Buyer's Remorse Chapter 1. OOSHMI's Place.
[Start.]
It has been dormant for years. It's last host having given up the ghost quietly, surrounded by family. They returned it to it's home, for which it was thankful. That family was allowed it's blessing. While a merchant's blessing may not seem powerful on the surface, it allowed them to avoid being short changed or insulted in buying and selling.
They were thankful for the gift. And it mourned.
It finally decided that it was time for a new host. Time to summon a new one to it's shop.
"Ismo, The Grand Merchant, Summons a new host to man the shop of OOSHMI!"
The sky did break, as rain belted down from the heavens, and thunder cracked. Thankfully, the noise also hid the sound of the dimensional wall shifting, to allow Its host entry.
And Its' spirit felt joy, in what had to have been at least a decade.
[Break.]
Waking up with a jolt and getting pissed on by the clouds, the first thing that comes to mind blurts out of his mouth. "Where the fuck am I? Wait, SHIT!" Too much rain. WAY too much rain.
Looking around, he sees a building with the lights on, and runs into it.
Shelter, then freak out.
The interior of the building is warm. As if he was coming home and left the heater on low.
'Okay so… in a weird city I've never been to. Looks like-.' He looks out the windows. Brick and trash are scattered in the alleyway. 'Like I've been dumped in a shithole. Are those Gargoyles? It looks like Tim Burton got drunk and vomited out this place.'
He looks around the building he ran into. 'Looks like some kind of shop'. "Hello! Is anyone there?!"
As he looks around, he can feel a pull. Without even thinking about it as he looks around, his hand grabs something metal, with a crystal in the middle.
Then the weird stuff starts happening.
He can feel it burrow into his arm, but instead of making him scream in pain, it's like getting back something he lost a long time ago. Like an arm. Or a leg.
He feels… Complete now. Knowledge clicks into place. It seems he's the owner now.
Shaking his head, he shrugs. "I guess, if this is my shop now, I'd better make it presentable."
[Break.]
Unknown to our new shop owner, a pulse of magic released as he put it on, attracting the attention of the shop's old patrons, and new potential customers.
The supernatural stirs. An old presence has reawakened after so long.
Jason Blood looks up in his study, his tumbler of whiskey forgotten as the pulse washes over him. Etrigan is quiet inside of him, the eternal rage and rhyme of the Demon of the Pit quieting.
"Today has just gotten a bit more interesting, old friend. It appears I need to make a call."
One Lucifer Morningstar looks up from manning his bar, his eyes being drawn towards the direction of Gotham City. "Ah. He's finally gotten another host. Good on him."
Zatanna Zatara feels the pulse of magic wash over her, and can hear an exclamation from Doctor Fate. "What was that? It was… Old."
Doctor Fate looks at her, or at least she assumes so, and breathes out a sigh. "It would appear that the merchant has decided to reawaken. And in Gotham no less. How unsurprisingly irritating."
John Constantine looks up, taking one last puff of his cigarette before stubbing it as the pulse washes over him. "Well… That aint somethin that wakes up ev'ry day. Maybe i'll be able to fin' somet'in to break the curse. Pft. Aint that a fuckin lark."
The supernatural, and it's practitioners, all watch to see how the new form of the merchant decides to act, firmly believing that what they feel in their magic is what they'll get.
[Break.]
As he cleans the store, he finds himself taking inventory of everything and anything missing. Thankfully he finds an old beat up computer with a couple of crystals sticking out of it.
Also thankfully, it still works.
Though the boot process is taking forever, he notices. Shaking his head, he walks back to the front of the store, cleaning and reshelving the books and baubles.
As he works, he grabs a few books on ritual workings, as well as some of the things he'd need to use them, before placing them on the counter. An unprepared person in DC could be seriously hurt, so it's best to learn whatever he can.
He hears the bell above the door jingle. A customer already? The place is barely presentable as it is.
And his first customer… Looks like a stereotypical neckbeard. Joy.
"GREETINGS, STORE NPC. I HAVE COME TO BROWSE YOUR WARES! I AM ADAMUS EPHEMERUS OF THE FLAMES, AND I AM LOOKING FOR A BOOK ON RITUALS! YOU WILL ASSIST ME!"
And no manners to speak of. He sighs, folding his arm, as the amulet identifies anything interesting on him. Three enchanted items. And they're weak too.
"Very well. What kind of ritual books are you looking for, and do you have any money or trade in exchange for them?" Just be diplomatic. Until he slips.
"FOOLISH NPC, THE GREAT ADAMUS EPHERMUS DOES NOT NEED TO PAY! BE THANKFUL I DO NOT BURN THE STORE! MY FLAMES ARE UNTAMED!" The neckbeard wiggles his fingers. He probably thinks it's intimidating.
Unfortunately, the so-called "Store NPC" doesn't find it amusing, nor intimidating. "I run a business sir. You are not able to walk out of the store with something you have not paid for. And the wards and enchantments on the store will activate if you try, or if you try to attack me. And, level fi-hih-fteen wizard or not, you won't be able to brute force them."
He almost ruins it with the laugh, but thankfully the effect he was going for is the same. A wash of power to show him that he isn't the biggest fish, and just the light application of knowledge on the wards to let him know trying anyway would be a bad idea.
"I-I AM ADAMUS EPHEMERUS, DO NOT TRY TO TRICK ME! I SHALL TAKE YOUR BOOKS!" His hand reaches out to grab one of the books off the shelf. And that is when the fun begins.
The shop warps around him, restraining him at first as the shelves and floorboards wrap around him, chaotic energy rising from both himself, and the shop, around the so named "Adamus." It moves like a symphony, with him as the conductor, as Adamus looks close to pissing himself in fear. At least, until a fist impacts the back of his head, releasing a knockout spell.
Like a switch has been flipped, the entire shop calms down, everything moving back into place, and not a lick of lightning anywhere. He chuckles, moving out from behind the counter, and fleecing the attempted shoplifter of any magical items he has.
An amulet to help focus magical power, novice level but not a horrible item to sell. Beginners are always welcome as long as they aren't rude. A ring with a fire spell engraved into it, self recharging. Very nice for a lazier practitioner. And finally, a robe, with the only enchantment being that it billows dramatically whenever they enter a room. How droll.
Taking out the man's ID, he finds his actual name is just "Joe B." He doesn't know what the B stands for, and doesn't particularly care.
Hefting the neckbeard over his shoulder, he walks outside the store, dumping him on the footpath at the end of the alleyway, before shrugging his shoulders and walking back inside. "Fucking shoplifters."
[Break.]
Watching the alleyway from above, he sees a shop that he knows wasn't there the day before, and makes a quick call to Bruce. "Hey, Batman. There's a new shop that's just showed up in a dead end alleyway. No it wasn't there before. I'm thinking it's magical."
He can hear Bruce make his usual noise of annoyance. "A new potential threat? What have they done so far?"
"Uh well. I can't see inside the shop, but a fat guy walked in just a minute ag-. Nevermind, he's being dragged out."
"I want you to figure out what happened Robin."
He can hear a voice from down below as the man walks back into the shop. "Fuckin shoplifters."
"Ah. Someone tried to rob the magic shop. He's put them on the curb, and they seem to be unconscious. I'll call the police for attempted robbery."
"Good. Do not engage. Blood called, he said whatever it was it was ancient. Very ancient. We'll need more info before we do anything."
"Got it."
Looking around, he can see Barbara. "Oh no."
[Break.]
"Maybe I should take the name of the shop." He's thinking out loud as he waits for the computer to finish it's boot sequence. It's incredibly old. When he has enough money he'll probably replace it.
He looks up when he hears the bell jingle again, seeing a red headed woman in a wheelchair come through the door.
"Hello ma'am. How may I help you today?" Politeness is key.
The woman smiles as she wheels herself to the counter, looking around the shop as she goes. "I was looking for something that could help my back. Even though I've got a little problem with numbness, I can still have pain shocks out of nowhere. Do you have anything for that?"
He lets the amulet guide him, drawing him to a particular shelf. "We have a lot of things for spiritual healing. The hardest part is finding one that resonates with you." His hands move from box to box, pulling out and rummaging through each of them as he looks, the amulet guiding his hands until he finally comes across one last box. "The problem is letting your spirit heal. This should help you. Are you paying with cash or trade today?" A gemstone is in his hands, and he can feel the aura of life and healing it gives off.
She laughs, obviously finding the trance he was in funny. It probably was from the outside. "I'll be paying cash today. Though maybe next time I'll have something to trade."
He smiles, putting the gemstone in a mutable ring under the counter before putting it in a bag as she puts her money on the counter. "Five hundred is too much. I'll take two fifty. Keep the rest. For a proper spiritual heal you'll need to wear this while you sleep, either on your skin or just wrapped on a necklace, while laying on your side. Have a nice day." He hands her the bag, and can't help but smile as she does.
"Thank you. I'll see you around." Such a polite lady. He uses a bit of magic to open the door for her as she wheels towards it, using a small gust spell to blame it on the wind.
This job isn't as difficult as he was expecting. The amulet is getting him back into the swing of things easily.
Putting the money back in the register, he looks back at the computer, and sighs in exasperation as it still hasn't finished the boot sequence. What an old junker.
[End.]