Chapter 3: Short Lived Peace.
Summary: Ash and Salvia meet for the first time in years, but they cannot even talk to one another, but new information is shed on the situation, by an unexpected source.
Greed was looking over his shoulder to see the small force he was commanding follow him, "hmmm these guys need to go, better ring up Blake," Greed whispered as he continued his path towards Solaceon Town. The soldiers he was commanding remained unaware of Greed's intentions.
"Sir we are heading towards Solaceon Town," the soldier clad in black informed the leader calmly.
"Yeah I know, you guys wait here, I am going to look around," Greed replied as he moved into the town on his own, leaving his soldiers to set up camp. Greed looked over his shoulder thinking about how to get rid of the soldiers that have been keeping an eye on him, 'once I get rid of these losers I can inform Blake of the developments,' Greed thought about his mission.
Greed walked into the empty Pokemon Centre and walked over to the front counter and placed Nurse Joy into a quick slumber, he turned his attention to one of the phones and approached it, 'let's hope Blake isn't going too far in our plans,' Greed once again glanced over his shoulder to see if he was being followed.
Greed pressed the number in hoping to get a hold of his ally, "Greed, what are you doing, you aren't supposed to be calling in a Pokemon Centre, what if the enemy is spying on you? Blake blasted the Shadow Lord.
"Yeah I know, but the problems are getting worse, I cannot keep much contact," Greed informed Blake of the growing situation, "pretending that I am on their side still is proving difficult," Greed told the commander as he looked over his shoulder yet again, the empty pokemon centre was proving to be a difficult place to keep quiet in, since he also knew that Pride's men was watching him as well.
"Listen Greed, you are being foolish if you think Pride doesn't know what you are doing," Blake remarked much to the displeasure of Greed, "Salvia is heading to Canalave City," Blake informed his spy.
"You do realise that will not be a safe location for her, the other Shadow Lords already know where she is heading, they are sending a small force towards Jubilife City," Greed admitted to the commander.
"Thanks, but you need to be careful, your act can only last so long," Blake replied with a smile.
"Yeah I know, how about I pretend I attack Canalave City and make it look like I killed the princess that should be enough to throw Pride and his team off," Greed suggested a plan, "but first, I need the soldiers that I command out of my way," Greed whispered knowing that the soldiers were peering through the window.
"It will not be easy a young man is assigned to protect her, plus he is after your head as well as the heads of the other Seven Shadow Lords," Blake informed the traitor in the enemy, "you look like you are asking why, simple his fiancé was killed during the attack on Twinleaf Town, he told me he was being chased and the woman looks like the princess," the commander explained to Greed who was shocked to hear this news.
"What, you mean the guy that was being chased in Twinleaf, I was fighting one of the members of the Seven Shadow Lords at the time, you mean I accidently killed someone?" guilt sounded from Greeds voice. Glancing over his shoulder, "better go now, I will see you soon," Greed ended the call after spotting someone outside the Pokemon Centre.
Outside the medical facility a mysterious person with his back to the wall watched Greed exiting the facility, "I knew it Greed is a traitor, Pride isn't going to be happy," the person said before leaving the sight without being noticed by the man.
"Better hurry up, my cover was blown, they are going to chase after me now," Greed whispered to himself, the rogue member of the Seven Shadow Lords rushed off leaving his men behind.
(Canalave City)
Ash walked into the port city on his own, remaining quiet his thoughts were all over the place, ignoring the people who were walking through the streets with their shopping bags in hand, talking to one another ignorant of the problems that were growing in their very own region, 'Blake said there was a double agent in the Seven Shadow Lords, but who is it?' Ash questioned the leader's comments, flashbacks played back in his mind about the loss of Twinleaf Town.
"Excuse me sir, is your name Ash?" one of the soldiers asked the young man, "if so, the please follow me to the Canalave Hotel," the soldier instructed Ash quietly.
"Why?" Ash asked the man, glaring at him with a suspicious expression.
"We have someone that knows you, plus Commander Blake wants you to rest up, tomorrow you and the princess will be learning more about the Shadow Lords," the Soldiers informed Ash, but Ash turned away and walked towards the exit, "sir, you cannot leave, the orders of Blake are absolute, you will be getting the chance to meet the double agent tomorrow as well," the man informed the trainer but he ignored him as he walked back to the eastern exit of the city.
"I don't want to meet the princess," Ash replied coldly.
"Oh right, forgot, she looks like his dead fiancé," the young soldier remembered the words of his commander.
"I will be camping outside the city on my own," Ash proclaimed his intentions, he left the soldier wondering what he was going to do next.
"It must have really hurt him losing someone you love," the Soldier whispered as he watched the raven haired man running off into the distance through the busy streets of Canalave City.
The soldier walked back to the hotel on his own, he turned his focus to one of his comrades who was sitting on a chair in next to the door of a room, "so is he here?" the guard asked his friend, he nodded and looked out the window at the end of the hall, "so you didn't bring him here," he enquired with a frown.
"No, he ran off," the soldier replied with a solemn tone, changing his attention to the door, "is the princess still sleeping?" Placing his hand on his head the soldier wanted to know how the two people were going to follow their lives after the disastrous loss of the people closest to them
"Yeah, she is resting, but she also needs to eat as well, she hasn't eaten properly in four days, the doctor is concerned for her wellbeing," the guard informed his teammate with a concerned expression.
"And the mental state of Ash isn't looking much better, I fear he might lash out on our double agent tomorrow," the man explained while walking towards the stairwell.
Meanwhile outside Canalave City Ash had set up a small tent as well as a fire, sitting on a log he reflected on the past, his partner pokemon and family, Dawn and the adventures with her, he took a deep breath, still trying his best to digest what had happened, still asking why and what happened, "it was meant to be the happiest day of my life and yet, it was stolen from me," Ash started talking to himself.
"You know talking to yourself is a sign of madness?" a mysterious voice echoed from the woods behind Ash.
Ash immediately turned to find no one was in the area, "must be my imagination," Ash whispered as he turned back to the fire, seeing another image of him and Dawn, as the fire crackled he noticed the image of Dawn turning to him and winking, Ash fell of the log and with a startled expression he approached the fire, "Dawn?" Ash asked but the image soon vanished from sight, "I must be pretty darn tired," Ash commented, he got up and walked to the tent, he opened up and glanced over his shoulder, "it must be my imagination," Ash said as he entered for his night's sleep.
In the very early hours the next Salvia was getting up after a long nap, she stretched out her arms and looked out the window, in a pink nightgown the princess looked out towards the quiet streets of the city, she looked down to see a strange person walking around. After quickly getting changed Salvia snuck out of her room, which was being guarded, but the guards were sound asleep, tip toeing towards the steps she looked back once more hoping that the people guarding her wouldn't notice that she was gone.
The blue haired royal walked down the steps into the empty foyer, she looked around yet again hoping that she wouldn't be caught, she slowly walked out of the hotel and tried to find the strange person, "whoever that is, must know what is going on," Salvia reminded herself, she entered the streets not worrying about the danger of the Seven Shadow Lords.
"You know, you shouldn't be walking the empty streets at night on your own," a male voice emanated from behind.
The princess looked back to see a man with a dark smile, "who are you?" Salvia asked the strange man.
"Me? I am Greed, I quickly made my way here," Greed replied as he approached the royal.
"You were the one chasing after me, how did you know I was here?" Salvia forced the next question onto Greed.
"Simple, I am a double agent, I pretend to work for The Seven Shadow Lords, but in reality I actually work for you, I knew where you were coming, but unfortunately I am going to have a very difficult time explaining the death of your friend to her fiancé," Greed lamented the death of Dawn.
"You mean you killed my best friend?" Salvia growled at the Shadow Lord.
Greed lowered his head in shame before feeling the burning sensation of Salvia's hand making contact, "I deserved that, it was an accident, I was fighting to defend the town and one of the people I am pretending to side with was battling me with one of my pokemon, when my pokemon was tackled to the ground he let loose an attack that was intended for that pokemon, sadly the stray attack was the very same attack that killed your friend," Greed explained what had happened to Dawn.
"You are a Shadow Lord, those kinds of people hold no guilt over how many people get killed!" Salvia yelled at the person who was working for her, "if you seriously cared then why aren't you…" Salvia started to question the man, but as she was about to finish the question, he ran off with a concerned expression, leaving the young royal puzzled by Greed's action, "odd," Salvia whispered.
Salvia turned back to the hotel and walked slowly up to the large building, glancing over her shoulder once again, seeing that no one was wondering the streets on their own, "thought I saw someone," Salvia muttered quietly, trying her best to figure out what she was being told by the person she thought was her enemy.
Feeling conflicted because of what she was told, she walked slowly up the stairs, thinking about who her enemies were and who were her friends, "I don't know what to think anymore," Salvia uttered as she walked up to her room which the guard was still sleeping in front of.
Upon entering her room the princess walked over to her bed. Sitting down she placed her hands on her laps and started to cry for the loss of her friend.
Meanwhile Ash woke up and sat up, he opened the tent and peered out, the wild pokemon were running around with the hopes of finding food, he looked at the gates of the city and started thinking about what he needed to do, "maybe I am being selfish," Ash thought to himself as he continued to keep his eyes glued on the city.
While packing up his equipment Ash started thinking about what could have been, "if only I was stronger," Ash berated himself.
"You know beating yourself up will not bring the people closest to you back," the voice sounded from the forest again.
Ash quickly turned around and found that no one was there, "who's there? Who are you? Show yourself!" Ash demanded quickly, but no response was given to him, "great now I am hearing things," Ash muttered with frustration, feeling like he was being watched by someone, he walked to where he thought the voices were coming from, he pushed the shrubs aside to find that no one was there, "where are the voices coming from? The only person here is me," Ash hissed as he tried to find the person telling him all this stuff.
Ash looked back and spotted an image of someone standing on the spot where he was packing, "hey you," Ash called out, but the human shaped figure ran towards the city, he gave chase to the person entering the city at the same time, he stopped and grabbed a person by the arm, "excuse me did you see a person run by here a second ago?" Ash asked the citizen of the city.
"No, hardly anyone is awake," the man replied, Ash let go of the arm and let the man walk by.
"Is my mind playing tricks on me? Is Blake right? I am not in the right mentality to even help myself out?" more questions flowed from Ash's mind and out of his mouth as the city started to wake up, before Ash could start walking back to his camp he spotted the shady figure again, calling out to it the figure ran towards the bridge midway through the city, Ash ran to the figure until it vanished in front of the library, "was it leading me here?" Ash asked himself, he walked inside to find only a few people inside reading.
"Alright I will be making sure I get all the information…." Salvia walked into the library and immediately stopped upon seeing Ash.
The two friends turned around forcing an awkward silence between them, they each tried to say something, but no words would sound from their respective mouth, Ash turned around and walked towards the next floor hoping that the princess would leave the area, "what are you doing here?" Ash asked coldly.
Salvia remained quiet unable to answer the question, her efforts to make a response was all but useless, turning around towards the door she started walking to the exit, "I-I….heard about what happened," Salvia replied rushing out the door, leaving a shocked trainer shaking in anger.
Salvia walked towards the docks looking out to sea, she was still lost as to what to say to the visibly upset trainer, placing her hands next to her she started to think about the friendship between her and Dawn. "We both lost someone we care about," Salvia whispered feeling the wind whip her long blue hair around.
"Listen, you need to go out and talk to her," one of the soldiers informed the trainer.
"No, I don't feel like it," Ash replied with a saddened tone.
"She knows what happened to her, don't let her appearance prevent you from doing what is right, she lost her best friend too," the man informed Ash, but the sentiments were ignored, Ash walked towards the centre of the library and took a seat, the solider approached Ash and turned the chair around, "listen you little bastard, bad things happen, you cannot let that drag you down," the man growled at the young trainer who was looking at the ground with disdain.
"I know, but she looks like her," Ash stated with a painful expression.
"That might be the case, but the princess is a different person," the comforting soldier continued to tell Ash what he needed to here.
Ash got out of his seat and walked towards the exit, "fine I will talk to her," Ash replied with a slight hint of disdain. Upon exiting the library, Ash scanned the area to find Salvia was sitting on the nearest dock, he slowly approached the docks, scratching his head and taking a deep breath at the same time, 'why did this have to happen, now I need to talk to Dawn's look-a-like,' Ash started to complain to himself about even talking to Salvia.
"I just wish I knew what was going on," Salvia whispered as she heard the footsteps of someone approaching her, "you know Ash, your wedding was supposed to happen at the palace," Salvia informed Ash without even taking a glance back.
"The first I heard of it," Ash replied quietly, he sat at one side of the docks not wanting to make eye contact with the princess, Ash looked down at the water, thinking about what he had heard, "so you found out about what happened to Dawn," Ash enquired solemnly.
"Yes, I found out yesterday, I was being chased by someone by the name of Greed," Salvia replied, looking down at the water, taking the time to think about what Greed had told her.
"He is one of the Seven Shadow Lords, they are responsible for what happened," Ash clenched his fists, his blame directed at the Shadow Lords.
'How can I tell Ash that one of them is on our side?' Salvia asked the trainer, "there is information that we need to know, after we get the information," Salvia started as she stood up to turn to the library.
"We can make a plan for the next move from there," Ash replied, waiting for the princess to leave the docks, still not wanting to look at the young royal.
"I lost my home Ash, I cannot go there anymore, because I don't feel safe there at all," Salvia informed the trainer much to his shock.
Ash finally looked over his left shoulder to find Salvia walking back to the library, he moved his hands in front of him and stared at them for a moment, "she has also lost her home, and I have lost everything," Ash whispered to himself, slowly getting up Ash dragged his feet across the pier as he made his way back to the library.
Looking down from the third floor window of the library, Greed was watching Ash walking towards the library, "you know what will be the difficult thing, telling him I am on his side," Greed informed the soldier.
"Well you are a Shadow Lord after all, you cannot expect him to be so forgiving," the soldier retorted as he also looked out the window to see Ash and Salvia walking back but separated from one another.
Greed walked towards the table and grabbed a seat, he looked at the photo and frowned at his own actions, "I know the Shadow Lords don't know what it's like to be guilty, but now I have a small idea of what it is like," Greed stated thinking about his own actions in Twinleaf Town, "if I knew that there were innocent people at the edge of the town, I would have held back my attack," Greed remarked quietly as he heard the door opening.
"You see Greed that is what guilt feels like, you lament your actions, yet you have no idea how to make it up for the people you have hurt," the soldier replied with a smile.
"Truth is, I don't know if I can make up for the errors I made in the past," Greed placed the picture in his pocket, he took a deep breath and waited for the barrage of abuse from the trainer, "listen if that man starts yelling at, don't stop him, I will just have to take it," Greed informed the soldier calmly knowing what was about to happen.
"Of course," the soldier replied with a smile.
Ash walked into the room and spotted a familiar face, suddenly a memory appeared in his thoughts the picture he had seen in Sandgem Town, of one of the Seven Shadow Lords, his anger soon overcame him he rushed up to Greed and grabbed him by the collar, "how dare you show your face here!" Ash berated the Shadow Lord, picking him up off the chair Ash pushed him against the wall with Greed looking away not wanting to see the anger being vented at him, "it was your fault what happened in Twinleaf Town!" Ash yelled out while pulling his left fist back preparing to punch Greed.
"It was an accident, I was actually defending the town, when one of my comrades attacks me and my pokemon," Greed tried to explain himself.
"Nice story, you were still there! Oh it isn't like bastards like you to care about people getting in the way!" Ash continued his anger while punching the Shadow Lord with a vicious left hand, Greed just took the hit without retaliating, "you killed my fiancé, my mother, Pikachu, Johanna and Piplup! They did nothing to you!" Ash yelled out before hitting the Shadow Lord again with another left handed punch.
"I know it isn't much of a consolation, but I am sorry, I will try to make it up to you and the princess somehow," Greed stated with a sigh, taking another punch from the angry trainer.
"I don't want your pity, all I want back is the ones you took from me," Ash started to cry, letting go of his grip, Greed cupped his face trying to cover up the pain he was in.
Greed placed his right hand on Ash's left shoulder, "bringing people and the ones closest to you back is impossible, once a person or pokemon die, they cannot be brought back to life," Greed answered Ash's request, "now please sit down so I can give you and the princess the information you need to know, Blake informed you about the Shadow Lords, but he didn't tell you about the goals," Greed told Ash and the princess as they both sat down, Ash now feeling more composed, but still angry about what had happened.
"Alright tell us everything, I still need to get my revenge on you and the other Shadow Lords," Ash retorted feeling visibly shaken up after he vented out his rage on Greed.
"I am actually a rogue of the Shadow Lords, I work as a double agent, I provide false information for the Shadow Lords while I give proper information to Blake and to people like you," Greed started with his mission, "albeit I am after a profit, such is my nature," Greed smirked.
"I know, you embody one of the seven sins right?" Salvia asked the Shadow Lord.
"Yes," Greed replied to the princess, "now back to their mission, you both know that the Shadow Lords don't care how many people get in the way, but that is only part of it," Greed pulled out a map of the Sinnoh Region, he showed them the attacks on Towns and Cities, "you see everything has a centre right, here is the centre," Greed pointed to the part of the map.
Salvia placed her hands over her mouth, gasping in shock at what was being revealed to her, "Arrowroot Town?" Salvia questioned Greed, she got up and stepped back, falling to her knees and now visibly shaken up, "no it cannot be, why my palace?" Salvia started to asked the Shadow Lord.
"Sadly Princess, that is only part of the problem, your father the King is actually a puppet of the other Shadow Lords, to make matter worse, their mission is to destroy the kingdoms of the world and rule the world with Arrowroot Town as the centre," Greed explained the goal of his former comrades to Ash and Salvia.
"Wait, so why aren't you following that goal?" Ash asked glaring at the Shadow Lord.
"Well, let's just say we had a conflict of interest," Greed replied while rolling up the map of the Sinnoh region, "my mission was a little different to them, I decided it would be best to protect life, not destroy it," Greed answered Ash's question, but it still wasn't enough to convince Ash. Before Greed could make another comment a powerful explosion rumbled through the streets causing people to scream out in horror, "oh no they're here, you two need to leave this place," Greed rushed out the door, getting ready to fight the enemy.
"I am not going anywhere!" Ash yelled at the Shadow Lord, following him out of the room and towards the explosion.
Outside Greed was standing near the bridge looking around, "my, oh my well if it isn't our little traitor," a female voice emanated from the smoke, "you hear that Greed, the sound of screaming people running for their lives is music to my ears," Lust appeared from the smoke as another person walked out.
"So it has been a while, we have here, Lust and Envy, sorry for ditching you losers, but I certainly have no interest in fighting for Pride anymore," Greed smirked at his foes.
"Stop right there, perfect, you three are in the same place at the same time, now I will deal with all three of you at the same time," Ash stood at one end of the bridge, preparing to get involved in the fight.
"You Idiot, I told you to leave, I will meet you and the Princess at the decided destination, now go, while I hold these bastards back!" Greed ordered Ash.
"I am not leaving!" Ash snapped back, but before he could walk across the bridge, Greed called for one of his pokemon to destroy the bridge preventing Ash from getting across, "why?!" Ash yelled out in anger, questioning the actions of Greed.
"You are in no condition to fight, leave now with the Princess," Greed instructed Ash, this time focusing on the foes ahead of him, "I promise I will make up for my actions, but I cannot do that if you or the princess get killed," Greed confessed his intentions to Ash with the princess listening in as she approached the trainer.
The two watched Greed and his pokemon charging in for the fight, the angry Ash still wondering what to do next, he hesitantly turned towards the ships with Salvia running next to him, getting to one of the ships as the explosions of the battle flooded city, "great, when I feel like I was getting the chance to get payback, the person I thought was my enemy is helping us escape, I am so unreliable," Ash whispered to himself.
"Come on Ash, we need to escape, we can fight when the time is right," Salvia informed the furious Ash, he punched the railing as the soldier watched the two get on the ship, "soldier why aren't you getting on the ship?" Salvia asked the soldier.
"This is where I need to be, Ash Ketchum right? You stay be the side of the princess," the soldier ordered the trainer, as the ship was starting to embark on the journey to the next destination, it was rocked by another powerful explosion, slowly making its way out of the port as the violent battle escalated on the eastern side of the city.
Ash hit the ship's railings frustrated at not being able to do anything, Salvia watched Ash hitting the railing, "I cannot do anything!" Ash yelled helpless with the situation, "and now I am stuck," Ash turned to the young royal who was fearing what Ash was going to say next, "baby sitting you," Ash pointed his finger to the blue haired royal.
Salvia now feeling a little upset with Ash's comments, "you know, I can look after myself," Salvia retorted with sorrow, the ship slowly making it out of the docks and eventually out towards the open sea, "it isn't like I asked you to look after me," Salvia informed Ash, but also knew that there was nothing they could do about the situation.
Ash looked over to the scene of the battle where they were forced to flee, "I will still get my revenge," Ash announced to the princess, walking passed her as he did he leant in and whispered into her ear, "don't get in my way," the cold whispered made the young royal shudder in fear.
Being forced to flee from a battle, Ash and Salvia must find a way to get along. With Greed fighting on their side to atone for his sins, how will his intentions help bring down his former comrades?
Next up chapter 4: Ghosts of the present.
The romance between Ash and Salvia isn't really all that important, but it will be a slow developing thing as the story continues, but it will start off one sided sometime in the story.
AN: there is the possiblity of some major delays in the release of future chapters, the big reason behind this, being in South Australia, i live in a wildfire prone area we are heading into a very dangerous few days, so if things get pear shaped and there is a high likelyhood of it, then the releases might be delayed beyond the next three chapters of this story an almost complete third chapter of Almost Easy 2 and a promised closing to Blaze and Glory.
I appologise in advance for not keeping my word on this, but man it is stinking hot where I live at the moment.