THE VOID BEAST

CHAPTER 4: THE RABBIT

Silence stretched across the Great Hall like a held breath.

Then—

"A rabbit?!"

The word exploded from someone in the front row. Then another voice. Then another. Laughter rippled through the crowd like wildfire, spreading from student to student, parent to parent, until the entire hall roared with it.

"A rabbit! He got a rabbit!"

"What's it going to do? Hop at enemies?"

"Maybe it can eat carrots while we fight!"

"Worthless beast for a worthless—"

The Proctor cleared his throat, his voice flat and disinterested. "Darian Vex, bonded with a Rabbit. Rank: D."

D-rank. Vermin-class. The lowest of the low.

I stood frozen at the podium, my hand still tingling from the pedestal's magic. The rabbit pressed against my leg, trembling so hard I could feel the vibrations through my robe. Her ribs were visible through patchy white fur. One ear flopped forward. Her eyes were cloudy and pink—they didn't quite close all the way when she blinked.

She was broken. Just like me.

And she had chosen me.

The laughter continued. I could see Sebastian doubled over, tears streaming down his face. Seraphina had her hand over her mouth, her shoulders shaking. Lord Valerius wasn't laughing—but he was smirking. That cold, dismissive smirk that said everything.

Relieved, I realized. He's relieved I'm worthless.

"Look at it! It can barely stand!"

"Even a rat would be better!"

"Maybe they can be pathetic together!"

The words hit me like stones. Each one heavier than the last. I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw something. I wanted to disappear.

This is what "everything changes" got me, I thought bitterly. A rabbit. A D-rank. The lowest of the low.

I reached down and scooped the rabbit into my arms. She was so light—barely more than a bundle of fur and bones. She nestled against my chest, seeking warmth, seeking safety.

I walked off the podium. My legs felt like they belonged to someone else. My face burned. My hands shook.

Someone shoved me from behind. I stumbled but kept walking. The laughter followed me down the corridor, through the archway, past the courtyard. I didn't stop.

I kept walking until the library doors slammed behind me.

---

I leaned against the wall, my chest heaving. The rabbit was still in my arms, pressed against me, trembling.

I looked down at her.

She looked up at me with those cloudy, helpless eyes. Her nose twitched. Her ears drooped. She was weak. Sickly. Useless.

"Why?" I demanded. "Why did you choose me?"

She blinked.

"Out of everyone in that hall, you picked me. The one everyone hates. Do you know what they're going to do to me? Do you know what my family is going to do?"

She made a soft sound. Almost like a question.

I looked at her—really looked. Her ribs. Her floppy ear. Her cloudy eyes. She was broken. Just like me.

"I can't survive with you," I said. "I can't go home with you. You're nothing. And now I'm nothing too."

I set her down on the floor. She sat there, looking up at me with those cloudy eyes. Still trembling. Still waiting.

"I won't take you," I said. "I won't accept this. There has to be another way. There has to be—"

My hand moved.

I didn't move it. It moved on its own.

I watched, frozen, as my arm reached down and scooped her back up. My fingers curled around her small body, cradling her against my chest.

"What—" I started.

But the words died in my throat.

I wasn't controlling my hand. Darian was.

"Stop it," I said aloud. "Stop it right now."

But my arm didn't move. My hand stayed where it was, holding her close.

No, a voice whispered in my mind. Quiet. Broken. But firm. Not yours.

I froze. "What?"

The body, Darian said. It's mine. You can't have it.

"What are you talking about?" My voice was shaking now. "I'm in control here. I woke up in this body. I—"

You're borrowing it. His voice was quiet but insistent. This is my body. My life. My... my beast. You can't just take over and throw away what's mine.

I looked down at the rabbit. At my hand—Darian's hand—holding her close.

"I can't survive with this beast," I said. "You know that. You tried to kill yourself because of this world. Because of these people. And you want to keep living like that?"

A pause. Then: I know I'm broken. I know I'm weak. I know everyone hates me. But she chose me. She looked at everyone and she chose me. Please. Don't take that away.

"She's a rabbit, Darian. She's—"

She's mine, he whispered. And I won't let you hurt her.

I opened my mouth to argue—

The doors burst open.

Students flooded into the library. At least a dozen of them, their faces twisted with cruel amusement. The ones who'd laughed the loudest. The ones who'd pointed and jeered.

"There he is!" one of them shouted. "Darian Rabbit!"

"Still holding his little pet? How lovely"

"Maybe they can cry together."

I backed away, my heart hammering. The rabbit pressed closer to my chest.

"Look at him," another sneered. "He's scared. The rabbit's scared. What a pair."

"Hey, rabbit-boy," a tall boy said, stepping forward. "Who were you talking to just now? Did your little rabbit tell you something?"

Laughter.

"Maybe he's gone crazy. Wouldn't surprise me. Lowly beast for a lowly—"

I wanted to run. But my legs wouldn't move. I wanted to fight. But my fists wouldn't lift.

Then I realized—Darian was holding me back.

Don't, his voice whispered. Don't make it worse.

"Get out of my way," I said, my voice steady despite the fear.

"Or what?" The tall boy stepped closer. "You'll set your rabbit on me?"

More laughter.

"I said move."

He didn't move.

I squared up. I'd spent eighteen years in my old world getting pushed around. I'd stood there and taken it—from Lukas, from Elena, from everyone who looked down on me. I was done taking it. I was done being the victim.

I threw a punch.

It didn't land. The tall boy caught my wrist and twisted it. I gasped as something in my arm popped, white-hot pain shooting through my shoulder.

"This is cute," he said, his breath hot on my face. "He thinks he can fight back."

"He thinks he's one of us," another laughed.

"Look at him," the tall boy sneered. "He's nothing. Always has been. Always will be."

He shoved me. I stumbled, my back hitting the shelves. Books rained down around me.

I felt Darian's panic spike. And then—

My body moved. My arms curled around the rabbit, shielding her. My back arched, taking the next blow. A fist connected with my jaw. My head snapped to the side. Another blow—my ribs. Something cracked. I gasped, but my arms never moved. My hands never let go of her.

"Look at him!" someone shouted. "He's shielding the rabbit!"

"He's more rabbit than man!"

"He's even weaker than his beast!"

The blows kept coming. Kicks. Punches. Someone grabbed my hair and yanked my head back.

"Maybe we should take the rabbit too," the tall boy said. "See what she's made of."

I felt my arm tighten around her. Darian's desperation flooded through me.

No, he thought. No. Not her.

"Leave her alone!" I shouted—the words came out before I could stop them. "Leave us alone!"

The students laughed.

"Us? Listen to him! He's gone crazy!"

"His rabbit has turned him mad!"

A kick to my ribs. The air left my lungs. My grip on the rabbit never wavered. Darian's grip. His determination.

Hold on, he thought. Hold on, little one. I won't let them take you.

The beating continued. But I barely felt it anymore. I was too focused on the battle inside my own mind.

I was supposed to be in control. I was supposed to be the one making decisions. But Darian was fighting me, using my hands to protect the rabbit, using my body to shield her.

Why? Why would he risk everything for a weak, sickly creature that would only drag him down?

I didn't understand.

And then, suddenly, the beating stopped.

The students stepped back, breathing hard. The tall boy dusted off his hands.

"We're done here," he said. "He's not worth the effort."

They turned and left, their laughter echoing behind them.

I lay on the floor, broken and bleeding.

The rabbit was still in my arms. Still trembling. Still safe.

Thank you, Darian whispered in my mind. Thank you for protecting her.

I didn't answer. I couldn't.

I stared at the ceiling, my body screaming in pain. I hadn't done anything to protect the rabbit. I'd wanted to throw her away.

But Darian had used my hands. My body. He'd sacrificed himself to keep her safe.

And now I was the one paying the price.

I pushed myself up slowly, wincing at the sharp pain in my ribs. The rabbit sat beside me, watching with those cloudy eyes. She wasn't trembling anymore. She was just... watching.

I looked at her. At this weak, sickly creature that had ruined everything.

So? I asked silently. You're going to keep doing this? Keep fighting me? Keep protecting a beast that's going to get us killed?

A pause. Then: Yes.

Why?

Because she chose me. No one has ever chosen me before.

I closed my eyes. A wave of exhaustion washed over me—not just physical, but mental. The fight was draining. The constant battle for control.

I'd walked into the Awakening thinking I'd prove myself. That I'd bond with something strong, something powerful, something that would help me find my way home.

Instead, I'd bonded with a rabbit. Then I'd been beaten bloody trying to protect her.

The promise I'd made to myself that morning—not today, not ever—felt like a joke. A cruel, mocking joke.

"Fine," I said aloud. "Let's reset things."

I opened my eyes and looked at the window. The lake was visible in the distance—the same lake where Darian had tried to drown himself.

The water.

I had wake up and found myself here after he tried to drown himself, it might be connectected, It had brought me here. It had pulled me into this world, into this body.

What are you doing? Darian's voice was sharp with fear.

"Going home," I said. "The same way I came."

You don't know that. You don't know what that water will do to you.

"I know what it already did once."

Please. His voice cracked, less like fear now and more like grief. If you go, I lose you too. And I don't want to be alone in this body again.

I looked down. The rabbit was at my feet, looking up at me with those cloudy eyes. She wasn't trembling anymore. She was just... waiting.

"I'm not trying to leave you with nothing," I said, quieter now. "I'm trying to find out what this is. Whether it works. Whether it's even real."

But what about her?

I didn't have an answer for that.

I pushed myself to my feet, ignoring the pain. The rabbit followed, hopping behind me. I didn't stop her.

I walked out of the library, through the empty halls, across the courtyard. The night air was cold against my bruised skin. The stars above me were unfamiliar—constellations I'd never seen before.

The lake glowed in the moonlight, dark and still.

I stood at the edge, staring into the depths.

"This is where it started," I said. "The wind. The light. Whatever pulled me here—it happened when I was dying, and dying happened here. If there's a door, it's in this water."

I knelt down at the water's edge and pressed my palm flat against the surface.

It didn't feel like water.

It felt like it was waiting for something. Waiting for me.

I took a breath.

And I went under.