“Miiistyyyyyyy!!” Ash’s voice cried as he lost his ground. At first, a transparent version of him became visible beside his body. In a flash of light, his heart’s spirit turned into one of the blinking stars from above and flew into the sky. “Hah!” Minako’s hand dropped and so did all the beads of light. The search and transfer was complete and now all she had to do was wait for the new heart to open. “…uh…” Ash’s eyes trembled before they opened slowly. “Yes,” Minako looked on with anxiety, putting on a true smile that hid the darkness in her eyes, “After a century of waiting, I’ll finally be able to meet you again, Tsukako. I’ll be able to hold you; to be with you just like before.” She said wishfully. Ash’s eyes opened slowly. But this time, they were not their strong and determined chocolate as they once were. The look of those eyes even made Minako lose her smile. They were dyed with a sinister purple, laced with darkness. Those dark eyes with that cold stare made Minako’s heart rate slow down. “…Something’s wrong…those eyes aren’t right.” Minako thought to herself, taking a step back. Ash’s hands flexed once; the light binding him to the magic clock vanished instantly. He crouch on his landing, then stood up straight. “Minako,” Someone’s weird deep voice came out of Ash’s mouth, “What’s it been? Like, a century or two? That’s a long time, but I’m glad you waited for me to return.” “No! You’re not Tsukako! Who are you!?” Minako took a step back. She could feel it; her heart that longed for her lost lover could easily feel that this was not the heart she had been searching for. The Ash-imposter gave as best an innocent smile as possible. “That’s right; I am not Tsukako. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t know who I am. Search yourself; I’m sure you’ll be able to figure me out in no time.” He said calmly. Minako stood with her fists clenched, but decided to do as he said and think on. She traced the links of memories back as far back as she could. “….!! You! But how? How did you find your way here, Ryougen?!” She shouted with a shocked look on her face. The Ash-imposter let out a sinister grin, “See? It’s easy to remember if you try. And it was easy finding my way here. I knew that one day, you’d foolishly used your power as Hanshen of Hearts to locate Tsukako’s lost heart. All I had to do was force myself to become a ronin heart and wait for your beacon to shine. You see, my curse is a lot more complicated than that—too complicated for Tsukako to see your heart’s light like that.” The Ash-imposter pointed at the princess of the past. “Minako, I need you to sleep for me now.” SPWEE! A beam of light shot from his finger. “Uh!” Upon striking her, Minako fell backwards lightly, knocked unconscious. “Now that she’s out of the way…” The Ash-imposter walked towards the edge of the pillar and glanced over the edge. “Hmmm…” He scratched his cheek. “What’s this light I sense? Is…the new Hanshen of Hearts on her way up here? Good, then; this will give us a chance to meet.”

 
       The elevator seemed as if it had been going up for hours. The glass walls that allowed them to see the endless evening sky surrounding the world didn’t help in the least. At long last, the elevator came up through the floor of Minako’s pillar-top room. The elevator door whipped open for them, allowing them to step into Minako’s most private of chambers. “This place is beautiful…” May and Misty marveled at the room’s marble structure. In combination with the starry evening sky, the room’s beauty was boundless. “…No way!” Misty blinked in disbelief. He stood atop the marble fountain with his back to them. He didn’t make a move, but rather stood in blank silence. Misty frowned; there was no way she was going to fall for this trick again. “It’s Ash!” “Pika-pi!” May and Pikachu dashed forward without thinking. “No, Hold it!” Misty shouted. Her two friends slowed to a halt and glanced back at her skeptically. Misty averted her gaze back to the boy with his back to her. She could sense it; it may have been Ash’s body, but it definitely wasn’t Ash. “Who are you?” She demanded. “…Very good; I expected nothing less,” Ryougen glanced his vision to the side, “from the new Hanshen of Hearts.” Those eyes made Misty jumped. They were laced with such a feeling of malice, she could feel it from where she was standing. “The boy you are searching for is no loner in this body. If you want to find him, though,” Ryougen pointed up at the stars above, “I suggest you look up there. Each one of those stars represents a lost heart. The heavens above—this boundless space you see above—is where lost hearts are forced to wander. Such is the fate of those who’s hearts have lost their way. It’s a shame that something so beautiful could be so sad and tragic.” He turned completely around to face the girls and Poke’mon. “Where is Ash?” Misty demanded firmly, pulling Towamune from the sheath. “Heh-Heh-Heh,” Ryougen let out a short laugh. “My name is Ryougan, Prince of the Shiorikana kingdom. And Ash,” He grinned, “Is nothing but a ronin heart now.