Seraphina/Relationships

## Family

### Narisa

Seraphina once strove to be the pride and joy of her mother, if only because doing otherwise resulted in pain and suffering. Seraphina was afraid of Narisa's reprimands, leading her to believe that she had no choice but to endure an unpleasant upbringing. That changed after she befriended John, whose influence began to change her attitude.

Seraphina found herself unwilling to cave into the pressure of being her mother's pride and joy any longer. She faced her fears and directly confronted Narisa, and spoke up about how her overly strict parenting drove a wedge between both her daughters. When Narisa tried to use her ability to slap her, Seraphina countered with superior Time Manipulation. This gave her the confidence to be assertive and outline her demands and the consequences of being refused.

Seraphina momentarily slid back to a meeker view of her parents after losing her ability. She was afraid of being rejected, despite otherwise having little interest in their opinions of her.

### Leilah

Leilah is Seraphina's sister. Growing up, the two were very close, and stood together through good times and bad. Seraphina was saddened when Leilah ran away from home, leaving her behind. Unlike her mother, she does not appear to view Leilah as a failure, even claiming to understand why she ran away after returning home and once again being showered with expectations.

Recently, the two reunited in a Lovun Cafe after a five-year separation. Seraphina had undergone many changes since they saw each other last, and not just in regards to her disabled ability. Though she vocally stood up for Leilah and defended her when their mother expressed disdain for her, Seraphina bore great resentment towards her sister as well. Her feelings of abandonment were made worse when their parents took out their frustrations with Leilah's departure on their remaining daughter. On top of that, Seraphina's bad experiences with John left her hesitant re-establish trust in those who betrayed it.

Seraphina's estranged relationship with Leilah underwent further strain when Leilah revealed that she was part of the organization that left Seraphina powerless. Leilah's claims that she had nothing to do with the attack and that she had always been in her sister's corner was hard for Seraphina to swallow. All things considered, Seraphina didn't jump at the offer to work for Leilah in exchange for the restoration of her ability. Nonetheless, when other agents of Spectre showed up to seize them, Seraphina chose to escape with Leilah instead of trying to find her own way out of the mess. Apparently, Seraphina trusts Leilah just enough to believe that she didn't lure her de-powered high-tier sister into an ambush made by people who dampened their targets first. That, and she's curious to know what other insider knowledge Leilah has to share.

### Her Father

It is heavily implied that he also contributed to the abuse throughout Seraphina's early life.

## Wellston Private High School

### John

Seraphina became aware of John's presence on his first day, when he and Elaine made poor first impressions on each other. She later encountered him when he was being menaced by two bullies. While she personally thought the bullies' actions were overkill, Seraphina did not aid John when he asked, and was in fact confused when he showed her resentment over it. Later, when she demanded he hand over the piece of cake he acquired, he humiliated her in front of everybody refusing first, then dropping it on the floor when she threatened him. The insulting display made Seraphina lose her composure for the first time in a while, and she beat John up while berating his cocky attitude. To their mutual dismay, they were later paired together for a group project. John continued to be stubborn, defying Seraphina's explicit orders to let her do all the work, even if it meant getting an easy A+. Her grudge against him grew when he botched his half of the project, costing her a perfect grade. When she tried threatening him to stay out of her way again, he asked her why she tried so hard to impress a school full of ingrates. Though she often wondered that herself, her belief that it was just her lot in life led her to think that John was a fool for trying to deviate from society's expectations. For the sake of her grade, she tried a different approach in dealing with John. Namely, she held him to his word that he would work hard for his own grade by reviewing his efforts, giving him pointers he sorely needed, and keeping him focused. When even these efforts didn't result in her coveted perfect grade, John surprised Seraphina by standing up to two girls who maliciously gossiped about her capability as Ace. For the first time, Seraphina found herself taking a shine to the crazy cripple, and rescued him by using her ability to drive the mean girls away. They worked amicably together following that incident. After their project got an imperfect passing grade, John took her out for celebration boba tea. Being appreciated for her hard work was a welcome change.

After that experience, Seraphina and John became best friends. Seraphina did not agree to the general opinion that she should avoid the company of low-tiers like him. His knack for getting himself into trouble was a bit amusing to her. As a result of the free time the two mostly spent together, she listened to his adamant speeches about wanting to change the inequality of the world. While she wasn't against such dreams, Seraphina often told him that reality wouldn't abide such wishful thinking. Overall, Seraphina saw John as a never-ending fountain of surprises, the greatest of which were being the son of author William H. Doe and possessing a copy of his infamous book, *Unordinary*. But she realized early on that there was even more to John than he was letting on. His bold attitude sometimes went to extremes. But whenever she called attention to these personality shifts, he became defensive or even hostile, often making excuses for his behavior. As off-putting as these mood shifts were, Seraphina initially shrugged this off as another of his quirks.

Upon returning home to for her suspension, Seraphina discovered that thanks to John's influence, she was unable to readjust to her old lifestyle. Her perception of his daily defiance of social norms went from being absurd to giving her inspiration. When she had enough of her parents overworking her, she found confidence in John's example to openly rebel. But when she returned to Wellston to wait out the remainder of her suspension, she realized her absence took a toll on John. His optimism was snuffed out, leaving him too broken to even talk about it. She sought an explanation, but John stubbornly refused to divulge any details other than claims of simply having reached his limit with bullying. Over the next few days as John's father came to visit, Seraphina once again realized over a game of cards that she didn't understand her friend as well as she thought she did. She didn't have time to mull over this mystery, thanks to the kidnapping attempt that cost her her ability.

After losing her ability, Seraphina continued to look up to John and admire his strength. However, unknown to her, John's biggest fear is to have his best friend reject him and call him "Monster" once she finds out about his dark past and secret ability. She had come close to discovering his secret several times, but she trusted John to the point of never questioning the lies and half-truths he told to excuse any behavior of his that's strange for a cripple. When Arlo told her John is the Joker, she initially dismissed the idea but began to notice the plausibility of the claim. She believed John when he denied the insinuation at first but realized the truth upon watching the Joker fight and recognizing his fighting style.

The discovery left her devastated and angry, unable to determine who the real John is. She began to deliberately avoid him and found herself questioning everything he taught her. The rise of Fake Jokers only worsened relations between them, as John would play innocent and not take responsibility for the turmoil he ushered in with his war against the hierarchy. She eventually acquired his New Bostin High School records from Isen and was able accurately piece together some of his history. Despite the secrets John insisted on lying about, Seraphina believed that his passionate speeches about wanting fairness in the world were genuine, and held onto the hope that she could reach out to him by appealing to this noble side. When Evie became a victim in a Joker attack, Seraphina realized she could no longer put off a direct confrontation with John on the matter. She requested a private talk with him, intending to help him work through whatever issues drove him to such violence. However, when John realized he could no longer play the cripple around her, he began spewing out insults and accusations of betrayal. He denounced all belief in Unordinary's message, and rejected her offer of assistance saying that someone powerless wasn't capable of helping anyone. Cut deeply, the tearful Seraphina was forced to accept the John she knew was gone. She wound up smacking him when he wouldn't release her arm, and he declared that she was dead to him.

With their friendship as she knew it destroyed, Seraphina chose to put most of her focus on the criminals who stripped her of her ability. However, she continued to harbor a desire to find out more about John's past and why he decided to pretend to be a cripple in the first place. Though John was very unwilling to openly discuss his issues, Seraphina managed to observe several oddities in his behavior that clued her into where she could begin her own personal investigation. The first was his interrogation with Keon that left him a nervous wreck. The second was when he called her Claire in a moment of angry confusion during their falling out. She correctly surmised that this was the name of a key figure in his past and managed to get in touch with her. Claire's account of John's rise and fall as King of New Bostin left Seraphina horrified, unable to determine how to make good use of these facts in the present. Claire advised her to forget everything she thought she knew about John and recognize the brutal, selfish tyrant she was dealing with. Seraphina began to wonder if she would need to fully regain her former strength and defeat him in battle in order to make any meaningful progress.

When John openly revealed his true strength to Wellston and declared himself King, his actions continued to vex her. In a chance encounter, she tried to share with him some new information regarding the people who invaded his house. Alas, he had no desire to hear anything she had to say, and reaffirmed his declaration that he never wanted to see her again. Later on, when John decided to focus on shutting down the Safe House that Remi was forming, it nearly jeopardized her lead in Terrence being possibly affiliated with the criminals behind her ability loss. As the days went by she hypothesized that Claire's council and William's book couldn't have been enough to convince John to try turning over a new leaf. Therefore, the catalyst in his attitude adjustment came from the time he spent in custody of the Authorities as Claire had mentioned. Based on everything she learned so far, her investigation depended on finding out more about Keon and whatever he put John through.

Eventually she would soon discover information on Keon and his ability Memory Recall. From there she then deduced that John was forced to relive his worst memories, particularly the betrayal he brought upon himself. Seraphina realized that after everything ha had experienced in life, had lost trust in not just every person he knew, but himself as well. Helping him break out of the past he was stuck became one of her top priorities.

Not that John made it easy for her. Her affiliation with Safe House led to conflict between them. He had begun to attack club members he may not have known, or even recognized. During his personal assault on Room 224, Seraphina accused him of surpassing the Royals in abuse of power. She asked him point-blank if his constant attempts to sabotage high-tiers who were trying to make amends brought him any satisfaction. To her frustration, he remained committed to his delusion that there was no making up for past errors, only retribution. As the situation escalated to the point where John sent Blyke to the infirmary for the third time, Seraphina knew that she had to figure out a way stop John before he was crushed under the weight of the havoc he wrought.

Seraphina did not agree with John's belief that redemption was a fallacy, for she had faith that she could save him and reignite his desire for peace. She told Leilah that the first thing she wanted to do with her restored ability is help John. She then added that John was still very special to her as she fondly recalled the way he treated her as a person and the morals he tried to inspire.

Seraphina recognized that John always there for her during her darkest times, and so she must also be with him during his dark times. Ultimately, she risked everything to finally break John free of his cycle of pain, and helped John forgive himself. As Seraphina falls unconcious from her exertion during the fight with John, John holds her and calls her "Sera", proof that their friendship was reborn.

### Arlo

It is implied that Arlo and Seraphina have been rivals for quite some time, but have put up cordial fronts when dealing with one another. Lately, however, Arlo's more merciless methods (especially strangling Rein during the Turf Wars) clashed with Seraphina's own methods and put an even bigger strain between them. The strain has only widened since, and Seraphina's loss of ability has driven an even bigger wedge between the two. She doesn't believe Arlo for a second when he reveals that John is Joker to her face, considering his history of deceit and manipulation.

Seraphina eventually found out that Arlo was telling the truth about John. Despite this, she avoided coming to him for more information until she was desperate for the truth. Following their discussion in the park, and they begin spending more time with each other amidst the rise of Fake Jokers. After their attempt to convince John to take responsibility for the chaos at school ended in disaster, Arlo decided to help Seraphina learn more about the people that ambushed her and disabled her ability.

Despite working together towards a common goal, Arlo and Seraphina understand that they are ***not*** friends. Despite her powerlessness, Seraphina continues to provoke Arlo and laugh at his expense. This antagonism stems from her continued disgust with Arlo's machinations. She directly told him that she believes he deserved everything he got for his "stupid and uncalled for" plot against John.

### Remi

Remi is the current queen of Wellston and one of Seraphina's friends. Though Remi is not as close to Seraphina as John is, the two share a deep level of respect. Seraphina is grateful to Remi for donning the position of Queen after the former had lost desire to occupy that position. Even after Seraphina lost her abilities, Remi does not view Seraphina as a lesser person, unlike many other students of Wellston. However, Seraphina was unaware of Remi's past occupation as **X-Rei,** until Isen revealed it in one of his meetings with her and Arlo.

### Blyke

Seraphina sees Blyke as open and trustworthy, and made Blyke the Jack off of these traits. Blyke, in turn respects her and is in awe of her, much like the rest of Wellston and is excited to tell Isen that he got to see her fight. Even after her ability loss, he remains grateful to the point of blushing for any praise she directs towards him. Later on, he even goes out of his way to protect her against repeated attacks by Zeke and John, even though in his skirmish with the latter he was badly beaten up.

### Elaine

Elaine is Seraphina's roommate at the Wellston Dormitories. While Elaine does legitimately care for Seraphina, the real reason why she is her roommate is to keep an eye out for any suspicious behavior on Arlo's behalf. Elaine expressed extreme intolerance towards Seraphina having any association with John, but Seraphina tends to pull rank on such disagreements. Seraphina was upset when she found out that Elaine snitched on her about possessing Unordinary, but she let it go since it was an order from Arlo.

Things took a strange turn when Seraphina was reduced to a cripple. Rather than abandon her like someone so vocal about the sanctity of the hierarchy would be expected to, Elaine showed her usual deference. Her roommate ostensibly claimed that it was because her condition was sure to wear off eventually. The truth was a bit more complicated. After Seraphina found out the truth regarding John's status, Elaine admitted to knowing and keeping it secret, under threat of the Shadow King's wrath.

Seraphina is guilty of using Elaine the way the other Royals have. She is usually capable of healing her own injuries, though she had called on Elaine to heal John despite knowing she wouldn't like it. Seraphina has also made Elaine use her own phone to send texts to her allies, since Spectre wasn't monitoring her communications as closely.

### Evie

Seraphina first meets Evie after saving her from the bullies Brea and Hower on separate occasions. After this, she slowly become friends with her and her group including Roland and Terrence. Although, they appear to be on equal terms during Seraphina's ability loss, Seraphina shows herself to be much more capable of fighting which Evie comes to admire her for it. Luckily, Seraphina teaches her how to fight.

### Terrence

Seraphina first met Terrence (unknown if this is true in his case) due to them both being friends with Evie and Roland. They do not interact that much, but Seraphina begins to speculate that Terrence may be connected to her ability loss after learning that he has Invisibility, like the man who stalked her in Chapter 12.

Overall, Terrence is shown to have a positive view of Seraphina. He notes that she has been open-minded to helping others after her ability loss.

### Roland

Along with Evie and Terrence, Roland has become one of her close friends. Roland seemingly admires her fighting ability and considers her a close friend as he called her when Evie ended up in the infirmary.

## Others

### William H. Doe

Seraphina seemingly knew about John's father before meeting him, likely due to her conversations with John. He thinks she seems like a nice girl to him and has enjoyed talking to her.  She in turn admires him and has told him she thought he was strong despite his situation. William harbors a fear that Seraphina's recklessness with her position as a god-tier could get her in as much trouble as John's did. He nonetheless appreciates Seraphina for looking out for John.

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 213
2. ↑ Chapter 214
3. ↑ Chapter 23
4. ↑ Chapter 156
5. ↑ Chapter 189
6. ↑ Chapter 18
7. ↑ Chapter 102
8. ↑ Chapter 254
9. ↑ Chapter 62
10. ↑ Chapter 62