Death is But A Temporary Release

The light in the basement shone out blinding the heavily injured man. His arm expanded back to its original size before he covered his eyes.

In the basement 3 minutes before...

(Planchett Pov)

It's getting kind of uncomfortable in here. I tried to climb out so many times but it feels like the floor has just slipped away. If only I wasn't blind. I probably could have been of more use. Jameson is fighting really hard up there.

I feel around myself and I can't make out anything because my hands are too slippery. I just sit there and lament on what is going on. After a minute I hear something drop into the water with me. I get startled but I don't feel anything moving so It should be nothing. I kick my feet around a little just to be sure. I'm starting to get colder for some reason. I shiver and touch the side of the thing I'm in. The room has gotten a lot colder.

Is this hypothermia? Why am I so cold? Is this the end? I didn't even get to see Belle or tell Jameson that he's the best butler I could have ever asked for. Memories flash in my mind.

..But one stood out.

Jameson was just a gardener of the palace when I met him for the first time. He always was a quite reserved young adult. He never spoke much but I do remember his voice from all those years ago. He only ever spoke when my mother would join me in picking flowers. I could see back then and loved picking flowers with her.

He usually offered to tie them into a bouquet and me and my mom handed him the flowers. 10 minutes later in front of our rooms would be a small bouquet with an apology note saying that he was sorry he took so long. It was always an excuse about gardening taking a bit too long or something along those lines.

When I was alone he always stood a good distance away from me and replanted new flowers in each area I went from. He never shouted at me for messing up his landscape he just quietly planted more.

Come to think of it I never said thank you to him for that. I should probably do that once I get out of here… It's so cold…

One day the garden was closed because an invasive species of poisonous bees was being cleared out. It was my parent's anniversary around that time so I wanted to get them their favorite flowers.

I decided to not heed the warnings of my parents to not go into the garden. I was young and didn't think I'd get into any trouble from it. After all they were just bees.

That same evening, I snuck into the flower bed and began picking as many as possible. Little did I know their hives were underground and by picking the flowers I had disturbed them. I looked up…A swarm of light blue and black peppered the evening sky in front of me. They were relatively silent or that's what I thought. Each second as the swarm stared at me a dull buzz grew even louder and louder until it was heard by most patrolling guards. The guards were stunned as they watched the swarm surround me.

The guards shouted at me to come back but I was frozen in fear. Their shouts served no purpose in reducing my fear. None of them were even brave enough to come get me. That is until I felt my body being picked up and cradled. I looked above me and light brown hair fluttered in my face. An extreme look of worry was shrouded on it. Behind me I could see the swam had reached its breaking point and began its chase.

Jameson noticing this sprinted faster and faster. It was too late the swarm was on top of us. Jameson bent over me and cradled me on the floor. I could feel his heart beat race against my chest. He grimaced in pain but he never once stopped smiling in my face. After a minute or so the buzzing stopped. Jameson immediately collapsed on top of me. However, a bee was still lurking around the area. It seemed to have a mind of its own. It was the queen. It slowly drifted towards me almost as if on purpose and landed on my cheek. I looked towards Jameson whose back had already turned dark blue and started to whimper. At that moment the bee stung me and I passed out.

I woke up in bed. I had and headache and my body was relatively weak. On the floor next to me was Jameson. Apparently they were using his highly contaminated blood to create an antidote for me.

Most of his body had already turned a blue black and the skin on top of him looked to be slowly drying out and loosing moisture. His hair had lost its usual luster and shine. His eyes sank deep into the back of his skulls and looked almost like a dark cave.

He was half dead and it was all my fault. I started to cry. The doctors around me payed me no mind as they thought I was crying because I was unable to cope with the pain. I was in pain but what hurt more was to see that they were using my savior's life to save mine. HOW COULD I BE SO SELFISH!

They gave the antidote to me. It was a stale grey liquid. They told me to drink a little every few minutes until it was done. I didn't listen to them though. I poured the entire vile into Jameson's mouth and closed my eyes.

The next morning, I woke up but my vision it was cloudy and extremely dull. I couldn't see anything clearly. I stumbled through the hallway which i knee like the back of my hand to the throne room. The two guards at the door looked at me and yelped before opening the door in fear of the consequences of not doing so.

In the throne room I could make out a figure chained to the floor with his head bowed. In front of him were my father and mother. There were also a few of my older siblings. As the door opened the whole room was blanketed in silence and gasps were heard. I could hear my mother scream but my father was there to calm her down.

"THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE DONE GARDENER!" My dad's voice boomed in the hall. He roared.

"BLINDING MY DAUGHTER BY STEALING HER MEDICINE?" there was a hint of pain in his voice. The gasps of my older siblings echoed his words.

"I know not what happened your majesty. It was not my intention to take your daughter's medicine" A soft voice was heard. There was no fear in his voice. Only confusion and sadness. He slowly continued.

"If it is my life you desire as compensation. Please take it" he said apathetically.

A woman screeched

"A MERE GARDENER EXPECTS US TO TAKE HIS WORTHLESS LIFE? Are you insane?" cracks could be heard in her regal voice.

I slowly walked forwards. My mom urged me to stop moving as it may worsen my condition but I didn't listen. What little vision I had left began fading. I slowly made my way towards the gardener. I then sat on his lap. I then raised my voice. Something that I had never done. I caught the last clear glimpse of my parents that I would ever see again. Both of them shocked and teary. I was too. My older siblings were also crying. They could probably see my eyes getting worse by the minute

"He will be my eyes from now on. He will take care of me as his lifelong punishment" another bout of silence permeated the hall. My father was silent for almost 5 minutes.

"Will you accept my daughter's proposal?" I could hear a slight sigh at the back of my neck and I jabbed him in anger. He voiced out.

"Yes! Yes...Your majesty."

My flashback ended pretty quickly. I had already fallen asleep or at least I thought I was. I couldn't feel my heart beat anymore. I was dead or at least close to it. My vision was then filled with illusory images.

I saw babies being born and elderly dying. I knew none of these people. Some didn't even seem to be Riman. I could see Namoan and Sey islanders as well. The visions suddenly ended and a voice whispered in my ear. It sounded ancient and tired.

"A young corpse has come to play…Welcome to the realm of the Undead" My vision cleared up.

I repeated what he said but it didn't make sense. I then opened my eyes to find that the liquid I was just in was gone…I paused.

I slowly raised my hands to my face. I could see little stubs of flesh dangling in the darkness. Tears began to well up. I could see…