Remi walked out of her classroom with bags under her eyes. She was on the front lines of Wellston, electrocuting the low tiers and elite tiers that chose to fight amongst one another. She was the greatest defender of peace of the school because she could incapacitate people with a touch, but even still, she tirelessly had to roam the hallways, fight, then go home, and sometimes get a call of someone getting ambushed by low-tiers, get up and go help. It was a never-ending cycle of abuse.
The low tiers got angry that they were treated poorly, rightfully so, so they would group up, wait for a middle tier or an elite tier to walk past, and then they would ambush them, and beat them up. Most times it was an Elite tier that had bullied them, but more often than not it was a random uninvolved Elite tier.
They had gotten to the point in the fighting – in just six days mind you – that their message was getting blurred with vendetta. The line between violence with a sympathetic cause, and violence with an excuse attached was being blurred. The innocent Elite tiers that never interacted with low-tiers were being targeted because they did nothing to help, and some Elite tiers that had just transferred into the school had also been targeted.
Remi wondered what Arlo was going to do about it. This wasn't the first time he had to handle a situation like this. It was before Blyke, Isen and her joined the school, but she heard it was hell on earth. That first time was when the previous king, Remi's brother, stepped down and gave Arlo the mantle. Dazed and lethargic, she walked through the hallway with her notebooks barely held in her hands, dangling on the sides of her body like rope on a tire swing.
"Remi!" Her name was called on by a boy. She sighed and rushed through the hallway to find a group of low-tiers wielding pipes and sticks beating Ventus, who would use his ability to push them and cut them with his wind, but the sheer number of people would pile up and keep him in check. Remi dashed to his location, then used her electricity to form an arch that tased everyone around her. All around her, the students fell like piles of potatoes. She was huffing and heavily breathing.
"Who called me?" She asked, turning her head. It hadn't been Ventus. She saw a blob of indigo hair walking away from the scene. Her eyelids felt very heavy, she hadn't stopped fighting people for five days, and at night – her only time of rest, she couldn't stop thinking about the helplessness in Azazel's eyes as he collapsed. The name he called out, David, wasn't in the school – there was no David here, which meant this was someone from before Azazel transferred into Wellston.
Remi took three steps forward, then she found something crashing against the wall. Crimson eyes met her Orange eyes, and his messy black hair flowed about. He stepped out of the crater he was sent through. Who could be strong enough to send Azazel flying? It must have been some kind of AOE ability. Remi turned her head and saw…Indigo hair and golden eyes. Skrev? Azazel was getting beaten by a level 2.4? There was no way that was true!
"This is it? I thought you'd be stronger! That was for Crail, you sorry excuse for a person." Skrev's ability was to enhance his kick. Azazel's face morphed into the truest representation of hatred. His face converged as his eyes knitted, his teeth clenched together and his eyes contracted.
"Out of my way. I'm searching for Arlo." Azazel pushed the debris aside and walked toward Skrev. Even if he defeated this mid-tier, he seemed to have a broken leg, and beating Arlo in that state would be impossible.
"Ha! You've lost more times than most people can remember, what makes you think this time will be different?" Skrev leaped into the air and thrusted his foot. Oh, Azazel was simply baiting him, that's in character. Remi thought, but then she looked at Azazel – she looked closer. Bigger bags under his eyes than ever, a paler complexion than normal. Now that she thought about it, he probably hasn't slept. For five days, he's been up, the moment he recovers he immediately rushes to Arlo. His only moments of rest is when he's knocked out or forcibly in the infirmary. How was he even moving anymore?
A sickening crunch took Remi out of her thoughts as Azazel's chest cracked inward. He was sent flying, bending the steel door of the locker.
Azazel Wodime, losing to Skrev? She must be going insane. Remi stepped forward to stop the match, but before she could, something sped past her and crashed into the ground right in front of her feet.
"Move, and I'll kill you." Azazel got up from the locker that was crushed and compacted like it'd been put in a compactor truck. Blood was pooling all over the hallway. The stab wounds from his ribs – which were poking out of his body like a sickening boogeyman monster. Even Skrev had to take a step back from the sight. What kind of body did he have, which allowed for this amount of pain endurance. "Get out of the way before I break every rib in your body." Every time he moved, blood poured out of his ribs.
"Dude… it can't be that serious… just admit defeat and go to the infirmary." Skrev's face went pale, and not a single person in that hallway took a step toward Azazel to help him. Remi took her first step, but before she could, Azazel thrusted his fist on Skrev's chest, right before hitting him – he had somehow misjudged its distance. His blood-loss had to have affected his depth-perception –
A blur of indigo sped past the hallway. It crashed against the wall of a classroom, and went beyond it, sending a body flying out of the school. Through two walls. Skrev was lucky that this was the first floor, otherwise he could have died.
Cyan lines across Azazel's body told her this was somehow part of his ability – how that was a possibility, she didn't know, unless he had more than one. His gaze turned to her, and in gasps, his words made Remi pity him all the more.
"Don't you dare pity me! I won't ever lose." He'd completely shut off his mind to his defeat against Arlo, all of his defeats. Remi grabbed her phone, and asked Elaine to come to her hallways. "I don't lose." He turned his body and began walking through the hallway, dropping pools of blood. "Faster, I have to get there… faster…ᵂᵃᶦᵗ ᶠᵒʳ ᵐᵉ, ᴰᵃᵛᶦᵈ" Remi rushed past him and saw him staring into the distance. His eyes were dilated, he was barely taking steps. It was more akin to sleep-walking than anything.
"You again." Arlo's voice caught Remi by surprise. The Cyan lines around Azazel's arm spread across his body, and he leapt toward Arlo in hopes to defeat him – unfortunately for him, Arlo's flat barrier caught the fist, and broke the little intact bones Azazel still had left, and had him collapse unconscious on the ground –
"ARLO!" Remi yelled, rushing to Azazel's unconscious body.
"Don't freak out, the Doc proved his organs are more resilient than the average, and he has five times the amount of blood. He's not going to die from that." She heard footsteps in the distance and turned around. A tired Elaine was running as fast as she could toward them.
"Still!" Remi positioned herself in front of Arlo to prevent him from doing anything to him. "You didn't have to do that! You could have just trapped him, you used a flat wall on purpose so he'd break more bones!"
"I don't know what you think you know about him, but he hits a lot harder than a low-tier should be able to hit. It's almost like his ability isn't that fog at all. When he hit my barrier back then, it almost cracked." Arlo turned around, "be careful with your kindness Remi, it's only hurting you right now." Arlo was also tired from all the fighting, but he didn't have to do much, his passive made him invulnerable to most damage already.
"You're a jerk!" Remi called out as Elaine finally arrived.
"Ugh! Not you again! This is the third time today!" Elaine yelled, she dropped to her knees and used her ability. The ribs began to retract into his body. "Alright, I fixed the worst part of the problem, but he's still internally bleeding, and his ribs are cracked but not broken. We need to get him to the infirmary ASAP! And we need better locks, and restraints! Ugh! How'd he lockpick when his hands were tied?!" Elaine's rant about security lasted until they reached the infirmary. "Doc splash him with your experimental chemical – the one that makes you itchy after, then bind him with every form of restraint you've got."
"You've learned well, young P." Doc had the medicine ready. Remi got to see a side of Elaine she hadn't seen yet. "Also good luck, because now Remi and I have to leave. You'll have to take care of things here, by YOURSELF for a whole DAY"
"Yeah… sure, have fun" The Doc said… except, he didn't look quite as happy as he probably meant it to sound. His three day stubble was messier than ever, his eyes were bloodshot, and Remi had a feeling that if she put her head against his chest, she'd hear a carnival in his heart. If she cut his wrist, she'd see coffee.
Elaine took a step outside the Infirmary, and immediately took her lab-coat off, and tossed it away.
"FREEDOM!" She yelled, clenching both fists. An injured Low-tier approached her, but she put her hand out and said. "NOT TODAY BOZO! IN THE INFIRMARY!" She yelled with all the energy in the world. "I'M OFF MY SHIFT! WOOOOOO!"
Now that Remi thought about it, she hadn't seen Elaine in class much these days. Was she stuck in the infirmary during class? She was working harder than even her.
"Remember to return as soon as possible!" The doctor yelled from the other side of the door.
"Run before he changes his mind! Run! I SAID RUN WOMAN, RUN!" She was sprinting like her life depended on it. Remi ran after her, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her, as she did, she stumbled across a weird scene in the entrance of the school.
Evie being grabbed by Vritra – it looked like your average romance manga, Remi could almost see flowers around both of them. 'I'll never leave you' she heard Vritra say in her mind – she was definitely hallucinating. The lack of sleep was getting to her. She turned her ears on, and finally heard what was actually happening.
"Where are you going." Vritra asked, his voice sounded… normal? Must be the hallucinations again.
"I'm going to the Cinema with Roland and some other friends," Evie pulled her arm from Vritra, "You should get some sleep, but if you want to, you can come with." She offered. Remi would typically be fine with him joining, but this day… not this day. She wanted a day away from Vritra and Azazel, and their crazy antics – as well as a day away from school. If Vritra was anywhere near Blyke and Isen, a fight would surely break out. In other words, Remi begged whatever god existed so he wouldn't accept her invitation.
Vritra's eyes softened at the offer, sending a grateful smile towards Evie. "I would love to hang out with you and Roland, and I am sure your friends would be a joy to be around. But I can't, with Azazel the way he is right now, I need to go heal him, and someone needs to make sure that the Low-Tiers are safe."
Remi continued running to the exit of the school. If Vritra saw her alongside Evie, he would most likely break down into a ball of rage and scales, and fire. The Royals and him weren't on the best of terms at the moment, and he was acting as a herald for the low-tier movement… which meant direct conflict would only worsen the current situation.
**23**
"Took you long enough to get here," Roland's audacity knew no bounds. Ever since he began hanging out with Azazel, his ego shot through the roof. At least that's what Evie thought. Contacting the Royals without a care in the world, complaining to them that they arrived late… he was going insane. He was standing there, with a coke in his hands, doing way too much.
He was wearing a brand hoodie, a matching outfit, and had a flip-phone out. He had his back straight, and a small smile on his face as he looked at the Royals.
"That voice… it was you!" Remi, the Queen of Wellston pointed at Roland, "You're the one who called me to help Ventus."
"... Nah." Roland grabbed his flip-phone, "must've been someone else," he lied blatantly as he pressed buttons on his flip-phone before taking with both hands, crushing it, then pouring the remainder of his cola on it.
"What was that?" Remi asked, staring at the phone he was throwing in the bin.
"I bought several stocks on an offshore account, but since I'm too young to have a bank account I had an intermediary do it for me. Tricks a friend taught me." Evie had the feeling that friend was Azazel.
"You….." Someone dragged their voice to a hitch. When Evie turned her head, she saw red pass her face. She had been pulled back by Roland the last possible second. "Another ambush? Is this what you low tiers do now? Ambushing people outside of school?" It was the Jack of Wellston, Blyke, with a glare so intense it almost made Evie pee a little out of fear. Isen was there, but he took a step back to watch it all unfold… like a starved journalist. He looked the most tired out of everyone, somehow.
"Hey Dickbag!"
"Blyke!"
Roland, and Remi looked at each other after speaking simultaneously. He took a step back and raised his hands, telling Remi to go ahead. Elaine took charge however.
"Blyke if you ruin this vacation for me I will dislocate every bone in your body, then stab every artery in your body with thin hot needles. Do you understand me? I will spike your drinks, and make sure every single bathroom visit is painful. I'll make it so your shampoo makes you go bald, and has the top of your head itch and burn." Elaine grabbed Blyke by the collar of his shirt. "I will rain down Asclepius' hell on you, and make sure you feel the heat of Tartarus. Understood?"
Blyke slapped her hand away, "Are you joking? What else would they be here for?"
"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be…" Elaine chuckled in a menacing, and scary way, "I wouldn't buy popcorn if I were you Blyke… you've just made a horrible enemy out of me…"
"Uhhh, you're giving me the creeps. What's going on with her?" Blyke turned to Remi, who was shaking her head.
"You started it, don't look at me." Remi put her hands on Blyke's shoulders, both of them. "We're here to get away from school drama. Away from school drama. AWAY from school drama."
"You repeated that three times…" Blyke sighed tiredly.
"They're the ones who invited us." Isen said he took two steps forward, then tripped, face first to the stone floor.
"Don't mind him," Remi whispered, "Blyke's just had it rough since he's a popular target." Evie understood, of course the lowest ranked Royal – aside from the medic that was helping both sides – would be targeted, it was natural. A lot of the lower tiers were most likely simply looking to gain the Jack title, and were using the rebellion as an excuse.
"It's fine… shouldn't we grab Isen off the floor? Is he sleeping right now?" Evie asked, pointing at the ground, where she heard snoring from.
"Arlo and Cecile had him do a background check for every person involved in the rebellion on both sides, then make reports on each person…so he's a little tired." Evie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Of course, they needed someone high tier they could trust for gathering info, it'd be dangerous if some of it leaked and others began using it to target the rebellion starters by going to their houses, or neighbourhoods.
"Hey, wake up! This was your idea!" Isen was kicked by Blyke so he'd wake up. He pushed his body off the ground and nodded.
"It was Evie's idea actually." Roland stopped everyone, "and I was the one who contacted the staff to pressure your bosses to let you come and take the vacation, so thank us," Roland put his hands in his pockets. Evie wondered how they all managed to skip school, how did he even convince the staff?
Before Evie could ask, Elaine was kneeling with her head down.
"I praise you with all my heart," she put her second knee on the ground and interlocked her fingers while looking up at Roland. "You're a great angel brought from above to save me from the clutches of the devil." She was crying… what was the Doc doing to her?
Isen had both knees on the ground and was bowing up and down.
"Praise him!" He repeated in a monotone voice, with his eyes closed. "Praise. The herald of rest, vacations, and priest of sleep."
"Seriously," Remi said with a smile on her face, "Thanks. I think I was going to go insane." She said, Roland hummed, then nodded, pushing her hand away slowly. Who knew Roland was moving like that.
"We're going to miss the movie if you guys keep acting like weirdos." Roland said, looking at his watch. Was that a Bolex watch? How rich had he gotten in the few months he was with Azazel?
Blyke put his hand on Roland's shoulder. "You ain't low-tier." He shed a tear. "I'm sorry for how I acted. I'm just… exhausted."
"I wouldn't know. I try not to get into trouble. Then again, you guys don't have that option." He turned around and walked into the cinema, leaving Evie there, mouth agape. He was talking to the royals like they were chummy friends from kindergarten.
"Thanks Evie, you're the one who had the idea first, Roland told us you wanted to ask us, but were too shy." Evie blinked, that was just not true, did Roland lie to make her look better? Evie blushed and scratched the back of her head, she wasn't even sure what to say.
"W-we should probably get to the cinema." Seeing the Royals out of the uniform was amazing. They all had great senses of style.
After buying Popcorn – invited by Roland, who was somehow swimming in cash now (he refused to buy her snacks all the time just a few months ago), sat down in some great seats and then the movie started. They went out of their way to change the movie they had gone to watch. It was a full trilogy re-run of the Liege of the Jewellery. It was going to be a long nine hour watch.
During one of the slower parts of the movie, Evie looked to the side and she saw Isen, Remi and Elaine all snoring, sleeping as the movie went on. Is that why they asked to watch the longest movie they were offering in the cinema? They looked so at peace that they looked like angels sleeping. The only person awake during the movie was Blyke, who seemed incredibly immersed in world-building.
When the movie finished, Remi, Isen and Elaine all stood up and began clapping like maniacs.
"WOOOOOOOO! BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME! THE GREATEST! THE. GREATEST! THE. GREATEST!" The three chanted as they clapped. The whole cinema began clapping as well, but eventually they began to leave, which left the two Royals, plus Isen, clapping like maniacs. Evie nervously chuckled.
"I'm heading to the toilet. I'll be right back, please wait for me." Evie stood up and left. When she got out of the female toilet, Isen was outside, waiting for her. She knew something like this would happen. The bags under his eyes had receded, probably thanks to the almost nine hours of sleep he had gotten.
"What do you know of Vritra and Azazel? You seem close to both of them." Isen asked, grabbing pen and paper. Evie nervously dried her hands on her skirt, then stared at him tiredly.
"Were you waiting outside this whole time?" She asked with a blush, "That's really weird." she whispered. Was Roland rubbing off on her? Why would she say something like that to Isen? He seemed unfazed, and was waiting for her reply. "Uh… I don't know what you want me to tell you, we met during our first year. Vritra was nice to me, Azazel was arrogant, but didn't seem to mind being around other people. He helped us with homework. Vritra helped us not get beat up by high-tiers. It was pretty peaceful until the whole… The fight went down."
"... So the same as Roland then… except with less insults thrown about…" Isen scratched his head with his pen. "Alright, thanks." Evie thought that was it, but before she could leave the corridor where the toilets were, Isen asked something else, "What do you know about someone called Jin, and David?" Evie knit her eyebrows.
"I don't think I've ever heard of them, why?"
Isen shook his head, "Do you think you could ask them about it?" Isen raised an eyebrow, but Evie shook her head.
"Sorry, I don't think they're in the right mindspace to be answering questions… and from the sounds of it, that's a really personal question to ask considering they haven't mentioned those names to us."
"Ugh… the same as Roland, except with less insults."
Roland, why were you instigating Isen? He could fold you like laundry. Almost like a phantom, she could hear Roland's voice in the back of her head. 'It's about the principle' is probably what he'd answer.
"Sorry, they're just so different now, Azazel seems desperate, and Vritra is having a whole anger spat…"
"It's fine… I understand. I wouldn't want to make him mad either."
They walked back to the entrance of the cinema, where Blyke was talking to Roland about the movie, he seemed really into the conversation too. He had been the only one of the high-levels to not fall asleep, and he was really passionate about the trilogy it seemed, because he wouldn't stop talking about it during their trip to the train back to Wellston. Elaine seemed a lot happier.
When they reached Wellston, Blyke stopped Evie by standing right in front of her, he bowed at a perfect 90 degrees.
"Sorry, I was not in my right mind. Thanks for hanging out with us, and thanks for letting us get away from the school for a while." Evie was unsure how to react, she fidgeted, and moved side to side, and looked to Roland for advice, but Roland simply shrugged and walked toward the male dormitories, leaving her alone with Blyke. So she did the only thing she thought she could do.
She tapped him on the shoulder, and begged him to stop bowing to her in front of the school, because it was embarrassing, and it would gather way too much attention on her.
"You don't have to apologize… I under…stand…" In the distance, on the second floor of the school. It might have been a fluke, but she swore she saw two crimson orbs staring straight at her and Blyke. Vritra was glaring down… At her.