Charlie: A Pokemon Cinderella Story. Chapter 18 by troy168 < Submission

Keywords male 1126658, female 1016211, pokemon 177628, human 101679, fantasy 24839, lucario 11397, gardevoir 3323, mightyena 1148, greninja 956, persian 585, mismagius 396, gallade 282, fairy tale 216, gothitelle 145

A Possessed Artist

At the Lestorm's house. Charlie is busy setting up some tea and snacks in the kitchen for the brothers. He is also making some for the artist that is currently working on a portrait for Alex and Max. Earlier, Albert had requested Charlie to go to town and find a good artist for his sons. And despite Charlie having a hard time looking for a good artist, he did hear about a Smeargle who painted for royalty and nobleman. And upon finding the Smeargle and seeing his work, he believes that he can do a good job with Alex and Max. Once the tea set is ready, he brings the tray out of the kitchen and heads to the hall. As he enters the hall, he spots the painting that's hanging on the wall. While it's a simple artwork of a garden with a fountain next to it, Charlie remembers the fond memories that he has with his family when his late father bought the painting. "Charlie. Charlie!" Albert's voice says as it catches Charlie's attention as he looks at the living room doors and says: "Coming."

In the living room, both Alex and Max are looking at the Smeargle's draft work as Alex says: "What kind of art is this?! There's no way that it looks like us!" The work that the Smeargle made is nothing more than a simple pencil drawing of Alex and Max sitting on a couch as the Smeargle hasn't begun his art yet. And as Max says: "I think you made my stomach a little too big." The Smeargle proceeds to say: "Hold on, you two. I just made an outline, I still need to colour the work and put in the details." At that point, Charlie enters the room as he says: "Did you call for me, father?" Albert, who was watching the Smeargle working on the draft, looks at Charlie and says: "Where did you find this incompetent artist. He is clearly awful at his job." Charlie then explains: "Well… I found him in the town square after I heard from some of the noblemen on how good his art is. I even took a look at his art and they are really good." But Albert simply said: "I should've known not to trust your judgement. It's made pretty clear that these noblemen shoved this failure of an artist to try and sabotage us." Before Charlie could say something, Albert looks at the Smeargle and says: "And as for you, you're fired." This shocks the Smeargle as he says: "What?!" Albert then says: "If you really are a good artist, then you would have captured the true charm of my sons. We'll just find another painter." Alex then says: "And once we got a proper painting of us, we'll send it over to the princess. She'll be so amazed that she'll have to marry me." This causes Albert to laugh as he says: "That's a great idea, Alex. Let's hope this simple delay won't give them enough time for the princess to marry the wrong man."

As the Smeargle grabs his belongings and starts to leave the house, Charlie goes up to him and says: "Hold on!" This causes the Smeargle to look at Charlie and says: "Didn't you hear. He said that I'm fired." This causes Charlie to say: "I'm sorry. I know your art is good. It's just that they are being unfair with how they want things." But the Smeargle says: "There's no need to apologize. I knew the feeling that the second I looked at them, they would be difficult. Anyway… I have to get going now." As he heads for the door, his eyes notice the garden painting on the wall as he says: "Wait… Is that… Misery's painting?" This causes Charlie to ask: "Misery?" And the Smeargle proceeds to say: "Yes. She's famous among the artist world. I saw a similar painting like that when I was a child and it inspires me to become an artist." This causes Charlie to say: "I heard from my late father that this is one of his favourite paintings and that he really took good care of it." The Smeargle then looks at Charlie and says: "Well it is hard and rare to find any of her earlier works these days." Hearing how good this Misery is has given Charlie an idea as he says: "Say, don't you know where I can find Misery?" This causes the Smeargle to think, before proceeding to say: "I heard she lives on her own at the old castle. It's surrounded by a gloomy fog and a devastating waterfall. I think you can find it if you go north from the Espérer's castle." "Go north from Espérer's castle…" Charlie says as he figures that if he can convince Misery to help paint Alex and Max's portrait, it would help his father out.

Meanwhile, at the castle. Lionhart is looking at his older portrait of him on his Rapidash with Madam Nicole and Duchess Emily looking at the portrait with him. While Lionhart is glad to hear how her daughter is taking more responsibilities in her life from Nicole, Lionhart still wants to show his daughter how important it is to be a future queen as he says: "Having a portrait of her in the castle will help give her a clear idea on how she will be the future queen of the castle." Though this causes Nicole to say: "Yes. But the artist that made your portrait has long since retired, my lord." This causes Lionhart to say: "Yes. And it is difficult to find an artist who has the skills to make a gorgeous portrait like this." But then Emily proceeds to say: "Do not worry, my lord. I just happen to know an excellent artist. Unfortunately, she is rather eccentric about her surroundings and won't leave her place for any means." And although Nicole says: "If she intends on not leaving her home, then how will she paint the princess's portrait?" Emily replied: "Well if you want, we can escort the princess to her place and have her paint there if you want." Before Nicole could respond, Lionhart sat at his throne as he proceeded to say: "Very well. I'll leave her care to the two of you." Even though Nicole is suspicious of Emily's plan, the two face the king and bow their heads as they both said: "It will be our duty, my lord." "Did you call for me, father?" Princess Maria says as she enters the throne room. As both Nicole and Emily look at the princess, Lionhart proceeds to say: "Ah, excellent timing daughter. You are going to have your portrait painted by an artist. Nicole and Emily will help escort you to the artist's place." This causes Maria to say: "Nicole and Emily are going to escort me?" Emily then proceeds to say: "Do not worry, my princess. We will keep you safe. But it is a long trip so we should get going soon."

At the halls of the castle. Maria already knew that Emily is up to something, but she has no idea what her plan is. So Maria and Nicole meet up with Skarlet and explain the situation to her. After hearing that, Skarlet proceeds to say: "Yeah… It's quite suspicious that you're heading to a place that's far away from here. I should follow you, just in case." Nicole nodded as she said: "Yeah, I agree." Maria then proceeds to say: "Emily… She must have already set the trap for us and is ready to use it on me. We need to figure out what that trap is and defuse it." With the preparations set, Maria, Nicole and Emily enter the carriage as they make their way to where the artist Emily mentioned. As they are heading there, Maria is staring out at the window as she makes quick glances at Emily as she sees how confident Emily is as Maria wonders what Emily is planning. What Emily doesn't know is that from the distance behind the carriage, Skarlet is on her Rapidash as she follows the carriage, while hoping that Maria is safe from the dangers ahead.

The place that Emily mentions is an old castle that is surrounded in a midst of fog as the path to the old castle is on a narrow rocky path with a series of whirlpools down below, should anyone fall. From the distance of the castle, Skarlet is watching the castle after the others arrive at the old castle as she intends to keep an eye on anything suspicious and signals Maria of the danger. Inside the castle, Maria is waiting until Emily returns as Nicole examines the room they're in. As Nicole slides her finger on some objects and examines it, Maria says: "So what did you discover?" Nicole then says: "Not much, except that nobody has been in this room for years." Maria starts to get suspicious as she wonders what sort of trap Emily has in this castle. While in the other room, Emily kneels in front of the chair that's in front of a fireplace as Emily proceeds to say: "It's an honour to meet someone who's famous as you, Misery. Your skills are well known from within the artist's world and I know that it would be an honour for you to use your skills with our princess." This causes the Mismagius that is known as Misery to say: "If you are aware of my skills, then I take it you are aware of my "other" skills." This causes Emily to say: "Of course." She then places two bags full of gold on the table as Misery looks at it, before proceeding to say: "Do you really think I would use my skills for some pitiful sum?" This causes Emily to smirk as she places down four more bags full of gold on the table as Misery looks at it again as Emily says: "I take it this is enough for someone with your "Skills", right?" But then, they heard the bell ringing as Emily looks confused while Misery gets up as she says: "That was the bell. Go to the princess and let her know that I'll get the room ready for her."

After Charlie remembers the directions the Smeargle said, he stands at the front doors of the castle after he pulls the rope, while Zeus and Jen follow Charlie to make sure that he's safe. After a while, Charlie proceeds to say: "I wonder if this Misery is home…" As Zeus believes that someone is home since he's smelling someone inside, Charlie pushes at the door to see if it's open. This causes the door to open, which surprises Charlie as the three enter the castle. As they look around, Charlie notices the wall of portraits of different people and Pokemon as Charlie says: "Wow… Those portraits are beautiful. And they're all done by Misery." While Charlie is amazed, Zeus and Jen are more disturbed as Zeus says that those portraits are rather creepy, while Jen says that it could be that the two of them don't know much about art, though does agree that it is creepy. "Who goes there." An older woman sounding voice says as it catches the attention of the three. The three then look around, until Charlie notices the Mismagius on the second floor. This causes Charlie to say: "Um… Sorry for barging in, but I was wondering if you knew where I can find Misery?" This causes the Mismagius to say: "Who's to say. Misery is quite busy with an important task at hand. So what is it that is so important that you must drag her out of her important task?" As Zeus pulls on Charlie's leg to try and get him to leave, the Mismagius looks at Charlie and says: "From the looks of you, you don't even have anything valuable. So I'll save both of our time and ask you to leave this place now." As the Mismagius proceeds to leave, Charlie quickly says: "Please wait! The reason why I came here is to ask Misery if she can paint a portrait!" This causes the Mismagius to stop as Charlie then hears the Mismagius saying: "Do you have one hundred gold coins?" While this confuses Charlie, the Mismagius then said: "If you don't have it, then go away." This causes Charlie to say: "While I don't have it, I can sure that my father would-" "Do you really think Misery is going to go all the way to your home when they sent you to do their dirty work?" While Charlie was stunned, the Mismagius says: "If they want a portrait done, then he should come himself and not send you."

"That's not my only reason!" Charlie says, just as the Mismagius was about to move. Charlie then says: "I have a painting that was done by Misery that my late father has. He always says that painting is one of his favourites and it was also my favourite. It's the reason why I came here, so I can ask Misery to paint my brothers portrait. But… I don't have any gold coins on me. I'm sorry to have wasted your time." As Charlie turns around, the Mismagius notices Charlie's face in the light and is captivated by his charm. Not wanting to let him go, the Mismagius proceeds to head over to Charlie as she says: "Wait a minute! Let me take a good look at you!" While Charlie stops as he looks confused, the Mismagius proceeds to look at Charlie's face as she confirms how charming he is as she says: "Yes… I have never seen a more charming man than you. Tell me, what is your name?" And as Charlie says: "I-It's Charlie, miss." This causes the Mismagius to smile as she says: "Charlie… Tell me. Would you like me to paint you a portrait?" Charlie was surprised as he said: "Really? But… I don't have one hundred gold coins…" This causes the Mismagius to giggle as she says: "Do not worry. When my pride as an artist is awakened, I will always paint something that interests me. So do not worry about the payment, Charlie. Misery will take care of you." And it was at this point, Charlie realized that the Mismagius is Misery herself.

In a separate room. Charlie is sitting on a couch with Zeus and Jen nearby as Charlie is getting excited that he is getting his portrait done, even though he did intend on asking Misery to paint a portrait for his brothers. Charlie then notices that Misery is painting on a wooden doll as Charlie asks: "Um, excuse me? What are you painting?" Misery then says: "I'm doing a simple portrait on you with this puppet so that I can get a clear focus on the canvas." Once Misery is done with her painting, she shows Charlie the puppet of him as Charlie says: "Wow. It's amazing. You can make puppets as well?" And Misery explains: "Yes. It was one of my many skills. But that was in the past." She then hangs Charlie's puppet on the wall with the other puppets, which Jen and Zeus find very creepy, as Misery heads to the canvas as she then says: "But now, I must ask that you remain quiet." Charlie nods as he says: "Of course." As Charlie remains quiet, Misery takes out her brush and starts painting on the canvas. As Misery continues to paint, Charlie starts to feel tired as he lowers his head. Misery spots him and says: "Stay where you are!" This causes Charlie to quickly fix his position as he says: "Right. Sorry about that." As Misery continues to paint, Zeus is worried about Charlie as he notices his skin getting paler and paler. Jen on the other hand is noticing Misery as she sees a dark aura around her as Jen wonders what Misery is planning to do with Charlie. As Misery is almost finished with Charlie's portrait, Charlie's body is starting to get weaker and weaker as he struggles to sit up as Charlie says: "What's… Happening… I can't… Stay up…" As Charlie looks at Misery for a sign that she would notice, Misery continues to finish the portrait as Charlie ends up collapsing on his legs.

Seeing Charlie fainted, both Zeus and Jen go up to Charlie and try to wake him up by shaking his body. With no response, Zeus and Jen realize that Misery is up to no good as they need to get Charlie out of there now. And as Zeus pulls on Charlie's hand to bring his body on top of Jen's body, Misery notices this as she says: "Hold it! I'm not done with him yet! Put him down, now!" Not listening to her words, both Zeus and Jen proceed to leave the room with Charlie on top of Jen as Misery then says: "Get back here! I won't let you leave until I'm finished with my work!" Both Jen and Zeus then proceed to head down the stairs and through the doors as Misery starts to chase the two as she says: "Come back here with that boy!" But then she notices Emily entering the halls as she looks at Misery and says: "How long do you need to set the room up?! If you intend on wasting any more of our time, then I'll take my money back and we will be on our way!" Seeing that there's no way of getting Charlie back, she then looks at Emily as Misery says: "I was just about to come get you, Duchess Emily. The room is ready now."

In the fields. Jen is getting tired from carrying Charlie from the castle as she drops to the ground. Zeus then gets Charlie off of Jen as Jen looks at Charlie and wonders what happened to him. Zeus is also confused but he then says that they must get Charlie better and figure out what Misery did that causes Charlie to faint in the first place. Jen agrees as the two look around for anyone to help Charlie since Jen is too tired to carry him. Eventually, Zeus and Jen spot Cinder from the distance as she's painting the scenery as Zeus starts barking to get her attention. And when Cinder hears the bark and turns towards the two, she discovers the fainted Charlie and hurries over to him as she places her hand on his forehead. Feeling a fever, Cinder grabs her cloth and wets it by a small stream nearby and places it on his forehead. Eventually, Charlie opens his eyes as Cinder says: "Are you okay, Charlie?" Charlie then slowly sits up as he says: "Cinder…  What… Where am I…?" But Charlie then starts to get a headache as he then says: "Ugh…  The last I remember… I was getting my portrait done by Misery…" This causes Cinder to say: "Misery?! Did you say Misery?!" While Charlie is confused, he nodded as Cinder then says to herself: "Misery… She must be at it again…" She then looks at Charlie and says: "Listen to me, Charlie. We must take your portrait out of the castle."

Meanwhile, back at the old castle. Maria is sitting on the chair as she stares at Misery, who is painting something on a wooden puppet as Emily and Nicole look at Misery. And as Nicole says: "What are you doing?" Misery then looks at Nicole and says: "Just painting this puppet I made from the clients that come to my home." And as Misery finishes the painting on the puppet and hangs it on the wall, Nicole proceeds to say: "Okay then…" Misery then heads to her new canvas as she starts to paint the portrait of the princess as Emily and Nicole keeps an eye on Maria. While Misery continues to paint, Maria looks at Emily as Maria sees a smile on her face. What is it that you're planning, Emily? Why would you drag me to this old place and what does it have to do with this old creep? Misery then notices Maria staring at them as she looks at the two and says: "Madam Nicole. Duchess Emily. I'm afraid that you are distracting the model, so I must ask that you leave." Emily then proceeds to say: "As you wish." As Emily leaves the room, Maria looks at Nicole and nodded at her to signal her to follow Emily. Nicole nodded back as she looked at Misery and said: "Very well." Nicole then proceeds to leave the room as well, leaving only Maria and Misery. As Misery continues with her painting, Maria starts to get weaker as she lowers her head, while her skin turns pale. Misery notices this as she says: "Stay where you are!" This causes Maria to slowly sit back up. What's happening to me… It feels like my strength is getting weaker… But how…

Back at the field. Charlie, Zeus and Jen are following Cinder back to the old castle as Charlie is wondering what CInder is doing. Cinder then explains: "You see, Charlie. Misery was using her skill to suck your soul from your body and put it into her puppets with the help of her paintings. It's the reason why you were feeling weak. And once she has the soul, she uses it to control people and obtain wealth for her. If it wasn't for Zeus and Jen, Misery would have taken your soul too." Hearing that has shocked Charlie as he says: "But I don't understand… My late father has always praised the art for how wonderful and full of life it is." And Cinder then says: "I know. At one point, Misery is a genius and well-talented artist. But then everything changed ever since the 'incident' happened." "The incident?" Charlie asked as Cinder replied: "Yes." Eventually, the gang managed to reach the old castle. Though Zeus and Jen are starting to get creeped out again as Zeus and Jen pull on Charlie's leg while Cinder says to herself: "It sure is dreadful…" Cinder then looks at Charlie and says: "You should wait here, while I'll take care of Misery." Charlie then says: "Hold on. The way that you describe Misery, you made her look like she's dangerous." But Cinder then says: "Yes. But do not worry. I can handle her." She then proceeds to head into the castle as Charlie watches as he hopes that she will be okay.

Inside the old castle. Nicole is waiting in the halls when she sees Emily walking up to her with two cups of tea in her hand. As Emily says: "Found anything suspicious yet?" Emily proceeds to hand Nicole a cup of tea. Even though Nicole knows that Emily is planning something, she grabs the cup from Emily as she says: "Nothing yet." As the two take a sip out of their tea, they hear a door opening, which catches the two's attention. They then hear the voice saying: "Hello? Misery? Are you here?" Curious, the two heads down the hall as they spot a Delphox downstairs as she appears to be looking for someone. Emily then says: "If you are looking for Misery, she's busy with an important task. But if you happen to be lost, then we will gladly give you direction on where you need to go." What the two don't know is that the Delphox is Cinder as she looks at the two and while she recognizes the two, she doesn't know what Emily is planning and if Nicole is part of Emily's scheme or not. Cinder then proceeds to say: "Oh no. I've actually come here to see my old good friend. We were young students and I thought I would give her a surprise." This causes Emily to say: "I see. Then I'll tell her that you're around." This causes Nicole to look at Emily and says: "I wasn't aware that the two were students…" And Emily replied: "Neither did I. But at least she isn't dangerous."

Cinder then proceeds to say: "My… It's been a while since I came here. It feels like I'm seeing her work for the first time." As Cinder climbs the stairs, the two notice her as Cinder then says: "It makes me want to go see her working again." As Cinder goes past the two, Emily proceeds to say: "Hey! Wait a minute!" As Emily goes after Cinder, Nicole was about to follow them when her body starts to get tired. Confused, Nicole drops to her knees as she says: "What… Why is…" And just as Nicole realizes what's going on, she ends up falling onto the ground. And as Cinder goes to the door and opens it, she discovers a pale Maria on the chair as Misery is painting. Just as Cinder says: "Maria…" She is suddenly caught in a large bag as she then says: "Hey! What are you doing?! Let me go!" During the struggle, she accidentally drops her wand on the floors of the hall as she gets dragged away. As it turns out, it was Emily that had tied Cinder in a bag as she dragged her to the dungeon below. Once she tied Cinder in a chair, she drags the unconscious Nicole in the dungeon after she drugged her tea with a sleeping drug. She then closes the dungeon doors and locks it as she then says: "There we go. Now I'll know that there won't be any more interference for now on." As Emily heads back up, Cinder angrily says: "What's the meaning of this?!  Let me go! You hear me! Let me go!" Realizing the situation she's in, she proceeds to say: "Oh no… Charlie isn't the only one in danger, Princess Maria is also in danger. If only I hadn't dropped my wand…. Zeus, Jen. If you can hear me, please help!"

Back outside. Charlie, Zeus and Jen are waiting for Cinder to come back safely from the castle when Jen and Zeus both hear Cinder's cry for help. It was at this point that they realized that Cinder is in danger. This causes the two to get up, which catches Charlie's attention as he says: "What is it, you two?" Zeus and Jen then proceed to run towards the castle, which causes Charlie to say: "Wait! Where are you going?!" But Charlie continues to see Zeus and Jen heading towards the castle as Charlie realizes that Cinder must be in trouble as he goes after the two. Back inside. Maria continues to get weaker as Misery continues to paint as Emily watches the progress happening. What's… Happening… To… Me… Why… As Misery puts in the final touches, Maria's skin continues to get paler and paler as her eyes turn pale. As this was going on, Emily watches with glee as her plan is going accordingly to plan. And her plan is to trap Maria's soul in the puppet that Misery just made, then use the puppet to control her will as she will use it to get her son to marry her "willingly". And even if Dan doesn't want to marry the princess, she can still use the princess to satisfy her needs.

After Charlie manages to catch up to Zeus and Jen, the three proceed to enter the castle. As they make their way up the stairs and to the room where they last entered, Zeus and Jen notices the wand on the ground and Zeus realizes that Cinder must have dropped it. As Zeus picks up the wand, both Zeus and Jen hurry as Zeus follows Cinder's last scent as Charlie notices the two as he says: "Hey. Where are you going?" But as Charlie sees the two heading downstairs, Charlie says: "Man… What are these two doing?" Charlie then proceeds to get on his knees and peek through the keyhole as he realizes the horror behind the door. And that is seeing Princess Maria in a very bad state as she is very pale. And as Charlie gasps, he notices Misery's painting of the princess is almost complete. Remembering the words from Cinder, Charlie starts to get nervous. Oh no… The princess portrait is almost complete. And if that happens… What can I do to stop this… Unless…

"Who goes there!" Emily says as she opens the door, which causes Charlie to get shocked as he stands up. As Charlie figures out a plan, Emily looks at Charlie as she says: "Why do you look so familiar?" Putting his plan into action, Charlie proceeds to go pass Emily as he says: "Oh, Miss Misery." Misery then looks over and as she was surprised to see Charlie as she says: "Charlie?" Charlie then says: "I'm terribly sorry about what happened earlier. You see, I was in a hurry to find you that I've forgotten to eat my meal beforehand. But now that I've got something to eat, I was wondering if you would finish my portrait." This causes Misery to smile as she says: "Of course. I would gladly finish your portrait. But would you mind waiting outside? I'm just about to finish this portrait." But Charlie then proceeds to say: "But I insist. I wanted to see your beautiful artwork done right in front of my eyes by a lovely lady." As Misery starts to blush, Emily is having none of it as she grabs Charlie as she says: "I have heard enough! You need to get out of this room now! You will wait until she is done with her client!" As she drags Charlie out of the room, Charlie yells out: "Hey! Let me go!" And this causes Misery to angrily say: "Let him go now, Emily! This is my home and I will decide who gets their portrait done!" But Emily then says: "Have you forgotten who it was that paid you to do this? You are paid to do the princess portrait. And once you are done with that, I'll let you finish with his portrait." But Misery is getting furious as she ends up tossing the four bags of gold down as it lands in front of Emily, which causes Emily to say: "What do you think you're doing?!" Misery then says: "Listen here, Emily. No one tells me what to do, no matter how much wealth they have. And if you intend to continue with your orders, then I'll throw the princess's portrait out. Got it!" As Emily gets angry but remains silent, Misery grabs the princess's portrait as she says: "I thought so." She then grabs Charlie's portrait as she then says: "Now, Charlie. Grab a chair so I can finish your portrait." Charlie then gets out of Emily's grasp as he says: "Thank you, miss." As Charlie grabs a seat, Emily simply says under her breath: "Stubborn fool…"

Downstairs. As Cinder continues to shout out: "Hello! Anyone out there?! Let me out!" While that's going on, Zeus and Jen reach the dungeon door as Zeus lets out a bark. This catches Cinder's attention as she says: "Zeus? Jen? Is that you?" After Zeus lets out another bark, Cinder then proceeds to move her chair to the door as she says: "Listen to me, because this is very important. You need to get your hands on both Charlie and Princess Maria's portrait and wash them away. That's the only way you can release their souls before they get sucked in into those puppets. And while you're at it, see if you can find my wand." Zeus then lets out a bark as he puts the wand down on the ground. Zeus then says that he'll take care of the portrait while Jen should give the wand to Cinder. Jen agrees as she grabs the wand as Zeus hurries back upstairs. Back in the room. As Misery places Charlie's portrait back on, Charlie looks at the princess in her state, before looking back at Misery. I did my part to make sure that the princess is safe.  Now I hope that you can get us out of this situation. Zeus. Jen. Cinder. I'll leave the rest to you. As Misery resumes painting Charlie's portrait, Charlie can already feel like his body is getting weaker as his skin turns pale.

And at that moment, Zeus burst into the room, which catches both Misery and Emily's attention as Emily says: "Now what…" As Zeus goes up to Charlie and sees if he's okay, Charlie doesn't respond as Misery continues with her painting. Realizing the situation, Zeus looks over and sees Maria's portrait as Emily says: "Get out of here you stupid mutt." But then Zeus ran over and grabbed Maria's portrait, just as Emily says: "Hey! Drop that portrait now!" As Zeus heads out of the room and out of the castle, Emily proceeds to chase after Zeus as she says: "Get back here with that portrait, you stupid mutt!" As Zeus rushes over to the fields, he notices the stream from before and goes into it as he submerges Maria's portrait into the water. Just as Zeus was getting it wet, Emily manages to catch up to Zeus as she says: "Stop, you flee bag!" And as Zeus lets go of the portrait, Emily goes into the stream as she hurries after the portrait. But at that point, the paint starts to wash away. And as Emily grabs the portrait, it is already too late as the wet canvas lets out a bursting light, which blinds Emily for a bit. And then the canvas lets out a green mist as Emily gets scared while the mist flies towards the skies.

Back at the room. As Misery is finishing the final touches on Charlie's portrait, she starts to laugh as she says: "Just a few more touches and his soul will be mine to control. His soul will be placed in this lovely portrait and I would have a charming man on my side…" As she continues to laugh, what she doesn't see is Princess Maria's skin returning to normal as she slowly sits up and says: "Ugh… What… Happened…" But as Maria takes a look around, she quickly spots Charlie as she is shocked to see Charlie is very pale and weak, causing her to say: "Charlie?!" This catches Misery's attention as Maria goes up to Charlie and says: "Charlie! Can you hear me?! Please wake up! It's me, Maria!" But then Misery starts to laugh as Maria looks at her as Misery says: "I didn't think that you would be back so soon. But do not worry, you'll get to see him again. And once this painting is done, you'll get to see how beautiful this portrait and his soul is." This causes Maria to say: "What are you talking about?!" And Misery then says: "Just wait until I finish this portrait and you will find out." And it was at this moment, Maria discovers the trap as she pulls out her rapier and points it at Misery as she says: "You used dark magic to trap people's souls into paintings! And then you use your puppets to control their will!" This causes Misery to grab Charlie's portrait as she says: "Yes… When you live long enough to see how cruel people are, you learn to use their cruelty to your advantage. And yet with Charlie… He's different. It's been so long since I've seen someone as charming as him. So I decided to use my skills to make sure that he stays with me for all time." This gets Maria angry as she says: "I won't let you use your dark magic to control people's will! Give me that portrait or I'll cut you down!" This causes Misery to say: "Normally, this will be the part where I say "Do you really think you can cut me down?", but you know what. I'll let you have this. Feel free to cut me down so I can be with my paintings. But do tell me this, how do you plan on getting Charlie out?"

While that's going on. Jen is crawling through the vent with a wand in her mouth since she couldn't get the lock open. Eventually, Jen managed to get through to the other side of the vent and headed over to Cinder and placed the wand down, causing Cinder to say: "Thank you, Jen. Now let me take care of the rest." Cinder then uses her spell to bring the wand back to her hand as she then says: "With the area bound enough, I will make sure that there's a way out." Cinder then casts the spell as the dungeon door proceeds to unlock itself. Cinder then says: "Now with a way out, now is the time-" But then Cinder hears some moans nearby as she realizes that Nicole is in the room as well, causing Cinder to hide her wand and says: "Jen, see if you can wake Nicole up." Jen wasn't sure what Cinder was talking about until she spotted the Gothitelle on the floor. Realizing what Cinder is talking about, Jen goes over to Nicole as she proceeds to lick her face. As Nicole slowly opens her eyes, she sees that she is in a dungeon as she says: "What happened…" Once Jen sees that Nicole is waking up, she proceeds to hide in the vent as Nicole sees Cinder tied up. This causes Nicole to go up to her and says: "Are you okay?" Even though Cinder knew who it was, she ended up saying: "Huh? Who's there?" Nicole then proceeds to say: "Don't worry, I'll help you out." Nicole then proceeds to untie the rope from Cinder and pull the bag out. This causes Cinder to look at Nicole and says: "Thank you, miss. But what about the other one?" This causes Nicole to say: "No problem, but… What other-" She then realized that Maria could be in danger as she says: "Stay here, I need to go help her." She then runs out of the dungeon as Cinder stands up from the chair.

Back at the room. Maria remains hesitant as Misery notices her hesitant as she says: "Oh? Why so quiet? I take it you don't know how? After all, you did just wake up." As Maria continues to remain quiet as she knows Misery is telling the truth, Misery proceeds to say: "I guess it's a shame. It looks like you won't beat me today." Misery then starts to laugh as she rushes towards the window and jumps through it. As Misery lands on the ground and starts to run away, Maria heads towards the broken window as she says: "Get back here!" She then jumps down through the broken window as she gives chase to Misery. As Misery goes around the two corners of the castle, she soon spots Skarlet blocking her path as Skarlet says: "Hold it right there! I won't let you escape!" And as Skarlet pulls out her rapier, Nicole bursts through the doors and joins with Skarlet as she says: "It's over Misery! There's no way out!" As Maria catches up to Misery, Misery has her paintbrush ready as she says: "Do you really think you can strike me down faster than when I put the final touch on this portrait?" As there's a standoff with Maria's group and Misery, Cinder is by the doors as she says: "There's still a chance for Charlie and a chance for Maria." Cinder then proceeds to cast her spell at the skies, which change the weather from a foggy sun to some dark clouds. The clouds then begin to rain as thunder strikes can be heard. As it rained, Misery focused on the group, waiting to see if they were going to move first, that she didn't notice the rain hitting the portrait. This causes the paint to drip down and ruin the portrait, which causes the blinding light to appear as Misery sees the ruined portrait. This causes Misery to say: "No! Not my portrait!" As the green mist appears from the portrait, Misery starts to get discouraged as the mist goes into the sky.

With the portrait ruined, Misery drops her portrait and paintbrush as she gets sad as she says: "My… work... This… This was supposed to be my first portrait that I wanted to work on in a long time…" As Misery drops to the ground in defeat, Maria sheaths her rapier and joins with Skarlet and Nicole as Skarlet says: "Is it over?". Maria then says: "I believe so… At least we won't have to deal with her sorcery anymore." And at that point, Cinder exits the castle as she says: "Are you okay, miss?" The three then look at Cinder as Nicole says: "Yes. We're fine." And then Maria says: "Hold on, there was another boy that was getting the portrait done." And as Nicole says: "There is?" Maria then says: "Yes, someone should check and see if he's okay." But then Skarlet says: "We can't. We don't know if there are other dangers out there. We need to hurry back to the castle." And as Maria says: "But-" Nicole then looks back at Cinder and says: "Excuse me. But would you mind making sure that the boy is safe?" Even though Cinder knew Charlie was going to be fine, Cinder then says: "Well… Okay, then. I'll make sure that he's okay." Nicole then nodded as she looked at Maria and said: "Come on, we need to return to the castle." Maria was silent, but then she looked at Cinder and said: "Okay. I'll leave him in your hands." The three then hurry to the carriage as they head back to the castle. And as Cinder watches them go, she looks over at Misery as she has been crying for some time. Meanwhile, Charlie's body is getting back to normal as he looks around and sees both Jen and Zeus as Charlie says: "Zeus… Jen… Thank you... " Charlie then looks around and sees that both Princess Maria and Misery are nowhere to be seen as he then says: "I wonder if the Princess is okay…"

As the three exits the castle, Charlie sees Cinder as he says: "Cinder! Are you okay?! And is Princess Maria okay?!" As Charlie goes up to Cinder, Cinder says: "Yes. I'm fine and you shouldn't worry. I've seen the princess returning to her home." Charlie then sighs as he says: "That's good…" But then he notices Misery crying as he asks: "What happened to her?" Cinder then explains: "A long time ago. Misery was a gifted artist and puppeteer who painted a lot of portraits of royals and nobles. She was well respected and many want to pose for her. But just as things were going well, a terrible incident occurred where a lot of lives were taken from us, including most of the ones that were painted by Misery. So whenever Misery goes into public, there's an underlining fear among them that they could lose their life to Misery. Eventually, they started to spread rumours that Misery is capable of trapping people's souls into the paintings and puppets that she created. The rumour was then spread to the kingdom and they chased her out. With nowhere left to go, she ends up staying at this place. And as time goes on, Misery has let the rumour overtake her mind as she believes she knows how to trap people's souls into painting." As the rain stops pouring and lets out the sun, Charlie gets sad as he says: "So in the end. She was a puppet by a misunderstanding rumour."

He felt pretty sorry for Misery as and ill feelings towards her are gone as Charlie goes over and picks up the wet canvas as he says: "Misery… I can understand why you would do something like this. But I know that you are more than capable of doing stuff like this if you have hope." As Misery stops crying and looks at Charlie with a confused look in her face as Charlie then says: "So I was wondering if you would paint another portrait of me?" And as Misery says: "You want me… But… Aren't you worried that I might take your soul again?" But Charlie shakes his head as he says: "Don't worry about it. Ever since I was a little boy, I always wanted to have my portrait done by Misery. And I'm not going to miss this chance." Misery was surprised as she gets up from the ground and goes over to Charlie as he passes the canvas to Misery. As she looks at it, Cinder says: "Do not worry about having his soul trap, Misery. The rain washed away the fog that clouds your mind and I know that you will make art with love and hope." Misery then starts to cry again as she says: "Thank you… I… I really mean it… You really brought my life back…" She then proceeds to go on Charlie's chest as she continues to cry and while Charlie was surprised at first, he ends up hugging Misery as he comforts her.

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Inkbunny

Charlie: A Pokemon Cinderella Story. Chapter 18

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