Not so calm, after the storm
Bump-bump. Bump-bump. The warm, rhythmic beating beneath his fingers felt dull, like it was a bit distant from the here and now. The harsh squelch, as he pulled his arm back sounded far away. The dying wheeze of the man he just killed, felt much too close however.
He looked at the man, whose heart he had out with ease. The man was pale and his eyes were glassy. Blood was pouring from his chest and mouth like a river. And then he spoke. “They will never trust you” he rasped. “You’re a killer. They will never always be watching. Waiting for you to kill again.” His voice sounded like it was getting stronger as he spoke. “They’re probably planning how to put you down, like the animal you are.”
Corvus looked behind him, seeing his family watch from just outside the circle. Skulduggery had his gun out, his posture revealing nothing. China and Ghastly were watching warily but neither were looking at the dying man on the floor. Corvus made to move towards them, but Skulduggery raised his gun before he could even take a step. There was the sound of a gun shot-
And Corvus jerked awake. He rapidly looked around, before realising he was in his bed. He was home. A week had passed since he had been kidnapped. Since he chose his name. Since he killed. His stomach turned and he found himself rushing to the bathroom, emptying his stomach of the pitiful amount of food he had managed to eat a few hours before. Bile followed soon after his stomach was empty. When he finally finished, he looked outside. It was still dark but he likely wasn’t getting anymore sleep.
He decided to go downstairs and made a mug of tea and picking up the case file Skulduggery had been working on recently. He had barely been home in the last week. Apparently, there was backlash from the necromancy, they were in unsettled one of their own had been killed, even if the threat of a child’s life and magic had been at stake. They weren’t calling out for Corvus’ head or wanting revenge, but they were far too curious as to why he had been targeted.
Morwenna had to meet with the current leaders if the temple to settle things. She had to reveal that he had come from a different dimension accidentally, but his powers were down played. People were still curious, but it wasn’t as big of a worry anymore. Corvus had also been legally registered in both the sorcerer’s society and the mundane one, though that was under his given name. He still didn’t want to go to mundane school, as he was still a head his age group.
Corvus looked out the window and realised he had been sat there long enough for dawn to break. Skulduggery still wasn’t home, nor was he expected to be. Corvus honestly thought he was being avoided but Skulduggery wasn’t acting too differently. He had just been a bit more quiet than usual.
Deciding he’d had enough of being alone, Corvus decided to get showered and dressed for the day and get out for a bit. Maybe see China, or at least go read at her library, instead of staying in the house again.
An hour later, Corvus was dressed, his shadow jacket was once more in place. He opened a portal, and stepped through to China’s living room. She had given him special permission to travel directly there to avoid being spotted by anyone who may take interest in him. That made the pit in his stomach feel just a bit lighter. She had been the only one since the incident to not seemingly try and distance themselves. In fact, she had gotten him a mobile phone, with everyone’s number already saved, and been the only one to call him. If it was anyone else, it would have been smothering, but she hovered just enough to show she cared, without being over the top.
He could hear the shower running in the other room, so to save potential embarrassment he sent a Patronus message to let her know he was there. He smiled as his ghostly crow flew through the wall. After embracing who he was and learning his form, he felt a sort of peace he had never felt before. He had been through something traumatic, yes. He had nightmares about what had done, but he wasn’t unhappy. He accepts that he did what he need to do to survive. Does he wish things could have gone differently? Absolutely. If there had been more time, he would have held out for China to break the ritual, or try and talk Shiftless down though that wasn’t likely to happen with how insane the man clearly was.
He had spoken about China with this. She had been worried because he hadn’t eat much and clearly hadn’t sleep much either. So she turned up at Skulduggery’s house with Corvus’ favourite take out and sat with him while they ate. It was clear that it wasn’t up to her usual standard of food, but she had done 1it for him and it got him to smile. After that, she talked about the war and spoke about some of the kills she had to make to survive. Corvus’ admitted that he didn’t feel bad or guilty about killing to survive, he just felt bad that it couldn’t have ended a different way. She had been the only one to say she was proud that he had the conviction to do what he needed to survive. The magical world was dangerous, and being will to fight for his life would only mean he would live as long as possible.
“If you keep thinking so hard, it’ll hurt your brain”
Corvus jumped when he heard China’s whispered voice right by his ear. He tinkling laughter echoed through the room and he found himself relaxing. “Or you could announce yourself. At least I had the decency to let you know I was here.” He said with a half-hearted glare.
“Ah, but you’re in MY home. Honestly, I should take back letting you in here. I used to be able to walk around naked without having to worry about little boys seeing things they shouldn’t.” She replied, eyebrow raised.
Corvus blushed slightly. That WOULD be embarrassing and she knew he would die if he ever did that. What he didn’t understand was why she liked to tease him about it. She only ever said that he would wish he’d get that lucky when he’s older. Choosing to ignore China’s comment, Corvus pulled out Merlin’s book and flipped to the book to one of the spells he hard marked for practice. It was a transfiguration spell to turn inanimate objects in to false living ones. The animals would look, act and feel like the real thing, but upon their “death” they would turn back into material they were made from.
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A few hours passed, and Corvus was still no closer to performing the spell than he was when he started. Deciding to take a break, he got up to stretch, when there was a knock on the door. China, who had been sitting opposite him with her own book, sighed, and got up to answer the door. “You’re late” China said to her visitor.
“I had other things to take care of first” a calm, cool voice replied. Having gone to get a drink from the kitchen, Corvus couldn’t see China’s guest.
“Really? I ask you for one small favour, and you couldn’t get here sooner?”
“You tried to have me killed 3 times and you expect me to drop everything and come running?” Corvus could practically hear the raised eyebrow. But what was China doing, calling someone she had try to kill multiple times, round to her appartment?
“If you’re still hung up on that, then why did you come at all?”
“You’re my sister. The only family we have is each other.” The male voice replied. Corvus could get behind that reasoning, even if the man was wrong.
China made a rough noise of agreement, and the door closed. Corvus made his way back, juice in hand. He entered the living room, loudly sipping on his drink and raising an eyebrow at the, admittedly terrifying man. He was tall with a shaven head, muscular to the point that it nearly excessive and had the coldest, yet lightest blue eyes. Corvus thought they resembled a dead mans eyes. Looking into them, he saw no happiness, or joy. Just cold stoicism, like stone.
Not breaking eye contact, cause Corvus had been in too many life threatening situations to not be a snarky little shit, he said to the man “So you’re China’s brother? I see she got the good looks.”
The man didn’t even bat an eye at the minor slight. China merely sighed slightly in exasperation. “Yes, this is my brother, Mr Bliss.” She then turned to her brother, “This is Corvus Black. He has a technique that mimics your enhancement magic.” That got a reaction out of the man, albeit only a small nod.
Mr Bliss, finally broke his staring match with Corvus and turned to his sister, “Yes, I heard from the elders that he killed his kidnapper single handed.” That got a slight shudder out of Corvus, which didn’t go unnoticed by the siblings.
“I want you to fight him, teach him to use it and how to not kill unless necessary.”
“It WAS necessary though” Corvus couldn’t help but jump in.
“I know that, I wasn’t implying that it wasn’t. But did you have full control, or were you at full strength the whole time? And can you use it without suppression cuffs on? Because if you can’t, then that skill is useless to you.” China retorted. He had to admit it to himself, he had nothing to say to that.
Mr Bliss spoke up, and suddenly, Corvus could feel the pressure of raw strength that the man had clearly held back until now. “Why are you so important to my sister?”
This time, it didn’t feel like the man was looking at him, but deep within him. As if testing his very essence. Still, he wasn’t one to back down, and stared back with barely a flinch. It took every ounce of his emotional control to do it. Luckily, it was something he had practised extensively since arriving to this dimension. “I like to think it’s my natural charm.” If only he could control his charm. His snarky attitude was going to bite him in the arse one day, he just knew it.”
Mr Bliss was silently analysing Corvus for a few moments. “Fine, I will train him in using this enhancement technique. But I will not be held responsible for anything that happens.” Corvus thought that was incredibly foreboding. “Open a portal to somewhere a lot of destruction will go unnoticed.” Yep. Foreboding.
Corvus nodded, trying not to shake, and opened a portal to a large clearing in some woods he knew would be empty. He had spent a little while trying to find somewhere to be completely alone to practice his flying and a few destructive spells and magic. He was kind of the reason there was a clearing in the first place. He quickly walked through, shooting China a slightly worried look. She had the audacity to smile at him, the traitor.
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When Mr Bliss walked through, Corvus thought he would get an explanation on how enhancement magic worked. Maybe a few pointers on what he was doing wrong. Nope. Mr Bliss immediately rushed at him, aiming a punch towards his stomach. Corvus instinctively raised the strongest shadow shield he could and he felt the shockwave of the punch against it. The shield had even cracked!
“Good reaction time.” Mr Bliss said from behind the shield, sounding bored. “Now activate your enhancement and come at me.” This time, Mr Bliss stood as still as a statue, arms crossed. Corvus tried to focus his necromancy beneath his skin, but his shadows just wouldn’t cooperate and settle, constantly leaking out in places. Before Corvus could figure out why his magic wouldn’t settle, he felt Mr Bliss move and suddenly, there was an impossibly strong fist closing in on his face. Time slowed down, as just before the punch connected, he threw himself down back first towards the ground. Just as he thought he would hit the ground, he felt himself sink. As he looked at Mr Bliss, who was looking back at him with a calculating expression only just visible on his stoic face.
Taking a second to look around, Corvus could still see the surrounding area, as if he was barely an inch off the ground. Looking behind him, it appeared that he was in a place similar to Morweena’s extended portal. He seemed to feel like he swimming through the shadows. Seeing if he could sink deeper, he saw the outside world move back, until it appeared like he was looking through a pane of glass. Moving around was very easy too. It felt like he was slivering like a snake through the shadowy like liquid. He tried slithering away from Mr Bliss but his maximum speed like this was half his normal running speed. He was going to come up and get punched immediately. Going for broke, he lunged out of the shadows, moving much faster than he did through the shadows, and tried a shadow infused punch to the man’s face. The punch landed only because Mr Bliss didn’t even try to move or block, but the punch was weak in comparison to what he achieved against Shiftless. Still, it was stronger than the average adult, so it was some success.
Mr Bliss didn’t even flinch. “Is that the best you can do?” And Corvus truly felt the full force of the scariest man he had ever met. The man finally stopped his stoicism, and let a very angry snarl take over his usually bored face. “Maybe I should save my sister the heartache, and kill you here and now.” The change was dramatic. The man clearly force his stoic and bored facade as to not paralyse everyone he ever met. To ensure that anyone near by didn’t literally piss themselves in fear, should he even breathe in their direction. Lucky for Corvus, he maintained his control over his bladder and bowels. If he didn’t have such control over his own emotions, he surely would have made a mess. Still, he felt all encompassing fear. Corvus though, wasn’t one to freeze in fear, nor run. Even when he was powerless at the hands of his uncle, he didn’t run or freeze. Back then, he took the beating to get it over with. Now though, he had power to protect himself and others. And he had already promised he would not lose his family.
The shadows, reacting to his will, started to pool over his skin, solidifying into a super dense, yet light armour around it’s master. The solid, inky black armour, had a purple sheen, reminiscent of his crow form. The helmet even had a crow like shape to it. Wicked spikes jutted out from his knees, elbows and shoulder. 2 even formed on his shoulder blades. His gloves had wicked claws on the ends of his fingers, which were matched by his toes, as his boots were closer to his normal feet, rather than footwear, and the knuckles had small stumpy spikes for increased damage from his punches. Altogether, his armour looked wicked but clunky, like it was only meant to look menacing and wouldn’t be able to move with any agility. This was proven to be very false, when Bliss tried to punch the armoured boy. The boy blurred around the fist, landing a much stronger blow against the side of the man’s head. He still didn’t block and nor did it hurt, but he felt it. He hadn’t felt an attack since the war. Since Malevolent himself had attacked him once. Since Lord Vile had managed to land an attack. A few other individuals went through his head, all once that had managed to make him feel an attack or outright hurt him. This boy still paled before them, but for his age and inexperience, it was certainly impressive.
He decided then to stop holding back so much, the boy wouldn’t improve if he wasn’t challenged. He WOULD see him improve, even if it was just for China’s sake. This time, when Mr Bliss moved, it matched the speed he had seen Corvus use previously, and so he was in the boy’s armoured face before he could react. His powerful punch still wasn’t full power, in fact, it was little over half his full strength, but it didn’t send the boy flying, or damage his armour in anyway. Now that was impressive. The boy then lifted him, as though he weighed nothing, and began to spin as quickly as he could. Before the boy could finish his through, Bliss through a blindingly fast blow at the boy’s and chest, this one was stronger than the last, still not full strength, but not as carefully dialled back. If Bliss was to guess, if was maybe 70% of his full strength. This one did send the boy flying, which also sent him flying in the opposite direction. The boy crashed harshly into a tree, while Bliss flipped mid-air to land on his feet, though he did slide back, leaving a deep rut in the earth as he did. Even from here, he could see cracks in the armour. Cracks that were rapidly fixing themselves.
Both combatants launched themselves at each other, going blow for blow. Corvus at full power, Bliss dialled back down to roughly 60%, any above that would probably overwhelm the boy too quickly. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but Mr Bliss was having fun. Sure, this wasn’t a challenge to him, but he never got the opportunity to let this loose without it being life or death, or killing his opponent. They traded punches, kicks, throws, grapples and any other attack they could. The boy lacked training, his hits were sloppy but they made up for it in sheer power. Still, he time was running out. Bliss could see the armour gradually letting off a black steam. It’s was losing density and strength. Bliss had been lowering his own strength to match the boy’s output. The boy clearly knew he was about to run out of steam and seemed to gather the last of his strength for one last attack. He launched himself back and drew back in the black steam he had been losing, regaining the density his armour had lost, and shot at Bliss with blinding speed that put the previous speed he had seen to shame. Bliss only just managed to block with his forearm, and the punch let out a big shockwave, blowing a small wind and dust up from where they stood. When the dust cleared, the boy was still stood, arm outstretched still connected with Bliss’ forearm. The shadow armour was flaking off rapidly and the boy was panting. As the last of the armour was flaking off, the boy look Bliss in the eyes, his own eyes slightly glassy, and he spoke in an exhausted rasp. “Got...you...to block.” And then the boy passed out. Out of respect, Bliss caught the boy and gently lowered him to the ground.
Bliss checked his arm, feeling the smallest of twinges. He was actually surprised to see the smallest, most insignificant graze there. Well, insignificant to anyone else. The boy- Corvus, had actually managed to leave a mark on him, at 8 years old! Then Bliss realised that his way home was now unconscious and his mobile phone had been smashed in the scuffle. Shit.
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The first thing Corvus felt, when he slowly regained consciousness, was an overwhelming ache all over his body. He was just so sore. He didn’t even feel like he could move a single finger. He hadn’t like that since he crashed into Skulduggery the year prior. The second thing he felt was a dull headache, which only got worse when his torturer spoke. “How do you feel?” the bored voice spoke from just outside of Corvus’ vision.
“Like I tried to fight a train that ran over me repeatedly.” He retorted. He thought he heard a scoff or a soft snort, but he probably imagined it.
“You did well. It might not have been the exact same technique as the one you displayed before, but I can only imagine that this one will serve you better as you won’t take any flesh damage. Congratulations.”
“Maybe. But I still couldn’t do anything against you.”
“I advise putting on muscle mass and learning some actual fighting styles. While your hits were enough put down the majority of enemies you might make, those with experience will be able to best you. I can think of at least 5 people, not including myself that could take you down. And that isn’t a technique you can rely on yet. It drains you far too quickly to be anything more than a last resort.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
“Just prove it isn’t wasted. Can you take us back to China’s yet? I have things I need to do and you’ve been napping for a few hours now.”
Corvus sighed, he was exhausted but he knew he could do at least one trip. Two if he was lucky. “Either stand next to me or pick me up. I’ll make a portal beneath us.” He didn’t expect Mr Bliss to pick him up, and he was right. The man stood close enough to almost be touching, and they dropped through a portal, straight into China’s living room. There was a soft “oomph” from under Corvus looked up in horror as he realised that China had been sitting on the sofa he had aimed to land on and his head was now resting on her lap.
Lucky for him, China seemed more amused that annoyed, and with a sparkle in her eye that meant teasing was coming, she lowered her head and gave him a soft kiss on the head. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist me for much longer” she chuckled. Corvus was too tired to be embarrassed and without thinking simply replied “I’m too pure for you, aunt China.” Forgetting who was in the room. He knew he messed up when she went rigid for a moment, but surprisingly, she settled back down quickly.
“I’ll let you off the hook for now. Only because you fought my brother and came back without anything broken.”
“Only my pride.” That got a tinkling laugh out of her and he finally gave into sleep. He couldn’t stay awake any longer if he tried. And while he would never admit it, laying like this had a calming effect on him, especially when she started to stroke his messy hair.
The only thing he heard, before fully drifting off, was Mr Bliss ask “Is this another Caisson situation.”
What felt like moments later, Corvus awoke to the smell of frying bacon, sausage and toast. His stomach growled loudly, and a tinkling laugh floated in from the kitchen. Following the glorious smells, Corvus saw a sight he never would have expected. China cooking. She nearly always had her meals in resturants, cafés or delivered. “I didn’t know you could cook.” He found himself saying.
“Well, when you have lived as long as I have. You pick up a few things over the years.” She said absentmindedly.
“Do you cook often? Cause I’ve never heard of you cooking at all.”
“No, only when I have someone to share the meal with.”
“And you’ve had that before.” It wasn’t a question. The name Bliss mentioned last night before he feel asleep was someone important to China.
“Yes.”
“This Caisson, how special was he to you? You don’t have to tell me anything. Say the word and I’ll drop it forever.”
They ate silently for a few minutes. Corvus was worried he had upset her, but she would have said if he was pushing too much. Finally, after what felt like forever, she spoke. “I raised him as my own. One of my enemies in the war had a child, and she made me promise to take care of him after I struck her down.” Corvus barely breathed. He didn’t want to interrupt China in this moment. “He was like a son I never had. But he was naturally so angry. Angry at Malevolent, the world, me. Just everything aside from his lover. He even managed to kill Malevolent, he started getting darker. So I betrayed him, to save myself. He would have come after me eventually for killing his mother. I think you can understand that more than anyone.” She wasn’t crying, but she looked wistful.
She suddenly straightened her spine and hid the wistfulness behind her slightly arrogant mask. “Enough of that. Show me the armour. My brother nearly gushed at how strong it made you, and it’s rare that he speaks so highly or uses as many words with anyone but me.” Her eyes were sparkling in curiosity and Corvus found it hard to deny lifting her spirits.
It barely took any focus for the armour to form, but it didn’t feel as dense. Either he hadn’t rested enough, or it took him being in danger to bring out it’s higher strength. It still looked the same from what he could tell though. He tried to force the density to increase, but only managed a little before it seemed to stop, as if it was locking away the higher levels of strength for when he needed it.
“Amazing” he heard China say, almost breathlessly. “I can almost feel the intensity from here. Was this the same strength you used against my brother?”
Corvus willed the armour to dissipate. He could feel the drain from the armour that time. It was clearly a high energy technique. Bliss was right, emergencies only. “No, being in danger seemed to bring out more strength and durability. Bliss said that building muscle would help improve the strength it gives me and learning some fighting styles would help cover some of my weaknesses.”
“Speak to Ghastly. I’m sure he will give you some pointers in boxing at minimum. Skulduggery would be able to give you some various moves too. Speaking of Skulduggery, he called while you were asleep. He wants to speak to you about something important. He will be home all day so you don’t need to rush.”
The pit that had been forgotten about thanks to his fight with Mr Bliss reopened. What if Skulduggery was kicking him out? What if he was forcing him back to the other dimension? “What if he kicks me out? Or tries to make me go back?” He didn’t mean to ask, and hated how small and weak he sounded, but he needed advice.
“He won’t. I can assure you. And even if he did for some reason, you will just have to live here.” She said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He didn’t even realise he had gotten up until he was hugging China like a lifeline. He was wanted here. It didn’t matter how many people it was. He was wanted.
He quickly broke the hug and stepped back. “I should probably find out what he wants then. I’ll see you soon.” Cirvus summoned a portal but hesitated before stepping through. “I reckon Caisson didn’t realise how lucky he was, to have you as a mother.” He said, before quickly walking through, not looking back at China.
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The moment Corvus stepped through the portal, he saw Skulduggery sat in the favourite chair, with a different case file than he saw earlier. He relaxed slightly, seeing such a normal sight. “I heard about your fight will Bliss.” Skulduggery said. He knew an eyebrow would be raised if he had a face.
“Hello to you to. I’m fine, thanks for asking.” He retorted.
“Glad I didn’t have to ask then.”
“What’s kept you so busy?”
Skulduggery actually sighed at that. So either it’s boring or slightly bad. “The necromancers haven’t lost as much interest in you as we had hoped. They’re not targeting you specifically, but they have their eye on you. Especially as you weren’t born or raised in a temple. They know you are a student of Morwenna, which both reduces the chances that they have a problem with you but increases the interest factor.”
“So, I need to be more careful from now on?”
“Ideally, you would be with a trusted adult pretty much full-time.”
“So I need a babysitter then?”
“Why would you sit on babies?”
“Their surprisingly comfortable. So what’s the actual plan?”
“Well, first, no sitting on babies.” Corvus snorted. “Second, how would you like a job?”
“What sort of job? What benefits do I get?”
“Assistant detective. The benefits include a decent wage, and you will be paid an adult wage. I made sure of it. Other benefits include, chasing bad guys, finding clues, being a bird occasionally for surveillance and my company.” Corvus was shocked, by nearly all of this. Not the banter though, that was par the course by now.
“You still want me around?”
“I know you’ve been struggling a bit about what happened with Shiftless. But you handled it phenomenally, and you managed to go through with the only thing that would get you out alive. It really was the tipping point for my decision to set this up. If you want it.”
“Fuckin’ yes! I’ve been reading your case files for months! Of course I’ll take the job!”
“Good. You start tomorrow. Read that file, I need to submit your acceptance and set your bank account up.” Knowing he wouldn’t get an answer the moment Corvus had the file in his hand, the skeleton turned and walked out.
Corvus couldn’t believe his luck! Skulduggery wasn’t mad and even went out of his way to ensure he would be there to protect him. And he was going to be a detective. That was just so cool! His life really was going to get really exciting from now on.