Chapter 22: Doubts and Snow
("Don't worry, May…I'll save you.") Drew thought. He's flying over the ocean right now with the Prince of Galar on a flying horse. His mission is to bring home a glowing mushroom from Galar.
Gloria waits with an unconscious May in the infirmary. She checks her heartbeat, and frowns. "It's getting slower…Come on, Prince Drew…you've got to make it."
Spark lands in front of a dark forest near a city called Ballonlea.
Drew and Victor jump off the pegasus. They approach the forest.
"It looks pitch black in there." Drew said. "This is really the place?"
"Mm hm." Victor answered. "My sister told me what specific glowing mushroom we need to find. It's small and pink, so…let's go."
They enter the dark forest, leaving Spark outside.
"Watch out for that poison plant that May ate."
"I can't see anything. How are we going to-" Drew gasped, freezing. All of a sudden, all of the mushrooms nearby lit up! Yellow…blue…pink…green… "Whoa…" Drew said in awe.
"Welcome to Glimwood Tangle." Victor said with a smile, walking forward. "Keep your eyes open for a tiny pink mushroom."
"How tiny?"
"Gloria told me that it shouldn't be taller than your thumb."
"Oh, wow." Drew starts looking at all of the glowing mushrooms.
Gloria looks at the wall clock. "He's only got half an hour." She looks down at May. "What could be keeping him?"
The door swings open and Drew rushes inside. "I'm here!" He pants.
Gloria takes the mushroom from Drew and starts to crush it in a mortar and pestle.
Drew takes a seat.
"What took so long?" Gloria asked.
"Well, we had to travel through the entire forest, basically, before we found the smaller mushrooms. And then on our way back, we got lost through all the turns."
"Well, I'm glad you got back safely." Gloria takes the mashed mushroom and mixes it with a healing liquid. She then feeds the drink to May by holding her mouth open. It goes down her throat slowly.
Drew stands up and walks to May with a frown. "Please wake up…" He takes her hand. He gasps and looks at Gloria who's typing on her computer. "Gloria, she's cold. Really cold."
"Something's wrong…"
"What do you mean? Can you save her?"
"Your Highness, you'll have to wait outside."
"No, Gloria. I won't leave her."
"I understand, but…I…I can't promise anything…"
Drew's eyes get watery. He looks down at May. "I'll…I'll be in the waiting room. Please do what you can."
"Always."
Drew slowly releases May's hand and leaves the room. Gloria walks to May and feels her forehead. She quickly starts to mix up a different mixture.
Drew sits in the waiting room. He yawns. "May…please don't die…not after you said you'd be my Queen…" His eyes start to close. "I…I can't…lose you…" His eyes close.
Gloria feels May's head again. She smiles and checks her heartbeat. She sees her body shift a little.
"Gl…Gloria?" May questioned with half open eyes.
Gloria smiles brighter. "May, I'm so glad you're awake."
"How long was I out?"
"A day."
"Wh-where's Drew?"
"In the waiting room. I'll go get him."
Gloria leaves the room. He finds Drew asleep in the waiting room. She smiles and gently nudges him.
Drew's eyes slowly open. "Gloria?"
"Hey. There's someone you should see."
Drew gasped and immediately stood up. He rushed to May's hospital room. His eyes get watery as he stares into her blue eyes. "You're alive…" He runs to her and hugs her. "It's a miracle…"
May smiles. Drew pulls away. "Did you miss me?" She asked.
"Of course I did. I…I wanted to do anything to help Gloria save you. So I went to Galar."
"All the way to Galar?"
Drew nods. "She needed a glowing mushroom."
May takes Drew's hand. "I love you…"
"I love you too." Drew leans down and kisses May.
"May will have to rest here for a full day until she feels better." Gloria said.
"Of course." Drew said. He looks at May. "If you feel lonely…Gloria could call me here. I'll come right away."
"Thank you, Drew…"
"Before I go though…do you remember back to the Ball?"
"It's a little foggy."
"Can you remember when you ate that slice of cake?"
"Cake?"
"Yeah. It was poisoned. Someone tried to kill you. If you could remember anything about that…anything at all."
"I…I-I don't know, Drew…"
"Nothing? Please, May. You've got to remember something that happened before you ate that cake."
"I…" May avoids Drew's eyes. "I-I don't remember…"
"Your Highness, you mustn't stress her." Gloria said.
Drew sighed, backing away. "I'm sorry, May…I'm just worried. What if he tries it again?"
"I'm sorry I can't be of help…" May said sadly.
"No, it's fine, May. I could just wait for you to fully heal. I'm the one who's sorry for pushing you to tell me. You rest up. I'll come back to check on you, okay?"
May smiles shyly and nods.
Drew sits in his office chair. "I'm going to find whoever poisoned May and give him a piece of my mind…"
"How will you find the guy? Or girl?" Ash asked.
"No clue. But I know that she'll eventually remember what happened. I just need to wait."
At this moment, Gloria runs inside the room, worried about something. "Your Highness!"
"Gloria? What's wrong?"
Gloria pants heavily. "…May's missing."
Drew's eyes widened. "I literally just left thirty minutes ago. What happened?"
"I-I don't know. I was in a different room, treating a patient. When I returned, she was gone!"
Drew stands up. "Okay. Ash, help me look for her."
"Right." Ash said.
"What should I do, Your Highness?" Gloria asked.
"Just go back to the infirmary, Gloria. We'll handle the search." Drew said.
"Okay. If it helps, right after you left, May told me that she's doubting herself right now."
"Doubting herself?"
"Yeah. She's umm…thinking about not becoming Queen, after all."
Drew gasped. He frowns. "I know exactly where she is. Ash, you can stay here. I need to talk to her."
Drew approaches May at the top of the grassy hill where they planned to have their picnic all those months ago. He remembers her telling him that she likes to go into nature when she just needs time alone to think about things.
She's sitting on the hill, staring up at the clouds.
Drew stands behind her. "You doubt your qualities."
May looks down. "I just…I'm no Queen, Drew…"
"Let me ask you this. Remember when you didn't go to our redo first date because you had to save Oreo from falling out of a tall tree?"
"Y-Yeah…"
"And remember when even before I realized my feelings for you, you stood in between me and a wanted criminal, and yelled at me to do what's right and stop the fight?"
"Yeah…"
"And remember when you promised me that you'd never turn your back on Hoenn?"
May looks behind her. "…I never promised that."
Drew chuckled. "But could you?"
May smiled. "Of course I'll never turn my back on Hoenn. I promise."
Drew sits down beside her. He takes her hand. "You have the heart of a Princess. Can you…tell me some of the most advanced things you learned from Cynthia?"
"Totally. She taught me how to make so many different potions! My favorite one is seeing the past."
"The past?"
May nods. "You drink it, you can think of any specific memory you've had in the past, and kind of…relive it. It's pretty cool."
"Is it hard to make?"
"Not too hard."
"Can you make it right now?"
"Why make it when I already have it?" She pulls a potion out of her bag.
Drew smiles. "Can I try it?"
"Of course." May hands Drew the potion.
Drew takes a sip of the potion. Since May is connected to Drew by their hands touching, she also gets to see his vision. The world around them fades and a new one appears.
Drew smiles and stands up. May looks around, and stands. They turn around and come face to face with a stern King. May hides behind Drew. "Scary…"
"It's not real." Drew said. "This happened in the past. Meet my Father when he was eighteen."
May slowly comes out from behind Drew.
Someone magically appears behind them. The Queen.
May looks behind her.
"We can't keep going on like this." Drew's Mother said.
"I'm just new to being Royal." Drew's Father said. "I'm trying my best, but it seems like I'll never be good enough for the kingdom."
Drew's Mother walks forward. Right through Drew and May since they're just seeing a vision. The Mother goes to the Father and hugs him. "I keep telling you we can handle this together." She said.
"But I'm the King. I shouldn't have to rely on you so much."
Drew glances at May. He sees her watching the vision with a frown. "See? Even my Dad had doubts on his first day."
"I…" May started. The vision fades and they find themselves back in the real world. "I just don't want to be a failure…"
"You won't be."
"But…w-what if-?"
Drew turns May, so that she's facing him. He lifts her chin. "You won't be." He repeated. "I know you won't."
"How?"
Drew brushes May's hair out of her face. "I just do."
May looks down.
"Not enough?"
May shakes her head. "You don't understand, Drew."
"Then help me."
May looks up. "I've never experienced being Royal before. I've never had to lead a huge number of people. I've never had to…take charge. What if I'm asked to do something dangerous to save the kingdom? What if I don't know how to solve a problem? What if the people don't even like me on the Throne?"
"Hey. Can you promise me something?"
"Depends."
"Promise me that you'll just stick by my words of 'I want you on the Throne', and leave it at that." Drew chuckles. "May…you're overthinking this. You're not even Queen yet."
"Yet. But I will be." May takes both of Drew's hands. "I just…want to be ready."
"You will be ready. I'll prepare you for it, okay? Just stick by my words?"
May giggled softly. "I promise."
Drew hugs May tightly. "I've got something I need to show you."
"Oh?"
Drew starts leading May down the hill. "It's a surprise. And…it's actually been a surprise for you ever since you left for Sinnoh."
"You…kept it for me for a whole year?"
"Well…it's more like…for Oreo…"
"Huh?"
"Surprise." Drew opens a tall door in the castle.
May gasps in awe. Oreo is in her arms. Inside the room are toys galore. Cat towers everywhere too.
"I wanted to show you this room back when the annual Ball was hosted here." Drew said. "But then you had to leave, so I didn't show you. At the time, we were searching for a family for Oreo. But…I saw the connection you two have. So I had this room filled with everything Oreo needs if she's to live in the castle. My parents approved of it."
"Oh, Drew…" May turns around and runs to Drew to give him a big hug. "This is perfect. Thank you."
Oreo climbs to the top of a cat tower.
"You're welcome." Drew said. "I knew that you'd be the one who keeps Oreo in the end. She's the perfect little helper."
May pulls away. "And…it really means a lot that you'd do this, Drew. Really. You're allergic to cats, but…"
Drew smiled softly. "I love you."
"I love you too."
After a few moments, May gasped. She turns her head to look out the window across the room.
"Is something wrong?" Drew asked.
"A snowstorm is coming."
"Snow? But it's summer."
May walks to the windows and Drew follows. "When I was training with Cynthia, she taught me to open up my senses. I started to sense rainstorms…thunder…snow…So I could warn the kingdom." She gasped. "The kingdom!" She turns around and starts to run.
"Wait, May! Where are you going?"
"To warn everyone!" She runs out of the room.
Drew looks back out the window and starts to see dark clouds forming in the distance. "But why snow?"
May stands in front of the castle. She closes her eyes. "Focus…Focus…" She takes a deep breath before drinking a potion. "Attention, everyone." Her voice projects throughout all of Hoenn. Everywhere…
Heads turn in the city, recognizing the voice.
Drew runs outside and stops at the top of the stairs.
"Everyone of Hoenn…" May said. "A snowstorm is coming."
The people look to the dark clouds in the sky.
"I don't know why or how this is happening. But you must seek shelter from the storm. Stay inside, prepare for the cold, because…I can sense it coming. So hide. This is a warning to all…We're not safe outside."
The people all over Hoenn start to run inside their homes.
Drew smiles. He walks down the steps to May. "You're the most magical human being I've ever met."
May smiles at Drew. She sees a speck of white fall onto his hair. She looks up.
"May…"
May looks at Drew to see him staring at her with a serious expression.
"Do you think you can find out why it's snowing?"
May nods.
"Then do it. This isn't right, and…I'm worried for my kingdom."
May takes Drew's hand. "I'm worried about the kingdom too. Don't worry. I'll find out what's going on."
Drew smiles. "I know I can count on you."
May nods. All of a sudden, she gets pushed by a strong gust of wind. "Whoa!"
Drew holds May's hips to keep her standing. Their hair flows like crazy when the wind picks up.
"Aah!" The wind forced May out of Drew's hold. She wobbles to the side, holding her ground.
Drew slowly walks over to May before wind pushes him back. "We should go inside, May. It's not safe out here."
"Y-Yeah." May shivers.
The snow starts to join forces with the wind. Before they know it…the ground starts getting covered in snow.
"Aah!" May gets pushed by the wind and falls onto the snow.
"Are you okay?" Drew asked.
May shivers. She looks up, hearing voices. "D-Drew?"
"Yeah?"
"Voices."
"What? I don't hear anything. Except wind."
May gets up, getting pushed by the wind. But that doesn't stop her from running. Her feet make a crunching sound on the snow.
"May!" Drew called. He runs after her.
May runs out of castle gates.
"May! Stop!"
"I have to save them!" May called back. She almost falls in the snowstorm, but manages to catch herself.
The snowstorm gets so thick that Drew loses May in it.
"Help!" A voice calls nearby.
May sees a little girl and boy outside, on the snow, weak and cold. She runs to them. "Don't worry. You guys will be okay." She helps the kids stand.
"M-Mommy…" The girl said. "I-I want my Mommy…"
May looks side-to-side. She narrows her eyes in one direction. A house glows white in the distance. She starts to walk in that direction, holding onto the girl and boy. They hold onto her tightly.
When they get to the house. May knocks on the door. It slowly opens. The woman at the door gasps. "My babies, you're okay."
The kids hug their Mom tightly.
"Thank you, May."
May nods.
The family goes inside the house.
May steps back onto the street. She wobbles a little, feeling ice cold. "D-Drew…." She falls to her knees, shivering. "Help." She passes out in the snow.
"May!" Drew calls. He sees her passed out. "May!" He rushes to her side and holds her head in his arm. "May. May!" He gently strokes her cheek. "No…" He stands up, holding her bridal style. He stumbles when he walks. "Hang in there, May. I got you."
But something flies at him. A rock.
"Ow!" Drew falls, dropping May onto the snow. He shivers. "I'm sorry, May…" His eyes start to close.
Someone comes from out of nowhere and grabs May.
…
…
…
The End.
This is the first time one of my stories ends without a happy ending. What will happen next time? Will Drew save May? Who took her? Who started the snowstorm?
Look out for the sequel titled "Her Hero".