Last Time on Ashes:
A game played of secrets, a tunic to be taken in, an overheard argument and Shigeru, prince of Hanada.
Quote: "Sato," Shigeru said. And somehow the word fit perfectly in his mouth.

Chapter Eleven: Baited

Like a kid to its father
You never question why
You follow the stream until you die
-Nomy

Satoshi felt like a huge puzzle piece had just clunked into place. He knew the prince of Hanada. Satoshi didn't just know him, that man down there was one of his closest friends. He felt it more strongly than he had felt anything before.

But how? Other than a huge feeling swelling up inside his chest, his head was just as empty as ever. How did he know Shigeru? Why did he feel this surge of familiarity? The man had barely spoken, but Satoshi knew his voice, knew how he liked to laugh and liked to tease Satoshi mercilessly.

A rush of disjointed and senseless memories were spinning Satoshi like a top. He knew things, like how Shigeru hated mushrooms, sneaking them onto his—Satoshi's—plate when… others? (Which others? What others?) weren't looking.

He knew how white Shigeru's face would get when he faced something he was scared of. He wasn't scared of much, not like Satoshi. Wait, he was scared of things? But what was he, Satoshi, scared of? Satoshi couldn't remember, but he had a feeling it was many things. Many things more than Shigeru. But Shigeru, yes. He was scared of heights. Satoshi remembered laughing at him.

So perhaps Satoshi wasn't scared of heights himself? That's right, he wasn't. He loved high places, how tall it made him feel. Oh, but that's why he would laugh: because Shigeru was always so brave. So much braver than Satoshi was. Except when it came to heights.

Shigeru was always making them do stupid things. Brave and stupid things that more than often got one or both of them hurt, like jumping into the castle moat. Had they really done that? It seemed much too reckless a thing for the dark prince. But yes, Satoshi had a feeling they did.

With each and every memory, more of who Satoshi had been the last year seemed to be shed away. He wasn't quiet, polite and shy. That was a guise he had fallen into once trapped back behind these walls. He was loud, obnoxious and often times foolishly headstrong. He liked how wild he was growing up, only servile when forced to. The solemn dark prince who walked in his father's shadow was a young man who enjoyed laughing, playing pranks and climbing impossibly high places just to cause Shigeru panic. Shigeru… his friend. His best friend. He had a best friend, and Satoshi wondered how he could have ever forgotten it.

There was so much he wanted to ask Shigeru. And for once in his life, it looked as if there was someone who was actually willing to answer. But the moment passed, popped like a shivering bubble, dropping them both back into a situation would give them nothing.

"Satoshi? What are you doing here?"

Satoshi turned for just a second, just long enough to catch the look of horror on his father's face. But while everyone of import had been frozen by the moment, the guards were unmoved. They had a task to perform, and now that their charge was being particularly compliant, they weren't going to wait for him to come back to his senses. They violently jerked on the Hanada prince's arms as they forced him backwards from the room.

Shigeru was only able to offer a mild protest, kicking up the aisle runner and tossing vulgar words at the guards carrying him. It did little to slow them down.

"No!" Satoshi cried out, reaching for the man fruitlessly as he was dragged away.

"Sato! Don't— let go! That hurts! Sato, listen— get away from them! You gotta get away from here!"

"Let go of him! Let go of him, I said!" Satoshi was running along the balcony now, vainly hoping he might reach the doors before they closed. Bulbasaur was chasing after him, but for once was careful to avoid falling underfoot. "Shigeru, wait!"

"Crown Prince Satoshi!"

Satoshi froze, the fury in his father's voice rooting him to the spot. Even over the hammering of his own heart, he could hear his father descending from the throne. The footfalls echoed on the marble floors. Each step too loud and painful. Satoshi fought against the instinct that warned him to run. He knew that by even being here, he'd crossed an unspoken line. Running would only make it worse.

"Crown Prince Satoshi, you will not move."

It wasn't a command. It was a fact. His father's words held more threat than magick over him. A staircase may have separated them, but Satoshi knew better than to think he was ever outside of his father's reach.

Shigeru couldn't miss the surrender on the younger man's face.

"They are lying to you! Fight them, Sato. You can do it! Fight them!" Shigeru shouted out, writhing in the guards' grip as the doors sealed up after him. His distant cries still sounded from beyond the solid oak. Satoshi stared hard at the doors as if he could still see the man there. The answers to all his questions a single leap away.

Fight? Shigeru made it sound easy.

And Satoshi had a feeling in another life, it had been easy. But that wild boy wasn't the same man who was standing here now. He was still incomplete. Try as he might, Satoshi still didn't remember how to be himself.

Frustration welled in his eyes. Satoshi didn't dare to wipe the tears away, leaving them free to sting and burn.

He hated his father. He hated the secrets. He even hated himself for not being fast enough. And for not being brave enough to disobey.

"How did you get in here?"

Satoshi closed his eyes. He took a deep breath that unbeknownst to him, Bulbasaur imitated. He could sense his father's impatience growing dangerously. Regardless, Satoshi refused to turn, refused to address his King.

"I said how did you get in here, Satoshi?"

Satoshi didn't see that Sakaki was gesturing to his nearby foot guards to climb the staircase. He could hear them, though, as they clunked their clumsy way up to him. He knew it wouldn't be long before he was dragged away, too, though it wouldn't be to toss him out of the castle. Only the best prison for the heir to Tokiwa. Where would they lock him away? His bedroom? The tallest tower? The dungeon?

"Answer me, Satoshi."

Sakaki's stern voice was frightening. His father always frightened him. Satoshi thought it was because the man had a tendency to let his fists talk over his words. He thought it was something he had to learn after he lost his memory. Learn to fear the King. Learn to never disobey. But no, the fear had always been there. It was deep and carnal. There was a hint of memory there that refused to be shaken loose.

"Satoshi!"

Satoshi whirled on the spot. He hadn't decided what he was going to say before he was in the act of saying it. The force of emotion had spun him around. He pointed at his father, opened his mouth and—

And was as astonished as everyone else when a trio of green blades shot out from behind him. They sliced clean through the banister, and neatly knocked the crown from his father's head.

The result of that simple act was instantaneous. The approaching guards fumbled, lurching on the stairs, torn between protecting a King and apprehending a threat. King Sakaki toppled backwards, clutching his bare head in shock.

And Satoshi stared. He dropped his foolishly outstretched arm and looked back down at his monster. Was that some sort of attack? Bulbasaur blinked and met his master's eyes calmly. It was as if nothing had just transpired. The violence was instantly gone from him.

The shock that had rooted everyone to their respective spots was short lived. Fumbling to put the fallen crown back on his head, Sakaki bellowed for Satoshi to be apprehended. And the guards, knowing better than to disobey the ruling monarch, scrambled to obey. Satoshi hadn't time much to relish the look on his father's face before his arms were fastened behind him, forced to his knees in front of his King.

"I've executed men for less!" The king bellowed. Satoshi could only see his father's shaking fist from his downcast position. And the blades from before lay on the floor nearby. Satoshi was surprised to discover, as they tumbled lightly across the folds of the aisle runner, that they were only leaves.

How on earth were leaves sharp enough to cut through polished wood?

He couldn't see where Bulbasaur had been taken, but Satoshi could hear his groans as Bulbasaur's vine was forcibly removed from Satoshi's leg. He hoped they wouldn't hurt him.

Satoshi knew it was no use trying to explain what just happened. He hadn't issued any command nor truly wished to attack his father; he simply lashed out, but somehow did so without moving anything more than his arm.

Rather than feel ashamed for his action, Satoshi felt all the more resolved to own it. So swelled up with anger, he hardly knew what he was saying when he responded with, "Then do it."

"Excuse me?"

The guards had their spear heads leveled at his throat, forcing his chin up to meet his father's eyes. Satoshi did so, glowering. But he couldn't repeat himself. The words were too terrifying to repeat, especially if the King called his bluff. Perhaps the wild child wasn't completely gone…

The blade-like leaves hadn't hit their mark and a deep dark part inside could admit that Satoshi had wanted them to. He wanted to hurt the King—for the lies, for the imprisonment, for everything. If he couldn't hurt him with fists, he would try words. He stared up at his father and asked, "Am I even your son?"

A mix of surprise and pain flashed across his father's face. As if Satoshi had just slipped a quiet blade between his ribs. Its sincerity was brief. He answered the audacious question as Satoshi knew he must. He struck Satoshi hard across the face. So hard, Satoshi fell, his bottom lip busted raw and bleeding.

"Don't be so easily fooled, boy," Sakaki spat down at him. "You may have shamed me today, but you are still mine. Perhaps you need some time to develop some propriety."

With a wave of his hand, Satoshi was lifted up by his armpits by the guards. He stared hard at the ground, still too angry and too afraid after being struck to meet his father's gaze again.

"Lock him in the tower."

"But sire, the feast—"

"Don't you dare question me! I've had my fair share of insolence today." He issued one more order before they had dragged him from his father's sight, one more especially cruel order for the Bulbasaur squirming and crying for his partner.

"Separate them."

Bulbasaur's cries stabbed at Satoshi's heart. He tried to reach for his monster but was ripped away. He shouted and screamed the unfairness all to deaf ears. The monster he hadn't wanted, been forced to care for and now being separated from. Bulbasaur was left for the remaining guards to wrestle with back in the throne room. The others took Satoshi through the back hallways; it would cause too much of a stir to see the crown prince accosted in such a way by his father's men. They were far more gentle than they had any right being. Once Satoshi agreed to walk on his own, they simply pushed him forward down the narrow corridors.

Satoshi's ankle felt airy and weightless as he was forced to march up stairways. It was oddly more painful this time, being taken away from his monster. He felt like a piece of him had been ripped away. Frustrated tears ran down his face unchecked. He marched in tearful silence, glaring at the back of the head of the guard leading.

Childish notions flashed through his mind. He thought to spitefully throw himself down the stairs. Injure himself in a way he could never injure his father in return. Perhaps, an even darker thought slid into his consciousness as he passed by the parapet window, perhaps… he could jump. The fall from this height would certainly maim, if not completely kill him.

The wind might even feel nice on his face as he fell.

It wasn't the first time Satoshi had thought about suicide as a way out. Trapped without memories, and suddenly promised to a woman he despised on the eve of his coming of age, Satoshi had considered it a few times. But this was the first time he considered it out of anger.

If only Satoshi didn't know how exactly unaffected his father would be. He'd only lose a pawn— a prince to throw into an arranged marriage, an tool for alliance. It would only be as frustrating as a single bad move in a game of chess. Eventually, his father would get past it. And Satoshi would be the only loser. Satoshi let the thought die, just as he did all the others. There was no "getting back" at the King. Not in that way.

He touched his tender lip, letting the tears burn in his eyes. It stung. But it was a good stinging. It sharpened his anger. And it reminded him of the person he used to be. Those words he lashed out with at his father were a small but not insignificant win. He'd need to channel that old "Sato" in order to gain any advantage in this fight for his memories.

Satoshi's thoughts turned instead to Shigeru, trying to pry any more fleeting memories from his head. But with the man no longer in front of him, it was hard to remember. Like trying to catch sand with his hands, the grains were slipping through the cracks. What little he had already remembered was all he was able to hold on to.

The guards pushed Satoshi into the small room at the top of the tower. Satoshi fell upon the door as soon as they had left, slamming his fists against the wood. The action did little more than hurt his hands; the strong oak certainly wouldn't give just because of a few hits. It was made to withstand far more. But it made Satoshi feel better to have something to hit. Perhaps he was more like his father than he cared to admit.

Eventually, Satoshi tired. He leaned against the door, resting his forehead against the cool wood, breathing heavily. He gave the door one final push, and when it still wouldn't relent, he slid down to his knees. He stayed like that for awhile, trying to sort through the buzz in his own head.

There was so much he wished he had done differently. If only he had waited, tried to seek out Shigeru later. If only he had feigned ignorance, charmed his father into believing he didn't overhear anything. If only Bulbasaur's aim hadn't been off.

Satoshi punched the door one final time. Bothered by his own dark thoughts, Satoshi pulled his fist back to his chest. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.

No. Even though he hated his father, there was a reason those leaves missed their target. He didn't want to kill anyone. That wasn't who he was.

But… wait. Satoshi blinked. He realized in his own thoughts, he took ownership over Bulbasaur's uncalled for attack. He hadn't asked Bulbasaur attack his father. In fact, most of the time, Satoshi couldn't get Bulbasaur to do anything it didn't want to. But somehow Satoshi knew that the attack was something he had done. He had asked for it without any words. And Bulbasaur had complied without question.

Satoshi stared down at his own open hand. How had he compelled Bulbasaur to do something outside its own nature? Was he… was he psychic?

If Bulbasaur were here with him, Satoshi might have been able to test it. He could have at least tried to replicate the circumstances.

Satoshi turned around to face his temporary prison. It was a small, round room with no windows and a low sloping ceiling. Aside from an arrow hole near the rafters, meant to filter the air more so than loose arrows, there was little light. There was no furniture other than a small discarded mattress in the corner with a upturned bucket. Their inclusion in the room left Satoshi no choice but to assume that he wasn't the room's first guest.

He didn't bother leaving his place by the door. With the feast in a few hours, Satoshi knew he wouldn't be left here for long. His father would leave him to stew but it wouldn't be for the whole evening.

It was hard to tell how much time was passing in a room with no windows. The light cast by the arrow slit was just a sliver that snaked its way across the floor very slowly. It had moved from the middle of the room and nearly disappeared from the far wall when the door suddenly rattled behind him.

Satoshi had only just returned to his feet when the door opened. Satoshi expected another assortment of guards. But where the jumble of matching amor plates were supposed to stand, stood his young gentleman in waiting with a sour look on his face.

"I left you for a few seconds," he grumbled, dropping the large key ring back into his pocket. "And you got yourself locked in a tower."

Before Satoshi could even muster a humble look to his face, his ankles were accosted by a familiar tangle of vines.

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur croaked happily, rubbing the side of his face against Satoshi's boot in an action that seemed almost affectionate. Hiroshi hadn't missed Bulbasaur's reaction anymore than Satoshi had. He frowned at the two of them.

"When did you two become so chummy?"

"I'm not sure," Satoshi replied honestly. He couldn't help the smile that snuck onto his face as well. "He's kind of growing on me."

Hiroshi didn't look as pleased about Bulbasaur's progress. In fact, he looked downright perturbed by it. Though Hiroshi tried to hide it, Satoshi noted the anxious look he gave the monster. It was a look that seemed to plead with Bulbasaur to stop. Satoshi suspected it was somehow another secret. He wasn't very hopeful at his chances of getting Hiroshi to confess.

Hiroshi shook off his ill thoughts.

"You're just lucky I was able to talk his Highness into letting you go. I had to rescue poor Bulbasaur from being caged. Honestly, you really got in it deep this time."

Satoshi carefully ducked out of the room, pulling Bulbasaur out of the door with him. "I'm sorry," Satoshi offered genuinely to his cousin. "Thank you, Hiroshi."

Hiroshi met Satoshi's eye, before suddenly grabbing the boy's face. Satoshi tried to bat his companion off as Hiroshi tutted over the state of his swollen lips.

"He hit you hard. What did you say to him?"

Satoshi successfully managed to pull himself from from Hiroshi. "I asked if he was my father," replied Satoshi cooly.

Hiroshi's mouth fell open. "You— what? W-why would you think that?"

Not why would you say that. Why would you think it. Another secret was clearly itching at the tip of his cousin's tongue, making him careless.

The anger flared in his chest again, but Satoshi reigned it in. Instead he decided to channel it. He already knew it was no use lashing out at Hiroshi and his mountain of secrets, but there were games they could play to reach the truth. And this was one of them. He watched his cousin's face very carefully as he casually laid out his next words before them.

"I met Shigeru."

Hiroshi went as white as a sheet. He looked faint, stumbled and fell back heavily against the wall for support. "P-Prince Sh—"

"My best friend, Shigeru." Satoshi stared down his cousin but Hiroshi suddenly couldn't meet his eye. "You knew… La. Of course you knew."

"So you remember?"

"I remember that I was friends with him. I don't remember how." Satoshi grabbed Hiroshi's shoulder before the young man could pull away. He was already trying to retreat down the stairs. "You could tell me what I don't know. Why am I good friends with Hanada royalty? Why was I living in Hanada?"

But before he had even finished, Satoshi knew he had asked the wrong questions. Hiroshi was already trying to squirm away, frightened by every question thrown like darts at his face. "I can't— please. I can't answer."

"I can't give up, Hiroshi. I need answers, don't you understand?" Satoshi tightened his grip on his cousin's shoulders. "I remembered who I was! Just for a second, I remembered how different I used to be. I need to know!"

"It's too soon!"

Hiroshi's shout echoed about the stone staircase around them. Satoshi unconsciously loosened his grip, and Hiroshi shrugged free from him.

"If you remember everything," Hiroshi continued urgently, still not meeting Satoshi's eyes. "If I tell you and you remember, nothing will stop them from killing you. Your only safety is in your ignorance."

"Who— But I thought—"

"You do need to remember. But not yet— not now. You're not safe yet."

Satoshi couldn't help but notice the last sentence was directed towards his Bulbasaur. Although Satoshi couldn't for the life of him understand why Hiroshi would be concerned about Bulbasaur's safety.

"If they realize they can't control you, they'll kill you. I promised I would protect you."

"Hiroshi, promised who?"

Hiroshi smiled weakly. "Myself."

Somehow Satoshi knew that wasn't the truth. Before he could get to the bottom of who "they" were (although Kyo and his own father were already high on his suspect list) Hiroshi had pulled away again. Satoshi stumbled down the steps after him, crippled by the Bulbasaur he had to drag along. He couldn't catch his much more nimble cousin.

"The feast will be starting soon. Your present outfit will have to do," Hiroshi said as he skipped down the steps ahead.

"Hiroshi—"

"Satoshi." He paused as Satoshi fumbled onto the landing just above him. Bulbasaur's vines were impossible to kick free from. Satoshi wished that he could get back that compulsion power from before, but in his haste, he had no time to try. Bulbasaur still clearly had as much a mind of his own as before.

Hiroshi placed a hand on the stone wall and took a single deep breath. "Please forgive me, Satoshi. You can't ask anything more from me."

"But Hiroshi—"

"With what you know now, it's too much." Hiroshi touched his own face, slipping his hand down to cover his mouth. "Mew, it's too much. If you learn much more—" He looked back again. This time there was no mistake. He was looking directly at Satoshi's monster. Hiroshi shook his head and looked forward again. "I can't say anything more. For your own sake."

And with that, Hiroshi dashed back down the stairs, taking a few steps two at time. He didn't have to try very hard to leave Satoshi behind. After his final words, Satoshi hadn't tried to follow. He stared down at his own monster, who returned the look reflectively.

He had a feeling he knew why Hiroshi was looking at Bulbasaur. And it probably had everything to do with the new power Satoshi had no idea he had.

The King paced in front of his throne, not even able to keep his arms from swinging in his fluttering flustered anxiety. He kept going over the day's events in his head. It was clear he had made a grievous error in taking an audience with Hanada's prince. His own anger with the royal family had spurred him on. It was pure hubris. Of course, Satoshi would have interrupted. And now everything he had built the last two years was threatening to come crashing down around his ears.

"You summoned me, milord?"

Sakaki whirled about, cape swirling about him as he did so. The old woman had come in so quietly that he hadn't heard her until she had knelt before him. She dared to turn her milky eyes on him even from her place of fidelity. It never ceased to unnerve him. Kikuko had that effect on everyone, even Tokiwa's King.

"He knows!" Sakaki hissed, resuming his anxious pacing. "Satoshi's memory has returned. You did not warn me of this, Kikuko!"

"Sire, I did warn you. The boy was showing signs of waking." She closed her eyes for a moment, eyes darting behind her closed eyelids as if searching for something in the darkness. When she turned her blind eyes back upon the King, she was smiling. "Do not fret, my lord. I can see that the boy's memory is still a confusing fog. He may have pieces, but he still lacks a full understanding of the destiny we have mapped out for him."

"What do you call this then?" Sakaki tossed the crumbled leaves at the crone. They were poor tossing material, floating harmlessly down on the carpet feet from where the old woman knelt. She seemed to see them all the same.

"Leaves, milord?"

"Satoshi's hatchling launched them at me this afternoon."

"The boy has his father's temper."

"He launched them without issuing his Bulbasaur a command. Kyo says he hasn't even begun to teach Satoshi how to train a monster to battle. Which means—"

"He's starting to sync." Kikuko's toothy smile grew wider and more wicked. "Just as we had hoped. Soon, he will be the perfect weapon for you."

"Or the perfect one to use against me," Sakaki snapped. He fell back into the seat of his throne, glaring down at the old woman as she climbed cautiously back to her weak knees. "If he remembers who he is…"

"Oh yes, he would certainly use his powers against you. There is much he would begrudge you for," she laughed but Sakaki didn't share her amusement.

"Tell me how to stop him."

"Short of knocking him on the head again?" Kikuko smirked, tapping her chin with her long, spindly fingers. "Well, let me think. Who is the person our young Crown Prince hates most in the world? Who does Satoshi have reason to despise?"

"Me, I suspect."

"No, not you, Milord."

"The razor leaf attack he shot at my head earlier would probably beg to differ."

"No, no. Not you. But perhaps… the person who stole his memories?"

At this, Sakaki sat up straighter. He frowned down at the hunched old woman. "What do you mean?"

She stretched her boney hands towards him. "Who brought him to us? Who caused all of this to happen? Tell him. And you will forever win him to your side."

"If I were to tell him, he'd never believe me."

"Wait for your moment. When you are backed into a corner, confess. It will break his heart and win you a loyal heir forever."

"When?"

"It's coming sooner than you'd think. Be patient, milord. Patience, as I always told you, is a virtue."

To Be Continued…
Please Read and Review!

Sorry for the late update, guys. I did post a warning of the delay on my profile but in case you guys missed it, you can follow my Twitter (awriterofthings) to follow my progress on future fanfiction updates. I'll post clips and progress notes there too. Along with some slice of life bits, but not too much. I don't want to bog you guys down with my pokemon go accomplishments.

Another thing, special thanks to my new beta reader, HarunaRei for helping to edit this chapter before release. Yay for less errors, cause I know I tend to make a lot of them. :)

The next update for this story should be happening around the February/March time frame. I will be moving again soon so take these predictions with a grain of salt. But I am going to try to stay faithful to my update table.

GLOSSARY
Satoshi= Ash
Hiroshi= Richie
Kyo= Koga
Shigeru= Gary
Kikuko= Agatha
King Sakaki= Giovanni
Tokiwa= Viridian City
Hanada= Cerulean City

Special thanks to all of my reviewers from the last chapter. It's never very many in this story, but I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you to Ryudai, Mrs. Nose, cake0108, nanoha, and Yami-chan and Unrealistic! You guys are wonderful. Hope you all have a fantastic holiday season!

I know last time's prediction didn't come true. Things got switched around in my plans, and I decided to cut a scene that was originally planned. Writing process, it happens. Next time on Ashes, Ash reluctantly attends his birthday feast. See you then!