Chapter 7
New
kingvoid
Owner of the famous Void-Greninja
- Location
- The way of the void
- Pronouns
- he/him
Chapter 7: Surprising Visits!
The morning over Lumiose City didn't break with a sunrise; it broke with a heavy, grey humidity that clung to the obsidian spires of the mansion like a shroud. Inside, the atmosphere was even heavier. Ash stood on the reinforced balcony of the master suite, his hands gripping the cold marble railing. He wasn't wearing the tailored blue suit or the high-collared mantle of the "Obsidian King." He wore a plain black hoodie, the fabric fraying at the cuffs, and his eyes, usually a sharp, tactical matte-brown, were glazed with a boredom that felt like physical weight.
Beside him, Serena leaned against the stone, her crimson dress a sharp splash of color against the dark architecture. She watched the way his fingers drummed a rhythmic, restless beat against the stone.
"Are you feeling bored?" she asked, her voice a soft hum that usually acted as his primary stabilizer.
Ash didn't look at her. He kept his gaze fixed on the perimeter fence, watching the National Corps guards pace their synchronized routes. "Hm. Nope. Not at all."
Serena hissed a soft, skeptical breath. "Oh, as if I don't see that expression, Ash. You’re looking for a glitch. You’re looking for a reason to pulse your resonance. You’ve been staring at that gate for twenty minutes hoping an Anomaly would try to crash it."
Ash finally turned, a small, weary smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth the "Bully" energy surfacing just for a second. "Fine. You caught me. It feels so... boring, Serena. After killing AZ, after the 15,000 bHz clash, the world just feels quiet. It feels like the volume’s been turned down to zero. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop."
"The other shoe isn't a monster this time, Ash," Serena replied, her gaze shifting to the driveway. "Sometimes, the quiet is the reward. You just don't know how to live in it yet."
Just as the words left her lips, a yellow cab rounded the corner of the boulevard, its tires screeching slightly as it pulled up to the massive iron gates. Ash’s posture shifted instantly. His shoulders squared, his eyes sharpened, and for a heartbeat, the air around him began to vibrate with that familiar, low-frequency hum.
"Someone’s here," Ash whispered, his voice dropping into that deep, "Leader" register. He reached for the customized Pokéball on his belt. "Clemont! Goh! We have a visitor at the gate. No bHz signature, but they’re bypassing the security protocol."
The cab door swung open. A woman stepped out, wearing a simple sun hat and a practical cardigan.
"Mom!?!?" Ash yelled, his voice cracking as the "King" persona shattered into a million pieces. He leaned so far over the balcony he nearly tipped over. "What is she doing here? Why is she at the gate?"
Before he could process the shock, the other doors of the cab flew open. As if it were meant to be, Grace stepped out, her designer clothes looking impossibly bright against the dark pavement. She adjusted her sunglasses, looking up at the mansion with a look of pure, aesthetic disapproval.
"Mom?" Serena gasped, her own "Queen" composure evaporating.
Then the backdoors of the cab opened to reveal Goh’s mom and dad. Goh, who had been walking through the foyer with a cup of black coffee, stopped dead in his tracks. He looked at the monitors, then at the driveway, and his jaw dropped.
"What are you guys looking at?" Goh asked, his voice shaking. Then he saw the screen. "Mom and Dad? What are they... how did they even get past the regional blockade?"
Down in the driveway, Delia Ketchum looked up at the balcony. She didn't see the "Obsidian Heroes" or the "Vigilantes of Kalos." She saw three teenagers looking down at her like lost Wingulls.
"STOP GASPING AND HELP YOUR PARENTS OUT A BIT, WON’T YOU!" Delia yelled, her voice carrying a maternal authority that 15,000 bHz couldn't touch.
They didn’t wait. The three of them ran downstairs as fast as they could, their heavy tactical boots thudding against the polished marble floor with a loud, uncoordinated clatter. There was no "stealth," no "resonance," just the frantic energy of kids who realized they were about to be lectured.
By the time they reached the grand front door and hissed it open, the parents were already stepping into the foyer. They stood there, looking around at the sheer, cold fanciness of the mansion. The obsidian pillars, the glowing blue data terminals, and the sterile white marble were met with varying expressions of shock.
Delia was the first to speak. She ran a finger along a nearby stone pedestal and looked at the grey smudge on her skin. "Wow. Won't it hurt to clean a bit, Ash? This place is a palace, but it feels like a museum."
Ash’s sinister smirk was nowhere to be found. He stood there, his hands shoved deep into his hoodie pockets. "Mom, we didn't have the time yet. We were too busy with... the work. The underground remnants, the bHz tracking"
"The only work you’re gonna do now is sit down for a proper meal!" Grace interrupted, walking past Ash as if he were a piece of furniture. She reached Serena and immediately began smoothing out the wrinkles in her crimson dress. "Serena, honey, you look strong, you look mature... but this mansion is far too moody. It needs some life. It needs some color. It looks like you're living in a tomb, dear."
Goh’s parents wrapped him in a hug so tight it effectively knocked the "Reaper" persona right out of his system. Goh stood there, looking smaller than he had in months.
"We saw your speech, Goh!" his mother said, her eyes welling up. "So sharp! So serious! You sounded like a grown man. But we brought your favorite snacks from home, because we know you’ve been living off nothing but coffee and data. Look at your face, you’re all skin and bones!"
The group moved as a chaotic, loud wave into the main living room. The mothers were already talking about "rearranging the light" and "airing out the dampness," but the chatter stopped dead once they saw it.
In the center of the room, sitting on a high-backed velvet chair that was clearly meant for Ash the chair where he sat when he planned the "Bite of Ash" strategy was a big, four-foot Dedenne plush. Its bright yellow fabric was a loud, happy scream in the middle of all the cold marble and obsidian.
"Woah," Goh’s mom whispered, her voice dropping into a sudden, hollow silence as the excitement of the reunion disappeared. The reality of why they were actually there was the reason the house felt so empty despite the luxury hit them all at once. "What’s this big plush for? Is it a gift?"
Ash stepped forward, his footsteps silent on the marble. He reached out and touched the plush’s big, soft belly. "It's a placeholder..." he said, his voice dropping into a quiet, raw register.
Then Clemont walked out of the kitchen. His footsteps were slow, his shoulders slumped. He didn't have his lab coat on. He looked at the four parents, then reached out and touched the soft fabric of the plush’s ear.
"For the little girl who should be sitting here," Clemont said. His voice started to crack, the "Science Bro" logic failing him completely. "She wanted it as a beanbag. We... we just didn't want the chair to stay empty. We thought if we kept the chair filled, the room wouldn't feel so... quiet."
Delia’s eyes started pouring out water like a fountain. She didn’t say anything about the house being dirty, or the clothes being moody, or the white marble being too cold. She simply walked toward the chair, then past it, and pulled Clemont into a crushing hug.
"Oh, what a sad, sad boy," she whispered, her voice thick with the kind of grief only a mother can navigate.
The silence that followed wasn't the "Peace of the Grave" Ash had talked about at the restaurant. It was a human silence. Grace stood by Serena, her hand gripping her daughter's arm, realizing that the "Queen" she saw on TV was really just a girl trying to hold her friends together while they all bled internally.
"Alright," Delia said, pulling back and wiping her face with the back of her hand, her expression turning into one of fierce, domestic determination. "No more 'King' talk. No more 'Reaper' talk. No more of this 'Obsidian' nonsense for one night. We are going into that kitchen, we are making enough food to feed an army, and we are going to be a family. Ash, grab the bags. Clemont, show me where the stove is. We're bringing the light back into this house."
The Obsidian Mansion finally had a heartbeat... and it sounded like a mother’s love.
