Ralphs Trip to Reality
Chapter 7
Mental Note: Kintessae is Always Watching
"WHAT?!" everyone shouted in unison
I sighed: "I think it's true…"
"Then we have to get out of here fast. More humans will be after us if we stay here." Pie announced, then he went to wake up the rest of the crew as Ralph and I packed up any remaining supplies we could find in the charred campsite.
And in just a matter of minutes, the eight of us were on our way to who-knows-where.
"Hey Candlehead, where are we going?" Rancis asked
"Candleflame." She corrected "And were going to the summit of that mountain." She replied, pointing to the top of a gigantic mountain in the distance.
Rancis's eyes widened; "WHAT?! That's do far away!" he whined
"What's a Candlehead?" said Vanellope
Rancis glared at the ground and shoved his hands in his pockets; "No one that you'd know…" he muttered
I cocked my head slightly; "Why are we goin' there?"
"That's where the main headquarters of Kato's clan is located." Pie answered triumphantly "And we're gonna destroy it once and for all!"
I stopped dead in my tracks; "What?! I didn't know about this! You don't expect me to fight Kato, do you?!"
Pie beamed and nodded, his eyes bright with enthusiasm.
"And what about Rancis!? All of you know for a fact that he's not gonna do anything!"
The Pokémon shrugged; "You've got to take it from our perspective, we've finally got enough people to at least have a chance at defeating Kato's clan."
"Just do it, this might be the only way we can convince them to give Vanellope back." Ralph whispered to me "After all, she is what we came here for in this first place, right?"
"Yeah, but my real purpose is to kill you…" I thought. Kintessae's words hadn't crossed my mind lately—but I knew that I had to do something about that soon. But how? I can't kill Ralphie! (And yes, that's his new pet name, whether you like it or not.) He's like, my new best friend! Sure, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed— or the prettiest, but he's mine.
So I'm just going to have to say 'no' to Kintessae. And so what if she tells everyone that I'm a glitch! Glitches have earned more respect after the whole "Turbo" incident. And glitches aren't that bad, are they? I mean, it's more like a superpower than anything—
"Hey Daciana, are you okay?" asked Ralph, interrupting my thoughts "We're going to stay here for the night."
All of us plopped our things down on the flat gravely terrain. There wasn't a road, building, or anything man-made in sight. We propped up our tents and stuff at the base of the mountain.
"Hey Pie and Daciana, go scout ahead—see what's lying before us." Blackmoon ordered sternly. I groaned and huffed like a bratty two-year-old but I obeyed.
I stormed up the face of the mountain with Pie, until we found a trail that spiraled up it. We paced along the thin, dirt trail with the snow flurries blowing all around us like swarms of gnats. My stomach started to do this weird growling sound and I realized that I needed to eat. I think Pie was hungry too, because he was going slower and slower.
I eventually stopped to catch my breath, and then I lost sight of him—which was a bit scary. I sat down out of weariness on the frosty ground. Then I heard rustling in the pine trees behind me, and I assumed that it was the orange mouse Pokémon; "Hey, Pie, didn't you notice that you left me in the dust!" I huffed, turning around.
Much to my surprise the person I was talking to wasn't Pie, it was Kintessae.
"Long time, no see." She snickered
I narrowed my eyes; "What do you want? And how'd you get here?!"
Miss Fear herself smirked and shook her head; "That doesn't matter. Now, have you completed your mission? You know… the one that I gave you?"
I took a deep shaky breath; "No, no I haven't." I admitted. I felt as if there was a bottomless pit in my stomach.
I gulped as she glared at me; "What do you mean!? You've ruined everything! Even after everything I've done for you, you've betrayed me! I-I-I took you from you're original game t-to Gods and Goddesses! Sure, we made your brother choose a different path—b-but that was for the best of both of you!"
"Brother!?" I gasped "I have family!?'
"Y-you don't know!? I-I mean, or course you don't! Because-"Kintessae was interrupted by a flash of lightning, followed by a clap of thunder.
I snapped my head over to the side. I saw Pie dash down the slope of the mountain and tackle Kintessae. Another blinding light flashed, and when it cleared…Pie and Kintessae were gone.
I heard fading screams and shouts coming from over the edge of the mountain. I ran over there and looked over the cliff; "Pie…? K-Kintessae? P-P-Pie?! Are you down there?" I stuttered. No response came from the steep, foggy face of the slope.
My heart started to pound faster and faster and my breathing quickened; "I-Is he really…gone!?" I thought to myself
"Pie!? Are you there?" I shouted again
No one responded to my question. My palms started to sweat as I shook my head frantically; "N-no, he can't be gone! Did Kintessae fall down there too? What will I tell Blackmoon and Candleflame?!"
I bolted back down the mountain to where the rest of the crew were getting ready to sleep.
"Where's Pie?" Vanellope asked, as soon as she saw me.
"H-h-he tackled Kintessae o-off of the m-mountain!" I managed to sob
Candleflames eyes widened; "Who's Kintessae?!"
"Pie tackled someone off the mountain?! Why? You must tell me exactly what happened." Blackmoon said, trying to hide any angst.
He grabbed my arm and took me to Pie's tent. I told him everything that had happened, Kintessae coming and confronting me, Pie suddenly emerging out of the brush and tackling her off the edge—which, actually saved me. Who knows what she could have done to me if Pie would have never done what he did…
Anyways, Blackmoon listened intently to my story. Occasionally he would nod his head or say "Go on" but that was pretty much it—his facial expression never changed either.
I bit my bottom lip after I was done, waiting for his reaction.
Blackmoon closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "We have to keep going." He said
"Isn't that dangerous! Even if Pie were still here, we wouldn't have enough peeps to go against Kato, right?" I exclaimed "I mean, come on! He has an entire organization led by him! All we have is you, Candleflame, that one horse dude, me, Vanellope, Ralph, and… Rancis."
"We have to try." He replied
I sighed; "We'll help you, only if we can get Vanellope back after this whole thing is over."
"Fine, it's a deal."
I crawled out of the tent to tell Ralph, but he was already asleep.
"So…what happened? Is Pie actually dead? Are we still going to fight Kato?" she asked
"I don't know. It's hard to say." I muttered sadly
And with that, I fell asleep, wondering what would happen tomorrow—and what Ralph would have to say about all of this mess.
