Ash Ketchum: Hunt For Jade Dragon

Ch. 6 The Council

   When I woke the next morning Clemont was dressed and sitting cross-legged on his bed  reading. "Did you hear that rooster?" He asked. "It was crowing at like four in the morning."

  "No, I was too tired."

  "If I were you I would have thrown a lightning ball at it."

  "Should have," I said. Actually, I felt more rested than I had in days. It was the first time I'd gone through an entire night without having a nightmare since we'd sunk the Ampere. "What time is it?"

  "It's after seven. I was about to wake you up. Breakfast is in a half hour."

  "I'm going to shower," I said. I grabbed some clothes, then walked into the bathroom. A hot shower is one of those luxuries you don't think about until you've been deprived of it. I stood under the water until Clemont banged on the door.

  "It's time to go," he shouted. "I'll meet you there," I said. "Save me some food."

   By the time I arrived for breakfast the dining room was crowded. Serena waved to me as I entered. She was sitting at a table next to both of our mothers. Clemont was sitting with his parents at the table behind them. The rest of our group, including Gary and Lillie, was sitting together.

   Serena got up to meet me. "Good morning, sunshine."

  "Looks like I'm the last one here," I said.

  "As usual," she said, smiling. "The food's over there. You just help yourself."

   The food was served buffet-style from long tables at one end of the room. There was thick bacon and sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns with cheese and red and green peppers, and blueberry pan cakes. I loaded up with everything, then, after saying hi to the rest of our group, sat down next to my mother.

  "How did you sleep?" my mom asked.

  "Good. I didn't hear the four a.m. rooster alarm."

  "I did," Serena said. "It went on for like ten minutes before I rebooted it."

  "You rebooted a rooster?"

  "I think so. It stopped mid-crow."

  "You should eat," my mother said. "The food here is really good. They grow everything. Even the wild blueberries in the pancakes. They're completely off the grid."

  "This is where I want to be for the zombie apocalypse," Serena said.

  "Or the Galactic one," I said. I looked at Serena's mother. "How are you, Mrs. Yvonne?"

  "Thank you for asking," she said. "I woke this morning thinking I had dreamed it all."

  "Sometimes I still do too," I said. I took a bite of blueberry pancake. It was delicious.

  "Tell us about Peru," Mrs. Yvonne said. "And this tribe you were with."

  "You should let him eat," Serena said. "It's okay," I said. "I wasn't with the Amacarra that long. But they saved me from Galactic."

  "I'd like to meet them someday," my mother said.

  "You can't," I said, frowning. "They don't exist anymore. Galactic and the Peruvian army wiped them out for helping us."

   Her expression her fell. "I'm so sorry. That's horrible."

  "It's hard to believe that their entire civilization is gone," I said.

  "If Cyrus has his way that will be true of all of us," Serena said. Just the mention of Cyrus's name brought a cloud over the table.

   As we finished eating, Sycamore walked in. He greeted a few people, then went to the front of the room. "Excuse me, I have an announcement. For members of the Electroclan, we'll be meeting in this same room at nine thirty, so you'll have a little time to go back to your rooms or walk around the grounds before then, but please don't be late. Thank you."