Sorry for the late Post, I have a bit of writer's block in this chapter and I thought it was shorter than I planned, but it wasn't. Now onto chapter 22.
Chapter 22
A Day Of Despair
Oliver P.O.V.
After a day of us just drifting at sea, Rita finally managed to fix the engiend and we were on our way to Dahngrest, and after a few more days at sea they made it to the beach Raven was talking about, and to pass the time at sea we "fixed" our weapons, and let our Pokemon rest and healed. Then after walking for a bit we made it to Dahngrest. "I'm gonna take this one with me and pay The Don a visit. These things usually take a while so why not hang tight at the inn. I'll come over when I can." Raven said as he and Harry started to walk away from the group.
"Wait! Can… can I come with you?" Karol asked Raven. "Huh? This is Union business. Not sure you'll have much ta talk about." Raven said to Karol. "I… Actually. There was something else I wanted to ask." Karol said to Raven. "Can't it wait till ya bring the apatheia with everybody else?" Raven asked Karol. "It's… I'd rather ask it on my own." Karol said to Raven. "If it's not too complicated go and give it a try." Yuri said to Karol. "I can't make any promises, just so ya know." Raven said to Karol.
"Thanks! I'll be right back guys!" Karol said to everyone, as they and their Pokemon started to leave. "I better go with them." Ava said to me. "If you need anything, know that I will rush to help you." I said as I grabbed Ava's hand. "Thank you Oliver." Ava said as she gripped my hand, before she let go of my hand and went after the others. We watched as they all left in silence.
"Do you think we could ask about the Apatheia as well?" Estelle asked us, breaking the silence. "That qualifies as complicated." Yuri said to Estelle. "You've got that right…" Rita said to Yuri. Then Patty and her Pokemon started to leave. "Hey, wait up. Where do you think you're going?" Rita asked Patty. "I've been to this city before… I think…" Patty said to everyone. "That again…?" Rita said to everyone. "It's not crazy when you think about it Rita." I said to Rita.
"Well, this city does have a history with Aifread. It wouldn't have been strange for your grandfather to have come here." Yuri said to everyone. "That's true. I'm going to ask around a bit." Patty said to everyone. "Be careful that you don't end up like you did in Nordopolica or Mantaic." Yuri said to Patty. "I know!" Patty said to Yuri. "And stay safe." I said to Patty. "I will." Patty said as she left us. "We'll be at the inn. All right…" Yuri said to Patty as she disappeared from sight with her Pokemon.
"Let's be good kids and wait for Uncle Raven at the inn." Yuri said to everyone. "Ok one it's Grampa Raven, and two when are we ever good kids for anyone?" I asked Yuri. "You have a point." Yuri said to me, before we walked to the inn.
A few minutes later we made it to the inn. "Estelle, The Pokemon, and I will be resting in the inn." Rita said to everyone. "Aah… b-but… I have to…" Estelle said to Rita, but was interrupted by Rita. "We're going to get some rest. What about you, Yuri, Oliver?" Rita asked us. "Hmmm, yeah. I could use some time off my feet, too. What about you Oliver?" Yuri asked me. "Knowing our luck this could be the only break we get, so count me in." I said to Yuri. Soon we all went to our room and took a nap.
A few hours later Estelle started to wake us up. "Yuri, Oliver, please wake up! Yuri! Oliver!" Estelle said as she woke the two of us up. "Huh? Oh… I was really zonked out, huh…" Yuri said to Estelle. "Estelle why did you wake us up?" I asked Estelle, as me and Yuri got up. I then noticed Raven standing next to us. "Oh the old man is back." I said to Raven. "Well good mornin', sleepyhead… though it's more "good afternoon" now, ain't it?" Raven said to me.
"Oh… hey, old man. You're back… what about Karol, Mawile, Skiddo, and Ava?" Yuri said to Raven, as I noticed them not in the room. "Haven't seen them since I left the Union. I reckon they're still there." Raven said to everyone. "I hope they're okay…" Estelle said to everyone. "Well, since the old man's back, does that mean everything settled with the Union?" Rita said to Estelle. "Maybe so Raven what's going on?" I asked Raven. "Did you see The Don?" Rita asked Raven.
"Well, about that… As soon as The Don heard what happened with Harry and Nordopolica. The Don made the Hunting Blades an illegal guild. Then he left the Union." Raven said to everyone. "What he left?" I said to Raven. "By himself? That's not like him. Where did he go?" Yuri asked Raven. "Well- and this is just my intuition, mind ya- I think he's headed for Leviathan's Claw's compound, the Manor of the Wicked. And he didn't go alone apparently Drampa went with him." Raven said to us. "What?!" Yuri said to Raven. "Sounds like a cheary place." I said to Raven.
"But Yeager is the head of Leviathan's Claws! That's so dangerous!" Estelle asked Raven. "Well, I don't think Yeager'd try anything against the Don. If they went up against the Union. They could lose all of their business, for one." Raven said to everyone. "So why did The Don go out there?" Rita asked Raven. "So anyway, I'm sorry, but The Don's left the city." Raven said to everyone, skipping Rita's question. "Well then, should we go to Leviathan's Claw's compound?" Yuri said to everyone.
"You believe the old man's intuition?" Rita asked Yuri. "If the Don's going up against Leviathan's Claw, we can't very well sit around and twiddle our thumbs. There's no guarantee the scum won't try to attack him." Yuri said to everyone. "Well, all right, then, I'm not really one for waiting, anyway." Rita said to Yuri. "Patty, Slowpoke, and Cramorant still aren't back, huh? Then I guess we have no choice…. We'll have to leave them behind. Estelle, will you wait here?" Yuri said to everyone.
Estelle shook her head no. "I… I'm going with you." Estelle said to Yuri. "Estelle, don't overdo it. Are you sure you're up to this?" Rita asked Estelle. "Yes… I'm absolutely fine." Estelle said to Rita. "Estelle." Rita said to Estelle.
"Oliver you been quiet what's your thought?" Yuri asked me. "So I'm just going to recap the plane. We are going to infultaire or attack a compound of arms dealers that will have no problem killing us, with broken weapons. Does that sound about right?" I asked Yuri. "Pretty much." Yuri said to me. "So, you all know where the Manor of the Wicked is?" Raven asked everyone.
"I figured you knew, old man. Aren't you coming with us?" Yuri asked Raven. "Well yeah, I guess I am." Raven said to Yuri. "Well then, it's decided. We'll just go pick up Karol, Ava, Mawile, and Skiddo." Yuri said to everyone. "And let's get some new…" I said but was interrupted by the sound of people shouting outside. "What the...?!" Yuri asked everyone. "Any idea where that came from?" I asked everyone. "It sounded from the direction of the bridge…" Rita said to everyone. "Uh oh…" Raven said as he placed his head in one of his hands.
"What is it Raven?" I asked Raven. "Let's go and see!" Estelle said before Raven could say anything. "Ok, let's go." I said to everyone as we walked out of the inn.
As we walked out we saw a group of people and Pokemon standing in front that briged into town. "What's with all these people here?" Rita asked everyone. "Karol's over there!" Estelle said to everyone. Then I notice Karol in the group and his Pokemon on the side. "The Don protected this city from the Empire… he protected our honor!" I heard a man say that to Karol. "Even if we're the only ones helping, we owe it to The Don to protect the city!" I heard another man say that to Karol.
Then Raven walked to the group. "Hold your horses! Settle down, all of you. What's all this commotion?" Raven asked the group. "We've heard that a group from Palestralle has been spotted near Heliord!" A man said to Raven. "Their leader got killed thanks to a mistake of one of our own. It's only natural they'd wanna talk about the incident." Raven said to them.
"Once they learn The Don's left town. Things will get ugly! We must defend Ava and the city from them until Don returns!" One of the men said to Raven. "You fools. If y'all weren't so eager to fight, The Don wouldn't 've had to leave in the first place… soon as they learn that there's fighting between guilds… dontcha think the Knights are bound to stick their noses in our business again?" Raven said to the men.
"Dahngrest is independent from the empire! The Imperial Knights are in no place to tell us what to do!" Another man said to Raven. "The friendship treaty still ain't finalized yet, you know…" Raven said to the group. Then Karol and his Pokemon came running at us.
"Yuri! Oliver Everyone! What do we do? This is going to become a war between guilds if we don't do something! If only the Don were here…" Karol said to everyone. "They say that The Don may have gone to the Leviathan's Claw compound, The Manor of the Wicked." Yuri said to Karol. "What! Really?" Karol asked us. "Well… probably so…" Estelle said to Karol. "We were about to see if we could go there. Wanna come with us?" Yuri asked Karol.
"But… there's a chance that The Don's not there, right?" Karol asked us. "Yeah, it was just the old man's intuition, after all." Rita said to Karol. "If he's not there… War could break out while we're out looking for him… Yuri… Oliver… What should we do…? What would be best…?" Karol asked us. "Well, we should be able to handle The Manor of the Wicked ourselves. You go ahead and do what you think you should do." Yuri said to Karol.
"Y-yeah… then I'm going to go and talk to everyone!" Karol said as he started to leave. "Karol, wait a minute." I said to Karol, making him stop. "What is it Oliver?" Karol asked me. "I heard one of the men mention protecting Ava. Can you tell me what he was talking about and where is Ava?" I asked Karol. "Apparently some people overheard Palestralle talking about getting revenge for Belius by Killing Ava, after that The Don left and everyone started to get ready for war." Karol said to me.
"WHAT! WHERE'S AVA!?" I asked Karol at the top of my lungs. "She's in the Union headquarters." Karol said to me. "IS SHE SAFE!?" I asked Karol. "Yes she's safe. I got to go Oliver." Karol said to me before he went back to the large group. "ALL RIGHT EVERYONE WERE GOING AFTER THE DON!" I said to everyone. Do you think this is the right choice?" Estelle asked me and Yuri. "We don't have much choice. We can't follow The Don and guard the city at the same time." Rita said to Estelle. "AND IF I'M GOING TO SAVE AVA! I NEED THE DON'S HELP, SO WERE GOING AFTER HIM." I said to Estelle.
"I hope that we find The Don at the Manor of the Wicked…" Estelle said to everyone. "We're his backup. If Yeager's the one The Don's up against, he'll need all the help he can get." Yuri said to everyone. "Hey, do ya even know where yer going?! It's straight ta the west of here!" Raven said to us. "THEN WE GO THAT WAY!" I said as I started to run west at top speed. "Oliver wait what abou-." Rita said to me but I was too far to hear her.
After an hour of running I made it to a creepy and run down manor in the middle of a dark wood that had yellow colored Leviathan's Claw grunts guarding the place with Gauche, and Droite standing by the front door. I watched them for a good minute, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Intinces took over and punched whoever touched me with the back of my hand. "Ow." A familiar voice said. I then turned around to see everyone but Karol, Ava, Mawile and Skiddo standing behind me, with Raven rubbing his face.
"Raven don't scare me like that, and what is Patty, Slowpoke, and Cramorant doing here?" I said to everyone. "I'm here to meet The Don." Patty said to me. "Is that it?" I asked Patty. "And maybe take some of Leviathan's Claw treasure." Patty said to me. "That's more like it, but this place isn't the place for you." I said to Patty. "What about us this isn't the kind of place you walk into." Raven said to me.
"The Don is here and I'm sure we can handle these fools. After all we have enough Pokemon to tear apart the manor if we want to." I said to Raven, as I pointed to manor. "It's so heavily guarded…" Estelle said as she looked at the manor. "We should wait and see what the situation is like first." Patty said to everyone. "I wouldn't matter. I watched them for a bit and this is how they have been the entire time." I said to everyone. "Yeah can't get too comfortable." Raven said to everyone. "Shh. they're arguing about something." Yuri said to everyone. We then all started to listen to Gauche, and Droite arguing to a guard.
"What part of "let us in" are you having trouble with?" Droite said to the guard. "Like I said, your timing just seems a little too perfect. Don't you have anything to prove who you say you are?" The guard said to Gauche, and Droite. "You know what? Actually, we don't. Let us through. The Don is here. We don't have time to sit and chat." Gauche said to the guard.
"So the old man did come here…" Raven said to everyone. "Quiet I'm trying to hear what they're saying." I said to Raven, as we resume listening. "Didn't you go looking for proof that the Hunting Blades were ater that dragon rider and her dragon lover?" The guard asked Gauche, and Droite. "I told you. We received word that The Don was headed here before we left for Mt. Tenzma" Gauche said to the Guard. "We couldn't very well ignore news like that, could we?" Droite asked the guard.
"The Hunting Blades are out to get Judy? And who's her dragon lover?" Yuri asked everyone. "They're probably talking about Hugo, after all he did go after her." I said to Yuri, as we resumed listening. "What are you waiting for?! You won't be any use to Yeager if we have to give you a beating." Droite said to the guard. "Humph… We'll let you through, but not without an escort. You don't mind. I hope?" The guard said to Gauche, and Droite. "Whatever, just let us in." Gauche said to the guard.
Soon Gauche, and Droite went in with a few of the guards. "What luck now there's less guards ta worry about." Raven said in a pleasant mood. "Sure now instead of fighting 20 guard outside and 10 guards inside. We'll fight 10 guards outside and 20 guards inside. Yeah why worry." I said to Raven. "Guess we'd better strike while the iron's hot." Yuri said to everyone. "That may be a good idea, if we strike them now, while they're moving we can take them by surprise." I said to Yuri.
"Wh-who the hell are you?!" A guard said as he noticed us. "Well there goes the element of surprise." I said as the guard started to run away from us, but Repede stopped him. "Hey!" The guard said. "Nice , Repede!" Yuri said to Repede. But the other guards heard the commotion and came running.
"Well here we go." I said to everyone, as we drew our weapons, only for them to fall apart again and then I remembered. "We forget to get new weapons in town." I said to everyone. "You forgot I tried to tell you, but you took off running the second you knew which way to go." Rita said to me, as the guards started to laugh at us. "Well then we'll do it this way." I said as I thought my broken weapons at two of the guards, hitting them in the face and making the rest of the guard stop laughing.
"Doublade come out and use Iron Head, while spinning." I said as I let Doublade out of his Pokeball. "Doublade." Doublade said as his blades turned silver and started to spin, making him slash through a few of the guards. "Banette uses Shadow Sneak and Bisharp uses Aerial Ace." Yuri said to Banette and Bisharp. "Banette/ Bisharp." the two Pokemon said as they disappeared and then reappeared behind two of the guards, hitting them on the back of their head, and forcing them to the ground.
"Audino uses Dazzling Gleam, and Togetic uses Air Slash." Estelle said to Audino and Togetic. "Audino." Audino said as she started to glow, blinding the guards. "Togetic." Togetic said as she started to fire blades of wind at the guards. "Cramerant uses Drill Peck and Slowpoke uses Water Gun." Patty said to Cramerant and Slowpoke. They said nothing as Slowpoke fired a stream of water at a few of the guards, and as Cramerant started to spin, sending a guard flying.
"Drilbur uses Drill Run and Sableye use Shadow Claw." Raven said to Drilbur and Sableye. "Drilbur/ Sableye." The two of them said as Drilbur started to spin and one of Sableye's claws grew and turned black with a purple outline, then Drilbur hit one of the guards in the front and Sableye hit the same guard from behind. "Now Corvisquire uses Fury Attack, and Riolu uses Bone Rush." I said to Corvisquire, and Riolu. "Corvisquire." Corvisquire said as he rapidly pecked one of the guards. "Riolu said as he made a long red bone and started to fight one of the guards, with Repedes help. A few seconds later they won the fight.
"Metang uses Bullet Punch and Duosion uses Psyshock." Rita said to Metang and Duosion as she charged up a spell. "Metang." Metan said as he charged at the last guard and hit him into the air. "Duosion." Duosion said as she fired multiple purple orbs at the last guard, at the same time Rita fired a fireball at the last guard. Then the two attacks hit the last guard at the same time and sent him flying.
"Well that takes care of the guards." I said to everyone. "So let's make with the gettin' inside." Raven said to me. "Right let's go." I said to everyone as I noticed Estelle lost in thought. "What's wrong Estelle?" I asked Estelle. "Why do you think the Hunting Blades would be after Judith and Hugo?" Estelle asked me. "Revenge, a job, they're crazy, who knows." I said to Estelle. "If they're looking for apatheia, maybe they want the dragon Judith was riding. If he's an Entelexeia he might become an apatheia like Belius. I mean… When he dies…" Rita said to everyone.
"Which means Harry's request wasn't the only reason they wanted ta take Belius down. They want those apatheia somethin' bad." Raven said to everyone. "Judy… Hugo…" Patty said to herself full of worry. "Don't worry Patty. I'm sure Hugo and Judith are safe." I said to Patty. "Still they might be in trouble but we should help The Don out first. Especially with those two charming young ladies in there." Yuri said to everyone. "Aye. Let's be quick and clean this place up." Patty said to everyone. "Sure. We should be on our way." Raven said to everyone, as we started to move. Well almost everyone, Estelle wasn't moving.
"Estelle you coming?" I asked Estelle. "I'm just worried about Judith and Hugo." Estelle said to me. "So you'll be going to Mt. Temza? Yuri asked Estelle. "But The Don…" Estelle said to everyone. "We're practicing deciding for ourselves. Remember? Let's move." Yuri said to everyone. Then everyone but me and Estelle started to move. "Estelle it's impossible for us to be everywhere helping everyone at once. You need to start thinking about what's going on around you. First we help The Don and Ava, then we go and find Judith and Hugo, then help them. So you coming?" I asked Estelle.
"I'm coming too! Judith would be upset if. I left The Don like this to go looking for her. I can just hear her saying, "My, what did you think you were doing?"." Estelle said to me. "And I can imagine Hugo giving you a hard time about leaving Ava to go help him." I said to Estelle. "Don't worry about Judith. She's tough. And she got Hugo, Vibrava, Gallade, Noivern, Roserade, Vaporeon, Mamoswine, and whatever Hug's Six Pokemon is." Rita said to Estelle.
"All right, let's get the old Don out of this place. Looks like we've found one more thing we can't ignore." Yuri said to everyone. "Okay!" Estelle said to everyone. "Ok everyone, charge." I said as we made our way into the manor.
"L-look.." Estelle said as we noticed The Don, and Drampa on the floor above us, with The Don holding a sword at Yeager, and Drampa using Steel Wing. "Whitehorse!" Raven said. "That's… The Don…?" Patty said as she looked at The Don. I turned my head and saw some stairs. "Quick up the stairs." I said to everyone as we ran to the stairs. Then Gauche, Droite, and a handful of guards appeared in front of us.
"Stand back." Gauche said to us. "Didn't you say Leviathan's Claw would never try something like this, old man?" Yuri asked Raven. "The Don's the one that started all this." Droite said to us. "What? Then, that means the old man's…" Raven said as he looked at The Don.
"Just whaddya think yer doin' here, ya damn fools?! Bringin' young ones to a place like this!" The Don said to Raven. "Don't look at me, this was lover boy fault." Raven said to The Don as he pointed to me. "Bravo! U really should thank you for such a heart-rending performance!" Yeager said to The Don as he dodged The Don and Drampa's attacks.
"What the hell's he talking about?" Rita asked Raven. "Talk later, fight now." I said to everyone. We then "fought" the guards for a few minutes. And what I mean by fought is letting our Pokemon do all the fighting, while we grabbed things and smashed things on top of the guards heads. Once the battle was over we saw Gauche, and Droite run up the stairs and disappeared into a cloud of smoke.
"Where's The Don?" Raven asked everyone. "I didn't see him come down during the fight, so he's probably still up stairs." I said to Raven. "He must have gone after Yeager!" Estelle said to Raven. "Let's go!" Yuri said to everyone. We then ran up stairs looking for The Don and fighting a few more guards along the way. After a few minutes of looking through rooms, we found The Don, Drampa, Yeager, Gauche, and Droite in what looked like the master bedroom.
"I never dreamed you'd try anything this risky…" Yeager said to The Don as Gauche, and Droite got in between us and them. "Finally made up my mind that this mudball'd be a much prettier place without you on it." The Don said to Yeager. "The other master guilds surely won't like you ignoring the Union's laws for your personal vendetta." Yeager said to The Don. "And I'll face the consequences. But looks like I've underestimated ya a touch. I'm outta time. If I don't get myself back ta Dahngrest, those fools're gonna start a war with each other." The Don said as he put his sword away.
"H-heh. I think it's a bit late to prevent that little accident from happening." Yeager said to The Don. "A couple eggs might have ta be broken. But I'm prepared to pay a price." The Don said to Yeager. "A price…" Raven said softly. "You've still got us to deal with Yeager." Yuri said to Yeager. "And know you're trapped and outnumbered." I said to Yeager."Well, it looks like the tide's taken a turn, ja indeed. Bye bye!" Yeager said as he, Gauche, and Droite ran to the window. "Hey, wait!" Rita said as Yeager, Gauche, and Droite, broke the window and jumped out of it.
"Damn. that guys' a regular vanishing act." Yuri said to everyone. "Yeah he's worse than a Abra." I said to everyone. "Now what's with all of you? Just how'd ya figure comin' down here'd be the smart thing ta do? Hm? Who's that little kid?" The Don asked everyone. "I ain't no little kid. I'm Patty." Patty said to The Don. "Sorry 'bout that. Patty, eh? Why doncha come over here 'n' show me yer face?" The Don asked Patty. Patty did as The Don asked.
Then The Don looked at Patty for a few seconds. "Now this is a surprise…" The Don said, surprising Patty. "You're a dead-ringer for Aifread… The very spittin' image…" The Don said. "Huh…? Then it really is true that Patty is Aifread's granddaughter…?" Estelle asked The Don.
"Granddaughter? You're his…? Hm. I never heard nothin' 'bout that scoundrel havn' a granddaughter…" The Don said to everyone. "Huh. So Patty's guess was right on the mark…" Yuri said to everyone. "Looks like Patty was right all along." I said to Yuri.
"As his relative, I bet you must've suffered quite a bit over Aifread's infamous incident." The Don said to Patty. "I've got my own reasons for following Aifread's trail. I thought that since you were his friend, Don, you might know something." Patty said to The Don. "Heh! It's be an exaggeration to say that we were ever friends. He just did whatever he wanted to do. I never knew where he was or what he was doing. And I ain't got a clue about that now neither." The Don said to Patty. "I see. Haven't you met him somewhere recently...?" Patty asked The Don.
"Hm…? Have I? Can't rightly say…" The Don said to Patty. "I hate to interrupt, but we have other things to talk about." I said as I pulled out the apatheia. "This is a keepsake left by an ally of yours. We were asked to bring it to you." Yuri said to The Don. "Looks like I caused you all some trouble." The Don said as he reached for the apatheia. But then I pulled back.
"Before I give you this, you have to give me your word." I said to The Don. "And what word is that?" The Don asked me. "That you will help me save Ava. I don't care what you decided to do with her, but please just let her stay with me." I said to The Don. The Don just looked at me for a second before cracking a smile and laughing a little. "I See Ava found a great man." The Don said, making me blush. "What no... we're not.. things are…" I said rabling for a bit before The Don took the apatheia from my hands.
"Of all the… why'd she have ta wind up like this…?" The Don said as he looked at the Apatheia. "It's my fault sir. I lost focus in the battle and Ava had to kill her to save me. If anyone should take responsibility for Belius death it should be me." I said to The Don. "This isn't your fault Boy." The Don said to me. "Just what is apatheia anyway?" Rita asked The Don. "Well. Ya see…" The Don said to Rita, but then we all heard a banging sound on the door.
"Hm… Fraid I don't hate time ta explain it now. Hate ta cut and run, but I'll leave the rest of these guys to you." The Don said as he and Drampa jumped out the window. Then Drampa picked The Don up and started to fly towards Dahngrest. "Wait." Rita said to The Don as a few guards came into the room.
"We should think about getting out of here, too." Yuri said to everyone. "Hey, let me try and buy the old man some time." Raven said to everyone. "Raven?" Estelle said to Raven. "What, you planning on baling on us old man?" I asked Raven. "I meant The Don." Raven said to me. "I know, I just could resist." I said to Raven, as we started to fight the guards.
After a few minutes of fighting we defeated the guards, and we threw them out of the room. As we did that I noticed all the other guards in the manor coming at us. In panic me and Raven started to move everything in the room to the door trying to baracked it. And even though we did that they were still coming. "That won't hold them for long." I said to everyone. "I think it's about time." Yuri said to everyone. "I agree." Raven said to Yuri. "Let's move everyone." I said as we started to jump out the window.
"You don't mean… from up here?" Estelle asked everyone as everyone but me, Yuri, Estelle, Repede, Doublade, Banette, Bisharp, Togetic, and Audion were left in the room. "Yes, Yuri, a little help." I said to Estelle and Yuri. "Sure." Yuri said to me as he picked Estelle up bride style and jumped out the window with the rest of the group.
Once we were out we ran into the wood to hide. "Yuri what's wrong?" I asked Yuri, after I noticed a worried look on his face. "I got a bad feeling about this. We should get back to Dahngrest." Yuri said to me. "Right. Alright everyone let's get a move on. Doublade return." I said to everyone as we started to move to Dahngrest, and returned Doublade to his Pokeball.
After walk-running for an hour we made it to Dahngrest where we ran into Karol, Ava, Skiddo, Mawile. "Oliver thank goodness." Ava said to me, as she hugged me. "Ava? What are you doing out here? What's going on?" I asked Ava. "Yuri! Oliver! It's terrible. The Union and Palestralle are squaring off against each other with hoplon blastia! The Don is back, but something's not right." Karol said to us.
"So, he made it back in time. Looks like my hunch was right, though…" Raven said to everyone. "What do you mean "Your hunch"?" Estelle asked Raven. "He's been planning for this ta end in his death all along." Raven said to everyone. "What?! Why would he want to do something like that?" Rita asked Raven. "To… set things right…?" Patty said to Rita.
"Belius died because of Harry's rash behavior and Ava protecting Oliver. She's the Duce of Nordopolica. Ya can't just say, "Sorry. I got some bad information." Which means there's gotta be compensation ta make up for losing' Belius. That or hand them the one that killed Belius." Raven said to everyone. "What!" I said as I wrapped my arms around Ava.
"So the price The Don mentioned back at the Manor of the Wicked was…" Estelle said but was interrupted by Yuri. "His own life… Once he'd made up his mind to sacrifice himself, taking down Yeager wasn't a problem, even if it meant going against the laws." Yuri said to everyone. "No! He can't do that!" Karol said to Yuri before he went running. "Skiddo/ Mawile." Skiddo and Mawile said as they went ater Karol.
"There has to be some other way!" Estelle said to Raven. "Both sides are at the breakin' point, though. This thing could go off at the drop of a hat. And if it starts, it'll mean all-out war between the Union and Palestalle. And by how it sounds it only stops if The Don or Ava dies." Raven said to Estelle. "I won't let that happen." I said as I titan my arms around Ava. "Oliver… can't… breathe." Ava said to me. "Oh sorry." I said letting Ava go.
"I'm not sure we have the time to find some other way…" Patty said to everyone. "I'm goin with Karol." Yuri said to everyone. "Let's all go." I said to everyone, as we started to make our way to the plaza. In the middle of the plaza was The Don, and on his right was Drampa, and on his left Karol, with Skiddo, and Mawile behind him. "Hang in there, kid. Yer a boss now, right?" The Don said to Karol. "But it's like there's nothing I can do on my own…" Karol said to The Don.
"You know there's something Ava told me after she joined me. "What you can't do alone you can with Pokemon and friends by your side." So then ask fer help. That's what friends and Pokemon are for, right?" The Don said to Karol. "Don…!" Karol said to The Don. "Take good care of them, and they'll be there whenever ya need 'em." The Don said to Karol. "Drampa I'm glad we became friends." The Don said to Drampa. "Drampa." Drampa said as he nuzzled his head into The Don's chest. "Take care my friend." The Don said to Drampa.
"I'm coming with you." Harry said to The Don. but then Raven came and punched him and knocked him out. "Like hell you are!" Raven said to Harry. "Well, old man. It's been fun." Raven said to The Don. "Raven, you better nail Yeager for me." The Don said to Raven. "Hah hah. That's a heavy load for somebody like me." Raven said to The Don. "Yer the only one I can ask." The Don said to Raven. "Whitehorse." Raven said to The Don.
"Little lady, try goin' underground through the storeroom in the city's tavern. There's a wall there inscribed with Aifread's name. If yer granddaughter, it ain't a bad idea to take a glimpse at the kind of things he did and how he lived." The Don said to Patty. "Ava you have a long life to live, so don't let my end ruin your life." The Don said to Ava, as she wrapped her arms around me, but still looking at The Don. "Oliver take care of Ava for me." The Don said to me. "I promise I'll take care of her." I said to The Don as I wrapped my arms around Ava, and a few members of Palestalle walked to The Don.
"We're so grateful for everything your darling grandson's done to us. Really. And to thank you for Lady killing our leader." A Palestalle member said to The Don. "The boy has made a mess of things. He may be my idiot grandson, but he's also a full member of the Union. And Ava was just protecting the one she loves. It falls on any leader ta take responsibility for the mistakes of their people. So say the laws. Take me then. Let my head atone for Belius." The Don said to the Palestalle member.
"Don…" Estelle said. "Idiot. These guilds… They're all filled with nutcases…" Rita said not looking at The Don. Then The Don pulled out a dagger. "So… Who's gonna be my second?" The Don asked the crowd of people. But no one said anything or moved. "It would be my honor." Yuri said to the Don, as he walked forward, surprising everyone.
"Guess yer stuck doin' a job nobody much wants." The Don said to Yuri, as Yuri made it to The Don's side. "You too." Yuri said to The Don. "Heh. No kidding. Yuri. I was lookin' forward to watchin' ya go places. I'll make sure to save you a spot in hell." The Don said to Yuri. "I don't think they'd let me into the hell you're going to." Yuri said to The Don. "Hah. I won't forget that attitude, boy." The Don said to Yuri. "And I won't forget your resolve, Don whitehorse." Yuri said to The Don.
"Don!" A man in the crowd yelled. "Listen up! You all gotta stand on yer own two feet from here on! There's a new age coming so get out there and make it for yourselves!" The Don said to everyone as he and Yuri got ready to strike. Ava then buried her face into my chest, and I closed my eyes. Then the sounds of a sword cutting through flesh filled the town. Then all noise in the town went silent, as the sound of The Don's body hit the ground, and I could feel Ava crying into my chest.
After that no one said a word or made a sound. Everyone was just sad, the rage in everyone's hearts were gone, and now they were all grieving. After Ava cried for a bite I put her in bed to rest and meet with the others who were hanging out in The Don room. But when I got there I noticed everyone but Ava, Karol, Raven, Patty, Slowpoke, Cramerant, Sableye, and Drilbur.
"Hey Oliver, how's it goin out there?" Rita asked me. "Everything is quiet out there, it's like the city has stopped." I said to Rita. "Everyone here seems to have calmed down." Estelle said to me. "It feels more like they're expecting the end of the world." Rita said to Estelle. "To a lot of the people in the Union it is." I said to Rita. "Karol's been… taking The Don's passing pretty hard, too." Estelle said to everyone. "And it looks like things are keeping the old man busy, I guess it comes with being a member of Altosk." Rita said to everyone. "Well they did just lose their leader." I said to Rita.
"I haven't seen Patty for a while now." Estelle said to everyone. "She might be in the sewer tunnels…" Yuri said to Estelle. "Oh, right, that's what The Don was talking about…" Estelle said to Yuri. "He gave up his own life to make amends for what happened… Guilds take their laws pretty seriously." Rita said to everyone. "It's part of what being a guild is all about." I said to Rita.
"The pride of living by the laws of the guild… taking responsibility… and accepting the choices he'd made… The Don practiced what he preached." Yuri said to everyone. "And he was willing to stake his life on those beliefs…" Rita said to everyone. "And that's why he became the man he was." I said to Rita. "Responsibility… choices…" Estelle said to herself. "I've got to get these things figured out myself. Best to start with our guild, with Brave Vesperia." Yuri said to everyone as he started to leave.
"Yuri? Where are you…?" Estelle asked Yuri. "Just going for a walk. Bisharp, Banette stay here." Yuri said as he left the room. "He probably went looking for Karol." Rta said to everyone. "Karol." Estelle said with a worry tune in her voice. "I go with him. Why don't you two take the Pokemon back to the inn with Ava. We'll meet you all later." I said to Estelle and Rita. "Ok." Rita said to me. "Take care Oliver." Estelle said to me, as I left the room.
A minute later I caught up to Yuri. "Oliver what are you doing here?" Yuri asked me. "I just want to make sure you and Karol are ok." I said to Yuri. "Oliver I'm fine." Yuri said to me. "Yuri, now's not the time to hold your feelings back. I'm here to talk if you need me." I said to Yuri. "I can feel it." Yuri said to me. "What?" I asked Yuri. "The feeling of me killing The Don. I can still feel it in my hands." Yuri said to me.
"Yuri, that is the feel of taking a life. It's the weight of The Don's life." I said to Yuri grabbing his hands. "How can I make it stop?" Yuri asked me. "You can't stop it. You can only live with it. But don't worry I'll try and take some of that feeling. After all it's my fault that you had to do that." I said to Yuri. "Thanks Oliver." Yuri said to me. "No problem. Now let's find Karol, he's probably feeling worse then us." I said to Yuri, as we started to move.
We walked for a few and found Karol hiding in a connor of town where there was no one around. "Yuri… Oliver… I… There wasn't anything I could do... The Don… and all the rest of you, you'd all made up your minds and did what you could. Nobody in this town's gonna listen to anything I've got to say… So I was thinking I should try talking with Palestralle instead. But they might be done talking and just attack anyway… when I thought that, I… I was too scared to go alone… Even though I had Skiddo and Mawile, I was still scared... So I ended up not going at all. I'm not good for anything…" Karol said to us as he noticed us.
"Don't talk about yourself like that." I said as I took a set next to Karol. "What about Judy and Hugo? Weren't you going to look for them?" Yuri asked Karol. "I can't. I can't go with you anymore, Yuri... Oliver… I can't even go with Skiddo and Mawile. I'm just not cut out to be the boss of a guild… Or even a Pokemon trainer..." Karol said as he curled up into a ball.
Yuri then came up and picked Karol up, making Karol stand. "Is that it? Is that all guilds, Skiddo, Mawile, and Brave Vesperia mean to you? Just walking away from a dream like that? And leave Pokemon that cares about you behind." Yuri said to Karol, shaking him. "But I wanted to be the best guild! To be useful to The Don! For him to notice me! He's been a role model for me… and now he's not around…" Karol said as he sat down again.
"So you're just gonna pack it up and quit? Just what was it The Don died for? You of all people should know the answer to that." Yuri said to Karol, as he kneel down, and Karol balled up. "You two can always do everything you want. Yuri! Oliver! You two never understand how I feel! I'm not tough like you two! There's no way I can be like either of you two or The Don! It's over. Our guild is-" Karol said to Yuri and me with despair in his voice, but he was interrupted by Yuri.
"Karol! Don't you remember all The Don told you?! Did you forget his resolve?" Yuri said to Karol. Karol said nothing. "Karol me, Yuri, The Don, we are tough because we care about others and work to become stronger to protect the people we care about. Fighting just to get someone to notice you will never give you true strength. But now you come at a crossroad stay here and truly become weak, or come with us and learn what truly gives you strength." I said to Karol, as me and Yuri got up.
"As a member of our guild, I'm going to Mt, Temza to find Judy." Yuri said to Karol. "And I'm going to Mt. Temza to help my friend Hugo." I said to Karol. "Huh…?" Karol said to us. "Brave Vesperia will go on, even if you don't. This guild is more than just you now." Yuri said to Karol before he left. "Karol it times you live for you. And if not for yourself, then for Skiddo and Mawile." I said to Karol. "They don't need me." Karol said to me. "Are you sure?" I asked Karol as Skiddo, and Mawil walked towards us.
"Skiddo." Skiddo said as they arrived at us. "Mawile." Mawile said as she and Skiddo started to hug Karol and nuzzle him. "I don't want to run away… I don't want to, but…" Karol said to me as he started to cry. "Karol your life is your own, but know this. No matter what happens or what you choose. I will always be there for you and so will Skiddo and Mawile." I said to Karol before I went after Yuri, leaving Karol alone with Skiddo and Mawile.
A minute later I caught up to Yuri and we walked to the inn. On the way to the inn we ran into Estelle. "Estelle what are you doing out here?" I asked Estelle. "I was looking for Skiddo, and Mawile." Estelle said to me. "There with Karol." I said to Estelle. "Karol… Do you two think he'll be all right...?" Estelle asked us. "Only time will tell." I said to Estelle. "He'll be fine." Yuri said to us. "But.." Estelle said but was interrupted by a voice.
"Well now, if it isn't the darling boys and girl. How very nice to see you three." The voice said to us. And it took me a second to realise who it was. We all turned to see Yeager, Gauche, and Droite right behind us. "Yeager…!" Estelle said to Yeager. "Gauche, and Droite too!" I said to Gauche and Droite.
"You've got some nerve showing your face after planting the seeds of war." Yuri said to Yeager. "Seeds of war? I'm quite sure I don't know what you're talking about." Yeager said to Yuri. "Don't act innocent, we all know you gave Harry the false info that led to the attack on Palestralle." I said to Yeager. "Attacking Palestralle is a matter for the Union to decide." Gauche said to me. "Yup, that's right. We just help inform their decision." Droite said to me. "Exactly. Understand, my little friends?" Yeager said to us.
"Oh I understand. I understand that you three are liars and mudders, and you do it for the sure joy of it." I said to Yeager, Gauche, and Droite. "And we'll give you something to smile about. "That's enough for today, I think. It is the day of The Don's passing, after all. We're still in mourning, you see. The world lost a great man today, it most certainly did." Yeager said as they all had sad looks on their faces. "Why don't I believe you." I said to Yeager. "What is it you guys are after? Get The Don out of the way to take control of the Union?" Yuri asked Yeager.
"Oh no no no. Our little business will most surely be easier without the poor Don around, but… Ah, let's not go there… I've come today for my own personal reasons." Yeager said as he pulled out a bouquet of red flowers. "I don't want to disgrace The Don by doing something I'll regret later. You should leave before I change my mind." Yuri said as he turned away from Yeager, Gauche, and Droite. "You heard him, you got five minutes, then all bets are off." I said to Yeager. "It is not only you two who are mourning this death, you know. Be seeing you, then." Yeager said to us, as he, Gauche, and Droite left.
"Even Yeager is mourning The Don… I don't understand. Hadn't he been trying to get rid of Don Whitehorse himself…?" Estelle asked us. "The old man was a nuisance to Leviathan's Claw, but… Maybe things were a little different for Yeager on a personal level." Yuri said to Estelle. "You mean like the difference between guild and individuals?" Estelle asked Yuri. "Yeah. To The Don, there was Yeager the boss, and Yeager the person." Yuri said to Estelle.
"The Don did break his own laws and take the fight into his own hands." Estelle said to Yuri. "I wouldn't put too much thought into this. I'm sure a picture of Yeager is next to the word crazy in the dictionary." I said to Estelle and Yuri. "Well, we should be on our way." Yuri said to everyone. "Ok then let's head back to the Inn, Rita and the Pokemon are waiting for us there." Estelle said to us. After that we made it to the inn and started to sleep.
After a few hours of sleep I heard a noise in the room. I woke up to see Ava leaving. I quickly went after her. "Ava what are you doing?" I asked Ava. "I'm leaving." Ava said to me. "What? Why?" I asked Ava. "Because I ruin everything I'm a part of." Ava said to me. "That's not true." I said to Ava, taking her hand. "Yes it is. If I wasn't part of the Union then The Don wouldn't have to offer his life instead of me, and now the Union is in disarray." Ava said to me.
"It wasn't just your fault. It's Yeager's fault for lying to Harry, it was Harry who acted rashly, and it was my fault for forgetting we were in the middle of a battle." I said to Ava. "But then what about us, it's my fault for destroying our relationship." Ava said to me, as she removed her hands from mine. "You didn't destroy it." I said to Ava. "Yes I did, I ran away before we could talk, I trashed our photo album out of rage, and I just keep hurting you." Ava said to me. "Ava you can never hurt me." I said to Ava. "Well I'm leaving before I can, and there's nothing you can say to make me stay." Ava said as she started to leave.
She right nothing I can say is going to change her mind but maybe I don't have to say something. It was a crazy idea and I'm not very good, but it was all I had. "I found a note with your name and a picture of us." I sang to Ava, making her stop. "Even though it was framed and covered in dust. It's the map in my mind that sends me on my way." I sang to Ava as I walked to her and grabbed her hand. "They say it's never too late to stop being afraid and there is no one else here so why should I wait? And in the blink of an eye the past begins to fade." I sang to Ava as we started to dance.
"So have you ever been caught in a sea of despair? And your moment of truth is the day that you say "I'm not scared"." I sang to Ava as we spun around. "Put your hands in the air." I sang to Ava as I raised our hands into the air. "If you hear me out there. I've been looking for you day and night." I sang to Ava as I moved our hands to Ava's hips. "Shine a light in the dark, let me see where you are." I sang to Ava as I picked her up. "Cause I'm not gonna leave you behind." I sang to Ava as I pulled her into a hug.
"If I told you that you're not alone, and I show you this is where you belong. Put your hands in the air. One more time." I sang to Ava as I still hugged her with one of my arms and lifted one of her other hands into the air with the other one. "I've seen a million miles. Met a million faces." I sang to Ava as we started to spin and walk around the plaza clockwise. "Took all I knew to reach all these places and I'd do it again if it brings me back to you." I sang to Ava, as I placed my head on hers.
"So have you ever been caught in a sea of despair? And your moment of truth is the day that you say "I'm not scared"." I sang to Ava as we stopped moving. "Put your hands in the air if you hear me out there I've been looking for you day and night." I sang to Ava as I picked her up and spun around, with her in the air. "Shine a light in the dark let me see where you are." I sang to Ava as I put her down on the ground.
"Cause I'm not gonna leave you behind. If I told you that you're not alone and I show you this is where you belong." I sang to Ava, as we put a hand on each other's waist and lase the other hand together. "Put your hands in the air one more time." I sang to Ava as I twirled her. We then just danced for a few seconds. "Put your hands in the air." I sang to Ava as we stopped moving. "Put your hands in the air if you hear me out there I've been looking for you day and night." I sang to Ava as we resumed dancing.
"Shine a light in the dark let me see where you are. Cause I'm not gonna leave you behind if I told you that you're not alone and I show you this is where you belong." I sang to Ava, as I noticed the big smile on her face. "Put your hands in the air one more time." I sang to Ava, as I pulled her close to me. "Put your hands in the air one more time." I sang to Ava, as she placed her head on my chest, and I placed my head on her's.
"You're still a terrible singer." Ava said to me as she lifted her head to look me in my eyes. "Yeah but I'm your terrible singer." I said to Ava. "I still can't believe you remember that song." Ava said to me. "The song we danced to on our first date, how could I forget it. Did you?" I asked Ava. "Well it was buried by the memory of you not being strong enough to lift me, and ended up with me crushing you." Ava said to me. "Oh yeah. I guess all the monster fighting made me stronger." I said to Ava.
"I guess it did. And I'm guessing I'm staying." Ava said to me. "Really?!" I asked Ava in surprise. "Yeah after all the safest places for me to be is in your arms. The arms that always protected me, and that always made me warm." Ava said to me, as she snuggled me. "I promise The Don I would take care of you. And I will." I said to Ava. "Come on let's go to bed." Ava said to me.
A few minutes later we made it back to the inn and went to sleep, but even though we went to sleep in different beds, Ava and me still had our hands laced together. And even though The Don died a few hours ago, I haven't felt this happy in a long time. With those pleasant thoughts in my mind I went to sleep.
So imagine my surprise when I woke up with Ava missing, and Karol, Rita, Raven, Patty, and their Pokemon not in the room. "Hey Oliver you up?" Yuri asked me. "No." I said as I covered myself with bed sheets. "Come on get up we have to meet Rita, Metang, and Duosion." Estelle said to me. "No, I'm good to stay here." I said to Estelle. "What's wrong Oliver, had a bad night?" Estelle asked me. "No it was a great night. Just a terrible morning." I said to Estelle.
"Come on let's go Oliver." Yuri said to me. "I'm just going to stay here." I said to Yuri. I didn't want to go, after all that happened last night, I didn't want the guys to see my broken heart. "Come on let's go Oliver." Yuri said to me as he pulled me out to bed and onto the floor. "Fine just give me a minute." I said to Yuri. After a few minutes we left the inn and headed to the exit that led to our ship.
"Where are Karol, Patty, and Ava, and their Pokemon?" Rita asked us. "What is the deal with everyone worrying so much?" Yuri asked everyone. "We're all friends. It's only natural." I said to Yuri. "So what are all of your plans after this?" Yuri asked everyone. "I'm going with you of course. Like I said, I've decided to stick with you guys while I research the aer krene." Rita said to everyone. "Right, right." Yuri said to Rita.
"I want to go with you as well, Yuri. Now that we know the Hunting Blades are out to get Judith and Hugo we've got to try and help them…" Estelle said to everyone. "We're not obligated to do anything for them." Rita said to Estelle "Judith shared in our travels she's one of us… And Hugo is Oliver's friend, that makes me his friend, and we have to help him." Estelle said to Rita. "Judith also destroyed the ceres blastia on the ship. And Hugo knows a lot more then he's telling us" Rita said to Estelle.
"But…" Estelle said but I interrupted her. "Rita, we are going to help Judith and Hugo, if you don't like that then you can stay here." I said to Rita. "I'm not going out on any mercy mission. I told you I need to set things, right?" Yuri asked us. "Yuri…" Estelle said to Yuri. "What do they know? What don't they know? I'm going to see that they come clean about all of it. I have to, to find out where the guild stands." Yuri said to everyone. "Well, we might just end up saving them along the way." Rita said to everyone.
"You two are worried about them, I knew it." Estelle said to Yuri and Rita. "Wh-what are you talking about?! We "might" is all I said!" Rita said to Estelle. "Worry or accident, call it whatever you want, if it makes you feel better." I said to Rita. "Anyway, with all this talk about setting the guild straight, is the fearless leader himself gonna come?" Rita asked me and Yuri.
I don't think he's coming." I said to Rita. "It'll take more than this to keep him down. He'll come." Yuri said to me. "Oh Patty's here" Estelle said as we noticed Patty, Slowpoke, and Cramerant walking towards us. "DId you have a look at what your grandpa left behind?" Yuri asked Patty. "Aye… I engraved it all firmly in my memory." Patty said to Yuri. "That's good." I said to Patty. "So, did it help you remember anything?" Yuri asked Patty.
"Mm, it doesn't look like things are gonna go quite so well… but I can't just let myself get discouraged by something like that!" Patty said to Yuri. "That's the spirit Patty." I said to Patty. "Heh… That's right." Yuri said to us. "Is it okay for me to be with you guys a little longer?" Patty asked us. "I don't mind okay, let go." Yuri said to everyone. "What should we do about Raven and Ava?" Estelle asked Yuri.
"They couldn't come now. They can't turn their backs on this town. They lost The Don." Rita said to Estelle. "You're probably right, the old man and Ava have their own agenda to take care of." Yuri said to everyone. "I'm going to miss them…" Estelle said to everyone. "Think who the two you're talking about. They two might just pop up when you least expect it." Rita said to everyone. "You're probably right." I said to Rita. "So where is this Mt. Temza, anyway?" Rita asked everyone.
"She mentioned something about living with Ba'ul on a mountain to the north of a desert." Yuri said to everyone. "And she knew a lot about the Sands of Kogorh, so the desert she was talking about was probably the Sands of Kogorh." I said to everyone. "There certainly are plenty of mountains in the northern regions of Desier." Estelle said to everyone.
"Well let's start there, and see where it takes us." Yuri said to everyone. "We'll be going to Desier by ship. Looks like that's where I come in." Patty said to everyone. "All right, let's head to the ship." Yuri said to everyone. "Wait, Yuri shouldn't we get some weapons before we go this time." I said to Yuri. "That's where I come in." A female voice said to us. And I really hope that's who I think it is. We all then turned to see Ava standing behind us, with a bag of weapons.
"Ava what are you doing here?" Estelle asked Ava. "We're a team, and what kind of teammate would I be if I didn't help gear up my team." Ava said as she pulled out a steel crossbow. "And I got weapons for all of you guys." Ava said as she started to past out weapons. She gave Yuri a katana with a white handle. She gave Estelle a Saber and a Pink heart shield. And she gave me two metal sticks with eight metal fins on the ends of them.
"Yeah these will do nicely." Yuri said as we looked at our new weapons. "Can you give me and Oliver a few minutes alone." Ava said to everyone, as we put our new weapons away. "Uh sure, we'll be on the ship." Yuri said as everyone left. Soon it was just me and Ava. "So what do you want to talk about?" I asked Ava.
"Us." Ava said to me. "Uh?" I said to Ava. "More accurately, what are we?" Ava said to me. I didn't say anything. "Look I know that we didn't end things on the best of terms, and when we finally found each other I tried to full you full of arrows. This is not helping." Ava said as she looked away from me.
"No keep going." I said to Ava. "But then I heard you tell everyone, what happened in the tag tournament. And then I realized I messed everything up. I haven't given you a chance to explain and I haven't been the best of people. But you said you still love me and we had that dance last night. It made me realize how much I miss us being together." Ava said to me. "Ava." I said to Ava. "You know on second thought this is a bad idea. I should just head to the ship. Let's just pretend this never happened. After all, I'm not the same person you fell in love with." Ava said as she started to walk away from me and to the ship.
But I grabbed her, and pulled her into my arms, and gave her a kiss on the lips. Ava froze for a second, but soon the two of us closed our eyes, and enjoyed our first kiss we had together in a long time. After a minute of kissing I broke away from her. "Ava it's true you're not the same woman you were back in Kalos. You're better. And I love you more for that. Look I don't care what happened in the past. What matters is now. And now I want to call you my girlfriend." I said to Ava. Ava then started to laugh a little.
"I've forgotten how much of a cheese romantic you are." Ava said to me. "Yeah but I'm your cheese romantic." I said to Ava. "I would expect nothing less from my boyfriend." Ava said to me. "So we are together again?" I asked Ava. "Only if you kiss me again." Ava said as we locked lips again, and this time nothing was going to make us stop.
Then after some time of kissing we had to stop to breath, and made our way to the ship, holding hands. After walking for a bit we made it to the ship with everyone waiting for us. "Okay Patty is the ship ready to go?" I asked Patty. "Yep we're ready to go." Patty said to me, as she noticed me and Ava holding hands. "Wait, why are you two hold-?" Patty asked me but was interrupted by someone yelling. And that someone was Karol.
"Waaai!" Karol yelled as we turned our heads to see Karol come at us riding on Skiddo's back with Mawile holding onto Karol. "Karol!" Estelle said as she looked at Karol, as me and Ava let go of each other's hands. "It's Karol." Patty said as she looked at Karol. Then Skiddo jumped up and landed on the deck. "I'm coming with you guys. I might not fully understand the things The Don wanted to tell me yet. But Brave Vesperia is my- no, our guild, so… so I've gotta come with you guys!" Karol said to everyone, as he and Mawile got off Skiddo.
"Karol." Estelle said to Karol. "I think if I ran away… If I abandoned my friends, that'd be the end! I couldn't come back… that's why… that's why I've gotta go! Please let me come, too!" Karol said to everyone. "Of course, you're the boss of this outfit, Captain." Yuri said to Karol. "And I'm glad you decided to live for you, boss." I said to Karol. "Yuri! Oliver! Thanks! But… Don't call me "boss" anymore." Karol said to us.
"Why not?" I asked Karol. "I… I haven't done anything to earn that title yet… until you two really think I'm a boss… Until I don't feel embarrassed when someone calls me "boss"... I'll just do my part as a fellow member of Brave Vesperia." Karol said to us. "Understood, Karol. Not a bad plan." Yuri said to Karol. "Just now to me you have nothing to prove." I said to Karol. "Alright!" Karol said to us.
"Hey Karol you'll probably need this." Ava said as she handed Karol a crescent axe. "Thanks Ava." Karol said to Ava. "No problem Karol." Ava said to Karol. "It never ends with these guilds. Bunch of hot-headed idiots." RIta said. "You're just upset because Ava didn't get you anything." I said to Rita. "That's not the problem. The problem is you guide people are hot-heads." Rita said to me.
"That's exactly what's so good about guilds. I think." Patty said to Rita. "Hmm, yeah. Quite Juvenile, isn't it?" A male voice said. "Aah! H-hey old man…?" Rita said as we noticed Raven, Sableye, and Drilbur on the top of the ship's cabin. "Raven, glad you and your Pokemon decided to join us." Ava said to Raven as he and his Pokemon jumped down.
"Ahh, how glorious is youth?" Raven said to everyone. "What are you up to?" Yuri asked Raven. "Huh? Somethin' wrong with my bein' here?" Raven asked Yuri. "Sometimes." I said to Raven. "Well, don't you have your hands full. With The Don's passing and everything…?" Estelle asked Raven. "Ya know. It all just seemed a little too bothersome, so I ducked out with Sableye and Drilbur." Raven said as he walked away from the group.
"But you owe a lot to The Don. Aren't you sad?" Karol asked Raven. "Sad? I cried and cried till my throat was hoarse and there wasn't a tear left in me." Raven said to Karol. "Funny, it doesn't show on you at all." Rita said to Raven. "Heh, so not even Raven the Great can bear to ignore The Don's parting words." Yuri said to Raven. "Did he really do that?" I asked Sableye and Drilbur. They both nodded no. "Knew it." I said to myself.
"Wh-what're you three talkin about? Ya heard me, didn't ya? That burden's too heavy for this beast. I'm sure they'll be able ta take care of the piece of business just fine without me." Raven said to us. "That and with The Don gone your rank is next to nothing. So you have no say in the matter." Ava said to Raven. "Hurt full Ava, what about you, shouldn't you be with the guild to?" Raven asked Ava. "I'm in the same boat as you Raven." Ava said to Raven.
"All right, we'll leave it at that." Yuri said to Ava and Raven. "Oh man… These kids today, I tell ya." Raven said to everyone. "Traveling in a group is loads of fun! It's so lively!" Patty said to everyone. "This isn't lively. It's rowdy didn't I tell you that before?" Rita said to everyone, as we all cracked smiles. "So now we can depart for Desier, right?" Estelle asked everyone.
"Huh? Why are we going back there?" Karol asked Estelle. "That's a pretty good hunch ya had there. Mt. Temza's north of the Sands of Kogorh. There's a Krityan city there in memory serves." Raven said to everyone. "I figured that out, but what's this about a Krityan city?" I asked Raven. "And why would you know something like that?" Rita asked Raven.
"Well I'm over twice your age, so of course I know twice as many things." Raven said to Rita. "Right..." Rita said to Raven. "I thought you were five times our age?" I asked Raven. "Not funny. So are we goin' or aren't we?" Raven said to me. "Can we get to the north of Kogorh by boat?" Karol asked me and Yuri. "Yes we can here, look at this." Ava said as she pulled out a map and put it onto the deck.
"There's a place where we can dock the boat. Right here." Ava said as she placed a finger on the northern area of Desier. "It looks like it will take a few days to reach it." Ava said to everyone. "Ava, where did you get this map and all these new weapons?" I asked Ava. "Oh I took the jewels from your bag." Ava said to me. "You took the jewels from my bag?!" I asked Ava. "Yeah, what are you going to about it?" Ava asked me.
"Hmmm? How should I punish a bad girlfriend like you. Oh I know I could tickle you." I said to Ava with a silly tune in my voice. "Tickle me. You truly are an evil boyfriend." Ava said to me with a silly tune in her voice. "You know it." I said as I placed my head on Ava's and we started laughing. Then I notice everyone staring at us. "Uh what's wrong guys?" I asked everyone. "GIRLFRIEND! BOYFRIEND! WHAT?!" Everyone yelled at us.
"Yeah it's official Ava and I are back together." I said to everyone. "What." Estelle said as she covered her mouth. "Yeah we're a couple again." Ava said to Estelle. "But… How.. Why… what…" Rita said, obviously having trouble processing it. "Why don't I tell you girls as we get this ship moving." Ava said as she took the girls away. "Right." Patty said as she took the helem and started to pilot the ship to the northern area of Desier.
And one thing's for sure, this Boat ride is going to be the best boat ride we're going to have in a while, even if a bunch of crazy people were waiting for us at our destination. "I wonder what Hugo will say when he hears the news." I said to myself. "Forget about Hugo. you got to tell us what happened with you and Ava." Karol said to me, as he pulled me to the back of the ship to talk to me.
Hello everyone please like, follow, or review if you like this story. And the song Oliver sang was Unity by Shinedown, which I don't own. But I thought that a song and dance would be the perfect thing to get Oliver and Ava, over that last roadblock from them to be a couple again.