Loyalty

Loyalty 10

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."