Suspended in the void, Jaime knew that although he was alive, he was dead at the same time. Although an unknown force prevented him from moving about, it also protected him.
The darkness of the void was like a silent devourer, it's silence seemingly keen on consuming Jaime's soul and making it merge with and into the nothingness whole.
But the unknown force protected Jaime from such a fate, at the same time kept him 'imprisoned' under its influence.
After what seemed like days, Jaime rejoiced as he felt the unknown binding force disappear slowly like the night before the dawning sun.
And followed by the complete disappearance of this unknown force, Jaime found himself back and trapped below a layer of soil, he struggled free and got up, only to realise he was beside the same hollow tree from which he had obtained the 'cursed treasure'.
What seemed like a bad nightmare, turned out to be a living nightmare as Jaime screeched in horror as he looked at his bony body. Any resemblance to a normal human being had long disappeared with the vestiges of time, all that was left after years of decay, was a skeleton.
Birds chirped and winds howled beside the lumberry lake of lumberry village, at this time a very abnormal sight was witnessed by a few children who were gleefully playing hide and seek by the lake.
It was a sight that filled them with the fear and a sight that they would never forget for the remainder of their lives: a walking skeleton.
Jaime The Skeleton glanced upon his grim skull that was reflected by the waters of the lake. He really looked no different than a skeleton, only one point of difference would be that his eye sockets gave off an eerie glow. This Jaime concluded would be due to the presence of his soul. Although his body was 'dead', his soul was still 'alive'.
"I can't get married now.", Jaime lamented his fate as he looked at his skeletal lower body.
Jaime felt that perhaps this was some sort of divine punishment for all his sins but nevertheless, he resolved to do his best to 'live'. As a child, Jaime had heard of mythical tales of the old, one of which mentioned an elixir: The Elixir Of Revival. It was said to be so heaven-defying that it could bring a dead man back to life.
Although Jaime never aspired to attain such an elixir, that didn't mean he didn't want it. Since it could bring a dead man back into the world of living, didn't that mean it would also restore his flesh and mortality? This was what Jaime was putting his faith on.
"For now, I should get out of here.", Jaime muttered as he stared at his serene distant village, he felt nostalgic as he remembered the fifteen years of his life that he had spent here: The scrumptious apples, the luscious figures of those beautiful village women, the chirping birds, the roasted chicken meat, he remembered it all.
Jaime knew that he no longer belonged in the world of man. As a walking, talking skeleton, he would only be seen as a monstrosity that would curse and bring harm to mankind.
Jaime departed from the lake and moved towards into the deeper forests of lumberry. Willingly or not, Jaime knew that from now his path was going to be that of solitude.