Hey guys, Jeff here!

I do apologise, but I think, I haven't posted a chapter for this story for about two weeks. I can't believe it, but I needed to prioritise Unexpected Unity, but at least now, there's a new chapter for this story :D

Also, thank you for over 10,000 reads for this story. I really appriciate that a lot of people take their time to reading this story, so I'm very grateful for that!

Without further ado, let's get to reading...


(Ash's POV; with Ash)

Trip grinned. "All right, I'll give you a hint. You were one of us."

I paused for a moment. I thought about what he just said to me just now. I don't really know what he was talking about. What is it? What does he mean? Does that mean I knew him or something like that? When he meant 'us', does that mean there are others out there? There are so many questions now filling with my head. I don't really know how to respond to that other than to just respond by bombarding him with questions. Of course, I know that he won't answer me no matter what I do, but this could be related to my past. Maybe even to my father.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked with curiosity.

Trip laughed. "It seems you don't know what's going on, right Ash?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's why I'm asking you about it. Now, tell me."

Trip sighed. "Wow, you're really pesky, aren't you? How about this, what if I let Serena go for now~"

I shrugged. "Then, do so!"

Trip smiled. "But before that… battle me."

I took a step back. Battle him? Well, that's ridiculous! I can't go against someone like him. I mean, I don't even have a weapon myself; therefore I couldn't even have a chance at him. He has a sword in hand, looks like a powerful one as well from what I can tell, so how am I going to defeat him in battle? Anyway, never minding that, if I win against him though, I could save Serena and get her back. If I win, which I don't know how, then I can get Serena back and bring her to safety and he'll probably leave, but how am I going to do that? Now, that's my problem for now.

Trip grinned. "Oh, what's this? Are you hesitating? Are you being afraid?"

I gulped. "All right, then. I'll take you on!"

Tierno placed his hand on my shoulder. "Woah, Ash. Hang on! You don't know what you're getting yourself into!"

I sighed. "I know that now, Tierno; but there's nothing I can do other than accept his challenge to get Serena back."

"You don't have to be that reckless!" Tierno yelled, as he tried to hold me back.

I looked down towards the ground. "Well, I've got no other choice~"

Tierno held me back. "But, Ash~"

"What am I going to do, then?!" I immediately responded. "Am I just gonna let him walk out of here?!"

Tierno sighed. "Then, what are you going to do?"

I sighed. "That I haven't figured out yet."

Trip sighed. "Seriously, if you're not gonna fight me, I'll be on my way~"

I interrupted. "Hang on, I'll fight you!"

Trip grinned. "Well, well. Aren't we tough? Good luck to you, Ash."

I looked back at Tierno. "Tierno, thanks for everything. But, for now, get Shauna and yourself out of here."

"But, Ash~" Tierno tried to answer back.

"Just go!" I shouted.

Tierno nodded as he complied. "All right, then. By the way, you don't have to thank me. I should be the one thanking you."

I smiled as a response to Tierno as he quickly grabbed Shauna and helped her out of the room. I then heard footsteps, most likely them coming down the stairs, and then eventually they were both outside, out of harm's way. Meanwhile, I'm stuck here with this guy who, most likely, is going to try and kill me, upon Serena's safety. I know that I have to do my best here, since this is Serena's life whom we are talking about and taking a risk on. What this battle will decide is who Serena will go with. Either with me, which I will ensure that she is safe, or Trip, which most likely take her to somewhere where I can never see her again.

I sighed. I don't really know what I'm heading for here, but I know that my life is also at risk at this point. I mean, what am I going to do to attack this guy? I have got nothing on me. What am I going to do to defend myself, for example? What am I going to fight with? I can't use anything from the room, since it's either really useless or it's just destroyed completely and in pieces. I can't run away, since Trip will just take Serena away when my guard is off. What am I going to do now?

At that moment, I then saw Trip smiling. It seems that he might have a plan already in his mind as to how he's going to defeat me. Of course, I'm going to try my hardest to try and stay put, but still, I don't know how I am going to do that. With that, I then looked at Trip one last time and he looked at me too. He then smiled once again and then he held up his sword, and faced it at me. He then said something; probably his swords name and then it released yet again black fumes, filling the whole room, so it was now pure darkness at this point.

I hesitated. I don't know what Trip is going to do next. I think he is now ready to attack me, just like last time. It seems that he is using this smoke in order to find himself cover, so that his opponent can't see him and counter-attack. It is a pretty pathetic trick, but it was a rather clever one. It's a trick that only cowards use, since they can't fight head on. For now, I'm just going to wait if he's going to make his move. I don't know when that will be though, but for now, I'm in full defence if I can.

At that moment, I then saw fast movement moving in the shadows. From what I can tell, it seems he can move around much faster when he is hidden, probably another power granted by that sword of his. It seems he is now ready to strike at me, but I'm going to trust myself once again and dodge the attack. I mean, when he did this trick last time, I evaded it, so it must work once again. From what I can predict, I can do it once again. I can repeat what I did before.

As I try to see if I could see where Trip was going to attack me, I then felt something within my body. It was the same feeling as I did before. It felt like the same feeling that I felt, the feeling that is telling me to dodge in this direction. As I felt it, I immediately jumped to my left, and after that, I heard the ground crack as the black mist clears away to reveal that where I was standing was where Trip took a strike. It seems it worked again.

"Oh? How did I miss again?" Trip asked himself.

I smiled. "That trick of yours can't work the second time, I'm sure of it."

Trip laughed. "Oh yeah, well, who says that I only got one trick?"

At that point, Trip raised his sword in the air and chanted, "By the power of this sword, grant me the power to release what is imprisoned. Multiply!"

With that, Trip produced yet another black mist, which covered the whole room. For about a few minutes of pure blackness in the room, I didn't get any sort of feeling like to dodge or anything like that, meaning that he's got something else in mind. From what I can tell, it must be some sort of power by his sword to allow him to make copies of himself; and as the smoke cleared, I was right. I saw that there were multiple copies of himself, and I don't know the real one. Not only that, I am now surrounded by them all, so I obviously can't dodge them all.

Trip smiled. "So, what are you going to do now, Ash? You can't use the same trick twice, as you said, right?"

I shrugged. "I must say, I didn't expect this."

Trip laughed. "Well, what now? Do you give up… or do you want to continue?"

I smiled. "I'll take you on!"

Trip smirked. "All right, then. Prepare yourself!"

At that point, at least four or maybe five of his clones suddenly pounced at me, all attacking me at once. Of course, luckily, due to what I felt in my body, I managed to dodge some of their attacks, but only just, and I couldn't evade the others, meaning I got injured in some places. I checked myself and it seems like they were just scratches, but still hurt like hell. I don't know how I am going to keep this up. For now, I just have to do my best and dodge them all, since I can't do anything else.

Trip laughed. "Oh, does it hurt, Ash?"

I clenched my fist. "I don't know what you're saying. This is no pain."

Trip smiled. "Well, how about this?"

As he said that, all of his clones charged at me with full force as they all pointed their swords at me. Even though they were all just copies, they are still as high-skilled as the main person, which is not a surprise, since I think Trip is a powerful opponent nonetheless. I don't know what to do now, I'm sure that I can't dodge any of them, or at least dodge some, but then, I will still get hit. I can't jump up, since that is not an option as the ceiling is too low for me to fully get out of the way. I am now stuck and don't know what to do.

At that moment, a bright light started to shine. When I looked around, it was actually on the left-hand side of my waist. Over a couple of seconds, something is materialising from this shining light. As it takes form of its shape, it seems Trip and his copies retreated to where they were before they started to come at me all at once. As the seconds past, it looks like this light is forming something, which looks like a sword too. Is this the thing that Trip was saying about? How we were all the same? I gazed at it, not believing what I was seeing. How come I got this with me? How did I not know about this before? Have I missed something out?

I held it with my hand and had a good look of it. From what I can identify, it is definitely a sword, but it's not like the sword that Trip has. It's shape and size is way different to Trip's, it seems that this sword is bigger, how the blade is wider in size and also longer. The handle where I am holding it is also huge, but then, it seems that you need two hands to hold it, since the handle is big enough to capacitate two and the sword is also very heavy. The blade was actually shining, how it's got writing all over it, which looks like a language that I couldn't understand.

I held it up into the air, just like how Trip did moments ago. I didn't really say anything, but the sword started to shine once again, how all of the letting in the blade are all shining in cooperation. Then, the sword reacted and suddenly, we heard thunder and lightning from outside. With that, power was being dragged into the sword and I pierced the floor with it, which, in return, released lightning all around me and then decimated all of Trip's copies and also damaged him in the process.

I gazed at the sword. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. What is this sword? Has it got even more hidden secrets? Where did it come from? Also, how did I get possession of this sword? There are a lot of things that I couldn't figure out and lots of things that I don't know just yet, but I guess, I'll figure out everything eventually. For now, I still got to get rid of Trip before anything else. It was really lucky that this sword appeared out of nowhere, since it really did save me at that moment, so I'm thankful for it.

Without hesitation, I then pointed the sword at Trip and, once again, without saying anything, the sword lit up once again and then lightning came out of the tip of the blade, blasting high volts of lightning to Trip, which made a direct hit and made him fall in the floor. As I approached him, he was literally shaking as he was lying on the floor, most likely he's now terrified, probably from what happened. I guess that the battle is now over, right? I'm glad about that. I mean, even though I could continue, so could he, I guess we should call it a day for now.

I sighed. "Trip, don't you dare come back here, again! You got that!?"

Trip nodded without hesitation. "Y-Yeah, a-all right."

I smiled. "Will you also let Serena go now?"

Trip nodded. "Y-Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, o-okay? Please, don't hurt me even more!"

"By the way, what is this sword called." I asked. "I mean, since you got a name for yours and all that~"

Trip sighed. "W-Well, that's 'Aetherius'. As you have already figured out, it's a lightning sword~"

"Tell me what you know about it!" I demanded.

Trip hesitated. "H-Huh? I don't really know anything much about it. All I knew from what he told me the other day was this was something to watch out for. Apparently, it's because something happened ages ago involving that sword and also you."

I leaned. "W-What was it a-about?"

Trip put his hands up. "I can't tell you, 'cause I don't know. I'm sure you'll find out yourself."

I sighed. "All right, last question. Has Serena got something to do with everything that happened now?"

Trip nodded. "Well, yeah. I mean, she too has a sword in her, but the problem is, no one really knows."

At that point, my face was just full of shock. This was then an opportunity for Trip to retreat, and he kept his word, since he just left Serena alone. I didn't believe it. Serena too has a sword like us? How can she be involved as something like this? I just can't believe it. How is that possible? Could it be that what Professor Oak told me maybe connected to how she got her own sword? I couldn't really know, unless I ask someone who does, but who exactly? Anyway, I don't know how I could find that person, but when I do, I need to find answers to my questions.

For now, I dashed over to Serena, to where she was lying the whole time. To be honest, I was kind of surprised that Serena didn't notice anything that happened. I mean, I think she was unconscious the whole time, but still, she should have at least woken up by now. Anyhow, I checked that she was all right, and she was. I was glad that was the case. I guess things could then go back to normal now, right? I mean, it is over, or is it? Maybe he might next time, or maybe Trip again? Who knows? But now, at least I can protect Serena from now on. What mess have I got myself into?

I smiled. "Hey, Serena? You awake?"

Serena opened her eyes slowly. "A-Ash… is that r-really y-you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it's me. It's all right now. You're safe with me."

Serena smiled. "Thank you, Ash."

'But, am I going to tell her what happened or what?' I thought. 'Also, should I tell her about herself and myself? Nah, for now, I should just gather information about 'Aetherius' before anything else.'


There you have it, guys! Chapter 15 is done! Hopefully you have enjoyed this chapter! :D

All right, all right. You may think now that this story is going to a bit too weird for your liking, but I think, over time, it will be good, so please, don't judge it too much. Sorry if this is not what you wanted, but hopefully you enjoy it anyways. I mean, I know what I'm doing, so hopefully you guys will keep reading. I promise it will be worth it ;D

Anyways, I'll see you all in the next chapter, but also please put your thoughts of this story in the reviews! Please show some support!

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