Requested by: my dumbass
Lore: it's just what I thought would've been the breaking point I guess, not sure if Dark Choco's break was a cutscene sequence in the game or not but this is just my take. IDFC IF THIS IS INACCURATE I JUST NEEDED SOMETHING TO WRITE TO FIT MY QUOTA !!!
~
After yet another torture session, it was like something had snapped. As Dark Choco sat on the cold floor, unmoving with anger in his eyes, Pomegranate could tell she had done something to him. Was it a good something? She couldn't tell.
Dark Choco slowly got onto his feet, holding his head with one hand due to the painful headache he was experiencing after reliving his nightmare one too many times. His other hand was balled into a fist, trying to keep himself from getting so angry that he'd make an irreversible mistake.
At first, he managed to stay loyal and get the thoughts out of his mind, but the only thing that had been added to his injury was salt. Pounds of it.
"Wow. You got to the point where you could stand after these pointless mirages!" Pomegranate giggled, her smile hid under her signature robe-like clothing. "I'm toughening you up, I see. It's about time, the only thing you've ever amounted to was hurting your father, and you don't seem too proud of it."
Dark Choco stared at the ground, his mind racing with all of the thoughts of the pain he could inflict onto her and all of the other goons. But he stayed still, only moving just to speak. "I quit."
Pomegranate's smile quickly faded. "Excuse me, the fuck? You can't just quit darkness!"
He lifted his head up to stare into her eyes, his troubled looks not phasing her. "I said, I quit."
Pomegranate created a ruse to give the effect that Dark Choco was stuck in the room, the door no longer being present. She smiled evilly, thinking that her trickery could still even work on someone as used to and weathered by it.
With a single punch, she was knocked to the ground and any magic the room had was beginning to fade. Before she could even process what had just happened, Dark Choco ran out of the room and down the hallway.
"DARK ENCHANTRESS! ESCAPEE!" She yelled before getting up to chase him. It was hopeless, though, as she was wearing heels and quickly fell one more. Like clockwork, Dark Enchantress formed by her side and caught sight of the said escapee, making her own dash towards him.
Dark Choco caught wind of this as well, only fueling him with more adrenaline to walk faster. His rhythmic breathing patterns started to falter, but he was so close to a window. He could taste the freedom.
Using his elbow as a break, he smashed through the stained-glass portrait of the enchantress herself and jumped through, running into the forest behind their liar. Dark Enchantress came to a halt at the edge of the window. She wouldn't find him now, the forest stretched for miles.
Ignoring this fact, she let out a knowing smile and a small laugh. "Don't worry my child, he won't make it out. That forest is crawling with monsters to hell's end, and the only thing he's got is a puny dagger." She reassured Pomegranate, who had finally caught up.
"Whatever you say, Ma'am. I trust you wholeheartedly!" She exclaimed, her eyes filled with admiration for her master.
Meanwhile, with Dark Choco, he had fallen to the ground panting excessively. His only goal was to get out of the forest and find his father, make amends either. But that thought was also scary, and he was immediately contradicting himself. Surely, Dark Cacao didn't want to see his face again, his army either. But, he had to try?
The thoughts overwhelmed him, and instead he just decided to trudge through the forest until he could see clear land or a normal settlement he could take from. Unfortunately, nobody would accept him so he was forced to steal. Just showing up wouldn't do him justice.
After what seemed like hours of walking, he decided to give up for the night. He didn't have a cot, food, water, or anything. For his hydration, he drank from a river he found and for his hunger, he picked berries that his father had taught him weren't poisonous. He was never taught the markers of a poisonous berry, just the ones that were safe.
He grabbed a falling down tree and some leaves and flowers to try and make what he'd sleep on. By the end, it just looked like a sad version of a boy scouts building exercise. It wasn't comfortable either; it felt like he was just sleeping on the ground. But it was still something, something that he had to deal with until he could traverse far enough.
His night was filled with tossing and turning, not being able to sleep. He was too used to the minimal comfort that Dark Enchantress provided, and the lingering memory of his designated bedroom in the kingdom from which he came. All of the sudden, a horrifying discovery crossed his mind.
"Wait... Affogato, the trainee, was supposed to be stationed there to take over... oh fuck.." He whispered to himself, his eye widened in shock.
Surely, if he got there and the plan wasn't executed, Affogato would quickly spill lies about this being one of the cruel plans of the followers. And if the plan was executed, he'd be turned away as he tried to explain he was done with Darkness. They would be the Darkness.
Him and both of his "families" had never been the religious type. They just went on with their lives, working till night, sleeping, and working again. But, using the limited knowledge he had, Dark Choco decided to start a prayer. He didn't want this trip to be for nothing, he wanted his biological family safe and to take him under their wing once again.
