Hey guys, Jeff here!
By the way, I do apologise that this chapter hasn't really been uploaded on time, but I hope that this chapter does compensate the wait for it, since I actually had quite a busy weekend and had no time to write then, so sorry about that :P
Without further ado, let's get to reading...
(Walking to school; with Ash and Serena)
It was the next morning, the morning after the incident between Ash, Serena and this new person whom Ash found out about called Trip. You can say that it was kind of an important night for Ash, since he battled against Trip with his life as well as Serena's life at risk. He doesn't really want anything like that ever happening once again, but he knows that there is still that slight chance that it will. It seems that Trip is very interested about 'bringing Serena back' or that kind of thing. Also, he now knows about himself, how he has this sort of past involving this sword called Aetherius. Apparently, this sword he possesses has got something to do when he was still young and also, this sword has the power to control lightning. Al of these points he found out, he needs to consult Professor Oak, whom he really hopes has the answers to all of these.
As Ash and Serena walked, they saw the wreckage of what is really left of Serena's house. There were a lot of things not really right about it. Even though this was a quite quiet neighbourhood and street, it sometimes caught some people's attention. I mean, who can really miss the huge mess here and then not make a big deal out of it? Some people were just giving it a stare as they went past, but others even go about and inspecting the wreckage; however, they can only get close to the wreckage at a certain distance, since there was police tape that was surrounding the whole perimeter, most likely because they are still under investigation. Still, it means it will keep anyone from snooping around the place.
On the other hand, if Serena's house is then completely inhabitable, since most of it was destroyed last night, then Grace and Serena are currently staying at Ash's house, since Delia has offered up them a place to stay until, apparently to Delia, their house is repaired just next door. However, this then made a lot of things complicated between Ash and Serena. First of all, everything is kind of awkward between them, since Serena has to sleep with Ash in his own room, but at least, they are not sleeping together, but still, it could raise questions at school. Also, it seems both of them have something hiding between each other, and before anything gets questioned, it's nothing that's really out of the ordinary. You can say that they are in denial with their feelings right now, but you never know when they both might open up. For now though, they just have to deal with everything that's happening between them, since they can't really do anything about it.
Ash smiled. "Hey, Serena? You okay?"
Serena nodded without hesitation. "Yeah, I'm fine. I had a good night's sleep, so I'm okay."
Ash scratched the back of his head. "Oh, I see."
Serena titled her head. "Oh, but how about you? You had some injuries if I remember correctly, right?"
Ash laughed nervously. "Yeah, I'm good. It seems they don't hurt anymore, so I'm all right going to school."
Serena sighed. "That's good to know. I worry sometimes…."
Ash titled his head. "Huh? What was that, Serena?"
Serena blushed. "Oh, that was nothing! Don't mind me!"
"If you say so…" Ash replied casually.
After this ordeal, they both continued to walk to school. Interestingly, the town is actually a bit quiet at the moment. This is probably because of how it is kind of early at the moment, since both of them got up early for no particular reason, but actually they had their own reasons, but they just didn't tell each other and just used an excuse that they both got woken up for some odd reason or something in that sense. Well, it was kind of obvious why Ash has gotten up early, because he wanted to get into school early to discuss some things with Professor Oak; whereas Serena hasn't got an idea like that, it's more like she just couldn't sleep properly, since Serena is a bit scared and still in a shock after what happen, but who can really blame her?
Ash stopped for a minute. "Hey, Serena?"
Serena stopped ahead and then turned around to face Ash. "Yeah, what is it, Ash?"
Ash scratched the back of his head. "Well, I gotta go to school ahead of you, if that's all right with you?"
Serena smiled. "Oh, that's fine~"
"Can you handle yourself from here?" Ash asked with concern. "The school's just straight from here, but I can keep accompanying you if you want?"
Serena smiled. "Thanks for worrying for me, Ash; but I'll be fine from here."
Ash blushed slightly. "Oh, okay then. I'll see you later in class."
Serena nodded. "Okay, I will!"
"By the way, if you don't mind me asking…" Serena called out Ash. "…why do you need to school earlier than usual?"
Ash scratched the back of his head. "Well, I need to talk to Professor Oak about some things…"
Serena nodded. "Oh, I see. Well, that's fine. See you later then."
At that point, Serena seen Ash ran from where they were talking, as he ran ahead of her immediately. Behind him, Serena has been left to walk on her own, which she didn't really mind, since Ash has something to talk about with Professor Oak, but then, she decides to question herself about why he needs to talk to him and also what is he going to talk about with the Professor. I mean, she doesn't really know exactly what it is, but still, she is still left wondering about it. Could it be about what happened last night? How my life has gone into danger and then how he is supposed to report a thing like that to Professor Oak? Maybe, it might get his job that Professor Oak has given him in the first place as a result, how he is supposedly to be my guide? Or maybe it was something completely different from that. She doesn't really know herself, so she just has to wait and ask Ash later, so she should stop worrying about it for now… she just needs to head to school at this moment…
(With Ash)
Ash ran to the school, looking like he was being chased by something. To be honest, he just wants to get this meeting that he's going to have with Professor Oak over and done with, not because he thinks it's not important or how he doesn't want to listen to Professor Oak giving him some sort of lecture or anything like that; he's just really curious. He's, right about now, curious, since he's really hoping how Professor Oak will answer the questions about what has happened so far, since he just wants to know everything about everything that has happened up until this point, how he just wants to fill out some blanks, especially about what Trip has told him about last night.
As he ran through the whole school, passing empty classrooms, hallways and lockers, he ran through the whole school without any problems, because they aren't also students that are getting in the way. There are some, but they are out of the way anyway, so he's just running through without having to take a break. Within no time, Ash has then reached Professor Oak's office. He stood in front of the double wooden door with a nameplate on the outside that it was Professor Oak's office, and then a sign that is saying to knock before entering. Ash stood for a minute or so, composing himself, preparing himself before he goes in, since he was a bit nervous entering, since he hasn't been in the Professor's office ever, but also, he was out of breath from all that running.
Ash opened the double wooden doors and stopped at the entrance. "G-Good morning, Professor."
Professor Oak looked at Ash. "Oh, I didn't expect to see you this early, Ash. You must have something in mind if you made this way to me."
Ash nodded. "Yeah, I need to talk to you about some things if that's all right."
Professor Oak smiled. "Yeah, sure."
Ash scratched the back of his head. "Am I not bothering you right now, Professor? If I am, I can come back later~"
"Don't worry about it, Ash, my boy!" Professor Oak proclaimed in response.
As he said that, he was actually busy about putting his stuff away. It seems that he was just doing some paperwork and was just filing some papers too. It seems that being the principal of the school is a lot of hard work and Ash can see that this was one of those hard-working tasks. For Ash, he was just a bit concern, since Professor Oak was just doing something before he came in, but then again, Professor Oak does claim that he didn't bother him at all and it was fine all around. For Professor Oak, he was thinking about what Ash is going to say to him. He thinks that it must be some sort of emergency or something like that for Ash to actually turn up really early in the school; otherwise he wouldn't really be here right now.
Professor Oak smiled. "Okay then, Ash… what is it you want to talk about?"
Ash shrugged. "Um, a-actually, I was wondering about g-getting your opinion about something in my mind quite recently…"
Professor Oak leaned on his desk. "All right, so what is it?"
"Well, you see, it's about Serena." Ash explained.
Professor Oak smiled. "By the way, her mother is very happy on how well you've been a great guide for her, so she's complementing you for that. Anyway, what about her?"
"Do you know anything else about Serena?" Ash asked. "Maybe something else that I don't know yet? Another thing that you haven't told me from before?"
Professor Oak sighed. "I knew it was going to come to this…"
Ash titled his head. "How come?"
Professor Oak sighed. "Grace, Serena's mother, already warned me about this, how you were going to talk to me about her someday and ask if there's anything else about her~"
Ash stood up from his chair. "Well, is there?"
Professor Oak nodded. "Yes, there is. You see, these friends of hers weren't just ordinary friends; they were a special kind of group. They have been together since they were children and they all grew up together in a way. In a way, it also relates to you~"
"Wait, what do you mean it relates to me?" Ash suddenly interrupted.
Professor Oak signalled Ash to sit down. "You don't remember anything from your past, do you Ash?"
Ash shook his head. "No, I don't."
Professor Oak sighed. "Since you came here, I bet it's not just about Serena whom you really want to talk about, right?"
Ash nodded. "No, it's also about myself. About my past… about what I don't know…"
Professor Oak leaned back on his chair. "This might take a little time to explain and classes will be~"
"Please, Professor." Ash demanded. "Tell me what you know about me. I don't remember a thing and I also want to know about Serena and her group of friends a bit more."
Professor Oak sighed. "Okay, so this special group that I was saying just now were called Schwertkämpfer, which you are also one of as well as Serena. You both, along with another five or so students as far as I know, were apparently chosen in random according to your strengths. From there, you were all given a sword to wield from what the test results show. However, from there, I don't know anything else~"
Ash stood up once again and just looked at Professor Oak for a few moments. It looked like he just couldn't believe about what he was just presented with, how this thing has come into a shock, just like his initial reaction when he found out about Serena's past, way before this one. He couldn't really do anything other than find out about these types of people called Schwertkämpfer, since he doesn't really have a lead other than what Professor Oak told him about. What he can do at this point was just to continue his research if Professor Oak doesn't have any more information just as he claims, but at least, he now knows what he is, and how he and Serena are not alone about this whole thing.
Ash sighed. "Wait, you don't know anything else, Professor?"
Professor Oak sighed. "I'm sorry; Ash, but I don't know anything else. My research doesn't go quite as far as that…"
"Why? Can't you find out any more information about us?" Ash asked.
Professor Oak shook his head. "No, I can't. Even though this was supposedly a project hidden from the public, it was announced in the news that these Schwertkämpfer were a complete failure~"
Ash leaned closer to Professor Oak. "What do you mean it was a complete failure, Professor?"
Professor Oak sighed. "Apparently, that group of special people were part of a project to give powers of summoning, but as I said, it ended up as a failure, because of one test subject bursting out of control, which happened to be the most powerful one out of all of them. It has said that this one test subject killed at least three others, but was then later calmed down and the remaining ones survived. It has said that the one of those chosen ones lost their memories of the whole project itself only and then the one that got out of control completely lost their own memories."
Ash paused for a moment out of shock. I mean, he can definitely deduce as to whom were the ones who were involved as being the test subjects. I mean, he doesn't know who the others were, but seeing as what Trip has said to him, the ones who were part of it as far as he knows were himself, Serena and Trip; however, the others he doesn't know just yet, but he will find out soon. Also, it seems that the one that might have been the one out of control would be himself, as he had lost his memories completely anyway, and Serena had to be the one whom has lost their memories about the whole experiment only. Still, he wanted to know one more thing…
"Hey, Professor?" Ash asked calmly.
Professor Oak raised his eyebrow quizzically. "Yes, Ash? Don't worry; you will have time before class actually starts…"
"Who was the one who actually set up this whole project?" Ash questioned Professor Oak's knowledge one more time.
Professor Oak sighed. "Well, his handle name is out of the question, but his real name was, if I remember correctly… Aldrich Ketchum…"
There you have it, guys! Chapter 17 is done! Hopefully you have enjoyed this chapter! :D
Wow, what can I say from this chapter! Things should get interesting for the next chapters! At least now, Ash has found out about himself and Serena, and what kind of situation they are really in; however, it seems that his missing father is involved in this too, so how will he react to that? Also, what about Serena? Will Ash tell her all about it or will she just leave her for now? Find out next week ;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!
But also Private Message me for any story suggestions!
Also, please check me out on Twitter at jeff_amour if you can for updates of my stories!
So, that's it from me!
See ya! Have a great day!
