Brock runs as fast as he can as he carries an unconscious Ash. He follows the mouse wearing the pink dress down the hall trying to find a place to hide as fast as they can knowing that Calem and Madame Venus are likely not far from catching up to find Ash.

"Just my luck that you got yourself into trouble, Ash," Brock says as he hustles.

It isn't long before the tall man and the mouse hears a beastly growl echoing from far behind them. The mouse squeaks in fear as they make it to a large hall. The mouse runs over to the other side and points at a table before standing under it. Brock nods in understanding as he runs over to her and hides under the table with Ash. The raven-haired man snores softly as Brock and the mouse peck from under the table with dread. No sooner do they hide than they hear Calem's heavy footsteps get louder and louder until finally, the monstrous giant enters the hall. Calem scans the area as he slowly puts one of his long feet over the other. He walks over to the table and suddenly sits on it, surprisingly not breaking it and crushing the two men and the mouse underneath it. Brock feels his heart racing as he dares to look up from his hiding spot to see Calem scratching his nose in thought.

Suddenly, Brock and the mouse hear a soft groan and they turn to see Ash slowly coming to. Their eyes widen as the raven-haired man slowly gets up.

"Wha...wha ha -" Ash begins before Brock quickly covers his mouth and holds him down. Ash struggles and tries to speak despite Brock's hand blocking his mouth.

"Quiet, Ash," Brock hisses. "Stay still. The giant is right above us."

"Giant? What giant?" Ash whispers carefully after Brock lets go of his mouth.

But before Brock can answer, they hear another growl from Calem. The giant stands up again and turns around to face the table. Ash, Brock, and the mouse silently gulp as Calem gets down on one knee and gets ready to lift the table.

"Calem!"

Calem turns around and sees Madame Venus glaring down at him on the second-floor balcony.

"Stop crawling around like an overgrown beetle and find Ash before he gets away!" she barks before she leaves.

Calem stands up and stares at where his sister was with an irritated glare. He begins grumbling incoherent words at the balcony as if his sister is still there and he is making an angry comeback. He then makes gestures with his hands, mentally imagining himself strangling Madame Venus or breaking her in half like a toothpick as he snarls venomously.

"That looks like our chance. Let's go," Brock whispers.

Ash and the mouse nod in agreement. The three of them quietly crawl out from under the table and tiptoe out of the hall. When they get far enough, they run as fast as they can just in time for Calem to turn back to the table and finally lift it up only for there to be nothing under it.

"Where are we going?" Ash asks.

"We're following the mouse," Brock says pointing at the mouse which is leading them. "She's the one that showed me a secret passageway to the kitchen to save you."

"Wait, there's a secret passageway?" Ash asks confused. "Since when was there something like that in Lumiose Castle?"

"If I had to guess, there might be more to our old home than what we originally knew," Brock says. "So I'm hoping she knows another one where we can hide."

Ash nods in understanding before the mouse squeaks and turns to a nearby wall. She presses on a stone and the wall turns to reveal a secret passageway. Ash and Brock look at each other in surprise before entering the passageway and the mouse closes it behind them. She leads them to a dark, narrow hall until they see a small room where a dozen other mice are chattering to each other while standing up dressed like people. The two men stare at this in confusion until the mouse with the pink dress squeaks louder than the rest and they all turn around to see her pointing at Ash and Brock. Suddenly, all the other mice squeak with joy as they walk over to Ash and Brock visibly happy to see them. Two of them in particular, a fat one dressed like a general and a skinny one dressed like a minstrel appear to be the most pleased to see the two men as they are standing right in front of Ash and Brock and squeaking with the most cheer as if they were reunited with very close friends.

"Why are all of these mice happy to see us?" Ash asks.

"I don't know," Brock answers. "I guess they all think we're their hope in stopping Calem and Madame Venus from something, but I don't know what."

"I think I'm beginning to know what it is," Ash says. "Before I was drugged, I figured out that Madame Venus is the voice from the sky who abducted Queen Serena and the castle."

Brock turns to his friend with a concerned look.

"Are you sure?" He asks.

"Yes," Ash answers seriously. "I realized it when she was chuckling. It was distinctly the exact same one I heard up in the sky on Queen Serena's birthday. And when I spoke up about it, she was cross."

The mice squeak as they nod their heads in agreement.

"Wait, are you all saying he's right that this Madame Venus is responsible for bringing the castle up here?" Brock asks.

Again, the mice nod yes while Ash shakes his head in disbelief.

"And to top it all, this Calem, this...giant is the prince that Queen Serena is engaged to," Ash says disdainfully. "Something is fishy if he's the brother of the woman who kidnapped her."

"But where is everyone else?" Brock says with a worried look in his voice. "We still don't know what happened to everyone else who was caught in that green fire. Not General Wulfric, or Cilan or...Holly."

The mouse in the pink dress looks at Brock sadly as she hears the eagerness and pain dripping in his voice as he says that last name. She walks over to him and grabs the bottom of his pants and gives him a grieving look. The fat and skinny mice, on the other hand, begin squeaking eagerly at Brock and Ash, looking as if they are trying to respond to what Brock just said.

"What are you trying to say?" Ash demands. "Do any of you know what happened to Queen Serena and everyone else here?"

All of the mice begin to chatter energetically in their high-pitched voices. Suddenly, they are silenced by the fat mouse dressed as a general who appears to order them to be silent before making a declaration. The skinny mouse dressed as a minstrel and the mouse in the pink dress let out what sounds like squeaks of agreement to Ash and Brock before the fat one runs to the other side of the room and opens another passageway. The fat one gestures everyone to follow him and Ash and Brock look at each other before they shrug and follow the mice.

The mysterious hallway is as dark and narrow as the first one. Ash and Brock struggle to make out where they are going while the mice are running ahead of them. The fat mouse leads the group through different turns as they walk until they come across another door. The fat mouse points at the door handle and Brock nods in understanding before turning the knob and opens the door.

Ash and Brock freeze in surprise when they realize the door leads to a large room full of treasure. Huge piles of large, gold coins and chests full of jewelry fill the entire area. Torches are lit up all around to make the shiny gold and jewelry shine brightly as the two men enter the room with the mice in shock.

"Isn't this the castle treasury?" Ash says in astonishment. "I thought we didn't have this much before the castle was abducted."

"We didn't," Brock says seriously. "I remember coming with Queen Serena whenever she needed to visit the treasury and she only had a comfortable amount of money compared to the kings in the other kingdoms. She spent so much of what her father gained during his rule just to benefit the people."

A small smile emerges from Ash's face.

"Yeah, that was her alright; thinking about others rather than herself," he says before picking up a large coin. "But what are these things doing here then? This coin alone is almost bigger than my hand."

"I don't know," Brock says as he picks up another large coin. "They must belong to Calem and Madame Venus.

"HELP! HELP!"

The two men jump in alarm as they turn around to see a golden hard standing on top of the biggest pile of coins. The harp's strings move frantically as if it is using them to scream loudly in a high-pitched, feminine voice.

"HELP! HELP, MASTER!" the harp screams. "TWO FILTHY FARMERS ARE TRYING TO ROB YOU MASTER! STOP THEM! STOP THEM AT ONCE! HELP! HELP! HE -"

The harp is suddenly silenced when the fat mouse orders four of the other mice to grab the harp by its strings thus stopping it from screaming. Ash and Brock stare at the display dumbfounded as the mice hold on to the strings making the harp's apparent voice sound muffled.

"Brock is it just me or did I just hear that harp speak?" Ash asks.

"It's not you, Ash. I heard it too," Brock says in shock.

But then the mouse in the pink dress pulls on Brock's pants and points at the harp squeaking.

"What is it?" Brock asks the mouse. "Do you want us to talk to it?"

The mouse nods eagerly.

"I don't know," Brock says hesitantly. "How can we convince this harp to answer any of our questions?"

Ash scratches his chin in thought for a moment before he snaps his fingers.

"I got it," he says before he climbs up to the top of the pile of coins and gives the harp a friendly look. "Most beautiful golden harp in all the world, the mice tell us we must speak with you which tells us you are a harp of great wisdom that two farmers like us cannot comprehend. Please answer our questions and we swear on the honor of our beloved kingdom of Kalos that we will never take so much as a ha'penny from your master's wonderful treasury."

The mice holding on to the harp's strings look at each other and carefully let go. The harp clears its magical voice before speaking to Ash.

"You may not be as simple as your status suggests, farmer," she says. "That said, I have decided to answer your questions even though I know you are only flattering me to get information."

The mice smile in anticipation while Brock remains hesitant.

"I still don't know," he says. "Do you promise to tell the truth, magic harp?"

"The truth is all I speak, simpleton," the harp answers firmly. "Now ask away and get out."

"Right," Ash says in understanding. "My first question is does Queen Serena really love Prince Calem?"

"And what exactly happened here and where is my fiance?" Brock asks.

"Both of these questions can be answered in one explanation. So listen closely," the harp commands. "Here in the land of the clouds, My masters, Calem and Madame Venus, lived in a cave most of their lives after their parents died. Lady Venus was eager to use her brilliant magic to gain power by becoming a queen, but all she had to work with was her brother and this incredible treasury their parents left behind. So with her magic, she began to look for an opportunity to become the ruler of one the mighty kingdoms in your land. Once, she discovered your country, Kalos was ruled not by a king but a young queen, she decided to kidnap her and her majestic castle."

Ash frowns seriously as it hits him why Madame Venus has caused so much misery upon the people of Kalos and himself for her selfish needs.

"So by bringing Queen Serena to the land of the clouds, she could get Master Calem to woo the queen into marriage and thus they would become royalty," The Harp continues. "The problem was, however, that the queen was strongly resilient to my master's advances. She would rebuke him and firmly state that her heart belonged to someone else. She was constantly demanding that they bring her back to her people so that she could be with the one she was profoundly in love with."

Ash's frown of anger turns into one of sadness as he wonders who could be the one to steal the heart of the woman he loves so firmly as the harp continues.

"So after over a year of Master Calem trying to win the Queen's heart while keeping her a prisoner in her own castle, Madame Venus conjured up a powerful spell on Queen Serena. She brainwashed her into believing she has always been the ruler of the land of the clouds and she is only a princess, thus making Madame Venus a queen by having the real queen publicly give her that title when she uses her magic to bring the castle back to your world and show that my masters are royalty by marriage. Thus for the last several months, Madame Venus has been using her magic to make the queen begin to act more in love with Master Calem. The only problem is the spell has to be put on every day. By nightfall when Queen Serena is asleep she's back to her normal self but is incapable of doing anything about it because she is fast asleep. As soon as she wakes up in the morning, she remains under Madame Venus' spell."

"She's only normal when she's asleep?" Ash repeats in surprise.

"But what about Holly, Cilan, General Wulfric, and the rest of the people who were kidnapped?" Brock demands.

"Master Calem has an uncontrollable hunger for human flesh with the exception of Queen Serena because he is shallowly smitten by her undeniable beauty," the harp replies. "As a result, Madame Venus turned everyone else she abducted into mice."

At that, Ash and Brock's eyes widen, shocked at what they just heard.

"What did you say?" Ash asks.

"You heard what I said, boy," the harp rebukes. "All these filthy, mice you see before you are the very people who Madame Venus captured with the queen almost two years ago, including General Wulfric as that particularly fat mouse in military clothes, Cilan as the skinny mouse dressed as a minstrel and the mouse in the pink dress is your so-called fiance, Holly."

The two men are speechless. They look down to see the fat and skinny mice who are apparently General Wulfric and Cilan respectively looking pleased to see that the truth is finally revealed. But none of the mice are as relieved to have their identities disclosed as the one with the pink dress. Brock looks down on his feet to see her still clinging on to the bottom of his pants with a sad look. He gets down on one knee and lowers his hand for the mouse to get on and holds the mouse up to his face.

"Holly?" he asks in shock. "Is that really you?"

The mouse in the pink dress begins to let out tiny tears as it nods and hugs Brock's thumb once again as if it is her beloved fiance himself. Ash looks at the display with a sad look as tears run down Brock's face.

"Oh Holly," he whimpers as he holds the mouse close to his face. "After all this time thinking you were...were..."

Holly doesn't hesitate to let go of Brock's thump and hug as much of her beloved fiance's face as she can with all her little might. After a moment of crying, Brock turns to the harp with a pleading look.

"I-i-is there anything we can do to free them?" he begs.

"I'm afraid as long as Madame Venus is alive, there is no way to reverse the curse that these creatures are in," The harp says plainly.

"What about Queen Serena?" Ash demands. "Do we have to kill Madame Venus in order to free her from her spell too?"

"No, the princess must be kissed by someone truly brave and courageous," the harp answers. "Only that will break her spell."

Ash's face turns red as he imagines the idea of actually kissing the woman he loves.

"Someone truly brave," he asks bashfully. "Gosh after all these years I hope I'm brave enough to even try."

The mice snicker at his words, clearly amused that the former esquire is still bashful over his obvious feelings for their queen while the harp sounds disgusted.

"Ew, a smelly farmer kissing a woman of royalty?" She rebukes before it laughs mockingly at Ash. The raven-haired man frowns, hurt by her words until Brock places his free hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Ash, you have to do it," he says. "If you can muster the courage to kiss the queen then she will be free and maybe with her leadership and her knowledge against her captors, we can take down Madame Venus and Calem and free everyone else from their curse."

"I don't know if I can," Ash says. "I never had the courage to tell her how I feel even when I was by her side every day. What chance do I have to actually kiss her even if she's been brainwashed to not act like the woman I love?"

Brock frowns concerned and scratches his chin in thought until he gets an idea.

"Hey Holly, Cilian, General Wulfric, are there any secret passageways we can use to get to Queen Serena's bedroom.

The mice nod in response.

"Good," he says before turning to Ash. "If we can sneak into her room while she is sleeping, we can bring her back to the mice's hiding place where she will be safe from our enemies and you can take all the time you need to kiss her thus setting her free. Plus, that way we can also use their hiding spot as a place for the Queen to plan a way to defeat Madame Venus thus freeing everyone else."

Ash hesitates with his friend's idea but then sighs in defeat.

"Alright," he says. "I can't guarantee I will have the courage to kiss her, but if we do this then I at least she will be kept from Madame Venus' grasp if not her control and Calem will not be able to marry her."

"Agreed," Brock says before turning to the mice. "Show us the way."

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

It has been an hour since Queen Serena has been sent to her room to wait for Madame Venus. Since then, she has been robotically twirling and jumping for unenergetic joy as she hums a song. She grabs a large, red coat and dances with it pretending that it is a living person before standing in front of a mirror and holding the coat up before giggling dully.

"Calem!" she suddenly calls out in a monotone, singing voice.

It takes a moment before the sound of loud footsteps echo around the area until the brutish giant enters her room with a childish lovestruck look on his face.

"You called me, Princess?" Calem bellows.

"Yes, I want you to try on this coat," Serena replies. "It would please me so much if you wear this on our wedding tomorrow."

Calem tilts his head and smiles in what he thinks is a goofy, silly way despite his ugly face and he gently picks up the coat that Serena is holding with his long fingernails before holding up in front of him pretending that he has it on.

"Now you look even more handsome," Serena says as she stares at him with her lifeless blue eyes.

Calem grins as he stares back at the queen's undeniable beauty. His moment of shallow bliss is short-lived, however, when Madame Venus enters the room while holding a small purple box.

"Calem, I trust you found that precious item?" She asks with a glare.

Calem hangs his head shamefully and shakes it.

"Then you better search some more until you find it!" his sister barks.

The giant grumbles menacingly as he slowly storms out of the room while secretly giving his sister a hateful look. Madame Venus scoffs at the giant's incompetence before walking over to Serena with a fake loving smile.

"Did you lose something?" Serena asks.

"Nothing to worry your pretty head about, my dear," the tall, scrawny woman replies. "Come, let's freshen your makeup."

The honey blonde woman obeys without a word as she and Madame Venus sit on her bed and the wicked woman opens the purple box. A strange aroma comes out from the box and makes its way to Serena's face. Madame Venus begins moving her hands in front of the Queen's face as she mumbles out in incantation. Serena's slowly closes her eyes as her captor looks at her with an evil grin.

"Tomorrow you are going to marry Prince Calem and it shall be that happiest day of your life," she says as her grin grows. "Then we will go to Kalos where you shall anoint me as queen and I will rule your pretty kingdom. I've waited so long for this and soon everything will be mine. Before long I will use my magic and wealth to make myself the most powerful queen the world has ever known."

Madame Venus chuckles evilly as she closes the box.

"Now go to sleep, my child," she commands. "Tomorrow is going to be a day we will long remember."

The Queen robotically obeys as Madame Venus helps her get under the covers of the bed. Serena lets out a long sigh as she gets comfortable with her eyes still closed.

"Good night, Madame Venus," she says. "I cannot wait until we officially become sisters-in-law."

"Neither can I, Princess," Madame Venus says putting emphasis on the word 'princess with a hint of wicked glee in her voice. "Good night."

Without another word, the wicked woman leaves the room leaving Serena alone to fall asleep.

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

A couple hours past and it is now completely nighttime. Serena is fast asleep as a wall slowly opens to reveal Ash and Brock sneaking into the room.

"You know, I'm feeling uncomfortable coming to the Queen's room like this," Ash whispers nervously.

"Ash, I need you to focus here," Brock whispers back. "Remember, we're trying to keep her away from her captors so that they can't take over Kalos."

Ash sighs, reluctantly admitting that his friend is right. The two men then tiptoe to the queen's bed to see her sleeping peacefully. Ash smiles fondly as he sees a small, sincere smile on Serena's face as she sleeps.

"Ash!" Brock hisses.

Ash snaps out of his gaze and chuckles nervously.

"Sorry," he whispers as he scratches the back of his head. "It's been too long since I've seen her smile like -"

"Ash?"

The two men jump startled as they turn to Serena who just called the raven-haired man's name softly.

"Ash?" She asks again in her sleep. "Ash, where are you?"

Ash and Brock look at each other surprised before the latter shrugs.

"Guess it's like the harp said," Brock says. "When she's sleeping, she's her normal self."

Ash nods in acknowledgment before he gets an idea and kneels in front of the bed facing Serena.

"I'm here, Your Highness," he says quietly.

Serena smiles briefly in her sleep until she frowns disapprovingly.

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that," she mumbles.

Ash chuckles softly and calmly replies. "Sorry, Serena, old habits die hard."

"Evidently," Serena says before letting out a soft giggle in her sleep that makes Ash's heart melt.

"Listen to me, Serena," Ash whispers. "Brock and I are going to get you out of here and hide you where Madame Venus and Calem can't use you for their evil plan."

Serena smiles brightly in her sleep.

"Oh, please do, my loyal esquire and capatain," she mutters.

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Brock says before turning to Ash. "Let's do this carefully. If she wakes up, she might turn back to being brainwashed and alert her captives."

"Right," Ash says in understanding.

The two men slowly get on the bed and Brock proceeds to relieve the queen of her bed covers. As he does, however, Serena speaks again.

"Ash? Ash?" she mumbles.

"I'm here, Serena," Ash says.

The Queen smiles again as Brock gets ready to lift her off the bed.

"Ash, there is something very important I have to tell you," she whispers.

Ash looks at her curiously until he clears his throat.

"You can tell me after we rescue you," he says.

"No," Serena whimpers. "No, I need to tell you now."

"Now might not be the best time, Your Highness," Brock says. "We need to get you out of here before -"

But at that moment, a low growl is heard from the shadows. Ash and Brock freeze in place before they slowly turn around to see Calem standing at the bedroom entrance and giving the two men a menacing look. The giant and the two men stare at each other in silence until Serena mumbles again.

"Ash? Ash where are you?" She mutters.

Suddenly, Calem roars in anger and charges after the two men. Ash and Brock jump out of the bed just in time to dodge Calem's large hand. They move back until they are standing by the bedroom balcony and Calem is standing between them and Serena.

"What do we do?" Ash asks.

Brock frowns before he says, "We need to escape."

"But what about the Queen?" Ash protests.

But Calem roars in bloodthirsty anger and runs after them.

"No time. Climb off the balcony!" Brock shouts.

Ash doesn't hesitate to obey as the two men turn around and climb off the balcony just in time to avoid getting pummeled by the giant. Calem roars angrily as he gets up and starts climbing down the balcony after the two men. With all three of them gone, Serena's room is in silence again until she begins whimpering in worry in her sleep.

"Ash, where are you?" She whines in her sleep again as worry overtakes her face. "Ash, please talk to me. Ash, please tell me you're here! Ash? Ash?! Ash!"