Ashes

Disclaimers: I do not own Pokemon. Maybe now? Nope, still don't.

AN://I know I shouldn't be starting another one. But you people all know me. I can't help myself.

This one will be a bit different. Japanese names, a dark pokemon fairytale- don't off it until you try it. I promise I'll be taking you readers for a ride.

Let's Quentin Tarantino it.

Chapter One: Midnight

Good morning day
Sorry I'm not there
But all my favorite friends
Vanished in the air.
-Three Days Grace

The crown prince of Tokiwa tumbled down the grand staircase, leaving his memory on one of the steps above. At least that is what they all told him. Satoshi only held onto his name. All other memories slipped away like a spent breath.

The healers that had come to see the young prince said the boy's memories were locked tightly away in the recesses of his brain. Only Satoshi could ease the lock open and discover himself again.

He'll probably never regain himself, they said.

So the crown prince spent two years as a blank slate. So easily impressionable, the King had his son locked up inside the castle. He didn't want anyone molding Satoshi into something against his liking. Those who didn't know any better thought the King was just protecting his son. The majority knew that King Sakaki was probably the one at the top of the staircase who provided a loving push.

Anyone who was privileged enough to see Prince Satoshi, might have mistaken him as a ghost. He walked in a daze- his eyes always glazed over as if lost in the own presence of his face. The boy's skin stood out so pale next to his ebony hair and black tunics, that he appeared half dead. So thus Crown Prince Satoshi became known as the dark prince- pitied as the prince who stood in the shadow of his tyrant father without question or complaint.

Satoshi didn't care about being called dark. He didn't care that he was a crown prince. And he didn't care about anything at all. For he couldn't remember what he liked to do, what he liked to eat, or who he was.

He knew that upon his sixteenth birthday he'd be allowed outside the castle for the first time since the accident. He knew he'd be receiving his first monster. And that he would shortly afterwards be betrothed to his promised wife, Domino. None of that excited him, especially the latter.

But for the first time in years, Satoshi felt the bubble of excitement swell in his chest. And if he didn't know better, Satoshi might have thought he was genuinely happy.

All because his mother had asked to see him.

Satoshi had never had a private audience with his mother. The king would never allow it. And he'd make great fun at her should she ever even suggest it. For what would she have to tell their son that the King's ears could not hear?

For months she tried. She begged and pleaded with Sakaki to just let her have a moment alone. But the King always refused her.

Satoshi knew the letter he held was sent through Hiroshi in complete confidence. And should it be found out that they were meeting, the King would not stand for it. But despite the danger, Satoshi felt a small smile steal across his lips.

"What's it say, crown prince?" asked Hiroshi politely.

Satoshi glanced across the parchment and quietly met his gentleman-in-waiting's eyes. The boy was only a few months younger than that Satoshi himself was and was Satoshi's closest companion. Though at least Satoshi assumed they were good friends. For more than anyone else, Hiroshi seemed eager to get Satoshi's memories back.

Hiroshi was a few inches Satoshi's lesser, with chocolate colored hair Satoshi always felt strangely jealous of. The two boys were remarkably similar in appearance. So much so that Hiroshi often joked that he could use Satoshi as his "princely" mirror.

It wasn't just coincidence. Hiroshi was Satoshi's cousin on his mother's side. Satoshi had never met Hiroshi's mother but he understood she was a commoner, just as his mother had been before she married King Sakaki.

Satoshi was very grateful to have Hiroshi. Because he was sure that if weren't for the fact that they were blood relatives, the King would never have allowed him a companion.

"The Queen wants to talk to me," said Satoshi, his shaking voice giving away his feelings.

Hiroshi smiled and nodded knowingly. "I assumed that was what it was. What with you coming of age soon."

"What for? I mean… I've never- I don't remember ever being alone with her before. What do I say? What should I-"

Hiroshi touched Satoshi's shoulder gently and gave the boy a small but encouraging smile.

Satoshi muscled a smile back. It was difficult. Sometimes the prince wondered if he had left it too on the grand staircase, hiding under some portion of the carpet just waiting to be found and tucked back into his mouth once more.

Hiroshi stared Satoshi in the face, not unkindly.

"What is it?" asked Satoshi, nervous under his servant's stare.

"I thought I saw you again."

Satoshi sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair anxiously. "It's a wonder you haven't gotten tired of searching, Hiroshi."

Hiroshi grinned. "If you knew you the way I knew you, you wouldn't have to wonder."

"If I knew me the way you knew me, I wouldn't have to wonder about a lot of things I normally wonder about. And then perhaps my brain would be bored, empty as it would be of wonderings."

"Exactly. Completely empty-headed. That was you!"

The prince often had to force laughter to be polite but never when with just Hiroshi. Hiroshi and Satoshi shared their laughter. It always seemed more natural in his company.

Satoshi looked down at the letter in his hands once more. His heart fluttered back up into his throat. His mother had written this letter herself. Her handwriting spiraled across the page with so many loops and swirls that Satoshi almost felt compelled to believe a faerie weaved her words from a magical loom.

"Midnight. In her chambers," read Satoshi. He had a hard time keeping from trembling.

"Oh mew, Hiroshi. I'm so nervous."

"Would I be wrong to presume you plan to go?"

Satoshi glanced up at Hiroshi, surprised to see that Hiroshi was looking at him quite severely.

"Should I not?"

"It could be a trap."

"From whom? My father?"

"He has pulled stunts like this on you before." Hiroshi had to follow the prince as it was clear Satoshi never liked hearing the truth of his father. Satoshi was pacing away from Hiroshi, eyes glued down to the words on the parchment again.

"He likes to test your loyalty. This could be one of his schemas to see if you would break a direct order he has given both you and your mother-"

"And so what?" snapped Satoshi, slamming the letter down on the top of his bureau. "He knows I hate him! He likes it."

Careful to keep his eyes away from Satoshi's own, Hiroshi said, "I just want you to be aware of the danger, crown prince."

Satoshi released a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"Oh," was all he managed to say. Then, after a brief silence, Satoshi added on to his previous thought with "Well… I won't go."

Hiroshi said nothing. So Satoshi continued to fill in the silence.

"It's not worth the danger. I don't care so much of getting myself in trouble, but I worry for the Queen. Her punishment could be much more… severe."

Satoshi felt something plummet into the pits of his stomach as he spoke. He was sure it was his heart. "It's just nice to know, that she still wants to talk to me."

"She'll always wants to talk to you, Satoshi. She's your mother." And then suddenly, realizing his mistake, Hiroshi hastily corrected himself. "I'm terrible sorry, crown prince for addressing you in such a manner. It was presumptuous of me."

"I don't mind, Hiroshi," said Satoshi slowly. "It's a relief to forget who I am every once in awhile."

Satoshi looked back to the letter laying innocently on his bureau.

"Sometimes I wonder if perhaps I leapt down the staircase on purpose."

Again, Hiroshi said nothing. But from what he could see of Hiroshi out of the corner of his eye, Satoshi swore Hiroshi looked like he wanted to.

When the sun had long since slunk behind the peppered forest of Tokiwa and the moon completely risen over the faraway peaks of Otsukimi, Satoshi left his sleeping quarters. He made absolutely sure that the heavy door would not slam, carefully coaxing it into its frame behind him. He didn't want to alert any night sentries, and certainly not Hiroshi who slept only a door down from his own.

So he lied. But people lied all the time, Satoshi reasoned. And he had a good excuse to do so. He missed his mother.

He had only known her as Queen Hanako, the woman who sired him. Beyond that, he knew nothing. Satoshi had only heard her speak on brief occasions, usually without King Sakaki's consent and subsequently silenced.

He thought her face was more like his. And knew he had her eyes, a soft unassuming brown like the color of dark wood. He liked the rare time she smiled because it seemed light up every empty and despairing part of him. When the Queen was around, Satoshi didn't feel like he needed to remember anything. He felt as though he already knew who he was or that least, it didn't matter.

The corridors were drafty but very much empty. Satoshi kept a brisk and even pace down the familiar passages to where his mother's chamber hid.

And at the end third passageway, Satoshi saw a streak of light flickering out from the space of his mother's open door. Withdrawing a breath, Satoshi made his way slowly to the door. He stopped outside it, trying to even the pounding in his heart.

He reached his hand through the space provided and quietly pulled the door open enough for his body to slip through. The room was richly decorated far more so than the plain dark quarters he owned.

There had been a time his bed was adored with embroidered pillows too. He had deep velvet covers that rippled over mats like frothy waves over sand. Window curtains adored like a lady's gown. And tapestries so intricate with tales of knights and monsters that every glance brought new detail to the design.

Satoshi couldn't stand that kind of comfort. He ripped off his covers and slept on the floor for several nights before the servant's disapproving whispers reached the King's ears. He ordered the removal of the crown prince's luxurious comforts and quickly transformed the room into a dark quarters with stark sheets and deep cherry wood furniture that only put up a show of being royal.

This room was several grades finer than his ever was. He felt as though he had been dipped into a vat of finery. The walls were a yellow color hand painted with impressions of spring, budding trees and happy song birds swinging and flying to a unheard song. All the furniture curved in elaborate ends not much unlike the Queen's own spirally handwriting. The mahogany four-post lay pressed against the opposite wall. The source of light, a flickering candle, sitting on the beside table.

And there, sitting on the edge of her bed with her face cradled in her hands, sat his mother. She seemed so much more fragile in nothing but her dressing gown.

Satoshi was given a start when a draft of wind snapped the door shut behind him. The queen dropped her hands and shot the intruder a look of indignation.

Upon seeing Satoshi standing there, her expression immediately softened. Satoshi wondered if the first look had been meant for his father.

"Mother," said Satoshi, the word tasting foreign on his tongue.

Before he could get another word out, his mother had crossed the room in three quick strides and pulled the young man into her deep embrace. Satoshi stiffened- and then slowly let himself fall into the comfort of her arms. She smelt softly of almonds and rosewater. He wanted to drown in it.

"You came," she whispered softly. Satoshi felt her damp cheeks brush against his ear when she pulled away from him. Her eyes were red rimmed but her lips cracked a weak smile.

"I'm so happy to see you. Satoshi, my son."

All the words he wanted to say got caught up in his mouth. Satoshi swallowed hard and found tears on his cheeks as well. He quickly rubbed his face free of them with his sleeve.

"I've been wanting to talk to you. Ever since you returned but I haven't the chance-"

"Since I re-"

"I won't be able to explain to you everything. I don't know all that happened. And I know it won't satisfy you… knowing so little but I feel you must know the truth." She placed her hands firmly on either of Satoshi's shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes. Satoshi found himself sucking in a breath and holding it, deep in his chest's cavity.

"Satoshi this is the first time we have ever spoken."

His mind could not stop reeling after the unsettling conversation he had with the Queen. She had said little afterwards, only hinting that Satoshi may have never fallen down the stairs. She had known more, Satoshi was sure. But night sentry had heard the slamming door and came to check on her. The talk had to be cut short. The crown prince had only just managed to get out unnoticed. He escaped through a back passageway the Queen usually had barred with one of her bureaus but had moved hours before, just in case.

As he was leaving, the Queen planted a soft kiss on his forehead and whispered, "If you get a chance to leave this place, take it."

He slept little that night, plagued by nightmares of faceless people choking on gold pieces and drowning in the piles to no sound. It gave him no satisfaction to remember that he'd be turning sixteen by the next new moon. It was little less than a week away. Soon his father would take him to pick out his monster. Next his birthday celebration and then finally the wedding preparations between him and the princess of Quena.

Satoshi let out a visible shiver when thinking of Domino. Hiroshi paused in the middle of lacing up the prince's tunic, misinterpreting the sign that he had perhaps bound the clothing too tightly. Satoshi tried not to think of the woman when he could. She was beautiful. Every kingdom loved yellow haired princesses. They were famous in legends where the prince always had to rescue them and live happily ever after. Quite honestly, he could see why his father arranged the marriage. Domino probably should have married King Sakaki with how well the two got along.

He did not envy his mother. So he could hardly stomach the idea of living as she had, under the thumb of ruthless individual who cared for her only as a tool to produce an heir. Which was how, Satoshi was sure, Domino felt about him.

Hiroshi finished, leaving Satoshi to inspect himself in the full length mirror. The person that stared back was hardly a young man yet. He still had a boyish face and figure that made him look uncomfortably overdressed in the lacy tunics and darkly patterned waistcoats he was forced into.

"I can't do this anymore," said Satoshi to his reflection.

"Sire?"

"I just can't do this-!" shouted Satoshi, ripping off his broad jewel rimmed hat and crumpling it at his feet. Frustrated he continued to stomp on it until he was satisfied it no longer would be fit for his "royal" head. Then he kicked it away as far as he could.

"Hm. Somehow I don't think it deserved that," said Hiroshi humorlessly.

Satoshi was still seething. He threw himself on his bed and screamed into the downy pillows as hard as he could. Hiroshi came up beside him. But he did not dare to sit down. Instead he waited for the prince to calm down before gently offering,

"Would you like me to get you a different hat?"

Satoshi snorted into the pillow, a laugh. Then he looked up at Hiroshi with a sad smile on his face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get so angry."

Hiroshi shrugged and bent over to fetch the fallen hat. Despite his best efforts to smooth it out, it seemed Satoshi did a decent job at crushing it out of shape. Eventually he just gave up and laid the hat gently on the bedside table.

"I wasn't the hat was it?"

"No it wasn't."

"May I ask what it was then?"

Satoshi bit his bottom lip and turned back to his pillows. Perhaps hoping to scream out more frustration in them. But instead of doing so, Satoshi just closed his eyes and exhaled noisily.

"I went to see my mother last night."

Satoshi squinted through one eye, afraid that Hiroshi might be angry with him. Hiroshi's face remained impassive.

"And…"

"She told me, that this was the first time she had ever spoken to me."

Satoshi searched Hiroshi's face for some sort of reaction. But it was like reading a stone wall. If Hiroshi seemed surprised to hear this, he didn't act like he was.

"Is it true?"

"Is what true?"

"Before the accident, did I never talk to my mother? Did I… hate her or something?"

Hiroshi's eyes temporarily glazed over. As if he were seeing something Satoshi could not. Then he looked away.

"No. You didn't hate her. At least, I don't suppose you did."

"Then why did we never talk. Surely… surely my father let us see each other- a little."

"Do you ever wonder… why King Sakaki will not let you and your mother alone, crown prince?"

Satoshi hesitated. "Because he's a controlling bastard?"

Hiroshi cracked a wry smile. "Because your mother did something unforgivable. The King does not trust the Queen and will not ever again. That is why… crown prince, you are so important to him. He wants to trust you."

"Listen to yourself, Hiroshi! You're actually defending my father!"

Hiroshi only shrugged. "Should I pick out another hat for you, crown prince, or will your head just have to stand being naked for a day?"

To Be Continued…

Please Read and Review!

Hope you all enjoy this new story from me. It's a bit unconventional but I think it'll be fun.

Just some short notes. I have to give credit to Fairytale by Raichu, that gave me the idea. I took some pointers from her fanfic but made sure to steer myself away from copying her in any way. But I still thought it was important to disclaimer where I got the idea from. Pokemon are known as monsters in this story much like they are inRaichu's. I am also using the Japanese names. It's just a personal preference of mine. I know it might seem strange to have Japanese names on princes and princesses. But I thought it was important to not to use the dub names. Pokemon names will be in their dub form- unless anyone objects?

Another inspiration for this story is a novel adaptation on one of the Grimm brothers' fairy tales. It's called Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. I highly recommend it to those that are looking for a great read.

Next chapter, Satoshi goes with his father to pick out a monster partner. And for a brief moment some memories slip back.

GLOSSARY:

Satoshi- Ash
Hiroshi- Richie
Domino- Domino aka. Black Tulip (009)
Quena- Mt. Quena from Mewtwo Returns
Tokiwa- Viridian
Hanako- Delia (Ash's Mom)
Mt. Otsukimi- Mt. Moon
Sakaki- Giovanni

If I make any slips, I apologize. I don't have a beta so I do the best I can.

Please leave a review. It really encourages me to update sooner and lets me know humans read my stories instead of bots that just fav everything in sight.