Life Eternal

                                            Life Eternal
         
         For many long millennia have I been drowning in a subterranean depth far beyond comprehension. My ignorant Quest to gain the highly esteemed title of an immortal, brought me to this suffering and unending existence in this isolated cavern dwelling. The water, blessed with the damning powers of bestowing eternal life upon its drinker, was offered to me by an unseen figure. Upon taking hold of the chalice, the pseudo wonders of immortality arose in my mind. So dazzling I thought it would be to witness time venture on through fate-less eyes. To truly observe death and its healing among humanity.
         I had trodden down 1,500 stairs in a dreamlike daze, through an entryway that had laid undiscovered in a cavern system whose location I will not repeat for your sake. It appeared the legends were reality. The great thinkers of the past were indeed correct. Years of studying the work of Vilmone, Nithil, and of the obscure alchemists and kabbalists of the 17th and 18th centuries had lead me to the 1,500 stone stairs that descended into the earth.
         Once at the bottom of the stone staircase, I could faintly discern an empty chamber awaited directly ahead. Upon entering, a voice greeted me politely but with a hint of nervousness nonetheless. The voice spoke to me in an eldritch nature I cannot fully describe. It comprised of multi-toned and choral buzzes and low rumblings. Strangely, I felt nothing at hearing the inhuman speech speaking to me of my reward yet to come at what was to be the end of my mortal journey.
         The voice begged me to heed the consequences of immortality; but I, in a blind greed and thirst for eternal life, denied them. I intended to drink from the chalice and return to the surface world. That such scenario was not to occur.
         Reluctantly, the chalice was held out to me through the shadows. Even through the pitch darkness of the dead air that surrounded me, the chalice illuminated for me to gaze upon it. Without hesitation, I seized the chalice from hands shrouded in black and gulped down the water. The chill of the water frosted my internal organs; they would be kept eternally preserved.
         A wave of gloom overwhelmed me, causing me to let the chalice fall to the floor with a clatter. The voice rumbled out through the darkness again,
         “You have made your choice. You must stay now, trapped within the seal for all time until the next eternity-hungry fool finds you.”
         Weak footsteps rattled off on the staircase and faded away as they reached the surface.
         A scream built within me that never came out. I stumbled about looking for an exit. All that met my hands were phantom walls that imprisoned me within a solitary and confined tomb. The agony of immortality seeped into my darkened soul. It had been said that the wise immortals that dwelled within the earth had no use for eyes. When I finally realized why, terror gripped my brain and squeezed my spine in an unforgiving vise of reverence.
         I have lost track of the time long ago, but it is certain that tens of thousands of years must have revolved about me. My eyes yearn for light, but humanity (which was decadent when I last left it) will not be able to find me now. My eyes will see nothing forevermore. Realizing the utter uselessness of these eyes and knowing they only remain to torture me, I know what must be done.
         Slowly, but surely. I bring my hands to my face. My fingers claw into my eye sockets, grip downward, and pull free the torment that was my vision.