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*Gasp* It's the 50th chapter! Guess what that means!
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Where was he...? Eros looked around. On all sides, including up and down, he was surrounded by continual walls of smoothened stone that appeared as concrete, although a bit too smooth to be so. The room was massive, spanning at least a hundred feet in every direction, forming a very uncomfortable hemisphere that could make even the most insensitive of people claustrophobic, an illusion Eros couldn't quite seem to explain. The room was lit by two torches at one of the points around the room, marking either side of the passageway out. Bound around his wrists were iron shackles staked into the ground, giving him but a few feet of movement in any direction. He sat alone, attempting to recollect just how he got here.
All he remembered of the day before was Cerci attempting to teach him a trick or two involving his growth spell to make it more versatile. As they were preparing objects, like rocks, to practice on, Eros felt some kind of magical disturbance behind him unlike anything he'd felt before. A moment later, arms cloaked with a dark fabric wrapped around his front and he felt the same mystical disturbance once more, one that made his stomach churn and forced him prone on the ground. He was teleported into his current cell from his guess, something he could have never prepared for.
He looked around. The entire structure of whatever he was contained in hummed of magic, one somewhat like the type of enchantment Cerci used. He certainly felt that whoever imprisoned him had far underestimated his ability to use magic, as he could simply slip out of the shackles by enlarging them and walking out the door, which was ludicrously simple; However, there was a growing concern for the odd disturbance Eros felt inside of himself, one that took the form of a very peculiar enchantment, inscrutable to the relatively infinitesimal practice of Eros...
A figure started walking from the door and into the room, taking the form of none other than the Marquis de Magus himself. His mask concealed his expression, sharing none but the face of a furious devil of sorts. This mask was certainly different than the one he wore before, the one in Utopia. He concluded that the old mask simply was no more. The Marquis spoke, "Hello."
Eros switched to a bratty, sarcastic attitude. "You wouldn't mind loosening these, would you?"
The Marquis sighed. "You really are a jackass..."
"So now what? Gunna kill me?"
"It seems like it." That wasn't the answer Eros was expecting. "I was considering using you to bargain, but I decided that Cerci and the rest would already know-"
"That you'd just kill me?"
"Exactly. And, eh, unless I hear something soon..."
"You're going to kill me?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Let me guess, you're going to kill me in front of my friends so that they-"
"No, no. I'm not evil. You don't really understand me, do you?" Eros shook his head. "I expected as much. You are no more than a terrorist, are you? Pillaging magical items in the name of good? Why would you even do that?"
"Because it will help reach world peace-"
"You don't get it, do you?" The Marquis mumbled to himself before continuing. "I'm not going to lie, I use some similar means to achieve my goals, but you're going about it the wrong way. What could you possibly hope for?"
Eros reluctantly replied, "I'm just hoping the world can coexist and all. The world can do just fine with a little help. It's not like you're doing anything good."
The Marquis sighed once more. "The Equilibrium makes things more even, right? But when two sides are opposing each other infinitely-"
"I know that they eventually die out. I get that. But the world doesn't have to fight."
"That is where you are wrong." He left a small pause before continuing, "The world cannot coexist peacefully. Two sides oppose each other because they think they have... Superior beliefs. The only way to solve that is by asserting one over the other, where the more successful belief wins out. That's just a matter of fact."
"I disagree."
"But it's true! Whether it Pokemon, human or even plant, they are always fighting each other to live. They rarely help one another if there isn't some kind of benefit-"
"There are millions of examples where that's not true!"
"Oh? Like what? A man helping a crippled Pokemon so that it may walk again? The man gains a pet, an innate form of pleasure for humans that would make it so that otherwise the man would simply turn its head. The Pokemon gets to live, a means to repeat this infinite process of meaningless and detrimental self-pleasing in the world. Good is just a narcissistic sense of superiority that all the 'good' creatures can't live without. The true form of good is when you help something else without needing that pleasure and when you act without regard to yourself, something I have never seen exhibited in any kind of life.
"And I suppose that isn't enough to show you that everything is based off of feeding your own pleasure. I mean, you think you're truly good, right? Then why wouldn't you do something like, say, spend your entire life doing charity and helping all the rejected Pokemon in the world?"
The Marquis hit Eros across the head, to which Eros spat at his feet. "You're insane."
"Insane for expecting everybody to be good and charitable, giving their lives and souls to others? I suppose, then, you would even dare to sin for the betterment of mankind? Such would be the epitome of good deeds, no?"
"Sinning is evil... I think... I'm not sure there's an actual parallel to the real world Bible in the Pokemon world. But hey, it's still a pretty profitable franchise without all the real world-"
"And you can't be as good as would qualify good?"
Eros replied unsurely, "I'm not perfect?"
The Marquis sighed once more. "This is pointless. Don't you see that life is intrinsically evil?"
"But you can't just kill everything!"
"I can. Why shouldn't I? Everything is evil, after all."
Eros narrowed his eyes. "You lost me at the part with the Butterfrees."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, sorry, I was just reading something on my x-receiver. Do you have one? Add me on Fa-" The Marquis slapped the device from Eros' hands and smashed it on the floor. "Hey, that cost a somewhat negligible amount!"
The Marquis was already headed for the door. "Why do I try and reason with you...? You're nothing more than a fool... I'll send you down a Playboy before you die."
Eros looked for a second and asked, "Why are you like this?"
"Like this?" The Marquis turned his head halfway.
"Why are you so angry at the world?"
"... Maybe you do see. Nobody ever had the mind to ask me that, you know. That's hardly accountable, though." The Marquis started a slow pace towards Eros. "The world has wronged me, Eros, and that's because it's evil. It must be."
"... How did it wrong you?"
"... ... ... Some are born of half-magical blood. It makes a body far incapable of handling the power it contains, and... What do you care?" The Marquis was inexplicably furious.
"I was just curious-"
"You and your kind are the exact kind of creature that creates that kind of demon! The demons that feed from the flesh of the innocent, who are nothing but evil... Did you know that as an infant, I killed and ate my parents whole? I'm nothing more than a monster."
Eros gave a terrified, confused stare. "I- wow... B-but... W-why..."
"Because I'm nothing more than evil. And you're nothing more than a seed for evil. And all the life in the world holds this evil. I even went as far as to burn your house down! Do you know why? Because I don't! But I CAN grasp that there's something evil within me, and much deeper within you." The Marquis paused to stare down upon the wide eyes of Eros. "It's so odd... If fate were as it should, you'd be almost in my place... You literally held the seed of evil... Now, though, it's different."
Eros gave a cold stare. Did he really...? The Marquis added one more thing. "I devoured the souls of many, and you will be but one more." He disappeared in an instant, leaving Eros to his own thoughts.
Of course, he didn't care about how the guy wanted to kill the world or how everything was evil, or how his house burnt down or what the man was implying otherwise. He needed to escape or he would die. Everything else... Everything else was just madness. To think, a man with such power seeks only to destroy everything in existence for his own twisted ideals... Was this really the aim of the Marquis? No, he didn't care. All he cared was that the Marquis could be back to kill him at any moment; Hence, he needed to escape, and quickly.
Eros attempted to focus on his internal magical energies, but due to some unseen force, his energy simply welled up inside of him. All that could explain this was the dark, all-consuming energy inside of him, one that could only serve to be blocking his mystical potential. This time, his magic wouldn't be of any use; These shackles held tight, a bind that no human could ever escape... But maybe...
Eros opened his senses to the magical forces surrounding him, the ones that can only be attuned to by Druids. It seems that the "seal" placed on Eros was one that completely restricted his inwards magic, making him helpless in the means of his alteration spells; However, maybe due to the inability to comprehend and manipulate the Druidic magic, the seal didn't have any means to block his transformations. On the other hand, he was much more vulnerable as a Pokemon, considering he'd be shrinking down and without the use of innate abilities...
Of course, that was the only alternative to dying, so Eros decided to go with that plan. All he had to do was decide what to transform into. Surely, a bird would be a quick means of escape if he knew how to fly... A ghost type might work, but with the seal, he might not be able to phase nor float. A dark type would be good for sneaking about, but he didn't want to count on the entire place being dark. He needed something that could sneak without any special means or magical abilities...
He considered becoming a ground type. Surely, their digging comes without mystical means, right? And, as he knew it, they could dig right through stone, even if it were somewhat fortified. But which ground type? A Diglette could certainly work, but he had no idea what the bottom half looked like, and, as he knew it, being familiar with the desired creature helps a lot. Surely, a Bunnelby would also work, but he'd never seen one before. He also considered becoming a Sandshrew but understood through experience that it was mediocre at digging anything but sand. What about a Geodude- hahahahahahhahaha, fuck you. Maybe he could turn into a Trapinch?
Eros focused his external Druidic energy and applied it to himself like before, drawing the energy from the surrounding environment. For whatever reason, the seal didn't have the capabilities to stop the energy from flowing into his body and changing his form into a Trapinch. He realized himself to be free from the chains as they simply collapsed to the ground, being too large to restrain a Trapinch. All he had to do now was escape this hellhole of a place, wherever it was, and go back home. Huh. Fort Alpine is really his home now, isn't it...
Eros took a few steps forwards and realized something was wrong. Every step felt like lead, his body staggering with every step as he panted whistle moving only a few inches. He started to mumble to himself, "Gah, fudging chains gave me friggin mono or whatever with its tetanus rust and stuff..." Of course, he knew better. He was cursed. The Marquis really went the extra mile to make this hard, didn't he?
Well, it's not as if his plan could be any worse, right? He managed to make it a few more steps forwards before deciding to start burrowing downwards, where he'd be safe from anyone following him and far out of sight, even giving him a chance to rest and all; However, as he prepared to dig down, he came upon the problem of how he would exactly go about it; After all, he hadn't the slightest idea of how a Trapinch was supposed to borough with such stumpy legs and immobile head, for all he knew was that Sicily dug underground. Once. And bit his hand. And then leg. Ah, good times...
Rather than sit around and wonder all day, though, he did what felt most natural and started kicking at the ground with his hind legs, his physically hindered state countering the intuitive ability to dig as a ground type. Soon, a small crater appeared behind him, despite his inexperience digging holes (unless you count that time Hank accidentally killed somebody). He sat back a little bit and put his feet in the hole, continuing to kick the dirt about; Rather than kick more dirt about, though, his feet sunk into the ground and pulled his body with it, a response that he was far from anticipating. Soon, cold earth encased his body, sending a small chill up his spine as the chilled dirt became a blanket for his body. Just as about half of his head made it inside the ground, however, his legs suddenly ceased to become as effective at moving the earth as he was hoping them to be, and he was stuck halfway in.
He thought to himself, "What? This is as far as you'll go? Fuck you too, Sicily." He gradually unearthed himself and stepped out of the hole, assuming that anyone walking in on this would find it less than amusing. Thinking of another way to escape, he looked to the lone and illuminated door at the edge of the room, his only practical means of escape. The door was locked and closed, as one would expect of a prison cell, meaning that he had no rational means of opening it. Even if he were to transform back into a human and open it, miraculously unlocking the door and opening it, he'd just be a helpless human walking in the midst of mages; At least as a Trapinch, nobody would suspect him of being anything but a wandering Pokemon.
He took a good ten minutes walking to the door, the curse ever weakening his limbs and making him as frail as a hatchling. He positioned himself right near the wall on the side with hinges so that when the door eventually flew open, he was hidden behind it and wasn't immediately spotted, something that would otherwise have him immediately killed if for nothing more than suspicion. He made it there without anything eventful occurring whatsoever and simply had to wait, acting when the moment was right.
He had to wait about an hour with nothing more to fill the time than humming simple tunes that he overheard at the Pokemon center, the kind that you can't exactly get out of your head and that keeps on playing over and over. His waiting was much more than that annoying melody, though. Every second was filled with anticipation and fear that somebody would suddenly come out and kill him, seeing through his guise in an instance; However, as he was soon to find out, his wits did give him good means to escape.
It was indeed an hour later when he heard the bolts from the door creak and saw the thing slip open. Within the second, a black-robed figure came waltzing in, not holding any sort of staff or other magical device, and as soon as Eros saw this, he started to make a brisk walk to the end of the door so he could walk out into the hallway. He just about made it to the other side of the door and turned the corner when he heard a shout from the room that said, "Hey! We've got an escaped... Person thingy! Go get- go get the guards or something!"
Eros, starting to walk down one side of the hallway (that was described best as 'bland'), heard another shout from the direction he was headed, one that said, "You are the guard, dumbshit. Don't tell me you let somebody get away."
The voice in the room replied, "He didn't get away! He- he just... He's just in the corner, that's all. He's not gone or anything, I see him. Now."
"You've been on Wattpad, haven't you? You dork!"
"I don't even know what a Wattpad is! Do you have a Wattpad or something?"
"Just get over here. We'll switch if you're that tired."
"I got enough sleep! I'm fine!" The shouting ended from there and the man walked out of the room, hastily shutting the door and making down the other end of the hall, likely where any other captives would be. Eros continued staggering down the hall as fast as he could, appreciating the complexity and ferocity of the curse placed upon him. Surely, there has to be some way out from here... He paced down the hall, wondering why he decided to choose a body so ineffective at moving. Surely, if he got caught, he'd have some means to escape again, right? And why did he feel like he was on a boat...?