The Troubled Demon Bride PT1 [PT1 of Series]

Fandom: Brawlhalla

Word Count: 1970

Genre: Angst / Action

Rating: M

Part 2: Comin Soon

Brawlhalla Troubled Full Series:

- - - - - - - - ❰･✪･❱ - - - - - - - -

“The night is freezing

I sense the spear-bearer nearing.

It gets colder still.”

.      .      .      .

“Fabled demon bride.

Vengence burning in her veins.

It's too late to run...”

- - - - - - - - ❰･✪･❱ - - - - - - - -

It only took a split second to send someone to their doom. Armed with the most powerful weapon that came to mind, we had that power. It tainted the restaurants where villagers dined with grime in their mist. It tainted the manmade walls that teamed with guards. It tainted the inside of fabled huts that housed many lost souls. Their eyes checked every possible direction or dared not at all. With the snow that crested the rooftops and flurried in the constant sea of navy blue, vigilance proved to be limited.

The cold was a common enemy albeit citizens were always prepared with traditional means. However, no matter how cunning someone can be, a silhouette could denounce any sense of safety and seep their last breathes.

That was one fool believed. Blessed with quick feet, a man darted across many loopholes. He scaled the mountainous terrain and hopped over wooden fences. He narrowed his way out of the denser parts of the homeland and into the lesser-known flatlands.

Trees swarmed the bare field and barely any huts persisted there. Large enough to reach past the clouds and he’d be able to spot a clearer view of the mountain tops. Since that provided too many limitations, he opted to stay in the lower end on a branch. With the layer of thick tree trunks shielded him from view, a smile cracked his lips at his predestined escape.

All he had to do was wait. But like the rest of the fools, he thought he could get away with the inevitable, so he met with the unavoidable.

The man tilted his body to peak ahead. He saw nothing. He feared nothing. But he forgot what tainted far and wide.

A silhouette appeared. The man peered once more and his position remained. Captivated by the oncoming form in the midst of ice, he had a taste of our power. Yellow painted over his vision and felt the scorching flames of the sun embed into his body.

He debated if that was truly magic or the power of the sun. He couldn’t determine in time when he collapsed. Yet if he could look at his open wound, he would see the bullet that erupted his heart and drenched his coat in red. The only thing on his mind before he lost his breath was what killed him. Because that was all the time that was given to him. He didn’t think of running. He knew he couldn’t.

Once the fool’s corpse hit the ground, I blew against the barrel of my revolver to erase any steam. Sometimes I marveled at the beauty of the arching smoke, but with rage that killed my mood, I didn’t waste time to admire my artwork.

I strode over to him with my boots, snow forced to quake to the side. I paused to gaze at his eyes, already filmed with flakes, and lolled to the side under his thin eyelids. The telltale signs of instant death these firearms laced with.

Oh, I dreamed of a more brutal way to make him scream for mercy. With merchandise on the line, I couldn’t risk him escaping. I opened up his coat and found the bagged goodies. I snatched them and had to rub off any blood into the snow or tree bark. Then I left for nature to take its course and devoured the man in white.

Even if someone were to discover his body, they wouldn’t know who killed him. Only seeing the burrowed metal in his chest, more fear riveted across the land. They could fear criminals and beggers alike but no matter the culture, people always feared the unknown.

- - - - - - - - ❰･✪･❱ - - - - - - - -

A cart was all I needed for the rest of my mission. An ancient breed of reindeer piloted the wooden carriage to the suburbs. Onlookers turn their heads at the majestic beasts and cart’s heavily constructed exterior. Not a single lip parted since it would be a waste to ask the rider for a negotiable price. The only earned jealously and the sight of the animal’s footsteps as their treasure.

Soon, my sights were cleared of the pheasants and they were replaced with story-high palaces and the mountainside. Every window glowed with yellow and joyous faces skimmed about their frames. The cart didn’t rocket anymore and was positioned close to stone walls by the road. I looked forth to see my favorite guards positioned infront of a gate. Torches posted against the gate lit their rusty gear, fur jammed underneath the nooks and crannies to keep them warm. I prayed that we get the next supply of firearms and military gear from the mortal realm because at that time only the main crew had gotten the necessary items.

When they saw my face they opened the metal gate but only I was let it. The cart would be forced to turn around and possibly board some of the coworkers to a different destination.

I was able to have small talk with the guards through the snow. I trailed my eyes over the perimeter of the walls and guards patrolled the barren land between each palace. I stumbled upon the footsteps of one of them with a designated symbol carved into the doubled doors. Even more guards coasted the entrance but they nodded when they spotted me and parted the doors.

Regrettably, multiple sounds assaulted my ears. I frowned at the volume yet I looked at the positives that business boomed like usual, nearly a hundred coats were hung against the wall. The heater gave me the consideration to hang mines as well, but I fear someone would steal it.

So I dove and weaved through the sea of bodies. Hookers cheered on their male bidders, tightly dressed servers asked for tips as they served sake on trays, and a collection of plastic chips and dominos dotted the carpeted floor. Thank God I lived on the fourth floor.

I had to ignore any welcomings and blinked my eyes to adjust to the artificial lights along every ceiling. Then I was finally able to escape the environment by heading to the basement. I had to open up a ceil-tight door and go through a thin membrane of blue aura that blocked any sound and curious customers. Oh, and magic was at our disposal as well but the disposers themselves kept a fair share of the profits.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, the team shuffled around a network of stations that stretched underground between all palaces to create a unified space. Through secret exits, some guards carried in boxes. With crowbars, they were busted open and medical bottles were lined up in trays. The first line of workers took out the trays and placed the bottles along an electric-powered conveyor belt.

With gloves and reading glasses, examiners counted the quantity of opioid pills in each bottle and discarded ones with imperfections before they were sorted. At the end of the conveyor belt, an elf used his telekinesis to fill in highly decorated wooden cases with the pills and then placed some in labeled glass capsules. Ones for the rich that thrived here and ones for the locals, both sought for the “magical happiness” they possessed. Then all the products were either given to the secured storage room or to stationed dealers like me who made business outside the walls.

Soon, I wasn’t left to spectate the process for long when a familiar face caught the whim of my presence and approached me with equal enthusiasm.

“Greetings! How are you?” My old manager asked with a redundant smile and I couldn’t help to return it back and even gave him a bow.

I then presented him the leather, streaks of red leaked against the surface.

His lips pressed into a thin line. “What happened...? You okay?”

“Oh, I’m decent, I just had to deal with someone stealing my shit. I got it back alright. Fucker thought he could steal it behind my back while I made a deal with a girl.”

“Is he down?”

“Yes, he dropped cold.”

“You got a customer AND returned your stolen goods? You deserve a whole nother check. Wait, was the girl cute?”

“Hell no. She was thin to the bone like most of them and had some weird face paint. She was crying and looked more like a clown. I knew she’d be the perfect target. She rambled about how she was going to face a tough battle and how sad she felt after her husband was beheaded. Basically rambling about her life story while she had a crisis, so I shut her up by offering her pills and that was when the thief came in.” I sighed as my hands began to shiver with need. “Fuck I’m antsy now. Longest I’ve ever talked.” I chuckled and my manager remained unwavering.

He gave me a blank stare until his eyes showed the most white. “Was there more to her?”

“Like I said a th-”

“More details, swiftly.”

I scowled and kissed my teeth. “Damn, man. I’ll give you the specifics, just chill. She wore a ponytail held by some weak red bow. She had white face paint and red streaks under her eyes. She wore red all over but not a single coat. I wonder how she keeps w-”

My coworker had the audacity to interrupt me again. However, he went above and beyond.

He rose me up from the collar of my coat and then pinned me against the wall. The table underneath was flipped over and glass hit the tiles. My coworkers flipped their heads to me and the man that spat in my face.

“You met the Demon Bride!” He burled his knuckles deep enough to force out a cough.

“W-Who and why should I care?! Put me down!”

“She’s an assassin! Haven’t you heard the fabled tales of her killing a whole army without a care in the world!” Red rimmed the surface of his skin. “And you stroke a deal with her?!”

Soon, some watchers freed me from the man’s grasp and held him down. I backed away and uttered a few more coughs. “Yeah? And? You wanted me to price higher or something?”

“You fool! You played with fire!”

“She only wielded a spear and a sword on her backside. A bullet will take her down just like anyone else.”

“I don’t know...these iron flingers from the outsiders are deadly but she can be just as deadly.”

Unless she could slice a bullet within a second, he didn’t need to panic and halt the workflow. They hushed him with a glass of sake and some fix of pills and was out of our hair.

I had to get a fix of mines as well, my hands would be too unsteady to count the stash I made. As doubloons shimmed between my fingers, my head clouded over the girl instead of numbers.

‘She can’t outspeed a gun. Not even with magic. Besides, she won’t be mad at me and she might even forget about me after taking the ‘recommended dosage’ I told her to take daily.’ My brows creased and I turned around to see the employees at their ordered stations. Then I scorned myself when I surveyed the area like it changed or something. Vigilance was a fool’s ritual.

Soon, I cursed when I had to recount again. That time I actually sorted the doubloons into groups. I managed to get half of it done until the lights in the ceiling began to flicker and the conveyor belt stuttered.

“That never happened before,” I muttered to myself as I whirled my head to the ceiling, everything at a standstill.

Then darkness engulfed us all and screams swallowed my heart in deep anxiety that left me gasping.