Episode 2: Reflections of the Past

As the closing credits to the movie roll on the TV, Serena asks Ash "So, what did the first Spirit say to Scrooge?"

Ash finds the top hat and puts it back on as Pikachu and Fennekin look for another show. "Scrooge woke up some hours later, and it was so dark, he couldn't even see the bedcurtains, much less the clock on the wall..." Serena closes her eyes as she imagines the scene Ash is describing.

The scene swirls into Ash and Serena watching Lysandre sleeping in the large bedroom, but he tosses and turns every so often. Gah, I can't sleep... He hears the clock strike one, but buries his head in his pillow.

"No sooner did the clock strike one, did the room fill with a bright light, never mind that all the doors and windows were closed, and no one else was in the house." Ash tells Serena as Dawn materializes in the room, her bright gold aura being the source of the aforementioned light.

"She's beautiful...." Serena smiles as she admires Dawn's white robe, sandals, and a garland of white flowers and holly crowning her head.

Once sure the room is well lit, she lightly rings a small bell hanging over the dresser. When no answer comes, she rings it a little louder.

"Mrggh--who is--" Lysandre grumbles as he wakes up, but gasps as he sees Dawn.

"I was wondering when you'd awaken." Dawn giggles, bemused at Lysandre's sleepy eyed look. "We don't have all evening, you know."

What you mean, "we?" Lysandre thinks as he rubs the sleep from his eyes. "Who are you?" he fearfully asks Dawn. "And what do you want?"

"I am the Spirit of Christmas Past." Dawn replies.

Lysandre sighs. "I thought you'd be a bit taller..."

"Ooh..." Dawn grumbles. "Know this, Scrooge--if people were measured by how well they treated others, you would barely be the size of a dust speck!"

"No, you'd need a microscope to see him." Serena agrees

"What's the point of kindness?" Lysandre yawns before turning away from Dawn's aura in an attempt to go back to sleep.

"There is some hope--you were not always like this." Dawn smiles as she walks over to a nearby window and opens it. "Come with me!"

"But, where are we going?" Lysandre asks as he climbs from his bed and walks to the window, shivering a little.

"Into your past." Dawn replies before offering a hand to Lysandre. "Take my hand, and we shall fly!"

Ash motions to Serena. "This being my imagination, we can follow them in a matter of seconds." Serena nods as Ash snaps, making both of them disappear from the room.

So Scrooge took the Spirit's hand, and just as the Spirit had said, they flew out into the night. Ash narrates via voiceover as Lysandre gingerly takes Dawn's hand, only to be pulled out of the window at a high speed! He looks down and sees the city far below him, making him try to climb aboard Dawn's back in fear, but soon finds himself next to her.

"What's the matter? I thought you liked looking down on the world." Dawn giggles she flies higher into the sky, her aura making a bright gold streak to the people down below.

After flying over more rooftops for a while, Ash narrates again as Dawn sets Lysandre on the ground before a tavern, where a lively reel drifts into the night. "They arrived some time later in what appeared to be another city, but it wasn't until Scrooge looked around that he realized where he was."

Lysandre instantly recognizes the small wooden building. "I think I know this place..." He walks a little closer and rubs away some of the frost, allowing him to look in on the dancing crowd. "Fezziwig's Place...he was such a kind person." He sighs dreamily as he sees Brendan sawing away at a fiddle, leading the band in the reel. "I also see quite a lot of friends I knew in there!" he gasps, excited as the dancing crowd swirls by him and Dawn, lost in the band's song.

"Great music in here!" Serena comments as she and Ash enter the tavern.

"You want to listen for a bit? Okay." Ash replies as we look around the room at the dancing crowd. Those that are not dancing are talking or playing games, only pausing to applaud at the reel's conclusion.

As another reel begins, we see a younger Lysandre in the corner, reading a book. "That lad in the corner...is that me?" Lysandre asks.

"Yes...this is before you walked the path of a miser." Dawn replies as she nods her head to the tune inside.

"Nobody's perfect..." Lysandre protests, a little embarrassed at Dawn's remark before spotting Misty in the crowd, now wearing a beautiful blue and silver gown. "And that...is that Isabel?"

"Not the person I would've picked for Isabel, but this is your imagination, so I'll respect your choices." Serena notes as Misty approaches young Lysandre.

"Ebeneezer..." Misty asks as she approaches young Lysandre, startling him from his book.

"Y-Yes, Isabel?" young Lysandre stammers.

"Won't you give me a kiss under the mistletoe?" Misty asks as she drags young Lysandre over to where some mistletoe is hanging and prepares for a kiss.

"Um, you're standing on my foot..." young Lysandre notes. Misty just giggles and guides young Lysandre into the dancing crowd, young Lysandre frantically trying to keep up with the steps all the while.

Ash grins. "Wanna dance?"

"Sure!" Serena replies as Ash leads her into the dancing crowd. She laughs as Ash spins and twirls her in time to the music, but before long, she feels too dizzy to dance, so Ash leads her back to a table to rest, where they can see Misty and young Lysandre dancing.

As Misty and young Lysandre dance, Ash discretely comments "Isabel kisses him in three...two...one..." Misty then plants a kiss on young Lysandre's cheek, making him gain heart eyes as the reel ends.

"Oh, how I remember how much I loved Isabel..." Lysandre dreamily muses as the scene swirls back to the bedroom again.

"Sadly, in ten years time, you found a new love..." Dawn replies as she conjures a scene of a sightly older Lysandre behind stacks of coins. Lysandre watches, horrified, as the Lysandre in the scene shoos Misty away, making her burst into tears as she runs away into a stormy night. "You grew to love gold more than you did Isabel, and because of that, you lost a far greater treasure."

Tears well up in Lysandre's eyes at this. "Please! No more!" he pleads. "Leave me!" He climbs into bed again, softly crying all the while.

"Very well, I will take my leave as you request." Dawn replies before turning to leave. "But I leave you one more word of wisdom--you made these memories yourself." With that, she disappears, darkening the room again and leaving Lysandre to cry alone as the scene swirls back to the present.

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"Scrooge wept for a good ten minutes after the Spirit left him, anguished at what he had learned." Ash continues. "But before long, he was asleep once again....and I'll stop there for now."

"This was always the most heartbreaking part to me..." Serena begins as Fennekin finds a cartoon on the TV. "What would've happened had Scrooge been true to Isabel?"

"The story would end there--there'd be no point for the other two spirits." Ash reminds her as he changes hats.

"That's true..." Serena muses as Fennekin bounds on her lap.

TO BE CONTINUED...