The Blazing Rebellion

Chapter 47

Blyke POV

Blyke didn't really know where he was heading when he left the dorm, but he knew it would be better to leave than to stay. When he'd come in and seen the two backpacks in the hallway, he'd hesitated; something had told him that a bad thing had happened. It hadn't felt like John and Seraphina were simply hanging out. Although he'd known it was better to leave at that moment or go into his room, he'd gotten curious... he'd knocked on John's door with the backpacks in his hands.

He hadn't expected to see Seraphina, the goddess of the school, looking drained of energy. Her eyes had been red as if she'd been crying and her hair was messy. Blyke could only imagine how John looked; he hadn't even come to the door. Blyke had known immediately that something had happened. Seraphina had hinted at it when she asked him if John was still taking care of himself, and Blyke had of course seen the tiredness in the black-haired boy's amber eyes, but he hadn't known what to think... he'd been able to ignore it then, but now he had to know. He had to find out.

As soon as Seraphina had taken the backpacks Blyke had left the dorm. Now, he found himself moving in a familiar direction. He was heading to Isen's dorm. The path felt familiar now; he'd walked to Isen's dorm all of the time back when John was a tyrant king and he'd been staying with his friend. Everything seemed different now. The hate that had once fueled Blyke when thinking about John was almost gone. He felt a mix of confusion and pity when thinking of how tired both John and Seraphina looked. It was none of his business, but he couldn't help wondering what was wrong.

Pausing in the hallway, Blyke pulled his phone out of his pocket and stared at it for a minute. Would Remi know what's going on? She knew Seraphina a little better than he did. Isen could know, too, if the school's overheard anything and is gossiping. Isen seemed to know a lot about what was going on from listening to the school's gossip. It wasn't usually a good thing, but maybe it could be helpful now.

Blyke sent a quick message to his friends, asking if they could talk. He knew that Seraphina might not be happy that he was discussing John's problems with other people, especially Isen, who was prone to writing articles, but he didn't like the feeling he was getting. Something about the situation felt wrong. I can't keep it a secret when I want to do something about it... I'm not good at lying anyways. Remi and Isen would see that I was thinking about something really fast. His phone lit up with a text. It was from Isen.

Cecile didn't like my article again, the message read. Blyke frowned. Isen hadn't even read his text about meeting up. Once John had left, there had been nothing to stop Isen from returning to the school press... he'd gone right back to writing the articles he loved so much. Isen had been cautious after John's return, but eventually he'd adjusted back to his old life and John had done nothing to stop him. Cecile left him alone too. She was still the press leader, although Isen had frequently mentioned that she was quieter. Isen had heard gossip that John had beat her up before his fight with Seraphina, but after everything that had happened Blyke didn't want to think about that side of John. Seraphina had told him that John was different, after all.

A new text showed up on Blyke's phone, this time from Remi. What's going on, Blyke? He sighed. Isen could be annoying, but at least Remi cared. She'd replied to his message even if Isen was too concerned with his gossip. The other students at Wellston might've thought that Blyke and Isen were best friends, but Blyke liked Remi a lot better. Maybe as more then friends, although he kept that thought out of his mind most of the time.

After answering the message with a simple explanation, John and Seraphina are acting weird and I think something is going on, Blyke put his phone away again and headed for the school. Isen would just be finishing up the press club, and Remi had stayed behind a few extra minutes in the Safe House. They could meet there.

"Hey, dude! Are you starting to eavesdrop?" Isen asked the moment Blyke entered the classroom that the Safe House was in. Blyke frowned at him.

"No, you're the only one who's obsessed with that," He told Isen. His friend shrugged.

"Watching the most powerful people at the school seems a lot like the beginning of a gossiper to me," Isen responded, smirking when Blyke's frown deepened. Ugh, he's so annoying.

"What's happening with them? Is it something bad?" Remi asked, bringing Blyke's attention away from Isen. The worry in her red eyes instantly made Blyke want to deny that he'd seen anything, but that wouldn't help anything. He sighed.

"Well, John's been acting weird lately-" He began. Isen cut him off.

"Oh, yeah! He ran out of the school too," He added. Blyke glared at him before continuing.

"-and when I came back to the dorm today, Seraphina looked really upset, too. Do either of you know what's going on?" Isen opened his mouth to say something, but this time Blyke cut him off. "I'm being serious, so don't say anything stupid."

Isen frowned at him. Remi bit her lip, tucking a strand of her pink hair behind her ear. "I don't know... I haven't seen Seraphina acting any differently. We don't hang out much, though."

Blyke sighed. So she doesn't know. By the looks of it, Isen didn't either. He didn't even look concerned. When Blyke glanced back at Remi, however, he noticed something. She was avoiding both of their eyes, staring instead at the floor. Her expression was dark.

"Rems?" He asked, ignoring Isen's smirk at the nickname Blyke had given Remi. She jumped, looking back up at him. He could see now that there was clearly something she was hiding. Maybe she's as bad at lying as me. He thought back to his attempt to hide his superheroism, when he'd blamed a scratch on his falling into a wall. No, I guess not. Isen hadn't even seemed to notice, after all, distracted by an article he was reading on his phone. It was likely the one Cecile had rejected.

"S-sorry, I-" She cut herself off and sighed. "It's just that it seems like everyone is acting weird. Seraphina, John, Arlo..." Blyke frowned. Arlo?

"Relax, John and Arlo are always in a bad mood," Isen told her, still distracted by his phone.

"This is different, though. Remember when we followed them to the roof?" Remi asked. "Arlo was acting strange then, and he still is. I think... I think he found out about the authorities. I don't know where, though. That's why I think Seraphina and Arlo are hiding something."

Blyke frowned. "What about John, then? Why is he acting different?"

There were a few minutes of silence. No one could seem to find an answer to that question, or an explanation for Arlo and Seraphina. Eventually, Isen told them to give up on it, distracting them with talk of his article as the three of them left the empty Safe House room. As they were leaving, however, he thought he noticed a determination forming in Remi's eyes.

Maybe Arlo, Seraphina and John weren't the only ones keeping secrets.