24. Ash's Hisui Story

Chapter 67 Banished from the Village

The next day, Ash and Serena are woken up by some commotion outside of their quarters. Serena mutters, "Who in the right mind would be so noisy..."

"I don't know." Ash mutters, and Pikachu just wants to zap whoever is outside making that noise.

But after dressing up and looking outside, they are shocked to see the sky has changed colors, and everyone is looking up in the sky.

"Ash! Serena!" Akari yells to them as they rush to the Galaxy Hall. And on the balcony of the hall, Commander Kamado has made up a decision after seeing the huge space-time rift.

Inside the lab, Ash and Serena want to know what is going on, and Laventon says, "Some sort of dreadful energy seems to be pouring from the rift in space-time...Now the entire sky has gone red!"

Cyllene walks into the lab and says, "I've word from the Commander. You're to report to his office at once."

Ash and Serena frown and nod, then they go to the office to see that both Adaman and Irida are also present.

Kamado starts, "Hrmmm...The way the sky has changed...It is ominous. Very ominous indeed."

"What's this about, Commander?" Adaman asks.

"You did call us here to discuss the quelling of all the nobles...didn't you?" Irida asks.

"That can wait. There is a more pressing concern here that must be addressed. The first strike of that strange lightning, the one that drove Kleavor into a frenzy...It struck the night that Ash and Serena fell from the sky, did it not? It only seems natural to think that the two events might be linked in some way."

Ash and Serena don't like where this is going, and Kamado yells at them. "Who or what are you really, Ash and Serena?!"

Ash says, "Well...we...we came from a faraway place and we have become the Survey Corps members..."

"Indeed, you've done all I ordered." Kamado says. "But that does not answer the question of who you really are. You came from the rift - as did the lightning. You're connected to these frenzies, are you not?!"

"We're not..." Serena weakly replies, but Kamado continues, "Did you think to gain our trust by quelling the frenzies you yourself brought about? And having gained our trust, what then? What is it you're really after here?"

"We just want to help...so we can go back home..." Ash mutters.

"Hold on, Commander..." Adaman says, trying to help his sworn brother. The same goes with Irida, who wants to help her sworn sister. "There's nothing to suggest Ash and Serena have wronged us!"

"Exactly. And besides, do you really think they've got the sort of fearsome power it'd take to make all this happen?" Adaman asks.

"Let me ask you in turn - can you prove beyond a doubt that he is free from guilt?" Kamado asks. "These people - these strangers appeared out of a rift in space-time! Who here can guarantee they are who they say? Who here can guarantee they are to be trusted?"

"But that's...No one can do that! You're asking us to prove a negative!" Irida complains. "How is anyone supposed to prove the absence of all doubt?!"

"Come on - let's be reasonable. What are Ash and Serena supposed to do, then?" Adaman asks.

Kamado thinks for a while and he says, "They will be given the chance to investigate this latest disaster...But not as members of the Galaxy Team. They remain suspect unless they can clear their names. There are those in our village who cannot trust strangers like you who fell from the sky. And so I must ask you to leave. You are no longer welcome in the Galaxy Team. Considered yourself banished from this village until you can explain why these calamities keep befalling our good people...No - until you've restored our world to its rightful state and proven your innocence beyond doubt! Is that clear, Cyllene?"