Author's Note: And Isolation is kicking my behind... to another month in quarantine. Clink! Read, Review, Favorite and Enjoy!
Chapter 70: The Start of Hell
Morgan's initial arrival into the monster realm was purely by accident, having fallen asleep on Neverland's world tree shortly after leaving Wonderland's mental institute. Yet Morgan felt... odd when she woke up for the first time, like she had come home for the very first time. The air carried a distinct scent to it, one that simply felt right when she breathed it in, one that made her feel like she was properly at home, even more so than when she was in Riordan. And Yet Morgan was still initially a stranger to this land, the first time she walked down a street she saw Draugr patrolling the streets in Golem/carriage hybrid vehicles, demons dining with dryads at a cafe, giants walking the streets. Every single brand of cursed being she had ever known about and dozens that she had never even heard of were all walking the streets around her living... some what peacefully. The overwhelming number of curses were being loosed into the air and drawn into her body but rather than exacerbate the symptoms of her obscuris they were... pacifying it? Stabilizing it? Either way Morgan felt oddly at peace here.
The Language barrier was Morgan's biggest obstacle and even then she had the narrator to tell her what everyone was saying, speaking on the other hand took some effort. What information she could gleam told her that the beings around her had gathered in this city to discuss the possibility of a peace treaty between multiple species of cursed being. There was a war going on, being fought by beings who just could not stand to be around each other, reluctantly Morgan began making her way out of the realm before she was dragged into it. It was roughly a month before she could get back to Neverland, every fibre of her being retching in protest to leaving the realm.
Still Morgan could not stay away, this time she brought Ruby and Corvo along with her, obtaining a measure of common sense in this world was necessary if Morgan planned on living here, and Morgan and Ruby still had not completed high-school. Luckily explaining their situation was as easy as kidnapping the newly appointed Headmistress Bloodgood and forcibly bringing her to Neverland. The next month was effectively nothing but cramschool, the two years after that were relatively normal highschool, when you ignore the fact that Ruby had taken to pretending to be werewolf in order to blend in. Shortly after Morgan graduate the initial attempts at peace between the various monster tribes fell through and they broke back into trying to prove their dominance over each other.
By now Morgan decided she wanted to live in this realm but the wars were detrimental to raising children. So Morgan decided to put them in their place. The Vampires fell first, Morgan turning every cloud in the sky into a UV light amplifying lens and directed it above their heads, they couldn't go outside again for over a month. The werewolves they were fighting against cheered when they saw her flying towards them as they prepared to finish off the Vampires. Morgan responded with a high pitch dog whistle, broadcast over the entire battle field while transmitting a healing spell constantly, the wolves were left writhing in agony. The people of the sea found themselves trapped under ten feet of ice. The Demons found their lands stuffed full of rosemary, a anti-demon herb that made them sick just by getting close to it. The undead found their lands surrounded by a downpour of holy water. Bird type demi-humans found their lands trapped in the middle of the eye of a storm.
Morgan traveled across the world, to the sick and injured she would do her best to treat their conditions. To the spoiled children in the bodies of fully grown adults who wanted to do nothing but manly beat their chests and play king of the mountain with their claws and teeth fully drawn she showed them what suffering really looked like. And she did so while she was still in highschool no less.
"Good Evening Miss Morgan." Mr. Hackington was every bit a collector in Morgan's final years in highschool as he was in Raven's time, he recognized Morgan for the brutally powerful intellectual that she was and pounced on her from day one. "I assume you got the college application form I gave you?"
"Wexler University, yes I remember it." Morgan knew that she would become a expert in whatever field she would pursue, not from her own talents though but rather the voice of the narrator constantly chattering in her ear feeding her information on whatever she was in the middle of doing. So as long as Morgan could do anything she wanted then she decided that would be exactly what she would do. Luckily she learned about a particular job while she was out terrorizing the masses. "Wexler teaches people how to be fixers right?" A fixer could be thought of as a mercenary, albeit a very specific type of mercenary, one whose focus was on resolving difficult and dangerous situations. Several had been sent after her during the course of her rampage, the ones that she didn't beat black and blue she was instead able to talk down and get some idea of what they were trying to do and why.
"Might I ask why you want to be a fixer Miss Konigan?" Mr. Hackington asked cocking as suspicious brow at Morgan.
"You know better than anyone that there are a lot of things that I know how to do. But if you ask me if I'm actually good at any of them the answer would be no, at least not to my standards. For longer than I can remember the only thing I've really been good at is being a violent thug, it would be nice if I could be one and still do some good." Morgan had a sense of dissatisfaction in her as she realized that she felt like she was talking to her old guidance counselor again, looking for advice on what she should try to do with her life going forward like some teenage girl again.
"This isn't because you wish to wind up in the same profession as your friend is it? I did warn her that she wasn't going to be able to adapt to this realm as smoothly as you yourself have." Mr. Hackington was looking Morgan up and down suspiciously now.
"Ruby has been doing quite well for herself I'll have you know!" Morgan looked offended on her best friend's behalf.
"This is true, but that is because she's been hopping back and forth with your home realm now isn't it?" Mr. Hackington asked fully aware of the fact that it was the truth.
"I can assure you, Ruby is every bit a thug as I am, and just as sick and tired of that place, the only reason why she went back is because her lover is over there." Indeed, while Ruby had a at least some what decent relationship with the rest of her family her father never did approve of her life choices.
"Are you sure about this?" Mr. Hackington asked, his eyes telling Morgan to say no.
"Yes." Morgan's reply was curt and straight to the point.
"Really sure?" Mr. Hackington repeated the look on his face someone who was desperately trying to avert a disaster.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Morgan was starting to get suspicious now.
"Though Wexler has a extremely high acceptance rate it has a very low graduation rate as well. It is not a easy school to attend." Mr. Hackington stated the look on his face that of someone who had seized one final chance at hope.
"Is that all? If it's just a matter of grades I can assure you that no one is more qualified than I to go there." Morgan stated the look on her face that of someone who had just been insulted.
"Huu." Mr. Hackington had signed his signature of approval for Morgan's Wexler application. "Good Luck Ms. Konigan, it was nice knowing you." Mr. Hackington stated as he filed the application to be sent to the university.
The truth was Morgan didn't send the application to Wexler just because of the fact that she wanted to become a fixer. All the other options looked bad too, Olympus, Asgard, Nirvanna. This realm was ostentatiously abandoned by the gods, a place where they dumped the unwanted filth from their own realms, but at the same time the people of this world treated them with reverence. The humans that they know of are weak creatures, most of the Demonic, undead and Damned could easily snap them in two and the ones who couldn't were still superior in other ways. Rather than being cursed they viewed the damnation of their gods as a blessing instead, there was no way Morgan was letting herself get indoctrinated in worshiping those cosmic carpet stains. Wexler it seems did not have any association with the divine, the only thing depicted on the cover of their brochure was a large black tentacle... thing of some kind. Morgan wasn't really interested in learning what kind of abomination it was.
"You got sent to Wexler too?" Ruby asked looking at Morgan suspiciously. "I suppose that's only logical after all the trouble that you caused."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Morgan asked looking offended.
"Mr. Hackington gave me the impression that it was a place they send trouble makers to be disposed of." Ruby stated as she looked through her own brochure.
"For your information I asked to be sent there!" The offended Morgan snapped while she crossed her arms.
"Right..." Ruby's tone of voice didn't believe Morgan for a single second. "Is there anyone else you wanna terrorize before we move on or are you good? We got a couple of months now that School's out so you've got the chance to destroy the world at least eight times already."
"College is expensive. I heard rumor's about a ancient Egyptian pharaoh that's been buried in the desert on the other side of the world for the past two millennia. Hopefully he'll be grateful for digging him out." Morgan stated as she scratched the back of her head.
"And if not we can just steal all his stuff and bury him again." Ruby stated fully aware of what kind of person Morgan was.
The Pharaoh turned out to be grateful enough for being dug out that he immediately offered to make both women his concubines and take over Eqypt. Corvo whom they brought along proceeded to pound the unliving crud out of him before Morgan made him stop before she then explained to the ancient king what the new reality actually looked like. With the Pharaoh's vast treasures serving as seed money Morgan created a company, using the Pharaoh's knowledge of ancient curses she was able to turn a large amount of water into blood and used that to siphon even more money from the vampire community. The initial seed money she got from the pharaoh soon multiplied, money that she then sunk into other businesses that she could see potential in, especially construction and technology, by applying the correct magic and gleaming information from the narrator, they in turn prospered and came under her control as well. And yet Morgan felt unsatisfied, and came to a unfortunate conclusion as she was about to enter Wexler for the first time.
"So, It's just that I enjoy violence isn't it?" Morgan let out a sigh as she and Ruby walked pass the gates surrounding Wexler.
"Morgan. You don't do what you've done, don't see the things that you have seen, day in and day out for so many years, and not learn how to enjoy it." Ruby stated as she started walking backwards in front of Morgan, though the face she made of concern when she saw something behind them made her freeze up.
"Don't try to be too supportive." Morgan replied sarcastically, though now she was getting concerned. "What are you looking at?"
"Morgan are those what I think they are?" Ruby asked pointing to the wall behind Morgan which had something that looked like fully automated rifles on swivel joints pointing directly at them.
"Rifles. Sting like you wouldn't believe but other than that they're harmless." Morgan stated, of course that statement only really applied to her.
"I don't think that's what we should be wondering about Morgan. Why are they mounted on the inside of the wall." Already on edge, someone tapped Ruby on her shoulder. "HYAAH!" Ruby Immediately spun around and put the person who was trying to get her attention into a headlock.
The only thing that Morgan could think to say when she saw her was that she seemed to be trying a little too hard, hair that was dyed black had further colors dyed into it, there were piercings connecting nose to ear along with dark clothing decorated with a skull and spiky arm bands.
"Ruby, even though I don't think this one needs air we should probably still let her go before one of us gets hurt." Morgan recognized the unique curse associate with a banshee, recognize the being who could kill Ruby with a singular syllable.
"Ugh." Ruby let the banshee go whom then immediately straightened her posture as she got out a notepad. "I hope you can explain to us what is going on here. For starters why is that wall over there filled with guns?"
[Don't worry they're not for you] The Banshee's note pad read explaining absolutely nothing [I should probably tell you what area's you should avoid] the banshee then looked behind herself at the school before changing what her notepad said [I should probably tell you what areas you should really avoid.] Oh Morgan had a really bad feeling all of a sudden. As a start the Banshee led to the pair out to a section of the courtyard that had been walled off with thorny looking bushes. [That patch there is where the fear leaders train in the afternoon. Avoid them.] Morgan could sense a strong chaotic energy coming from that spot but she didn't know why.
"Exactly what kind of cheers do they perform?" Morgan asked looking at the Banshee concerned.
"Huu." The Banshee took out her phone and used it to play a Video footage of the Fear Leader's practice.
"Ready? Okay! 'Aicathg'bthink..." Morgan desperately grabbed the phone and muted it.
"Morgan are you okay!?" She didn't know why but she felt every fibre of her being being yanked on with every syllable the fear leaders were speaking. Even then she couldn't stop the video as if it compelled her to keep looking, even as tentacles appeared from a suddenly opened portal that reached over and grabbed one of the Fear leaders trying to drag her in. Suddenly one of the guns on the wall reacted and shot the tentacle to bits, rather than feeling relieved the girl in the video seemed to be utterly annoyed as she rejoined the others in the summoning ritual, even as the tentacles continued to grab at them and the guns continued to cut them down. Morgan felt tapping on her shoulder again as she turned around to face the Banshee once more.
[I would like that back please] The notepad read it's dull tones reflecting the sheer mundanes on the face of the Banshee.
"Oh we're going to have a very bad time aren't we?" Morgan asked as she handed the phone back.
[Most likely.] The Banshee replied bluntly.
The next stop on the tour was the library, a sign off to the side giving a notice to the students: Please do not Burn the books.
"Why is that sign there?" Ruby asked pointing at the sign in question. "Is people setting books on fire such a regular occurrence that you need a sign for it?" The Banshee's reply was curt and straight to the point.
[Yes.]
"HHHYYYAAARRRGGGHHH!" Hearing that ear piercing scream the pair saw one of the students wrestling around trying to pull a book off of his face. "It's Sucking on it! It's sucking on..." Suddenly the man stopped struggling, fell to his knees and the book fell of his face leaving behind the whites of his eyes. The book clearly displayed the terrified image of the man on it's pages, before promptly slamming shut.
"...O... Oh." Morgan and Ruby had no words for what they just saw.
[Help me with him.] The Banshee picked up the book and Ruby took the young man in her arms like this was a common occurrence, evidently it was as she put him down next to a seated line of people with similar white eyed looks on them, all with books in their laps.
"How often does this occur?" Morgan asked looking down at the line of people concerned.
[I honestly don't know how many times a day it happens.] The Banshee wrote with a shrug. [The books are all extremely temperamental, they don't like being opened at different times of the day, they don't like to be put next to certain others, while some insist on being with specific books, they also tend to move by themselves as well.] The banshee explained before she dismissed further questions and continued with the tour.
"Is there anything else here that has a tendency of spontaneously coming alive and sucking out people's souls?" Ruby asked her eyes twitching in irritation.
[Tons of things why did you ask?] The Banshee's reply was something along the lines of why these two were asking obvious questions.
"Ah ah." After several moments of her eye continuously twitching Ruby asked after letting out a long sigh. "Why do they let people come here?"
[The founder of this school built it as a temple to something he considered to be a god.] The Banshee explained before she continued to write. [It's gotten use to being treated like a god. If it isn't then it gets angry, and the nightmare that is this place will spread far and wide.] The library led to a garden of twisted plants, some of them reminded Morgan of Wonderland, only not as nice to look at. At the center of the garden was a statue, but it had been defaced, painted over with profanities, set on fire, a ax was taken to it repeatedly and it smelled of Feces. [This statue is of him. Of Wexler.] Morgan ignored the rancid odor and leaned in to examine the plaque at the base of the statue. "They said I was mad." Morgan read as a bit of fear crept into her.
"We need to get out of this school." Ruby stated as she grabbed Morgan by her shoulder as they walked through the halls of the school the way that they had come. They didn't succeed.
Review Section:
ChimaTigon: Yes, Brooke is the name of the narrator for this story.
Starlord Master: True. I am told that I'm very good at action choreography. For argument's sake romance is the one that carries the heavier story intonations while action is better for moving the story along. The question is mostly irrelevant since I can't write a romantic scene to save my life.
