Elizabeth is reading from the tablet?! What could this mean? Will she suck them all into the shadows?! Doctor Skye, what are you thinking?!
Also, thank you to everyone who read my story "The Heir to the Dragon". I would appreciate if you continue to read and support it in the future! You can get there through my profile!
We've got a decent amount of girls nominated, but there's always room for more! If there are any other girls you think deserve a chance at the title of Pokemon Academy Best Girl, nominate them here!
Currently Nominated: Alcea, Ayame, Carrie, Caelia, Cynthia, Dakota, Elaina, Elizabeth, Julia, Kate, Kitty, Maddi, Marion, Nikita, Olivia, Sango, Sylvia
KedharS: I wonder where it could be.
Rowlets and Oshawotts: There are definitely certain conditions. What those conditions are will be made apparent eventually.
Thunder Fire: Who can say?
JoshGamerV: Trapped in a hell-dimension of shadows isn't much better than dead.
Just a Bad Writer For Fun: Well, the idea was that Sango had basically fallen apart emotionally at that point, so she basically unloaded her feelings out onto Elizabeth. That's Sango when she's let her guard down.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 621
"Elizabeth!" Professor Reinhart shouted, bursting from his chair and grabbing for the tablet. "Are you mad?!"
"What?" Elizabeth said, dodging to the side and glancing up from the tablet. "Nothing happened, see?"
The professor blinked, confused. "Nothing… nothing happened? But… but you just… you read from the tablet, we saw you! So shouldn't… I don't know, shouldn't the darkness or whatever be pulling you in? I thought…"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and adjusted her glasses. "Professor, I wasn't reading from the tablet, I was just reading what's written on the tablet."
There was a lot of this conversation that hadn't made sense to Sango, but that sentence made the least out of all of it.
"Wait, what?" Sango asked, confused. "Isn't that the same thing?"
"No, no," Elizabeth said, shaking her head. "You see, I can't read a single word of this tablet. None of it makes any sense in my brain whatsoever, it's just meaningless scribbles."
"Then what were you just saying? I don't get it…" Sango pouted.
"We may not be able to read the tablet, but that doesn't mean we don't know what it says," Elizabeth smiled, tapping the side of her head. "After all, there have been documents about this relic going back for millennia, telling us exactly what those who read aloud from the tablet said. A linguist like me, I've translated from as many sources as I could find. Which is why I was excited to see the real thing with my own eyes."
Elizabeth sighed, turning her attention back to the old relic. "Alas, even if I know exactly what's written on here, I can't read a word of it."
"Well, good!" Sango said, snatching the tablet away from the older woman and clutching it to her chest. "If you can't read it, then you can't get snatched away!"
"But if I can't figure out a way to open that portal, then we'll never be able to find Blake," Elizabeth reminded her.
"Wait, what?" Sango asked, confused.
"Weren't you listening before?" Elizabeth asked. She turned to Aurore. "Professor Reinhart, you contacted me because someone had broken into your office two nights ago, but nothing was missing, isn't that right? And the tablet was glowing when you found it."
"That's right," the professor said, nodding. "I found some flashlights, so it must have been two people who came here."
"Well, according to Sango, two nights ago, two students named Blake Harker and…" She turned to Sango, "who was the other one?"
"Sylvia Driscoll," Sango said, her throat dry. Was… was Elizabeth saying what she thought she was saying?
"Yes, Blake Harker and Sylvia Driscoll both went missing two nights ago, no one has heard from them since," Elizabeth explained. "So I think it's more likely than not that those two were the ones who broke into your office, and one of them read from that tablet. And then it did what it always does, consumed them into the shadows."
Sango went pale. That… that was horrible. Blake… Blake had been consumed? She couldn't stand the thought of it, and yet… Maybe… maybe that was better than if he were dead. There was still a chance, after all…
"That… that shouldn't be possible," Aurore said, shaking his chin. He was as pale as Sango. He stared numbly at his desk, trying to wrap his head around what she had just said. And yet as much as he didn't want to believe it, he couldn't deny the possibility that it was true. Certainly, all the evidence pointed to the idea that whoever had snuck into his office had been sucked in by the tablet, but the thought that could be Blake and Sylvia…
"It's just a theory," Elizabeth assured the both of them, noticing the worried looks on their faces. Although she had to admit that as far as theories went, it was the only one that made any sense. "We don't know for sure if it was them, after all."
"Oh, it's more than a theory."
All heads in the room turned to see two people at the doorway, Gerard Alkwest with a triumphant smirk on his smarmy face, and Elaina Bishop, whose expression was as always hidden behind the porcelain mask she wore.
Elizabeth's eyes widened. "You're that girl I ran into earlier!"
"Elaina!" Sango gasped, not exactly thrilled by her presence. Gerard, even less so. "…And Gerard. What the hell are you two doing here?"
"Sango!" Elizabeth snapped. "Language!"
"Hello there," Gerard said, strolling into the room without a care in the world. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation about Blake and Sylvia. He turned to Elizabeth and gave her a polite smile, holding his hand out. "Pleasure to meet you, miss…?"
"Doctor," Elizabeth proudly corrected him, puffing her chest out and adjusting her glasses, shaking Gerard's hand. "Doctor Elizabeth Skye."
Gerard's hand froze mid-shake and his eyes widened, his complexion turning a sickly green shade as he pulled away from her, startled. Elizabeth stared at him in confusion.
"I-I see," he coughed, readjusting himself. "Now, from what I heard in the hall, you two were concerned about Blake and Sylvia's disappearance, isn't that right? And you think that it might be connected to that tablet Sango is holding."
"That's right," Elizabeth said. "But I don't think this is business that we should be involving students in. I hope you understand."
Gerard's smile managed to scramble its way back onto his face. "Oh, I totally understand," he assured her. "But you don't have to worry about that. Actually, I have some information that might be of help to you, so what say we do a little quid pro quo? Elaina and I are VERY interested in what happened to Blake, you can't imagine how concerned she is. So once we pool all our knowledge together, we can begin working on solutions."
Sango glanced at Elaina. That she definitely believed. With what she knew about Elaina, there was a chance that she would snap even more than Ayame. But at the same time, she didn't trust Gerard one bit, the scumbag. She didn't know what to do right now, so she glanced at Elizabeth, who seemed to be considering what he was saying.
"…Well, in the end, this isn't anything that you couldn't find in a book on the subject," Elizabeth admitted. She explained to Gerard exactly what she knew about the tablet, and the suspicions that she had about Blake and Sylvia's disappearance. Gerard listened in silence, calmly considering everything she said.
"…But you don't know for sure whether or not Blake and Sylvia were actually involved?" Gerard mused, Elizabeth nodding in affirmation. Gerard smiled. "Well, it looks like my information will be very helpful for you, after all."
Sango swallowed. She didn't like the look in his eye, she didn't like the smile on his face, and most of all she didn't like the fact that it was all making her heart beat anxiously as she considered the potential consequences.
"So, I was trying to find out what happened to the two of them myself," Gerard explained. "But rather than working from Blake's side of things, I tracked from Sylvia. So I was speaking with the last person who saw her, the rather exceptional Misato Daisan."
Sango gasped in surprise. Misato was a Mechadoll, so if she knew anything, well, that could be incredibly important.
"She relayed Sylvia's plans to me. Apparently, Sylvia needed a specially-programmed keycard to get access into this building," Gerard explained, trying to keep from smiling too much. "She was looking for something in your office, professor. And this was all two nights ago. I think that time sounds familiar to everyone, don't you?"
"…I see," Elizabeth said, nodding her head. She glanced at Aurore, who gave her a solemn frown. They both arrived at the same conclusion, that Sylvia had, in fact, broken into the office and was one of the parties absorbed by the tablet. And while there was nothing linking Blake to it directly, there was little doubt that Blake, as the only other person missing, was the holder of the other flashlight. So Blake had been consumed by the shadows.
"So it sounds like Blake's in that tablet over there," Gerard said, pointing at the stone tablet in Sango's arms.
"…Yes, it would seem so," Elizabeth admitted, nodding her head. "I'm sorry, Sango."
"Sorry?" Sango asked, confused. "What do you mean? So yeah, Blake got eaten by that shadow thing. But that's good, right? Like you said! He's still alive! That means all we have to do is get him back, isn't that right?"
"Sango…" Professor Reinhart sighed, glancing at Elizabeth briefly. He didn't want her to have to be responsible for carrying the weight of telling the poor girl the truth. It might destroy the relationship between the two of them. Aurore had not problem being the villain in this instance. "In all the records of the tablet, going back since the dawn of the written word, one thing has been made readily apparent about the tablet."
"What?" Sango asked. "What is it?"
"Whenever the tablet consumes someone, they are never seen nor heard from again," Aurore gravely told her. "There has not once been a reported instance of someone returning. Wherever they go, through that darkness… it's a one-way trip. So yes, Blake Harker may indeed be alive. But I would not count on seeing him ever again."
Sango's jaw dropped. She shook her head in disbelief, that couldn't be true. There was no way that Blake was really gone. She had just started getting used to the thought that he was still alive after all, to learn that he was truly gone, for real this time, not just a speculation… she couldn't believe it. She turned to look at Elizabeth, pleading with her eyes that it wasn't true.
Elizabeth sighed and nodded her head. Seeing it broke Sango's heart all over again.
"…I see," Sango said, frowning. She felt the urge to cry all over again. But she wasn't going to give into it. She felt like sobbing, but she wouldn't. She remembered Elizabeth's words just fine. She didn't have to be tough or strong. It was okay for her to be weak. It was okay for her to cry. She didn't need to be the strong-willed girl who never let anyone in.
But that didn't mean she needed to cry right now. Because that would feel like giving up.
And there was something else that she had to do. Something that she had been running away from, but couldn't avoid any longer. And Elaina Bishop of all people was the one who reminded her exactly of her responsibility, and why she couldn't let herself go and cry just yet.
"Unacceptable!" Elaina roared, slamming the wall with her hand angrily, the impact of the blow knocking some books off of the shelf.
"Elaina," Gerard warned, glancing at her.
"What?!" Elaina growled. "Do you expect me to just take her word for it? Accept the notion of this harmonia user that Blake is gone, and will never come back?! You damn well better believe that I won't accept ANY OF THIS!"
Her fury was so intense that her harmonia surged, sending a tornado of wind through the room, sending books flying everywhere.
"Elaina! Calm down!" Gerard shouted. "This isn't helping anyone!"
Elizabeth took a deep breath, the wind smacking her in the face as she did. She exhaled softly and sent a soothing wave of harmonia out into the young girl. Elaina froze, stunned, the comforting warm breeze washing over her so gently that she felt her anger, her pain, just slip away. The wind around her died down and she stumbled back, startled, staring at the woman in shock.
Elaina wasn't the only one. Sango was stunned at what she had just seen, Elizabeth had managed to calm down Elaina's out of control tempest of a temper without lifting a finger! She'd never seen anything like it!
"Elizabeth," Sango breathed, shaking her head in disbelief, "you… that harmonia?"
Elizabeth smiled at her.
"That… what was that?" Elaina gasped in shock.
"Young lady, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down," Elizabeth urged her gently. "Now, I can see that Blake Harker is clearly someone that means a lot to you. You must be the girl Sango was telling me about, the one he's dating?"
Sango winced. Wrong thing to say.
"Is that supposed to be a joke?" Elaina growled, the stabbing pain in her chest returning with a vengeance as the wind began to whip up around her. Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and Elaina flinched, calming down.
"Sorry, my mistake," Elizabeth sighed. "My, he was a popular boy, wasn't he?"
"Is," Sango snapped, shooting Elizabeth a warning look. "He's not dead yet."
"Yes, you're right," Elizabeth nodded. "Forgive me, Sango. I supposed I wasn't thinking properly. But even so… and as much as it pains me to say this, truly… Blake is gone. Sango. Elaina. He's gone, and he's not coming back."
"…I'm not so sure."
Of all people, Sango had never imagined those words to come from Gerard Alkwest. She turned to face him, the tablet nearly falling from her arms she was so stunned by what he had just said. She glanced at Silver for confirmation, but her Castform was just as flabbergasted as she was.
"Sorry, what was that?" Sango asked. "I don't think I heard you right."
"I'm sorry, but I don't have any smaller words," Gerard said, giving Sango a dismissive glance. "I'll settle for speaking slowly, will that make it easier for you to hear?"
"That's my future step-daughter you're talking to there, buster, you better watch your tongue," Elizabeth growled. Gerard flinched, glancing away from her. For reasons Sango didn't understand, he apparently had quite a weakness to the older woman. Maybe he was into milfs. Or maybe he had a type. Elizabeth and Elaina both had the same tall, curvaceous figure with extra emphasis on the chest, after all.
"Apologies. But as I was saying, I'm not so sure that there's nothing that can be done about Blake's disappearance," Gerard said, his eyes shining. He glanced in Sango's direction and she flinched, then realized he was staring at the tablet. She swallowed and held it a little tighter to her chest.
She didn't want him anywhere near that thing, who knows what he would do with it?
Aurore sighed and shook his head. "Every record that's ever been collected about the Tablet of Hungry Ghosts-"
Elizabeth loudly cleared her throat.
"…Sorry, the 'Tablet of Devouring Darkness'," he muttered, rolling his eyes. "The point is, every record states that no one has ever returned from whatever exists on the other side of that darkness. It's impossible. If it wasn't someone would have surely done it by now!"
Gerard smirked, staring at Sango. Not at the tablet this time, right at her. And she began to feel uncomfortable for real this time. He turned back to Aurore.
"I understand what you're saying, professor, really, I do. And Blake, certainly, I can definitely see where you're coming from when you say that he's trapped there forever, that there's no way for him to escape," Gerard agreed. Secretly, now that he knew exactly what had happened to Blake, no small part of him wanted to help the boy return. Now that he knew he was absolutely gone and would not involve himself with Elaina again, his urge to rescue the boy had dropped considerably. At this point, it was more to endear himself to Elaina; if he gave up on Blake now, he assumed the girl might never forgive him.
"Good," Aurore said, nodding. "Then you understand the position we're in, that thinking such thoughts as being able to rescue that boy are no more than a pipe dream?"
"I understand it," Gerard shrugged. "But I think Sango can agree with me on this that it isn't just Blake Harker we're concerning ourselves with, isn't that right?"
Aurore raised his eyebrow and Sango gasped in surprise.
"…There it is," Gerard smirked, pointing at her. He kept his eyes locked on the professor the entire time. "And believe me when I tell you that words like 'impossible' have an odd habit of falling by the wayside whenever Sylvia Driscoll is involved."
Sango's heart tightened. Maybe there was just a sliver of hope, after all. Still, even if there was the tiniest of threads to cling to, it didn't change what she ultimately would need to do. Elaina had shown her a grim reminder of the reaction of another girl.
Now that she knew for sure, she knew that she had to speak with Ayame Toujou. She had to let her know the truth. Ayame absolutely deserved that much from her. Everyone did. They all deserved to know what happened to Blake.
"It's impossible," Elizabeth said, shaking her head. She stared at the sadness on Sango's face, and her own expression softened. "But I want to believe it isn't."
Sango smiled back at her.
"Now, if you don't mind, could I take a look at that tablet?" Gerard asked, turning to Sango. "I believe it's important that I study it for myself. There might be something there that you missed."
Aurore and Elizabeth shared a look, neither professor too impressed by the teenager thinking he knew better than professionals. Sango tightened her grip and looked cautiously up at him before glancing bat to Elizabeth, who nodded. Sango nodded back glumly and turned to Gerard, handing the tablet over to him.
"My, lighter than I thought, and-" Gerard's voice froze before his lips as he turned the stone tablet over in his hand, staring at the strange symbols etched into the surface. "Oh, my. That's quite something alright."
"What?" Elizabeth asked, curious. "What is it?!"
"The words, transcribed here," Gerard mused, running his eyes over them. "I can read them as clearly as if I was reading Kalosian."
Everyone in the room gasped.
"You can read the tablet?!" Aurore sputtered.
"Don't even think about it!" Elizabeth snapped.
"Put it down! Bad Gerard!" Sango chastised.
"Do it," Elaina urged. THAT caught everyone's attention, and even broke Gerard out of his trance. He stared at her like he had been betrayed. But Elaina didn't baulk. "If you read those words… you can summon those shadows again, right? I wasn't paying perfect attention, but I know that reading from the tablet opens that portal. Which means, if it goes to the same place every time… then that means Blake's behind it, right? So do it. Open it."
Gerard raised his eyebrow. "No, I don't think I-"
He didn't have a chance to finish his sentence. Elaina had walked up to him and pried the tablet from his stunned fingers, before he could even blink. She glanced down at the words, praying she could see them for herself.
And as they glowed in her hands, she could see them plain as day.
So, Gerard and Elaina are able to read from the tablet?! What could this mean? Blake, Gerard, and Elaina could all read from it, but Sylvia, Aurore, and Elizabeth couldn't! What is the criteria for reading it, I wonder?
