Last Time On TMOM:
Ash has been fighting off feelings of being watched. And suddenly Jessie has gone missing.
Quote: "Jessie's missing!"
Chapter Nineteen: Sirens
But there's a part of me that stares back
From inside the mirror
Part of me that's scared I might be wrong
That I can't be strong
-Casey Lee Williams
"What do you mean she's missing?"
"What do you think? I mean, she's gone! She should be sleeping right here and she's not! How much clearer could I be?"
Kidd looked cowed by James' angry retort. But she still seemed reluctant to rally the troops over an empty sleeping bag.
"Could she have walked off somehow?" Ash offered.
It was now his turn to be rounded on. "Why would she do that?" demanded James.
"Well, I don't know," Ash muttered, feeling a bit put on the spot. "Maybe she needed to use the toilet or something."
James opened his mouth to chastise Ash some more, but then thought better of it. After all, it wasn't a completely ludicrous suggestion to think that Jessie might have wandered off to do her business. But even as James mulled over that possibility, Ash continued to feel uneasy.
It was an easy enough suggestion to make. But somehow Ash knew that it probably wasn't true. The memory of that odd music that he had heard when he had first woken up had come to mind. Was it possible that the music and Jessie's disappearance were related?
Lucario leapt down from a higher ledge to join them, startling the group of humans. He wordlessly noted the tension amongst them. Aileen had her blanket still wrapped about her shoulders and was sticking closer to Ash. Kidd hugged her display monitor to her chest, probably hoping to avoid sharing her dirty secrets with anyone else. And James stood alone, rubbing at his bare arms and barely standing even a wasted second on answering the questions of one telepathic pokemon. Lucario looked to Ash for explanation.
"Jessie's missing," Ash said as way of an answer.
Lucario noted the absence with a curt nod. "That appears to be the case."
"She can't have gotten too far, right? Could you use your... magic powers thing in order to find her?"
"Wave?" said Lucario and Ash together, annoyance clear on both their faces.
"Yeah, that."
That had been Ash's first thought. The moment James had mentioned her being missing, Ash had felt out for her presence. At least in the immediate vicinity, Ash could see no hint of her bright orange aura.
Ash and Lucario nodded, and then, in unison, closed their eyes. They didn't both need to search, but Ash felt reassured that Lucario, the more experienced user, would look as well. Just in case Ash had missed something. Unfortunately, it seemed the results were the same as the first time. Ash could sense no trace of Jessie.
And wasn't that peculiar? Ash opened his eyes and frowned hard at the damp cavern floor. He could still feel Pikachu, Meowth and what he supposed to be Mew's auras pulsating way up over their heads. When the shades of the tree's own wave parted, Ash could sense them quite well. But even when the tree obscured them, their wave signatures didn't disappear completely.
How could Jessie be completely gone? The realization set him on edge. He could feel the eyes again, pressing in on him. It was making it hard to breathe.
And then, for just a fraction of a second, Ash felt something. His hand went for the crystal still hanging from around his neck. He reached out with his aura again, but the feeling was gone.
Ash stared hard at the crystalline walls. The many facets made it difficult to refract his own reflection in anything more than a distorted way. The many versions of his own face glared back at him, some larger than life and others small and insignificant. It was so odd, but Ash could have sworn he felt—
At last, Lucario too had exhausted all his channels. He opened his eyes and slowly shook his head. "I cannot find her."
James looked close to tears. He let out a half cry, half sob before resuming pacing the length of the small tunnel. Kidd, to her credit, tried to calm the young man down. But he wasn't much in the mood for any comforting words coming from Team Twerps. When she touched his arm, he jerked away. And when she tried to talk to him, he boxed his ears and moved away.
They couldn't stay. They had to keep moving towards their objective, without or without Jessie. James begged to stay and keep searching for her. It felt cruel to be stuffing and shouldering their packs while James sobbed on how Jessie might come back looking for them.
"What if she comes back and we're gone! How will she find us then?"
No one wanted to tell him what they were actually thinking or what Lucario had already confirmed. Jessie was no longer in the Tree of Beginnings. She couldn't be.
Ash noted how small and frightened James looked without his partners at his side. He couldn't recall a time that James had ever been separated from those two for longer than a couple of hours. And now, not only had he lost Meowth for several days, but Jessie had disappeared into thin air.
Ash could relate to that feeling. Although the separation from his friends had been one of mutual design, that hadn't kept the loneliness at bay. Just because his isolation was voluntary didn't mean that he couldn't feel it.
Ash jogged to catch up to the blue-haired rocket member.
"Hey," He breathed.
James glanced his way before quickly averting his eyes. He was not in anymore of a mood to be comforted.
"We'll find her, okay? We'll find Jessie."
James gave a soft sniff in response. His slumped shoulders and dragging feet conveyed his confidence in Ash's statement.
But Ash wasn't done. He punched James's arm. Not hard, but it was still enough to draw a reaction from the teenager. He yelped and grabbed at his arm as if he had been more grievously injured.
"In the meantime," Ash continued meaningfully. "You need to be strong for her."
James blinked and continued rubbing his arm, but more thoughtfully. "Strong, huh?"
"If you were missing, do you think Jessie would be falling apart?"
James rubbed at his eyes, but reluctantly shook his head. "No. No, she wouldn't."
"You're good friends. I get that. But we can't find her any faster if you're too upset. So... for now... let's try to focus on finding Meowth and Pikachu. We know where they are. Then we can use their help to find Jessie."
James nodded grimly. He squared his shoulders and made an attempt at pushing his anxieties aside for the time being. He wasn't well practiced at handling himself in this way. Without the other two pushing him around, James felt unmoored. But a part of him realized that what Ash said was true. He had to be brave for them now. It's what they would have done for him had their circumstances been reversed.
They were making good progress up the tree. And there still had been no sign of the monstrous rock pokemon that had chased them inside. While it was hard to keep track of time from within the bowels of the living crystal, Aileen and Kidd both had digital watches. When lunchtime had come around, Kidd suggested another break.
They found a neat outcrop where they could see the top boughs of the tree. Lucario leaned over the edge and said, "I estimate we are more than halfway now. We should reach the top before sundown, provided we avoid any delays."
The group seemed mostly cheered by Lucario's declaration, all save for James. He was trying to keep his head up but still sulked, feeling his own differences only too keenly amongst the present company. Being the only Team Rocket member, there was some reluctance for the others to sit with him. Ash took pity on him. As the man paced about their makeshift lunch circle, looking for a place to sit, Ash scooted closer to Aileen and waved him over.
James sank down beside Ash, trying not to look as grateful as he felt. It was a bit too much like trying to find a place to sit in the lunchroom of his old private school. The flashbacks to that place were unwelcome.
"Aren't any of you scared?" James blurted out as Kidd passed around some squashed-looking turkey sandwiches.
Aileen paused in unwrapping the sandwich that had just been passed to her. "Huh?"
"Scared of what?" asked Kidd.
"Of disappearing... like Jessie did."
"Jessie did not disappear," Kidd said, grumpily tearing into her own sandwich. "She's probably just got lost in these tunnels somewhere. We'll find her."
"Lucario couldn't see her. Ash couldn't see her either!"
Kidd gave Ash the side-eye. It only just struck Ash just then that Kidd had never vocalized her own opinions on wave. She didn't grow up in a kingdom that worshipped it like Aileen had. And she couldn't see it like Ash could.
Ash met her look coolly, wondering what she was thinking. She had the expression of a skeptic. It seemed like Kidd didn't put much faith behind Lucario's powers, and certainly not any in Ash's. He supposed that should hurt his feelings, but then again, Ash didn't trust his own control over wave himself. It was very possible that he missed Jessie's aura somehow.
But if Lucario said he couldn't find her in the tree, Ash believed she wasn't in the tree.
"Hmph," Kidd grunted before taking a large bite from her sandwich. She chewed quickly and managed a hard swallow before continuing, "No one else is going to disappear."
James didn't look appeased. And unfortunately, neither did Aileen. Once again, Ash noticed how she was leaning against him. He could feel her arms shaking, although he didn't think it was that cold. Ash glanced at her, surprised to see her cloudy expression. Her face wasn't tight with fear like James', but she looked troubled.
Ash knocked lightly into her arm and masked the action by nibbling a bit off his sandwich. It tasted dry. Ash wondered how the other could dig in so eagerly.
When Aileen's eyes met his own, Ash mouthed the words, 'What's wrong?'
She shook her head. But then, after a moment, staring off into shadows of the cavern, she seemed to change her mind. She nudged Ash and inclined her head to a place further away from the others. Ash gladly abandoned his lunch and quietly shuffled after her.
It would be next to impossible to find a quiet place alone in a cavern like this. Sound acted so strangely, amplifying some noises and muffling others. They couldn't be certain they wouldn't be overheard. But Aileen seemed fit to burst with her secret. She was willing to take the risk.
Aileen faced the cavern wall and squeezed her eyes shut tight.
"I know what happened to Jessie."
"What? We need to tell the others!"
Aileen whirled about with reflexes that surprised Ash. She had him by the elbow and yanked him back. When he tried to pry himself free, she kept a firm grip on his jacket.
"Just listen for a second. It's not that simple."
"What are you talking about?"
"We can't tell them. They'll hate me!"
"What? No, they won—"
"Just listen to me, Ash. And don't… don't hate me."
Aileen let her eyes fall again. She raised her shaking hands back to her face, as if trying to hold the words in. "I thought it was... I thought I was just dreaming. But I saw her, Jessie. We both woke up at the same time, I think. I heard this music and Jessie — she sat up. She had the strangest look in her eyes — like I don't think she could even see me. And I watched her just get up and walk away. And... And I—" Aileen was twisting the bottom of her shirt into anxious knots. Her voice got caught up in her throat, getting stuck on some emotion that Ash didn't understand. Nothing she had said so far seemed enough to cause her so much stress. He wanted to comfort her but was afraid if he did, she wouldn't finish her story.
He had heard the music, too. There was something to what Aileen had thought she saw. He just needed to hear the whole of it.
Aileen blinked back tears and looked down the mouth of the cavern, through the tunnel that they had been hiking up for the last several hours. She seemed to see something in that darkness, her glassy eyes betraying no reflection of it. Aileen swallowed what was holding her back.
"I followed her," she whispered. "I just walked where she went. Thought that I'd check up on her... you know, two girls are better than one." Aileen paused, as if reconsidering who she was talking to. Ash didn't mind. He wasn't so removed from the opposite sex that he wouldn't understand their desire to look out for each other when using the restroom in an unnatural location. Misty had often complained about having only boys around when they used to travel together. "I didn't want to leave her alone," Aileen clarified unnecessarily. "But when I reached the path she took..."
Her voice trailed off. She fiddled with the bottom of her shirt again. Ash was afraid she might rip the fabric if she kept twisting it so hard.
"She had disappeared?" Ash prompted. But Aileen squeezed her eyes shut and roughly shook her head.
"The tunnel," she gasped out at last. "It went nowhere."
"Like a dead end?"
She shook her head again. "No. Not at all. It... was a ledge."
Ash stared at Aileen's tear-streaked face, suddenly understanding. He could hear his heartbeat too loud in his ears. It pounded over Aileen's hasty explanation. How there was nothing but crystals around the drop-off but not enough to act as a barrier for the edge.
"She must have been sleepwalking. Dammit, I should have gone after her sooner," Aileen stomped her foot to little effect, still blinking back tears. "I don't know what to tell them..."
"Did you see a body?"
Aileen started, taken aback by Ash's bluntness. But it was imperative that she answer the question. He grabbed her hands, trying to keep her from fidgeting — from avoiding the question.
"The body?" Ash asked again. "At the bottom of the drop. Was her body there?"
"I don't — I'm not—"
"You looked, didn't you? You checked?"
Aileen's surprise melted into contemplation. She stared up and off into the distance, as if she could see the unfortunate discovery replaying before her eyes. Then, slowly, she nodded.
"I looked. I checked... but I didn't see her."
"You're sure? You're absolutely sure?"
"Yes," Her nod was stronger, more sure. "Yes, I didn't see her. Just more crystals. But... Ash, that doesn't mean that she didn't fall..."
"But it means that she might not have." Ash let go of Aileen, a little embarrassed after having been so forward with her. He might not have cared much about her princess title, but she was still a girl. And grabbing her hands sometimes meant something. He was too confused about romance to understand all the obscure rules, but he knew that was one of them.
Ignoring his own blazing cheeks, Ash glanced back to the others. They hadn't seemed to be all that interested in their heated discussion. James, especially, was too busy wallowing in the remains of his sandwich.
"We shouldn't tell the others. Not until we're sure of what happened."
"Ash..."
Aileen grabbed onto Ash's arm again. He could feel her shaking still.
"Ash, I'm frightened. I've been hearing the music still. What if — what if it happens to me too? What if I sleepwalk?"
"You're not a sleepwalker, are you?"
"No. But — was Jessie?"
Ash shrugged. He was trying to play it off casually, but secretly, his heart was still beating a bit too fast. "I heard the music too. But we're both still here. Don't worry. I'm no sleepwalker either. If you start walking around, I'll hear you for sure. And Lucario will keep an eye out too."
Ash didn't bother to mention how Lucario had been looking out during Jessie's disappearance, too. His words seemed to offer Aileen some small amount of comfort. She dried her eyes and put on a brave smile. She rejoined the group, hiding all of her anxieties up her sleeve for now.
Ash took longer to set his mask into place. Much as he tried to convince Aileen that they weren't in danger, he didn't believe it himself. He couldn't believe it while the eyes still pressed in. Ash wanted to discuss things over with Lucario, but again; he had the strangest feeling that something was listening. He could feel it hovering constantly over his shoulder. Ash just could never catch it looking.
He didn't want to believe that Jessie had fallen. Not just for Aileen's sake who witnessed it. And not just because the news would destroy James. But because of her aura, the wave energy she possessed would have left some sort of impression. Lucario hadn't gotten to the lesson on wave and death. Probably not high on the normal wave lesson docket. But just from what Ash himself had observed, he suspected the aura would still linger in some capacity. At least long enough for them to discover her body. Surely wave wouldn't have dissipated immediately, leaving an empty vacuum in its wake.
There was something else. Something that Ash hadn't wanted to admit to himself, much less tell anyone else. But when they had searched for Jessie's aura, Ash had thought he felt her. Just for a single second. It hadn't seemed to make much sense at the time. He felt her from inside the walls. It was as if she had fused her aura with that of the tree, blending smoothly into the rainbow hues.
But that would have been ridiculous.
Ash brushed the thought away. Yes, ridiculous. He told himself not to think such silly things anymore as he rejoined the others.
But as was the nature with troublesome thoughts, it refused to leave him.
Ash didn't remember falling asleep. In fact, he was pretty sure they hadn't stopped for another break. The last thing Ash could remember was picking up after their pitiful lunch and starting up their hike where they had left off. He had had a passing thought that it was breezier on this part of the tree, since the branches were spaced in such a way as to let more of the outside air in. Although a little frosty, the wind on his face had felt pretty good.
Had that really been his last thought? Yes, Ash supposed it had been. Because now he was somewhere completely different. It felt a bit like being teleported, which, unfortunately, Ash had experienced before. But there had been no rough landing. Just the sensation of coming to.
Ash stopped walking, frightened by the sudden change of environment. He knew he was still in the tree. The cavernous ceiling blocking out the sunlight and random crystals pushed out from the solid stone every so many feet like multicolored thorns could hint at little else. Even without his connection to wave, Ash wouldn't be able to forget what the inside of the Tree of Beginning looked like. He had a feeling these labyrinthine tunnels would haunt his dreams.
But was this a dream? Ash pinched himself. No, he winced, rubbing his sore arm. Definitely not dreaming. At least... not anymore.
Ash looked around the space he had found himself in. It was far more open than the tunnel they had been traveling in. And crowded in this space were far more of the crystals than there were elsewhere in the tree. He felt surrounded by them and extremely uncomfortable by the realization. Ash stepped back from the nearest crystal, nearly brushing into one that was behind him. He could see his own reflection on their shiny surfaces, pale and as frightened as he felt.
"Hello? Lucario? Aileen? James, Kidd?" Ash called out, bothered by the way his voice seemed to echo back to him. "Can anyone hear me?"
Ash walked around the crystals. His footsteps echoed just as loudly as his own voice. Ash had the eerie feeling that he was walking through a mausoleum, each crystal a tombstone. The image only seemed more complete when Ash caught sight of red hair. Ash whirled around, met only with his own obstructing reflection.
"Jessie? Jessie, was that you?"
Then, from somewhere underneath his own feet, the music rose. Ash could feel it vibrating out of the very tree itself. It was a soft, lulling sound that made Ash's eyes feel heavy. He shook off the feeling, giving his arm another sharp pinch. He felt more awake, but the music didn't stop. Instead, it seemed to form words as it spun out into the surrounding air. The crystals hummed along, amplifying the sound. Only Ash's grip on his arm kept him from slipping under its spell. He switched his hand from pinching to gripping his own crystal, letting its sharp edges stab into his palm.
"Stop it!" Ash shouted out at the music, hoping that his own words might interrupt the sound. "Stop it right now!"
His voice stirred something in the sound. The music seemed to wrap around the shouts and redirect it. The words that had tried to form were stronger and clearer now. As if Ash's voice had given it strength.
And Ash's blood ran cold with the voice that echoed back to him.
"Ash Ketchum..."
It wasn't an unfamiliar voice. Much as Ash wished he hadn't recognized the youthful sounding voice, it was unmistakable. It was the voice of a person he desperately wanted to hear again but knew he shouldn't, couldn't. The voice of a ghost.
The ghost cheerily continued, heedless of how his words were affecting its listener. "Ash Ketchum, my idol, my hero. My greatest rival."
"No... No, you're dead. You can't be talking," Ash whispered. His eyes darted from crystal to crystal, as if he might spy someone who shouldn't be there amongst his many reflections. He only saw fractured pieces of his own face. Ash spun about in place, trying to zero in on the source of the sound. If he could find the focal point, there might be a way for him to stop the spell it was weaving.
Before I end up like Jessie...
"Why did you murder me, Ash?"
Ash squeezed his crystal necklace tighter. The sharp edges had pierced his skin at this point. He could feel the warmth of his own blood lining the inside of his palm.
"I did not murder you, William," Ash spat, still searching for some alternative out of this situation. The pain in his hand was working well at centering his thoughts. "It was — an accident. I know it was my fault... I wasn't careful. But I didn't murder you."
The phantom laughed. It was cruel laughter, one that Ash had never known William to have in his lifetime. Ash grit his teeth and tried to block the sound out. But the voice seemed to have a way of being everywhere and nowhere at once. He could feel the voice like Lucario's, loud and clear within his own head.
"You don't really believe that, do you?"
At long last, the apparition had appeared before him. He had superseded Ash's own reflection. The crystal in front of Ash now housed a boy only a head shorter than Ash. His fine hair was a deep dark blue cut into a simple bowl cut. He wore the standard starting gear for pokemon trainers from his region, an outrageous orange and yellow jumpsuit. He kept his pokebelt slung across his chest for easier access. Ash had always thought it looked silly, but the style for pokebelts was always changing.
"You still see yourself as my murderer. If you didn't, I wouldn't be here now."
Ash took a step back from the crystal. Ash had seen stranger things on his pokemon journey than ghosts. But that hadn't made him any less petrified of them.
Ghosts were the sort of things that made him want to hide his feet underneath his blanket at night — just in case any wild spirit got the wise idea to chew off his toes. They were the sort of invisible terror that followed you in quiet places, whispering evil things to make hearts stop. Ghosts stole intangible, unknowable things, like souls. Ash would rather deal with anything other than a ghost, especially one that might have had it out for him.
"This isn't real," Ash said, mostly for his own sake. He repeated it like his own magic spell, hoping it might make it true. "This isn't real. This can't be real. This isn't real."
"I'm here for you, Ash. I'm here because you wanted me to be. You called me."
Ash blinked, loosening his grip about the necklace that he had been worrying at like prayer beads. There wasn't enough blood from the cut to drip, but the cut still stung when exposed. Ash was quick to close his hand back around the crystal, if only to protect his wound.
"I didn't call you," Ash said.
"Oh, but you did." Will walked smartly from one crystal to the next, banishing Ash's own reflection in favor of his own presence. The ones he had vacated remained empty, unsettling Ash further. There was a cold emanating from them, so frosty that it was biting at his exposed skin. Ash gave the reflection-less crystals a wide berth. "You feel guilty about the part you played in my death. I don't blame you... It was certainly a tragedy. I was so young. And I wanted so badly to become a pokemon master."
"I didn't call you," Ash repeated, not caring to elaborate on any of Will's other points. "I hate ghosts... No offense."
Will smiled. But it wasn't his smile. It was condescending like one that an unpleasable guardian might level at a disobedient child. "You called me... to trade places with me."
Ash stopped following the crystal hopping apparition. A chill shot down his spine at Will's words. He stared straight ahead; the color drained from his face. He could feel his pulse hard in his throat, choking him. Ash felt like he had petrified as solid as the crystals that surrounded him.
"Isn't that what you wanted, Ash? You hate yourself. That's what you told Lucario. You hate yourself and you're tired of pretending that everything's fine."
It wasn't a question. The eyes had been listening even then. Ash wanted to say something, but the words wouldn't come. He wanted to tell Will to stop talking. Break the crystal if he had to. But he felt frozen, trapped in a dream-like state of compliance.
There was a part of him that was agreeing with William. Hadn't this been what he had always hoped for? A chance to right a horrible wrong? He didn't really care about what happened to himself. If it meant that Will would go back to his family. If it meant that Will would have the chance to be happy again. To live again…
"Take my hand, Ash," Will said. His hand extended from the crystal. It was translucent, but not in a ghost way. It almost seemed to have a gel-like consistency, smooth and pore-less.
At Ash's hesitation, Will continued, "Don't worry. It won't hurt. It will be quick. You won't suffer, I promise."
Ash looked down at his own hands. He noticed the slight cut on his palm. It stung, bringing him back to himself again. Back to where he was within the tree, within its swirling, massive aura. And above it all, he could sense Pikachu... waiting for him.
"Pikachu," Ash whispered.
"He'll be fine. Pikachu lived life fine before meeting you. He'll be fine long after you are gone."
That was wrong, a lie. Pikachu would not be fine. Ash blinked as the fog settling over him shifted again. He fought it off. It had somehow wrapped its way around him, entangling him like a suffocating blanket.
"No," Ash snapped, retreating from the offered hand. "No, I'm tired of trying to make things up to you, William. It's impossible. You're not here. You're dead."
"Ash," Will said sternly.
"You're not taking me. I've already paid for my mistakes. I'll keep paying for them. But not like this. I don't owe you my life. This is my life!"
"Ash, you don't know what you're saying. Take my hand!"
Will made a grasp for him. More of him slipped out from the crystal and Ash could see him as he really was. He wasn't a ghost, not truly.
"You're part of the Tree — the Tree of Beginning," Ash said, retreating back further. He grasped onto his crystal again. He could feel the last of the fog dissipating, his mind becoming clearer. "You're trying to capture me."
"No, I'm not."
"You're trying to kill me... Why is the tree trying to kill—" Ash's racing thoughts zeroed into one possible explanation. He remembered Regirock, the pokemon monster guarding the entrance to the tree. It had been a line of defense. This must be another. If the tree couldn't keep the threat out, then its next course of action would be to assimilate it. The tree was using wave to try to consume their life force... as it had already consumed Jessie's.
She hadn't fallen after all. The crystals, the ones that Aileen had said had covered the path, must have swallowed her.
Will made another clumsy grab for Ash. Ash stumbled back once again. But he stumbled too far. The back of his arm just graced the surface of the nearest reflection-less crystal. Ash realized his mistake, feeling the icy burn lace up his arm. He cried out, but could not pull himself free. He could feel himself being sucked in.
"Don't worry, Ash. As I said, it will be painless."
Ash sneered at the creature. How had he ever thought it looked anything like Will? It had showed its true colors now, stepping out of the crystal and revealing itself to be some sort of jelly amoeba-like life form. Ash could see its aura, the same pulsating and shimmering rainbow-like aura he had felt all around them since entering the tree. This thing was of the tree — a sentinel, meant to ensnare any intruders in its manipulative web.
It surprised Ash when his breath came out as a misted cloud. He felt as he were being dipped into an icy tub. Already his right arm was almost completely submerged in the crystal. He couldn't even move his fingers anymore. The part of himself lost inside had already gone numb — dead. No matter how hard he pulled himself forward, his arm wouldn't resurface from the crystal.
"Let me go," Ash hissed. He slid further within the crystal. His sneakers slid across the damp cavern floor, unable to get purchase. He tried to push off against the crystal, to pry himself free. But that was a mistake and already his other foot was sinking inside. Ash winced as he felt the numbness shooting up his calf.
"It won't be long now. Don't be sad. You'll be happier with us."
"I don't want to become part of a fucking tree!" Ash screamed. He scrambled with his one free foot and free hand, but he was just exhausting himself. And Will, or what was masquerading at him, was only too happy to tell him so.
Ash had sunk so far that he had been forced to his knees. He could feel the icy tendrils making their way over his other foot. The being hadn't been wrong. He was disappearing and disappearing fast. Ash closed his eyes and wrapped his one remaining hand about his crystal necklace.
Think of Pikachu, Ash told himself fiercely. Think of mom. Think of Misty and Brock. Think of Aileen and Lucario. Think of James— poor James. Think of those who need you, who want you... who'd miss you.
Ash opened his eyes and glared up at the jelly creature. His aura was radiating off of him in waves. Ash put in everything that he had left. Every ounce, every last bit. He could feel it burning underneath his skin, a pleasant and powerful warmth. Ash realized with a start what color his own aura was. A shining, brilliant shade of gold shimmering around what was left of his body.
"I won't let you take me," Ash shouted, barely restraining the power within himself. His voice was deeper, rippling with aura. Though the Will imposter was only a figment created by the tree, it still seemed to feel some sort of fear. Or perhaps it was reflecting the tree's anxiety. Ash liked to think it was the latter. "This isn't how I go. How dare you steal his face and try to trick me! I won't let you. I won't let you toy with me! I won't let you keep me from Pikachu!"
At his final scream, his aura erupted outward. The crystal trying to pull him in shattered into pieces. It wasn't the only one. Every crystal in the vicinity exploded into dust. Including the one in Ash's hands, leaving him only holding a handful of crystalline dirt.
Ash fell over his knees, utterly spent. When the crystal shattered, it surrendered his legs and opposing hand. He could feel them again, all too suddenly. They ached with realness. Ash could feel his pulse pounding from within them, vibrating his veins, bringing them back up to pace with the rest of his living body. And once Ash had caught his breath and lifted his head, the creature was gone. Perhaps without the crystal, there was no way for it to continue transmit its presence here.
Somehow, Ash found a way back to his feet. He staggered from the cavernous prison, taking care to avoid slipping on the shards and silky dust. It was so hard to even walk. Ash realized with some alarm that he had probably expended more of aura than he should have. Had that not been one of Lucario's plain warnings? Use more than you have and you die?
He felt like he was struggling to come up for air from some unimaginable depth. His slow heartbeat was loud in his ears. Vision swimming, Ash blinked back his focus. He tried to not let the heavy feeling in his head weigh him down. He leaned on the walls when he could find them. But he couldn't stop to rest.
Because the tree had come for him. And if it had tried to serenade him, it would certainly try to get the others. Aileen had heard the music, too. And just because Kidd and James hadn't professed to noticing anything strange, didn't mean they were safe. If they were to have any chance of surviving the encounter, Ash needed to reach them first. To warn them or to save them, only timing would decide. Which was why Ash had to push through and find them as soon as possible.
Pikachu sat bolt upright. He had been having a lovely time within Mew's alcove. There were plenty of juicy apples on which to gorge himself silly. The flora and fauna were abundant, fragrant and an absolute springy delight as Mew had showed them — bouncing from plant to plant. Pikachu hadn't even minded Meowth was there. Not even the shade of Team Rocket could steal away the wonder of this slice of paradise.
But that wasn't entirely true. There was something that could steal away its beauty. The guilty hole in Pikachu's heart was enlarging each morning that he woke up without his pokemon partner. He knew Ash had to be missing him. But every time that Pikachu tried to encourage Mew into letting them go back, Mew had some new wonder to show them. Some new distraction to stave off any more conversations about leaving. It worked pretty well at first. But Pikachu was getting annoyed. And Mew was running out of things to show his new pokemon companions.
Mew had just shown the two of them how to ride the wind currents. It was exhilarating. Pikachu had enjoyed the first floaty airy trip through the veins of the tree. But the novelty had worn thin. While Meowth continued to leap through the tunnels, Pikachu had taken a moment to sulk under a large palm frond.
That was when Pikachu heard it. He could have sworn the sound that just tickled his ears was the voice of his Pikapi, screaming out for him. Pikachu shuffled closer to the air tunnels, straining to hear more. But the tree was now silent.
This only set Pikachu on edge more. Silence was more unsettling than the shout had been. Had Ash been in pain? It certainly hadn't sounded like a friendly, joyous call. Pikachu's stomach felt like it was twisting in knots; apple feast be damned.
"What's wrong, Pikachu?" Meowth asked, landing next to the pokemon after his flight.
"I heard Pikapi," Pikachu said, still staring in concern down at the inky black tunnels of the tree.
"No way," Meowth chuckled. "How could he have found us so quickly? You must have imagined it."
Pikachu didn't feel like arguing with the cat. He didn't need to prove it to anyone. Pikachu knew what he heard and what he needed to do. If Mew wouldn't take them back, Pikachu would just have to find his own way home.
Without waiting for either Meowth or Mew's permission, Pikachu jumped down into the wind chute. But this time, instead of letting it carry him to the top of the tree's branches, he jumped off early. He leaped into a secondary shaft that twisted downward deeper into the tree. Pikachu could hear Meowth trying to call him back. Mew too. But the only sound Pikachu cared about were the echoes of his Pokemon trainer, crying out his name.
Pikapi was the only one who mattered. And Pikachu refused to leave him again.
Ash stumbled, tripping over an ingrown crystal that had sneakily disrupted the otherwise level incline. He fell hard, knocking both his knees and elbow as he crashed to the unforgiving rocky ground. Ash gasped out, grasping at his elbow as pain shot up his arm.
It was the same arm was his shoulder injury that felt like from ages ago. Ash couldn't believe all the ways he had been wounded and then stitched back together in the last week or so. It helped that there were psychic pokemon around to heal him, but then again, Ash felt they were more often than not the cause of his injuries as well.
Wincing and groaning, wishing he could just stay down, Ash pulled himself back up. He wasn't getting any less tired. He could barely manage the air to call for the others, choosing more to look and listen than to call out himself.
Wave was no longer an option. His crystal was gone and most of his aura spent in getting free. He could still feel it all around him, but his vision was shaky and spotty at best. Which meant he would have to find the others the old-fashioned way.
As far as Ash could tell, he hadn't been spirited away too far from their last rendezvous point. He had crossed the familiar tunnel only a few minutes after setting off from the one that was intended to be his tomb. But Ash didn't see any sign of the others past this point.
The air continued to chill the further up he climbed. It was getting past the point of comfort. Ash felt the icy breezes keenly, especially on the side of his body that had been encased in crystal. It was as if that part of his body had been sheared. His skin was thinner and his tolerance to the cold weakened. It slowed his climb to a sluggish trudge.
Dealing with such frosty temperatures, it was quite odd that Ash smelt something. It was as if the wind had shifted. It was no warmer, but Ash thought he could catch the distinct scent of sea salt in the air. He hadn't thought they were near the ocean this far up the mountainous tree, and yet the scent lingered.
Ash rounded the corner, surprised to find that the tight tunnels had opened out again. They were high enough to be amongst the branches. The wind whistled past in a near-constant stream. At every gust, the roar of the wind suppressed every other sound.
It was good that Ash was still sheltered in the tree's nook, as Ash wasn't positive that the wind wouldn't whisk him straight off the tree.
Ash had been so distracted by the wind tunnel he had almost completely forgotten about the odd smell that had led him here. A glow out of the corner of his eye drew his attention back. Ash turned, startled to see a familiar cluster of crystals. And at the center of them stood Lucario.
"Lucario!" Ash cried out, his voice swallowed up by a gust bellowing through the wind tunnel. Ash scowled at the intruding sound and made his way closer. The pokemon made no movement to indicate that he had heard. He didn't even react to the gusting winds. His eyes were solidly fixed on the crystal.
A bad feeling settled uncomfortably in Ash's gut. He hurried forward, only to be thrown back by a sudden outcrop of crystal thorns springing up out of the floor. They walled Lucario in and effectively kept Ash out.
"Lucario no!" Ash cried, scrambling back to his feet. He tried to climb the crystals, but they were slippery as ice. They burned like the others too, forcing Ash to pull back before it sucked him in. "Lucario!" Ash tried again, shouting out for the pokemon. "It's the tree, Lucario! It's trying to trick you! Don't trust whatever it's showing you!"
The gusts had died down just enough to give his cries a chance to reach the Pokemon's ears. Lucario seemed to hear his shouts. He turned his head just enough to suggest it. And then Ash saw it — the amoeba creature from within the crystal. It had shifted form, shedding the shell of a dead child for that of a strong and capable hero. His hat set on a jaunty angle and cape rippling, Ash locked eyes with his century old ancestor.
"No!" Ash screamed. He reached across again, badly scalding his hands on the crystal. He cussed and drew back, watching as the creature tried to lure Lucario into the crystal. Like a slow-moving nightmare, Lucario complied.
But I thought he hated him. Why would he—
"Lucario, don't give up!"
"He's offering me a way home, Ash."
Ash started. He hadn't realized that Lucario had heard him, after all. But then, why wasn't he listening? Ash walked along the wall of crystals, trying to get closer. But the ones closest swelled and rose taller at his approach. Ash could only just see over the crystals if he stood on his tiptoes.
"Lucario, please. There's... There's no..." He felt the tears burning in his eyes, choking him up. He didn't want to say it. It was funny how Ash had spent his whole time with this pokemon being nothing but brutally honest. He had never cared about Lucario's feelings. And why would he? This was the pokemon that had tried to kill him the first time they met.
But somehow, as often was the case for him, Ash had found himself drawn into this pokemon's orbit. Discovered how incredibly similar they were. The centuries that had divided them were bridged for their chance meeting, for their rare friendship. Ash wasn't sorry for it, not anymore.
Ash wanted to say the right thing that would turn Lucario away from death. But he didn't know the words. Everything wholesome and positive felt like a lie. Anything coming from his heart felt selfish. He couldn't tell Lucario what the pokemon wanted to hear.
"There's no way for you to get back home," Ash whispered through tears.
Lucario paused. He looked back at the crying teenager, meeting his eyes sadly before looking away.
"I don't care."
Ash might have cried out again, but if he had, he wouldn't have heard it. The wind's wail whipped through the tunnel again, stealing away sound. And in the loud silence, Ash watched the pokemon take the fake Sir Aaron's hand. There was a powerful scent of the ocean breezing past. The crystals were emanating the scent, luring them in like moths to a flame. Ash realized that the smell must have meant something to Lucario. A smell of home, perhaps?
The wind dried the tears on Ash's face, lashing by with a touch almost as bitterly cold as the crystals. He was forced to witness Lucario's last moments. Where Ash had fought, Lucario went obediently — willingly. He slipped within the crystal, ripples running up and down the surface in his wake. And then everything went still.
Ash fell to his knees. He wanted to scream but couldn't muster the strength. His arms and legs were trembling with exhaustion. Even crying was energy spent. So he just closed his eyes.
A sudden crack broke the expectant silence. Ash opened his eyes, startled by the sound. He jumped when another crack sounded- the crystal nearest him splitting down the center. Ash scrambled to his feet just as several of the crystals exploded apart in quick succession. And then, the crystal Lucario had slipped into shattered. It fell into pieces, depositing the confused and forsaken pokemon onto the cavern floor.
Ash leaped over the deactivated crystals and slid over to Lucario's side. The pokemon appeared unharmed, only dazed.
"It couldn't take me," Lucario said softly, almost wistfully. "It didn't want me."
Ash wiped at his eyes. It relieved him to have Lucario back. He knew he should have been happy. And of course, he had been — initially. But at hearing Lucario's soft voice, the ache in his chest throbbed. He pulled away from Lucario, avoiding his eyes when Lucario sought him out.
"Ash?" Lucario asked.
"You just... gave up," Ash whispered.
"Ash, I—"
Ash stood up abruptly, leaving Lucario on the floor. He wanted to walk away and abandon the pokemon. His ripped-out heart was exposed and raw. Ash wanted to inflict a similar pain — hurt back the way it had hurt him. Just when it seemed like he had been accepted and understood.
Ash whirled back on Lucario. But the pokemon's calm expectant look chilled his rage, leaving him with the hurt again. Ash blinked back fresh tears.
"You were willing to die. You were willing to leave me here all alone," He accused.
Lucario slowly nodded, and Ash hated him for it.
"You promised! You said we'd leave this place together!"
Lucario had no answer to that. He hung his head and again, Ash hated him. He wanted to strike the pokemon but stayed his hand. Not only was he too exhausted, even standing this long caused his head to spin, but Ash hadn't wanted to give Lucario the luxury of his anger. Anger was explosive and immediate. It ended far too quickly.
"You're a liar, Lucario," Ash spat. He tore at the empty chain still about his neck, throwing it at the pokemon's feet. "Everything you said. Everything." Ash shook his head. "You and Sir Aaron deserve each other."
Only then did Ash leave. He knew those words would hurt just as much as Lucario's had. He saw the pain in Lucario's eyes. It should have given him some measure of satisfaction. But unfortunately, all Ash felt was empty.
To Be Continued…
Please Read and Review!
I know I promised this chapter closer to Halloween. Hopefully, you all won't mind a Thanksgiving update instead!
Special thanks to YumeTakato, SpectreLass, juaniu1994, thor94, and last but never least, Shaveza. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews.
Next time on MoM, Ash and Pikachu are reunited. See you all then! You can expect the next chapter sometime this December!