(chapter forty-one.) they're gone...
❝ WHERE'S POET AND PARIS? ❞

☂

"SO, WHEN DID YOU AND FIVE HAPPEN?"

Poet was resting with her arm covering her eyes. She was left alone with Paris as the siblings all went to attend a family meeting while the Capulets stayed behind because Poet wasn't feeling very well. But because it was silent and her nephew was, too, she had read the thought that was louder than the other ones. And that was Paris'.

"What?" Paris questioned, eyes wide as he simply forgot that the person he's been living can read minds. He shook his head fast and Poet rolled her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about?"

"Paris," she started, patting the space next to her. He sighed and slumped his shoulders and walked towards her, his feet dragging on the floor. She glared at him a little and he stopped doing it and jumped on the bed. She turned to face him as he laid down next to her, his gaze on the ceiling. She was staring at him, lying on her side to look at him. "Paris, bub, you know you can tell me."

He sighed and closed his eyes, not wanting to meet his aunt's own. "I just..." he stopped for a second. "I... I thought I was just going through a phase... I though I wasn't normal, I mean I'm not because superpowers. But, I... I like girls. I do. But I also like guys."

"How do you know you like them, babe?" She was still staring at him, trying to understand him and trying not to read his thoughts.

"You know that kid, Romeo?" Poet snorted and hummed. "I... Well, we kissed. And... yeah. I, I just wasn't sure what I was feeling at that time. When I was at Grandma's, I did some research and when I went to school, I spoke to the counselor, just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy with liking girls and boys."

"You're not going crazy," she sat up, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and bringing him closer to her. He snuggled closer to his aunt, breathing out a content sigh at feeling his aunt's hand running through his hair. "You're bisexual, babe."

"I know," he breathed out. "I was watching videos from people who are bisexual and I was doing a lot of research, hoping to understand the term more before I could tell myself that I am bisexual."

"How'd you and Five happen, though?"

"We talked and I found out that he and I liked each other after he found me in the apocalypse," Paris answered, careful not to mention what happened to her. "But he said I passed away and we couldn't be together."

"Isn't he like old?" Poet scrunched her nose the slightest and he chuckled. "But, as long as he maintains looking like a boy, I won't mind. But because he's literally the same age as me, I find it a tad weird. And when he turns to an adult, if he does, then, I have to step in or else he'll be put into jail for pedophilia."

"Yeah—"

Paris was cut off by the room shaking and he and Poet immediately stood up from the bed, coming out of Diego's room as Allison and Luther came out of hers.

Explosions rumbled and glass shattered and before Poet could blink, Diego was by her side, helping her as she stumbled a bit, still weak from the loss of blood.

"Yo, what the hell is going on?" He asked.

"Are those explosions coming f—" Klaus began as he appeared, too, gaze set on Pogo. But he was cut off by Pogo himself.

"Vanya," he finished. "We need to get to safety outside the Academy."

As explosions happened and by the end of Pogo's voice, Poet, Paris, Diego, and Klaus had all run off.

"Don't forget Mom!" Luther yelled from behind them.

"Yeah."

The four ran off, hoping to find the woman and they all had to be careful with the pieces of the ceiling falling on them. Poet raised her hand, creating a shield around them all to be safe.

"Mom!" Diego screamed out. "Where is she?"

They ran off the other way and because they did so, the shield casted around them disappeared, not being able to protect them.

"Mom!"

As they continued searching for Grace, pieces of the ceiling fell on both Diego and Klaus, causing them to fall on the ground. Klaus was fine, groaning while placing a hand on his forehead, whereas Diego was now unconscious in the floor.

Poet and Paris rushed to help Klaus and Poet spoke first, "We'll be right back. We're going to find Grace while you two get out of here. Go!"

"Be careful!"

Poet and Paris ran now, dodging the pieces of cement falling on them. They looked for Grace and did not find her anywhere, but did not give up. As they continued their searching, they heard groans and looked down over the railing of the top floor they were on and found Pogo by the fireplace, hanging from the ears of a deer.

"Pogo..." Poet breathed out, her hand covering her mouth. But she snapped out of it when Paris called out for her. She sped towards him and she and her nephew walked towards Grace who was staring out the window. The floor shook and they held on to each other, calling out for the blonde woman. "Grace, c'mon, we need to get out of here before the building collapses."

"Okay," she said and Poet grabbed her, before ushering them both towards Paris. But before anything happened, everything tumbled and everything came down. The house was gone and the three were nowhere to be seen.

Klaus and Diego stood at the bottom, having caught the moment on the window where they just saw Poet grabbing Grace. And with great relief, they were waiting for them to come out of the destroyed house fine and healthy. But seconds turned to minutes and they didn't appear.

"No, no, no," Diego mumbled, walking quickly to the front of the destroyed house. "Poet! Paris! Mom!" He moved rocks after rocks, hoping to find any type of body, and Klaus was left to look at Julian who was staring at the house with worried eyes. "Klaus, come here. Help me search."

"Diego," Klaus stepped forward, grabbing onto his arm. "Just stop it. Stop."

"No, what—" Diego seemed shocked at how oddly calm Klaus was, judging by the fact that he and Poet were close. "What are you— Let me go. What are you doing?"

"Stop, stop," Klaus said, still keeping a hold of him. "She's gone, Diego. They're gone. They're gone, okay? She's..." Klaus shook his head, referencing to Poet.

"What do you wanna do?" Diego questioned. "You wanna—wanna..." He stuttered, fear ached in his heart at coming to feel the loss of the love of his life, his mom, and the boy who found a way to warm up his cold heart, "walk away from this?"

"What about Pogo?" Diego asked. "Just—"

"He didn't make it," they turned around to face the source of voice and found Luther with Allison behind him, staring around, not having a clue on what just happened.

"What?"

Luther sighed. "Vanya killed him."

"But Vanya wouldn't—"

"No, I saw it," Luther cut his brother off. "Just before we got out."

"Where's Poet and Paris?" Allison asked, staring at her brothers. Diego and Klaus looked down, not daring to meet her eyes. But their silence answered her question. "No... No... They're alive. They've gotta be alive. I know they are..."

"They never came out, Allison," Diego mumbled. "They never came out of the damn house... They would've been here by now."

"They went somewhere else, then," Allison suggested, not trying to believe that her best friend and the kid she considered a nephew were gone. "I know they're not gone. They can't be gone."

"Allison," Diego shook his head, eyes blurring with tears. "They're gone. Poet, Paris, Mom, and now Pogo." As if it finally clicked to him, he gasped softly, sitting down in a rock. "Poet's gone."

Allison sat next to him and placed an arm around him, placing her head on top of his as he nuzzled his face on her shoulder, shedding tears he's never let out.

"Guys," Five rushed to them and Diego didn't look up, his heart in pieces. "This is it. The apocalypse is still on. The world ends today."

"I thought you said it was over," Luther said.

"I was wrong, okay?" Five clutched the newspaper he had in hand. "This newspaper, I found it in the future the day I got stuck. The headline hasn't changed."

"No, that doesn't mean anything," Diego shook his head, wiping his tears angrily. "The time could've been altered since that newspaper came out this morning."

"You're not listening to me," Five was obviously getting frustrated, still not acknowledging the missing people. "When I found it, I assumed this place came down along with everything else. But here we are. The Moon's still shining, the Earth is in one piece, but not the Academy."

Klaus snatched the newspaper from him. "I'm confused."

"Then listen to me, you idiot! Vanya destroys the Academy before the apocalypse. I thought Harold Jenkins was the cause, but he was the fuse. Vanya is the bomb. Vanya causes the apocalypse."

As sirens start wailing and a helicopter comes closer, Luther spoke up. "We have to find her."

The helicopter's light shone on them and Diego stood up, helping his sister. "We gotta go, now. Regroup at the Super Star. Go!"

"Wait, wait, wait," everyone turned to look at Five, telling him to hurry up with their eyes. "We have a chance at this, though. We have Poet and Paris. The Capulets are much stronger than we are and together can defeat Vanya."

"They're gone, Five," Diego gritted out. "They went along with the building." He turned to look at the helicopter and rushed them. "Go!"

Everyone ran away in their separate ways and Five, as he teleported, was left with such sadness, anger, and anxiety at hearing the news of the boy he loved and his aunt's death. He couldn't believe it.

"Shit..."

☂

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

😶

🙃