Chapter Text
CHRK! CHRK! CHRK!
Your one remaining eye opened with a crusty crack, your body limply lurching forward as the boulders that had trapped you in this Gods-forsaken cave finally crumbled down to nothing but pebbles. Your rescuer seemed like an angel; the bright light of the sun behind them making you flinch for a moment before you were able to adjust your eyes and get a better look at them.
After letting out a soft exclamation of surprise, they approached you slowly, hands soon placing themselves onto their hips and a soft grin on their lips as they tilted their head at you and hummed with intrigue.
“Well, well, well…” Their voice was deep, the sound of it echoing off the walls of the cave and making a chill rush down your spine. You forgot how long it’d been since you heard someone else speak. “A living corpse. I’ll be damned.”
You shifted in your place, the skeletal remains of your left hand scraping across a rock or two as you reached up and placed a hand on your rescuer’s shoulder. They glanced down at your hand, brows furrowing for a moment before a chuckle left their lips and they delicately moved your hand away with a shake of their head.
“I’m sorry, my friend, but I’m afraid I’m off limits.” He said with a charming wink, backing away a bit and looking over your form with a deep breath before glancing at the cave’s entrance. “How long have you been trapped here?”
You grunted in response, your flesh-covered hand moving up to cradle your throat as the sound painfully scratched it. Your rescuer held up a hand and stopped you before you could try and make any other sound, that suave grin never leaving his lips as they spoke, clear and confident.
“Ah, nevermind. It was a silly question.” The hand they held up slipped back onto their hip. “The name’s Illinois; pleasure to meet me.” They; or, perhaps, he; cocked his head to the right, motioning for you to follow him before furrowing his brows as the skeletal remains of your left leg crumbled a bit beneath the weight of your suddenly-moving form, luckily not fully breaking apart as you tumbled to the ground with a ‘thud’. Another grunt left your overly-dried throat and made you cringe.
How you were still alive, you may never know, but at least the entrance to the cave was no longer blocked off.
Your rescuer hissed a bit in sympathy, his arms moving outward to gently help lift you. As he did, and as your eye met his, he soon paused as he got a closer look at your face, a flash of recognition rushing through his eyes as his mouth opened a bit in shock.
“Ah… Now, wait a minute…” He gently lifted you all the way up, hands firmly gripping your shoulders to keep your crumbling body steady. “I recognize that face. You’re (Y/N) (L/N), aren’t you? World-Famous adventurer?” When you gave him your best attempt at a nod; your neck cracking beneath the weight of the sudden movement, Illinois beamed. “Well, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Your work actually inspired me to become a world-traveling adventurer myself.”
You let out a grunt in reply as you dipped your head down, your neck cracking once again at your attempt at a thankful gesture. Illinois’ grin faded into a sad smile as you looked back up at him, his right arm moving around your waist to hold you up while his opposite hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a compass. He lifted it for a moment, a deep sigh leaving his lips as the dial spun for a moment before finally stopping on ‘West’.
“Well…” He seemed in conflict with himself, eyes moving from you to the other side of the cave before he looked back down at his compass, closed it, and shoved it back into his pocket with a low hum. “I suppose you were searching for the Ancient Necklace of Angrboda, hm?” You nodded again; or, atleast, tried to, and Illinois gave you a look of sympathy before leading you to the opposite side of the cave, pulling on one of the stalagmites; making it move like a lever; and making a hidden doorway open behind a few crumbling rocks; the light from the entrance of the cave seeming like a spotlight upon the stunning, silver artifact that rested upon a stone podium.
The Necklace of Angrboda.
It had been right there this whole time.
“Your directions didn’t leave you astray, my friend.” Illinois spoke with a sigh, gently taking the necklace and simply stepping back as an arrow suddenly shot out and nearly hit him. You flinched, but only slightly, as it stuck itself deep within the hardening clay within the cave’s walls; your decaying teeth clacking together as you clenched your jaw. He glanced at you and, reaching out, delicately placed the necklace into your skeletal hand, smiling softly as he watched you drop your head forward and gaze at it, your remaining eye widening a bit in awe of the artifact’s beauty.
Soon, you lifted your head back up to look at Illinois, the faintest hint of a smile slipping onto your face as a grunt of thanks slipped past your overly-dry throat. He smiled back at you, giving you a nod before slipping toward the cave’s entrance and doing his best to lead you there.
“It’s my pleasure, really. Anything for a fellow adventurer.” His charming grin returned to his face, a glint of self-confidence in his eyes as he spoke again. “Now, let’s get you back home, shall we? I’m sure people will be thrilled to know that the Great (Y/N) (L/N) is not only alive, but was too stubborn to let a little rotting of their corpse stop them from finding the long-lost Necklace of Angrboda.”
A grunt of joy slipped through your lips, the pain in your throat doing nothing to stop the crooked smile from slipping onto the fleshy part of your face. You glanced outside of the cave, the stunning blue sky making a wave of relief rush through you. You began to think of your family, your friends; Gods, they’ll be so happy to see you - corpse or not; And the amount of people who’ll flock from all over the world to ask about your story.
The story of the first ever truly-living corpse.
You couldn’t wait.
Unfortunately, however, it seemed fate had it out for you as you stepped out into the outside world for the first time after a long while of nothing but dry, rocky darkness, your legs giving out beneath you yet again; this time cracking, crumbling, and falling into the dirt before Illinois could properly catch you. You fell to the ground with another ‘thud’, the area on your head in which your skin had completely rotted away bashing upon a rock and making your visible skull crack upon impact.
You became limp, your vision going dark as the necklace fell just an inch or two away from your hand. Illinois remained tense for a minute, watching over your form for any sign of movement. Eventually, he softly muttered your name and turned you around onto your back, his eyes widening and a gasp leaving his lips as he saw the damage that had been done.
You were gone. Wholly, truly, gone.
He tipped his head down with a deep breath, the rock you had fallen upon slipping into his sight and making him grit his teeth. With a quick movement, he lifted it and threw it into a grassy field, making some crows call and fly off in fear.
When he looked back at you, his expression softened to one of sadness, his gaze falling upon the necklace and giving him an idea.
As delicately as ever, he lifted your body, carrying you back into the cave and setting you against the rocks he had first found you upon when he broke down the rubble that had trapped you. Then, after glancing down at the necklace for a fleeting moment, he placed it within your skeletal hand, closing your fingers around it and letting his hand linger for just a second before finally standing back up.
He removed his hat out of respect for a moment, mourning your sudden death and making a soft promise to you as his eyes grew a little watery.
“People will tell your story for years to come, my friend. They’ll all speak of how you died making one of the biggest discoveries in History. From one explorer to another; I promise you that.”
He turned on his heel with a huff after speaking, slipping his hat back onto his head before leaving the dreaded cave.
If he had waited just a moment more, he would’ve seen the tear that escaped your remaining eye and ran down your flesh cheek, the slightest hint of a smile slipping onto your lips as your hand ever-so-slightly tightened around the artifact.