Masenia: Chapter 3 School and Other Unimportant Things (Patreon)

Chapter 3

School and Other Unimportant Things

School was surprisingly easy and cumbersome for Maria. The material just flowed into her mind, seeming to fill in gaps in her mind that she never quite knew existed. She found herself getting so bored that she ended up reading ahead in each class, covering History in a matter of minutes. The same went for her English, Latin, German, Calculus, and Chemistry, of which three classes: English, Calculus, and Chemistry were all AP level classes that she took with her sister. The other classes were once that she took independently from her twin, as both wanted to attend college under different majors and career paths. It wasn’t that they didn’t like spending time with each other, but they were two completely different people and didn’t want others to keep getting confused about them. Not that anyone should confuse them with Maria’s recent biological changes, but you never knew.

“Hey Anita, nice hair.” Maria got for not the first time based on her hair. At first this threw her off, as to how they would get her that wrong. Only after a moment did it click in that of the two twins, Anita would be the one most likely to do something drastic like dye their hair and eyebrows a different color. Something that amused Maria as an odd anecdotal incident, but it apparently annoyed Anita to no end.

“I’m Anita, Jake!” Anita shouted back at the boy who was walking down the hallway.

“Okay, shish.” The boy, Jake, said somewhat apologetically, before walking away.

“I bet you are just loving this, aren’t you.” Anita said angrily as she looked at Maria, the sudden source of her ire. Maria just cocked an eyebrow at her little twin and just kept her mouth shut. “You aren’t even going to comment, to say something so that people know that its you, not me?” She asked a little incredulously as they went on.

“Fine.” Maria said. With that the two went to their locker. As the dial spun, Maria could all but feel the tumbler working its way free as she lined up each set of numbers.

“Hey nice hair, do the carpets match the drapes?” One boy yelled out snidely from across the hallways.

Realizing that this was likely what her twin was speaking about, Maria responded with her own snide come back, “what are these carpets you speak of, everyone knows only hard-wood floors are the way to go.”

Utter silence for a moment, as the entire hallway just stopped to listen to what they heard, then a moment later everyone began speaking again.

“Oh man, she got you!” One of the snide boy’s friends spoke up next to him.

Only after they were gone and the sudden tension was let out, did Anita even dare to comment to her sister. A sister who had seemingly changed into someone completely different overnight.

“What the hell was that? You know that could be taken as an innuendo, right?” Anita said, smacking Maria’s arm. The smack did little to Maria, though it did cause a tingling sensation to pulse in Anita’s hand for a moment.

“I do know, that was why they stopped talking. They couldn’t come up with something better and then backed down.” Maria answered.

“Well what happens when they don’t back down from just your charming wit?”

“Then you need to tell them with your actions, if done right, you should only need to tell them once.” Maria said, as seemingly years of being a cold hearted monster came to her and seemed to etch themselves into the core of her very being.

Anita for her part, just stared like a fish for a moment, before it was time to go to their next classes, this was however one where their paths would part.

***

During the time in classes where Maria was not studying or reading ahead to finish the different texts provided, which was to say the majority of the time, she found herself drawing. First she focused on drawing the design for her back perfectly, focusing on getting the arcs and curves correct, along with the all important swivel in the center. She got this done by the time her first period ended. Then after her first period, she focused on complementary designs that would further accentuate the core design. The only problem was, she somehow knew that these other designs would require her to choose and commit to a particular aspect, before going on. The only problem was, she didn’t quite know what the different aspects did. She had a feeling that red was related to destruction, given how close it was to fire, was not too hard to understand. Next was green, which seemed to be related to life and the energies of nature. While that might have called out to her at one time, she felt that this would be far too limiting, especially as a base build.

That was another new term that popped into her mind, this base build, what did it mean? Logically she knew it had to do with the foundation, but the foundation of what exactly? What was she trying to build? So many questions floated in her mind that she had a hard time trying to understand them all. All the thoughts were jumbled, and worse nonsensical. Innately she understood that being a green build would make her dependent upon a party, at least at first, but then as time went on, more and more people would have their own methods for healing personal injuries, that being a dedicated healer would become problematic as time went on.

Her mother would be so sad, knowing that she sat at this very moment determining her future, and rather than going full on doctor, she decided to go for an independent build instead. A build that would provide her with immediate benefits, though what this exactly meant, she didn’t know.

Light Blue.

Like the wind, the idea came to her as if she had dreamed of this moment for years. Then, not wanting to waste another moment of inspiration, she did something she would nave never dreamed about in the past, but suddenly she felt an immense pressure to do as much now as was humanly possible. So once the next bell rang, and it was time to leave and head to her next class, Maria went out the side exit, the one with the clearly broken fire alarm system. A quick scan of the door showed that it was in fact still broken, a fact that Maria was able to confirm by the fact that no electricity seemed to flow into or through the door. Even the Exit sign was oddly dull, only seeming to be lit by the light of the sun, rather than any other source of power. That was enough for Maria, who despite being surrounded by dozens of students, pressed forward, and pushed her way through the closed door.

Skreech.

The door hissed its way open, but it was nothing that Maria herself couldn’t handle. Then darting forward, she took off running at a speed that would have been impossible for her to keep up with earlier. She sprinted past the field where the gym classes were forming up and stretching. Off in the distance, she swore she could see her sister stretching, and there was a moment when she swore that she had in fact noticed her. Of course, that look was quickly ended by the actions of the PE teacher who had noticed her escape.

“Hey, get back here!” The teacher yelled.

This of course only caused Maria to run faster. Her legs kicking as she approached the chain link fence, then when she got close enough, a quick stomping of her feet let her fly into the air. Her first goal was to jump high up the fence so that she only had to climb up a foot or two at most. This goal was not only met, but exceeded by Maria as she soon found her body flying up and over the fence, as if she was part lioness, easily able to jump a seven foot fence with ease.

Then gravity kicked in, as she felt her stomach turning, as Maria suddenly realized that she hated heights.

Thud.

She landed hard against the ground, her body coiling tightly into a ball, so she wouldn’t get anything caught of broken as she fell. In the end, only a thick layer of dirt, and a slightly bruised sense of pride let her realize that she still had a lot of improvement needed, if she wanted to be a truly badass. As it was, she took a quick moment to dust herself off, then look around. Yep, everyone saw her not only make the amazing jump, but then fall flat on her face right afterwards.

“Mondays, am I right?” Maria said to no one in particular as she made her way off campus, and into the neighboring city. Her high school was one of those old ones that the town gradually built up around, meaning that within a few blocks, she was well and truly free of the campus. Then plotting along, she found first an ATM, where she withdrew her maximum allowance for cash for the day, all $500. Then with the cash in hand, she doubled back to the shadier side of town. There she found what she had wanted, a hidden out of the way tattoo and piercing place, one that looked to be well off enough to have recently purchased the grafting machines, a variation on the 3D printers that rather than creating something out of nothing, would carve your exact design or image into any object you presented before it.

Taking a deep breath, Maria wondered if this would be worth it. She could stop right now, go home. Yes her parents would be mad that she had skipped school, but that would be all, maybe they would put a further tracker on her. As it was, she didn’t even have her phone with her, that was currently on her desk at home. Right now she had nothing that would be able to give away her current location to her parents, even the ATM that she withdrew cash from was on the other end of town, meaning that if they went looking for her, they would start off in the exact opposite direction. Then again, she figured that no one would think to look for her at a shady tattoo parlor on East Street. At least, that was what she was banking on originally.

Of course, getting this tattoo would mean a lot of things. First this would be permanent, and while she had told her sister that she would get the wings with her, she didn’t mean it, not really. She just didn’t want her cooler sister to think of her as a weakling. Now, however, things had changed, her whole life had changed, her body and mind were still changing. Her hair had changed, but all of that could be avoided, this moment though, this was the moment when everything became real. This was the moment when she said that her nightmare was not only real, but was truly going to happen and unavoidable. For the life of her, she couldn’t remember what the dream had told her, but it had shocked her. Death and carnage all around, there were times when she found herself fighting against angels and demons both. At one point she swore she even fought against the gods, but that was foolish, wasn’t it?

Trembling.

Maria’s body trembled, not because she was suddenly afraid of spending the majority of her money on getting a tattoo, this could be chalked down as a moment of teenage defiance. No, what truly caused her to tremble was the fact, no, the what if? What if it all was real?

That question more than anything caused her to go forward. The five hundred dollars was a drop in the bucket if things were going to be as bad as she thought. She had been saving up for a new computer, but those would soon be obsolete, most things would be obsolete.

The world would soon be obsolete.

With a moment of resolve, she walked into the parlor, not wanting to be spotted on the streets during school hours. Not that anyone would exactly see a woman with golden skin and shock white hair and have their immediate thoughts being that they were skipping school, but she didn’t want anyone to stop her. At least not until she was done. Somehow, she knew that the end time was coming. She didn’t know when, but she did know that it was soon, far sooner than she wanted. That or she was going utterly and completely mad, both of which were entirely plausible.

“Can I help you?” The old leathery skinned and overly tattooed man at the front of the shop greeted her.

“I need a tattoo. Personalized, no deviations, back right shoulder blade.” Maria said, pulling out the intricately drawn image, this one was clearly better than her last, as this one seemed to glow even brighter to her suddenly enhanced senses.

“Got any ID?”

“Yep, the Name’s Jackson.” Maria said, as she pulled out the stack of five hundred dollars in $20s and laid them out in a smooth motion that made it look like she was a professional card player the way she managed to twist each bill apart showing the exact same shape and $20 marking on each bill.

The old man just stared at her for a long moment. Maria just stared back.

Finally after a long moment the tattooist just smiled a wide golden tooth filled smile, “I like you kid. Jackson was it, well, everything seems to be in order. Would you like me or the machine?”

“The Machine.”

At that the man paused, taking the wad of cash. “I will warn you, the machine doesn’t have an off switch, you wince out, you flinch, your tattoo will look stupid.”

“I don’t intend to flinch.”

“No one does.” He said hesitantly, then asked a question on his mind, “this your first one?”

“Yes.”

At that the man just grimaced. “You sure kid? I mean the same machine that puts it on can take it off, the process is long, painful and will cost twice as much to remove. A lot easier to get it done right the first time.”

He of course was speaking to the fact that a tattoo artist could brace you for the level of pain by giving a small sample size first, or they could stop when the pain became too much. The only problem was, that Maria knew herself, she new that if she was given a chance to quit she would. It was better to force her way through this. With that in mind, she doubled down.

“Lets do it with the machine. Light blue ink.”

“Light blue? You afraid of someone seeing it?”

Shaking her head, Maria answered truthfully, “light blue, like the sky and the wind.”

“Okay, normally I make you wait a day or two, but I have a feeling you wouldn’t let that happen, now would you?”

“That’s correct.”

“All right, fill out this consent form, and know that you are being recorded now.” The man said, as he pressed a button and suddenly a surge of electrical currents came to life around the small shop, turning on different devices all at once, one of the most interesting ones was the small surveillance cameras that were set up all around the shop.

“You have come here in sound mind and body, presenting this design that you wish to have tattooed upon your body by our tattoo machine, despite the possible repercussions of having a machine act upon your body with burning hot needles. Furthermore, you wish to have this done in light blue ink. Is there anything else?”

Hearing that, Maria nodded, “yes, this is up, and this is down. Enter the paper exactly as shown and have the machine carve it on the spot intended. I understand you might have to shrink it down to actually fit the shoulder blade.”

“Very good. Come with me.” The man said, but not before pushing the same button that then killed the electricity running to the surveillance system.

As they walked back, the old man found himself apologizing. “Sorry about that, but I hope you understand for legal reasons I cannot have any possible chance of your or a family member coming here on your behalf stating that you got this unintentionally or that you were coerced into this.”

“No, I understand.” Maria said, and she did.

The man was clearly going out on a limb here for her, as he clearly could have turned her away had he been so inclined. The fact that he was doing this for a mere five hundred dollars, spoke to how much he either valued a sale that wasn’t fully documented, or how many times he had done similar deals like this in the past.

The man, took her design and used the system to scan it in. From there he let Maria choose the exact shade of light blue, she went for a delicately light shade. Normally such a shade would be too minimal to even see, but on her golden skin it would show up, if just barely.

The machine then took an image of her with her shirt pulled up, revealing her shoulder blade. From there, the man let Maria manipulate the size and shape of the image until it fit exactly where and how she wanted it to fit.

“You do know that the shoulder blade is one of the most painful places to get a tattoo, right?” He offered, apparently still trying to be the voice of reason in this case.

“I am aware.” Maria said, and she was, somehow she knew it would be exceedingly painful, but she also felt she was ready for it.

“And you still want to go through with this?”

“Yes.”

“Very well kid, it’s your own funeral.” He said, as he gestured for Maria to actually take her spot.

“I am going to begin. You will first feel a slight burn, as the outline of the tattoo is first noted. From there, you will feel the burning get increasingly more potent as each pass of the lasers will burn the design further and further into your skin, until finally by the seventh pass you will be completely done. We can do all seven passes here now. Know that you can also stop me at any time, opting to come back and finish if this becomes too much for you, but know that if you come back, it will cost you the same amount as this time. Any questions?”

There it was, he was expecting her to give up and either stop with a half finished design, or worse to come back sometime later for another five hundred dollar payment. Well it wasn’t going to happen, Maria didn’t have another five hundred dollars. She wasn’t broke, but she didn’t have another five hundred just laying around. If she wanted this tattoo early, she would have to do so now.

Early? That was an odd word to use, as how did she know it would be early? Also, was there a bonus for being early?

“No.” Maria said, shaking her head and realizing that the man was still waiting for her consent.

“All right, while this goes on, to help you focus on something other than the pain, I will play some background music. I would suggest going at least for one full round before quitting, that way the baseline is there and we can just improve upon that, but again you run the shop here, you tell me when and I will stop immediately.”

“Understood.” Maria said, as she pulled her shirt up over her head so that her shirt was now double bunched in her front.

Click.

A song began to play.

“This is a brand new single from Upgrade, titled the world will soon be asleep.” The radio announcer said.

At that, something clicked into Maria’s mind, as she suddenly remembered a long argument with many friends over this very song. Though she swore at the time that it was The world will soon be obsolete. At the time, she thought it was a fitting last song of the world, one that spoke prophetically about the state of the world. Of course, there was no way to prove it, not like they could go to the internet and just listen to the song.

“Huh.” Maria said, then after that, she felt a slight sting as something hot began to burn its way into her skin.

Pain.

Though it wasn’t as unimaginable as she thought it would be. Of course, the level of pain only seemed to ratchet up with each subsequent pass of the laser, and then the ink filled needles that came after only seemed to spark to life an energy that had long since been held dormant in her body. Energy that was quickly being stirred to life, as the burning image that had been there, burning brightly in the back of her mind every time she so much as closed her eyes, began to subside slightly, as she felt relief more than anything, as the pain that had been a near constant burning sensation in the back of her mind suddenly began to relax its way from her mind, as she could feel the design going to link her body. In that moment, she felt it, a connection, a moment when all three aspects of her persona were finally united, Soul, Mind, and Body all linked together by the image that was slowly coming to life on her back.

Then after just thirty minutes the deed was done, and her back had a new permanent marking on it. The old man put a gauze bandage over her new tattoo.

“Here, is the ointment, you will need to apply it twice a day, and make sure to clean out the site regularly. Given its location, you might need someone to help.” The old man said, providing the cleaning creams and an extra bandage just in case.

“Thank you.” Maria said, taking the items and putting them into her backpack, she wouldn’t need them, as she could feel her body already healing the damage done. But having an extra bandage and cleansing ointment would never hurt for what was to come.

There was a moment of silence between the two, as he stared at her. “I have to say, I am impressed. Most people only get at most through one or two layers of the machine before needing me to stop. You managed through in one go.”

At that Maria just nodded.

“Where are you going now?” The man asked.

“Back to school, I guess.” Maria said honestly, as she picked her bag up and then hefted it over her shoulder. The man winced in sympathetic pain, only to see that the sudden extra weight did little to nothing on her just tattooed shoulder.

“What in the?” Was all he said, as the strange girl left his little office. The five hundred dollars in twenties, and the strange tribal design in light blue were the only signs that he had a customer that early in the morning. What should he do now? Well he did have a recent purchase that happened to have been missed by the teller who was on duty. With a sudden windfall to his name, Peter Burches, the owner and operator of Custom’s Ink decided to take an early lunch to celebrate his teller’s lack of attention to detail.