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Hey, folks! Happy new year!
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"I'm... What...?" Eros couldn't manage to speak more than a few words at a time, now, as his lungs filled with air that felt like lead and drew him closer and closer to unconsciousness. "D... Damn..."
The Cacnea gave a morose grin, shutting its eyes from the world. "I'm so sorry, but... She made me do it..." He opened one of his eyes in the slightest, peeking at the fallen Sandshrew. He didn't really move now; He simply lied down, taking shallow, long breaths. The Chicorita on the side was becoming anxious, unwilling to watch the innocent little creature nearly die like this. She turned and hid behind a corner that cut visibility to the room, residing in the hallway as a shelter from this displeasure.
Eros could barely hear now, the sounds of the outside world muffled by some kind of ringing in the distance. The edges of his vision darkened, falling into the same static that all persons witness when they start to faint. Soon, this static-like phenomena flooded into the small circle in the middle of his vision, obscuring all that he should see. Not long after, a swift trail of darkness washed over his eyes, taking him from this mundane plane and casting him off somewhere much farther into his mind, oblivious to all that surrounds him...
Meadows. There were meadows everywhere. Why? What happened? Was he dead? No. No, he was not. He could feel that he was asleep, as if in some sort of dream. He knew he was alive, not dead, and yet... He couldn't pull himself from this dream if he wanted to. There was no escape. Something powerful bound him here. And that made Eros terrified for his life, being trapped within his own mind, without a way to escape...
He looked around. The sky was a dull blue, absent of any sun. The grass and brush went on forever, without a single sentient being to be seen for eternity. All he had for company was himself, a lone companion to think with. He might very well die here, if he doesn't manage to eat or drink while disabled like this... Geez. The odds were not in his favor. He thought that he could just prance in her with his fake Pokemon wife and ask for a humanity stone and do diddly-squat and leave, with smiles and farewells to go around. Granted, he knew from the start that it wouldn't be simple, but still...
He looked around. In the sky, he could see a rain of sorts start to form and fall, causing the entire universe to well up in darkness as the hail of rain snowed upon the ground. The world was so dark, and he couldn't do anything about it... Why is he experiencing this? What does it have to do with anything? Eros curled into a little ball, one of the innate abilities of a Sandshrew. As long as he closed off all the world around him, nothing could hurt him...
Why would Sicily's mom poison him? Surely, even with an undesirable "mate" for her daughter, hadn't she the slightest compassion or mercy? Why would she outright poison her daughter's husband, despite her fake content with the arrangement? Surely, she didn't see through the guise, did she? Even so, why would she resort immediately to such drastic measures? It wouldn't make any sense at all, just jumping to such... Means...
That is, unless she had something that she was in a rush to do. If she wanted him dead, she could sentence him to death, right? On the contrary, this was quite a discrete way to dispose of somebody (save that he wasn't really dead). Wait, he wasn't really dead! Surely, this was because she didn't want to break her daughter's heart. But what did she tell her to explain this? And why would she hurt... Hurt her imaginary husband...
And there were all those suitors...
Husband... Suitors... Did she plan to have Sicily...
Eros woke with a gasp. The room was dark, the only torch in the hallway extinguished by some mysterious force... He must've been out for a while. Eros looked around, trying to understand what happened. He was still surrounded by the bales of hay, shielding him from the cool earth. Still in the form of a Sandshrew, he took a glance about the room, searching for any clues to indicate as to how long he has been unconscious or what happened.
There was naught to indicate how long he had fallen; He couldn't even tell what time of day it was. The room was simply dark, absent of any touch from the outside world. He steadily made his way to his feet, stumbling to the hole leading into one of the passages. As he made it past the natural threshold of the room, he was stopped by a gentle, spiked arm from his side. Cacnea sighed and said, "Sorry, can't let you out."
Eros was aching in all parts of his body, wearied from the poison. He couldn't think in the slightest to fight at all, far below his already novice fighting abilities. He gave a weary stare, only asking, "Uh... What?" after about a minute of silence.
"Sorry, she didn't want you to leave or anything."
"B-but..." Eros, suddenly remembering his hallucinatory dreams and what was impending, perked up and continued, "She's going to make her marry someone else?"
"Hm? Oh." The Cacnea raised an eyebrow, appearing surprised while still unmoved. "She is. How did you know?"
"I... I had a dream..." Eros pushed into Cacnea's arms, trying to shove past. Unfortunately, he was met with a countering shove, much stronger than his, which launched him back a few inches into the room. "S-she can't make h-her do that!"
The Cacnea sighed, only answering with, "There's nothing that can be done, kid." Silence radiated from the two for another minute before Eros started again.
"Please let me out..."
"No."
"... Why are you doing this?"
"I've served this family for years. I can't just stop now. It takes dedication to do my job."
"But... She won't be happy if she does this... How could you let this happen?" As he uttered the last words, he felt a kind of shame wash over himself; He shouldn't expect Cacnea to do such a thing, to betray a family for such a petty opinion...
"Don't blame me. I didn't want this to happen. I'm just serving this family."
"... Okay then." Eros simply waddled back inside the room, defeated at the impossible situation. Even if he were to escape somehow, how would he stop it? Surely, if he were to be seen anywhere but in that room, he would be taken back after being attacked. And when was she even getting married? It could've already happened, for all he knew.
It must have been an eternity before the Cacnea started again, this time posing another, more dire attitude as he spoke. "You aren't really married to her, are you?"
Eros looked over his shoulder. Cacnea was now standing in the room, his arms brought together at the ends. Chicorita could be seen in the hall, gazing in inconspicuously as this went on. "What makes you say that?"
"I've known her for a while. You aren't her type."
"What? Aren't we both ground types?"
"..."
"What does it matter to you?"
Taking this as a rather callous yes, Cacnea continued, "I don't agree with this at all. Alyjara (apparently, the Flygon's name) is pretty old, and I wouldn't be surprised if her mind was starting to go. I mean, she poisoned and imprisoned a child like you. Even if I do disagree, though, I can't betray her..." The Chicorita walked in, placing her leaf on Cacnea's shoulder. He smiled, glancing only for a second towards the housekeeper; After but an instance, the Cacnea returned to his dreary frown. "I don't want her to be wed either, but I can't stop it. If you're going to do anything, you'll have to do it."
Eros' eyes widened, showing his delight in the sudden change of events. "R-really? Thank you!"
"Shh, shh... Try to keep it down..." Cacnea drew his "hand" to his face, shushing ever so softly. "Me and Chicorita here can help, if you like. But, please, don't make it seem I've betrayed the family. I couldn't stand to-"
"Don't worry. I won't be drastic or anything. Just tell me what you know."
"Well...
"Alyjara had her eye on marrying off Alykasaba for a while. She cares for her feelings and all, but she doesn't believe she can make a good decision on her own. Plus, since you look like a damn hatchling, she was somewhat committed to deciding on a new husband for her. Plus, the dowry is much to her favor and, politically speaking, this marriage would unite the desert. As such, she arranged for her to marry a Marowak. A very young one, it seems.
"She's irritated by how young this Marowak is. Not that she's seen him, though. Customs state that the two don't even have to meet, and, well... They didn't. They aren't even going to see each other until they are prancing down the hall. Not even I've seen him yet. Not sure why she picked him in particular. Maybe she was friends with his parents. She's dedicated to this happening, though. Can't persuade her otherwise.
"Sicily didn't want to go along with this at first, but her mom said some pretty mean things... Called her useless, amongst other things. She isn't really resisting any of her mother's suggestions. Must've been really harsh for her to just... Retract the way she did. She's just going along with the whole thing. I tried talking to her, but she won't even acknowledge me. I hate to see her like this, and... And I would just like it if you snapped her out of this. Please. She shouldn't be like this...
"What else, what else... It's being held tonight. They have a ton of people coming over, and it will be impossible to sneak around. Alyjara doesn't know you're alive. She assumed you ate enough to kill you, but as it turns out, you didn't... Lucky for you. She'd have me and you executed if she knew I let you out to ruin the wedding. Sicily's missing her pendant, and there's a scorch mark where it used to be-"
"Is she alright?" Eros' eyes widened, but some subtle aura from Cacnea dismissed his fears.
"She's fine, thank Arceus. Still, she doesn't have it on. Her mother must've hid it somewhere, so there's that. Finally, the entire ceremony will start at midnight. Full moon is supposed to grant a blessing of sorts, so you have about nine or ten hours to prepare, if you need it. The Marowak is in the guest room, not to be seen until the wedding starts. That's about it."
Eros simply stated at the ground for a few moments. He mumbled to himself, "This is impossible." There was no way to sneak around, and nothing inconspicuous he could do. Everybody would see, and if they found out that a single thing was out of place... On the other hand, should he try to solve this by brute force, he would be endangering Cacnea unjustly, and he couldn't do that. Plus, he isn't looking to tarnish Sicily's relationship with her mom, he just wants to stop her from marrying somebody she wouldn't probably love hopefully. He didn't have very many options to work with, and there was so much at risk if someone went wrong; Even more, anything he did would make the Humanity Stone even more difficult to obtain, it it weren't impossible already.
Eros simply lied back in his corner for a bit, thinking this through. What could he do? He probably won't even reach the wedding. Nothing worked in his favor here. He had to protect Sicily and Cacnea while not hurting Sicily's mom or dad. He shouldn't even hurt whoever this young Marowak was. Probably. It would be kinda unethical. He doesn't know where Sicily's necklace is, which is important. And, to top it off, he was just recovering from his poison. Plus, if he left, it would look like he wasn't killed, unless he had a damn good reason to think otherwise. Which means, of course, Cacnea would be in trouble, which would make Eros feel guilty. Surely, he's going to need one hell of a plan...
Meanwhile...
Sicily was standing in her old room, waiting to be called upon for the ceremony. This was not unlike before, but alas: this time, she was alone. Today couldn't have been any worse. Eros was dead. She was going to have to marry somebody she didn't even know, and for what? The political gains of her parents, who she hadn't seen in months? She spent so long journeying away from home, experiencing the world, and this is what her parents had in mind for her? To bind her eternally to this place, to live only to gaze eternally upon the wretched dunes in which she resides?
She looked around and found an old mirror, one she used to gaze upon herself for hours as a child. She picked it up and managed to angle it in a way that revealed herself, gazing upon her mirage once more. She was wrapped in some kind of odd vines, ones used for ceremony. Before, she could slightly grasp the meaning behind such odd dressings and understand their beauty, but after seeing what the rest of the world was like, she didn't know what to think of these any more. They would lead to bind her to this place, making her leave her life to rule a kingdom she knows too well. They were ugly, and they weren't anything but chains to her.
And what about her own appearance? She could recollect a few memories of how she looked relatively decent as a Trapinch, never having suffered a single cut or bruise as a kid. Now, though... She was rough and beaten up. She didn't look anything like before, almost alien in comparison. Her gaze wasn't even as innocent as before. She just looked blank. She was tough and strong, but ugly as heck. After being beaten around so much and fighting again and again, her profile wasn't untouched or cleaned; It was scarred.
Maybe her mother was right. She wasn't as pretty as before, and she sure did get herself into a lot of trouble. Maybe she would be better simply residing in her kingdom for eternity, despite her wanderlust and the world outside. The Marowak could be a handsome prince and have stories to tell for eternity. All was only wishful thinking, she admitted, dropping the mirror back into the sand. She couldn't even bare to look at herself anymore. She could easily have blamed her mother for these emotions, but she knew better. All she was doing was looking out after her.
If only she had her necklace again, she could have the guts to stand up to her mother. No, she could have the guts to rip her freaking heart out and crush it in her palm. Then again, that very madness was why she was given the amulet in the first place. More importantly, it was the only thing she had to remember Eros. Was he really dead this time? Was that it? He was simply poisoned and... Died?
No. No. Eros had a plan. He would never die. He always had a plan. He never died. Never. And he never will. He'll just live on forever, just like her. Not disease nor poison nor anything could hurt him. Nothing. Not even-
"It's time." Cacnea poked his head in, his arm drenched in an odd red liquid. Which was blood. Duh.
"Uh, you have something on..." Sicily couldn't bring her sentence to an end, leaving it unfinished and as it was.
"Oh." Cacnea frowned. "Your husband... Tried to escape. He survived the poison, but... I couldn't let him do anything..." Cacnea shrank back behind the wall, hiding his shame. He knew that what he did would enact an eternal spite against him from Sicily, which he did not desire.
Sicily was furious, but the morose setting of the day kept her from doing anything, besides uttering, "Fine. Let's go."
She left with Cacnea at her side, as her servant did her one last gesture of servitude before she was wed off. He led her to a hall, a newer one, specifically carved out so that this event could be held. The hall was lined with people she knew from all walks of her life. Even the Frostlass from way back twenty chapters ago was there, nodding and smiling, despite how uncomfortable she looked. There were also figures she didn't recognize. None the less, she pressed through the crowded hall.
Damn it Eros, if you had a plan, now was the time. Or was he really dead this time? What is she to do? Could she simply go on with the story, even without him...?
The hall opened up into a massive room, lined with close relatives on either side. In the center was a lone Cubone, who stood quivering in the center. She turned to her mother, who was clearly distressed at what was going on. "I thought he was a Marowak...?"
"He was a 'young' Marowak. They friggin lied. This was there only son. Hm, anything to get a little land... I truly hate them, you know that? I'm sorry it came to this." She was stern, simply staring into the subtle fury of her daughter's eyes. She wore the very pendant Sicily did, somehow ignoring the very effects it bestowed. Maybe it only worked on Sicily... "Look, I'm sorry for what I had to do, but you were putting yourself in danger!"
Sicily simply stated, unwilling to do a thing to her. Why couldn't she just stand up to her?
She turned to the Cubone, who was looking back at her. Why did it have to come to this?
The Cubone spoke, "Ugh. Let's get this over with." With the sharpness and finesse he used to deliver the line, Sicily felt utter despite for the Cubone, only making her oppose the marriage even more.
As this went on, a lone Mawile walked up to the two, asking, "Are you ready for the ceremony?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Sicily was visibly uneasy, yet nobody even cared to give a second glance.
"Same here." The Cubone was tense, quivering at a rate much unnatural to one about to be wed off.
"Then, my sweetest couple, let us read the vows, engage the ceremony, and bind your souls!"