"The past is just the past of which nothing can change." She voiced but they all couldn't see or hear her. She finds that she isn't a seated here as a human. Looking down at her clothus skin, no porcelain of undertaker. All that she is left is a soul, this was her soul shape without a body. So even speaking at them now, none can hear. Not even Omens. She slides a nearby calender of the date. She stares intensely of its changes.
"Come along." Soft warmth lasted another voice, she was enchanted by it. Lifting to walk it's sweetness. As a soul she had all the vulnerable things that lacking a body does. Yet she was also strong, brave and unwavering. Taken away the body needs and all that mind haze about survival. All that is left is the heart and soul desires. She walks these strange ways as the sweet voice of life told her. Into the the life that began the burdens that she was. She watched as her own ghost as the young version of her soul makes all the mistakes. Talking to the undertakers. Made a deal with their king but dueling the man with chess and won - thus she took his crown in spite of this being between an undertaker and human. She didn't understand afterlife laws and doesn't do things safely as she could have. Her mother was sick of the failing grades and her brother was in the same troubles. Her brother being older had worse punishments. He didn't understand and was angry at them all. Its all as much as it was first time learning the afterlife. As a soul that time can't law bid, time skips onwards.
She left alone locked in the house. Watching the backdoor of her auntie place. Watching the tree palm from the black sand beach eating the god eater that existed under the decking. It was brutal and bloody. Mess everywhere. They never got along because she didn't go out there to stop them from this.
"A shame I can't harvest the scales and blood. But at least I can take the tomes and death god remains." This older soul whispering temptation at the young ear. The child didn't understand but took the words as her own thought. Left outside. Stacking the books, amulet necklaces and weapons on the decking top. The older shadow sank all these things and the girl stares the head remains of the reptile dropped at her. Tribute. This head is placed to storage. She bows and back inside. All the mosquito bites were reacting to her, collasped her in the livingroom. She was lifted to the couch by an undertaker and along came the false angel god. The fighting of a higher demon and a archangel that led to the reptile being ate by the tree has passed. The week before Thanksgiving.
"Something is amiss." The grey wing man staring over the back door.
"The lacking of missing souls?" She retorts in thinking they can't heard her mask side. Shadow of erased past leans at the dinner table, "The god eater that got ate by the tree. The death god tomes and weapons." She flops her left hand, "Lacking a responsible adult to be supervising a lonely school drop out."
"Clothus." The wing man hissed and she stares a little surprised that they can see her.
"Wow, I must really be sick." She tuts at drop hands, "I am not a threat nor am I interested." She stays at the table, staring to the back garden and not paying mind of the undertaker or mock angel.
"Young trickster, I have come to offer the bargains I have with all previous members. I am the one that protects you from the affairs. In return, you sow chaos and do my bidding. When death comes to collecting you, you shall be part of my world."
"Oh piss off. You aren't worth it. I have my own afterlife." She interrupted the angelic figure trying to speak whispers into the human ear, "You just sell my soul name to some dirty clover card and have me be some whimsical pet. I am not a fool. You are false god. You can't even do the mircales I expect from God's." She banished the being from the living realm. They left behind the fake wings. She sunk them to shadows.
"You're the little girl." The undertaker speaking next.
"What of it? I am nothing special." She boldly lied but really she isn't when compared with the other Seers, Fallown, Glader or Darkwoods. She left him be as he of her. The key of the front door, the escape of hot air and the cooler hands rushed over to her. She wiped down with a cold cloth and taken to her mom's bed in the cooler back room.
"We cant afford emergency care. I am sorry." Her uncle voices. She barely is waking up.
"It's OK. I know." She drifts back to sleep. She at least cooled down enough and escaped staying overheated to long.
Escaped long term issues. He left her alone and does his normal after work routine. She wakes with her mom changing the cool cloth and them talking about trying school again. Lacking the affordability and yet is talking about making a deal with a devil. It mattered not if she rejected going to school or not. Her mom was going to force it. Along with there being some parental arguments.
Thanksgiving was here and passed. It was uneventful. No unwelcomed outsiders or guests. No meddling by the cult or the Seer. No mages. No undertakers. A typical family main at the table with humans talking human things. By the days end, both children were packed to boarding school. Signed papers over to the grandfather that had the contact to the school. There was supposed surprise presents in their luggage which will not be learned of until they unpacking at the dorms. Shadow mask watched her mom pack the cursed family heirlooms into both their bags. He got the more death related things. She got the creepy soul lock box, which as it turned out was why her mask isn't able to connect to her human side. It has other hidden properties.
Came the rise of December and packed into a shared transport van. Other children have already been picked up. Her brother wastes no time socially making allies and learning the school from others perspective. She stays silent, staring at the world from the window as she waved the family off a last time. She stares watching the journey passing streets, wildlife and passing motorbikes. Her eyes particularly see a bike she has vague feeling about. The man on the bike smoking at the stop lights. Once the lights changed, gone he is.
"What is your name?" She heard asked at her and she looks at them all not looking her direction. None of these kids are talking. So someone is asked her mask. It's currently sharpening the death god blades with abnormal methods. It must be the blade itself asking her.
"I have names but I don't share." She continues to sharpen the weapon, "It dangerous to give names and take names. So I have many nicknames that I prefer. You can call me..." She paused as this was a chance to be someone new or take over a new name. She stays silent in pondering this.
"Core tome keeper." It voiced.
"Well I am. But it's not a nickname." She snickered soft of this, "Trix. Call me Trix." She finds no reason to change completely. She aligned the blade and onto the next. The ones she finished lifted themselves and morph into metal statues. Having freed from rust, they can change shapes without pain. Her human side was finally unpacking at the from, hands brushing that box. Sealed with blood curse warnings and the marks of an outsider.
Even so, that human side opened it and the mask was instantly attached to her. Her cloth drapes her body. Here senses expanded and detailed. Everything and everyone. The dream world in the same haze as gods and shadows. She already could see before but now it was like it was realty for her and not crazy daydreams. She grasp the vast knowledge gained from other universes fast and spat blood as organs inside altered. She barely made it to bed for some sleep to fully recover every ounce in place.
The bell of night life rang and she woke up. She felt better in having rested. Being fully whole, she waved shadow to finish the packing she hadn't yet. She sunk the box into her being as it wasn't a material of the living realm.
"What are you doing?" She has a shared room with five others. They all noticed she got up.
"Getting things done." She replies.
"They locked the door." She waved it with magic and it unlocked. She crossed into the corridor and close it behind her. She locked it again. Nothing in that room she left there was anything that she couldn't replace. Her photos and private items are in her storage. Nothing worth value too. She will crossed the dorm with unlocking doors as she used shadow and magic. She locked them behind her since she wanted to do so alone. She made it to the door keeper and gave the guy a half wave. She walked on without bother. He stared uncertain that she just unlocked the door. Once she locked it behind her, he instantly message folks. He had a call on the desk phone.
"I honestly thought I was daydreaming until she locked it behind her." He exclaims so loud, she heard him outside corridor. She approached to famous hang tree. And climbs up the raised bed it sits on. She hugs the trunk and pets the lowering branch. It tangled her to sit and lifted her to bird veiw. She sits enjoying the view. She looks down on the night life of the August school.
The night students were demons learning human and modern aspects. There a few older students and teachers working sigil ranks and trading with the demon market stalls. The tree was in several curtains and she able to see through these layers. She was lowered by the tree as the headmaster approached. She got down only from the branch. Standing at the tree roots.
"Good evening headmaster." She watched his reaction squaring her up. Negative was all he presented in aura, even while giving a business poker face. She had no reason to be unpleasant yet.
"Student." He crossed arms and sees she not afraid of him. Not even with testing her to see if she reacted to his demon shape. Even so, she only really changed what eyes to stare into.
"I needed to return some items to the death domain. Be it the kingdom or god territories. Mattering only to return the tomes and blades back to grim reapers. That's my purpose of temporary exit of the dorm. These things are important and are for me to be holding on with. But even less you. A lord of hellscape. These things aren't for demons." She scans him deeply in being unimpressed of his expression of hate at her.
"Well fine." He snaps fingers of his nearby servants to accommodate. She turns away and back up the tree. Climbing the trunk regardless of the tree taking her or not. He hissed and ordered them to fetch her. The tree takes easy meals happy for her being the bait. Plenty of lower imps buried corpses into the roots. A fake student got hung by the tree, the corpse strangled at the branches. She used shadow to pick pocketed the dead thing. A death god finally shows up and she approached the god.
"Take them." She hands over the tome made of the whole ton she collected this far. Then the statues of death god blades. She takes in return a cut of death's cloak, her finger nail sliced it. She returned the dorm as she said she will - since now a proper death god has taken. The headmaster may see her as a potential problem in the future but really this was likely going to be the only direct problem she seems to make. Anything else will be because her brother convinced her into his games or that the issue began else where.
The morning of the first introduction assembly was a basic rules and facing the normal encounters of the school. An undertaker pair, angel of the school church, several demon types among the teachers and a human mage. She removed the several attempts to curse her and acted among the traffic of children. Not talking but a fish on the school to follow seeing and reacting. She overall was neutral and has no fear towards anyone. She wasn't confident to fight or be meddling into the fist fights. Most times an eye witness that was never needed to speak.
She seen the cult kids practicing nightmare cursing. She watched the Darkwoods curse the normal students for a laugh. The Glader set fire to someone's bag, which turned out to be a dubious student selling salt. Salt wards the demons away, since this can be used on the teachers; the Glader was really siding justice here. She had plenty of times seen her brother struggling with focus. She reported this undisclosed medical history which smoothed things to a point. But now he was needed to earn money with sigil quests to pay for the medications, instead of emptying already low pockets at home. She sat at the church pew watching the moves of angels and undertakers. Left alone. She doesn't bother prayer.
"Don't you seem always alone." She heard from someone that been watching her back a while. She ignored them as she pays mind about a god eater that is here. It was stalking one the demons and she wanted to learn why that one. The god eater snatched the demon from their spot. It carried the body in shadow, left her the hands in Tribute to her. She storage the hands away. The guy trying to talk to her could see where the hands came and went. They were now afraid.
"The time and space you came from fell into collaspe. It's been recycled. This a new 1st time." She looked upon the nightmare creature seated ahead of her, "You know what this universe does to other ones. It is the black hole that eats the finished ones." The creature is right, her orginal place is gone. This is a new first time and many souls that knew her have scattered to more stable time universes. But she stayed here, adapted into the new time and space. Following it's norm law. Here she is a human student, "You can cross to other living realms where we dreams can't reach." She stares pondering this development. It's something never happened before.
"You want to bend the rules? You do realize that God's are the only ones that use dreamers to message carry." It shakes not. She thinks about that, "Well alright then. I am to carry out being a dream walker to outside the rules dreams reach."
It smiles and gave her some titles and alters some titles she had already. Gave her files of Sigil requests they needed. It had even marked her arms with curses. She takes the time to read through the files and take in the sort of thing it wants from her.
She finds it's that she needs to follow her lifetimes in the other universes but obviously warn or change things. As this current place of time is no different to how she knows it, it too has a file of requests by the dreamers.
Including something of a change from preventing her idiot brother prank use the black sand. Since that a easy one to fix, she tucked away the information into sigil panels. Leaving the church and the undertaker baffled of her instant changes. Left on the pew having observed her silences, unable to understand nightmare speak.
"The easiest way to stop him is to caught him off gaurd." She muttered softly alone and was taking the queue for the lunch time food hand out. Once having picked her choose and paid with sigil credit, she carries the meal for two over to him. He has the cheapest porridge meal already, trying to play off to his mate that he just wasn't feeling well. She loudly flattered the tray across from him and knocked his freind to give the seat. She pushed him a Mexican dish he actually wanted. She also had a pudding and drink for them each. She tucked in, saying nothing.
"You're the candle seller." One them figured out her mask side job.
"Which is something we needed to discuss." She pointed the fork at them, "The next time you attempt to steal from my stall. You will be hunted (not just huanted) by nightmares. It's not my business but to be drowning in blood or tears isn't the worst part of the nightmare you been having." She stabs her meal. They shivered in fear of her knowing that. So she slides stare to her brother, "The sand. It's used for summoning demons, gods and monsters. You have enough there to piss off more then just hell." She makes the pouch lift from his belt to the table.
"This is enough for god eaters to be summoned here and devour us all." She slaps his hand hard as it left a mark of her nightmare curse on his hand. He sees it and fell backwards to the floor. She stays seated and continued eating. Slips the black sand pouch. The jar of salt from him too, also to her storage. He is helped by his mates. He stares at her scared.
"Fearing me is a compliment, brother." She was onto her pudding, "The bigger you fear me, the more it attracts the shadows from darkness. Paint a target on you back for the Seer morons to piss about." He isn't thinking about her words and instead throw the porridge at her. She inhumanly caught it and slides it back to the table. She now posed her spoon at him, "Don't forget your meds, you need them. To high and to low - to fast." He slaps the spoon from her hand, "I recommend getting the demon contract off sooner then later. I will have already sorted us out until we turn 18. Decent meals. Private accommodations. None shared shower facilities." She sees he was ready to strangle her. So she used his angry to advantage, as while he went to lunge her. She broke the demon contract off him. He left held by his mates as she walks away. Let him get a breather and get his thinking back. Although his going to have this against in some small way.
She takes the teacher code door, unlocking it with knowing the code, through as a short cut to the headmasters office. She passed by the rushing demon imps frantic in following the search order for the missing sand and salt. She walked right to the secretary whom was to busy on the phone to even notice. So she just let herself into the office.
"Damn human student." Punched the desk hard.
"I know his an idiot that doesn't think things through. He seen it and thought it was a decoration or joke. He hasn't learned about sand summoning yet." She puts the pouch and jar to the desk and leans at the side. She ignored the folk already in here.
"What do you think your doing?" Headmaster forgets she meant to not speak demon. She doesn't even reply to him. She cast a magic wave of straightening his desk neatly. The papers fluster into order. Once the whole room had shuffled, the folks had to sit themselves differently. Becoming uncomfortable of her being here.
"Follower of Hades; those chains will always take you back down to Tarturus. Until you break or forfill your deal with Hades; you are trapped to yo-yo between living and death. Hades is a reasonable man and enjoys human comforts. You can't bring ice or water. But you can bring syrups of soda drinks. He can mix his own there." She tilts with another presense, "Shepherd of passing souls, angry as you maybe of me. I have reason and duty. Besides, how exactly would you label a clothus of this living realm?" She isn't afraid meeting gaze but it's death to break it quickly.
So she isn't to parish anytime soon. She finally blocks these pouch and jar from being taken.
"The next time these are used in some student prank. All of your servants and all souls of the realm you claim kingdom will be erased. God eaters do no discriminate lifeforms." She lets the jars be and he takes them away properly, "And I do believe we have nothing to make any contracts about. You have only the pests you can handle without me. You have no courts against you. Not much pleasure or displeasure among God's. You have no use of me." She puts down a large sum of money to his desk.
"That's the student fee for Joseph Fallown. His medical expenses until he turns 18. There some spare for classroom damages, his class clown that is the life of the party." She finger slide a business card from under the pile, "I will cover the rest like my own expenses in trade of requests. If you need some evidence for whatever court hunters, write to this nickname and left it with a slab of meat. Not a raven. The poor bird will be scarified."
She moved her hands away and slips around to the door. She gave a half hearted left hand wave when one the guest spoke up. So she steps slightly back in to look at the room.
"Trix, you are the core tome keeper." She shakes no.
"It doesn't work like that." She voiced calmly to the fella, "I give access to edit things if such dire needs arise. To simple edit the core chapters is loose realms." She checked them all, "Nor can you add things that aren't. You can't take something from voids." A deep stare at checking if they believe her. She doesn't care but if they do believe her, she will have to be more careful around them. She already is with death.
"Noctorm is from nothing." Death voiced.
"From nothing means you lack knowledge of where it's taken from. From the void is from outside the boundaries." She explains to Death in his own Language.
She gives a last look at them darkly and definitely slips out from demon security and the notice of the secretary. She trials the shadow short cuts back among the student body, hidden in plain sight. She spies about what the different human groups that they choosen to divide themselves are doing.
Doing what they do best in screwing others or just trying to survive another day in high-school. She sees a prompt of Sigil about one her requests, scrutinizing the fine print. She sees the Darkwoods curse placing on a Seer. This was the beginning of the later problems the tome will have. If the keeper is cursed, this can lead to mistakes. She softly pulled one her tattoo, drawing out the tome this kid has and ganders the imperfections.
She sees its a demon names list, so if the keeper is cursed but one that is under watch. This will cast issue in a position of court, especially demon democracy. This can knock on for other issues. She looks at the dreamer prompt and finds it's the opposite of what she thought. Make sure the kids cursed with 'insert demon here'. She pondered the way that back stabs Erebus. The god of deep darkness.
Since she can ensure this from watching the kid be cursed from here. She meddles with shoulder bumping into them, casting dark magic altering and imprints a demon tag. This will make the demon that needs to take this kid be able to track this soul. She moved away as the Seer is blacked out by the magic overload. Dream version sent to the hell that demon owns. A successful stamp is pressed on the document, with dreamer extra notes.
She finds the notes amusing as she trails away from the scene of crime. She finds a lot of these easy prompts around the school from giving an angel their wings back to casting a dead Trickster out of the living realm. Smoothing the issues these actions prevent or cause new things. She lives her human life in-between the prompt requests.
Enjoying the minimum meddling she is
granted as a human nightmare. The spread of infamous stories about her had reached across the whole state. As students transfered away are carrying her legacy as a Nightmare to their new schools. She even managed to put fear into a normal human teacher and they had spread gossip even across the world into Europe.
The dark girl that holds her front and stares into your soul. The mostly silent girl with a nack of finding lost items or fortunes. She always staring in strange corners and petting air. She a sign of bad luck coming and will help wade the storm. Her way of predictions that leaves you uncomfortable. Her dream side had plenty of jobs taken, keeping her urban myth alive. Constantly being the cause of feeling off set and discomfort in an otherwise dull office or school room.
Given this is a new first time around of things, memories of past times has little help but it's behavior patterns she felt reusable. Erasing the history is the ability of gods. The gods have ensured that her soul is never removed or lost from outside the tome ever again. As she was the frist victim of many, in saving her has saved those too. Not even the afterlife of this time space recalls her. The only few that do are those in the core tome, souls like her own that stabilized this universes unnatural. For all this talk of being a clean slate, it never is.