Let's see what's going on with Caelia. Is she really the one to blame? Sadly, fanfiction is once again not showing recent reviews. I'm guessing this is just one of those things that happens when you update daily. But still, review!
As for the Best Girl nominations, still going strong. Anyone else left to add?
Currently Nominated: Sango, Cynthia, Elaina, Kate, Dakota, Ayame, Marion, Kitty, Serefina, Madison
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 229
Sylvia hummed to herself as she skipped down the road towards the Sandbox, Specter floating beside her. There was a nice scent in the air, the smell of burning wood mixing together with the crispness of a morning after a rainstorm.
"Ah, how nice…" Sylvia purred, taking a deep breath. "The perfect morning for a surprise visitor."
Sylvia turned her head, her eyes sparkling with excitement at the girl standing behind her. Caelia looked at sloppy as she often did, wearing a lumpy, bulky jacket over her clothes, and sweatpants instead of her uniform skirt. Her hair was the same mess as it always was, and as for her face…
Caelia's expression was unreadable. Well, unreadable to most. But Sylvia was a people person. And just a glance could tell her than this girl wasn't the one she had faced just a couple of months ago. That girl had just been an empty shell. But this one, there was… something more. Sylvia couldn't quite say what that something more was, it was just… more.
"How may I help you, little miss fire girl?" Sylvia purred.
What's going on here? Under orders from her highness, Kate had been tailing Caelia since the trainer had left the infirmary. It wasn't an assignment she had been particularly pleased with. Kate had much rather accompanied her highness on her visit to Blake. She winced. Was Blake okay? She'd heard that his father's boat had been set on fire… what if he was hurt? Oh, if something happened to him…
Kate shook her head. No, no, head in the game, girl. You don't have time to focus on that! Her highness is counting on you to keep an eye on Caelia, you can't just shirk that responsibility and worry all willy-nilly about Blake and his accident!
Then she pictured Blake, lying in his bed. Oh, what if he was badly burned? What if he was in a coma?! No, no… stop thinking that way!
What if she needed to be there for him? Oh, what if she could nurse him back to health? She… she could do that, if he needed to. She… she could even squeeze herself into one of those sexy nurse outfits if she had to! If-if it would help, of course. Not just for his sake! Not because he might like to see… something like that. Kate in a nurse's outfit… would he like to see her in something like that? What if… what if he would want to… could she really treat him… "that way"? …Absolutely not!
Kate had gotten so lost in her fantasizing, she almost lost track of Caelia. She scurried after the sloppy girl.
She was currently hiding behind one of the large trees lining the road towards the outskirts of campus, watching Caelia from a good enough distance. She was just supposed to keep tabs on her, follow her and see what she was up to. From what she'd heard about Caelia, she expected her to just head straight back to her dormitory. But no, it seemed that she was doing something else, entirely. Why would she be taking with Sylvia Driscoll, of all people?
Kate strained her ears, but she could hear what the two were talking about. She peaked out from behind the tree.
I wonder if I can get closer… Kate gulped. Caelia was unnerving enough on her own, but Sylvia Driscoll, she was just-
No way.
Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!
Sylvia was staring right at her. She was talking to Caelia… but she was staring right at her. She'd caught Sylvia's eye for a brief moment, and… she knew. Sylvia could see her, plain as day.
Kate went white with fear, hiding herself behind the large tree and sinking to the ground. She clenched her arms around her knees, hyperventilating in fear. This… this is insane. Why am I so afraid of her? Sylvia is just… she's just a girl, so…
Kate raised her head, and nearly passed out. Floating above her was a Shuppet, Sylvia's Shuppet.
"Shuppet!" Specter cackled, opening her mouth. An ominous orb of light moved towards Kate, floating in an erratic pattern. Kate's eyes were drawn to it, and as she tried to follow the movements of the weird, glowing sphere, she found herself getting dizzy. She held her hand over her mouth as a wave of nausea rolled over her. Kate struggled to keep her bearings, slumping over onto the ground to resist vomiting.
Specter returned to Sylvia's side, Sylvia patting the ghost on the side of the head.
"Shall we be off, then?" Sylvia purred. Caelia stared at her silently. Sylvia licked her lips, and shrugged. She turned on her heel and headed on towards the Sandbox, Caelia following her.
Well now, I wonder what that girl was hoping to find, following after us like that? Sylvia mused. She glanced over her shoulder at Caelia, a cat-like smile spreading across her face. Caelia was quite an intriguing sort, especially, Sylvia noted, when taking her relationship with Blake into account. She had extended an offer to Caelia at one point to join the Phantom and his organization, but Caelia had quite plainly told her where to shove it, and stated that she had no intention of becoming a tool for him to use.
With that in mind… I wonder what brings her to our side now? Sylvia asked herself. As for that girl Kate… was she working on Alcea's orders? To follow me, perhaps? Or Caelia? I wonder… Well, no sense in concerning myself with that now…
As they walked, Sylvia reviewed what she knew about Caelia. Caelia used fire types. Caelia generally had a flat affect, but was quite obviously enamored with Blake, to some extent. Vaguely possessive of him, as well. Dressed weird, walked weird, acted weird. Shabby and unappealing on most standard metrics, which made her quite an alluring piece to Sylvia's eyes, but not many others. So why would someone like Kate Nomia, a known stooge of Alcea Vermeil, be following after a girl like that?
Personal grooming and fashion tips, perhaps? Sylvia snickered at that thought. No, no, she must be following Caelia for Alcea's sake… I wonder why…
Sylvia's thoughts went to Alcea next. She'd heard quite a lot on the grass type trainer, recently. And one phenomenal one tied into Caelia herself. The two had purportedly had a match, which Alcea was the winner of, albeit barely. But somehow, Sylvia doubted that this was Alcea keeping an eye on her rival. No, there was something else there… Alcea was rumored to be in a relationship with Blake. Sylvia knew Blake well enough to doubt the voracity of that, but… there was the matter of the engagement that had caught her ear. Blake… yes, that had to be it. Blake was the key to all of this. Blake was the only link between Caelia and Alcea. Hell, Blake was the only link between Caelia and anything, from what she could see.
Is Blake cheating on Alcea with Caelia? Or vice-versa? No, no, he isn't the type… besides, I've heard the rumors about his close relationship with Ayame, and the way he acted in her room that night… at the end of the day, it seems unlikely that Blake would be in love with anyone… so what's the connection? I suppose Caelia is infatuated with him, could that be enough? Maybe…
"Caelia," Sylvia called out in a sing-song voice, a syrupy-sweet smile on her face as she addressed the wisp of a girl. "You know Blake, right?"
Caelia had no response.
"Did you know, he and I once got real hot and heavy in bed, a few weeks back? You're cool with that, right?"
The flash of rage in her eye was enough of a response. It answered all of Sylvia's questions immediately, with just a glance.
Oh yes… So that's it… Sylvia turned back to look where she was walking, smiling internally. Caelia's feelings for Blake… quite strong, it seems. If she heard the rumors about Alcea's engagement as Sylvia had, then she almost certainly would have gone to do something about that… that must have been what their battle was about.
So that explains why Caelia would be obsessed with Alcea… but not the other way around. Why would Alcea keep following after her? And for that matter, why would Caelia be coming to her? No, there had to be something more going on here.
That's right… I had heard that Blake was involved in a fire earlier today? Could that have something to do with it? Yes, that had to be the case. Caelia was the one who had set the fire. Or at least, that must be what Alcea suspected. That was how deep her obsession had grown. Sylvia wasn't entirely sure if that was the truth, but it made sense. Kate was following after Caelia to keep tabs on her for Alcea. Now that only left one question unanswered in Sylvia's mind, and it was the most intriguing question of them all.
What does Caelia Auburne want with little old me? She wondered.
"We're here~" Sylvia purred, stopping in front of the Sandbox's doors. She took out her phone, and called the Phantom, explaining the situation. "Oh, I see…"
Sylvia turned to Caelia, and smiled.
"It seems he's expecting you, how fortuitous," Sylvia smiled at Caelia, but Caelia didn't appear to share the joke. What a pity.
She opened the doors and stepped inside, permitting Caelia's entrance even though she wasn't a normally accepted student. The large building was devoted to the Research Course and their experiments, with a large workshop making up the core of the structure. There were a multitude of offshoot testing rooms, but the main section was certainly the large auditorium-turned-workshop where the student projects were all being tested on. Today, though, the Sandbox was empty. It seemed that when the Phantom had said he was expecting Caelia, he wasn't just saying that. Was there a connection there that she wasn't aware of?
"Well, he wants me to take you to testing room 3, Caelia, shall we go?" Sylvia asked, as though Caelia would have any say in the matter. "Are you looking for anyone in particular, might I ask? Do you have an appointment? Or are you just here for a tour?"
Caelia didn't reply.
"If you don't answer, I can't let you in," Sylvia replied, stopping in front of the door to the test room. "I ask again. What business do you have with us?"
"I have an appointment," Caelia replied quietly, narrowing her eye. "Let. Me. In."
Sylvia's eyes flashed in excitement, and she nodded her head. It seemed there was more to this than met the eye. She wondered if Valon would be in the room? It had to be, right? If not… who could she be looking for?
Sylvia opened the door and headed inside. She was slightly disappointed. It wasn't the Phantom, but someone else entirely.
The testing room, like all of them, was larger than it probably needed to be, in order to test out pokemon moves and the experiments needed to boost them. It was a big and empty white room, which made it seem even larger than it really was. The ceiling towered over their heads, because each of the testing rooms was a perfect cube. The well-lit room was almost empty, save for the person who Caelia was there to meet.
Sylvia scowled. This was one of the few members of the Phantom's organization that she wasn't all the fond of. But at the same time, she had to force a smile to her face, and flounced over to him, making sure to keep her distance. Caelia stepped into the room, the white door clicking shut behind her.
"Well, well, well, Caelia Auburne, you came after all. And here I thought I was dreaming when I received your call."
The senior in question was Keahi Revanche, and he was the kind of unnerving that Caelia was not; the boring kind, in Sylvia's opinion. He was tall, for a senior, slim and tan, but hard to get a bead. He had long silver-colored hair, only a few shades darker than Valon's, and his bangs covered most of his face, shaggy and twisted and making it difficult to see what he was thinking. If one looked closely, they could see his almond-shaped red eyes piercing through, but that required looking closely, and Sylvia had little interest in something like that. The most she could see of him was the tired smile he always wore, and the air of discomfort he seemed to exude. He wore his usual white lab coat over his uniform. He took a step towards Caelia, who was looking back at him with her normal, stoic expression. She stepped forward slowly as well, and the two were face to face with each other. Sylvia hung back as the third wheel, not entirely sure what was going on.
"So, K, would you mind telling me what's going on?" Sylvia asked. "Caelia here said she had an appointment with you! I wonder what it could be about~"
"She did call me…" K mused. "Which is interesting, considering we've barely ever spoken."
Now this was intriguing. Did Caelia have connections in the Phantom's organization outside of her? She had assumed Caelia knew practically no one. It seemed that was not quite the truth.
"I also heard that you went to visit Blake this morning," K added, smiling slightly. Sylvia didn't need to see his eyes to know it wasn't a happy smile. "How is he doing by the way?"
"Was it you?" Caelia asked. Her voice was cold, but strained. To Sylvia, it sounded like she was trying to keep hold of her temper. But did Caelia even lose her temper? Sylvia didn't want to know what that would look like.
"Me? Me who?" K asked, tilting his head to the side, his silver hair shaking. "Why not explain a little more? You're so quiet, Caelia. How about you use some big girl words?"
Caelia didn't respond to him with anything other than a glare. Meanwhile, Sylvia was busy trying to figure out how there was a connection between a senior in the Phantom's organization, and this antisocial freshman who spent all of her time locked up in her room. She glanced at Specter, who was also on edge. She was prepared for this to turn violent. Caelia looked like she was a few words shy of snapping and attacking everyone in the room.
"Where is Richard Valon?" Caelia asked. "Let me speak to him."
"He's busy," K replied, his smile growing wider. "He doesn't have time for you right now. You'll speak with me."
Caelia scowled.
"…Fine. Blake. Boat. Fire." She laid out the details clearly. Her eye narrowed. "You?"
K's smile vanished. Sylvia felt the air around him change. She leaned in, in spite of her better judgment. This looked like it was going to get good.
"Me? You know full well I'm not the sort who plays with fire, missy." His voice was threatening, and was that… fear Sylva heard?
"Answer," Caelia replied. Her voice dropped lower. Sylvia gulped. "Watching Blake. Followed Blake. Watched Blake. Saw someone. Watching. A pokemon. Used fire. Couldn't see. Fire hit the boat. Who."
Sylvia's eyes widened. So it was arson! And Caelia had seen it first-hand. She wasn't the culprit, but a witness. And she suspected K? Or someone in the Phantom's organization? That didn't make sense. It wasn't in their interest to do anything to him, was it?
But K wasn't saying anything. He was just standing there, cool as a cucumber. After leaving Caelia to stew for a few moments, he began to speak.
"Well, fine then. It seems you don't believe me," K said, shrugging. "Sorry to tell you this, but that doesn't make you less wrong. I'm an honest sort, Caelia. I have no problems with telling you a damn thing. So when I tell you that I had nothing to do with burning down your little boyfriend's boat, then you should know I had nothing to do with it. Do I make myself clear?"
Sylvia had to admit, for all his faults, she hadn't known K to be a liar. The Phantom had relied on him many times for his honest assessments of their plans, and being the kind of blunt where he could directly call Richard Valon out on his problems and mistakes and not face backlash. K was a prick, and a big part of what made him a prick was how willing he was to be a prick, even when tact or delicacy, or in Sylvia's case, subterfuge, was the more effective strategy. If he said he didn't do it, then there was a pretty good chance that he was telling the truth.
Of course, Sylvia completely understood that there wasn't a good shot at convincing the delusional Caelia Auburne of that fact. Especially when Sylvia was unaware of what sort of bad blood existed between them that made this entire exchange feel so damn uncomfortable.
"Then who?" Caelia demanded.
"How rude. For such an empty shell, you're being rather uppity," K snapped. "I don't have anything more to say to you. I just agreed to meet so I could see what you wanted."
K feigned a yawn.
"But you're boring me, all this talk about some nobody. Scurry along, little missy. Head on back to your room like a good girl."
"Not without answers."
K sighed, and shrugged his shoulders in a "well, I tried" gesture. He reached into his pocket and withdrew something that resembled a garage door clicker.
"Well, if you insist," he replied, pressing the button. The lights snapped off, and the room was bathed in darkness before Sylvia could even process what he was doing.
A few seconds later, the screaming began.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Caelia's voice echoed out across the empty, blackened room, the sound of her falling ringing out. "NO! NOT… not the darkness! NO! Stop! Stop it!"
"Are we done now?" K asked, his cold voice booming over Caelia's screams of panic. "Are you ready to-"
Suddenly, Sylvia's eyes were drawn to a flash of light that illuminated the room. And with the light came flames. Fire danced forward, bathing the room in a pale orange glow. Caelia rose to her feet, her balance unsteady. Scurrying out of her bulky coat was a small red Vulpix, who let another swirl of flames erupt from its mouth.
Now it was K's turn to panic. He fell back, his eyes wide in fear, and he scurried away from the small pokemon and the flames it was conjuring.
"You-! You! Stop this! Wretched brat!" K sputtered, holding his arms in front of his face in a defensive posture.
"Knew you would…" Caelia panted, her eye twitching. She was still trembling, the grip of fear clearly holding her even in the orange glow of her pokemon's move. Sylvia remembered a similar reaction during the escape room. She knew that Caelia didn't handle the dark well, and this just proved that it wasn't a one-time thing. That girl had problems, it was fairly obvious.
"Had Willa… hide in coat… when darkness… could help…" Caelia replied, glaring at K. She took a few steps closer to him, fire swirling around her and her Vulpix.
"Get back, you bitch!" K hissed, scrambling away from her.
"Know my weakness… know yours," Caelia said. She glanced down at her coat, pulling it open and grabbing a long, thin object in one of the pockets. She pulled it out. It was strange, with a long, black tube sticking out of one end, the other being a grip of some kind. Her eye fell on a switch, and she flicked it, a thin blue flame coming out of the tip of the tube. It was a fancy kind of lighter, Sylvia realized. Caelia advanced on K, bringing the lighter closer to him. Her eye was as cold and empty as always, but in the flickering light of her Vulpix's flames it seemed to glow with energy. Sylvia sighed. She didn't want to get involved, but if this kept up, there was going to be a significant incident. If the room hadn't been made to resist pokemon attacks, Caelia might have burned down the Sandbox already, for all she cared.
Sylvia took a step forward, when she felt something underneath her foot. Glancing down, she saw it was the clicker K had used. It seemed that after the fire had come out, K had flung it aside in his panic to get away from the girl. Well, that made things easier. With a push of the button, light flooded the room again, Caelia blinking in mild surprise. She glanced at Sylvia. Sylvia shrugged.
K was curled up on the ground, trembling, Caelia standing over him. Sylvia knew that the man despised fire-type pokemon, but this was quite an interesting thing to discover. The coldness in Caelia's eye as she looked down at the prostrated student was alluring as well.
"Let's all calm down, shall we?" Sylvia asked, stepping closer to Caelia. She glance at the Vulpix, whose flames had begun to die down. "You turn the fire off, and we can discuss this like rational adults, shall we?"
Caelia glanced at K, frowning.
"Thought you could threaten me… afraid of fire… thought you could… pathetic…" she muttered, shaking her head. She glanced at Willa and nodded, the fire pokemon's flames dispersing entirely. Caelia flicked the switch, her lighter shutting off as well. The only lights remaining were those in the room. Even so, K was panting in fear, struggling to regain his composure and catch his breath.
"We have… much to discuss…" Caelia murmured, staring down at him scornfully.
It seems like there's a little bit more going on here than we thought at first…
