----RELGION, NICO NICO'S MAGICAL EMPORIUM----
Sweep, sweep, sweep.
Customers came in droves, leaving messes and glass and other such things to clean up. They were always so fascinated by the magical artifacts that Miss Kiki had collected over the years. The ancient pottery said to give good fortune upon all who held it, the portrait of a crying boy that would burn the houses that held it to the ground, the mystical orbs said to see past and future, the stars, and all else in the universe. They marveled at them, marveled at the tomes and grimores in the back of the store, marveled at all the octopus tentacles and beating snake hearts and behemoth guts used for potions and more... culinary things, if it were to your taste.
Sweep, sweep.
Personally, she prefered the animals, the familiars. Six eyed mice that could dance, dogs with no eyes, three legs, and could open their mouth in quarters to spit acid and goop, vampire bats with six wings that prefered sucking the juices out of tomatoes rather than people... and her personal favorite, a four eyed, twin-tailed cat with a pair of bat wings that purred like a motorboat whenever you scritched his ears juuuust right. Miss Kiki would find these things off the streets and try to find them new homes with loving owners. Or owners who would eat them, much to her dismay. Miss Kiki did not have the funds to keep all of them indefinitely, and any money is good money.
Sweep.
She could understand why Miss Kiki would do that, but she didn't particularly like it. Every animal had a life, a soul. If you put your ear close to them, you could hear them talk, reveal their darkest secrets and fears. The meanings behind the squeaks and the barks, hidden from most, would reveal themselves to her.
For a moment, she stopped her cleaning and walked towards one of the cages, containing the four eyed cat. He was sleeping peacefully, curled up in a soft bed of cotton, his tail swishing from side to side. She reached in and scritched his ears a little, and felt the motorboat "Prrrrrrr", heard the, "Yessss," tiny as it was. And she smiled, because she knew the cat was happy, and that was all she could ever ask for.
"Hey, goat girl."
Her body seized up, her hand withdrawing from the cage as she turned slowly behind her. She could see the shadow of the behemoth demon who towered over her, his breath hot and awful-smelling. She pointed at herself, as if to ask, "Who, me?"
"Yeah, you, goat girl!" the behemoth snarled. "Tell me: why are you selling my brethren's innards in this store, hm? Why are you allowing them to be sold when they rightfully belong in their graves?!"
"S-s-sorry," came the quiet reply, "I-I don't stock the emporium, I-I just clean up and take care of the-"
In a moment, she could feel claws grip onto her face, her feet no longer on solid ground, her eyes meeting with the demon's. If looks could kill, the behemoth's glare would slit her throat.
"You think that's a proper excuse?!" he bellowed, attracting the attention of all of the customers. "You think apologies will make everything better, you pathetic goat girl?!? When my brothers are dead, your master collecting their parts and selling them?! Their worth reduced to whatever prices they fetch?!?"
"N-no, I didn't mean that, I swear, it's not my fault, it's not my-"
SLAM. A gasp escaped her lips as all the air was forced out of her, her head hot and wet, her body writhing in pain. She could hear the excited customers shout and holler, "Fight, fight, fight, fight!" as the behemoth spat in her face.
"Get up, you damned baphomet! Here, I'll avenge my brothers, and sacrifice you to their gods!"
She could not muster up anything aside from pained sobs. It hurt too much, too much, to even move, nevermind stand.
"Get up."
She didn't have a choice, though. The behemoth did it for her, grabbing her and propping her up before punching her, sending her flying into a shelf of glass bottles. The bottles tumbled over and crashed, glass digging into her skin. She could not do anything but sob, but to listen to the bloodthirsty crowd, but to listen to the thump, thump of powerful footsteps coming closer, closer, so close...
"Hmpf. Seems your clan was right: you are a weakling. You don't even stand up to fight me."
More sobbing. Thump, thump. She could feel herself picked up by two mighty hands.
"Fine. I'll do them a favor. I kill their outcast... and kill the one who condones the murder of my breathren!"
She closed her eyes, crying out, "Please go away, please go away, please no, no, no," feeling the power behind those two hands beginning to crush her. She did nothing wrong, nothing, but she would die here...
Her thoughts flashed back to the four eyed cat, his warmth, his motorboat purr, and awaited death.
She heard a cry of pain, the pressure on her body released as she fell onto the ground. She opened her eyes and saw that the behemoth's arm was entirely missing now. No, severed, flailing on the ground like a fish out of water. The goat girl looked up, past the behemoth, eyes wide.
"Miss... Miss Kiki?"
Draped in mystical, purple robes, her feathers as silvery as moonlight, her talons smoking from the power she unleashed upon the goat girl's attacker, Miss Kiki glared at the angry customer and said, "I will tollerate no fighting in this shop, sir. Please leave."
The crowd booed at her, while the behemoth smirked, taking a step closer to the shopkeeper. "Ah, so the master comes to defend her pathetic pupil," he said. "I will enjoy tearing you apart for the crimes you've committed against my kind!"
The sorceress did not budge. She only repeated, "Please leave."
"After I've come all this way? Ha! I'll have your head AND hers to stuff and mount on my wall!"
The goat girl watched as the behemoth demon charged towards Miss Kiki in a blind fury, the crowd cheering him on. She put a hand to her head and sat up in time to see her master's talons burst from the demon's back, holding his still-beating heart.
The entire room was silent until the bird woman ripped the heart right from his body and tossed it into the bin of behemoth guts, the demon's eyes rolling to the back of his head as he collaped on the ground. Miss Kiki had gotten blood over her robes, but she didn't seem to pay attention to that as she turned to the crowd and said, voice cold as ice, "The Emporium is closed. Leave, or meet the same fate as he."
The goat girl watched as the crowd ran off, leaving the bird woman to walk towards the store's entrance and pull down the shutters, preventing any others from coming in. The mistress then walked towards her, feeling the talons brush against her face, through her locks of pink hair.
"I am sorry I could not arrive sooner, Penelope," said Miss Kiki, as she brushed through the goat girl's hair, magical blue sparks playing across her scalp and stitching back what was broken.
"I-I'm sorry for getting you involved," whimpered Penelope, even as she could feel the healing magic repair all that was damaged. "I-I should have done something, and I apologized, but..."
The sorceress shook her head. "There is no need to apologize over things you cannot control. He came here, angry at my practices, and took his anger out on you when he could have called upon me and placed his anger where it rightfully belongs."
"B-but again... I couldn't stand up for myself... I couldn't..." Penelope's eyes began to water as she looked down at the ground, unable to hold back a sniffle.
"I understand, young Penelope. It has been this way all your life, has it not?"
The goat girl wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. "Always. My family... my friends... they said that I should have died when they abandoned me... That I was weak and had stupid dreams..."
Her eyes met with Miss Kiki's, a brilliant gold. "They were wrong then, and they are wrong now, even as they have outcasted you," the bird woman said, her voice reminding Penelope of gentle winds through the leaves. "You are more than they. The Fates have spoken, and they have chosen to breathe life into you, to bless you with the experiences you have yet to enjoy, to give worth to you, my dear. No matter what anyone says, the Fates have spoken. From all the wicked lives they could have chosen to bring into the world, they bring you, and named thee 'Penelope'."
The sorceress held the goat girl's hand and helped her onto her wobbily, hooved feet before she said, "You may take the rest of the day off, my dear. Jasmine and I shall clean up the place in your stead."
Penelope looked down at her feet for a moment before turning to Miss Kiki.
"M-Mistress?"
"Yes, my dear?"
"How... how can I become stronger?" she asked, her voice quivering a little. "How can I... how can I get the power to stand up for myself? How do I change?"
The bird sorceress turned to her, a talon placed on her beak. And she smiled.
"It is a question I am not fit to answer, my dear. All I can say is that it must come from within, and that perhaps Renais can answer it better than I."
As the mistress left to the back of the store, Penelope took her chance to walk back to the cat's cage, watching as the cat stretched and turned to her, looking at her with all four of his cute little eyes. The goat girl picked him up, holding him close to her chest, yearning for the comfort of his welcoming meows and purrs.
"Renais, huh?" Penelope asked no one in particular, petting the cat gently as her mind wandered.
Another trip to Gluttony Manor, then. This time, for a different reason than normal.
No comments:
Post a Comment