Avatar Country

Something In the Way

-Warning: Temporary character death, illness, death mentioned-

*Johannes's POV*
The bare walls were mocking me as they stood tall and strong meanwhile I couldn't even stand on my own. The handcuffs were only removed when they deemed me weak enough to not be a threat. It was easily visible that I wasn't going anywhere by the way I was sweating and how I couldn't even stay awake, the tremors hurt though. I feared every time they opened that door because I knew they'd inject that black liquid into me. I was starting to just give up hope that I'd be free again but that didn't stop me from dreaming of being with my band mates again.

"Johannes!" I heard the familiar voice shout as it ran to me, they placed a hand over my chest and forehead.

"I know, you said they killed us before. What makes me so special?" I stated without opening my eyes. I felt his hands trying to inspect the wretched black veins growing beneath my skin.

"It's okay, the other me will probably do a better job than I did." I said without thinking. I opened my eyes to see his tear stained face.

"You won't die, I can't let you." His voice raised a bit. He took a minute to think of what to do.

"Johannes, we have to stop this venom from spreading before it kills you. I need to get you to Jonas, only he can save you from this... I need to curse you." He slowly explained.

"Then do it." I consented.

"It will slow down your heart beat to the point of it being impossible to detect and will give you the appearance of death. You will still be able to feel and hear what is going around you as your soul is still tied to your body. The dangerous part is that you can sever that tie by accident and actually die." He warned.

"I'll die either way. Let's do it." When I said that he hesitated to start the ritual for the curse. Luckily it was just a spoken one and it was fairly fast. I felt tired and my breathing slow down, I was surprised that I didn't panic. I closed my eyes and felt at peace.

The doors to the room opened and a person ran up to me and started harshly shaking me, they even slapped me which did in fact hurt. Another person's footsteps were heard too.

"He's dead." The person who shook me stated.

"Are you sure?" Seregor asked.

"Yes." The person confirmed as they searched for a pulse.

"Such a shame, I was hoping to have fun with this avatar." I really wanted to punch Seregor.

"What do we do?" The person asked as they took their hands off me.

"We'll take him to my brother, let him deal with this. Plus it will serve as a warning." Seregor answered the person. There was a long pause until I felt myself being lifted and the doors close.

----
When I woke up I saw a field of tall wheat and I panicked for a second until I saw him sitting next to me. He had his hand in mine as he held a book in the other. He didn't say anything for about two maybe three minutes as I took in the situation.

"Are you okay?" He finally asked.

"Strangely, yes. Am I actually dead?" I asked.

"No, although it took you a bit to come here. Usually it's immediately, I was starting to get worried that I did it wrong. This is what I'd call purgatory, although I'm not exactly sure where this is. Interesting choice you made, out of all placed you could wake up you chose here." He lazily said.

"Yeah, my mom has a house next to a wheat farm. The farmer next door would let my siblings and I run around his field. We were so happy there." I smiled at the memory. He just hummed in response.

"My siblings and I used to just play around in the city. We had the rare ability to teleport anywhere without necessarily ever seeing that particular destination before. We'd steal a lot of candy, food, and rarely jewelry. Although the jewelry never costed too much were it's actually be missed." He smiled sadly.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Seregor, he- they are part of his army. I was young when it happened and I didn't know how to fight yet. I only survived because King Kungen's men got to my village on time to save me and a few other kids. He took pity on me and allowed me to train in his castle. To pledge my allegiance to the king I had a witch curse my face to where the makeup I have now will be permanent. It is my war paint and it will not be removed until this war is over. If I were to die before that time came then at least my king will recognize me." His voice cracked towards the end.

"I'm sorry that happened." I didn't know what to say.

"Let's just hope Jonas finds you soon. I've been trying to contact him but only my voice seems to work on getting his attention." He changed the subject. It took me a moment to realize that he had a gold ring in his hand.

"You're married?" I blurted out.

"Yes, my makeup wasn't the only pledge I made to the King." He smirked as held up his ring.

"I'm glad you have him." I told him. He just smiled softly as he stood up and helped me stand, together we explored the wheat field. Jonas, please find me.