Ash stopped suddenly, skidding in his tracks.
“What?”  He asked irritated.
“You must go in at-“
“-the exact same time.”  The fairy finished.
“What do you mean, ‘the exact same time’?”  Misty stared.  “How am I supposed to know when he goes in so that I can go in?”
The fairy thought a moment.
“Okay, how about I hold out three fingers on each side of the barrier and on the count of one, you put in your hand.  If you find his at the exact same moment, the both of you can cross over together and once the two of you are inside the barrier, the game is over and you win.”  It said.
“But what if his hand isn’t there when mine is?”
“Then… you must both start at the very beginning.”
“Wha-?”
“The rules, the game, the maze… it all changes…”
“And the time?”
“I don’t think I have to tell you if your time runs out…”
Misty stared blankly at the invisible barrier in front of her.  What if this was all a prank?  Some joke.  Maybe these fairies are just there to get them even more lost than they were now?  What if Ash wasn’t on the other side and the fairy was only tricking her into thinking that so that she would go into the barrier all by herself and have to start all over.  What if there wasn’t even a barrier and the fairy’s only saying all this mumbo-jumbo to waste her time?  It does kinda look suspicious…  But it was her only hope.
“Are you ready?”
Misty nodded.
“Stand beside the barrier and be ready to go in on my count.” 
The fairy slid its head into the barrier, carefully at first, then its arms. 
“And what if this is all a bunch of hypnotism or something…”  Misty mumbled out loud watching the fairy communicate without a head or arms.
Then, an arm returned, holding out three dainty fingers.


“But… how am I supposed to know when Misty is in?”  Ash asked his fairy.
“Hmm…” The fairy muttered as it thought.
“Bonjour.  Please, I must speak with you.”  Another fairy popped its head in through the barrier and motioned toward the other.
Ash watched in suspicion as they chatted amongst themselves about things in which had to be whispered about, apparently.  Suddenly, the fairy grinned and clapped its hands together, looking once at Ash, then to the other half-fairy. 
“That’s great.”  It said, showing its appreciation.
“Okay, Ash.  This fairy over here is going to count to three.  Now, when it reaches three, at that exact time, I want you to run to the barrier and hold out your hand into it.  If you find a hand, at the precise moment, I want you to walk inside.”
“Well, what’s inside?”  He asked.
“Trust me, you’ll like it.”
“Misty?” 
“Okay, ready?!”  The fairy said. 
It held up three fingers.


“No!  I-I can’t let this happen!  I won’t!” Kaesoto said angrily.
He watched in silence down at the two children waiting alert to jump into his “Game Over” button, tapping his long nails to his chin in thought.  He pursed his lips in deep mentality.  He grinned, flashing a set of extreme fangs in serious need of dental care.
“They want a hand, they got a hand.” 


“One!”
Misty took a deep breath.
“Two!”
Ash sighed stood firm, feeling as if he was about to punch someone in the gut.
“…Three!”
It was all or nothing.
Ash threw in his open hand into the barrier, watching his arm disappear from the elbow on down.  Misty did the same.
“Ah!”   She said happily as she felt a hand grab hers.  “It’s his hand!”
“Great!  Now jump in!”

‘Her hand… but…’
“What?  What’s the matter?”  The fairy asked.
“When’d her nails get so darn long?!”  He asked.  “Ack!  It’s hurting-“
The fairy gasped.
“Don’t do it!  Just sit tight!”  It said.
Misty was about to jump in when she felt a strong pull on her arm, long nails digging into her skin.  She winced, feeling a thin stream of liquid trickle down her arm from the nails in her wrist. 
“Something’s wrong!”  She shouted.
“No!  Wait!”  The fairy said, flying through the barrier.
“What?”  The other asked.
“Don’t let her go through, something’s wrong.”
“I know.”
Suddenly, the hand was pulling at Misty, pulling her into the barrier.
“No, wait!  I don’t think this is right!”  She shouted, looking to the fairies for guidance.
“What do we do?”  One of them asked.
“I don’t know…”

    Ash gasped as the long-nailed hand on the other side pulled viciously, tearing at the skin on his hand.
“Stop it!”  He grunted.
“Hey, fairy, this isn’t Misty, is it???”  He asked, swaying at the ways of the invisible hand in front of him.
“No!  Don’t jump in!”  It shouted, pulling through the barrier into Ash’s side.
“Well, who is it?!” 
“It’s… Him.”  The fairy glared.
“Him?!  Him who???”
“It’s… Him.  The Beast.”


“Hmm.”
Brock looked down at the paper in his hand, reading the tiny golden letters. 
“It’s says, 'Dear Brock, This is not a warning, prank, or advertisement.  Your friends are in deep trouble.  There is a demon, Kaesoto, in their sleep and there is nothing they can do to avoid it.  You must be the one to destroy it.  For their sake, and also for the world's.  Please visit the following address: 1772 Barren Ave.  Or call the following number:  555-8859    Seek help with this letter as soon as possible.    –Akiro’.  Well, who’s Akiro?”  He looked up at the barren wasteland around him and frowned.  “And what’s up with this???  Where’s Akiro?”
As if to answer his question, a rat, large and overly fat, crawled up to Brock’s shoe and nibbled at his shoe laces. 
“Stupid rat...”  He scowled, kicking it to the side. 
But to his fascination, there lay a somewhat small wooden door right in the ground. 
“What…?” 
Brock bent over and kneeled, wiping away the dirt that had blown over an engravement in the wood.  As soon as he dusted it away:
“1772 Barren Ave.”
Brock admired the small engravement with an index finger and quickly began knocking.
“Hey!  Anyone there?!  Akiro!”
No one answered for a moment, then suddenly, the door creaked open a bit and beady eyes looked through at the strange visitor.  First, eyes showing that of anger and annoyance, but soon became of happiness and relief.
“Oh, welcome, Brock.  Please, come on in and make yourself at home.  We’ll be doing a séance shortly.”
“A séance?!”
“Shh…”  Akiro warned, opening the door further and motioning for him to enter.
“Hm…”  Brock looked around as he walked down a small flight of steps.
“Now.”  Akiro started, sitting down at a table.  “Where shall we begin?”
“Begin?  I thought that you would know that much, ma’am.”  Brock said.
“I know… So, we first have Ash and Misty in a connection.”
Brock nodded as she went on.  She sat back and closed her eyes, letting her silvery-grey hair fall back behind her.
The fireplace burned brightly, yet it was the only light source in the entire dwelling.  The room looked like a sorry excuse for a cellar.  The fire jumped excitedly as her arms shook, rattling the many beads the stringed them.
“They are in a dream state right now.”  She said quickly.
“Uh.  Yeah.”
“They’re…”  She mumbled. 
Suddenly she gasped, the fire blaring behind her, flames reaching out to her body as her eyes shone in fear.
“The Beast is with them!”  She said, her voice rasp.
She began panting as she collected various jars and plants from around the table, some scattering and rolling off the edge.  She busted one on the table, the bits and pieces of clay flew in all different direction, and she picked up two tiny, black, volcanic rocks.  She jumped out of her chair, spinning around and facing the fire and throwing a rock in.  The flames grew and a bluish fog encircled them, growing thicker by the second.  She took the other rock and reflected the light from the fire, shining a thin ray into the alpha flame.  There was a sudden screech the filled the room, bouncing rapidly off the crystalline rock walls.  Brock jumped but the woman laughed.

“It’s… It stopped.”  Ash informed the fairy. 
“Yes, I… Something is missing…”  It replied.
“Maybe it was-“
“Kaesoto?”  Misty asked the fairy, feeling the claws pull out of her skin, replaced with another hand.
“Is this Ash?”  She asked hopefully.
“Probably.”  The fairy replied.
It looked cautiously to the arm sticking out of the barrier, a sudden ‘peace’ sign formed with two small fingers.  The fairy grinned as the hand held up one finger.  A head popped through and smiled and winked.
“Okay, Misty!  Watch the hand and on the count of three, jump in!”  It shouted.
“What?!   Is it safe?”
“Of course.”
Misty whined in discomfort.  But… what did she have to lose?
“I guess…”  She muttered quietly to herself.
Two.
The thumb hand she held tightly softly stroked the face of her hand in reassurance.  She couldn’t help but smile.
‘I’m sure.’

Ash smiled as the hand on the other side gripped his tightly as the little fairy hand held up two fingers.
One.
Without hesitation, both Ash and Misty jumped into the barrier.

“AAAAH!!!  What the HELL?!   What-?!  Who-?!”  Kaesoto winced, feeling his forehead burn. 
Just seconds before, his hand was forced out of his sight dome and a powerful white ray pierced through his personal darkness and smacked him right between the eyes.
“Ugh…”  He moaned, picking himself off the floor whilst hearing a faint laughing on the Other Side.
He forced himself to leer over the table clumsily, looking into his dome.  He gasped.
“NO!” 

Misty opened her eyes and saw Ash.  He was falling. 
“What happened?”
It was dark, but a thin aura of a white, near green, seemed to shield them from the ghouls and ghosts that may have lurked nearby.  There were no walls, no floor, no ceiling.  It was all endless.  Hopefully. 
“We… won, maybe?”  Ash said, opening his own eyes and looking down.
“Where are we?”  He asked.
“Did we lose?”  Misty asked quickly.
“I hope not.”
“But-“
“We didn’t lose, Misty!  We can’t!”  Ash said, near tears.
“Ash…”  She whispered.  “Don’t lose it on me.”
“I won’t.  But if we did lose… that must mean…”
“Shh…”  Misty quieted him as she levitated over to him and wrapped her arms around him. 
Just feeling him shake with sobs made her teary.
“Ash, stop crying.  You’re gonna make me cry.”
Ash felt her soft hair on his cheek as he hugged her, resting his head on her shoulder. 
“You big baby.”  Misty joked, feeling a hot tear roll down her chin.
“You act like my mother.”  Ash said thoughtfully.
Misty chuckled.
“You know what?”  Misty asked, pulling him off of her to face her.  “I think that no matter if we win or lose, it isn’t important because what really matters is if we’re together.”
“Don’t get all sappy on me now that we’re… here.”  Ash smiled.
Misty stood in silence, a strange smile playing on her face and her eyebrows rose.
“Well…what do you want me to say?  I am a romantic.”
“I could tell.”  He laughed.
“No, seriously.”  Ash said, taking her hands.  “I love you.”
“Ash… and, I… love you, too.”
New tears filled her eyes and her lower lip quivered.  She smiled and laughed a single laugh before he leaned toward her and kissed her.  Grinning, she pulled away.
“And this is you being serious?”
“From now on, yes.”  Ash agreed and kissed her cheek.
“You look so cute in a tux.”  Misty teased.
“Thanks, but it isn’t as comfortable as it looks.”
“Welcome Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower.”  Said a soft, yet strong voice, startling them both.
A man, dressed in turquoise clothing and golden beads around his forehead with long, slim wings appeared out of nowhere and greeted them.
“What brings you to Heaven?  You haven’t died.”
“We’re in Heaven?!”  Misty asked.
“Wait a second.”  The Angel raised a finger and closed his eyes.  “He says to send you back.”
“Back?  Back, where?!”  Ash asked the winged man.
Suddenly, a bright flash erupted throughout eternity.


“Huh…?”
“Oh, Ash!  My poor baby, are you alright?!” 
“Mom?  Mom where am I?”
Ash felt his leg burning against a cold metal.  His back and neck hurt terribly.
“Where’s Misty?”
“Misty?  Oh, that’s why we’re here.  She’s been under for about a few hours now.”
“Under?  Under what?”
“Hyp- Oh, that’s right!  You fell asleep!”  Delia smiled.
“Wait a minute, what happened?!”  Ash said seriously, sitting up in his seat, just realizing how uncomfortable the cushioned leather beneath his rear actually felt.
“Oh, Ash, you must still be sleepy.”  Delia chuckled.
“Mom, please tell me what happened.”
“Well…”  Ash’s mother looked at him stunned.  “You just called me a couple of hours ago and said that Misty was sick.  Brock called her parents and the-“
“Brock!”  Ash said surprised. 
Brock should be able to help him out.
“Where is he?”
“Why, he’s in the other lounge.  Honey, are you sure you’re not sick?”
But before Delia could get her hand on his forehead, Ash ran off through a door- the only one without an “employees only” sign slapped on the window.
“Brock?!”  He shouted, not bothering to look to his left.
“Yeah?”  He answered, putting down a magazine.
“Where’s Misty?”  Ash asked hesitantly, kneeling down next to Brock.
“She’s… in the room.  Under hypnotism.”
“Hypnotism?!  Why is she under hypnotism?!”
“I phoned Misty’s parents in London.  They said that the only reason for her sickness is that the hypnotism has worn off.  She isn’t supposed to get sick and so it was time for a renewal.  They hired the best hypnotist in Viridian.”
“But… when did I get here?”
“You were sleeping when we came to pick you two up.  You should have seen how cute you two looked all curled up in bed together!”  Brock laughed.
Ash made a face. 
“You mean…  But… Hey, Brock, which room is she in?”  Ash asked.
“607.” He replied.
Ash raced out of the room, running down the cleared hallway aligned with bright lights on the low ceiling.  The squeaky-clean floor screeched as he skidded to a halt in front of the door labeled “Hypnotism: Room 607”.
Hesitantly, he reached for the metal doorknob and turned it so slow that it would creak.  He began to push it open when it was quickly pulled open the rest of the way.
“Ash?”  Misty asked, blinking twice.
“Misty?” 
“Now, remember, if you start to feel any side affects, call me.”  Said a woman’s voice as she approached Misty, twirling her long silvery-white hair between her fingers.
“Okay.” 
The woman looked over to Ash and waved, the many beads shaking and batting each other as her hand went quickly from side to side.
“Hi there, Ash.”
“Uh…”  Ash groaned in confusion.
Misty smiled, feeling a lot better.
“C’mon Ash, let’s go.”  She said, hooking her arm around his.
Ash looked down at her hand at the end of the arm that was wrapped around his.  In it was a card with the two things that he recognized. 
“Don’t be afraid to call at:  555-8859.  Ask for Miss Akiro.”  Ash said to himself, reading the card.
“What?”  Misty asked.
“Nothing.”  Ash said, looking up and feeling an all-to-familiar blood rush to his cheeks.
“Hey, Ash, I had the weirdest dream while I was under the hypnotism…”



The End


::YEAH!!  I AM SOOO RELIEVED!  Questions?  Comments?  I’m sure.  Lilcupid40@yahoo.com   *sigh*  And just to think this is a Friday afternoon… 
Finished: Friday, February 28, 2003  @  4:58pm   ^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^ a THOUSAND smilies to all of my readers!!!  And signing off in 3-2-1---
BYE!