Chapter 10: Fahren, and Grimm Reaper's Call?
The morning rose upon Cephiro. However, there was something other than the sun that began to rise Ash, Pikachu, Hikaru, Mokona and Team Rocket, minus Jessie still locked up in the chamber. And what more intriguing place for the best alarm clock to be awakened than what Delia was doing in the kitchen. Let's see... scrambled eggs, smoked sausages, cooked bacon, fried tuna, flipped pancakes and French Toast, freshly squeezed orange juice, cold milk, brewed breakfast blend tea... Talk about feeding an army at the crack of dawn. Clef came into the kitchen, surprised to see, hear and smell the food so scrumptious that it nearly left him drooling. "I must say Delia, your hands of culinary arts would leave even the fearless of warriors surrendering to immediate hungers," he praised. Delia turned to Clef, not acting too eager to show her appreciation of his compliment but nonetheless smiled.
"Believe me, when Ash was a baby, there was nothing I could do to keep him away from the cupboards," she shyly confessed. "Only when I did start cooking solid foods at a later age, he eased down his attempts at the cabinets as he got eager to become a Pokémon trainer." To Ash's own mother, he was always hungry. It's a mystery why he wasn't fat or obese. High metabolism?
"This would explain why he can be so overactive at times." That actually may. Running around all the time would burn the calories off and make him look his best fit. Well, the aroma from the breakfast loomed into Hikaru's room where she and Sera slept, right into the redheads' noses. The scent itself was enough to stir the Magic Knight and the child from sleep. They sat up, still getting the smell of the delicacy.
""What's that smell?" Hikaru wondered. "Whatever it is, it's smells good." Sera would agree. They hopped off and exited the room where Ash and James were also exiting their rooms, intoxicated with the wonderful aroma, Ash acting more embarrassed with the actions of what it could be. It was a good thing that Ash and Hikaru were talking to each other once more since the battle in Autozam. When Ash rescued Sera from some minions in the Forest of Silence, Hikaru saw the goodness within Ash's heart and reformed their friendship. "What's going on?" Believing that his trust with Hikaru was still on some rocky terms, Ash had to allow an explanation to surface.
"It's my mom cooking breakfast for us," he sighed. Hikaru was a bit forgiving for Ash's frustrated anguish of his mother's taking to Cephiro. They had to make sure that they were geared for the upcoming battle with the third Terror God, Haechaen of Fahren. Someone was excited for Delia's food. Pikachu entered the kitchen, bypassing those still gawking. Delia saw Pikachu, smiling that he was up to join her before Ash, possibly to help.
"Good morning, Pikachu," she cooed. "You wanna help?"
("You bet, Mom,") Pikachu agreed. The rest watched as Mokona also entered the kitchen...and knowing what Mokona had in store, it's going to help Delia and further upset Ash.
"This may be one of those times that you should be helpful to your mom than stand here and feel embarrassed," James advised. Ash could argue but he was too flustered to do so. After helping and eating breakfast, Ash, Hikaru, James and the creatures were geared for Fahren. All that waited was the dragon ship and Lady Aska.
"Are you sure you want to do this, honey?" Delia worried. "I'm kinda fearful that I may lose you." Ash knew that his mother was obviously concerned about him, going into battle and knowing the chances that he may die out there.
"I told the professor that this was where I'm at my best," Ash reassured. "I'll be fine, mom. I just wanna make sure that Pikachu's safe as well with you." He still wanted Pikachu to be away from this battle in case Meowth or James would be like Jessie and go after the mouse.
"I'll take good care of it when you get back to Pallet Town." Although they understood Ash's ploy, James had to be thinking that he was just throwing his life away without a second thought.
"I should supervise this in case it gets outta hand," he offered. It would probably be a good idea. Soon enough, Aska's dragon ship descended to pick up the warriors. As soon as Ash, James and Hikaru boarded the ship, the vessel lifted off for Fahren. Inside the ship, a chorus of servants in red Chinese robes were there to greet Aska and the warriors.
"Welcome to the Dome!" they greeted in unison. In the back of the room were two males. One was a raven-haired young man, about Aska's young age while the other was a bearded old man, both wearing somewhat similar robes.
"Lady Aska, is this the Magical Knight that has remained?" the old man questioned. Hasn't he paid attention to the story so far? Probably his ears are in need of a checkup.
"This is Fuu's friend," Aska reassured. "And along with her is the robust Ash and the spineless boy." Spineless boy...good one, Aska. James fumed a bit of anger from that retort. "Ash, Hikaru, that is old man Chang Ang and childhood friend, Sanyun." A childhood friend would usually be a good thing to have. She sat on the throne in the back of the room, gazing upon the visitors to Fahren. "Listen up! I want teams of three to dress our visitors for when we arrive home!" Simple enough. Nine of the female-packed servants, three to each, gathered around Ash, Hikaru and James who hadn't let the whole "spineless boy" mock go. They were sent to fitting rooms as the Dome spotted their country closing in. After a few minutes, the three returned. Ash was dressed in a blue robe with a few Mandarin symbols on the left side...or Ash's right, pending on what angle you look at it. He also had white jumpsuit style pants and black slippers. James was donned in all black, head to toe. Black robe, black dome cap, black pants and black slippers like Ash. Hikaru was far different. She looked like someone from a Chinese restaurant. A red short-sleeve robe with a long skirt and red laced slippers was what Hikaru was gowned in. Even Ash couldn't help but gawk at how lovely she appeared.
"Well, at least it covers my midsection better than back in Chizeta," she sighed. "Hopefully, Disney won't be able to find Tanya and sue her for copyright infringement." While that was a pointless gesture, she gazed at Ash, trying as hard has he could to retain composure. James had to smack him in the back to cease his staring.
"Say something, twerp," he eased on him. "You're gonna freak her out." Ash peered at James, scratching the back of his neck in humored embarrassment.
"Sorry," he apologized. "She just looks...well..." He still couldn't come out and say how lovely she looked. Hikaru giggled at the stutter of Ash.
"I think I made an impression on Ash," she huffed while still giggling. James agreed wholeheartedly. Sanyun came to see the three, readying an announcement.
"Ash, Hikaru, James, we are landing in Fahren in one minute," he proclaimed. Ash turned to Sanyun, appreciating the word of their arrival.
"Thanks, Sanyun," he smiled. He closed his eyes, going into deep thought. He seemed to be planning the battle against Haechaen. When the Dome landed, the group walked off. The group traveled around a small village, trading goods for other useful items. Marketing?
""Fahren seems to be far more controlled and relaxed than Autozam," James figured. He acted as if this was a place of peace. That's when...
"Excuse me, sir," a male voice called out. James looked toward the call, eying a middle-aged man in a shady shack. "Perhaps I can interest you in a deal of stocks of Fahren's own enriched breads, most famous in trades to other countries in Cephiro." He brought forth a few large loaves of bread, twice as big as any you would find in a bakery while James got to the shack. James was rather impressed with how big and how fluffy the bread was.
"Now that's what bread should look like. I can tell that you don't skip out on the yeast." How much yeast was used in baking this bread?
"I see that you have good tastes in foods. Perhaps there may be something to trade for this value." This was one debate for James to decide.
"It's a good thing I didn't bring my bottle cap collection." Don't worry. Hikaru reached in and yanked James from the shack who hiccuped a yelp.
"We're on official business, James," she scorned. Aska watched on, sighing in relief for Hikaru's actions.
"And besides, anyone outside of Fahren who taste the food from here get easily nauseated," she thankfully warned. Strong foreign foods...yikes. They continued onward when Hiki sensed something disturbing in the air.
"Ash, I sense an evil in the presence," she muttered. Ash heard the light spirit, not talking about the dark spirit of Rion. He peered around, unable to spot anyone suspicious.
"Can you sense where it's coming from?" he wondered.
"Indeed. It's coming from upfront and to the right." It just happened to be where Ash was looking. There, a wrinkled raven-haired goatee man in a green Chinese robe, much like Ash's new layers. His hair was short, almost sprayed on. That's who Hiki sensed. That man saw the group, sneering to them.
"So, you must be the bodyguard to the last Magical Knight," he said. The good guys, if James resigned from his position in Team Rocket, looked toward the man who called them out. "Fang will be pleased should I take Shidou back to our realm." This guy couldn't be the last Terror God, could it?
"Are you...Haechaen?" Ash questioned. The man snickered at the guess Ash coughed.
"Very insightful, young man. Lady Aska has matured enough to give out who I am." If that's Haechaen, someone had misled his appearance.
"You don't look anything like what Lady Aska and Master Mage Clef showed us," Hikaru doubted. Haechaen's image appeared to be a lion in black flames and with large teeth.
"I may not look like it now. Ever since I was freed, I've managed to blend with this crowd of Fahren, waiting for my chance to capture you, regardless of whether or not my allies have had their chance to strike." Haechaen pointed to Hikaru, wanting her. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll take the Magical Knight to her friends." Hikaru took a defensive stance. She was ready to fight.
"Where have you taken Umi and Fuu?" Haechaen wasn't amused with Hikaru's flaming desire to battle.
"You should watch where you direct your anger at, Hikaru. You don't want to hurt the innocent people around here, do you?" It was like a game to him. He knew that if they fought here, they could endanger the people of Fahren. But why did he care? He's a Terror God. Hikaru bit her lip, trying not to allow her anger to boil over.
"That's rather considerate of a demon to think highly of the people here," Ash huffed. Haechaen scoffed a chuckle, somewhat intimidated with Ash's wording.
"Consider me a morale Terror God." A demon that explains morals? "Come meet me on the Fahren Wall." That's when Haechaen was coated in a cloud of smoke which dissipated in a few seconds. He vanished. Terror God or magician?
"We should follow him," Aska plotted. The rest agreed as they made their way ahead to the destination: The Fahren Wall. Hikaru still wanted answers as they rendezvous with Haechaen.
"Alright, Haechaen, I'll ask once more," she growled. "Where are my friends?" As if to test her will to hold back, Haechaen walked over to the edge, teasing the situation.
"Do you believe peace is the best resolve to live by?" he asked. Hikaru steamed even more.
"Don't change the subject!" Nowhere close to phased, Haechaen maintained composure.
"I was merely speculating an opinion. Bodyguard, what say you? Peace, best resolve?" Ash had a second to think on his answer, but he got one for the demon.
"It actually depends on who you ask and what the situation is about," he calmly replied. "There are those who would seek peace with the aid of others while there are more who don't seem satisfied about peace whatsoever." Haechaen seemed fascinated with Ash's thoughtful response. Hikaru? Criticism.
"You just had to answer his question, didn't you?" she scorned. Ash began to walk toward Haechaen with a reason.
"Well, you see, I have no problem answering a question which has no factual right or wrong answer." More or less a state of opinion question. "It's just..." In a flash, he unsheathed his staff, swung...BOOM! Shafted upside the head. Think a hangover is a bad headache, try that. Haechaen was sent flying right into a tower wall, smashing body to harden clay. Nonchalantly, Ash hung and hooked his arms around his staff, playing it cool. "When your enemy asks about it, he's just looking for a weakness." The demon got to a seating position, Are fixing his jaw trying to get it in place.
"I did not anticipate you clobbering me with your staff. Now that you have tested my patience, you leave no choice." Haechaen was clouded in a veil of black fire. Before long, he transformed into the black fire lion. If you thought the 3-D image was impressive, the real deal was scary. Hikaru and Ash went into defensive mode. The Terror God lunged right at the two kids. Hikaru realized that she still had the power of Selece within her glove. Fire versus water...what do you think would win?
"Water Dragon!" She roared as water flew out of her glove. The water splashed on the demon with extreme force. Going by simple science, water extinguishes fire. However, that was not the case. For some odd reason, Haechaen's flames were burning brighter, not dimmer. Why did his flames not drown out? Haechaen began to laugh evilly while the redhead was dumbfounded.
"I do not blame you for your hypothesis, Magic Knight. Normally in your opinion, water is very strong against fire. But as you can see, I enjoy water. It's fuel to the flames!" Talk about backfire. Haechaen Displayed his new power by blowing fire right back at the team. The kids dove away from the fire, thankfully unhurt. So now what? Fire wasn't working. Ash raced ahead, but quickly fell back when he saw more flames coming his way.
"So much for daily science," Ash huffed. "Now what?" Hikaru was puzzled. If water meant nothing to this demon... that's when Aska had an idea.
"Hikaru, like equals like," she snapped. Like equal like? What was she talking about? It had taken Hikaru a few good seconds to think, but that's when she realized that it was an old Chinese proverb. She called upon Rayearth, causing the jewel on her glove to turn red.
"Flame Arrow!" She threw a ball of fire at Haechaen as he spewed more fire. Both flames connected in the middle, but for some reason, Hikaru's flame began to vacuum Haechaen's fire.
"What the-" it shrieked. KABOOM! Hikaru's attack sent the demon flying back. Ash was astonished with what transpired.
"Timeout for a second," He pondered. "Water doesn't douse him so why did fire?" That was a good question.
"'Like equals like' is an old proverb in which you use an equivalent item on a problem," she theorized. "In this case, Haechaen was weak to the fire, even though he was a Terror God of Fire." That's when something else clicked in Ash's head.
"I get it. Use good fire on bad fire."
"Sorta." Of course, Ash had to pick on the impact of her Flame Arrow.
"Okay, but that hardly explains why your Flame Arrow was much stronger than before?" That even left Hikaru scratching her head.
"I...can't really explain it." Haechaen returned to his feet before charging in. Ash was anxious for a piece of the demon and wasn't standing back any longer. He bolted ahead, his eyes shining white. Hiki? Haechaen leaped into the air, going for Hikaru. More fire was spewed. Bad news. The group became engulfed in the black fire from Haechaen. When the Terror God planted its paws, something seemed amiss to him.
"What's going on?" it growled. "You should be nothing but charcoal now!" Before anything else was mentioned, the fire shifted from black...to normal red. That's when a hand protruded from the doming fire. It's Hikaru's gloved hand. The flames began to coat her arm as the dome collapsed.
"Thanks, Ash."
"Think nothing of it," Ash replied with a more harmonic but feminine voice. Definitely Hiki? Haechaen charged in once more. Once more because...
"One super-size Flame Arrow, coming right up!" She chucked the giant flaming spike, going right through Haechaen's snout. Talk about the worst time to open wide. Haechaen stopped, feeling the massive heartburn, literally. He let out a mighty roar, hoping to spit out the raging fire in his stomach. Aska noticed that it was ready to blow and more than just Hikaru's fire.
"Retreat!" she screamed. Everyone dashed in a hurry to escape the possible blast. They were safe because... KABOOM! Haechaen exploded. There was nothing left of the demon. James had one look back, eying nothing, not even a shed of fur. Haechaen was gone, Fang being the last one to deal with. Worse yet, with all of Cephiro's surrounding countries saved, there was no where to look for the last demon, Umi or Fuu.
"Ak-gholun, Pteroblade and Haechaen are gone," he reviewed. What could they do now?
"Well, since the three countries are going to be fine," Hikaru started. "The only reasonable choice would be returning to Master Mage Clef and see if he can find where my good friends are." Only reasonable sounded about right.
"Well, if that's the case," Ash added. "Let's get to the Dome and head back to the towers." Acknowledging the possibility of a weakened jamming state, the crew agreed to return to the mainland. An hour passed when the team was on board the Dome heading back home. With Fang hanging around the corner, Hikaru was still so focused on finding her friends. Were they still alive? That's when sirens blared in the Dome.
"What's going on?!" Aska began to shriek. Before anyone could shout a reply, the Dome started to shake, as if it was crumbling into pieces. Like an airborne earthquake, No one on the dragon ship could maintain their feet. Hikaru was down to a knee while in front of her, Ash was belly down.
"Ash!" Hikaru called as she reached for him. Could Ash get to her before something terrible were to befall the trainer? One huge thud sent a crack onto the hull and knocking Ash through it cleanly. "ASH!!!" Hikaru could only watch as the Pokémon-less Ash plummeted into a thick cloud of black. Hikaru seemed to have witnessed the death of the one who had aided her in this journey. "No..." But was Ash kaput? Inside the cloud, Ash was coming to after being knocked into a loop. Before he could say anything, he peered his surrounding. It was like in his dream...except that when he pinched himself, he felt it.
"Talk about bracing for the real thing," he gulped. "It's no nightmare this time. But then..." He may have been listening for the voices.
"Help us!" one female voice screeched in fear.
"Please, get us out of here!" the other female wished. It had to be Umi and Fuu. Ash had to be banking on the guess.
"Umi!" he yelled out. "Fuu! Can you hear me?" It's beginning to look like the second nightmare all over again...
"W-Who's there?" the first voice replied. No frigging way... Ash had been able to establish contact to the missing girls. "How do you know us?" Ash had to be feeling pretty proud of making the contact.
"I'm a friend of Hikaru. Anything else?" Good enough reason?
"If you are a friend of Miss Hikaru, then you, kind sir, have been helping her with the Terror Gods that have ravaged the countries surrounding Cephiro, is that right?" the second voice hypothesized. From her tone... Ash had a funny guess on who was who.
"I take it you are Fuu since you're sounding proper." The second voice giggled a bit. So that was Fuu, meaning the first voice was Umi. "Say, do you know where you are? Hikaru and I've been searching from Autozam and on." It was a shot longer than a Home Run into McCovey Cove.
"Well, what we can see isn't anything on Cephiro and there's no Tokyo Tower out there," Umi explained. "There are some unique creatures roaming different forests, with some unfamiliar buildings. I'm sorry that I can't help you any more than that." To Ash, that was all the help he needed. He knew where those two were: the Pokémon world.
"That's alright, Umi. It helped a lot and don't worry-" he stopped himself when he noticed blood pouring passed him. That's quite a bit. He turned to...Team Rocket, face down in the pool. Ash was frozen in fear. He was experiencing his nightmare, first hand. "No..." Then he felt winds. He turned to glowing red eyes. Ash was helpless, unable to do anything. Proof: giant red spears were heading right toward him. Screwed over? Jessie, remarkably alive, twisted her body, throwing her ball which opened, releasing Wobbufett.
"Counter!" she commanded. Wobbufett began glowing red when the spears reached. They hit the punching bag Pokémon, only to be bounced back. Whether or not those spears made contact, Ash was sighing in relief as he turned to the blood-soaked Rockets. "Once again, twerp, you fell for one of Team Rocket's tricks. I can't believe you actually thought we were dead." He had that dream. You just helped rewrite it. That's when James pulled out a vest of blood packs, most of them slashed open.
"I could just imagine the Halloween pranks we could do with a few of these," James joked. All Ash could do was scoff a laugh.
"You guys are so evil," he chuckled. To think, Jessie and James weren't in mortal danger. They were just fine. "Just wait until the dry cleaners' bill gets to your mailbox." That was a lot of blood staining their uniforms as so. Suddenly, there was a roar from the distance. When they shot a look back, there was Alcyone and Lantis. What were they doing here?
"Ash, are you alright?" Lantis asked. Ash rose to his feet and bobbed a nod. Knowing that Ash and the Rockets were in good shape, Lantis swung back, eying the monster red eyes. More spears were shot out. Alcyone was waiting as she fired another round of her Icicle Onslaught. Each icicle struck and snuffed the spears. That's when glowing red claws charged in. "Death claws." Lantis and Alcyone swung, but the claws vanished in a snap before reappearing behind them. Alcyone lunged to Lantis.
"Watch out!" Alcyone shrieked as she covered the other raven-haired. It would be in vain. The claws turned into drills and skewered into both at the same time, through the chests. That had to sting. After the drill exited from both, Lantis and Alcyone hit the ground with a thud. Bet you that Team Rocket's regretting using those blood packs as vests. They got to both, James to Alcyone and Ash and Jessie to Lantis. "I...wasn't able...to protect...Lord Zagato's...kin!" The injury was too great and she stopped moving altogether. Alcyone was dead. Lantis was about to join her. The wounds continued to protrude blood at a significantly high rate. Yet, he had enough energy to gaze at Ash.
"Hang on, Lantis," he pleaded. "Hiki will tend to that wound." Lantis shook his head. It was like he accepted his fate.
"Ash, I want you to stop the last biggest threat to Cephiro or anywhere," he groaned weakly. "Take my sword. I will join my high priest bother in heaven and watch you slay the last Terror God." To Ash, this was unacceptable, even Jessie would side on that.
"Does it have to end like this?" she wondered. Lantis turned to Jessie...for the last time.
"Death can be unexpected most of the time. Yet as humans, no one is meant to live forever." Once more, he turned to Ash. "Ash, since the moment you stepped in the throne room with Pikachu..." He winced, knowing that his time was very short. "...I knew that you were the one who would set things straight. Princess Emeraude would have wanted you in her kingdom to protect and love without concern or consequence. And since Hikaru was supposed to be the next Pillar...she would have enjoyed your company as well. Goodbye..." Lantis closed his eyes...never to open again. Fang had slain two members of Cephiro. To Ash, he knew what to do. Team Rocket glanced to Ash, seeking their next move.
"If I may say so, Ash," Jessie opened, using Ash's name instead of "twerp." "We need to get back and talk to Clef." Ash would agree. He hoped Hikaru was safe as well. Ash picked up the sword and Alcyone's staff, ready to head out. He could be wondering how Jessie managed to worm her way from the holding block but that would be for another time. They ran off, escaping Fang's hidden clutch...and new information. Umi and Fuu somehow were in the Pokémon world. All that was needed was to let Clef and the rest know about the next move as the biggest brawl was moments away.
TO BE CONTINUED...