The Fairy's Cure: FD 1 (Amourshipping) ||Complete||

Chapter 15: Trapped in the Dark

If Ash and I actually were allowed to be in love with each other, would we create a second war?  Also, how exactly did love cause the first war to happen? 

Whatever it is, he leaves me filled with more dread than ever.

Ash

"Um, Alain, I hate to criticize your directional skills but are you sure we're going the right way?  All the greenery here is faded," I say nervously as Alain slowly guides me away from the Lights' Colony.  

"Don't worry, Ash, nothing will harm you here," Alain says pleasantly.  It's interesting seeing Alain as a fairy; his wings radiate with a darker aura than I'd seen with most of the Light fairies.  He has clothes similar to Heliux, although his a shorter, less fancy, and darker... much, much darker.  It makes me feel even more nervous.  Part of me wants to go back to the Colony out of fear, but when I think about what I'll have to return to, those thoughts vanish.

"If you say so," I say, observing the scenery around us.  It is definitely different than the forest around the Lights' colony... while their forest blooms with colour and life, this forest looks, well, sad is the only way I can put it.  The colours are faint, and all of the leaves are dry.  The trees here, though tall still, are thin and look sick; lots of them also lack leaves.  The sun shines its dim evening light on us which only adds to the sense of eeriness.  Maybe they're red flags, but I'm too done with everything to care.

"So, how has your birthday been going, Ash?" Alain asks, clearly trying to make some sort of conversation with me.

"I-It's been okay," I stutter, because thinking of today makes me think of Serena's rejection to my confession.

"From your tone of voice, I think otherwise," Alain points out.  "What's wrong?"

"I... I don't want to talk about it," I say, because I don't.

"I understand," Alain says kindly, though there's something off about his voice that I can't comprehend.  "Ah, we're here," he announces, stopping at an entrance made of brambles.  

"Um, entrance to what?" I say, hesitant.

Alain walks through.  "Just come in and see."

I follow him through, narrowly missing a patch of thorns on my left side and slightly pricking myself on my right.  Perfect.  Just great.  

I view the scene around me; it's almost like the Light Fairy Colony, but different.  Flowers are replaced with interwoven branches, and soft grass is replaced with bare dirt beneath my feet.  I look up, and the sunlight, once bright over the Lights' colony, is noticeably dimmer here.  A slight, cold wind ruffles my hair, which I never felt before in this world.

I look beside me for Alain, but he had disappeared.  Surprisingly, this place isn't busting with activity like the Light Fairies' colony was.  It feels almost... empty.  

"Ah, you must be Ash Ketchum!  Greetings."

An overly enthusiastic voice greets me, and I turn to see a group of three fairies approach me.  One of them is Alain, of course.  The second one is a girl with ribbons swirling all around her- I instantly recognize her as the fairy I saw in the forest the other day.  The third is a guy with spiky hair almost similar to Gary's, but his spikes looks slightly different and shorter.  His hair is also lighter, closer to Serena's hair colour but more of a golden yellow.  His eyes are purple, and his smile is wide as he greets me.  "G-Greetings," I stutter back to him, off-put by his cheer in this dark place.

"Oh, I didn't introduce myself!  How silly.  I'm Rin," he says with a smile.  He holds out his hand for me to shake; I'm hesitant about it, though I try not to show it too much as I shake his hand.  It never hurts to be polite after all.  I was going to say my name but I realize he already knows it, so we just stand there in awkward silence.