Since this is now a pokemon cross, maybe I shouldn’t keep it in my CCS folder anymore…

Disclaimers: Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. Pokemon belongs to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. Runescape belongs to Jagex LTD. I wrote this fanfic myself, please don’t steal it!

Notes: ** for thoughts, <> for telepathy, italics when pokemon talk.

Chapter 42 – Ash

“Greetings, Lord Raven…”

“Ah, a wandering adventurer.” The black-haired man put his map down and smiled across the table. “What may I do for you?”

“I was merely stopping by. I have heard tales of your wealth… and I am here to offer a gift.” I place a solid gold torque on the table, followed by a sapphire ring. * Let’s hope this works…*

Lord Raven chuckled deeply. “Friends, then? What is your name, Adventurer?”

“You may call me Ashura.”

“Well met, Ashura. Come, come, and let us dine together!” Well, here’s hoping this works! The dining room’s huge and very clean, that’s for sure.

I hope I made the right choice…

I’m halfway through my soup and starting on the green salad when I notice that something feels off. This tastes… weird. Well, then I notice that it’s kind of sickly green.

Poison.

Oh shoot! I don’t know how to make anti-poison potions!

Wait a minute… surely I have a pokemon or two to help me out here… I pull the Paras card out of my pocket quietly, activate it under the tablecloth, and it injects an antidote into my leg. There we go…

Well, it seems that the wine was poisoned too. Luckily that I didn’t drink any!

After a very long train of desserts, which I tasted – none of those were poisoned, luckily, I followed him into another room. I noticed instantly that there was a gold bird in a cage.

Maybe it knows something?

Lord Raven is blathering on and on about his ancestors, and not really paying attention to me, so I sneak over to the cage. “Psst. Hey bird, can you talk?”

“Sure.” It whispers back, although it’s not English. “You’re a speaker, aren’t you? You can talk to animals?”

“Yes.”

“Then what would you ask of me?”

“Did Lord Raven kidnap Hotaru’s parents?”

“Oh, you mean the owners of that small farm there? Don’t think so, I’d have seen them if he had.”

“No? Then who did.”

“I don’t know, speaker.”

“Hmm…” Well, this is getting confusing. Maybe I had better go back and ask Hotaru. It may have been the goblins after all. “Are there any enemies you know of who might have done this?”

“Well… yesterday Dew the Giant and Moss the Centaur were both here…”

“Where do they live?”

“Dew the Giant lives in the swamps close to here, but Moss the Centaur comes from the island of Brimhaven across the ocean…”

Oh shoot… more work?

Looks like it.

“Thank you, bird.”

“No problem. Nice to have someone to talk to once in a while…”

So now I have two more suspects? At least it’s challenging… Lord Raven is cleared though. Well, maybe I can get some more information out of him.

Aha! He’s suggesting a drink. Perfect!

“Have you ever tried sake, my lord?”

“Sake?” He sounds interested. “Is that some new brand of alcohol?”

“Yes.” I like. This seems kind of like an English/European area… now where would I get sake? Oh yes, Create card…

It’s ninety nine percent alcohol, and after two sips, he’s drunk, although he refuses to admit it. I can tell…

Good.

“What happened to Hotaru’s family?”

He laughs drunkenly. “Oh, old Dew thought he’d take em home for the stew pot.”

WHAT?!

So the giant is going to eat them now? Great… oh no! I have to tell Hotaru this. He drinks the rest of his mug and falls asleep on the floor, snoring.

A few servants in green come and take him away, apologizing. Seems like alcohol comes in pretty handy, not that I’ll ever drink it myself of course.

I’ve seen what happened to aneki! She burst into flames when she took a sip.

Well, back to Hotaru’s house then…

She’s waiting outside. “Did you get any news?” She asks anxiously. Poor girl.

“Lord Raven said that Dew the Giant took them.”

“Oh no!” She shudders. “Then… they’re probably dead by now.”

“Hey, don’t give up hope yet! I’ll try and rescue them.”

Hotaru looks at me strangely. “You’re going to take on a giant?”

“Why not? I am an adventurer after all.”

“Hmm…” She thinks for a moment. “Then you’ll need this.” She runs inside her house and comes back with a green dagger. It’s made out of a solid emerald, curved, and only about six inches long.

“My great-grandfather was a giant killer. They called him Jack.” She explains. “This was his.”

“Thanks, Hotaru.”

“Come back with good news!” She waves as I leave and head into the swamps.

Yuck… swamps, even in a game world are realistic. Eight mosquitoes bit me before I decided to put my armor on, stead of my mage robes. Then, I sprayed Repel over the area.

I’m all icky and sweaty though…

I’m so glad my cards and magic work here, somewhat…

What is that?!

Well, it looks like a giant footprint. Oh man, they weren’t kidding when they said giants! Well, no use backing down now…

Another giant guards the front door though…

Maybe I can sneak in?

Well, here goes… Shadow hides me, and away I glide… there’s a window! Well, now I wish I had rope.

Wait a minute, who needs rope when you have pokémon?

“Bulbasaur…”

Nope, her vines weren’t long enough. “Okay, Victreebel?” And I manage to climb up to the window, getting a rather nasty wedgie in the process. Grr.

How come these things still happen in a game?

Well, I’m finally in – yay! Now what? Oh, there’s the giant… he’s sleeping… time to investigate…

“Alakazam, are Hotaru’s parents here?”

< They’re dead, Master Ash. >

Oh no! poor girl… then I’ll kill the giant as revenge! Hm. He’s twice my level… oh well, I’ll hope for the best.

“Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Mewtwo, attack!”

That ought to do it…

Okay, it’s cheap, having my pokemon fight for me, but still! Maybe I can shoot random bolts of lightning at him?

Hey, it works! And now I just had another brilliant idea! If I can use magic, why not take him out quick and clean? He’s only a game character after all, and he killed people, so it’s not hard to think of him as an enemy.

“Avada Kedavra!”

Well – definitely dead. Most definitely! I wasn’t sure if magic outside of runes would work here, but now… It seems it does. Lucky! Besides, it’s only a game… Virtual reality. I wouldn’t really kill people unless they deserved it. And he does. He ate people! Well, off to find Hotaru now…

End Chapter

Completed 4/6/05

Yes, I introduced members of the Sailor Moon cast in Runescape.