Disclaimer: If I owned pokemon, Misty would be dead. If I owned the Count of Monte Cristo, it would never have been made into a movie.

Chapter 2: The mad priest

“Who are you?”

“You may call me L’Abbé Faria.” Said the apparition.

“I’m sorry, but you startled me. Are you the one that is considered… ill?”

“I understand perfectly.” Said the abbé with perfect composure. “So, my young friend, tell me. Is this your cell?” He ignored the question.

“Um… yes.”

“Oh, alas, alas!” The abbé lamented. “Curses! A simple error in my calculations has cost me ten years’ work!”

“Excuse me, sir.” Lance said politely. “But perhaps the tunnel is not the best place to discuss these things.” Indeed, it was quite cramped and airless…

“Yes, yes, I forget my manners. Follow me.” And with that, Lance had no choice but to follow the abbé through possibly ten feet of wall space before the reached a cell, quite similar to his own, if only slightly larger.

“This tunnel, how did you construct it?”

The abbé smiled a little. “I will show you. But first, perhaps I should drop this false pretense. You will not betray my secret, I presume.”

As Lance stared, the old man placed his fingers together. “Henge no Jutsu unbind!”
And where there had formerly been a man, there now stood a rather stoop-shouldered, grizzled, middle-aged woman, who was smiling with a cynical look.

“How?!” Lance finally managed to get out.

“Are you interested in my story?”

“Oh yes.” Lance said, quite interested.

“All right then. I will start at the beginning. I was born in Rome, as the daughter to a rather poor family, which had once been aristocracy. My nurse was somewhat of a wise woman, who taught me a little magic, a few languages, and other interesting tidbits. However, on my twentieth birthday, I discovered that my family had engaged me to quite a wealthy man, who was, unluckily, twelve years older than I. So I ran away, disguised myself as a man, and became entangled in the court affairs of the emperor. After the restoration, I was imprisoned. I have been here for fifteen years.”

Lance shuddered slightly.

“As for the tunnel, well, let me show you.” The woman moved to a wall section and pressed a spring of some sort, a small crevice was revealed, contained within were a thick scroll, a small chisel, more of a child’s toy than anything else, a rope ladder, and two vials of red liquid.

“This scroll contains all of the bits and pieces I can remember of the knowledge I once possessed.” She said. “As you can see, the chisel was used to carve out the passageway which you praised so. The ladder I once desired to use as a means of escape, but it is useless now. And the vials are medicine.”

“But how did you make parchment?” Lance said, as he picked up the scroll.

“Oh that, that was quite simple. I unraveled my sheets four times at the last prison I was at.” She said. “Amazing how much extra cloth there is on a sheet.”

“And the ink?”

“You know how they give us wine on Sundays. Well, mixing it with the thick salt encrusted on the bars on the windows makes passable ink. Nothing high-quality of course, but beggars can’t be choosers…”

“Amazing.” Lance said, a bit in awe.

He would have said more, but then the tap, tap of the gaoler was heard. He quickly shimmied up the passage and replaced the hidden stone.

The gaoler poured the soup into the saucepan.

“What? You aren’t going to bring me another plate?” Lance asked, feigning surprise.

“No, you break everything. First you break your jug, then you force me to break your plate. If all the prisoners followed your example we would be broke in no time.” The gaoler said simply. “I’ll just give you your soup and bread in that saucepan from now on. It’s not worth it wasting money.”

Lance sent a quick prayer up to the heavens as the man left. As always, he threw the fish to the pokemon gathered outside the window. For some reason, seafood – it reminded him too much of his failed wedding banquet, so he tried to avoid it.

A few minutes later, the stone block slid aside and the abbé appeared.

“Would you like to join me for dinner? I can’t possibly eat it all.”

Lance accepted and followed his new friend down.

Apparently, madness did have its advantages, as the abbé was served white bread instead of the brown that the others had, and also a decent serving of meat.

“Here, eat this. You need to get something substantial in you.” The abbé said.

“Excuse me, but…”
“I know what you’re going to ask. Yes, I am the one they consider to be mad, and you may call me Charlotte.” Said the woman.

“Do you think there is still a means of escape?”

“I believe so. But in order to pull it off, you will have to strengthen both your mind and body.”

“I’ll do anything to get out of here.” Lance said truthfully.

Charlotte fixed her piercing eyes on him. “That’s a strong vow, but perhaps, I just never had the spirit to escape. Ah, to be young again…”

Four years flew by quickly. Charlotte knew six languages, Spanish, French, German, English, Italian, and Modern Greek. She also possessed a smattering of Arabic, but not quite enough to get by with.

Lance himself had been raised in France, so he spoke French perfectly, while he had picked up Italian and English in his travels. With this, he was able to learn the other languages. At this time, Charlotte also instructed him in the mathematics and sciences she was capable of, and the magic arts.

Lance was quite shocked that he had untapped potential in the area of magic. When he asked her, Charlotte just smiled and said that the talent had always been there, just untouched.

Chemistry, Botany, and others flew by, faster and faster. Astronomy. A lengthy course on pokemon physiology, a bit of music thrown in, when one of the gaolers had brought a few flutes that he didn’t’ know what to do with. Fencing and knife fighting, though where she had picked that up Lance did not want to know…

However, when Lance had learned all he could in the way of theory, he began to grown impatient.

“What is our plan for escape?”

Charlotte raised her eyebrows slightly. “I see you have not forgotten your resolution.”

“How could I? And all this time?”

“So you consider the last few years to be wasted?”

“No, but…”

“Don’t worry, I have been thinking. How strong are you now.”

In response, Lance picked up the chisel, bent it in half, and then bent it back.

“Good. Now, let me tell you. There is a way, quite risky, but it can be done. First, we need to make another passage, upwards from your cell….”

End Chapter 2…

Completed 6/9/03

NOW! NOTE!
Lance thrown in jail because they thought he was trying to help the emperor re-rise to power, kk?