The sun peered in through light washed curtains, the rays bathing bedrooms in a crisp, golden glow.
Birds could be heard chirping melodies outside as they fluttered from one tree to the next despite the frost clinging to their branches.
Even though the dorms had running heaters, many of their occupants rolled over and curled up beneath the plethora of blankets they had piled up over-night.
For one blonde however, he was already up and awake despite the cold nipping at his bare feet.
Wandering around the kitchen in a black long sleeve and grey sweats, Arlo made a b-line for the coffee maker sitting in the dorm rooms kitchen counter.
He leaned on the jutted cherry wood surface, waiting for his life infusing brew to finish its cycle.
Arlo thanked the heavens that it was Sunday. As punctual as he was, he didn't know if he'd have the energy to drag himself to school on time given all that's occurred since Friday night.
He shifted with a sigh as he felt his back ache, still feeling the after effects of his fight with that one sparky lady.
He had really asked too much of his body armor and despite its reliable durability, there were still some injuries he couldn't avoid. Namely light bruising. That and the small burn on his upper arm from when his shirt caught fire.
Though, it wasn't nearly as awful as Blyke's arm, Isen's knuckles and Kuyo's leg.
Blyke had been the first one Elaine had attended to the night they snuck back, shocked at the state the lot of them had returned in as well as the overwhelming amount of dust and soot on their skin and clumped in their hair.
Seraphina was just as surprised, though there was a current of nervousness in her eyes.
Arlo couldn't blame either of them for being scared.
They had been prepared to take anything on. Yet there they were, looking like they just got into a fight with a fire pit and lost.
But Elaine was more than just upset when they told her everything that occurred.
.........
Elaine narrowed her eyes as she finally finished healing Blyke.
"Is this going to happen every time you all go out?" Her voice was low and shaky.
Everyone stared at her in confusion before she stood up, lifting her gaze to meet the rest of theirs. "What's it going to take for you all to realize how horrible of an idea this is?! John may be missing, but is it really worth it to go out, risking your necks to find him?! What if something went wrong?! What if Blyke hadn't blocked in time or Arlo's barrier had actually failed?! What then?!"
The bluette looked at all of them. "I mean, come on guys! Falling buildings, kidnapping, murderous criminals with enhancement drugs! Does none of this scare any of you at all?!"
When she still got no answer, her voice got louder, her anger now having turned into something else, something more akin to terror.
She waved her arm out in front of her in an arc. "Who's going to die first before you all realize how insane this is?!"
Silence was all that met her before the tears that had been balancing at the corners of her eyes tipped over, spilling down her cheeks. "My healing can only do so much...! I can only heal so many wounds, repair so much damaged tissue and stop so much bleeding...! But I'm not a miracle worker guys! What happens if someone comes back with a wound I can't heal?! With a wound so severe that even my abilities won't be enough?! I'm just an elite level healer...! I don't have the obnoxious amounts of power at my fingertips like you all do...! And even now, we've discovered that even power isn't enough these days!"
The quick glance she casted to Seraphina only solidified what they were all thinking.
The bluette rubbed her hands against her eyes. "I don't want any of you to die...I don't want someone to come back in such bad shape that even I can't reverse the damage that's been done. I already had to do it for Remi after her fight with Volcan when she was stabbed and burned, and even then, I hadn't been able to heal all of it...I don't know if I could do it again if it was worse or something well beyond my control..."
She sat down on the couch, her head in her hands. "I don't want you all to keep getting hurt...I want to help but I don't know how much help I can be if one of you is almost dead..."
Blyke was the first to react. He slowly sat down next to her, giving her space. Remi came around on her other side, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder despite her pensive state throughout the evening.
Isen and Arlo stood in front of her before Blyke spoke up. "We're sorry for putting so much pressure on you Elaine. We're not trying to scare you or worry you. We can take care of ourselves to an extent. But sometimes, even we need a healing hand." Isen had tried not to snort at the cringy joke and was about to make fun of Blyke for it, but it got a small smile and a chuckle from Elaine so he allowed it.
Remi nodded, gently rubbing small circles into her shoulder. For the first time since they were at the pier, she finally spoke, her voice low but soothing. "We come to you not just because you're our strongest healer, but because we trust you. Out of all of us, you have the most medical knowledge. You're the only one who can keep their composure even in desperate situations. If it hadn't been for you, I don't know what state I would be in right now."
Arlo nodded as he crossed his arms. "There are many healers in Wellston, Elaine. But when we needed a healer for turf wars or when things got difficult, I chose you because I knew you could do it. Not just because of your strength, but because you know what you're doing and we can rely on you."
Elaine looked between them before Seraphina spoke up eyes calm. "It's ok to be scared Elaine, we all are. But we can't give up. There's too much on the line right now for everyone here to just up and quit. Besides, this isn't like before when it was just Remi, Isen and Blyke. We have strength in numbers and we have more knowledge of what we're getting ourselves into."
The bluette of the group had looked at her, confusion writing across her face. "Seraphina...I know you've been through a lot, but why are you still doing this? John's hurt you. He's lied to you and broken your trust. I know it's not the same as it was before, but why are you still going through all this pain for him? Why are you letting everyone else go through all this pain for him?"
Seraphina froze and looked away. Immediately, Arlo knew Elaine had hit a nerve as the magenta haired girl gripped her arms in a vice hold. "It's...complicated Elaine..."
The bluette opened her mouth to say more but Isen beat her to it and talked, trying to diffuse the tension by directing everyone's attention back to him. "Alright folks. It's pretty late and thank goodness it's Friday because otherwise, I don't think I'd be able to survive school after what's happened. Let's all head home and get some sleep, sound good?"
The blonde saw him fiddle with the bandages wrapped around his knuckles, a nervous habit of his.
Everyone mumbled their approval, all feeling the aftereffects of fatigue kicking in. Remi was the first to leave, quietly grabbing her things with a small wave to them and heading out without so much as a word.
Arlo made a note to talk with her later when she had some time to calm down and think things through.
Isen and Blyke were next, the redhead grumbling about his still navy blue locks and how it would suck trying to wash it out with one arm. Isen only retorted by saying they should change his superhero name from 'Nobody' to 'Bluke.'
This had earned Isen a slap over the back of his head while the duel haired teen just cackled about his joke to himself.
Elaine had packed up their medical kit and had gone off to bed when Seraphina had seen Arlo off, stepping outside for privacy.
It was obvious she wanted to talk, but she had remained silent, for once seeming unsure of herself.
Arlo looked to the girl and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
She had her head down, staring at the floor as he spoke. "I can't guarantee we'll find him Seraphina...but this is far from over. We'll keep trying, but I don't want anything to happen to them. If it gets to be too much, we have to stop."
What Arlo wasn't prepared for was the girl to look at him, tears streaking her face as she looked up to face him.
The blonde had stood there like a deer in headlights, shocked and completely unprepared to deal with a crying former goddess.
But once he was over his initial shock, he gently resorted to rubbing small circles into her back, letting her get it out of her system.
Seraphina barely made any noise, quiet for the most part. But Arlo knew her well enough to see that she was breaking apart on the inside and trying to hold herself together at the same time.
Once Sera had finally calmed herself, she took a deep breath. "I-I know Arlo...I don't want any of you to die looking for him...but dammit this hurts...this hurts so much...I want to be out there looking for him with you guys. Not sitting at the window waiting to see when or if you guys come back and in what state..."
She rubbed her eyes and Arlo could see the bags lining her face, the slouch in her normally ramrod posture.
Tonight may have been physically exhausting for them, but he could see the fatigue finally catching up to her from over a month's worth of searching and no results.
Seraphina took another steadying breath. "I know none of you want to find him...I know you're doing this just for me...and while I appreciate the help, I don't want you guys to do this because you feel obligated or because you pity me. But I need your help because I'm physically incapable of tearing this city apart to find him myself right now..."
Arlo had looked away.
Deep down, he knew that was the general mood among them going into this. He knew everyone, including himself, had varying opinions on finding John and all had their reasons for helping.
Steadying himself for this conversation, he led Seraphina to sit down against the wall, remembering to keep his voice down as they were in the middle of the girls dorms hallway.
After checking to make sure they could hear no one, Arlo finally spoke.
"I'll be honest here Seraphina, we're doing this mostly for you. I don't know if it's out of pity, but I know for me, it's because despite all that's happened, after all we've put one another through, you're still willing to trust me however small of an amount or forced it may be. Besides, I owe you. After all the times I've tried to force you back into being something you didn't want to be a part of, this is the least I can do."
Seraphina watched him with a tired but focused gaze. She allowed herself a faint smile.
The blonde propped an arm up on his knee. "I'll admit, the main reason I'm doing this is because it's...it's terrifying..."
Seraphina raised an eyebrow before Arlo elaborated. "Just-...all of this." He waved his hand around slightly.
Arlo looked down at the floor as Sera pulled her knees up to her chest. "What happened with you, the fire, John getting kidnapped, this whole EMBER thing...there's so much going on and we have almost no answers."
Seraphina chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. "That's putting it lightly, but yeah. We're all so lost right now and everything just feels...almost hopeless." She looked back over at the blonde. "That still doesn't explain your reason why though."
It was a solid minute before Arlo's voice, unnaturally quiet and almost hesitant, finally broke the silence. "Because I'm scared, Seraphina..."
The magenta haired girl stared at him as if he just grew a second head and it started swearing in french.
Arlo? Scared?
What has this world come to?
Before she could even ask, he went on, seeming to have a lot he wanted to get off his chest. "In all the time I've been here at Wellston, I've only met three people who are stronger than me. And they've all had something happen to them and in such a short amount of time too. Things that none of us saw coming..."
He took a small breath before continuing. "If something that awful can happen to you guys, if you guys can get kidnapped or have your abilities stolen from you or even be murdered...what does that mean for the rest of us? What does that mean for people like Blyke, Isen, Remi, Elaine...? Even people like me...? If people like you, John and Rei aren't safe from whatever's going on, from whatever else is out there, what hope do the rest of us have?"
He looked at Seraphina, knowing this wasn't a side of him he often showed. "It's why I want to get to the bottom of this. Because I don't want anything else to happen to the rest of us. And if helping you find John is what it takes to figure out the truth, then so be it."
.........
Arlo sighed to himself, still feeling the fatigue from that night in more ways than one.
Mentally, he was tired.
Trying to keep up with everything going on as well as try to put together what Seraphina was telling him was making his head spin.
She had already explained why she was still looking for John, but he was still trying to wrap his head around who exactly John Doe was.
It was obvious that him and Seraphina had very different experiences when it came to the ravenette. Seraphina had mentioned that they were both the same person just different sides of the same coin.
But for Arlo, who wasn't all that good at mental gymnastics to begin with, it was confusing.
He could understand why John didn't trust him, why they fought so often. What he couldn't understand was the other side of John, the lively, passionate and confident side that Seraphina knew him as.
Arlo had always thought that part of him was a bluff.
After what happened at Turf Wars, it was hard to imagine John as the same person from just a few days prior to that. He went from aloof and unaware to cold and calculating like it was second nature.
But now he realized there was more laying in between the lines than what he originally thought.
Though, he'd rather not think about it too much right now.
He was already exhausted enough as it is.
He had spent most of Saturday curled up in bed and asleep before he finally managed to drag himself out and into the living room.
Despite the little amount of energy he had yesterday, he now at least had the energy to get up and actually do stuff.
But before he could even think about doing anything productive, he needed some damn coffee.
As much as Seraphina and Remi liked to joke about it, he had zero functioning capacity without some form of caffeine in his system.
The coffee maker beeped, signaling it was done and the blonde grabbed a mug from the cabinet with record speed. He poured in the reviving brew and took a long sip, relishing in the taste of his favorite roast.
Already, he felt more alive than he had the past day and a half.
Taking a moment to let the caffeine settle into his system, he walked over to the window, amused to see the faintest dusting of snow on the ground. Not enough to do any winter activities, but enough to paint the ground in a minty sheen.
Staring outside and down at the trees in the courtyard, his mind wandered back to his first winter at Wellston.
Arlo was never really a winter activities person. He never really saw the appeal in almost freezing to death all for the sake of fun.
But he recalls running around the courtyard, face bright red and skin searing hot with rage as he chased Rei around with a large snowball over his head and a war cry raging past his lips.
Rei cackled like the villain he was that day as there was snow covering Arlo head to toe, sticking in uncomfortable clumps in his hair and clinging in patches to his clothes.
The damn bastard had snuck up on him when he was talking to Holden just outside the schools front door before Wellston's then king snuck up behind him and slammed what had to be the worlds largest snowball over his head.
Before the blonde even knew what was happening, Rei snapped a photo and booked it for the dorms. Arlo had then chased after him with a snowball of equal size, threatening the greenette in a million different ways (some of which involving kitchen utensils,) before eventually resorting to senseless shouting from both of them as they chucked snowballs at one another before growing exhausted and calling it a day.
Mind you, they both ended up with a cold the very next day and if Arlo wasn't already in a mood from dealing with people during the day, being sick only irritated him further.
But Rei being Rei, he had stopped by, blanket cape and all, with a thermos of hot chocolate and a set of movies to watch as an offer at peace. Arlo had almost slammed the door on his face, but Rei had given him the infamous puppy dog eyes that Remi had warned him of.
Arlo could see why Remi could never say no Rei when he used that damn face. It was humanly impossible.
So, the two had ended up in Arlo's dorm, curled up in their blankets on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate in hand and watching some random older movies that the greenette had recalled he and his family would watch all the time.
And honestly?
Arlo wouldn't mind getting sick again if that's what it entailed.
But as Arlo stared ahead a the glistening snow, the moment drifting away, he remembers how that once promising idea was now nothing more than that; a fading memory.
The blonde was ashamed to admit he didn't even remember what they had watched, only recalling bits and pieces about the movie.
He looked down at his mug, the sense of loneliness nipping at the back of his mind.
The blonde knew it was a feeling that wouldn't really go away. He knew it would stay with him in some shape or form.
But now, the pain wasn't as bad as it was initially. It still hurt, but the sharp stab of grief had now lessened into a dull throb, reminding him it was still there just not as noticeable.
Arlo knew Remi probably felt it too, most likely even more so. He knew he'd have to talk with her eventually about what Kuyo and her talked about.
Frankly, he agreed with Kuyo.
He didn't want Remi endangering herself and others over grief. He knew Rei wouldn't want that either for his little sister.
Remi had a lot on her shoulders, he knew that, but she couldn't let herself get lost again.
He sighed. 'Rei...it's times like this I really wish you were here. I don't know how to deal with all of this. With John, Seraphina, Remi, all of it. You always were better with people than I was. You'd probably know what to do right now.'
Arlo looked down at his mug, his reflection staring back at him. 'But if I picked up anything from you, it's that I'm not going to give up. Not yet at least. Even if I fail, I have to keep trying.'
A bittersweet smile played at his lips before he turned away from the window and shuffled into the living room.
'For now, one problem at a time.'
He grabbed a spare blanket draped over the couch and hauled it into his arm.
With a yawn on his lips, he secured the mug in his hand and started making a b-line for his room. Or rather, what used to be Blyke's room.
Since they were already there to begin with, Blyke was now officially rooming with Isen for the time being. Despite the fact that it was against the rules and how much of a health hazard the two of them were, the school had no other double roomed dorms available and Keene was swamped.
There had been the offer for someone to take John's room, but both Arlo and Blyke had agreed not to. Something about staying in someone else's room when they were missing just didn't sit right with either of the teens.
Not to mention they didn't want to accidentally f*ck something up if anything got moved.
So, Arlo had helped Blyke move the rest of his stuff to Isen's dorm so they could rearrange as they liked. Now, just like back at his apartment, Arlo was living alone.
But...it felt strange being alone like this.
In total, Arlo had one year of experience in the dorms with another person.
Despite being used to living on his own, he remembers when he had to share a room as a freshman. He remembers the obnoxiousness of his then roommate; a kid named Gedil whose lemon yellow hair and even brighter neon eyes made the blonde want to hurl. It was like living with a sentient glow-stick.
But despite his former roommate being an absolute idiot, Gedil wasn't the worst person out there. They actually managed to converse and were at least civil with one another. It was a quiet constant that Arlo had adjusted to and had even come to appreciate.
At least, until Gedil had moved away the very next year, leaving Arlo alone once more. But by that point, he was allowed his own apartment.
Even though he was used to living alone, it felt wrong to live in the dorms by himself, especially when the person who was supposed to be rooming with him was...well, not here.
Being back in the dorms, he found that he missed that sense of familiarity.
Arlo walked into his room, several boxes still stacked and needing to be unpacked. With everything that's been happening as of late, he's found little time to finish unpacking his things.
He was hoping to at least get that done as well as his assignments due tomorrow. Saturday had been a lost cause despite the effort he made to get out of bed. But now, he absolutely could not put things off any longer.
The blonde set the blanket down on the back of his chair and took another sip of coffee before placing the mug on his desk.
He had gotten himself situated with some equations for his pre-calculus class when he peered over across the way.
John's room was just across the hall, door sealed shut since the day Blyke discovered he was gone.
The blonde frowned a bit at the sight.
There was a small urge in him to go and open it even just a crack.
Something about closed doors always bothered Arlo.
Maybe it was because it reminded him all too much of what happened behind them, of voices he could just barely recognize raising and lowering in urgency and pitch as they talked about a multitude of things, including him.
It reminded him of everything he was shut out from, being blocked from the truth and from words that needed to be heard.
But this wasn't the same.
This was John's room. John, who was missing and heaven knows where right now.
Part of him felt wrong for wanting to do it. It felt wrong even passing John's room when John was...well, gone.
For various reasons unknown to him, it felt like walking into a tomb; a place that was forbidden and meant to be closed off.
...But part of him felt it wrong to just keep the door shut as if whatever laid beyond it didn't exist; as if John himself didn't exist.
Just like he had done when he found out about John's abilities...
He felt like if he left this door shut, he'd just be closing John out once more, ignoring who and what John was.
The ravenette still took up a space in this dorm. He still existed, left a mark on this place that called it his own.
To Arlo, not acknowledging that was like saying that he too was dead, that John's existence had also ended...
Slowly getting up, he wandered over to the shut door, eyeing it with hesitation.
Shaking his head out, he stood there, feeling awkward as he gripped the handle and pushed the door open.
It wasn't like he was breaking and entering or going through his stuff.
He just...he didn't want to ignore the fact that this was also John's place too, that John also occupied a space in this dorm and that he had once lived here.
The ravenette was both a mystery and an annoyance for the blonde. On one hand, he had his own experiences with John that clashed with Seraphina's retellings. It was like night and day and he didn't know how to sort it out. On the other, he had mountain of questions about the ravenette that had yet to be answered.
He just didn't know if he'd ever get the chance.
Arlo rested the door open just a crack, some of the light from the bedroom window flooding in through the slit in the door and out into the hall.
All the blonde caught a glimpse of was the neatly made bed and something resting on the edge of the nightstand before he turned away.
He couldn't make out what it was and frankly, he wasn't going to. It was John's room. He wasn't about to barge in on what was suppose to be his privacy and look at stuff when the guy wasn't even here.
Leaving his thoughts at that, he walked back to his room, his mug of coffee waiting for him and the worksheets of homework he had to get done laying in piles along his desk.
Arlo sighed to himself.
He may have been the king of Wellston but even he hated the responsibility to do his homework sometimes.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, a lone figure walked along the path behind the girls dorm, evergreens and twiggy maples lining the path and casting shadows over her face from the sunlight.
Hood up and hands tucked in her pockets, Seraphina walked down the sidewalk as she let herself get lost in thought.
Even though it was somewhat early, and the bags beneath her eyes betrayed her weariness, she relished in the early morning air as the cold froze the bridge of her nose and the edges of her cheeks.
She couldn't find it in herself to sleep. Exhaustion meant nothing if she was constantly tossing and turning, her mind displaying a large 'What If?' sign in neon cursive as she went over the countless worries her mind had conjured up in the dusky hours of night.
They had all arranged themselves in alphabetical order in her mental filing cabinet, each presenting their case and Sera not wanting to read over a single word they had to offer.
But alas, the mind did not work in such ways.
So now, here she was, walking around the dorm building in an effort to ease her racing thoughts. Even though her breaths were calm, she couldn't help but linger on the image of Elaine staring up at her, asking her why she would let others get hurt for John as confusion and even a bit of resentment edged her voice.
The words stabbed at her heart, making her visually grimace at the memory.
She didn't want others to get hurt for her friend. She didn't want others out there risking their lives to get him back.
But what other choice did she have...?
She was so useless without an ability right now.
She may still have her connections to the royals, but even that only did so much at school. What was that going to do out in the real world? Where people only cared about themselves and would gladly throw you to the curb for whatever reason they could find?
It wouldn't get her anywhere with finding John.
She wouldn't be able to do it alone anyways. Wellston was huge, taking up well over 400 square miles in any direction. Not to mention that there were other cities and towns outside of Wellston that could be searched.
The photo that Isen had gotten was their only clue.
Keon.
She knew there was something going on with him after that day John had been called to the office.
Whether or not he was directly involved in her friends disappearance remained a mystery.
But when Isen had told her about the photo, he asked Seraphina to keep it hidden from Arlo for the time being.
At first, she didn't understand why until she remembered that one, Arlo still didn't believe them when it came to the authorities not giving two sh*ts about them and two, his aunt was part of the authorities. If they brought it up with Arlo and the blonde in turn confronted his aunt (who they were already weary of given the parallels Remi described between her and Volcan) about the matter, who knows what would become of it all.
That left Kuyo and whoever he knew to help them track down Keon.
They had no one else to ask for help.
Darren and Keene had their hands full trying to deal with the authorities and their excessive behavior. They were trying to find a happy medium that worked with both the students and the power-crazed cops patrolling the halls at almost every hour. Not to mention they didn't trust any of the other teachers given that a majority of them were in the same boat or just did not care enough given their own problems.
None of the other students besides the royals -plus Isen- knew of the full extent and even then, who would want to help find John given the state he left the school in? The only one's they could trust with this information were Elaine, given that she was their healer, and Cecile, given that she was there when they revealed the news of John's disappearance and had the network of the school press following her for information they needed.
Almost all of them knew the authorities were a lost cause at this point and even if they were entirely wrong about them working with EMBER and Valerie was somehow not Volcan, that didn't negate the fact that they had yet to do a damn thing about her ability, the EMBER murders, the low tier towns, or give a single update about John's case. One way or another, they couldn't be relied upon.
And they sure as hell weren't going to their parents for help. They'd be here within the hour to drag them all back home if they found out that either their kids were hanging out with vigilantes and delinquents or they were vigilantes and delinquents.
She could only imagine how that conversation would go with her own family.
'Hey guys. Calling to check in and say hi. By the way, I could use your help to rescue my best friend who I got into a fight with and is currently having a bit of a breakdown from a government run terrorist organization dedicated to killing superheroes.'
Yeah, no.
So, whether she liked it or not, her friends were the only option she had.
She just wishes they weren't.
The magenta haired girl stopped by a bench that thankfully was not covered in a thin layer of snow.
She sat down and let her tired body rest on the bench, allowing her eyes to slip shut for a moment.
Unfortunately, a moment was all she got as the thoughts came swirling back again, making her crack open her eyes again.
Her mind had wandered back to the conversation she had with Arlo that night they first went out with Kuyo.
Many things had been revealed that night and she felt conflicted; not just with herself but with Arlo's view of things.
.........
"It's why I want to get to the bottom of this. Because I don't want anything else to happen to the rest of us. And if helping you find John is what it takes to figure out the truth, then so be it."
He finally looked to Seraphina and for the first time, the girl realized that Arlo wasn't entirely made of stone as he seemed. Just like what he thought about John and her initially, Sera realized she had done the same with Arlo.
Arlo had always shown himself as this stoic, un-moving rock (with the facial range of one too, she might add.)
It was a strange roundabout. The three of them had all assumed and made assumptions of one another at various times.
Was it their pride getting in the way of seeing more in someone?
Or was it just a god tier thing?
Seraphina didn't have time to dwell on it for long before she found herself speaking again.
"Honestly Arlo? I...I don't know if we'll find John. Obviously I want to hope that he's out there somewhere, that he's alive. But...it's been a month. It's been a month of searching and no leads. No one has any idea of where he is and so far, there's been nothing on his case."
Arlo looked at her. "We'll do our best Seraphina...I don't know if it'll be enough, but we'll do what we can."
The girl nodded as she sighed. "I just wished we had some actual help with this. I just wish we had someone with experience who knows how to handle these situations to help us instead of us just running in blind."
Arlo looked forward again. "Look, the authorities will help figure this out. Even though it's EMBER, they're doing their best-"
"What exactly is their best to you Arlo?"
The blonde stopped as Seraphina looked at him, her gaze cold.
She really didn't know how he had gone for so long thinking that these people could be trusted and honestly, she wanted to know.
Arlo raised an eyebrow. "Uh, what?"
Seraphina shifted where she sat so she was facing him. "I said: what is their best to you?"
She didn't give him a moment to speak as she continued. "Arlo, what have the authorities actually done to further their search for EMBER?"
Arlo raised an eyebrow. "They said they arrested Vaughn. That there was evidence tying him to the death of several vigilantes."
She nodded. "Now, tell me for a minute that you actually believe in that crap."
"I-..." Arlo faltered, looking away. "No, I don't believe that Vaughn would do this, but that just means they need to find more proof either proving him innocent or guilty."
Seraphina narrowed her eyes. "Arlo, if they wanted to find proof that Vaughn was innocent, they would've done it by now."
The blonde shook his head. "Look Seraphina, I don't know why you don't trust them, but can you please just give this a chance? I now what we're doing is going against what I'm saying, but that's because I on't want anyone getting hurt again."
Seraphina shifted to her knees. "'Give them a chance?' I have...! I've given them dozens of chances and they have turned their backs to us every time...!"
She sighed and held the bridge of her nose. "Arlo, you may trust them for one reason or another, but when are you going to wake up and finally realize that these people don't want to help? How is it that we, a ragtag group of assorted elites and high tiers, have managed to uncover more about EMBER in a span of a few months while the authorities haven't been able to do that in years, hm?"
The blonde shook his head. "Because what we're doing isn't exactly legal...! People have almost died Seraphina. What do you want them to do? Traverse the streets as vigilantes too? Potentially get operatives caught and have them suffer EMBER's wrath?"
The magenta haired girl sighed, realizing this was getting no where. She stood up, stretching out her arms slightly.
"Look...I don't know what I can tell you to get you to understand. But the authorities don't want to help us. They don't want to find John, they don't want to figure out who EMBER is, and they don't want to help me get my ability back. if they had any intention of doing so, then we wouldn't be in this spot to begin with right now."
She turned towards the door, her hand brushing the handle.
Arlo looked at the ground before standing up as well. "Seraphina...how am I supposed to believe you when I don't even have proof that what you're saying is true?"
The girl looked at him, peering over her shoulder from where she stood at the door.
"Well, good thing you decided to tag along. Believe me, you'll have your proof soon enough."
She opened the door, bidding Arlo goodnight before closing it behind her and standing there for a moment, letting the weight of her words sink in.
'The authorities don't want to help us.'
It was times like this where she really wished they did.
............
Sera leaned forward a bit, taking out her phone.
She checked through messages in the group chat with the others, checked over her grades online and even played a round of Slappy Pig.
But eventually, she found herself wandering down memory lane.
Sera opened up her camera roll and aimlessly scrolled, occasionally tapping on photos.
A small smile tugged at her lips as she saw a photo from one of her and John's trips to Kovoro mall.
She had dared the ravenette to pose with the mall manikins at Andy's fashion boutique. He was a mere second from getting caught before Seraphina had taken the photo.
She scrolled to another one, this time a video. She was at John's place and he was in his apartments kitchen, making a pot of ramen. Clicking the play button, the video started softly as she crept in, John's back to her as he swayed his hips to a tune playing from his phone. He was humming along before he actually started singing. He...wasn't half bad and Sera had actually told him this.
Regardless, he still shrieked when she had applauded him in the video and proceeded to chase her with the fork he was using to stir as the video ended.
The magenta haired girl chuckled to herself as she kept scrolling.
She stopped again on a random video titled '2 years worth of pranks.' She raised an eyebrow in confusion, having absolutely no recollection of making this.
Clicking on the play button, what started was a series of comedic events. Videos from over the years of the various pranks and gut busting moments Sera and John had pulled, both on each other and just random people at the school on occasion. A lot of them were videos that she had taken but she noticed that several of them were not hers.
Then it dawned on her.
And she almost broke down into tears right then and there.
John had this nasty habit of stealing her phone from time to time.
For what reason? She had no clue.
But she would often find some videos either missing or new and completely random videos in their place. Namely her prank folder where she kept both funny videos of them and clips of their pranks throughout the years.
At first, she thought John was just playing a prank on her and just switching the videos into different files to get her to look.
But no.
Because apparently he had uploaded them to his phone and clipped them together in this stupid little video; ten minutes of all their most stupid and mundane pranks knowing she would see it eventually when going through her video folders on moments like right now, when she was sad and needed something to laugh at.
And because her phone automatically downloaded attachments from her messages to avoid buffering, she hadn't even noticed it until now.
She quickly tapped it and looked at the time stamp of when it was uploaded to her camera roll.
This time however, she actually did end up breaking into tears on the little wooden bench.
Because even though they had just gotten into a fight, even though she knew about him being Joker and him saying he wanted nothing to do with her anymore, the last thing he did before blocking her account was send her that stupid little video.
Chapter 42: end.
A/N: Oh my god it's an update in a week time span! :0
XD Hope you all enjoyed! ^-^
-KittCat.