Vana'diel Potter
A Fanfic by Viral Inque
Author's Note: Thanks again for all the awesome feedback! You guys rock! I thought this chapter was cute but slowed the story down, so you can expect things to speed up. I hope I can keep updating as quickly as this one, and I got a few more stories I'm working on. As for now, I have a book to buy!
Chapter VIII: All In A Day's Work
Harry awoke first the next morning to the sweet smell of Fleur's hair in his face. He lay next to her, poking her in the eye, until he roused her from her sleep. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, as well as in discomfort, making a face, then punched Harry in the arm.
"Ouch," she said, "Stupid. What time is it?"
"I don't know," Harry replied, "It looks like it's still morning. We should get moving in any case."
"Ugh, no. Still sleepy," Fleur whined with a frown, "Five more minutes."
"Come on, Fleur," Harry insisted, shaking her gently, "We got a lot to do today."
"No," Fleur said, then after a moment's thought, added, "No."
"I know you're tired," Harry explained, "We shouldn't have stayed out so long last night, but we really got to get moving."
In truth, Harry was lying. He didn't regret in the least having stayed out so late the night before. He had enjoyed himself immensely, just sitting at the docks with Fleur, talking about all kinds of things, until they finally realized that the ebb and flow of the crowds of people had subsided slightly because of the late hour.
He felt he finally really knew Fleur after their talk. They had talked about the kinds of the things you only talked about when you really bonded with a person- their likes and dislikes, their hopes, their dreams. He felt that it had cemented their friendship.
"Come on," he added, thinking of some of things they had discussed, "If we make enough money today, we can have some real food for a change. We'll go to a nice restaurant."
"Promise?" Fleur asked, smiling slyly.
"I promise," Harry said, "Assuming we can make some money today. Now get up already."
Once they were both out of bed, had a chance to stretch, and had cast healing spells on each other, they were ready to go. The sun was shining brightly high above them as they stepped outside, but a slight chill still hung in the air.
"We should 'ave washed our robes and let zem dry overnight," Fleur sighed as a breeze passed over them.
"Yeah," Harry agreed, looking at his disheveled clothes, "We could use a change of clothes. Soon, I'd say. Very soon, if at all possible."
"'Ow much work do you plan on 'aving us do?" Fleur asked nervously.
"Enough, I hope," Harry said, "We kind of need some new clothes, among other things. Besides, once we figure out what we need to do to get back home, we'll probably need a means to accomplish it."
"You're right, of course," Fleur sighed, "But zat doesn't make it right."
"Sorry," Harry laughed.
They had had the good fortune, while walking around the night before, to come across the shop dealing in black magic. They had also found out, from one of the city guards, the whereabouts of the white magic shop and the magic guild. They decided to start their quest with the white magic shop and headed towards it in high spirits and with high hopes.
The shop was hard to find, even with a general idea of where it was, as it was nestled in a far corner of the city, at the end of a long, winding passage that led nowhere but there. The heavy wooden door to the shop opened with a loud creak, into a small, vaulted room. The walls were lined with shelves that held scrolls and books and bottles filled with colored liquids and odd objects. A very narrow staircase in a corner led up to a loft occupied by more shelves. And behind a cluttered counter sat an attractive raven-haired woman who smiled as Harry and Fleur entered.
"Good morning, children," the woman chimed, "How can I help you this lovely morning?"
"Well, we're not exactly sure," Harry started, his eyes roving around the room casually as he spoke, "Could we possibly ask you a few questions?"
"Of course you can," the woman replied, "What's on your mind?"
"We were wondering about, um, teleportation spells," Harry said, choosing his words carefully.
"Teleport spells," the woman remarked with surprise, "That's some very advanced magic. You're far too young to be able to learn magic like that. I don't keep big stuff like that here anyway- just you're basic spells and potions mostly. But if you want a teleport, just find yourself an adept white mage. Their usual happy to teleport you to where you need to go- for a small fee, of course."
"We don't really need either of zose," Fleur said, "At least I don't zink so. We just want to learn more about it."
"Well," the woman said thoughtfully, "I can't teleport myself, you see. Like I said, it's advanced stuff. You might want to talk to a Taru-taru if you really want to know what's what. But I'll try and help you if I can."
The woman stood up and walked from behind the counter and went to a shelf filled with books. She ran a finger along the spines of the books, from row to row, checking the titles.
"My name is Gladdia, by the way," she said, while perusing the shelf.
"I'm Harry," Harry said.
"And I'm Fleur," Fleur added.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," Gladdia said, turning back briefly to give them a short curtsey, "I don't get many customers. People can never find this place. That, and, most people go to Windurst for their magic. Can't blame them really. All magic comes from Windurst in the end."
"'Ow do you mean?" Fleur asked.
"Historians say that all magic started in Windurst," Gladdia said, returning to the counter with a large leather-bound book, "Have you ever gone there?"
Harry and Fleur shook their heads together. "The city itself is magic," Gladdia continued as she flipped through the book, "That's the only way I can really describe it. It's in the trees, in the grass, in the earth, and in the Taru-taru, of course. It's- it's just so beautiful. You have to go there someday if you can."
"We've been thinking about for a while now," Harry answered truthfully. They had been noticing that all points were leading them there.
"You'll love it," Gladdia smiled, "Anyway, here's some stuff on teleportation. Shows you how complex it is. You need to know about a lot of scientific principals as well as human anatomy and physics. And look at all these charts, all about the conditions needed to perform the spell and whatnot. It's really difficult."
Harry had no problem believing Gladdia's words. He couldn't make sense out of any of it, which seemed like useful information in of itself.
"So not too many people can perform a teleportation spell, right?" Harry asked.
"Very few," Gladdia responded, "It's a one in a million chance that you'll find an Elvaan, Galka, or Mithra that can cast it. Slightly more humans then that can do it. But it's mostly Taru-taru that you'll find that can teleport."
Harry and Fleur looked at each other and silently decided on their next course of action. They would be traveling to Windurst as soon as they could. With the first part of their plan complete, Harry concentrated on the second part.
"Thank you so much, Gladdia," he said, "That was very useful information. There's one more thing we'd like to ask you, if you don't mind?"
"What's that?"
"Well, it has nothing to do with magic," Harry said, "But if you knew somewhere we can go to make some quick, er, gil, it'd be very helpful. We don't mind a little work, and we're in a bit of a bind at the moment."
"I wish I could tell you I did," Gladdia shrugged, "I could use a little help myself, but I simply can't afford to pay you enough."
"We'd be 'appy to take anything you can offer," Fleur said hopefully, "We'd like to repay you for your 'elp anyway."
"Really? You'd do that for me?" Gladdia asked.
"Sure," Fleur smiled.
"It's not exactly fun or glamorous work I have in mind for you, you know," Gladdia added apprehensively.
"We don't mind, really," Harry offered.
"Well, alright," Gladdia said, clapping her hands together, "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to want you two to give out some flyers advertising the shop. Then I have a list of things I need you to pick up for me- ingredients for potions and stuff. I can give you fifteen gil a piece for that. But if you can get that done in enough time to help me organize the back room- which is a mess I should point out, I'll double your pay. First though, we're going to have to make up those flyers. What do you say?"
"Let's get to work," Harry said.
Making the flyers took some time. Gladdia wanted to put a map on each flyer so that people would know how to get to the shop. This was all fine and good, except that the map was very elaborate and hard to copy. In time though, they had enough flyers made up to pass around and were ready to go.
"And here's the list of things I need you to get and money to get it with," Gladdia said, and handed Fleur a piece of parchment and a small pile of coins.
"I guess we're off then," Harry said.
"Good luck," Gladdia smiled, "I'll try and have a little something for you two to snack on ready by the time you get back."
"You're too kind, Gladdia," Fleur said, "We'll be back as soon as we can."
"How great was that," Harry said once they were outside, "I never could have hoped that could go so well. We still have the whole day to do whatever else we want, like working on figuring out how we're getting to Windurst, now that we know that's where we're going."
"Yeah," Fleur said quietly.
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"It's just- no, it's nothing," Fleur said, shaking her head, "I'm just being paranoid."
"What?" Harry asked again.
"Well," Fleur started, handing a flyer to a woman in a flowing white robe, "I was just zinking zat maybe zat was too easy. Ever since we got 'ere everything 'as been going so good. I feel maybe something bad may be on it's way."
"Don't talk that way, Fleur," Harry said, "This is a good sign, not a bad omen. I'm sure of it."
"You're right," Fleur said, taking a deep breath, "I'm sorry. I guess I just didn't want to get my 'opes up. Zis is going to be great. Now let's give out zese flyers."
Giving out the flyers was easy enough, with all the people always swarming around the city, but Harry and Fleur made the extra effort to do their best to help Gladdia. By now they could easily spot mages in the crowd, with their long robes and staffs, and they made sure they got a flyer. In no time at all they were out of flyers and looking at the list of items they needed to buy for Gladdia.
"Wijnruit, nebimonite, moko grass," Fleur read out loud, "It goes on and on. All really weird sounding stuff. Where are we supposed to find it all?"
"I think I know," Harry replied, "This way."
They wound their way across the city back past the magic shop and towards the center of the city. Soon they found themselves at the auction house, where the crowds of people were always the thickest. Harry stood on his tiptoes to get a look at the building and found that he couldn't. But on either side of the building was a set of stairs leading to a second, less congested tier. Harry and Fleur worked their way around the throng, keeping close to each other, and squeezed their way to the stairs.
Built into the stone city wall were a series of booths, each manned with an operator who was busy dealing with several customers at a time. Perspective buyers at the booths called out names and numbers frantically, while the booth operators noted each quietly. Briefly, everything would stop and an exchange would take place, then the action would pick up again.
"I don't know about zis," Fleur said, "We don't 'ave very much money."
"I'm not sure, either," Harry replied, "I hadn't actually thought it might be like a real auction house. This could be a problem."
They both looked around for some sort of answer and one magically appeared for them. Over by the opposite staircase was a single booth without a single person standing by it. Harry and Fleur looked at each other doubtfully, then walked over to the booth. A bored looking young man sat behind the booth. He blinked sleepily at the sight of Harry and Fleur.
"Yes?" he asked dryly.
"Why isn't there anyone at your window?" Harry asked curiously.
"Most people come to the auction house to buy rare items or things that aren't local to the area," the man said, stretching, "Me, I get stuck with dealing with all the other stuff that people are mostly just trying to pawn off."
"So, if it's zings no one wants, why is it being auctioned?" Fleur asked.
"Well, in my case, it isn't," the man said, "I sell things at a flat rate, like you're average shop."
"Well, we got zis list," Fleur said, sliding the list Gladdia had given then under the window, "Can you tell us what you can give us and for 'ow much."
"Let's see," the man said, looking over the list, "Yup, most of this falls under my jurisdiction. Shouldn't cost you too much. Wait here a minute."
The man disappeared through a panel that appeared in the wall behind him while Harry and Fleur waited. They turned their backs to the booth and quietly observed their surroundings, still able to get lost in the grandeur of it all, but mostly because there was nothing of interest in the booth to occupy their time. After several minutes the man returned, clearing his throat to get their attention, succeeding in startling them.
"There's a problem," the man said casually while placing a wicker basket piled with their items onto the counter, "Saruta cotton- it's usually pretty easy to find, even though it's found way out in Saruta Baruta, but just the other day someone was here and bought every piece up. We haven't gotten anymore since."
"So what do we do know?" Fleur asked to no one in particular.
"You may just have to ask around," the man replied, "Someone's bound to have some. Good luck."
"How could we possibly narrow down a search like that?" Harry asked as they walked away from the booth, "Who would be likely to have some cotton on them."
"A farmer?" Fleur offered.
"Hard to say who farms by looking at them," Harry said thoughtfully, "Hard to say if they farm cotton at all. Any other thoughts?"
"Not really," Fleur shrugged, "Let's drop this other stuff off at Gladdia's and ask her what we should do."
They found the shop without any problem this time. When they walked into the shop, Gladdia shot up out of the stool she was sitting on behind the counter and smiled widely at them.
"What is it, Gladdia?" Harry asked, unable to resist smiling.
"There's been two people in here already," she whispered, then did a little dance, clapping and spinning.
"Zat's great," Fleur laughed, "But zere's a teensy-weensy problem."
"What's that?" Gladdia asked, still dancing.
Once they got Gladdia under control, they told her everything they'd gotten done, finishing by explaining about how they didn't have the cotton at the auction house.
"Saruta cotton?" Gladdia said, when they were done, "That's no big deal. I wouldn't worry about it."
"No," Harry explained, "We were going to go back out and get some, we just came by to drop off the other stuff and see if you had any suggestions on where to find some."
"Don't worry about it," Gladdia said, waving away Harry's statement, "It's only one thing. Really, don't worry about it. I made some sandwiches. Let's eat."
Gladdia disappeared through a door and reappeared some time later with a large tray heaped with fat sandwiches and three glasses of an amber liquid. They sat on stools and ate at the counter, Harry and Fleur mostly keeping silent, listening intently as Gladdia happily answered every question they had about magic and the world of Vana'diel.
After they were all full and had had some time to rest, Gladdia stood, clapping her hands together, "Alright, you two ready to tackle the back room?"
Gladdia led them through the same door she had gone through earlier and into a claustrophobic's nightmare. It was hard to tell how big the room actually was, but you would have been hard pressed to make your way around the room in a single file moving sideways, which is exactly what they had to do. Four rows of shelves stretching to the ceiling were easy enough to find and identify, but not much else was. The shelves were all packed haphazardly with as much as they could possibly hold. When that wasn't enough, boxes had been piled high and deep around the shelves. Bottles and books and many other different items were neatly lined up on the floor in front of the boxes, presumably having been used and unable to be returned from whence they had come.
There was a tangible, awed silence as the three of them clustered in the entryway to the room. Harry coughed and a box by his knee went tumbling to the floor. Fortunately, there wasn't anything made of glass inside it.
"I would think no less of you if you decided to cut your losses and go home," Gladdia sighed.
"It's okay," Fleur smiled, "It's still early. I zink we can work something out."
"Now, let's no be hasty, Fleur," Harry said, "Let's give this some thought."
"'Arry!"
"Joking."
So they set to work. They took turns having one of them sit outside keeping an eye on the shop, which was kind of necessary since two of them could barely maneuver through the room. The progress was slow and the hours slipped by quickly. The best they could do was concentrate on at least clearing some of the stuff off of the floor. By the time they called it quits they had only partially succeeded, but looking back on their work as they walked out they felt a great feeling of accomplishment.
Harry and Fleur were tired and sweaty, but they hung around for a while longer, enjoying Gladdia's company as the light slowly faded outside. Finally, Gladdia was ready to close the shop up for the night. They said their goodbyes outside the shop and parted ways, Harry and Fleur promising to come back and visit soon.
"Zat was kind of fun, wasn't it?" Fleur said, stretching sleepily.
"Yeah, and not bad for a days work, I guess," Harry replied, patting the money jingling in his pocket.
"Don't forget, you owe me a night out on the town," Fleur smiled.
"I haven't forgotten," Harry sniggered, "But tomorrow, okay. I'm beat."
"Me too. Let's go 'ome."
And so they went back to the inn, talking and laughing and feeling pretty good about themselves. With a warm bed to go to and at least their next few days of survival ensured, Harry and Fleur fell asleep for the first time since their arrival in Vana'diel without a real care in the world.