The air was filled with smog, the sky shrouded in eternal darkness. The city's eternal sunset-like nature made it difficult for non-residents to distinguish between the high-rise buildings and bustling metropolises, and the down-and-dirty slums. Welcome to the 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 madmen, and it was home to 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.
***
Lucan's eyes shot open, his body drenched in cold sweat as he gasped for breath his mind was still hazy and his body felt sore, shaking his head and then scratching an itch he had on his nose his eyes widened at the sight of dried blood.
It was only then that he took note of his surroundings, the ground was littered with trash and the air reeked of piss and cigarette butts which made Lucan scrunch his face in disgust.
Rising to his feet he staggered to the side, his new height having thrown him off balance, he leaned on a wall for support before taking a second look at his now small dirt-stained palms and jumped back in fright, falling back to the floor. "It can't be".
Lucan touched his face again as he scanned his surroundings, spotting a puddle of water he crawled his way there and gazed at his reflection "I..Really died" he looked back at the spot where he woke up and couldn't help but notice a small blood-stained rock where his head would have been "I suppose I died twice".
He coughed, the air in this place was far less pure than anything he had ever experienced in his home world, 'How can anyone live in this?' as he gradually grew used to the smog-filled air he slowly got up carefully adjusting to the balance of his new body.
Lucan hobbled out of the alley, and into the open street where he nearly collided with a man passing by "Hey watch it…you okay kid?" Before he could give the man an answer, a voice called out to him.
"Lucan, where have you been? Bro what happened to you?" he slowly turned his head and looked straight at the person who called out to him in confusion.
He had no idea who this person was, or who they were supposed to be. This body hadn't come with any memories that would guide him through his experience; 'What are the chances, this guy was named Lucan too huh?'
The person who approached him had blonde hair and dark green eyes,; he looked older than Lucan did, possibly around ten to twelve years old,. He scanned him while helping him steady himself and simply shook his head.
"Let's get back, so they can have a better look, ya okay to walk?". With barely any time to respond Lucan had his arm slung across the older boy's shoulder as he supported him all the way back to a particular property, or perhaps peculiar would be the right way to describe it.
A massive iron gate with a large "W" crest in the middle, the walls made of old-looking bricks, the blonde boy who had guided him knocked on the door twice and waited a few seconds before it finally opened.
Lucan looked around him with interest, 'Willow trees?'. The place was filled with them, to the point it felt like a small forest of weeping willows as the wind blew through them creating sounds almost akin to wails.
The boy brought Lucan to a large Gothic-style manor, a building that wouldn't look out of place in more than a few vampire movies. Lucan gulped, it was quite a frightening setting and yet for all intents and purposes, he didn't believe he could run from this place. "We're here".
He knocked on the door, a tall, skinny pale man with large black eyes that made it seem as though he had oversized pupils answered the door, he glanced at the two of them with a rather tired expression "You're late"
It sounded like the man was chewing on his own tongue when he spoke, yet oddly enough it was easy to understand what he meant when he expressed himself.
"Yes, I know, I couldn't find Lucan, and look he's hurt". The man remained completely silent as the blonde boy spoke and after which just lowered his head with a sigh.
"Bring him…inside" he stepped aside and Lucan almost gasped, the manor had a high ceiling with a long neatly kept hallway with paintings to either side, the more they walked down the stranger he felt the paintings were.
'The colours' The paintings were detailed and exquisite, but they all looked strange, the skies were a deep purple grass was such a bright green it almost stung. "Where am I?".
The blonde boy gave him an odd look "Have you finally gone crazy? This is Willow Manor, a bit on the nose but beggars can't be choosers".
That wasn't the answer Lucan was looking for but he didn't say anything else until they were in the medical ward where people in doctors' coats looked after him and gave him a checkup 'Since when do orphanages have doctors? This is an orphanage right?'
They asked him a few questions here and there but most of his answers had been negative as he didn't know who these people were, what city or year this was.
"Lucan" The doctor sat down on a chair next to his bed while he just sat there expectantly " Aside from some bruising and what appears to be a concussion" he paused and gave the boy a second look. "Uh, anyway you don't have any memories of this place do you?".
Lucan shook his head and the doctor scratched his head with their pen. "Well, at least you remember your name… You really do remember who you are, don't you?" he cocked an eyebrow which made Lucan roll his eyes.
"I am Lucan Grey and I'm eight years old, I think". The doctor gave him an odd look but simply continued speaking.
"Then let's start with where we are. This is Gotham City, specifically the East End, although these are the outskirts and this is Willow Manor.". Lucan nodded his head as the doctor spoke, taking in the information he was receiving but then his face scrunched up in shock.
'Did he just say Gotham'. His shift in expression had caught the doctor's attention causing him to pause his explanation.
"Is something the matter?" Lucan gave him a fearful look.
"You said we're in Gotham? Like Gotham?" The doctor wore a puzzled look.
"Is there another Gotham?". Lucan placed his hands on his head and fell back into his bed, much to the dismay of the doctor who sat beside him.
Lucan was in distress, when he had been told he would be sent to another world he hadn't expected to be sent to actual hell. He wasn't a fan of DC comics, if anything he had not really been invested in them past the occasional memes on social media.
There was one very clear thing amongst those memes though and that was the fact that if you lived in Gotham you might as well be enjoying a free preview of purgatory, he could feel his heart beating faster and he felt like he should just jump out the window right now and kill himself.
"Are you okay Lucan?" He looked at the panicking doctor's face and then replayed his last thought in his head and let out a rather defeated sigh before slowly sitting back up.
' No use, I was sent here once I can be sent here again' he looked at the worried doctor for a moment. "I'm fine, I was just surprised" The doctor didn't seem to be quite convinced but after seeing nothing was wrong eventually left him alone.
While he continued to rest, about an hour later, a small crimson-haired girl opened the door to the ward and walked in looking left and right like she was hiding from something or perhaps someone as she cautiously approached the bed where Lucan lay.
"Hey Lucan, I heard you don't remember us anymore, does that mean you don't remember you owe me your lunch tomorrow?" The red-haired girl's voice was soft, and her whispers sounded almost melodic; however, even with no memories it was clear to him that this girl was lying.
Lucan wasn't sure what the exact indicator was to say that she was lying, maybe it was the mischievous look in her eyes, maybe it was the sneaking around, or perhaps, just possibly, quite unfathomably it could be the little glowing devil horns that had materialized when she said it.
While he was in awe of the spectacle and should rightfully be shocked, his brain seemed to have compartmentalized this somewhere, tossing it in the same mental space as when he found out he had died 'I guess meeting a god numbs the glamour of superpowers… just a bit'.
"I may not have my memories but I don't think I owe you that". The girl with the still glowing devil horns had a question mark appear above her head and Lucan chuckled internally, she was like a living onomatopoeia.
"How does that even make sense? How do you know I'm not telling the truth?". Lucan gave her a curious glance and pointed to the spot just above her head, which only made her tilt her head in confusion.
"You lost me, did you somehow get crazier?... Oh," The realization struck her and now there was a very tiny bunch of pink butterflies circling her head, which she dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Look that doesn't count".
Lucan only shrugged while she let out an angry growl which was far less frightening than she probably imagined it was. Still, there was something that needed to be addressed regarding his strange visitor. "So are you going to introduce yourself?".
The girl stopped glaring at him and straightened her back, pointing to herself with her thumb "I am Paulina but people call me Polly". Lucan nodded and offered her a friendly smile.
"Nice to meet you Polly" she silently studied him for a moment, her eyes narrowed and then crossed her arms with a curious expression as she drew closer to the bed, allowing him to see her clear green eyes that almost looked like crystals.
"You seem a lot different from before". She paced around his bed moving one of her hands to her chin to stroke an invisible beard as she examined him which made Lucan raise an eyebrow, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel at the moment.
'What in the world was I like before?'. Lucan couldn't help but wonder what his variant had been up to for the little girl to have such a strong opinion of his personality. This train of thought didn't last long however as the door suddenly flung open slamming against the wall as it spun on its hinges, causing her to jump in fright.
A tall man entered the room, he had a bald shiny head with a beard and word tinted black framed spectacles that obscured his eyes when the light touched it a certain way, he didn't look like a doctor at least not the ones he was used to.
"There you are, we've been over this, you can't just leave your room without an escort". Polly rolled her eyes and then covered her ears with her hands "Polly don't act like you can't hear me, we're going back right this instant so say goodbye"
Polly waved at Lucan as the bald round-spectacled man escorted her out of the ward leaving him to his own thoughts once more "What am I supposed to do now?"
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.