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Fable : Fall of the Guild	By : Samson Category: +A through F > Fable Views: 8222 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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Mother Dearest.
Fable : Fall of the Guild

Part VI - "The Hunts"

By: Jesse Racine AKA Samson

Original Date Written: February 16, 2012

Guild members were not the only ones to face the wrath of the Anti-Hero League. In the chaos consuming Albion following the rise of the League, many unscrupulous people quickly came to realize that to have someone legally killed, all they had to do was accuse them of being a Hero. The League would take it from there, very often neglecting to ask for any evidence before capturing the accused and executing them in front of all others of any given settlement. No other community was more infamous for this than Bowerstone; the rich folk in the northern side of town would often accuse their enemies, and enemies of their families, of being Heroes in disguise, or of having sheltered Heroes. An execution was taking place at least once every other day, sometimes more. In response, Lady Grey, the mayor of Bowerstone, formed an elite sect of guards, picking the very best at her disposal and putting them through an incredibly harsh training regime.
Dressed in all-black uniforms and armed with immense spiked maces, firearms for secondary weapons, they confronted the League members in Bowerstone. While Lady Grey generally held a low regard for everybody living within her town except for herself, she had enough sense to realize that if she let the League execute more and more people, it could pose serious problems for Bowerstone's future. As such, her guards ordered the League members to cease detaining and executing people, that Lady Grey had grown tired of the constant killing. The League members were outraged. When one pointed out that Lady Grey had always seemed somewhat amused by the executions, the guards simply responded that the League would no longer be welcomed in Bowerstone, should they refuse to cease their activities. The League chapter went into an uproar. They declared the League a vital necessity to Albion, at least until every last Hero had been slain, and that telling the League to cease it’s activities was comparable to treason against the entire country.
Lady Grey could not be swayed, and neither could her small army of guards. The elite guards informed the League that they could still do something about suspected Heroes and Hero sympathizers, but they could not take them out into the street and simply execute them; they were to bring their suspicions and findings to Lady Grey herself, and she would decide whether or not to have her guards investigate the case. The Anti-Hero League was not pleased with this development. Seemingly unrelated to Lady Grey’s decision, a group known as the Witchspotters of Albion Society was formed with support from the League. The group was dedicated to specifically hunting down females with Will capabilities, be they magi from the Guild or rogue witches. As the League poured donations from members and supporters into the funding of advancing firearm research, the Witchspotters found and tried numerous women, all condemned as witches.
All were either burned at the stake, or trapped within gibbets to slowly die of dehydration. Eventually, when the Witchspotters gained enough clout and support, they accused Lady Grey of witchcraft. The League bribed some of her personal guards, giving the Witchspotters a chance to capture her, which they easily enough did. The trial was held before all of Bowerstone. A man named Vincent Hopkins, the Witchspotter General, conducted the trial, himself. The charges brought forth against Lady Grey were, officially, witchcraft, consorting with hobbes, and attempts to corrupt Heroes. Unofficially, however, the charge of “unreasonable hotness” was rumoured to have been put forth, usually amid much snickering from Witchspotter members.
The evidence of her Heroic capabilities with Will included her old home, the Grey House. Considering the very sad state of affairs of the property, along with the whispered rumours of it being haunted, Lady Grey was said to be an evil witch who had cursed her old home. Without giving her a chance to defend herself, more evidence was brought forth. She was accused of having supported and even encouraged evil Heroes, malicious and self-important Heroes. Most obviously, she tried to corrupt the great Hero Thunder, to use him to kill off Heroes that Lady Grey didn’t like. Lady Grey could not defend herself against this accusation; Thunder had tried courting her for a long while, and everyone in Bowerstone had seen the two in public together at one time or another. The final piece of evidence brought against her was her order for the League to cease and desist from capturing suspected Heroes and Hero supporters in the walls of Bowerstone.
The logic was, since she had ordered the League to stop, she was a Hero herself, and had grown nervous that the League would eventually discover the truth and have her executed. Lady Grey tried to say that she could not cast spells, but the Witchspotter General simply retorted that it was impossible to find out if someone could truly cast spells or not. Lady Grey tried saying that that was proof enough that all the charges against her were pointless, but Vincent Hopkins did not let her finish, saying that Will could manifest in ways other than spells. Concluding his accusations with a statement, he said “She makes men her slaves through the use of foul potions, and her bosom does protrude rather lewdly.” Almost everyone watching the trial, except for a few individuals that had been personal acquaintances of Lady Grey, burst into raucous applause. The Witchspotters present unanimously agreed that Lady Grey should be executed and then dismembered, with a committee deciding where her body parts would be kept.
Lady Grey’s guards were powerless to stop the trial. By all accounts, it was legal; Lady Grey had ordered the League to cease it’s activities in Bowerstone, and officially, the Witchspotters of Albion Society was a completely different organization. As Lady Grey was taken away for her execution, League members and Witchspotters set fire to her illustrious manor, burning it to the ground. Bowerstone now lacked a mayor, but the guards remained, the elite order of guards Lady Grey had created doing their best to keep the peace. Even though they could keep the League from doing anything, it was widely rumoured that the Witchspotters were simply doing the League’s dirty work, acting as a front for the League, hunting for anybody suspected of Heroic blood in Bowerstone. Many individuals would be accused of witchcraft or, if they were male, of being under the influence of a witch, and they would be executed.
The League had, for all intents and purposes, gotten it’s revenge on the woman who would try and push the League out of her township, and had seemingly found a way around her hindering guards. The Witchspotters, meanwhile, spread throughout numerous parts of Albion, though without anywhere near the tenacity or public support as the Anti-Hero League. Mostly, they were concerned with the witch of Darkwood, a dangerous Will-user that had been at large for decades...
Timoteo’s lamp brightened up the interior of the cave passage, but not by very much. Bianca walked ahead of him slightly, leading the way through the cavern. The entrance had revealed a narrow path heading down an incline, leading deeper into the earth. The both of them remained quiet for about a minute, the cavern passage suddenly taking a left turn. They rounded the turn, seeing that the passage headed back in the direction of the cathedral, though was still leading down an incline. “The Dark Will is becoming more prominent...And so is the unholy presence.” Bianca said, quietly. Timoteo thought he began to get a sense of what Bianca meant when she mentioned feeling Dark Will; as the two headed deeper into the cavern, a sort of light feeling came to his head, a sensation of coldness pulsing in his chest. All the while, he felt a prickle at the back of his neck, like at any moment something would let out a breath against him from behind.
The two reached the bottom of the incline, finally. They found themselves in a large opening, the cave walls smoothed and flattened into true walls. A few pillars were around the room, the pillars thin in the center while thickening right near the floor and ceiling. There were braziers standing by every pillar, the braziers filled with burning coals, giving the room heat and adequate light. On the other side of the room, there was another passage, but a large iron gate had been lowered over it, barring anyone from heading through. Bianca and Timoteo both glanced around the room. Slowly, Bianca murmured “...Expecting a trap?” Timoteo nodded, saying “Seems appropriate.” He pulled out his steel mace, beginning to walk deeper into the room. Bianca followed shortly behind him, her eyes slowly roaming over the room, moving from pillar to pillar. Timoteo blew out his lamp, slipping it back into his pack. Their footsteps tapped against the floor and sent slight echoes throughout, the only other sound in the room being the burning of the coals within the many braziers.
As they neared the center of the room, a shadow suddenly appeared before them. It wasn’t very tall, a little shorter than the average human. It held a long, slender blade in it’s right hand, holding the arm up and back, pointing the tip of the sword towards them while keeping the blade near it’s face. It’s left hand, it kept up in the air before it, as it to keep it prepared for any sort of attack. It stood there and stared at them for a few seconds while in it’s stance, a rustling sound appearing as another three identical shadows appeared. One was to the duo’s right, one was to their left, and one was behind them. Timoteo quickly cast Physical Shield, dashing for the shadow in front of him. Bianca had been about to strike out at the shadow to her left when the shadow behind her silently rushed over to her. Shooting it’s sword out and moving with blinding speed, it almost seemed to glide across the floor as it attacked her. Bianca grit her teeth and barely suppressed a cry as the shadow impaled her through the stomach with it’s shadowy sword, pulling the sword out of her a moment later.
The shadow to her left sprinted over, but Bianca cast Assassin’s Rush, disappearing and reappearing behind the shadow in the blink of an eye. Blood ran down the left corner of her mouth as she let out a short nova of Force Push energy, launching the shadow several meters away. Bianca held out her hands, gray lights shining in her palms for a moment before each shadow was surrounded by a veil of red light. Timoteo swung viciously for the shadow he was clashing with, but found it amazingly agile; it was almost as if the shadow were a Hero of Skill, it was so speedy. Every time he swung for it, it’d either dodge the attack entirely, or simply smash it’s blade against his weapon and manage to parry the blow. Eventually, it tried to attack him the same way the other shadow had attacked Bianca, suddenly zooming closer to Timoteo, launching out it’s blade point-first. In one blow, it had lowered his Physical Shield, the energy from the shadow’s attack sending him stumbling backwards.
Timoteo was about to cast the barrier once more when the shadow sprinted for him, jumping up and spinning around, about to decapitate Timoteo with a fancy move. He managed to cast his barrier a second before the attack landed, but the attack simply lowered his shield once again. He gave it a hard kick in the stomach, his leg passing through it yet sending it sprawling backwards. One shadow, it’s eyes burning like fire while a black smoke trailed out behind it, rushed for the wounded Bianca. It swung for her throat, yet it’s blade passed through her as if she were made of thin air. A split appeared in the red veil of light surrounding the shadow, the split going directly across it’s throat. The shadow made a wordless cry, stumbling backwards as it’s own attack was reflected against itself. Bianca waved an arm at another shadow nearby, also under the effects of Bianca’s reversal hex. A purple light shone from the prints of each of her fingers, and the shadow she had waved her arm at promptly collapsed, a shimmering mist of purple sparkles surrounding the shadow.
One shadow ran for her, and she swung an arm in it’s direction. A dark green orb of magic flew from her hand in an arc, making an odd high-pitched whizzing sound as it flew towards a shadow. Striking it with concussive force, it flew back and rammed against a pillar, slumping down to the ground. Timoteo swung like mad, trying to hit the enemy shadow as quick as he could. It dodged several strikes before Timoteo got lucky, his mace crashing into the side of the shadow’s head. It’s head snapped over until the opposite side was nearly touching the shadow’s shoulder, the shadow disappearing a second later. Timoteo looked over and realized, then, that Bianca had been injured. He saw how the shadow seemed less capable of dodging Will attacks, and came up with in idea. Rushing over into the middle of the three remaining shadows, he swung around for them all, trying to get their attention on him. “Get behind a pillar!” He called to Bianca.
She hastily took cover behind the nearest pillar, bringing her hands to her stomach in pain. The three shadows all surrounded him, likely preparing to attack him at the same time, when Timoteo abruptly cast Enflame. A sphere of rippling flames exploded into life around him, a nova of fire shooting out at the same time. The three shadows instantly disappeared in the face of the attack, slain. Timoteo glanced around once his spell had finished. The floor around him was charred, and so were numerous nearby pillars, but Timoteo figured that so long as Bianca had hid behind a pillar, she shouldn’t have been licked by the flames. “Bianca?” He called. She stumbled out from behind a nearby pillar, her hands still over her stomach. Her face was a little pale, her chin stained with blood. Timoteo rushed over to her, quickly pulling off his pack, fishing around for potions. He reached Bianca just as his hand found a health potion. “Here, drink this...” He said, pulling the cork from the potion, handing it to her.
She took it, beginning to drink it when Timoteo heard a clunking sound across the room. Looking over, his eyes widened when he saw a very tall shadow, nearly nine feet tall and rippling with muscle, appear near the gated passage. In it’s hands, it hefted a club nearly as long as Bianca was tall. His eyes were like big, burning coals, the immense shadow beginning to cross the room towards them. “Shit!” Timoteo muttered, beginning to charge a fireball. The fire had swelled considerably between his hands before he threw it at the shadow, the fireball exploding around the shadow’s torso. It stumbled back a step or two, but other than that, it didn’t react much to the attack. Bianca finished off the potion just as the shadow swung it’s club over, Timoteo diving into Bianca and collapsing to the ground with her. The shadow missed them, the club instead smashing clear through the pillar they had been beside, breaking down most of the pillar in a shower of rubble.
They both scrambled to their feet, Timoteo urging Bianca with “C’mon!” They ran down the side of the room, the shadow quickly following them, letting out an unintelligible whisper as it did so. Bianca wiped away the blood that had ran on to her chin as she glanced over her shoulder, seeing that the shadow was running for them. “Watch out!” She warned, ducking down.
The shadow swung over wildly, Timoteo unable to dodge in time, but casting Battle Charge to save himself. He sprinted down to the end of the room before coming to a stop, evading the shadow’s attack. The shadow’s club crashed into the wall over Bianca, leaving a small crater in the stone, dust and small rock chunks flying out over her. Bianca barely noticed the shadow raise it’s club over her through the cloud of dust, gritting her teeth as she rolled to the side as quickly as she could, barely dodging the shadow’s attack. While the shadow’s club was lowered, Timoteo cast Battle Charge again, heading straight for the shadow. When he was close enough, he jumped up, raising up his mace over his shoulder. His Battle Charge enhanced his speed to the point that he nearly flew through the air towards the shadow, Timoteo smashing his mace down against the shadow’s head hard enough to almost force it down to a knee.
He flew through it due to it’s only semi-corporeal state, turning around quickly to look at the shadow as it recovered. The shadow looked over to Bianca, whispering quietly, no sense behind it’s voice. It began to march for her, raising up it’s club, ready to bring it down in a fatal blow over her head. She simply stood there, staring at it, her expression cold. “Bianca!” Timoteo shouted, beginning to sprint over. Just as the shadow swung down, Bianca shot her hands out towards it, her fingers crooked like hooks. A deep purple glow shone from her palms, hitting the shadow like a pair of tendrils, the shadow suddenly freezing in place. Timoteo slowed down until he came to a stop. Bianca lowered her hands, the glowing purple magic fading, still staring at the shadow. It slowly lowered it’s club, simply standing before her. Bianca pointed an arm over towards the gated passageway on the other side of the room, quietly ordering “Break it down.”
The shadow nodded, beginning to quickly walk across the room. Timoteo smiled with relief and surprise, asking “What did you do?” Bianca smiled gently, the two watching the shadow approach the metal gate. “Turncoat. Very useful spell. Can only be mastered by the evil, however.” Bianca murmured. Timoteo smiled a little more, glancing at her before looking back at the shadow. It raised it’s club up, swinging it down blindingly fast, crashing into the metal of the gate. There was a loud clang as part of the gate twisted open, the shadow pulling back it’s club and trying again, smashing open more of the gate. About two-thirds of the gate had been broken down by that point, leaving more than enough space for Timoteo and Bianca to squeeze through. “It won’t be able to follow us, the passageway’s too small for it. Let’s head through.” Bianca softly said. Timoteo nodded, the two crossing the room. The shadow stepped aside as the two walked up to the gate, Bianca stepping through the mostly-destroyed gate before Timoteo did.
The passage beyond the gateway was smoothed out, just like the room behind them, making the passageway seem less like it were in a real cave. Timoteo no longer needed his lamp, as sconces were set in the walls on either side of the passage, each holding burning torches that illuminated their path. The path led on for a while before another dip downwards appeared, the two heading down the incline quietly. The cold sensation in Timoteo’s chest began to grow stronger, more distracting. “We’re close...” Bianca murmured. “I can feel it.” Timoteo muttered. Bianca glanced at him for a moment, perhaps in surprise, but she said nothing. After another minute of steadily heading deeper and deeper into the earth, the passage came to it’s final stretch. Mist had collected on the floor of the passage, and the doorway at the end of the passage showed that the chamber beyond was filled with the same mist. Bianca quickened her pace, walking ahead of Timoteo, almost rushing as she headed towards the doorway at the end of the path.
Timoteo followed behind her, walking out into the chamber at the end of the path. Timoteo looked around in surprise. The chamber was massive, reaching rather high up. The walls were rough, making the room seem more cavernous than the passage behind them. All along the ceiling, gargoyles of sorts were carved into the stone, staring down at them with ominously dark and angry faces. The floor was covered in bright white mist, the mist reaching the duo’s thighs, the walls on either side of the somewhat circular chamber covered in what looked like numerous sets of doors. Timoteo realized that the doors were the doors of tombs, skeletons carved into the doors to mark them as final resting places. The most startling thing about the room, however, had to have been the massive stone face carved into the wall on the very far side. The face was easily the size of a full house, perhaps even bigger, taking up an immense amount of the cave wall.
The carving depicted a bald man with a long beard, his eyes lazily opened only halfway. A strange sort of opening had been carved into the man’s forehead, triangular in shape, looking dark as it led to an unknown depth within the stone face. His pupils were carved as slits, suggesting the statue was inspired by, or based on, an evil man with Hero blood. His mouth was gaping open a little, the mist seeming to drift down from the darkness within his jaws. Bianca glanced around, looking for another passageway. Aside from the doors of the tombs, there didn’t appear to be any further room to be found in the underground complex. “Where is she?” Bianca muttered, her eyes narrowing. Timoteo let out a subtle sigh, his shoulders slumping a little. “Maybe we missed her?” He gently suggested, raising his eyebrows a little. The both of them froze as, suddenly, a figure rose up from the mist near the massive stone face. Standing up, the figure must’ve been kneeling down before the face so low that it had been entirely covered by the mist. Timoteo’s brow furrowed when he spotted the figure’s long hair; they were obviously female. Bianca’s eyes widened as the figure turned to them entirely. “Mother...” Bianca mumbled.
She was only a little bit taller than Bianca was, being around Timoteo’s height, but considering the elevated heels of Bianca’s boots, the difference between the two was less noticeable than it should’ve been. She had pitch-black hair like her daughter, her hair also curling a little near the ends, just like Bianca. The family resemblance was astounding; Bianca looked almost identical to the other woman, the structure of their faces were incredibly similar. The woman was wearing a loose black and red garment over her torso, the garment unique to Timoteo’s eyes. It was like a shirt in the sense that it went from her neck down to her waist, but the sleeves only reached her elbows before they stopped wrapping around her arms like true sleeves. Instead, they ceased to be a tube for her limbs like a real sleeve, the material turning flat and hanging down behind her arms, exposing her forearms. A cloth of sorts was wrapped tight around her torso from over her shoulders, covering the upper regions of her arms along with her chest and upper back, the odd black cloth not going down far enough to cover her stomach.
While the shirt was primarily black, a design had been done over her stomach in red, the design nonsensical and random, formed mostly of sharp swirls and jagged points. She wore tight gloves on her hands, the gloves black with red jewels studded over the knuckles. She wore a long black skirt, the skirt reaching nearly her knees. There was a design trailing up the right side of the skirt, the design done in blazing red, depicting several sharp spikes jutting from each other as they headed up in a row together. She wore a tall pair of boots, the boots nearing her knees before they stopped. The boots were dark gray, the laces a deep blue shade. Attached to the boots at various points, like charms, were little silver bones, hanging down against the material of the boots. Her body wasn’t nearly as curvy as Bianca’s, Octavia appearing to have just regular curves. Timoteo’s eyebrows stabbed down when he realized just how much of an evil morality had manifested in the woman; he thought Grizelda had had an obviously very evil morality, but Octavia made Grizelda’s manifested morality seem tame.
Her skin was pure white, as white as Bianca’s, if not even paler; her skin was the same colour as fresh snow. The skin around her eyes was as dark as the abyss, very much like Grizelda. Octavia’s eyes, however, had a faint red glow to them, mostly shielding them from view. In combination with the dark skin around her eyes, she looked rather intimidating. Large horns had grown from her forehead, the horns made of some tough, dark substance. They pointed downwards on either side of her face like Grizelda’s did, but Octavia’s horns were much longer and thicker than Grizelda’s were. Flies could be seen, big and black, constantly flying around Octavia’s head, never touching her yet never leaving her presence. A faint red smoke-like substance wafted from behind her, seemingly drifting out of her back, spreading out on the air for a second before dissipating. She seemed surprised to see Bianca for only a moment before she slowly began to look angry. “Bianca...” She muttered.
Slowly crossing her arms over her chest, she hissed “I never should’ve popped you out from between my legs. You’ve been nothing but a hindrance since the day I had you.” Bianca’s brow slowly furrowed, her eyes narrowing. Her jaw tightened considerably, Bianca almost grinding her teeth together. Octavia calmly said “I’m honestly surprised that you tracked me down to this place. I always thought I was one step ahead of you, until the Grey House. You were close, then.” Octavia tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow, saying “Always hunting, always searching, you could never just leave your poor mother alone, could you? Everywhere I went, I could see you over my damn shoulder...In the corner of my eye...In the dark corners of whatever room I walked in to.” Bianca’s eyes went confused, and so did Timoteo’s. Octavia lifted her head up straight again, her eyes going wide, a little grin coming to her. “And now, you’ve finally decided to stop with your games. To see if you can slay your mother, hmm, is that it?”
Octavia’s face went dark and menacing. Her tone went dangerous as she said “A lifetime of trouble, because of you...I never wanted you. You were your father’s idea. I should’ve smothered you the first chance I had.” Bianca grit her teeth for a moment before, with surprising anger, she snapped out “Stop it! Enough!” Octavia looked at Bianca with her eyebrows lightly raised. Timoteo glanced at Bianca. She shot a hand up, showing off her father’s bracelet. Angrily, she asked “Why did you do it? Why did you kill father?” Octavia smiled a little. “I see your father every day. He’s always watching me, following me, just like you. Don’t play stupid, little bee.” Bianca took a step forwards, her throat tightening a little as she spoke with more emotion, more anger. “Why?! Just tell me why!” Octavia’s grin grew stronger. “He misses you, you know. I think that he’d love to see you again. Down there, in Skorm’s claws, impaled and ripped apart every second for all eternity-”
Bianca’s bottom lip quivered for a moment before she screamed “Listen to me!!” Octavia’s face slowly grew cold. Timoteo stared hard at Octavia, his hands clenched tight into fists by his sides. He felt strongly tempted to race over to Octavia and crush her face with his mace, but as satisfying as the fantasy was, he knew it’d be foolish to try and make it reality. He knew that Octavia must’ve been a very potent Will-user. A few tears rolled down Bianca’s cheeks as she held up her arm more, making her bracelet more visible. “Tell me why...Tell me, or...” Bianca had trailed off for not even a second before her mother had spoken. Octavia’s eyebrows sunk low in anger. “Or what?” She quietly hissed out. Bianca’s mouth hung open a little for a second, but before she could speak, Octavia continued. Darkly, she muttered “I warned you about following me more, now didn’t I? I’m sure you got my note in the Grey House. Your magic is pathetic, my little bee. Not my fault, though. It’s not like you ever learned anything from me.”
Octavia took a step backwards, beginning to smile smugly. “You are following the path to Skorm, little bee. As a good mother, I should correct you.” Bianca’s face became one of suppressed rage, tears still running down her cheeks. She lowered her arm back down to her side, her father’s bracelet clinking slightly as the charms on it moved. “...I gave you a chance to explain yourself.” She solemnly said.
In a flash, both Octavia and Bianca shot their arms up towards each other, beams of Lightning shooting from the tips of their fingers. Their beams struck one another and clashed, smaller beams of electricity shooting off to the side at the center of their two beams, striking the cavern walls and tearing up chunks of rock. Timoteo pulled out his mace and took off in a mad dash for the hated Octavia, in such a rush that he neglected to coat himself in a Physical Shield. Octavia gave a strong surge to her Lightning beam before abruptly cutting off the flow of magic, the sudden assault of magical power stunning Bianca for a moment. She quickly launched a powerful blast of Force Push directly into Timoteo’s abdomen, a short shout of pain coming from him before he was launched clear across the room. The attack tore the air from his lungs, leaving him unable to breathe for several seconds, his back smashing against the wall on the other side of the room only making matters worse for him.
Bianca didn’t even glance at him, her wrathful eyes never leaving her mother. She quickly cast a Blades spell, numerous glowing swords appearing around her, pointing at Octavia. Octavia held her arms up by her sides, and she seemed to cast a spell similar to Blades; numerous swords made of glowing orange light appeared around her, swirling rapidly around her torso. They didn’t point themselves at Bianca or Timoteo however, and when Bianca’s own Blades spell launched itself at Octavia, her summoned swords actually shot themselves down and in the way of the propelled swords. Bianca’s summoned swords disappeared with a clashing sound when they hit Octavia’s own, Octavia’s disappearing, as well. Timoteo recovered, casting Physical Shield before he got up on his feet. Casting Ghost Sword, he sprinted for Octavia once more. She grit her teeth and shot a fireball in his direction, but he launched one of his own, hitting her’s in mid-flight and destroying it with his own.
Bianca held her hands together over her stomach, a shining silver light beginning to swell between her hands. When Timoteo reached Octavia, he swung for her head, Octavia diving backwards with surprising finesse. She rolled to her feet, Timoteo’s Ghost Sword hovering over in the blink of an eye. It swung for her, Octavia dodging to the left. Timoteo ran over and swung to her left, catching her on the shoulder. His mace crashed into her with a sickening crunch, the force of the blow sounding like it had cracked some of Octavia’s bones. Octavia held back a scream, throwing her arms up, letting out a wide nova of the Vortex spell. In the blink of an eye, winds began to swirl around Octavia with unnatural speed and strength, the winds picking Timoteo up off of his feet. He cried out as he spun around through the air, being lifted up high near the ceiling. Bianca, her spell readied, shot her hands out towards her mother. Octavia screamed as grey electricity suddenly flashed along her arms.
Octavia’s arms spasmed violently a few times before hanging limply by her sides, apparently useless to her. Octavia’s Vortex spell wore off, the incredibly powerful winds around her dying. Timoteo collapsed to the ground after falling over a dozen feet, his Physical Shield fortunately taking the force of his impact, fading in the face of such trauma. Octavia was unable to defend herself from Timoteo’s Ghost Sword, which swung for Octavia’s legs, slashing across her thighs quite deeply. Octavia’s eyes wildly darted between Timoteo and Bianca. She cast Battle Charge, surprisingly, taking off in a mad Will-fuelled sprint for Bianca. Bianca’s eyes widened for a split-second before Octavia reached her, Octavia butting her forehead into Bianca’s own, causing her to collapse to the ground from sheer shock. A bright white light surrounded Octavia for hardly a moment before she spun around, raising her arms in Timoteo’s direction. She had cast Heal Life, restoring her arms to service after Bianca’s hex had left them temporarily disabled, also healing her shoulder and thighs.
She tried launching a powerful fireball at him, but as he ran for her, he dropped to the floor and slid across it on his side, twirling back up to his feet once her fireball had zoomed past him. Bianca took a moment to charge up a Lightning spell before launching it directly into her mother’s lower back, sending the woman through the air and clear over Timoteo, Octavia doing a flip through the air before slamming back down to the ground. Timoteo twisted around and headed back for Octavia, Bianca getting up to her feet. Octavia got up to her feet quickly, casting another defensive Blades spell, the glowing orange swords swirling around her body protectively. Timoteo swung for her, but only found one of the swords she had summoned flying in the way, crashing against his weapon and knocking it to the side, keeping her safe. He tried a few more times, but her summoned swords always got in the way, more always replacing the destroyed ones around Octavia’s body.
Octavia threw her arms out behind herself, grinning a little as she cast a Blades spell behind herself. Timoteo’s eyes widened when he saw five swords appear behind Octavia, spinning around for hardly a moment before pointing themselves at him. Before he could cast Physical Shield, they had shot past Octavia. Pain blinded him. Two swords impaled themselves through his stomach. One went through his chest. One went through his left thigh, and the last went through his right shoulder, near his neck. He collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from his mouth. “Tim!!” Bianca screamed. Timoteo tried reaching into his pack, but realized that he was lying over it, making accessing it more or less impossible. Rolling over was an impossibility, he was too wounded, too weak and wracked with agony. Octavia looked down at him with a savage grin, but only for a second before she was suddenly hit in the chest by a glowing green sphere of magic, flying back until she rammed against the giant stone face carved into the far side of the room.
Bianca’s eyes were glowing green as she parted her feet a little, holding her arms out by her sides. Baring her grit teeth a little, almost growling with exertion, loud scraping sounds began to echo out from each of the many tombs surrounding the room. Bianca slowly raised her arms up higher and higher, the scraping sounds growing louder in response. Octavia got up to her feet just as Bianca called out “Arise!!” Suddenly, the doors of every single tomb in the room violently swung open from within, each set revealing a rather tall and armour-clad skeleton. Bianca’s lips were set in a hard line as she pointed a finger at Octavia. That was all the order her minions required. The skeletons, numbering thirty-five in total, stepped out of their tombs, leaving behind the stone coffins they had dragged themselves from.
Timoteo felt life slip further and further away from him as the skeletons walked past him, heading for Octavia. His vision dimmed. He heard Octavia battling with the skeletons, but faintly. And then, as if he were slipping into a comfortable bed, the pain faded. Simultaneously, his mind slipped away into darkness. He was gone for only what felt like a split-second before there was a cracking sound in his ears, his vision abruptly filling with white light. A moment later, he heard clashing, Octavia grunting with exertion as she launched spell after spell at the undead horde Bianca had summoned. The light in his eyes died, Timoteo beginning to quickly sit up as he heard Bianca’s boots tap towards him. She knelt down by his side, her eyes glimmering with tears as she gently asked “How did you...?” She helped him get up to his feet. “Golden potion in my pack...Never did remember what they were called. I have one left.” He muttered, eyeing Octavia through the crowd of skeletons.
She was barely fending them off, blasting the nearest with rapid Will blows. Timoteo wondered just how much mana the woman had at her disposal, realizing then that Bianca must’ve been running low, herself. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a mana potion for both of them, each downing their potion in a snap. Just as they prepared to toss their emptied potions aside, they were both flung backwards, slamming against the wall near the exit passage. Octavia had let out a truly prodigious nova of Force Push energy, instantly destroying every one of Bianca’s skeletons. She teleported in a shimmer of blue light, appearing before the duo. Her face was angry as she looked down at them, Bianca trying to rise to her feet. Octavia kicked her in the stomach hard, causing Bianca to cry out in pain as the air was viciously swept from her lungs. “My little bee...” Octavia said, contempt clear in her voice. “I should have the shadows of this place pull you apart, limb from limb.” She added.
Bianca looked up at her mother, hatred clear in her eyes. Timoteo lashed out with a foot, catching Octavia on her right ankle. Octavia collapsed by the two, her face going surprised. Just as she slammed down to the ground, Bianca darted over her, pulling out her obsidian dagger. Straddling her mother, keeping her pinned to the ground, she held her dagger up, ready to plunge it down. “Bianca.” Octavia said, lightly. Bianca froze, staring into her mother’s eyes. Timoteo got up to his feet, breathing hard, gripping his mace tight. Octavia’s expression had turned gentle. She gazed into her daughter’s eyes for a few seconds, her eyes closing a little. The hate in Bianca’s eyes disappeared, swallowed up with emotional suffering. “Why did you do it?...” She quietly said, almost whispering. Octavia was silent for a few seconds, Timoteo slowly walking around the two, getting behind Bianca. He looked down at Octavia’s legs, narrowing his eyes, gritting his teeth with rage. “Why?...” Octavia softly repeated.
Bianca waited for an answer for several seconds, her bottom lip quivering, tears freshly filling her eyes. “You made me kill so many people...” Bianca choked out, eventually. Octavia looked up from Bianca’s eyes, looking to the bracelet around Bianca’s wrist. She gazed at it for a second before she started to smile a little. “I killed your father, because...I needed him. You don’t know anything about what we were like before you, do you?” Octavia questioned, looking back to Bianca’s eyes. Bianca’s brow furrowed a little in curiosity. Octavia smiled a little more. “Long story short, we were enemies. He humiliated me. Destroyed my reputation as a mage. I wanted him dead, but he was stronger than me. So, I seduced him, but he never let his guard down enough for me to kill him. The fool fell in love with me, though, so we married. It took years for him to let his guard down just enough for me to finally get my revenge...” Octavia’s eyes narrowed a little, her expression turning to contempt.
“By then, you had already been born. I needed his heart for a ritual. Certain dark forces in the world love nothing more than to receive a sacrifice from one’s spouse...” Timoteo raised his mace up, swinging it down for Octavia’s right foot so hard that he partially crushed it in just a single blow. Octavia screamed at the top of her lungs in response, blood gushing from her wounded foot. Bianca stared at her mother’s face, absorbing her looks of pain, her eyes almost filled with reverie in response. “I can’t let you live. It’s been my life’s goal to take you out of this world...” Bianca muttered, her face growing angry, her hands tightening around her dagger. Octavia, panting in pain, chuckled slightly through clenched teeth. “You’re pathetic, little bee...You torment me for years, then just decide that you’ll try to stop me now?” Octavia shook her head lightly. Bianca took in a sharp breath before plunging her dagger downwards. Octavia began to glow blue a split-second after Bianca had shot her weapon down.
Bianca’s eyes went wide when the tip of her dagger found not flesh, but stone. Already, Octavia was disappearing from beneath Bianca, becoming less solid with every fraction of every second. Octavia let out a slight laugh just before vanishing entirely, leaving behind nothing but some blood and a shimmer of blue light.
Timoteo’s eyes went wide when Octavia disappeared. Bianca’s eyes flickered left and right for a moment as her mind processed what had just happened. “She...She...” Bianca mumbled, sounding utterly dumbfounded. Timoteo glanced towards the nearby exit. “If we hurry, maybe we can-!” He said, Bianca cutting him off. She slowly shook her head, softly saying “She teleported...She could’ve gone anywhere...Anywhere at all...” Bianca slowly released her dagger, the weapon tipping over, clattering against the stone floor. Timoteo stood silently, looking to Bianca’s face. Her expression was one of worrying blankness. Several long moments passed by. Bianca eventually brought her hands down around her dagger, pressing her palms flat against the cool, misty floor. “...She got away...” She whispered. “I had her, and she...” Timoteo quietly replaced his mace to it’s place on the side of his pack, trying desperately to think of something to say to Bianca.
Bianca was quiet for several seconds before shaking her head lightly. “...I’ll never find her, now...She won’t let herself be found...” “You don’t know that...” Timoteo gently said, taking a step closer to her. Bianca didn’t seem to notice his words. “I didn’t even find out what she was doing here...Why she sent the shadows to Grove...” She said, raising her eyebrows lightly. “I...” She murmured, trailing off. Timoteo got down on a knee by her side, bringing a hand to her upper back. “We can still find her...” He said, soothingly. Bianca slowly shook her head. Her eyes brimmed with tears, slowly flowing down her pale cheeks. “She got away...After...Everything...” Bianca’s voice began to choke up. Her expression turned weary, tired, almost disappointed. “I could’ve...” She mumbled, her voice going gentle and light. Timoteo raised his eyebrows a little, quietly saying “Bianca...Come here...” Bianca looked towards him for a moment before leaning towards him, shutting her eyes lightly.
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, letting her nuzzle her face into the side of his neck. “I had her...I had her!...” Bianca quietly repeated a few times. Timoteo brought a hand to the side of her head, comfortingly stroking along her hair. Bianca shut her eyes tight with frustration, gritting her teeth. A moment later, he heard her let out a little sob. “I had her!...” Bianca repeated, one last time. She started to weep. She wrapped her arms around his waist. She grabbed hard at his chainmail shirt, almost trying to dig her fingers through the metal. Timoteo held Bianca for what felt like ages, trying to comfort her. She wept for several minutes, often murmuring something Timoteo couldn’t make out. When she finally calmed down, neither of them released each other for a minute more. Finally, in a very tired voice, Bianca mumbled “There’s no point in staying here...She’s gone...Let’s just...” The two of them slowly released each other, Timoteo getting up to his feet, helping her stand.
She grabbed her dagger, slipping it back into a pocket on her cloak. Her expression was deeply weary, Bianca not meeting his eyes as she barely said “I want to go back to Grizelda’s...There’s some books I need to look over...” Timoteo nodded. “Let’s head to the Cullis Gate in Greatwood, then.” He said. Bianca nodded lightly, the both of them pulling out their Seals. Within moments, they had both disappeared in shimmers of light, Timoteo’s blue with Bianca’s red.
Bianca led Timoteo back to Grizelda’s cottage. She was silent during the entire trip. When the two made it to Grizelda’s cottage, she was pleased to see them, but wondered why they had returned so soon. Bianca quietly said that they had found Octavia, but that Bianca had failed to kill her before she had teleported away. Grizelda didn’t know what to say. Bianca merely said that Octavia could be gone forever, now. She retired to her room, saying she had books she wanted to look over. Timoteo gave her space, figuring she would want to be alone as she read. Grizelda was quiet for a little bit, seemingly contemplating what had transpired. Beginning to cook some dinner, she sat with Timoteo in the living room of her cottage, the two sipping on glasses on apple cider.
Grizelda reclined into her chair, having just tossed some chopped herbs into her black pot, the pot resting in the lit fireplace. “So...” She finally said, quietly. “My Bianca found her mother.” She stated, exhaling deeply through her nose. Her face was unhappy, her eyes a little downcast. “Whether she had killed her or not, seeing her again would’ve hurt. I don’t know which would be worse for her though, actually killing her mother, or knowing that she might never find her again.” Looking to Timoteo, she said “Tell me what happened.” Timoteo’s expression was serious as he said “We checked Barrow Fields, then Oakvale. We looked at the Grey House, and found evidence that Octavia had been there recently. She even left a note for Bianca, but it seemed like she wasn’t in her right mind, anymore. We checked out a few small communities...The town of Grove had been wiped out by shadows. Well, maybe “wiped out” isn’t the best way to put it. It seemed like everyone had vanished.”
Grizelda began to perk up in her seat, looking to Timoteo with interest. He continued, saying “We found some Old Kingdom ruins, and went down into a cavern. We found Octavia in the lowest chamber...” His brow furrowed a little. “Hell of a weird place. Tombs everywhere. Huge stone face carved into the wall on the farthest side. I think she had been kneeling before it, almost like she...Almost like she had been praying. When she noticed us, she stood up.” Timoteo raised his eyebrows, shaking his head lightly. Letting out a sigh, he said “She started saying all this really cruel stuff, like how she never wanted Bianca, and Bianca had only been trouble. Bianca asked her for a reason why she killed her father...Octavia wouldn’t give her an answer, at first. We all started fighting. Octavia was pretty tough...She even killed me, at one point.” Grizelda raised her eyebrows. Timoteo half-smiled for a moment before it died.
“I’ve got these two potions, well, one potion, now. They save you automatically if you die. Anyway...Octavia more or less beat us both, but when she came close to try and finish us off, I knocked her down and Bianca got over her with her knife. She asked Octavia why she killed her father again, and...” He narrowed his eyes a little, shaking his head lightly as he said “...She said something about being enemies with him, and to get revenge, she seduced him and made him fall in love with her. She waited years for him to let his guard down enough for her to kill him, but she had already had Bianca, by that point. Also said she needed his heart for some ritual. Funny, she didn’t really seem too insane when we found her.” Grizelda’s expression turned dark. “I see...” She murmured. She relaxed into her seat once more. Timoteo looked to her, saying “Do you know what she might be up to?” Grizelda nodded, once. “I think I may have an idea of what she has planned.” Grizelda murmured.
Her face remained cold for a few seconds before she smiled lightly. “Thank you, Timoteo. I appreciate you helping Bianca through this.” Timoteo was quiet for a second, looking to the floor, by his feet. Quietly, he said “I promised Bianca I’d be with her every step of the way...If she wants to look for Octavia more, I’ll be there. I don’t know if she’s willing to try searching any more, though...” Grizelda raised her eyebrows, saying “After wanting to find Octavia for so long, I somehow doubt she’ll just give up now.” Grizelda finished off her glass of cider before saying “She’s been alone for a good half-hour, now. Why don’t you check in on her?” Timoteo nodded lightly, saying “Yeah, alright...” As he stood up from his chair, finishing off his cider with one last gulp, Grizelda got up to her feet, as well. She smiled pleasantly at him, taking a step closer to him, bringing her hands to his shoulders. Timoteo was taken aback when she leaned closer, pressing a kiss to his left cheek. Taking a step back, still smiling warmly, she said “Comfort her. She needs it, now.” Timoteo nodded once after a moment, resting his glass down on the nearby table, by Grizelda’s own.
Timoteo gave Bianca’s door a gentle knock before beginning to open it. He spotted Bianca, without her cloak or boots, to be seated on the edge of her bed, a thick tome in her lap. She looked up at him when he entered. Her expression had regained some life, but it was still a little weary. He shut the door to her room behind himself, asking “What’s that?” as he started to slip off his boots. Bianca looked back down to her book as she murmured out “A book on places with high concentrations of negative energy...Like those Old Kingdom ruins by Grove.” Timoteo pulled off his pack and chainmail shirt, resting them down on the floor by his boots. He started to walk over towards the bed, Bianca quietly saying “I have a feeling that, whatever my mother wants to do with my father’s heart, if she even still has it...It involves dark locations like those ruins. Places she can concentrate the energies and feed her powers. There’s so many places like that in Albion, though...So many recorded locations.”
Timoteo took a seat beside her, looking over to her book. The page on the right had a rather detailed diagram of a human corpse, the skin and muscles of the torso peeled back to reveal the organs within. Timoteo found the picture somewhat disgusting, but didn’t comment on it. On the page to the left, there was nothing but written words, the page completely filled with them. Bianca’s tone was quite cool and serious as she said “I won’t let her beat me that easily. If she thought she’d be rid of me, she thought wrong. It may take my entire life, but I’ll find her. One day...I’ll find her.” Her voice going quieter, Bianca practically whispering, she said “She won’t be laughing much, then...” Timoteo was quiet for a few moments before, gently, he said “You don’t have to turn into her to catch her, you know...” Bianca’s expression lost it’s weariness entirely, and she looked over to him with what might have been surprise. Aside from her eyes widening a little, her face was expressionless.
Timoteo, softly, said “I think Octavia had the most extreme morality manifestation I’ve ever seen...I can’t fathom all the evil she’s committed. But you don’t have to be like that to get her, Bianca...You don’t have to burn Albion down to find her in the ashes.” Bianca blinked, gazing into his eyes. He looked back into her’s, neither of them doing anything for a second or two. Slowly, Bianca closed her book, looking down to it. “Yes...” She mumbled. “You’re right...I don’t need to be like her.” She let the book slip from her lap, clunking hard against the floor, directly in front of her feet. Bianca’s expression went tired once again, her eyes beginning to take on a hopeless shine. She lightly shook her head for a moment. “What’s wrong?...” Timoteo asked. Bianca shook her head again. “Nothing...” She mumbled. “That’s not true.” Timoteo calmly said. Bianca didn’t look at him, and she didn’t say anything. She simply stared at her dropped book.
Timoteo eventually said “Bianca?...” She looked over at him. He wasn’t smiling, his eyes a little depressed. “Lie down with me...Let’s relax...You’ve had a hard day. It’s time to just relax...” Bianca nodded gently, her eyes gaining some shine once more. Timoteo laid down on her bed, bringing his head to her pillow. She crawled over and snuggled into his side, bringing an arm across his chest, keeping her hand near his neck. He kept an arm around her shoulders, feeling her rest the side of her face on his chest, her bosom pressing into his side. He reached his free arm over, soothingly stroking along the arm she kept over him, feeling her melt into not only her bed, but into him, into his touch. There they stayed for quite some time, Bianca eventually drifting off into a nap, Timoteo quickly following suit...
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Fable : Fall of the Guild