Light's Love and Night's Passion

A/N: Sorry, guys. I've been feeling a little under the weather since yesterday with a sore throat and a slight fever. Man, I hate getting sick. But, I'm back with another chapter.

So let's get started with it. Roll it!

Chapter 4

The Mystery Begins

Pikachu felt frozen in his tracks as he stared at the empty room. Everything in his brain came to a screeching halt. He had heard some of the rumors of Ash somehow disappearing almost every other night, but to actually see evidence of that with his own eyes, and in such a terrifying manner, made his fur stand on end and his heart feeling like it had stopped.

Piplup shook his best friend slightly, snapping him out of his catatonic state of shock. The little Mouse Pokémon shook his head rapidly to clear his head and immediately went to look for Buizel. Surely, he must've known what had happened.

There was the sound of a Poké Ball opening up by itself, and in a flash of blue and white light, a worried Buizel appeared. "Pika!" Pikachu called out to the Sinnoh Water type. He then asked him, in his own language, where Ash was. "Pika-pi, Pikachu?"

Buizel shook his head, saying that he didn't. Pikachu huffed in frustration, and began searching vigorously around the room, with the Sea Weasel Pokémon.

"Ash? Please answer! You're scaring me!" Dawn's voice called out from behind the locked door. Piplup quickly went back through the flap to try and tell his Trainer about the situation.

Pikachu and Buizel were frantically looking around the room, looking for any sign of Ash, if there was the presence of someone else in the room, or of a possible struggle. Something broken, ripped, or an unfamiliar scent. Basically, just anything that could be considered a clue as to what happened. Finally, the little Electric type noticed something was a little bit off in the room, near the back wall.

"Pika, Pika!" He called to Buizel, and then pointed it out to him.

The Sinnoh Water type was a little suspicious about the possible clue that Pikachu found. The Kanto native Electric Pokémon glared at him, saying that this was literally all they've got to go on. Finally, Buizel shrugged and followed Pikachu towards the possible clue.

*********************

Word quickly spread about Ash's abrupt disappearance to the theater staff. Discreetly, a search party was sent out so that news of it doesn't leak out to the public. If it did, then the news would be all over this like Mandibuzz onto carrion. In spite of that, Dawn insisted that she help out for a little while instead of going back to her apartment. Her friend somehow went missing, and she was going to find him.

Soon, Clemont had given her the key to Ash's dorm. "I had no idea that the door could lock both ways." He said to her.

"Do you think he was locked in there on purpose?" Dawn asked.

Clemont just shrugged. "No clue." He said. Then, he had silently walked away.

Dawn inserted the key into the lock and turned it. Sure enough, the handle was unlocked, and she carefully entered the dorm. "Ash?" She whispered.

There was no one inside. Piplup jumped off her shoulder and began to search the room, looking for any possible clues. Dawn came in and then closed the door behind her.

"Pikachu? Buizel?" The two Pokémon were in the room earlier, but now, they weren't. What was it with boys and their Pokémon suddenly disappearing without a trace?

Both Dawn and Piplup quietly examined the room, seeing if there was anything slightly out of the ordinary. But nothing seemed to jump out to them right away. It was like they all just simply vanished into thin air.

Just then, Piplup noticed a tiny crack between the mirror and the wall. It was so small, no one would see it at first glance. He got his Trainer's attention and pointed it to her with his flipper. Dawn saw it and slowly got closer to it.

Her fingers carefully got in between the separation, and she felt empty space behind it. Wanting to test something, Dawn pushed back against the mirror, trying to move it to the side. To her surprise, it did, revealing a hidden, shadowy stone passageway behind it.

"Okay." She whispered, feeling goosebumps beginning to prickle against her skin. "This is starting to get a little creepy." Piplup only nodded his head in agreement, trembling visibly. Both Trainer and Pokémon squeezed through the narrow opening and into the passageway.

Once inside, Dawn then noticed that the mirror works both ways. Someone can be looking into the room, and someone could see them back if they looked hard enough. Was someone watching Ash without him noticing? The thought of it seriously disturbed her. If she knew Ash, he hardly would know what a stalker is unless they confessed. Or was someone wanting Ash to see him or her staring at him? But that wouldn't make sense. Even though the guy was pretty clueless with a lot of things, the first thing he would do if he found out was restrain the perpetrator and get some answers.

Dawn then turned back down towards the narrow passageway. It looked dark and damp and seemed to go on without end, with rusty old candelabras stationed every three feet on the wall down the straight path, but yet there was the faint scent of burning oil from every one of them, like they had been lit at least half an hour ago. Someone had to have been in here, and maybe they took Ash.

Dawn carefully took small steps as she walked down the passageway. She wished that she could have remembered to bring her Quilava with her so that it can light up the passage a little bit. Right now, she and her Piplup were basically walking blindly into the cold, dark path. It felt like it was coming from a scene of either a mystery or a horror movie. The further down they walked, the more Dawn felt like there might be something or someone watching her and her beloved little Penguin Pokémon. She half-expected to have a ghost, whether human or Pokémon, jump out of nowhere and scare her to death in a few seconds.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed her arm. She quickly turned around and yelped loudly in fright. But then she immediately relaxed as she saw that it was only Professor Sycamore. He gently led her and Piplup out of the passageway.

Once they were out, Sycamore slid the mirror back into its original place. "Did you know about that mirror?" Dawn asked.

"This place has many secret entrances." Sycamore explained. "Where they lead exactly, I don't know. But what I do know is that they all lead under the theater and towards the catacombs of the city, and if someone ever goes down there, it means that they don't want to be found."

Dawn let that sink in for a few seconds before she picked up Piplup in her arms and followed Professor Sycamore back out of the room. Ash wouldn't head down there by himself, would he? Oh, what was she thinking? That does sound like something he would do from what she remembered from their Sinnoh journey. He always had a knack for getting into trouble or finding a mystery.

But then, what was that voice she heard in the room earlier? It was soft and hypnotizing, like a siren from the tales of mythology. Maybe someone did find their way into that passageway and was watching Ash earlier. And by the tone of the voice, it sounded like it was a woman. Was she responsible for Ash's disappearance? Or was she just hearing things? But if she was, then how did Pikachu and Piplup hear it, too? It must have been real.

And his Pokémon. They must've found the passageway behind the mirror and went after him. If only she had brought one of her own Pokémon other than Piplup to try and track them down. But it seems that this was all the investigating she would be doing for tonight.

Hopefully, Ash can come back safely soon with both Pikachu and Buizel, and she can get some answers. She didn't care if his so-called mentor would be angry with them hanging out. She needed to know what the heck was going on. And if Ash was in any sort of trouble, she will be there by his side and help him fight against whatever he might be facing. She had left his side once before, when she had to leave for Johto for the Wallace Cup when they had reunited in Unova over four years ago. She was not going to do that this time; that one mistake she never wanted to make again.

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Professor Sycamore was leading Dawn to her ride through the backstage area, where the stagehands and some of the more supporting Performers were having a bit of a party of their own. Clemont came over to them with Chespin on his shoulder, looking pretty uncomfortable. "Not a fan of parties?" Dawn asked him.

Clemont shook his head sheepishly. "Not these kinds." He said.

In a matter of seconds, Dawn could easily see why. There were many bottles of wine and booze on the tables, and even on the floor. Some other people were starting to get a little jiggy with each other, making Dawn visibly cringe with disgust. This wasn't her idea of fun, either.

Just then, the lead stagehand was pretending to scare some people while flirting with some of the drunken female Performers. "Like the finest silk is her skin, on one side; the other, like old paper, but clothed in white." He said, as if he was telling some sort of scary story. Dawn's ears tuned in on his words in curiosity.

"Her one eye, as blue as ice, which can kill if you look at her face too long." The lead stagehand continued ominously. "Lines of purple run over the monstrous side of her face, sometimes even leaking out drops of blood if she gets angry."

Clemont and Professor Sycamore both rolled their eyes at his over exaggeration. Dawn leaned in closer to the blond man. "Who is he talking about?" She asked in a whisper.

"The Angel Phantom." Clemont explained in a quiet whisper over to the young Top Coordinator standing next to him. "Everyone says that she is the ghost that haunts this theater. If no one listens to her demands, then she takes pretty drastic measures to punish them."

"How drastic?" Dawn asked him.

"You must always be on your guard." The voice of the lead stagehand caught her attention again. "Or else she will catch you with her magical ribbons. They may be soft as velvet, but that will be the last thing you will feel before they tighten around your neck, making you breathe your last breath."

Dawn gulped. So it was that drastic. This Angel Phantom, if things don't go her way, or if no one listens to her demands, then she kills them as punishment. Now this was starting to sound like a horror story that people would tell others around a campfire if they wanted to stay up all night in fright.

"Is she really a ghost?" She asked Clemont.

Clemont shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure." He said. "Some of the stagehands say it's just a story, others say that she was real. Or rather, is real."

His implication made Dawn shudder visibly. But was he talking about if the Angel Phantom was the undead, or was she actually real, like in flesh-and-blood?

Professor Sycamore seemed to have had enough of that storytelling and he went over to the lead stagehand and his group of listeners. Everyone around them grew silent, even in their drunken states, as the professor started to speak.

"Those of you who talk about what they know so casually like this will find out too late that keeping silent is the wisest thing you can do." He said, glaring firmly at the lead stagehand. Dawn and Clemont's eyes widened as chills suddenly ran down their spines. Piplup held on tighter to his Trainer's arms as best as he could with his flippers.

"Monsieur, you best hold your tongue." Sycamore snapped sharply at him, making the others around them gasp at the short temper of the usually level-headed Pokémon professor. Dawn then thought for a second that he might slap him across the face. "Don't judge an old book by its cover before you know the whole story." Sycamore said to him before leaving.

"Come now, Mademoiselle." He gestured over to Dawn as they continued to leave the theater through the back to avoid any lingering paparazzi. The blunette only nodded her head mutely, and they quickly left the scene.

Dawn's mind continued to race as she got over to her car and began to recall the night's strange events as the driver took her back to her hotel. The way that Professor Sycamore had admonished the lead stagehand, it was like he was warning him about possibly facing the wrath of the Angel Phantom. Was she real?

Angel Phantom. That sounded vaguely familiar. Ash had said earlier that his mentor who was helping him with his performance and appeal training, he thought of her as an Angel, and that she even calls herself one. Were they the same person? If so, then Ash could be in trouble if she went through so much trouble and secrecy just to snatch him away in the dead of night. But his Pokémon must've already found him and he will be battling his way out to freedom once again, just like old times.

But yet, there was something inside of her, telling her that this was only the beginning and she already bitten off more than she can chew. Also, that same feeling was telling her that Ash was at the center of it all. Honestly, she shouldn't be that surprised by that. From what Ash had told her about his many adventures during his journeys before she met him and as they travelled together, Dawn should have expected it. But this time, her gut was telling her that she should worry greatly about him, like this is one jam that he can't get out of on his own. Not when his mind is in such a weakened state.

A/N: Scary enough? No? Well, let me know on how I can improve in the future. And I know that this chapter is shorter than all the other ones, but there's not much I can expand on with just these two little scenes.

Until the next chapter, I'll see y'all! Please leave a comment about what you think.

Got to fly! ;)