Chapter Text
January 1st, 1997 - Eight years old
It was quiet.
That was all Edwin could think as he sat in a chair in a brightly lit, empty hallway next to a dark brown door. It didn’t matter that he could hear his parents talking inside the room he sat beside, it was still too quiet for his liking. And he usually preferred silence but, this time, it was unnerving. Especially when he knew why he was here.
Being shipped off to a boarding school wasn’t what he was expecting when his parents said they had a surprise for him. He was hoping for a new bowtie or a cake or even just a “Happy Birthday, Edwin!” He never wished for a new environment and empty promises.
He ignored his parents’ words of visiting when they could as he looked around the hallway. It was a brick hallway with a white ceiling. There were large black-framed windows on one side, revealing it was night outside. The other side had colorful posters here and there. Most of them were encouraging phrases with cute drawings but some were announcements. And the floors…the floors were black but had lines of red, dots of blue, and there were yellow shapes thrown about randomly. It was somehow a terribly bright design that somewhat annoyed him. He thought about what he would change the design to if he had the chance.
Maybe a checkered floor.
Thoughts about chess floors disappeared, however, when he heard a door opening on his left. He looked over at the noise. There, a few doors down, he found a dark-skinned woman in an all-black outfit walking out. She was the first person he’s seen here, besides the short man who greeted them when they stepped out of the car and who his parents were currently talking to. He had been starting to think the rest of the school’s population were ghosts.
The woman noticed him as soon as she stepped out. Once her eyes landed on him, she gave him a kind smile and waved. He waved back, as it was the polite thing to do, before looking back at the floor. He stared at it, returning to his thoughts of how to make it better. It was all so he didn’t focus on how he’d be here for an unknown amount of time. If he thought of that, he’d only be sad. He didn’t want to be sad anymore.
So, he imagined the floor being checkered before considering how it would look without any design at all as he waited for his parents to be done speaking to the principal. He didn’t know why he had to wait outside but didn’t argue when he was told by his parents to sit and wait. He wished he had, at least, asked how long this was going to take. He wanted to be led to his room so he could try to rest. He was tired, feeling his eyelids droop despite how much he tried to stop them from doing so-
“You look too tired for your age,” a sudden, gentle voice said.
He looked up at the comment. The woman from before was now standing in front of him. There was still a kind smile on her face.
“Do you sleep well?” She asked, moving to sit beside him. There was no chair but she didn’t care. She just plopped onto the floor, her legs laid out in front of her.
He wrinkled his nose at that, wondering if the floor was even clean. He tried not to think too much about it as he answered, “Not really.”
“Why not?”
He only stared at her, not responding. He didn’t want to admit he had terrible nightmares that kept him awake. It sounded so childish; being kept up because of nightmares? How embarrassing. Even his parents seemed to think so. They never spoke about it with him but he could tell. Could see the look in their eyes when he walked out of his bedroom in the morning with worse eyebags.
“That’s okay if you don’t want to answer,” the woman said, breaking him out of his thoughts. She curled her knees toward her chest. “It was rude of me to pry.”
“It was,” he agreed, nodding.
She laughed, nodding back. “Well, I’m sorry, Mr…?”
“Payne.” He held his hand out toward her. “Edwin Payne.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Edwin Payne.” She grabbed his hand and shook it. “Death Endless.”
He took back his hand when she released it, keeping his eyes on her. He couldn't help the way he blatantly stared in confusion. “Why are you talking about death?”
She laughed again. “No, I was introducing myself.”
He blinked. “Your name is Death?”
“Yes.”
“Oh…that’s interesting.”
“I had an interesting family.”
She had no more to say after that. He didn’t either. But he continued staring at her, imagining the family she had that named her Death. It had to have been as interesting as she said. He wondered if the rest of them had interesting names as well. And, if they did, did they like their names? He wasn’t sure he would if it was something odd…but that could be because he was so used to his own name that anything else sounded wrong. If he had grown up with the name, however…would he like it? Did Death like her name?
And, when the curiosity got to be too much, he found himself blurting, “Do you like your name?”
“I do,” Death replied, after a moment of consideration. The smile never left her face. “But I understand if others might find it odd. Most of my peers did as I grew up. It stopped bothering me in secondary school.”
He frowned, feeling bad for making her remember that. He had never wanted to make her feel sad or as if he was mocking her. “I don’t think it’s odd.”
She looked at him, her smile widening. “That’s sweet of you, Mr. Payne…thank you.”
He blinked, tilting his head. “You think I’m sweet?”
She copied him by tilting her head too. “Are you not?”
He didn’t think so. Not because he went out of his way to be a monster but because…
“Most people don’t think so,” he admitted, “and most people don’t like me.” He looked to his right, where the office door was. And where he could hear his parents laughing. It was as fake as their promises. “That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”
“Is it?” Death asked in return, her voice as mournful as his was.
He looked at the floor, a pressure behind his eyes that he tried to ignore. “They won’t come back to visit me.” He sniffed, trying to think about how annoying the colors were…but all he could think about was the fact that his parents were abandoning him because he wasn’t the perfect child they had talked about. “I don’t understand…why have a child if you’re only going to leave them?”
“...I wish I could tell you, Edwin, but that’s a question I have yet to get the answer to.” Death sighed, sounding both upset and sad for him. “No matter how many times I see it or the fact that I had created a place for those children left behind…I never could figure out why they were left behind in the first place. Why do we need to create such places?”
“...created?” He looked at Death, rubbing one eye and pretending it wasn’t wet. “You created this school?”
She merely smiled at him, standing up. “Why don’t I show you to your dorm? You should try to rest…you’ll have a long day tomorrow, I’m sure.”
“My parents said to wait.”
“They’ve sure said a lot of things,” she winked at him, “don’t you think?”
“...well, what of my bags? They are still in the car.”
“Someone will take them for you.” She held out her hand toward him. “Will you come with me?”
He knew it probably wasn’t the best idea, his parents had told him before to never follow strangers. However, this woman seemed nice. He knew that was even more ridiculous because it was the nice ones that would betray you…but he found himself placing his hand in hers anyways.
He allowed himself to be guided to his feet and led away. He made sure to look over his shoulder, knowing this would be the last time he was close to his parents. He found himself not being so heartbroken over the thought as he stared at the office door before his empty chair.
He turned away from the sight.
“How do you know where I’m going to be?” He asked as they walked down the hallway.
“I don’t,” Death responded, looking down at him with bright eyes, “but I’ll just assign you a room. Is it alright if you’re alone? Until we can find you the perfect roommate.”
He nodded, more than fine with that. That way, no one would know about his nightmares that were sure to be worse here. “That’s fine…but are you able to do that? You’re not the principal.”
“Well…no, but Mick won’t mind.”
“Why not?”
“We have history. And, besides, I created this place.” She laughed, ruffling his hair with her other hand. “Even came up with the name.”
He leaned away from her touch, grimacing at the fact his hair was now tousled. He had spent some time getting it exactly the way he wanted. “Don’t you think ‘the Sunless Lands Academy’ is…sad?”
“How so?”
“A place without a sun isn’t somewhere I’d like to be.”
“Why not?” She laughed again, only seeming amused by his words rather than offended. “The sun not being around doesn’t make anything less beautiful. After all, in the night, when the sun isn’t around…the moon can provide the same amount of beauty, no? ”
He had never thought of it like that before. “Oh…I guess.”
“Anyhow, I like the name.” She shrugged. “So, even if it is odd, as long as you're happy then what else matters?”
“...isn’t that unfair to the people in the academy?”
“Well, do you think it’s unfair to be in an academy named the Sunless Lands?”
“No.”
“Then?” She softly laughed. “It doesn't matter. What matters more is how they feel at the academy. My hope for all the students is that they feel like they’re at home. Unfortunately, I’m no longer involved with the school since I had to step away due to…family issues, so I can’t make sure of that anymore but I’m sure the staff are doing so in my stead.”
“If you are no longer part of this school, why are you here?”
“I was in the area and decided to visit for old time’s sake. Since I’ve known Mick for some time, I was allowed to look around. He even left my office alone, in case I come back…I don’t think I would be able to but it’s a nice sentiment.”
He felt disappointed at that. He liked her. “Why did you make this place, Ms. Endless?”
“Well…you see, I used to travel a lot.” A small frown appeared on her face, her eyes dimming. As if she was remembering something. “And, when you travel a lot, you see a lot. Like how some children don’t have loving families. Coming from a large family myself, I wanted others to experience being in a true family. I wanted there to be a place where children could find their own families and be happy.”
“...will I find that?” He swallowed, feeling that pressure behind his eyes again. “A family?”
She gave him a gentle smile, just as gently wiping away the tear that managed to escape. “Now is when you find out.”