No impact came, but the sounds of one did. It sounded like a lot of scuffling, actually. I peeked my eyes open, to see another hooded figure had joined the fray, only this one looked and moved differently. Less mechanical, and more aggressive. I counted it as a blessing as she seemed more focused on the creeps who had cornered me in the first place. She had some sort of blunt weapon, with dangling chains that she was currently using to try and bash their faces in. I started to skirt my way around the edge of the fight, in hopes of escaping. I was able to get a better view of her as I did. Her hair was short and she had a muscular build. She was dressed kind of like a… Gladiator, but modern?

I decided I didn’t have time to think about my savior running about in cosplay, especially not when she tore off the top off her stick to reveal a blade and stabbed straight through one of the assailants. I didn’t stick around to see what happened after that, I was gone, back into flight mode. As I rounded the corner to start running back toward the street, I heard her finally speak. Sort of, it was a single shout directed at someone to stop. Hopefully not at me. No way in hell was I about to stop for someone I just watched murder another person, as crazy as they might have been.

As I was thinking this, the knife stick went flying passed my head. I let out a panicked gasp, and I glanced behind to see her pursuing me. Definitely faster.

“Stop running, or I won’t miss next time!” She threatened. Absolutely not.

“You’re insane!” I didn’t hear a response, at least not until I felt cold metal slap into the backs of my legs. A chain, then, because it whipped around my leg to hit my shin and I stumbled. Effectively tripped.

I tried to get back up, but as soon as I was on my knees I was harshly jostled onto my back, and then stepped on. Above me, the woman glared down, she was holding her weapon that she had thrown earlier. When was she able to go pick it up amongst the chase? I could feel my heart in my throat, terrified for my life.

“What’s your name?”

“Get off of me!” I struggled beneath her foot, even reaching for her ankle to shove off. She just stepped down harder, and I could feel my lungs struggling to breathe under the weight.

“Name.” She sounded only annoyed as she tried to crush my ribcage.

“F-Finlay. Moira. Please- Get off.” I gasped, it had been starting to get painful.

Thankfully, her foot lifted, and she bent down to grab that chain that had been caught around my leg. It was actually three chains, interconnected with metal rings attached to the end. She pressed the metal bit where they all connected into the stick, and pulled the other end of the stick from her pocket.

“Finlay. Hm.” She spoke almost casually as she put the knife stick back together. “Get up, we need to get moving before more show up.”

“I- what? No. I’m going home!” I began to get up, but she kicked out my elbow on my way and I crashed back down.

“OW-”

“Then they’ll go to your house.” I started lifting myself back up, and this time she grabbed me and pulled me the rest of the way up. “You can come with me or you can get yourself killed, Finlay.”

“Who are ‘they’? I don’t even know you! You’re crazy.”

“The people who have been following you, the ones who were about to kill you. Obviously.” Her grip was relentless as she began walking away, my arm still being held tight.

“How do you know they were gonna kill me?” I hadn’t given up trying to tear myself from her grasp.

“Because that’s what they do.”

“I still don’t know who ‘they’ are. So if you don’t start explaining then I’m gonna start screaming for help.”

“Don’t- look. I don’t explain things. Briar does. He’ll answer all the questions you like, but we have to get to him first. Then if you still wanna go cry home to mom then be my guest.” She sighed, and turned to glare at me, a look that I returned.

“... Is that a promise?”

“You have my word.” She rolled her eyes. Not exactly like I had much choice. I got the sense that if I had put up any more of a fight she’d just overpower and drag me along if she had to, and this was the city. No one ever came around when someone called for help in a dark alleyway. I nodded without another word, and she turned around to continue dragging me around.

“You’d think your dad would’ve told you about all this.” She spoke, sounding bitter about something.

“Hah. I never met my dad.” It might’ve sounded like I was boasting, but I really didn’t care anymore. I mostly wanted to see what she’d say. She turned, slow, she didn’t stop walking, but she observed with judgemental eyes as she looked me up and down.

“Of course you didn’t.” Was the sarcastic response, “Why would you. Of course. Too convenient. Obviously. Makes so much sense now.” She grumbled bitterly as she dragged me down another alley, I had been expecting to go to the street. Of course, that was a stupid thought, I was being kidnapped, why would I be brought out into the open?

“I’m not exactly psyched about that either. Chill.”

“No. You don’t get to tell me to chill. You can tell me to chill after you find out what’s going on and why this pisses me off. Kay?” She left no room for argument, and I shut my mouth. We both kept quiet as we threaded our way in and out of alleyways, eventually stopping at a door with a buzzing white light overhead. With a sign that clearly said ‘EMPLOYEES ONLY’ on it. She opened the door wide, it wasn’t locked. She pulled us inside, and finally released me. She turned back to the door, and now it was locked.

“Don’t touch anything.” She said shortly, she hadn’t even turned around. I snapped my hand back from where I was about to lift a glass figurine to look at. I took the moment after to look around the room, it looked like a storage room filled with old, fancy things. I opened my mouth to ask, when she grabbed my arm again and pulled me to a set of stairs. When I looked at her she had her hood pulled down, and I could see her face more clearly. Her skin was olive toned, and she had striking hazel green eyes. If she were less scary I think I’d be able to list several people who might like her.

“Go upstairs, Briar will be up there. Tell him your name and that I sent you. I’ll be right there, so don’t even think of picking a fight with the old man.” She finished with a shove, and I stumbled against the steps, grumbling along the way as I lifted myself to grab the hand railing.

The doorway leaving the staff only room had a curtain, and beneath it I could see her shadow moving about, before the light dimmed down. She must be closing up shop. I begrudgingly climbed the stairs, it led into a small hallway, with a few doors lining the walls. She didn’t tell me which one to go through. One was dark, there was bright light coming from beneath another one, and the last was open just a crack, and a soft glow was emanating from within. It was the only one open, so I shrugged, and peered into the room.

It was a small space, there was a cot at the edge of the room, a mat on the floor as a rug. In front of the window was a table with a glass case, the light must have been coming from the display. As for what was being displayed, it looked like-

I was pulled back rather suddenly, and the door slammed shut right in front of my face. The movement startled me, and I was nearly about to apologize for snooping, when an old man’s voice interrupted.

“Sorry, you’ll have to forgive me. That room is private.” He said, easing up his grip on the door, he turned toward me, he had a kindly wrinkled face, and his hair had gone all gray. What left of it, anyway.

“Ah- sorry. I wasn’t trying to snoop-” I got cut off from my apology again.

“It’s quite alright my boy, easy mistake to make. I’ll have to ask you to go back downstairs though, this isn’t part of the antiques store- Unless, you needed something?” The old man asked. Part of me was so tempted to apologize and leave, escape whatever situation I had somehow gotten myself into. That woman’s voice, however, echoed in my mind. That thing she said about me getting myself killed.

“I… That woman, downstairs. She sent me to speak to Briar.” I ended up saying, with a slight wince, there goes my opportunity for a polite escape.

“Oh? What did Ms.Camilla say?” He began gently ushering me around to the door behind us that was now open. It looked like it led to a living/kitchen area.

“Just to tell you my name was Finlay Moira, and that she said to tell you she sent me. Sorry, I’m still kind of confused.” I let myself be nudged to sit at the small table by the edge of the kitchen. This man seemed much more polite.

“Ah… Finlay Moira. How interesting. I don’t suppose you’ve had a rather eventful night, have you?” The man faced the counter, back to Finlay.

“Sorry, but do you know me, somehow?” I couldn’t help but gather that this seemed to be personal. That woman wasn’t just trying to help a stranger attacked on the street, she knew it would happen and she knew it would be me. Or something along those lines.

“Not yet, but I know of you. We both do.” He answered, as if it were that much different, as if it weren’t that big a deal. At that moment, the woman reappeared in the doorway.

“He doesn’t know anything, Briar.” She announced as she waltzed in, and dropped herself into the chair across from me. “Probably doesn’t even know who Dominic is.”

“What? Who’s Dominic?” I went on alert, the name sounded vaguely familiar, I felt a distant memory, of my brother mentioning someone by that name to my mom in a private conversation. I was so small back then. Thinking of this, I suddenly had an idea, one that I really hoped wasn’t actually true.

“Your father’s name, it was Dominic Moira.” The old man, Briar turned around with a teakettle, and some cups. He set one down in front of each of us and poured us each a cup, but I refused to touch mine until someone else did. Dominic Moira. I made a face, why wouldn’t mom ever talk about him?

“Right. I knew that.”

“No. You didn’t.” I cut a glare at the woman.

“Now, Camilla, be gentle. It’s quite alright Finlay. Your father was a bit of trouble, it isn’t too surprising that your mother may not have discussed him with you. Especially if he told her of your destiny.” The old man hobbled around the table, settling himself down between Camilla and I.

“... My destiny.” That's some BS right there if I ever heard it. “Okay, so what am I? A cliché? What’s this ‘destiny’ of mine?” I fell back in my seat, already about to be done with whatever trick this was.

“Gotta fight, save the world, yada yada. Sure. You’re a cliché.” Camilla mirrored his pose, except with her tea cup held to her lips.

“Right. Why don’t you do it? You can fight, you’re already dressed like ‘the chosen one’.” The air quotes didn’t go unnoticed by either of his company.

“I would, if I could.” She said easily, unbothered by my sass.

“Finlay, we understand this may be a bit to handle all at once. If we had known how… Unprepared you would have been, we would have made further efforts into finding you sooner-” The old man tried to soothe, only to be cut off.

“No we wouldn’t.” Camilla set her cup down after taking a sip. I made a face at her.

“Look, your dad was a ghost. We weren’t even able to find him, much less his kid-who we weren’t even totally sure existed until now.” She explained, but not before crossing her arms.

“We could have tried other things, Camilla. That is on us.” Briar reminded her, and returned his gaze to me as she rolled her eyes.

“As I was saying. The events of today have marked the start of a… dilemma. You need to be prepared for what is to come, so that you may stop it before it starts.”

“Ha! A dilemma. Just say it like it is, old man. Finlay, you gotta stop the apocalypse.” Camilla laughed, a harsh sound, fitting to what I knew of her personality.

“Tsk. it’s not an apocalypse.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s… World domination..?” Briar tried, Camilla wasn’t having it.

“Which is basically gonna be the death of everyone. Same thing.”

“Now, Camilla, the term apocalypse is-”

“Excuse me.” I waved my arm about. “Hi, still here. Still confused.”

“Ah, yes. My apologies. Maybe we should start from the beginning?” Briar turned away from Camilla more fully now. I nodded, mostly just curious to hear more about my dad.

“I’d appreciate that, yeah.” I sat more forward, urging him to get on with it. Camilla sighed, and returned her cup to the counter while she waited for story time to be over. Briar put on a grim look, like he was setting the mood.