MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!
Sooo, I thought a nice Christmas present would be the newest chapter of this story ^^ I was really into this chapter and couldn't stop typing. It's an exciting one, that's for sure!
Last chapter, Ash was helping Misty and the twins to escape, but Loki caught them. Ash and the children got away, but Misty didn't. So, Loki tied her up and then took her engagement ring, bringing it to Ash and informing him that his wife had been killed.
Ash isn't just gonna let that slide, is he? Find out...
Ash was numb.
He couldn't feel, or think, or comprehend anything at this point. His whole world might as well have stopped.
In the palm of his hand, he held his beloved wife's engagement ring; her biggest treasure. She never went a day without wearing it, and never wanted to take it off. It symbolized Ash's love for her, his promise to be with her for all eternity.
Had eternity actually just ended?
Faintly, Ash grasped that Charizard was now landing back on the ground. The flapping of the orange dragon's wings was slowing down, creating a cool wind and delicate cloud of dust to swirl around Ash's frozen body. Even then, Ash didn't move. Charizard looked back at his trainer and snorted loudly, blowing two quick puffs of smoke out of his nostrils. Still, Ash made no attempt to budge.
Charizard could sense his trainer's displeasure, but knew the young man wasn't going to get off his back anytime soon. Huffing, Charizard gently threw Ash off so the black haired master landed on his knees with a quiet thud.
"Pikapi?" Pikachu asked softly, gently pawing at his best friend's shirt. Ash didn't respond. "Pika…"
Ash let out a shuttered breath and once again unfurled his fingers, which had closed up over the ring after Charizard tossed him to the ground. Staring at the ring, Ash let out one long, quiet breath as his heart pounded heavily in his ears.
The clearing in which he currently sat had no sunlight; the trees were clustered too close together. The thin silver band of the ring looked dark and was as cold as ice. Ash turned the front side of the ring closer to him, surveying the gemstones imbedded in the band: the center set diamond, and the small emeralds and rubies that cascaded off the top and bottom of the clear middle stone. They were all dull, not sparkling and appearing much darker than they actually were.
Ash could feel his lip quiver. He pulled his left glove off and held the index finger of his left hand next to Misty's ring. His own wedding ring, just a plain silver band, had always looked so much less extravagant than Misty's engagement ring. And now they looked like equals.
Misty couldn't be…dead. She just couldn't. She was too young, too beautiful, too perfect to die. Ash loved her too much to have someone as evil and coldhearted as this Loki just tear her away from him. Really now, why would you ever kill Misty? Sure, she could be hot headed and moody, but above all else, Misty was a very sweet young woman. She would do anything for her friends, adored Ash with all of her heart, and her children were her whole world. Misty would drop everything for Aiden and Michelle, and give them all of her attention without a second thought. She was the greatest mother in the world; Ash was sure of it. And that thought brought Ash to an equally devastating realization.
Their unborn daughter. Did that mean…? It did, didn't it? She was gone too. And she hadn't even had a chance to live. The poor, sweet baby girl. She was even more innocent than her mother, and she too had fallen victim to Loki. That horrible, ruthless man.
Hanging his head, Ash closed his eyes and tried to stop the threatening tears. But no matter how tightly he shut his eyes, or held his breath, there was no stopping the oncoming crying fit.
Several feet behind Ash's huddled figure stood Brock, Aiden, and Michelle, who were confusedly watching the Pokémon master.
"What happened to Daddy?" Michelle inquired.
"Did he get hurt?" Aiden looked up at Brock.
"I'm…not sure," Brock scratched his head. He had a somewhat bad feeling about whatever was going on with Ash, but either way, he felt it was wrong to intrude on his best friend. The raven haired young man seemed almost in deep thought from behind.
Aiden and Michelle, unfortunately, were not as sensitive on the subject as their godfather. They wanted to know why their father was simply kneeling on the ground when their mother needed to be saved from the evil clutches of Loki. So, giving each other knowing glances, the twins ran up to their father, standing at either of his sides with steadfast looks on their young faces.
"Come on Daddy," Aiden urged. "Up! Let's go get Mommy!"
No response.
"Daddy?" Aiden tried again.
Ash slumped over a little more.
"Answer me, Daddy!" Aiden was beginning to get frustrated. He marched forward and grabbed onto his father's arm, shaking it with as much strength as the young boy had.
The whole scene was disturbing Michelle to some degree. Why wasn't their Daddy acknowledging them? Was he angry because they'd gotten mad at him for not going back for their Mommy right away? Maybe Loki had called him by a mean name.
Looking over her father's figure some more, Michelle furrowed her brow when she took notice of something very peculiar. Ash's shoulders were shaking, and the quivers seemed to be spreading through his whole body now.
Blinking, Michelle took some quiet steps forward, until she was standing right in front of her father. She saw that his eyes were closed, and his lips pressed tightly together. Poking her head up, Michelle realized that his cheeks were wet and streaked, and that tears were slowly slipping out of his closed eyes.
Michelle gasped sharply. She couldn't believe what she was seeing! She had never thought it possible. Her Daddy was too brave, too tough to be doing such a thing. But here he was, as vulnerable as Michelle would ever see him.
"Daddy?" Michelle reached out and pressed her small hands against his thighs. "Don't cry, Daddy."
Ash's head snapped up. He had been dimly aware of Aiden and Michelle standing by his sides, and Aiden pulling valiantly at his arm. But there was no way he could've known that Michelle had scurried in front of him, and seen the one thing he never wanted her to see.
"N…no, I'm not crying baby," Ash tried to convince the young girl as he rubbed furiously at his eyes with his forearm. Michelle pouted and tilted her head, clearly not buying into her father's poorly constructed lie. Ash sucked in a deep breath before clearing his throat. With complete stealth, Ash stashed Misty's ring away into his front jeans pocket. He couldn't let Aiden or Michelle see it, because then they'd become even more suspicious than they already were.
"You don't have to cry Daddy," Michelle flashed her father a dazzling smile. "We're going to get Mommy back!"
Ash's heart jumped up into his throat. How the hell am I supposed to explain this to them? I can't!
"I wasn't crying," was Ash's only response. His voice was blank and hollow, earning a disbelieving scoff from his young daughter.
"Mommy wouldn't want to see you cry," Michelle reasoned simply. She jumped into Ash's lap and wrapped her arms around his torso. "So, let's go!"
"Yeah!" Aiden cheered. "We won't find Mommy by just sitting here."
"Guys…" Ash sighed, lowering his head once again. He wasn't going to come right out and inform the children that their mother was gone. But keeping it a secret for much longer wasn't a good idea either.
"No arguing," Michelle's voice was stern and quite reminiscent of Misty's at that moment. "Up!"
Ash choked slightly as he gathered both Aiden and Michelle into his arms. Standing up, he held each child close to his chest, breath shuttering slightly.
"Aiden, Michelle," Ash finally piped up in a hoarse voice, "I need you two to promise me something."
"What Daddy?" Michelle asked, excited by the prospect of keeping a promise for her father.
"I need you both to remember that I love you two more than anything in the whole world, okay? Know that Daddy will always be there for you, no matter what. Can you promise me that?"
Aiden and Michelle were slightly bewildered by this sudden speech from their father, but they liked it none the less. Grinning, both of them nodded happily, not noticing that more tears were threatening to spill out of his darkened brown eyes.
XXX
Misty sat tied up in the little room of the airship, wincing every time the rope rubbed against the open wounds on her wrists.
She was in a lot of pain, but Misty had cried herself dry at this point, so all she could do was sit there and mope. It was horribly depressing, and Misty couldn't help but to have hardly any optimism left in her body.
As Misty sat in sheer dejection, the door to the room creaked open, and Misty's breath hitched. She was afraid that it was Loki, coming back to torture her some more, or worse, to forcefully flirt with her. Fortunately, the visitor who poked his head into the doorway was not Loki, but Castor, whom Misty had actually grown to like.
"Castor," Misty gasped slightly. Her voice was weak, and her throat tight.
"Oh miss," Castor frowned, stepping into the room. "You don't sound so well. Is the child hurting you?"
"No, not now," Misty shook her head. "It's…my wrists. Loki tied me up pretty tight…and it hurts really badly."
"He was rough with you?" Castor asked plainly, clearly not surprised by the idea.
"Yes."
Sighing quietly, Castor moved closer to Misty and kneeled down before the young mother. "Let me have a look. I'm good with these kinds of things."
Misty turned around as best as she could so Castor could see her bound wrists. He grabbed at her forearms and leaned in closer to where the ropes were tied. All of the movement caused Misty to hiss in pain, earning a sharp gasp from Castor.
"I'm sorry miss! Did I hurt you badly?"
"N…no, it's okay," Misty breathed out. "It wasn't you. It's just my wrists. Every time the rope rubs against my skin, it hurts terribly. Like someone is cutting me with a knife."
"That badly?" Castor inquired.
"Yes," Misty sulked.
Castor pried the rope away from Misty's skin as gently as possible, and he made an ominous noise upon inspecting the fresh wounds that graced Misty's delicate wrists. "There are some nasty looking cuts here."
"Are they deep?" Misty glanced over her shoulder. She was surprised by how calm her voice was, seeing that Misty didn't always deal well with pain, and just the thought of blood made the gym leader's skin crawl.
"Not dangerously so, but they certainly aren't shallow," Castor replied. "And I'm afraid if I simply leave them like this any longer, you are almost guaranteed to obtain an infection."
Misty whimpered and looked back ahead. Nothing was going her way at the moment, and quite frankly, it sucked. Misty was just so angry and miserable that it was turning her numb. She simply had no more feelings to express.
"Don't be so downtrodden, miss," Castor's tone was surprisingly bright as he rose to his feet. "I have some medicine for those cuts that will begin to heal them, as well as protect you from any infections that may come of them. I'll just fetch them and be right back."
"But Castor!" Misty cried frantically, stopping the navy haired young henchman in his tracks. "What if Loki comes back before you do? I'm not so sure he would approve of you trying to fix me up. He wants me as weak as possible so he can take advantage of me."
"Loki won't arrive before I do," Castor assured gently. "He informed me, right before he left the ship, that once he returned he'd be heading into the library to do some reading, and maybe some thinking as well. For what, I'm not sure, but it will keep him away from you in the meanwhile."
"Will you still hurry?" Misty nearly pleaded. She believed Castor, but taking a chance was something Misty just couldn't risk.
"Of course miss," Castor bowed slightly to the red head. "I will make haste."
He hurried out of the room, leaving behind a bemused Misty. She found the way Castor spoke to be fascinating; it was so proper and old fashioned. In a way, it reminded her of Justin.
Justin! Misty mentally screamed in her mind. That poor boy was probably wondering why the gym was locked all the time, and worst of all, where she actually was. Misty at least hoped that Ash had taken time out to leave a note on the gym door or something. But the chances weren't very high.
As Misty pondered this thought, the baby began to kick, earning an airy giggle from her mother. "Can you tell I'm thinking about your daddy, baby girl?" This prompt was answered with another jab. "You love him lots, don't you?" Another kick.
Misty frowned and leaned her head against the bed. She hoped Ash wasn't beating himself up over having to leave her behind. It seemed like something he would do, but Misty wasn't mad in the slightest. She was just glad that Aiden and Michelle were safe with him. Their lives were much more important than her own, as far as Misty was concerned. She was only slightly more worried about herself than usual because of the little unborn baby who was currently residing inside of her. The baby's life was in Misty's hands right now, and as long as Misty was in danger, so was the baby.
Once again, the door opened, and Castor slipped in, holding various medical supplies in his hands. Throwing Misty a comforting smile, Castor once again got down in front of Misty and began to examine her wrists.
"I've got to get the rope off somehow," Castor murmured. "There's no way I can treat the cuts with the rope tied so tightly around the site."
"Can't you just cut them off?" Misty tried.
"I'm afraid not," Castor sighed sadly. "Master Loki will not be pleased if I do such a thing. His distrust for you is great, although I don't agree with it. Not in the slightest."
"Thank you Castor," Misty furrowed her brow slightly. "But that trust you have for me isn't going to help loosen the rope."
"That is true," Castor chuckled dryly. "I wonder if I can just wiggle them slightly, and get the knot to release."
"Give it a shot," Misty shrugged. She winced and whimpered as Castor tugged at the rope, the sharp and raw twine digging into her open wounds. Castor apologized every single time Misty let out a moan, and it didn't take long for him to give up the attempt all together.
"This won't work," Castor shook his head. "The knot is tied too tightly, and I don't want to hurt you anymore than I already have."
"I would tell you its fine, but it really was hurting," Misty smiled poignantly at the young man who was trying his best to help her.
"I wonder…" Castor mused softly.
"Wonder what?" Misty pressed after he trailed off.
"I have a knife in my pocket," Castor glanced towards the small square on the right breast of his bright blue vest. "I wonder if I just use it to cut the knot a little, and then I can tie the rope back on before Loki comes in."
"Back on?" Misty groaned.
"I know, I'm sorry," Castor truly sounded miserable over the fact. "But don't worry. I won't tie it nearly as tight as my master did."
Misty sighed, but eventually gave a slow nod for Castor to proceed. Reaching into his pocket, Castor withdrew the blade and wedged it underneath the well done knot of the rope. He bit his bottom lip in concentration as he tugged at the knot with the sharp knife. Misty rolled her eyes up towards the ceiling in slight impatience, hoping that this would be over and done with soon. Fortunately, it didn't hurt nearly as much as Castor's previous attempts to yank the rope loose.
"Got it!" Castor cheered suddenly. Misty could feel him slipping the rough twine off her wrists, and she once again yelped as it hit her cuts. "So sorry," Castor gently grasped her shoulder.
"It's no problem," Misty cleared her throat. "Really."
Humming quietly in response, Castor reached for a spray and shook the bottle. "This may sting a little," Castor warned as he pulled the cap off, "but it will prevent any infection from spreading in those cuts."
"I've given birth to two children," Misty smirked. "If you think a little sting from some disinfectant spray is going to bother me, then you're mistaken."
Castor laughed heartily as he sprayed the disinfectant. Misty cringed when it hit, but otherwise didn't make a sound. "You really are quite something, miss. I'd imagine you make a very good friend."
"I'd like to think so," Misty giggled.
"Now, I'll just put a medicated bandage over the cuts," Castor continued as he unrolled the material. "It'll have to be changed every few hours, but I'll take care of that."
Silence set in as Castor dressed Misty's wounds with the soothing bandage. Once her wrists were wrapped, Misty gazed over at Castor and piped up, "thank you for helping me, Castor. I'm glad to know that I have someone here who I can trust."
"You'll always have a friend in me, miss," Castor held a hand over his heart. The sound of footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway, causing Castor to panic slightly. "Oh, Master Loki!"
"Guess you have to put the ropes back on," Misty moped.
"I wish I didn't have to, I truly do," Castor fretted as he gathered the twine in his hands. "But, just as I said, I will tie them much more loosely."
He did just as he promised, re-fastening the rope as freely as he could without it being painfully obvious. Just as Castor finished retying the rope, Loki opened the door, and peered in with a menacing smile.
XXX
Michelle sighed tiredly as she rested her head on her father's shoulder.
They had been wandering aimlessly through this forest for what seemed like hours, and Michelle was quite bored by the monotony of it. She wanted to know why they were busy wasting their time with something as dumb as this when her mother needed saving.
She would've asked her father; Michelle was highly inquisitive by nature. But she felt bad doing it now. Her father looked rather disheveled, and awfully sad. Michelle wondered why that was. He knew they were going to rescue Mommy, didn't he?
Glancing up at his face, Michelle furrowed her brow when she caught sight of a stray tear falling from her father's eye. For a guy who lied and said he was crying, he was pretty bad at covering it up.
Without a word, Michelle reached up and brushed the drop away. Ash looked down at his little girl, who in turn smiled sweetly at him. "No more crying Daddy."
"I'm not crying," Ash repeated for what Michelle assumed to be the hundredth time that day.
"Liar," Michelle accused. Ash sighed but said nothing in response.
Aiden, meanwhile, was not concerning himself with whether or not his father was in tears. The boy himself cried sometimes, so who cared if his father did? Either way, Aiden was too busy thinking up ways to rescue his mother. He wanted to help, more than anything in the world, and there had been no talk of saving her. Just silence and Michelle trying to comfort their Daddy, who clearly wanted no part of it.
And Brock? Well, he was just the awkward one, left to walk behind the father and children in complete and utter puzzlement. It was obvious that Ash was crying, or at least had been, but Brock couldn't possibly figure out why. It had to have been something Loki had said, although Brock wasn't sure of what it could be.
Ash was having the worst time out of any of them. He wanted to be strong for his children, seeing as he was all they had left in the world, but another part of him just wanted to shut himself away from the world for the rest of his life.
What did being a Pokémon master matter when he didn't have Misty by his side? Ash didn't care anymore. His whole heart hurt, his head was clouded, and his feet felt heavy as he dragged them through the long and winding woods.
Misty, why'd you have to leave me alone? I love you so much…and now my life might as well be over.
XXX
Misty hardly blinked as Loki entered the room. Her wide emerald eyes were locked on the villainous man, and as soon as she saw that devious smirk of his grow, she growled and narrowed those same green eyes in contempt.
"Oh hush, darling," Loki waved a hand at the perturbed gym leader. "No need to get feisty with me now." He next turned his attention onto his assistant, who was still kneeling besides Misty. "Castor, what in the world are you doing?"
"I was simply checking in on her, sir," Castor answered dutifully as he stood to his full height. Observing the two, Misty realized that Castor and Loki were just about the same height. It certainly made the silver haired man look somewhat less intimidating.
"A good idea, I suppose," Loki gave a single nod. "She is rather troublesome." Misty bit back a swear and continued to glare at her captor. "Castor, go put the tea on, if you may," Loki once again addressed his inferior.
"Yes sir," Castor bowed to the silver haired man before walking briskly out of the room.
This left just Loki and Misty, staring down one another to see who would possibly break first. Loki did, as his lips formed a smile that Misty knew all too well. The evil man was up to something.
"What did you do?" Misty asked darkly.
"Now now dear, why do you just go and assume that I've done something terrible?"
"That dumb little smirk of yours tells me enough," Misty rolled her eyes. Returning to her stony resolve, she barked, "Now tell me what you did!"
"Not a thing, love."
"Liar! You took my engagement ring from me! Clearly, you needed it for something. So tell me what it was!" Feeling her face reddening, Misty noticed that Loki was beginning to look aggravated by her outburst. Pulling back her shoulders, Misty finished quietly, though still seething, "it's the least you could do for me."
"Well…" Loki's grin returned, "Since you asked so nicely, I suppose I could. You see, I needed your ring as proof."
"Of what?"
"Your death."
"WHAT?" Misty screamed. "But…I'm NOT! I'm not dead! That's an awful, evil lie! Who the hell did you tell I was dead?"
"Why, that worthless husband of yours," Loki replied as though it were obvious. Misty looked even more shocked and hurt by this, which caused Loki to laugh heartily.
"H…how COULD you?" Misty was sure she'd never yelled so loud in her life. Not even at Ash when she was infuriated with him, or her children when they did something completely dangerous. What she was feeling right now was real, raw anger, and it made Misty feel like her head was going to explode.
"It was quite simple, really."
"The thought of that will destroy him!" Misty wailed. "He won't be able to live with himself if he thinks I'm dead! And what about my poor children? To think their mother is dead…why would you ever do that?"
"You simply don't understand how little remorse I feel for doing such a thing," Loki sighed as he flipped a strand of silver hair. "Destroying your husband is one of my many goals, and I could care less about those two children of yours. You let them go back out into the world, which was a mistake on your part, darling. The world is a dangerous, heartbreaking place. They'll learn that through this."
"You're a monster!" Misty narrowed her eyes and clenched her fingers. "You're hurting my whole family, and I won't stand for it! Don't you dare think you're going to get away with this, because it's the last thing you're going to do!"
"Whatever soothes you to hear, my love," Loki sighed gently. "The noise you make, however, does not scare me. You think you're tough, but that's all. I see right past your little façade, and I will work it to my advantage." Pulling a silver watch out of his breast pocket, Loki clicked his tongue and murmured, "Excellent. The tea should be done by now." Looking back down at Misty, he huffed softly, "sit here and learn to keep your mouth shut, darling. I don't know how much more I can deal with you."
And with that, Loki turned on a heel and marched away.
Behind him he left a quivering Misty, whose head was lowered as tears filled her eyes. It couldn't be so, her dear Ash thinking she was gone.
Her simple shaking soon turned into full convulsions, her tears flowing out like a river as she sobbed dramatically. Just the thought killed her; Ash down below believing that he was now left without a wife. Her shoulders shrugged as she wailed, and her face burned a vicious shade of red.
"Ash, please…" Misty begged to no one in particular through her weeping, "Don't believe him. Don't believe Loki. Please Ash…I'm alive. Please…"
As Misty continued to cry heavily, a faint blue glow emerged from her stomach. Misty was too busy bawling to notice it, or even feel it. The more she cried, the stronger the light grew, until her baby bump was completely sapphire blue.
XXX
"Daddy, stop!"
Ash once again glanced down at his young daughter. She looked extremely angry, as though she were about to take his head off with her bare hands.
"Michelle, please," Ash sighed tiredly. His voice was weak from all the crying he'd done, and by now he was all out of tears. Now all he could was brood silently.
"No!" Michelle snapped. "You're not talking about Mommy! We have to come up with a way to save her!"
"Michelle…" Ash whimpered. He felt like sobbing again, but his eyes were completely dry.
"Ash," Brock's voice finally broke in, "Michelle is right. You haven't said a single word about Misty since Loki confronted you. What did he say?"
"It was…" Ash was about to claim that it was nothing, but as soon as he looked into the bright, wide eyes of his two young children, he realized he just couldn't do it. Keeping this charade up was wrong. As much as it hurt him, Ash knew that telling them the truth about their mother was the only reasonable thing to do. "Yes, he said something."
"What did he say, Daddy?" Aiden asked, tilting his head to the side. Ash breathed out heavily and tried to formulate a way to properly explain this to his children without being too blunt. Kneeling to the ground, Ash stood his children in front of him and closed his eyes as he thought.
"Daddy?" Michelle prodded.
"Aiden, Michelle," Ash began after a few moments of tense silence. "Sometimes, things happen…to people. Things that we can't always explain or even understand."
"Ash…what are you getting at?" Brock mumbled. Aiden and Michelle, meanwhile, continued to look bewildered.
"And, well, these kinds of things can happen to people you really love. And then it hurts even more and makes even less sense. So, you see, your Mommy…"
Ash trailed off, and Aiden and Michelle leaned in closer to him. Brock raised an eyebrow, wondering why Ash had stopped all of a sudden. He assumed the matter, whatever it was, was too much for Ash to be speaking about, but in truth, it was an entirely different pain.
A blinding headache had suddenly overtaken Ash. He was breathing heavily as he'd lowered his head and shut his eyes tightly, willing the horrible pain to go away. With every passing second, however, the pain only increased.
Then, almost as quickly as it began, the pain in his head spread through the rest of his body, before exploding into a powerful surge of energy. Ash yelled from the intense sting, alarming his two young children to near hysterics.
"Daddy?" Michelle gasped, reaching out for him. She wanted to give him a hug, but for obvious reasons, was afraid to touch him for fear of creating even more discomfort for the man.
His breath slowing down, Ash could feel the energy collecting in his eyes as the hurt disappeared. The feeling was a familiar one, that was for sure. Sighing gently, Ash sat back on his shins, slowly opening his eyes. As much as he didn't want to do it, he looked up at Aiden and Michelle, who instantly screamed at the sight of their father's face.
"Daddy, your eyes are blue!" Aiden shrieked.
"They're all glowy!" Michelle cried.
Ash blinked. This was the same sensation he'd had just that morning. But it hadn't been as painful the first time around. This one, in a sense, was almost like a wakeup call; a desperate cry for help. Instantly, Ash's heart began to race and pound in his head, and new life surged through his system.
"Misty, the baby," Ash whispered to himself. "They're alive."
Seriously, this baby is the coolest kid ever, and she isn't even born yet XD She's gonna single handedly save her and her mother! Well, maybe...
A little shout out to EchidnaPower, who totally guessed 100% where I was going with this chapter! Nice work :P
Next chapter is going to be the ultimate showdown between Loki and Ash. Making up a lie about the love of your life being killed? Yeah, Ash isn't going to let that one go. All I can tell you is, it's gonna be AWESOME! What do you all think is going to happen? :P
Again, thanks for all the reviews I've gotten so far! They're all awesome and I appreciate every single one! Especially all the Loki hate :P Keep them coming, they really inspire me to get these chapters out as quick as possible!