164 Men aren't safe either!

Showing how worked up he was, Master Crow, didn't lift the dark mist to the cellar to enter, but instead blasted a large portion of the ground before diving in.

And to his horror no matter how hard he looked Crow couldn't see or sense Nick at all! But someone was more appalled than Master Crow was at the moment. There was someone more disappointed, and frustrated than he was at this very cellar! And that was, the little piggy!

Oink! Oink! Oink! (Hey, come back! You forgot about me!)

This is what had happened, from Piggy's point of view.

She had been sleeping comfortably in this lonely and dark place when the loud sound of Master Crow crashing into his throne woke her up. And just when she was cursing the one who had woken her up as the person had no manners, she suddenly heard a lot of commotion outside as if a group of people were running around playing. But no matter how much she wanted to join them Piggy found out the cage she was in was locked tight and couldn't be opened even when using her 'All Mighty Pig Stomp'!

But these people soon proved that they had some conscience because even though she couldn't go up there to play with them. They still came down to play with her! Piggy then began dreaming about all the fun they were soon going to have. She thought about how great it would feel to have cage buddies. These people would choose the cages next to her and they would all have a great time sharing their favorite cage stories.

Yet, life had many twists and turns. Piggy who had previously been convinced that Nick had left her got the surprise of her life when he came into the cellar with no arms or legs!

'Wuuu, sorry for thinking that you were a no-good deserter Nick. I am sorry I cursed you to lose your arms and legs earlier too, I didn't know it would really happen! But, to think you would still come to rescue me without bothering about your retched appearance!' The little Piggy grew emotional and she began cursing herself for being so blind and selfish.

Of course, after seeing how the curses she had thrown at Nick had come true Piggy made sure the curses she threw at herself were all positive, like 'Damn it, I deserve to lose some fat for my betrayal!' Or, 'Oh, god, please punish me by making me more beautiful!'.

Anyway, after she had forgiven Nick for betraying her, and herself for cursing Nick. Piggy began rattling her cage in excitement. Trying to rush Nick to hurry up and free her. Multiple emotions could be seen on Piggy's face, gratitude, happiness, and the burning thirst for freedom!

But…Nick and the other humans with him seemed to have no sense of direction or hearing because they just ignored her and rushed to the other side of the cellar without even glancing at her! And then, just as she thought Nick would turn back around to look for her, that petty bastard actually disappeared! But he returned before piggy could complain so she felt relieved. And yet, as if to spite her all the other humans that came with Nick soon disappeared, and pretty soon, so did Nick.

And as tears fell down the hurt Piggy's face. She cursed Nick to lose his neck and his mating equipment next… Then, just as the little Piggy was wondering what to do next, a weird-looking man burst through the ceiling and came into the cellar. And no matter how Piggy tried, she just couldn't find anything good about him.

'Oi, what's with that hairstyle?! Are you rebelling against your parents or society?! Why are is a young man like you bald?! Don't you know anything about fashion?!' But Piggy realized that this man was powerful so she didn't say this out loud. She just thought this to herself. Not that it mattered anyway though, because Crow couldn't possibly understand this intelligent pig.

Inside the Palace space.

"Shit!" Nick cursed. He was monitoring the outside world to enjoy the look of anger and frustration on Crow's face when he noticed they had disappeared but to his dismay, he found the little Piggy in there as well! But it was too late now, Master Crow was there and he couldn't go out unless he wanted an earlier death.

"What kind of wondrous place is this?!" Claire marveled as she looked at the beautiful palace that seemed to have come out of a fantasy. Every inch of it exquisitely built and overbearing to behold. The Palace was situated on a tiny island of sorts, and although there wasn't too much free ground left after housing the palace, it still had enough room for a thousand people to stand in front of it, and there was even a pool built there.

"Sigh, just look around and don't bother me. And take me to the pool on your way." Nick wasn't in the mood to brag about his palace. He had left his Palace's cute little mascot behind, which made him feel terrible inside.

"Yes, Master." Claire eagerly agreed as she took Nick to the pool. She wanted to look around this palace more than anything right now so she wanted to ditch Nick and explore. Which was also why she didn't bother asking Nick why he wanted to go to the pool all of a sudden.

Splash!

Clare 'slowly' dunked Nick into the water, but got anxious once she saw him submerging. It was then that she remembered that this fellow had no arms or legs he could use to swim. So, Claire hurriedly pulled Nick back out.

"Don't worry about it. This is a healing pool and it won't affect my breathing. You can just let me go. And make sure to keep your distance from the locked rooms! Don't go in there if you don't want to offend me." Nick's warning at the end would have been more intimidating if he wasn't floating on top of a pool with no limbs attached making him look comical.

"Yes, Master." Claire agreed, but she didn't place Nick back into the pool immediately. Instead, she frowned for a little and hesitated for a little bit more before taking her Pill satchel out of her storage ring and opening it. And from inside her pill satchel, she took out a tiny wooden box. And by the amount of care she was showing, the box or its contents shouldn't be anything ordinary.

Claire then opened the box and inside were five blood-red pills with tiny flame patterns on them. Claire then gritted her teeth before taking one of those pills out and placing the box back into her satchel with care. And then she had the pill float away from her impeccable palm and into Nick's mouth.

Pwe!

Nick spat the pill out…

Drip!

The pill landed in the pool and dispersed…

"Ahhh!" Claire screamed in agony. That was one of the five life-saving pills her father had given her. Each one cost a fortune and it could even bring a person on the brink of death back to life! And after agonizingly giving Nick one of them he actually spat it away?!

"What the hell are you screaming about?! It should be me screaming here?! Ahh, rape! Rape! This woman is trying to drug me and rape meeeeee!" Nick began yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Huh?! No, Master! Stop it! What if people hear you?!" Clare forgot about her pained loss when she heard Nick's over the top acting. She then tried to explain it to him so that he wouldn't misunderstand. "Master, I didn't try to drug you…"

"Liar! A liar and a rapist, what a double profession! I saw you trying to feed me that pill with my own two eyes!" Nick snapped. He had no arms or legs to resist so if he was raped right now, he wouldn't be able to resist. And even though he wouldn't mind it if this woman just wanted something normal, what if this woman had a weird fetish, or she had a stick instead of a hole like that empress from a while ago?!

Claire saw Loyd looking at her with worry as well and she grew anxious. That wasn't what she was going to do at all! Having no other choice Claire then used her powers to seal Nick's mouth and tried to explain it to him for the second time.

"As I was saying earlier Master you are mistaken! I was giving you one of my treasured pills to help you regenerate your arms sooner, that's all! And if you hadn't spat it out your arms and legs would have started sprouting by now! And also, why would a woman rape a man?!" After saying all this Claire looked at Nick who was still looking at her with uncertainty and unsealed his mouth.

Claire just couldn't understand how a poweful Alchemist like Nick couldn't tell the value of such a pill! Even if he didn't know its applications he should at least be able to tell if its good or bad right?!

"First of all, can you promise me that you weren't trying to drug me?" Nick asked, looking a little vulnerable.

"I promise, I swear it on my father's life!" Claire swore.

"And, do you like your father?" Nick asked because Claire's swear on her father's life would be meaningless if she didn't like her father to begin with.

"I love my father." Claire nodded.

"Okay then, secondly, who gives someone a pill without telling them its use first?! You should have first told me what it can do!" Nick lectured Claire a little before going to his next point.

"Also, what do you mean women don't rape men?! What kind of nonsense is that?! I don't know about other people, but I have nearly been raped by women on several occasions! So, don't go around assuming men are safe!" Nick felt like an adult teaching a dumb child right now.

"Finally, I saw that you had four more of that pill earlier, so why are you overreacting like that?! Just give me another one!" Nick then finished off with a smile.

Splash!

Claire shoved Nick into the pool in anger. How could someone be so thick-skinned?! And then Claire stormed off into the palace, but not even a few seconds later she came back with another blood-red pill with fire patterns. She just couldn't leave Nick limbless like that.

Bloop! Bloop! Bloop!

But when Claire returned, she was startled to find the pool was bubbling with a figure in the middle being covered by a blood-red cocoon with flame patterns all over it. The figure was Nick, and the cocoon that covered him resembled the pill he had spat into the pool just a moment ago!