing-song voice. “You were always my favourite slave. You were always nice to me, even after I became king~” he stated wistfully. It was in that moment that both Jack and Sylvia realized who this man was, he was “Jacky! Is that really you?” inquired Sylvia in disbelief. “Yes! Tis I~” he said, swinging his sword through the air. Jack could not believe his ears and blurted out “But how?” in his horror. The giant turned to him and chuckled “My dear boy~” he started, standing up and making his way towards the pair “We got everything!” he cheered, but Jack was still confused. “Everything? What do you mean everything?” questioned Jack. Confused expressions appeared on his face as he placed himself in front of Sylvia. “We got everything we ever wanted” roared the decaying Jack excitedly, bits of his skin flaking off and drifting towards the floor as he continued towards the pair.

The pair stared at the beastly Jack in front of them in disgust, Sylvia couldn’t imagine how her Jacky became this way, while Jack began to understand that to get everything he ever wanted would make him a monster. He thought about how beautiful Diorne Mountain was before this wretched city appeared, and how much he enjoyed playing in the forest with Sylvia when they were kids. Jack thought about how this city was the lair of a monster whose greed knows no bounds, a monster that so happens to be him. Jack looked at Sylvia behind him, and it became clear that she had come to the same conclusion. That it was Jack's greed that made his future self such a beast, who desired more and more and was too blind to even notice his own decaying body.

The monstrosity before them was turning to dust before their eyes as he continued to gloat about how he got everything he ever wanted, and all either of them could do was pity the poor wretched thing. So with a quick glance and a nod, they began to sneak away once more. “Do not leave!” the monster screamed “ Do not leave with that thing!” it screamed lunging forward “She was our ruin! She led the rebellion two thousand years ago!” the monster screamed again as it attempted to grab Sylvia from behind Jack. Its hand turned to dust and fingers fell into brittle heaps on the floor before it even reached her head. The two watched in horrified sympathy as the beast before them continued to fade away, leaving behind nothing but the outline of a giant man, a golden robe, a belt, and a crown covered in rust.

Jack turns to Sylvia with a sad expression on his face, his back facing the spot where his future self had previously been. “I guess it's true that time conquers all,” he said, doing his best to hide how disturbed he was by the scene of his future self dying. Sylvia grabbed both of Jack's hands and gave him a reassuring smile “ Jacky, I think you’ll do better than he did.” She said matter of factly before pulling him to the door, her hooves oddly silent on the golden tiles that no longer held Jack's attention as they had before. “How can you be so sure that I won’t turn out just the same?” He questioned, surprised Sylvia had so much faith in him ‘doing better’ as she had put it. She paused and pretended she was considering his question, before giving him a cheeky grin “ Because you’ve already begun to change, you’ve seen what your material desires will turn you into, and looking at you now I don’t see the greedy man I saw before. You’re my Jacky again” Jack contemplated her words as they left the castle, his eyes blinded momentarily by the sheer amount of light reflecting off the golden streets, and bejewelled statues in the setting sun. It was beautiful, but he no longer desired to possess it. He didn’t want gold or riches, he didn’t even desire to own his slaves anymore. What he had thought he wanted in life no longer seemed important to him, and began to crumble away into ruin along with this city, and all the statues he now realized looked like him. 

Jack knew that he had changed the moment he was faced with his own pride and limitless greed. He saw himself for what he really was, a monster who left unchecked would destroy everything he had come to love. So as he left through the pearly gates hand in hand with Sylvia, he vowed to be a much better man than his former future self had been. He turned to look at the golden streets once more and smiled softly, having long since emptied his pockets of riches. A light feeling came over him as he watched the ruins begin to turn to ash like the giant had, knowing it was for the best, he closed his eyes in relief.

“Jacky~” came the melodic call of Sylvia from somewhere far away, and out of sight. Jack tried to open his eyes and find her, but found that even with his eyes open the world around him was pitch black. He did his best not to panic and began feeling around him with his hands, attempting to follow Sylvia's persistent calls of “Jacky~”. To Jack it felt as though many hours had passed where he wandered aimlessly, never bumping into anything, and never getting any closer to Sylvia’s voice. Until all at once, the world became bright once more, and Sylvia's voice was loud in his ear. “Jacky! Get up, you are going to be late for the auction if you don’t get up!” Once Jack's vision had cleared and he became fully awake, he found himself gazing up at Sylvia, whose ears had slanted backward in irritation when he didn’t respond. “Well don’t just stare at me! You're the one who wanted to be up with the birds, so you can scope out the auction before any competitors.” She said with a smile, her voice carrying a slightly agitated lilt.

Jack sat up and smiled at her softly, seeing a new sort of treasure in her that no amount of riches could buy. He saw his best friend, and even if his experience in the city ruins had all been a dream, he wasn’t about to forget the vow he made. So Jumping out of bed he spun Sylvia around in a dancing sort of motion that startled her slightly, inciting a giggle from her that felt like music to his ears. “ My! What has gotten into you, Jacky? She questioned, “You’re usually so grumpy in the mornings!” she said in bewilderment when he suddenly dipped her, making her squeal. “Jacky!” He laughed as he righted her and placed a small kiss on her temple “Why, my dearest Sylvia, I am elated to awake and find that I am a changed man” he exclaimed. “Changed how?” she inquired, he only grinned and rushed out the door saying something about freeing his slaves and paying them wages, an auction, charity, and much to do. I have much to do. Sylvia remained in the room where he left her in his haste, and with a victorious grin she walked over to his pillow and removed the spell she had placed under it. She glanced in the direction Jack had run off in with a smile and mused aloud “I know you’ll do better because you’re my benevolent Jacky once more.”