Ash has never felt more speechless in his life. For two years he's been wishing that by some miracle the queen of Kalos and the love of his life would still be alive even after seeing her turn into nothing by a green ball of fire. It looked like he would never see her again in this life much less ever get the courage to tell her how much she means everything to him while he struggles to bring food on the table for himself, Brock, Iris, and Maynor. And yet his tongue feels incapable of use as Serena, the woman he loves, his oldest friend and the queen herself introduced herself as a princess and asks who he is.

It takes a moment before Brock speaks what is on both his and Ash's mind.

"Queen Serena, what are you talking about?" He asks. "It's us, Captain Brock and your esquire, Ash. We thought you were dead for almost two years. Are Holly, Cilan and General Wulfric with you?"

But the queen makes no response. She just keeps giving them a lifeless smile.

"Serena, please tell me you remember me," Ash begs. "We've been friends for years. Don't you remember how we met? I stopped Betsy from hitting you? What about when I was there when your father died and you became queen?"

For a moment, the honey blonde woman keeps staring at them before she turns to Ash and speaks in a dull tone.

"Excuse me, young man, but one should not address a princess so informally. I'm afraid I must ask you to refer to me as either Princess Serena, Your Highness, or Your Majesty."

Ash looks even more devastated than before to hear the queen he loves dearly speak to him like a cold, distant stranger.

"And I fear I don't know at all what either of you are talking about," she says turning to Brock. "I don't know anyone by those names for I have been living by myself ever since my parents died when I was very little."

Ash and Brock continue to stare at the queen looking as dumbfounded as before. Suddenly, the mouse wearing the pink dress runs over to Queen Serena and squeaks rapidly at her, trying to get the honey blonde woman to understand what it is trying to say. But the queen merely looks at the mouse for a moment before she picks up the mouse, puts it on a small cloud that was floating next to her and gently pushes it away.

"I'm sorry, but I must ask you to go away as I hate mice," Queen Serena says coldly.

The mouse looks at the queen broken-hearted and begins to squeal out a cry as Brock catches the cloud and takes the mouse out of it with a sympathetic look.

"Sere - er... Princess Serena, what are you saying?" Ash asks. "Do you really have no memory of Kalos, our home?"

The queen tilts her head slowly with a small look of curiosity shown in her bland face.

"Kalos? Why that sounds like a strange place," she says. "My home has always been here in the land of the clouds where I am soon to rule with my handsome fiance."

That did it. At that moment, Ash feels like his heart has been broken worse than it ever did when he thought Serena had died after he tried to save her. Even Brock looks at his friend feeling sympathetic toward him before turning back to the queen.

"Excuse me, Your Highness, but did you say fiance?" he asks.

"Why, yes," Serena says with a faint sense of cheer in her voice. "I am happily engaged to my incredibly handsome and charming prince, Calem. Tomorrow at dawn we are going to be married at the castle cathedral. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world knowing I'm going to be happily married to the most wonderful prince in the world and have his beautiful sister, Madame Venus become my sister-in-law."

Ash's devastation feels complete as his heart feels like there's nothing left of it but mere tiny shards of what's left of it.

"You...you care for this prince and awful lot?" he finds himself asking with his voice cracking.

"I do," Queen Serena says with a quiet, happy sigh. "There is no one in the universe that can make me happy the way my Calem can."

Ash feels the pain in his broken heart worsen with her words. He feels tears emerging from his eyes until he and Brock hear the strange sound of soft music playing all around them. The two men look at each other in confusion as there is no one with any musical instruments anywhere near the area. It's as if the music is playing purely out of thin air. Suddenly, Queen Serena begins to twirl to and fro as if she's in a ballet and the two men and the mouse stare as she begins to sing.

No one's happier than I,

I feel like reaching up to touch the sky

I'm riding on a cloud,

I could sing out loud

I'm a glow and I know the reason why

No one's luckier than I,

My happy heart inside is riding high

I tell the sun and moon

Like the world is in tune

And the birds often sing a lullaby

For I'm in love

And I'm loved in return

The gods above

Can see that I yearn

For the day he takes me in his arms

Where I will sigh and try not to be shy

I don't mind telling you

Cause I know that it's true

There is no one who's happier than I.

The music fades away as soon as it started and the queen finishes her strange dance with one last twirl. She then turns to Ash, Brock and the mouse and lightly chuckles like a spiritless little girl.

"Well? What do you think?" she asks. "Isn't my song for my amazing prince simply wonderful?"

The two men look at each other in confusion before Brock clears his throat.

"Uh...yeah, very...beautiful," he says reluctantly. "But where did the music come from?"

"Oh, do you not have music from where you two live?" Queen Serena asks with her head slightly tilted.

"Well...yes, but we've never heard music play out of nowhere without any instruments," Ash answers honestly.

"Oh, well here in the land of the clouds, there is magic all around us," Queen Serena says. "And magic can influence people to sing if we wish to express how we feel. It's just something that comes naturally."

Ash and Brock stare at the queen looking just as befuddled as before even with her explanation. They both try to figure out what she meant until the queen walks over to Ash and takes his hand.

"But come now, we mustn't stand out here in the courtyard all day," she says. "Tell me, did you say your name is Ash and that you're an esquire?"

"Uh...yes?" Ash says uncomfortably.

"Well, then, why don't you come into the castle with me, Esquire Ash?" she requests. "I know Madame Venus would be happy to meet a cute boy like you."

Ash hesitates to respond to her invitation. As much as he would never refuse the queen anything she asks of him under normal circumstances, he does not feel comfortable with the way she calls him a boy while looking at him with her ocean blue eyes looking faded and soulless. And yet he can't deny that he feels his cheeks heating up for the first time in two years after feeling her hand holding his. It's as if while he feels like the person standing before him is not the woman he fell desperately in love with, there's still some strange presence around her just from the way she holds his hand that feels familiar and comforting like somehow the queen he loves is still standing in front of him somehow. He bites his lip and takes a deep breath before taking a chance.

"Sure," he manages to say. "That sounds great."

"Wonderful," Serena says with barely a hint of joy in her eyes and she leads Ash to the castle entrance with her hand still grasping his. 'I know you're going to like Madame Venus, Ash. She's sweet and kind and gentle and very beautiful. Why nothing in the world is as beautiful as her. Not even I hold a candle to her despite her saying otherwise with her precious, humble heart."

Ash stares at Queen Serena hesitantly while she drags him inside as in his heart he could never imagine anyone more beautiful than her. Brock frowns at his friend and the queen walk inside without even acknowledging him. But before he can say anything to rebuke him, the mouse in the pink dress pulls his ear and he turns his head to see her standing on his shoulder with a worried look.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

The mouse doesn't hesitate to start squeaking again desperately while making different postures again to try to get what she's saying across to the tall man. Brock watches her intently and hums in thought.

"Okay, so what I think I'm getting is that Ash and the queen are in danger from the people you were talking about before?" he asks.

The mouse nods, happy that Brock understands her.

"Then we have to do something," Brock says determinedly. "We need to bring them back here before those people find them."

The mouse's eyes widen in fear and she grabs Brock's ear again for attention and squeaks frantically.

"What's wrong? Why can't we go save them?" Brock asks.

The mouse jumps off Brock's shoulder and points at the left side of the castle while squeaking eagerly.

"Huh? Is there something at the east wing of the castle you want to show me?" he asks.

The mouse nods and makes a running start to where she wants to take Brock. The tall man hesitates as he turns to the main entrance of the castle where Ash and Queen Serena just entered and sighs hoping that the mouse will be able to explain what he can do before it's too late.

***************************************************************************************

Inside the castle, the halls look dull and dark all around. There is no sign of any tapestry or royal rug to proudly show that this is the castle of the Queen of Kalos. Where there was light and majesty roaming every hall in this grand castle, it is now filled with darkness and dread. All of this floods Ash's mind as he looks around the castle. Whatever gave him the idea that he would be happy to step foot in this castle that was his home after so many years again is dashed with a sense of horror in the air as he follows Serena down the halls.

"Your Highness, what has happened to all of the castle decorations in the castle?" he asks.

"Why, whatever do you mean, Ash?" The Queen asks without looking at him.

"It's just that this place used to be filled with Kalos tapestries and banners to proudly show that this is the majestic Lumiose Castle," Ash explains.

Once again, the honey blonde woman makes an empty giggle in response.

"You are a silly boy, aren't you?" she says. "I already told you that I've never heard of a place called Kalos and this is not Lumiose Castle. In fact, it has no name at all. It is simply my castle where I rule the land of the clouds as the princess."

"Yeah, you keep saying that but you are not a princess, you are a queen," Ash protests.

"I'm afraid you are gravely mistaken, Ash," Serena says dully. "I am the princess of the clouds and I cannot be crowned until I marry my striking prince and he is crowned king of the land."

Once more, Ash feels a pain in his heart at hearing the woman he loves talk about marrying this prince. His face turns gloomy until he and Serena make it to the grand hall and she suddenly runs over to a giant picture frame hanging on the wall. Ash looks at her curiously as he walks over to her.

"Do you see this?" she asks with her eyes fixed on the picture frame with her hands behind her back. "This is my beloved Prince Calem. Tomorrow I'm going to be his wife."

Ash looks at her curiously before he turns to the giant picture frame and yelps in fright. Covering the picture frame is a giant, hulking, ugly man with long, ragged black hair, a giant nose, a grumpy frown showing two fang-like teeth sticking out from his bottom lip and angry eyes looking ready to smash anything he wants. He's dressed in a nice suit that is overshadowed by his monstrous appearance complete with his hands clasped together to show his long, filthy fingernails. And yet he sees Queen Serena look at the picture with a faint smile shown at the corner of her lips.

"That's who you're going to marry?" He asks in disbelief.

"Yes, this is my beloved Prince Calem," Serena answers robotically. "Don't you agree that he's very handsome?"

Ash stands there unable to say an honest word to the queen. In truth, he has never seen a being more ugly or monstrous in his life. The menacing look in the being's eyes gives Ash an uncomfortable chill in his spine.

"Why would she view this...thing as handsome?" He thinks to himself. "Is there something about him that she learned to love this Prince Calem despite his appearance over the last two years?"

Unknown to Ash as he stares at the woman he loves with a confounded look, a shadowy figure appears in the balcony above them. The figure lets out a small, cold cackle as its eyes are fixed on Ash. Suddenly, Serena turns around and sees the shadowy figure up on the balcony and her lifeless smile grows ever so slightly.

"Ah, sister," she says.

"Sister?" Ash asks in confusion.

Before Serena can answer, however, the figure disappears in the shadows and Ash wonders where it went until he turns his head to see something standing a couple feet from him and Serena. It is a very tall, grossly skinny woman with a long, thin face, messy brown hair held by an abnormally long neck and wearing a plain, black dress. Serena walks over and hugs the woman's right arm showing that the top of her head doesn't even reach this woman's shoulder.

"Serena, who do we have here?" The frightening woman asks while looking at Serena.

"Dear sister, I'd like you to meet our visitor, Ash," Serena says. "Ash, this is Prince Calem's sister, Madame Venus."

Ash doesn't respond right away as the tall woman's eyes snap over to him with a devilish grin.

"My what a cute little boy you are," she says with a cold, amused grin. "Yet you look rather skinny for a person of your age. Tell me; are you hungry for some supper?"

Ash feels goosebumps surround his body as his fear for Madame Venus grows from the sound of her voice. But then he turns to look at Serena who tilts her head slightly again as if she is also interested in Madame Venus' question.

"Uh... yeah, I suppose I am, but -" Ash says honestly before he finds Madame Venus suddenly standing behind him and placing her hands on his shoulders.

"There's no reason to be bashful around me, Ash," Madame Venus says with an eager grin. "Now come along and we'll fatten you up."

"Fatten me up?" Ash says nervously.

"Serena, go to your room," Madame Venus commands. "I'll be up shortly to tend to your makeup after I've taken care of the needs of this charming young man."

"Yes, Big Sister," Serena says in a dull voice as she robotically turns around and leaves.

"Wait, Your Highness," Ash says stretching out his arm to her and tries to walk over to her only to have Madame Venus hold him down with her firm grasp on his shoulders.

"Come along, Ash," Madame Venus says. "Princess Serena needs her rest. She has a big day tomorrow."

Ash tries to protest, but no words are coming out of his mouth. He feels a slight push as Madame Venus begins guiding him to another hall. The uncomfortable chill that Ash feels down his spine only grows as he sees more of the castle looking dark and grim only this time he doesn't have the presence of Queen Serena to give him some ease despite her abnormal demeanor.

Finally, he and Madame Venus reach the dining hall and the tall, scrawny woman gestures Ash to sit down at the end of the long table and heads to the kitchen. After a couple of minutes, she comes back with a hot bowl of soup and with a wave of her hand, the bowl flies out of her hand and gently lands in front of Ash without spilling the dish.

"Whoa, how did you do that?" Ash asks in amazement. "Do you possess magic?"

"Oh, don't worry about that, deary," Madame Venus says. "Just enjoy your meal. You will find it is most delicious."

Just then, Madame Venus makes another cold chuckle that instantly kills Ash's amazement. His eyes widen as he turns to Madame Venus with a fearful look. The woman frowns and raises her eyebrow suspiciously at his reaction.

"What's the matter? Didn't you say you were hungry?" She asks starting to sound impatient.

"I...I...I know your voice," Ash says. "It was you."

"What are you talking about?" Madame Venus demands.

"You were the one behind this," Ash says. "It was your voice in the sky on Queen Serena's birthday. If you have magic, then you must be the person with magic that the mouse was talking about. It was you who abducted her and the castle up here."

Madame Venus' eyes widen and her glare turns more menacing.

"What mouse?" She demands further. "What did it tell you?"

"I'm not saying anything," Ash says starting to become angry as the woman's refusal to answer him confirms his suspicions. "What did you do to Queen Serena?"

"My dear boy Serena is a princess and not a queen and if you ever wish to see the light of day again, you will tell me what this mouse told you," Madame Venus commands.

At this point, Ash's fear turns into complete anger as it hits him that this magical woman is responsible for all the pain and misery that he, Brock, Iris, Maynor and everyone else living in Kalos are going through. He begins to stand up, but with a wave of her hand, Madame Venus uses her magic to force him to stay sitting on the chair and stand still.

"What have you done with Queen Serena's memory?" He screams. "Where are Holly and Cilan and General Wulfric and everyone else you kidnapped?!"

"Silence and eat your soup!" Madame Venus hisses.

"No, I won't!" Ash yells. "Let me go! Let me -"

Ash's scream drowns out as Madame Venus forces a spoonful of the soup into his mouth and forces him to swallow it. Ash realizes too late that there's some kind of drug inside the soup as he feels funny and his face makes a goofy look. He lets out a soft groan before he loses his consciousness and his head drops. Madame Venus releases her magical force on Ash's body and he falls off the chair.

"Finally," the woman says with a huff. "That brat was more stubborn than I expected. But it is unsettling that those mice found a way to communicate with him. I'll need to figure out a spell to force him to tell me where those rodents are and how he made his way up here."

The woman then proceeds to pick up the drugged, raven-haired man and begins to carry him only to hear the sound of loud footsteps coming her way. Her eyes widen in fear as she knows what's coming.

"Curse it all, Calem's home," she grumbles. "I don't have enough time to turn this brat into a mouse to get my stupid brother off his scent. What do I do?"

The wicked woman looks around in panic until she gets an idea and races into the kitchen and puts Ash inside a giant cauldron hanging above the kitchen fireplace. She then sighs as she waves her hand and a tray with wheels containing an enormous bowl full of giant bones of mutton appears. She wheels the tray to the dining hall and makes Ash's bowl of soup disappear with another wave of her hand just in time before her brother arrives.

The tall, entrance to the dining hall opens to reveal Calem standing over fifteen feet tall, wearing plain, dirty, green clothes and groaning like the nearly mindless monster he is as he robotically sits at the table using two chairs to support him.

"And just where in the world have you been, you brainless oaf?" Madame Venus questions angrily to pretend she's not hiding something. "Where you off chasing snakes and birds again?"

But the giant doesn't say anything in response or even look at his sister. Instead, he takes the bowl of giant muttons and one by one eats them by simply picking them up by the bone and sucking the meat out with his mouth before laying the bone on the table.

"Have you forgotten that tomorrow is your wedding day?" Madame Venus rebukes. "Start acting like a man! I won't have you brooding anymore just because that's all you did back when we were living in a cave that barely fit your big, ugly rump. We've been living in this castle for almost two years now and you still lack the ability to act like a social being. It's little wonder your attempts to woo that precious, self-made queen fell into nothing but her screaming over how much she was dying to marry some so-called 'wonderful man' from Kalos."

Once again, Calem the giant is saying nothing as he continues to eat his food.

"Not to mention how I had to turn the people we took with her into mice so that you wouldn't eat them thus making things more difficult for us when we come to their country proving that we are their rightful rulers after showing that their former queen is alive and married," Madame Venus continues. "I much prefer living in a castle rather than how we use to live so you'll just have to get used to acting like royalty. Is that clear? That means no one we abducted gets harmed to show that we are their rightful, trustworthy rulers.

Again, the repulsive giant says nothing as if his ears are covered with cloth or he is in his own little world that his sister cannot snap him out of. Madame Venus scoffs and sits down in a chair secretly grumbling against her brother. But then, Calem pauses in the middle of eating and his eye immediately turns to the kitchen. Madame Venus becomes uneasy as she sees her brother turn to the kitchen entrance, gets down on all fours and sniffs like a dog.

"W-what? What is it? What's wrong with you?" she demands, trying to stay in control.

"I smell a human," Calem bellows in a deep, dim-witted voice. "I smell...a man."

"No, that's not possible," Madame Venus says panicking as she races to the kitchen. "There are no humans in the land of the clouds but Serena. Even you know that, you mindless ape!"

But the scrawny woman's claims fall on deaf ears. The giant's instincts have taken over his mind as he crawls into the kitchen with Madame Venus trying to hold him back by grabbing his shirt.

"Stop!" she pleads as she pulls on Calem's shirt with all her pitiful might. "Don't come in! You're making a mistake!"

It is no use. The giant knocks over tables and barrels of food and drink as he makes his way to the cauldron. He stretches out his hand to open it until his sister stands in front of it.

"Alright, I admit it," she says frantically. "I'm hiding a young man and I give you my word I'll share him with you. But we cannot eat him until I get the information I need from him. I forbid you to eat him now!"

But the witless giant grabs his sister and moves her aside like a toy and grabs the cauldron like a little child stealing the cookie jar. He takes off the lid only to look confused and let out a dumbfounded groan.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Madame Venus asks.

The giant puts down the cauldron to show that it's empty. Madame Venus' eyes widen before she frowns and turns to her giant brother.

"Get that cursed brat, you peabrain!" she snarls. "He's somewhere in the castle. Find him before he gets away!"

The mindless brute makes a grumpy frown and he growls in understanding. He stands up and storms out. Madame Venus scoffs in annoyance and she kicks a stool standing next to her.

"Of all the confounded luck. That imp just had to somehow recover from my drug so quickly. I just hope he somehow doesn't find his way in the queen's room and I have to explain to her what our 'guest' Ash is doing in her quarters," She grumbles before she stops walking and scratches her chin. "Come to think of it, why does his name sound familiar? I could have sworn I've heard that name somewhere. Maybe it's back when that wretched queen was -"

Madame Venus gasps loudly and her eyes widen with horror.

"NO!" she shrieks.