A Beginning

Last Time on

A Dream?... More Like A Nightmare

Elaine looked at each of these girls in their eyes as she cast aside her giddiness, and gained their attention as she thought over how she would stoke the flames of jealousy in her confirmed enemies in attaining John's undivided attention. Until she caught sight of the aurora of two auras that the blanket hid behind her and smirked before blowing a kiss at the other three before mouthing two words while pointing at herself and then behind her…

…

First…

…

Second…

She decided to ignore their reactions to lay down beside the two spiritually connected next to her as she snuggled into the firm side of Wellston's king and allowed herself to fall back into delirium as she drifted off to sleep.

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John was tired; of course he'd be tired. He'd been fighting for what felt like years now. First with the seemingly endless horde of monsters that had threatened to tear apart his school. Then with his own memories, not to mention the little message his mother had left for him, both of which had wrung him dry emotionally. And then he'd had to face that lion looking monster alone… God he was tired of fighting.

However as he looked down at Sera's elated face, with her eyes scrunched shut as the combined auroras of their auras lit up the small space under their blanket nearly blinding him, he felt as if it was in some small way worth it. His father's death, as well as the overwhelming grief and despair in his heart, would never be forgotten; a testament to what happens when you freeze up or let your guard down. The lives lost in the initial panic couldn't be overlooked. However here in this one moment in time he could push it all away. He could not forget what his world had become, but he could limit it to a few people for a time.

John closed his own eyes to take in the warmth that poured from Sera as her emotions began to invade his own still unstable aura, allowing him to feel her without anything to hinder the process. He let out a slightly shaky breath and held back small tears as he realized she didn't hate him. She didn't think he was a monster. She wanted him to stay with her, never to leave again. She cared for him, just as much as he cared about her. John pressed his lips to the crown of her head as she buried her head into his chest and cried silently from the tidal waves of his own emotions flooding through her, no longer capable of being contained by his own will, and whispered to her promise after promise to stay.

He felt the world contained in his small room through his own sensing ability; the boys were asleep he realized, as he "saw" something new through his passive, somehow that everything would, maybe not be fine, but better or perhaps too tired to continue. Elaine laid next to him and Sera fast asleep, her aqua green aura rolling onto him in tiny waves with her giddiness only matched by some sort of mischief. Arlo was a small blip to his right, his pride and conviction shining through his bright yellow aura low as it was. Blyke was a wild mess to his left, his blood red aura bursting with too many emotions to truly decipher, and next to him was Isen. An exhausted pale gold light running parallel to Blyke's own brimming with relief and his normal anxiety. For some reason all of the girls were clumped together across from his own bed; Claire's soft red, Remi's light blue, and Cecile's dark green all in the same spot, and even though they were all asleep, all of them were feeling the same mixture of emotions. Too complex for John's new found empathy to break down, but it remained clear; none of them were happy about something, and all of it was directed towards him…

…

…

'Was it too late to go back to being in a coma?', John thought to himself, feeling a little helpless at the realization that he still needed to clear things up with everyone else. He would need to to actually talk through his problems with people he didn't necessarily like and with people he knew in his heart he'd wronged…

…

…

…'Fuck this.', the raven haired king of Wellston decided as he curled himself around the resting Sera and dozed off, letting his body begin to recover and aura finally start to stabilize.

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John woke without much fanfare, one second he was asleep the next he was an undead zombie in need of twenty cups of caffeine to function. Or a nudge from his chest area, that startled him enough to wake up and meet the sleepy eyes of his best friend. Sera was quick to voice her denial of John getting up with a small whine as she buried her head back into her little nest of blankets she'd wrapped around them sometime in the night. Her dual toned hair was in dire need of a brushing and she seemed to not be of the opinion that he needed to leave the bed. John's aching bladder and back seemed to differ, and so with a bit of careful maneuvering that John had perfected during their movie nights, he switched himself with the large pillow he'd been sleeping on, leaving Sera to happily snuggle into his lingering warmth and smell. He decided to ignore that last thought as it was entirely too early in the morning for anything let alone his non-existent relationship with his best friend. Carefully sneaking past the others still asleep as he made his way to the bathroom, and then the open door leading to the hallway as he shut his still sleeping comrades inside.

The word gave him pause for a moment in his sleepy state as he mulled it over in his head for a minute until he decided it fit the best considering they were his subordinates ever since he'd dethroned the royals. It was about time he started acting like it, he decided as he pushed off from his slight slouch against the door frame to make his way towards the headmaster's office, in nothing more than the sweat bottoms he'd had on last night. On the way, he ignored the stares coming from the random people he saw standing in the hallways and crowding in the lunchroom to look outside and notice that the sun was just barely setting, painting a beautiful picture of yellows, oranges, blues, and blacks splashed across the sky like art on a canvas. John closed his eyes and turned up his face to catch the day's final rays of light across his upper body and stretch in the pleasant warmth it gave allowing himself to wake completely, standing there until the light had finally given way to dusk and night before continuing on his way to the principal's office in time to hear the tail end of the Doc's most likely one sided screaming match.

"-Do you hear me?!?!?!? If you step out there tonight you will die! The only reason you're still alive today you gadamn fossil is because you're a damn god tier!! If it wasn't because of that and too many damn tonics to count, you'd have been dead years ago!", the doc wrapped up his little speech with a snarl as John leaned casually against the open door as they continued on without noticing him.

"I know.", the headmaster simply said as he calmly gazed at a picture framed on his desk until he set it aside to show a young and innocent Claire pouting at the camera sitting on a slightly younger looking Vaughn's shoulders. ""But what other choice do we have? The children are exhausted, the refugees are only still alive by chance, and I am the only capable fighter besides those kids. It has to be me.", he finished as he slowly reached up to begin undoing his tie.

John had seen enough as he announced his presence with two small raps against the open door, drawing the bewildered attention of the only two adults in the room. The headmaster's eyes widened slightly before he gave a small smile of relief that John was too familiar with, having seen it on his father's face every time he'd come back home after some of his toughest days before his powers had came in, as he turned towards the Doc with slightly tensed shoulders and grit teeth to take in the waning rage and bits of desperate concern quickly replaced by annoyance and relief. "What's up Doc?", John grinned unrepentantly at the former school nurse turned apocalypse healer, locking those negative feelings away in the back of his mind, as he made his way inside the room. "I heard ya'll was having a bit of a pest problem.", he allowed his natural drawl to shine for a moment as he followed the bit forwards to rest his back against the only desk in the room to stare up at the bewildered healer and bemused headmaster. "Luckily for you, I'm the best there ever was when it comes to gettin' rid of pests, but it'll cost you.", he finished as his smirk threatened to stretch into a small grin he turned towards the floor as his hair shadowed his eyes.

The headmaster's eyes twinkled slightly as he fought back a small grin of his own to turn and walk towards the window and clasp his palms together behind his back as he offered his own response under the confused eyes of their healer, Darren who looked as if he was ready to pull his hair out from stress. "And what'll it cost us, youngin'?" he called over his shoulder as the full moon began to rise in front of them through the window, offering the others a strange frame for the aging headmaster.

John's smirk became a full on lopsided grin as he faced the ceiling and offered his deal, "Two things. One: I'm gonna need a doctor if I want anyone to survive under me.", he said as Darren froze for a handful of seconds before sighing out loud as he seemed to realize something.

"I'm never gonna find any peace and quiet again, am I you little shit?", the doctor said as he stood straight at attention from the defensive slouch he'd been in ever since he'd come into the office, before stepping forward to look into the eyes of his king for the first time since he'd left Wellston a month ago, the conviction and courage blazing inside for the teenager to meet with his own calm eyes. The doctor was the first to look away with another sigh as he offered a firm nod towards the wall behind the two.

The headmaster turned back around and walked to stand next to the ravenette and asked his next question as his warm eyes shone with years of experience to meet John's luminescent champagne colored orbs brightened in response as the older god tier began to speak, "And your second?"

"A teacher.", John said as his grin faded from view and his gaze turned back towards the open window as well as the open gate it framed. Already, monsters seemed to be gathering in the distance, back from wherever it was they rested during the day. They slowly approached the only thing not left in ruins through the town; the school campus with its large walls and open door was obviously very appealing to them.

Vaughn's eyebrows rose slightly, though the rest of his face remained unchanged as he continued as if talking about the weather under the alert eyes of both Wellston's healer and king. "Oh?", he started as he turned his head to fully meet the young god tier's calm eyes, "Well this is first and foremost a school, so the only question left is what you would like to learn?". He voice never changed however the knowing glint in his eyes left the doctor even more confused as John closed his eyes to ponder over the question for no more than a handful of seconds before turning to slowly walk to the doors leading to the school's front and gateway as he called behind him, "Everything.", as he strode away from the office offering a lazy salute to those in the office and to the side of the hallway.

"Well…", the headmaster drawled slowly as the doctor's increasing bewilderment left him frozen at attention in front of where John had leaned into the desk. "I suppose that can be arranged.", he decided as he once more took a seat in his chair and leaned back to close his eyes and bathe in the soft moonlight pouring from the open window. "After all, how can a king rule if he's not given the right tools?", he finished as he called out to the open doorway causing Darren to snap his neck awkwardly to see Wellston's chief of security sheepishly scratching the back of his head with a small smile on his lips step around the corner from where he'd been listening in on their conversation.

"Keene.", the older man said as if he'd known the man had been there from the start. "Why don't you let everyone know there's a show in town for them to watch? And please be careful to not wake those still resting, they are still growing and require their rest after pushing themselves so hard, don't you think?", Vaughn finished as he relaxed into his chair to rest for the first time since the world had changed.

"What?", Darren muttered to no one as he stared off into space, still mourning his quiet life's early death. "And John doesn't?", he finished as he slumped onto the floor to sit against the desk as Keene happily marched off to follow orders.

"I think you'll find that John feels he has slept long enough, Mr. Darren.", Vaughn gave his last reply as he slipped off to the land of Morpheus, entrusting everything under his protection to the young man who reminded him of better days spent with people he was too focused on his self imposed mission to realize cared for him until they were gone.