Epilogue : Shallow Victory
One snowy day of February, around a small patch of ground that had been thawed by the constant works of a horde of fire pokemon, a group of trainers were gathered, trainers and others, watching as two coffins were slowly lowered in the earth. One was Gary's, whose noble death had become a symbol of courage for the trainers, the other was May's, whose role in the war had remained untold, only remaining to all but those who had been on top of the Skyscraper an innocent victim. They had all agreed it would be better that way, sparing the guilt to a family that had enough reason to feel depressed as was with the death of their only two children.
Ash looked sadly, feeling both pain at the loss of his best friend, but also a sharp pang of personal guilt at the loss of May, even though she had been the enemy. Before being the enemy, she had been a friend, more than that, his first crush, and though his heart belonged to Misty, there still had been lingering traces of affection for the young woman.
And then, there had been the look in her eyes, the wild look of unspeakable loss, but also the look of someone forced in something without understanding what was happening, and finally waking up from it - and realizing the horrors of what had happened. She had been a victim, that much was true, and somehow, just somehow, she had been the one to loose the much in them all. Her innocence, the life of her brother, but foremost, her soul, as if it had been ripped apart from her, forcibly replaced by another soul, darker, that of the general she had been. In the end, she had lost herself, lost her brother, and lost her life.
Trying not to think too much of the losses, Ash turned to thinking of the recent events. With the loss of most of their army at Viridian, they had been pushed back with ease, the trainers striking south and retaking Vermilion, the armies of Johto and Kanto striking east through the mountain to retake Celadon as the rockets and the gym leaders swung north in pursuit of the retreating northern Lotus force, swarming over Cerulean.
Even Brock's resistance group had participated in the counter attack, as they had fought their way in taking Lavender back by themselves, while the Hoshoan fleet had swarmed over Fuchsia, forcing the last remnants of the Lotus army to flee. There were no attacks on the Lotus headquarters, as much as many of them wanted revenge. Their armies were too weak after the fighting, they all needed the rest, and an assault on their headquarter would be costly, not to mention useless, as the Lotus was left without an army, or rather with the pathetic remnants of what had been an army. They were no longer a menace, and the fact was that by the time an assault could be mounted, they would probably have taken the time to move away.
He turned his eyes back toward the ceremony as the coffin was slowly lowered in the life, trying to keep the sense of loss away, loss of a friend, and also the loss of innocence that had accompanied May's death, the realization that the Crimson Lotus was not a faceless evil power, that the humans in it were not cruel people out to be evil, but rather people who really believed in what they were doing, or worst, had been led in following them by their feelings.
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At long last, the funerals concluded, and the bystanders slowly left, followed by the Oak family, and only Ash and his friends were left standing in the cold graveyard. Misty had been weeping, her eyes red from it as he held her close to him, wanting only to feel the safety that came from being close to a loved one. Richie was white-faced, as always, and Damian seemed sad, though his seemed to be the sadness of one who had known what would come, but had been unable to alter it. Elayne had not wept as much as Misty, but she had still been weeping. As for the ever-mysterious Kyle, whose mystery had only grown with his feats during the battle, the hood of his cloak hid his face, concealing his emotions. For the brief moment that he had seen his face, he had been struck with an odd sense of familiarity, as if he knew the face from before in his life, though he could swear he had never see Kyle's face before. Melody, the last one there with them, had not wept at all.
"What are we going to do now?" It was Misty who put out the questions that they probably all were wondering about. Ash suddenly was finding himself with nothing to accomplish, his life-long dream accomplished, and the war he had been swept in over. "I mean, it's pretty much over for what we were trying to do...at least for Ash it is, and I don't see much point in wandering either now..."
"We still have a lot to do." Damian answered. "Remember what my father said a year ago?" He asked them, and Ash fought to remember, finally bringing back the memory to his mind. The prophecy, of course. Back then he had refused to believe that there was a new war with the dark one coming, or that there had been one back then. Only, now, he knew it all to be true from the spirit of the dragonite, from the visions in the shrine.
"Yeah, about that prophecy. And I even know it's true now, thanks to that soul gift." He answered, earning himself curious looks from Misty and Richie.
"All right. Then I guess you know that the next confrontation will happen soon." Damian told him, though all of them listened closely to what he was saying. Ash nodded. "Now, have any idea about the names mentioned in that prophecy?" he asked, and when Ash shook his head, he started to answer.
"All right. There are the nine heroes. I won't mention them just yet. Asides from them there are a few "helpers" mentioned - the Summoner, the Neverborn and the Seeker." He detailed. "I have no idea who the Neverborn is, from what I heard I am pretty sure the summoner is here, And I know for a fact who the seeker is." He completed.
"Oh? Who is it?" Misty asked, her eyes curious, and Ash smiled, the answer becoming obvious all of a sudden.
"Me." Damian answered simply, looking at them all. "My job is to gather the nine and the three helpers. So far, I know where two of the nine are, and I suspect I know where the summoner is."
"Really?" Richie asked, his voice dead.
"Yes. Ash is one, the Child of the Dragon. I think he already know he is the Child of the Dragon, and that is one of the nine heroes."
Ash nodded, not really surprised. Combining the name that Aysen had given him with the knowledge he had gained from Tairan, it had been easy to piece together.
"Misty is another." Damian continued, looking at his sister with an expression that looked almost like sadness on her face, as if he would have rather kept his sister out of the war entirely. "The Lady of Mist, to be exact," He continued. "The prophecies about here - the part that I know - state that The Lady of Mist will go through fire and shadow to stand at the side of the child, bound there by a love that saved her. Misty went through that fire, became shadow, and she stands at Ash's side, and their love for each other played a huge part in saving her when she was Shadow." He explained, and Misty nodded, though her eyes seemed suddenly afraid, somehow. Ash held her tightly,
"All right. And who would the summoner be?" Ash asked, and Damian didn't answer.
"Only makes sense, doesn't it? I suppose that's me." Melody stated, and they all turned toward her.
"Why?" Richie asked. "What makes you think that?" The voice was toneless, empty, as always, and again Ash looked at his friend worriedly.
"Well, when I used my music with Lugia, it was sort of like summoning him...and, besides which, do you have any idea whoever else it could be?"
"She's right, at least as far as I can see. She's the one I suspected, because the prophecies regarding the Summoner have her closely linked to the "bird of the moon", which appears to be a description only Lugia could fit." Damian nodded.
"Not to mention that the sea and the moon are closely linked, with the tides." Kyle added in. Ash nodded, this was another thing he had learned from the Soul Gift.
"Very well." He said, trying to come up with an idea what they should do next. "I think our next step is really the obvious one. We find the others." He stated simply. "The question is, who's coming with me, Damian, Melody and Misty?" he asked.
"I'll come." Kyle said, and though he was still unsure about trusting the young man, Ash had to agree that his powers would be extremely helpful on their quest.
"I guess I might as well tag along too." Richie added, turning his pale face toward Ash, and again Ash found himself looking worriedly at his friend.
"I'll be there, of course." Elayne smiled, wrapping her arm around Damian's shoulders. The young man turned to look at his girlfriend as Ash turned toward Misty, bringing her closer to him.
"A flower of blood spread across the land, a rising sun washes the darkness. The hand of fate claim a victim already lost, blood calling to blood. The footsteps of destiny are heard. When the white cloak fall on the land again fates will wage war."
Selia, seeress of Johto, the Book of Twilight, as spoken in the city of Blackthorn in the 1005th years after the awakening.
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