[ For Alan, this feels like a fight between what he knows and what the Dark Presence is still trying to force him to know. It doesn't want him having memories of being with Jesse, of connecting with her in ways that he never imagined he'd be able to do. It feels like dark water is still swirling in his mind and in his thoughts, trying to obscure what little memories he's managed to somehow regain.
I don't know how I was able to get those back, but it's trying to keep me from getting more of them.
She asks him to tell her something that she told him, and the flash of the internal struggle shows on his face as he tries to swim through the water in his mind. The Dark Presence is still active and enticing him to just give up, let go, stop fighting... But he can't, and he won't. ]
Ordinary.
[ The word bursts out of him with an unintended force, but the Dark Presence had tried its best to keep him from responding. ]
And... and we said we loved each other, didn't we? [ The swirling waters begin to sound like more of a roar in Alan's mind, but he tries desperately to keep pushing back. ] I said I love you.
[ She asked him to tell her what she said to him, not what he said to her, but he feels that she needs to know that he remembers. He might not remember much, but he's trying to remember what's important.
He almost misses the feeling of Polaris brushing against his mind, as the Dark Presence is trying to drown him out, but he feels it, even if only barely.
...Can you help push it back? I'm trying, but I don't know how long I can keep this up.
He wonders if Polaris can even hear him over the sound of the water. ]
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I don't know how I was able to get those back, but it's trying to keep me from getting more of them.
She asks him to tell her something that she told him, and the flash of the internal struggle shows on his face as he tries to swim through the water in his mind. The Dark Presence is still active and enticing him to just give up, let go, stop fighting... But he can't, and he won't. ]
Ordinary.
[ The word bursts out of him with an unintended force, but the Dark Presence had tried its best to keep him from responding. ]
And... and we said we loved each other, didn't we? [ The swirling waters begin to sound like more of a roar in Alan's mind, but he tries desperately to keep pushing back. ] I said I love you.
[ She asked him to tell her what she said to him, not what he said to her, but he feels that she needs to know that he remembers. He might not remember much, but he's trying to remember what's important.
He almost misses the feeling of Polaris brushing against his mind, as the Dark Presence is trying to drown him out, but he feels it, even if only barely.
...Can you help push it back? I'm trying, but I don't know how long I can keep this up.
He wonders if Polaris can even hear him over the sound of the water. ]