As Jarvis's body hit the water and was dragged ever downward by the weight attached to his ankle, he had what felt to him like a good long while to think. Admittedly the fear got in the way at first, but that passed soon enough and left only the hollow, dull ache in his chest that had resided there for what now seemed like a millennium. His life flashed before his eyes and he got to watch every single rotten, horrid moment again and again, in slow motion. As luck would have it his life hadn't been that long so, he imagined, it actually didn't take all that much time for the cycle to end.
He'd often imagined this moment; Dreamt of it, yearned for it even. In fact if it wasn't for a certain someone he would've done it himself ages ago. This thought amused dear Jarvis, but alas he could not laugh for all the water filling his lungs. As he struggled against his bonds he searched for his lover, hoping to catch one last glimpse of them before the darkness took hold, but it was for naught; The ocean had robbed him of everything, including his sight.
But no it wasn't the ocean, was it? It was the men who had done this to him. The ocean was merely there, acting as an ocean does. The crew....yes, it was they who were to blame. The same ones who had pissed in his hammock so that he'd have to sleep on the floor. The men who whipped and beat him, and forced themselves upon him most nights. It was they who caught on to the love between him and Sebastian. It was they who forced him to wear those sandals full of glass, and told him they would hurt his lover if they so much as suspected he hadn't worn them all day. And it was -they-, not the ocean, who informed the Captain even though he had done everything they asked and more.
As his time drew to a close Jarvis's thoughts turned toward Sebastian and he hoped that his lover, wherever in this deep, dark Hell he might be, had passed quickly from this world. Jarvis remembered the look of utter terror he'd been given before the Captain pushed Sebastian off the edge of the dreaded plank. He remembered the loud splash and the laughter of the crew as his heart was ripped from its home and torn asunder. He hadn't needed any provocation to jump after that. He'd done something resembling a shambling swan dive into the water, hoping to somehow break free and save his mate. But he knew it was a lost cause. Somewhere in the back of his mind there was a voice telling him to just relax and let go; It would all be over soon.
Jarvis's last thought before the inky blackness swallowed him whole was of his beloved Sebastian; He hoped that they hadn't tied his hands up as tight as they had Jarvis's. He hoped that maybe, just maybe, Sebastian's weighted stone had hit his head and made him pass out. That death, at least, would be relatively painless. As Jarvis's chest gave way and the last of the air was ripped from his lungs the pain overwhelmed him and Jarvis let the voice, finally, win.
It was some time later when Jarvis woke up face-down on a beach somewhere. As he was coughing up a few lungfuls of seawater he tried to pull his thoughts together. Where was he? Was he alive? He had to be alive; He was in too much pain not to be alive. He had to get up, had to find some kind of heat source, had to find.....Sebastian. He managed to prop himself up on one elbow and look about, but what he found confused him. This was no ocean. It was a small pond, with a little village of brightly-clad people beside it. There was no Sebastian in sight.
