Chapter 204

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*- Seraphina*

This is the 204th chapter of *unORDINARY*.

## Summary

Outside the Cafe Royal, Remi apologizes to Valerie for being rude before deciding that it would probably be for the best if she called it a day and returned to Wellston. Valerie tells Remi not to stress over it too much over such an understandably personal subject. She assures that she'll personally ask her colleagues about Rei's death. Remi thanks her and bids them farewell, hiding a look of suspicion after turning her back.

Alone with her nephew, Valerie remarks that Remi is an interesting friend. Arlo apologizes for Remi's uncharacteristically hostile behaviour. Valerie brushes the matter aside and moves onto the topic of Royals. She gets confirmation that Remi is indeed the current Queen of Wellston, and asks if Arlo is still the King. After he admits to being dethroned, the surprised Valerie asks when he plans to regain the title. Arlo says that he has other matters more important than titles to focus on, which Valerie asks that he share. He mentions Rei's death and the loss of a schoolmate's ability, which Valerie quickly points out are matters he *knows* the Authorities are looking into and he has nothing to do with. Arlo finds himself at a loss for words, so Valerie continues. She advises him to rethink his priorities, and to put a greater focus on his own personal academic standings. A worried Arlo asks if she really thinks he's distracted. Valerie says that she never would have imagined Arlo saying that he was no longer interested in being King, adding that his parents would be very disappointed with such an attitude. She wonders if the prestigious Wellston Private High School had erased his ambition and drive rather than encourage it. Deciding she had lectured him enough, Valerie leaves Arlo with one last warning: never stop proving his worth to the world, because family connections would only get him so far in life. Arlo concedes that she's right.

The next day, Isen runs up to Seraphina with a major update. Apparently, delinquent kids in custody of the Authorities were forced to take months of shady-sounding "readjustment classes." The duration of these classes and who oversaw them depended largely on the child in question. Seraphina shocks Isen by revealing that she was supposed to take three months of those classes as well, for reading the book Unordinary. Her suspension was to prevent her spreading the book's ideals, and a follow-up interrogation was to determine whether she was influenced by the book. After failing their inspection, she was slated for readjustment, but Headmaster Vaughn intervened and delayed her enrollment. Isen says that it's little drastic for them to raise such a fuss over a book that spawned a few vigiantes. Seraphina believes that the true aim of the Authorities is to quell opposition in *any* shape or form. She tells Isen that *Unordinary* challenged readers to live their lives and make decisions based on their own morals. While not an inherently bad message, it *did* create a high influx of unpredictable high-tiers that the Authorities now had to deal with. It was a safe bet that they weren't keen on influential individuals sharing non-conventional ideas with the public that ran counter to the rules they were trying to enforce. Isen is forced to agree when every bit of information on the Authorities casts more negative light on them.

He asks if Seraphina had any idea of what was taught in the readjustment classes. With so many factors to consider, Seraphina can only surmise a general idea. She mentions that her intended instructor, Keon, was most likely the man who worked on John. Keon's ability was Memory Recall, which allowed him to force others to relive their worst memories, a prospect that disturbed Isen. Seraphina deduces that Keon managed to weaponize John's worst memories, and forced him to endure his regrets for months on end. When Isen wonders what experiences could tranform John to such a degree, Seraphina determines that it was his reign as King of New Bostin. Specifically, his final confrontation with Claire. Seraphina explains to the shocked Isen that Claire was John's closest ally in New Bostin, yet was forced to watch as he brutally crushed all opposition in his rise to power. This led to her banding with the Jack and their classmates in an attempt to stop him. Her intention was to show John the error of his ways by making him realize he had become what he'd always hated. Instead, John saw it as a betrayal of the one person he believed in the most. Seraphina recalls the day she experienced such betrayal, unable to imagine being forced to relive it for months. She tells Isen that she tried to sympathize with John ever since their falling out (a task which John **did not** make easy). After months of research and observation, she realized why John has been acting so insufferable. He lost trust in everybody. Having to endure his classes and watching his hopes of starting anew at Wellston get mercilessly dashed, John gave up on the idea that he could ever live peacefully. He's become convinced that the whole world was against him. Isen is secretly astonished that Seraphina bothered to put this all together for the sake of someone like John. Seraphina finishes by saying that John has willingly trapped himself deep in his own past, unable to break free.

In another classroom, John waits impatiently for Zeke to provide him with the list he requested. Naturally, Zeke is unable to deliver, so the angry King demands him to explain how he could screw up such a simple task. A desperate Zeke lies that he entered Safe House peacefully, but was forced to leave. When John asks why, Zeke claims not to know, insisting that he gave them no reason to cast him out. He suggests that the club managers are biased despite what their fliers say, adding that they expressed hatred for the King and seemed to be plotting against him in there. John buys this lie without hesitation, to Zeke's surprise. He smugly anticipates the sweet revenge he'll enact on Safe House through John.

## Appearing Characters

* Arlo
* Valerie
* Remi
* Isen
* Seraphina
* Keon (photograph)
* Claire (flashback)
* Zirian (flashback)
* John's New Bostin Classmates (flashback)
* John
* Zeke

## Notes & Trivia

* It was revealed during a Q & A that took place around this chapter's release date that the time that has lapsed storywise since the beginning of unORDINARY's present-day up until this chapter amounts to approximately three months.