The Book of Darkness: Chapter 3

Back to School

It was fun to imagine yourself waking up in another world and living out a life of romance and adventure. What wasn’t fun was dealing with all the little things that came along with it. From all the physical changes that come with the new body to responsibilities you didn't know you had till they hit you right in the face, there doesn't seem to be any end in sight to the headaches I had to deal with.

The grass really wasn’t any greener on the other side of the fence. It was still the same old life and that meant the same old problem. “Ok,” I nodded as I scribbled down all the important details I “forgot”, something which my lawyer seemed all too happy to remind me even if they sounded a bit disgruntled, “I understand.”

After a few more back and forth, I thanked her before setting down the phone and staring down at the long list of notes I had in front of me. “Fuck…” I cursed as I rested my forehead against my palm while tapping my pen at the address written down in bold letters.

“Arcadia High, huh?” I muttered before resting my forehead against the cool granite top table dominating the large empty dining room.

“Is something wrong, master?” my… Device asked as she gazed up from the plate of Eggs and Bacon the maid, Elise as I'd come to find out, prepared for us both me and my companion

It was strange having someone serve me breakfast, but she made things a bit bearable as I was not looking forward to the day ahead. “I have to go to school,” I groaned out, already feeling the headache I'd have dealing with teenagers.

Hormones and teenage drama was not a mix I wanted to grapple with right now. I was too old and tired for that kind of shit, even if I was now I was one of them once again especially as I have someone else I had to take care of.

“It seems that the thought of attending school is causing you distress, master,” My Device chimed in, all bubbly and smiling as the shadows around and started to stretch and lengthen ominously, “All you need is will it and I will wipe it off the face of this world~”

“No!” I shouted, waving my hands frantically as I shook my head, “No destroying unless I specifically say so.” I wasn’t sure I'd have the mental energy to deal with her and school combined.

“Are you sure?” She asked, eyes still hopeful as she assured me, “It’ll only take a few seconds!” I had no doubts she could fulfill her promise, and I wasn't too keen to find out.

As I stared back at her in silence, she relented with a pout. “... Fine master, I won’t destroy the school,” She mumbled as she crossed her arms across her chest, “Why do you even have to attend it anyways?”

Why did I have to attend school? It's not like anything was holding me back. With her by my side, it would be easy to get away from Brockton Bay. Heck, we could probably move to another dimension right now if she was anything like the original Book of Darkness, so why stay? Why bother with having to keep up the facade of my current identity when I could just skip town?

“Is it really that bad?” I asked myself as I looked around. Yes, I was in Brockton Bay, but not in the bad part of it. I wasn’t in some run down apartment, but rather an old, but well furnished house all to myself.

I have a maid that comes in every morning and evening to take care of me (Something which the note on the nearby double door fridge suggested) and I have the book by my side. I was set for now and all I had to do was follow what the dear lawyer told me, which was to attend school, and I could have all this and have a nice stippend on top of it.

“But would that matter once Skitter, or hell, Golden Morning comes around,” I frowned as I considered my options. Do I stay, possibly having to deal with the local cape scene if I don’t keep it lowkey, or just bale entirely and skip everything.

Closing my eyes, I sighed. No, it wasn’t worth the headache. “I just need to attend one day to get some pocket money and that's it,” I told her, but my reason felt hollow. Maybe it was just the curiosity in me, but I at least wanted to see some of the local capes before leaving.

“Wait, why are you asking all this when you could just read my mind,” I asked, confused. I was pretty sure she could read my mind so why wasn't she just poking around?

“You seemed pretty upset when you learned about it so I stopped reading your mind!” She replied proudly, but her confident facade quickly broke down as I stared at her. Twiddling her thumb she admitted, “...At least not all the time.”

There was that at least. “Most people don’t like their innermost thoughts revealed,” I sighed, forgiving her on that, “But if you want to read my mind, just keep it to surface level will you?”

Oh it was annoying that she read my mind, but I was annoyed more by the fact that she poked unannounced. Mind reading was way too useful when it comes to communication, especially if she was going to be my device.

I had to trust her to at least have my best interest and hopefully that doesn't come to bite me in the ass and it was already paying dividends as she brightened up considerably. “Ok, master~” She chimed in before she gave me a knowing smile as she crossed her arm under her chest, “Speaking off reading your mind, you know you can touch them~”

I spoke way too soon. Covering my face, I let out a sigh as I whispered,“This is going to be a long day isn't it?”

-x-x-x-

Thankfully, breakfast passed by without much incident. Sure she teased a bit more, but she hadn’t pushed too much. Now, to deal with the hellscape that was High School.

“Ok Darkness, we just need one day to go smoothly and we'll be out of this place forever,” I whispered lowly as I stared at the large building in front of me, “Think you can keep a low profile for the entire day?”

“Of course!” Her voice echoed through my head as I clutched her leather bound form in my arm, “I'll do everything for you master, but do I really have to stay in this form?”

Currently, her avatar was hidden away in the pages of the book and she didn't sound all too happy about it, but it was a necessary evil. “It’d be hard to explain having you follow me around when you're not one of the students…” I replied.

That and she was very noticeable. You really can't hide a full figured super model wearing an outfit skimpier than most adult magazine models and I haven’t even talked about her horns yet. She needed to hide for just a bit, something she thankfully understood. “Fine, but can you at least keep me close?” She mumbled unhappily, “I don't want to be inside a locker…”

“Like hell I'd let you out of my sight,” I scoffed. Just the thought of leaving her somewhere anyone with a bit of skill, or brute force, could take her away from me.

“Aww, master really does love us!” She preened, making me roll my eyes. I was just taking precautions, and being the kid that's holding a book twice his size is someone that you wouldn't talk to. She was perfect in warding people away.

Ignoring the feeling of her pouting at the back of my head, I stared up at the long flight of steps leading to the entrance of the building and swallowed thickly. Today was apparently the first day of school, and the reason why a lawyer rang me up so early in the morning. I had to attend school if I wanted to keep the stipend left by my current body's late parents.

“I know you have some difficulties after the accident, but you can keep yourself locked up in your room,” The lawyer's words rang in my ears as I took my first step up the empty stairs and felt dread run up my spine.

“It's just school,” I told myself, fighting emotions not my own. I didn't like high school, but this was different, stronger even. This kid must have really hated school if the visceral feeling I had just looking at the door was anything to go by. Still, I can't let that stop me.

Slipping inside, I stared down the empty hallway. Everyone was probably inside their class right now. Shrugging, I headed for the main office to get an excuse slip. That was what I was supposed to do right? I hadn't been in school, much less high school, since forever. It was almost nostalgic even ignoring my current body's distaste for it.

As I looked around, taking in the well kept halls and clean, brightly painted lockers, I asked, “Hey Darkness, can I ask you something?”

“Hmmm?” my partner stirred as I found myself lost within the labyrinthian halls of Arcadia.

“What’s your purpose exactly?” I asked, curious about her goal, if she had one that was. “Like the original Book of Darkness was supposed to be an archive, gathering knowledge from across the multiverse before it was corrupted, so what about you?”

Did she have a purpose or was she merely a powerful artifact, one made by some lost civilization as the peak of the craft. There must be a reason why she looked like the Book of Darkness right? “Are you supposed to gather knowledge or do you have another purpose?

“My purpose?” She replied as I felt her warmth against my chest, “I only have two purpose in life, master.”

“My first one is to serve your every wish my master,” She replied happily. “You are my reason to exist. Without you, my second purpose is without meaning so I will do everything in my power to protect you and make you happy.”

“Then what is your second purpose?” I asked, curious at this second purpose she spoke off.

“My second purpose is to grow in any way I can,” She replied as I felt a thrill of fear run down my spine, “Knowledge, raw power, it doesn't matter. I will gather everything and anything so that I might grow powerful enough to fulfill my first purpose.”

As I stopped mid step, feeling intimately aware of the spot which Oni Lee stabbed me, she giggled, “Unfortunately, some of my old masters couldn't feed me, but you need not worry about that~”

Feeling the energy trrumming beneath my hands, she moaned out, “This shard I've consumed recently is quite satisfying even if I have to convert parts of it as it contains no magical energy whatsoever.”

“So Oni Lee…” I asked, even as I felt I knew what her answer was.

“Will never bother you ever again,” She replied happily. “He tried finishing you off so I had to kill him.” Feeling her radiating smug satisfaction, she added, “And how fortunate it was that he had something worth taking other than just his life.”

Nodding numbly, I stood there. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to feel right now. On one hand, I was glad that Oni Lee was just gone. He tried to kill me so it was fair game. On the other hand, her purpose filled me with dread. She didn't need to gather pages, but it was clear that she would do so just so she could be better at serving me.

Things can get out of hand fast if I don't reign her in, but do I need to reign her in? If she gets powerful enough, do I need to worry about anything? I could even stay here if I wanted. There were more than enough assholes that I wouldn't mind having her consume and it would be a net positive. Hell, there wouldn't even be a moral dilemma with a few of my choices given what Jack and his merry band does to people

Just as I was about to speak up about the possibility of changing plans, my voice was drowned out by the sound of the school bell ringing; Ah crap. With the bell came in a tidal wave of teens all hurrying to their next class.

Being much smaller than them, I hurried to the side, afraid of being swept up by the crowd. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t be too fast enough as I stumbled right into someone soft. “Hey, watch where you’re going…” They hissed before trailing off.

As I gazed up to apologize, I froze as I stared right into her eyes. Those freckles, that mousy look and that strange glow she had around her. I wasn’t sure why she was glowing, but I had an inkling why. I hadn't just bumped into a random teen, but to someone I knew I had to keep distance from.

Just as I was about to apologize, a blonde excused herself past me before grabbing the equally stunned brunette. “Amy, come on we're going to be late!” They shouted as they dragged the protesting girl away.

The last thing I saw of the two before they melted into the crowd was that hard stare from Panacea, one that promised that she was going to find him later. “Crap…”

A/N:

Happy New Year! Sorta got side tracked with this so might be a slight delay with the next Rogue Trader, but I assure you I will pump out one more chapter of it, then the next winner before 7... Hopefully. Now I just had to finish Chapter 4 of this (already at 700 words but too sleepy to continue)