The Fallen Queen's Investigation

Cecile was head of the school press. She actually loved reporting the news. If there was anything she hated, it would have to be the current people in charge. The Royals of the school were far too authoritarian. She could understand their end-goal, but their methods were always to act with force, and she found that unnecessary. Sure, force went a long way, but what moved people was information.

Cecile couldn't forgive Arlo after he banned her from publishing her story on Remi. He went to her office right as she had gotten the news and banned any reports on it. Of course, that didn't stop Cecile from simply posting about it in school forums and chat-logs. Cecile had a deep seated anger against Remi ever since she defeated her for the title of queen of Wellston when Seraphina backed down. 

But now, now Arlo wants her to publish a story to make the Royals be looked at in a positive light. She'd interviewed several rioters telling her that their motivation was the transfer student, Vritra who had transferred in a bit over a month ago. She didn't want to publish anything that made the Royals look remotely good, but if she didn't, Arlo's temperament would get the better of him and he would surely make her step down and put someone else in charge, some fool like Isen.

So, in light of this rocky situation, Cecile chose the other party of inspiration for the riots. A smaller inspiration, but one that she found more interesting. Azazel Wodime, the man who defeated Remi. She found him in the outside of the male dorm rooms doing weighted push-ups. His form was perfect, but she did feel like he was doing them with too much strain. 

Sweat covered the ground, and soaked his T-shirt, showcasing that he'd been there training for a long period of time. He didn't look angry, or happy, simply there. She approached him with the intention of publishing an Article that would make Remi look bad, and Arlo good. He noticed her immediately, shifting his gaze to her before going back to doing exercise. 

"Do you have time for an interview?" Cecile asked while crossing her arms. He stopped what he was doing and got up. 

"More useless flies, get out of my sight," She stopped and knit her eyebrows. She understood why they were attacked so often – before the hit was put out on them by Arlo of course. Cecile was a High tier, and the boy in front of her was a low-tier. He had courage to speak to her that way. "I'm not in the mood for your questions."

"I am writing a paper on your defeat of the Queen of Wellston and about your history." Cecile pressed him, grabbing a pen and paper to jot things down. She could always get secondary accounts from other people, but that research was not as satisfying as first hand accounts. Any low-tier would say that the fight was easy, and she could write that down in the article to drag Remi's reputation through the mud despite it clearly not being true… after all it'd be his account. 

"Yeah, I defeated her. You high tiers said it was trickery and underhanded tactics," he moved on to do a bench-press. Why did he bring all of the equipment outside anyway? Cecile looked around, there were a lot of boulders and debris that were not supposed to be there. Were those the reason why? "I don't care, a win is a win. Now leave." His attitude was infuriating. 

"How did it feel winning against the Queen, and then losing to the King of Wellston?" She got angry and asked him something with a little jab to it. 

"I DID NOT LOSE!" His voice was laced with anger. He stopped doing the bench-press and tossed the weights to the side. "I did not lose." Despite sounding more composed, his eyes told a different story. They looked into the horizon, past Cecile. "I don't lose."

She was interviewing a crazy person. A delusional person. He went up to the boulder and grabbed it from underneath. Was he crazy? His frame was small, and his muscles, although defined, weren't much in the strength department. Still, he lifted it barely by activating his ability. That was information she didn't have. So his ability also enhanced him while weakening the enemy. She jotted what she saw down. 

"Accounts say they saw Elaine and Remi carry you and your accomplice Vritra to the infirmary." She continued the questioning despite his clearly unhappy attitude. He shook from lifting the bolder before putting it down and lifting it again. "Arlo defeated you, does that mean your limit is high tiers? Or do you think it was a mismatch?" This scrawny boy defeated Remi? Cecile couldn't believe it. Sure he had an enhancement ability, but what stopped Remi from electrocuting him until he was knocked out?

"I didn't lose!" He delusionally yelled again. Letting the bolder fall on the ground, he placed both hands on his ears like a child. Looking at the ground. Cecile walked to see the expression on his face. He was sweating, and he had gone pale. He looked worried and angry. "I am absolute, I don't lose! I never lose!" He wasn't trying to convince her, but himself.

This is the person who defeated the queen of Wellston? Maybe it really was a fluke like the rumors say. "Very well, what are your next steps?" As if he'd become someone else, his body straightened up and he looked at her blankly without emotion in his face. Now that Cecile looked closer, he had large bags under his eyes. She got information that he had left the infirmary yesterday… surely he hadn't spent the entire night training – She looked at the outside again, it was all damp –surely he hadn't.

"I will defeat Arlo." His declaration made Cecile smile, even if he lost she had something interesting to write about. "Today… I am defeating him today…"

"Don't you think you need rest?" Cecile jotted down a few more ideas for the story from what he had told her. His gaze was penetrating, they felt like daggers piercing her heart. She wasn't sure why he was staring at her as if he wanted to strike her down, but he did. 

"Rest? No… no… the more I rest, the more time I waste. I see it now," he was talking to himself, again, "I didn't train before because I didn't think it was worth an effort…" 

"So you think Arlo is strong enough to make you put in effort?"

"What?" He knit his eyebrows, confused at the notion. Did he not understand what he had just told her, or was he so delusional he blocked off that trail of thought? Cecile couldn't tell. The person in front of her was a deeply perturbed individual. He turned his body away and continued training. Cecile had what she wanted, now she had to interview a few of the low-tiers that participated in the riots.