Tale 179: The Children of the Underworld (Brock)

(real tale: The Three Brothers)

"There was once in a certain land a witch, who in the shape of a Braviary, used every night to break the windows of a certain village shrine." Brock begins. "Now, in the same village there lived three brothers, who were all determined to kill the mischievous Braviary. But the two middle brothers stood guard in the shrine with their bows in vain--as soon as the Braviary appeared in the sky, sleep overcame them, and they only awoke to hear the windows crashing in."

"Interesting..." Misty muses.

"Then the youngest brother--we'll call him Rand--took his turn of guarding the windows, and to keep from falling asleep, he placed a lot of thorns under his chin, so that if he felt drowsy and nodded his head, they would prick him and keep him awake." Brock explains. "The moon was already up, and it was as bright as daytime, when suddenly he heard a fearful noise, and at the same time a terrible desire to sleep overpowered him."

"Uh oh..." Ash swallows hard.

"His eyes closed, and his head sank on his shoulders, but the thorns poked him and were so painful that he woke with a jump." Brock goes on, feigning a jolt of surprise. "He saw the Braviary swooping down on the shrine, and quickly grabbed his bow..." He pauses to pantomime aiming a bow. "...and shot an arrow at the majestic Pokemon." With that, he lets go of his pantomime bowstring.

[Did he hit his prey?] Mai asks.

"The Braviary fell under a big rock, which severely wounded its right wing." Brock replies. "Rand hurried to look at it, and saw that a huge pit had opened below the rock. He ran to get his brothers, and with their help dragged a lot of wood and ropes to the spot."

"What's the rope and wood for?" Ash wonders.

"They fastened some of the wood to the end of the rope, lit it, and slowly lowered it down to the bottom of the pit." Brock explains. "At first it was quite dark, and the flaming torch only lit up dirty grey stone walls. But Rand was determined to explore the pit, and so after climbing down the rope, he soon reached the bottom, where he found a lovely meadow full of green trees and exquisite flowers."

"Wow..." Misty gasps as she pictures the meadow in her head.

"In the middle of the meadow stood a huge stone castle, with an iron gate leading to it, which was wide open. Everything in the castle seemed to be made of silver, and the only inhabitant he could discover was a lovely girl, who we'll call Ariana. Ariana was combing her jet black hair; and Rand noticed that whenever one of her hairs fell on the ground, it rang like pure metal. Rand looked at her more closely, and saw that her skin was smooth and fair, her emerald eyes bright and sparkling, and her hair as black as the night. He fell in love with her on the spot, and kneeling at her feet, he confessed his love for her and asked her to be his wife."

"Aw..." Misty smiles.

"And they all lived happily ever ever--the end!" Ash smirks.

Brock just smiles at Ash, silently telling him that the story's not over yet. "Ariana accepted Rand's proposal; but she warned him that she could not come up to the world of light till her mother, the old witch, was dead. She went on to tell him that the only way in which the witch could be killed was with the sword that hung up in the castle; but the sword was so heavy that no one could lift it."

"I bet it shot magic beams, or something..." Ash muses.

Then Rand came to a room in the castle where everything was made of gold, and he found another beautiful girl, Ariana's middle sister Orinda. She was combing her auburn hair, and every hair that fell on the ground rang like pure metal." Brock continues. Orinda gave Rand the sword, but though he tried with all his strength he could not lift it. Finally, Ariana's eldest sister Christina came to him and gave him a potion of strength to drink. He drank a little bit, but still he could not lift the sword; then he drank a little more, and the sword began to move; but only after he had drank it all was he able to lift the sword over his head."

BA-DA-DA-DAAAAAAAH!!!! Ash can't resist singing the Zelda 'got item' theme

Even Brock is laughing before he composes himself and goes on "Then Rand hid himself in the castle and awaited the old witch's arrival. Just as it was beginning to grow dark, she appeared. She flew down on a big Leppa tree, and after shaking some shining Leppa Berries from it, she jumped down to the ground. As soon as her feet touched the ground she transformed from a Braviary into a woman. This was the moment Rand was waiting for, and he swung his mighty sword in the air with all his strength and cut the witch's head clean off!"

Cheers go up from the audience. "Without fear of any further danger, Rand packed up all the treasures of the castle into huge chests, and gave his brothers a signal to pull them up out of the pit." Brock continues. "First, the treasures were attached to the rope, and then the three girls. It wasn't long before everything was up on the surface and only he remained. But he was a little suspicious of his brothers, so he fastened a heavy stone on to the rope and let them pull it up. At first they heaved and pulled, but when the stone was halfway up they just let it drop, and it fell to the bottom and broke into a gazillion pieces."

[I'm glad that wasn't Rand!] Korra heaves a sigh of relief.

"'So that's what would have happened to me had I trusted myself to them,' Rand thought." Brock affirms Korra's prediction. "He began to cry bitterly, not because of the treasures, but because of his beloved Ariana."

"So did he ever see Ariana again?" Misty is concerned for Rand.

"For a long time he wandered all through the beautiful underworld, until he met a mage who asked him why he cried." Brock continues. "Rand told him all that had happened, and the mage said..."

In character as Flint, he tells the audience "Do not grieve, young one! If you will guard the children who are hidden in the shining Leppa tree, I will bring you to the world of light. A demon mage who lives in this land always eats my children up. It is in vain that I have hidden them under the earth and locked them into the castle. Now I have hidden them in the Leppa tree; hide yourself there too, and at midnight you will see my enemy."

"Pika pika?" Pikachu sparks with excitement.

"Rand climbed up the tree, and picked some of the beautiful shining Leppa Berries, which he had for his dinner." Brock replies as himself. "At midnight, the wind began to pick up, and a rustling sound was heard at the foot of the tree. Rand looked down and spotted a long Seviper beginning to crawl up the tree. It wound itself round the stem and gradually got higher and higher. It stretched its huge head, in which the eyes glittered fiercely, among the branches, searching for the nest in which the little children lay. They trembled with terror when they saw the hideous creature, and hid themselves beneath the leaves."

Everyone is on the edge of their seats to hear the children's fates. "Then Rand swung his mighty sword in the air, and with one blow cut off the Seviper's head!" Brock announces. "He cut up the rest of the body into little bits and scattered them to the wind."

The Pokemon cheer as Brock goes on "The mage was so delighted over the death of his enemy that he told Rand to close his eyes, and he sang Jao wiisha nes chiel com yutuul... which warped Rand up to the surface."

He concludes "Rand hurried as fast as he could to his brothers' house and burst into a room where they were all assembled, but no one knew who he was. Only his beloved, who was serving as cook to her sisters, recognized her lover, and ran to embrace him. His brothers, who figured Rand was dead, abandoned his treasures and fled into the woods in terror. But Rand was not one to hold a grudge-- he forgave them for all they had done, and shared his treasures with them. He built himself a big castle with gold windows, and he lived happily ever after with his beloved Ariana."