On a certain island nation, a woman was hiding in an alleyway. She wasn’t really in any danger, but still felt it was the best course of action for her current situation. Another woman ran past the entrance of the alley while yelling, “My lady, where are you?! You’re too young to be wandering around on your own. It’s not safe for you!”
Pfft, too young? the woman doubted as she stared at her hands. Wrinkles had started forming on them. I don’t see what the harm in letting me wander around is. I’ll never get any life experience if I live by their rules. In all her life, she had almost never left her home. She had been to this town a couple of times before, but under very strict supervision, and wanted the chance to explore on her own.
She hid in the alleyway a while longer, until she felt that the coast would be clear. She left eventually and wandered around. Normally when she was out, they would restrict her to the more refined areas of the city, so she decided to wander to the more outer areas and see how the common folk lived. When she got there, she was both overwhelmed and overjoyed.
There were so many sights and smells, all of them completely new to her. Even the way the people interacted with each other was completely foreign to her. She was fascinated by it all, and wanted nothing more than to just watch them for hours. She still felt scared by the idea of trying to talk to any of them, though, so she kept her distance from every other person as she walked around.
After a while, she found herself in a marketplace, and was leaning up against a wall while observing the commerce. She had posted up near a newsstand, which she had originally been excited for until she realized it was the same newspaper she had read that morning. It was the first thing she did every day, as soon as she had a moment to herself, since it was one of her only ways of obtaining new information about the outside world.
The Fiends For Hire were etched across the front page, as they had been for many days these past few weeks. While their antics didn’t affect her life directly, they had instilled many musings. Their life was so different from hers, so chaotic, so free. She wondered if she’d ever be able to experience such freedom for herself, unshackled by the sins of her birth.
Doubt was all that filled her mind whenever she ever really thought about it, since every day she was reminded of her own mortality steadily approaching. She wasn’t sure how much longer she had to live, and each day the life she dreamt of seemed to slip further away.
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She was pulled out of her existential notions when she noticed a certain man. There was nothing special at all about this man, and to her, that’s what was so odd. He stood out in no way at all. His face, his clothes, the shape of his body, they all lacked any sort of personality. It was as if someone was to make a cookie cutter out of humanity, this would be that person.
She continued to watch him as he walked around the market. He didn’t talk with anyone, or even glance at any of the things for sale. He eventually made his way over to a blacksmith’s stand that was selling weapons. He continued to lurk there while staring at the blacksmith, and the moment their back was turned, he grabbed a mace that was on display.
The woman couldn’t believe someone would act so brazenly. It may have been due to her sheltered life, but she had never seen a crime happen in person either. However, she did know that it was something wrong to do, and that this person should be stopped. The man had quickly slipped into a nearby alley, and the woman followed him close behind. When they were alone, she called out to him as she followed, “Excuse me sir, I don’t believe you’re supposed to take that without paying.”
In response to her call, the man picked up speed and started weaving around corners as fast as he could. This behavior was even stranger to the woman as she chased after him. No one had ever ignored her when she spoke to them, and no one had ever run away from her either. The man dashed into another alleyway, but when she rounded the corner after him, there was no sign of him at all.
They had reached a dead end, with no possible means of escape that she could see. “Sir?” she called out again as she looked around. All that was left in that dead end was the stolen mace, and a pile of out-of-place dirt next to it. She stayed there for a while, trying to see if she could find any form of hidden pathways, as well as examining the dirt to see if there was anything special about it. However, she came up with nothing, which annoyed her greatly.
Eventually, someone called out to her, the same woman who had been chasing her before. “There you are my lady. It’s getting late, let’s head home and I’ll fix up your supper, alright?” The woman nodded in agreement, and followed her home. She tried to put what she saw out of her mind, but it was something that would definitely bother her for a long time to come.
To be continued…
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In Volume 2: Loss
> With their new compound well under development and their new recruits almost finished with their training, The Fiends For Hire begin preparing the next stage of their plan. But when unforeseen circumstances, persistent foes, and one Cosdamned vending machine seem dedicated to stopping them at every turn, the Fiends have to alter course and take the entire world's economy hostage. Only when they've forced the world to accept their influence can Drim Drazah finally dedicate himself to his own secret agenda.