Chapter One, Piece One

The first third of Chapter One, and the first POV character introduction.

I’m not sure how I got here. One moment I’m standing on the steps of Wildmoor Orphanage, dreading my return after my usual run through the city, the next I’m at the gates of what appears to be a large private school. Is it magic? I don’t know. I don’t want to know. I just hope whatever this place is will be better than Wildmoor. There’s a sign. It reads: The Academy of the Lost. And underneath, in smaller lettering: School for Future Villains, Anti-Villains, Anti-Heroes, Double-Agents, and More. Below that, almost unreadable: Founded by Nathan Watts, alias Nightshard, with help from TAHVA and the Orphans to Big Names program. I blink, confused. None of this makes any sense. So I do what I normally do in this sort of situation. I shrug, tug the strap of my messenger bag back onto my shoulder from where it slipped off, and step through the gates.

There’s someone by the door. A twenty-something woman with braided black hair, sharp dark blue eyes, and light skin. She’s wearing a sort of skin-tight bodysuit, like Black Widow from the Avengers movies, only it’s dark grey instead of black and there’s a longsword strapped to her back. She smiles as I approach. It’s only then that I notice the shadows swirling slowly around her feet.

“Hello, I’m Kira Jones, also known as the Shadow. I’m the Vice Principal here at the Academy of the Lost, and I’ll be giving you a tour of the school and helping you with your schedule if you decide to stay.” She reaches out her hand. After a second, I shake it.

“Um, hi,” I respond. “I’m Meggie Wicker. Nice to meet you.” There’s a pause. “Can I ask why I’m here?”

“Of course.” She looks pleased with my question. “Most people start with ‘how did I get here,’ it’s nice to see someone more interested in the ‘why.’” She lifts a hand, letting shadows trail along it. “Originally, this was a school only for orphans with special… abilities.”

“Like your shadows,” I input. She nods, seemingly not annoyed by my interruption.

“Over time, our purpose changed. We recruit any parent-less children who aren’t on the list for adoption and are unhappy with their situation. We do give them the choice of joining or not, if they don’t want to become what we offer, we can send them to our sister academy, the School for Aspiring Heroes.” She stops. “You got all that?” I nod. She continues. “We have up to five years of schooling, your age doesn’t matter. We tailor the usual requirements, like math, science, that sort of thing, to what you already know. Your ‘elective’ type classes are chosen based on what you think your career is going to be. For example, if you want to be a spy or double-agent, you would take classes like Spying Done Right and Turn of Phrase, but if you want to be a full-on villain with henchmen and a world domination goal, you’d take Ten Steps Ahead and Rising to Power.”

“So it’s like normal school, but with different types of classes,” I sum up. “That sounds pretty cool. What are all the career options?”

“It’s pretty diverse. The main ones are villain, anti-villain, anti-hero, double-agent, spy, and criminal consultant. Of course, there are quite a few others, but no one can remember them all, except maybe Jim,” Kira explains.

“Who’s Jim?” I wonder.

“Jim Moriarty. He’s one of the professors here.”

“Naturally.” I can’t help but grin a little. Moriarty teaches here? This is going to be amazing! “So, if I already know I want in, when can I get started?”

Kira’s smile widens, a touch of ‘evil grin’ entering her expression as she pushes open the front doors. “I’m so glad you asked.”

Reviews

[Locke Redwyne (night sy..]

uh
that happened veeeeery quickly
maybe a bit of background?
maybe develop the character?
maybe develop the world?
maybe establish something, anything?
maybe, uh, i dunno, add PACING?
dude
you are so much more talented than this
what, did you write this on no sleep in thirty seconds?
you can do far better than this.
come on.