Here we are, at the conclusion of Sylvia's little time travel mini-arc. This one's pretty brutal. Hopefully everything turns out okay though. Don't read if you don't want to see child abuse. It's dark.

KedharS: More like depressing

JoshGamerV: That's quite a lot of interesting theorizing. And Sylvia was never blind.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 815

Sylvia prepared for the knock on the door. It may not have been the best time to implement her escape plan, but improvisation was one of her specialties.

At the sound of knocking, the other kids scurried back to the far wall. Sylvia was confused what they were doing, but assumed it was a fear response. She wasn't afraid, though. She sidled up next to the door.

Sylvia wasn't expecting to tackle the man down or anything, or even run through the gap in the door. Even if she did manage to get away, then what? She hadn't made any impact on any of the others, she could tell that even if she got out on a fluke it wouldn't change the feeling of helplessness that had infected the other children.

Right now, she wanted to get a better scope of the situation and see if she could study the locks. One good look would be all she needed to understand it better.

The locks unlatched and the door opened. A tall man in a black robe stepped in, his eyes scanning the room. In his hand he carried a grimy bucket full of a gross brownish-green sludge that Sylvia didn't want to identify.

"Dinner time," he snarled, dropping the bucket in front of the door. He turned to Sylvia. She smiled innocently up at him.

The man drove his beefy fist up into Sylvia's gut, wiping the smile off her face. He held her aloft on his hand for a few seconds as she hacked and coughed, the air knocked out of her lungs, and then he pulled his arm back and she slammed into the ground.

Sylvia saw red, her vision flashing in and out as she scrambled to breathe. The man didn't say a word, didn't acknowledge her state at all. He just turned and walked out the door, locking it tightly behind him.

Sylvia scrabbled across the wood floor, her thoughts scrambling. She managed to regain her composure and sit up, panting. What… what was that?! She'd just been standing there and he'd…

She quickly seized control of her thoughts, reasserting her rational mind to put things together so she wasn't so panicked. She had just been hit by that guy. Why? What had she done? That was clear, it wasn't that she'd done anything or said anything to him. Which meant that it was a random act of violence (which was possible, but not likely) or, more likely, she had violated some rule that she wasn't aware of.

Rei's words confirmed it for her.

"The knock means go to the back of the room," he muttered as he walked past her. "Don't do it again or it'll be worse."

Ah, so that was it. They wanted to keep the kids from escaping or fighting back, so whenever someone came to the door they would signal with a knock. And if any kids weren't at the back of the wall, then they would be violently punished to force them back in line. It was a rather intelligent little tactic, she had to give these people credit.

I think that punch might have cracked my ribs… this child body is really pathetic… Sylvia turned to look at the other children. They had all moved away from the wall, like Rei, and had gathered around the bucket of slop.

It was disgusting. They dug their hands into the sludge and pulled out heaps of it, shoveling it into their mouths as fast as they could. They were eating that nauseating stuff, Sylvia could smell it from here, it was horrid.

Maybe it was the blow to her stomach, but Sylvia felt the urge to throw up.

"Move!" Val stormed through the crowd, pushing her way past the other kids. She was in pretty good shape compared to them, so it wasn't that difficult. She jammed both hands into the bucket and came out with a big heap of the stuff, bringing it over to Rei.

"Here," she said, gently feeding some of the strange substance to him. He ate it in silence, his eye staring away at nothing.

Well now… that's quite interesting. Sylvia had an eye for things that were out of place. And this girl, Val, she was very out of place. Unlike the other kids, who were so detached from the world that they didn't care if they died, even Rei, Val quite clearly had something she cared about.

And that was Rei.

Young love is such a sweet thing… Sylvia couldn't help but smile as she approached the two. That was it. That was her way in. These kids had been so beaten down and defeated that there was no way they would try to escape.

But Val was different from them. Val had something she cared about. And that meant she had something to lose.

And if there was something to lose, Sylvia could use that to her advantage.

"Val," she said, the brunette looking up at her with suspicious eyes.

"None for you Ayame," she hissed. "Get your own."

"I'm fine," Sylvia smiled. "After that hit I can't really eat much."

"Then what? Rei's mine." She hugged him tightly, glaring defensively at Sylvia. Sylvia found it just precious how attached she was, it made her wonder what would happen if Rei actually was taken from her.

"You like him a lot, huh?" Sylvia asked.

"Duh," Val nodded.

"Do you mind if we talk a bit? In private?" Sylvia asked sweetly. Val didn't look so sure about that.

"But… I don't wanna leave him," she said, hugging him a little tighter. She leaned over and kissed his eye over his bandage. "He needs me."

"What if I told you how you could help him?" Sylvia asked. It was certainly easier to manipulate children than adults and teenagers, even if not by very much.

Val looked at Sylvia like the kid who'd just been promised the keys to the candy shop. "Really?!" She asked, nodding. She turned to Rei. "Rei, I'll be back soon, okay?"

She dropped the rest of the sludge into Rei's good hand and followed Sylvia, wiping her hands on her ragged dress.

If the girl had a tail it would be wagging. "Tell me, tell me!" She whispered, a mixture between excited and frantic. Sylvia could tell that this was about more than just helping Rei, she was honestly scared about what could happen to him.

She really did care about the boy, bless her soul.

"I was thinking about escaping," Sylvia whispered, like the other girl wouldn't have been able to figure that out for herself. "And bringing Rei with me, along with anyone else who wants to go. We need to get out of here, this is wrong."

Val's face fell. She sighed, and turned away from Sylvia.

"I knew it. This was dumb."

Sylvia didn't like being called dumb. And she was a little peeved at this girl's response. She grabbed Val's shoulder and turned her back. "What's so dumb about it? You want to just stay here? I thought you wanted to help Rei? Don't you love him?"

Val flushed. "Of-Of course I want to help him! But we can't escape! It isn't possible!"

She let out another sigh. "They'll just punish us more. We gotta… we just gotta hold on. I can help him, keep him safe, mend his wounds…"

Her smile was shaky and hollow, it was clear she was trying to convince herself more than she was actually being honest about her feelings.

Sylvia, on the other hand, was pretty much fed up with this annoying girl. She was making things so much more difficult for herself. And even though Sylvia knew that Val would respond that way, she didn't like dealing with people this dumb.

Kids were a pain.

"Val, that won't work," Sylvia said quietly. "If Rei stays here, he's going to die."

Okay, so she was lying. Val needed a good lie to move her forward. And if Rei stayed here, sure, maybe he wouldn't die, but his future would be a hell of a lot darker. That promised night was coming, and it wouldn't be good.

Of course, if the timeline fractured to pieces from this it wouldn't be very good either, but Sylvia would still consider that a victory.

"Rei… Rei won't die! I won't let him!" Val cried. She was no longer worrying about other people overhearing. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she grabbed Sylvia's dress, pushing her to the ground. "You're a meanie! A meanie liar, Ayame!"

Wailing, she turned and ran back to Rei, hugging him tightly and crying. She was afraid that if she let go, he'd somehow die.

Sylvia had expected that response, too. Val cared about Rei, that much was obvious, but she was still too afraid to fight for his future. Which meant she was trapping herself in a delusion where she could keep Rei safe and not have to worry about the bad things.

She wanted to save him, but was afraid of the punishment they would incur by trying to escape. It was honestly pathetic, but not at all a surprise.

I guess I'll have to show them how it's done, then, Sylvia decided.

The sun had set by the time Sylvia's plan was ready. If this place worked the way she suspected it did, then the time she'd have to work was brief, but possible.

The kids had injuries that were spread out across a variety of times. That meant that whatever was happening to them, it wasn't happening all at once.

She had a pretty good idea what WOULD happen. It was a daily thing, no, a nightly one. They would probably come for the kids, maybe one, maybe more, and take them to do god knows what to them for the night, while the other kids waited here in fear.

Which meant that she had to be one of the ones to be chosen. If she was chosen, that would give her the chance to get away. If she was just forced to stay back in the room all night, that would be a whole different problem, because this room really was pretty inescapable for what she had available.

That just left one problem, getting Val (and thereby Rei) to escape with her.

She'd been working on Val for the last few hours, trying to convince her and Rei that the only way they would be safe was if they escaped. She'd ignored the other kids, it was obvious that their spirits had been broken a long time ago.

Val was the hope now. She was the one Sylvia needed to win over. And lucky for her, she was getting more and more onboard, even if she clearly didn't want to go through with it.

And then came the decision.

It went exactly as Sylvia had predicted it would, her guess about these people was right on the money. They knocked on the door, and the kids pulled to the back of the room as they had been trained to do, Sylvia joining them this time.

One of the men stood by the door to keep the kids from escaping, while another walked up to the crowd and looked over them like studying apples at the grocery store.

Even the person they selected was who Sylvia expected.

"You." The man stormed into the room and grabbed Rei by his good arm, yanking him out of the crowd. Rei didn't respond, but Val did.

"B-But he just went two days ago!" She cried. The man silenced her with a punch in the jaw, knocking her over.

"Shut it or you'll be next!" He barked, pulling Rei out of the room. The door locked behind them.

"I told you," Sylvia whispered as she helped Val to her feet. "If Rei stays here, he's going to die."

Sylvia knew that Rei would be the one to be taken. The reason she knew was because Ryoko had sent her here. To this night. Not tomorrow, not the day before, but this day.

And the only reason she would choose this specific date would be because Rei would be getting abused tonight. For whatever reason, this was a gift for Sylvia, and apparently part of that gift would entail seeing Blake/Rei suffer.

But she didn't expect to hear the screams.

Apparently, wherever they were doing the torture, it wasn't that far away. It came from beneath them, and Sylvia wondered if it was happening in the basement.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGH!" Rei's voice shook the floor, echoing along with the sizzling hiss of something hot pressed against flesh. Sylvia winced. She was pretty tough, but even this was testing her tolerance threshold.

Val was catatonic. She curled up on a mattress and clutched her knees, rocking back and forth. "He'll be okay, he'll be okay," she whispered to herself. "He'll be okay…"

"Listen to what they're doing to him," Sylvia said, crouching down next to her. The sickening crack of a bone snapping pierced her ears. "And why? Because it's senseless violence and they find it fun, that's why. It doesn't matter to them. There's no reason at all."

Actually she had no idea if these people at the orphanage were torturing Rei and the others for a reason. She didn't know what reason it would be, though. And what was important was Val understanding how senseless this whole mess was.

"It's going to continue like this, you know." Sylvia felt like a demon, whispering silky promises into the little girl's ear. She may have been working for the right goals, but that didn't make her actions any less of a manipulation. "You said it yourself, Rei already got tortured recently. But they're torturing him again anyway."

"It's not fair… I… I can fix him… make him feel better, keep him safe…" she muttered to herself, clearly deranged from the horrific sounds she was hearing. "I… I do it all the time, it's not a big deal… not… a big deal…"

A sickening squelch was next. Sylvia didn't even want to know what made a sound like that.

"If you don't want to escape, you don't have to," she continued. "But I'm going to escape. Do you really think you can keep Rei safe, leaving him here like this? Even if you patch up his wounds and make him feel better, if this continues…"

"You can't escape," Val muttered, shaking her head. "No one can escape…"

Sylvia knew that was just plain false.

"No, I'll escape," she promised her. "I'll be gone by tomorrow morning. You'll see."

One way or another, she would be leaving this place. Ryoko would be coming to pick her up. She may not have been able to escape the building, but she'd be damned if she was going to live a second childhood in this nightmare of a place.

"I'll probably be chosen tonight," Sylvia continued. "When I am… I want you to help me escape. Come with me. And we can all get out together."

Val looked at her. She looked incredibly pathetic, eyes runny and nose dripping snot. But Sylvia could see how badly she wanted to get Rei out of there, and that was more than enough for her. She would have smiled at her moment of triumph, but that felt wrong.

It was hours of this. Hours of listening to Rei go through things no child should go through. When he was brought back to them, his body was in even worse shape than before. His arm had been broken again, and two of his fingers were bent at grotesque angles. His tunic was red from the blood seeping through it.

Sylvia was surprised how well he'd been patched up. Though she supposed it made sense. If their toys were broken beyond repair, then they wouldn't be able to play with them anymore. So they were taking great pains to keep Rei and the others in working order.

Sylvia wasn't the next child taken, which was good for her. It meant she would have the chance to continue working on Rei and Val.

"You see what happens?" She said in her "I told you so" voice. "Rei, don't you think you should escape, before it's too late? While you still have legs that can walk, you need to get out of here." She looked around the room. "We all do."

Rei was silent. His eye was as dark as Sylvia had ever seen it.

"He can't hear you," Val whispered. She was hugging him, soothingly patting the few spots on his body that weren't wounded. "He's injured. But it's okay, right Rei?" She asked, her voice shaky. Her eyes were nearly as hollow as his. "I'll… I'll kiss it, and make it better…"

She placed gentle kisses on all his wounds, and kissed him on the lips a few times. If it had any effect on Rei, the boy didn't show it.

"R-Rei…" Val said, her voice shaking, "we have to get out of here. Ayame is right, we need to escape."

Rei shook his head. "We can't. Can't escape… not yet… can't…"

"Rei…" Val sobbed.

Sylvia sighed. That was it. That was the end. He just wouldn't listen.

"Where would we go?" Rei whispered, staring up at her. "Where… would we go?"

Sylvia didn't have an answer for that.

She spent the rest of her short time trying to convince the two of them. But in the end, they wouldn't budge. Not even Val, who so desperately wanted to get Rei out of there, could convince him to escape. And without Rei, she was staying.

And then they came for Sylvia.

"This one looks nice," the man cackled, rubbing his hand up her unblemished arm. "Gonna be fun to show her what suffering's like."

As Sylvia was dragged away, she gave Rei and Val one last look as if to say "this is your last chance".

The two of them looked away.

When they got to the door, Sylvia tripped. This dragged the man down a little, having to carry her whole body weight instead of just pulling her.

"Argh, worthless brat," the man scoffed, yanking her up to her feet. This put him in just the position she needed him in. She lunged forward and shoved her face into his groin, and bit down. Hard.

The man's screams of pain were louder than any of the kids' had been that night. He fell back and let Sylvia go, and she immediately lunged for the other man by the door. He was bigger, but she'd caught him off-guard, and knew how to deal with bigger people. She punched the side of his knee, causing him to fall over, and then swung in for the real damage.

Just startling these two wouldn't be enough. They'd catch up to her soon, and they would definitely be faster.

So she held up her fingers and dug them into the man's eyes. And she didn't stop until she saw red.

After blinding both of the guards, their screams had definitely alerted others. She flung the door open as wide as it could, and turned to the kids. "Come on! Let's go!"

Not one of them moved.

"Where would we go?" Rei repeated to her.

And that was that. Sylvia didn't give them another thought. She turned and ran down the hall, remembering the layout of the place due to her phenomenal memory. She'd swiped a keyring from the blinded guard, which she used to fling open the front door, and then the main gate. She didn't stop running until she cleared the grounds, standing on the hill overlooking the hotel. There were shouts from inside, and people would be coming out any second now.

But her ride was here.

Sylvia threw herself to the ground at Ryoko's feet, panting. Her ribs were definitely broken, and she could barely breathe.

"You knew, didn't you?" She growled, glaring up at her. "You knew they'd choose to stay."

"From the beginning these events were destined to happen. They have always happened, and always will happen. There was nothing you could have done," Ryoko calmly stated. With a snap of her fingers, Sylvia was back to her old self again.

"Maybe that's true," she growled, turning back to the hotel. She clutched the keys tightly in her hand. "But I can still do this."

She only had one shot. But she flung the keys as hard as she could at the barred window, hoping they wouldn't bounce off.

Maybe Sylvia had better aim than she'd thought, or maybe it was interference from Ryoko. But the keys soared silently through the air, barely even jangling, and broke through the glass.

"They know I escaped now," she said, turning back to Ryoko. "They know it's possible. And that'll be enough to get them to escape for themselves."

"That… is also something that was meant to happen," Ryoko silently said. Sylvia glared at her. The ground lit up green.

"I do hope you appreciated your gift," Ryoko said, Celebi sending Sylvia forward in time.

So in the end, it was all for nothing. She couldn't change the timeline after all.