What is Marion doing?! Why is she siding with the Children of the Oracles? Has she turned to the dark side? This is the final chapter of the winter break arc, where everything gets resolved… for better, or for worse. Remember to review!

KedharS: Well, we'll have to see. Turning one of the biggest forces for good into a baddie would be quite the twist!

Rosealine gold: If you have any suggestions feel free to DM.

Thunder Fire: Which part, Marion siding with Flora and Gwen? Because she cares about her friend.

JoshGamerV: "Oh" is right.

MikySP: Probably Sango or Cynthia I would guess.

Aquahaze675: There are a lot of harmonia enemies, but you're right, this isn't the time for Gwen to be captured just yet.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 452

"Marion, what are you doing?" Sango asked, looking at Marion with eyes wide with disbelief.

"Ah! I knew it!" Violet fumed, glaring at Marion. "You're working with those girls!"

"NO!" Marion protested, shaking her head. "Just… just, please! I don't want to fight you guys, Sango, you're, like, my best friend! But… but Flora is…"

Marion glanced over her shoulder, her face pale with desperation. She turned back to Sango, her pleading eyes shining brightly.

"Flora is family…"

Realization dawned on Sango, and she gasped. She remembered where she'd heard the name Flora before, and where she recognized the blonde's face. The girl was older now, and it was a face she had seen very briefly and dismissed as not being important, but between the emotional amber eyes and the name, Flora, that Marion had mentioned…

"She's from Anja Karzat, isn't she?" Sango asked. "She was one of your friends, that's why she's with the Children of the Oracles."

Marion nodded her head.

"I just… I know that what she's doing is bad," Marion pleaded. "Please, I know, but… this isn't like with Preya, Flora… Flora doesn't want to hurt anybody! She's just lost and confused, if you try and lock her up, then…"

"She deserves to be locked up," Cynthia snapped. "I heard all about it. Those guys attacking Mt. Chimney? And now they're back here, why? For what?"

"Hot springs," Flora pitifully answered. "That's all. We weren't trying to hurt anybody. I don't WANT to hurt anybody, Marion's telling you the truth! All… all I want is peace in our world, that's it. We just… we just don't want people to hate us for being different anymore…"

"Please just let them go," Marion pleaded. "I don't want to fight you guys! But I can't… I can't just watch Flora get locked up. Not… not after what she's been through. You can't lock her up again, neither of them. You guys… you guys don't understand."

"Even if she doesn't want to hurt people, her associates don't feel the same way," Sango said, her voice strained and dangerous. "They attacked us on Mt. Chimney, they attacked us in Galar, your 'old friend' Preya attacked us during our exam, Marion, I don't want to lock up your friend, but her friends are dangerous!"

"How can you ask me to watch my friend get arrested?" Marion asked. "Even knowing what she's done? I don't… I don't want her to hurt people, but I don't know what I'm supposed to do! Tell me, Sango? What… what am I supposed to do?"

Sango didn't know how to answer that. This wasn't the kind of situation she was trained to decide on. A moral dilemma in which she wasn't sure what the right answer was.

Well, that wasn't true. She knew what the right answer was. The right answer was to contact the authorities and arrest Flora and Gwen. But the part of Sango that wasn't "right" wasn't letting her make that choice. That part saw her best friend, Blake, the boy she harbored an unrequited love for, crying at the thought of his sister being imprisoned. That part saw the pleading look on Marion's face, knowing how much pain the girl had been through in her past, and how desperately she was trying to protect one of her oldest friends from going through more of it.

Sango knew what the right thing to do was, but the faces of those she cared so deeply for was making it impossible to go through with it.

"Look…" Marion reached into her bag and took out an object wrapped in cloth. She unfolded it to reveal the shining blue stone glowing bright in the dark night, drawing the eye of everyone towards it. Sango gasped in shock, the other girls also surprised.

"Isn't that a…" Cynthia knew it looked familiar, it was like that stone that Kitty had, the one that had been glowing brightly.

"It's an Oracle," Sango answered for her. And not only that, Sango recognized the Oracle. It was the one her dad had given Marion. That bright blue shine, the deep color of the ocean, it was unmistakable. She had thought Marion had given it to Professor Reinhart, but apparently she was still holding onto it. And Sango wasn't sure why.

"I showed it to her," Marion said, her voice betraying that she was clearly running out of ways to diffuse the situation and let Flora off of the hook. "I told her that I was going to keep it. The Oracles… they need to get all of them, for whatever it is that they're planning to do. Which means that she needs to take this one from me."

Marion turned back to look at Flora, and then back to her friends, her face filling back up with confidence as she continued, "but she said she couldn't do it. She couldn't take it from me, knowing I would fight to keep it. She couldn't bring herself to hurt me, even when her goal was counting on her taking it. That… that has to count for something, right? That she couldn't do it? So please, can't you see that she isn't a bad person?"

"I don't care about some shiny rocks!" Violet exclaimed, storming over towards Marion. "That girl, her little friend, she still-"

"Violet, wait," Cynthia interrupted her sister, stepping between the two older girls. "Just-just calm down, okay?"

"But she's a-"

"I know, but… Marion isn't to blame for this, don't take your anger out on her, okay?" Cynthia begged. "I honestly… I don't know what the right thing to do here is. Sango, what… what do you think? What should we do?"

Cynthia turned to Sango, clearly just as lost as Sango was. She hadn't encountered the Children of the Oracles before, Sango was the only one who had experience with them. And she didn't know what to do about that.

"I think…" Sango didn't know what to think. But her voice still escaped from her throat. "I think that… Flora is a good person. And Gwen, well…"

Sango couldn't really describe Gwen in any positive capacity. But she believed in Blake when he said his sister was, at her core, a good person. And having seen Kitty's breakdown it was hard for her to imagine that Gwen was in good condition mentally. Maybe… maybe there was a chance that Blake could bring her back to sanity, the same way he had brought back Kitty.

Sango turned to Marion, her face stricken with desperation.

"I think we should trust Marion," Sango said. "I believe in her. And what she said… about how Flora let her keep that Oracle, even knowing how important that they are to those Children of the Oracles… I think Marion isn't wrong to let them leave."

"I don't believe this," Violet spat, turning away from Marion, unable to even look at the girl. Cynthia also wasn't comfortable with this decision, but she didn't know what to say.

"Can I say something?"

Everyone was surprised to hear from Maddi, of all people. She had returned Vee to his pokeball, and was now watching the discussion in silence.

"Maddi? What's up?" Sango asked.

"I think you're wrong," Maddi said. "I don't think that it's the right thing to do to let them go. That's it. That's all I want to say. I won't stop you if that's what you guys decide to do, but I just want to give you my feedback. That's… all."

Maddi looked away, not wanting to see what was going on.

Sango sighed, slumping over. She took a long, deep breath, and turned to Marion.

"…Okay," she said. It was a decision that weighed heavily on her. The words were not easily spoken, and she couldn't even look Marion in the eye as she did it. "Okay, they… they can go. I believe in you, Marion. Flora… she helped me, without asking for anything in return, without even knowing who I was. Because she was a kind person, I guess, just like you said. So if you say that she won't hurt people, that you can trust her… then I'll follow your decision."

"…Thank you," Marion sniffled, nodding her head. She turned to Flora and walked to her friend's side, her face hard. Flora looked hopefully into her eyes.

"Marion…"

"Just go," Marion whispered, shaking her head. She didn't like how this had gone down any more than Sango or anyone else did. She didn't agree with Flora's decision to stay with the Children of the Oracles. But that was different from wanting to see her friend jailed.

"They're letting us leave?" Flora asked, still not able to wrap her head around that, not after what had just happened. "They're… they're actually just… letting us go?"

"They believe in me," Marion said. "And I believe in you. So… yeah. Just go. That's it. You didn't come here to start trouble, so… I'm not going to let things go any worse than they are now. Okay? So just go, Flora, you and Gwen."

"Yeah…" Flora said, nodding. She still looked hopefully at her friend. "Marion… come with me?"

Flora reached a hand out to Marion's cheek, but Marion stepped back, shying away from her. Her eyes dropped. She was filled with turmoil, but not that much turmoil.

"I'm not a terrorist," Marion said, her voice coming out colder than she had meant. Flora's face dropped at her words, sending a ping of remorse through her chest.

"I-I see," Flora said, nodding. "I guess… that's what's to be expected after everything I've done, huh? Someone like me…"

"Flora," Marion snapped, startling Flora, her head shooting up in surprise to meet Marion's gaze, stunned at what she had said.

Marion calmed down and took another deep breath. She glanced over her shoulder at the other girls and then looked back to Flora.

"Just now… there were four girls who were willing to give you a second chance because they knew about your condition, and the hardship you went through," Marion said. "Four humans who didn't judge you for your harmonia, but treated you like a person. I want you to consider that. Sango treats me as a person. Not as someone with harmonia. So when you're working to achieve these goals of yours, just… just remember that, okay?"

Marion turned back to look at Sango, sighing happily, a smile curling across her face. She turned back to Flora.

"There are good people out there. People who will treat us as people, not just as freaks with horrible powers," Marion said, trying one last time to convince her friend. "I'm living a normal life, Flora. I believe that you can do the same."

"Maybe for you," Flora choked out, tears welling up in her eyes as she smiled, "but for me… it isn't enough to live a happy, normal life for myself. Not when there are still people suffering in the world. I'm sorry, Marion, but… you can't save people by running away and being nice."

Marion lowered her head, not able to form a response to that. Flora nodded, and glanced over to Lancelot. It was time for them to go.

"Lancelot," Flora called out to the Gallade. "Lancelot, let us go. Gwen will wake up soon and you should be there at your side."

"Gallade," Lancelot nodded. He walked to Flora's side and took hold of Gwen, lifting her up into his arms in a princess carry, while Flora grabbed their luggage. Lancelot began glowing, and used teleport, the girls disappearing from the inn in a flash of light.

"…That's that, then," Cynthia said quietly.

"The hell it is," Violet snarled. She stormed over to Marion and grabbed her by the shoulder, turning her around. "You let those girls go just like-!"

Violet's voice faded away as she saw the look on Marion's face. The girl was crying.

"Uwaaah…" Marion burst into tears, falling to her knees, her fishing pole slipping from her fingers as she clutched the dirt, beginning to wail. "It's not fair," she cried, "why… why does it have to be like this? Why can't… why can't we just go back to how it used to be?"

Cynthia placed her hand on her sister's arm and shook her head.

Violet grumbled, and nodded. She recalled her Blazien, and then turned and stormed off into the inn, clearly not happy with what had just gone down. She left the rest of them standing by the entrance. Or kneeling in the dirt, in Marion's case.

"Marion…" Sango walked over to her friend and knelt down beside her, placing a hand on Marion's shoulder. Marion turned to look up at Sango, her eyes red with tears as she sniffled and sobbed. Sango's caring touch brought a shaky, hopeful smile to her face.

"Sango… I…"

"It's okay," Sango assured her, pulling the fishing enthusiast into a hug. "I know that was hard for you to do. We can talk later, Marion. For now, let's just get you inside so you can calm down, okay? A nice bath might soothe you, what do you say?"

"…Uh-huh," Marion sniffled, nodding in agreement, letting Sango help her up. As Sango helped the crying girl into the inn, Cynthia turned and ran to go look for Aud.

"Aud? Sweetie?" Cynthia called softly, scared that her baby pokemon had been scared away by the skirmish. "Aud?!"

"Vul?" Aud peeked her head out from within some bushes, her eyes clearly filled with fear. They brightened when she saw Cynthia, and she looked around cautiously to make sure that none of the angry attacking people were there. Seeing that it was just Cynthia and Maddi, Aud warily exited the bushes before running quickly to Cynthia and burying her face into Cynthia's leg, crying.

"Don't worry girl," Cynthia cooed, kneeling down and picking Aud up, cradling her gently. As she rocked Aud, she felt herself begin to calm down from that horrible experience just then. "Don't worry… everything is fine…"

Cynthia felt the urge to cry, she had come so close to dying. Even with her sister and Maddi there, she hadn't ever been that scared before.

A hand touched Cynthia's shoulder. She turned, surprised, seeing Maddi standing behind her. Maddi had an awkward look on her face, clearly not used to comforting others. Cynthia was touched nonetheless by her kind gesture, a small smile brightening her face, which was otherwise stunned pale. She shifted Aud in her arms, and walked with Maddi into the inn, Grim floating behind her.

"Maddi…" Cynthia stopped outside of her room, holding the slumbering Aud in her arms. She was going in to put her luggage away, but she wanted to talk to Maddi a little before.

"Y-Yeah?" Maddi asked shakily. Even with her poker face, it was clear that the event had affected her, too.

"I'm… gonna put my stuff away. But I'm still a little shaky right now," Cynthia admitted. "So I mean… after this, I'm going to go join Marion and Sango in the bath, because… because I'm not sure if I'm comfortable being alone right now, either. That girl, Gwen, even if she wasn't trying to kill us… she very easily might have. And she hurt Rose and Tristan so badly, too… so yeah."

"I think… that's a good idea," Maddi agreed, nodding her head. She turned and headed in the direction of her room, before being stopped by Cynthia calling out to her again.

"I think you should come, too," Cynthia said. Maddi paused, and turned to look back at Cynthia. Grim floated over to Cynthia as well, his eye tilting back and forth. "To… to the bath, I mean," Cynthia added, her voice dropping into a mumble.

"Cynthia, that's-"

"I know, you… well, you don't feel comfortable, because, well… of your leg, you know?" Cynthia said. "But… I can see you're shaken, too, Maddi. I don't think, well, that you should be alone, either. B-But I know you might not be ready, so… so just forget it."

Flustered, Cynthia ducked into her room. She set her bag down and unlatched Aud's carrying case, setting the small slumbering pokemon down into it. She got up and headed out to go take a bath, Rose and Tristan's pokeballs in her pocket.

Much to Cynthia's surprise, Maddi was waiting for her outside, leaning against the wall and trying to look cool.

"I, uh…" Maddi glanced away from Cynthia, her cheeks a little red. "I put Grim to sleep, and then I thought, well… maybe you were right. Maybe I should be around people right now, at least until I calm down."

Cynthia's face lit up, and she nodded, her joy that Maddi was starting to come out of her shell completely eclipsing the stress from earlier.

"Great! I'll go see my grandparents and have them take care of Rose and Tristan, in the meantime you can go ahead and hit the showers!" Cynthia said, already halfway down the hall, having dashed off in her eagerness. Maddi sighed, and followed after her, having gradually grown fond of Cynthia's antics in spite of herself.

Even after Cynthia's detour, she walked out into the springs before Maddi. Maddi still had not exited the showers, clearly apprehensive about her scars and showing them off to other people. Cynthia agreed to go out first to test the waters.

"Cynthia…" Sango said, glancing up from the water to see Cynthia coming up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Cynthia said. She turned to look at the water. "And it looks like she is, too."

Marion and Sango weren't alone in the hot spring. Taking up a large chunk of space was the dark blue shape of a large Mantine, Marion hugging up against her while her tan skin flushed, the eyes of both pokemon and human closed as they relaxed in each other's grasp.

"Marion was feeling stressed," Sango explained. "That's Mana, her partner pokemon. I don't agree with her carrying her around in a dive ball, but-"

"Mana can't exactly stow away in a carry-on," Marion piped up, peeking an eye open at Sango. "I give her free space when we're near the water, though. But right now…"

Marion ran her hand along Mana's smooth skin.

"Right now, I want some help from her. My sweet girl…"

"Marion…" Cynthia slipped in the water, looking back over her shoulder to spy Maddi, who was peeking out from the showers with a towel wrapped around her. She nodded encouragingly to her friend, Maddi nodding back in agreement.

Cynthia returned her attention to the tan girl. "As I was saying, Marion, about what happened tonight… I'm not sure what we did was the right thing, letting those girls go like that. I don't know Flora, but that girl, Gwen, she's Blake's sister, so-"

"What?!" Marion gasped, sitting up, startled. "Blake, like, Blake Harker?"

Cynthia flinched, surprised. She had no idea that Marion had no idea. She looked at Sango, her eyes wide. "I-I thought you knew, so…"

"I guess I never mentioned it," Sango said. She sighed. "Yeah. Gwen, that other blonde, she's Blake's little sister."

Marion nodded, but she wasn't listening to the girls anymore. She was putting together a series of puzzle pieces in her mind. Blake trying so hard for Elaina Bishop, putting his body on the line to save Kitty. The passion he put into trying to help people with harmonia. She knew about his sister, but now that she had SEEN Gwen Harker with her own eyes…

Even remembering it sent a shiver down Marion's spine. The water was hot, but those sensations from before gave her the chills. She still felt nauseous. That girl was calling for help. But Marion couldn't help her, she didn't even know how she could start.

But maybe her brother could help her.

"That girl…" Marion said. "Gwen… you didn't see that girl."

"Huh?" Cynthia asked. "Sure we did."

Sango was less quick to judge.

"No, you didn't, not… not like I can," Marion said, shaking her head. "Sango, you've met her before, right?"

"Yeah, she… she's like that," Sango said, nodding. "She's got some… issues. Blake could explain it better, but…"

"Her harmonia… everyone's harmonia is different. But that girl… seeing her harmonia was like a nightmare," Marion shivered. "I still… urgh." Marion felt a wave of revulsion roll up her throat. She shook her head, clearing it away.

"That bad?" Sango asked.

"She needs help," Marion said. "Not even Flora can help her. I can't. And locking her up, well… that would be even worse, if she really was in Anja Karzat. Flora might be strong, but that girl… I don't know what captivity would do to her. It could break her, for good, and I didn't want that on my conscience, knowing what she would go through."

"Why didn't you say that?" Cynthia asked.

"Because what Flora said earlier tonight got to me," Marion admitted. "I didn't… I didn't think that would be enough to convince you guys to go easy on her."

Marion looked up at Cynthia and Sango. "But what you said… you said Blake is her brother?"

"I haven't seen her before, but if Sango says so…" Cynthia turned to Sango, who nodded in confirmation.

"She is. She's the one responsible for my injuries in Galar," Sango said.

"Then… if anyone can help her, I hope that he can," Marion said. "Like how he helped Kitty. Like… like how he's trying to help Elaina Bishop."

A warm smile crossed Marion's face.

"He's quite a nice boy, don't you think?"

"Ah! I knew it!" Cynthia fumed, jumping out of the water and pointing an accusatory finger at Marion, startling her and Sango. "I knew it! You're falling for him, aren't you? That's the last thing I need, another girl falling for the boy I love!"

"Don't you mean your boyfriend?" Sango dryly asked, remembering Cynthia's lie from earlier. "You know, the guy that you know 'in every possible way you can know another human being's body' I believe it was?"

Cynthia's face turned as red as her hair and she lowered her trembling finger in embarrassment, sinking back down into the water.

"Ha! Me, Blake?" Marion laughed, slapping her forehead. "You know me better than that, Cynthia! My one true love is the sea, after all."

Marion gave a wistful sigh and looked off into the distance, masterfully dodging Cynthia's accusation, much to the redhead's frustration.

"She's definitely fallen for him, I just know it," Cynthia grumbled, sidling up to Sango, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sango glanced at Silver, the small pokemon snickering. Sango rolled her eyes in an exaggerated way to let her partner know she didn't buy it any more than Cynthia did.

"That's why I'm glad you're my best girl, Sango," Cynthia sighed, scooching over and hooking her chin on Sango's shoulder, tickling the blonde's cheek with her mussy red hair. "Having to deal with the most perfect girlfriend in the world, that curvy childhood friend, the world's cutest burn victim, a witch a notch less volatile than a tornado, and that toxic bitch girl are bad enough, don't need a fishing freak too."

She took a deep sniff of Sango's skin that almost made Sango wonder if Cynthia's intentions were wholly pure towards her, making her skin crawl.

"I'm just glad my bestie isn't after him, too, I've got enough on my plate, you know?" Cynthia laughed, nuzzling a little closer to Sango, who was glad the water was masking the cold sweat she'd probably be breaking out into otherwise.

"So sure about that?" A quiet voice asked. Cynthia pulled back, turning to look at Maddi, who had walked over to them in the middle of their conversation. Maddi wore a sly look on her face, which seemed rather out of place considering how shy it looked. "Who knows, maybe Sango's been your greatest rival all along?"

Sango's jaw dropped. Maddi knew full well (well, she had guessed, but Sango hadn't denied it) about her feelings for Blake! What was she doing?!

"Hah!" Cynthia laughed, throwing her head back. "Was that a joke, Mads? You have a sense of humor?! That's a great one!"

"Let's not make a nickname out of my nickname, thanks," Madison replied, smirking. "And you're so sure it's not possible for Sango to like him, Cynthia? He's rather charming, you know, in fact, I might even have interest…"

"NOooooo! Maddi, noooooo!" Cynthia wailed, thrashing in the water. Maddi smirked, scooting away from her as Cynthia chased after her.

Sango sighed, glancing at Marion, who was laughing heartily. Sango snickered a little herself, feeling herself start to relax. She'd seen the burns on Maddi's leg, and they had surprised her. But she didn't really care to ask about them, they didn't matter in the least. And Marion didn't care one way or the other.

The night drew on, the girls letting themselves unwind after such a stressful day.

Thus ends the winter break arc! I didn't mean for Cynthia, Sango, and Maddi's arc to go on so long. Way longer than I expected. But it was a pretty good one I felt. We'll be returning to the Pokemon Academy next chapter!