Though the trip to the private beach did not turn out the way they wanted it didn't mean they couldn't enjoy themselves before they actually had to get serious. That's the mindset Remi wanted to keep since they were blessed to be able to stay at Sera's private beach. When she woke up that morning she was determined to at least have one day where they could actually relax instead of worrying about the threat that's hanging over their heads. Again.
It was only 9 but she could tell that her fellow friends were awake as well. Maybe not Isen but that's expected, when Isen was worried he tended to sleep more than usual which speaks a lot. For her to be awake at 9 was unsurprising either. She could hardly get a wink of sleep last night, her mind too occupied with worrying and other ideas and theories as to what Ember planned to do other than attempt to kill them.
If this was a few months ago the thought would have sent a shiver up her spine but now, after fighting Ember head-on and mourning her brother's death she wasn't fazed. She could hear shuffling in the room next to her. She would assume it was Elaine since Sera usually would wake a lot earlier.
Remi changed into something suitable a t-shirt in shorts before heading down with a list in hand.
For today, this one day before they actually had to start worrying and thinking, they would have fun if that was the last thing she did.
Elaine sighed, she was up since 7, thinking and brainstorming with doc, Arlo, and Leilah. She found all three of them out on the patio when she went downstairs and decided to join them. She was hardly surprised to find out that they were gathering thoughts and ideas on what Ember 2.0 was planning. Eliminating them was one thing but they also needed an end game and a plan for it all. She could tell from yesterday that when they attacked them it wasn't planned whatsoever but that didn't mean they weren't prepared either. The scarlet-haired woman clearly thought out what she was going to do if they failed; attack the pilots.
Or it was for her own sadistic pleasure but even so it did act as a backup plan.
She checked her phone, it was 8:47 now and they came up with a few different ideas as to what would happen, what their plan was but nothing solid. They didn't have enough solid proof or information to go off of so what they had was little to none. What they did have down were their abilities. It was quite obvious that the people that attacked them were team alpha, the strongest among the attackers.
Leilah and Darren talked about their abilities in detail to understand what part they have in the team. What they know so far was the Sleeping Cloud ability, fluothane, was a support ability among the 5 attackers. A surprise attack but nothing offensive, the ability is however deadly. The woman could activate it whenever and if they weren't ready they could lose in an instant, knocked out completely. The woman was taken out relatively easy but she was strong to be able to conjure the gas again having taken almost all the lightning-powered beams. Blyke and Remi were strong on their own but together combined they were almost undefeatable. To be able to stand back up and use her ability again was scary.
The two adults estimated that her level was between 5.3-5.7.
The black-haired woman's ability was termed Impact Orbs. Similar to Blyke's except not as bendable, she was able to create orbs of any size that would explode upon impact. It was clearly an offensive ability and one to watch out for. The actual size that she was able to create the orbs was impressive though it took a while for her to do so, her ability was quite time-consuming yet efficient. Unlike Blyke who could charge up energy fast the woman needed time to be able to, probably because the orbs would fizzle out if hastily charged instead of exploding.
Leilah guessed that she was a 5.8 or a 6.
The red-haired woman's ability was a little more challenging to decipher. It was poisoned-oriented and very deadly but it wasn't anything that would be in form of gas or liquid. Her ability was like she could create vessels that held poison which she could then direct. She only created 2 types of vessels when they were attacked so they don't know what else she can or cannot create. Her ability was offensive and defensive which made her stronger than the other 2 women. Doc called the ability Poison Vessels since there wasn't much else to call it.
Elaine did point out that the vessels she did create were already things in real life that were actually poisonous. All of them were pretty sure that the only things she could create that could hold her poison were things in real life that are already venomous.
All things considered, she was probably one of the strongest among the 5. Darren, having worked with poison before made the scary guess that her level was most likely a 7.
The two men, most likely twins, their abilities were easy to figure out. Ice and fire, a balance between the two. They only witnessed them using their abilities once so they couldn't make out a good guess but definitely high-tiers.
She was tired, having spent a good amount of time staring at the papers skew around the table.
"Elaine, you okay?" She looked up at the voice, Leilah was sitting across from her, looking at her in concern. She just smiled tiredly, "yea I'm fine, just a little tired." She took that answer though with reluctance. Doc went out to check on the 2 pilots while Arlo was in the kitchen, brewing another batch of coffee. Leilah passed a few papers in front of her and she looked down to see a couple of pictures taken from the outside cameras.
"I just got them from the printer, I had to wait all night for them to load since one of the cameras was damaged from one of the hits the jet took yesterday which then slowed all of them."
Elaine nodded absently, focusing on the pictures in front of her. She flipped through the pictures, stopping at one with red flowers soaring through the air. They looked familiar.................... Elaine knew that these were created by the woman with the poison ability but they looked really familiar. It was like something she's seen many times but never really thought too much about it.
Before she could dwell on it too long she heard footsteps coming from the staircase. She turned her head seeing Remi coming down with a bright smile. How she could remain positive throughout all of this was beyond Elaine but she appreciated the optimism. Remi dragged her eyes all over the living room, the kitchen, and the dining area with confusion before spotting them through the sliding glass doors, she walked towards them with confidence and determination. She outright ignored Arlo sipping his coffee in the kitchen and slid the door open, not bothering to close it before slapping the paper she was holding right on the table.
Leilah quirked an eyebrow but didn't question her, simply reading the words on the paper in silence. The same couldn't be said for Elaine. She hit her head on the table, groaning in frustration.
"Not more Ember theories............." She muttered in her arms.
"They're not Ember theories, '10 activities we can do for fun." Leilah read with curiosity and amusement. She smiled at all of them and excused herself, going to check on Darren.
She lifted her head slightly when she heard a quiet thump beside her. She looked to the side to see a mug of coffee being sit down by Arlo. She thanked him quietly before taking a sip and immediately feeling more energized. He sat down next to her and peered at Remi with a practiced look of disdain but she knew he was curious, having spent the better month getting to know him better she could read him pretty well now.
"I know since yesterday everyone has been worrying over what we should do next and what Ember plans to do next but I think we should at least have 1 day where we can actually be teenagers and relax like we were supposed to. I came up with 10 activities and we need to at least do 5 of them. It's not fair that we only had a couple of months to be carefree and then we're bombarded with another threat so let's relax and have fun today!"
"Wake the whole house up while you're at it won't you?" Came the cranky and tired reply from Isen. He and Blyke were at the top of the staircase, one of them glaring at all of them while the other was deep in thought.
Remi gave a sheepish but bright smile before it faded, "uh where's Sera and John? The rest of us are all awake but I dunno where the 2 of them are."
Isen smirked,
"probably kiss-!" Before he could finish Blyke slapped a hand over his mouth and whispered something in Isen's ear which proceeded to cause him to go pale. Elaine chuckled a bit, Blyke probably reminded him that Seraphina's sister was still nearby and could have heard him.....................and could kill him if she wanted to.
Even though Leilah was very kind she knew that Seraphina's sister wasn't someone you wanted to mess with. Elaine knew that all Leilah would want for Sera was her happiness and she knew that Leilah wasn't one to meddle with someone else's business but she could also tell that Leilah was still feeling guilty. Having abandoned Sera to their parents at a young age she could tell that she was now quite protective of her.
Leilah only knew to an extent what John did in the past but Elaine did catch a few suspicious looks thrown at John every now and then.
"Actually, John and Sera are on the beach, out for a walk," Blyke informed them, having let go of Isen and heading towards them. "I was getting a snack at like, I dunno 3 am? I found him in the living room hyperventilating. I'm not good at consoling anyone so I called Seraphina down. When I was heading back up I saw them leave, they just said they were going on a walk. But, considering that they aren't back yet I'm going to bet that they're asleep on the beach somewhere."
"Bet," Isen called out, "I think they sneaked in through a window and are asleep in John's room."
"Deal, let's bet $30. I think they're asleep on the beach somewhere." They shook hands and grinned at each other.
"Guys," Remi whined, disapprovingly, "it's not nice betting on our friends."
Isen looked at her incredulously while Remi remained looking innocent,
"you're the one who started the bet on when we think Elaine would conf-!?!?"
For the second time in 10 minutes, Blyke slapped a hand over Isen's mouth yet again, stopping him from exposing all of them.
"What?" Elaine perked up at the mention of her name, all she got was Remi smiling innocently as if nothing happened.
"As I was saying, we should at least relax for today and then we can go and do adult things even though we're teenagers."
Elaine nodded, understanding that even though they had heavy responsibilities placed on all of them they should be able to have fun at least once. She agreed along with the two crackheads, Arlo was dragged along having been outvoted.
They checked John's room first, it was empty. Arlo wasn't particularly surprised, he already thought that Blyke would win the bet having been there when they left. Though it was empty his bed was rumpled as if he was tossing and turning for the better half of the night. Knowing John's problem with his darker memories was probably the reason why Blyke found him hyperventilating at 3 in the morning.
All of them walked towards the beach, he could briefly see the imprints of 2 sets of footprints and followed them, heading towards the farther end of the beach. The rest followed them silently, basking in the bright sunlight. The trio behind him were doing a good job of keeping things light, trying to be kids for this one day.
Elaine fell in step with him and he knew that she was keeping things realistic as he was. She was obviously worried, the scarlet-haired woman set a target on her back, it would worry any one of them. Objectively, the only reason he could think of as to why the woman set a target on Elaine was probably that she's a healer and the woman's ability is poison oriented. If the woman could take out the healer, she could poison all of them easily without Elaine having a chance of healing them since she had to deal with the deadly poison the woman already dosed her with.
Now, if he thought more like a villain there could be many reasons as to why she wanted to attack Elaine but none really stuck out. They needed more information about Ember.
Yes, they could leave it to the authorities this time since Vaughn was running it now instead of the old chairman. But, everyone collectively agreed not to tell the authorities since they tended to do unnecessary things when they could finish this all together. There was also the trauma, Rei, Keon, au- Valerie. They all weren't ready to get help from the very people that caused all of this trauma. As much as he loathed to picture himself of something weak, he knew it was true.
Now he experienced a new trauma yesterday, the poison.
He knew it was deadly considering that the 2 pilots were still in the small infirmary they had on the island. Both of them in a medically induced coma, Elaine was called down around 8 pm yesterday to help the doctor on sight alongside Darren and Leilah. From what he heard this morning the pilots would be fine if they steadily took the tonics doc was making them and Elaine and the doctor on sight healed them slightly every day. Leilah was taking a few blood tests, hoping to figure out the poison and what it does.
If the jet didn't tip when it did the viper would have easily broken through his barrier, going after Elaine right after. He saw the condition the pilots were in having only being hit with the small flowers. if Elaine was hit by that gigantic viper would have most likely killed her.
Having someone he begrudgingly admitted that was close to him having to deal with the same thing would have caused him a lot more pain than he would have liked to admit.
"They're over there!" The girl in question yelled, which pulled him out of his self-reflection. Sure enough, John and Seraphina were still asleep at 9:30 am under a palm tree. Isen glowered but handed Blyke his thirty dollars. Despite not being one for anything romantic he did have to admit that they looked like a happy couple sleeping away, without a worry in the world.
That's how they looked like 30 seconds ago, as of right now they are soaked thanks to Isen and Blyke. Both of them grabbed buckets seemingly out of thin air and dumped them on top of them. John spluttered before jumping up and hunting the both of them. They were a good distance away yet Arlo could still hear Isen's high-pitched screams, if he didn't know better he would have thought it was a girl.
Sera was still on the sand looking at all of them blankly before she let out a small chuckle. She went to hug both Remi and Elaine, fully intended to get them wet as well. Elaine squealed and ran over to him, hiding behind his tall frame. He tried to reign in his expression but couldn't stop the twitch of his lips. He looked at her with thinly veiled amusement and she just shot him an apologetic smile. Before Seraphina could reach them he put up a barrier surrounding him and Elaine. He could feel Elaine letting out a sigh of relief before looking back at Seraphina.
She was looking at them with an unreadable expression before shrugging and making a run for Remi who was laughing loudly, running towards Isen and Blyke who were running away from John.
He couldn't stop a chuckle from coming out, the trio met in the middle but before they could escape John and Sera both pulled out the buckets they used earlier and splashed the chaotic trio with them. They looked absolutely ridiculous having been soaked to the bone. He heard a light laugh coming from his right, it almost sounded angelic but he stomped that thought out viciously. He subconsciously let down his barrier and Elaine made a mad run to the beach house, trying to avoid being splashed as well.
Before she got too far she called out to the rest of them, "if we're going to spend the day at the beach we might as well get changed into our bathing suits!"
And that's how he ended up under an umbrella shade reading while the rest of them were either doing something immature or relaxing as well. Leilah dragged doc not too long ago, they were a good distance away from them, also under a beach umbrella. John and Seraphina were in the water lightly splashing each other, planning on playing volleyball a little later when the heat would go down a bit.
Remi and Isen buried Blyke under a ton of sand, molding it into a mermaid's shape. He hoped the redhead put on some sunscreen or else when he would wake, his face would match his hair, literally. He snorted slightly when he remembered that Blyke did in fact turn the colour of Remi's bathing suit when she came out with it on. His face was priceless when he saw what Remi was wearing, he stood there staring for a while before his nose started to bleed. He quickly covered his nose and ran right past Remi into the house, staying there for about 7 minutes before he came out again.
Elaine was out in the deeper part of the water, using her ability to test it on aquatic animals. Surprisingly, even though there weren't many injured animals she was attracting quite a lot of marine life.
Besides that, he decided not to think about what she was wearing, absolutely not. If he went down that path all of the imbeciles would have a field day catching him, Arlo, blushing. Sure it was faint but he made sure to pull the book he was reading higher up so no one would see it.
"Hey, guys! Let's play volleyball, all the members of the losing team have to watch the crazy videos that the crackheads watch for an hour. Trust me, it's absolute hell, more so than usual." John yelled over to all of them, Arlo narrowed his eyes slightly he could see John shudder at the thought of whatever videos Blyke and Isen made him watch.
Blyke and Isen high-fived, no matter who won it would be a win to the both of them, they even ignored John calling them crackheads.
Then, John smirked at the two, "but, if one of you guys lose you have to be my personal servant for the rest of the day."
They looked at John, both paling at the idea of being John's personal servant but never one to back down from a challenge. Isen shook hands with John's but Arlo could see his hand trembling.
Nonetheless, he wasn't one to back down from a challenge especially if something was on the line. He got up and walked all the way to the shallow part of the ocean where they set up a volleyball net.
Isen, Seraphina, and himself were put on a team while Remi, John, and Blyke were put on the other team. Elaine opted to watch but something in her eyes told him she had an ulterior motive to not play as well.
He watched her as she went back into the beach house and came out with the pictures Leilah handed her this morning. She looked to be thinking hard on something, but what?
He chose to ask her later but right now, he was going to destroy the other team.
And I'm back! Sorry for the wait but here's part 5, now that I think about it the March break series is probably going to end after 2 or 3 more parts but after the March Break series it'll still be something the UnO members would discuss when they're back. It was really fun writing 3 different people's pov while writing this part, I'll write Isen, John, Sera, and Blyke's pov in the next parts but for now, have a great day!
Long chapter for the long break I took, hope you enjoyed it!
-Ash