FicWad

Loyalty

Chapter 10: Legends

Ash was perfectly still, surrounded by a faint glow as he tried to find Misty or at least reopen the supernatural gateway that had swallowed her up.

Not far from him, but in a different plane of existence that was parallel yet not physical, Coral continued her revelations to Misty. "The spirit of vengeance had entered your father. The Azure Tribe demanded that the leader acted. It was because of his mercy that the alchemist sorcerer was not stopped years ago; he forgave too much until things got out of hand. They blame him as their new leader, just as now they will push you to avenge them."

"But I..." Misty tried to focus, to grasp the situation. "I'm not even the oldest. Are my sisters in danger too of the same thing?"

"No, you are the leader; it is not about who is the oldest, but about who is the most suitable. Back then it was your father." Coral's face was full of sadness at the bitter memories. "He cause great trouble to Team Rocket, not for the pursuit of justice, but because he was trying to kill Giovanni, the descendant of the enemy. Tidus did not want to betray him, the spirit that possessed him forced him to. Giovanni would not believe it, though he was the cause. He was the one who sent your father to investigate this place not knowing of his connection to it while he was still in Team Rocket. I was caught in the fight. When Giovanni killed Tidus, I swore to get revenge. He took the one I loved so I tried to do the same to him."

"That's why you attacked Delia..." Misty realized. Ultimately, Delia was not directly the cause of her father's death and in a sense Giovanni was retaliating. Of course, Tidus was not to blame either if he was possessed.

"She and I are not so different," Coral admitted. "We would give up the world for our family."

"What do you mean?" Misty asked, but before her urgent question could be answered, she heard a voice. This was not the angry voice that now slept within her. This was the voice of her childhood friend calling her name like in their adventures of the past. "Ash? Ash!"

"Misty!" Ash was there, ghostly and see-through just as she was, but he was glowing. His body was no longer sitting where it should be, only Pikachu was there, waiting impatiently for his trainer's return. "We need to go back, we can't survive here for too long, I can sense it!"

Ash extended his hand to Misty and she took it without hesitation, her other hand holding her mother's. Ash focused on going back, on forcing the gateway open with his abilities. He appeared again in the physical plane in the ruins, falling to the floor with Misty landing on top of him, both breathless from the strain of crossing over to the plane where they belonged. They got to their feet and Misty searched for her mother. "Mom?" She saw a light and a silhouette. "Mom!" She jumped to her feet and tried to reach the shadow of light as it faded. "Mom!"

Misty felt Ash's hand on her shoulder. "She's gone..." he gently voiced.

"Gone?" Misty questioned fiercely, with tears forming in her eyes. "What do you mean gone? She was right there. Why didn't you bring her back along with me?"

"I did," Ash tried to explain. "But it was too late. She had been there for too long, her physical body had already been reduced to dust... She has... passed on." He knew this wasn't easy for her. Thinking her mother was dead and finding her only to lose her again.

"How did she become trapped there? What must I do?" Misty cried. "The Azure Tribe... what does this all mean? Did you hear it? Could you hear what she was saying?"

"Yes..." Ash admitted, as he petted Pikachu's soft fur. "I don't fully understand it, but it looks like our ancestry is more complicated than I thought. We'll have to remove that."

"Remove what?" Misty inquired, drying her eyes and trying to focus on what needed to be done. Something had been set in motion, she could feel it. Her mother's admission about giving up the world for her family bothered her. What did it all mean? What really happened back then?

"I can sense it; a vengeful spirit made of a collection of spirits now sleeps inside you. It was here." Ash looked into Misty's eyes with an intense gaze. "Let me try."

She nodded, closed her eyes and remained perfectly still. Ash place his hand on her head and closed his own eyes in focus. He tried to call out to what was inside her, to appease it. "Aura!" A voice screeched in their heads. "How dare you wield the power of aura, unworthy son of the sorcerer? It is an insult!" The surreal voice echoed. "You must die!"

Ash felt a sharp pain as if he was being crushed from the inside. Pikachu was in alarm. Ash tried to speak, but couldn't find his voice, he and Misty still as statues. Finally, he pushed his vocal cords to function and dragged out a quiet command of "thunder bolt..." The shock of electricity sent Ash and Misty in opposite directions to the floor. Ash sat up, seeing Misty do the same, "I don't think I can coax that thing out of you after all. I'm just making it angrier."

"It's... not your fault..." Misty breathed. "But I do need to know more about this. Your parents must know, maybe even Luke knows something too.

"Maybe," Ash admitted, he looked very troubled.

"What is it?" Misty knew that this was a lot to take in, especially for her and Ash somehow ended up being linked to it in an unexpected way too, but there was more to it than that. "What's troubling you? Aside from the obvious I mean."

"It's that thing..." Ash wasn't even sure how to refer to the spirit. "Misty... Keep your will strong, don't let it overtake you. I'll free you from it," he looked into her eyes. "That's a promise."

She knew she could count on him just like she had in the past. "Why? Why are you doing this for me? Is it that you somehow feel responsible?"

Ash shook his head, his determination clear. "Because I want to. That's all there is too it. You were my traveling companion and my friend. I'd like to think that you could still be. We didn't choose to be enemies and we can choose not to be. I know I said I wouldn't help you, but I was just upset about mom. She was alright in the end, I know you wouldn't have hurt her. I'll do this for you; I'll make sure you're not controlled by that terrible spirit. I'll get it out of you somehow. It's not out of guilt or responsibility; I'll do this because I want to."

Despite it all, Misty couldn't help it but to smile. "Some things never change. You can't see a problem and leave it alone; you're always wanting to help. It's like... loyalty."

"I guess so," Ash grinned the familiar cocky smile that he use to have back when he turned his hat backwards as he threw out a pokeball in a battle he fully expected to win. "For now, let's get out of here."

xoxox xox xoxox

After finding a way out of the underwater facilities, Ash and Misty returned to Pallet Town. Misty called her sisters to assure them that she was alright and that she would take a while to return. If it was up to her, she would keep them out of all this danger. The cafe where Delia used to work and live was closed and the house had not been inhabited in many years. Instead they went to the Oak residence where Misty remained while Ash returned to Viridian City to further investigate the past.

The words access denied flashed across the screen and Delia sighed. "I can't access the files, but I know someone who can." She offered.

The door to Giovanni's office burst open at that very moment and the Rocket boss himself entered. He found his wife and son at his desk crowded over his computer. His meeting with the main executives of Team Rocket was obviously expected to last longer than it actually did. He gave them a stern look and inquired with a voice that demanded the truth. "What are you doing here?"

Ash confessed with no resistance. "Searching for an explanation about Coral. It's obvious you know more than you were letting on."

Giovanni went to the sitting area of the office and sat down. Ash hurried after him, standing in front of him impatiently while Giovanni reached over to pour himself a drink from the bottle that had been left on the coffee table before. Under the watch of Ash's impatience, Giovanni revealed, taking a calm sip of his drink. "Coral was imprisoned in a secret underwater facility built over legendary ancient ruins. Theories concerning Lugia, Kyogre and several legendary pokemon surrounded the ancient shrine, but none were proven to be true. Tidus knew something about that place, yet he took that information to the grave. Coral refused to reveal what she knew, thus she was kept there. An experiment was conducted to try to communicate with the strange forces that inhabited the ruins and she disappeared during it, never to be seen again. That is the whole story. You have been there, haven't you?"

"I have," Ash admitted. He sat down next to his father as he came to a realization. "You permitted it. Even if you sent Comet ahead to check out the area you didn't do anything to stop me."

"Yes," Giovanni admitted. "This was a mystery that could not be solved. A mystery that was seemingly taking up more resources than it was worth. You have a knack for unraveling legends. How many have you discovered over the years?" Giovanni paused, looking to Delia who was still occupying his chair behind the desk. "The password is a2u12e7r1b3."

Curious and surprise, but not too much, Delia entered the password. "I guess this means you've already given Ash a mission." She concluded as she looked over the files.

"Yes," Giovanni confirmed. "Unravel this legend," he tasked his son with a new mission. "Report all that you find. If there is a legendary pokemon involved, I want to capture it. As for Misty, not she or anyone else will be able to take Delia hostage again. As long as there is no carelessness involved, the Azure Alliance doesn't really represent a danger. If anything, they'll keep the police occupied chasing after a gang that they can more realistically take on and reduce their useless, but still annoying, efforts against Team Rocket."

"Does this mean that you'll tell me what you know?" Ash insisted.

"Yes, it is all in the system. Something about ancient tribes and superstitions," Giovanni replied with a calculating voice.

"I know that part already," What followed was Ash's narration of what he heard being spoken by Coral's ghost and thus as a consequence, the revelation of her ultimate fate. "So you see, Tidus didn't want to betray you, he was possessed and now Misty is too. But I intend to save her."

"You say that power is not from a pokemon, but from embittered humans of ancient times?" Giovanni mused over Ash's words. Delia had come to join them and was listening intently. "So it was all set in motion by our ancestor?" He wore the shadow of a grin as if considering if that was something he might do in his ancestor's place, though he would have been more careful and cunning about it.

"Do you believe me?" Ash asked with a touch of seriousness and at the same time, the inexplicable assurance that he would be believed.

Giovanni chuckled lightly. "You've told me stories of stranger things and I have even witnessed some. There is no reason for me to doubt what you have told me. I'll make you a deal. The Azure Alliance may continue causing trouble to other criminal organizations and the police, but is to avoid all contact with Team Rocket. Bring back information; I want this mystery to be solved."

"There are no legendary pokemon to be captured this time," Ash reminded.

"I understand, but none the less there is power. If not for the sake of obtaining a power, then for the sake of adverting a threat," Giovanni vaguely explained, hinting at something unsaid.

"But you said the Azure Alliance was..." Ash paused, coming to a conclusion. "There is something else you know of that you're not saying." He glanced at the computer on the desk.

"Look through the files if you wish, but that last piece of information..." Giovanni revealed with a look of confidence, "exists only in my memories." That wasn't entirely accurate though, there was one other who knew and another who was very close to a vital aspect of the hidden truth without knowing it.

To be Continued

I originally expected this to be around 10 chapters, but it's turning out longer. I would say around 15, since most things have already been revealed. To clarify, this saga will be finished, it's other possible story arcs that will be left for the round robin at Pirates Board Fiction. It will be open as soon as this is done.

Next Chapter: A catastrophe can strike when you least expect it...