Later that evening, as Dana made his way back to the Exalted. On his way past the office towards the stairs he noticed the light was still on so he stopped in. He found Wilben hunched over his counter working with a series of jeweler loupes and tweezers on some tiny intricate device. As the bell over the door rang, he looked up with a broad smile, at least that’s what it seemed to be by the way his mass of facial hair moved upwards.
“Ah… nice to see you, my fine man!” He hopped down off the stool. “It’s so good to see you, we haven’t had a customer here at the Exalted in quite some time.”
“Wilben, I’m already a guest here. Dana Wilde… from upstairs?”
“Of course! Of course… my dear boy. I’m not quite that senile yet…” Wilben muttered under his breath. “Probably just a time to redo my glasses prescription.”
“What are you working on there?”
“Oh, just an old hobby of mine I go back to once in a while. Just sometimes like tinkering with things and seeing what I can make them do.” The old gnome chuckled congenially.
“Always good to have a hobby. Keeps the mind active… keeps you young.”
“Oh, you don’t have to tell me that… I’m still more than young enough to show you a thing or two, don’t you worry.”
Dana couldn’t help but smile at the way the old gnome bristled with indignation. “I have no doubt, Wilben, you’ll outlive us all yet. I wanted to ask you is there a place around here I can get some fresh clothes? Maybe a few personal touches to add upstairs while I am here? I don’t know if Wal-Mart has a branch out this far.”
“Oh, there are all kinds of stores and the like in the town… a seamstress and tailor that could sew you a suit out of stardust if you want. The only problem is if you want it fast, quality takes time, you know.” He laughed, a low chortle that shook his shoulders. “No, for everything else you need Fae-Ex.”
“Fed-Ex you mean, they deliver all the way out here?”
“No… No of course not… Fae-Ex… use that computer up there in your room to look them up. They deliver all sorts of things as quick as you could hope. Some enterprising fae folk really embraced the shiny new stuff they got a hold of and now, most of us couldn’t live without them.”
“Okay, Wilben… thanks. I’ll take a look and let you get back to your project.” With a wave, Dana headed back upstairs leaving a somewhat confused-looking gnome in the office.
“What project?”
* * *
Back up in his room Dana sat down and pulled out his laptop. The old girl had seen better days, its case scored with a variety of nicks and scratches but part of him couldn’t replace the familiar feel of the keys beneath his fingers. Every word of his book, school projects, and numerous dissertations had made the thing almost as much an old friend as a computer. Bringing up his browser he saw that he was already connected… the pages loading faster than he had seen since the machine was brand new.
Shaking his head with a grin at how this place always has a new revelation to show him he navigated to the site Wilben had suggested. The page opened to an almost eye-popping burst of color and sound, products flashing across the screen at a speed only a sugar-filled toddler could hope to take in. After fiddling with the settings for a few minutes he was able to settle back and look through what the page had available.
There were more things there than he could have ever conceived… clothes, electronics, furniture, and books were just the beginning. As he went farther and farther down the rabbit hole the site offered he found listings for rare antiquities, scrolls that hadn’t seen the light of day for centuries. The banner on every page proudly proclaimed if we don’t have it, it doesn’t exist… yet! And he was loath to admit that they just might be right.
After almost an hour of just clicking on link after link, he finally pulled himself back from the edge and focused on what he came there for. Pulling up some extra clothes and other necessities that he had been missing since his arrival in this strange new place. Heading to the check-out screen he reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet, intending to punch his credit card info to pay for everything only to find that it was already input as a payment option. Quickly clicking through the payment option list revealed even more impossibilities… his bank account complete with an available balance, even a gift card that he didn’t even know was his but the site claimed there were a few dollars left on it wherever it was.
Part of him was already railing at the perceived invasion of his privacy when he noticed another button at the very bottom of the payment options… a yellow button simply marked trade. Almost afraid to find out what lay beyond he clicked the button and it brought up a tabulated list, complete with prices of everything he owned. Every piece of clothing he wore was there along with a corresponding trade-in price, the remaining twenty-two copies of the thirty the publisher gave him of his book were there… even the contents of his luggage in his closet that he told no one about were listed there. He wasn’t sure if he should applaud the insane efficiency or call some sort of authority to complain that someone had been in his room.
He looked down the list of items in the suitcase hidden in his closet… a motley collection of treasures and pieces that he had been unable to find the rightful owner of after his and Lucy’s adventures beneath the projects he had lived in. He clicked on one of the misshapen lumps of metal that the site identified as a gold idol (destroyed) but still listed a trade value that far surpassed what he had ordered. He was immediately informed that once the payment was processed the remaining balance would be available to him on the site as credit for future purchases. Shaking his head in amazement he clicked okay to finalize the order.
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The expected instructions on how to get the idol to the company for payment did not come, instead, the confirmation popped up on screen, along with his delivery address that he had not even needed to enter. He stood, moving to the closet quickly and lugging the heavy suitcase out onto the floor and opened it as quickly as he was able… he grabbed items at random as he looked through the case and he made sure everything was there that he had traveled with… except for the ruined gold idol. Repacking the case and closing it he shook his head, he wasn’t sure what he had expected after every other crazy thing the site had shown him. With a look of amazement still on his face he zipped the suitcase up and returned it to the closet, all that was left, he supposed, was to wait for his items to arrive.
* * *
“Professor!”
“Professor Wilde!” A voice rang out next to his head, waking him from his slumber. Dana rubbed his eyes tiredly as he looked around… the window showed that it was still in the middle of the night. “Come quick, Professor, please! Hurry!” Finally, he saw the dim, see-through form of D’arcy standing just inside his door.
“D’Arcy? What’s going on? How did you get in my…” His eyes focused on the ghost’s form and he shook his head. “Never mind.”
“It’s Nubra, Professor, she needs help… please hurry!” The desperation in her voice brought energy to his limbs as he rose to his feet.
“Where?” HE asked, grabbing a pair of pants as he followed her back out the door. Nubra was another one of the students in his class, she was a Neko, or cat girl, and had a wide-eyed curiosity that endeared her to nearly everyone. Pulling his pants on as they moved he ran as fast as he could after the ghost girl as she led him through the night. Soon enough he heard the familiar sound of thumping music and cheering people, probably some already celebrating Progenitors Day.
D’Arcy didn’t slow as they ran past the party, still well in progress no matter how late it was. She ran to the third or fourth door down the street and right through the door. Dana caught himself just short of trying to charge straight through the door after her. Barely a second later the panicked ghost appeared through the door again.
“She’s in here… hurry Professor please!”
He didn’t think… years of action movies and heroic stories seemed to take over his body as he lowered his shoulder and charged the door. His arm exploded in pain as it met the wood of the door, stars bursting behind his eyes but he backed up another step and charged the door once again. This time the door gave, just enough to give him hope as he lined up for one last charge. Throwing all the weight he could behind the strike he bowled into the barrier and felt it give way… at the same time that his shoulder did. He could feel the joint leave the socket but gritted his teeth against the fire in his arm and charged after D’Arcy up the stairs.
She led him to a room just a few doors down and he charged in without thinking. There he saw Nubra, passed out on the bed in the middle of the room with a salivating lizard-man looming over her in the bed. His hands were on the girl’s body as she lay there unmoving. Two other people stood in the room off to the side just watching what was happening, one a hyena looking guy and the other some type of bird-person. Dana’s sight went red with rage as he saw the scene. His right arm hung useless by his side as he reached out with his other hand grabbing the first thing that came to him and launching it at the lizard in the bed.
“Get off her now!” The lamp he threw hit the wall past the bed and broke into pieces before falling to the ground in pieces.
“Or what, jerk?” The hyena sneered,, his tongue lolling out the side of his toothy mouth. Dana could have answered him but decided to save his breath. He launched a punch at the guy, spinning him around like a top but he didn’t go down. His friend, however, reacted faster hitting Dana across the face in return, he tried raising his arm to block but he just got another jolt of pain from his shoulder and he tumbled to the ground. The lizard on the bed grunted as he saw him go down and went back to pawing at Nubra on the bed.
Dana got to his feet, realizing he bit the inside of his cheek when he had gotten hit. He spit the bit of flesh out and set himself into his fighting stance, his working arm raised and ready. He could feel D’Arcy behind him… somehow even incorporeal he could sense her… Her hand rested on his shoulder and he felt energized. His entire body hummed with strength to the extent he almost thought he could see himself begin to glow, a heat went through his dislocated shoulder as he raised that hand as well. He stepped in quick to the thug that had hit him, popping him in the jaw with a quick jab, followed by a hook that seemed to stun the man. Dana hauled back and cracked him under the jaw with an uppercut that sent him flying backward, his weight breaking through a table in the corner of the room where the man lay still.
His breath was heavy in his lungs as he turned, glaring at the lizard still on the bed. “Maybe you didn’t hear… I said get. Off. Her.” The lizard put his hands up In front of him, his expression changing in an instant.
“Hey… sorry, man… didn’t know she was taken… no harm no foul right?” Dana could feel the other man who had been more than willing to stand by and watch run out the door behind him.
“If you want to walk out of here, do so now,” Dana growled as he advanced on him on the bed. Fear filled his eyes as he scrambled off the bed and followed his friend out of the room. Dana hurried to the bed to check in on Nubra, checking her pulse quickly he found she was alive… just unconscious. D’Arcy was still with him, tears rolling down her spectral cheeks.
“I saw them put something in her drink but by the time I got to her, it was too late. I didn’t know who to call… the school was locked and sealed and I’m not even sure anyone would help with the new rules so I remembered you lived nearby and…”
“D’Arcy! D’Arcy! You did fine… she’ll be okay… just need to sleep off whatever they gave her.” Dana pulled Nubra’s clothes back into place. She was dressed in a sparkly two-piece outfit with sequins that caught the light… probably just out to have a good time and let off some steam. With a little effort, he hoisted her over his shoulder and headed back down the stairs.
* * *
When they got back to the hotel, Wilben was more than happy to give them the keys to the room next to Dana’s upstairs so Nubra could sleep off whatever they had dosed her with. They got her tucked into the threadbare bed in the near-empty room. It seemed that Wilben had been selling things out of the room just for living expenses the last few months and was fast running out of things to trade to the Fae.
D’Arcy volunteered to keep an eye on Nubra in the room while letting Dana get back to what sleep he could. The ghost girl drew a sword from nowhere and sat on the floor facing the door with the ghostly blade across her knees. Absently he wondered why she hadn’t used the sword on the men attacking Nubra but that was a question that could wait until tomorrow. He left the room, going next door to his once again… unlocking the door and opening it only to see a package on his dining table. A plain brown box emblazoned with the logo of a fairy skipping through a field of flowers and decrying FaeEx, a piece of twine holding a piece of paper attached to the package. The adrenaline from the fight had run its course, leaving him tired and wiped, his injuries coming back in all their glory. He fell forward onto his bed, asleep before he even hit the pillow.