Heroes Rejects

Chapter 2

The Imperial Princess sprinted through the palace halls in search of her father, the Emperor, when she heard that the long-awaited heroes of the prophecy were arriving.

"Princess Aurora! You mustn't run!" Her maid cried in panic, rushing after her.

Ever since she was a little girl, Princess Aurora has dreamed of meeting the heroes of prophecy.

She fantasizes about the idea of one day falling in love with and marrying one of the great heroes.

"Oh! Dear brothers!" A big smile formed on the corners of the princess's mouth as she saw her brothers standing before the throne room.

"Aurora?!" The two princes' eyes widened.

The princess and her maids both stopped in front of the two princes.

"I, Amilia Rosalyn de Acciai, greet His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince and His Imperial Highness the Second Prince" The Princess's maid curtsies.

"Rise" The crown prince raised his hand towards to maid.

"Aurora! How many times do I have to warn you not to run!" The second prince scolded.

"You mustn't scold her Anthony, it's only natural for our dear sister to be this excited" Laughed the Crown Prince.

"Have you seen the heroes, my dear brothers?" asked Aurora with her big doe eyes.

"No, we weren't-" "What are they like?" Aurora interrupted her eldest brother before he could finish.

Amelia Rosaline flinched in horror at the annoyed expression on the Second Prince's face.

"Oh, what are they like?"

"Aurora!"

Before Aurora could ask her next question, Anthony scolded her again. "Aurora! It's impolite to interrupt someone when they are talking.

"Why don't we all go inside? I'm sure both Mother and Father have already finished greeting our heroes" Arthur said, smiling at his two younger siblings before things could escalate into a heated argument.

"Fine" Anthony sighed tiredly.

With a beaming smile on her face, Aurora stormed through the doors of the throne room, leaving her two brothers behind.

Her heart pounded with anticipation at the thought of meeting the heroes of prophecy.

However, her smile quickly turned to fear at the sight before her.

"Father!"

The royal siblings watched in horror as their father, the Emperor, was punched in the face.

The sun streamed through the classroom window, casting a warm glow on the rows of desks.

Laughter echoed off the walls, punctuated by the rustle of papers and the occasional thud of a backpack hitting the floor.

Katarina sat at the back, her chin resting in her palm, staring disinterestedly at the clock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

“Are we ever going to get out of here?” she muttered, glancing sideways at Hiroshi, who was doodling dragons in the margins of his notebook.

“Dunno,” he replied, not looking up. “But I’m pretty sure I’d rather be anywhere else than be stuck in this boring class”

“Right?” Katarina rolled her eyes. “I’d rather face a dragon than sit through another lecture on algebra”

“Ugh, can’t we just skip to lunch?” Ethan groaned from the front row, his head buried in his textbook.

“Focus, you two!” Marcus shot back, his voice tinged with mock seriousness. “We’re learning about the intricacies of... whatever this is.” He waved his hand dismissively at the blackboard, where a long equation snaked across in garish chalk.

“Like that’s going to help us in the real world!” Luna scoffed, her eyes rolling.

“Yeah, when are we ever going to need to calculate the angle of a triangle while slaying dragons?” Alex added with a laugh, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head.

“dragon slaying?” Leo, who had been playing games on his phone, looked up with a smirk. “Sign me up! I’d rather deal with monsters than this class”

“Monsters? Please, I’ll take a monster over Mr. Kim any day,” Clara quipped, her laughter ringing out through the room.

Marcus snorted. “At least dragons have some charm. This class is just a nightmare.”

“More like a nightmare on Elm Street,” Luna chimed in, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “I mean, we could be out there living our lives, not sitting here counting the minutes till freedom.”

“Five minutes left,” Emma said with a sigh, glancing at the clock. “I'm so hungry”

“Hey, can we focus, please?” Nathaniel spoke up, his voice rising above the chatter. “We’re about to get the results of that test we took last week. If I fail, my parents will—”

“—have an absolute meltdown?” Daniel finished, grinning from ear to ear. His laughter echoed through the room, lightening the mood.

“Exactly!” Nathaniel shot back, crossing his arms. “You think it’s funny? My life could literally be over in five minutes!"

“Your life? Please” Sophia laughed, twirling a pencil. “We all know our parents will just throw money at the problem”

“True” Clara nodded, her voice steady. “But still, it’s not like we’re going to get away with failing. They’ll find a tutor who charges an arm and a leg to fix our ‘poor performance’”

“Ugh” Lucas groaned, leaning back in her chair. “I can’t even imagine what my dad would do. He’d probably send me to military school or something”

The bell rang sharply, cutting through their banter. Students sprang to their feet, shoving books into backpacks, laughter filled the air as they raced for the door.

“Wait up!” Leo called, trying to catch up with the group. “Don’t leave me behind!”

Before they could rush out, a tremor shook the ground beneath them.

The laughter turned to confusion, then panic. The sudden tremor rippled through the ground. It started as a low rumble, then crescendoed into a violent shake.

Students screamed, their voices rising in a chaotic chorus of panic—“Aaaah!”—as the walls creaked ominously.

“An earthquake?” Maria shouted, clutching the edge of her desk.

“Everyone, under your desks!” David yelled, his voice cutting through the chaos.

The ground quaked violently, rattling the classroom. Desks crashed into one another, and the lights flickered ominously. The students scrambled beneath their desks, hearts racing.

“Get down!” David shouted, pushing Emma to the floor just as the ceiling began to crumble.

Katarina squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the noise—the deep rumble of the earth, the cries of her classmates.

Suddenly, there was a deafening c***k, and the ceiling began to cave in.

“Look out!” Leo yelled, instinctively shielding Olivia beside him. Desks toppled over, and a cloud of dust engulfed them.

Katarina instinctively reached for Hiroshi, their hands brushing together for a fleeting moment before a barrage of debris fell, and Katarina felt a sharp pain as darkness consumed her.

The classroom once full of life is now a chaotic mess.

Debris lies everywhere.

Silence falls as the cameras pans over the bodies of students, lifeless under the rubble.