Chronicles of the Lost (Volume 1)

Chapter 5 -The First Encounter-

The next morning, Kay was sneaking out of his room through his window once again. After slowly closing it, he jumped down from the roof. But as he landed, he noticed that his parents were already waiting for him at the front door. Kay looked at them, stunned. But their expressions weren't hostile or anything of the sort. They looked calm, almost as if they were expecting this. Realizing that he was already caught, Kay didn't know how to explain himself.

"Umm..."
"You told us that Alan went back home, but we knew there was more to it than that."
"Not to hurt your feelings sweetie, but, you're not a very good liar."

While his mother had a slight smile on her face, Kay frowned, still not sure what to say.

"Mom, dad...I-"
"Kay...Whatever it is you feel you have to do...Go and do it."

Lou said in a reassuring tone. Kay gave his father a very surprised look. He was not expecting someone as overprotective as him to respond in such a way.

"You're not gonna stop me?"

Felicity walked up to her son, gently placing her hand on his cheek as she explained.

"Your father and I have realized by now that you will do whatever it takes to make sure someone is happy. Regardless of what we say. That's who you are. So we will continue to support you, no matter what."

Lou walked over next and calmly placed his hand on his son's shoulder.

"Just make sure you come back, alive. That's...That's all I'm asking..."

Hearing his father's voice crack, and seeing his eyes well up, Kay started to get emotional himself. He instantly gave his parents a deeply loving hug, causing them to respond in kind.

"I love you guys..."
"We love you too, sweetie."

His mother responded in a similarly shaky voice. After a few more seconds of embracing their child, Lou and Felicity let go, allowing Kay to leave. He gave his parents a smile before running off. By this point, they had accepted their son's insistence on helping others, no matter the danger. All they could do was have faith that he would return safely, and by the look on his face, that was Kay's intention. He ran his way over to the western district of town where it was mostly quiet. Kay immediately started knocking on the front door of one of the houses in rapid succession, without stopping. He was clearly in a rush. He kept going until Buch eventually answered. He opened the door and looked at Kay, annoyed.

"3 knocks are enough, man. I ain't deaf."
"Heh heh. Sorry big guy, but we have no time to waste."
"Yeah yeah."

After Buch closes his door, they both started to leave. But as the 2 were walking, something just occurred to Kay that he didn't even think to address until now.

"Hey Buch. I was too busy thinking about getting Alan back to ask this, but...Why did you decide to help me and Kyle? You could have easily just not told us about Alan leaving."

Buch smiled a little before answering.

"That kid has a lot of guts. He beat me down without even knowin who I was, just to protect you. That's somethin I gotta respect. And, it kinda opened my eyes to how harshly I've been treating you all this time...So, I figured I gotta do somethin to make up for all that."

As Buch rubbed his neck out of embarrassment, Kay smiled at him, more than satisfied with his answer.

"Thanks Buch."
"Don't mention it."

They both kept walking, eventually reaching town square where it was populated like normal.

"Now all we have to do is meet up with Kyle at the front gate."
"Didn't he say he was going to make arrangements or somethin?"
"Yeah. He went to go speak to someone we know in maintenance. So we should be cleared to leave."