Part 7: That Old Black Magic
Quote:
Originally Posted by EirianHikari
"Ok, now it's on!" I think to my self, as soon as I realize Mr. Mayor is gone. I go back to my house and grab the only weapon left in my closet, my bow. "It's not as good as magic, but I'm fair enough with it. I hope it will be of use". With my staff gone, I decide to go ask Abel to help. He has magic and that could be good with my staff gone. Time to show this plant thing/or whatever it might be, who's boss!
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"ABEL, ABEL, ABEL, ABEL!" you scream, rapping on his door, your nature's bow of Artemis strapped to your back. "AAAAAABEEEEEELL!" You know he was giving out candy earlier, but now his porch is dark and there's no answer. He probably thinks you're just another trick-or-treater! You'll have to get a bit more... proactive about reaching him.
Sneaking around the side of Abel's house, you peer into his window. Sure enough, there the lazy bugger is! He's sipping tea while reading an old book, a thick pair of earmuffs strapped to his head - probably to block out the noise of insistent trick-or-treaters. The nerve! How dare he deny people the free candy they're
entitled to! If you weren't so busy with other matters, you might do something to really teach him a lesson, like egg his house or something.
Focus! You need to figure out how to get in there and get Abel's attention. You sneak around to the back of Abel's house. Rounding the corner, you're startled by a light hovering in the yard. Is that a flashlight? Have you been spotted? Oh, it's curtains for you, buddy! Braced for the impact of something nasty, you shut your eyes tight.
...
You open one eye. The light is closer to you, but so close, in fact, that you can see that it's not attached to anything. It's just an orb of light, independent of any physical source... Of course. As the light gets even closer, you can see a collar hanging from it. You read the tag and it says "Fluffy." You pet the light and it... it does feel kind of fluffy, actually. Suddenly, you feel overcome with greed.
"Abel had better give me one of these, too..." you mumble, petting Fluffy. "I'm entitled to it, after all! It should be free, too. No, he should
pay me to take one... Yeah..."
Okay, okay, enough with Fluffy, back to getting Abel. You spy a backdoor and decide that's your best bet. Slowly and carefully, you turn the knob but... drat! Locked! You look down and see a little flap in the door, like the type people usually install for their cats or dogs. To demonstrate this fact, Fluffy goes in it, then comes back out.
"Yes, yes! You're genius, Fluffy!" You exclaim. Fluffy bobs up and down, seemingly pleased with itself. "Now go get Abel! Get Abel!" Fluffy hesitates. Hmm... I guess Fluffy doesn't know Abel by name. You'll have to find some way to communicate Abel to Fluffy visually. "Oh, I've got it!"
You find a few clothespins on Abel's back porch and use them to pin the excess fabric of your pants behind your legs. Now your pants look
really tight when viewed from the front. You put your hands over your ears, sticking them outwards, in an attempt to mimic Abel's big, pointy, elfy ears. Finally, to finish your impersonation off, you make a cranky expression. Fluffy bobs up and down excitedly, then dashes through the flap. You can only hope that it knows to bring Abel out here, not just to go to Abel.
You find a nice shadow to hide in, and sink into place. Soon enough, the back door opens.
"What has gotten
into you?" Abel says to Fluffy, who is currently zipping all around Abel in a frenzy. "Has something out here frightened you?"
You wait until Abel is far away enough from the door, then you rush over and slam it shut, trapping him out here with you. He turns around, startled, but sighs when he sees you.
"
Another? I am out of candy! I do not have anymore! I will buy some more in the morning, for pete's sake, will you just let me have one quiet evening?"
"No, no, it's not that!" you say, although now that it's mentioned, you
could go for some candy... "There's this evil plant out in the forest, and it took Mr. Mayor! I think it might be magical, so I came to you. I need help, I'm desperate!" Abel sighs, considering your tale.
"It has Mr. Mayor, you say? Well..." Abel sighs again and rolls his eyes. "Let me get my scarf. If this is a prank, so help me..."
"Yay!"
Abel stops just at the entrance to the forest. Fluffy, who tagged along, illuminates his face, which you can see looks troubled.
"Yes... There is definitely something wrong here," Abel mumbles.
"You feel that too? It gets worse the farther into the forest you go," you say, referring to that sense of unease and fear that overtakes you every time you enter the forest.
"This is... very bad," Abel says, further furrowing his brow. You notice that Fluffy, who had been very lively on the walk here, is now floating in place, slightly behind Abel. Even the light spell is scared, great...
"Do you know what it is?" you ask.
"Yes... I think. I have an idea."
"I have a bow, will that help?" you ask. Abel looks at you as if you'd just asked if you should try ice cream on a hot dog.
"... No."
"But I thought I could..." You mime shooting the bow. "Pssssshew."
"A bow and arrow would do no good against an entity such as this," Abel says. "Besides, you have no arrows." You blush. Woops...
"I could... I could try to bludgeon it with my bow," you suggest, waving your bow around, smashing invisible plants.
"... No."
"I need you to go back to my house," Abel says, pulling out a piece of paper. He casts some kind of spell so quickly that you don't even see it, and soon ink is flowing onto the paper, free of any visible source. "These are directions to find the things I will need. I will go into the forest to scout this thing out... Take Fluffy with you, and bring these things back to me," he says, handing you the list. It's written in beautiful calligraphy.
"How will I find you? The forest is big," you ask.
"You will be able to find me," Abel says, and enters the forest. Fluffy hovers nervously by your side.
"Alright Fluffy, let's go..."
"Abel?" You whisper, creeping through the forest. The things Abel asked for are securely in your backpack, and Fluffy still floats alongside you, albeit begrudgingly, it seems. "Abel?" You have no idea why Abel said you'd be able to find him, you've been wandering around for 15 minutes and have yet to find a trace. You look to Fluffy.
"Do you know where Abel is?" You ask. Fluffy floats from side to side, signalling "no." You sigh. You also shudder, but that's just the forest.
You wander around for a few minutes more. You're very nearly about to give up when Fluffy suddenly perks up. It flies off in one direction, and you chase after it. Fluffy hesitates, then zips off to the right. You follow Fluffy until it finally stops. It zips to the right a few inches, then forward a few inches, seeming to have lost whatever trail it was on. It hovers downward a bit, a gesture that you imagine signals confusion or disappointment. Fluffy perks up again and then zips toward the ground, bouncing off it with a
ponk! Fluffy continues ramming the ground.
Ponk! Ponk! Ponk! Ponk!
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, little guy!" You say, putting your hand over Fluffy to hold it still. "What is-..." You trail off, your eyes focused on the ground a few feet ahead of you. Lying on the ground, tipped over, is a gray top hat. Mr. Mayor's top hat! You look around and then spy Abel's long red scarf.
"Oh jeez... oh jeez...
OH JEEZ!" You yell. Fluffy trembles. You both run (or fly) out of the forest as quickly as you can. Just outside of the forest, you fall on the ground, panting. Fluffy hovers only a few inches above the ground.
First that
thing got Mr. Mayor, now it has
Abel! Granted, Abel didn't have the things he needed to fight it, but if it could take Abel... Alright, you need a new plan. You need a
really effective weapon, and you
definitely cannot go back in there alone. Fluffy will remain with you until you rescue Abel, but you need someone... with legs. Someone who will know how to deal with this sort of thing. And whatever you do, you are
not letting them go into the forest alone and unarmed!
What will you do?
