The Mortal Babysitter: A Dark Deception Fanfiction (Agatha x Reader)

Episode 3: Who Is Best Girl?

Stars, scattering across the skies blacker than ink. Their cores vibrated as they gave off their glimmering; but rather than shades of gold, they wore dresses of sapphires and violets, as if fragments of rainbow had escaped into the dusk.

And it was beneath that field of beauty that I strolled. My feet sauntered atop the sidewalk of onyx cement, my skin caressed by a loving zephyr. On either side of me, homes modest and extravagant stood tall, their styles a flawless gothic. Some even had iron-bar fences and gates whose heights rivaled minute mountains.

For the most part, the occupancy of the magenta grass lawns kept slim, with the only sign of residency being the lights that shone through the windows. Sometimes, though, the inhabitants would breathe the open air with me: a woman with spider legs, crafting an awe-inspiring artwork of silk; a colossal beast of black symbiote and sharpened teeth roaring into the great skies; a circle of Frankenstein-like children tossing something pink and squishy between them like a hacky sack. (Side note: I think I know what that is, but I'm not gonna ask.)

And the reaction was always the same at my presence: curiosity at the sole human trudging through this sinister dimension. Very seldom did genuine malice spill from their visages (except for that creepy doll idling atop a window sill; he gave me one hell of a glare).

However, I did little to repay the attention. Instead, I stuck my eyes to the tiny compass nested in the palm of my hand. Its body a crimson metal, it had an exotic skull attached to the center of the face, with an arrow extending from it, pointing South, opposite of where I walked.

Come on, I thought, hopeful that the needle would stay directly South. Please don't change on me.

I could remember when Malak had handed me the device, along with some screwy instructions.

"This will always lead you back to my home," he had said. "Just always follow the direction opposite of the arrowhead and you should always end up here."

"Opposite?" I asked. "Wouldn't I want to follow the direction of the arrow?"

"If that were a mortal compass, yes. However, this compass was forged by the Mage of Chaos, and, therefore, it holds with it a chaotic nature. Since I programmed it to track this house, it will always try to lead you away."

I remember the straightened eyes I gave him. "And you thought a compass like this was a good idea?"

"Why not? We of this universe are creatures of chaos! It is only natural that we seek all things of that same breed!" He'd then do his maniacal laugh, which had me cringing from shoulder to shoulder.

And now, I had to essentially walk backwards just to find my workplace, as if babysitting a little demon girl wasn't hard enough.

To make matters worse, as I reached the end of the street, I found myself gazing into nothingness. Not metaphorical, but literally nothing.

Allow me to explain:

Each neighborhood existed in its own space, as if each owned a chunk of reality all to itself. At each end, there would be a wide circle of swirls floating midair; gateways, as I had come to call them. Each had their own set of exotic symbols. Take one step into the gateway and boop! I had a punched ticket into a new neighborhood.

Sounds cool, right?

I would agree, if only the damn things were consistent!

No two gateways held the same path, not even the same gateway. The number of times I'd walk through the same one and end up in a different space than before surpassed the limits of mathematics!