章 7: Outcast culture
Nevermore Academy was on the outskirts of Jericho. It was a considerable distance as you had to venture through the woods to get there. There was a good road, but Luke didn't have a car.
'Damn it. I shouldn't have sold the bike,' thought Luke as he walked along the edge of the road.
"How much longer?" asked Luke, waving the necklace around his neck.
"Don't shake! It makes me dizzy," said Edgar, annoyed as he stepped out of the collar.
'Damn ghost. While I'm walking to my death, you're resting quietly in the necklace,' thought Luke.
"Mm... About twenty or thirty minutes. Maybe more. They upgraded the asphalt. There must be a good director running Nevermore," replied Edgar as he admired the new road.
'If I'm not mistaken the director was called... Larissa,' thought Luke, remembering the tall blonde woman from the series.
He was curious as to what Larissa would be like. Would she have the same appearance as in the series he saw? The same personality? The same destiny?
As for the last one, she is the most malleable, as Luke's interference could change her fate which is death at the hands of the crazy normie professor.
"They should put a bus or something," Luke complained.
"It's summer vacation. What student would come to school? You should improve your physical fitness. Maybe we should start with that," said Edgar, shaking his head.
"Shut up. I'm only fourteen," said Luke justifying himself.
"A fourteen-year-old who can't walk a few miles," said Edgar with a slight smirk.
Before Luke could start an argument Edgar spoke again, "You turned fourteen already? When?" he asked.
"Yesterday."
"Oh congratulations, how did you have a good time?" asked Edgar.
"Great. I ran away from the orphanage. I ate a cheap pizza at a urine-smelling gas station while chatting with my ghost great-great-grandfather," Luke replied sarcastically.
"A peculiar birthday. Although it was most likely better than spending it in that orphanage," Edgar commented, and Luke nodded without much enthusiasm. It was the best birthday he'd ever had in this new life. Here's to running away from that orphanage.
"What are the other outcasts like?" asked Luke, curious. Even though he watched the Wednesday series it didn't explain much since it was only one season.
As for powers, he didn't know much either. Wednesday the main character, only had visions when she touched an object or person. It didn't seem like a big deal compared to flipping over a two-ton pickup truck.
'He doesn't know anything. Well, that's to be expected. He grew up in a normie orphanage,' thought Edgar.
"There are many kinds of outcasts. You're a psychic. Thanks to the Poe family, who are all psychics," replied Edgar.
"Is that good?" asked Luke.
"Yes, and very much so. Psychics are among the strongest of the outcasts and they are a minority. At first, they may be outclassed in strength by other outcasts like werewolves, but their potential is much greater," replied Edgar.
Luke nodded. If he could control the power he showed when he flipped the two-ton truck, a werewolf would be a piece of cake. He could stop him with his eyes alone or crush him with super heavy objects.
As for Hyde, he's not sure of his strength or weight. Maybe it weighs more or has a strength that can't be stopped by a two-ton psychic power.
"What about psychics that have visions or are more into prophecies? They would be very weak," Luke asked, although Wednesday was a case apart because she was an expert martial artist.
"If you only specialized in that area in combat, you would be very weak, but your visions would be very powerful. You could consider yourself more of a support psychic. You won't fight a werewolf face to face," replied Edgar.
"Specialize?" asked Luke, confused.
"Ugh. I'll explain later. It's a lengthy subject. First, you have to be accepted into Nevermore and find a safe place to stay," Edgar said.
Luke nodded. There seemed to be a lot he didn't know about this world of outcasts and monsters.
"By the way. What if a vampire has a child with a psychic? Will the baby be a vampire and a psychic at the same time?" asked Luke. This way you would have the advantages of two different types of outcasts. You could move things with your mind and at the same time have a longer life span, for example.
"The odds of the baby having the abilities of each parent is very low. Generally, only one gene prevails the psychic or the vampire gene. Not both. However, the baby will have a weaker gene than a baby born to two psychic parents or two vampire parents. This would not happen if they were both psychic or vampire." replied Edgar.
"Oh, that's why there are outcast tribes," Luke said with a thoughtful look.
"Exactly. Not only are there differences between attitudes and beliefs in each outcast group. Although if you're lucky enough to have your baby born a vampire and psychic it will be very powerful, but the odds are low," Edgar said.
'Blood purity... It reminds me a bit of the Harry Potter books, although there the half-bloods could be the most powerful,' thought Luke with an odd expression.
"What if an outcast has a baby with a normie?" asked Luke.
"He baby has a fifty-fifty chance of being born an outcast or a normie. If he's an outcast he'll have weaker potential than if both his parents had been outcasts. I don't see it as a bad thing though. Love always triumphs," Edgar replied, stroking his strange mustache.
Luke looked at him strangely. It was strange that a ghost who every five minutes had a macabre smile and wanted to get revenge in the most horrible ways possible was talking about how love always triumphs.
"I thought you didn't like normies," Luke said, as he had noticed certain attitudes of Edgar's that seemed to look down on normies.
"There are certain attitudes of your society that I don't share. Also, they always excluded us and treated us as outcasts, but I don't detest them. I can converse and live with them. If they are willing to do so. I am not like them," said Edgar.
After all, his literary works became famous in the normie world, as outcasts are in the minority.
"Them?"
"There are two kinds of ideals in the outcast community. It has nothing to do with tribes. It has to do with how we view and treat normies," Edgar replied as he made the symbol two with his right hand.
"The first and most is found here, is that the outcasts are willing to coexist with the normies. Although they have their differences and may act distant or distrustful towards them, they are willing to live together and be at peace. The Poe family would be in that group," Edgar explained.
"The second are the outcasts who loathe and hate to unimaginable scales the normies. If they can kill, torture, or capture them, they will. They do not want peace, nor do they want to live with them. Because of this extremist group, there has always been tension between the two communities, and the normies used to go on witch hunts in ancient times," Edgar added.
"And they never achieved their goal of exterminating the normies?" asked Luke curious.
"That task in itself is very difficult. You have to keep in mind that the normie population far outnumbers the fringe. In itself, the extremist outcasts are already a minority in the outcast community itself. So it is very difficult to exterminate all normies. Besides, there is always one or another outcast, who decides to help the normies. And the normies know how to defend themselves to some extent," Edgar replied.
'Their chance is gone. Now it is more difficult to exterminate the normies who possess military armaments and atomic bombs,' thought Luke. The best time to accomplish this was in ancient times. Although with their powers they could try to control the normie community and try to destroy it with the very weapons they created.
"Which group is the Spellman Family in?" asked Luke, who wanted to know what ideals their enemies had, although he already had a hunch.
"To the eyes of the world in the first. But they are actually in the second group," replied Edgar without giving any more information.
'I guessed as much,' thought Luke with a grimace. It was obvious that his enemies would be extreme supremacists who wanted to exterminate the normies.
They kept walking as Luke asked questions about the outcast world, and Edgar patiently answered.
"Let's finish history class for today," said Edgar, gesturing forward with his chin.
Between the tall trees was a tall fence that read 'Nevermore Academy.' On either side were two columns of ancient stones with a lantern on each and a stone fence.
'The perfect school for emos,' Luke thought. Although he was somewhat excited to witness the school he saw on the show, he wasn't all that enthusiastic either.
The idea of being in an educational center did not appeal to him. If he didn't have serial killers looking for him, he wouldn't have come to Nevermore, perhaps just for tourism.
With his great-great-grandfather as a mentor, he could already train his psychic abilities more efficiently. He didn't need to come to an academy/boarding school and share day-to-day life with insufferable teenagers (although he was one himself).
Although they were outcast teens, Luke watching Wednesday's series found no difference between the teens at Nevermore and a regular school. The groups, the popular, school activities, and the same old bullshit. The only difference was that there were teens with powers and slightly more bizarre behavior.
He might sound very emo, even if he didn't want to admit it.
"You don't look very happy," Edgar said, looking at Luke's expression. He didn't look like a typical student happy to see his new school and the adventures he would spend there.
"No. I am very happy. My happiness is so much that I forgot how to smile," said Luke as he walked towards the big gate.
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