Ayame and Olivia go to visit Caelia! What will that be like? What will Caelia's reaction be to learning Blake is missing? Or that Sylvia may have abducted him? Will she end up burning the whole campus down trying to find him? On a more positive note, we finally made it to 3,000 reviews! Quite a milestone! Let's aim for 5,000 next! Remember to review!

KedharS: I think you might be underestimating the level of ordinance.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Interesting points to think of, but you forget: Professor Reinhart may not want whatever that tablet is to become public knowledge. It probably won't be very good for his tenure when it's revealed that he accidentally hoovered up a few students with an ancient portal.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: And unfortunately our master detective has been sucked into a portal with Blake.

Aquahaze675: Oh, she's going to find out alright.

JoshGamerV: I thing you're right.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 602

The interior of Caelia Auburn's room was an affront to everything that Olivia Himeko held dear.

The walk to the Pikachu Private Dorms went well enough, and the building was as fine as always. Even the door was perfectly normal. Yes, everything was fine when Ayame knocked on the door, it was just a normal evening.

The problems all began when Caelia opened the door a crack and peeked out with the dull blue eye of hers. That was when the noisome smell of mold and decay hit Olivia in the face with the force of a dynamic punch. As someone who prided herself on the beauty and care of her surroundings at all times, the noxious odor nearly made her throw up then and there.

Caelia had said nothing, she just stared in silence at Ayame and the Empress, not even blinking. Ayame was still feeling anxious, and had been counting on Olivia to handle the talking, she was by far the more eloquent of the two.

But seeing the look on Olivia's face as she was trying very hard to maintain her façade of polite respect in the face of another member of the student body, Ayame could tell that she was clearly holding on by a thread so with a sigh, she addressed the hermit of a girl first.

"Hi, Caelia, it's Ayame Toujou," Ayame said, trying very, very hard not to sound angry. She channeled her inner Olivia, her inner Blake, putting on a polite face as she greeted Caelia. If the other girl appreciated the courtesy, it wasn't apparent on the shard of her face that Ayame could see through the door.

Caelia didn't even say hello back. She just continued to stare out of her one eye, which was only unnerving Ayame more. Her eyes shifted to Olivia, but the pale complexion on the Empress's face told her that she was unlikely to find any help there. Ayame returned her attention to Caelia and sighed, she was on her own.

"Caelia… I know that we don't exactly get along very well," Ayame acknowledged. They certainly weren't anything close to friends. "But you're someone who's important to Blake. And I know that you care about him."

Caelia blinked, but otherwise her facial expressions didn't change in the slightest. Ayame wasn't deterred by that, though.

"I wanted to talk to you about Blake," Ayame began. She didn't know much about Caelia, but she knew that the girl was definitely going to listen if Blake was involved. And though she couldn't see any change in her face, she still hoped that she had Caelia's attention all the same. "Is it okay if we come in for a little bit?"

Olivia glanced at her friend like she was insane. She didn't want to put a single foot in any room that was releasing such a terrible odor. What was Aya thinking?!

But Ayame wasn't paying her any mind. She was staring at Caelia, hoping that the lure of talking about Blake would allow the girl to let them inside. She didn't want to open right up with the accusations, or even a direct explanation because she feared that would cause Caelia to just shut down and close the door on them. She didn't know Caelia well, but when she was the chaperone for the field trip she saw the way the girl acted around others and guessed that she wouldn't react well to the news if she had nothing to do with it.

If they were in her room, at least, then that would make it a lot harder for Caelia to shut them out and lock herself away.

It was a strange battle of wits. Ayame stared intensely into Caelia's eye, and she began to feel that she was keeping the other girl trapped there, like a pokemon using mean look. If she looked away or blinked for even a second, that would be all Caelia would need to close the door and escape, and Ayame wasn't about to let that happen.

And then finally, for reasons that Ayame couldn't even begin to guess at, Caelia gave in and stepped away from the door.

"Fine," she whispered, closing the door and then opening it fully. Ayame and Olivia walked inside, and Olivia immediately wished she was the sort of horrible woman who could abandon her friends in their time of need.

Because as she had said, Caelia's room was an affront to everything Olivia held dear.

The first thing she noticed was the smell. Just as Olivia was getting used to the repulsive odor coming out of that crack in the door, now that it was open and Olivia had entered the room itself that previous resilience had been blown away and now she was bathing in it. The room smelled of mold and dust and mildew, mixed with the scent of rotten food and human odor. Olivia wanted to wretch, it was like she was standing in a dumpster.

Olivia always tried to be polite. Even when she didn't like someone, or was cutting them down, she always did it in a dignified way, as befitting a woman with the title of "Empress". Bastard though she may have been, she was of noble breeding, and held herself as such.

That went by the wayside as she cupped her hand over her mouth and nose and resisted the impulse to wretch, fearing that she would throw up all over the poor girl's room. It wasn't fitting for the Empress to be in such a place! If anyone she knew saw her here, she would never be able to live it down! And with the intensity of the aroma she began to worry that it would seep into her clothes if she remained in the room too long.

The air was so choking that Olivia actually began to feel dizzy. She glanced around the room looking for somewhere to sit down, and realized that there was nowhere that she would actually feel comfortable with touching. While indeed the odor was by far the worst of it, one could not fail to notice the decay of the room itself, either. Clothes lay strewn about, worn and beginning to fade, with splotches and stains and signs of mold blending into the ratty fabrics. It was unthinkable to see clothing in such a state of disrepair, cheap as it may have been. Olivia would have recommended the girl get a brand new wardrobe and assign this mess to be burned along with the rest of the refuse, but she couldn't in good conscience condemn more clothing to this eventual horrific fate. Along with the clothing was a liberal sampling of food cartons and containers, only a handful of which were completely empty. The rest were beginning to transform into something else entirely.

How could a person live like this?! Even poor people had some level of hygiene standard, they had to! She'd met poor people before! Even the girls like Kate Nomia, who until this moment had been the icon of "hopeless case", took at least a modicum of care of themselves, shoddy though it may have been. Caelia wasn't just incompetent, she was practically an extension of the war crime slowly decaying in her living space!

Indeed, the girl herself was no better than the filthy hovel she dwelled in. The bulky sweater she wore was a tie-dye of food stains, and those were just the splotches that Olivia could recognize; she didn't dare take a closer look at some patches of discoloration, especially those on the girl's left side. Her sweatpants (she actually wore SWEATPANTS, what was the matter with her?!) was a perfect match for the outfit, a coordination that Olivia guessed was less intentional and more the incidental inevitability of any two articles of clothing that remained on this person's body for any degree of time. Caelia's face, what parts of it Olivia could see beneath that mess of knots and tangles she called hair (which looked more like grease-covered muddy straw than anything else), was sunken and hollow, like the girl hadn't washed her face in forever. She looked sick, like a walking corpse, it was no wonder that someone who looked like this had such an empty look in her eye; if Olivia took such poor care of herself she'd sooner die than let someone else see her in this sorry state.

To say it was difficult for Olivia to address Caelia with any degree of decorum would be an understatement, the girl was lucky Olivia didn't run screaming and have the entire building condemned on principle!

Luckily, all Olivia had to do was stand and try not to be sick, Aya was proving more than capable of talking, much to the Empress's relief.

Because while Ayame wasn't comfortable being here either, at the very least she could still address Caelia with a bit of respect since she didn't hold her surroundings to nearly the high standards that the Empress did. And she was far more concerned about Blake than Olivia was as well, considering the condition she feared he might be in. So while Caelia stood motionless in the center of her room, staring up at the two women without a trace of emotion in her eyes, Ayame found the courage inside of her to start talking, and explain what was going on.

"Blake went missing this morning," she told Caelia, trying to see if that made the other girl have any sort of reaction. She wasn't sure what she was expecting. Shock? Rage? Worry? A defensive flinch to indicate her guilt, maybe?

She saw none of that. Caelia stared at her impassively, peering out behind her tumble of bangs without even a glimmer of emotion to be spotted in her eye.

Ayame sighed, and continued. She explained everything they knew, for what felt like the tenth time today. About how she and Blake had gone back to her place, and then Blake returned to his room because he had important business that evening. How he'd left, and then never returned. How his roommates didn't know where he was, he hadn't gone to any classes, and her attempts to text and call him all day had been unsuccessful. She'd held back the parts about Sylvia, because she didn't want to tip her hand; if Caelia was involved, then this would hopefully be a good way to gauge her reaction, to see what she would do.

But to Ayame's shock, Caelia didn't seem to have any reaction at all to the revelation that Blake, who she had been so obsessed over, had gone missing. She simply waited in silence as Ayame explained the whole thing, with that unnerving stare of hers that made Ayame more and more nervous. And when Ayame had finished, she just kept staring, without saying a word. No "are you sure?" or "is there anything else?" not even a "huh" of surprise.

Just silence, and that grim, empty expression. Ayame glanced at Olivia, who looked equally confused. Neither girl knew what to make of this. Was Caelia's lack of emotion because she no longer cared about Blake? Ayame seriously doubted THAT, she'd seen Caelia's attachment to him just a few weeks ago at Cynthia's birthday party. Then was it an indicator of guilt? Could someone innocent keep so composed in this situation?

Then again, Ayame hasn't really seen Caelia NOT be composed before, maybe she really was just this emotionally dead.

What am I supposed to think about this?! Ayame silently asked Olivia. Is she guilty or not?! I have no idea!

Don't ask me! Olivia replied angrily. I don't know how weirdoes think!

You've dated weirdoes before! Ayame reminded her.

Those were just quirky girls, not this slob of a lunatic! Olivia shouted mentally. This is a whole different level than a tattooed chick wanting some recreational BDSM play!

I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THAT! Ayame exclaimed.

The two were so engaged in their silent conversation that Ayame barely caught the notes of Caelia's voice. She had finally started talking!

"Blake…" Caelia finally said. Her voice was as empty as her eye, her tone almost at a whisper. "Blake… is… missing?"

It was a strangely contemplative look she had, Ayame thought, even though she could make out just under half of the girl's face. But even though Caelia was finally showing traces of emotion, Ayame still couldn't make out just what she was feeling.

"Yeah," Ayame said, nodding. She wanted to go down this line of thought, to see what Caelia felt for real. So she reinforced what she had already said. "Blake's missing. And we're all worried about him. Do you know where he-?"

"Where." Ayame froze, Caelia's voice sending a shiver down her spine. That cold look in her eye, the sharp tone of her voice, not even really a question, all of her uneasiness towards Caelia had resurfaced with that. Ayame gulped, shaking a little.

"Wh-what? We-"

"Where. Is. He?" Caelia asked. She stepped closer to Ayame, and those emotions Ayame had been looking for the whole time finally showed up in her eye.

Unfortunately, that emotion was rage.

"We don't know," Ayame said, not used to feeling this meek for a long time, especially around other women. This wasn't even about being intimidated by their beauty, Caelia was just flat-out terrifying with the way she was staring at her without blinking, her normally hollow expression still unnaturally blank, but that pressure… the anger was unmistakable.

Ayame swallowed again, hardening her nerves. Yeah, she and Olivia had gotten it very wrong, that much was clear.

Caelia didn't have anything to do with Blake. She wouldn't be this angry if she had. And now Ayame knew the truth, and she was in the same room with a girl that she suspected was not exactly the most stable person in the world, demanding she tell her where Blake is.

…Mission accomplished…?

Yay.

"We don't know," Olivia said, finally getting over her revulsion to come to Ayame's defense. She immediately regretted it because it forced her to open her mouth, and now she could TASTE the horrible condition of the room. She felt herself gag, but her skills as an actress allowed her to put up with uncomfortable conditions, and something like this wasn't going to get the better of her. "That's why we came here to ask you."

"How would I know?" Caelia demanded. Oh yeah, no more of that empty voice of hers, that was anger surging through her right now. She turned her eye on Olivia and even the Empress herself felt intimidated by her, taking a step back.

"We don't think you know," Ayame quickly stepped between the two. Okay, that was kind of a lie, they'd initially come because they HAD suspected Caelia had something to do with it, but that wasn't something you mention to crazy people. "But we came here because we thought that you might be able to help us."

"Don't know. Can't help. Will. Find. Him." Caelia wasn't even speaking in complete sentences now, and she wasn't looking at either of them. Her eye was staring off into the distance, and Ayame thought that she could see her trembling. But that wasn't the shaking that came with sadness or crying. No, Caelia was pretty clearly shaking with anger.

Ayame swallowed. "Um, Caelia-"

"No Blake. Blake gone. Missing. Taken. Where. Where. Where. Where." Caelia was shaking even more, her eye widening and her pupil dilating as she began to rant, nearly screaming as she kept repeated "where" over and over again.

"We-we'll get out of your hair, then," Ayame said, ready to call things off. She wanted to find Blake, but if that involved messing with Caelia anymore, then she wouldn't be willing to risk it. This girl was way too unstable, and Ayame didn't want to do anything that would set her off. This had been one big disaster from the start. They'd find a different way to find Blake, they'd-

"Sylvia Driscoll."

Olivia had other ideas.

Ayame turned and stared at her friend in disbelief. What was she doing?! They should get out of there, now!

"What." Caelia turned to look at Olivia, and neither girl could mistake the crazed look in her eyes. Olivia gulped, but held strong. This was a performance, after all, and she was going to give it her best to appeal to her audience.

Even if her audience was a crazy person.

"That's the reason we came here to see you," Olivia explained, putting the revolting atmosphere aside. "We-"

Ayame clamped her hand over Olivia's mouth.

"What are you doing?!" She hissed in the Empress's ear. "You're just going to make her more angry if you tell her that!"

"She's already mental," Olivia whispered. "We just pulled a pin on a live grenade over here, I'm making sure to throw it somewhere that it won't blow up on us."

Ayame opened her mouth to rebuke her, but realized that Olivia, unfortunately, had a point. If Caelia thought Sylvia and the Phantom's organization was behind this (and as far as Ayame suspected, they were anyway) then hopefully she would direct her ire towards them and leave everyone else alone. She didn't know what Caelia was capable of, and that frightened her.

With a sigh, Ayame dropped her hand and stepped back, allowing Olivia to continue explaining things to the wary Caelia.

"So, as I was saying," Olivia coughed, still choking a little due to the state of the room, "Aya and I think that Sylvia Driscoll might be behind this."

Both girls studied Caelia to see what her reaction to that accusation was, but Caelia retained her composed look, slightly-crazed though it may be.

Seeing that her words had no effect, Olivia continued, "both Blake and Sylvia are missing. No one can find them. And given Sylvia's fascination with Blake, Aya and I both think that their disappearances are linked. And since you have a connection to both of them, we were hoping you might know something, but if you have no idea…"

Olivia's voice trailed off intentionally and she paused, waiting for her words to sink in.

Caelia stared blankly forward, the anger having drained from her face and her empty expression returning.

"Sylvia…" she murmured, her eye twitching slightly. "Syvlia… Sylvia. Blake. Sylvia and Blake. Missing. Sylva. Blake. Missing. Together. Both. Missing. Unfair. Unfair unfair unfair unfair."

"I think it-" Ayame was about to whisper to Olivia that she thought it worked, but that quickly became apparent in a few seconds.

"Unfair! Unfair! Unfair! Unfair!" Caelia repeated those words louder and louder, the anger from before returning with a vengeance. She was shaking now, her eye twitching frantically as Olivia and Ayame could both only imagine what was going through her head at the moment.

Olivia was definitely scared, and it wasn't something she was used to feeling. But at the same time, that made this the perfect opportunity for her to twist the dagger in.

The coup de grace, as Alcea would have put it.

"Sylvia might have abducted Blake, and is holding him somewhere," Olivia added, tossing more fuel on the inferno that was Caelia Auburn. "Unfortunately, even with my influence, I haven't been able to figure out where that might be. But she is working with the Phantom, after all, so if anyone would know the truth about what happened to the two of them, it would be him, don't you think? Just a hunch, anyway."

She smirked, grabbing Ayame by the arm as she watched Caelia self-destruct in front of her. It was time to leave, she didn't want to spend any more time in this wretched place than she had to, and she wanted to get as far away from this lunatic as she possibly could, before Caelia actually turned violent. And from the looks of things, that time was coming very quickly.

"We'll leave you alone now, Caelia. Don't worry, we'll keep looking for him. I'm sure he'll turn up at some point," she called over her shoulder as she dragged Ayame out of the room. "Maybe we'll ask the Phantom, he might know something… But then, he and I aren't exactly on speaking terms."

Ayame looked over her shoulder at Caelia and couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl. Unstable as she was, that didn't mean it was okay to just… treat her this way. But Olivia was right. They couldn't calm her down, all they could really do was point her at a guilty party and hope that no one got hurt when she exploded.

This had been a huge waste of time, though. They hadn't learned anything new, and had set Caelia off for no reason.

No, that's wrong, Ayame corrected herself, shaking her head as the cool air of a winter's night without Blake struck her in the face. There were two things she had learned.

The first thing was that without Blake, she had become so obsessed with finding him that she hadn't cared about the consequences, and her recklessness had already hurt someone. And maybe it would end up hurting even more people.

The second was that she never wanted to feel this miserable again. So more acting without thinking, no more recklessly charging in.

If Blake knew what had just happened, what she had just helped facilitate, out of reckless need to find him, it would crush him. He'd be disgusted with her.

She knew that because she felt disgusted with herself.

When Ayame went to bed that night, too sick to her stomach to check the messages from her friends, she asked herself if she getting Blake back was worth becoming such a horrible person that she'd take advantage of an unstable girl's emotional problems as part of a plot.

It was a long and restless night she faced when she couldn't bring herself to answer "no".

So it seems that without Blake, Ayame is only getting more and more troubled. I don't think she expected things to go so badly with Caelia, but hopefully nothing horrible comes out of it. Maybe when she wakes up in the morning she'll do a little more critical thinking and a little less gut instinct. And maybe Caelia won't even snap. Who knows?