Chapter Eight
"He's gone" ash muttered out as they realize that Jacob had disappeared into thin air still in shock over what him and Serena had just learned and that's when Serena snapped him back to reality insisting that they needed to find the others and that's when Serena turned to the princess and asked her; "Katie do you know where we could find the others?" the princess thought about Serena's question for a second before answering her "well; Olympus the guardian of the night is said to live in a cave on nightmare mountain!" ash and Serena both slightly unnerved by the princess's revelation just stand there as Katie continues on telling them that nightmare mountain was about a three hour walk to the north of here." while ash just reiterates this by muttering out; "three hours huh!?" while Serena who was still unnerved by this just says; "wait nightmare mountain!?" Katie just answered this reiteration by saying "it's not that far from here!" ash's attention wasn't on this however; his attention was on Serena who he could tell was still un-nerved by this as he begins to assure Serena that he "wouldn't let anything happen to her and that he'd protect her" as he places his hand on her shoulder. This did in fact calm Serena's nerves as she begins to think to herself that this is why she loves ash. Feeling slightly relieved their small traveling party begins its trek towards nightmare mountain with Katie leading the way.
A few minutes later:
"Nightmare mountain huh!?" Kenneth whispers to himself as he pulls out a communicator to ask Raphael if he heard that to which the warlord answers; "yes they're heading to nightmare mountain to see Olympus; a suicide mission!" after receiving his answer Kenneth asked Raphael what he should do next and that's when Raphael gave him the following instructions; "I'm on my way to nightmare mountain; follow them, but do not engage until i meet up with you keep your distance!" upon hearing these instructions Kenneth became infuriated as he replies to Raphael; "fine!" as he powers down his communicator before taking off down the same trail that his sister lead ash and Serena down just a few short minutes ago.
Back with ash, Serena and, Katie:
as ash, Serena and, Katie continue on down the path towards nightmare mountain they all noticed something strange; "it's getting dark already?" ash asked Serena and Katie with some confusion before Serena replies to him; "i guess so; so why don't we make camp for the night?" an idea which ash was quick to agree to so upon finding a clearing along the trail the three of them stop as ash and Pikachu begin collecting firewood while Serena and Katie work on setting camp up once their tents were setup and the campfire now burning thanks to Braixen once they were all sitting around the campfire ash and Serena both began to wonder why it got dark so fast not to mention so early; hearing this and remembering that neither ash or Serena was from here made Katie realize that she should probably tell her new friends why. ash... Serena... the princess addressed them in a quiet tone of voice this caused both of them to face her now realizing that she now has their full attention Katie begins to answer their questions; "that's because we're approaching nightmare mountain; Olympus' home "hearing this ash and Serena took full advantage of the moment of silence as they ask Katie; "why is that important Katie...?" and that's when Katie began to tell her story;
Katie's story begins:
a long time ago Olympus & phoenix dragon got into a legendary battle that turned "into a war of attrition between them"; this battle lasted for decades and the constant struggle between light & dark, night & day to which each divine dragon respectfully controlled, caused confusion chaos and, suffering so the human residents of the dimensional plain formed a party and went to try & stop the conflict between the guardians of light & dark but instead of stopping the fighting they accidently got caught in the cross fire causing a lot of them getting cut down! this infuriated Dragonus who although despised humans felt the senseless loss of life was unacceptable; so he intervened to end the argument between Olympus & phoenix dragon however Olympus demanded that phoenix dragon never return to this area again, phoenix dragon agreed to this request to never appear here again and as a result the sun never rises here!
Katie's story ends:
after hearing Katie's story ash and Serena just continue to sit there in "stunned silence" before ash finally breaking the "still quiet air" "wow so that's why there is no sun here" while Serena followed up by muttering in a quiet voice; "that's awful" after a few more minutes of silence ash and Serena could hear Katie's voice as she agrees with them but unfortunately had to tell ash & Serena one more thing; "we do have another problem" this caught both ash and Serena's attention immediately mostly because the last thing they need was "another problem" now seeing that she had ash and Serena's full attention the princess begins to explain their dilemma; "we need to convince Olympus to help us save Dragonus" ash and Serena look to each other after hearing that clearly not understanding where Katie was going with this so she decided that she needed to say more. "But you two command phoenix dragon, the one guardian titan that tried to wage war with it and, knowing this I'm not sure Olympus will be too quick to help us." Serena then understood where Katie was coming from and realized the princess may have a point but before Serena could say anything ash stood up and was quick to assure them both that Olympus would help them if they explained what was going on." and although she showed some doubt ash's words quickly changed Serena's mind so she was now convinced that they could do this. Katie on the other hand though still wasn't convinced that Olympus would help them at all. and it was after that ash suggested they all get some sleep but that didn't last long as a long, loud and, slow screech which immediately woke Serena up causing her to nervously run over to ash and shook him trying to wake him up "ash.. Ash..." Serena's actions awoke ash as she begins to ask him if he had heard that at first ash had no idea what she was talking about until that same screech happened again this time heard by not just Serena but ash and Katie as they all leave their tents staring out into the pitch black forest unable to see what that noise is and fearing an ambush ash decided they needed a light to see at first he thought about asking Serena to call out Braixen but then he realized that Braixen's flame wouldn't be bright enough to light up the whole area and it was then he made a decision. While Serena could tell ash was thinking of something so out of curiosity asked ash what he was planning to which ash answered; "the one being who can bring light here!" Serena grew nervous at ash's statement mostly because she still had Katie's story in the back of her mind but before she could attempt to talk ash out of it ash make's the call "come phoenix dragon" that's when Serena fearful of what this would cause begged ash not to do but ash reaffirmed his belief that he had no choice as phoenix dragon began to descend from the sky causing rays of light to break through the clouds surrounding him and for the first time in almost a century the sun which phoenix dragon controls shines on nightmare mountain and the surrounding valley. although Serena was nervous about this both her and Katie seemed relieved that nothing had happened because of phoenix dragons presence now feeling better about this they began to "scan the tree line" for the source of that noise and there in the tree line was a "crystal colored dragon" it was primus with Kenneth by his side which was meat by anger from ash and Serena; "Kenneth!" while the princess on the other hand just mutters out; "brother!?" in a confused tone of voice to which Kenneth responded; "hello sister!" seeing her brother here Katie immediately takes the initiative in demanding to know why her brother was here and to that Kenneth answers in a very sarcastic tone of voice; "what do you think sister we're looking for Olympus; so he can assist us in our plan" to that Kenneth got a strong reply from ash and Serena who informed him that "wasn't going to happen" but no sooner did the word "happen" escape ash and Serena's minds that a loud screech cuts through the air like a hot knife through butter causing confusion for ash and Serena while next to them Katie began to quiver in fear knowing what was about to happen and it was the very thing she tried to warn Ash and Serena about but just as the sight and sound of thunder and lightning began to break the silence Kenneth manages to quietly slip into the woods figuring that he'd just let what's about to happen; happen and after just a few seconds a strong telepathically broadcasted voice broke the air "phoenix dragon; what are you doing here brother, you know you're not welcome here! And it was then the silhouette of another divine dragon appeared this one having a pale purple colored skin covering its body which was only visible to ash and Serena's eyes thanks to phoenix dragon. It was Olympus the guardian of night & darkness. phoenix dragon then decided to use his own telepathy to communicate with his brother; "oh come on you're still upset about that!?" but Olympus still wasn't about to drop this as they had a mission to complete and every second he spent uselessly fighting his brother wise time wasted and just as Olympus finished saying; "I'm furious & you promised to never return here!" it was then phoenix dragon couldn't hold his thoughts anymore as he brutally lashed out at his brother "would you relax we've got a bigger problem!" an action Olympus was not amused by as he had already determined to himself because of his feud every word his brother tried to say was nothing but "lies" and it was then that ash and Serena stepped in to try and get the warring dragons to calm down which ended up having the opposite effect on Olympus as he launches an attack at ash and Serena as he cursed them to die while phoenix dragon continued to hover in the air above them and it was then ash, Serena and, Katie began to hold on tight to one another as they all feared they were within only a few seconds of their demise; however before they met this attack the sky was rocked by another telepathically voice "this has gone far enough!" and it was then a silverish white "quad winged dragon" appeared before everyone shielding ash, Serena and, Katie from the blast and it was then Olympus began to question his brother; "mirror wall dragon!?" "get lost; this doesn't concern you!" still driven by his anger at phoenix dragon and it was at this point mirror wall dragon decided to correct his "disgruntled brother" "actually it does!" intrigued by this Olympus demands his brother "go on." so mirror wall dragon felt obliged to do so; "it's Dragonus" upon hearing their brothers name Olympus seemed to have grown more intensive as he begins to question his brother more about what's going on and it was then mirror wall dragon explains to Olympus about their brothers capture, infuriated over this news Olympus turns his attention once again to ash, Serena and, Katie and asked if they were responsible to which mirror wall dragon and phoenix dragon were quick to ensure Olympus that they weren't and that to the contrary they were actually helping them." hearing this Olympus just floats there still "un-convinced" about this he hears mirror wall dragon one more time; "are you going to help them?" but rather than answer that question Olympus addresses them all "leave all of you!" before turning his attention back to phoenix dragon and tells him; "phoenix dragon we'll finish this another day" however; nobody seemed to move not wanting to take Olympus's response as an answer infuriated Olympus once again demands that everyone leave; but this time it was ash who spoke up and told the guardian of darkness; "alright Olympus we'll go" before turning away confused Serena and Katie try to convince ash that they can't leave yet to which as answered by saying; "come on everyone we can't force him to help us" realizing her husband was right Serena puts her hand on Katie's shoulder as they start to traverse out of the valley but before leaving ash turned to Olympus as he had one more thing to say to him; "Olympus i hope you change your mind to help us; Dragonus could really use your help!" before turning around to join Serena and Katie. With everyone gone Olympus begins to ponder ash's words he hears a voice coming from the darkened tree line; "Olympus" and it was then a figure could see emerging from the tree lines it was Katie's brother Kenneth! the presence of Kenneth confused the divine dragon as he begins to demand answers and it was then Kenneth responds; "for you to join us!?" the word "us" confused Olympus as Kenneth was there alone but more to the point he posed this question to the "naive" kid; "i wouldn't join those other humans to save Dragonus; what makes you think I'd help you? Hearing the obviously confused dragon's statement caused Kenneth to laugh as he says save Dragonus!? don't be ridiculous i don't want to save Dragonus!" this revelation confused Olympus as he demanded to know why he was there and it was then Kenneth restated his earlier demand; "to join us" but once again Olympus pointed out in confusion; "us!? But you're by yourself" once those words were spoken the silence was broken by another telepathic voice; "not quite" and although it was a faint view Olympus could make out the outline of a crystal colored dragon; "primus!?" Olympus questioned the outline of his brother to which primus responds; "that's right and we want you to help us get rid of the troublesome humans" hearing that primus only had one thing to say; the same thing he told the others earlier; "i think you had better leave!" but Kenneth had a better idea he purposes to Olympus; "then how about this; battle me & primus you win we leave and, if we win you have to help us" and while perhaps it was overconfidence speaking instead of his logic primus responds to primus and Kenneth; "do you not realize that without; phoenix dragon this valley turned to darkness again; where my power rains supreme!" seeing that Olympus will "foolishly" go through with this asks for conformation from Olympus that he accepts; to which Olympus responds "very well this won't take long!" as Kenneth looks to his partner primus and says to the guardian of energy; let's go! after staring down the guardian of darkness Kenneth orders primus to attack Olympus with primal energy burst but, not one to just "stand there" and be attacked Olympus quickly launches a fire blast from his jaws to counter with his own attack.
Meanwhile back with ash, Serena and, Katie:
discouraged by what had just happened trying to talk Olympus into helping them Katie couldn't help but point out that she "had a feeling that would happen "Serena reached into her pocket and pulled out her digital assistant and opens up her photo app and her first picture which was of Kate and Kenny and began to tear up as she looks to ash and says; "we'll never get home now!" not wanting to see Serena cry ash quickly places his hand on her shoulder and assures her that they would get home but just as Serena began to calm down they hear a loud moan coming from behind them instantly breaking the silence Serena was quick to turn to ash and ask him; "what was that" because little did they know Olympus was in the middle of a battle with primus and it wasn't going well for Olympus and that's when Katie looks to ash and Serena and told them "that sounded like Olympus" now looking at the princess ash and Serena realize that she was right and agree they need to go back and check on him as the three of them take off full speed back the way they came and, after a few minutes they returned back to the pitch black valley of the west mountains discouraged that they were calling out to Olympus but not getting a response ash decides to once again call for the guardian of the sun phoenix dragon who emerged and with his presence light quickly bathed the valley allowing them all to see what was going on and much to their shock and horror they find Olympus on the ground limp and motionless as ash runs to the dragons side asking him if he was okay? Upon hearing that question escape his mouth ash quickly hears a reply "he'll live" and it was then their attention turns to the right where Kenneth was still standing. Katie decides one again to confront her brother as she asks him; "Kenneth don't tell me you..." before being cut off by her brother; "oh get over yourselves Olympus was just getting ready to join the winning side" Kenneth's statement not only confused ash and Serena but clearly infuriated the princess as Kenneth walks over to Olympus and pulls out a modified Pokeball from his pocket; ash and Serena could tell that it must've been adapted to work on the divine dragons by the new lines and attachments on the Pokeball as well as some sort of inscription in bright gold colored letters on it as Kenneth tells Olympus "now to honor our deal!" before using this Pokeball to trap Olympus. seeing the suffering Olympus went through and then his capture was too much for Serena to bear as she leans over to ash and begins to cry in his shoulder, as he wraps his arms around her but Katie on the other hand confronts her brother first buy calling him "despicable" which Kenneth just takes as a compliment before she stands in front of her brother blocking his exit and tells him that he "wasn't leaving" clearly no longer amused Kenneth dawns a more serious and deeper tone of voice as he warns his sister; "now you're in our way so step aside or else" the princess was eager to hold her ground and stop her brothers madness but she was interrupted by both ash and Serena who clearly disagreed with her idea; as ash tells Katie to "get back" followed by Serena who was still wiping the tears from her electric blue eyes; "he's not worth it" as ash again assures the princess that it can "be a fight for another day!" Katie clearly didn't agree as she starts to loudly mumble to herself as she moved aside so Kenneth could turn his back on them and walk the trail up and out of the valley. with Kenneth now gone ash instructs phoenix dragon to return which he did but unlike last time the dark skies cleared out and didn't return which wasn't normal around here since Olympus took up residence here; an event which Serena was quick to acknowledge and that was when Katie tells them that; "it was because Olympus was captured, which caused the darkness to fade away!" hearing this caused Serena to grow even more disgusted as she reaffirms Kenneth was "despicable" while the princess on the other hand assured herself in her head that "Kenneth wasn't going to get away with what he's done!"
