A low drone. A low drone had come over the shop ever since its proprietor had left. At first it was a distant vibration in the background. So inconspicuous as to be confused for nothing more than silence. Then it grew louder and louder until finally the sound was overbearing, threatening to deafen the lone occupant of the shop.
"Stop, stop, please make it stop," the woman cried out from her position on the floor, having cast herself down in some instinctual drive to avoid whatever predatory noise was assaulting her ears. Her face was contorted in a pained grimace, and her vision shaking, whenever she dared to open her eyes. She could see through the dingy windows passersby simply walking by the store front as if nothing was happening. Weakly she reached out towards one who cast a curious glance towards the stained windows, mouthing the words help me. The man did not notice, neither her nor the noise, and continued on his way.
"No, please," she cried out a second time, now throwing her head against the floor and groaning as she felt the very sound now reverberating through her body. Her fist slammed against the wooden floorboards, but her strength was so far gone that the only noise she could make was simply muffled and overshadowed by the sound of the shop.
Then it all stopped, and for a moment a silence nearly as deafening as the droning hung in the air. Which was in turn interrupted by a second sound. A delicate, yet dull chime of an old weathered bell above the door. It took a few seconds for the woman to regain her senses and realize what the chime meant, that she was in a store, and that customers would come and go. Slowly her gaze rose from the floor to look at her savoir. Her pitiful continence was greeted however by the owner of the shop. She wasn't sure if joy should fill her heart that her shift was over or if she should seep it in dread and fear of the being who's shop tormented her for longer than she could remember.
What little strength was left in her body was summoned to attempt standing up, and failing to do so immediately. The robed figure's foot falls echoed through out the store as he moved from the entrance to the woman. Even on her feet the shopkeeper towered over her. The being didn't even bother to cast a glance down at his feet as she stumbled one last time before bracing herself against the shelf next to her.
"Your shift has ended." The being spoke, extending his right hand out and meeting the central point of the spiral he'd drawn on her forehead so long ago with the tip of his claw.
Immediately she fell back down to the floor. Not because she had collapsed once more, but because her motions had been reversed. In quick succession she was on the floor again, crying out to the man outside the window, who too had visited the window once more, but in rewind. A few moments further back in time she was on her knees, then standing and shuffling backwards towards the counter.
The entirety of her shift was played out, her body moving through out the shop as she roamed in boredom, or attempting to tidy things up. All the while the spiral etched into her flesh began unwind itself. Eventually she ended back up in the aisle where she'd collapsed, but now behind the shopkeeper and clutching the very thing she'd sold her time for. The ornately decorated golden orb was clutched tightly against her bosom as she looked up at the shopkeeper. Her gaze centered back on the orb as she pulled it away from her body, tears in her eyes, and relinquished it.
"H-how much," she asked, hand out stretched waiting for the beast to take it's possession back.
"It's already been paid for," he responded, voice a low droning monotone. "The trinket is yours to keep."
She blinked rapidly a few times, unsure what to think or what to say in response to the perceived gift. "I, I, uh,thank you," she stammered, returning the orb close to her body and her gaze losing focus as she turned to leave. "Thank you so much," she called out one last time, breaking the stupor the device had cast over her.
The monstrous figure did not respond and simply stood silent and unmoving as she left, the sound of the dim bell announcing her departure to the rest of the store. In due time the creature moved as well, shuffling to the back of the store through the maze of aisles and displays, and continuing on past the counter at the rear and even further beyond that past a doorway hidden by a leather curtain. In the sanctum of the backroom he was free to shed the myriad of adorning trinkets around his neck, and slough off the heavy cloak that covered his body, only to reveal another, thinner cape and hood that still obscured his form well enough. Both the smaller acoutraments and the larger article of clothing found their places on hooks and broad surfaces, save for a single velvet pouch that was cradled in the shopkeeper's six-fingered left hand.
He carried the pouch back out front, finding a small display near the back counter. The being stood in front of a glass box that could accommodate a plethora of other artifacts far bigger than what the pouch hid. The lid rose up with a creak at the bidding of the Shopkeepers free hand, pushing it far back until it was leaning against the wall behind it. A single claw was pushed into the cinched top of the purse, and loosened the grip the leather longs had on the opening. A second finger followed suit once there was enough room to accommodate it, the pair pinching at the contents and pulling what was inside out. A pair of copper coins, both adorned with a visage of a leader foreign to the world of Valore and a monument to him etched on the opposing face. Gently the otherworldly merchant lowered the pair of coins down onto an soft and small pillow, arranging them with tiny nudges of a singular claw.
Content with the display the being closed the lid to the to the box and thumbed the latch, sealing his newly acquired pieces away. A low grumbled unfurled the tendrils that were balled up tightly under his hood, one of the few sighs of satisfaction he'd deign in a long time, and one he didn't entertain for very long. His facial appendages returned back to their former state, and he himself did likewise, taking his spot behind the counter once more.
