The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 14

Remi POV

Things had improved considerably since Blyke had returned. Not that they'd been completely awful in the first place, but something about having one of Remi's best friends back just made everything better. Isen was good and all, but he just wasn't the same... he didn't like to get involved with things. Blyke was way more willing to help her out when she needed it, even if it had meant danger was possible. Remi felt much safer having him there.

She'd been keeping an eye on Arlo ever since he'd tried to call his aunt. True to his word, he hadn't tried to talk to her again... at least not while Remi was watching. He'd instead sunken into a state of silence. Although he'd never been a complete extrovert, now Arlo had limited himself only to answering questions and barely talking then. She was a bit worried about him, but there was really nothing she could do. Remi thought that he deserved to know his aunt was working with EMBER, but with Arlo's current state simply from finding the connection between the authorities and EMBER, she didn't think it was such a good idea to tell him. Plus, it would become much harder to stop him from communicating with his aunt when he had something even more specific to confirm.

Arlo wasn't the only one Remi had been worrying about, however. She'd also been watching John to make sure he didn't do anything else. She hadn't seen him much since he'd bumped into that girl; there were always whispers about him, but none of the things Remi had heard had proved to be more than rumors. Overall, he did seem to be leaving them all alone. She hadn't even seen him walking with Seraphina much anymore.

Seraphina was acting a bit strange too... she didn't think this was related to EMBER and the authorities, though. She had no idea of what was going on with the former Queen of the school. Although Remi wanted to ask her about it, she was already pretty busy running the Safe House.

She sighed as she walked through the hallway. There seem to be so many things going on right now...

"Hey, is everything okay?" A voice asked, distracting Remi from her thoughts. She looked up to find Blyke staring at her in concern. She smiled at the sight of him; it really was nice to have him back, even if there were so many other things that weren't working out.

"Yeah..." She answered, wondering if she should tell him about Arlo's phone call. She still hadn't brought up the fact that Volcan was Arlo's aunt with Blyke and Isen. How would I say that to them? It would be easier than telling Arlo, but still... I also don't know how her ability can be a variation of barrier if we saw it as flame claws. Remi sighed.

"You interrupted my story," Remi's other friend, Isen, frowned from where he was walking next to Blyke. The redhead rolled his eyes at this comment.

"We don't need to hear your gossip about the school," Blyke told Isen, crossing his arms. The other boy's frown deepened.

"It's not gossip! It's going to be the top story for this week!" He retaliated. Blyke remained uninterested in this.

"Dude, Remi is way more important than some top story of yours," He told Isen. "And Remi, are you really sure? You're acting like something's bothering you."

Remi bit her lip, staring into his yellow eyes. They still held a hint of concern, even after Isen's distractions. I really should tell him... maybe he'll have an idea of what to tell Arlo. She opened her mouth to say something.

Before she could, however, Blyke added to his previous comment. "Is it John?"

Remi could see that there was now a familiar anger burning in Blyke's eyes. She sighed. He really did seem to hate John after everything that had happened. Not that she could blame him. A lot of people hated John after he'd become Joker, or were at least scared of him.

"Oh no, don't tell me you think he's planning to attack the Safe House again," Isen added nervously. He paused for a second before adding, "Hey, am I supposed to be watching over it at any time alone this week?"

"Don't be a coward," Blyke told his friend, frowning.

"Dude, I just don't want to deal with John! That guy is terrifying!" Isen defended. Remi sighed.

"I don't think he'll do anything. He hasn't shown any signs of aggressiveness," She told them. Blyke frowned.

"Yet," He reminded her. "He's really good at tricking people, remember? He even convinced Seraphina to stay friends with him."

"No, I think they might just generally be friends-" Remi began. She paused in her words as she caught sight of a blond-haired student somewhere ahead of him. It was Arlo. He turned by the stairs of the roof. Remi frowned. Only the Royals were allowed on the roof, so there was a good chance that he would be alone up there... He's not going to try and call his aunt again, is he?

Arlo glanced back before he began up the stairs, only adding to Remi's concern. She noticed then that she'd stopped walking in the hall. Blyke and Isen had continued a few steps without her, arguing about something.

"Relax, you can handle the Safe House alone!" Blyke was saying. "It's literally only for an hour!"

Remi realized that they'd gone back to the earlier topic of the possibility that John would attack the Safe House again. It seemed that Isen was still freaking out about it.

"John could kill me!" Isen answered back, his voice high-pitched and fearful. Blyke frowned and then glanced back, noticing that Remi wasn't following them.

Hey, are you coming?" He asked her. She could see that the worry had reappeared in his eyes. She bit her lip, glancing toward the roof.

"Actually, I want to do something else..." She told them. Without anymore context, Remi began walking again and turned to go up to the roof.

Blyke and Isen exchanged a look behind her and then followed.