What have Elaina and Gerard left, in their aftermath? What are the reactions of Sango and Elizabeth, and Professor Reinhart? We'll have to find out…

Also, thank you to everyone who read my story "The Heir to the Dragon". I would appreciate if you continue to read and support it in the future! You can get there through my profile!

We've got a decent amount of girls nominated, but there's always room for more! If there are any other girls you think deserve a chance at the title of Pokemon Academy Best Girl, nominate them here!

Currently Nominated: Alcea, Ayame, Carrie, Caelia, Cynthia, Dakota, Elaina, Elizabeth, Julia, Kate, Kitty, Maddi, Marion, Nikita, Olivia, Sango, Sylvia

KedharS: There is a formula to it, it just might not be apparent.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: There is definitely some conflict in the Blake x Elaina ship, I don't think it's wrong to say that it's not entirely a positive. The thing is, Blake doesn't know Elaina. He doesn't know her at all, because she's such a recluse. I do think his goals are altruistic, and he does care about her, but I would never say he's doing it out of friendship. Whether that's good or not is up to you.

Thunder Fire: That's quite an interesting theory. Whether you're right or not remains to be seen…

JoshGamerV: That's quite an interpretation. By that logic, perhaps Sango could also read the tablet…

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 623

Professor Reinhart's office was quiet for a while after Elaina left and Gerard followed after her. It was Elizabeth who finally broke the silence.

"That girl… Elaina… she seemed so lost…" Elizabeth said, her voice choking mournfully as she thought about the state the masked student was in. She wished there was some way that she could help, but feeling the energy rolling off of her she knew there was no way that that was possible. Elaina was simply too volatile and damaged, any attempt to connect to her would be viciously bitten back against. All she could do was pity her from afar.

Elizabeth didn't have much experience with other harmonia users. He own harmonia had been smooth to transition through, even if it was powerful. Which meant that she lacked the ability to reach out to someone who was so caught-up in herself the way Elaina was. If Elaina had been receptive of it, then Elizabeth could have shown her ways to control and utilize her abilities to the fullest, especially since they possessed harmonia abilities that were truly very similar, both showing a great connection to the air. …But in her present state, Elaina would have resisted that with everything she had, no matter what Elizabeth would try.

There was just no way Elizabeth knew how to get through to someone like that. It made her want to cry in sympathy.

"Elizabeth…" The broken tone of Sango's voice stunned Elizabeth, and she stopped worrying about Elaina as she suddenly remembered who her real priority was. She turned to Sango, and the hollow look in the girl's eye broke her heart. Sango's brown eyes had been filled with emotion all day, whether those emotions were anger, sadness, pain, happiness, and even suspicion. But right now there wasn't a single speck of emotion in those eyes of hers. Sango stared at her dully, like nothing mattered anymore. It was a horrible thing to see.

Elizabeth hadn't wanted to tell Sango the truth. She didn't want Sango to think that the boy she loved was dead, but maybe knowing he was trapped forever was even worse. But with life, at least there was the possibility, right? Having her own daughter stolen away by the Unown, Elizabeth honestly believed that. She didn't have to believe that her daughter was dead. She could be doing a countless number of things, living a happy life right now. None of that hope would exist if her little girl had just died the way her dear Alaine had.

But maybe it didn't matter how Elizabeth rationalized it. Sango was pained by the revelation, and that was what was important. That was what made Elizabeth want to cry right now. She walked over to Sango and hugged the girl tightly, hoping that would make things better.

It didn't. And better could have been a lot of things. Accepting the comfort and brightening up would have been better. Breaking down into tears, while painful, would have been better. And as much as she hated to admit it, Sango yelling at Elizabeth that she hated her and wished that Elizabeth had never told her, that she would never forgive Elizabeth or as long as she lived and never wanted to see her again would have been better.

Anything would be better than how empty Sango seemed at the moment, staring numbly at Elizabeth's chest without even blinking. Then, Elizabeth heard Sango mutter something and she immediately pulled back.

"Yes? What is it, Sango?" Elizabeth asked.

"Is it true… that Blake… will probably never come back?" Sango asked, staring up at Elizabeth with those dead eyes of hers.

Elizabeth didn't want to say yes, but she had made a promise in her heart to the girl in front of her that, as her future step-mother, she would never, ever lie to her. So it tore her up inside to do it, but she admitted that, yes, it was true, and there was nothing they could do as far as she knows. Sango stared numbly at her for some time after that, not saying a word. Not even blinking. Elizabeth could feel how tense Silver was just being here, and both of them wished there was something they could do to make things better.

"I see… then I… I have someone that I have to tell what happened to," Sango replied. She reached into the pocket of her snow pants and pulled out her phone, beginning to text someone. "I can't keep this to myself. I won't."

"Hey hold on a second," Aurore said, moving around his desk to stop her from doing anything reckless. "This is a serious issue, Sango, you can't just tell people about that tablet." He wasn't about to let a riot break out. If people learned what was going on with that…

Sango flinched, pulling back in surprise. It was the first tinge of emotion Elizabeth had seen from her, and it was fear.

"Stop it!" Elizabeth shouted, stepping between the two of them. "Leave her alone, Aurore, she's my daughter!"

Elizabeth's face went deathly pale as she realized what had inadvertently just slipped out of her mouth. She turned to Sango, aghast. "S-Sango, sorry… I didn't… I didn't mean to say that, honestly, it just slipped out, I'm so sorry!"

Sango didn't have any reaction to what she'd said, even though Elizabeth had accidentally crossed one of the most taboo boundaries of their relationship. She just continued texting on her phone, her eyes as empty as they had been.

"It doesn't matter," she muttered, and Elizabeth felt like she could just die. She had just destroyed the heart of a poor girl she loved like her own daughter, and for what? Because she thought that a 15 year old girl would be strong enough to hold up under the truth.

"Sango…" Elizabeth sniffled, taking off her glasses and wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry…" Elizabeth numbly continued to repeat her apology, not even sure if it was for Sango's sake anymore or to assuage her own feelings of guilt. She just felt like she had to apologize. Just to show her how sorry she truly was.

Silver floated over to Sango as she finished texting, and she slipped her phone back into her pocket. She didn't react when the small grey pokemon rubbed his head against her in an attempt at comfort, not even moving to pet him back. She just stared forward, unblinking.

Aurore sighed, stumbling back to his desk and slumping down into his seat. He had no idea who Sango had just texted, or what she'd revealed, but there was no stopping it now. He just hoped that whatever happened, it wouldn't endanger the lives of any more students.

Everyone contemplated their own personal issues with what was happening, standing together in silence. Waiting for what, no one was sure, but no one made a move to leave, either. It was like they were frozen in time, until a sudden change shook them all out of their stupor and brought them back to reality.

The door swung open with a crash that startled the three humans and one pokemon in the room, all eyes turning to the doorway. A dim glimmer of recognition lit up in Sango's eyes, filling the otherwise dead brown orbs with a small trace of emotion.

Olivia Himeko stood in the doorway, hands crossed disapprovingly in front of her chest, Ayame standing behind her. While Olivia's expression could best be described as infuriated, Ayame's was a little harder to read. She looked as numb as Sango at first glance, but upon closer inspection one could see the pallor in her face and the shakiness in her gaze. If Sango's numbness was a result of being broken down and recognizing the futility of holding any vestiges of hope, the emptiness in Ayame's face was that of shock, an inability to properly respond to the reality that was still sinking in and threatening to change everything that she believed to be true.

As the only one in the room still functioning in any normal capacity, Olivia was the one who spoke up first.

"My dear Aya got quite an interesting text, telling her some very serious things about the nature of Blake's disappearance, and how she should come to Professor Reinhart's office if she wants to learn more," Olivia said, reaching into her purse and holding Ayame's phone up. She looked around the room, her blue eyes stabbing into each person that they landed on. "So, would anyone care to explain to the two of us what, exactly, is going on here?"

Olivia sat through the entire explanation in calm silence, not even moving an eyebrow as Sango explained what happened and what she'd learned in perfect deadpan. When the explanation ended, she still remained silent, thinking seriously about what was going on.

Ayame's response was a little more animated.

"No, no way, that's not possible!" Ayame cried. "That's not fucking possible!"

"I'm sorry, it is," Sango said calmly.

"NO IT FUCKING ISN'T!" Ayame shouted, lunging across the room and grabbing Sango by the collar, startling everyone but the blonde herself. "IT IS NOT FUCKING POSSIBLE! TELL ME THAT YOU'RE FUCKING LYING, SANGO, RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

"I'm not lying," Sango said, shaking her head.

Ayame took a deep breath, calming herself down, and let Sango go. "Okay, okay, sorry, Sango. I didn't mean to do that. Okay, so Blake's gone. But… but we can bring him back, right? We can free him from this shadow realm or whatever it is? What do we do?"

Sango shook her head. "There's nothing we can do. He's trapped there."

Ayame's face fell and she fell to her knees, curling up into a ball and bursting into tears. She sobbed in a pile on the ground. "No… Blake… Blake's gone… it's not fair, how… how can my Blake just be gone? How… it… no, please… Blake… no…"

Olivia raised her eyebrow. "Wow, 4/5 stages of grief in less than a minute, that's gotta be a record."

During that instantaneous exchange, Elizabeth realized just who this tall, boyishly handsome girl was, and she felt a pang of sympathy for her. The girl… Aya? Was clearly Blake's girlfriend. Having lost her husband in a collapse, she understood the pain that came with a partner being so suddenly stolen from you. She sent the girl a silent apology.

Ayame recovered almost as quickly as she went down, and for a moment it looked like she had already gone to the next stage of grief, acceptance. But no, Ayame hadn't accepted anything. She was still depressed as hell. But she wasn't just going to wallow in her sadness. She moved towards Sango again, and Elizabeth feared that she was going to attack her for a second time. But no, that wasn't what happened. Ayame lunged at Sango, but not to throttle her. To pull her into a hug. True, it was a hug so tight that it could have counted as a form of assault, but the tears rolling down her face made it clear to everyone what was going on.

"Ayame…" Sango murmured, as surprised as everyone else by the gesture. Elizabeth stared at the girl she now knew was named Ayame, startled by the hug and also relieved that nothing bad was happening to Sango.

"I'm so sorry, Sango," Ayame blubbered. "I'm sorry that you have to go through this too… It's not fair… Blake… why does Blake have to be gone? Why? I'm… I'm sorry…"

Sango was stunned. She had felt numb after everything that had happened, no longer seeing a point in, well, anything to do with Blake anymore. She had let her guard down earlier that day around Elizabeth, let her into her heart, and in doing so she'd opened herself up to unimaginable pain that had broken her heart completely. She hadn't blamed Elizabeth for that, of course. But she had forced herself to put up her guard again, and seal that part of her away. But in trying to guard her feelings from the inevitable backlash she had cut herself off entirely and pushed it into a small corner of her mind where it couldn't hurt her, and now here she was… feeling again.

Because Ayame, even after everything she must be going through, was taking a moment of clarity to cry on Sango's shoulder and comfort her as best she could, even while she could barely speak a work without it coming out as a choked-up sob.

It stirred that part of her that so badly wanted to remain undisturbed, wanted to just go and lock away all the hurt parts, that part of her that she had been loath to sink back into in the first place but couldn't help herself.

Ayame's hug was like Elizabeth's hug. She couldn't keep her walls up any longer, and they all came tumbling down; the empty, vacant face of hers cracked to pieces as emotion seeped into her dead eyes, filling up with sadness as she sunk into Ayame, clutching against her for balance as she broke down crying into the girl's shoulder.

Elizabeth sighed in relief, slumping over and leaning against Aurore's desk for support. While seeing Sango cry in no way made her happy, she was relieved that Sango was no longer filled with the emptiness of despair.

Olivia watched the two girls cry and comfort each other, having stood in silent contemplation nearly this entire time. She knew Ayame. Ayame didn't cry like that. Not unless she was really and truly broken inside. That was when the waterworks came out.

And that was when Olivia would step in. Ayame was her precious flower, her cool and strong beauty of a tomboy bestie, and when Ayame cried, people felt pain. The problem was, the source of that pain wasn't exactly something she could hurt. She couldn't even blame Blake for not keeping his promise, and hurting Ayame.

But that didn't mean there was nothing she could do.

"I'm as appreciative of two girls clinging to each other and rubbing their bodies tightly against one another as the next lesbian, but I've got some more important matters to discuss," Olivia scoffed, crossing the room until she stood face to face with Elizabeth. Scanning the older woman with eyes that made Elizabeth feel like she was being studied for dissection.

Olivia raised her eyebrow, a thin smile spreading across her painted lips.

"So tell me, miss, who are you again?" She asked, her voice slightly deeper and more throaty, although Elizabeth didn't notice that change so much as she noticed with surprise the fact that this girl's voice sounded surprisingly chipper considering what she had just heard.

"I'm Doctor Elizabeth Skye," she introduced herself, staring suspiciously at the other girl. "Archaeologist and Philologist."

Olivia's smile deepened and she held her hand out, batting her eyelashes at Elizabeth. "My name is Olivia Himeko, dear doctor. Many people refer to me as 'The Empress' but you can just call me Olivia. It's very nice to meet you."

"Oh!" Elizabeth gasped in surprise, eagerly taking Olivia's hand. "I've heard of you! You're famous! Wow, I'm actually honored to meet you!"

"Is this really the time for that?" Professor Reinhart asked, his brow furrowing. He still wasn't sure what these two wanted. But the way Olivia was acting and the way she had looked when hearing about the tablet had put him on guard. He didn't know if he could trust her. She might be trying to mess things up or get him in trouble. Doctor Skye wasn't aware of the situation he was in, but it was a very precarious one. "Now listen, Olivia-"

"The words of men I don't like are irritating, please quiet them," Olivia said, shooting the professor a withering glare as she raised one finger, startling Aurore. He was actually a loss for words at how brazen she was, and said nothing as Olivia's flirty smile returned as she looked back to meet Elizabeth's gaze, scooting a little closer to her. "Now then, Doctor Skye, I don't suppose you would consider… 'playing doctor' with me for a little while? We could put this behind us and get a nice dinner together, what do you say?"

Elizabeth blinked in surprise, adjusting her glasses. Wait… the way this woman was talking from deep within her chest, the way she was batting her eyelashes and pressing closer and closer… was she being flirted with?!

For a second, she felt flattered. She'd never been flirted with so overtly before, her courtships with Alaine and Uboss were both very chaste and sweet.

"Um, I'm sorry, but… I have a fiancé," Elizabeth said, realizing Olivia was practically chest to chest to chest with her.

Olivia didn't look fazed.

"Is… that a no?" She asked, reaching with one hand and running it up Elizabeth's side, tracing across her figure, while her other hand was planted on the table to support her as she leaned closer and closer, stunning Elizabeth by such brazenness from a girl still in high school.

She was so stunned, she forgot to get angry for a moment. Then, when her sense returned, she understood what Olivia was insinuating and got pissed off.

"I would never cheat on my fiancé!" Elizabeth snapped. "Absolutely not!"

Olivia blinked, looking momentarily surprised, and shrugged her shoulders. She pulled back and quickly turned away, leaving Elizabeth flustered and confused at how fast Olivia seemed to have changed her mind.

Then, when the girl turned back to her, that surprise and embarrassment immediately shifted into a chilling sensation of realization. Olivia twirled around and faced Elizabeth, presenting a stone tablet in front of her stomach. Elizabeth gasped and looked behind her to see that the tablet that Gerard had set down on the professor's desk was now gone.

She'd been played! The flirting had been a ploy to get close enough to the desk to steal the tablet while Elizabeth had been distracted by Olivia's advances! Elizabeth wanted to slap herself in the face, she couldn't believe she had been that stupid! Certainly, her lack of social experience due to her years as a nerd no-doubt played a part, as well as that urge from childhood to want to make the pretty, popular girls happy that never really gone away, but still!

It was about the dumbest mistake that she could have made.

Aurore reacted to this, as startled as Elizabeth was, but made no moves to get up. He was resigned by now, what was the point of trying to stop her?

"This is quite an interesting tablet," Olivia said, turning the face towards her so she could glance at the words. "I can't read it at all, but still. Interesting."

Ayame and Sango separated, staring at the Empress, both girls confused by what she was doing. But Olivia was more interested in the professor. It was a surprising diversion from her usual nature. Instead of paying attention to one of the three girls in the room, all her energy was directed towards the one male.

"Now, professor, I'm wondering, what do you think the faculty would say, if they knew you were bringing such a dangerous thing onto campus? That it had resulted in the disappearance of two of your students? I can't imagine that you told them about what it was capable of beforehand, and I really doubt they'd be happy with what happened. And none of us wants that, now do we?" She asked, the tone of her voice implying that she really, really wanted that.

"That's… there were circumstances…" Aurore fumbled for answers, hanging his head in shame. "I didn't think that anyone would get hurt. If I left it here while I studied it, then there wouldn't be any chance that someone could read it."

"Fair enough, but they did," Olivia mused absentmindedly, not all that interested in his response. "Now you see, professor, you and I have a bit of a problem. I'm rather fond of Blake, you see, and my best girl loves him to pieces. But thanks to you and this little rock here, now my dear Blake has gone, far, far away. And I'm not happy about that, no, not at all…"

She narrowed her eyes and scanned the room.

"And when I don't get happy, well… things don't work out for those who I'm not happy with, I can promise you that."

Sango shivered. She hadn't seen this side of Olivia before. Right now, part of her wished she could go back to not caring.

Oh, man, Olivia is pissed! I thought Ayame would be the one to snap, and she definitely did, but Olivia going nuts? Not a good vibe.