Chapter Text
It was a bit after school had ended, and Blyke, Isen, and Remi had stayed after school to continue efforts to help the low-tiers. Remi was sitting in the press room, laughing at something Blyke said, when a notification chimed on her phone. She held a finger up and grabbed the device out of her pocket. "Just a second, guys! It's Arlo. He's probably just texting to remind us of the math homework." Blyke groaned. "I forgot about that!" At the same time, Isen jumped to his feet. "We have math homework!? Crap!" The other two chuckled as he scrambled to check his notes, and Remi opened the Messages app.
Arlo: pick me up
Arlo: Location enabled!
She frowned. "Huh… that's weird." Blyke looked over her shoulder. "Yeah, what's going on?" Isen looked up from his work quizzically. "What's weird?" He joined the two at inspecting the texts. Remi was the first to speak up. "Arlo always uses proper punctuation in text messages, no matter what. Something must be seriously wrong. Plus, he never uses location. Ever." The three exchanged a glance. "We need to go."
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Remi checked her phone again, looking from the screen to the sidewalk she was currently standing on. "This is the location he's at, but… where is he?" she questioned as Blyke and Isen stepped in front of her to explore. After a few minutes, Isen ran back to them, panting and out of breath. "You guys have to see this. Come with me." Blyke and Remi followed him, skidding down the path and into a neighboring alleyway. Remi gasped and covered her mouth in horror. Sitting in the back, covered in shadow, was Arlo. Blood splattered the front of his school blazer and dripped down the side of his head, matting his hair. His eyes were half closed, hooded, and he was clearly dazed.
Remi ran towards him and squatted down to check on him, feeling his wrist for a pulse. She exhaled a sigh of relief and called to the others. "He's still alive!" She felt motion next to her, and looked over to see Arlo staring directly at her. "I am… compromised. Do you have… healing?" His voice slurred on the last word. Isen sat down next to Remi. "Looks like a concussion, and a bad one at that. His left leg is also definitely broken. He's right–we need a healer."
Across town, Elaine's phone rang. She checked the caller ID and froze. "Huh… Isen? At this time of day? I thought he was still at Wellston…" She answered and pressed the phone up to her ear. "Elaine!" Isen's voice crackled through the device, desperate and frantic. "We need your help. Arlo's hurt bad. You have to heal him. I'll turn on location, and you can come to us. We don't want to move him and risk injuring him more. Bye!" "Wh–" The call ended too quickly for Elaine to say anything, and soon, a notification popped up that Isen had enabled location. "Arlo's… hurt? And he can't be moved or it'll get worse?" She got up from her bed and grabbed a jacket.
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A few minutes later, the trio heard the screeching of car tires, and Elaine ran down the block, turning into the alleyway in record time. She panted heavily, carrying a large paper bag, and hit the ground next to Remi. She unpacked the bag, which turned out to be full of bandages and medical ointments which could heal the parts she couldn't. Before using the medical equipment, she surveyed the damage with her ability. Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "These injuries are way too severe for me to handle on my own." She took a deep breath. "We'll need to call John again."
Blyke shook his head vigorously. "No way! He'll never listen to us, especially after how he acted when we helped Seraphina. She's the only one he'll talk to. We need her first." Isen hesitated, as if stuck between the two options, before settling on Seraphina. After the call, it took only a few minutes for her to reach them. "I got here as fast as I could. What do you need?" She looked down at Arlo, and her eyes widened a fraction. "...Shit. Let me guess, too much to heal?" Elaine nodded, and Sera exhaled. "Okay. I'll get John."
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In the Wellston Boy's Dorms, John's cell phone buzzed.
Incoming call: sera
He exited out of the Flappy Pig game he was playing and hit the answer button. "Sera? What's wrong?" "John, Arlo needs you." The look of confusion quickly turned into one of annoyance. "I already told you, I'm not going to associate with that bastard anymore–" "He's hurt. Bad. Elaine can't heal him, and we need your ability." John paused. "...How bad?" "Internal bleeding. Broken leg. Concussion. At least." He gulped. "...Okay. I'm on my way."
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John stalked to the alleyway, annoyance in his step. Sera was probably just exaggerating to get him there on time; she'd done it before. When he stepped into the alleyway, he was as pissed as ever, looking like the walk there was an insult in itself. "Where the hell is–" He stopped in his tracks when he noticed the body slumped against the wall. Sera… wasn't joking. He ran to where the group was gathered and gave Arlo a once-over. "Activate your damn ability," he spat as he glared at Elaine. Trembling, the girl's eyes glowed a bright green as she did what she was told.
John instantly copied it and began applying the green glow, watching as some of the more visible injuries healed themselves. He searched around with the ability, mapping the extent of the wounds, before stopping. "Wait." He brought Arlo to a laying position and turned his head over, feeling for something on his neck. "I knew it." He turned to the rest of the group. "Remember when I found a puncture mark on Sera? There's one just like it on him. The only reason he's more injured is because he probably put up more of a fight." Seraphina looked away. "This is Arlo we're talking about. He won't take the loss of his Barrier lightly."
Blyke nodded. "We have to get him home, too. We can't just leave him here." With great effort, he slowly grabbed Arlo's neck and knees, pulling him into a bridal carry. "His apartment isn't far from here; I came there once to study with him, but he kicked me out." John scoffed. "Classic Arlo." Blyke stumbled while walking and almost dropped Arlo. "This guy's way lighter than I expected! I thought you fought him every Friday for that chocolate cake!" He pointed to Remi, who shrugged. "We used to, but ever since school lunch started to cost money, he hasn't been getting anything. I always assumed he thought he was better than us for not paying and brought his own; he is rich after all, right?" Isen looked conflicted. "I'm pretty sure he is; otherwise, how would he have his own apartment? He'd rather die than sleep in the dorms."
"Well, he's going to die if we don't get to his apartment. Pick up the pace a bit if he's so light!" Seraphina shouted, a few yards ahead of them. Blyke struggled to catch up as John easily jogged away. "Huff–Maybe you should–huff–carry him instead, John," Blyke coughed. "See how 'easy' it is for you." John cocked his head to the side. "Maybe I will." He gathered Arlo from Blyke's arms and pulled him tight against his chest, continuing his walk towards Seraphina. It was quite easy getting to the apartment, and after some expert lock-picking skills from John–who was somehow still carrying Arlo–they got into the place.
Surveying the scenery, John frowned. There was only a couch in one corner and a door that led into a small kitchen, not much furniture or life in it at all. A television was placed on top of a falling apart coffee table, and the only other room in the house was another door out of the kitchen, presumably leading into a bathroom. "Didn't you say he was rich?" It wasn't much warmer in the apartment than it was outside, due to the absence of heating, and Arlo curled slightly against John's chest subconsciously. John ignored the movement of the bundle in his arms and moved farther into the room, laying Arlo out onto the sparsely carpeted floor. "We need to get to work tending to his injuries. I fixed all of the internal bleeding for the most part, but he has more on the outside."
After setting the King down, John rummaged through the drawers in the coffee table to find an old T-shirt and shorts. "These will do. I'll have to change him, so you can look away if you want." Blushing a brilliant shade of red, Elaine hurriedly turned around, followed by Remi, then Blyke, Isen, and Sera. Rustling was heard, and after a few minutes, John spoke up again. "You can turn back around now."
John gently carried Arlo over to the couch and set him down, being careful to not rupture his wounds again. He looked less like a King and more like a middle schooler. Honestly, how had no one noticed how small he was? If not for his height, he could easily be mistaken for 10 or 12 years old. They all watched as Arlo left John's embrace and sleepily hugged onto the pillow near the armrest, mumbling something that sounded like "...don' go, warm..." and curling himself into a ball. Remi covered her mouth with a gasp, almost squealing at the sight. She turned and whispered to Elaine, "He's so cute when he's asleep!" Elaine blushed and giggled quietly. "I know, right?" John turned away with a hmph.
Then, Arlo shivered violently, and the room went silent. The clothing covering him wasn't doing much to keep out the chill of the room. Blyke looked around the apartment for a blanket, only succeeding in finding a thin throw, and tucked it around Arlo, not doing much to stop the tremors. Elaine placed a hand against his forehead. "He's burning up." John huffed. "We'll need a wet washcloth and a thermometer. And a better blanket, that's for sure." He decided to explore the place a little, trying to find a good covering for Arlo, and found an extra door leading out of the kitchen. He opened it to find what seemed to be a bedroom, except… there was no bed.
Only a desk covered with neatly stacked piles of papers and a few blankets thrown in the corner of the room were visible. “Where the hell does he sleep!?” John muttered as he grabbed one of the thicker blankets and stalked out of the room. He made quick work of wrapping the covering around Arlo and tucking him in. Arlo… didn’t look too bad like this. When he didn’t have that insufferable smirk that was clearly hiding something, he was… sort of cute. John shook his head to get rid of the thought; there was no way he was going to fall for this asshole. What was more important was fixing him up and making him healthy again.
John exhaled and turned around. “We’ll probably have to stay the night here to keep an eye on Arlo, just in case.” Blyke and Isen protested almost immediately. “Wh–He’ll kill us in the morning! We’re not staying here!” Face dusted pink, Elaine called, “Dibs on the bed!” As if it was normal, John replied, “Arlo doesn’t have a bed. I checked.” Remi tipped her head to the side, raising an eyebrow quizzically. “Why wouldn’t he have a bed?” John got out some of the other blankets from Arlo’s room and dumped them on the floor. “This is all I could find. My guess is that he sleeps on his barrier, or has such a shitty sleep schedule that he doesn’t sleep at all.”
Seraphina nodded. “That seems accurate. I used to try training at every moment of every day back when I first got my ability; maybe he’s doing this to have better control over his barrier.” In the background, the blankets on top of the couch rustled as Arlo curled up under them, sighing contentedly. John flicked his eyes to Arlo, then back to the others. “If that’s the case, he’s going to be pretty disappointed when he finds out his ability is gone.” Blyke raised a hand and interjected. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who said he was gonna lose his ability?” Isen facepalmed. “Were you listening at all? The same injection mark we found on Sera was found on Arlo, and Sera lost her ability a few weeks ago!”
Blyke stared blankly at him for a few seconds before his eyes lit up in understanding, letting out a long ‘oooooh’ and nodding his head. John scoffed. “Where are you all sleeping? I grabbed all the blankets there were.” Isen and Blyke, in perfect unison, yelled “I call the floor!” The boys whipped their heads around to stare at each other. “Heyy, guess we’re sleeping together!” Seraphina sighed. “Don’t say that. And for the record, I call the floor too. There’s nowhere else to sleep, anyway. And won’t someone have to sleep next to Arlo to keep him warm? He’s still shivering, by the way.”
True to her word, Seraphina pointed to the couch, where a trembling arlo was curled tightly into a ball underneath the blankets. Elaine waved her hand around, squealing “I-I volunteer!” John’s gaze sharpened. “Hell no. You only want to sleep next to him because you like him. I’ll do it.” Elaine pouted, but ended up listening, and John turned off the light once everyone was ready. He wound himself protectively around Arlo, wrapping his arms around the other’s chest in an effort to warm him up.
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John woke up early, stretching with a yawn and a whimper and freezing as he felt a body pressed against his. …He suddenly remembered what he had agreed to last night. Whatever, he was up before Arlo, and he was sure the King wouldn’t miss the warmth. They had spent the entire night together, after all–no, that sounded wrong. John pulled himself out of the insulated covers, getting goosebumps as the chill of the room hit him. That damn Arlo needed to get some proper heating installed, or John was going to lose it.
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Arlo pulled himself to a sitting position, dazed. Why did it feel so cold all of a sudden? He misjudged his seat and fell over, banging his head on the coffee table in his apartment. Holy shit, that hurt. Wait. That... hurt. Arlo looked around the room quickly, making sure no one else was there, before shakily reaching out his hand and activating his barrier. And activating his barrier. And... activating his barrier? Why won't his barrier activate?
He stood up too fast and stumbled a bit, feeling dizzy and weak. "What the hell..." he muttered, rubbing his head and squinting his eyes under the harsh living room light. After a few tentative steps, he turned the corner to the kitchen, slightly banging his shoulder on the doorway while he walked. He peered in to notice a lot more people than there should be. Remi, Blyke, Isen, Elaine, Seraphina, John? He blinked groggily and limped to the table, suddenly realizing that everything in his body hurt. "Why are you all in my apartment?" he asked warily. "And why won't my ability activate?"
Isen shifted in his seat, glancing away, while Blyke cleared his throat and fidgeted with his fingers. Elaine and Remi weren't any better, and Seraphina was looking at Arlo with resigned sadness in her gaze. John, always the most blunt of the group, spoke first. "Remember when we found Sera? I had to heal her and I found a puncture mark on her neck. Yours has one too, on the left." Arlo instinctively felt for the mark, dread pooling in his stomach as his fingers touched a tiny bump that shot pain through his system.
For a split second, the mask dropped. Arlo forgot to control himself. He looked... scared, almost, lost, tired. Then it was back. He hesitated-Arlo never hesitated. "...I see," he whispered. His voice rose as he continued speaking, coming back to the arrogant tone everyone knew. "I will be taking an absence from school for at least 3 days. I will need some time to adjust." He paused, noting that everyone in the kitchen looked the exact same. "...Why are you still here? Leave."
Isen's eyes darted around the room like a trapped animal before he tentatively spoke. "Is... is that it? Are you gonna be okay?" Arlo scoffed. "I am the King of Wellstion. When have I not been-" John cut through his words, clear annoyance in his tone. "Not for long, you won't be. Will you stop assuming everything's gonna be the same when you come back with no ability? People will notice, and they'll get back at you for sure, just like they did with Sera." He gestured to the former Ace. "Except it'll be worse, because you can never mind your own business, and you're a bitch to everyone. At least Sera never shoved anyone against a locker because they breathed wrong."
John's chair scraped across the floor as he got off with more force than needed, grabbing his things and leaving. Sera followed him, Blyke and Isen on her tail. Elaine stayed behind for a moment, her cheeks a slight shade of pink. "Can I help with anything?" Arlo dismissed it quickly. "When I said leave, it meant everyone." He pointed to the door. "Go."
Once he made sure everyone was gone, Arlo let out a shaky sigh, steadying himself on the tabletop with a trembling hand. Everything would be fine. It would come back tomorrow, and everything would be fine. He would be King, and Remi would be Queen, and Blyke would be Jack, and everything would be the same again, perfectly in order. But that's not what happened with Sera, his mind whispered. But she still hasn't gotten hers back, it taunted. But she's been attacked and left defenseless and you overlooked it because it didn't affect you-"Shut up," Arlo spoke coldly to the room. There was no one there, but he felt the need to say it anyway. It felt like it gave him some control.
Testing the weight on both his legs and finding that he needed to favor his right, he limped to the counter and opened a cupboard to grab his coffee. He misjudged the distance and knocked the box of grounds off of the shelf. He watched it fall, almost in slow motion, and attempted to conjure a barrier to stop it. The container crashed to the floor and spewed black dirt everywhere, leaving Arlo speechless. He looked down at his hand. Huh. This might be a bit harder than expected.
