Will Caelia be okay? What about Cynthia's fears? What will the storm result in? We'll have to find out! It's gonna be a tough situation for everyone!

Also, there are still issues with fanfiction, so I don't know if this chapter is being read, either. As said before, if you can read this chapter, please review so I know.

KedharS: Whatever do you mean?

Thunder Fire: Let's find out!

Madninja324: Thanks, I'll take them under consideration.

Rosealine gold: The storm has a lot in store, I promise.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 359

Cynthia looked anxiously out the window, even though she knew it was pointless. What, was she expecting Caelia to just come walking out of the snow and up the front steps like nothing had changed? She sighed. It didn't even make her feel better to look, and yet she couldn't stop herself. Every few seconds her head turned and she glanced again.

"Cynthia… there's not a point to doing that," Blake said. He walked up to her, holding a large tray filled with mugs of hot cocoa he'd brought from the kitchen. As no one knew how long they would be on lockdown, so Olivia had suggested passing out refreshments to warm everyone's spirits. Some people were in the other room continuing the horror binge, but Cynthia wasn't so inclined. She had enough horror on her mind already.

Ayame sat next to her to comfort the redhead, and certainly not because she was looking for an excuse to get out of watching the movies. Both girls took mugs of hot cocoa from Blake, who moved onto the next room, understanding that he clearly wasn't going to get through to Cynthia anytime soon. Better to leave her to her own devices.

"Maybe not, but I have to," Cynthia scowled. "I'm just… I'm so worried about her, you know? She could be out there right now, cold and alone, I just…"

"It's fine," Ayame assured her, placing her hand on Cynthia's shoulder. "I got lost on Mt. Silver once and I thought I would freeze to death, but look at me now, I made it back just fine. And it's not even close to being as cold out there. Our campus safety members are former pokemon rangers and students in the ranger course, to boot, they'll be fine. Trust me."

Cynthia gasped, her eyes widening.

"No! Wait, wait! What if Sango has to go, then?"

Ayame blinked.

"Sango? What about her?"

"She works with campus safety sometimes," Cynthia explained, her voice turning frantic. "So she could be out there right now, and not back in her room!"

"It's okay, it's okay," Ayame reassured her. "Sango can take care of herself, she's really, really competent, remember?"

"Huh?" Cynthia blinked in confusion.

"She passed her Probationary Ranger exam, remember?" Ayame continued, getting more desperate to cheer Cynthia up. "So she's going to be perfectly fine! She's totally trained for this, so even if she's going out into this weather there's nothing to worry about!"

Cynthia blinked again.

"Well, duh!" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not worried about Sango, she wouldn't die if she got hit by a truck!"

Now it was Ayame's turn to give Cynthia a look of confusion.

"Huh? Then what are you worried about, huh?"

Cynthia rolled her eyes again.

"I'm worried about my Vulpix!" Cynthia wailed. "I left her with Sango to look after her, and if she has to go out and help Campus Safety then she's going to be leaving my poor little darling all by herself! What if she wakes up all alone and gets scared? What if she hurts herself?! She's never been on her own before, she must be so scared! What if something happens to her?! I haven't even come up with a name for her yet, it isn't fair!"

"Cynthia? Cynthia? Calm down," Ayame said, putting her hands on Cynthia's shoulders and shaking her back to calmness. "Take a deep breath. Think."

Cynthia took a deep breath and exhaled, nodding.

"Sorry, just kind of panicked."

"Call Sango," Ayame urged her. "I'm sure you'll feel better hearing from her, okay?"

Cynthia bit her lip and nodded, reaching into her jacket pocket and withdrawing her phone, dialing Sango's number.

"Whaaaat?!" Sango's voice roared out into Cynthia's ear. There was a bluster of wind in the background of the call, Cynthia's heart sinking. She knew what that meant.

"Cynthia?! What is it?!" Sango demanded over the phone. "I'm busy!"

"Sango!" Cynthia shouted. "Are you outside right now?"

"Yeah, duh," Sango shouted back. "I was called for active duty! I didn't have a choice! I'm working right now, what do you want?"

"Then-! Then where's my Vulpix?!" Cynthia wailed desperately. "You-you didn't leave her alone, did you?! And you better not have taken her with you! She might be a snow type, but she's going to get lost out there, and she won't find her way back! You can't have brought her with you, you just can't, Sango! Please!"

Cynthia couldn't see Sango shaking her head in frustration, Silver working hard to right the weather in her area with his sunny day.

"I left her with Reiner," Sango replied dryly, done with this. "Don't worry, she's in good hands. Reiner's taking care of her, she's perfectly safe, sleeping away, at least last time I saw her. Sorry I didn't call you to tell you, but we're kind of in an emergency situation here, now if you wouldn't mind, may I please get back to my work? I need to find a bunch of other people, okay? I'm helping students here, I can't handle this right now!"

"Wait!" Cynthia cut her off.

"What?!"

"Have you seen Caelia?" Cynthia asked, her lip quivering. Please be okay, please be okay…

"Caelia? What?" Sango asked, confused. Cynthia sounded serious.

"She ran out into the snow like half an hour ago, right before the weather got really bad," Cynthia said. "And she hasn't come back! We're at Olivia's dorm, have you seen her?"

"No, I haven't," Sango said, frowning. "That isn't good. That's not near where I am, but I'll let the safety officers around that area know."

Sango looked at the sky. In spite of Silver's best interests, things weren't looking good. This storm was real rough.

"I hope she's alright," Sango said. "If she's out in this weather, things aren't looking very good."

Cynthia's heart sank, and she quietly hung up the phone.

"Is it…" Ayame swallowed an audible gulp. Cynthia glanced up at her and shook her head, her eyes starting to tear up.

"It's… it's real bad out there," she whimpered, turning to look outside.

Ayame frowned. She retrieved her phone and checked it again. Thankfully, her club had taken refuge in the changing room and were perfectly fine. Even though she didn't know Caelia at all, and was kind of scared of her, she was still really worried. Hopefully the girl was safe.

"Is everything okay?" Blake asked, entering the room with a cup of cocoa. He noticed that Ayame and Cynthia hadn't even touched theirs, telling him that there was something really wrong. Clearly, Cynthia was still panicking.

"Caelia…" Cynthia whimpered in reply. Blake sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to make his friend feel better. Cynthia was clearly desperately worried about Caelia, and admittedly, he was, too. But if he freaked out, Ayame and Cynthia would freak out, too.

And that would be even worse.

"Look, Cynthia-" Blake opened his mouth, and was suddenly cut off.

"And your skin is so white underneath the black night, and your voice calls out for the coup de grace, when the lights go out… will there be a trace?"

Blake looked down at his pocket in confusion. Was… was that his phone?

"Dude, your phone's ringing," Cynthia said. Ayame looked at him in confusion as well, not sure what the ringtone was. Blake fished out his phone as the music continued, who would be calling him right now, he wondered.

"That I love, Sylvia. That I loved, Sylvia. That I loved, Sylvia…"

Blake rolled his eyes.

Of course.

"Ooooh?" Ayame scowled, shooting him dirty look. Cynthia smirked.

"Uh…" Blake flipped the phone open.

"Nice ringtone you've got there," Ayame scowled at her boyfriend, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Something you want to tell me, Blake?"

"I have no idea," Blake replied, answering the call.

"What are you wearing?" A breathy voice whispered sultrily into his ear. Blake rolled his eyes again, shaking his head. What was the matter with this girl?

"Sylvia? What did you do to my phone?" He demanded.

"What? I was just having a bit of fun, killjoy," she chuckled.

"You put your number in my phone and assigned that ringtone to it, what the fuck?" Blake scowled. "How did you even do that? When did you do it?"

"What, did I call you at a bad time?" Sylvia purred. "You and Ayame weren't… you know, were you? Hope I didn't ruin anything?"

"…I'm hanging up now," Blake testily replied.

"Oooh, poo! You're no fun! And here I am, calling you out of the goodness of my pitch black heart!" Sylvia cooed. "Come on now, Blake, this is important!"

"What?" Blake hissed.

"No, no, no, you first," Sylvia chuckled. "I asked you first, remember?"

"Asked me what?" Blake looked at his phone, confused.

"What are you wearing?" Sylvia repeated.

"You damn well better not be messing with me, or I swear-"

"I'm absolutely messing with you," Sylvia cut him off, "but that doesn't change the fact that this is something you're going to want to hear. Tit for tat. Your tat, for my… well, you know."

Blake rolled his eyes again. Sylvia just couldn't be helped.

"I'm wearing, I don't know, a black sweater and snow pants? What's the point of this?!"

"…It bothers you," Sylvia cheerily replied. "Anyway, since you aren't in the mood for phone sex-"

"Are you insane?"

"A-N-Y-W-A-Y!" Sylvia's scowl could be heard through the phone. "I thought I would take the time to call and let you off easy in case you might be worried about something."

"Worried about what?"

"Well, I happened to pick up a stray little lost pokemon on one of my walks," Sylvia replied. "Maybe you know her? One eye? Doesn't talk much? Serious burns? Doesn't feel pain? Loves fire types? Answers to Caelia Auburn?"

"You know where Caelia is?!" Blake exclaimed, Ayame and Cynthia snapping to attention, eager to here more.

"Told you you'd want to hear," Sylvia chuckled. "Not only do I know where she is, I have her right here, all safe and sound, chilling out in my room. Caelia, honey? Say hi to the nice boy with a boyfriend, okay?"

"Hi," Caelia's dull voice sounded out over the phone, Blake sighing in relief.

"There you go! She's all safe and sound! To tell you the truth, I was a little bit worried that your short friend would do something… let's say 'fatally stupid' and so I just wanted to let you know that everything was okay."

"You?" Blake asked incredulously. "Worried?"

"Like I said, just a liiiiittle bit," Sylvia replied. "Just a smidgeon of an inkling. But in case you lot were panicking over there, don't be. She's all safe and sound. …Well, not 'sound', I don't know if anything about her has really been 'sound' for quite a while, but you get it."

"I'd say thank you for letting us know, but I'm not sure if I'm physically capable," Blake dryly replied to her.

"Oh pish," Sylvia snorted. "A thank you? From you? For merely indulging in my curiosity? What a waste. Now, if you would fashion a toss in bed, I suppose I could be so incl-"

Blake hung up.

"Caelia… she's okay?" Cynthia asked hopefully.

"She's fine," Blake reassured her. "Well, I mean, I say 'fine' but she's with Sylvia. So I guess not exactly fine, but she's not in any danger, at least."

"What a relief," Cynthia sighed, deflating into the couch. A huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders with this news, and now she was able to relax. "I was so, so worried… thank god that she's okay…"

"Yeah, I feel like that's a load off," Ayame slumped, nodding in agreement. "We've been sitting here worrying over her, and now that we know she's okay, we can-"

"Wooo! Let's party then!" Cynthia chirped, jumping up off the couch and clapping her hands together excitedly. "No sense in sitting around all tense and sad!"

Ayame and Blake glanced at each other, sharing a look that seemed to ask the other what the hell was going on. Blake sighed and shrugged his shoulders. That was just the kind of girl Cynthia was, she wasn't much one for dwelling on things.

"Hey, Ayame, let's go check out your room!" Cynthia suggested.

"Uh, I mean, there's not a lot of interest there, but I guess?" Ayame shrugged, looking to Blake for confirmation. Blake shrugged in response, it wasn't his room, after all. Ayame nodded. "Yeah, sure, sounds good."

"Awesome! Let's go!" Cynthia cheered, leading the way. Ayame sighed.

"I have energy, sure, but that girl…"

"She's built differently," Blake agreed.

"Not two minutes ago she was completely dejected on the couch, and now she's all smiles and sunshine, what's with that?" Ayame said.

Blake shrugged helplessly.

"That's just the kind of girl she is."

Ayame rolled her eyes and followed Blake and Cynthia up the stairs towards her room, ready to let the two in. Why wasn't she leading the way, again? This was something that she wondered with an irritated twitch in her forehead, shaking her head.

"Whoo! Your room is boss!" Cynthia cheered, stepping inside.

"You think so?" Ayame asked, blushing a little, looking down and scratching her hair sheepishly. Cynthia was one of the first friends she had invited into her room.

"Like, yeah, totally!" Cynthia said, picking up one of Ayame's stuffed pokemon dolls by her bed, a Jigglypuff. "These things are just so adorable!"

"They-they aren't weird?" Ayame asked.

"Nah, nah, you're fine! I love 'em!" Cynthia giggled. Her eyes widened and she set the Jigglypuff down, spying something more interesting.

"This is the one, right?" She giggled, walking over to Ayame's nightstand, picking up the stuffed Wooloo sitting on it.

"Wait, don't touch that!" Ayame said.

"Oh? Why not?" Cynthia huffed. "This is your… what did you call it? Blaiwooloo? The stuffed pokemon Blake gave you? I already know all about it."

"That… that's…!" Ayame's mouth flapped open and shut, not sure how to reply to that. She looked to Blake incredulously.

Blake glanced away from her.

"You two are the most adorable couple in the world!" Cynthia cackled, holding her sides. "Ugh, that lovey-dovey crap is gonna make me barf!"

Without another word, Cynthia turned and flopped down on the bed, yawning.

"Wow, I forgot how comfortable your bed is to lie on," she replied. "Aaaah! So nice and soft and floofy, I just can't get enough of it! Why do you seniors get such great digs, huh? Who do I speak to in order to sleep on this every night?!"

"Yeah, it's pretty comfy," Ayame laughed, sitting down on the bed as well. Suddenly, something she heard caught her ear. Her expression changed from playful to suspicious. "Wait, what did you mean by you 'forgot' how comfortable my bed is?! When were you on my bed?"

Cynthia flinched.

"Er… that's… uh…" Cynthia glanced at Blake, whose face went white. He glanced away from Ayame.

"I don't mean your bed specifically, see," Cynthia explained sheepishly. "Just the beds here, you know? They're so comfy, so…"

"See, back during the Pokemon Day party, Cynthia crashed in one of the bedrooms, plus there was that time back during Sango's party."

"…Oh, right," Ayame said, calming down.

"Anyway, the more important thing…" Cynthia lowered her head and sniffed, much to Ayame and Blake's surprise.

"…Why is Blake's scent on this bed?" She demanded.

"Uh…"

"That's…"

Blake and Ayame glanced at each other.

"I knew it! You did something! You said you didn't, but you did!" Cynthia accused the two of them. "You two totally banged, didn't you?!"

Blake and Ayame's faces turned bright red.

"We-we just had a picnic on the blankets!" Ayame exclaimed. "That's it! We didn't! I mean, er…"

Ayame looked helplessly to Blake, who rolled his eyes.

"I knew it! So you didn't do it!" She crowed. Then she blinked.

"Wait, where's my cocoa?"

"…Downstairs?" Ayame reminded her.

"Probably cold," Blake added.

Cynthia pouted.

"But I'm thirsty!"

Ayame and Blake looked at each other. It was like dealing with an annoying child.

"Blake, go get me cocoa," Cynthia demanded.

"Sure thing," Blake said, nodding. He headed off out of the room. Cynthia turned to Ayame, and smirked.

When Blake got back into the room, Ayame had a tense, irritated look on her face.

"What's up?" He asked, handing Cynthia her hot chocolate, and then gave some to Ayame as well, taking the third mug for himself.

"Thanks, sweetie," Ayame kissed him on the cheek, smirking at Cynthia.

The two girls were on the bed, Blake sitting down on the floor and staring up at him. He glanced back and forth between the two of them. Cynthia wore a smirk, and Ayame looked uneasy.

"…What's up?" Blake asked, not sure about the atmosphere that was going on.

"Simple, just a game," Cynthia smirked, holding up her phone. "I explained it to Ayame while you were gone."

"This is so stupid…" Ayame grumbled.

"What's the game?" Blake asked.

"Ever seen 'Three's a Crowd'?" Cynthia asked, smiling.

Blake shook his head.

"It's a quiz game!" Cynthia said, laughing. "Your girlfriend vs. me, your best friend and rival! Who knows more about Blake? Let's find out!"

Blake blinked, stunned. He looked at Ayame.

Ayame just shook her head in frustration.

What else does the storm have in store? Let's find out!