Goito and I roamed the streets looking for somewhere to stop, sit, and help each other decide what to do next. Walking several streets from the temple to a small out-of-the-way area and a small shop called "Curious Goods and Food". The building was a collection of stone, timber, and canvas. The entry and the first part of the building were old. Built of weathered stone that had the appearance of a shop with an open door and large windows, and behind that, clearly visible, was the canvas-covered courtyard with the sound of cooking and the smell of barbeque.

Once we entered the store, I looked around to see closed cabinets made of profoundly red-coloured wood lined the left and right walls, and before the cabinets were long copper and brass shod tables of the same rich red timber position to create a central walkway to the back of the store. No items were on display, and the doors of the cabinets were closed, but no locking mechanisms were visible. Almost instantly upon entry, we were approached by a man with jet-black skin and short and tightly cropped hair. He looked about thirty to forty years old and similar in height to mine. I noted that his skin had a red and yellow tinge that appeared as patterned, almost like the scales of a fish or the mythical dragon, but most striking were his eyes or where eyes should have been were deep sockets and in the centre what looked to me to be red ruby gems set deeply into the eye sockets his skin had healed round the gems tightly.

As I walked through the door, he stepped forward and held up his palm, facing us.

"A man of your nature may not enter." the storekeeper said.

"What! I have money." I said, holding up my clenched fist.

"I am sure you do. I am, however, not the sort of business person to accept half-dressed patrons. In my establishment." the storekeeper said, sweeping both arms out to his sides with a slight bend at the waist.

The gems that served as the merchant's eyes looked directly at me. Eyes without eyelids were unblinking red as blood.

"What!" I responded the shock of the rebuff was new to me. I was born and worked in a class where I had always had the reputation and money that allowed me to travel anywhere, even in my dyeing world.

Goito stepped forward, holding his hand to his chest, covering the ripped vestments.

"Alejandro, this is my dear friend Alvaro. We have both had a day that was one of the worst, filled with many bad and strange things happening. Please make an exception." Goito asked, returning the bow, but his eyes fell to the floor.

"Only if he is wearing a shirt, I won't even comment on the shoes, not even a buckle. Hurpf. This is the capital of the Triple States. After all, we have style." Alejandro responded.

I retrieved the heavy wool shirt from my bag, plunging my arms into the arm holes of the shirt and slipping the two middle buttons into their holes. I immediately started to scratch my chest and back.

"Does this meet your expectations?" I asked.

Alejandro clapped his hand twice in the air. From behind a curtain, a young woman with a disinterested look appeared. Her eyes were hidden beneath blonde bangs. Curling the fingers of her hand upwards, she turned on her heels with the clear expectation we would follow.

"Thank you, good Sir," Goito said to Alejandro as we passed.

"One moment. That one next to you, Goito, he has not been to my establishment before. Does he plan to eat or drink?" Alejandro questioned.

"Yes, I would like to buy some food and drinks for Goito and myself," I said.

"You do not buy food from here. You buy goods, and we discuss the price over a meal. This is the only way to do business; it is civilised." Alejandro chided the two customers.

I looked at Goito and raised my hands, hoping for some lead.

"I have brought things here before, and you just charged me. Even if you had offered food. I normally fast during the day." Goito said.

"As is the law of your mistress, El Sol. And we here would not place temptation in the path of the righteous," Alejandro said, his eyes flashing as if the sunlight had shone on them.

"But many things have changed for you. No longer a Cleric, and that one is without a profession or wealth. However, he will be of some worth to me, as well as the great ancient city. Trastamra has so much wealth but so few that are worthy of it," Alejandro continued.

"Enough, let us sit and eat and discuss the many things that you will want from me. And the few I need from you," Alejandro said, waving the two men to a table in the back of the room.

Before long, the three of them were eating and drinking under a pergola plant vine woven between the wooden rafters, supporting flowers with scents of coffee and chocolate. It was a pleasant place and small birds with bright plumage dropped down to stand on the ground, looking up at us for food scrapes.

We were provided so much food that I had more than enough for a day's meats and fruits. Then came the coffee. I had drunk the coffee from my world for many years; it was the finest coffee manufactured by the best chemical companies the Mars Corps had. But this was beyond sweat and had a complex feel in my mouth as I drank.

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"Who makes the coffee?" I asked.

"Coffee is not made. It is grown and prepared with love in the heart," Alejandro said.

I was struck with that statement like a stuffed toy had been thrown at my head. I realised for the first time today. I am not in a game world. For me, this is the real world. Absent-mindedly, I put the cup down and dropped scraps on the floor for the birds.

Alehandro leaned back into his chair, his unblinking joules for eyes pointed in my direction. It was challenging and unsettling to look into the man's face to see these coloured orbs, and I turned away.

"My friend, do not look away; we are friends now and hospitality demands that I will only treat you well," Alejandro said, bidden by my action. I felt a little ashamed.

"Yes, quite. Hospitality is your god. You see. Most merchants are patroned by the Greed, but not this one." Goito said, tapping me on the shoulder.

"At your service," Alejandro responded, swiping his hands to the side. He turned his head as if listening to someone whisper in his ear.

"As you wish. I am but a servant, even to the masters of others," Alejandro said. Turning back to me, Alejandro's eyes started to sparkle, and the centre of the gems glowed and spun a myriad of lights.

With a clap of his hands, Alejandro said, "And now, my friends, we come to the time of the trade; what is it that you offer?"

"This is all if I have a value!" I slapped the coin on the table.

"What is this one gold for the value I am offering on behalf of my client. Goito, you vouched for Alviro. Are you two attempting to deceive me?" Alejandro said.

Goito opened and closed his mouth. "No, of course not. We only met today," Goito said,

"Then help him pay for this fabulous item," Alejandro retorted. And Goito slapped down a few coins to join my own.

"And what are you selling," I asked Alejandro.

"What, you doubt the item is genuine? You question my good faith and the doctrines of my god? By the word of Hospitality, I have given you food and drink and offered you rest in my home. Have you not seen the efforts of my family. And you offer me only this. I cannot part with such an item for this meagre amount; this is not even the commission I am due," Words and gestures spilled out of Alejandro like a torrent of water from a hose.

Placing my hands on the table, I rose to look directly into the gleaming gems of Alejandro's eyes.

"And who is selling this item? One that you have not shown us," I said. And then, in Alejandr's hands, was a box. The box was a perfect square made of green sea glass the size of a large man's fist. On the side, dancing through the middle of the cube, dark black and bright red glass lights whipped around each other as if they were two serpents. The box pulled at me. I wanted it and what was inside.

"What else can I give you other than my friendship?" I asked.

"Oh, there is so much more than that alone," Alejandro hissed.

"Now let quiet down; we are indeed friends," Goito said, holding his hands like a low-flying bird. Alejandro glanced at him, and he held still. It looked like his whole of Goito had been stopped in time.

From above, a pigeon cooed, "You let him go, or I will mess you up! So, help your relationship with that little g god of yours. I will crap fire on this building, and it will fall," the bird screamed.

Alejandro snapped his fingers, and a light flared and covered the three of us in a dome translucent light.

"This is our negotiation bird. You are not the worklocks yet, so keep out of my deals!". Alejandro yelled up to the bird.

The dull thud of my hand slapping the table pulled attention back to me.

"What is this, Alejandro? We want no part of this," I said, and Alejandro leaned back in his chair, his eyes looking into my own.

"I see now what they want you. Then the deal is done this box: the coins and one favour of my choosing. For this simple box," Alejandro said.

The red and dark colours started to circle each other, head chasing tail. They were excited. In the same way, a great white shark gets excited when it finds its prey alone in the ocean.

"Done!" I said, but I had to say that; it was like I had no control, no ability to say no. Alejandro's shoulders dropped, a smile returned to his face, and the gems of his eyes returned to a dark red.

The box dropped on the table in front of me. The coins disappeared like street con hides the queen. I reached out to touch the box.

"With your left hand only," Alejandro commanded.

With my left hand, I picked up the box, and in an instant, it turned to a liquid of red and darkness. The sound of the crashing sea filled the space. The two streams of red and darkness enveloped my left wrist and reared up like two snakes about to strike. The strands of light appeared to become snakes and struck down, pushing into the flesh of my forearm, cold like the deep water of the sea. My vision darkened, and the rush of water filled my ears. I was in the sea, the deeps of the bay, and the taste of salt water filled my mouth. My tongue rolled over my teeth, sharp and jagged like broken volcanic glass. A ball of rage in the centre of my chest. I wanted revenge for being held in this prison.

Pain in the back of my head, then my cheek. My hands raised up to grab the back of my head. Rolling on my back, the warmth of the sun-soaked flagstones. I noted that my hair was drenched in sweat.

"Hit him again," Alejandro said.

"No, that is enough. Alvario is awake. You are safe. It's me, Goito," he said.

I was lifted up to my feet and pushed into a chair. The faces of Alejandro and Goito filled my vision.

"What was that!" I asked.

"It seems you were given a gift. Let's call it a gift," Alejandro said.

"What does it do?" I asked. Looking at my wet hands. With an absent sniff, I note that the moisture on my hand smelt of seawater.

"I simply have no idea. It may have done it," Alejandro continued.

"Tell me now. I want to know what the hell has happened," I said. I felt a weight like a thousand pillows drop on me and fill the room. There was no space in the empty room to move; all three of us were held fast.

A new voice came from the room's space, filling all the empty.

"Only investigation and discovery. The future is only for the seekers." The voice, both masculine and feminine, said. And then the room was empty again. All the pressure of the presence was gone, and all three of us were back at the table.

"Well then, a trade well done. And I must apologise to you, Alvaro. My merchant profession may have overwhelmed you," Alejandro said, speaking first.

"Thank you, that is Okay…I replied. But, now what?" I continued.

"Yes, now what indeed," Goito agreed. Alejandro's eye gems lit briefly.

"The gold was not all you have. Each of you has a token: seek your way, profession, and truth. I am tired, and I have much to do," Alejandro said, standing up and leaving the room.

I looked at Goito, opened my hand, and found the token from the Watchmen in my palm. Goito held out his hand; in his palm was an identical token.