The clash of steel against steel. The crackling of fire as it burns through buildings and homes. 
The cries of those who fall- innocent and combatant alike. The rhythmic pounding of feet as they 
strike the ground. The faint and melancholy last gasp of breath that escapes a body as life leaves 
it. These are the sounds of battle. But even more these are the sounds of fate and destiny. Listen 
to the sounds of destiny being reached and achieved. Listen to the sounds of fate being defied 
and denied. Listen.... to the sound of a young boy crying over his dead parents. Parents who 
were no more than innocent bystanders in the wrong place at the wrong time. As for the boy.... 
Well he notices not the sounds and chaos that go on around him. For this young child, with all 
that he cares about dead at his feet, the world has ended. He is oblivious to everything. At least 
until the dark shadow passes over and lands right next to him. The boy looks up in fear and 
horror at the monstrous being standing before him and begins to scream....


Weren eyes shot open as a loud noise from behind brought him out of his reverie. He turned and 
saw coming up behind him a large clear blue gelatinous creature. It was one of the animals that 
constituted the dominant carnivore species in this dimension. He looked on with no concern on 
his face as the monstrous beast's front seem to split in half and engulf him whole. Seconds later 
there was a large flash of light as the animal exploded, leaving only tiny pieces behind. It was 
stupid animals like that which made these sub-dimensions so annoying. You would think after the 
first dozen had been killed the remainder would get the message Weren thought. It made one 
want to question the validity of evolution if such a moronic creature could rise so high up the food 
chain. Still it could be worse Weren thought. At least this place was out of way where it was 
unlikely anyone would be around. Not that it would matter. He looked down the hill at the building 
that was incongruously sitting in the middle of nowhere. 

"Despite all their great power they still so often lack anything in the way of subtly." Weren said to 
himself with a sigh. "Such wasted potential, such wasted opportunities. You were right as always 
mistress. Still, soon all that will change. Soon."  

With nothing still happening below, Weren lost himself in his thoughts once more. His mistress. 
His mentor. His surrogate mother. And to think he had been afraid of her at their first meeting all 
those years ago. Oh he knew that in some ways she was using him. That was fine since in some 
ways he was using her. They were using each other to reach a common goal. Still her glory was 
so great, it was no wonder he had been overawed by her back then.

Movement on the plain below snapped Weren out of his thoughts immediately. The green armor 
and cape confirmed that this was indeed the one Weren had been waiting all this time for. He 
smiled at the thought that after all this time the next phase of his plan was only moments away 
from beginning. He sheathed the strange looking sword he had been holding and begin to slowly 
make his way down the hill. He had to be careful and maintain his concentration or else the 
power cloak he was using would fail. Still he couldn't help but focus on the building below. 
Although it would soon to cease being so in a few minutes, for the moment at least it was still....

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

One of Those Shops
An Improfanfic experiment in alternate universes

Begun by Farsan de Arnibia
Continued by Shaun Kronenfeld

Chapter 10A: From Past to Future

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

The young girl was clearly not amused with the fact that she was being forced to wear a frilly pink 
dress. Why did her brothers get go out and play whenever they wanted? Why was she forced to 
stay here and look *ugh* pretty. Her father was a merchant and while her family was far from rich 
they certainly didn't starve either. But not starving wasn't enough for the father. He wanted  his 
daughter to be wealthy and never want for anything. Of course if he had wanted his daughter to 
be happy instead, maybe everything else afterwards would have gone differently. Still what he 
wanted for the young girl was wealth and as far as he was concerned, for a girl that meant 
marriage to a rich merchant prince or maybe even a lesser noble. This in turn meant teaching the 
daughter how to act in proper society and the ways of being a proper lady. And a proper lady 
certainly never ran around outside getting dirty, hurt, or, worst of all, scarred. Why any father who 
let their daughter(s) do things like that were as likely as not to end up with (and the father would 
always physically shudder at the thought of this) an adventurer. Well that certainly wasn't going to 
happen to any with daughter of his. Or at least so he had thought. What he didn't know was that 
the girl had a secret. A week ago during one of her nightly sneak outs she had stumbled upon 
something in an old abandoned warehouse on the very edge of town. Or to be more accurate 
someone. 

Now the little girl lived in a little town called Karkure which, as every adventurer knew, was a 
place that should be avoided. The reason for this was over 75 years ago during The  Adventures 
Clash War the town had nearly been reduced to rubble. So after the war the town had gathered 
all their funds together and hired a wandering shopkeeper, who had mysteriously shown up in the 
town that day, to cast a spell on the town. The spell was as followed: 1st no adventurer would be 
able to use weapons or spells while within the town limits. 2nd anyone who became a town guard 
gained incredible strength and access to powerful magic. 3rd, and finally, the town elders had the 
ability to cast a instant, and unblockable, death spell on any adventurer within a 50 mile radius of 
the town. At first things hadn't been to bad for adventures in Karkure. Sure they would receive a 
cold shoulder from many of the townspeople but at least they were able to buy supplies in town 
and rest up for the night as long as they didn't cause any trouble within the town. Plus the death 
spell was never even used as it was considered an emergency last resort to help avoid a repeat 
of the previous town destroying incident.  All that changed 20 years ago as more radical 
individuals achieved power. With their smooth manipulations of people's emotions and a few well 
hired 'evil' adventures they soon succeeded building up the adventure in eyes of the towns 
people as the worst blight to ever hit the world. All to soon a law was passed sentencing any 
adventurer found within the town to be put to the death spell. 

Of course the young girl knew, or at least understood, none of this as she snuck out of her home 
for the 4th time in a week to go visit a newly acquired friend. She brought food as always, but this 
time she had something even better for the injured sorceress she had found. 

"Hello."

The sorceress looked up in alarm briefly but relaxed when she saw it was the young girl who had 
been helping her all this time. She was wearing a tight fitting piece of light armor that did admitly 
leave little to the imagination. Over this she wore a purple cloak that stained with something that 
clearly wasn't wine. Her left arm was in a hastily and clearly self made splint. To her side rested a 
large and ornate staff that could only belong to a sorceress. Women in Karkure were not allowed 
to practice magic under any circumstance, so when the girl had stumbled across the strangely 
dressed woman she knew what she had to be. Although the girl was forbidden from learning 
about such things, even in her relatively short life she had been able to overhear whispers and 
half-spoken stories. She had had painted for her a picture of far off places where a girl could find 
endless possibilities and adventure. To the girl it sounded like paradise. She didn't understand 
the reasons why, but did know that if someone else found the injured woman there would be big 
trouble. So she decided right then and there to help the woman until she could leave town on her 
own. 

"Oh it is you. Hello. Now Terreiasa I told you to stop coming here. I appreciate all your help, I 
really do but it is just to dangerous. If you should be found......

"But Saran I can't just leave you here. You're hurt real bad. And thanks to the.. the.. the anty 
magiy thingy you can't heal right. But look what I got this time."

Terreiasa brandished a large bottle containing a strange shimmering liquid inside it. Saran 
gasped as she realized what it was.

"A greater healing potion? Where did you manage to get this?"

"Oh daddy has quite a few of these. It took me awhile but I was able to grab it. Now you gotta 
take this and get better okay. You're.... You're the only real friend I've ever had in my whole life. 
You gotta get better. You gotta."

Saran looked at the young girl who had risked so much on a strangers behalf with both affection 
and admiration. At least until the door to the small abandoned warehouse was slammed open by 
a large heavyset man, at which point only horror filled her face. The man took a long, hateful look 
at Saran before turning his gaze to the Terreiasa. She was standing in front of the sorceress, her 
arms outstretched in a clearly protective gesture. The fathers eyes narrowed as drew closer to his 
daughter.

"I cannot believe this. I just cannot believe this." He said in a quiet and dangerous voice. "I knew 
you had been taking food for some time now..."

"Y... Yo... You knew?" Terreiasa whispered.

"OF COURSE I KNEW YOU STUPID, IDOITIC, LITTLE GIRL!!!" The man shouted. "WHO DO 
YOU TAKES INVENTORY OF ALL THE ITEMS WE SELL?!!? But. BUT. But I had assumed you 
were keeping some sort animal as pet. I had enough of you sneaking out and decided that for my 
little girl keeping a pet would alright, despite the expense and potential mess. And how is my 
kindness rewarded? WITH BETRAYL! You would keep hidden one of... one of... ONE OF THEM! 
If it was found out that one of our family was harboring an adventurer.... We would all pay for your 
evil little act." 

Terreiasa's father gained control of himself at this point and began to speak more calmly. 

"Never fear though, Daddy is here and he understands you made a mistake. He won't punish you 
much, since after all you are only human. You just didn't understand what the nasty disgusting 
evil witch was. What kind of filth she represented. Chaos amongst order. A disturbance of the 
proper ways of things. No self-respecting woman of this town would go around dressed like 
THAT. No woman of true breeding would ever think of learning magic and wielding a staff like she 
does. But don't worry soon daddy will go get the nice authorities and this vile pervert will be dealt 
with very harshly.

Terreiasa could not stand anymore of this diatribe against her friend. She ran up to her father and 
began pounding on the man.

"Stop it daddy. Stop saying those horrible things about her. She's not bad. She's nice. SHE'S MY 
FRIEND! And. And. And I won't let you hurt her." 

"HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK!"

He backhanded her with such force the young girl went flying and landed in a heap in  front of 
Saran. She looked down in horror at Terreiasa who was unconscious with a bleeding split lip.

"You... You hit her."

"That's the least of your worries missy. I am going to go get the guards and they will make sure 
the death spell is used against you. Of course they will almost certainly want to torture you for 
awhile. Such as you don't deserve clean deaths. Hell I wouldn't even be surprised if they decided 
to have a little fun with you first. After all it's what you and your kind deserve."

"If that is what I deserve, than THIS is what you deserve."

Saran had been reaching into a pouch on her side during the man's tirade. She pulled out a small 
ball and threw it straight into the man's face. It hit and split into dozens of small pieces which 
latched onto the man's face and began to shock him.

"You towns spell is very effective against traditional weapons and spells, but it has a lot more 
trouble with science based items like this stun ball." Saran said as she placed Terreiasa on her 
shoulder and began to drag herself out of the building. 

She had not gone more than ten feet when a mid-sized rock flew through the air and hit her 
squarely on the back of the head. She stumbled and fell to the ground unconscious. Terreiasa 
was jostled awake from the fall and groggily looked around in confusion. The sight of her father, 
his face charred black from the stun ball, approaching them with a large stick shocked her fully 
awake. She began to try and shake Saran awake but was meeting with no success. Then she 
remembered the potion and gratefully saw it in Saran's hand. She opened it and tried to pore it 
down Saran's throat but met with limited success as over half the potion spilled out onto the 
ground.

"Saran. Saran. You've got to wake up. Daddy's coming and he looks really mad. Please you gotta 
wake up. PLEASE!"

"Step away from her girl!" the man shouted.

Once again Terreiasa stood in front of Saran, arms outstretched in what she knew was a futile 
attempt to protect her. 

"NO! I won't let you hurt her. I won't."

"Have it your way girl." 

"Please daddy don't do this!"
 
"You can't really be my daughter. No daughter of mine would ever go against her father for some 
stupid bitch of a sorceress. You are a demon. I see it clearly now. A demon sent to ruin and 
destroy my life and reputation. Well first I take care of you and then her. Hell I'll be rewarded for 
my heroic actions this night." 

The man's eyes bulged with anger and madness as he raised the stick above his head in 
preparation to strike the small girl. Suddenly from behind Terreiasa a fire ball flew out and struck 
the man in the chest. He collapsed to the ground in pain. Terreiasa turned and saw Saran, on her 
knees, smoking staff in hand. 

"We are outside the spells protection you bastard and I am more fully healed know thanks to 
Terreiasa's courage. Lets see how you deal with someone who is not helpless due to injury or 
age."

At this point the man was trying to stand again but Saran would not have it. She pointed the staff 
at him and the man went flying as a wind burst struck. She then slammed the staff into ground 
causing the earth to rise up into a fist and strike the man on the back of the head. He went 
sprawling on the ground once more. 

"Please stop it Saran. I know my daddy isn't very nice, but he isn't bad. Just angry. Please."

Saran hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"Very well since you ask it of me Terreiasa." 

She walked over to the barely conscious man and began to speak.

"Listen here fool and know that the only reason I spare your life this night is for your daughters 
sake. Understand I could have killed with my first spell but held back as I wanted you to suffer 
before you died. You will not be killed though, since despite your cruelty Terreiasa still cares for 
you. When my party was ambushed and all were wiped out save myself, I wandered into your city 
with no other desire but to rest and heal. I knew the reputation of this place but was to injured to 
care. I expected no help and asked for none. But then your daughter came upon me and with out 
thought of reward or consequence decided to help an injured stranger. Somehow despite  your 
clearly poor parenting, she was a kind and inquisitive girl. I will not leave her to be punished or 
even killed for the crime of helping someone in need. Since you have clearly disowned her this 
night, I will gladly take responsibility for her."

She then stood up and motioned for Terreiasa to come closer. 

"Come here Terreiasa, we must go."

"Are... Are we going on an adventure, Saran?"

Saran smiled gently and nodded at Terreiasa.

"Yes. Yes we are. The greatest adventure of all my little Reia."

The newly rechristened Reia smile the wide, innocent smile of youth and ran over to embrace 
Saran. As she did so, Saran raised the staff into the air and the two vanished in a burst of light, 
leaving the pitiful remains of a broken man behind.   


Reia awoke from her reminiscing with a start as her head slipped off her hands. It had been so 
long since she had thought about her family. She had only been five when she was kicked out 
after all, so it wasn't as if she had any strong memories of faces or names anymore. Hell as far as 
she was concerned she really WAS an orphan as she had told Miro a while back. She hadn't 
been lying since as Reia saw it family wasn't about the blood you might share with strangers but 
the relationships a person shared with love ones. A surprisingly idealistic view on family coming 
from someone who had been living on the streets for the last 4 years. But that was her all over 
when you got right down to it. Reia still had ingrained deep down within the overwhelming desire 
to be an adventurer, just like the woman she tried to save all those years ago. It had never left her 
and she doubted it ever would. 

Hell look at her current situation. Here she was in some strange foreign de-men-sion watching 
over a store with a beautiful winged woman who was in reality the physical representation of the 
magical, world hoping, anything making, wish granting shop while the Keeper of said shop was 
out, with a rival keeper, looking for a woman who belonged to an order that was the traditional 
ancient enemy of all keepers. Oh and the keepers mother was with them to. Oh and also she was 
in love with the keeper. If you had told Reia this would be her current situation she five years ago 
she would have.... Well to be honest she probably would found the whole idea exciting and would 
have been picturing non-stop adventure. 

In actuality Reia was finding her current situation to be extremely boring.  When Reia had agreed 
to become Miro's familiar she didn't picture herself standing behind a counter for hours on end. 
She saw herself going out into each new world acting as Miro's eyes and ears, checking out each 
new place for unknown dangers and opportunities.  She pictured scouring new cities facing death 
and danger to find vital information and new customers for the shop. She thought she would be 
fighting armies of monsters in desperate attempts to deliver crucial items to customers and fellow 
adventures. She saw herself as his bodyguard, spy, and (here Reia actually blushed to her own 
amazement) maybe something more. No not maybe, definitely something more. She was 
determined to win his heart and soul. Reia sighed. If only her father could see her now, she 
thought with a snort. Love sick and crazy over some guy, planning her whole life around his every 
decision and whim. She knew intellectually of course that wasn't really true, but emotionally that 
was how it felt to her right now. 

She blew air out of her lips in frustration. It should be her out there right now, not Miro. Especially 
not Miro with Rikura. It wasn't that she hated Rikura. She didn't think it was possible to hate the 
chipper, and hyper, girl. Be annoyed by yes, but not hate. But a rival for ones true love was still a 
rival no matter what feelings of friendship might be developing. And even better he was out 
looking for ANOTHER potential rival. It was supposed to have been so simple. She and Miro 
would travel throughout the universe together facing danger and challenges together. And soon 
what else could happen but love blooming between the two. Instead of growing simple it only 
grew more complicated. She should have been hoping that the two failed in finding Alea and that 
the traveler was caught by another shop. The adventurer in her though saw quite clearly that Alea 
was a kindred spirit who wanted love and happiness as badly Reia did. In Rikura she found 
someone who was very empathic and always willing to listen to another's problem. She would 
then proceed to move heaven and hell in an attempt to try and solve said problem. No wonder 
she found her self wanting to be friends with Rikura. Much of what attracted her to Miro was also 
present in his best friend as well.  

The worst part about all of this  was that Miro had been correct when deciding that she stay and 
he go. After all this was his home dimension and he knew it far better than her. Heck these 
strange cars that moved so fast, were made of metal, and blew smoke out of the back still 
disturbed and bothered her. They reminded her far to much of a group of monsters that she had 
encountered with Saran's group on one of their adventures. The dammed things had come closer 
to killing them than anyone save.... Save.... Save the people who actually had wiped out her 
surrogate family. She felt her eyes water as she thought of the last time she had seen her father 
and of the horrible things he had been doing. She still felt such guilt over what had happened in 
Karkure after she had left. Reia tried to tell herself that the army that was formed and marched 
out against the world would have formed anyways. That she was only the excuse not the actual 
cause of what had happened. And that even if she did deserve some blame it was mitigated by 
the role she played in stopping the army. Intellectually she knew all this of course, but in her heart 
it didn't matter. She still felt guilt and blame for the Slaughter War. 

Rikura slammed her fist into the counter out of anger. Enough, she said to herself, enough. That 
was all in a past she had left behind with the world that was once her home. 

"Is everything alright Familiar Reia?"

It was Mise who had come over to Reia with a concerned look on her face.

Reia smiled and shook her head. "No everything is fine Mise. Sorry about that just a... bad 
memory. I'm okay."

At least Mise here isn't a rival for Miro thought Reia. Oh sure she had been nervous at first when 
Mise had assumed her unarguably beautiful true form. However as she had continued to spend 
time with the shops living physical representation, and after a quick talk with Red, the truth of the 
situation soon became clear. Mise could never become a rival for Miro's affections because she 
and Miro were bound as one soul. The thought had at first disturbed Reia. As she came to better 
understand what this meant and as she got to know the gentle and soft-spoken shop better it 
ceased to be a problem. She loved Miro, fully and completely, and that meant she would accept 
him baggage and all.

"Well if you are sure everything is alright Familiar Reia...."

"Now Mise" Reia said with a smirk on her face, "I have already told you just call me Reia. There is 
no need to so formal, right? I mean we are friends and teammates now."

Mise hesitated a moment before answering

"Of course Fami... I mean of course Reia.  But... But.. Ar..  Are we really.... Friends?"     

"Of course we are. I mean we like each other and enjoy each others company right? Well that is 
the very definition of friendship right there. You sound like you have never had a friend before. 
Surly the other Keepers and Familiars...." 

"Well I mean... You see I am a rather.... new shop. I only have had two other keepers in my 
existence and neither of them took a familiar. And while I suppose you could call our interactions 
friendly, I always saw our relationships as deeper and different from traditional friendship. But 
yes, I do consider you a friend. I just haven't thought about it before."

"Well there you go Mise. You have your first real friend."

Mise smiled gently before walking off to dust the shelves some more. Not that the shelves really 
needed dusting at this point but Miro had instructed her to at least look like she was staying busy. 
He felt it wouldn't due to have a repeat of the incident with his mother of someone coming in and 
seeing Mise just standing there like a statue. 

Reia was glad for that little conversation with Mise, as it helped crystallize her feelings on her 
current situation. Okay, sure things weren't going as easily or smoothly as she had hoped they 
would be. So what. Saran had taught her that adversity only strengths a person. It wasn't as if 
she was being forced to walk over miles of broken glass or swim a lake of boiling water like that 
one time in Genua either. Her adventures with Miro had just begun after all. Once this whole Alea 
mess was taken care of she and Miro could move on to another world where none of her other 
rivals would hopefully be. And even if they were.... Well Reia wasn't about to give up without fight. 
After all one of the things she admired most about Miro was his refusal to ever stop trying or say 'I 
quit.'


"I quit." Miro said.    

"Now Miro-kun you know you don't mean that." Rikura replied. 

"Yeah I guess you are right, but dammit we have been searching for four hours now and still no 
sign of her. How does a woman that.... distinctive just disappear?

The three of them, Miro, Rikura, and Himei Sazahura (Miro's mother) were currently sitting at a 
outdoor café trying to plan their next move. The had split up with Miro and his mother going 
together. In the four hours they had been searching,  along with help from special items from both 
stores, they had been able to cover a surprisingly large amount of ground. Not only was there no 
physical trace of Reia but nobody had seemed to encounter her either. The only good thing in 
Miro's mind that had come out of this afternoon so far was the fact he had finally been able to 
fully catch up his mother on everything that had happened to him.  She had caught on pretty fast, 
which wasn't surprising considering her former profession.

"Well from what I understand about what the two of you have said about Travelers, one of the 
foundations of their abilities is to blend into whatever world they may be in at the time. Although I 
do find it a bit funny to be talking so casually about other worlds." Miro's mother stated while 
sipping a cup of tea. "I think at this point the best course of action would be for us to head back to 
the shops and wait a while for her there. After all according to this device Miro created no one has 
left or entered this dimensional plane  since you all arrived." 

Back when Red had mentioned that Weren wanted something to track shops through the 
dimensions, Miro had an idea. He felt that if he could make such a device for the shop then they 
could get a good idea of what potential competition was already present in a dimension. After at 
lot of hard work and a little energy he had successfully made said device.   

"That's a good point Mrs. Sazuhara." Rikura said between huge gulps of a ice cream shake.  
"You sure do catch on quick. Why it took me days to really get everything Mog was trying to tell 
me. But you picked it all up only after a couple of hours. "  

"Well I wasn't a detective/bodyguard for ten years for nothing, you know." 

Miro had seen Rikura do many things including an incident involving a duet of the opening song 
from Excel Saga in tight revealing character costumes with a 300 pound sumo wrestler as her 
partner that he would rather forget. To the best of his memory though he couldn't remember ever 
seeing her spit take before. The fact that she had just done so with ice cream made it only more 
memorable. 

"You were WHAT?" Rikura shouted.

"Uh-oh." Miro said, a nervous look on his face. 

"Wait a minute," Himei said "do you mean to tell me that in all the years the two of you have been 
friends, Miro has never once mentioned that fact? Or the fact that I am a black belt and world 
champion marksmanship winner?"

"Heh heh heh heh, say how about that weather everyone?"

"Why no Mrs. Sazahura I don't believe he has?" Rikura said as both she and Himei began to give 
Miro an evil look.

"Oh boy."

 
"Are you sure?"

The place did not matter. The time did not matter. For the five cloaked figures all that mattered 
was the information had been acquired. 

"Yes, my lady, there can be no real doubt. We have found her."

The white cloaked individual smiled under her cloak at the news.

"Good. Very good. The others are counting on us. If the revolution we Travelers plan is to come 
about, if the war is to be won and ended at last, if the ultimate destiny is to be denied then there 
can be no failures. Alea Tatsumun Rou is a potential threat and loose end. We shall be the ones 
to deal with her once and for all. We shall show them the power of the Traveling Hunters. Now my 
friends let us begin the hunt."

Moments later the footprints of the five were all that remained.....


Sesamo's Store of Helpful Goods was one of the older shops currently active in the multiverse. 
Sesamo Tatsumun, the namesake and keeper of the shop, had personally trained under the 
legendary Red herself before going on to a highly successful career as an Interdimensional Fate 
Assister and Shopkeeper. She, along with her shop Helpela, had traveled the multiverse for over 
a thousand years. She was considered among the top  Keepers currently active by those who 
kept track in both ability and power. Most of her fellow Keepers believed that she was a perfect 
example of a Keeper doing things within the proper methods. Most people would be wrong. For 
Sesamo had a secret. A dark secret that would have had her branded traitor by most who 
followed the path of destiny and fate. She was in love with a keeper. Had been in love with him 
for over two hundred years. Had married him, against all rules of both Keeper and Traveler alike. 
Had even given him a child. A daughter to be exact. She considered this man to be her soul mate 
and thus was not surprised to see him walk into the store on time at their pre-arranged meeting 
place. The injuries however were a bit of a surprise.

"Kero!" she cried out in alarm and horror, as she rushed from behind the counter towards him.

Keha Rou smiled at the nickname that only his beloved wife was allowed to call him as he 
embraced her. He tried to comfort her for she broke down in his grasp and had began to cry 
uncontrollably.

"There, there my beautiful lass. It tis not a serious wound, I will be alright soon."

"No Kero, it's not that. It's Alea and the price that has been put on her head. How could have Red 
done such a thing? With the amount of energy being offered as reward, and the fact that it was 
Red who placed the bounty, she will be hunted by practically every Keeper out there. How could 
she? How could Red do this to us? Why? WHY?"

"I do not know all the answers Sesamo but I do know this. I went to confront Red on this very 
matter having heard a rumor that she was planning thus through the Travelers network. When I 
reached her I discovered that she placed the bounty on behalf of another."

"Who was it?" Sesamo asked in a mixture of horror and anger.

"It was....."

Suddenly the door leading into the shop shattered and exploded in an overwhelming burst of 
energy. Helpela, who was currently in the form of a lightening hawk (a bird like creature 
composed entirely of electricity and native to this dimension) quickly formed a shield to protect his 
mistress from the shards of the door that threatened to harm her.

"It was me."

Weren stood a few feet away from the entrance to the store, his Travelers weapon currently in the 
form of a wicked looking and blackened serrated bastard sword. He held it straight out and 
pointed the tip of the blade at the shocked Traveler and Keeper. 

"Hello, my old friends. So at last we three are reunited. And now the fun can REALLY begin."


"Are you positive?

The place did not matter. The time did not matter. For the five costumed individuals all that 
mattered was that the targets location had been acquired. 

"Sir, Yes, Sir. We have a positive id lock on the woman. We have found her." Said the one in the 
blue costume.

The red clothed leader nodded at his subordinate in acknowledgement and looked over to the 
other three who were dressed in black, yellow, and pink. 

"Okay people, listen up. The assignment has been received and the target has been acquired. All 
that's left to do now is beat the other keepers to her, take down the traveler, and collect our 
reward. Don't get cocky though people. Alea Tatsumun Rou is no amateur and should not be 
treated with kid gloves. And remember everyone this is for more than just some high priced 
bounty. They are going to learn not to mess with the POWER SHOPPERS. For great justice..."

The five figures placed their hands together and then dramatically pointed upwards with a great 
yell of: "LAUNCH EVERY SHOP!!!" 

Their five shops, currently combined into one mega-store, disappeared from its current reality as 
if it was never there....          

"Who..." Sesamo began before Keha stepped in front of her.

"This is Weren, some wannabe dread lord lich or some such." Keha said.

Weren's smile only widened as he responded "For a wannabe I certainly did a good job of taking 
you down didn't I?"

"You were only lucky that Red was there. I had you on the ropes and I was going easy. You won't 
walk this time."

"Ah the famous Rou confidence. Hmmnnn.... Or should that be stupidity? Before you do anything 
else stupid you should know that Red wasn't the only individual to have history with you present 
at our last meeting. Indeed I happen to have a very deep history with the both of you. Remember 
the town of Peaceville?"

Sesamo gasped in horror as Keha's eyes narrowed at the mention of that town.

"Ah how nice." Weren said in an almost conversational tone. "I had certainly hoped you would 
remember that wonderful little town. Seeing as how you two are directly responsible for it's 
destruction."

"It wasn't our fault..." Sesamo started before being interrupted by Weren.

"NO! Don't you DARE make excuses" he said in a rage filled voice "I know it was you. After all I 
WAS THERE!!! Remember the little boy you sold that bottle to Sesamo? Keha, I hope you 
remember the young couple you used in a attempt to thwart your then rival. And I am sure you 
both remember. What. Happened. Next. The pain and destruction your casual meddling did 
wrought. I know I do. Why shouldn't I? Seeing as I was that boy!"

"No that is not true." Sesamo said with tears in her eyes. "Yes we were there and yes we played 
a part in the horror that came after. But the blame lies with that foul witch...."

"Don't you dare even mention my mistresses name. Oh yes she WAS there but it was only to try 
and stop your foul and cruel little games. After the disaster she found me and took me in. You 
could say that along with the two of you, she made what I am today." 

"Oh yes and what is that?" Keha sneered "Some half-powered dead as a doornail lich. Wow what 
a great job she did with you."

Weren began to laugh at this, a deep and twisted laugh that grated on the very soul of all those 
who heard it.

"Stay here Sesamo. You'll be safe inside your shop. Leave this fool to me. Once I take care of 
him we can force Red to remove the bounty on Alea's head. This lich is no match for me."

"Oh I am so much more than a mere lich." Weren said "Especially now that I posses this 
wonderful toy."

"Whatever you are, you don't stand a chance against me. You are two thousand years to young 
to take me on."

Keha wasted no more time and launched himself at Weren with a loud battle cry. Weren just 
smiled and easily blocked the attempted strike. Weren then thrust forward with such force that 
Keha was thrown off balance and backwards. He then followed up with a flying spin kick that sent 
Keha crashing into the shops wall. Finnaly Weren launched himself at Keha in a perfect duplicate 
of Keha's previous attack which was barely blocked. 

"Silly old fool. Last time I was the one holding back. I played the weak little lich for Red's benefit 
only. After all it wouldn't due for her to know my true power, now would it." 

A quick sweep kick knocked Keha's legs out from under him and he went sprawling unto the 
ground. Right as Weren was prepared to run Keha through, a overwhelming attack of electricity 
struck him from within the shop. He turned, seemingly unaffected by the attack, to face Sesamo 
and Helpela who were standing in the ruined doorway of the shop. 

"I thought threatening him would be just the trick to get you involved in this little battle. But can't 
you do any better than this? No? How disappointing."

Sesamo looked on in shock as Helpela increased the strength of the attack, pouring more and 
more of the shops considerable energy reserves into it, to no avail. Weren continued to stand 
seemingly unaffected by the attack. Even worse he seemed to be growing bored.

"Really keeper, I expected something more original and exciting from one of your considerable 
status. Well if you won't bring anything unique to the table then I will..."

With that his mouth seemed to elongate and twist open grotesquely as the offensive energy was 
sucked straight within the gaping hole. Energy then arced out from Weren sword and struck both 
Keeper and bird alike. Sesamo was sent flying while Helpela lost cohesion and melted into a pile 
of goop on the floor. He next reached behind and caught the weapon Keha was attempting to 
drive through his back with two fingers. He then threw weapon and bearer alike forward with such 
force, they literally crashed through the shops wall. Weren then calmly walked into the ruined 
shop and approached the groggy figure. Suddenly from behind the goop that was Helpela tried to 
latch onto Weren but the attempt was futile. He simply reached out and grabbed hold of the 
squirming mess that was the shop's physical representation with one hand. 

Sesamo got up on her knees, coughing blood, and looked at Weren in horror.

"How.... How can you do this? A shopkeeper can't be hurt within their shop? How? You are 
breaking all the rules? How?" she cried out weakly.       

"How you ask? Well it's like this my dear. After a few years with my mistress I soon became 
determined to change things. My experiences clearly showed that the Multi-verse was a flawed 
and failed experiment. That fate and destiny, their servants, and their enemies had lost sight of 
the proper ways of things. That control had been surrendered to bureaucracy and small minded 
servants. Indeed your husband and you are perfect examples. After centuries of feuding you 
became lovers and then more. But instead of defying the mindless conventions that ruled your 
respective groups, you gave into them. You would only meet occasionally and were married in 
secret. You even had your own daughter raised with out every knowing her mother or the truth of 
her heritage. Bad form that. Clearly something needed to be done with the shoddy workmanship 
that was the supposed Multi-verse. But how to do it? It was then that I hit upon a plan. But in 
order to complete it I would need lots of times. So I became a lich and had all the time I needed. I 
spent centuries studying and learning until I knew what I needed to do. Along the way I learned 
such interesting things. Not the least of which includes information on the weaknesses of 
Travelers and Keepers that have been lost to the annals of time. Knowledge which had been 
forgotten by the very people it affected. You see in order to complete phase one of my plan I 
needed to posses a Travelers weapon and then a Keepers shop. I have the first as you can see 
and as for the other....

Weren began to squeeze the trapped shop and a strange pulsing light began to emit from the 
trapped being.

"Now at last the time is here. With this my great change will be complete and no longer will I be a 
lowly lich. I will be so much more. I want you to understand this is not about revenge. I choose 
you only because you were convenient. I would be lying if I said the thought of achieving some 
measure of revenge for those where lost wasn't appealing. But ultimately my plans go so far 
beyond mere revenge. I will gather all the threads of fate into my hand and bind all destinies to 
myself. I will be TRANSFORMED!"

Then there was a blinding, soul searing light and Sesamo felt such overwhelming pain. 
And then she felt no more....


"I still can't believe you never told Rikura about what I used to do." Himei said. 

"Look mom I said I was sorry but I had my reasons." Miro replied a little testily.

The three had nearly reached the two shops having given up looking for Alea at the moment. It 
was growing late and they had decided to continue the search in the morning. 

Rikura yawned as it had been an exhausting and busy day for all of them. 

"What are we going to do Miro-kun if we can't find her tomorrow?"

"I guess we will have to move on. I mean I have a fairly good supply of energy at the moment but 
not nearly enough for me to keep going without sales for days on end. Plus if we still can't find her 
I'm betting she doesn't want to be found. Alea is clearly more than capable of taking care of 
herself and we will just have to trust in that fact."

"Move on... You mean leave don't you, Miro?" Himei said. 

Miro was quiet for moment before stopping and looking at his mother. 

"Yes mom I do. It's not so much I want to go...."

"But that you have to go in order to survive. I understand Miro. Just like I understand that you DO 
want to go. Being a Shopkeeper has been the opportunity of a lifetime for you hasn't it?"

"Yeah... I guess that's true mom but it's complicated. I don't want to leave you. I mean I don't 
know when.... When..."

"When, or if, we will see each other again right? By the time you come back a few days may have 
passed for you but a hundred could have passed here."

"That's possible mom." Miro said in desperation. The pain of the current conversation was clear 
and evident in his voice. "I wish could take you with me but I can't. I already have a familiar and I 
won't abandon Reia."

Himei smiled gently at Miro. "And I wouldn't ask you to. Besides I doubt I would make a very good 
familiar for you. Despite the fact that we love each other we also get on each others nerves to 
much to live together anymore. Recent events have certainly proven that. It's just.... I wish there 
was some way I could keep in touch with you...."

"WAI!!!" Rikura shouted as she began jumping up and down. She had been quiet during this 
conversation and feeling very awkward as a non-family member listening in to such a private 
conversation.

"Rikura?" Miro asked. "What was that all about?"

"I just had the best idea Miro-kun. The solution to all three of our problems."

"All three...?"

"Mrs. Sazuhara you use to be an investigator and bodyguard right? And you know all sorts of cool 
martial arts and can use guns real well right?"

"Well yes..." Himei said hesitantly.

"Then its perfect. You can become MY familiar. I've been looking for one for awhile now and you 
would fit perfectly since you know so much cool stuff and can take care of yourself real well. And I 
was talking to Mog earlier and he said there is way to communicate between shops so you could 
stay in touch with Miro. And since he and I our destined rivals and all you will have the 
opportunity to meet up with him without driving him crazy. It's perfect. So will you be my familiar 
Mrs. Sazuhara? Will ya? Huh? Will yah? Huh? Will ya?"

Everyone was quite for a couple minutes as what Rikura said sunk in. It was clear to Miro 
however that his mother was seriously considering it. He knew that she was dissatisfied with her 
current life as he had been with his before encountering Mise. But it was also clear she was 
hesitating and why.

"Mom. Look I know this isn't up to me and I really don't have the right to say anything either way. 
But even so for what it's worth I think you should accept Rikura's offer to become her familiar. I 
KNOW you have the talents and abilities to be great at it and she could use someone like you to 
help her keep her focus. And... And I wouldn't mind being able to keep in touch with you. As 
matter of fact I would love it a whole lot."

Himei looked at Miro with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. She then hugged him so tight 
it knocked the air out of his lungs. After she let go she began to speak.

"My little boy really has begun to grow up hasn't he. For the record Miro I love you and I have 
always felt lucky to be your mother despite what I may have sometimes said. Rikura I accept. I 
will be your familiar, but only if you start calling me Himei. Mrs. Sazuhara makes me feel old."

"You've got it Himei. Wai! I got a familiar. Yay for me." Rikura said as she spun around and made 
victory signs with both hands. 

Miro and Himei then looked at each other and began to laugh at Rikura's antics. Miro knew that 
there were going to be hard times ahead in the future. He knew there were a lot of potential 
problems out there like this bounty on Alea or another encounter with Weren. But at this moment 
none of that mattered to him. As he walked with two of the people he was closest with down a 
moonlit street towards the other two important people in his life, who were currently in a small 
shop that had become a home in such a short period of time, he felt good. 


Authors Note: 

Well another chapter done and over with. I didn't have the same catastrophic problems with a 
computer that I did last time. Nope this time the problems lay all with my ideas. To be more 
specific I had some really good ideas and goals I wanted to achieve in this chapter. Unfortunately 
time just got away from me and I had to cut them short. For instance originally I was going to 
have flashback sequences involving Himei and Sesamo. Also I wanted the fight with Weren to 
come off more smoothly and better explain how he was beating them so easily. I guess I will have 
to leave that to others. Now I did intend for Sesamo to die as I sort of saw her as tragic one shot 
character but if somebody once to resurrect her I fine with that. Also I was NOT killing off Keha, 
who is far to potentially interesting character to take out of the game so soon. But again he fate is 
obviously at the discretion of future authors. Finnaly for the Traveling Hunters and Power 
Shoppers I purposely left them vague and undefined so others could have fun filling in the blanks 
later. What the Power Shoppers were supposed to be should hopefully be pretty obvious *cough* 
sentai *cough* but with the Hunters I just wanted to reintroduce the Reill and Mad Ones subplot 
into the mix again. Well hopefully this chapter won't piss off to many people. I am proud of it but I 
am also a little worried about the Weren sequences and whether I went to far with them. Oh well 
if I did I am sure it's nothing future authors cant fix. Well now I'm off to begin work right away on 
One of Those Shops Chapter 12B. I am such a glutton. Later days.