In this chapter, we enter Blake's dream-world, and take a look at the internal dilemma that he's going through. Will he be able to sort out his problems peacefully? Or will he only grow more lost? Who knows?
Pokemon Academy Best Girl Elimination Round is in the final leg. Some girls are probably out of the running, but nothing's set in stone just yet! Vote for your 5 favorites, the poll is in my profile, right at the top. Time's running out, make sure you get your votes in!
Nominated: Sango, Cynthia, Elaina, Kate, Dakota, Ayame, Marion, Kitty, Serefina, Madison, Alcea
KedharS: Assuming it's the real her.
Aquahaze675: Not exactly.
DJ Dib Dab: Well, it's certainly a possibility…
ConfusedCradily: I wouldn't say she's that nosy, she just wants to help. She wants to let him know that she's there for him. She cares about him, she just doesn't know what the right way to do it is.
Thunder Fire: Guess so.
Mercury – Mercuraneous: Theoretically. She doesn't really have that ability, as we'll see.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 262
"Hello, Blake," Ryoko said for the third time. "It is customary to reply to the greetings of others, is it not?"
"Ryoko?" Blake choked out. "What… where am I? What are you doing here? The last thing I remember I was laying my head down to go to sleep, and then I-"
"Do not worry, you are still sleeping," Ryoko laughed. "This no more than a dream."
"…Oh." Blake let out a sigh of relief, glancing around the white room. So he hadn't been taken to some spooky nexus of time or something like that. "Then… what are you doing here? Do you have the ability to travel through dreams, too? Not just time?"
"Oh, my, no," Ryoko chuckled. "To the best of my knowledge I possess no such ability. I would assume that I, that is, the real me, am not capable of such things. After all… I am not really here, at least, not the me that you know. I am… just another fragment of this dream of yours."
Blake blinked. So this wasn't really Ryoko, she was a dream.
"So then why-"
"You are lost, are you not?" Ryoko asked. She interlaced her fingers together behind her back and spun on her heel, her red skirt flaring up and her lavender hair whirling, another wave of lavender, lilac, and mint fluttering through the air. "Your heart is in turmoil… and I am the one your mind chose to serve as your guide."
"My guide?"
Ryoko nodded, but did not look back at him.
"Yes. To help you dispel this uneasiness. And to help you find the path you must tread."
Ryoko raised her hand and with a wave of her arm, the five doors began to shimmer. They looked no different on the outside, but Blake could feel that something… intangible about them had changed, somehow.
"We stand at the crossroads of your heart," Ryoko explained. "Before you are five doors. They are potential futures that your heart is divided between. Shall we choose one of them? Shall we try to find the road you shall travel?"
Blake smirked, stepping up to her.
"So that's why you're my guide," he realized.
"As one who walks the roads of time, you must have thought I was uniquely qualified to serve in that role," Ryoko nodded, looking up at him. "But keep in mind I am only the Ryoko who exists in your heart. All of this… it is no more than your desires. Your fears. Nothing before you is set in stone, but thinking makes it so. Do you understand?"
Blake swallowed, and nodded his head.
"So where do I begin?"
Ryoko smiled.
"Perhaps we shall start with the first?"
Blake turned to his right, at the closest door to him. Five walls, five doors…
A throb of pain shot through his skull. He cried out in pain and clenched his forehead, falling to his knees.
"I forgot," Ryoko murmured, placing her hands on his shoulders and rubbing them gently, the pain slowly ebbing away. "There is one final door left unopened."
Blake raised his head and looked at the wall that had been behind him. He could have sworn that it was the only wall with no door on it, but now, he could see a sixth door there, plain as day. As black as the rest, but distinguished from the other five with a thick padlock over the handle.
Oh, and the black, evil miasma oozing out of it that made him want to vomit was more than a little distinctive as well.
"That…"
"Those five doors are your futures," Ryoko said. "But that door… is your past. And I do not mean the time spent with your family, either."
"Before," Blake said.
"You don't remember it," Ryoko confirmed.
"But it's behind there, huh? All that stuff I can't…" Blake could feel his face growing hot, flashes of black flames and burning golden eyes bursting into his skull.
"I do not know," Ryoko said sadly, shaking her head. "I know nothing more than you, after all. This is your world, Blake. I am but a part of it. But if I had to choose a door… I would not suggest you choosing that door."
"Thanks…" Blake said, rising to his feet, the bite mark on his head still throbbing dully. "Wasn't really planning on it…"
Blake turned away from the locked door, and stepped up to the one beside it, grabbing the doorknob. He took a deep breath, and glanced back at Ryoko.
"So what do I…"
"You are the key," Ryoko said. "No door remains locked to you."
Blake exhaled and turned the handle, pulling the heavy door open.
Well that was not what he expected.
"Sango, you cheater!" Cynthia shouted, glaring angrily at Sango.
"Not my fault you keep relying on your Breloom's spore," Sango smirked. "It's called 'insomnia' Cynthia, learn about it."
Blake had opened the door and was now looking into Sango, Cynthia, and Julia's room. Sango and Cynthia were playing a fighting simulator. Cynthia was using her own party, and Sango had built one to fight it. The two were sitting on Sango's bed, on either side of another Blake.
"Blake, it's not fair, right?" Cynthia demanded, looking to him for affirmation.
"Oh, come on, don't indulge her," Sango scoffed, rolling her eyes. She playfully elbowed him in the side. "It's totally fair! It's exactly what pokemon battling is all about, don't you agree?"
It seemed that dream-Blake wasn't any better about choosing between girls than he was, Blake ruefully noted.
"I don't think there's anything wrong with it," Blake admitted.
"Hah! Take that!" Sango cheered triumphantly, pumping her fist into the air. "Blake agrees with me, Cynthia!"
"Rrrrh!" Cynthia growled, but the tone of her voice was playful, like she wasn't REALLY that angry. She put down her controller and leapt at Blake, tickling him ferociously. "Take that! You jerk! Ha!"
"Cynthia, stop!" Blake laughed, swatting at her.
"Haha, never!" Cynthia crowed. "This is what you deserve! Wahaha!"
"Come on, Cynthia," Sango couldn't help but let out a laugh too.
"Give it a try, it's fun," Cynthia said, glancing up at her with a mischievous grin on her face.
Sango paused, considering it, as she looked down at Blake sputtering with laughter.
"Well… okay then!" She giggled, giving into temptation and joining Cynthia in tickling Blake as ferociously as she could.
"…So what is this, then?" Blake asked. "Seems a little tame for a fantasy."
"Would you prefer they be naked?" Ryoko asked. "Dirty boy."
"No, it's just… really? This is…"
"A future where you can just have things the way they are," Ryoko explained. "The status quo, is what it is called? You and your closest friends, playing with one another, having fun, just being who you are… none of these worries, no troubles, responsibilities, no… hurting others. Just peace and happiness. Is that the future you want?"
"It's nice, it is," Blake admitted, nodding his head. These were some of the best times at school, just hanging around with Cynthia and Sango, relaxing. All his troubles were a thing of the past, a memories to be forgotten. But…
"No," Blake said, shaking his head. It was nice, and peaceful, but it was a dream, a fantasy. A perpetuation of now. There weren't answers there. This was just… a veneer. And as happy as he would feel in it, he needed to look beyond this dream world and find a real path forward.
"The next, then?" Ryoko asked quietly. Blake nodded his head, closing off that world and the laughter ringing out from that room, shutting the door.
Blake stepped to the next door. He wondered… what path was ahead of him here? He swung it open, and looked inside. There was… nothing. Just an empty mess of a room, filled with moldy clothes and spoiled food, not unlike what he remembered Caelia's room looking like. He saw himself, sitting in a chair, looking out the window quietly. It reeked of decay and emptiness. Blake had to hold his hand over his mouth.
"This… what…?" Blake looked to Ryoko for an explanation. The expression on her face was sad.
"The next path," Ryoko replied. "You leave it all behind."
"What? Then this is…"
Blake took another look at that room, even though he didn't want to. The Blake he saw there… it wasn't him. It wasn't…
"You are afraid, are you not?" Ryoko asked. "Of what you might become. Of what you might do to your friends if you continue to remain in their lives. You hurt Ayame. You hurt Kate. Who else will you hurt? You and I both know you do not want to cause pain to your friends. So this path… you will leave them behind. Everyone. Every person you could possibly hurt. A world of isolation, Blake. Is that not what you want?"
"No, of course not!"
"But you do not want to hurt anyone," Ryoko reminded him. "So is it not the case that you would never hurt another soul, should you cut yourself off from the rest of the world?"
Blake paused.
"Well yeah, but…" He didn't want this.
"Do you remember when you were to leave with your father?" Ryoko asked. "Your friends tried to stop you. Because they did not want you out of their lives. Even knowing that you might cause them serious pain… they chose you anyway."
Blake knew that his friends… they wouldn't want him to cut himself off from them. They had proven that already.
"To be with others is to risk causing them pain," Ryoko told him. "There is no person who can live their lives without hurting others sometimes. To live a life like that… is to live a life without purpose. Hollow and empty, with nothing to bring you joy. Do you not thing that the ones who care for you, the ones you care for, would bear with the meager pain you risk inflicting upon them if it would stop you from becoming like this? Would you not wish the same? Elaina Bishop, Caelia Auburne, do you not bear pain on your breast yourself, in the hope of saving them from this fate?"
Blake hung his head, and he nodded in agreement. No more of this. He couldn't stand an empty future like this. He slammed the door shut and moved onto the next room.
"The third door," Ryoko said. "This one… may be tougher to accept than the last two. But it is still but one of the roads you may choose."
Blake felt a chill run down his spine. He looked up to the third door, and opened it.
"Oh, yes… Blake…!" A high voice punctuated with a wicked laugh rang in Blake's ears. In the center of a bedroom, upon his bed, he saw himself. Mounted on top of him was…
"Sylvia…" Hearing his own voice speak her name in a breathy whisper made him sick. They were still clothed, thank god, but that was quickly starting to change as the blonde was slowly unbuttoning his counterpart's shirt.
"This is… What?" Stunned, Blake turned incredulously to Ryoko, who gave him a sad shrug.
"Your next choice," Ryoko explained. "You embrace it."
"Embrace what?" Blake asked, waving his hand at the sight in front of him. "Embrace that… her?"
"You fear that you are a bad person," Ryoko said. "You want to be righteous, a good little boy, but at the same time, there is a small part of you that wonders… would it be easier if you just stop fighting? If you accept the words of that girl Valerie and embrace darkness, emptiness, indulge yourself in… acts such as that."
"Absolutely not," Blake hissed, stepping away from the room and storming towards Ryoko. He didn't close the door, however, the moans and hissing ringing out from the doorway. "I don't want something like… I would never want to give in to something like that! With her, I would never…"
"And yet, there you are," Ryoko said, gesturing to the room behind him. "So it appears that some part of you does want this, would you not agree?"
Blake seethed, but couldn't respond to her assertion.
"You… I don't… you don't know anything about me!" Blake cried. Ryoko looked sad.
"I do know quite a bit, actually," she replied. "I am a creation of yours, after all. I am your guide, so I think I would know you quite well."
"I don't. Want. This. Future." Blake hissed.
Ryoko smiled.
"Of course you do not. So why would you fear it?"
Blake didn't have a response to that. She was right. He knew that even though it would be easier to give in, to stop caring about anything and succumb to the pointless, mindless temptation of Sylvia, the emptiness of the abyss…
It wasn't what he wanted. He shouldn't let his fear of something that would never come to pass scare him.
He turned back to the doorway, and the sickening sight before his eyes. He put it out of his head, stepped forward, and closed the door on that path.
"Two more…" he muttered, turning back to Ryoko.
"Door number four," Ryoko agreed, nodding to the next wall. Blake moved on to the fourth door, and swallowed. What would be behind this one?
Blake swung the door open, and was faced with bright, hot rays of sunlight.
"What the…"
Blake looked out into the "room" behind the fourth door, but what was behind it was… a field of grass. Peaceful. Tranquil. Happy.
"Come on, I thought you were faster than that!"
Blake's eyes widened, a familiar husky voice catching his ear.
"Easy for you to say, you're not the one who has to carry all this stuff!"
His voice, as well. And there the two of them were. Ayame, wearing… a white sundress? That was unusual. And a big smile on her face. Less unusual, but still nice to see. She was skipping through the grass, and turned back to face him, clasping her hands behind her back and leaning down so she could look up at him. Blake followed after her, smiling brightly at the older girl. A picnic basket was in his hand, and a blanket was tucked under his arm.
Blake and Ayame stopped a few feet in front of the doorway, and spread out the blanket, sitting down and opening the basket. They were laughing and smiling. It was…
"Happy, is it not?"
Blake snapped out of his trance, turning back to Ryoko.
"…It is," he admitted, glancing at the two. They were so happy.
Ayame placed her hand on the other Blake's leg, smiling at him. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against her in a gentle, loving kiss.
"A happy future with a girl who loves you," Ryoko murmured, putting words to the yearning in his heart. "Is that not a future that you desire? With Ayame… or another girl, it does not matter. Who is it that you love?"
Blake didn't have an answer to that.
"You could have it, you realize?" Ryoko asked. "You, being with someone who loves you. You fear you do not deserve a future as happy as this. But all you would have to do is step through that door. Embrace it."
"But Ayame…"
"Your heart is in turmoil," Ryoko said. "If she is not who you want, then who is it? When you find that answer for yourself… will you then walk through that door?"
Blake didn't have an answer to that question. He took one last, longing look at the happy smiles on their faces, and closed the door.
"One left," Ryoko said. She was already standing in front of the fifth and final door, giving him an expectant look.
Blake walked to the final door, and placed his hand on the door knob. As he did, the door shifted. It turned into a nice, sturdy oak door, painted white. Blake's eyes widened in realization.
"This is…"
"You recognize it," Ryoko stated. She was not asking, as an extension of Blake's mind, she knew it as well as he did. Better, maybe.
"I…"
"Will you open it?" Ryoko asked. "You know what is behind there. She is behind there."
Blake looked up at the door. Behind this… was the fifth road he could take. He knew what it was… and at the same time, he didn't know, not for sure.
"Are you frightened?" Ryoko asked quietly.
"What Valerie said…"
"You are afraid," Ryoko confirmed. "But what is behind there… is it the happiness you hope for? What you have searched for all this time? Or is it the despair you fear?"
Blake didn't know. He wanted to believe… but at the same time, his heart was in turmoil. It was so easy. So simple. A turn of the knob, and he would see it.
So why wasn't he? Why couldn't he bring himself to do it? Was he really that afraid?
His hand dropped to his side and he hung his head in shame. He was too afraid of the future that was behind that door.
"So in the end you will not open it," Ryoko murmured sadly. "You still run from the possibility even now."
"I know what's behind there," Blake said. "I don't need to see it. Valerie's lies… I won't believe her. I have faith in my own path."
Ryoko was a manifestation of Blake's mind, and so she was aware that he was lying to her. Or more aptly, to himself. He was convinced of his own assumption, and that was what he would go on.
"Then it is time to awake," Ryoko shrugged, retrieving her watch from her breast pocket, the white room spinning around them.
In the end, he never opened that fifth door.
So what road will Blake take? What will the future hold for him? Only time will tell…