Eros lives, but is only holding on by a breath. "No... Eros... Don't die..."
A faint voice came from Eros, "Stop it, you're crushing me..." Sicily let go of Eros and gently let him down. "I'm okay now, Sicily. I think you did it."
Sicily still had tears in her eyes, unable to speak clearly, "Oh, Eros, you're alright! What did I do, Eros, what did I do?"
Eros looked over almost apathetically at Sicily, saying, "I think you healed me... Or something..."
"I PROMISE I WILL ALWAYS PROTECT YOU MASTER!!!"
"Sicily. Calm down, please. I'm alive. I was alive the whole time. I was just... More injured before. I fainted." He looked around a bit, still exhausted from the fight. "Well, Cerci's going to be proud of you. Took me a while to cast my first spell. Show off."
"Oh, Eros, this was my fault! I shouldn't have made such an erratic-"
"Sicily. Calm down. What could have possibly happened?"
"You... You could've died..."
"Aw, Sicily, you really do care for me..." This was said with more sarcasm than honest meaning, although both were abundant in his tone. He leaned up and hugged Sicily. "Ugh, I'm exhausted. Training is over." Eros lied on the ground a bit, looking around before turning back into a human. He was still lying down, but he had a massive wound on his chest and across his face. Blood was smeared all around his body, but it seemed to have already clot from some external source.
An hour later Eros worked up the strength to make it back inside the fort. Sicily was at his side the whole time, crying a little every so often. He stumbled to the fort while carrying Sicily and her torn wings. He was greeted at the gate by an concerned looking Cerci, who was even more concerned when she saw Eros with the massive cuts across his body. "Eros! You look terrible!"
"Thank you." Eros was still stumbling to his room as he spoke.
"What happened?"
"Well... It started with us going to the turret to train. I showed Sicily how to get a feel for her magic, but when she tried to cast something a blue glow appeared." At this moment Cerci seemed to start taking mental notes. "And then she said something like, 'Hey! Let's go fight some Pokemon!' And like, I don't know how to train her, so why not? Maybe she'll pull something out of her back pocket like last time, when she evolved. And anyways, I've practiced fighting as a Pokemon a bit and wanted to try it out, so you know? Hey, Alright then."
"Can we get to the part where you used your techniques? I want to know how they turned out." The trio were still a distance from Eros' dorm.
"Alright then. So we found this Zangoose and this Seviper fighting over land and we attacked. So I got cut," motioning to the scar on his chest, "and I tackled him. Then I used magic leaf and got cut some more, or did I-"
"What about magic?"
"Uh, I think I made three magic missiles at once. They were all pretty strong."
Cerci gave a proud smile. "It's about time. You've been progressing a lot slower than I'd hoped. You really made a jump when you did that. You should be proud. Was that it?"
"Well, yes, but Sicily fought the Seviper, so she has some story to tell as well."
Sicily smiled and spoke erratically. "I do! So this Seviper sprays some acid on me and I can't fly, but then I give him a few good Dragon Breaths and he doesn't stand a chance. After that, I see the Zangoose trying to attack Eros while he's down, and I breathed my mighty breath again and take him down, but Eros was completely covered in cuts! So I go over to him, worried and all, and I just felt some sort of energy, like the energy Eros showed me, spill out and somehow go into him. I was worried, but then, hey, Eros is fine! So we had a good fight." Another dumb smile.
Cerci looked a bit confused. "Was there a glow right before he woke up? And did he really faint?"
Eros spoke, "I was definitely out."
Sicily then resumed, "Yeah, I think there was some kind of light. It was teal, like before."
Cerci smiled, then spoke, "You both have achieved quite a bit today. I'll explain what happened, magically speaking. Eros, when you used your magic missiles... Well, that's actually how it's normally cast, although there are generally more." A look of disappointment came across Eros. "But, on the other hand, you kept your transformation, even after you fainted or died or whatever. That's a rare ability. Even I haven't gotten that far yet. You could possibly be much better at being a Pokemon than you appear. I think you could even explore... Hahaha, this is great. Not even our Druids tried to go there before.
"And Sicily, I have no doubt that you had potential, but casting a spell the first day? You're like the anti-Eros! No disappointment over here!" Eros cried a little on the inside. "Although that wasn't an exceptional spell. From what I know, it stops someone from bleeding out too much. I believe it was called 'Recovery' in the academy, although not many Druids were healers."
"But wait," Sicily interrupted, "why would it be that such a power becomes present right at the moment I need it? Wasn't the setup a little to perfect? This is a perfect example of a trope of sorts?"
"Well, after all, you are a very loving Pokemon seeing your 'trainer' die. It's kind of like an adrenaline rush for you, healer."
Look, that was a pretty big trope of sorts, but how else should I have shown Sicily would have become a healer? More pointless training and waiting? You're welcome for the plot advancement.
Eros started was at his room now. He decided to lie down on the bed for a while, considering his injuries. "I just need some rest."
Cerci added her point to this, "Actually, there's not much Sicily can do to practice her healing magic, save injure someone then try to heal them. Why don't you let her practice on you?"
"Fine by me." In turn, Cerci left Eros and Sicily in the room, letting Sicily practice slowly knitting the flesh in Eros' body back together. Eros didn't comprehend how she did it, but eventually she figured out the details and went for quite a good time before exhausting herself. In only a few hours, she managed to heal about half of the mark across his face, leaving only a small impression in his flesh about where the claw scarred him.
Meanwhile...
"Hank, you've lost your mind. We can't even take that anywhere."
"Cerci, you're no fun. Anyways, if we run into a legend or something, this is our best shot of killing it." Hank was preparing to test a rifle he found in one of the buildings, one that could best be described as an armory. Cerci, Xerxes, Dusk and Surge were standing far behind Hank, ready to observe the power of Hank's find.
"How do you know if it'll even work? This could be dangerous."
"I've read some of the manuals in there. I replaced about half the parts in there, so it's as good as new. Now stand back more, you need like at least ten feet of space. And cover your ears."
"Hank-"
A few shots were unloaded into a dummy about ten feet away from Hank. The gun was a compact weapon, similar to a bullpup rifle; However, the weapon and ammunition was specialized for taking down heavy machinery and even steel type Pokemon, shredding the wooden stand to bits. The sound was tremendous, alerting everyone about the power of this device.
"It works! I can't believe this base fell, considering that with weapons like these-"
"Hank, you're not taking that anywhere."
"I know, I know. I'm just saying that if Keldeo and whoever come to our front door-"
"Fine. But all weapons stay here. Is that clear?"
"Yes, my dear Cerci."
"Good. By the way, can you get Eros and Sicily? I have the location of the three easiest Humanity Stones to get to."
"No problem." Hank left with his weapon and returned with Eros and Sicily, as well as an absent rifle. After everyone sat around Cerci once more, ready for a long, ongoing statement once more. As the rough cobblestone stuck out of the dirt, no one was necessarily comfortable. Cerci took a deep breath in and started in the booming voice of a commander, "Alright, team. Soon we start the hunt for the Humanity Stones.
"I have three objectives, so we'll be in three teams. They've been selected from what I'd consider best for the missions and objectives, as well as team chemistry (I'm using that right, right?). First off, Xerxes and Dusk will be in one team." The two gave a nasty face to one another. Xerxes made sure Cerci and Dusk saw her cross her arms in frustration. "Now I know you two had just fought over whatever Pokemon fight about, but this is going to be your kind of mission. Head to Purpurissia, a city just north of Ashport, well known for its ancient museum. Inside you will find a passage that leads deep underground. In there, somewhere, there is a Humanity Stone. Find it and bring it back."
Xerxes started immediately after Cerci finished, almost shouting, "That's impossible! You want us to go into the middle of a human city, break into a museum, rob a crypt... What else? Kill Arceus?"
Dusk added, "And Sneasel speaks true.
This task is impossible.
We aren't master rogues."
Cerci rebutted with, "Would you rather fight a stone statue, Xerxes?"
"Yes."
"No," corrected Eros.
Cerci continued with her argument, "And this may be the second-easiest stone to acquire. You guys are the stealthier and sneaker ones in this party. This should be easier for you." An angry 'humph' confirmed that Xerxes and Dusk would take the task.
"And speaking of stone statues, I hope you've got that rifle ready, Hank. We're going to fight a stone statue."
Hank stated mockingly, "But you said I shouldn't take my gun with me."
"Times change. It's the only viable weapon we have against it, since it's magically bound together. As in, no Pokemon attacks will hurt it. That weapon can fix that. We can plan on the way there, so we'll cover the details later."
"Great! So it's a date?"
As Cerci rolled her eyes, Eros and Sicily looked at each other and smiled. "So me and Sicily are a team?"
"Yes, you and Sicily are in a team. The last Humanity stone that we know about is located near a place called Treasure Town. Sound familiar?"
Eros opened his eyes wider, showing his excitement to share what he knew. "Oh, yeah! It's that city that the Eevee and Totodile in the bell tower talked about! I wonder what kind of people live there with all those Pokemon?"
"Oh, Eros, you're as slow as ever."
"What? Anyways, we're in good terms, so I don't see the problem."
"Actually, Eros, there's a big problem. I have been using a special device to actively search for the locations of some of the Humanity Stones. Well, this one started releasing a powerful beacon the day after you met Keldeo. It's a trap, Eros, and we don't know who's in on it. Your clout won't help you here, and neither will your pure strength. That is why I'm sending you, Eros. You have two things: Wit and dumb luck. You'll need both to get the stone. On top of that, I only know the land is almost or is completely free of humans. After all, the Druids never had a foothold there. On top of that, you can stay in your Pokemon form indefinitely. Sicily, on the other hand, is your partner. It wouldn't be right to split you two." All three smiled to one another. "By the way, the island's a ways off, but I arranged to get a Lapras to take you there. Is everyone clear?
"By the way, I have some presents for you guys." Cerci handed every group a small blue orb, almost exactly like the one Eevee and Totodile used back at the belltower. "When you need to return here, hold this and focus in on it. It will teleport you back here instantly. It took some time to make this, so some thanks would be nice." (Xerxes: thanks Cerci.)
"Good. And take a good look around, not everyone may come back. I wish you all best of luck. See you in a week or two."
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Hey guys, quick message.
Sorry for this, but with the school year coming, I'm going to need a bigger buffer. In turn, I can't update until next Friday.
On the plus side, I have a 3 year old dog.