Chapter 30: Revelations pt 2
Ash had only visited Avignon Town once before, yet he remembered it as a jewel of northern Kalos. Sadly, upon seeing it again, the port looked more like an ordinary rock. The once magisterial walls which enveloped the town and parts of the harbor lay littered with fractures and weathering from siege engines.
The town itself looked little better, with houses stripped apart for materials the Galar could use for their defense, and the citadel plundered for money. Even so, Ash's heart raced when he saw the fleet of Kalos ships blockading it from sea and perhaps the largest army he'd ever seen laying siege by land.
The surrounding areas almost shined with countless vibrant banners from nobles across Kalos, all surrounding the House of Valois banner in the center. The House of Valois's sigil was virtually identical to that of House Capet, given it was originally a cadet branch, but Calem's father had added a gold lining around the edges.
"Regardez-les tous !" Bonnie cried in disbelief.
"Oui, this might even be bigger than the army we initially faced them with." Red laughed.
"Il est!" Clemont shouted with bursting enthusiasm.
"Between these troops and those we brought, we'll have over thirty-thousand!" He added.
"Thirty-thousand!" Korrina laughed.
"Allez!" Ash roared.
"Pika!"
Red's troops, Arnaud's forces, and the Catalan Company quickly approached the siege camp, where they saw all seven of the other Count/Countesses banners alongside the Dukes', save Lysandre.
"Bonjour!" A cannon-like voice roared. Ash and the others turned to see none other than Monsieur Raoul approaching them with his Pangoro.
"Monsieur Raoul!"
The giant of a chevalier reached out and picked up Ash, Red, Korrina, Clemont, Bonnie, and Shauna in his colossal arms as if they weighed nothing.
"Merci Reduka you're ok."
"Not all of us." Ash muttered and the knight's scarred face contorted into a fiery rage.
"The princess, oui. Fear not, we shall rescue her today, monsieur! If I have to break down the walls myself, we will rescue Serena!" Monsieur Raoul and his Pangoro roared louder than a black powder explosion and the group didn't doubt he wouldn't follow up on that.
Rokusho and Zinnia all nearly trembled when they stared at the eight-foot chevalier, but Felix merely approached and bowed his head respectfully.
"Bonjour." He attempted, his Kalos heavily accented.
"Bonjour, are you one of Count Philip and Countess Valerie's samurai?"
"Non, I'm Monsieur Satoshi and Aka's father."
"Quoi?" Raoul looked baffled.
"Us." Ash said, sweat dropping.
"No, not us." Red growled back.
"The King? Where is the King?" Arnaud asked, somewhat forcefully. Like Ash, he'd become obsessed with rescuing Serena and stared at the Galar banners over the town with blazing rage.
"Oui, this way."
Raoul led them through the camp past countless soldiers, knights, squires, attendants, and Pokemon. Each one they passed gave Ash and the other's reassuring looks of hope and determination, which did help loft their spirits some.
Upon arrival, they saw monsieur Lucas, monsieur Thevolt, and several other royal knights stood guard with their Pokemon when they saw the group.
"Lucas!"
"Ash!" Ash hadn't seen Lucas since the battle in the north and quickly embraced him.
"There you are! The others too, all except." Lucas cut himself off.
Bonnie and Shauna saw Monsieur Thevolt and shot him a nasty look, causing the former Queen's knight to look away in shame.
"Come, they're waiting for you!" Lucas pulled the tent flaps open and nothing could've prepared them for who awaited them at the command tent. As expected, they saw Calem at the head with Daniel and Alain beside him. Further down, they spotted Dukes Siebold and Wikstrom, Counts Grant, Philip, Michael, Wulfric, and Bishop Sycamore.
However, two more figures also stood at the table.
"Papa!" Bonnie shrieked.
"Pierre!" Ash and Red cried.
Meyer and Pierre looked up from the table before losing their breath. Soon the entire tent went silent as both pairs trembled.
"Clemont, Bonnie." Meyer nearly jumped over the table and sprinted over, scooping Bonnie up into his hand.
"Papa!" Bonnie sobbed while burying her face in his shoulder.
"Shhh, it's ok, mon amour. I've got you." Meyer similarly teared up before turning to his son who trembled.
"Father."
"Clemont, non, monsieur Clemont." Meyer looked down at Clemont's spurs with such pride and devotion it brought more tears to his eyes.
Felix felt his stomach harden into rock when he saw the second man race over to Ash and Red, embracing them both.
"Pierre, we thought you were dead!" Seeing the tears in Red's eyes for this man almost brought Felix to tears.
"Non, Meyer and I were merely taken prisoner in Lumiose and freed by Counts Michael and Grant."
"Ahhh! Papa, your hand!" Bonnie shrieked in terror. Ash, Clemont, Red, Shauna, and Korrina all shrieked when they saw both Meyer and Pierre's sword hands were gone.
"Oui, those Salopards thought we took too many of them down, so they decided to end the threat of our swordsmanship forever." Meyer almost laughed.
"We'll be ok. It's you two I'm relieved to see unharmed." Pierre added, only for Ash to nearly break down.
"Serena-"
"Will be fine." Pierre finished before almost jumping upon seeing Felix's face.
"Quoi? Who are you?"
"Felix." The samurai muttered.
"Felix is our birth father." Ash said, making Pierre blink.
"Vous êtes!?" The chevalier raced over and offered his remaining hand to Felix.
"A pleasure to meet you monsieur Felix."
"Hai. Ash says you were the one to take care of them."
"Oui, I trained them as chevaliers. I must say, they're the finest I've ever trained. If you saw what they've done you'd be prouder than you could've possibly imagined."
"Hai, thank you for taking such good care of them." Felix muttered as his Lucario tried to comfort him. As this went on, Shauna similarly caught up with Meyer who was all too pleased to find out she was involved with Clemont.
"Ash, Red." The group now turned to Calem, Daniel, and Alain who approached.
"Monsieurs, so good to see you both unharmed." Daniel gave them a proud nod, while still maintaining a serious demeanor, Alain following his example. Calem, however, embraced them both.
"Calem, I'm sorry I couldn't protect her-"
"Shhhh, être à l'aise, you've both done more than you could've possibly imagined for us. All of you." Calem turned to Clemont, Don Miquel, Arnaud, and Raymond as well, all bowing their heads.
"The hard part is over, we'll take care of things from here." Daniel assured them alongside Alain and the other lords.
"Monsieur Clemont, we'll need your help in positioning the cannons." Calem said earning a vehement nod from him.
"Oui, your majesty!"
By midday, Ash stood alongside Red, both in their armor. They joined virtually the entire Kalos army while facing the town walls, where a meager force of Galar troops trembled in awe of the host surrounding them.
Over twenty cannons joined the Kalos troops and their Pokemon, and Clemont stood at the head of the largest gun.
"Bring out the prisoners!" Calem roared. Several thousand Galar knights/soldiers also rested in the Kalos army's camp, all of the prisoners captured throughout the war. Ash and the others watched Arnaud and his troops gather ten prisoners in particular.
Earl Milo, Sir Zach, Lady Nessa, Earl Allister, Lady Bea, Earl Kabu, Earl Bede, Earl Gordie, Earl Piers, and Earl Raihan were all brought forward, hands bound. All except Lady Nessa on account of her ever increasing pregnancy. Ash trembled slightly as he stared at her swollen stomach before Red, Pierre, Felix, and his Pokemon gave him some comfort.
Finally, Calem and his Greninja stepped forward.
"Victor! Victor I know you're in there! Come out and face me, King to King!" An unsettling silence overcame both sides for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Victor, revealed himself on the walls. His Rillaboom, Duke Leon, and the young woman beside him.
The jubilant and overeager King Ash and Red saw almost a year earlier had disappeared, replaced by an exhausted, frighten, and beaten man, much like the soldiers/knights around him.
Victor stared out at Calem and the overwhelming Kalos army arrayed before him. Leon and the young woman both spoke to him, but he clearly wasn't listening.
"Victor, it's over! Let it end!" Victor turned back to his remaining men and Pokemon along the walls then stared at the land around them with a final longing gaze.
A minute later, Ash and the Army of Kalos felt a collective sense of disbelief. The Galar banners lowered and the gates opened. Red experience an almost surreal feeling as he watched Victor and Leon lead their troops/Pokemon out unarmed with a white flag. It was over, the Galar were defeated.
"Vive Kalos!" Arnaud roared.
"Vive Kalos! Vive Kalos! Vive Kalos! Vive Kalos! Vive Kalos!" The combined chant shook like an earthquake. Korrina and Shauna leaped into Red and Clemont's arms and kissed them while men and Pokemon across the camp embraced each other in overwhelming emotion.
Thousands wept in joy as they saw the last of the invaders surrender before them. It was over, or was it?
Ash's heart still raced, as did Arnaud and Raymond's.
They eventually joined up with Calem, Daniel, and Alain and watched Victor kneel down before Calem, Leon beside him.
"I submit myself to you." Victor said.
"Who do you submit yourself too?" Daniel corrected.
Victor now looked truly defeated.
"King Calem of Kalos."
Calem slowly nodded but then shook his head in disgust.
"All of this death, destruction, pain, and suffering for what!? So you could call yourself King here too!"
"Hey! He surrendered! Leave him alone!" The young woman roared in defiance.
"Gloria-" Victor started before Korrina stepped forward and punched her to the ground.
"Gloria!" Victor and Leon cried.
"Shut your damn mouth, salopard!" The Countess snarled.
"Korrina." Red said, his fiery hatred from the previous night all but vanishing as he too her by the shoulders.
Victor teared up when he saw Gloria on the ground, and didn't see the threat approaching.
"Serena! Where is Serena?!" Ash roared as he forced his way past the other royal knights and seized Victor with a feral expression. However, the Galar King merely looked puzzled, as did Duke Leon.
"Princess Serena? What are you talking about, we don't have her-" Ash punched Victor across the face so hard he drew blood.
"Ash!" Lucas and Thevolt tried to restrain him, but Arnaud wasted no time and violently kicked Victor in his stomach, forcing all the air from his lungs.
"Hey! Stop it!" Leon roared alongside Gloria.
"You lying bâtard! Where is she!?" The knight snarled before two more royal knights raced over to restrain him.
"I swear to Reduka I don't have her!"
"Perhaps, he's telling the truth." Sycamore muttered and an unsettling feeling overcame the Kalos Lords. Despite this, Calem and his Greninja came forward before the King of Kalos seized the King of Galar by the jaw.
"One of your knights, Sir Mercer helped kidnap her alongside Duke Lysandre's troops and members of the Rocket Clan. Why isn't Duke Lysandre here?"
"Hmp, you tell us! That bastard has deceived us from the beginning!" Leon roared full of hatred, not for his captors, but Lysandre.
Daniel looked at Leon with interest and approached him.
"Duke Lysandre encouraged you to invade Kalos, didn't he."
Victor clenched his eyes shut, but nodded.
"Aye, he did. He personally came to my court over a year ago and told me that Kalos was on the verge of a crisis. That King Alexandre wouldn't have a male heir and that the Kingdom would split upon your ascension to the throne. He said if I invaded and married Serena I could be king of both Kingdoms and prevent years of suffering in Kalos."
At this, Alain spat on the ground in front of Victor.
"And you so readily believed him because you wanted to avenge your father's defeat." The Baron snarled.
Victor didn't try to resist or deny it. He merely nodded in shame.
"I did."
"So Lysandre was behind all of this, but why? What does he have to gain?" Red asked.
"The key." Gloria answered. All eyes shot to her, particularly Calem and both Greninjas.
"What did you say?" Calem asked, almost trembling.
"Something called the Key!?" She roared back.
"Aye, that's all he ever talked about, finding some bloody key! He was obsessed!"
Ash and the others remembered hearing Xerosic talk about finding something called the Key back at the Parfum Palace.
"Monsieur Raymond?" Arnaud asked his Lieutenant, who nodded.
"Oui, your majesty. That was always the Duke's obsession, we were never told what it was, only Baron Xerosic and the noble ladies were given those details."
Calem had turned pale and his Greninja had to hold him upright.
"Calem, what is this key?" Ask asked.
"Not what, who."
"Who?" The others asked in utter confusion.
Calem furiously turned back to Victor and seized him by the jaw again.
"Duke Lysandre! Where is he now!?"
"Geosenge town! I commanded him to come and back us up here, but he refused!"
"Geosenge town! Geosenge town!" Calem threw Victor to the ground and held his head as if he might die at any moment.
"You stupid salopards! You've doomed us all!"
Ash and the others' felt their hearts race like Rapidash,
"Calem, what are you talking about? What's going on?" Ash asked.
"Gre." Greninja muttered, causing Ash's eyes to widen.
Miles away, Serena panted heavily from a mixture of anxiety and her pregnancy. The Princess couldn't see where she was with a cloth tied over her eyes, but felt a familiar cold floor.
"It couldn't be." She thought before finally stopping and seeing a piercing light.
"Bonsoir, Princess." Serena almost yelped when she saw Duke Lysandre, his Pyroar, and nobles.
"Bâtarde!" Serena lashed out only for two of Lysandre's men at arms to restrain her.
"Easy Princess, you shouldn't strain yourself when with child." Serena wanted to scream, but begrudgingly realized he wasn't wrong, and quickly held her stomach.
"Serena, forgive me." Another familiar voice muttered.
"Eh?" The Princess looked over and saw none other than AZ bound with seven men-at-arms guarding him.
"AZ?! What are you doing here!?"
The giant clenched his eyes shut and began to sob.
"Paying for my sins."
"Quoi?" Serena had no idea what he meant by this.
"What are we waiting for!? We're so close to our new world! King Victor will soon be destroyed!" Mable shouted impatiently.
"It matters not, he and his wretched armies served their purpose."
Serena caught her breath as she came to the horrible realization of what this meant.
"It was you all along. You brought the Galar here! You who caused all of this!"
"Oui, regrettable but ultimately necessary."
"For what!?"
Lysandre gazed upon the crystal chapel with a longing expression.
"A better world than this one. Even if I hadn't started this war, another conflict was inevitable. Some place, some time, humans and Pokemon alike will always defile this beautiful world with their selfishness, arrogance, pride, and lust for power and possessions. I intend to stop all of this, and create a perfect world. A world where none suffer, war no longer exists, and beauty will last forever." Lysandre's followers appeared completely entranced, as if under the influence of herbs, but Serena looked at them as if they were mad.
"Tu es fou! You brought all this death, destruction, suffering, and murdered my father for an insane vision!"
"Silence!" Malva slapped Serena across the face, but Lysandre quickly grabbed his wife's arm.
"Malva, enough. We can't expect her or any of them to understand. She too is hopelessly lost in her hedonism like all those outside our chosen."
"Your chosen!?"
Bryony grinned and nodded.
"Oui, all those who follow the Duke Lysandre and only those who follow him will be allowed in his new world. From there, we will live forever."
"Ehhh!?" Serena now trembled.
"Soon I will have the necessary power to achieve this dream. The power to control legendary Pokemon!"
"Legendary Pokemon!?"
Lysandre grinned and turned back to Serena.
"Princess, have you ever heard of the Tale of the Three Brothers?"
She slowly nodded.
"That's just a story!"
"Oh, I'm afraid not, Princess. For you see, we're connected you and I. I am a direct descendant of the second brother, the one murdered. As for you, the House of Capet are direct descendants of the third brother."
Lysandre held his hands out and pointed to the entire crystal chamber.
"For thousands of years, your family had maintained this chamber and the secrets the third brother hid within it. Secrets which will soon be mine.
Serena winced and shook her head.
"Tu es fou! You caused all of this because you believed in a story!".
"Your father believed it, the story is true, but don't take my word for it Princess. Ask an eyewitness!"
"Quoi?" Lysandre and his followers all grinned while pointing to AZ who didn't stop trembling.
"Lysandre, please, don't do this." The giant pleaded.
"AZ, what is he talking about?"
"Serena-" AZ started.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, Serena, but the man before you, AZ, he is the story! He's the first brother who killed my ancestor and brought destruction to the world!"
Serena couldn't breath and turned pale as she slowly looked at AZ again.
"It's not true, it can't be true! He'd have to be thousands of years old!"
AZ couldn't stop sobbing and slowly raised his head back to Serena.
"I'm sorry, Serena, I'm sorry." The Princess couldn't take it all in, she wanted to scream but nothing came out.
"Not that leads us to you, Serena. For you see, the power inside this cavern was sealed by your ancestor with a key. I've scoured Kalos searching for it, but only recently learned the truth. He was the key, his blood, your blood."
"Non!" Serena muttered when she saw Lysandre and two of his men approach her.
"Lysandre, stop! Please! You have no idea what you're doing!"
"Lysandre!" Another voice roared.
Serena still breathed heavily when she saw a samurai force himself over towards the Duke with Proton beside him.
"Lysandre! Where is he!? We had a contract and I brought you your damned key!"
"Patience, Giovanni. Without the power inside, that Pokemon is uncontrollable and useless to you. I just need another minute."
Giovanni grit his teeth but reluctantly nodded.
"Do it then!" The men-at-arms dragged Serena to the pedestal near the alter.
"Stop! Lysandre I'm begging you!" AZ pleaded like no one Serena ever heard before.
"And now." Lysandre's followers watched in anticipation as he cut Serena's hand.
"Ahhh!" The Princess wailed in agony, but quickly felt Lysandre shove her injury against the pedestal.
"Come on, come on!" Lysandre pleaded as he watched her blood soak the crystal. After several moments, it began to glow and crystal receeded.
"Oui! Oui!" Lysandre dropped his dagger and gazed in awe as a doorway opened up.
Lysandre slowly entered the chamber and cried out when he and the others saw something inside. Serena too felt herself lost when she stared at a sapphire gemstone roughly the size of a jug. The precious stone seemed to glow on its on, but unlike anything Serena ever saw before, or even imagined possible. The strange gem was almost in describable, or perhaps otherworldly.
"What is that?" Serena stuttered in pure terror.
AZ trembled even more and turned as pale as snow.
"That, is the Tear of Reduka."
"Tear of Reduka!"
Lysandre reached out for the stone.
"Stop!" AZ threw himself up so hard that he shattered the chains keeping him in place.
It took fifteen soldiers and knights to restrain him, and the giant's efforts proved fruitless.
Lysandre picked up the Tear of Reduka and his eyes turned white for a moment and a moment only.
"Lysandre?" Malva muttered, slightly afraid alongside the others.
Lysandre's eyes regained their color and he grinned wider than anything natural.
"Power!" He roared, almost as if answering someone's question.
Serena nearly passed out when she and the others saw Lysandre transform before them. Black veins burst across his exposed skin, which similarly turned so pale that he almost looked translucent, like a ghost. Lysandre's mane similarly looked like it was lit on fire, and he held up the Tear.
"Come to me!"
Something nearby shattered and Serena gasped when she saw an unknown Pokemon float over the floor, his eyes glowing white before he knelt before Lysandre.
"Mewtwo!" Giovanni shouted.
Elsewhere, three other legendary Pokemon heard the call, their eyes glowing like Mewtwo's before they all turned in the direction of Geosenge town.
Author's note
Thus Lysandre's true intentions are finally revealed as is the truth about AZ, although I'm sure a lot of you saw it coming
It now comes down to one final battle, so be sure to stick around
On that note, I've gotten mixed answers from my question for the final Amourshipping fic, so I've decided to compromise.
Once this fic is finished, I'll publish the final fic on my wattpad account under Fictionknight2 for those who'd like it now instead of later. For those who want it to come out after Journey's ends, I won't post it here on Fanfiction until then, and will also make any necessary changes to match the anime.
So until next time,
Please review, comment, suggest, or ask (VIA PM)