Violette slowly opened her eyes and began to stretch her arms. She was laying down on the hard wooden stage, looking at the blue sky above her. Her eyes felt heavy and she blinked hard in an attempt to recover from her first full night of playing music in a while. Violette was resting on a pillow with a blanket draped over herself.

She drowsily looked around to see a few turned over chairs, many dead glow-sticks, and a couple drum-sticks snapped in half. The whole stage and surrounding area was devoid of people, branching off into the maze of Shopkeeper’s merchandise.

“Get back here you little thief!” shouted the voice of the owner, as if on command. The green-clad woman was floating above her domain chasing something.

Through one of the stalls, a hooded man burst onto the stage area. His hooded robe was all white except for some golden trim on the edges. His face was completely obscured by shadow, but Violette could see the object he had in hand. It was an elaborately chiseled idol of a woman made out of polished granite.

“Don’t just lay there; do something!” Shopkeeper shouted at Vio.

In a quick panic as the man ran in her direction, she rolled to get up. Unfortunately, she rolled right off the stage. In the process of trying to not fall, her frantic hands unintentionally strummed over her guitar.

To the fleeing man’s surprise, he was tripped by seemingly nothing and began to hurdle off the stage. Before hitting the ground though, the man’s cloak wrapped around him and took a sharp left in the air. It was like the hood had a mind of its own.

Shopkeeper didn’t even stop to greet Violette; she just kept chasing the man, hurling high-velocity Sera as her weapons.

Getting up and giving another morning stretch, Violette attempted to straighten her hair while she recalled last night. She hadn’t had a gig like that in a long time. She sat there, recalling in a hazy daydream until the memory of Shiso came to mind. She panicked as she remembered what he told her after the kiss.

“We’ll talk after the concert. Go, enjoy yourself again.” rang Shiso’s voice through her head. She didn’t remember talking with him at all.

Violette took off in a flash though Shopkeeper’s market, hoping to find the man somewhere in the maze of products. Before she went too far though, she ran back and grabbed her guitar. After all, she wanted something on her in case that hooded man happened to meet her again.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“No, aim with the hips.” Shiso insisted. “With the hips.”

Gunner threw the kunai and it soared above the target. The boy groaned in frustration and kicked a pile of CD’s over.

“What did I say about the hips?” Shiso asked judgmentally.

“Shut up, man! You can’t tell me that you can do this garbage!” Gunner said in defeat. Shiso grabbed a knife from Gunner’s hand and hurled it at the target. In a blur of his hands, Shiso had scored a bullseye.

“Yes, I can say that I can do it. So can you. Just focus.”

“What’s this even for?” the boy asked, continuing his tantrum after an hour of failure. “I’m not gonna use these knives!”

“You know what? That’s what I thought when I was your age too.” Shiso said, retrieving his kunais. “But now I use them all the time.”

“Is it because that antique’ll fall apart if you shoot it?”

“I’ve kept this thing in prime condition for decades.”

“You don’t look decades old.” Gunner observed.

“I moisturize.” Shiso joked. Gunner began looking around the place like he was on some kind of treasure hunt.

“Where are the guns in this place?” he asked.

“Why don’t you pick up one of these knives instead, kid?”

“Because I don’t give a damn about those stupid knives.” Gunner spat.

“I’m trying to teach you something useful.” Shiso snapped. “Be grateful and learn it.”

“Damn, you’re not my dad.” Gunner retorted, continuing his search. “Who the hell taught you stuff like that?”

“My mother did…” Shiso’s sentence trailed off as he stared off into the distance. He rubbed his temples and sat on the ground. Gunner walked over, a bit concerned about the man supervising him.

“Yo, you okay?” he asked. Shiso looked up at the familiar young boy standing above him. He threw his head back and stared into the infinite blue sky. It tantalized him with the knowledge of irony.

“God, I’m turning into my mother.” he grumbled.

“Your mom threw knives at targets with you?” Gunner joked.

“Yeah.”

“Oh.” Gunner meekly paused, embarrassed. “You know, I didn’t get to really meet my mom.” Shiso sighed and closed his eyes.

“They’re not all that they’re talked up to be.”

“Oh yeah?”

“My mother…” Shiso mumbled. “Never liked to talk about growing up. ‘Nuff said about that, I think.” he said, getting up.

“You’re just dropping it at that?” Gunner asked, disappointed.

“Yeah, that’s enough for now.” the gunslinger said with finality. He took a kunai and tucked it into one of Gunner’s pockets.

“Why do you insist on giving children knives?” the boy asked.

“Everyone could use one.” Shiso patted Gunner on the back. “Let’s go get you a gun. It ought to make you happy.”

“Well, ‘bout time.” Gunner remarked, walking through the bazaar with Shiso.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Selicy and Reva made their way through the Shopkeeper’s shop, weaving through various stalls, bookshelves, and display cases of merchandise.

“Have you always done that?” Reva asked, pointing to Selicy’s ice skates riding across the thin layer of sleet under them.

“It wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to get at first.” Selicy sighed. “Many falls.”

“It looks cool though.”

“Thanks.”

It was quite the awkward company for the both of them. Selicy wasn’t one to keep up a conversation and Reva wasn’t acquainted enough with Selicy to know what was and wasn’t alright to talk about with her.

“Where are we heading?” Reva asked.

“I’m heading to the comic book section.” Selicy said plainly.

“I didn’t take you for the comic book type.”

“It’s something I occasionally glance at. Makes me feel nostalgic.”

“Of times before the war?”

“Yeah…” Selicy said uncertainly. Shopkeeper’s comic section consisted of a small quadrant of a bookshelf crammed with as many of the small books as possible.

“Not quite the impressive collection, is it?” Reva joked. Selicy took one out of the shelf, holding it fondly.

“Whatcha’ got there, Sel?” the knight asked.

“It’s just a little something.” she mumbled. Reva bent down to read the title of the comic book. It read ‘The Adventures of Lady Decibel’ in red and yellow text across the front.

“Are you thinking about buying that one, ma’am?” asked a sweet voice behind them both. Shopkeeper was standing there, hands behind her back.

“Goodness, how did you get here so fast?!” Reva yelped.

“A gal’s gotta be fast to run this kind of business.” Shopkeeper winked with a rosy smile. “But a little doppelganger spell makes things easier too.”

“Then are we talking to the original?” Reva inquired.

“Unfortunately, she’s unavailable right now.” Shopkeeper apologized. “I will have to serve you instead.”

“Getting a clone to run your establishment with you?” Reva asked, shaking her head. “What won’t you do to save money…?”

“I’d do anything for some green!” Shopkeeper exclaimed, determined.

“Glad to see she’s a chip off the old block.” Selicy said, unamused.

“Money is my mistress, and I live to serve!” Shopkeeper insisted.

“Good. Shut up and get me to check-out.” Selicy sassed, throwing the comic book into Shopkeeper’s hands. “I wanna make this quick.”

“35 Serra.” Shopkeeper said, holding her hand out. As soon as Selicy dropped the gems into the lady’s hands, she disappeared into a cloud of purple smoke. Both Selicy and Reva got a good mouthful of the smog.

“Damn… magicians…” Selicy coughed. They worked their best to fan the hazardous smoke away. The two of them found a place to sit, where Reva tried her best to stop her eyes from watering while Selicy opened the comic book she bought.

“Say, why did you buy that book in particular?” Reva inquired.

“I liked the cover the most.” Selicy said. You know, like a liar.

Before Reva could actually question her any further, the stall behind them came crashing down and a howling cry pierced through the air.

“Get back here, you little business killers!” raged a familiar green store owner.

From the dust of the destroyed stalls, a figure darted out. She had an all white hooded robe with golden trim on the edges. Her face was completely obscured by the shadow of the ominous hood. In her hands was a sphere that was slightly blue tinted and almost clear, but refracted light near the center of it.

“Get her!” yelled Shopkeeper, hovering off the ground.

Selicy was quick on the command. She outstretched an arm and several spikes of ice shot from her fingertips. Only one of them hit, but it impaled itself though the woman’s calf; she yelped and fell down. The woman’s coak yanked her backwards, carrying her through the air and around another corner.

“What the hell was that?!” Shopkeeper furiously exclaimed, pointing at Reva. “Did you even try to stop her?!”

“I didn’t want to hurt her.” Reva said.

“You could’ve at least blocked her!” Shopkeeper darted her eyes around. “Those damn things are like rats!” Shopkeeper grumbled, frustrated. She flew off to the other side of her market. Reva and Selicy stared at each other.

“What do you think that was about?” Selicy asked.

“I’m not sure.” Reva shrugged. “But I think she’s got it handled.”

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“This place gets bigger each time we’re here.” Saffron remarked, peering into every nook and cranny of Shopkeeper’s market.

“How do you think she gets and sells all this junk?” Hazel asked. “Clearly not just from us.” Saffron scratched her chin.

“Maybe she raids junk piles for the stuff still intact?”

“Then how does she get rid of the stuff? She doesn’t look like the type to just throw stuff away without selling it.”

“Hm… Time travel?”

“Saff, you’re losing me.” Hazel laughed.

“Maybe she travels through dimensions.” the scientist suggested. “Get goods from across the multiverse.”

“Yeah, and how does she do that?” Hazel asked smugly.

“I… don’t know.” Saffron admitted with a giggle.

“Some of these even look like personal things!” Hazel noticed, picking up a photograph. It had on it five figures: 4 adults and one child standing on top of a blue wall. One had an eye missing while another wore a giant brown coat.

“I’m so glad to see you all!” exclaimed Violette ahead of them. Hazel set the photo back down before she got a better look at it.

“What’s up?” Saffron asked.

“Shiso. I need to find him.” Vio asked in a panicked voice. “I never talked to him after last night!”

“Maybe you did and you thought you dreamed it.” Hazel suggested.

“I didn’t dream of him though!” Violette lamented.

“What did you dream of?” Saff asked curiously.

“David Bowie vampires; but that’s not the-”

“Hold the phone.” Hazel interrupted seriously. “You dreamed of David Bowie as a vampire?”

“Multiple of them.” Violette corrected.

“Hm…” Hazel wondered. “Maybe it suggests-”

“Zel, you’re not a psychologist.” Saffron pointed out. “Don’t worry Vio, we’ll help you find Shiso. The guy’s around here somewhere.”

“Thank you.” the musician sighed in relief. “One more thing…” she asked quietly.

“What is it?”

“Can you, uh… help me find my regular clothes.” she asked. Violette was still wearing her rock stage clothes, but had forgotten where she left her casual wear.

“Let’s get that settled first.” Saffron laughed, patting Vio on the back.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ah… That feels comfier.” Vio remarked, talking out from the folding screen with her regular dress on. She gripped the familiar violin in her hand, feeling like it was an extension of her that was missing.

“Stylish as always!” Saffron cheered.

“Now we can look for that old man.” Hazel sighed.

“The shop’s so big though.” Saffron said. “It’ll take forever to find Shiso.”

“Good thing I’m here then.” yawned the gunslinger, walking into the room from behind them. He walked with Gunner by his side, who was examining his new Manafire as closely as possible. Violette blushed.

“Oh… I- Well… if you… we should-” Violette’s articulation had hit an all time low with trying to convey her feelings.

“Let’s go talk somewhere else.” Shiso suggested, walking over and taking her hand.

Y-yeah.” Violette stammered, flustered. They both walked out of the group’s vision. Saff and Hazel looked down at Gunner.

“Hey kid, what’s up with the old man?” Hazel asked. “You’ve been with him for the past hour. What’s up with him?”

“I dunno.” he answered, looking down the muzzle of the gun. “He doesn’t say much.”

“Ugh. Guys.” Hazel complained.

Reva and Selicy walked in as well. Selicy was explaining a comic book as she held it up for the knight to see. They were apparently deep in some talk about comic book lore.

“Fascinating morals…” Reva admired. “Such pure intentions.”

“That’s how most superheroes of the era are.” Selicy shrugged.

“You bought a comic book?” Hazel judged.

“What?” Selicy said defensively. “You had to buy those overalls at some point. I wouldn’t consider that the best purchase of your life.”

“Saff, hold my belt.” Hazel said, shoving her belt into Saffron’s hands and taking out the person-sized wrench.

“Perhaps we can not fight here?” Reva asked, standing between them both. “Shopkeeper already looks quite occupied and stressed.”

From out of view, a white hooded figure jumped from the top of a bookshelf. He landed in the middle of the group, leaving them stunned. Before any of them reacted, the hooded man jerked to the ground and sharply darted between Reva’s legs, not stopping his pace.

“Follow that thing!” Reva and Selicy exclaimed, dashing after it. Hazel took her belt back from Saffron and joined the two in giving chase to the hood. Gunner was too infatuated with his gun, but Saffron scooped him up and carried him on her back as she followed the other three.

“Why are we chasing that thing?!” Saffron asked when she managed to catch up.

“The guy’s been busting through the shop!” Selicy said. “He’s pissing me off and he interrupted my day again!”

“And he’s been stealing Shopkeeper’s products.” Reva added.

“He’s got something in his hands!” Hazel pointed out. Indeed, in the hooded figure’s hands was a cleanly cut purple gem.

“He’s got something!” Gunner spotted from his high vantage point. Gunner aimed his shaky gun and fired; the hood jerked the figure, making him dodge out of the way.

“We need something to weigh him down!” Hazel suggested. “He’s too fast.”

“I’ve got an idea!” Saffron exclaimed. “Reva, when I hand you something, throw it as hard as you can at the guy.”

“Will do.” the white knight said confidently.

“Brace yourself, little guy.” Saffron warned Gunner. Before he could question what he was bracing himself for, Saffron lobbed the boy onto the shoulders of Reva, who unquestioningly threw the child at the hooded figure.

Gunner himself missed the figure, but he grappled onto the hood, dragging it along the ground. The man was now weighed down by the child and his gun.

“Get off me, kid!” the gruff voice demanded.

“You first!” Gunner shot back.

“What?” the man questioned, not understanding the nonsensical comeback.

The white hood finally got to the edge of the Shopkeeper’s bazaar of stuff. The man turned around and kicked Gunner off his hood, dusting it off. From the group’s left and right, 2 more hooded figures flew out; one woman holding a blue-tinted clear sphere and a man holding a granite statue of a woman.

“I don’t believe those things belong to you!” Reva shouted, raising her shield.

“Come and take them back then!” spat the young man holding the granite. The figures darted far into the plain of rock faster than any of them could react.

“My merchandise…” Shopkeeper sadly moaned, floating dejectedly behind them. “They took my babies…”

“It’s alright.” Reva comforted, patting Shopkeeper on the back. “We’ll get them back for you.”

“We will?” Hazel asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s the right thing to do.” Reva insisted. She gave pleading eyes to Saffron.

“Yeah, it’s the right thing to do.” sighed Saffron, who gave in to Reva’s begging.

“Oh, thank you all!” Shopkeeper exclaimed, giving Reva a hug. “Where are the other two of you guys?”

“Off playing spin the bottle somewhere, probably.” Selicy scowled.

Shopkeeper took out a card and crushed it between her palms. Suddenly, she split into three separate people with a comic “pop!” sound. The left and right Shopkeepers flew off into the shop while the middle one stood there and shook her head, dazed.

“Oh, that gets hard when I have to split so many times in one day.” she complained.

After a few minutes of waiting, the two Shopkeepers came flying back. One was carrying Violette with ease, swinging her around and having fun with her. The other Shopkeeper was struggling to keep Shiso in the air, as he was thrashing about and yelling about how he’d rather walk than be flown. Shopkeeper one gently let Violette down while the other one dumped Shiso onto the hard-packed ground. They both merged back with the original.

“Did he make a move on you?” Selicy whispered to Violette, causing her to blush.

“What did you drag me here for?” Shiso groaned.

“You all have agreed to get my merchandise back!” Shopkeeper cheered. Shiso turned to the group as a whole.

“Who drafted us all to do this?” he asked. Everyone except Violette pointed to a meekly smiling Reva.

“Are we getting paid for this?” Shiso asked Shopkeeper. She thought for a second.

“Yes.” she finally answered.

“Good enough for me.” Shiso said, shrugging his shoulders. “Let’s move out.”

The group said goodbye to Shopkeeper as they set off in the direction of the white-hooded figures.

“Next time, don’t let Reva make group decisions.” Shiso advised everyone. They all nodded in unison, being at a complete agreement.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You said you really saw them go in this direction?” Shiso inquired.

“Yeah, everyone but you and the rock star did.” Selicy said.

“There’s nothing for as far as I can see.” Shiso pointed out.

“What if they changed direction?” Saffron asked. They all stayed silent, for they knew that in that case, they had been walking in the same direction for the last hour all for nothing.

“Hey guys, is that normal?” Reva asked, pointing at the sky. A flock of birds was passing though, but disappeared for about a football field’s length before reappearing again.

“Um… no, it’s not.” Hazel pointed out.

“What’s up with the birds though?” Gunner asked.

As they walked closer, the space in front of them seemed to have a kind of wavy effect, as if heat waves were scorching the air. Without warning, Selicy shoved Shiso forward. The man stumbled before disappearing entirely; Violette gasped. They all looked at her.

“What? I was gonna go next.” she said defensively. To her credit, she did immediately dash through next. Slowly, the entire group carefully moved their way through the barrier of distorted air.

“Woah…” Hazel whispered in awe.

In front of them was a massive stone palace that looked too impressive for regular people to make. It was all made of one massive piece of stone; no mortar was in sight; just slight cracks here and there. No glass for windows though; just open roofs or precise holes in the walls to let sunlight in.

“Who built this place…?” Saffron wondered aloud.

“Who would build a castle entirely out of rock in this day and age?” Gunner asked.

“It feels more like a temple to me.” Violette said. “Just something about the air it carries.”

“Well, I’m not gonna wait for the castle to come to me.” Hazel said happily. She marveled at the architectural wonder of it.

“Must’ve been a pain to carve out.” said Shiso.

“Maybe they used a special tool?” Reva suggested.

“Maybe. The cuts look really sharp and precise.”

They came to the front doors, which consisted literally of two giant stone doors. They tugged on them, but opening them proved pretty difficult. While Reva struggled to open the doors with Selicy trying to pry them open with packed-ice tools, Hazel was giving Saffron a leg up in order to peep through a window.

Saffron saw a largely empty room with only a throne at the end of it. Sitting on the throne was a woman wearing a long white dress that covered her past her feet and a golden collar and headband. She had long dark purple twintails that reached down to below her hips. She gripped a staff in her left hand.

In front of the woman were the three hooded figures that had stolen things from Shopkeeper. They were bowing down and offering the objects to the woman.

“We offer you more stuff of power!” the woman in the middle exclaimed excitedly.

One man eagerly gave her his granite totem; the woman took it with wonder. Another proudly handed over his moderate sized cut of amethyst to the woman, who admired its purple sheen and shininess. Then the woman approached.

“Here you go, Lord Terra.” the woman said nervously. She gently gave her blue-tinted sphere over to Terra, who examined it in wonder.

“What is it?” Terra asked.

“It’s a moonstone.” the woman answered proudly. “It’s super rare and shiny.” Terra was indeed marveling over the stone’s immense luster that it provided. She smiled gleefully and looked back at the woman who offered it.

“You outdid yourself with this one.” Terra said warmly. She gently pushed the hood back from the woman’s face and gave her a rub on the top of her head, like the kind parents might give to their young child.

The woman smiled and put on a face of excitement while she and the two other guys ran off to a different room. The guys looked noticeably grumpier and jealous of their comrade. Hazel finally dropped Saffron, unable to hold her anymore. Saffron rubbed her head.

“What’d you see?” Hazel asked.

“Either a cult or something weirder.” Saff answered. “Have you tried knocking?” she shouted to Reva and Selicy. They both gave a blank stare to each other before Reva cleared her throat.

“Is anyone home?” Reva shouted. The stone doors slowly opened, revealing a long room with a woman sitting at a throne on the end.

“Who dares knock on my doorstep?” boomed a deep voice.

“Um… Us.” Reva answered.

“Then begone, Us, or I will have to use force!”

“Force this!” Gunner shouted, blindly shooting a blast at Terra and pathetically missing his mark.

“So be it!” Terra shouted.

She raised a hand, summoning purple symbols and runes in the air; the symbols began swirling around her arms and staff in a whirlpool motion. Then all at once, the runes stopped moving and arranged themselves into the air in front of you; then they all sank into the ground.

The earth below them trembled as the whole palace began to shake uncontrollably. From the ground a giant stone monolith rose and moved towards them at lightning speed. Reva grabbed as many people as possible to hide behind her shield while throwing up giant blue shields for anyone else.

The entire group was pushed backwards a hefty distance; miles and miles back. By the time they could all breathe soundly again, the monolith had pushed them all the way back to Shopkeeper’s shop. The woman herself was standing at the entrance.

“Did you get my things back?” Shopkeeper asked.

“I think we need a plan first.” Hazel grumbled.