"It's quite unbelievable how he even had the guts to approach you, and he kept persisting after you told him to leave," Arlo shook his head. "It's hard for me to understand low tiers sometimes. No power, yet all the audacity."
Seraphina attempted to block out all of Arlo's pointless rambling as they were waiting for Doc to return to the infirmary. It wasn't that hard as everything sounded distant like she was under a large body of water. Her senses were both incredibly sharp, making every sound, sight, or touch feel piercing as the pain traveled from her overstimulated nerve endings to her overloaded brain synapses, and incredibly dull, not letting anything of the outside world truly register to her.
Why? Why did this keep happening?
Just after this morning, and all the things that came after she was stuck again in the same excruciating cycle. With barely any time to even try to process what was going on, be it her quickly deteriorating mental health or her heart constricting like it was striving to kill her. This feeling... This feeling of... whatever this feeling was it left her breathless.
And yearning.
She had to stop herself from thinking about him.
When she heard his voice calling for her she froze. It was a mixture of relief and dread that overcame her in an all-consuming way.
She understood the dread. Whatever happened he proved to be the main reason behind her suffering. His mere presence meant torture right now as her brain squeezed and stammered and slammed into a wall with every word he uttered and every glance she chanced at him.
He equaled pain, and pain equaled whatever this madness was. Him being there made her mind go haywire, desperately trying to do something it just couldn't do.
She didn't know what it was. She couldn't know, because the pain was simply too much to pull through. Whenever she made an attempt it got worse.
She wanted the pain gone.
She wanted him gone.
Once and for all.
Another stabbing ache halted her thoughts and she was forced to remember the other part of her problem. She gazed down at her hands, forcing through the mental haze. Her fingers were half curled up and kept twitching as the throbbing persisted. Her hands balled into fists and her nails dug into her palms painfully.
She wished this pain could mask away the phantom pain she felt.
Even when her mind seemed to calm down her 'wounds' left her no room to breathe, no time to relax, and no chance to truly string her thoughts together. This gave her the only conclusion she could deduce in her current, terrifying state.
She had two sides within her mind fighting.
Was it the other side that was responsible for all the unreasonable emotions she felt?
Yearning.
Longing.
Heartbreak.
Guilt.
Grief.
She wanted to understand all of them, but the other part of her consciousness clawed at her skull, screaming at her to stop.
Get away.
Leave.
Run.
It's his doing.
Get rid of him.
She wanted to know what was going on in her mind for one moment and then wanted to hide away from the whole world in the next. She couldn't remember when she last felt this... cowardly.
She hated it at their family home. She hated sharing a living space with her mother. How she hit her when she so much as took a misstep on the path of perfection.
She wished those slaps back right now despite all the stinging humiliation and hurt she felt. It was nothing compared to this. She wanted to hide, to disappear back then, but right now her mind was incapable of any thought apart from futilely fighting its way out of the chaotic, tangled mess of excruciating pain.
When he kept being persistent with her, desperately so, she wanted to hit him. Really wanted to. But just thinking about hurting him again caused the aching to flare up practically paralyzing her and before she knew it Arlo and those students were there and pounced on him.
Why? Was it because of her? She didn't know, but Arlo was here endlessly blabbering about something, so it must had something to do with the hierarchy. She didn't care at all. It wasn't her fight anymore.
But why wasn't it her fight? Wasn't she a royal?
No, she was a royal, just not the queen...
..what was her position then? It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense.
She clutched her head as the pain intensified and Arlo finally found it in himself to shut up for a moment.
Just thinking about the missing pieces of her past was plain torture, but it was nothing compared to the mental image she wanted to push out of her head so eagerly even if it meant letting other thoughts causing her misery enter her mind. She couldn't get rid of the sight though, or his voice, no matter how hard she tried.
She was paralyzed, completely numb as people kept hitting him over and over again like rabid dogs tearing on fresh meat after weeks of starvation. Even with knowing how cruel the hierarchy can be, it was still brutal. As she looked at him and he looked back at her, for a moment time stopped and she felt her whole body burning up, warning her that the worst episode she experienced so far was about to strike.
The only thing she could do was to turn away and flee. To get away before people could see her crumble and get caught up in the fray too. Her nerves started to scream at her, while her heart begged her to turn around.
'You can't leave him!' an inner thought pleaded but it was devoured by the overwhelming need to get away.
Then she heard him.
'Sera!'
It was a desperate cry she couldn't bear to listen to. She couldn't feel her body anymore just noticed it moving on its own away from the scene.
Away from him.
His desperate cry rang in her ears over and over again.
'Of course, he was desperate,' she tried to tell herself. 'He was getting beaten up, he wanted help.'
But deep down she knew it wasn't the reason. He wasn't begging her for help. He was begging her for her to listen. It was quite tragic it was literally the most unbearable thing to do for her right now.
'Sera!'
She heard it again, and her nails clawed at her scalp, desperately wishing for it to stop.
"Since when is she like this?" Arlo asked coolly after observing her for a minute. His gaze was scrutinizing the school's ace with disapproval rather than worry. At least, if he felt any it didn't show.
Elaine bit her tongue. She almost blurted out 'since we did this to her' but found the strength to stay silent. She still couldn't stand up openly against Arlo, but she had something in mind.
"Since she woke up. It keeps getting worse," was what she said in the end after a momentary pause.
He arched an eyebrow, his eyes skeptical. "Shouldn't she be getting better? Maybe the cripple's presence is triggering her."
"She has been getting worse even without him around." She pointed out without missing a beat.
"Probably because her mind is still stuck on him even when he's not around. Keeping him away from her is the best thing we can do."
Her stomach sank. He wasn't exactly wrong but it made her feel even more guilty. Now the only person who could make Seraphina feel better was the one who was involuntarily causing her the most pain. It was a cruel play of fate or rather it was a direct and planned consequence of Arlo's plan. Looking at his agitated demeanor only concerned with Seraphina's usefulness instead of her well-being finally revealed to her how little he actually cared about his fellow god tier, and how this was probably not an unforeseen consequence but his intention from the very start.
At least the part where Seraphina did everything to keep away from John. He probably thought that if he kept the two separated and it was uncomfortable or even painful for Seraphina to be near John then she would avoid him as much as she could and eventually forget about her missing memories. Or at least pretend they didn't exist to protect her mental health.
She had to admit, there was some thought put into this plan, especially if he kept John preoccupied with other students and punished him even harsher if he so much as went near Seraphina. But there was the very real chance that no matter how much time passed Seraphina would still suffer from the side effects of the memory lock. They didn't know how big of a chunk it was that was related to John enough to be locked away.
Her schoolwork as well as her personal life could be in jeopardy not to mention her personality.
Pre-John and post-John Seraphina was like heaven and earth. While Elaine didn't approve of the change Seraphina went through it was undeniable how much happier she was after she gained a best friend. All the time they spent together, all the things they probably shared, all the experiences they lived through together...
It was all gone now, and Elaine feared more than ever the consequences.
Not to mention, this was only the tip of the iceberg with this whole ordeal. This was only Arlo's dealing with Seraphina, but at this point, she was sure he talked to the other royals and elite tiers spinning the tale enough to make them willingly or unknowingly help him in his scheme. She didn't know the details about what he told them, but she knew one thing that he brushed off as nothing when it could mean literally death for John.
"I think you should go, Arlo," she said quietly but firmly.
He shot her a glare, his expression demanding an explanation.
She stammered awkwardly. "I mean, you being here doesn't seem to help her at all either, and Doc can be here any moment. She might be more comfortable with me around as we are roommates and both girls."
He narrowed his eyes, looking at her for a few seconds that felt like minutes, but finally, he relented. "Just make sure to keep the cripple away from her. He's getting the treatment he deserves right now but there is no telling when he'll be brought to the infirmary with those injuries."
"Don't worry, I won't let him near Seraphina." She really didn't plan to. Right now it didn't help at all to have him around. That was why she insisted on him leaving when they were in the hallway.
"Good." He nodded and then left through the door.
She sighed in relief.
By that point, Seraphina curled up into a ball on the bed forcefully massaging her temporals for some pain relief. By the looks of it, it did little to help.
"Oh, Seraphina," Elaine whispered, her voice barely audible even in the silence of the room. She had to do something about it and fast, but she didn't know what exactly.
However, she had an idea.
The next moment Doc marched in with some injured students in thow. She quickly pulled the curtains closed to conceal Seraphina from prying eyes and waited impatiently while the school nurse treated the others' wounds. He made quick work of it, he was a battle-hardened professional in Wellston private high school after all. He knew that if they wanted immediate help they would have said so when he entered in one way or another.
It was better for Seraphina to have some time after Arlo left to calm down, at least somewhat. Elaine watched her. There was no rest for her from the mental anguish. Every few seconds a shiver ran through her body as her muscles tensed, and she sank her nails deeper into her scalp, even drawing some blood from her skin here and there by now. This almost silent cycle of convulsion and release only worsened as the minutes passed.
Elaine tapped her feet on the floor, her knee bobbing up and down with an anxious tremor. Then finally Doc shooed the other students out and pulled on the curtain.
"What do we have here?" His usual grumpy voice shook Elaine out of her own thoughts and her eyes snapped at him. He would have met her gaze if not for the unbelievable sight in front of him.
For a good few seconds, he didn't make a single move apart from his mouth gapping as he looked down on a shaking and trembling Seraphina, completely out of it.
"What-what in the world?!" He practically jumped to her side and started examining her as well as he could given the circumstances. She immediately pulled away from his touch and even through her closed eyelids, he could see her eyes glow. It was an involuntary reaction to protect herself.
He was used to dealing with powerful kids here, but not level 8.0 powerful.
Seeing her obvious pain and how it was nearly impossible to get anything done while she was in this state he quickly walked to a metal cabinet and retrieved a small syringe.
"Seraphina, can you concentrate on relaxing just for a second?" He asked softly as he touched her arm. She instinctively yanked away her arm but then stopped as his words slowly registered in her brain.
"What's that?" Her question came out strained and hoarse but he could still make out the words.
"It's a tranquilizer with some sedative mixed in it. You're currently having an extreme reaction to something unknown I need to treat before I can proceed with the examination. Otherwise, you may get a panic attack or worse. Do you understand?"
Seraphina looked at him, her eyes hazed with pain. She took in the meaning of each word one by one. It was agonizing by the looks of it. Finally, she weakly nodded and moved her arm closer a bit.
Before she could change her mind or her pain could override her decision Doc poked her extended limb with the needle. The drug worked fast and within a few minutes her muscles finally relaxed and not much later her entire body slumped sideways, indicating that she fell asleep. If not for the sedative surely out of exhaustion.
"What happened?"
Elaine was silently watching him until his gaze found hers, the question clear in his eyes. She realized he wasn't asking Seraphina seeing as she was currently knocked out.
She cleared her throat. She mentally prepped herself for this moment ever since they entered the infirmary, but the words were still momentarily caught in her throat.
"Well?" Doc pressed, knowing well that she was the only one right now who could supply him with any type of information.
She swallowed again before finding her voice. "She has some kind of intense headache. She has been unwell ever since she returned to the dorms on Saturday afternoon."
"Describe unwell." He ordered rather than asked as he went back to checking on Seraphina's vitals.
Elaine nervously fidgeted with her fingers but continued nevertheless. "She had a terrible headache by the time she got back on Saturday. So much so, that she dropped the bags she was carrying. She went to sleep right after and didn't wake up until this morning."
"She slept through a whole day?" He mused over the information, trying to come up with possible explanations for symptoms like this, but they weren't specific at all. "Anything else?"
"There also appears to be a problem with her memories and I'm afraid she is experiencing hallucinations," she said while averting her gaze.
Doc stopped mid-examination, his attention drawn back to Elaine now.
"Problems with her memory and hallucinations?"
She shrank under his gaze, but she knew she couldn't stop here. No matter her guilt she had to do this. At least she had to try.
"She claimed she couldn't remember certain things about people and when she tried to recall information it only made the headache worse."
"What about the hallucinations? Are they visual or auditory?"
She thought for a moment, trying to recall the things she noticed while trying to heal Seraphina.
"It's hard to tell. She thought she had wounds on her hands she couldn't rewind. I don't know if she actually saw them or just felt like they were there. I don't know the specifics."
After checking her pulse, breathing, and other vitals, Doc went to check if Seraphina had a fever.
"This doesn't sound good. Not at all," he mumbled under his breath more to himself than to Elaine. He had a feeling she was perfectly aware of just how bad the situation was.
"Any idea what could cause this? Was she attacked on Saturday?"
Because that was the obvious question here. What the hell happened?
This was the moment Elaine was waiting for.
"She didn't say anything about an attack when we ran into each other on Saturday. She only said that she suddenly got this terrible headache. It was then theorized that this was the doing of some sort of drug."
"Are you telling me she was drugged?" His eyes went wide. He understood why the idea would come up in a situation where an attack was ruled out. Still, to jump to such a conclusion, and more than all, "if you thought this then why didn't you bring her here or a hospital sooner?"
His eyes narrowed into slits, anger and a healthy amount of suspicion evident in them.
"We thought she only had a headache at first. Uncommon to her, but not impossible. The drug idea only came up after she slept for so long and then woke up feeling even worse," she explained.
"Does John know about this?"
The question shouldn't have surprised her, but it still caught her off-guard.
"No... I mean I...I ...I don't actually know, probably not." She cringed at her own half-truth. It was evident John realized Seraphina didn't remember him, which was impressive considering they didn't have much of a conversation before she sent him into a wall. His deduction ability was quite impressive.
Doc let out an annoyed snort. "Figured. He would sooner be dead than leave Seraphina's side when she's in a state like this. He could be here in any minute."
She looked down on her lap. "He got caught up in some fights, so I doubt he'd get here soon."
He arched an eyebrow seeing her odd behavior but said nothing.
He sighed. "If she was indeed drugged it must be quite the potent drug to still have effects on her after a day and a half."
"Can we check for them?" Elaine perked up, looking hopefully at the man.
"Normally it would be unlikely to find traces of a drug in her blood after a day has passed, but if the substance still has an effect on her it must be in her system thus still detectable. I need to do a blood draw and maybe take a urinary sample to clear things up."
"You could tell for certain if she was drugged from those?" Elaine gripped her skirt, anxiously awaiting the answer. Doc's puzzlement only grew.
"I believe so. I have some tests here I can use, but I'll send the samples to the hospital as well to get a better picture. If all the tests come back negative then it's not any known drug."
"Would it be possible for a student to get some unknown drug and use it on her?" She pressed further.
As he retrieved a syringe and some tubes from his desk he contemplated for a moment before answering. "If there was a new drug on the streets then even if it isn't detectable with any type of tests yet there would still be reports of cases with similar symptoms. I'll ask around about it just in case."
Elaine breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why? Do you have anyone in mind who may have drugged her?" He put down the syringe and tubes from his hand, his gaze burning with a smoldering rage. John and Seraphina were a handful, constantly hanging out here and getting on his nerves. Still, the prospect that someone would do something like this to one of them and the implication of for what reason it could have been...
It left him seething.
"Anything else I should know?" He asked when she avoided answering his previous question.
'You can do this, Elaine! You have to say this! It's not even a lie!'
She attempted to boost her self-confidence enough to utter the words she so wanted, but she found it hard to even formulate her thoughts under his scrutinizing gaze. She tried to clear her throat again but ended up in a coughing fit.
He not so patiently waited until she collected herself, not releasing her from his intense glare even for a second.
Finally, she spoke. "There was an... idea that it might have been..."
She tried to speak but her throat closed up halfway through from the nerves. She forced herself to take calming breaths, not finding the task easier at all.
'Arlo didn't say you can't answer Doc's questions,' she repeated in her head. Ironically he for once believed she had enough common sense not to mention anything to his own detriment.
Or maybe he was just too preoccupied with the thrill of beating down a helpless cripple.
"Well?" He almost growled, the last of his patience running out.
"...that John did it..." she finished quietly.
Immediately his eyes went wide before they filled up to the brim with fury she had never seen from him before.
"John?! Somebody thought this was the doing of John?!! How could they even think of such a thing!!!"
"I-I...," she almost fell to the floor, completely terrified by the school nurse's wrath. She didn't know he cared so much about John, but with how much time the boy spent here it shouldn't be a surprise they became closely acquainted.
"That boy would lay down his life for this girl here! She's his best and only friend he adores! Why would he hurt her let alone in a way like this?!"
Elaine covered as his eye glowed and his ability, 'nightmare' filled the room.
"Whose idea was this?!"
"I... I don't know." She whimpered as she leaned back as much as she could.
"Surely, someone told you about this. Who was it?" His ire boiled over and cooled down to a dangerous temperature.
"It was... it was just an idea, nothing else! We were trying to get answers!" She cried out as she finally fell backward and her arms hit the ground.
"Answers you say." He stepped closer and crouched down in front of her, his eye boring into hers. "And whose idea was this?"
Elaine's tears spilled over and she started bawling.
Doc was slack-jawed for a moment before sighing and burying his face in one of his hands. He was angry but terrifying young school girls into crying still wasn't the way or productive at all.
"Alright. You don't have to tell me if it was just a mindless guess game. People do that all the time. But I sincerely hope you realize just how serious such an accusation is. If any of Seraphina's drug tests were to come back positive the hospital would be required by law to report it to the authorities and an investigation would be opened. If there were rumors circulating about John potentially drugging Seraphina, the heir of an esteemed god-tier family the consequences would be dire to the both of them."
She swallowed and wordlessly nodded.
"If this was only a speculation that stayed between you and the person who came up with it I won't take further actions."
He stood up and went back to draw Seraphina's blood, giving Elaine a moment to breathe.
However, he hadn't finished talking.
"But remember, Elaine." His voice was low and frighteningly calm as he watched her. "The moment I hear about a rumor like this circulating in the school, positive drug test or not, I'll be reporting it to the headmaster and you and your friends would be questioned and may even face some serious punishment depending on your involvement."
While Doc knew that warning someone of a possible questioning usually just made them more prepared to lie, he had a feeling that this would put the right amount of pressure on her to question her role in whatever this thing was.
Because he had a hunch it wasn't caused by some type of drug, and his hunches were rarely wrong.
-------OoO-------
As always comments and votes are very much appreciated! If you have any questions or want to know what I'm up to when I'm not writing you can find me as SinfulFoxBeast on Reddit!