When strange things happen to normal people, they try to cope the best they can. Sometimes they cope well, and manage to stay sane, sometimes they go with the flow, hoping the river of madness will spit them out on the shore. More often than not, their actions would fall somewhere in the middle, a combination of being unable to resist the madness, but wanting to take control of the situation. Miro was one of those normal people suddenly caught up in a strange thing. His mind was flip-flopping back and forth, between several choices. This really didn't refelct itself in his next question, though. "Um.... ..shop? What do I call you?" /I do not currently have a designated name. It's generally the same name as what the current population of the universe we're 'parked' in calls the shop./ "That's weird. How about I just call you... let's see." Miro paused, thinking back to one of the sessions Rikura had had, involving a giant man eating building. His character had died in that, but Rikura had gave it a name. Which he couldn't remember. "I'll just call you Shop, I guess. I was thinking. How long would it take to get to this chaos universe?" He knew it wasn't really a chaos universe, just a chaos god, but he guessed that the shop would know what he meant. /It depends on the relative time-flow between different universes. Our current spot is a timeless limbo./ "What?" said Miro, puzzled. The recorded voice stopped, as if the intelligence behind was thinking. /Time is still between universes. The amount of time that passes outside of here while not parked somewhere is nil./ "Does that mean the chaos universe has a different rate of time?" /Yes. Approximately 2 of your days makes a year there./ Miro resumed thinking. He conveniently ignored the little voice saying 'This is madness! Just go back home!', his sense of curiosity awakened. What would it be like to meet -real- heroes? Miro threw up his arms, leaning back and sitting on a stool. He hastily got up again, as the stool gave a warning crack under his weight, and collapsed. "Roll the dice, don't think twice, flaming dice, fates on fire, flip a coin, choose a path. This Lady Luck we follow don't take no prisoners," he hummed to himself, cheerily. He wished Rikura was around, so he could borrow one of her dice. Taking a breath, he said, "Well, Shop. As your master, I say let's go to this other universe and help out the Destined Heroes!" /Hai! Engaging now!/ Miro blinked, bracing himself against the wall as a wave of nausea overtook him, accompanied by a brief moment of weakness. He coughed expirementally. Satsified, he opened his eyes. "Are we there already?" /Well, it was fairly close. Did I forget to mention that?/ Miro shook his head. "No, that's alright. Does it always feel like that?" /If you imagine it to be./ the recorded voice responded, a hint of mirth in it. /If I may suggest, remodeling the shop so it is more accomodating to the clientele?/ "Can I do that?" /I'm sorry. I forgot this is you're first time doing this./ the voice said apologetically. /But a vending machine in this setting would be inappropriate./ "Then what will you talk through?" He wasn't surprised when the vending machine wasn't there anymore, glancing over at it, and a parrot perched on his shoulder. The parrot squacked, it's multi-colored feathers shining reflectively in the bright light wafting in through the dusty, dirty windows. "Your imagination created the vending machine. Just like this. I'll talk to you however you'd like me to." Miro lifted one of the blinders, looking out the window. He winced, the bright yellow suns glaring down at just the right angle to temporarily blind him. Blinking it away, he looked outside again, more careful this time. The shop was in a town, an empty town. He could see an old temple across from him, long abandoned from disuse, large chunks of it missing. Miro dropped the blinder, opening the door, and stepping out. The air smelled like blood and dust, and he saw an occasional dismembered body. "What happened here...?" he murmured to himself, quickly stepping back in. "Everybody is dead. How are the destined heroes supposed to find us?", he asked, looking at the parrot on his shoulder. "Squack! The Enemy destroyed this town, to prevent the Heros from resupplying, squack!" "Well, since there's noone else here, I guess we wait," said Miro cautiously, reaching over to the 'closed' sign and flipping it over. ------------ A doorchime triggered by the opening door let Miro know someone had arrived, from where he was cleaning and organizing stuff in the back. He quickly hurried to the front, still holding the bottle he was trying to identify. "Squack! Someone's here, squack!" the parrot spoke, flexing it's wings, pacing back and forth along the front counter. "Hello! Welcome to Miro's Legendary Shop of Assorted Things!" spoke Miro, addressing the cute robed woman. He fought back a nosebleed, eyeing the state of 'disrepair' the lady's robes were in. "Huh. There's still a store open here. Must be recent. And just our luck you'll be out too," the woman half-muttered, nervously, eyes darting around. "Well, what are you looking for?" asked Miro, puzzled. "You can't know we don't have it till you've expressed your desire." Miro looked up, as another figure entered. Tall, brown hair, and armor that would probably sink a battleship. "Hello! Welcome to Miro's Legenday Shop of Assorted Things!" he greeted again. "Anjie, is this guy for real?", the second figure asked. The robed woman looked up, eyes glittering eerily, mumbling something. "Anjie! Wake up!" The man shook Anjie, then stopped, Anjie's eyes returning to normal. Miro frowned, witnessing the exchange. Clearing his throat, he spoke up. "Excuse me, can I help you with something? You two look in bad shape." he said slowly, somewhat meekly. "I'm sorry. My name is Deraj. Anjie here has been subject to too many mental attacks. She is a good person, but it's taken it's toll on her. And Heero, well... Heero is worse off. Maybe you can help? We need certain rare medicines to help Anjie and Heero, but so far, all the stores we've come across have been out." The voice was weary, tired, like he had seen too much for several lifetimes. Miro nodded. "Well, feel free to peruse the store," offered Miro politely, setting the bottle he was still holding down on the counter. Deraj's eyes locked onto the clear bottle as it clanked onto the counter. "Excuse me, kind sir, but would that be Ent extract?" Miro picked the bottle back up, reading the label on it. Purified extract of Ent. "Why yes it would. Did you have interest in this item?" Deraj nodded. "That is one of the medicines I've been searching for. It would help Heero. He was petrified by one of our foes, and has been that way for some time. I would be most grateful if you would sell it to us." Deraj nodded to Anjie, who was leaning against a wall, half-asleep, and she reached behind her and gave Deraj a pouch. Deraj nodded again, then dropped the pouch on the counter. Miro looked at the pouch. It did seem awfully light to him. "How does 150 gold sound?", asked Deraj queringly, counting up the party 's funds. "130 will do. I always offer a discount for first-time customers." lied Miro, eager to make a sale. Deraj plunked down assorted coins on the counter, Miro counted them, then handed over the thick bottle to Deraj. "Pleasure doing business with you," offered Miro, waving, as Deraj left the store with Anjie. He waited till the door shut behind them, then grinned. "That wasn't too hard," he said, turning to the parrot, thoughtfully. "I don't know. The cycle of faith dosen't require currency. So I can charge anything I want?" "Squack. Yeah." the parrot confirmed. "So I could charge just an interesting story. If they're really destined heros, then they must have interesting stories," mused Miro, playing with one of the coins, turning it over and over. Looking up, he realized he was talking to a parrot. "Hey, I'm not stuck doing this alone, am I?" "Sq-squak! You can go out whenever you like, but I can't protect you when you go out." "Well, what about someone else?" "Nope." "But could someone else come with me? Say, I pick up Rikura and we become partners?" "She could travel with you. But she couldn't make any transactions, and I couldn't protect her." "Oh." Miro sighed, plunking the coin down, wishing there was an intact chair. "Squack! It might be of interest to know that the Request is still going. I can change our location, so that we will be able to help them out more. And since there will be other people there, you might make some other sales as well." "Sounds good." Miro picked up the coin again. "Maybe I can get something local to eat." ------------ As Miro stepped outside of the shops new location, he couldn't help but notice his garb made him stick out like a sore thumb. More specifically, he was wearing what he had threw on this morning, , and everyone else was wearing multi-colored robes, or full body cloaks. The troupe of girls in tiger bikinis racing through the street did detract attention from him momentarily, though. He looked back at the shop. It did look shabby from the outside, he'd have to fix that later. < Miro's Legendary Shop of Assorted Things. Heh.> He stepped back inside, flipping the 'Open' sign to 'Closed', then stepped out again. As he walked down the street, Miro couldn't help but notice how strong everyone looked. Especially the girls. The thought brought a grin to his face. Miro spotted a place that appeared to be a restaraunt, and investigated. Upon closer inspection, he saw people inside eating, and people in uniform robes scuttling about. It was indeed a restaraunt. And suprisingly, as he entered, all the voices murmuring and talking, were understandable, not some foreign language. "Can I help you?" asked a pretty blonde with green eyes, in the same uniform robe as all the others working there. "Well, I'd like to get something to eat, please." "My name is Reia, and I'll be serving you tonight. Follow me to your spot, please," the girl said liltingly, hopping along. Miro obligingly followed. ------------ The tashoe pie was good, the krebb steak was good, and very filling. And when Reia, his server, had told him what dessert traditionally was for 'big-spenders' there, he had turned beet-red. And then hasty apologized, spilling a couple of coins, and beat a quick retreat. And thusly was back in the Shop. "Well, she was really pretty. And... well, I didn't think the coins I had were such high currency here. Because the resteraunt I went to doubles as a cathouse." The parrot cocked its head, looking at Miro. "Cathouse?" "It's okay. I don't feel like explaining it." Miro sighed. "Well, I guess I got some cleaning up to do if I want to get any business." ------------ After cleaning all day, inside and out, cleaning and tidying, and procuring some 'local' clothes, Miro was exhausted. The view of the Shop from outside was quite impressive, the gleaming oaken panels, the sign above the door cleaned and visible, reading 'Rinku-sama Ultimate Supply Emporium', at least for the moment. Miro had tacked on a sign that said 'Light pouches? A good story lightens the price!', as more of an expirement to see if that would get stories to count for the Cycle of Faith. Lying back onto the ground, arms crossed under his head, Miro stared at the ceiling for a while. The silence was starting to get to him, though. "Hey, Shop? Your last master was Rinku-sama, right?" The parrot was sleeping, or at least, he didn't see it around. Instead, the shop just spoke to his mind. /Yes. Actually it was Rinku Hoomas./ "So what did he sell?" /Whatever people wanted. He only took special requests, however./ "That sounds like an idea. Instead of making stuff and trying to predict what people want, or only sell one type of thing. I want to charge stories, though. If it dosen't matter what the currency is." /You run the shop, Master./ the voice in his head reminded him. "How come I can understand everyone?" he asked suddenly, sitting up. /Part of the bond. I provide everything you need to operate, including the ability to understand whatever medium of communication is used./ "Oh," said Miro, dissapointed, lying back down. "Well, good-night, Shop." /Goodnight, Master./ ------------ Miro lazily opened his eyes, stretching, then sitting up. Odd, his Mom wasn't yelling at him to wake..... Miro jumped to his feet, looking around. Not a dream. - He stood up fully, looking around at the sparsely filled shelves. "Shop?", he asked quietly. The parrot from yesterday, fluttered over and landed on his shoulder. "Sq-squak!" "Oh. Hi." Miro sighed, sitting down on an intact chair. The parrot tilted its head quizzicaly, then fluttered off. He eyed his sneakers, sitting on a nearby shelf, neatly set next to each other, and the shirt lying next to it, and then himself, the yellow and pink robe he was wearing. Apparently, light colors were considered masculine here. His mind drifted back to the girl at the resteraunt, but was knocked back to reality as the door chimed, signifying someone entering. Miro quickly went to the front of the store, almost tripping over the 'local' robe. Two girls, one in a red robe, and the other in a skimpy tiger bikini, laughing and holding onto each other were there, looking around the store. "Hello. Welcome to Miro's Legendary Shop of Assorted Things. How can I help you?" The girl in the robe giggled, leaning heavily against the other girl. "Um, you have stuff, and like, stuff, and you can tell stories for it?" Miro nodded. "If you had something in specific in mind that you wanted, yes. I'm just starting up around here, so I really don't know what people like around here just yet." She giggled again. Miro could swear he could smell alchohol. "Well, do you have like... I dunno... a pet elephant? I can tell you stories, I'm good at telling stories." she said, nodding self assuredly. The other girl looked at her for a moment, then started laughing. Miro really didn't have a good feeling about this. ------------ The rest of the day was fairly normal. A few other people stopped by, and he sold was a wooden plaque. It was for an old woman, for her husband. The story she told about what happened to him, and why she wanted it was really quite touching. All the while the story was being told, he was imagining the plaque, turning the details around and around, the story helping to do so, and then he had created it, out of sight, with mental nudges from the Shop. Then Reia stopped by, the girl from the resteraunt yesterday, just when it was started to get dark. "Hey there." she said, entering, accompanied by the doorchime. "I didn't know you sell things." She stopped at the doorway, leaning against it, looking around. Miro coughed nervously. "Um, yeah," he said meekly, holding one hand behind his head. Reia giggled. "You're so cute when you act like that! Are you sure you don't want some dessert?" she said, smiling faintly. Miro blushed. "Nothankyouhaveaniceday!" he blurted out, backing up nervously. "Oh? Are you sure about that?" she said softly, moving closer to him. Miro gulped. Reia laid a hand on his shoulder. "Please don't avoid me," she said demurely, her eyes full of emotion. Miro stood there for a moment, frozen to the spot, blushing furiosly. Nervous reaction instinctively moved him forward, then he realized what he was doing, and slipped away from the touch, and quickly retreated to the back of the store. He heard Reia call out from the door, "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you! Hello?" Silence, then more. "Well, I'll stop by tomorrow!" Miro heard the door shut, and he came out, letting out his breath he didn't realize he was holding. ------------ The next day came around, the sun shining down on Miro through the lone window. The sign above the store now said 'Miro's Legendary Shop of Assorted Stuff', Miro having switched the sign out yesterday. After a short excursion to the local hotel, for a bath and breakfast, he was ready for the day. Around noon, he reckoned, still unsure of the length of the days, a familiar figure entered the store. Deraj. "You're looking better." said Miro simply, nodding to Anjie as she entered behind him. And a third figure, a slim looking young man, Miro would've guessed they were the same age. And even wearing the same color robes. "Let me guess. Heero?" asked Miro, looking at the third figure. Heero nodded. "Yeah. You know Deraj?" Miro nodded back. "I think I was the one to sell him the Ent extract." Heero grinned rogueishly. "I guess I owe ya, then," he said, walking up to Miro and grabbing his arm in a meaty handshake. Miro smiled, keeping the fact that Heero had quite a strong grip to himself. "So, what can I do for you guys today?" Deraj leaned against a wall, his armor making an audible *thunk* against the oaken walls. "Another one of those hard to find items, I'm afraid. Anjie's foci shattered." Miro thought back to the past few days in the town. He didn't seem to recall any magic shops around. "Well, can I see it? I might be able to help," he offered. Anjie walked up to Miro, retreiving something from her robes, gently setting it on the counter between them. A pendant on a silvery chain, with an inset of shards of some kind of crystal. Miro guessed there was a full crystal there in the past, probably oval-shaped. Miro looked it over, then up at Anjie. "Well, tell me about it. A good story will get you a better price, and I'm sure you have a story to tell." Anjie smiled, looking away for a moment. "Well, okay. The full story, or just about the foci?" "Just the foci for now. I'm sure I'll be seeing you folks again, you can save the full story for then," Miro answered cheerily. "Well, it started after we left the abandoned town of Geranos, where we met you before. We had just used the Ent extract to recover Heero....." ~~~~~~~~ "....and after crossing the canyon, we arrived here. I guess it's just chance that you're here again," finished Deraj. Miro nodded, his attention rapt to the story, but somewhere in the back of his mind envisioning the foci, modifiying his image of it as the story went on. Composing his thoughts, he mentally added up something. "Well, that was a great story. And that was SO COOL how you fought back that beast!" exclaimed Miro, starry-eyed. Heero grinned. "Looks like he liked the story, boss." "It appears he does," responded Deraj nonchalantly. "Oh yeah! I'm sorry. Come back tommorow, I'll have it ready! It'll be a bit pricy, even with the story, but how does 250 gold sound?" spoke Miro. Anjie nodded, feeling her pouch. "That sounds acceptable." "And this one won't shatter from the same thing, I guarantee," added Miro, nodding solemnly. Deraj clapped a hand on Anjie's shoulder. "Well, I guess we'll be by tomorrow. We need to get some rest, and eat. Have a good day." Anjie gently bowed to Miro, then turned and followed Deraj out, Heero waving on his way out after the other two. Miro waited for the door to shut soundly, then let the grin spread wider. "Hey, Shop, it looks like we're gonna make out pretty good if we keep running across them," he said enthusiastically. The parrot, heretofore silent, spoke. "You're a lucky keeper, having such a big Request all to yourself, squack." "Yeah!" said Miro just as enthusiastically, then paused. "I think I'll need your help with this, to make sure I get it right." "Yes, Master," the parrot responded, Miro's enthusiasm reflected in the parrot's voice. Miro flipped the 'Open' sign to 'Closed', picking up the pendant Anjie had left, and went into the back of the store. ------------ Having crafted zealously late into the night, Miro didn't realize he was asleep or tired or hungry until he was woke up the following morning. "Hey, are you going to sleep all day?" "I also love you, Mo-" Miro opened his eyes, blearily focusing them to gain sight of the one who had addressed him. Two and a half seconds later, he was fully awake and aware of the scantily clad female who was trying on the pendant with a fluctuating aqua-sapphire oval crystal embedded in it. Three seconds later, he recognized the scantily clad female as Reia. "Wha-what are you doing here?" She giggled, looking him square in the eyes, still holding the pendant to her chest. "Did you make this? It's really nice." Miro nodded. "Yeah." Reia moved closer to him, kneeling down. <...is... is she?> He could smell her, and was acutely aware of the rise and fall of her chest, associated with her breathing. "Did you....." Reia said softly, "make it for me?" This jolted Miro out of his daze, and he stood up. "N-no. I made it for someone else," he said meekly, looking to the ground. "Oh. I see," Reia said slowly, as if dissapointed. "Well, I'll leave you alone now." Reia set the pendant down on the dusty worktable, and exited. Miro sat heavily in the chair, looking at the pendant, then back the way Reia had exited. ------------ After barely getting the impression Reia had left off his mind, Miro ventured out into the street, in search of breakfast. The search was successful, and consisted of some sweet tasting worm-looking noodles called 'Zaffram.' Down the street, he spied Reia entering the resteraunt where he had met her. And down the street the other way, he spied Anjie and Heero exiting a building, and turning a corner. ------------ Miro looked up, as the doorchime chimed, clearing his head of his daydream as Anjie entered, walking gracefully, with the addition of a new hat. Miro waved, retrieving the pendant from under the counter, and approached her. "Hello. It's done, I think you'll like it," he greeted. The pendant renewed, was the size of a baby's fist, the bronze tinted silver frame holding a gem, that fluctuated between aqua and sapphire, and if you looked at it just right, you could see a bird with huge wings in it, the whole thing dangling from a silver chain. Anjie held a hand to her chest, holding back a gasp, sighting it. "It's..... beautifal." she said softly, in awe. She tentatively reached out to touch it, but held back, as if touching it would shatter the dream it seemed like to her. "Um, miss? Are you okay?" "Um, oh, uh... Excuse me." Anjie composed herself, blushing. "It really is beautifal. You must have some talent, to have made this." Now it was Miro's turn to blush, with the addition of a hand nervously behind his head. "Ehhehehehe. It's nothing, really. Please, take it." "I couldn't. Not for such a low price. I'll give you 500. And don't you dare say no." "Yes'm, if you say so." Miro accepted the coins counted out from the pouch, silently pocketing them, and extending the hand holding the pendant by the chain. Anjie accepted, holding it up to the light, eyes sparkling with happiness. "And.... the magnification is at least three times higher....." she said slowly. "I'm sorry?" asked Miro curiously. "You increased the magical magnification rating on it too. This really is amazing," clarified Anjie. Miro blushed, looking at the floor. "Really, it's nothing," he said, recalling the effort and attention to detail, and just how hard he had tried to match her vision of it. "The story helped," he added quietly. Anjie smiled widely, looking at him curiosly. "The story helped, huh?" Anjie paused, thoughtful. "There's more to you than there seems. I look forward to our next meeting." Before she left, she turned and blew him a kiss, mouthing the words, 'Thank you.' The doorchime chimed again, as the door shut behind her. Miro sighed, settling for leaning against the wall. "That went pretty good, huh Shop?" "Squa-auck! This transaction puts us in the green. That was really something," went the parrot, in response. "In the green?" "That foci you made will change her life more than you or her realize, judging by the amount of energy that transaction created." "She really did like it." "It might be of interest to you that the Request had been met, squack." "Does that mean I have to go?" "No. It just means that there is no longer an active Request here. The Destined Heros don't need any more help." "But I can stay for a while?" "Yes." "I think I'd like too. I said I'd see them again, anyways. I don't want to leave without hearing their full story, from beginning to end," Miro said wistfully. He tapped his hand against the counter. "I've been here... 4 days? I've got plenty of time." "Not all dimensions have such a slow passage of time." "Still. I'd like to see this through. It's not everyone who gets to travel to another world and see real heros." "As you wish." Miro thought for a moment. "So, where would we have to go to meet them next?" ------------ Reia watched out the window of the resteraunt, staring at the store where Miro was. She kinda liked him, and that only made it easier to spy on him. What was it that the woman had said? Another Shopkeep? New Shopkeep? She'd ask whenever she got around to reporting to her. As she watched, the view of the shop changed subtly, then wasn't. It was so similar, though. If you weren't watching it intently, you'd never have known. Reia thought about this for a moment. Did this mean her assignment to spy on him was over? If it wasn't, maybe she shouldn't have come on so strongly. It definitely spooked him. Maybe he just wasn't used to women. Ah, well. She'd ask the woman who had hired her. She was looking forward to the generous fee for her services, though. ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ Um, damn. As usual, of course this sucks, but really dosen't, I'm just convincing myself that it does. X_X; Trying to get a sublime feel, like a story about someone reading a story, but I dun think I did. Ah well. Short, not meeting my personal standards, and blah. ....I could do *so* much better. That is, if I didn't have a court thingie, thanksgiving, an out of state visit, and construction next door to do, within my alotted time. X_X; Damn Impro curse. It's actually working this time. x_x Honest, I didn't know a vote came with a part until at least a week after voting. Considering that I used all my votes, I was pretty sure I was thoroughly screwed. x_x And all the thanks goes to Kenji, for various helpful comments and knocking me out of my 'Oh my god this totally sucks I should just burn it all and delete it all' rut. Although I did type about 30 pages of absolute utter cack that I did just plain delete. -_- I'd much rather turn in a short part than a horrible ghastly crappy part with bad characterization and plot and *too many* damn cliques. And Cham for the obligatory admin extend. (I still got maybe 4 1/2 days to work on it out of the whole 11, though. -_-) If the formatting on this gets screwed up *yet again*, I will have to hurt someone, though. ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~