Under the Mask - An Unordinary Fanfiction

(2) Acceptance

Chapter Two:

(3rd Perspective)

"You..." John's voice cracks. He refuses to look at her, afraid of what he will see. Anger, hatred, fear, or maybe even all of the above. To have Seraphina look at him in such a way would break his heart. It would be unbearable. "You must think I'm a monster now... right?"

'A monster? That's what he thinks? He didn't want to tell me because he thinks I'll be afraid of him...?'  The girl in question pieces it all together in her mind as she tries to understand the boy's reasons for hiding this from her.

Seraphina couldn't find the right words to say to comfort the boy, so she did the first thing that naturally came to mind, pulling him into a tight embrace. At first, he is shocked at the sudden gesture. He was expecting to be slapped, yelled at, or even abandoned on the spot, just like everyone else had reacted to him.

But a hug? He certainly  wasn't expecting that. "S–Sera..." His ability deactivates as he begins to feel more at ease in her warm embrace.

A brief moment passes before she pulls back just enough to see his surprised face. "John, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't upset." Sera started with a smile of reassurance. "And... I'd also be lying if I said..." She trails off with hesitation, her smile faltering.

Averting her eyes, she finishes her thought. "...I wasn't afraid." John winces in response. He knew it was coming, but it still hurts.

Looking back at the troubled boy, her smile resurfaces. "But what hasn't changed... is that I still care about you. I still see you as my precious friend, no matter what kind of past you've had. I don't care. You have your reasons, whatever those reasons may be."

John's surprise turns into relief and ecstasy at her words, his uncertainty vanishing. "Sera... thank you." He gladly returns the hug, wrapping his arms around her passionately. "You really are the best."

"I know I am..." She remarks cockily with a smirk as she leans away from him to look him in the eye once again. "But don't think you're off the hook just yet. You have a lot of explaining to do. I might forgive you if... you–" Her breathing grows heavy all of a sudden. "If you tell me the..." Her voice grows weaker with every word between her ragged breaths. "...whole... s–story..." Her blue eyes close.

"S–Sera?" Calls John in concern when she faints from the pain, not being able to withstand it any longer. His heart skips a beat. "SERA!"

"Seraphina!" A new, feminine voice beckons in the midst of his anxiety. His neck snaps over to the source in alarm. To his displeasure, he perceives a frowning blond followed by a concerned Elaine who had apparently managed to get past the blockaded doorway. After shuffling over the debris, Elaine comes to a halt to catch her breath from running all the way here.

Although he was rather annoyed to see the two, his surprise took priority. "You two...? Huh, so you actually did listen?"

Irritated by the fact that he did indeed do what John ordered him to, he ignores his comment. "Looks like you beat us to it." Arlo notes with indifference. 'And looks like you actually can solve the problem yourself for a change.' The blond doesn't share his thought aloud, though.

After observing the cabin littered with battered and bloody bodies lying in all sorts of unnatural positions, he frowns. "How unfortunate for them that we didn't arrive first." The blond adds. Despite his words, they didn't exactly hold pity.

'I don't approve of the barbaric way John handles things...' Arlo thinks to himself. 'But at least with this, they should learn their lesson.'

Too concerned and tired to bother mustering the energy to argue with Arlo, he picks up Sera bridal style and starts sprinting for the exit. "In any case, we need to get Sera to the infirmity right away!"

Elaine nods with worry. "I agree. Come on, let's hurry!"

As the three students rush out of the building, none of them bother to notice the smirking Cecile as she triumphantly looks over her brand new pictures of John unmasking himself.

"The Shadow King will finally make his grand appearance!"