Chapter 8
Sorry for being MIA! I was on vacation. :) But anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please R&R
Ash had flown across the region, to the highest mountain on Kalos, to the blackest rock on the cliffs. He flew with tremendous speed, towards the castle that could not be reached by anyone who did not know the way, and he knew the way well.
All he could think about were Drifter's words, Serena's face, the body missing…he couldn't believe it. After four years of dealing with that old man, Ash could not undo him.
Ash pushed Charizard harder and it roared, flapping its wings, ripping apart the clouds. Below them were dark storms all across Kalos. Lunala was at work, and his first victims were chosen. Ash had to make sure his master would keep his promise.
The Cliffs filled with snow all year round. The area was scarce of pokemon and men, save for the army of both Lunala kept within the innards of the mountain. There were trainers and pokemon without souls, both sworn to the Moon, fidelity binding them to the war at hand. Lunala did not want to rule the night alone, but the day as well. Ash knew that it would begin with Kalos. It was always going to begin with Kalos.
"Lunala!" Upon landing on a fifty-foot platform made of polished black granite jutting out of the mountainside, Ash jumped off the Charizard, its fire steaming in the frozen air. He marched up to the set of doors, ones nearly reaching the peak of the rock, and they opened before him in to a vast, black tomb of space. A dark sigh of air gasped out the mountain and met his skin in a low, dismal heat.
Ash shuddered. He stepped in to the mountain. His footsteps echoed on the polished onyx floors. Small orbs of icy blue light, like fireflies, floated within the empty space as they wandered aimlessly through the dead air, illuminating the room in their endless search for nothing. Besides their faint and limited glow, the palace was pitch black. Ash couldn't see more than ten paces in front of him—even less when the orbs were far off. Ash used to wonder what the orbs were; whether they were alive or what purpose they served. He stopped wondering a long time ago.
"Lunala!" Ash shouted again, stopping in what he felt was the center of the mountain. He imagined himself standing right beneath the peak. "Lunala, answer me!"
The mountain began to rumble. The rock shook beneath Ash's feet and thundering, like the sound of a thousands souls groaning all at once, echoing off the walls of the graves, bellowed from beyond the deep. The orbs began to vanish. One by one, their light went out. Ash began to feel the frost born from his sweat, freeze on to the tips of his hair. He began to feel cold. He began to feel afraid.
How dare you…
A voice hissed from the dark. Ash could feel the weight of the night press down on him from the air, growing closer like a dagger to his heart. He began to feel faint. He feel to his knees.
How dare you summon me…do you forget your master so easily?
Ash panted. He could hear his sweat his hit the floor and echo between the rumbling of the black presence drawing towards him. "I'm—I'm sorry," Ash mumbled, his chest beginning to burn from a mark he had been branded with long ago. He could feel the searing of a dagger, glowing with fire, being twisted in to his flesh. He cried out in pain. "I killed him! Drifter is dead!"
The pain ceased. The rumbling ceased. The mountain grew silent.
All Ash could hear now was his breathing, labored by the pain and fear. He rolled over on to his stomach, clawing at the floor for no reason in particular. He thought of Serena.
You did well…
The voice whispered, sounding pleased and even amused. Ash could feel Lunala circling him in the dark, though he could not see. He could only imagine a great big blackness, walking slowly about the dark with its hands behind its back, grinning.
But why have you returned? You know you're purpose.
Ash grunted. He felt, with his fingertips, the raised flesh on his chest; the scar that bound him to the dark. The oath that sealed his fate.
"She was there…She was there when we attacked—they all were and they were hurt! We hurt them!" Ash growled, stumbling to his feet, "You promised—,"
You ignorant bastard!
The mountain shook with the sound of a thousand roars. Ash fell back to the floor, forced there by a large hand pressing his body in to the ground, pushing against the scar and igniting the fire of its pain. Ash screamed.
You think I have time to worry about these things? Was she hurt? Tell me, did I kill her? You worthless maggot. I did not touch her did I? I put you in charge of my legions, and it was you who led the attack.
Hot tears flew from his eyes as the pain continued to writhe through his body. Ash began to seize. His body shook and his mind began to grow numb.
Then the pain stopped. The hand was lifted from Ash's chest and he lied there on the floor, in the dark, motionless. Again the rocks were silent save for the sound of his jagged breath, unsteady and dimmed by death.
You know I don't like to punish you.
The voice spoke, sounding more tender, though laced with a dark pleasure.
But you see; you are weak. You have no control. You can't even protect her. You're pathetic without me.
Ash was silent. He didn't know if his eyes were open or closed. He could feel his body. It was all cold.
I made you what you are. You power is mine! Question me again and I'll make sure you suffer. Treachery will null whatever I've promised. Doubt me again, and I will make sure she dies.
Again, the hand came down on Ash's chest. The pain shocked its way throughout his body, searing his flesh from the inside. Ash didn't scream. He didn't make a sound. He thought of the day he first began to love her.
Then he fainted.
xxxxx
Serena was following close behind Celebi when she began to feel an intense burning kindle upon her chest. She doubled over in pain. Pikachu jumped out of her arms and looked up at her in panic. Bonnie and Gary ran to her side.
"What's going on!?" Gary exclaimed, watching the scene while Bonnie took hold of Serena to support her.
Serena began to feel a numbing sensation overtake her skin, but the burning within her kept growing. The voices around her faded and her bright eyes shook. The world became dark and then light and then dark again, as if she were going through a tunnel lit with only small windows of sun flashing through the ceiling.
The memory began with Ash. He was sitting in their room, staring out the window over the coliseum where the Kalos league was being held. He had won for the third season in a row. It hadn't even been difficult.
On the TV, Serena heard the news anchor chatter on and on about his performances. She heard them call him the youngest Pokemon Master to win seven consecutive championships all across the regions. They were saying the perhaps he's be the greatest Pokemon Master to ever live.
Serena had just come from the grocery store, her arms full of ingredients to make pokepuffs and Pikachu humming happily on her shoulder. She put the food on the table and walked over to Ash, wrapping her arms around his neck.
She kissed his cheek, but he was cold.
"Hey," she said, and felt the frost move in to her heart as his eyes stayed dead, looking far off in to space. "Do you want to go to the park today? Clemont said he wants to go see—,"
"I have to train," Ash said, but didn't look at her. He hardly looked at her anymore.
Serena stiffened. She let go of him and froze while anger and panic consumed her. At this point she knew she was losing him, but to what she did not know. She didn't know what was going on. He was changing so rapidly, she felt as though she could never catch up. Each day he woke up a different person. He grew more withdrawn, unresponsive, obsessive…he hardly kissed her anymore. Every time he looked at her, all she saw was fear. Raw fear, so clear to her and she didn't know what was causing it or how to make it go away.
"Ash, talk to me," She demanded, moving in front of the window. She was getting tired now, but she kept trying, "Ash, please. What's going on?"
"Stop it," he said, avoiding her eyes. "I have to go. I have to go train,"'
Serena stared at him. He continued to ignore her, staring down at the stadium, his fingers drumming against his chair. He did this for ten minutes.
"Okay," Serena stood up, pushing against his shoulder's roughly, and stormed out of the room.
She tried to hold back her tears. She tried to hold back Ash. He was plunging in to a path she couldn't follow. At some point, she knew, she would have to let him go.
xxxxx
The next memory was of the first nights without him. Serena broke through floors, breaking apart the earth, falling through each level without end until she came to the core. She expected the heart of the earth to be a violent pit of lava, sloshing and growling with anger. But the core was cold and empty. Not even fire lived inside the depths. Serena made her home in its hollow echoes for months. She couldn't feel, she couldn't eat, she couldn't speak. She could only sleep. There, she could dream of his face, penetrating the cold and bringing feign warmth on to her skin. She grew addicted to her dreams.
xxxxx
Serena.
This was a dream, she thought. She couldn't see anything, she couldn't move. She felt a warm breeze, one blowing across the tail end of spring, wash over her. There was a voice, or many voices, calling out to her. She didn't have the strength to pursue them. She stayed still, in a state of relent.
xxxxx
On the third morning, Serena woke up. It was still dawn. She found herself lying in a bed made of wood and straw. She shot up from it, and grew dizzy from the sudden movement. After her vision began to clear again, she noticed light filtering in from a window. She was in a small cabin; Bonnie slept on a bed just to her left.
"You've awoken,"
Serena looked at the door. It was the man with the Dragonite—the one who'd fought Ash in the sky. He stood at the entrance, watching her. He looked different, yet recognizable. His hair was the color of snow, and his face was clean shaven and younger than she remembered. He looked to be only a few years older than herself.
"Who are you?"
"Many here know me as Drifter," he said. He stepped towards her, his bright eyes studying her as one studies a coded message. "I am a prophet for the Legendary Solgaleo. I have known many lives, as I have been sent on many missions in order to prophesize against the coming darkness. And whether you believe me or not, I tried to save Ash, not kill him."
Serena watched him. Her eyes wavering under his intense gaze. She felt exposed, so she pulled the sheets of the bed around her body.
"Where is he?"
Drifter drew chair up close to her bed and sat down. He folded his arms in front of his chest upon adjusting the bright red sash cutting across his white vest. Everything about him looked bright. Serena found herself squinting to adjust to the light blazing from his figure.
"You have asked the wrong question," Drifter said, "I don't know where Ash Ketchum is. But I do know that he is in grave danger of being lost forever."
Serena stopped. "I don't understand—,"
"Then I will explain, because it is time you know what happened to him," Drifter offered and cleared his throat. "Ash sold his soul to Lunala, King of Darkness—a fallen legendary from ancient times. Back in the days of old there was a trinity of legendries that created the universe. All other legendries were born from them. The trio was Arceus, emissary of the stars and the universe, Lunala, emissary of the moon and death, and Solgaleo, emissary of the sun and life. However, Lunala wanted more than just the moonlight and thus attempted to take over the firmament. This created an imbalance of power. Death wreaked havoc and the sun was blocked out by the endless night when Lunala came in to the world. He possessed humans and pokemon; he built up an army of those who sold their souls to the darkness for love, money, power. Solgaleo and Arceus felt the imbalance of power shift, and they created the legendries Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina—or what some call, the Creation Trio—in order to wipe out the earth of all mankind and pokemon, for all had turned to worship the moon. Every human was destroyed, except one. His name was Kalos. Kalos and his family were spared, for they did not sell their souls to Lunala, and Solgaleo bestowed mercy upon them. He told Kalos to take his family and his pokemon and to hide in the Mountain Retlar—an ancient mountain that could be found at the center of the earth.
"The Creation Trio flooded the earth. They killed Lunala's army, and wiped the world clean of the dark souls. Beneath the water, the regions divided, thus is the world today. Kalos bore many sons: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Unova, Sinnoh, Kalos. His only daughter, he called Alola. These are the names of the regions today; and the Redemption era began."
Drifter paused, watching Serena absorb the information he just explained, not expected her to believe it in full. He knew she was wondering what the history of the world had to do with her beloved. Soon, she would know the answer.
"Lunala was not destroyed," Drifter continued, "he can't be. He cannot be destroyed lest the universe fall in to pieces, for all things need the moon as much as the sun and stars. Solgaleo and Arceus could only exile him. His entity no longer lives in the heavens, but on the earth. The legendries all agreed that this must happen in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled:
He will walk the earth and lure new souls in to his mouth
He will build up an army of darkness
He will put death upon the firmament
He will see the face of the sun and declare war anew
He will choose a servant from the light."
Drifter again stopped to be sure Serena followed, for what was next was of the utmost importance. "Serena, Ash is the chosen servant from the light. Because his heart was the purest, when it fell it became the darkest. He is meant to be my successor. He is a prophet, but as of right now prophesizes for the dark. That is why he must be redeemed or else all is lost."
Serena shivered under the sheets around her shoulders. She could feel a light burning run across her chest. Her fingers found the edge of the bed and squeezed.
"How did he fall?" she asked but did not want to know the answer.
"He grew afraid," Drifter said. For a moment he paused, unsure whether or not to elaborate, but the girl's eyes were so full of hunger for truth. She had loved Ash; she needed to know the truth or else she could not help bring him back.
"He grew afraid of disappointing his father; he grew afraid of failure; he grew afraid of losing you—the reasons fed his fear. So when Lunala, who had always been watching him, knowing he was the chosen one of light, waited for the moment him to fall in love with you to begin growing his fear as one would grow a weed of thorns. Lunala fed him lies until he confronted the boy upon the eve of his Championship battle. Lunala promised victory in all battles, the power of pokemon master, all for the price of Ash's soul, which he sold blindly—not knowing what it would drive him to lose."
xxxxx
Serena had sat in shock. She analyzed every word. Every detail. And still didn't understand. It made sense to her. When she looked back and remembered the times when Ash had begun to change—his nightmares, the voices he heard…how could he not tell her?
"Don't tell me this," Serena whispered, her face turning away from Drifter as she began to lose all energy. Her heart was breaking again. Perhaps he never loved her. He chose power over her—she couldn't satisfy him. Not even when she gave herself completely to him. He chose to leave. He chose to sell his soul—or whatever—to Lunala. Why would he do that if he loved her?
"He never loved me," Serena said and began to weep. Her worst fears coming true. Not only was the old Ash gone forever, but he never loved her. "Don't tell me. It all doesn't matter now."
Drifter watched her cry, shocked. What had he said that had led her to such a conclusion? He wanted to reach out and shake the girl back to her senses, but the Spirit of Solgaleo told him not to. He told Drift to stay quiet and let her weep the grief away. Soon, he would be able to comfort her.
"There will be time for tears," Drifter said, his voice caressing the air to calm around her, "things are not what they seem to be. Have faith. You and your friends have been chosen."
Serena looked up. Her cheeks still drowning. "Chosen?"
Drifter nodded. "Look at your heart."
The young woman looked down at her chest. There, on the left side, was a small triangle carved in to her skin. It was white and glowing faintly. She traced a finger across the raised flesh, and flinched at the weak burning crossing her breastplate. She gasped.
"You are a Lightbearer. Solgaleo has chosen you for His army. You are on the winning side."