********CONTINUATION FROM CHAPTER 12*************

(Ash's P.OV)

"Derek was ....MURDERED?"

....

My mind enters a frenzy as a mixture of rage and confusion fills my being. 

I need to find Gary.

Where is he?

I wrap up the piece of paper and hold it close to my heart as I run across the corridor to find Gary.

"GARY! WHERE ARE YOU!?" I yell and I feels tears stringing from my eyes. 

"ASH! I'm here!" Gary comes up running up to me. 

I fall down on my knees and cover my mouth to hold in my sobs.

"W-what is the m-meaning of t-this?" I weep as I hand in the piece of paper to him. 

He takes it and reads it. His eyes widen at the content of the paper. 

"A-Ash, I swear I really didn't know about this..." Gary sighs as he looks at me tenderly. "Where did you find this? Take me there."

"The room at the end of the hallway.." I weep as I struggle to talk. "D-Derek was s-stabbed..? Who could possibly be b-behind this?"

Gary wraps his arms around me and rubs circles on my back. I hear him sigh. "Ash... We can't let this slide can we? We gotta investigate what happened right? For Derek."

Images of his smiling face flash between my eyes. I hold back a sob.

"Derek wouldn't want to see us like this would he?" Gary says as he unwraps his arms around me. "Take me to where you found it Ash"

"Yes. You are right" I wipe my tear. "Follow me."

I run to the crusty, old room , with Gary behind me. 

My eyes widen at the sight before me. 

The room was not there.

"Ash, there is nothing here...?" Gary says. "You sure you were here?"

"W-what the hell? The room was right here! I even went inside and found this from a stack of documents...!" I gasp.

"Ash, there lies nothing but bricks beyond this wall... I think I should still believe you since you found this paper.." Gary says.

"I-I swear the room was right here... Are my eyes playing tricks on me?" I'm still stunned from this socery. 

"Ok... How did the room look like...?" Gary asks. "Like the colours of the walls or even what furniture it had..?"

"Well... It was really clean and the documents were neatly stacked in a pile on a table. The walls were all white and as for the furniture.... all I remember was that there was a painting of a daffodil.."

Gary knits his eyebrows and tries to process the information I gave him. "Nope.. I don't recall such a room to exist in the castle..." 

"How weird..." I sigh. I take another closer look at the paper:

Cause of death: Stabbed by Roc////////*smudged*ead///r

The person who is behind this... Why is this name smudged...? If only I knew who did this... I want to tear him apart and send him to the depths of hell. 

I hold back a growl as I start to feel dizzy. 

 "ASH! BREATHE OKAY! PLEASE CALM DOWN!" Gary's eyes widen as he pats my back once again. 

"Young master!" I hear a voice behind me and it belonged to Lysandre. 

"....." 

I was not in a state to meet another fucking girl. 

"What is it Lysandre?" Gary asks with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"The queen... wants you to meet with -"

"NOT ANOTHER BLOODY WOMAN PLEASE!" I yell. 

"ASH! CALM DOWN!" Gary tries to hold me back. "Finish Lysandre."

"A special guest named Mr.Giovanni will be paying us a visit.." Lysandre finishes.

"Who is this guy...?" I say. 

"He has come all the way from Kanto, but was previously the mayor of Lumiose city."

"I've never heard of him..." I sigh and take a deep breath as I calm myself down. "Alright."

I slip the paper into my pocket and Lysandre accompanies me to the main hall. 

I see the chandelier fixed back in its place and the whole place looked quite fascinating thanks to everyone. It does feel good to realise how many people poured their efforts on making tommorows ball as special as possible.

I also gaze upon my mother who has a smile on her face and in front of her was a man who had a cat with him. 

"Oh, there you are Ash!" mother beams. "Ash, meet Giovanni, I'm sure Lysandre must have informed you about him" 

I look at the gentleman in front of me and take in his features. He dressed in black and had a pale aged face, but murky dark eyes. 

"Hello, Mr. Giovanni, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." 

I see a small smile on his face, "Ah yes, You are as handsome as everyone describes their beautiful prince of Kalos, it is an honour to meet you."

"The honour is mine Sire" I bow.

"Lysandre, please take Mr. Giovanni to his restroom and see to it that he is comfortable" Mother orders. 

"I shall see you in a bit, my beautiful queen" He kisses my mothers hand and walks away with Lysandre. 

"Oh what a pleasant man he is...!" My mother smiles. 

"Mother.... You don't plan on..." I cringe.

"Oh goodness no! I have to be nice to him as he is a very important guest and he will be hosting our traditional sword dance!" mother says. 

"Oh.. Okay.." I say and gaze on the ground. 

"Ash... darling is there something bothering you?" mother places a hand on my cheek. "You look very pale sweetheart... You have to be up and about tomorrow, you know that right?" 

"Yes mother...I know..." I sigh. "I'm fine, please don't worry.."

"Okay." mother smiles and gives me a hug. "I can't believe my little boy is going to get married soon... you will keep your promise to choose a girl tommorow correct..?" 

"Yes... I'll try mother..." I say and hug her back. "But please don't take away my dream of discovering the world... Although there are a lot more things I need to discover right now..."

"What was that honey...?" mother pulls back and gives me a confused look. 

"I'll do as you say mother." I say. "I.. think I'll go to bed now..."

"Okay darling. Get some rest and tomorrow morning I will be the first one to wish you to your birthday like I always have" mother wipes a tear.

I smile. 

"Thank you.."

"Ash, let's go.." Gary said. "I shall take my leave your highness" 

"Yes, Yes. Go on and sleep as well Gary. Thank you so much for working so hard to make my Ash's birthday and ball the best it can be"

"It is my duty as a best friend, your majesty.." Gary smiles. "Well then."

-----

I walk upstairs to my room with Gary and lie down on my bed. 

"It's been a long day hasn't it..." Gary says as he lies down next to me. 

"Yeah... I wish it was all a dream... The whole incident with the room... was definitely out of the ordinary..." I sigh.

"Let's forget about it for now. You have your big day tomorrow where you turn a year closer to dying and you choose your bride-to-be."  

I chuckle.

"I can't choose what sounds worse anymore." 

"Haha, come on." Gary chuckles too. " I'm sure your bride will be beautiful. You do believe in love-at-first-sight don't you..?"

"I guess... I never gave it much thought... guess I have to now..." I sweat drop. 

"What is your ideal type?" Gary asked.

"I only need a girl who accepts me for the way I am.. and who also embraces her real personality.." I said as I imagined my girl. 

"You never know... You might have already met her" Gary winked at me. 

"Haha, I've met too many to realise which one is the right one.." I said. 

"Dont worry man, you know I always got your back" Gary said as he got up. " I gotta go now.. need energy for tommorow's big day"

I smiled.

"Thank you Gary... Sleep well okay" I wrapped my arms around him.

"You too." Gary smiles as he pulls back. "Goodnight Ash"

"Yup! Goodnight" I say as I close the door behind me.

I lie down on my bed and and shut my eyes, wondering what tommorow has to offer.

But then my mind enters a frenzy and I think I'm in a dream.

Or a nightmare.

----------------------------------

3'rd Person view

"I'm sorry for my actions, my king." Derek voice echoes in the court room.

"hah hah..."

A cackle.

"Derek... Ash needs to be ruthless and brutal... How can you possibly take a monster like him outside, to the people of the city?" The king says.

"It's just that... He loves the people around him, to explore and he is such a sweet boy..." Derek's voice trails off.

"He needs to be kept only inside the castle walls, understand, He cannot meet anyone. He is the next heir to the throne. I want to make him ruthless and I want his innocence drained out, I want the devil in him to take over."

A younger version of Ash is on his knees and clutching his mouth, trying not to break out into a crying mess.

"Your highness, Ash is just not that kind of boy... He is filled with happiness and hope.. Please dont take it from him... He's terrified of you and your ways. I apologise for my rudeness but please consider his well-being. Soon, he will break down and he will have traumas from these horrifying things he's forced to do..."

" ENOUGH! I'm no idiot Derek, I know whats best for the kingdom. Ash needs to learn how to fight. To kill. To feel the bloodlust. That is the only eay for survival and power."

"..ALL ASH IS TO ME IS A WEAKLING! A GOOD-FOR-NOTHING-PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A SON!" My father bellows.

Young Ash stops crying. His eyes are dead but soon a fire ignites within them. He comes out in front of the king and Derek. Derek gasps at the sight before him.

Rage.

Young Ash growls as he takes the dagger of of Derek's belt and dashes towards the king on the throne.

Derek's eyes widen as he takes in the sight of the dagger dug into the flesh of the king, and he hears choked sobs emitting from him.

Young Ash has a manic look on his face as he bellows "This is the first time it's felt so good to kill someone!"

A giggle. A laugh. And then a psychotic one.

Derek is in shock but he regains himself to try and calm down the psychotic boy.

He is covered in blood and Derek knows that the king is alive no more..

No one can find out about this.. This has to be a secret or the whole of Kalos will turn on Ash.

"ASH! LISTEN TO ME PLEASE" Derek yells as he shakes his shoulders and trying to knock some sanity in him.

"HAhHAHaH!" He still had the sinister look on his face and Derek knew he had no other choice, he snapped his hand onto the pressure point of the boys neck so he fainted.

Lysandre walks in and his eyes widen at the sight.

"You... You! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO!" He bellows.

"Lysandre! Please belive me it's not what it looks like! You need to hide the king NOW." Derek pleads as he carries Ash behind his back

"...Okay but I demand an explanation after this" Lysandre says as he takes away the King's corpse.

Moments later, Derek is still breathing heavily as he cleaned Ash up and tucked him in bed.

" I don't know if I can see you again, but I hope that you will be happy..." Derek sighs as he places a kiss on Ash's forehead.

A soft snore is heard and Derek lightly chuckles.

////

Lysandre and Derek are in a
room - one that had a daffodiel as a painting.

"I don't recall this room belonging here...?" Derek questions.

"Don't mind it- It was always here." Lysandre says.

"Where did you hide the king?" Derek askes in a low voice.

"I threw him in the river..." Lysandre says his eyes on the ground.

Derek gasps.

"M-My goodness...I-I, well have to explain what happened to you dont I...?"

"Please do." Lysandre says.

After Derek explained everything, Lysandre nods in understandment.

"Yes... I think young master has developed this new personality... As a defence mechanism."

Derek sighs.

"I feel so bad for him... he didn't deserve this..." Derek says. " His poor mother also has no idea what is going on."

"It is best if she doesn't know." Lysandre says lowly.

"Yes..." Derek sighs.

But he feels a sharp pain impaling him and he realises he has been stabbed. Lysandre's eyes also widen "Derek!".

The white walls of the room were tainted red by Derek's blood. The mysterious figure wipes his dagger with a cloth and bellows are heard.

"Say Lysandre... Do you want a new job?"

-------------