Symbiosis

Chapter 2- Dead Man Walking

*Ant's POV*

After hearing the knock, a few seconds pass in silence for Ant. These few seconds feel like an eternity as he tries to convince himself that he's imagining it. His logic driven mind convinces him that the only way to be sure that he is imagining it, is to open the tomb and prove that the person inside is undeniably dead. He slowly creeps to the edge of the tomb and pushes the stone lid gently off the top and lowers it to the ground. Ant peers in the coffin and his breath catches in his throat. The person inside was a gorgeous man with pale skin and sandy brown hair, looking peacefully asleep- or dead as Ant was hoping. Ant stood, gawking at the man while trying to understand why he looks as if he hadn't decomposed a single day while he was dead for 400 years. Deep in thought, he didn't notice when the man slowly opened his eyes. Ant snaps to reality when he hears a melodic voice giggle and say,

"It's not polite to stare y'know. My brothers would have had your head on a spike for looking at me like that."

*Dec's POV*

Dec looks up at the man who is stunned and his mouth open. Slowly he sits up in the stone coffin and lightly raises his hand to the man's chin, nudging his mouth closed. The raven-haired man blinks and rubs his eyes, probably to make sure he isn't hallucinating. When he opens them to see Declan still sitting up in the coffin, his eyes roll back in their sockets and he collapses. Dec sighs and slowly gets out of the stone box and stretches his sore limbs.

"Looks like this is gonna be a long wait. I might as well get comfortable"

Dec sits at the base of his tomb and pulls the man's limp body into his side, resting his head on his own chest. Dec hugs him and gently strikes his arm while he waits for him to stir. After a few hours.... Or minutes... Well he doesn't know now does he! He's been 'dead' for ages and doesn't have a reference for time anymore! So, after a few.... Units of time.... The man begins to stir and groans.

"I just had the weirdest dream mam, "

Dec giggles and says "sorry mister, I don't think that was a dream, but you collapsed pretty suddenly so your memory may be a bit scrambled right now. My name is Declan Donnelly, but you can call me Dec. Thanks for releasing me from that spell mister..."

As Dec speaks, the man sits up and stares at him with a look of wonder and disbelief. When Dec pauses, Ant replies "Anth...ony.... Mc...Partlin.... Umm I guess you can call me Ant. Umm is this some kind of prank? What do you mean by spell? I swear if Mulhern put you up to this to take the piss, you're both dead!"

Dec laughs loudly, filling the large hall with echoes of his melodic joy. "This Mulhern guy sounds like he knows how to have a good time. But alas, I don't know who he is. Why don't you just relax, and I'll tell you about my family and this spell."

Ant sits up and rummages through his bag, pulling out a bottle of water and 2 small cups. He pours a glass for each of them and sits across from Dec, listening intently. Dec can't help but think that the man is Incredibly well mannered. He thanks Ant for the water and begins telling his story while slowly sipping on water out of a flexible cup, making a mental note to ask what the cup is made of later.

Dec takes a deep breath and begins to speak, "alright. I guess I should tell you about my clan and this crypt we're in right now. As you've probably figured out from the carvings, we are the Donnelly's. In the 1600's, we were a family of nobility that served under the high king of Ireland. We have always been good people, but we were firm. Did not tolerate insubordination or traitorous acts. If you were respectful of my father, you were safe. The peasants on our land were paid fairly and didn't struggle with poverty. At least not usually. I remember quite vividly, a single instance where the whole kingdom was struggling. A little boy came up to my father and begged him to spare something to help the boy survive. My father was too preoccupied to acknowledge the boy. As my father continued walking, I slowly fell behind and turned to the boy."