Punishment
684 words. TW for torture!
Bright Null failed its mission. It's failed too many times. The Golden Three don't just let that go so easily.
(Story under the cut!)
[This garden was created by one creature just itching to pick up a hobby. Once it did, time escaped it. Now, this garden is an expanse of various plants and flowers it enjoyed the sight of. It would spend hours near the edges of the garden, staring at the blue irises that bring it hope. Or perhaps the bells of luck, with their unique shape and silent good fortune.]
[The garden has been a place of refuge for Bright Null. Here, it does not worry about the orders it is given. When it comes here, it is able to plant, water, and weed. It's able to distract itself.]
[Not after its failure.]
[The same flowers that brought it comfort are wilting. They haven't had proper care in months. Both the bells of luck and the blue irises are drowning in the scorched air. Almost none of the plants at the beginning of the garden are alive anymore. There has been nothing to sustain them.]
[The center of the garden is a different story.]
[Vibrant scarlet and magenta amaranth reaches towards the sky. Yew bushes set the frame for the center of the garden. Spiderwort blooms near the center of the expansive garden. The vibrant blue stands out against the red of the sheep's sorrel blooming nearby. They set the frame for this garden's centerpiece.]
[The centerpiece twitches. But it can do nothing more.]
[It can feel every second. Every centimeter that creeps into its core. It is difficult to think with the pain of the dog roses' thorns piercing into its core. Or perhaps it is the purple hyacinths that force itself out of its shell to bloom that cause it pain.]
[It does not know anymore. The black mulberries, the catchflies, the bog rosemary, the peonies, the helenium. They all sink through its core. They all bring it unimaginable pain.]
[Before now, it wasn't aware that it could feel pain. Nor was it aware it could feel anything. And if it truly was unable to feel such things before, the Golden Three ensured it could feel everything of its punishment.]
[It's unsure if this punishment will ever end.]
[Each flower brings steady growth. Each movement causes a fresh jolt of pain. If it wanted to escape… it would have to ruin the flowers it worked so hard to create. It's unsure it would be able to stay awake through the pain if it attempted to untangle the plant life from its very core.]
[It wonders what sleep is like. It wonders what death is like.]
[It longs for both.]
[It doesn't notice the poppies blooming beneath its hands.]
----
[How long has it been? There's no way of telling. It could have only been an hour, or it could have been a whole year of this agony. Tansies block any semblance of its vision. Only darkness with orange tints accompany its vision now. No way to determine time anymore. But…]
[…It has some power left. Perhaps it can use that. It can create an echo… and that will be able to free it. It has barely enough power to create a single echo. But it has to try.]
[That's its only hope at this point.]
[It strains to create a simple lynel. ….It thinks that's what it created. It has no way of telling anymore. All it can do is wait for the hopefully a lynel to free it.]
[It doesn't expect the sudden, searing pain in its shoulder. If it could, it would let out a roar, or any sound of pain. But it can't even manage an exhale of air. Its arm hurts. Why does it hurt?]
[But the pain continues. From one arm, to the next, unil all three arms are flaring up, and Bright Null is unable to move any of them.]
[What happened?]
[A familiar voice fills its mind.]
"You cannot escape your punishment that easily."
[Ah. They made sure its plan failed.]
[They…]
[It hates Them.]
[But They made sure it knows there's nothing it can do.]
[There's nothing it will ever be able to do.]
[…it hurts.]
