Everyone in the chapel is speechless at the display. Even Ash has his eyes widened and his face red all over as Queen Serena passionately locks her lips with his. Serena lets out a soft moan of pleasure before she slowly breaks the kiss and gives Ash another sweet look before she suddenly wraps her arms around him and begins kissing him all over his face.
"Oh, Ash. Oh, my wonderful, wonderful, Ash," she says happily as she kisses him with each word.
Brock is as shocked as Ash of their queen's affectionate display for a moment before he smirks and shakes his head in amusement.
"Well, what do you know?" He whispers to himself.
"No!" Madame Venus screeches. "It's just as I feared! That accursed brat has undone my beautiful spell! Calem, destroy th -"
Madame Venus' voice dies in her throat, however, when she turns to Calem and her eyes widen in fear. For she sees in the eyes of her brother that the giant is starting to grow into an uncontrollable fit of rage with every kiss and sweet word of affection that Queen Serena displays on her faithful esquire. Calem begins to growl angrily as he suddenly starts to grow taller to the point that his clothes rip until he is wearing nothing but his shirt and undergarment. His fang-like teeth become as long as spears and his already long claw-like fingernails double in size as he gets ready to pounce on Ash, Brock, and their beloved Queen.
"Ash! Your Highness! Run!" Brock screams.
Ash and Serena break from their moment just in time to realize what's going on and quickly dodge Calem's giant fist from squishing them. Without hesitation, Ash grabs Serena's hand and together, the two of them and Brock run out of the chapel as fast as they can. It isn't long, however, before the giant bursts through the chapel entrance and starts chasing after them.
"Great, as if he wasn't deadly enough without getting bigger," Brock complains.
"Just keep running!" Serena screams.
It isn't long, however, before Calem begins smashing on the ground, breaking the castle stone floor once again and begins throwing the rubble at his enemies. Ash, Serena, and Brock manage to dodge them as quickly as they can before they make a sharp turn to another hall that leads to a long set of stairs. The three humans try to go down the steps as fast as they can, but Calem barges in and starts coming down the steps several at a time.
"Don't look back, Your Highness, just keep running!" Ash screams as he continues to lead Serena down the staircase.
Finally, Ash, Serena, and Brock make it to the bottom of the steps and make their way to the main hall. Before long, however, before Calem bursts in and with a loud roar jumps to squish them with his entire body.
"Jump!" Serena screams.
The three of them jump away just in time to miss Calem's body. The giant then slides across the floor until he crashes head first into a wall and is knocked out unconscious. Ash grabs Serena's hand again as he and Brock lead her out of the main hall and keep running until they make it to the bottom floor of the castle underground where a series of water wells are left empty and unused. Ash, Serena, and Brock quietly climb into one of the wells until they reach the bottom and sit on the hard floor to catch their breaths. It takes a couple of moments before they stop panting in exhaustion before Brock speaks.
"Well, we should be safe here," he says. "I say we wait a while before we try to reunite with the others."
"Others, Captain Brock?" Serena asks. "You mean Holly, and General Wulfric and Cilan and everyone else who was captured with me? Please tell me they are alright."
Brock chuckles lightly, having heard someone call him captain for the first time in a long time before he says, "They're alright, Your Highness. They just have been turned into mice. We were hoping you can help us figure out a way to defeat Madame Venus so that they can be human again."
Serena sighs in relief.
"Yes, I will be more than happy to do so," she says before turning to Ash with a serious look. "But since we're going to stay hidden here for a while, there is something very important I must tell you, Ash."
Ash feels his cheeks heating up again as the queen gives him another sweet look while walking over to him.
"Now, Your Majesty?" He asks bashfully.
"Yes now," Serena answers before giving Ash another serious look. "And for heaven sakes, stop calling me that."
"Sorry, Your Highness, it's just that now might not be the best time for whatever you have to say when -"
"Ash!" Serena yells sharply. "I've been waiting several years to say what I want to say and I've had enough delays because of my father's stupid laws and getting kidnapped on my birthday. If you deeply love me with all your heart, you will wholeheartedly put your arms around me right now, listen to what I have to say and never ever call me 'Queen Serena,' 'Your Highness,' 'Your Majesty' or any other formal name related to my royal title again for as long as you live!"
Ash and Brock stare at Serena, taken aback by her outburst. Ash doesn't know what to think of what she said, but he knows in his heart he wouldn't dare deny to her that he deeply loves her. Without a word, he quickly obeys his beloved queen by walking over to her and pulling her into a tight embrace. His face turns red again as he hears the honey blonde woman let out a long, blissful sigh as she lays her head against his and squeezes him back.
"Finally," she whispers.
Ash doesn't know what to make of this. He turns to Brock who merely shrugs in response before Serena pulls her head back to look at the raven-haired man with another sweet look.
"Now, about that important thing," she says. "It involves what I was announcing on my birthday before all of this happened. Do you remember?"
Ash frowns slightly as he nods and says, "Yeah, you were going to propose to someone regardless of their title."
"And do you know who that someone is?" Serena asks.
Ash shakes his head.
"I thought not," Serena says before she puts her hands on both sides of Ash's face and says, "That someone is you."
Ash and Brock's eyes widen in shock as they try to contemplate what the queen just said.
"W-w-w-what?" Ash asks.
"You heard me," Serena says firmly. "Ash, I love you with everything I am and I want you to marry me."
Ash freezes in place. He feels his heart skip a beat, his face turning redder than ever and dozens of butterflies fly in his stomach.
"You...you love me?" He manages to say. "H-how...how long have you felt this way?"
"About as long as you have," Serena says sincerely with a smile on her face.
"You mean you...you..." Ash stammers making Serena giggle.
"I know I'm not the only person to say that you were never subtle about your feelings for me, Ash," she says before her smile falters and she looks away from him. "I confess I succeeded a little too much in hiding my own feelings and I'm really sorry about that. But I knew that I had to hide my feelings from my father throughout our teenage years. It was hard enough hiding our friendship, but if he ever found out how much you really mean to me, he would have sent you far away and I would never get to see you again. I was already dreading being forced to marry another man, but if I could never see your face or hear your voice again even for just a moment that would have destroyed me. That's why I prayed that The Lord would provide me with the chance to become Queen of Kalos without needing to marry a prince. Not only did I want to control my destiny by ruling the kingdom on my own and abolish many of my father's retched laws like I always wanted to, but I wanted to control who I marry no matter their title or their heritage because there was only one person in the world that I would want to spend the rest of my life with and that's you."
Ash feels his heart beginning to melt with this information.
"So...that's why you wanted to propose on your birthday?" He asks.
"Yes, Ash," Serena says as she turns her head back to face Ash again and smiles while caressing his cheek. "As much as I wanted to confess my feelings and make you mine as soon as I was crowned, I had much to do as queen for our country in order to prove that any law I make would have staying power including the one that secures that I can marry anyone I want. Also, it was all too clear that even after repeatedly telling you not to address me so formally before and after becoming queen that I needed to make up for hiding my feelings for so long and express how much I want to spend the rest of my life with you in one major move. So I decided to take advantage that virtually every soul in Kalos was coming to the festival on my birthday and make an announcement that I will be proposing to someone that I deeply love and wish to marry no matter who or what they are. Had Madame Venus not kidnapped me for her cruel plans, I would have summoned you to stand next to me at the balcony where I would declare my love for you and ask for your hand in marriage for the entire kingdom to see."
"So that's why you told Ash that you were so pleased to see him come on your birthday and that you were hoping that he would take what you were going to say to heart," Brock says in realization earning a happy nod from Serena.
Ash himself is touched beyond words, but then he frowns and says, "But Serena, if we marry I would become king and I don't think I can handle the responsibility of ruling a kingdom like you do."
"And who says you have to?" Serena challenges. "Under my new law, you won't have to be anything you don't want to be. If you wish to still train to become a knight, you can. If you want to rule by my side as king, I will help you learn how to so that we can rule the land together. But whether you are by my side as an esquire, a knight, a king or even a stable boy, I want you by my side regardless as my beloved husband for the rest of our lives."
Ash stares at her dumbfounded by her statement.
"You...you really feel that way?" He asks.
"More than anything," Serena says as she puts both her hands on the side of his face again. "Ash, I'm not asking this as your queen but as a woman who has loved everything about you from your kind and noble heart to your determination to listen and be there for me ever since we were twelve years old. But I would feel like the queen of the world if we can be together forever as husband and wife. So please, Ash. Please marry me."
Ash stands there in shock with his arms still around the honey blonde queen. He can see the sincerity and desperation clear in Serena's eyes as if it's another way to plead with him to say yes. Everything he thought he knew about Serena's feelings for him seems to have jumped out the window with the woman he loves suddenly offering him everything he ever wanted. He begins to smile knowing deep in his heart that nothing could stop him from giving Serena the right answer.
"Serena..." Ash says before he takes a deep breath and lets it out. "I love you too and nothing would give me greater joy or honor than to be your husband."
At that moment, Serena's ocean blue eyes glow with joy.
"Oh Ash," She says softly with tears in her eyes before she leans in for a passionate kiss. This time, Ash doesn't hesitate to return the affection as he tightens his grip on her to deepen the kiss. Brock smiles as he watches his friend and his queen passionately press their lips against each other with all their hearts before they reluctantly separate due to lack of air and Serena begins kissing Ash all over his face again.
"You seem to be a little addicted to kissing my face," Ash teases.
"And you better get used to it, my husband-to-be, because I got several years of passion built up," Serena says with a flirtatious grin.
Ash blushes again and makes a goofy smile and says, "Funny, I guess I could say the same thing to you."
The engaged couple begin laughing in both amusement and joy as they happily hold each other. Unfortunately, their moment is interrupted when they hear a growl from the top of the well. Ash, Serena, and Brock freeze before they look up to see Calem looking at them from the top of the well infuriated from hearing everything that transpired between the queen and her beloved esquire. The giant roars as he reaches down and barely misses grabbing Ash and Serena. Then out of reckless anger, Calem jumps in trying to reach his targets only to end up stuck and unable to move anything but his head. Ash, Serena, and Brock look at the display and feel helpless until Brock sees an opening behind Calem's back to climb out of the well.
"This way," he orders as he, Ash, and Serena begin climbing out of the well with Calem helpless to stop them from climbing past him and exit the room.
"Hope that will hold him off this time," Ash says as he and Serena follow Brock out of the room holding hands again.
The three of them continue to run down the halls until they see the mice waiting for them with the harp. Holly squeals with joy before running over to Brock who picks her up and holds his hand to his face so that she can hug him again. Serena looks at them confused until Ash turns to her.
"That mouse is Holly," he explains.
"Oh," Serena says.
The other mice notice that their queen is back and is free from her magic spell. They squeak and jump for joy as they run over to her with General Wulfric and Cilan standing in front.
"General Wulfric? Cilan? Is that you?" Serena asks as she recognizes their clothes.
The fat mouse and the skinny mouse nod yes. The queen smiles, gets down on her knees and picks up the two mice.
"Oh it's great to see you two again," she says happily before she frowns and turns to Ash and Brock. "Didn't you say that we must defeat Madame Venus in order to free them from her spell?"
"That's right," Brock says before turning to the harp. "Harp, is there any sort of weakness that Madame Venus has?"
But before the harp can answer. An evil cackle is heard echoing over the hall. Everyone gasps to see Madame Venus standing on the other side of the hall. Ash and Brock draw their swords and stand in from of Serena, the harp, and the mice.
"You take one step closer to her and I'll make sure you regret it," Ash growls earning another sweet look from Serena.
"And who says I have to take a step toward any of you?" Madame Venus asks with a mischievous grin.
Without another word, the area around then suddenly fades until Madame Venus, Ash, Serena, Brock, the harp and the mice are standing on a flat, thin platform above an endless void. The group huddles together in fear as loud bolts of lightning appear all around them.
"I grow tired of you and that accursed esquire, Queen Serena," Madame Venus growls. "I should have gotten rid of your precious Ash that you were raving about before you were under my spell when I had the chance."
Ash stops quivering in fear for a moment to look at Serena.
"Wait, so when the harp said you were constantly going on about someone else when they tried to convince you to marry Calem willingly, you were talking about me?" he asks.
Serena gives him a loving look and kisses his hand that is not holding his sword.
"Always," she says.
Ash gives her a loving look back before they feel the thin platform begin to tilt back and forth. Ash, Serena, Brock, the harp and the mice struggle to stay on while Madame venus stands perfectly still.
"Mistress, no!" the harp begs. "You wouldn't get rid of me, would you?"
"Your doom awaits all of you," Madame Venus snarls, clearly ignoring the harp's pleas. "You have defied my evil ambitions for the very last time. Feel my power!"
Everyone panics as they are sliding back and forth as the platform begins tilting violently. Brock holds on to Holly as best as possible while Ash and Serena hold on to each other. Suddenly, the platform becomes even again and everyone wonders why Madame Venus stopped until Calem appears out of nowhere standing in the middle of the platform.
"There you are, you brainless ogre! What took you so long?!" Madame Venus rebukes. "Finish the job and trample them!"
The giant grins mischievously as he raises his foot to trample Ash, Serena, Brock, the harp, and the mice with his giant foot. Brock gets ready to try to protect Holly in vain while Ash and Serena keep holding on to each other tightly. But suddenly, Calem puts his foot down and turns around to walk towards Madame Venus who becomes instantly afraid.
"What's the matter with you, you fool? I said destroy them!" she shouts with her voice cracking while everyone else is confused.
" I don't understand," Ash says. "Why is he turning to her and not squishing us?"
"Because Calem hates his sister more," the harp answers. "Madame Venus has known all their lives that if Calem were to become so angry that he would grow into a greater size than he was before, he would have the chance to do away with his sister after controlling his life and insulting him since they were children. As angry as he is with all of you spoiling his chance to marry a beautiful woman like Queen Serena for heartless purposes, he would never pass up the chance to finally squish his own sister."
Everyone looks at the harp in alarm before they turn to their enemies where the wicked woman is beginning to quiver in fear in front of her giant brother. Madame Venus raises her hands up in defense as Calem lifts his foot towards her.
"Goodbye," he bellows before he slams his foot right on his sister.
Ash, Serena, Brock and the mice look away as they hear Madame Venus let out a deathly scream. They dare to look back just in time to see black smoke emerge from under Calem's foot. The smoke begins to grow rapidly until it reaches the ceiling as Calem moves back and coughs violently.
Suddenly, Ash, Serena, and Brock hear a loud pop and they turn around to see one of the Kalos counselors appear where one of the mice use to be. Then with another pop, they see one of the mice turn into another counselor. Then with several more pops, several of the counselors and a few handmaidens appear and realize that they are human again. Ash, Serena, and Brock then turn to the fat mouse and the skinny mouse before two loud pops are heard and General Wulfric and Cilan are suddenly human again.
"I...I'm human?" Cilan asks in shock before he starts happily jumping for joy. "I'm human!"
"Madame Venus' spell is broken. We're free!" General Wulfric shouts as he joyfully dances with Cilan.
Ash, Serena, and Brock smile at the sight before they turn to Holly who is still standing on Brock's hand as a mouse. Then, one last pop is heard and a familiar woman with auburn hair falls right onto Brock's lap. The woman gasps lightly as she touches her nose and looks at her hair before turning to Brock with happy tears in her eyes.
"Holly!" Brock shouts as he begins to shed his own tears.
"Brock!" Holly screams before putting her hands on both sides of her fiance's face and pulls him into a fierce kiss. The tall man doesn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Holly's waist and pull her closer to her to deepen the kiss while Ash and Serena look at each other happily.
"Everyone is free," Ash says as the two of them stand up.
"Free at last," Serena says in agreement as she pulls her own fiance into a tight hug.
Their happy moment is short-lived, however, when they feel the ground rumbling violently. They turn to see the black cloud continue to grow and fill up the hall.
"What's going on?" Serena asks.
"Madame Venus' magic is being lifted from the castle," The Harp says.
"What does that mean?" Brock asks.
"I'm not sure," The Harp says honestly. "There's no telling what's going to happen when that black cloud covers the entire castle grounds."
Everyone looks at each other worryingly.
"Then we need to get out of here," Ash says. "Everyone run to the beanstalk!"
"To where?" General Wulfric asks confused.
"It's how Ash and I got here," Brock explains. "We'll tell the whole story later. Right now we need to get outside and head to the bottomless well."
Everyone nods in understanding before they all begin running to the front entrance of the castle led by Ash, Serena, Brock, and Holly. It isn't long as they exit the castle, however, that they hear a loud roar echoing the halls indicating that Calem is not far behind.
"Aw, for heaven sakes, will that brute just give up already," Brock groans in annoyance.
"Don't think about him, just hurry!" Ash yells.
The entire group runs as fast as they can until they make it to the bottomless well. Ash and Brock order people to climb down one by one down the well and then the beanstalk. Once all the counselors and handmaidens have started climbing down, General Wulfric and Cilan climb down next before Brock turns to Holly.
"Alright, Holly, it's your turn," he says.
Holly hesitates as she suddenly hugs Brock's arm.
"I don't know if I can climb there by myself," she whimpers.
Brock sighs and says, "Then hop on my back and we'll climb down together."
Holly's fear instantly melts away as she nods and quickly hops on Brock's back. The auburn haired woman kisses her beloved on the cheek making Brock smile back before he begins climbing down with his fiance holding on to him. Ash and Serena smile and get ready to follow everyone until Calem suddenly bursts out of the castle and glares at them with a desire for blood. Ash frowns as it seems clear that there's almost no stopping the giant and so gets an idea.
"Serena, go on ahead of me," he says drawing his sword. "I'm going to distract him."
"Absolutely not!" Serena yells. "We're going to stay together."
"He wants to kill me more than anyone else," Ash says. "If I can injure him good enough, I can stop him from coming down to Kalos with us."
"But your sword can do nothing against him," she counters. "You won't even make him bleed.
"Well, what else can we do?" he asks.
Serena starts scratching her chin in thought before she notices some of the rubble that's still around in the courtyard from when Calem was chasing Ash and Brock last night. She snaps her fingers before leaning into her fiance's ear and Ash listens intently before he nods in understanding.
"I think that will work," he says. "But do you think you will be able to time it right?"
"If Calem is as predictable as I think he is, he will do exactly as I think he will as long as you hold your end of the plan and do not get yourself killed in the process," Serena says confidently.
"Alright, then it sounds like a plan," Ash says determinedly.
Serena smiles and nods in approval before she grabs her fiance by his shirt and pulls him in for a firm kiss. When they part, Serena strokes his cheek affectionately and says, "I'll be waiting to finish that afterward."
"That makes both of us, my wife-to-be," Ash says with his own smile as he strokes Serena's cheek back before the giant roars again chasing after them and Serena climbs into the well to carry out their plan. Ash takes a fighting stance as he runs away from the well and waves his sword over his head.
"Hey!" He shouts. "Hey, peabrain! Over here! I hear that you're so dumb that just one unintelligent moan from you would stop a clock!"
Calem turns away from the well and gives Ash an angry glare. He charges after him, but at the last second, Ash runs forward until he's under Calem and cuts his left leg. The sword does no more than scratch the skin, but it is enough for Calem to let out an irritated yell as he bends down trying to reach the raven-haired man only for Ash to step back until he's standing behind Calem and stabs him in the rear. Calem yelps in a high-pitched voice and becomes even more enraged as he smashes the ground and starts picking up rubble to throw at Ash. Once again, the giant is throwing slowly enough that Ash can dodge the large pieces of rubble, but in the process of dodging, Ash loses his footing and trips on the hard stone floor scraping his knee.
Ash winces in pain and Calem chuckles evilly as he finds another giant boulder and lifts it up to his head before slowly walking over to Ash in anticipation. Ash holds his hands up in defense, but unknown to his opponent, he is pretending to be afraid.
As Calem gets ready to throw the boulder, a small rock flies behind him and hits him in the back of his head. He makes a confused face before he turns his head to see Serena back from the well and holding a stone as big as her hands.
"Get away from my Ash!" she yells angrily.
Once again, Calem roars in anger and turns around to face the queen. Serena holds her rock in anticipation until Calem lifts his boulder up and she throws her rock at him hitting him right on the forehead. The giant stands there dazed and confused from the impact and unwittingly drops his boulder which falls right on top of his head and breaks into tiny pieces. Calem groans in pain before falling down to the ground with his hands on top of his head and Ash and Serena run over to the well and finish their kiss before looking at each other lovingly with pride.
"Nothing like a little future husband and wife teamwork," Ash says with a toothy grin.
"Hmmm, I love the sound of that," Serena says with a dreamy smile before she notices the black smoke covering the castle and becomes serious again. "Now let's get out of here."
Ash nods in agreement and so the queen and her esquire climb into the well and climb all the way down to the beanstalk. They climb down as fast as they can, struggling not to completely look down as they pass the clouds and see the ground far below. It takes a while before they finally are only a few stories away from the ground where Brock, Holly, General Wulfric, the harp, Cilan, the counselors, and the handmaidens are all waiting for them.
"We're almost there, Serena," Ash says with a smile. "Just a little further!"
Serena smiles back as the two of them climb down, but as they do, they hear a faint roar coming from high above. They gasp as they look up and barely see Calem climbing down after them.
"Oh no. How are we going to stop him now?" Serena asks worryingly.
Ash frowns before he gets an idea and looks down to face Brock.
"Brock, get the axes!" he shouts. "We need to cut down the beanstalk quick!"
Brock nods in understanding and runs into the barn. Serena and Ash make it down just in time to see Brock come back carrying several axes. Ash, Serena, Cilan, General Wulfric and some of the counselors all grab an ax until Brock only has one left for himself and together they begins chopping on the beanstalk. Calem's faint roars from above make everyone eager to cut it down as fast as the can. Finally, they make it to the center of the stalk and Ash and Serena look at each other determinedly.
"I think one good swing ought to do it," Ash says. "Together on three?"
"Ready when you are, my beloved," Serena replies.
Ash blushes lightly at the name much to his fiancee's amusement before he shakes his head and raises his ax.
"One," he says.
"Two," Serena says raising her ax.
"Three!" they say simultaneously as they both swing at the center of the beanstalk.
The two axes hit their target and the beanstalk begins to break. It's supports begin to snap and break apart violently, causing it to sway back and forth. Everyone runs as far away from the beanstalk as they can while Calem struggles to hold on. The giant whimpers fearfully as he keeps a firm hold on the beanstalk with all of his might, but it isn't long before the beanstalk sways so much that he loses his grip. Calem hangs in the air and tries to grab the beanstalk again for a moment, but soon finds himself falling to his doom.
Ash, Serena, Brock, Holly, General Wulfric, Cilan, the handmaidens and the counselors drop for cover as the evil giant screams in fear before plummeting to the ground with a loud crash.