Chapter Text
“There it is”, said Florian who’s never been more glad to see the giant staircase which leads up to their school. After a long eventful ‘road trip’ to Area Zero, the group has finally made it back to Naranja Academy, after taking the long way back home of course.
“I missed a lot of things, but this staircase is not one of them”, said Penny as the group made their way up the stairs. Understandably they all were tired, who wouldn’t be after risking their life in the one place they were forbidden to enter? And there was also the frenzy of ancient Pokemon which gave them a scare. That was just the tip of the iceberg, the Zero Lab itself-
Before all of them could finish processing their thoughts, a middle aged woman with white hair came running towards them. It was Ms. Tyme, the group immediately knows they are in for an earful.
“What were you four thinking? Did you know how worried we’ve been?”, said Ms. Tyme. It was clear by her voice and face that she was furious. Was she angry that the students were staying past their curfew? Shortly before the group headed out to Area Zero the Treasure Hunt came to an end, which means that students were now expected to return to the Academy Grounds no later than 9:00pm. Or was it the fact that they were literally missing for days? What, do you think time is just gonna stop whenever you go on an adventure to save the world? Sorry, but this isn’t an anime.
After an earful from Ms. Tyme, they were shortly escorted to Director Clavell’s office. “Thank you Ms. Tyme”, said the director after Ms. Tyme closed the door behind her and walked off. “Now, would any of you like to explain why you were missing from the Academy without notice for many days?”. Understandably, he was furious, but the tone of his voice also suggests concern for his students.
Nemona steps up from the group. She looks back at Arven to get his nod of approval. “Well, where do we begin?”, she starts. It obviously wasn’t a short story, if she had to write it down it would probably take hours so she thought it’ll be better just to tell the Director in person while the event is still at the forefront of their mind.
“I see… So Professor Sada is…”, said the Director who wasn’t able to finish. “Yes”, Arven spoke quietly. He took a moment to recollect his thoughts before standing up to walk towards his students. “Given the circumstances and the fact that you four saved our entire region, I will pardon your disregard for the rules. After hearing your story, I have no right to be angry in the slightest ”.
“Phew… So we’re not getting raked over the coals after all”, said the worried red and blue hair girl.
“And Master Arven”, Director Clavell turns his attention to the blonde young man. I am so sorry to hear about the professor. You have my deepest condolences”
Arven turns to him. “Ah… Well… Yeah, it was pretty rough when I found out my mom had died… But weirdly enough, my head actually feels clear now. For the first time in ages. All I know is I’m done feeling like some lost little kid. Done. Time to say good-bye and move on.”
The Director nods. “Well said Master Arven, although I must remind you that you’ve nowhere near enough credits to graduate. You’ll have a lot of catching up to do, but I have every expectation of your success”, the Director spoke much to the dismay of Arven. “Now, I think it will be best if we keep this between the five of us. It will definitely be a burden to keep this a secret, but until we can figure out what to do, it’s best we avoid causing any panic just in case”.
“Yeah, I think it’s for the best”, said Florian. He couldn’t think of what to say more. His mind and body are too tired to argue any further.
“I won’t hold all of you any further. You must be very exhausted, please get some well earned rest. And should any of you ever need to speak about this, feel free to come to my office and talk to me. I can also arrange a meeting with Nurse Miriam if required”, the Director spoke as he went and opened the door for his students.
The students walked down the hallway together without much words leaving their mouths. All of them needn’t say a word anyway, they gave each other a nod and headed off to their own dorm room. There, in his own room, Florian walks straight to his bed and lies down on it. He didn’t care if his clothes or him were dirtied, he’s just tired. Yet he couldn’t fall asleep, all he could do was fall back into the mattress and simply let his body sink down.