Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except Lorelei and Damien – they're the only characters
A/N: Just a little note to say thank you for showing your support by reading, favouriting, following or reviewing this story – keep 'em coming because it means a lot
Chapter 06
Brock froze as his gaze darted between Holly and Damien. He thought there was definitely something sinister about Damien – it was the way his eyes narrowed and squinted at just about whoever he looked at.
"Oh!" Damien laughed in his usual maniacal manner. "What's going on here then, Holly?" He looked at Holly and waited impatiently for her to reply. "What's wrong, Holly? I do believe that you have gone a little quiet – does this mean that my suspicions are confirmed?"
"What? Stop it!" Holly shouted, shielding her eyes from the spitting rain. "Damien – there are far more important matters at hand. Like Leia and her locations."
"Come on, Damien. We need to find Leia!" Brock called out, agreeing with the girl he looked so fondly upon.
"Oh come on… You seriously need to drop this kind and caring act you have going on Miss Holly Maple, because it really and truly does not suit you one bit. But please don't worry about me, I see what's going on here between you and him. Well, to me, it would seem pretty much crystal clear, it's transparent almost that this guy is fighting for your affection, but the question is, does your heart still lie with me? If you ask me, I believe it does."
Damien reached out with a thick hand and brushed Holly's soft and rosy cheek, but she jerked away. Her jerking away was something that he wasn't expecting her to do, because he was almost certain that Holly still had feelings for him.
"Oh really? Is that so?" he asked her. "Well I never thought that would happen… You were smitten with me – just like an obedient little puppy dog. You would hang on my every word. But not anymore? Huh… I take my hat off to you, Brock, the tables have turned in your favour and from what Lorelei told me, you never seem to get the girl. But I'm not letting go, because, you see, the pretty girls- they end up with guys just like me. Not you, but me." Damien meant to strike a few heartstrings between Holly and Brock. If there was anything that he could do to stop Holly ending up with someone else, Damien would do it. "You're just one of many girls, Holly. One in a long line."
Holly thought she saw his eyes narrow and a smirk creep across his face. A smirk that said 'there is no way I'm letting you run away with some guy that you barely know...'
"Get away from me." She pushed him away, which only angered him.
His hand shot out and grabbed her arm. "You're turning into quite a rough little madam you know…" Damien gritted his teeth as he struggled to hold on through her attempts to wriggle free.
"Let me go!" Holly shrieked, thumping Damien in the chest with such feeble strength that he barely acknowledged the weak attempt to get him to let go of her.
Damien laughed. "As you wish." He let go of her wrist, but rather than move away from him, he removed any personal space that existed between the two. So much so that Holly bumped into the stone altar behind her, she could feel the cold and wet stone against her back that was dampening her moss green dress a fair amount.
"Damien… I'm not going to give up on Lorelei – I can't. By all means you forget about her, even after all that you have done for her I made a promise to her mum that when I next saw her, Lorelei would be there too. So you will let me do that." Holly tried to stay strong, but she was shaking, her legs trembling a little. "Let me- let me, Ash and Brock find Lorelei and bring her back."
Damien was now standing right in front of her, making her all the more nervous and agitated about finding Lorelei. He grabbed her arm and dragged her towards the edge of the temple where the path met the cliff.
The edge was a huge drop that would end in death – and in the unlikely event that you managed to survive the fall, then you would be left paralysed and with multiple broken bones.
Brock watched Damien hold Holly right over the edge, unable to move. Taking nearly no notice of what was happening across the temple and set on finding out the truth was Ash. He was bent down, crouching beside the altar. At the back of his mind, Ash was set on getting Lorelei, and as he stared hopelessly at the notations and hieroglyph like images, it felt more like a hopeless event. Despite having no knowledge of the images at all, Ash wasn't going to give up so easily. Looking up over the altar, he caught a glimpse at Holly and Damien with Brock edging closer to them, trying not to make any sudden movements.
"Let her go, Damien!" Brock demanded, torrents of rain pouring down on them.
Damien turned to see who was addressing him and then moved closer to the edge of the mountain path with Holly close beside him, making the path crumble and drop the deathly height.
"Or what?" That maniacal laugh echoed all around as he jokingly pushed Holly back and forth, threatening to push her over the edge of the mountain. He darted about, dancing around the edge.
As Damien swayed about on the edge, he didn't notice the pathway was wearing itself away. His feet neared to drop. His foot slipped making his grip tighten a little. Loose gravel was thrown into the air as his arms flail uncontrollably. With hands that were made wet by the rain, his grip slipped and he released Holly. Even within moments, he had already tumbled over the edge.
Holly hit the ground and caught one of his wrists, but the rain was making things slippery. "Hold on," she growled, gritting her teeth – not that Damien was even holding onto her. "I'm not letting go of you, Damien. I won't let you die!" Even though Damien had been foul towards Holly, he was a human being and she couldn't live knowing that she hadn't tried to help save his life.
Damien kicked his legs and purposefully forced himself to slip from her grasp more and more, like he wanted to die. "You can't hold onto me forever, Holly!" he laughed, followed by a clap of thunder. "You never could like go of things – you always had to have your own way."
Whilst Damien spewed out nothingness from his foul mouth, Brock slammed into the ground, feeling the pebbles score his arm and cut into his skin.
Leaning right over the edge and not even worrying about falling off the cliff himself, Brock was just about to get a hold of Damien. The rain made it impossible to get a good grip and Holly felt Damien's hand slip through hers only a second before Brock could secure a sturdy grip on Damien. The pair who were lying on the ground leaning over the edge just managed to catch a glimpse of him falling through the air.
"Damien!" Brock shouted as he watched him disappear down into the darkness below .
Holly sat back on her feet, her hands red from holding on and her knees were grazed and bloody. "No…" she murmured helplessly, but still feeling majorly responsible. Without noticing, she started to cry – not because she cared for Damien, but because she felt responsible for his possible death.
"Holly!" Ash called out urgently, wanting Holly to come sprinting across the temple. Admittedly, he felt a little bad for being so inconsiderate after hearing Damien screaming and possibly dying too.
"Pika- Pika!" the electric Pokémon, echoing his trainer's urgency.
Holly wiped her eyes with an already wet wrist which did not dry anything at all. "I'm coming, Ash." She stood up and ran towards the altar.
"Hurry, Holly! The tidal wave is getting closer. There's not much time!" Brock yelled over his shoulder when he saw the tall ridge of a wave on the horizon heading his way. "There's very little time now!" he added, trying to be loud enough to be heard over the noisy weather.
"There's nothing we can do Brock," Holly called out as Brock ran towards the altar. "From what I've learnt, Mew is the only one who can protect the island, and if what Ash tells us is true, Mew is already out here somewhere. The best I can do is help free Leia." She brushed her hand over the hieroglyphs on the side of the stone altar. "If that is even possible."
Ash gawped at her. "You mean she's still here?" he exclaimed. "Well come on, even if it's unlikely, then we need to try."
"Of course. She's been here the whole time you've been stood right here." Her hand circled the first set of images that had been carved into the stone. "At first I thought she might have been thrown into the future or the past, but I will stick with the present. The problem is that this last symbol looks so close to both the past and present." Holly was running her hand along the stone carvings along the side of the altar, a smile creeping across her face. "It's alright, it's going to be alright. We can save her. The altar is the answer!"
"Mew- Mew!" Mew flew down from the clouds and darted around Holly and Ash. "Mew!"
Ash grinned, pleased that the Legendary Mew had made its way to the altar, because it meant that there was a huge chunk more of hope that they could bring back Leia.
"I can't believe it." Holly smiled, feeling a hand in hers. When she looked down at her hand, she saw Brock's hand which made her blush. Lifting her head, Holly called out to Mew.
"Mew, open the altar and reveal your secret. Show us what it holds." She patted the altar with her free hand. "Please." Standing up slowly, she took a step back as if to give Mew some room.
Mew looked at Ash and flipped around excitedly in a circle. "Me-Mew. Mew?" it asked somewhat quizzically, looking deep into Ash's eyes before giggling away.
"What?" Ash asked in an usual pitch.
"It's like Mew knows something about you, Ash." Holly cupped a hand over her mouth and giggled uncontrollably.
"Mew…" The Pokémon blinked rapidly tilting its head to one side. A bright white orb emanating from its body, enfolded itself around Mew and Ash.
He heard a loud crack as if something had broken completely in half, but the bright light forced him to close his eyes and shield Pikachu's a little too.
When Ash opened his eyes, he was amazed that the stone altar – which was inches thick – appeared to have been easily cracked in half. The bright white light had faded, and the skies were clear and bright. A flock of Wingull flew overhead, symbolising that everything was alright and dandy. It felt like an age since any of them had seen a blue sky. Looking around, they could see that there was no sign of the tidal wave or any dark cloud for miles around on the horizon.
A gentle breeze began to blow through Ash's hair as he took his cap off in disbelief
"Lorelei…" Ash said slowly, as if his eyes deceived him and he couldn't believe it.
Lying still and peacefully in the altar lay Lorelei. She was wearing a pristine white dress that had been unmarked by the dusty inside of the altar which could really be deemed as a grave or a tomb. The sleeves went down just past her elbow, exposing her bright skin.
"Leia?" he whispered in complete scepticism.
Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = So a little truth here is that chapter five, six, and even a little of the next chapter were all once one chapter that I have majorly fleshed out – which is why they are so varied in length. And I feel a little bad that I killed Damien – but maybe I haven't, perhaps he will make a striking comeback to wreak a little bit of havoc and take over the Montazul Islands – okay, maybe that's a little excessive, but hey, who's taking notice.