“Should we hit up a bar first or should we go sightseeing?” Nickie asks as she cuddles up against Serah in their room.

“I don't know. What do you want to do? Do you feel like being spoiled? I want to buy you something nice.” Serah says with her face against Nickie's plump chest.

“Hmmm…” Nickie hums as she thinks about it. “I could use a new wand. Preferably something overpowered.” Nickie says casually.

Serah looks up and smiles. “What about a nice dress too? Something to make all the other girls jealous of me.” She says in a tempting manner.

“I have enough clothes!” Nickie says with a frown. “How ‘bout a nice magical amulet? I could use one of those.” She suggests.

“Hmm…” Serah hums. “How ‘bout some magical robes? That and the wand. That way we both win.” She suggests.

Nickie smiles. “Fine. Do what you must.” She says with badly feigned disappointment.

Serah gives Nickie’s neck a kiss. “Anything for my baby.” She says as her hands began to explore.

…

…

“Your best wands, please. Price won’t be an issue!” Serah announces like a nouveau-riche.

The shop owner smiles as he gestures to three boxes on the top shelf. “Our best wands are displayed there. But I must warn you. They’re very expensive.” He says, slightly doubtful that this young lady could afford them.

“Can we see them?” Serah asks.

The shop owner heaves a sigh. “If you must.” He says as he grabs a step ladder. He climbs up and stacks the three boxes before bringing them to ground level before placing them side by side on the counter. He slowly opens the lids of all three boxes until three wands were displayed on their cushy red pillows.

“This one was designed for holy magic and healing spells.” He says, gesturing to a wand that looked like a naturally grown branch. The wood was white, and it looked firm and untouched, except for where it was cut at the base. “Basic healing spells would practically be effortless to cast, while the difficulty of more advanced spells would be greatly reduced. You won’t find this sort of quality anywhere else in the city.” The shopkeeper says with pride.

“That’s exactly what we need!” Serah exclaims with surprise, ready to hand the money over right then.

Nickie puts a hand on Serah’s arm. “Let him explain the rest.” She says as her eyes are drawn to a different wand.

The shopkeeper could only smile. “This one isn’t for the light-hearted. It was designed purely for the sake of destruction magic. Magic missiles and fireballs were made to come out of this thing like it they were thousand coin notes from the incredibly wealthy; like it was nothing. And if you specialize in darkness magic, you’ll basically be unstoppable with this wand. But unfortunately, it is cursed, and as a result, is relatively cheaper in comparison to the other two.” The shopkeeper explains.

Serah’s eyes brighten. She didn’t come here with the intent to buy a wand for herself but this could be a match made in heaven. If it wasn’t too much, she was very interested in this wand.

The shopkeeper gestures to the last wand. It was similar to the first one in form, but the wood was coloured a gentle pink. It gave off the impression that it was some sort of candy, something you could bite into. “As for this one… It was designed as a specialist wand, so we’ve been unable to sell it until now. But the quality is superb, and if you practice the magic that this was made for, this wand would also be very dangerous in your hands. I dread to think of the poor fools who came across your path; you could essentially enslave an army of men with this wand.” The man says before taking a moment to let a shiver run through his body. The idea of this wand was truly dreadful and he wasn’t kidding about the dread that this wand stirred up in him.

Nickie’s eyes began to glow. She wanted it. She wanted it bad. She didn’t know why, but her eyes were immediately drawn to this wand and even if she had to spend her own money, she wanted to buy it no matter what.

“What kind of magic is it specialized in?” Serah asks with a raised eyebrow, slightly in doubt of its power.

The shopkeeper smiles. “It’s a very rare sort of magic and that not many have the talent for; it is called Emotion Magic. In essence, this magic is dominance in every sense of the word.” The man says with a clear fear in his eyes.

“I want it.” Nickie immediately says. She didn’t know what Emotion Magic was or where she could learn in but she felt a desperate need for this wand.

Serah turns to look at Nickie, confusion in her eyes. “You want this one? Why? That healing wand was basically made for you!” Serah exclaims, not understanding Nickie’s decision.

Nickie shakes her head. “No, it’s this one. I can feel it in my heart.” She says as she gazes at the wand, her mind lost in unknown thoughts.

Serah lets out a sigh. “Fine. How much are these two wands?” She asks, her body already cringing to prepare itself for the hit.

The shopkeeper continues to smile. “35,000 coin for this one, and 27,000 coin for the cursed one.” He says as his smile becomes a smirk. His initial doubt was not just based on appearances. It was very rare for him to come across people who would pay this much for these two wands, when most of the incredibly wealthy had much better options available to them.

Serah’s body continues to cringe inwards. The price of these two wands were hurting her soul. “Damn that’s a lot of coin. But alright, we’ll take them. Do you take Ironwall Kingdom notes?” She asks, hoping to settle the deal and get it over with.

“It shouldn’t be an issue, but we’ll have to adjust the price…” The shopkeeper says.

Eventually, Serah walked out of the shop with Nickie, her shoulders slumped in defeat, and her pocket 75,000 coins lighter.