Chapter 4: Ghosts of the present.
Summary: Ash and Salvia have escaped from the starting fight, but as they reflect back on the past, they receive an unexpected visit by someone's spirit, who could it be? And what does this spirit want with Ash and Salvia?
"You know that when I leave here, I will be planning to destroy the Shadow Lords," Greed taunted his former comrades with a smirk, he charged towards Envy, tackling him to the ground, he waited for the Shadow Lord to get back up, raising his right fist, then punching him with all his might, "personally, you were the one I hated the most, talking with that jealous tone, in fact, you really pissed me off," Greed admitted to Envy, kicking the Shadow Lord making him roll over in pain.
"You hated me? It seems like you were the one jealous of me," Envy slowly got up grasping his left side, panting as the former member started laughing at him, "what is so funny traitor?" Envy asked the traitorous member of the Shadow Lords.
"I wasn't jealous of anyone, in fact, I hated the fact that all of you were fools, but I guess there is something I need to confess," Greed answered Envy as he charged again towards Envy, "I have been working for the princess and she didn't know it, in fact, I have been feeding the enemy with information on your plans as well as giving you false information," Greed admitted to Envy as he stared in shock, flinching before being decked once more, "I made sure that your most recent plans failed, all I wanted was to atone for my sins, yet, that will not be an easy task," Greed confessed, thinking about Ash and Salvia who were getting further away.
"Oh right, you killed someone important to them, you grasp at the straws, saying it was an accident right, you forget, we don't feel guilt that makes us the perfect soldiers in this world," Envy replied causing Greed to step back, the injured Shadow Lord rushed towards him, pushing him towards the wall as the battle for the city continued, "in fact I am glad I was the one that caused the accident, seeing people suffer after they lose someone important to them is always exhilarating," Envy admitted to Greed, punching him continuously causing parts of the wall to crumble.
Greed placed his arms over his face to cover the flurry of punches, bleeding from the corner of his mouth, he smirked at the Shadow Lord, cleaning some of the blood away he glared at the former teammate, "you know something, I bet you are really pleased that the person you saw earlier isn't here, because if he heard what you just said, I don't think anyone would have stopped him from destroying you, basically I did you a favour by saving your pitiful life, next time, I will just let him hear what you said," Greed explained to Envy his next intentions, laughing at his foe.
"Envy we are pulling back," Lust informed her teammate.
"Well Greed, it seems like you got lucky," Envy remarked as he turned away from his former comrade.
A soldier limped up to Greed who was watching Envy leave the city, "should we follow them?" The soldier asked his ally.
"No, they would be leading us into a trap," Greed walked over to the destroyed bridge, he turned his head at the horizon, "it was a quick warning attack, they are planning something big," Greed whispered as he start to think about Ash and Salvia who were on the ship. "I hope those two are alright."
(On the ship)
Ash stood at the front of the ship as it continued to sail towards the mystery destination, Salvia stood in the background shivering from the cold, Ash glanced over his right shoulder and then turned towards the horizon, "you should head inside," Ash informed the princess.
"What about you? You should be getting back inside," Salvia enquired, but Ash ignored her and continued to look out into the distance.
Salvia started walking back into the cabin, leaving Ash to keep staring into the distance, "wait, there is one thing I want to know," Ash called to the young royal.
Salvia turned around, wondering what he was going to say to her, "what's the matter?" Salvia asked softly.
"Greed, he said he was actually working for you, how long have you known about that?" Ash asked the bluenette.
Salvia took a deep breath, looked at the ship's deck and clenched her hands, "since this morning," Salvia replied, she walked into the cabin leaving Ash on his own, looking over her left shoulder once more she started to feel more concerned about the mentality of Ash. Walking into the main foyer Salvia took one more look at Ash, he was still standing at the front of the ship looking into the distance, "he is going to catch a cold," Salvia whispered to herself showing even more concern for him.
The chilling wind picked up as the dark clouds started to roll over the ship, Ash looked up to see a few snowflakes starting to fall on the ship's deck, "I know who they are, but what are they?" Ash asked himself, thinking about the shadow lords that he needed to face, 'it doesn't matter, they stole something that can never be brought back,' Ash thought to himself, not knowing of the concerned young royal standing at the entrance, watching him ponder about his next move, "but then there is Greed, just what does he want?" Ash asked himself crossing his arms he thinking about why Greed was fighting on his side.
'He is thinking too much, he needs to relax,' the princess thought to herself as she turned around to walk to her room, 'the rooms aren't perfect, but they are adequate,' the princess thought to herself thinking about what was happening to her father, "dad, you don't seem to be yourself, why?" Salvia asked herself, remembering what it was like years before the escape from the palace.
Salvia remained on the bed thinking about what her next course of action was going to be, Salvia fell back onto the bed with her arms covering her eyes, "it all happened at the end of last year, that was when things changed," Salvia commented, Salvia put her hand in her left pocket and pulled out a picture from her royal gown, 'just what made him change this much?' Salvia asked herself as she looked at the picture of her and her father smiling at the camera.
Salvia shot up upon hearing a knock on the door, placing her photo back into her pocket she looked over at the door, "Salvia, we need to get some winter clothes," Ash called through the door.
"I know, I will do that as soon as we dock," Salvia replied, the princess walked to the door and fell back on it, pulling out the photo again looking at it, "you know, my father changed last year, I have no idea why," Salvia informed Ash as he stood at other side of the door.
"I have an idea what happened, it must be the Shadow Lords who did it," Ash retorted but Salvia continued to stare at the photo not taking any heed what Ash said, "but what I don't get is Greed," Ash thought back to his actions against one of the Seven Shadow Lords, "did I over react?" Ash asked the princess, feeling guilty from his own actions.
"I don't know Ash, we both lost Lady Dawn, I lost my mother over a year ago, since then my father changed," Salvia answered Ash as she told him about the loss of her own mother, "he became less like the father I love and more of a man more concerned about consolidating power, even going as far as wanting to kill me," Salvia explained her father's recent behaviour.
Ash fell back onto the door, listening to his friend's words, "you know, after hearing you talk, all I can still think about is getting revenge," Ash replied while sitting down, grabbing a photo out from his pocket, seeing the smiling faces of him and Dawn, "in this picture, I was at my happiest, they took that from me," Ash looked at the photo not even making a smile.
"Can I see?" Salvia asked softly.
Ash placed the picture under the door, sliding it through to show the princess, in return Salvia, they each grabbed the respective photos and stared at them for a moment, "you seem happy," the two pointed out in unison, they continued to look at the picture for a moment, not daring to crack a smile.
Ash glanced out the corner of his eye and spotted a shadow flying across the hall, 'what was that?' Ash asked himself as the shadow vanished from sight.
"We are both alone at the moment, so I guess we can both try to help each other out," Salvia tried her best to comfort Ash.
Ash stood up and scanned the area, he started walking to his room, thinking about the picture he had in his left hand, the air inside the hallway started to grow colder, even though the heating was on the raven haired trainer spotted a human shaped figure at the end of the hall, standing, "excuse me, who are you?" Ash asked the person, but the figure never answered, standing on the spot leaving the Kanto native confused as to what to ask next.
Ash walked up to the ghostly figure, but as he got closer it moved further away, "hey you stop moving!" Ash called to the figure, he started running, causing the apparition to move faster, Ash quickly stopped as the figure passed through the wall. Now shaken up completely he stepped back slightly realising what he had just seen, he looked in both directions seeing nothing, he looked back towards Salvia's room also seeing nothing, the area heated up slightly, leaving Ash perplexed, "I think I need some sleep," Ash placed his hand over his forehead, walking towards his room with thoughts of what he had seen.
Resting on the bed, the words of Salvia played through his mind, what she had lost and remembering what he had lost at the same time, he shut his eyes, falling asleep moments later.
(in his dreams)
The fires of the battle raged on in Twinleaf Town, Ash was holding Dawn's hand running through the fiery scene that was Dawn's home town, escaping from the small skirmishes. "Come on Dawn, let's go!" Ash yelled out trying his best to run but felt like he was going nowhere fast.
"Ash, help me!" Dawn yelled out as flames engulfed her, watching in horror as his mother, Johanna, Piplup and Pikachu were engulfed in the same fires.
"No, Dawn, Piplup, Johanna, Pikachu, mom!" Ash yelled for the closest ones to him, felling to his knees started hitting the ground, frozen in place he saw a set of feet standing in front of him, shadowy at the same time he tried to move, but was unable to, "stay away from me," Ash demanded but the figure got closer towards him.
"Oh poor thing, you have lost everything," the shadowy shape taunted the trainer.
Ash looked up to see the person smirking at him grabbing him by the throat, "let me go!" Ash struggled, he felt the grip tighten around him, he placed his hands on the wrists of the man, "why!" Ash continued to gasp for air.
"It was your fault," the person replied.
"No, it wasn't," Ash replied as his grip started to weaken.
The man finally let go and vanished from his sight, Ash now coughing looked around, seeing his partner pokemon and Dawn with her Piplup standing in front of him, "why didn't save us Ash?" Dawn asked the trainer with a frown, she turned away and left Ash.
Ash got up and started running towards Dawn calling her name multiple times but to no avail, she looked back and shook her head, "you're so unreliable," she informed Ash, before vanishing.
Ash stepped back in horror at what he had heard, "Dawn!" Ash called out to her.
(Back in reality)
Ash sat up, trembling in fear, moving his hands, he stared at them for a moment, visibly shaking from his nightmare, he heard a knock on the door, the loud sound caused the trainer to jump in terror, "who…who is it?" Ash asked the person at the door.
"It's the princess, I am returning the photo," Salvia replied. Ash walked towards the door, unable to prevent himself from trembling, he placed his hand on the door handle, shaking violently, Ash opened the door to find Salvia was standing at the door with the photo in hand, Salvia was quick to notice Ash shaking and sweat rushing down his arms and head, "are you alright?"
Ash now trying to say something, but was unable to, he pushed Salvia back towards the wall and rushed away from her, "Ash!" the princess called to the man, she noticed the picture of her father and her on the ground, kneeling down to pick it up and looked up again, "what happened to him?" Salvia asked herself picturing the sweat that was running down his arms and the trembling that Ash was showing, "he was shaking pretty badly, and not only that, he was sweating heavily too," Salvia whispered.
A man with short blonde hair peered from his door, showing concern for Ash, "Excuse me, are you his friend? I heard him yelling a moment ago, I was trying to knock on the door to see if he was alright, but he didn't open the door," the man replied with an anxious tone, without getting an answer he watched the young royal running off to get to Ash, "I guess so," the man replied to his own question.
Salvia ran through the hall to meet up with Ash, "he was suffering from a nightmare," Salvia whispered, as she remembered seeing his expression, 'he had a fearful expression, I haven't never seen a person look so scared in my life," Salvia remarked as she looked around.
Meanwhile Ash was in the bar with a shot glass in hand, staring at it for a moment, the glass shock as the clear liquid inside the glass started to spill out, 'it was my fault,' Ash thought to himself as the nightmare started to playback in his mind, he picked up the glass and drank the liquid inside, taking an immediate hit from the contents.
As Ash poured in another glass full Salvia barged in and spotted him preparing to take another drink, "Ash stop this!" Salvia demanded running up to him, and snatching the glass and the bottle from his hand, "getting drunk will not help you in this situation," Salvia informed Ash, placing the bottle on another table.
"Leave me alone," a slightly drunk Ash replied, he hit the table as tears started to flow down his face, "it was my fault Dawn was killed," Ash confessed but the princess didn't take heed in what he said.
"Ash, it was a nightmare, it wasn't real," Salvia tried to assure her friend, but Ash was still on the verge of a mental break down, "I don't think Dawn would want see you like this," Salvia tried her best to comfort Ash.
"Yes she does," Ash replied as parts of the dream played back in his mind, Ash looked towards the corner of the empty room seeing the shadowy figure again. The trainer got up and approached the ghost, but it was soon gone, "again," Ash noted but Salvia started to grow more concerned about his mental state, "did you see that shadow a moment ago?" Ash asked the princess.
"Yes, I have seen it a bit," Salvia replied trying to maintain her calmness. Salvia grabbed the bottle and placed it on the front counter with the shot glass next to it, "come on Ash, rest up, we will be in Snowpoint City tomorrow morning," Salvia instructed Ash, but the trainer ignored her continuing to stare at the corner where he saw the spirit.
"Is someone tormenting me?" Ash whispered, his eyes widened by the spirit and the small amount of alcohol that entered his system.
"Sir Ash, you cannot possibly think of your revenge if you get drunk and have no amount of rest," Salvia concern for Ash started to grow.
"Why are you so worried about me?" Ash asked the princess.
Salvia shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, "the answer is simple, I am your friend," Salvia answered the man, she started approaching the door, "just remember Ash, life isn't something you can throw away that easily," Salvia whispered, walking out of the bar, leaving Ash to lower his head and look at the ground.
Ash looked over his shoulder and gulped, he knew that the princess was right, but he still couldn't shake the feeling something or someone was watching him, 'still why does she care?' the angry trainer walked towards the door, questioning Salvia's intentions.
Ash walked down the hall and stopped by Salvia's room, "Dawn, what do I do to help Ash? " Salvia asked herself while in tears, Ash stopped as he listened to Salvia crying, "Ash is a broken person, what can I do for him?" Salvia kept asking hoping for a response from her best friend.
Ash stopped at the door, preparing to knock, 'I am being foolish, here she is crying,' Ash thought to himself, he lowered his hand and walked away from the room.
Meanwhile in the princess' room Salvia felt someone placing their hand on her left shoulder, Salvia looked over to find that no one was there, clearing up her tears she, "is someone there?" Salvia asked, perplexed by the slight tap on her left shoulder, scanning the room, she still found that no one was around and that she was the only one in the room.
(The next morning)
Ash was sitting in his room, looking towards the door, he heard a knock on the door, taking a deep breath, "the door isn't locked come in," Ash called to the person.
Salvia emerged from the open door, "the ship has docked in Snowpoint City, we need to go," Salvia informed Ash, she watched him tiredly stand up and walk slowly towards the exit of the room, "did you get any sleep last night?" Salvia asked the trainer, showing even more concern for the young man. Ash walked passed her ignoring the question, "answer me, did you get anymore sleep last night?!" Salvia asked furiously.
Ash looked over his right shoulder and the towards the wall, "no, I didn't get any more sleep, because I couldn't sleep last night, every time I tried, the same image kept playing back in my mind," Ash replied with a tired expression.
"You cannot sleep and you are in a bad mental state, we rest in Snowpoint for a few days," Salvia issued her plan of action to the trainer, "I am concerned for…." The princess started to feel dizzy falling to the ground.
Ash dropped his bag and rushed to his friend's aid, "hey you alright?" Ash asked the blue haired princess, the trainer placed his hand over her forehead, feeling that she was burning up, "what, she has a fever," Ash pointed out.
Salvia pushed Ash's hand aside and stood up, "I will be fine, I am more worried about you," Salvia walked away from Ash, after staggering a few steps Salvia placed her hand on the wall and tried to push herself towards the exit.
Ash ran up to the princess, "hey, let me help you," Ash grabbed a jacket from his back pack and placed it around the princess.
"I can walk on my own," Salvia tried ot push Ash back, but was too weak to even push his assistance away.
Ash placed his arm around the young royal and assisted her towards the exit, "I heard you crying last night," Ash admitted to the princess.
Salvia lowered her head, feeling ashamed that Ash heard her break down, "you heard me asking Dawn what I should do," Salvia pointed out, she walked slowly with Ash's assistance, the princess placed her right hand on her left shoulder, "you know last night, someone tapped me on the shoulder, when I looked around, no one was there," Salvia confessed to Ash, as her strength continued to fade.
Ash looked back to see the empty hallway, thinking back to seeing the spirit that seem to have followed him, 'it seems to be following me, but why?' Ash asked himself, feeling confused by the presence of the figure.
After making to the Pokemon Centre, Ash waited in the main foyer for the doctor to finish the check-up of his friend, with a plate of food in his hands Ash took a seat at the table, slowly eating the food, ignoring the trainers inside the Pokemon Centre, "I am really pathetic, the person who is trying to comfort me at the moment is the very same person I am pushing away," Ash started talking to himself as if someone was there.
The doctor walked up to Ash and sat opposite him, "the princess will be fine, she needs to rest for a few days, not only that she also needs to have a few proper meals," the doctor instructed the trainer, "also, she needs this medicine, she is suffering pneumonia," the doctor gave Ash the prescription for him to follow.
"Yeah, but I am unreliable, why are you telling me to help her, the last person I tried to help, well she isn't alive to tell you how I failed," Ash informed the doctor.
"You also seem to be going through depression, you need to rest as well, but first please make sure the princess is alright, I am sure you would be able to heal over time," the doctor explained to the trainer who was looking at the paper work for the medicine.
"Alright, I will do what I can, thank you doctor," Ash replied as he continued to eat his meal.
"I will be back in a few days, to see if there is any improvement in her health," the doctor stated his plan to Ash, he grabbed his briefcase and walked out of the medical facility.
Ash finished his meal and walked towards the exit of the Pokemon Centre, with paper in hand Ash, started to think about his own problems as well, he looked up to see the ghostly figure again, "why are you following me?" Ash asked the figure, but it started walking towards the pharmacy, Ash started running towards the spirit, but wasn't getting any closer, "hey, I asked you a question," Ash snapped at the spirit but still no response from the disembodied figure.
Ash made it to the pharmacy, he looked around to find that the spirit was gone yet again, leaving the puzzled trainer even more confused, "just what is going on? Am I and Salvia linked to this spirit?" Ash asked himself.
"Excuse me sir, is there anything I can do to help you?" a woman wearing a woollen jumper and red hair asked the trainer.
"Yes there is something you can do to help me," Ash replied, handing over the paperwork to get the medicine for the princess.
The chemist worker looked at the paper work and gasped in shock, "that is some powerful medicine, who is it for?" the worker asked Ash with a puzzled expression.
"It is for Princess Salvia, at the moment, she is under my care," Ash responded with a less than pleased tone.
"I see, it must be pretty bad for our world famous doctor to prescribe something this powerful," the worker replied, she walked off to get the required medicine.
Ash waited for the worker to reappear with the medicine, he looked over the shoulder wondering if the spirit would make a re-emergence, when nothing happened he grew more concerned, "what does it want from me?" Ash asked himself wondering who was haunting him.
"Here is the medicine, you better hurry," the worker informed Ash.
"Thanks," Ash replied, taking the medicine, Ash walked out of the chemist and rushed back towards the Pokemon Centre. Before entering Ash glanced over his right shoulder to see if he was being followed by the spirit, but nothing yet again, "I guess, it has something to do with me failing," Ash remarked as he belittled himself, he forced himself to re-enter the medical facility to help out his royal friend.
Ash entered the room and placed the medicine on the bed side draw, "you know princess, I am lucky to have a friend like you," Ash confessed as he turned away to let the princess rest, he opened the door and started to walk out, "thank you Princess Salvia," Ash thanked the royal, closing the door to let the royal rest on her own.
Salvia smiled for a moment, knowing that Ash for the first time since she met him, showed some compassion, "at least you aren't destroying yourself, but there is still a long road of recovery to go," Salvia told herself thinking about what was going to happen.
Meanwhile in the Palace Pride was walking with the king, "yes, your highness, I will find your daughter and have her killed," Pride bowed his head, the king walked away pleased with the response, not realising the smirk running across the face of Pride, "you're a fool your highness," Pride whispered as he watched the king leave the area.
Gluttony appeared next to the leader of the Shadow Lords, "you want me to the king?" Gluttony asked the leader.
"No Gluttony, the king is a valuable pawn, he still has a part to play in our little game," Pride retorted with a smirk, "we will still use this foolish king, better to kill two birds with one stone," Pride started laughing.
"Then what about Greed?" Gluttony asked his leader.
"Leave him to Lust and Envy, that traitor will pay for his own actions," Pride answered the gluttonous member of his team, he turned away and spotted one of the shocked soldiers, "well Gluttony, there is your meal," Pride pointed towards the scared soldier. Pride watched the soldier getting killed by his loyal member, 'yes, the pieces are moving where I thought they would, but the mystery is,' Pride thought to himself as he walked through the halls of the palace, "where is the princess, maybe it would be best to lure her out of hiding," Pride thought to himself, thinking of a new plan.
Pride's intentions have become clear, Ash is being followed by a spirit, but he is still lost, what will happen in the next meeting with Greed?
Next time chapter 5: Vengeful Resolve