The next morning, John and Sera wake up wrapped in each other's arms. The two look at each other, not saying anything, just smiling. Sera closes her eyes as John picks her up, he dresses her in a soldier's outfit he found to cover her as he carries her back to the dorms, taking the longest back roads possible so no one would see her vulnerable. He sets her down in her bed, tucking her under the covers before he kisses her forehead, heading back to his dorm to prepare for the impending fight. He sighs with relief as he deactivated his ability. The sun outside showed a bright blue sky to all who woke up that morning. The rubble of the city of flames turning into a cool ash as peaceful clouds hover over it. An entire city of violent nightmares and trauma was finally laid to rest.
Meanwhile, Arlo wakes up in his bed, next to Elaine. He gets up to check on Blyke and Remi on the couch. He then looks at Isen passed out on his floor. He chuckles as he makes coffee for himself, he senses something angry and cute behind him, staring him down as he pours the water in the bean mix to make his dirty bean water. "Would you like some?" Arlo asks, however Elaine starts to tear up, her anger turns into fear and sadness, she wraps her tiny hands around Arlo. "Don't ever pull something like that again!" Arlo holds Elaine's hand and turns around. "Elaine, I'm really sorry if I put you through anything." He goes to peck Elaine, but she stops him dead in his tracks. "You, I saw your outfit, covered in blood, and the news, it showed everything, you-you, I almost lost-" Arlo shakes his head. "You didn't and you never will, I promise, as long as you're here, I'm here." Arlo says reassuringly. "You promise?" Elaine asks as Arlo nods his head. "I promise" silence passes by as Arlo's words settle in. "Okay, and yeah, I'll take a cup."
Arlo rummages through his fridge, pulling out whipped cream and chocolate sauce. "What are you making?" Elaine asks. "Your order at Wobba Bobba" Arlo yells from the kitchen. "You remember?" Elaine asks flattered. "Of course I do" as hearts flutter from Elaine they slam into Isen, waking him up from his slumber. He yawns and stretches his arms out. "Hey could you two keep the sappy talk down, hey wait a sec, where am I?" Arlo chuckles, realizing that everyone now will know where he lives. "Umm, welcome to my crib" Arlo says, causing Isen to turn around. "I came in here just to avoid this cutesy crap, it's too early in the morning for this." Isen says grumpily as he overhears Remi's and Blyke's conversation. Isen then looks around "Where's John and Sera?"
Meanwhile as John is walking throughout the school, he gets a text from Sera.
Sera: Hey, you weren't in bed with me.
John types on his phone.
John: I'm waiting for Arlo see if he's a man of his word.
Sera: Man you two are sure serious about this.
John: Yeah well that's how we do things around these parts, haha.
Sera: Well I'll be there to root you on.
John: I'll see you there then.
Arlo meanwhile is putting on his uniform, everyone around him is ready to head to Wellston again. They all walk together as a group as they recover from last night, ready to blend in with the rest of the Wellston crowd. "No one give John your abilities, he's gonna have to copy mine" Arlo says. "Right then, just, don't go too hard on each other." Remi says back. The group rolls up to Wellston front gates, they see John and Sera standing together, John looks at Arlo, the other royals scatter to the sidelines as Arlo activates his ability instantly. "So last night meant nothing, '' John thought, rather disappointedly.
"When this is over, I need to talk to John about something that's been on my mind for a while" Arlo thought as he imagined a blond woman, his own aunt, consoling him. Her rather friendly figure flashes before his eyes as she turns into a woman with flames, golden yellow eyes, and a mask to hide herself behind fury and pain.
Arlo activates his barrier, smiling with his cockiness fueling him, he feels his power surge as he activates his ability, his eyes glow yellow as he feels his barrier appear over him, glowing blue and spikes on point as a pen. He feels a surge of energy flow as he uses his barrier fly towards John, pushing him through the entire school building, crashing into multiple classrooms, breaking wall after wall after wall until he reaches the other side of campus, John lies on his back, looking up, his eyes glowing that Golden glow that we all know to love…...
and fear.
John feels a sudden spike in energy, everything around him turns black as he gets up, he goes flying into Arlo as his barrier glows a dark gold and black, its spikes pierced Arl. He then takes Arlo's head and slams it on the pavement. "AGH! Fuck, alright, looks like I've been outclassed!" Arlo thought out loud as Blyke and Remi begin to scream for Arlo's safety. "Ahahaha, guys, he's fine!" John yells with a cheerful smile as Arlo gets back up, he looks at John with a nasty glare, John looks at him back, the tension is so thick they can cut it with a knife. "What the?! Where did you learn that?" Arlo asks. "I don't know, I guess, I just lost it." John said. "Well, have fun being king" Arlo says with defeat. John looks at him confused as his excitement drops. Arlo walks away unscathed and fine. "Man, why? I can't be king, I suck as a leader" John says. "Man, your class is stacked, you'll be fine" Arlo says looking back with a smile. As he keeps smiling proudly, he hears John take a step forward. "Wait!" Arlo keeps walking away. "YOU COWARD, YOU'RE JUST GONNA QUIT?! IS THAT WHAT JAMES WOULD HAVE WANTED?"
Arlo freezes, he turns to look at John, remembering him, Blyke, John, and James as kids, remembering how he thought he was the only one having flashbacks to those days, remembering everything coming back. "What the hell, you know about that, I thought I was just crazy?" Blyke roared. "Same!" Arlo says as he turns around with fury. "What the hell, I-I, didn't even mean to spit that out, it just came…." Remi, Sera, and Elaine, and Isen all stand there looking confused as heck, as Arlo, John and Blyke all gather.
"Wait a second, so you mean this whole time, we were all...
Family?
John, Arlo, and Blyke all sit there, laughing as they try to push back the tears of trauma that they just had, so glad to be together again, they start to cry, scarred by everything they went though, even though they were close as cousins, they were more than that, they were brothers at heart. Unlikely friends.
Nobody really did anything that day, As Blyke, Arlo, and John all talked about everything that they remembered, everything that happened, they didn't pursue their mother right away, they didn't want to do any work, or really for that matter anything. They just, wanted to relax and hang, they invited the rest of the squad to hang, not just royals, but Sera's friends, Evie, Roland, Jake, they invited Meili and Ventus, they all just hung out, goofed around, did what kids their age should do, they even snuck into the school and did nerf wars, with all of Wellston high to themselves, using their abilities to their at vantage. It seemed like a happy ending, but it was more like a break, a break from the madness, the insanity, the violence and gore, the death. So yeah this is the end, and yet it was also the beginning of what was truly and would be...
The End