Me-Hello and welcome back to On The Other Side!
Mika-What are we doing this time?
Me-Investigation~!
May-...Huh?
Drew-I agree. What?
Me-You'll see... ;)
May and Drew-Ugh...!
Me-And as for what paan is, it's a leaf from India mixed with some kind of nut and alcohol. Weird, ne?
Ashton-Lemonheads R 4 Losers does not own Pokemon!
May-And read on!
May's POV
I woke up to find myself sleeping in my room in the shed with a bowl of oatmeal, strawberry milk, and a note next to me.
I groaned while yawning as I lazily reached over for the note and began to read it.
I left early cuz Mika needed me. She insisted on letting me make breakfast for you and so, I did. Wake up already cuz Mika wants to see you. You stupid February...
~Drew
I pouted at the last part as I reached over and picked up the bowl of oatmeal and the spoon and I began to eat.
"Why does Drew have to be so mean?!" I whined to myself as I put down my spoon and drank some of my strawberry.
I got up from bed and dug through the closet.
I then put on a black blouse with brown skinny jeans and white Converse shoes.
I sat back down on my bed and continued to eat.
As I shoved the last spoonful of oatmeal into my mouth, I began to wonder what Mika wanted to talk to me about.
"What does Mika need to talk about? Is it something important? Does it have to do something with Dawn? Or do I just have to babysit the injured relish boy and the drunk prince?" I simply shrugged. "Oh well...I'll see when I get there." I thought to myself.
I eyed Mika once she announced what we were doing today.
"Why are we investigating?" I asked, obviously confused.
"We're investigating to see if there are any secret passageways into the castle in order to get Dawn." Mika explained.
"Couldn't you use Ashton for this?! I have nothing to do with your plan of saving Fantasy at all!" I exclaimed.
Mika shook her head.
"I can't use him. He's of no use. You're the only person I know that can ace puzzle and strategy games. Remember the day when we discovered a secret cellar in Leaf's home? We can use you for that." Mika pointed out.
"Besides, Ashton's basically a drunk bozo who knows nothing but stuffing paan down his throat and downing gin." a voice pointed out.
I turned to see Drew with all of those bandages still around his body.
All he had on was a pair of red baggy jeans.
"When did you get here?" I asked.
"Before you did, Jackalary." he sneered, which made me pout.
"Jackalary isn't even a month!" I snapped.
"Before you guys decide to go at it again, can't you guys just get along?" Mika butted in before I could pounce.
"Why would I want to get along with Picklehead/December?!" we both said in unison.
Mika let out an exasperated sigh as she pulled out a map and began drawing on it with a feather that had the tip covered in ink.
"So, as you can see here, this is our hideout here. We will disguise ourselves once we reach at least 0.2 miles away from the village. We will go in and be like the other slaves there. That is where we'll find Dawn. She'll probably know the castle by heart, knowing how she is very curious. She'll lead us to the secret door and we'll overthrow the wizard from there on out." Mika began to explain.
"But, how will we overthrow the wizard? Do we even know how strong he is?" I asked.
"Only Ashton knows how strong the wizard is, but he's too drunk to speak up. And as for the overthrowing part, we need to stab him with a magical dagger that only one of the strongest magicians can create." Mika explained.
"And who's this magician that you speak of, Mika? Do we need to travel to get to him?" I questioned.
Mika laughed.
"He's right in this very base!" she exclaimed.
"Eh?! Then, who is the magician?" I asked.
I then notice Drew stick his hand behind him and he pulled out a dagger that glowed a light green.
I gasped.
"Wow...where'd he get that?" I asked.
"That's the dagger. Drew comes from a family of strong and powerful magicians. He's inherited his father's power of magic." Mika explained.
I watched him.
"Whoa..." I trailed off.
He scoffed while crossing his arms over his chest and looking away.
"Stop staring at me like that." he snapped.
"What?! I actually found something that's good about you!" I complained, which made he shoot daggers in my direction.
He then cleared his throat and he looked at Mika.
"I'm coming, too." he said suddenly.
Mika shook his head quickly.
"Drew, you shouldn't come! You're still injured!" Mika exclaimed.
"I don't care! Let me go!" he complained.
Mika groaned loudly as she forcefully pushed him down onto the chair right by where the door to where the noisy crowd was (I guess you could say that it was either for the bouncer or for the guard) and put her hands on her hips.
"Andrew Hayden! Do not let me slap you across the face! You are injured and if the wizard sees you, he'll think of this as a breach into our defense system!" Mika exclaimed.
"So, are we going now?" I asked.
Mika nodded as she rolled up the map and shoved it into her sack. She then walked up to the elevator and pressed the button.
"Come on, May. Let's go find the secret shortcut to the inside of the castle." Mika said just as the elevator doors opened and Mika stepped in.
I shot a look of sympathy in Drew's direction as I got into the elevator and we went up.
I let out a tired sigh as we continued to walk through what Mika called the Gnarly Woods.
"How much longer will it take?!" I complained.
Mika sighed.
"We're almost out." she told me.
"We've been in this place for, what? Almost fourty-five minutes now? When can we stop and rest for a bit?" I asked.
"Can't you wait?! We're almost there. Just wait a little longer." she reassured me as she ducked under to avoid getting hit by a gnarly branch.
I sighed as I tried my hardest to ignore any of the other branches.
"Man...Mika said that it would only talke about ten minutes in this forest. But, we've been in here for almost fourty-five minutes! One thing's for sure, her habit of lying is still there." I thought to myself.
Mika gasped.
"Aha! Found the exit!" she declared happily.
I sighed in relief.
"Thank god..." I trailed off as we finally emerged from the forest.
What I have been noticing ever since I arrived at the abandoned train station was that the whole scenery was black and white. It was like as if we had stepped back in time.
"Mika?" I asked.
She turned to look at me.
"Yeah, May?" she questioned.
"I've been noticing this ever since we came to the train station and I was wondering why the surroundings around us are black and white." I explained.
"Oh, that? Well, it was all because of the wizard. Him taking over the castle and Fantasy drained the color and light out of the kingdom. Now, it's as plain and boring as those old movies." she explained.
"Oh wow...wouldn't we have changed to black and white, as well?" I questioned.
Mika shook her head.
"No. People are spared." she said simply.
She then yanked ahold of my hand and she pulled me down with her behind a bush.
"Mika, what are we- - -" I was cut off by Mika silently.
"Shhhhh...look there." Mika instructed as she peeked her head up from the bush slightly.
I did the same and gasped.
A castle was sitting off into the distance and all you could see were splotches of red, orange, and yellow that resembled fire all over the place.
Then, I heard someone screaming and a loud monotone shout of. "Heave ho, heave ho."
"Jesus...what's going on over there?" I asked, fearing what Mika might tell me.
"Slaves. Some are getting beaten, some are trying to defend the other, and as for all of them, they're shouting a chant that will keep them working and motivated." she then pointed at the splotches. "And as for those splotches, those are fire torches." she explained.
I shivered at the mere thought as we hid our heads behind the bushes again and Mika plopped down.
She dug through her sack and pulled out two bottles of Starbuck's iced coffee and some sandwiches.
"Eat up." she said.
I eyed the iced coffee weirdly.
"Huh? I thought kingdoms didn't have this kind of stuff." I pointed out.
"I've had these from when I got sucked into this world." she opened her bottle and took a sip from it. "Surprisingly, it's still good." she noted.
I took a deep gulp before opening my mouth and putting the cold liquid in my mouth.
"It really is good still..." I trailed off.
Just as Mika could take another drink from her iced coffee, someone grabbed ahold of her arm and someone took a drink from her coffee.
My jaw dropped once I recognized who it was.
"Um...Mika?" I asked.
"Huh?" she looked up and saw- - -
"Ashton?!"
Meanwhile, in the castle of Fantasy, Dawn was scrubbing the walls of the castle with all of the effort she could muster.
She sighed deeply.
"Oh, when will I get out?! Ash must be worrying sick about me...! Oh, Ash...It'll take awhile until you see me again..." she whispered to herself.
A girl with reddish-orange hair and cerulean blue eyes appeared in the hallway, looked at her and shot a small wave in her direction.
Dawn smiled.
"Hey." she greeted.
The girl walked up to her, stuck her hand in the suds-filled bucket, pulled out a rag, and began to help Dawn with cleaning the wall.
"You don't need to help me. I'm fine." she reassured the girl.
She put down the rag and began to use sign language.
Since Dawn knew sign language from ever since Leaf taught her in second grade, she could understand what the girl was trying to say.
"Okay." she told her.
The girl smiled as she picked up the rag and continued to help Dawn.
Dawn sighed as she looked over at the girl.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save you when you lost your voice, Misty." Dawn stated with sympathy in her voice.
Misty used sign language again, tears brimming at her eyes.
Dawn gasped as she dropped her rag and hugged her.
"Oh, Misty...! Don't cry! I'll get your voice back. I'm sure of that. I promise you that." she reassued Misty as she held her hands in her own.
Just then, they both heard the wizard call for Dawn.
"DAWN! COME HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"
Dawn and Misty both winced.
Misty looked at her and used her sign language once again.
"I hope not." she told Misty.
She used her sign language, telling Dawn that she will finish cleaning the wall for her.
Dawn smiled.
"Thanks, Misty. Well, wish me luck." she told her before heading off towards the throne room.
Misty nodded before picking up the rag and she continued to clean the wall.
Dawn ran through the hallway and into the throne room, where the wizard was.
"Yes, Sir?" she asked.
"Clean my crystal ball! I am sensing something coming from it." he demanded.
She nodded slowly.
"Hai..." she trailed off as she took the rag from the wizard's hand and she began to wipe it clean.
Once she was done, she stepped away from the ball and the wizard touched the ball.
That was when he saw Drew wobbling out of the train station while calling out to Ashton.
The wizard smirked.
"Found you."
Mika was literally seething as she dragged the two of us back into the abandoned train station.
"Ashton, are you a fool?!" she nearly screamed as the elevator began to go down.
Ashton shook his head.
"No." he stated.
"Well, in my dictionary, you are! Why would you drag your drunk self out here?! You know better than that! You're as drunk as hell, yet you decide to wander out. Drew had to try to find you and we cut our investigation short because of you!" Mika exclaimed just as we got out of the elevator.
I flinched.
"Oh, bloody hell...That should tell me to not mess with her." I thought to myself.
That was when I realized that a certain picklehead wasn't here.
"Eh...? Mika, where'd Drew go off to?" I asked.
"Got no clue. Probably in the shed." she said.
I nodded.
"Okay. I'll go find him. See ya for dinner, you two." I told her before getting back on the elevator and I headed back to the shed.
I opened the shed door and began to call out to Drew.
"Drew!" I called out as I closed the door behind me.
There was no answer.
I sighed as I began to walk down the hallway and into his room.
"Drew...?" I said uncertainly.
Just then, Drew came from out of nowhere and he buried his face in my chest.
My face was flushed a bright red at this moment.
"KYA~! Drew, what are you doing?!" I exclaimed loudly.
"I gots lonely waitin' fore yous." he groaned.
I then caught the scent of gin lingering around him.
"D-Drew...! What's up with all that gin?!" I asked.
"Don't fricking question me, Janufareeeeeeeeeeee..." he slurred on the last part.
My eyes were wide in surprise.
"Just what is going on here?! First off, he's slurring and second off, Janufaree isn't even a month. So, that means he's...!" Before I could finish my thought, he began to lean in.
I let out a quiet squeak just as his head landed on my shoulder.
I sighed.
"Well...at least he stopped rambling on..." I trailed off as I began to drag him towards his bed and put him in.
I pulled the sheets over his sleeping body.
Before I could step away from him and head out of his room, I heard him mumble something.
"...I missed you, May..." that was the only thing I heard him mumble out before he went off into a deep sleep.
My face flushed a dark red.
"Huh...? What's he talking about? Did...did he...?" I didn't want to finish that thought as I walked out of the room.
Me-Huzzah! I am alive!
Ash-Yay!
Drew-Oh, not again...
Me and Ash-Yes again!
Drew-Ugh...!
Dawn-What happens next? I'm definetely on the edge.
Me-If you wanna know what happens next, then you gotta- - -
Mika-R&R please! If you do, you get a virtual pie!
Ashton-Here's ze preview for next time~
~Preview
"Drew, you were muttering something yesterday..."
"What's wrong with Ashton?"
"Is that smoke...?"
"GET OUT! RIGHT NOW!"
"How did this happen...?"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."