Binding of Isaac: Beyond

by IAmNotSmartest

Timorous

*Isaac jolted awake, finding himself in a heap on the floor. His head rang painfully both outside and in, but it gradually faded to a dull whine in his ears as he picked himself up and brushed off. He could not recall his dream, but it must have been something terrible for such a feeling of dread to cling so thickly in his chest.

He took a moment to absorb where he was. The new room. His. Out the window. Sunlight. He looked back down to the floor. Crystal. He shut his eyes tightly and blindly moved towards the door, taking a deep breath. The child made a silent promise not to look out that window again.

Thunk.

He’d walked into the door. He ignored the resurgence of pain, pulling it open and peering around. To his left was one of the faintly luminescent Empire Guards, one of the Crystal ponies. It looked at him, flinching slightly, then giving him an insincere smile.

In a voice he determined to be female, she asked, “Are you ready to head out?”

Isaac swallowed his trepidation. “Yeah,” he said quietly.

She moved out in front of the door, and spoke to him with the stern tone most reserve for a misbehaving pet. “We’re going up to the dining room now. Don’t wander off.”

Isaac nodded, silently resenting her, then resenting himself for doing so. She hardly knew him, she had no reason to assume he were anything worthwhile or smart. It wasn’t her fault. She didn’t know.

The child followed her up a set of stairs and down a hall in silence, avoiding looking out the windows, and avoiding looking at her. As they turned a corner, they passed another pair of guards. One gestured to Isaac and nudged his companion. They stared at him as they passed.

Isaac looked down at the floor, clutching the cloak tighter around him. Maybe if I pull it tight enough, I’ll disappear, the thought oddly making him feel a bit better.

They turned around one more corner, and the guard opened a door towards the interior of the building, gesturing for Isaac to enter with her spear. The child looked in, seeing a well lit room with a large, intricately carved table spanning across to the rear end. Both Shining and Cadence sat next to each other at the far end, the latter waving him over.

The guard pony nodded and left Isaac at the door. He heard her grumble something about ‘poor taste in pets.’ He sighed, and started to walk over to the royals.

Cadence spoke first, asking him “How did you sleep?”

“Good, “ Isaac lied. He felt uneasy, having to look even further up to see their faces. They were creepier from this angle, the light fell differently, casting shadows in different places.

“Have a seat, then.” Shining motioned to the chair at his right.

Isaac climbed up awkwardly into the too-large chair. The size and proportions of it felt awkward. It sloped backward where it should forward, was flat where it should be curved. He felt like he was sitting on a hill. So he knelt on it instead.

“So Isaac,” Shining began, looking at him contemplatively. “Cadence and I have been deciding on how to go about teaching you.”

The child nodded. The unicorn continued, “And we’ve narrowed it down to two options. We can either hire a private tutor to teach you, lessons on the culture and such, or we could have you learn in the more public systems, with the other children in the city. You’d still have a tutor, to catch up, but would have a chance to get acquainted with other ponies.”

“We wanted to ask you which one you’d prefer,” Cadence clarified.

Isaac paused momentarily. His choice? He didn’t know for certain which he’d want; on one hand, the private tutor would be a great deal more comfortable for him, minimize interaction with those outside which saw him as an outsider. On the other, were he to join them in their classes, they’d become more familiar with him, and he with them.

He shuddered, recalling memories of school at home. Losing his pants, being ostracized for his efforts at connecting, even assaulted with dodgeballs. Sometimes all at once. But still, the chance at a connection… it was so tantalizing to have an opportunity to better understand their people through experience. Could he manage the bad with the good?

He thought a moment longer. He’d try.

“I want to try normal school.” Isaac said softly. He almost looked him in the eyes. Almost.

Cadence seemed particularly pleased with his decision, giving him a delighted smile. “Wonderful! The school year-start isn’t far off, now. It should be open tomorrow morning.”

Isaac paled. Tomorrow?

She managed to catch this, though she severely misinterpreted it’s significance. “Don’t worry, I’ve had some clothes made for you, they’ll be on your bed when you get back.”

I hadn’t even thought about that. When was the last time he had worn clothes? Long before he even entered the basement, he recalled. He wore robes, and occasionally pajamas, but that hardly qualified as clothing. No one else is dressed. I guess it’s fine. He nodded in understanding, though his face didn’t regain much color.

The child sat silently, now unsure of what to say, already trying to steel himself for tomorrow. They sat too, though they ate. Shining suddenly realized that he had not asked Isaac what he’d like to eat.

Isaac thought about it. He hadn’t eaten anything remotely good for him in almost his entire recollection of the basement. Dog food, spoiled milk, various organs, a multitude of mushrooms and pills... “I’m not hungry,” he said finally. He really wasn’t. He doubted they’d have anything he could stomach anymore.

“You haven’t eaten in the whole time you’ve been here,” Shining pointed out, relatively surprised. “You should eat something.”

“I’m just… I’m not hungry.” Isaac replied meekly. Is it really so strange? … It is.

He returned to silence under the perturbed looks of the others. He could feel his heart beating uneasily. Isaac shifted from his kneeling position to conform to the oddly shaped seat, the headache returning. If the ones who were trying to help me are this… unnerved, how different will the children see me?

He could almost hear them laughing already. Almost a chorus of ridicule, a mob of mockery. Or perhaps anger, hatred- they would run him out, like his mother did he.

No. There would be fear. All fear what they do not know. Maybe if I prove I’m not a danger, they might…

Isaac shook his head slightly, melancholy dragging him back to reality. High expectations lead to crushing realities.

He remained, uncomfortably, in a place not meant for him.

Author's Note:

I'm sorry this came out late! The last chapters being as long as they were made it hard to keep up with this one.

Seeing as this'll come out Christmas, I'll post an additional short chapter that I felt didn't blend to this one well enough to combine them.

Holy hell, 100+ upvotes? Wow! Devil Deals be Damned, I'll take that instead for any run.
Seriously though, a sincere thanks to all of you.

Also, my birthday is in two days.

Huge thank you to TrueGentleman, who has taken it upon himself to aid me in the editing of this story!

Appreciation for HydraLightning, who proofread this chapter and hopefully future ones.

Special thanks to awesomesauce4 for giving me the motive to write, rewrite, and start this story! Check their Isaac story too, it's great! |The Unbinding|

Comments

[Anon ymous]

10/10 more writing almost-birthday faggot!

[Twinleo]

Yes good show indeed! Have a birthday.

[TheArchive]

The guard pony nodded and left Isaac at the door. He heard her grumble something about ‘poor taste in pets.’

Alright, seriously, did you make a bet with yourself to see how many unlikable characters you can make in a single story? So far, I think Cadence is the only one who isn't laughably awful, and at this point I'm wondering if this story is meant as a joke or something. Shining glaring at him for... I don't know, being unhappy? Luna at this point is so irredeemably bad that I can no longer even remotely take her seriously, and now we have random guards thinking he's a pet?!

I'm just so confused. I've seen parts with decent characterization in this story. The story itself is written pretty well all things considered. So why do you keep mangling the characters like this? Why do you want everyone in this story to be entirely unlikable?