UnOrdinarily Heroic // UnOrdinary Fanfiction

Chapter 4: Promises

Some brave souls even approached Arlo himself, who was starting to get increasingly more annoyed after having to push away three separate press members within the first hour. When the fourth began to corner the king, he angrily marched to the press room, in hopes of cutting these off at its source...

... But Isen, the head of the press, was nowhere to be found. Arlo anxiously left the room and grabbed his phone out of his pocket, dialing up to call the missing orange-haired teen.

Ring ring, Ring ring, Ring ring-

"Uh... hello...?"

After unknowingly sighing out of relief, the blond answered, "Get out of bed and get your damn press members under control."

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

"While you were cooped up in your dorm, your writers have been out of control!" Arlo tirelessly exclaimed, "I haven't had a single minute today where I wasn't getting stalked by them!"

There was an uncomfortable silence across the line.
"... Hello?" Arlo questioned with a less stern tone.

"Yes- uhm." It sounded like Isen was regaining his seemingly lost composure, "I'm really sorry about them, but I promise I will have it all under control soon. For right now, please bear with it." After forcing a quick goodbye from Arlo, Isen hung up and sighed heavily as he grabbed his laptop back from the edge of his bed.

"Huh, what's gotten you all shaken up?" Isen glanced over to the questioning Blyke, who was casually sitting on his makeshift bed.

"Ah... Arlo's having trouble controlling the press. They've been harassing him all day apparently." Isen answered, turning to the redhead. "You should go and help him, patrolling the school probably got a lot harder without..."

He didn't have to finish for Blyke to understand. Both of their worlds felt too cold to not to. "I can't just leave you here by yourself," Blyke responded, looking away from Isen.

The latter dismissed this with a wave of the hand and a little, "I'll be fine, but you can't just go ignoring your 'royal duties' like that."

Admitting defeat, Blyke dejectedly got dressed in his uniform and left to go to the main building... only two hours late.

***

"I'm glad you can join us on such short notice, Mr. Doe. I know the flight from New Bostin must've been a pain." Vaughn reached over his desk and offered a handshake, which the black-haired man readily accepted.

"No worries about it! And please, call me William." He sat down in a comfortable leather chair, next to a woman with striking red-orange eyes and mint green hair. He shot a friendly smile her way, and was pleasantly surprised to get one in return.

"The reason why I brought you both here today is to discuss the sudden..." The principal slightly hesitated, "disappearance of your children."

The parents before him wore unreadable expressions, as the woman next to William worryingly asked, "W-What do you mean, sir?"

"Well, Mrs. Raitoni, according to multiple eyewitness reports," It took all of Vaughn's strength to keep a neutral expression, "Remi and John were both shined in a bright, blue light and disappeared."

The principal was preparing for the worst: shouting, crying, immense anger, ability usage, but the pair managed to hold their composure; William was fighting back tears, as Mrs. Raitoni replied with a silent oh.

After a momentary pause, Vaughn continued, "I also brought you here to know that I will not involve the authorities in our investi—"

"It's not like they would get anything done, anyways." The woman spoke, sourly cutting him off. She wore an unfitting, bitter expression that Vaughn and William knew all too well in this case. The authorities have an infamous track record for being extremely picky and unreliable.

"That is all we needed to address. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me."

"I do have one, actually," William prepared, voice slightly shaky, "Was John... doing okay?" The black-haired man asked.

"John was certainly turning out to be an... interesting piece of the hierarchy. I will admit, he was becoming a problem child as the days went on," at these words, William looked pale, "But I did and still firmly believe that Wellston needs John." 

"Oh... is that so?" The man ruefully looked down at the desk in front of him, feeling a mix of pride yet sorrow for his son. Following this, no more questions were asked and Vaughn showed the pair to the door, hoping that they finished the meeting in time to beat the upcoming crowd of students.

***

William soundlessly made his way to the exit of the building alongside Mrs. Raitoni, a tear quietly making its way down his face. He hurriedly wiped it off, hoping to keep calm until he got off of school grounds, which was not too far away now.

"Hey!" A voice called out from behind them. Startled, the adults froze in the their spots at the gates and turned around, seeing a boy trying to catch up. As he did so, boy stutteringly started to speak, "Are you..." He paused to catch his breath, "Are you Remi and John's parents?"

The adults hesitantly nodded in response, not knowing what else to say. Thankfully, nothing else was needed for the redhead to bow before them and continue, "Sorry, my name is Blyke and I-I know Remi and John... they are my... friends."

"I just... I wanted to say... I'm so sorry." He looked up to the parents, many tears streaming down his face, "I-I was there, when they were... and I d-did nothing to stop it!"

'Guilt was eating this poor boy alive... he reminds me of John.' The man put a hand on the crying redhead's shoulder, before sincerely replying, "Please, don't beat yourself up over this. No one could've seen this coming, let alone prevent it. It was not your fault, okay?"

Ms. Raitoni grabbed a handkerchief out of her purse and gave it to the boy, "A young man like yourself does not need all that blame, do you hear me?" She sternly told the red-haired teen, with a bittersweet expression. The two adults began leaving the premises once again. Blyke, processing what was happening, whipped around to face the parents.

'No... hold on... I wasn't finished!'

"Wait!" He called out, and the adults slowly looked back to him. "I— I promise I will get them back!!"

William gave him a slight, rueful smile and continued to leave, as Ms. Raitoni's face flashed with hope and sadness. "Please," she asserted, "Promise me, do not play the hero." The woman turned and quietly walked off, leaving the boy all alone.

Unfortunately though, that is not a promise Blyke is planning to accept.

***

A/N: My g o d I finally got this chapter done! I hope y'all don't mind that it's a little... underwhelming and sloppy-ish, but really I was just aiming to get over my writer's block. I will also be editing the last few chapters because they have a lot of errors I never noticed until just now. I hope you enjoyed!

Also, Remi's last name is not Raitoni, it's one I made up that's basically "lightning" except the sounds are shortened.