The merchant only got to take one more step before Reva rushed to put herself between the woman and Shiso.
“You’re the one who asked for my blood!” Reva exclaimed. The lady stopped for a second and took a leather bound book out of her pocket and flipped through it so quickly that Saffron questioned whether she read it at all.
“Sorry, I don’t seem to have you catalogued. Have we met?” asked innocently. Shiso shoved Reva out of the way and walked towards the woman.
“A deal’s a deal, right?” he asked. The woman wore a tight-nit smile.
“Unless you want to bargain for something else.” she said. Shiso started something, but the woman quickly interrupted him. “And remember, no refunds!”
Shiso sighed as he held out his arm, ready for what looked like a blood donation. She took out a big syringe, which caused Shiso to recoil his arm.
“What is it? You don't like needles or something?” the woman asked with an unamused and impatient face. Shiso started sweating. It was a massive syringe, and he clearly didn’t like needles.
“If it’s payment you want, perhaps I can pay my friend’s debt.” said Reva, stepping forward. In the back, Hazel nudged Saffron.
“Does that lady look… beyond suspicious to you?” Hazel whispered. Saffron shrugged.
“I don’t know. I don’t trust people with needles in their back pockets.”
“It’s just… she looks like… I don’t know. I just can’t explain it, but it makes me want to run away from her as fast as possible.” Saffron sighed at Hazel’s paranoia.
“I’m tired. Can we just relax for a bit?”
“Fine; I’m watching my back though.”
Reva finished bargaining with the lady and handed her a pouch full of Sera. The lady counted them until she looked satisfied.
“Alright then!” she said happily. “Why don’t you buy something else as well?”
After that, the lady opened up her backpack and products flew out. Stalls, tables, spells, artifacts, and an assortment of books flew out of an impossibly small space for how much junk was in there. After it all came out, she closed the backpack, which had drastically decreased in size. Looking around, the light edge to a tundra that they stood on was turned into a bazar.
“If you have any questions, just give me a yell.” the woman said.
“What’s your name?!” Hazel shouted from the back.
“You can just call me Shopkeeper, or whatever name you would like.” After that, Shopkeeper disappeared into a cloud of smoke. Hazel snickered and leaned over to Saffron.
“You think it’d be funny if I called her Karen or something?” she joked. Saffron stretched and gave a loud yawn.
“I’m gonna go see if she has any pillows.” Saffron said, walking away with heavy eyelids.
Reva, Shiso, Hazel, and Saffron each went their separate ways exploring the strange and colorful market that Shopkeeper had set up.
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“Shopkeeper…” Saffron muttered groggily. Suddenly, the lady appeared right behind the stall with her usual wide smile.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” she said nicely.
“Can I call you Shop?”
“Of course, miss!”
“Do you have any pillows?”
“I’m afraid not, ma’am.”
“How about blankets?”
“I don’t carry those either.”
Saffron slammed her fists on the stall table, just wanting something to relax in. She sighed and rubbed her eyes.
“Well… just give me the comfiest thing you can find then.” she said, waving her hand.
“Alright then; I’ll be right back!” Shop said before walking out of view.
Saffron desperately tried to keep awake until the lady came back. It turns out being traumatized really takes a lot out of someone. Saffron jumped back as she blinked for only a second and the lady appeared again behind the stall.
“I’m sorry ma’am, but this was the softest thing I could find.” she said, sounding quite disappointed. She held out a light pink scarf made of silk.
“Thank you.” Saffron said, taking it. “How much is it?”
“350 Sera.”
“That’s overpriced.” Saffron complained. Shop kept smiling and gave a little laugh.
“You’re right.” she said, innocently. She had gotten the best of Saffron, overcharging while she was too tired to haggle with her.
“Fine. Take my money and leave, you crook.” Saffron said, dropping the Sera onto the stall table.
“If that’s what you wish, ma’am. Have a great day!” Shop went to turn away, but instead stepped out of the stall to give something to Saffron. She handed Saffron a small rectangular green and white card with drawings of Sera all over it and “Shopkeeper” written in gold.
“What is this? Some kind of business card?” Saffron asked.
“Read the back.” Shopkeeper said, looking quite happy.
Saffron turned the card over, but this time it read “I’m ready to make a bargain.” in gold letters. Saffron tilted her head, still confused.
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“Just rip that card and say that line and I will warp to your location to do some business.” Shop said, looking quite proud. Before Saffron could ask anything else, Shop’s ears twitched and she warped away in a puff of smoke.
Saffron put the scarf on, appreciating how soft it felt. She sat down and leaned up against a stall, thinking that taking one small nap wouldn’t hurt.
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“Shopkeeper!” Hazel shouted, poking around the machine parts. Shopkeeper appeared behind a stall.
“How can I help you?” she asked, not breaking her smile.
“Can I call you Shops?” Hazel asked.
“Of course, ma’am.”
“Do you do assessments here?” Hazel asked, undoing her tool belt.
“If you mean appraisals, then yes.” Hazel sighed.
“Good enough. Can you tell me exactly what this is? I’ve had it for a while, but nobody’s really given me a good description of how it really works.”
Shops opened the pouch on the belt and turned it upside down, but nothing fell out. She then reached into the pouch and pulled out an apple, taking a bite and then throwing it back in the pouch; she then turned it upside down again to see that nothing would fall out. She then reached in again, but this time pulled out nothing.
“It seems to me that you’ve got a storage pouch. It’s kinda like a pocket dimension; it looks like this one is full of near infinite junk though.” Shops said, sliding it across the counter.
“But why is there so much stuff in there?” asked Hazel.
“Probably from the last owner, if it’s been used already.”
“Well, thanks anyway.” Hazel said, disappointed.
“You're welcome! Is there anything else I can help you with?” Hazel looked around for something that she might want and pointed at a box labeled Shield-Generator.
“I’ll take that.”
“Great choice, ma’am. That’ll be 540 Serra.” Hazel recoiled back.
“I’m not paying that much for it.” Hazel said, angrily.
“Then I’d suggest you find something that you can afford then, ma’am.” Shops said, not breaking eye contact or her smile.
“What did you just say to me?” Hazel said, gritting her teeth.
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“Merchant!” shouted Reva, admiring the different pieces of armor on display. Shopkeeper appeared beside Reva. She patted her smoldering green beret before tending to Reva.
“Yes, miss?”
“Are you alright?” asked Reva, concerned.
“I’m as green as capitalism!” she said, enthusiastically. “Now, what do you need?”
“Tell me about this.” Reva commanded, looking at an armor set with spikes all around it.
“What would be our prized Thornmail!” Shopkeeper said proudly. “No foe will go unscratched when they attack someone wearing this!” Reva scratched her chin while she wondered about the other armors around her.
“Why don’t I put that shield of yours somewhere. It looks quite heavy, ma’am.” Shopkeeper said with concern. Reva laughed at her offer.
“Oh, I don’t have to hold this.” she said as she demonstrated. She pulled Eschaton up to her chest and locked the shield grip into the helmet-like structure of her breastplate. Her shield was now a part of her armor.
“That’s quite amazing!” Shopkeeper said in wonder as she wrote something down in a small brown book. Reva demonstrated how she was a lot slower, but near invincible in the front. She then also took the shield back off with ease.
“This was custom made by some of my old friends.” Reva said, looking into the sky with a smile. “Back when we were just protesting…” Shopkeeper waved a hand in front of Reva after being unresponsive for a few minutes.
“Um, ma’am? Are you alright?” Reva snapped back into reality and shook her head.
“No, I’m fine.” Shopkeeper gave a sigh of relief.
“Well, that’s good. Is there anything else I can get you?”
“Anything? Well, do you have any shield-type spells?”
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“Keeper!” Shiso shouted while rapidly ringing a bell on the stall stand. Shopkeeper appeared, looking quite worn out.
“How can I be of service?” she asked, weakly.
“Do you have knives?” he asked plainly. Keeper’s eyes lit up as she pulled out an assortment of weapons from knives to kuni’s to knife belts to knife rings, and even a 3D printer for some reason.
“I asked for knives. Why did you pull out a 3D printer?” Shiso asked, confused. Keeper tilted her head.
“What else do you print with one?” she asked. Shiso opened his mouth, but fell short of any words.
“Before we do business, are you sure you can’t refund this?” Shiso asked, pulling out his spell card for Northwind.
“Sorry sir, store policy.” Shiso sighed as he put it away.
“Figures. I freaking hate magic.” he mumbled.
“You can still choose from our wide assortment of items!” Keeper said, delighted.
“Right. Let’s see; can I get-”
“Shiso, we’re leaving! Now!” Hazel yelled, dragging Saffron by the foot behind her. Saffron’s hair was disheveled and she was spitting dirt out of her mouth as Hazel dragged her at breakneck speeds. Shopkeeper jumped up and slammed her hands on the stall, her eyes now a bright red.
“What did you do now?!” she sneered at Hazel. Shiso figured years of retail made Shopkeeper about to snap. Hazel ignored her as she ran to Shiso.
“Where’s Reva?!” she asked, panicked. Suddenly, a green projectile came rocketing from the other side of the mini-market and crashed into a stall. Reva stumbled from the wreckage, shield mounted on her armor.
“Found her.” Shiso said, lightly pointing at Reva. Saffron finally got up on her own two feet, dazed and confused.
“What’s up?” Saffron said, looking pretty well rested.
“That, I think.” Shiso said, pointing to a humongous monster made of scrap metal and looked vaguely like some kind of gollum.
“I left you alone for 15 minutes!” Shopkeeper shouted at Hazel. “What did you do?! You made a monster out of my merchandise!” Hazel scoffed.
“I still think you’re the only monster here for the prices you charge.” Hazel spat.
“So, she’s the monster and not… that?” Saffron inquired, pointing at the steampunk goliath.
“Yea, she is. She’s not even capitalist!” Hazel complained.
“You take that back!” Shopkeeper shouted, leaping out of her stall to try and strangle Hazel.
“No!” Hazel shouted while struggling. “Capitalism needs competition. You have none!” While Shopkeeper and Hazel had their fistfight, Reva came behind Shiso and tugged on his scarf.
“Should we be worried about that?” she asked Shiso softly as she pointed to the metal monster closing in. Shiso sighed.
“It’s not like HR gonna handle it.” he said sadly. The monster started to kick and crunch the stalls in its way, which drew Shopkeeper’s attention.
“My children of capitalism!” she shouted in despair. She shook her fists as she started to gradually hover higher.
Shiso and Reva yanked Saffron and Hazel away to a safe distance away. Around Shopkeeper, purple wisps started to gather.
“I think you’ve overstayed your welcome!” Shopkeeper shouted as huge plumes of purple fire shot towards the iron giant and tore through it.
Reva got in the front of the group in case any spare debris happened to fly towards them.
“Kill it; kill it!” Shopkeeper shouted madly. “Tear it apart! Piece by piece; molecule by molecule; atom by atom!” The entire structure exploded in a giant bonfire of purple fire and smoke. Shopkeeper gently floated back to the ground as the group marveled at the damage.
“That was amazing…” Saffron whispered in wonder. Shopkeeper suddenly turned towards the group in anger as she pointed away from her market.
“You’re all banned! Out, now!” she said in fury.
“But-” started Shiso.
“I said NOW!” she shouted.
Saffron, Shiso, Reva, and Hazel were all thrown out of the Shopkeeper’s store as the distraught merchant scrambled to salvage her merchandise.
“What’s next?” asked Saffron, doing various stretches. Reva looked towards the snowy horizon as she put her arms around the others.
“To Eden, of course.”
“I think she meant more short-term.” Hazel grumbled. Shiso laughed.
“Nothing wrong about looking towards the horizon. We just need something to do along the way.” he said. Hazel patted Saffron’s back.
“Serenade me, Saff.” Hazel joked.
Saffron started loudly singing, eventually prompting Reva and Hazel to sing along with her. Shiso silently walked along with them, secretly smiling under his scarf.