A/N: Hello my lovely readers. Welcome to the latest installment in the book. After taking a bit of memory lane in Aurora's journey, it's time to head out to Kanto! What will happen? We'll see~
Enjoy this somewhat short, but eventful chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon and all that good stuff. I just own the story and its concept.
"The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable." - James A. Garfield
Chapter 38: Kanto Abound! Ash's Realization
When Aurora finished telling her tale, Ash and Serena was completely silent. Judging from how Chari acted today, they would have never expected her to bite or attack Aurora. They also didn't expect Ryuu to attack Chari and Aurora because they disturbed him. They thought that the Gyarados attacked first because that species of Pokémon was known for their violent fits. Suddenly, Chari lifted Aurora off from the ground and placed her on her back. Chari looked up at her knowingly. Aurora was thoroughly surprised. She looked just as elated as when she was a child. The two teens could see they had come a long way since Chari was a Charmander.
"Unlike other trainers, my goal was to be a master aura guardian. I trained with Pokémon so I can get a better perspective with aura itself. I ended up barely beating the Celadon Gym. At the time, Eva, Erika's mother, was the gym leader. I also didn't know that fairies were weak against poison types until the gym battle. As a result, Eva's Vileplume was able to knock out Happy and later Ryuu. Chari made the victory possible. Even though we started out on bad terms, Chari and Ryuu became valuable assets to me during my travels in Kanto." Aurora stated fondly. Chari was subconsciously nodding her head in agreement.
"Ever since that near-death experience, I learned to lean my trust into Aurora completely. She gave me the inspiration to shoot higher and higher than ever before. We've trained together so much that I find anything hard-pressed to defeat me. Ryuu and Wasabi were great training partners, especially Wasabi. She helped me deal with electric types once I evolved fully. Ryuu helped me to hone my inner dragon and embrace my strength. Though it took me a while to fully accept Ryuu for what he did, he ended up being an amazing friend." Chari chimed in.
"Where are Wasabi and Ryuu now?" Ash asked. He noticed they weren't with her now.
"I don't want to spoil where they are to you just yet. Hopefully, you'll see them soon enough." Aurora winked at the boy. Ash pouted slightly. They sounded so cool to meet. He sensed he would meet them someday soon.
Ash and Serena looked surprised when Aurora jumped off of Chari's back suddenly to touch Ash's Charizard's back. Aurora gestured Rio forward. Rio got the idea and started touch Charizard's back as well. Aurora's hands and Rio's paws glowed slightly and Charizard's body matched their color.
Ash and Serena watched in amazement as they saw Charizard's flames started to build up once again. The combined effort of the two of them were more than enough to bring Charizard around. Charizard slowly started to raise himself back up. Whatever they were doing, Charizard didn't want them to stop. Charizard's eyes opened sharply. He stretched out his wings and gave a hearty roar. Ash looked ecstatic and gave Charizard a large hug. Charizard smiled as he playfully used Flamethrower on his trainer. They both were laughing.
Aurora and Rio's hands and paws stopped glowing and they inspected they newly healed Charizard. She walked away from Charizard and gestured Rio to follow her. She also patted Rio on the back and winked at him. Rio took at as a sign of thanks. The jackal hummed in appreciation. Ash looked up at Charizard and looked at his flame. Ash noticed it was different. It was stronger than it was before the battle. He could see signs of blue flames coming from it, but not completely. It was mostly orangey-white, but there were blue specks in the mix. Ash looked at Aurora in confusion. He could tell she was trying to hide a smirk. He wondered if she had something to do with Charizard's change in flames.
"Thank you so much for healing Charizard, Rio and Aurora." Ash bowed in thanks. He was deeply grateful that Charizard was fully restored. Ash asked his newly healed friend, "Charizard… how are you feeling?"
"(Amazing! I've never felt this way before!)" Charizard once again blew out a Flamethrower. Just like his tail flame, the attack had tiny blue specks of fire in it. This time, Serena noticed it and made a comment on it.
"Whoa… Ash, since when could Charizard blow out blue flames?" Serena said. Ash furrowed his eyebrows.
"He couldn't before." Ash answered her. He looked at the elder Ketchum. "Aurora, did you have something to do with it?"
"I probably helped, but not directly." Aurora shrugged. She had a smirk plastered on her face and Ash knew from her eyes that there was something she wanted him to figure out.
"You didn't do it… so was it Rio?"
"Eh... Chari's the Pokémon to talk to, actually." Aurora said, pointing to her fire and flying type.
Aurora winked at her and darted her eyes downward. The fully evolved fire type knew that look. She also looked down. Chari looked confused at Aurora's quiet message, but then figured out what she was talking about once she saw Charizard's flame. She moved closer to inspect the younger Charizard. He was a proud Pokémon, but no other Charizard looked at him so closely. It weirded him out.
Chari stood in front of him with a serious expression. Afterward, Chari pushed Charizard roughly. Charizard tried to push her back, but Chari was quicker with her reaction. She intercepted his claws and flipped him over her head. Charizard laid on the ground behind her, completely dazed. She looked down at Charizard with a taunting expression.
Who was Chari to taunt him like that? He didn't like to get mocked. Charizard immediately recovered from the ground and used Flamethrower on Chari. There was some more visible blue in it this time. Chari tilted her head to the side and dodged it with arrogant ease. Chari raised her claws to show she didn't want to fight any more. Charizard was growling at her, but wondered why she started attacking in the first place.
Chari pointed to Charizard's tail flame, "Young Charizard, you are progressing faster than I would ever hope to dream. You use your determination to make your attacks stronger. It seems you've unlocked that ability from battling Rio. However, unlike most Charizards who have blue flames, if you get angry, you won't go out of control. It's very interesting, but rare among us. I should know because I have that ability. It's shown in my eyes. For you, it's shown in your tail and flames. Luckily for me, you seem to be a bit of a hothead. It was easier to test out my suspicions. Should we battle, however, I would beat you easily. If you struggled against Rio, you don't stand a chance against me. You are way too impatient."
"(I'd like to see you try to beat me.)" Charizard growled. He didn't know that he could strengthen his attacks depending on his anger, but he wasn't going to let Chari insult his strength.
"Please. I'm a lot stronger than Rio's mega form… and that's when I'm in my regular form. In either of my Mega forms, I'd cream you. I am Aurora's Aspect of Strength for a reason." Chari crossed her arms and put her nose up in the air. This got Charizard even madder. Chari wasn't being arrogant,. She was objectively speaking and assessing both of their strength based her earlier observations of the younger lizard. She knew of her abilities and limits. She wasn't sure if Charizard was the same.
"(I don't care what you are! You can't beat me!)" Charizard proclaimed arrogantly.
"Perhaps I should kick your tail to teach you something, young'un…" Chari almost yawned in boredom. That was the final straw.
"(Go ahead and try then!)" Charizard frowned at the elder Charizard's arrogance.
There was no way he would allow her to talk to him like that. Charizard head-butted Chari. The elder Charizard felt somewhat enraged. Both Charizards were at each other's throats. They were butting heads, scowling, trying to push the other back. Chari had the upper hand, being slightly larger. Ash and Aurora got in between their Charizards and tried to push them away from each other. Ash and Aurora had a hard time keeping them from harming one another. All in the while, Ash noticed Charizard's tail and eyes becoming bluer and bluer. Aurora noticed that Chari's eyes were seething red and her pupils were narrowed.
"Uh-oh…" Ash and Aurora thought at the same time. If either Charizard decided to use their moves against each other, they would have a savage an all-out brawl. Neither trainer wanted that to happen and doubled their efforts to stop it.
"Charizard, calm down!" Ash strained to say as Charizard continued to try to go past Ash to get to Chari. Charizard roared in defiance and made more of an effort to claw at Chari. This riled up Chari even more. Charizard was too strong for Ash to stop. Aurora noticed this and wanted to put an end to the pointless bickering. She, too, was struggling to keep Chari back, but she was strong enough to stop both of them if need be.
"Enough! You two don't need to prove a point of your strength!" Aurora said harshly.
Charizard looked incredulously at Aurora. Giving an apologizing look to Ash, Aurora decided to prove her point to Charizard. Aurora formed an aura sphere in her hand and pointed it at Charizard. She gave him a warning glare that said, 'Just try my patience and see what happens.' Charizard started to back down immediately afterwards. Ash was completely stunned. Then, he looked at Aurora and immediately saw why. Her expression looked incredibly daunting for anyone to look at. She commanded respect and authority. He could understand why Charizard backed down. Chari, however, wasn't fazed by the expression.
Chari made a low growl that sent shivers down Ash's, Serena's and Charizard's spines, but not Aurora's. Aurora looked up at her Charizard defiantly and pointed the aura sphere at her. Trainer and Pokémon stared each other down. Neither of them gave each other an inch. Eventually, Chari relented and looked away. Aurora's wolf-like stare was too much to take. Chari started to pout, but glared at Charizard. She really wanted to put Charizard in his place, but was obedient to Aurora's wishes. She walked over to her trainer, crossing her arms in dissatisfaction. Aurora immediately destroyed her attack upon seeing both Charizards calm down.
Aurora noticed this and whispered in her ear, "Hey… when we reach the Tree of Beginning, you can kick his butt as much as you want. For now, stifle your pride, OK? Charizard's been through a lot already."
"Alright. Wait until I start training that younger impudent upstart. I'm gonna have fun with him teaching him a thing or two." Chari chuckled roughly.
"I'm sure you will." Aurora responded.
"Whoa… I don't know what you did, but thank you for calming down Charizard. He normally doesn't act like that." Ash thanked.
"That was called a scare tactic, Ash. Pretty useful in the art of intimidation. This was my fault anyway. I didn't expect Chari to taunt him that badly." Aurora directed a stinky look at Chari. Chari looked away from her trainer in slight guilt. "Charizard also have a bit of your aura residing inside him, as do Pikachu. I can see specks of blue in both of their auras."
"Really? How? Also, when Ashton first came out, Pikachu had enough of my aura in him to talk. How come he can't talk now?" Ash asked. Pikachu didn't think much of it at first, but then started to have the same question in his head.
"It's a bit of an advance technique to enable your partners to speak in the human tongue as long as the base guardian is conscious. The reason it's so advanced lies in being able to do it without losing any aura over time, like I can. Those blue specks in both of your partners' aura is a bit of a marker to let other guardians know that they are your guardian partners. Think of it as if you placed an invisible blue dot on them." Aurora explained.
During this time, Clemont, Bonnie and Meyer came back outside seeing things calm down a little from before. They could tell that Ash no longer looked distraught and that Charizard was completely healed. Bonnie looked at the two Charizards in awe. She never got to see the both of them together and it made her really excited. Clemont and Bonnie were glad that Ash and Charizard were alright.
Once everyone was outside, Aurora's face grew grim. She sighed and said, "Ashton… I've waited long enough. We… should go now. Kanto is a bit of a trip from here. I'll give you time to say goodbye to your friends properly."
Ash was surprised to hear her call him by his full name intentionally and realized the severity of the situation. He nodded at her. He went over to Clemont and gave him the biggest brotherly hug he could muster. Although Clemont struggled to breathe, he took it happily. Clemont managed to break from the embrace, but not without giving him a thumbs-up.
"Ash… best of luck with the conflict. I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help you, but you inspired me to expand my knowledge of aura guardians and to be more accepting of them. Thank you." Clemont bowed with respect at his friend. Ash was a bit confused at the gesture. Clemont went into his backpack and gave Ash a contraption of sorts. It looked like a small metal box with a red button. Ash tilted his head in confusion.
"I worked on quite a few inventions when you were unconscious and the one I kept closest to me was this one. Based on what I read about the Tree of Beginning and aura guardians, I developed a way to help keep track of how much aura you have left." Clemont explained.
Aurora blinked her eyes in surprise and got curious. How much did he read? She wanted to ask, but she also didn't want to interrupt Clemont and Ash's interaction. She decided to inspect the machine further once the opportunity presented itself.
Clemont pressed the button and the box expanded. It quickly scanned Ash from head to toe. Ash stood still and allowed it to happen. Then, the machine began to hum to itself as it got a profile of Ash and showcased it to everyone. In a holographic field, it showed Ash and his physical features. It also showed how much aura Ash had by showing his aura patterns in waves. However, they noticed the wave was gradually getting smaller and smaller. Everyone looked concerned, but Ash focused on the gift itself.
"Wow… this is impressive stuff, Clemont! Thank you." Ash said in appreciation.
"No problem. Hopefully you can use this to your advantage." Clemont beamed happily. He was happy that it didn't blow up on everyone.
"Clemont… you know that aura is a wave? That's impressive. Not many people would liken aura to that from reading and then apply it." Aurora commented.
"I read a lot when you and Ash was unconscious. I wasn't sure how I could help you and I felt terrible for how Bonnie and I was acting. I hope this makes it up to you." Clemont said. Aurora's eyes turned soft.
"Well, it was my fault that you got like that in the first place. You don't have to make up anything to me or Ash… especially Ash. Do you mind me inspecting your gift further after we leave? I'm curious to learn more about it." Aurora responded.
"Not at all." Clemont said.
"Um… Ash?" Bonnie suddenly approached the raven-haired teen. Ash smiled and regarded her. Bonnie flinched and stepped away slightly upon seeing his marks. She said in a small voice, "I'm going to miss you so much, but it's going to take me some time to be able to look at your marks without flinching. I'm sorry."
"Hey, you can't help how you feel, Bonnie. It's no worries." Ash replied with a smile. Bonnie was surprised at how open he was.
"I also wanted to give you something." Bonnie went behind her and gave him a brush. Ash tilted his head at the item, but accepted it. He thanked her anyway. Bonnie explained, "When you learn everything and this conflict thing is over, I hope you can groom your Pokémon and make them look good. I noticed Pikachu hasn't been groomed in a while and I think it's important to take care of Pokémon… even if it seems small."
"Bonnie… of course. What do you say, buddy?" Ash turned to Pikachu. Pikachu was about to say something, but Aurora raised her hand up slightly. Pikachu suddenly started to glow yellow for a moment before the glow disappeared. Pikachu smiled at the lady in appreciation.
"It would be nice to get groomed by you once in a while. Seeing Happy again made me want my coat to look just as nice." Pikachu admitted. Ash gasped. He had no idea Pikachu felt that way, but he was also thankful that Aurora allowed him to talk temporarily so he wouldn't have to translate.
"I'll make sure you're the best looking of all the Pikachus, buddy! You can count on it." Ash clenched his fist in his usual enthusiasm. Everyone else began to laugh at the boy. Ash looked at his friends with a serious expression and said, "Thank you… both of you. I didn't expect you two to give me something. I feel bad that I don't have anything to give myself."
"I may have some idea, young one." Aurora went into her bag and took out some Pokédollars. She gave both blond siblings 50,000 Pokédollars each. Both of them gasped in surprise. Aurora smiled, "Consider this a gift from me as well. I truly am sorry for what I put you two through. I know Ashton is as well. However, be sure to use that money when you need it… and if you need more, go ahead and reach out to me."
"Thank you, Aurora!" Bonnie and Clemont said.
"Not a problem. Besides, Bonnie can use some of the money to buy some man-made supplies when she becomes a trainer. Consider yourself lucky to have so much money in the beginning of your journey." Aurora chuckled and winked the girl. Bonnie nodded.
"I also have something for you, Serena." Clemont reached into his bag again. He took out what seemed to be a case of sorts. Serena looked at it, mildly confused. He opened it and revealed that it can hold a lot of clothes and accessories in it. Serena's eyes began to sparkle. Clemont explained, "I designed this case to be able to carry any clothing you need for your performances. I figured this would be a suitable gift for you."
Bonnie added, "I got you some accessories yesterday when you were dealing with the DDD to put into your case as well. Papa gave me enough money to buy some!"
"We wanted to let you know how we appreciate you and everything you did for us when Ash and Aurora were in their comas. Even though we seemed cranky, we knew how much you cared and are thankful for it. We hope you like your goodbye present." Clemont continued. Serena put the gift in her bag. Then, she suddenly hugged both Clemont and Bonnie.
"I love it. Thank you…" Serena said.
Ash suddenly went over and joined in on the hug. The four friends then broke the embrace and put their hands-on top of each other. With a joint nod, the four of them, brought their hands up simultaneously, marking the end of an era. Aurora and Meyer stood by each other, looked at each other and shrugged. They felt happy that the kids were happy and that's all that matter to them.
Aurora suddenly called over her ferocious orange lizard with red eyes. The Charizard looked grim and looked at Ash and Serena. They nodded. Ash called over his own Charizard. Aurora got on hers. Ash and Serena got on Ash's. Bonnie and Clemont walked by their father and waved all three of them good-bye. With a curt nod from Aurora, Chari expanded her wings and lifted herself in the air. Ash and Charizard followed suit.
Bonnie and Clemont kept waving until they could longer see the two Charizards in the sky. They both suddenly felt sad, but knew this would happen eventually. The Lucios went back inside their house where they would discuss what they would do next. The main thing Bonnie wanted to do was become a trainer so she wouldn't let her fear run her mind again.
As Ash, Aurora and Serena sailed through the sky, Ash started to have a sinking feeling. He couldn't believe that they were finally on their way to Kanto. Ash could feel how close he was to learning the truth and it both terrified and excited him. Ash couldn't help but look at Aurora as she was flying. She seemed calm and relaxed while in the air, but he could tell that she was feeling a mix of emotions, too. Aurora couldn't look at him directly.
Ashton said, "Ruru's just worried about you accepting the truth, Ash. I hope you accept it, too."
"Yeah, I get that, but how bad was the separation really?" Ash said suddenly.
"What do you mean?" Ashton asked, somewhat confused.
"I know what happened was traumatic, but I have to wonder how it happened in the first place. Were we ambushed?" Ash asked.
"Yes, but you don't have to have these questions now. You're going to find out today. Please… just be patient." Ashton replied.
"Right. Sorry Ashton. I'm just so nervous that I'll change for the worse once I find out the truth. I'm not sure how I will take it. I don't want to withdraw or be cold hearted to anyone, but I have that fear I will." Ash told him.
"Ash…" Ashton didn't know what to say.
"If I can lose control when I'm angry to the point I'm willing to kill something… then I don't wanna find out how I'll be if I'm depressed." Ash admitted.
"Ash… if you're anything like me, you'll let it affect you for a while as you think about how your life could have been if this didn't happen. You'll wonder if everything you know holds weight and if you can even trust anything you thought was good. However, that's OK. I'll be here for you. So will Ruru and Serena. You have dedicated support to help you through this… something I didn't have when I was suppressed in your head. It's alright to be afraid, but it is up to you to grow from it." Ashton told him.
"Thanks, Ashton. I needed that." Ash said with appreciation.
"No problem, partner. Know that we're here for you." Ashton said as Ash felt his presence diminish from his mind. Ash suddenly nodded to himself and looked at the sky in a strong gaze. Serena looked at him in confusion.
Ash asked, "Aurora! How much farther is Kanto from here?"
"A good twenty minutes if we keep up this pace. We'll be there soon. We're going to approach Johto in the next five minutes from Cianwood's side." Aurora replied. Aurora suddenly eyed Serena. She gestured Chari to fly a bit closer to Charizard. Aurora said, "Serena?"
"Yes?"
"How are you doing? Feeling alright on Charizard?"
"Yes?" Serena blinked her eyes in surprise. She didn't expect Aurora to attempt small talk.
"I'm sorry if I'm weirding you out. I'm not exactly sure how to say this and I'm not sure when else I can say this." Aurora shifted her eye color to be Aru. Serena gasped. "I never did acknowledge what I did to you about a week ago. I focused a lot on Bonnie and Clemont because they are regular humans and you can heal yourself quickly. I knew they would get affected more. I wanted to say that I feel guilty that I basically used you as a test subject to see if Ash could stand up to me."
"Aru… actually apologize." Aurora growled when she didn't hear Aru say anything else.
"I'm getting to that… pushy." Aru sighed.
"I had no right to do that. I'm..." Aru sighed and shook her head. "I'm… sorry. I extend the same invitation I did with Bonnie and Clemont. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, I would do it."
"It's alright, Aru. I already forgave you." Serena said easily. Aru seemed shocked.
"Really?" Aru said.
"Chari told me how reluctant you were about attacking anything. I later figured out you attacked us because of Mew from how she was speaking to me and everything I heard about her. I know it isn't your fault." Serena explained. Aru closed her eyes and laughed to herself.
"Thank you, child. Mew… can be twisted at times, but she really does have good intentions. It's hard to believe in the heat of the moment, but Mew has our back. Ash and I both getting stronger and protecting us in our trials is a good example." Aru said as her eyes became yellow while speaking.
"I guess. I can't bring myself to trust her considering how she's causing you and Ash to be like this. Even if it is to make you two stronger, it doesn't feel right." Serena told her. Aurora chuckled sadly.
"I understand how you feel. I don't think it's right, either. When you've been a pawn to her your entire life, you kind of force yourself to accept unfairness." Aurora said with closed eyes. Chari looked at her trainer briefly with saddened eyes before focusing on what's in front of her. Before Ash or Serena could comment on that, Aurora said when she opened her eyes, "We're approaching Cianwood City. Can Charizard fly a bit faster, young one?"
Ash looked down at his ride Pokémon with an earnest expression. Charizard roared fiercely before going about twice as fast. He left Chari in the dust. Serena gasped at the sharp speed and held on to Ash tighter. Ash had to cover his blush at the contact. Despite being shocked at the sudden burst of speed, Chari smirked. She picked up her pace to catch up with the young Charizard. The two turned traversing through Johto into a race.
Aurora, although she didn't mind the race, wanted them to slow down so she could see where they were. She decided to activate her aura vision so she could pick up on a large mass trees more efficiently. Aurora narrowed her eyes as she looked at her surroundings much more closely. She gasped when they passed by New Bark Town. Her eyes returned to normal.
Aurora called out, "Slow down, you two! We're entering Kanto now."
Chari nodded and immediately slowed down. Charizard gasped at the sudden exclamation and struggled to slow down at first. Chari shook her head and commented, "You have a lack of control in your flight, young Charizard. Try to control your wings' movement instead of focus on speed next time."
"(You don't need to tell me that, old hag.)" Charizard snorted.
"Charizard! That's super rude!" Ash said with disappointment. Serena was confused at the response. Ash quickly translated it to her. Serena covered her mouth in response.
"Watch it, you inexperienced swine. I'll incinerate you if you dare call me that again. I don't care if you're the young master's partner either. I will teach you to respect your elders." Chari growled with flames in her mouth. Aurora gulped. She could feel Chari's body getting warmer and knew she was getting annoyed. She started to caress her first Pokémon on top of her head.
"Oh boy… Chari…" Aurora said soothingly. Chari got the hidden message in her voice and calmed down.
"Sorry, Aurora. I'll hold in my pride for now, but I'm going to enjoy constantly kicking Charizard's tail up his head after you and Ash deal with the separation." Chari said with an oddly sadistic voice. Aurora blinked her eyes in surprise. She knew that Chari was being completely serious and felt afraid for Charizard. Chari was much colder when she was trying to prove a point to someone and she knew that Chari would show no mercy to Charizard once things calmed down.
Charizard sweatdropped at the intensity of the elder Charizard's tone and backed down immediately. He hadn't felt this level of deference to a Charizard since his time in Charific Valley. He would rather not get bodied by another Charizard, but he refused to apologize. He also wanted to prove his strength to Chari when the time came.
Eventually everyone could see Pallet Town in the distance. Ash immediately noticed the grassy fields of his home and the Pokémon Lab. He couldn't help but feel happy, but sad seeing these familiar structures. Aurora had mixed feelings about this town. She loved it as a child, but it slowly got bad to her as she grew older. Aurora scowled at the scenery and shook her head. Her eyes immediately darted to where she sensed Delia.
"So… Delilah often hid Ash from me when I visited her in that house. I can't help the feeling of wanting to burn it down just to spite her. Raising him in that house… makes me sick how oblivious I was to her lies." Aurora growled in her head. She sighed, "At least she's still in that house. It'll be a matter of time before she senses our presence in Kanto and will try to pursue us. We have to get to the forest now."
Chari and Charizard flew past Pallet Town, Route 1 and Viridian City. Eventually, they were right above Viridian Forest. Aurora activated her aura vision so she could sense where she wanted everyone to land. She gasped as she found the perfect spot and directed everyone over to it. She knew it was the place because the trees weren't as developed as the rest of the forest.
Aurora, Ash and Serena reached a small clearing in the forest. They could tell that there were small trees that was starting to grow in the vicinity, but the bark on the larger trees looked damaged slightly. It was clear the trees were damaged prior and they were still affecting the area. The clearing gave an eerie sense of foreboding. Aurora looked at the area with a frown, Serena was looking at the area awed and Ash tilted his head to the side. Aurora looked around and shook her head. It was just as she remembered it. Ash started to walk ahead of the two ladies. His head started to hurt him terribly and he knew why.
"I… I… know this place…" Ash said shakily. He had one hand touching his head in an attempt to ease the pain. He started to look around at the clearing wildly, taking in all of it. Aurora and Serena looked surprised at the young teen.
"You do?" Serena and Aurora said simultaneously.
"I… I…" Ash continued to walk forward until he stopped in front of one of the trees. He touched the bark and stared at the tree blankly. The two females ran to catch up with him. Ash just stood there, staring at the tree. His eyes were darting crazily at different spots of the tree. Serena wanted to comfort him, but Aurora placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. Serena understood. This was something Ash had to realize. Ash placed his hands against the tree, just staring at it. Suddenly, he heard an echo in his head.
"Ruru!"
It wasn't Ashton's voice. It was octaves higher than it. He recognized it. It was a younger him.
"Ruru! Please! Wake up!"
He couldn't help but hear his younger self's pleas in his head. Part of the memory was starting to emerge in his mind and it was starting to hit him like a truck. However, everything was jumbled. There was no particular order in the images in his mind. It all felt like a sick dream he couldn't wake up from. He wanted to find out more, but at the same time, he was terrified at what his own mind had to hide from him. He delved deeper.
"Sorry, kid, but Ruru won't ever see you again. I'll make sure of that."
A different voice this time. It sounded more feminine. It was spiteful, yet sweet. A knot was turning in his stomach as he tried to put his memory together. He recognized that voice and he was hoping he was lying to himself.
"Why Auntie? Why?"
There he was again. There was no mistaking that was his younger self. He sounded weak. But wait…the other person…
"Your mommy isn't here to protect you anymore. Don't worry. I'll care good care of you, Ashton… or should I call you Ash now? You'll love to hate your old name, that's for sure."
He heard malicious cackling in his mind and the sweet sounds of evil intent sewn into her words. He was shaking his head viciously, not accepting the voice he'd heard in his mind. He'd never heard her voice like that. It sounded deep and demeaning, way different from the voice he was used to. It couldn't be, and yet he couldn't deny it. Ash clutched his hands against his hair and collapsed on the ground. His body was shaking restlessly as he continued to hear the feminine laughter. He wanted to make it stop, but it continued to taunt him.
Aurora and Serena got on their knees to try to comfort him, but he was inconsolable. Aurora could sense that he was confused, but he didn't remember everything. She could tell he was remembering in pieces. It broke her heart to Ash this way; she could see that he was starting to piece two and two together. Meanwhile, Serena could feel Ash's jumbled thoughts in her mind. He was asking himself multiple questions at the same time. It appeared chaotic. Many variations of Ash's voice were asking themselves conflicting questions, but it was highly confusing. There were so many that Serena started to get a headache of her own. Ash's mind was like a dense jungle. She couldn't pick up any coherent thoughts.
"How does it feel for me to take the most important thing to you, Aurora?"
Why? Why did it have to be her? He definitely knew that voice. His mind wasn't lying to him.
"You know, I thought you were amazing growing up, but now I know I was wrong. You are everything our parents said. Lying. Cold. Deceitful. To see you succumb to petty jealousy is unbecoming of you, Delilah. Do your worse. I will find my son one day and when I do, you will pay for your sins."
This time, he heard Aurora's voice. It was cold, dead and harsh. He felt the emotion emanating from the sentence and could tell she was serious. It gave him shivers to hear her sound like that, but he couldn't see any images of how Aurora was. He couldn't see anything. He could just hear voices in his brain. He heard screaming and then, dead silence. After a few minutes, he heard something again. It was Delia.
"This is for your own good. Sleepy time, little one. The next time you wake, you'll be under my spell. You won't remember a thing about your old life. You'll think I'm your mommy. Take one last look at Ruru because you won't ever see her again."
"No! Ruru is my real mommy!"
After that, everything became even more blurry. He tried to go deep in his mind, but he couldn't find anything. No matter how hard he tried, he could hear nothing else. It left him with a major migraine. He had no idea what had happened, but he knew one thing for sure. His life really was a lie.
A/N: Hope I surprised you. Not sure if anyone guessed this right. For those people wondering how this twist is possible: everything will make sense in the next two chapters.
Small note: I updated my profile about the trilogy and my progress on the chapters. Be sure to check that to see the titles of the chapters and my progress on each one. Once I finish a chapter, I will say it is complete. If you don't want to do that, that's fine, too.
Happy holidays to everyone!
Until then...
Next Chapter: The Beginning of the Separation
~SPG123~