A boy walked through the central square of the Baltharus imperial capital, Nors. The sun at its peak height with market stalls all around. Vendors shouting at the top of their lungs, advertising their products and bringing in coin from a multitude of pedestrians. Produce, souvenirs, even weapons and discount potions were sold at the square. Humans, elves, dwarves, and gnomes, were found in the capital, whether as travellers looking for a rest stop or to set up shop if they were merchants, as adventurers looking for work, or as your average Joe living the imperial life. The boy, black haired, wearing more tattered looking common clothing, carefully eyed the jingling pouch tied to his waist. He quite literally could not afford to lose the money his family had saved to buy their meals for the next few days. While the hustle and bustle of the square had its own peace to it, the chaotic environment of the many pedestrians, merchants, and city guards moving about was the perfect nest for pickpockets.
As the black-haird boy moved about the square, he kept an eye for any vendors selling meat or produce at discounts. It was peak harvest season, so sales on foodstuffs were bound to be abundant. The supply and demand are both high during harvest season. Farmers and fishmongers could afford to lower their prices without much need for haggling, which made it much easier on those living on a dime like the boy and his family. One of the merchants, a fishmonger, addressed the boy, Paulie, in a familiar tone.
“Well, if it isn’t little Paulie? Got some allowance or looking for deals today?”
“Deals, mostly. My parents got some extra shifts at their jobs so we got a bit of extra gold. They said I could have whatever’s left over to spend on myself, but I think it’s better spent buying more essentials.” Paulie said in a more factual tone.
Though only fourteen, growing up poor in the capital makes you grow up quickly. Paulie was more well known among the merchants in the square. He was always the one to buy the groceries for his family while both of his parents worked. Which quickly made him a self-made expert of bartering and haggling. The fishmonger’s expression grew to one of an old man giving a life lesson lecture to the next generation.
“Ai, you need to take some time to just be a kid, ya know? If something shiny catches your eye, don’t be afraid to make that purchase if you have the leftover coin.”
Paulie nods his head, hearing the fishmonger, but still obviously set on putting his family over himself.
“I know, I know. But my family-”
“I know you want to help your folks out and all, but really, think it over.”
The fishmonger said cutting off Paulie. This isn’t the first time Paulie has received this speech, and not just from the fishmonger.
“Look, I got a deal for you. Three fish for only two gold pieces each. How does that sound?” The fishmonger smiles at Paulie with a big, hearty grin at the offer.
Paulie squinted his eyes at the fishmonger. He usually sells them for five during Harvest. He thought to himself.
“Why only two? Is something up?”
The fishmonger waves his hand dismissively at the boy, still keeping the hearty grin on his face.
“Oh nah, I just caught a carriage load and I’m overstocked. Can’t let them go to waste now can I? What? Are ya just gonna let this deal slip on by?”
Paulie went silent for a moment before reaching his hand into the coin pouch on his waist, giving the man six gold pieces from the fifty in there. The fishmonger then gave Paulie an even bigger, friendly grin.
“Pleasure doin’ business with ya.”
After taking the gold and putting it in his own pouch, he opened a blue, square container, with cold mist seeping out of it. An Ever-Cold Container. A mundane and relatively cheap magic item, common among even poor households and essential for merchants selling meat and beverages. The magic crystal embedded in the container is infused with ice magic, keeping the contents of the container nice and cold to preserve meat. The fishmonger reaches his hand into the Ever-Cold Container, taking out a bundle of wrapped fish, and handed them over to Paulie.
“There ya go! Don’t be a stranger, now.”
Paulie gave a slight side glance to the fishmonger.
“How can I, when we talk every time I come to the square?”
“You might want to stop taking everything so literally as well.”
The fishmonger responded with a chuckle, waving goodbye to Paulie as he made his way to his next stop.
As the sun started to set, Paulie, carrying a bag filled with fish, other meats, and assorted vegetables, as well as fifteen gold pieces still in the pouch, made his way down the street from the square. Not as bustling with people as before, he relaxed his ever vigilant eye on his pouch, and trained it on the few people still roaming the streets. From time to time, someone would pass him by, but no one would try to reach for his coin pouch. The street, paved with decorative stone, was a long straight path with shops and houses on either side. Lamps with crystals infused with light magic start to flicker and glow at around this time, to light the way for any late night pedestrians. Guards, clad in shining steel armour and an insignia of a blooming red rose, the same one on the flag of the Baltharus Empire, would be seen coming and going in the alleyways, on patrol for any criminal activity. Some people can be seen entering their homes after a long day’s work, while others come and go from a nearby tavern with differing levels of sobriety. As Paulie takes in the scene while watching for any potential pickpockets, a shadow washes over him. He felt a slight breeze as suddenly, his vision was obscured by something first softly landing on his head, and then falling over his face.
“What the hell?”
He quickly removed whatever it was and saw, in his hand, part of a fallen green banner with yellow lettering written in the common tongue as he read aloud “-nd Opening”. His eyes moved along the rest of the banner, still partially holding onto the building beside him. Grand Opening. Above it was a sign with the same colour pallet. Mavis’ Mystical Musings.
“I should probably tell the owner their banner fell.”
He let go of the banner, letting it flutter onto the ground, turned to the door and opened it slightly ajar.
Poking his head into the building as he opened the door, Paulie speaks loudly so as to alert whomever might be inside the building if they aren’t in the front entrance.
“Um, hello? Your banner outside fell off. If you need help putting it ba-”
His speech is then cut short by a woman’s voice. Full of energy and pep, talking a mile a minute, and with a hint of a strange accent, as if the common tongue wasn’t her first language.
“Welcome, valued customer, to MAVIS’ MYSTICAL MUSINGS! I am the merchant of mystical magics and maidenly matron of this fine establishment, Mavis Millwood! How may I help you today?”
The voice came from a young woman in her early to mid twenties. She had very messy, long beach blonde hair that went all the way down to her waist, blue eyes with some eye bags under them as if she didn’t get enough sleep, and fair skin. She wore a green and yellow outfit, reminiscent of a jester, with a diamond pattern on them. She also wore light green leggings and pump shoes in a darker shade of green. She had large, dangling, green emerald earrings, as well as long fingernails painted green. Paulie stepped further into the building, a bit startled at the sudden shouting. As he checked over the woman, Mavis, he noticed something when he got up to her ears. They were about as short as a human’s but pointed like an elf’s. A half-elf? He thought to himself. Half-elves were considered rare as humans and elves rarely bred together. Most of this was due to an old superstition that the resulting child would be cursed with ill luck or even in extreme cases, bring calamity. That superstition had died down a lot in recent decades but there was still some prejudice towards half-elves and their parents to this day.
Paulie didn’t really know how to react to someone practically screaming in such close proximity to himself.
All I came here to do was to tell her that her banner fell. Why am I getting yelled at by a clown?
“Umm… Like I said, your banner fell off your sign.”
Mavis got a wide eyed look on her face, like a deer caught in headlights. She asked hesitantly.
“So… you’re not here to buy anything?”
Paulie shook his head and simply said.
“No. I was on my way home. I don’t really have time for more shopping.”
Mavis scratched the back of her head, a slight look of desperation on her face. She asked in a more high pitched voice.
“Are… are you sure?”
Paulie started to take a good look around the shop. In terms of products, it was all over the place. Nicknacks lined one shelf while potions of various colours lined the one right under it. Children’s toys laid in one corner of the room, while there were kitchen knives right next to them. It was as if Mavis had no idea what she really wanted to sell and just grabbed anything she could find to put on display. Paulie asked with a mix of confusion and slight concern.
“What kind of store even is this?”
There had to be some kind of method to this madness.
“It’s an Everything Store!” Mavis said with odd triumph.
“Umm… do you mean a general store?
“Oh no, no! I would never give my darling shop such a boring name as a ‘general store’. I need a name that would draw attention! Something unique.”
Mavis’ excitement grew and grew the more she talked. Although throughout their interaction, Paulie had come to realise something about the half-elven woman in front of him.
She’s completely out of her mind.
Paulie began to slowly back away towards the door. Paulie said in a nervous manner.
“It’s uh, getting late. My parents are probably starting to worry about me. And besides, it’s probably near closing time for you anyway. I’ll be sure to tell everyone I know about your store, Miss Mavis.”
Paulie had quickly exited the shop, being sure not to let Mavis get another word in as he left in a hurry.
“Wow… what a weird kid.” Mavis had said to herself after the boy left. “Coming into a store and not even buying anything.”
Her eyes dart to something in the edges of her vision. A brown paper bag with various produce visible from that angle. Mavis snickered to herself
“And did he mean to leave that bag there? What a klutz. But I suppose I should go get him and give him his groceries back.”
As she moved to pick up the bag, Mavis heard the ring of the bell on the door, alerting her to someone entering the building. She immediately stopped and got ready to give her new customer the same greeting she had given the boy earlier. However as she had gotten the words “Welcome-” out of her mouth, she felt a hand grab her by the neck.
As Paulie walked down the street, he still reeled from the encounter in the shop. Someone new had moved into the capital, and she was obviously a few screws short of a complete toolbox. He had been down this street many times, but had never heard of a new store opening up here. Try as he might he couldn’t remember ever hearing about it, even from local drunks he walked by and catching snippets of their conversations. Given the notoriety half-elves still have, rumours could have spread easily of a shop run by one. But Paulie didn’t dwell long on that, he instead thought about his weekly grocery runs in the market and how this could be a personal headache for him.
Gods, if she starts advertising outside her shop, it may boost foot traffic to the store, but it would make my trips to the market a lot noisier than they already are. Not to mention more grating.
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As Paulie walked along the paved road, he on occasion, moved his gaze to the pouch on his waist, the jingle of coins being faintly audible.
I did manage to save a lot more money this time. Maybe Mom and Dad won’t have to work so hard for-
His inner thoughts ceased as a realisation had hit him like a professional brawler’s fist to his face. He looked to his right arm that had been carrying the bag of groceries he and his family needed for the week, only to find it to have been carrying nothing. He thought his arm was feeling lighter but had other things on his mind somehow taking priority. Panic swept Paulie as he began looking around frantically for the paper bag.
Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit. Where the hell did it go?
As the panic started to settle after a few moments, Paulie began to calm down with a couple of deep breaths, needing to retrace his steps to find it.
Okay, think. I didn’t pass anybody recently, so it’s unlikely to have been stolen. If anyone wanted to steal anything from me, they would be far more likely to go for my coin pouch, and I still have that.So when was the last time I knew for sure I had it?
As he began to ponder the whereabouts of his missing grocery bag, his mind started to wander to the encounter with the eccentric half-elf from earlier. He went into her store to tell her that her banner had fallen, and then she practically screamed her store slogan in his face. That’s when he put it together. He had dropped the bag when she startled him. It was still at the shop.
Paulie couldn’t contain his frustration as he said out loud, grabbing at his raven-black hair and almost tearing it out
“Oh for Gods’ sake! I gotta go back there!?”
It took a lot of him mentally to just be around Mavis the first time. Going back there for a second time was not a very pleasant thought to Paulie. But he needed to get those groceries home. With a reluctant sigh, he turned around, heading back to the shop to collect his dropped produce.
As Paulie had arrived at the street the shop was on, the sun had set further on the imperial capital. The previously orange hue of the sky now turned a dimmer colour as the lights from the crystal lanterns were practically needed to see further than a mere 5 metres in front of ones’ self. As Paulie approached the shop, the light from the street lanterns guiding him, he started to feel a sense of unease as he got closer. Not from the thought of having to deal with Mavis again, but like his physical wellbeing was at risk. He couldn’t explain it. It was almost like a primal instinct telling him to not get closer. That there was danger. Thinking more about how his family needed to eat, not being able to afford to lose those groceries, he kept walking. As he got to the front of the shop, there were two things he noticed, despite not being about to see well. The first being that the banner was still on the ground. He had told Mavis about it falling off, so why didn’t she fix it? Out of laziness? Probably not. The second was that the door was still slightly ajar. He knew he had closed it all the way when he left. So why was it still open? Despite it being the summer season and the empire being known for it’s warm climate, leaving your door open like this was practically welcoming all the burglars in the area to walk in and steal everything that wasn’t nailed down. Slowly approaching the door, Paulie started to hear the sound of what seemed to be a conversation. But as he moved closer to the door, he could make out the words being said, which vindicated his instinct from before.
A gruff man’s voice was heard from the other side of the door, speaking in a threatening manner.
“Stop wastin’ time ya half-breed bitch. Ya gotta have some money lyin’ ‘round.”
The man sounded almost desperate, like his life depended on whatever he needed the money for. The other voice, belonging to Mavis, sounded like it had to choke out what she was trying to say, having to stop and struggle to consume more oxygen while she spoke.
“I… already to you. I don’t have… anything. I just opened… and spent… everything I had… on my products.”
The man seemed to have snapped at this remark.
“Stop fuckin’ lyin’ to me! I ain’t falling for yer half-bred tricks! Tell me where the money is, woman! I need my fix! Ya gotta have some somewhere! Tell me before I rip yer liver out and sell that instead! That’s all ya filthy half-breeds are good fer anyways!”
Paulie couldn’t believe what he was hearing. All he did was drop his grocery bag and now he walked in on a robbery. From what he caught of the conversation, he could tell that the robber was unstable, and quite possibly a junkie. If he went inside, he would react violently and kill both of them. His thoughts began to race as he considered his options.
First: Go inside and try to sneakily grab the grocery bag without him noticing
Second: Walk away and pretend he didn’t see anything
Third: Rush the robber and try to save Mavis
Only one of these options guaranteed Paulie lived. Paulie was shrewd. He always chose the options that caused him the least amount of hassle. The only exception being when he was haggling with merchants in the market square. If Paulie had the option to run and live, even if he had to make up a story to justify why he came back home with a lighter coin pouch and no food, he would take that option. As Paulie tried to move away from the door, he noticed himself shivering from fear. This shivering had caused him to bump into the door slightly, causing the bell to ring. The door as well, started slowly opening more and more, until he was completely visible to those inside. The man turned to look at Paulie. He was a rather tall, lanky man, wearing tattered clothing. Just from looking at him, one could tell he hasn’t bathed in days, or even weeks. He had one hand on Mavis’ throat and the other holding a dagger to her ribs, while literally foaming at the mouth like a rabid animal. Mavis’ hands on his trying to loosen his grip while red in the face from a lack of oxygen
“WHAT THE FUCK IS A KID DOIN’ ‘ERE?”
Every fight or flight instinct in Paulie had triggered all at once, however fear had taken over. Unable to move his body, Paulie just stood in the doorway with a terrified expression. His bag of groceries meant to feed his family for a week was lying on the ground in the corner of his vision. Paulie tried his best to force his body to run, ditching both the groceries and Mavis to save himself, however he was only able to move his left foot a couple centimeters back. As Paulie attempted to move away, the jingle of his coin pouch was heard. The leftover gold coins bouncing against each other from the sudden shift in his left side made enough noise for the robber to hear, his eyes placing themselves on where the familiar sound of coins was coming from.
“So, ye got some on ya. Tell ya what. If you hand over yer money, I’ll let ya go and only kill the half-breed, if she continues to be uncooperative. How’s that sound, brat?”
Paulie was too scared to even make a sound. He had lived his entire life in Nors. Although it was the imperial capital where the Royal Knights made their home, it still had more than its fair share of crime. Despite this, Paulie had never once found himself in a situation like this one. Never has he had to consider giving someone his money in exchange for his life. Never has he had to consider leaving someone else to possibly die to save his own life. Paulie’s thoughts raced as different scenarios played in his mind. One of him charging the robber and getting stabbed in the process. Another of him just running out the door and not looking back. As he considered his options, he looked towards Mavis, still in the robber’s grip with a terrified expression. However, as he looked at Mavis’ face in the dim light from the lanterns outside, something felt off to Paulie. While one could clearly see fear on Mavis’ face, her eyes said something else. As if she wasn’t actually phased by this at all. Like the look of fear was all an act. Paulie couldn’t explain it, but the moment his eyes met hers, he knew she had a plan to get out of this. She was just waiting for him to do something to distract him more. Currently, she was still being choked at knife point. If Paulie could get him to let down his guard, even a little, she could do something about this. What that something was, Paulie didn’t know, but the look in her eyes made it clear. Another option had opened up to Paulie. Though he could still run and save himself, he would be saving only himself. He had realised that. And now, it left a bad taste in his mouth. He chose the new, fourth option.
Slowly reaching for his coin pouch, he untied it from his waist and opened it. With a swift motion, he reached into the pouch, grabbing a handful of coins, and tossing them at the robber. Surprised at the sudden improvised projectiles flying at his face, his grip on Mavis’ throat loosened the slightest amount. Feeling the pressure on her throat lessened, Mavis took the opportunity to take advantage of the robber’s surprise and kicked him in the stomach, pushing him away a little and allowing her to remove his hand from her neck. The robbers’ expression, while already looking unhinged, was now clearly one of anger, as he began howling in frustration at the both of them.
“That’s it! I’m killing both of ya here! You asked for this!”
The first person he charged was Paulie, knowing he, a fully grown adult with a weapon, could easily kill an unarmed child of only fourteen years. Paulie tried to move back towards the door, but with the fear and adrenaline pumping through his body, misplaced his footing and tripped, landing flat on his rear end. With an unhinged, knife wielding robber quickly closing in on him, he began to think, This is it. This is how I die. But then, he heard Mavis speak.
“Thanks for the distraction, kid.”
His attention turned to the woman, he saw her standing in a peculiar pose. Her arms outstretched, with the index finger and thumb on both hands forming circles while the tips of her middle fingers touched. Paulie could feel something. Some sort of energy swirling around Mavis, as balls of pale purple light materialised around her starting from her right shoulder to her left, forming an arc above her head. Mavis smirked as the five balls were now floating around her. The robber, sensing the change in the atmosphere in the store, stopped his advance on the young boy, and turned his body to face Mavis.
“Ya gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me. The half-breed is a bleedin’ mage!”
Mavis gave a toothy smirk as those words left the robber’s mouth.
“Bingo, ya bastard! I’ll teach ya not to try to rob ME in MY OWN STORE!”
Mavis shifted her stance to a more offensive one. One that, even to someone like Paulie, who had never been in a life-or-death situation up until now, was an easy tell of someone who has been in these situations before. A stance of someone who has seen combat. As her stance shifts, Mavis lets out a yell, releasing the spell.
“ARCANE BOLT: RUBBER BULLETS!”
The balls of light flew at the robber at an incredible speed, as expected from a spell commonly used by both military mages, and adventurers. One ball hits the robber in the left hand, the one holding the knife, the sound of bones breaking clearly audible as he lets go of his weapon. However, he had no time to scream in pain as the next ball hit him in the kneecap an eighth of a second after the first impact. The third ball hitting his right shoulder. The fourth and fifth balls simultaneously hit him in the gut as he bends over in pain. However, it wasn’t over. The first ball had bounced back to Mavis. Paulie, sat there in awe as the spectacle unfolded before him, as he looked to Mavis, the one pummeling the person who previously had her by the throat and at knife point, he saw a slight grin flit across her face as she kicked the first ball at the man, as if she was enjoying this. The man looked back up at the wrong time as the ball Mavis had just kicked back pegged him in the face with even more force than when it had initially hit him, sending him flying towards the wall and knocking him unconscious.
Paulie sat there in silence, trying to process what had just happened. Mavis, the nutcase of a merchant he had met only a couple hours ago, was actually a powerful and experienced mage. And not only that, but it also seemed like she enjoyed pummeling the man into unconsciousness. As Paulie sat there, the adrenaline wearing off, Mavis approached him, reaching down and offering him a hand, speaking to him in a friendly manner.
“Need some help standing?”
All Paulie could do for a couple of seconds was sit there was stare at the hand that was offered to him. An annoyed grunt left Mavis as she used her other hand to flick Paulie in the forehead. The sudden shock of the impact snapped Paulie back to reality as he held his hand to his head and said in an annoyed manner
“Hey, what the heck was that for?”
Mavis smirked
“I’m just trying to get you to snap out of that space you were in. Now, come on. Let me help you up.”
Paulie took her hand as she swiftly pulled him back up onto his feet. Looking at the now unconscious man bleeding on the floor, Paulie got a bit worried. That was a spell meant to do major damage. As if almost reading his mind, Mavis speaks to Paulie in a calm tone
“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine. I went with my own non-lethal version of that spell. He won’t be doing any mugging anytime soon though, that’s for sure.”
Paulie felt relieved. Even though this man just tried to kill him, he didn’t want to be involved in someone else’s death. While contemplating everything that just happened, Paulie felt a nudge, as well as the sound of paper being crumpled. He looked to his left as he saw Mavis holding out his bag of groceries to him.
“This is what you came for, isn’t it? It’s a good thing you dropped it and came back. Without your help, I may not have had as easy of a time kicking this guy’s ass. Probably would have gotten a scar from him stabbing me too.”
Paulie said nothing as he took the bag from Mavis. She was so nonchalant talking about what had just happened, as if this was just an ordinary day for her. After a moment of silence and contemplation on the events that just transpired, Paulie finally works up the nerve to speak up, albeit in a shaky voice.
“Just… who are you, really? You run a dingy little shop yet you have this much magical power. I’ve never even seen a spell used like that before. The way you fought was too… experienced for just some crazy shopkeep. So just who are you?”
At first Mavis looked almost offended at the word ‘crazy’ and the slander towards her precious shop. She chooses to let it go, however, due to Paulie’s help in dealing with the robber. Mavis instead gives him a smile, and gears up for what would be a big show of an introduction.
“I AM GLAD YOU ASKED!”
Oh no
“I am the merchant of mystical magics and maidenly matron of this fine establishment, Mavis Millwood! Full time owner of Mavis’ Mystical Musings… and part time adventurer. At your service.”
Giving an exaggerated bow, she looks at Paulie right at eye level, as she asks him a question.
“So… how would you like to work here?”
It takes Paulie a moment to process what he just heard. Being an adventurer, one who regularly deals with monsters and delves into ruins for coin, would explain Mavis’ magical and combat prowess. But did she really just offer him a job?
“Wait… what!? Where did that come from? Why would you want to hire me in the first place?”
A snicker escapes Mavis as she straightens her posture
“By the look of your clothing and the fact you, a kid, were buying groceries, it seemed like you needed the money. The pay isn’t great but hey, it’s something. I owe you anyway for helping me out here, anyway. So what do you say? The job's yours if you want it.”
Paulie considers it for a moment. It’s true, his family is poor. Both his parents work long hours to make ends meet and to feed him. Having some extra money wouldn’t hurt. But there was one question on his mind.
“So, how are you going to pay me when you yourself don’t have any money to begin with?”
Giving him a smile, Mavis tells Paulie playfully
“Oh, that? That was just a bluff. I just didn’t want him getting his hands on my gold. I still had some money in my safe. What kind of merchant can’t make change?”
Going against his better judgement, Paulie lets out a sigh and extends his hand to shake hers.
“Alright, you got yourself an employee. Just make sure you can pay me, okay?”
Mavis’ eyes practically light up as she excitedly takes his hand and shakes it up and down
“ALRIGHT! I GOT MYSELF MY FIRST EMPLOYEE! I’M ALREADY ON MY WAY TO BECOMING A HOUSEHOLD NAME!”
Pumping her fists and jumping around in celebration, Mavis almost forgets that Paulie, as well as the unconscious robber are even there. Seeing the half-elven woman bounce around like a child, the only thought in Paulie’s mind is, I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?