The air was filled with smog, the sky shrouded in eternal darkness, the eternal sunset-like nature of the city made it hard to tell the difference for non residents, high rise buildings and bustling metros to the down and dirty slums, welcome to the hell the eternal hell that is Gotham city.
With the highest crime rate in the entire region and perhaps the world, it boasted of the world's most profound of madmen, and the home of freaks and foes in scores, most would never want to come back to this place and fewer still want to live here, if the rent wasn't basically free.
***
And here I thought the air where I lived was terrible. I was coughing, lying on the cold floor of an alley, with my shirt ripped and my nose bloody, wondering, who in their right mind would much like an orphan, no, this was just that kind of place.
I sighed and rose to my feet, dusting myself off. It had been an agonizing eight years exact since I had arrived in this strange and bizarre hell, my birth parents had died somewhere I couldn't even begin to fathom.
I was tossed about from place to place before getting picked up by this strange little orphanage. I'm not dumb enough to believe this is good will or some bullshit, even someone like me knows that if it isn't sponsored by Mr. Wayne then it's all in vain. 'At least they provided food and clean clothes'
I shivered at the memory of the "food" they served. It was a strange blank porridge-like thing that was sometimes mixed with fruit and other obviously altered treats. There was nothing very appetizing about eating food so synthetic that the chemicals themselves were basically home grown.
"Ah there you are Luci, you look beat up, the care takers wont like that", I waved him off. Those so-called caretakers were like machines, not a single angry bone in their body, they just constantly smiled and spoke in gentle but soothing voices, telling us what and what not to do.
"sure they wont~ lets be real Reggie they wouldn't so much as flinch if our fingers went missing". Reggie shook his head at me and even I couldn't help but roll my eyes in exasperation, the last part was an exaggeration, those things practically counted every hair on our heads so while they wouldn't mind dirty clothes they wouldn't stand the blood.
"Here ya go" he tossed me a funny smelling cloth I used to wipe my face and hands, which just left me looking dirty at most, however something bothered me.
" Is this a sock? It better not be yours". Reggie lifted both his hands from the metal fence he was sitting on and shook his head quickly.
"Nothing of the sort sir, it's one of the girls, no idea whose though". I scrunched my face in disgust, tossing the wretched looking sock in the trash where it belonged and lamented my cursed luck as to my choice of friends and returned to the orphanage.
It was a modest place, perhaps a bit too rich for the Gotham slums, but that was relative, if there was something that really set me off, then it would have to be the fact that all the children here weren't very childlike.
I glanced at the artworks on the walls, framed and looking good enough to be sold in an art gallery, I might have been genuinely impressed if I had no idea it was drawn by a bored six year old with color blindness.
This was however the norm in this place, the children here were all insanely gifted, wise beyond their years and insanely intelligent, nothing like the average Gotham street rat, then again, I had heard something about a talking gorilla a while back.
I mean, I have read comics with a talking hedge-hog but I never thought this would be something that would appear in casual conversation like this, "When was this made?" I stare at a clay vase painted with red ink in the design of dragons.
"Oh that was about three days ago or so I'm not quite sure".
"Are you ever sure of anything?" The boy shrugged and tapped me to keep walking, Reginald had an excellent memory, if it wasn't for the fact every one of his sentences ended in 'I'm not quite sure' unless he was talking about numbers.
I walked through the long corridor into the hall that served as both our mess hall and classroom, the caretakers themselves taught the classes and ensured everyone followed along. That being said, I was very sure that this was not the standard educational level for my age range.
I shrugged mentally, wondering if I was overthinking it as I sat down in my seat, the caretaker in charge of us squinting at me oddly "You are uncharacteristically late Lucan," he looked me over once more " dirty as well, is there something I should be aware of?".
"No". I gave a short answer and the caretaker's expression shifted ever so slightly, his silent gaze lingering on me for a few seconds before loudly closing his textbook and tilting his head to the side with his perpetual smirk like smile on his face.
"Well this particular class isn't valuable to you in particular anyway so please go wash yourself before coming". He stepped towards us and placed a hand on Reggie's shoulder who only widened his eyes in shock. "Reginald here will relay the class to you in the event of its conclusion before your arrival"
"I don't remember agreeing to this". He protested but the caretaker's grip didn't loosen and their voice dipped, becoming a baritone whisper
"I know". He patted the boy's shoulder twice and turned around "Follow me Reginald". The young boy had his mouth agape, but obediently followed since there was nothing else he could say that could possibly get him out of that situation.
The caretaker knew well and good I was not coming back to listen to some boring history class, but while I could dodge the caretaker, dodging a vindictive Reggie would be difficult, well not that it mattered much.
I stood in the shower and contemplated about what I had observed so far, the system here seemed strict but they gave a lot of room for children's creativity, the caretakers all appeared to have at the bare minimum doctorate degrees in whatever subject they taught, and seemed to be teaching us about two levels above our age grade.
We were all more or less the same age, with the oldest being twelve years old and the youngest six, I have yet to see any child above or below, from what the caretakers said any child above that age is immediately adopted.
I half, no less than half believe them, i have never seen a single visitor come through these doors, but the number of children fluctuated with new faces every now and then but no one questioned the caretakers nor wanted to, it was better here than being on the streets.
***
I had to sit through this class in Lucan's place and had to face the gentle but threatening shoulder pats that verified that I was paying attention until he eventually concluded and asked them to be dismissed, except me of course.
The caretaker whom we all collectively called Mr. Delight pulled up a chair and sat down in front of me with that unchanging smile of his "Reginald, Lucan seemed wounded, what can you tell me about that?"
I gulped, not because I was responsible, nor was it because I wanted to cover for him, no, no. I simply had no idea what had even happened to him in the first place, that strange kid was always prone to wandering off by himself and had come back perfectly fine before.
"Uh… I don't know?" Mr. Delight's smile trembled slightly and I started to panic "Honest, I-i swear, he was already beat up by the time I got there" Mr. Delight remained silent for a moment and then stepped away into the direction of another caretaker before returning with a red haired six year old.
"You saw the assailants though, didn't you? Can you describe them?". Something felt odd about the way he was asking, the air smelled of blood and felt suffocating, but while I don't particularly feel like its directed at me I would be lying to say I wasn't scared.
"I… remember Mr. Delight gestured forward to the little six year old, whose sketchpad was almost as big as she was.
"Are you sure?".
"I..I think so?". Mr. Delight didn't say anything after that and just calmly watched me describe their appearances and while the red head drew, Mr. Delight was rather sensitive when it came to Lucan, it would make me jealous if it wasn't for the fact he was so creepy.
Mr. Delight was lanky and pale, his arms long and his eyes darker than the night sky, his jet black hair swept back and shiny, held in place by some mysterious force or some strange amount of hair gel the likelihood of both being true was high.
That being said Lucan is a strange one, even by our standards, he wasn't much smarter than we were but at the same time he was a lot more mature, I like him, even though he was very slow with numbers and spent way too much time remembering things.
That reminds me of something called "Mr. Delight?" He lightly closed his eyes and shook his head.
"That's not my name, but, do please continue Reginald".
"Well isn't adoption day tomorrow?". Mr. Delight raised an eyebrow like he was confused by my question.
"Are you twelve years old already?" oh so he didn't forget, that's good "Hmm yes, there just so happens to be someone who is interested in you actually but what does this have to do with what's happening now?"
I smiled sheepishly "Nothing Mr. Delight".
***
I must have some shitty luck, I have only been here for like four months and it's already adoption day, that being said I just remembered Reggie is twelve years old, that means he's most definitely getting "adopted"... Or maybe not.
Reggie was like a human record book, he kept track of everything that changed in the area, and with how close he was to everyone it would be more effective to keep him with everyone making it easier to monitor the children.
"I'm slowly forgetting". I still had nightmares of my encounter with that strange deity, but the details of my old life were starting to fade the more i settled into this place but there was one very clear set of objectives in my mind, one of which was strangling that fucker to death,
Second I had to figure out what exactly this curse he placed on me actually does, he said he cursed me but like what exactly was I cursed with? Isn't it supposed to be immediately apparent? Was I cursed to never leave Gotham or something?
A shiver went down my spine at the thought of such a ridiculous curse, 'That would make me like super batman or something, like some kind of specter forever bound to Gotham's bullshit, the joker exists here, I can't be bound to this'
Burying my thoughts I'm about to climb out the window when Reggie finds me, a wicked grin on his face "You're better than this Reginald".
"No I'm not, don't lie to yourself" He grabbed me by my collar like a kitten and started to drag me off somewhere to unload the knowledge that had been crammed into his head into mine and in the most annoying manner possible if he could help it.
"Reggie lets be civil". He gives me an incredulous look while I try to break free of his freakishly strong grip.
"First and foremost, I don't know the meaning of that word, second," he pulled me close and stared me deep into my eyes "Shut up and stop resisting, I'm way kinder than Mr. Delight".
If my jaw could have fallen from my face it would already be on the floor, what sort of shameless lies were these? There was a reason the man was called Mr. Delight instead of his actual name, no wait actually "Wait Reggie, what is, Mr. Delights actual name anyways?"
Reggie shrugged, his brown springy hair bouncing as he moved his head. "No idea, he was already called Mr. Delight when I got here, but does it matter?"
"Of course it does, I mean he gives us food and teaches us". Reggie had an impulse to answer questions when asked and couldn't avoid conversations, a truly fatal flaw in some ways. He stopped and stared at me for a few seconds.
"You're stalling, but very well, this is an interesting topic".
'Success' This was what I thought until a large but thin palm landed on my shoulder, and my body tensed in fright as I slowly turned my head only to be greeted by the smiling figure of Mr. Delight.
"I had a feeling you would manage to derail Reginald, so I came personally". Wow how delightful. "Yes, truly delightful isn't it?". Did everyone get a memo on reading minds and I didn't? "Stop thinking silly things and come with me.
I trailed behind Mr. Delight's swift and concise strides, passing by every corridor until we reached a backyard with an apple tree and a small tombstone. Mr. Delight sat under the tree and beckoned me to sit down with him.
Sitting next to him I took in the entirety of the orphanages building, its faded walls and weathered wood, dying patches of grass here and there, a sharp contrast to the old but oddly well maintained inside of the facility.
"A strange sight right? It looks much nicer on the inside" using only the word strange in a city where there never seems to be proper daylight? Why gosh that's almost a compliment. "You have a tendency to think strange thoughts".
"Are you actually reading my mind Mr. Delight?".
"If I was, would I need to ask you why you got beat up this morning?" I raised an eyebrow.
"How did you–"
"People who aren't beat up don't usually limp". I rolled my eyes, yeah well i suppose he wasn't a caretaker for nothing, "lets have a talk Lucan, a proper one". I turned to look at Mr Delight to ask what he meant when I noticed he wasn't smiling anymore, his creepy plastic smile had disappeared, replaced by the look of a tired man. "Well what do you think? Not so creepy now right?".
Yeah actually, now that he wasn't smiling he looked much smaller, more reasonable, more, real more "so you're just a human huh? Man that's sucks now I owe red head my lunch".
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at [email protected]/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support.