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“We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.”
-Franklin D. Roosevelt
Under the pale moonlight, within a quiet city, three robbers were hiding in an alley, talking with each other.
“Man, we got quite a haul.” The robber with a hood said, examining the ill-gotten jewelries, gold and silver coins.
“Indeed we do, Will!” The robber with a goatee happily said as he took some of the shared loot. “Heck, I even copped a feel from a lassie too!”
“Which I should remind you Todd, almost got us caught.” The robber with a scarf calmly said to his fellow thief. “We were lucky to get away before she got a good look at us.”
Todd, the robber with the goatee, deflated a bit while Will, the hooded criminal, gave a good-nature chuckle.
“C’mon Dismas, lighten up will you? I mean, have you seen that woman’s figure?” Will asked the criminal with the scarf. “I would kill to have my hands on those breasts.”
“It doesn’t excuse the fact that it caused her to notice us.”
“Well, she would have noticed the missing poach anyway.”
“And by then, we would have gained a fair bit of distance from her.”
“Alright fair enough, but you can’t deny that woman was good looking. Still, we’ve got to keep a low profile.”
“True and-” Whatever Dismas was about to say next was interrupted by an eerie, rhythmic whistle coming from somewhere.
“The hell was that whistle?” Todd asked once it stopped.
“I don’t know…” Dismas replied while Will simply shrugs.
“I’m sure it’s nothing. Probably just some night owl passing by. ” Will dismissively said as he peers out the alleyway to look for guards. He doesn’t see any but he did see a shop with its lights still on. “I see a shop we could hit before we skedaddle.”
The other two thieves peers out the alleyway and see the shop as well. The three thieves look at each other and nod, their plan already decided.
Inside the shop, the old shopkeeper was wiping his counter with a cloth while a young-looking figure in a black hooded cloak perused a shelf full of herbs.
Just then, three men burst into the shop, their weapons drawn. The shopkeeper sighs as he puts his hands up, unusually calm even when the men pointed daggers at him.
“Alright, hand over your entire income and we won’t cut your fingers.” Dismas threateningly said while Todd notices the sole customer wearing a cloak that seems to be made with high-quality material.
Seeing a way to earn more money, Todd walked over to the cloaked customer and pointed his dagger at them.
“Alright, put your hands where I can see ‘em.” Todd said while the shopkeeper looked on with an incredulous look.
“Is your friend there suicidal?” The shopkeeper asked, seemingly familiar with the unknowing hostage and how out of league they are. Speaking of whom, the customer continues to peruse the herbs.
“I said put your hands where I can see ‘em.” Todd impatiently said, his words again going in one ear and out the other.
“What? What’s so special about some noble stranger?” Will asked, confident that Todd won’t have much problem.
“That’s a Bellwether your friend is threatening, idiot.” The shop keeper reveals much to Will’s confusion and Dismas’ realization.
“I SAID PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE ‘EM!” Todd yelled which finally gets the attention of the cloaked ‘Bellwether’.
“Are you…” The cloaked figure said in a feminine voice as she turned around, revealing cloudy grey eyes, skin that was paler than Todd had ever seen, and hair that was white like a diamond. Coupled with her cloak, she has a passing resemblance to the Reaper itself. She then notices the dagger Todd was pointing towards her. “…robbing me?”
“YES!” Todd shouted, wanting to get it over with while Dismas mutters a cuss word under his breath.
“Oooh.” The woman simply said…
BGM: Under My Skin (Epic Battle Fantasy 4)
Before her cloak suddenly flies up and shifts into a shadowy fist that sucker punches Todd which causes the dagger to slip out of his grip and sends him flying back towards Dismas and Will.
Will’s eyes widen in the realization that the robbery wasn’t going to be so simple while Dismas let out another cuss as the fist shifts back into a cloak, floating back down to cover the woman’s form.
“Of course, it just had to be the sadist.” Dismas muttered, bemoaning their luck as Todd gets back on his feet. “Let’s cut our losses and get out of here.”
“The hell we won’t!” Todd yelled only to get blindsided by a punch from… behind?
Todd and Will turn around only to see nothing before getting punched by fists made of shadows. Dismas cusses but before he could attempt to take the shopkeeper hostage, the woman flies towards the bandits using shadowy wings and hits him with a large dark club, sending him flying out of the shop and onto the street near an alley.
Recovering from their shock and surprise, Todd and Will get into combat stances with the latter taking the initiative, lunging forward with his dagger. Much to Will’s surprise, the woman sidesteps the strike without even looking, causing him to stumble a bit before the woman literally kick him out of the shop.
Todd, undeterred by the swift takedowns, dashes forward and delivers a hook that the woman dodge with as much effort as Will’s attempt, leaving Todd open to a pointblank magic bolt which sends him out of the shop, joining his fellow robbers near the alleyway. The robbers rise back up, dazed but conscious, and proceed to book it down the alley.
Pause BGM
The shopkeeper breathes a sigh of relief, only to hear the Bellwether woman giggle in amusement… and subtle glee.
“Abigail, t-“ What the shopkeeper was to say died in his throat as the cloaked woman, Abigail, runs out of the shop, causing him to tiredly sigh. “She’s gonna go overboard, I just know it.”
Todd, Will, and Dismas hurriedly navigate through the dark alleys and dimly lit streets, looking for a way out of the city without being caught. Hearing a feminine giggle coming from behind, the bandits quicken their pace hoping to lose the pursuer. After a few turns and close calls with the patrolling guards, the three came upon a dead end.
“Damn it, I was sure there wasn’t a dead end here.” Dismas said with frustration at the bandit’s misfortune.
“You’re right. There wasn’t.”
Dismas’ eyes widen, startled by the suspiciously familiar voice coming from somewhere nearby. Turning around, he became shocked when he saw armed guards in place of his two companions. Not letting them have the initiative, Dismas draws his dagger and slash one of the guards across the stomach, causing him to cry out in pain.
In Will’s voice.
Dismas blinks in confusion and became horrified when he saw Will clutching his stomach in pain, blood flowing through the wound with Todd looking just as horrified. Dismas moved to try and help, only to get slashed in the arm by Todd.
“Stay the hell away, dopple!” Todd yelled, his slightly rusted spare dagger held a bit shakily and dripping with Dismas’ blood.
“Todd, it’s me!” Dismas shouted, loud enough for Todd to hear him while being as quiet as possible so he wouldn’t alert their pursuer. Todd blinked in confusion then he became horrified.
“Aw, shit! Sorry Dis-” Todd’s apology got cut short by a pitch black magic bolt fired at his face, the force of which knocking him back. “Ah, damn it! Where the hell did that come from!?”
“Dismas… your… dagger…” Will weakly said, pointing to something.
Dismas’ gaze follows the direction Will is pointing and the former’s dagger was indeed on the ground… with its blade partially buried into the wall. Surprised by the strange sight, Dismas went to pick it up…
Resume BGM
Only for a scythe to emerge from the wall and swing down. Dismas narrowly dodge back just in time, blinking rapidly as the scythe disappears back into the wall, all while a giggle can be heard. Then like a mirage, the wall vanishes from view, replaced by the deathly vestige of Abigail wielding a scythe with one hand, a calm but sadistic smile on her face.
Dismas could see that Abigail was wearing a black, dark purple accented dress with the skirt reaching just above her knees which are covered by black frilled stockings and black slippers as her footwear of choice.
Without a word, Abigail slid Dismas’ dagger back towards him using the bottom of her scythe.
“Pick it up.” Abigail said in a subtly challenging tone. See Dismas’ hesitance, she aims the blade of her scythe towards him, making sure to emphasize her words, “Pick. It. Up.”
Not wanting to test her patience, Dismas picks his dagger up with the blood stained hand of his non-injured arm, releasing the pressure from the wound on his left wrist. Dismas get into a battle stance; his form a bit unsteady from blood loss while Todd administers a weak healing potion to Will, sealing the latter’s wound.
Abigail’s smile shifts into a smirk as she holds her scythe in front of her with both hands where it proceeds to split and melt into two dark liquids that quickly form into sickles. Seizing the initiative, Abigail dashes forward, swinging her right sickle which Dismas parries only for her to quickly follow up with a swallow slash across his chest.
Dismas grunts in pain, but manages to keep his focus steady as he retaliates with a stab which Abigail dodge and counter with an upward slash. Dismas dodge back in the nick of time, the sickle missing by a few inches only for the other sickle to morph into a ball of shadow which Abigail fires at Dismas hitting him dead center and knocking him barely unconscious, leaving Todd as the only left able to fight as Will lost too much blood to remain conscious enough to fight.
Abigail reaches her now empty hand out and almost immediately, pitch black tendrils emerge from the surrounding shadows and converge with each other near her open palm. The tendrils then combine into a shadowy ball which Abigail grabs.
As soon as she does, the ball morphs into a sickle identical to the one still in her other hand.
Todd cussed beneath his breath as Abigail twirls the new sickle around in her hand, her proficiency with them evident. Todd glances at Will as he readies his rusted but serviceable dagger in his non-dominant hand.
Without a word, Will tosses his sharp pristine dagger to Todd, the latter catching it with his able dominant hand.
As Todd corrects his grip on the borrowed dagger, he catches a glimpse of Will’s eyes widening. Immediately, Todd jumps back, barely avoiding a slash from Abigail.
Giggling, Abigail quickly recovers from the miss and begin assaulting Todd with a series of slashes, the latter parrying, blocking and dodging them as best as he could but even then, the alleyway didn’t have much room to maneuver which led to Abigail cornering and landing a few hits on Todd, all while she giggles like someone playing with a pet.
Seeing Abigail raising her sickles upwards, Todd blocks the downwards strike with his daggers, catching her in a blade lock.
The two dual-wielders struggle against each other before Todd gets the idea to disengage in order to catch Abigail by surprise but the shadow mage apparently thought of the same thing as the two disengage at the same time, although Abigail didn’t seem surprised in the slightest.
In fact, Abigail took advantage of Todd’s surprise by dashing forward, a sickle raised to cut.
Reacting quickly, Todd sidesteps the attack despite his accumulating injuries and narrowly avoids the strike. Seeing an opening, he repays Abigail with a slash of his own to her arm. The attack strikes true, cutting through the sleeve of her dress and inflicting a shallow wound, earning a brief flinch of pain from Abigail and stopping her giggling.
Todd smirks in satisfaction from finally landing a hit while Abigail briefly looks at her new injury with a frown before turning her gaze back to Todd with a smile that sends a shiver down the robber’s spine.
Then without a word, Abigail releases her grip on the sickles which then melt into black liquids. She then brings her hands close to each other, the black liquids converging with each other before morphing into something resembling an egg which then bursts.
Todd became paralyzed with fear at the sight of what came out.
“SPIDERS!” Todd screamed at a volume Will didn’t think was possible as a massive amount of tiny shadow arachnids began to swarm and crawl all over the goatee robber. All while the sickles duel-wielder laughs at Todd’s flailing.
“Guess this is what Dismas was referring to when he called her a sadist.” Will thought before a question quickly came to him. “How did she know about Todd’s arachnophobia?”
Before Will could ponder further, he hears a flurry of footsteps that steadily grows louder. He realizes that it could only mean one thing.
End BGM
“STOP RIGHT THERE, TROUBLEMAKERS!” The guards shouted, stopping Abigail’s laughter in its tracks as they surrounded the three robbers and one shadow mage from both sides of the alley. A few guards seem to recognize her given the groans and sighs at the sight of Abigail who has "the caught in the act" look, and Todd rolling and screaming on the ground with one of them said to her, “Abigail, again? That’s the second time this month.”
Abigail, to her credit, has the decency to put her hands up and dispel the spiders which turns them into black mists. Not that Todd noticed.
“It was in self-defense, sir.” Abigail defensively said as the guards restrain and arrest Todd, making him aware of the spiders’ disappearance and the guards’ presence in the process.
“Exploiting someone’s phobia goes beyond self-defense.” A guard deadpanned as he slaps the hand-cuffs on a cooperating Abigail. “Your parents or one of your siblings should be on their way to the detention center to pick you up.”
“Dang, it was that loud?”
“Yes! I think everyone in the city heard it.”
Abigail replied with nothing as the guards led her and the three robbers out of the alley.
This night was one that will linger in the back of the robber’s minds for days if not weeks.
But for Abigail Bellwether? It was Wednesday.