Hello everyone!
Villicus- It doesn't happen very often when someone is actually facing their worst fear in reality and manages to stay as calm and composed as Carrie is (trying to be, at least). She's managed to get this far to find the person she lost and faced that fear head on. Perseverance and bravery are respectable qualities.
Also, "if it's in the name of love, then..." *AWKWARD THUMBS-UP*
"The Slide" was a weird episode...
I don't own the Amazing World of Gumball.
(Darwin's POV)
I don't know what happened, but something has changed. I was all alone in the darkness, my only company being a shadow with eyes, but now, I am surrounded by light. It's ethereal. There is no pain in my eyes from spending so long in that Stygian crypt, wherever that was, and suddenly going here, a world full of light. It's just peaceful, but it doesn't stop me from being confused or afraid.
Am I in Heaven...?
It takes only a moment to realize that I've changed as well. The incorporeal glow surrounding me had darkened in color; from a pale white to a warm shade of yellow.
"Your placement has been decided," a familiar voice tells me, though I couldn't see it. It's far too bright here to see a shadow.
"We cannot simply return you to the life that you lived. It is much too late for that," the voice drones in a condescending tone, "you found love and foolishly gave up your existence on the mortal plane in an attempt to connect with her, the one trapped between both realms, but it ended up pushing you two further apart."
I don't know how to answer that. I cannot regret my decision. I did connect with her. All I wanted was a single kiss, no matter the cost. I got what I wanted.
...but it was foolish. It was a wild impulse. I won't be able to see Carrie anymore, or ever again. She belongs to the mortal world, and I belong down here now. I won't be able to see my family until they die, too, and they'd probably be angry with me, for how stupid I was... or, perhaps they'd forget about me, buy another fish... The realization hit me like a ton of bricks, and my heart sank. The voice, the invisible shadow, seemed to read my thoughts, as it spoke again:
"You must stop thinking that you will be forgotten. You are loved and remembered, irreplaceable," it sighs, continuing, "because for your kindness and generosity towards all things in your life, you are rewarded. This is Heaven, Beyond, The Great Unknown, Valhalla, whatever you would like to call it. There are not many children that we had the heart to send the other way, perhaps at least Limbo, but you, Darwin, deserve Heaven. You are far too innocent to understand the implications behind your death as 'suicide'. You believed it was something else, merely an out of body experience, like a dream. But you are a spirit, or should I say, an angel, now- therefore, you have died."
I look down at the ground. Only now did I realize that it was too late to ever have a chance of returning. It wasn't a near death experience, an out of body experience, or anything of the sort. To the Underworld, I was dead. Darwin Watterson was dead, and he had no hope of seeing Carrie or his family, or friends, or Elmore, ever again.
This was my home now. I was in Heaven, but it didn't quite feel like it at all. I just felt lost.
"I understand how it feels," the voice muses, "there has been many, many a foolish teenager who lost their life for many strange, silly reasons, and they all regret their actions. They tore unmendable holes in the hearts of their loved ones, dying only to cause pain, and once they realize it was the wrong action to take, they are gone from the world, forever deemed as sad and stupid people who died in vain. They forgot that they were loved, that someone cared about them, and wouldn't want them to do what they did, but they did, and they're just as lost as you are. But I have met very, very few that were as young as you. What a shame when they die so young, especially of their own accord."
Silence. I was left alone.
After that, I thought to myself, did I deserve to be in Heaven, an angel, no less, after hurting my loved ones so much? Was that to make me suffer, even in Heaven? Death is cruel to everyone. It doesn't always bring peace. There's always suffering beforehand... but I didn't see my death as a real, actual death... until now.
But yet, I don't feel any regret. I wasn't sure what right or wrong really was in this case.
I look down at my fins, translucent and insubstantial, but the new yellow color and brighter glow made them seem more familiar to me. It made me think- bright yellow and pale white- like the sun and the moon. Carrie was like the moon and I was like the sun- close and yet a million miles away from each other.
The sun dies every night to let the moon breathe. I think I heard a story about that before...
The presence of the invisible shadow returns to me for a single moment.
"Your siblings are wandering where they are not meant to be. We shall attempt to retrieve them before they endanger themselves again."
Another silence. It had left before I could question that statement.
Had Gumball and Anais died, too? Was it my fault? What did they mean by endanger? Again?
I had so many questions to ask, fears, worries, stress... nobody would answer them or help me. Considering where I was right now and what those shadows told me, that was unusual, contrary to what one would expect. I know where I am, yet I am lost, and I can do nothing but cry about it.
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(Carrie's POV)
I know they're here. Watching, waiting. They are not aware of me. They only see Gumball and Anais, the ones they believe are dead, the "misplaced" souls that they are seeking. Those blank eyes are observing every move they make.
"Fly," I whisper to them, "fly away as fast as you can. Those shadows with eyes are called the servants of death."
"What do they do?" Anais whispers back to me, clinging to Gumball's hand.
"They're not exactly dangerous, but they'll take you to that castle to evaluate your life and sentence you to where they think you should go."
"Wouldn't we find Darwin more easily that way?" Gumball asks. I shake my head.
"Their other job is convincing souls that escape is hopeless. They'll force you to stay down here forever. You have to fly away. They can't see me because I'm a part of the mortal world, so I'll catch up with you later. Go!"
At my words, Gumball and Anais bolt away as fast as they could possibly go. I watch as the shadows slowly creep along the tunnel-like walls in pursuit, looking as if they were melting, and the walls were oozing a dark substance that spread across the ground. They were everywhere. It was disgusting and disturbing to watch the pathway vanish into pitch black nothingness. I couldn't even see where I was going.
I kept going though, following Gumball and Anais as fast as I could, phasing past the shadows to protect my friends. It was less frightening for me knowing the servants of death couldn't see me, but I couldn't imagine how scared Gumball and Anais must be to be hunted down by dozens of shadows with eyes that don't even blink.
Our only thoughts were to escape from these creatures.
We didn't even realize that in our rush that we had shoved open the golden doors to the third labyrinth and shut them.
This manages to dispel the servants of death, but brings rise to something far more terrifying.
Crap. It appears that our friends are screwed. Whoops. Next chapter coming soon.
