ANNOUNCEMENT.
-Excerpt from a 0-00 Newspaper: Entertainment Sometimes.
It has been reported that the Team from Halfway Down Entertainment has reached an agreement with the Acting Union. The terms will remain undisclosed, but rest assured the show has returned like a phoenix. It is also reported that Slayr's Half-Blood, along with the deluxe, was heard on repeat from the meeting spot. The livestream will be up momentarily. And a recap will be uploaded by the end of next week. We reached out to The Agency for comment, and they said, "We are ecstatic to continue our dominance over the entertainment industry. World 0-73, along with Halfway Down Entertainment, will strive to give you the best entertainment possible."
(And with that done, I now return you to your regular programming.)
— — —
"Hahaha!"
I laugh randomly, deep in the darkness that only night can truly bring.
"Wiesel! I swear I'll kill you if you don't..."
The voice from the bed below me faded back out, presumably because sleep lulled him back in. I couldn't sleep, however. Ever since... Ohhh, it's just so beautiful! Nero's tears of fire have lit my heart aflame!
My family and everyone in that village are dead. That couldn't be changed even if I took revenge. So why would I? I'll continue mourning and let time heal my scars. Moving on is more meaningful than revenge. Besides, who really wants their son to go on a murderous tear on their behalf?
I turn over on my bed. And that image of Nero comes back into my mind. Sobbing like a little bitc—another laugh comes in like a cough.
"Hahahaha!"
"I'll... I'll fucking rip out your tongue, let's see how you laugh THEN!"
"Wait! Wait!"
His power activated, and the room darkened even more.
Skeletons started appearing from the walls, the ceilings, everywhere.
They quickly grab my arms and legs and pin me down.
Slowly, another appears through the ceiling.
My hangman was ready and waiting.
For my head, of course.
He gets closer
And closer.
One of his bone arms starts reaching out for my neck.
"IM SORRY! Can we talk about this?!"
He grabs it.
MY NECK!
And he suddenly dissolves like salt into water.
Almost begrudgingly, the skeletons disappear into the darkness.
The room is empty and silent enough so I can just hear Moria's snoring.
"Thank God. He went back to sleep," I think.
I breathe a heavy sigh.
That could've turned out... bad.
I need eye contact for my mind manipulation to activate, after all.
I close my eyes to at least try my hand at sleep.
That scene pops in again.
And I force it down.
"Mmmp!"
— — —
I couldn't sleep.
Again.
So this time, we went out of town to a nearby mountain.
The building was too small for me and Napoleon, after all.
Napoleon was big enough so the local monsters didn't come to say hello.
But he was also big enough that the tree and the roof would collapse once he sat on them.
He couldn't sleep either, it seemed.
So we grabbed some food, along with some games and books, and set out on our voyage. It was short and uneventful. But the view was... stunning.
The clouds of the sky were out in full fashion in their purple hues.
We sat and gazed upon them.
The city in the sky came to life in front of our very eyes. It reminded me of Earth a little bit. I stared at them—the same stars I looked to every night. The same stars I paid no attention to back on Earth.
Yet, now they looked totally different.
Tears silently flow down my eyes as I gaze at one of the few reminders of home I had left. I turn to look at Napoleon to see if he'd notice my tears.
Only to see that he was crying harder than I was. He looks at me, noticing my tears, and grins in understanding. I grin back.
"Home?"
"Home."
And for the first time in a while, I feel the embrace of Lady of Crimson. And I let her whisk me away into la-la-land.
— — —
"Wake up!"
"You're going to make us late!"
I shake his arm, trying to wake him up.
This is hopeless.
Just as I moved to sit back down, though, I heard a "mmmh?"
"Napoleon, it's time to go!"
He nods and lazily rises.
Me and him descend the mountain, doing the mummy shuffle.
We rush back, barrel through the dorms, get into our dorms, and rush around madly getting dressed.
I shower, brush my teeth and my head, leaving my pajamas on. Grabbing some waffles from the toaster, I put some more in for Napoleon.
I wait.
He rushes out and gobbles the waffles down.
We toss on our shoes and open the door.
"Why are you still in your pajamas?"
"Mumhmp!" I reply eloquently.
I take the food out of my mouth and say:
"Academy clothing."
My pajamas simmer and change into the academy clothing the Changed were mandated to wear.
"Wait a minute—where did you get—"
We step out of the dorm, with Napoleon lagging behind out of shock.
"That's not fair! You can just change clothes just like that?"
I turn to look at him as I jog.
"We're going to be late for class, and this is what you want to focus on?"
"Yes! Where did you get those magical garbs, and can I get some?"
I sigh.
"I'll see if my benefactor has any extra laying around."
"You're the best!"
I roll my eyes, grinning.
"Just don't make a big deal out of it."
The rest of the trip flew by in our bantering.
We barely snuck into the classroom on time, found our seats, and sat down.
It had morphed from the game hall it was yesterday into a lecture hall.
The Padres automatically sat on one side, with the Changed sitting on the other.
No words needed to be said.
It was all in their looks, after all.
We snag two seats in the back corner, with Napoleon being in the last seat.
The chairs morphed to fit the size of the person sitting in them.
"It seems like we're waiting for one," the teacher says.
That one last student burst in.
He looked ran over by a truck.
Scratch that—multiple trucks over the course of a night.
His eyes are sullen and weary. His now reddish skin and jet black messy hair didn't help his case.
"I made... it."
He slowly staggers over to the only seat open—the one next to me—and collapses into it.
"You look horrible, man. What happened to you?" I ask.
"Corpses."
I turn to look at Napoleon for help with... this.
He looks just as confused as I am.
"Huh. Well, what's your name?"
"Wie... Wiesel."
And with that, he collapses into the world of sleep, not to wake until the end of class.
The teacher from yesterday looked totally different.
He'd ditched the gym teacher fit for a black suit with a white tie.
He was skinnier, wore glasses, and even looked better.
He looks like a university professor.
The transformation was truly Jekyll and Hyde level.
He starts speaking, and I'm blown away.
He's eloquent. Really eloquent.
Too eloquent.
This seemed a little too perfect.
Almost like it was two twins or something.
Nah, that's too dumb to be it.
But it really almost feels like he was...
I blink.
He's saying something.
To me?
Nah, it couldn't—
"It seems like you've noticed something... Rio, was it?"
He is!
Why is he talking to me?
What have I done?
"Uhh, yes, I did notice something, sir."
"What?"
"You seem like a different person, sir. But that can't be, because you know how many of us there are."
He smirks.
"I could've just looked at the class registry."
"No, sir. Technically, we were missing two." I point at the other empty seat two rows down from where I'm sat.
"How did you know that student wasn't coming unless he told you yesterday?"
The class all turn to the teacher with suspicion.
He laughs.
"Alright, alright, you got me."
And he changes.
He shrinks, and his skin gets darker and darker until the teacher is gone.
And only I remain.
I stare at the reflection of me standing there, gobsmacked.
The version of me standing there speaks.
"I am a Padre of Huisser, the formless god. He also has domain over hunting and the night."
"But that doesn't affect me. My power is, as you can clearly see..."
He changes back into the professor.
"Shapeshifting."
The class claps like he did a magic trick.
"Good catch, Rio," the teacher says.
"Thanks, teach."
"This pretty much brings me to the point of today's lecture anyway..."
"What exactly do you all know about the Padres and the Changed?"
Crickets.
He laughs.
"Alright, I'll start from the start."