Argenta sighed in annoyance, "Oh wow. I wasn't expecting you here. Oh wait..."

She glared and stated, "I can't do that and you know why." She went to arrange the items on the shelves. While only necessary for those who were browsing or hesitating to be honest with her, they were always a thing to do in situations like this.

"I don't care. You stole from me." She turned and sneered, "You really thought you could have something for nothing and so I took everything. Everything but your mistake. So you will be defined by them. You wanted this. This is the consequences."

His hand drifting away from the mask he growled, "This is HELL!" His black billowing cloak obscuring everything else about him. "I don't even age like this."

She nodded, seemingly disgusted by him but a little less angry now, "Precisely. You don't exist. You never did. The only thing that matters is your foolish attempt to cheat me. How did that work for you?" He tried to loom and intimidate her but stopped when he realized that was wasted effort. This was Argenta, the Merchant of Despair. If someone could have killed her, she would be dead by now. "I don't mind someone looking for loopholes or finding clever work arounds, but you tried to outright steal from me. To snatch everything you wanted without paying the cost. And now you have nothing. Not even what you started with. Little more the a smudge on the cosmic lens. A grudge far too stubborn to accept oblivion."

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He growled, "I've been watching. You know that I know. You have been cheated before. Don't preten-"

She snapped, "YEAH! I have been outsmarted by those who have straddled the line of desperation that only despair can bring. But none of them robbed me. I could have taken more from them at any time but THEY were smart. THEY were resourceful." She grabbed his cloak and pulled him closer, "They learned their lessons. You... how much of eternity have you been like this and yet you have learned nothing?"

He touched his mask.

She nodded, "Yeah, I know. And if that was enough for you, you wouldn't have come here. And I don't make deals with thieves. And we both know you will not return what you have taken. There is a very real consequence for that." She chuckled, "There is even a natural predator of you somewhere in this city. The only one who can make your punishment even worse. So if I were you I would stay out of the alleys and find another who might be willing to make a deal with a phantom of a grudge."

"You always know where to find me, so I expect you will find you darkening my door to bluster and bungle until you leave empty handed yet again."

She sighed and returned to the counter, "I really should have finished the job. But it seemed more fitting this way. Stuck for eternity, defined by the very crime that cost them everything."