Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Lutetia City: Lumiena Square

Tiko

Tiko

Draconic Administrator/Mentor
Mentor
Administrator
as written by Krysis

Pierette laughed in delight, though it was a bit unkind, at the four young people in her car. "You kids sure you want to go to that neighborhood? I mean, come on, it isn't exactly the sort of place the church can rescue you from, if you get into trouble."

Not that her warning would do any good, since she was already driving away from the safety of their dorms. Her car doesn't really go fast, but jumping out at that point would be uncomfortable at the very least. Soon after setting out, one might be tempted to leap from the windows anyway, since the older woman's cellphone started ringing incessantly, and Pierette couldn't drive very well while talking. Her phone had a bright yellow cover on it, bearing a smiley face which had a bullet hole between the x'ed out eyes. One had to wonder if the sentiment was her own, or if someone else had given it to her and she had never gotten the message.

Jimmy, in the front seat, would get the best view of the near misses and the way Pierette's steering wandered them from one side of the lane to the other, and occasionally across the center line before jerking back.

In the back seat, Celeste was between Inarin and Aaro, and would clutch at their hands and keep her eyes closed if they let her. She might even be praying, though one wouldn't know it from the strained look on her face.

Pierette finally asked, "Oi. You guys need any party supplies? We're coming up on Lumiena Square."
 
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as written by Faithy

Thankful that Inarin remembered the address, Jimmy leaned back in his seat after turning around and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the amount of clutter that was in the car. His fingers slid through his hair before Pierette’s laugh caught him off guard. Her warning was duly noted and he had a feeling the other three were beginning to regret their decisions, but the twenty-year-old was determined to actually have some fun. Glancing back out the window as she started to drive, he was beginning to regret climbing into this particular vehicle with the woman driving. Not only was she a terrible driver, but the minute she started talking on the phone, he was ninety-nine percent sure they were going to die. How ironic would it be to go out of the world in this manner? Shaking off that thought, he tried to reach across several times to help her, but wasn’t even sure if that would do any good.

“Ugh… please, focus on your driving!” He called out once or twice, though it wasn’t clear if it was clear or not. His brow arched at her question and he mused for a minute before deciding that he needed some supplies, but not of the party flavor, well, not really.

“Yeah, stop at the magic spot.” He glanced back at the three in the backseat, noting the look on Celeste’s face.

“That cool with you three? I won’t be long.” Smiling, Jimmy figured they’d probably want to get out of the car anyways.
 
as written by Script

As the car picked up speed and began to weave erratically in the road, Inarin's eyes steadily widened, and his muscles stiffened. Periodically, after a particularly near miss, he let out a quiet gasp. He hardly noticed when Celeste grabbed hold of his hand, though he subconsciously clutched it in return. His breathing was growing faster.

Don't have a panic attack before you even reach the party, In, he pleaded to himself.

When Jimmy turned around, he nodded his head briskly. Anything to get a break from the car. And all else aside, Inarin quite liked magical trinkets. After all, Beetle was partially magical.
 
as written by Ronin

"Wooah!" Aaro exclaimed as the car pulled up to the shop, "that's better than destrier training!" Though he wasn't pleased that their driver could have been drunk and blind, he was noticeably less nervous than Inarin or Celeste. Aaro was good with dangerous circumstances - even ones where he had no direct control in making the situation safer. At the very least, he could keep his cool. Not getting car sick easily was also a plus.

As the car hopefully parked at the intended store, Aaro hopped out and swung the door open, allowing Celeste to escape.

"What are you wanting to get here, Jim?" Aaro looked up at the shop.
 
as written by Krysis

Pierette managed to park without hitting the curb, but it was still kinda sloppy. She gave the proselytes a careless wave as the passengers seemed to be in a hurry to get out, but she had business of her own down the street. She sauntered off with a total lack of feeling responsible for the teens.

Celeste seemed a little shaky when she stood on the sidewalk with Aaro's help. "She gets worse when she is excited, but she does know her way around Lutetia surprisingly well." She looked around unsteadily and pointed at a shop that seemed to be still open. "I think I am going to see if they have bottled water, but it won't take me long." She checked her skirt to make sure it wasn't too wrinkled or caught embarrassingly before she walked into the random shop.

~~~ In 'The White Rabbit' magic and fashion shoppe ~~~

Babette had just been considering locking up, and actually had her hand on the latch when she saw the boys approaching. So instead of locking the door, the woman opened it instead, though once the boys were inside, she'd close the blinds and flip the sign. It was a sleek shop, still new enough that one might catch a whiff of fresh paint, and everything is painted white except the cast iron bistro tables and chairs clustered near a table with coffee and an empty pastry tray.

Inarin might recognize some of his aunt's older designs displayed in the secondhand side of the clothes area. In the back is a wall of bookcases, but what Inarin and Jimmy would likely be more interested in would be the shelves full of random objects.

"Good evening, gentlemen. To what do I owe the honor of this late visit?" Babette asked as she moved towards the counter with the register on the right side of the room. In a long red dress of some loose, layered material, she looked like a splash of blood in all that white, though still elegant with her shiny dark brown hair in a complicated up-do.
 
as written by Faithy

With Inarin nodding his head rapidly and it obvious that Celeste wanted free, Jimmy was glad when the car was finally parked albeit a bit haphazardly against the curb. He was actually amazed that she didn’t actually nail the curb though, so he supposed that was good, mostly. Sliding out, he stretched out his limber body, popping bones here and there throughout the long stretch. He hadn’t quite figured out what exactly he wanted yet, but that was generally how he did all of his shopping. Shrugging towards Aaro, Jim moved for the store, watching briefly as their driver rushed off somewhere else, probably to get more drugs and drunk. Maybe he should offer to drive… maybe.

“Alright, Celeste, we’ll see you in a minute.” Jimmy smiled softly at her before glancing towards Aaro. “Not sure, Aaro, but I won’t take long in my browsing.” Jimmy grinned and nodded his thanks at the shop keep as she opened the door for the three of them. It was a new shop, that much was for sure, which made it even more intriguing to just look around even if he didn’t buy a single thing. Moving towards the shelves that seemed to be full of random things, Jim glanced at the woman, studying her for a moment.

“I’m just browsing, but Inarin here, well, he might be buying something.” Grinning, Jimmy nudged the fellow proselyte before his attention returned to the shelves.
 
as written by Script

"I might?" Inarin blinked, "I mean, uh, yes? I might." The younger proselyte had trailed after Jimmy, still slightly dazed from the car journey.

He turned his attention back to the shelves of oddities, then. Intrigued by magic he might be, he was no connoisseur, and he had no way of telling which of the trinkets on display were actually magical in nature. "I ah, don't suppose there are conveniently informative labels for everything, are there?" he asked hesitantly.
 
as written by Krysis

"No, not many convenient labels. Some things come with instructions." Babette gave a peaceful smile at the boys as she pulled a three-ring binder from below the register. She opened it to the pages of inventory, which was written in some strange shorthand. "The voodoo dolls, for example. They maybe fairly generic, but they come with advice pamphlets. Then there are more obvious things, such as the amulets and charms, which of course require wearing."

One long, french manicured nail slid down the page as she pursed her lips and consider, "Hmm. I have a potion of strength, and a pheromone perfume. Incense that lets you contact the spirit of a dead loved one. Divination aids of bone and stone, as well as books on how to read the tarot."

"If you tell me the sort of thing you actually want, I might be able to tell you if I have it or not. Failing my own inventory, I have a fair idea of what others have in their shops as well." Babette caressed the page as she looked at Inarin. She recognized his clothes as being expensive and perhaps she wondered is she should suggest some of the more high dollar items.
 
as written by Faithy

Jimmy grinned at Inarin, glad that he had an idea of what he was looking for. As for the twenty-year-old, he had absolutely no idea. Oddly enough, the shop drew him in and he was still unsure why. Sighing while shoving his fingers through his hair, the young adult glanced over towards the shop owner, amazed at what all she had, but that didn’t really help him. Sighing, he made a mental note to return to his place after his brain started to work, though he wasn’t quite sure when that would be. Shifting his gaze back to the shelving, he peered at the different potions, wondering if there was one to make a crazy person drive normally and safely.

“Got anything that will make someone who drives crazily and unsafe suddenly drive normally and safe?” He grinned, nudging In before glancing back towards the female. After a few minutes, he returned his attention to the vials, rubbing his forehead a little.
 
as written by Script

Inarin laughed, "I think potions might fall under 'driving under the influence'," he noted with only a slight edge of hesitation to his voice, and he barely even blushed at the nudge.

"I'm not actually... looking for anything specific," he confessed, "I'm mostly just curious." Inarin's limited experience of magic consisted of that which he had read in books, and his visits to his aunt's (which were few and far between). The Church's classes on magic mostly consisted on methods of combatting it, and he wasn't due to start them until next year.

He paused, a thought occurring to him. "I don't suppose you have anything like this, do you?" He stepped across towards Babette, reaching into his pocket and producing Beetle. "Beetle, wake up," he commanded. At his words, the bugbot once more flickered into life, its wings and legs extending outwards. It hummed patiently in his palm, waiting for further commands.

"I'm not sure exactly what sort of magic is involved. My aunt made it for me."
 
as written by Krysis

Babette watched Jimmy thoughtfully, tilting her head to one side before giving him a slow smile, "I think the recklessness would be a symptom, not the root of the problem. You would need something to make this person sober, if he is drunk. Or fearful and cautious, if this recklessness is a natural personality trait? Sometimes, certain types of people are convinced of their own indestructibility, so they do things that ordinary humans find... uncomfortable."

She thought about it for a moment, absently tapping her fingernails on the counter. "I believe the church has a potion to combat drunkenness, but they have their own sellers already. I am too new for them to bother with. I believe that Gogarthe's has some of those things, but they closed at five."

Then she stared at the beetle in Inarin's hand, cautiously reaching out to slide the machine into her own hand. "This is extraordinary. I haven't seen anything this sophisticated without it being at least twice the size. This one can pass for an insect, if no one called attention to it. I've seen one that was based on a humming bird, but the owner wanted an exorbitant fee for it and considering the customer base here, I had to pass."

Babette was very gentle and used merely the tip of her fingernail to turn the beetle over and move its legs around before she passed it back to Inarin, "I recognize that mark. She makes clothes too, and is local, but none of the ones I have are invested with this sort of magic. Voice commands are keyed only to you? How intelligent would you say this little guy is? Might be a necromancy key, spirit link type spell. It's a bit beyond me, but I have some books on the subject if you are interested."
 
as written by Script

Inarin nodded, "Only to me and to Aunt Florianne. I'm not sure how smart he is. He can interpret quite complex commands, even ones with abstract components. My aunt explained it as something to do with picking up on intent, and that the intent behind the command was more important than the specific phrasing..." he shook his head, "She didn't go into that much detail at the time, though."

He smiled. "I might come back tomorrow for the books. I can't really carry them tonight, though. Uh..." hesitating, he glanced back at the shelf. "Do you have a lot of different sorts of potions? Maybe a catalogue?"

Magical alchemy was another intriguing prospect to him. The Church's alchemy could be expanded a lot, he thought, were they to embrace it more thoroughly. His aunt always had an abundance of experimental potions to hand. Last time he visited there'd been one that made him breathe pink bubbles for several hours afterwards. That had been hard to explain to Sister Gunxa.
 
as written by Krysis

"I will set aside some books that I think might interest you, if you would provide a name and details for the order." Babette picked up another binder with a pen attached to it from behind the counter and opened it for Inarin. The page was a form that asked for simple contact information and had a large empty field at the bottom that was unlabeled. One might assume, correctly, that it was for the shopkeeper to write about what the customer in question might be interested in.

"As for potions, I have a fair few, but I have not tested them all so I hesitate to put them in a catalog. Some of them I simply can not test myself. My knowledge of alchemy is basic at best. For example, the vials on the third shelf from the top, to your right. They claim to be moods in a bottle. You will note that the pink ones are all gone already though I promise you I had six of them as well." She pointed, grinning a bit, at a tray that had been made to hold test tubes on a shelf high enough that children could not reach it. There was a rainbow of vials left in the rack, though there was only seven of the eight colors left and only one of the yellow ones remained.

"I can not tell you if they work. I can tell you that most of them contain sugar and caffeine, along with some components I can't identify. I sampled one of the green ones, 'hopeful' it was labeled, and could not notice a difference. Yet, one of my customers tried a 'happy' while in the store and ended up laughing at everything in an alarming manner." She shrugged, gave Jimmy a playful smirk, then looked to Inarin again.

"I also stock ingredients, if you are looking to craft your own. For the right price, I even might be able to get shifter blood or fur. I am trying to cultivate other contacts as well, for even rarer finds."
 
as written by Script

"Wh-what were the pink ones?" Inarin asked hesitantly as he noted his details down on the form, though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

"Uhm, you mentioned a potion of strength, before?" he ventured. The others' talk about the potential dangers of the night had put him slightly on edge, and the prospect of having something like that to fall back on was tempting. "Do you know if it works? And how much does it cost? I might look into buying ingredients but uh, I should probably wait until I graduate... so they can't expel me if I blow something up." He laughed nervously.
 
as written by Krysis

"Lust, of course. I doubt it worked in any noticeable way." Babette smiled a little wider at Inarin's squirming, but then she glanced down at the contact information and froze like a rabbit under the shadow of a hawk. Her smile soured just a little as she straightened up, but her manner was no longer warm.

"Yes, I did, but you wouldn't want it. I think it is against the rules for your kind to use non-approved potions, and you wouldn't want to be expelled." She closed the book of inventory with an angry snap, upset more with herself than with the boys. Getting into trouble with the church after a mere week of being open would be just her luck.

"Besides, such a potion might be a nasty joke. I don't think there is anything inherently harmful in it, but one of the ways to make a human 'stronger' is to remove the pain from overexertion. You'd be able to lift a car, but you'd tear something to do it." Babette warned as she glanced at Jimmy again. One of the most common shoplifting techniques was to have one person distract the clerk while the other pocketed things. What better way to distract someone than to put such an address down?

"In the place I am from, there is a sort of drug that will let you experience what it is like to be a shifter, without the messier aspects. You'd be stronger, faster, and have heightened senses for a few hours, unless you happen to be one of those that is particularly susceptible to the virus that causes the mutation. Then you might end up in a terrible pickle." Babette continued to talk while mentally kicking herself for not being on guard before. She had honestly thought they were just a gay couple out on a date, with how nicely they were dressed.
 
as written by Faithy

Even though the female had a point, Jimmy still wished there was something he could give Pierette or inject into her to make her not make him feel like his life was in jeopardy. For the majority of the conversation between the shop keeper and Inarin, the twenty-year-old kept his attention on the different vials, reading as much as he could on what cards they had before he slid his fingers through his hair. In truth, he couldn’t figure out what he really needed to purchase, but it felt like a shame not to at least get something, even if it was just a potion that he would probably never use.

“Hmm, you wouldn’t happen to have any good luck charms or potions or anything, would you?” He glanced over towards the female, his arms crossing against his chest. He had a tendency to touch things, not to steal, but because he just felt the urge to mess with stuff. However, the last thing he wanted to do was be accused of something he didn’t do.
 
as written by Script

Inarin winced, shrinking slightly inward in response to Babette's sudden frostiness. "S-sorry," he stammered, "I didn't- I mean... It's not ... I wasn't..."

He trailed off, letting Jimmy cut in with his question. 'Your kind'? Why was this woman so hostile, just because they were from the Church? Having spent the majority of his life within insular environments, Inarin had very little experience with the disdain that some citizens held for the Evequec faith. He felt like he must have done something else wrong to prompt her shift in attitude. But what?
 
as written by Krysis

She gave Inarin a sad little smile, "I'm sorry if I distress you. The church and my suppliers don't get along, and while I don't think they can do much to each other at the moment, a simple shopkeeper might be a convenient target. Naturally I was flustered and frightened when I realized I was essentially putting my head on the chopping block of your faith."

"Good luck charms? Of course. This is the White Rabbit, after all. What kind of place would it be if there were no rabbit's feet for sale?" Babette calmed a little when the nice boy was flustered. He didn't mean to upset her and he couldn't know why she was so wary of them now. Right?

She moved out from behind the counter to lift a rack of key chains from the bottom shelf to display the brightly colored objects. Some were indeed rabbit's feet, dyed pink or blue as well as the traditional white, but others were less identifiable. There were pouches painted with strange symbols and tufted with fur. Some rings had a cascade of silver charms dangling from them. There was even one that had a tiny skeleton of a bird stitched together and lacquered so it wouldn't fall apart, though one suspected that one doesn't actually go on your keys.

There was a second rack that would be lifted next, this one with necklaces and bracelets. Leather and bone seem to be popular materials for the jewelry, but there are some metal charms as well, but none of either rack have anything resembling the symbols of the Evequec faith.

"If I were to recommend anything that might actually do you some good, go for either an amulet of 'clear sight'," She picked up a necklace that had a round stone with a hole in it and almost black with inked symbols, "Or one of the gris-gris bags, which is less specific. I think the principle behind it is that it absorbs your bad luck before it can harm you." That was a key chain with a pouch. The pouch feels odd to the touch, like what is in it isn't quite inert matter. The clear sight amulet had a higher price tag than one would expect for something that looked so simple, but the gris-gris bags were rather cheap.
 
as written by Faithy

Jimmy glanced over sympathetically towards Inarin before he glanced away again, not sure if the youngin’ wanted any attention brought forth towards him. The woman did have a point, people tended to have issues with the church and there could be issues if the church and others found out that the shopkeeper was giving proselytes magical items, not like Jimmy really cared. Sighing, he focused on what all the shop had concerning good luck charms, musing all the while. He wasn’t really looking for a rabbit’s foot. No, he wanted something a little less conspicuous.

Stepping over to where she was showing off her wares, he shook his head at the rabbit’s feet and glanced at the second rack that she had pulled out. Musing for a little bit longer, Jimmy glanced over towards Inarin before returning his attention towards the different items. He was seriously thinking about getting the teen something lucky to wear or keep on him, but wasn’t sure if that’d be weird. Tilting his head, he decided it might be taken the wrong way, unfortunately.

“Sure, I’ll take an amulet of ‘clear sight’ and one of your gris-gris bags. Do you have anything to help keep someone safe?” Jimmy queried, tugging his wallet out from his back pants pocket.
 
as written by Script

"I-it's okay," Inarin mumbled, "I understand."

Still, he was thankful for Jimmy drawing the shopkeeper's attention away so he had time to reorient himself. Navigating social situations was challenging enough without sudden changes in attitude to throw him for a loop. He took the opportunity to turn his attention back to the items on display, his eyes brushing over the various oddities.

He found himself looking over the bookshelves, scanning titles. There were many books on necromancy, and he recognised some tomes referring to the druidic arts as well. Some referred to arts he'd never heard of. Animancy? Hemomancy?

There were so many wells of knowledge that the Church just ... ignored. How could that serve any purpose? Oughtn't mankind use all the knowledge at its disposal to survive? Perhaps he would return, or ask his aunt to collect some of the tomes for him.

After all, he only wanted to learn. He wouldn't actually use the knowledge, so he technically wasn't breaking any rules.
 
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