Ephraim left early the next morning, quietly departing with an Iron lance (Siegmund and Sieglinde had been displayed over the throne- no need to slay monsters anymore, not with the Demon King destroyed) and simple armor. Most people would recognize his face, so he decided to lay low and take some back routes to get to this location, located in a quiet village. The people there tended to their own things, hardly noticing Ephraim passing through.
Ephraim had left a note and the location of the meeting in the case he didn’t return in a timely fashion. It was only the responsible thing to do after all- and it would help if something bad happened to him. He didn’t need to disappear without a trace after all. This was just a meeting- a preliminary to the potential dream.
The letter had told Ephraim to go to the building on the far end of the town. A large, if not a little ramshackle, house awaited him. A small crop of flowers and other arranged plants decorated a plot of land next to it. Some sort of farmer? Strange. Well, the letter told him just to go on in. Ephraim did as he recalled- entered the house.
It was dark. The windows were covered with black curtains, or perhaps boarded up. Ephraim took a few steps inside. “...Hello?”
He got clobbered in the back of his head, and the world went black…
He awoke some time later, slowly coming to. Groggily, he looked around. He was still in the same house, though a few candles were lit now, dimly lighting the room. And Ephraim spotted someone in a bent over something corner, shrouded in a cloak. “What the…?”
The cloaked figure looked up immediately, revealing what they were over- an alchemy table. “Ah, King of Renais, you awaken! You must forgive me for your...restraints. Something told me you wouldn’t be...cooperative otherwise.” He grasped something from the table, and then moved towards Ephraim like an excited child.
“What the hell? You let me go you das- Mmf!” Ephraim was silenced as a bottle was jammed in his mouth. It was very unexpected, usually they would threaten him with a weapon, but to straight up shove something in one’s mouth, that was bizarre. Though one thing was clear to Ephraim now- this was a trap, and this was not good. This man had nothing good planned for the young king. The liquid in the bottle rushed into Ephraim’s gullet, grazing his taste buds. It tasted overly sweet yet rotten at the same time, and if it were not being forced into his mouth he would’ve clearly spat it out.
“I must apologize for interrupting you, but I just wanted to get it out of the way. Now is a good a time as any to introduce myself- I am Perry Lot Convenient, though I prefer to be called P. Lot Convenient.” He pulled the bottle from Ephraim’s mouth and retreated to the Alchemy table yet again. “Did you enjoy the drink? It’s a nasty serum I made myself. It’s a bit of an acquired taste as well…”
Ephraim spat out what remained of the mad man’s concoction. It really did taste horrible. Though he wasn’t done talking. “You dastard, what do you plan to do to me?” The cloaked man did not answer, hard at work. “Answer me- Ugh!” His stomach cramped and churned as the potion was digested. It was painful for a moment, before feeling numb and tingly.
“Well, since your so insistent on learning, I’ll make this simple: Your death. Though I was never one for an uncreative death...I’m going to tell you this much. It’ll take three more of those doses to kill you, and it won’t be instant. That being said, you won’t suffer...until riiiiight at the end.” Perry cackled as he finished talking, and Ephraim was hoping someone had found his note and was coming to help. “And thankfully for us both, it’ll be a bit till the next dose is done. So get comfortable while you still can.”
His belly gurgled under his armor. It felt...tighter? That wasn't possible. The armor fit perfectly that morning, not tight at all. So if it was tight, did that mean...he was getting bigger? His stomach bubbled and gurgled...He pulled on the restraints, though for a mad man he was pretty good at tying tight knots. As he struggled, watching the man continue his brewing, Ephraim felt tingling spread towards...
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