Hope

 3 days ago,

Axel didn't know how much time had passed. His eyes were closed and he didn't have a clock to tell the time. He was in the same position that he was left in.

He didn't have a drop of water after that conversation with L. He didn't even have anything to eat. So, he was hungry and thirsty at the same time. It was not that his body could not hold it. He was very powerful. He was an elemental rank human and due to the manipulation of Aura, his body could stay in this condition for some days to come.

The thing that was making him uncomfortable was his mental state. Since he had no concept of time, he didn't even know how much time had passed. As per him, he felt that more than a week had passed and in his head, he had not eaten or drunk any fluid for more than a week. So, he was getting scared now.

He had called L for some food and water multiple times, but there had not been any response. He didn't know when L would bring any food or water for him. He didn't even know for how long he would be here or if he would ever get out of here alive.

He also didn't know where his Pokemons were right now. He knew that Shedinja must have escaped somehow and it must be trying its best to help him. He also had an appointment with the soldiers to go to Aeus Island. So, they must have started to search for him. However, it was not confirmed if Shedinja had fled to rescue him. He also didn't know where he was right now. So, the soldiers might not be successful in their investigation. He could tell that he was in a barren land far from any civilization. It was not his aura sense that was telling him cause the room was special and blocked all of his senses but an instinct.

The uncertainty of his future was freaking him out. If he wanted to get out of there, he had to ask another question, which he really didn't want to, but now he had to do it. In his mind, a week had already passed, so he was now desperate.

"L, I am hungry. Please give me some food and water.", said Axel in a hoarse and tired voice.

But just like he had expected, there was no response. L's way of treating him was affecting him and it was breaking him.

"Okay, I want to ask another question.", said Axel.

After a few seconds, Axel could hear a creaking sound. He knew that the door was being opened and L was coming in.

"So, you have finally decided on the question that you want to ask. Let me remind you first. You cannot ask any question relating to the identification of me and the one who got you kidnapped. Except for that, I will answer anything to the best of my ability but you know the rules. Each question will carry a punishment.", said L with a smile.

He had to know more about his situation. Another reason he asked for the question was just to hear another voice. He felt that he had not heard any voice for a week and that was making him crazy.

"Why did they kidnap me?"

"For revenge. You must have done something that affected them or something that they didn't like. So, they decided to punish you by kidnapping you.

You have made a lot of people angry in your time and you are just suffering the consequences. That is all I know. I don't know more than that.", said L.

"Sigh, So, what is going to be my punishment? Can I choose it myself.", asked Axel.

"Hmm, that is an interesting proposal. I could make you choose the punishment. Hmm... let me think... Actually no, that would not make it fun for me. I have already chosen your punishment."

Axel could hear a clicking sound. But the sound was a bit different. He could tell that it was a sort of a weapon.

"I will take the nails out of your feet. Don't worry, it would not be so painful. Now, since I am merciful, I will only take it out of one foot. So, you get to decide which feet it would be. Isn't that interesting?", asked L in a excited voice.

Axel didn't know how painful it would be. But the answer had opened a lot of doors for him and he could narrow it down to a lot of less people.

"Do whatever you like. I will not comment on it.", said Axel.

"Oh, you are no fun. You know, just like you, I am also alone here. So, I also need my entertainment."

If Axel was in full health and if he was not bound by the chair, he would have given L the most painful death possible. Yet, he could only imagine that right now.

"Since you are not choosing. I will choose it for you. Now let me toss a coin for it.", said L and tossed a coin.

"Oh, it is heads. Heads mean right. Say goodbye to your nails on the right foot."

L took hold of Axel's right foot and he could now hear the clicking sound again.

"Umm... which one should I start from.", said L.

The wait was the one that was killing him.

"Let's start with this.", said L.

"CRUNCH!!"

Suddenly he felt an immeasurable amount of pain from his pink finger. He clearly felt that the nail from his finger had been pulled out with force.

"AHHHHHHHH!!!"

Axel shouted with all of his power and started to do everything to get out of that chair. But he just could not. He didn't know what was the material that was holding him like that.

It was not the actual wound that made him feel so much pain. It was actually all the talking, the anticipation, and the way L talked that increased the amount of pain.

"Oh come on, we still have 4 more toes to go. How can it be fun if you cry like a little baby during the intro?", asked L.

His voice said that he was very disappointed with Axel but Axel didn't care.

L took his time for the second toe. It was till the time Axel felt that the pain had decreased a bit.

"AHHHHH FUCK YOUUUU LLLLL!!!", shouted Axel.

"You know, just by saying 'fuck you' to me, you will not get out of here.", said L with a smile. He could not see the smile but he could feel it from his voice.

###

Axel didn't know how much time L took to enjoy the punishment but for him, it felt like hours and days. Yet in real-time, it was not even an hour long.

L then went on to feed Axel some food and also helped him drink some water. He then removed the binding that bound him in a special bracelet and helped him in going to the toilet.

After that Axel was in the same position. L said his goodbye and then closed the door.

It took Axel an hour to calm himself.

'I am an elemental rank human. I must use my aura to lessen the pain. I must concur it.', said Axel in his mind again and again.

After he calmed himself down, he started to think. He could now tell with certainty that L was not just a friendly guy. L was a maniac. A psychopath and a crazy person. He didn't want to depend on such a person for such a long time.

He had to do something to get out of the situation somehow. But how would he do that?

First, he started to think of the person that got him kidnapped. During his time, there were many trainers that hated him. There was also that gym leader from the Voilet city that must have hated him a lot.

There were also rivals like Bruno, Cynthia, Ryker, Hymer, and Steven. There were also seven deadly sins that could do such a thing.

There were a lot of people that he had angered. There was also the league, especially Gerad, who hated him to the bone. There was also the family of dead soldiers that was the part of the tide. A man of his position could not reach that position if he had not made any enemies.

So, he could not narrow it down to one person. But that was not the concern right now. Right now, he needed a way to get out of here but after doing everything he could, he came to know that he could literally do nothing to get out of here.

So he could just wait for the opportunity to get out. L would make one small mistake in the future cause L was also human and human makes mistakes. At that time he would take advantage of it.

L had said that he was alone and lonely here. But Axel didn't believe it. If they were carrying out a kidnapping like this, there must be another person here aside from L.

But Axel could make a calculated guess that the people out there were not too much. He just needed to wait for his time and make them think that the kidnapping was easy and that he would strike when nobody expected it.

###

Axel didn't know how much time had passed but he wanted a human interaction. He felt as if he was the only one that was in this world and he was alone in this darkness.

As he was thinking to ask another question, he suddenly felt a light come out. A blue colored light and there he saw the system notification.

Ding!

Marcus has leveled up Endure to level 55. The move would now also recover its stamina for 20 minutes and also heal all the fatigue.

Axel had been so foolish to even realize that even though he could not see anything, he could still see the system notification. There was finally something that he could see and he was ecstatic but he did everything in his power to control his facial expression and his emotions. He didn't want L to think something had happened.

'So, Marcus is still out there.', thought Axel.

The notification meant that Shedinja was not captured and it was trying its best to help Axel.

Since the modification of the move was related to increasing the stamina and reducing the fatigue, Axel could tell that Marcus was traveling a long distance.

But it could have taken rest to remove the fatigue. Why would it do so much that the move was even modified?

'Does that mean that I am in the middle of sea or ocean?', thought Axel.

He tried to think of another reason but that was the only reasonable explanation that he could come up with.

He could think it further but the bottom line was that Shedinja was doing everything it could to help him. He knew the nature of Shedinja. It would not rest until he was okay.

For the first time after being kidnapped, he got his first good news and he felt relieved. He had hope now that he could be saved right now. He didn't know how much time it would take or if he could be saved but there was a chance now and that was enough for him right now.