Waking Up

( John saw nothing. He felt nothing around him inside the world of constraining shadows he'd glimpsed before exhaustion clouded his movements. However, the desire to move and return to something, somewhere, someone simmered in the background of his thoughts. Not yet enough to pierce through the haze that surrounded his mind and body, but strong enough to rouse his curiosity of where he was. All he remembered before this was pain; a fight needed to be won. John had no recollection of why it needed to be won, only that he couldn't afford to take a single step backwards or everything was lost.)

'Why do you always pick fights you can't win?!?! Do you enjoy being hurt?! Or making Sera sad?! Or making me cry?! I can't heal you damn it!… I can't help you… Please come back to me…. Don't leave me or Sera alone.'

(Her name was… Elaine!…)

'Why hasn't he woken up yet?! It's been three days! I've rewound the wounds on his body, Elaine's given him her best, and you've forced him to drink every tonic you can make for him. So why won't he wake up?!'

(That voice… it's feminine charm relaxed John, even as rough as it sounded, in a way the numbing haze couldn't. It brought sensations of warmth to the unresponsive void he found himself immersed into.)

'Seraphina, calm down right now! Do you think throwing a tantrum will make anything change here?!… Look, he exhausted everything he had to give while protecting you all. He fights by mimicking another persons abilities and then opening his aura channels as wide as they can go, that means he can push any ability he copies up to becoming god tier themselves. However, every ability has a downside, even if you practice constantly to reduce them, and John is no different; it takes enormous amounts of physical and mental stamina to use his ability to it's fullest potential. John has been too traumatized for the last two years to even think of using his ability, he's out of practice and has been fighting high tiers and god tiers constantly for the last two months and then this happens?! Almost fourteen hours of constant combat at his best! Even if his understanding of his abilities is well beyond most adults, even if he started using it from the start of his time here at Wellston, he would still be in a coma for a day or two let alone this mess!!!'

(Another voice replied. This one gruff and male, but definitely familiar.)

…

'..please. Please… give him back to me..'

(John felt something cool drip onto him, as the warmth began to fade and was replaced with anxiety. The woman's voice, still soft, filled with pain and despair; it made that desire to move slowly begin to fester in an attempt to reclaim the warmth she brought to him.)

'…! Seraphina…. I'm sorry, but the only way for that to happen is for him to rest. There's nothing we can do but sit and wait.'

(However the void surrounding him had already pulled tight around him and forced him to stay still and rest.)

(He roused sometimes, when voices of of other people managed to come through the haze around his mind. Some brought to him the same sense of warmth as the female voice… Sera! Her name was Seraphina. Others brought confusion; of why they would talk to him. Some brought pain, and others brought relief.)

'I'll get stronger just like I promised myself and then I'll come for that rematch. I'll show you that there is worth to the people here. I will protect my friends! And then I'll finally reach out to you and show you that you're not alone…"

(That was… Blyke…)

'Please wake up soon… how can I thank you for protecting me if you don't?… You said to stop the tears, right?!?! That I was naive?!?! Well they won't stop, not for me. If you want them gone then wake yourself up and show me how I can help everone heal! All I need is you at my side and I know I can be strong enough to save them!

(…Remi?!…)

'…Things aren't the same anymore. Not in the school, and not in the world. I can't do this alone… not anymore. Maybe I never could… I'm sorry… for everything. For being so obsessed with the hierarchy that I let myself become blind to the pain of the people I lead… For lying to you and betraying you like that. I've told Sera everything that happened, of everything I did to you… and what you did in return. It didn't paint either of us in the best light but it's time to move on from that… Please wake… I need your help to keep them all safe from this new world… and to help us all heal from the old one.'

(…Arlo???…)

'You said you'd bring change to the world if I followed you, but I don't think this is what you meant…. I'm training everyday so I don't need to be protected like that again…. So you don't end up like this again…. Hurry up and get better so I can keep my part of the promise. You said you'd bring change and I said I'd follow you until the end and help you with everything I've got… so don't keep me waiting for too long… yeah?'

(…Cecile!)

' I'm sorry… for snooping around in your past, and for breaking your wrist. Even if it was on Arlo's orders, it still wasn't right…. Look where we are now, huh? Funny how the world changed again and again around me these last few months, right?… Please get up man we need you to be a king we can rely on more then ever…'

(…Isen?…)

'I'm sorry for being the one that broke you…For calling you a monster…. I just wanted to get through to you that you needed to stop hurting people…. You were out of control but I never wanted to lose you!!!… We have a lot of catching up to do so please wake up soon…'

(…Claire?!)

'I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… for being blind to the pain you were in, everyone was in. That it took me losing my powers to understand how broken our world truly was. For no trying harder to understand the last few months from your point of view… for snapping at you and yelling even if you were lying to me… We both said things we can't take back… but we will get through this. We'll go forwards and understand each other better than ever after this… All you have to do is wake up… Please… I can't lose the most important person in my life… Not anymore…'

(…Sera?!?!?)

(With those final words uttered around from the lips of the person who knew him best, John became alert once more only to discover that the void still had its grip on him, refusing him a chance to wake up until it was dispersed. So John opened his eyes and beheld the void he was trapped inside; the truth was shown about his extended rest, about his own mind, and his key back to those five girls who he refused to leave again.

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John was back in New Bostin, watching his past self stand amongst the beaten bodies of his entire grade… as well as Claire. His past self looked up and hate poured from his eyes as John was caught in his gaze. The John of New Bostin ran up to his older self and threw every punch, kick, and ability he had at the older boy, only to be rebuffed calmly each time.

"I'll kill you!!!!", the younger boy roared at the top of his lungs; his fist caught and let go in the same breath, as the older boy stepped past the explosion that came next, only to duck the fire that followed, and tilt his head to dodge the energy blades and tentacles that the younger boy brought to bare. A furious knee was met with John's own, an elbow thrown was matched, and every punch was stopped by the palm of the older boys hands. "You locked me here all by myself for two years!!!" the boy screamed with tears pouring down his face as he continued to blindly throw everything he had at John under the young mans blank gaze.

The one sided fight continued for what felt like hours with the child screaming curses and repeating his threat of killing the young man. As it progressed, the older John's movements never changed, however the younger boy only became slower and more clumsy until he eventually collapsed onto his hands and knees to punch the ground over and over again until his hands were too bloody and broken to continue as he began to shake and shudder with repressed sobs.

"I didn't ask for this…", the boy managed to get out around the cries he refused to let loose. "I didn't ask to be a monster…" he continued. John's hair shadowed his face as he slowly walked towards the memory of his younger self, the broken bodies of their old schoolmates long faded to nothing as they fought.

John knelt silently next to the memory of himself, and slowly reached out to pick the boy up and cradle him to his chest. To whisper the words he'd never let anyone know he needed to hear;" You're not a monster…You were never a monster… You were angry and hurt, so you turned all of what you holding inside against the world and people that surrounded you…You just wanted everyone to understand what you've been through…". The memory stilled and began to tremble as John ran his hand in soothing circles across his back, only for the sobs to finally burst forth from the confines he'd held together for his entire life. The memories flowed through them both as the sobbing grew louder; of being beaten into the ground by anyone who was higher in the hierarchy than them. Of feeling worthless because he had no strength to fight back. Of meeting Claire and discovering his own powers. Of fighting over and over again all alone because she couldn't fight either. Learning how to use his power to its full potential. Of Claire's perceived betrayal after his own brutality was unleashed on the people who once claimed he was worthless, and of his time spent being 'educated' on how to fit in with society, where he locked away these memories and feelings so he could run away while telling himself he'd moved on.

The manifestation of those suppressed memories flinched and sobbed harder with every feeling that bombarded the two even as the young man held him tighter and tighter to his chest, resting his chin atop the crown of the memories head, and allowed him to cry.

John continued when the cries fell silent after what felt like days;" I'm sorry for leaving you here… For adding another betrayal on top of the pain you endured for the two of us while I was running from us… You don't have to forgive me… You don't have to do anything anymore… Just let me face this…", and as they both finally looked up, exposing the tears tracking down their faces as they gazed upon the floating, grotesque, and pulsing black chained ball of emotions, wider than an entire classroom and three stories tall, he'd locked away now layed bare to their eyes. John let the younger boy go as the manifestation of his repressed pain and memories started to fade away and stood to begin walking towards the monstrous growth only to pause and look back, teary gold eyes meeting once again. "Get some rest…you've endured long enough…", he said as he turned to walk forwards and face his pain for the first time in his life, only to be stopped by the faded hand of his younger self, only half held together through willpower as he stared at the real John.

…

…

…

"… together?…", the boy said uncertainly, staring upwards at his older self. The past and present stared at each other as the young man thought.

"… Together.", John agreed after a long pause and searching of his younger self's eyes to ascertain that this was what he wanted. And so, the two children walked to the ball of emotions as it's chains began to shudder and fall away allowing the ball to become unstable and explode, only for their aura to rise and match it before everything went white as John and his memories finally became one and the new person that was born through their long awaited reunion lost consciousness.