💫💀Drowning (rewrite) | Sanders Sides

Chapter 11

The ground gets closer by the millisecond, and I brace myself for impact.

I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna-

Oh.

I stop short of the ground face-first, and I float for a moment like I'm skydiving until gravity acts up again and my cheek collides with the floor. But it doesn't hurt. Turns out Roman's true fantasy is a world made of candy and Disney pride merch, as I can see when I scan the landscape. The ground is made of rolls of cotton candy, there are Peeps marshmallow soldiers guarding little Disney rides and stands selling rainbow pinwheels and towels. There are some Disney-Pixar characters here, too - from what I can recognize, there's Pinocchio, Dumbo, Mickey Mouse, the Incredibles family, Pascal on Rapunzel's shoulder, and a bunch of others.

I quickly look at my hands to confirm that I'm not dead, and I see they're back in full color, brighter than ever, actually. I clear my throat and I don't feel like I'm suffocating. I'm not shivering, either.

I'm really here, aren't I?

"Roman?" I shout, cupping my hands around my mouth. "Roman, you around here somewhere?" The characters around me look at me like I have 50 heads or something, but I don't mind. I'm used to being looked at weird. I decided to run up to Belle from Beauty and the Beast, who was buying soft rainbow bread rolls at the bakery, so I could ask for help.

"Hi, uh, Belle," I blush. "Do you know where Roman Sanders could be?" Belle tips her head to the side and I realize that Roman's most likely the king of this place.

"Uh, he's probably got a gold crown, wears a red sash, maybe you know him?"

Belle's face lights up. "Oh!" she exclaims, "you mean the King?" Yep, I was correct. That egomaniac couldn't resist. "He went that way." She points to a valley cornered between rows of apartment buildings, shining with fireflies and guarded by large nutcrackers.

"You might have a hard time getting in, though. That area is reserved only for the King. If you're not a servant of his or coming to deliver an important message, then you're not allowed in."

I smirk as I play with a certain thought. I could always sneak in, dress like a servant, or, better yet, Roman! I mean, it wouldn't make much sense considering he's already in the field, but it's worth a shot.

But Belle seems to catch on, because she does a little tsk-tsk-tsk, shaking her head, and whispers, "Just don't get caught if you're going to be a servant."

Okay, I might be biased, but now my favorite movie is totally Beauty and the Beast.

Time skip - 15 minutes

Okay, since I was able to find a servant's outfit lying on the ground for some reason, I finally got into this mysterious secret valley, and- holy Alex Brightman, this place looks creepy!

The valley is all black and barren, with a few patches of lush lime green grass giving me an indicator that before Roman's distress, it must have been filled with flowers and plants of all shades. There are some shovels and gardening tools for some reason lying on the ground and shriveled up rose bulbs severed from their stems. And in the middle... a rusty gold fountain, pouring out not water, but blood.

It can't be... can it?

I look down at my hands, completely colorless once again, and suddenly it feels so hard to breathe. Whether it's from the panic or my sickness or the area, I don't know, but it's hard to bear. I force myself to get it together because somehow, something's clicked inside me as I make out the smallest figure on the horizon.

I know this place.

This is Creativity's garden.

And Roman's sitting on the edge of the cliff.