Author's Note: I'm back with another chapter! I finally finished that other chapter and now I can get the chance to post this one. Now, I know we all want answers. What happened to Ash? Did Serena and Pikachu survive the fall? Why are all the spirits going after Ash? They will be answer, in due time. But good news, one of those questions will be answered in this chapter!

StreetRacer-Sam: Once again, interesting theory. I'll just say that you're right about one of those and that Greninja does play some sort of role in this, but it won't be for long. Let's see how your theories go in this chapter. ;)

Juster of Riva: Outlast 2? I've seen the first one but I haven't seen the second one, yet. Or, at least the demo version. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Trinity Sparks: Uh, thanks again?

Steel Heart Alchemist: You should probably get your heartstrings for all the scenes I'm planning.

Their father had always told them to "never be afraid of the dark." The dark was a place to blind you from all the goodness in the world. It makes you worry about all the things that aren't really there. For years, Clemont and Bonnie have tried to take his words to heart. But it was difficult. Though she has no problem with scary stuff, Bonnie will always get worried about something creeping inside her room and take her away into the darkness. Even Clemont still has that same fear when he was at the point where he didn't need a nightlight anymore. Children have excessive imagination, even at the age of a toddler, so they can't always control it. Still, however, the Lumiose siblings did their best to not be that afraid of the dark.

But after seeing their two friends being swallowed up in a hole that shows nothing but complete blackness, their fears of the dark had returned. They didn't know if they even survived that fall. It sounded like it went a long way if Serena and Pikachu's screams were still present for a few more seconds before they disappeared completely. Maybe they had stopped falling a while ago and the hole was just echoing their screams. They didn't know and it scared them. One thing that they knew for sure, that hole was too far deep for them to see anything.

If they couldn't see anything, then that could mean that the chances of Serena and Pikachu surviving are-

They shook their heads. They shouldn't be thinking about horrible things like that. If there really was a bottom to that hole, then that would mean there's a lower level underneath this mansion. Maybe if they could find a stairway that leads to somewhere down, then they could find Serena and Pikachu. Or, at least, their bodies...

Bringing themselves back to their feet, the siblings turned their attention towards Greninja, who had not moved since he saw his two friends fall to possibly their deaths. They were worried for the Ninja Pokémon for a moment before he finally made a reaction. He closed his eyes and tighten his fist. First, he couldn't save his trainer and now he couldn't even save his friends. Why couldn't he be strong enough?

The siblings gave him sympathetic eyes. While they understood his grieving state, they also knew that Greninja couldn't have done anything in time once they had gathered their bearings. If Clemont couldn't have reached Serena in time when his senses got together, they couldn't imagine Greninja being capable of doing it on time.

"Don't blame yourself, Greninja," Clemont told the Pokémon gently. "We all didn't react on time, it was all of our faults."

Greninja nods in understanding, but he still kept his eyes close. Knowing that Greninja will continue to blame himself for this for a little while, Clemont sighed and turned to his sister. "Well, I guess we should start looking for Ash and Serena and Pikachu."

Bonnie nods, grabbing the sulking Pokémon's arms and begins to lead him away from the hole, Clemont following behind. All they have to do is find a stairwell that probably leads to some lower level of the mansion, where they can hopefully find Serena and Pikachu. Maybe they could even find Ash while they're at it.

What they're really hoping for is that they don't see any of the violent spirits that are plaguing this place.

The first thing that Serena registered when her perception came back was the searing agony that's coursing through her leg. The pain felt like a hot steel wire that's been jabbed into her ankle and is spreading from there to up her leg, then finally up to her hip. It was the type of pain that would make her cry as a child when she got bucked off of Rhyhorn. When she noticed hot tears staining her cheeks, burning against her cold skin, she did feel like a little girl.

It finally dawned on her that she had just broken her ankle. She must have landed on it hard after falling from that great height. Suddenly, the world narrowed down to just her, her ankle, and the agony. She almost blacked out.

Serena shook her head. She couldn't go into shock. She tried to breathe more slowly. She lay as still as possible until the pain receded from horrible stinging to just an annoying throb. While it hurt, at least she could handle it for now.

Planting her hands on the dirty ground, Serena uses this chance to lift herself up - while being extremely mindful of her ankle since the pain flared up when she moves too fast. She took a look around. The entire area was dark, there was a light in the distance but it hardly did her any good. Feeling the familiar feeling of the ground with no grass, Serena assumed it was an underground tunnel of some kind. Her hands were probably covered in dirt due to the ground that showed some signs of how people had dug this tunnel. Maybe this was a shelter for hazardous weather back then. She couldn't imagine how people would find solitude in here, it was too quiet.

She sighed. At least she had Pikachu with her.

Her eyes slowly widen when she didn't see any sign of the Mouse Pokémon.

"Pikachu!" She calls out, internally wincing at how sore her voice must be from all that screaming. "Pikachu, where are you?! Are you okay?!"

Nothing. Total silence met her. She was alone inside this dark tunnel, in a place where violent spirits roam free.

Unconsciously gasping, Serena idly wraps her arms around herself. For some reason, she felt cold. The darkness of the tunnel provided her with no warmth. The darkness seemed to be luring her into its cold den, trying to make her unaware of the malice behind it all. But she knew, she just couldn't do anything about it since she was immobilized.

She considered trying to call out for Bonnie and Clemont but decided against it. If Pikachu couldn't hear her even though he fell down the same hole as her, she couldn't imagine how things are gonna go with the siblings. She really was alone.

The first thing that Serena tried to do after a few seconds of waiting in the dark was standing up. However, the pain in her ankle flared up she moved it, making her cry out. After a few deep breaths, Serena tried again by placing her hand on the wall. It gave her enough support to tolerate the pain as she lifts herself up, her broken ankle above the ground while her good leg remains where it was. Thankfully, she didn't topple over due to leaning against the wall for support. She took this has her chance to look at her ankle. It didn't appear to be too strangely bent. There wasn't any blood anywhere. She could still feel her toes. Guess that's a good sign.

After taking deep breaths, Serena mentally prepared herself for the journey ahead. There was no way she's going to wait around for some angry ghost to come and find her. Knowing Ash, he wouldn't go down without a fight. Same thing for her. But she knew it will be difficult journey due to their broken ankle. She will have to hop the whole way through the tunnels, which isn't exactly easy if she moves too fast. She didn't even want to know how she's going to get up stairs with her ankle like this.

Then again, it wasn't like she could do anything about it for right now. She didn't have any ice. The only clothes she has on her right now are her nightgown and red robe, but she hardly paid attention to her mother when she would make splints for her arms and legs after getting bucked off of Rhyhorn. The only option she really has for right now is to find a way out of this tunnel.

With a determined expression, Serena was on her way.

Things were more difficult than she expected. She didn't know how long she was hoping, but she knew she was hardly going anywhere because of the way she was going. For every bounce that she did, the pain in her ankle flared up. She had no choice but to inch her way through the tunnel. By the time she reached the lit torch on the wall, which was the light source she saw a while back, she was already out of breath.

She couldn't keep this up forever.

But she still tried.

Stopping below the torch to catch her breath, Serena looked at the darkness and front of her and couldn't see anything else. There was no distant light, so that means she will have to continue to go across the darkness alone without any sort of light source until she reaches another torch. She didn't want to risk taking a fork in the path in the dark.

Placing the hand that wasn't against the wall before on ground wall, Serena lifted her other hand up to the torch. Since this was the only light she had, she's gonna have to make it work. Luckily, the torch was easily pried off its holder. She figured it might have been stuck since it was placed there for so long, so she was surprised at how it came off with no problem. Maybe luck was finally on her side.

At least, she thought so. That was before she used the light to see the path in front, only to find a figure lifting a wooden beam over their head and bringing it down onto hers.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Serena shrieks when the beam misses her face by a few inches. Good news, her shock made her lose her balance and topple over to the ground, torch still in hand. Bad news, her sudden movements made the pain in her ankle flare up. It felt like somebody had just placed her skin on a hot tray. Her ankle even felt like it was sizzling from the imagine heat.

Noticing a pair of feet moving out of the corner of her eyes, Serena could definitely tell that the thing attacking her was human and not just some angry spirit. How was there another human with them? She would have been pretty sure that she could've heard the doors open inside the mansion since it was abandoned - even the Pokémon could've probably heard them.

She didn't have time to think about it more when she saw the figure's shadow lift the wooden beam over their head, ready to make another attempt to hit her on the head. Thinking quickly, Serena readjusted her grip on the torch and shoved it at the person above. She didn't bring it close to enough to burn them - she would never burn someone alive - but close enough to get the message across. She was surprised when she saw amber eyes staring at her from the torch's light.

"A-Ash?!"

Ash, who has the wooden beam raised over his head to knock somebody out, quickly realize who that he was just about to hit over the head. His eyes slowly widen in horror before he dropped the beam onto the ground. "Serena?! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't hit you or anything, did I?"

It happened so fast, Serena didn't even have time to fully process it. A while ago, she thought that the next time Ash saw her it would have been a cold greeting. He would ignore her and wouldn't want anything to do with her ever again. But here he was, on his knees in front of her. He had his hands on her shoulders while he looked her over. It was amazing how Ash would still help her even after all the horrible things she had done to him.

Her thoughts then turn to all the terrible things she had said to him. How she had thought that all the horrible things that were happening to him were just a sick prank on his part. How she refused to believe him in everything that he said. How she brought up his father in most horrible way possible...

"Are you sure you're okay? You look like you just fell through a hole. Wait, what the heck happened to your ankle?! Did you sprain it? Why did you try to hop around when you didn't have a-?"

She cut him off by suddenly lunging herself at him. Her arms quickly entangle themselves around his waist, squeezing him tight against her as if she was afraid of him disappearing right before her eyes once again. It was then she let her sobs loose on his shoulder.

"S-Serena?!" She heard the surprised tone in his voice. He probably didn't suspect her to show this much remorse for all the things she had done.

"I'm sorry!" Serena screams, her sobs still loud and fresh like her current wounded heart. "I'm so sorry for all the horrible things that I said! They were terrible and cruel and I had no reason at all to say them! I'm sorry that I didn't believe you! I'm sorry for everything!" She broke into another fit sobs onto his shoulder.

He was silent afterward. She didn't hear him make a single sound at all, but it was probably because her sobs were almost deafening and she couldn't hear anything else. She waited for him to rebuff her and say some of his own horrible things back. It was what she deserved for everything she had done to him.

She didn't expect him to wrap his arms around her in return of the death-crushing hug she was giving him. What he said next made her completely speechless.

"Wait, is that why you're so messed up over?" His voice had that little laugh tone to it. That only happened when somebody did something that might've upset or anger Ash, but the raven-haired would laugh it off like it was nothing. To know that he was using that tone with her render her speechless. "Serena, come on. I could never stay mad at you. I forgave you a while ago."

He said it. It was only six words, but they left a bigger impact than anything has ever done to her before. Fresh, new tears were already pouring down her eyes as her sobs renew on his shoulder. She could hear Ash chuckle softly before he squeezed her tighter against him, giving the greatest comfort than anybody could ever offer her. He kept whispering, "Hey, it's okay... Let it all out, Serena... You're going to be okay" over and over again, his hand somehow finding her hair and rubbing it gently.

Deep down, Serena knew she wouldn't be okay.