+{~RT~}+
Well, I suppose since this is burning in my head, like all stories do when they want to claw my eyes out, I might as well type. I own nothing here, not Recettear, not any one single license pertaining to anything…I am also one of those prevailingly poor writers whose just trying to dilute the burning need to get something out of the system while being stark poor and looking for some skills from school. The job I've got; but it's all for credit or volunteer.…
I meant to put more into the last chapter, but I kinda lost time, and I decided I'd stick it in the actual first chapter...speaking of which, I'm surprised. I actually got a review, within ten days of submitting a story, on the first chapter. Never happened before, people normally wait until my fifth or forth, thank you for that! My "typeface" style of writing is unique to me it seems, as I've done it for years but never seen anyone else do it. I'm thinking of dropping it, as Fan Fiction gets rid of all text styles after a while when they refresh their database of stories, seen it happen several times...
+{-~LSRA~-}+
Chapter One: Calling for a Hero.
+{-~LSRA~-}+
Hey! I'm not that boring! Wake up; I've only just started! No, you shut up, and listen, you could learn something... I don't care if you're older than me either, if you are….oh; you're hungry...No, don't bother getting up, or apologizing. There's not much to eat here, but look in my bag next to you, foods' in there…you're the one who asked me to tell this story … … …
The night was beautiful, a deep blue with just a hint of purple to show where the sun had disappeared; beyond the horizon. Late; so much so that the stars were even beginning to fade... Soon it would be day time again, and with it, the first day or freedom for Recettear. Finally it could be called a business, her business. Until now it had just been a…well, some fancy word she didn't know…but Recette wasn't happy…not by a long shot, for freedom came with a price…as she looked up into the depth of the night, she knew Tear was in the house, packing her things.
She'd be alone again. Alone with nothing but the four walls she had fought so hard to keep as consolation. She almost wished papa's debt had been larger…at least she'd still have Tear to help her…her hands slipped into her pockets, where, low and behold, her stock records and profits for the month lay nestled deep.
Tear had given her several log books to keep her records in sales, but Recette never had the time, or the will, to so solidly document her history. What if someone stole the books, or changed the numbers when she wasn't looking? Keeping the records safe, near her where she could feel them; that made them real. It was one of the prime reasons Tear never actually knew what Recette was going to put up on those shelves…her actual inventory was a mystery to her, and trying to document it would be a headache for the fairy, for the girl kept her stock in all sorts of nooks and crannies; all over the house.
It was worse than a dungeon in here…but somehow, somehow…its owner knew where everything was, and exactly how much stock she had...sure, she might leave a lot to be desired in the realm of wit, but that just made her endearing to customers…
With a shake of her head, the girl pulled her mind from the piece of paper in her apron pocket, tossing it back out to bemoan her fate. It was true, she was labeled as an "established" merchant now, and known as a trustworthy one, a fair one…but she was sure that her ever present guide still had more to teach her…surely this wasn't all there was to it? A vending machine in the corner and the daily news, orders and customers to haggle with…there had to be more-
"Recette?"
Her bubbles almost smacked her in the eye as she spun on her heel, double time, to see Tear floating there, giving her a look Recette had deemed the death glare…normally, this would be the time the human would start to stutter, but something told her the look wasn't exactly aimed at her, more like past her, through her.
She focused on the fairy's glowing wings, which were a lot easier to focus on than her eyes.
"I-I…wiped the counters already…and straightened the counters, fixed the rug and…and…stuffs…Oh! I blew out the candles and locked the door and didn't forget to put away the profits from the store! Hehe…uhh…Tear? …Teeeear…?"
Oh boy, this wasn't good. Her nerves were twisting themselves into oblivion now, for Tear never stayed silent like this unless something rea~lly bad was going to happen, or if she, Recette, had done something real stupid…It was so ominous that, when the fairy finally did open her mouth, eyes ablaze and all, the girl ducked, covering her ears.
"Don't shoot mee~!"
Needless to say, Tear rose an eyebrow, a bit surprised, but her surprise quickly turned into annoyance.
"M-Merde…of all the things…Recette, what are you doing now? Shoot you? With what form of ammunition would I do such a thing? I just wanted to know if…"
Sighing and shaking her head, her eyes lost their angry look, and her face softened just a tad.
"I…just wanted to know if you had seen my green tie."
"Ueehh? No fire and claws…ahh! G-green tie? …I've… never seen you wear a green tie before…Isn't it always yellowy-reddish?"
Again, the fairy sighed, and her wings dimmed slightly from exhaustion. Figures; she'd never worn it here, like she thought, which means it should be in her suitcase, but low and behold, the accessory wasn't there! Somewhere in this…godforsaken…shop….somewhere. She knew she had brought the thing…
"Never mind…it must be somewhere. Ugh, I should have started to pack last week, like I planned…"
"E-eeeeh?.! N-no…You're…you're th-that eager to leave me?.!"
Realizing a bit late that her outspoken statement had landed a bit hard; she took a hasty backtrack, trying to rely on the human's famous forgiving nature. No, she hadn't been eager to leave her per se…well, actually, now that she thought about it, had she really been as eager as she thought? Why hadn't she started last week, like she had planned?
Really, Recette handled the shop well without her flying about, most she got to do was perform some customer service; either that or facing the counters…so why hadn't she? Unbidden, her mouth twisted and squirmed…but she still managed to answer the girl in her usual snap.
"If I had done so, I wouldn't be all over the house now, looking for everything I can't find. It's not eagerness to leave, it's practicality, I do not wait until the last minute to do something Recette, unlike you, my priorities are set…usually. I can only wonder what could have possessed me to wait so long until I began to pack."
Spinning about on air, she tried to leave as quickly as possible, attempting to make her exit look like a storm, an individual leaving in a huff…for pride purposes if nothing else. She left Recette looking at the doorway, trying to figure the little fairy out. She wasn't eager to leave, so she says…so then what was it?
Again, her hands felt that piece of parchment in her pocket…
"Tear…why don't you ever talk to me…? Don't you trust me?"
+-~1~-+
The morning dawned bright and early, the day promised to be beautiful for the birds were singing even before the sun had a chance to completely rise. Recette had always loved to hear the sun rise. Yep; hear it rise. The birds, the wind, the sound of dew drops sliding down, if you listened, you could even hear the rays…they wavered like the wind, like fire…only kinder. Yet this morning, she wasn't up to hear the sun, nor was she sleeping her life away, the other obvious alternative to her mornings…no, today her ears weren't straining to capture the patter of the feet on a squirrel either…they were turned inwards.
She was on her bed, her ears pressed upon the pillow. Eyes wide open; she listened to the sound of her own heart. It seemed…so loud here, so big and powerful, a force nothing could stop. Yet thinking about going down there, to that shop, opening those doors to the world outside…alone…it made something in her stop moving.
Wasn't it supposed to be the heart that felt for you?
Well…Tear would put up a fight on that one…the heart didn't actually do anything but beat, according to her. Love came from the brain, as did everything else…but Recette had always disagreed. Forget the books for a second Tear, what part of you hurts when you're sad and alone? Not your head…your chest…
Grimacing, Recette sat up, letting the covers fall off her. Had she slept in her apron again? No, not this time, thankfully. Weird stuff almost always seemed to happen when she wound up sleeping in her apron…out of pure habit, she got up to go and make herself presentable and put on the aforementioned apron. She even began to think about what kind of stock needed to go out, and what needed to be taken down, thrown out, etcetera, etcetera…her mind was rushing ahead of her, entering into shop keeper mode without her wanting it too…hastily, she pulled back on habit, she didn't want to be feeling for any rotten oranges just yet.
No, instead, she was faced with the prospect of losing the only partner she had…one that had become, in her eyes, a "big" sister of sorts. Her one life line was gone too…Tear had found the green tie she had been missing, right where she had left it, in the suitcase, a side pocket. Unbidden, she felt that familiar clench; she knew her heart had woken up. It might have been sleeping before, but now? Nah, it knew what was going on.
Walking down the steps, she passed by a counter, her hands coming out to caress the edge of a Crystal Sword…sharp; but she had a practiced touch. Her eyes roved about the store, remembering how it has started, how tiny it had been. Compared to then, it was positively huge now. She walked up to a wall, feeling the design, the practiced care giving off the feeling of ancient ruins. Not a sound was made as she continued to walk, her hand still on the wall, her eyes on the brick floor. Today, she just might change the rugs and the counter cloths…she felt particularly "heretical" today.
By the window, on the second floor, Tear waited. Recette dreaded climbing those steps again, looking out to see her friend there, bobbing slightly from the beat of her wings. The last time she would see them…She looked up at the fairy watching her move more than listening to her talk. The suitcase more than anything else; that was what her eyes caught. Slowly swinging, a pendulum…
"I am confident that you will make a grand shop keeper one day, Recette. Continue to work hard without me just as you have been and you'll be fine."
"No…"
… I'll be all alone again…
"T-tear…"
"You are now the rightful owner of this property, and all debts have been repaid, my work here is done…good bye Recette."
…I thought I told you…remember? I used to hate the night time…because I have to come home and be all alone. The silence, the emptiness…it will only be worse now, the store is so big…so…empty.
She seemed to be so slow, turning around with a simple wave, but the girl knew the fairy would be moving double time to get away…something told her that Tear wanted to get this over with…as quickly as possible…but she didn't want her to go…she took a step forewords, her elbow knocking over a stack of books on the table.
"Teeeeear don't go~!"
…already, I feel alone, already…she's not even gone yet, but already the hole…the hole has come…
Whipping around, Tear almost scolded her, but saw that she had taken another step and made a mess of herself by tripping over a book, becoming a heap of tangled limbs and flying paper. She recognized the stack of books as her record books, and sighed…until her eyes caught on the paper flying around.
Was she…seeing things? Please…tell her she was. Those pages couldn't possibly be blank. Not after she had told her, time and time again…lecturing, berating and ceaselessly stressing the point of keeping these things in order…they just could not be blank. Recette mewled from somewhere on the floor, struggling to divest herself from the whirlwind of off white…but when she popped up, her momentary happiness of finding that Tear was still floating there was crushed like an eggshell under the tread of a bulldozer when she caught site of her face…her slowly reddening face and burning eyes.
Literally, she swore she could see her papa somewhere in a really high, cloudy place right now…and where those her children? Well, that's her life gone in a flash! She was brought crashing back to earth with a deathly roar, man; she never knew a fairy could be so loud!
"Recette…"
"Ummm…hi?"
"These are your shop record books, aren't they?"
"Umm…uh…well, I…I…uhh…hehe?"
"These are…they are…THESE ARE ALL BLANK!"
Her mind went white with fear, and she utterly forgot about the piece of paper still in her apron. Sputtering worse than a rusty shower head, she struggled to come up with some kind of plausible excuse that would save her hide from being used as a new tent for the fairy. She might have actually blew it by remembering about the paper if Tear hadn't cut her off.
"Oooh, forget it, come on, we have to take inventory and check it against our funds to make sure no one is robbing us blind, come on, move!"
"U-us? But I-I thought you-"
"I can see now that if I leave you for just one day, you'll be crushed under the weight of capitalism and be snuffed out like a fly before you can even make a peep. It's my responsibility to make sure you know what you're doing, which you obviously don't!"
"So…so you're…"
"Just grab a pen and get that book, we've no time to waste! I'm not going anywhere! I'll work you just as hard as I always do, for as long as you're still standing, I promise you that!"
"Y-yes ma'm!"
+-~2~-+
"Tear, you promised!"
Feeling like an utter fool, the fairy spun on her heel in the air, fixing Recette with a leveling look. To anyone else, she might have suspected that they had tricked her, but not Recette…she wasn't capable of tricking anyone. No, in all honesty, she, Tear, had assumed and attacked the girl, making her forget everything and become a mess of tears and sputter. Charme had called her an oddball once…well; make that more of a blubber ball.
Still, she had promised, and now she was effectively trapped…by her training and honor if nothing else. Knowing the girl, she'd be up all night for the next week just to make sure Tear didn't run away if she had too, and she knew the girl had it in her to do that. Clingy thing, Recette was; she didn't like to be left alone…
All the inventory keeping had ground to a halt, the feverish scratching of ink on paper dying dramatically, all because Recette had struck her hand in her pocket mid-stride and pulled her records out. Recette had acted like a paranoid merchant, hiding her records, keeping them close to her to prevent tampering. It was a smart move, a devastatingly smart one to the saboteur…and who, who… expected Recette to be smart?
That...is exactly why it was devastating. Tear had fallen for it too, and the girl had done it so well that she herself had fallen for it, which was scary…Tear just swallowed what pride she had bruised and continued to take inventory…her numbers came out drastically different than Recette's, stock wise, but something told her that she shouldn't doubt the ridiculous numbers the girl had. Who knew what was lurking in the basement? Eight Crystal Swords? Sure, she only saw three, but…
The fairy watched as the girl smoothed out the creases on the drapes she had placed on the counter, expertly fishing items from the shelves that the news had deemed low priced and scurrying into the back, where she would return with items in the normal range…only today Sweets were high priced, meaning Recette was loading many of the front counters with high end treats…and bickering about the weather, for the sun might make her good spoil.
No worry there however, those were fresh. The only reason the girl was flitting about like a mother hen was to avoid Tear's glare, and the fairy knew it. She watched as the girl almost tripped over a snarl in the rugs, and then bent down busily to fix it. If the girl had wings, she'd do well…
The shop opened a bit earlier than normal, but customers were never short, even in the early morn, the Guild-master stopped by to place an order for five weapons. People really trusted Recette it seemed…the only thing bad about that is that Recette didn't exploit that trust to the fullest…and claimed that was a good thing in itself.
A few customers passed by, but the one that caught Tear's attention today was Arma. She wasn't behaving normally, picking up things and then putting them down, as if unsure…she glanced towards the door more than once with a fervent look in her eyes too…without explanation, she headed towards the counter, only to turn one eighty once A customer ahead of her reached there first, and zoom out, almost literally flying out of the shop. The fairy didn't comment on it, but she saw Recette look after the path the automaton had taken, her eyes showing concern. Yet she was anchored to her place, and her eyes were soon taken by the form of Louie, who seemed to find the fact that Breaker Swords were in stock a legendary opportunity. The girl only smiled with a tinkle of a laugh and sold it to him at a proper discount, even if he already had a Demonblade at his side.
The boy seemed to think he could wield two weapons if he tried hard enough…so far he was failing miserably, none the less, the boy tried, and no one could doubt he'd gained some formidability to himself by Recette's own hands, hiring him to forge into the dungeons so often…still; he was an airhead at best.
When he was gone, the weapon secured in his hands, Recette breathed a sigh of relief. Like always, the morning was when her brain was put to the test, while it was hardly awake no less, with an onslaught of orders. People loved to make orders in the mornings…or sell things. Late at night too…she looked over the piece of paper she had been using to quickly scribble down the orders people wanted, all of them coming rapid fire. Was it the old man who wanted three treasures, or was it the housewife? No, she wanted two clothing items…or was it that she wanted three clothing items and the old man wanted two treasures…?
Shaking her head violently to rid it of cobwebs, she got up from her stool, bending down to squeeze her calves, they fell asleep if she crossed them under the stool and hooked them behind the bar…but she always did it anyway…she walked a bit awkwardly towards the door, planning on locking it while she organized some wares, but she never got that far, her nose was still in the paper when the door shot open right into her face; sending her flying backwards against a counter.
"Ehh?.! Ahh! Ouchies…aw~...hey! WHAT'S THE BIG IDE- Euhh? Arma!"
Yep, she was back again, and this time, her face definitely set off alarm bells ringing in Recette's head, more than even the sound of her throbbing nose.
"I…I would like to buy something."
Buy something? That was it? Just buy something? There was something else to the equation, there must be. The girl was shaking like a leaf, and I don't mean the one on the floor…Recette got up as quickly as her legs would allow, almost bumping her head on the ledge of her counter. Arma seemed to relax slightly, though she offered no help, nor did she show any real concern, but her eyes were clouded…
Choosing up an item seemingly at random, her fingers closed upon a book. It was the Doomsday book, minus all the extra "o" 's. Recette scampered to the counter to ring it up, but once again, Arma never got that far. She slowed to a stop, mumbling something too low to hear. Her head down, you couldn't get a look at her eyes…until she snapped back up however, and dropped the book like a hot potato.
"A-Arma…?"
Her eyes were different…harsher. Her voice seemed rougher too. She spoke a whole lot about things Recette didn't really understand, that is, until she hit on something closer to home. The dungeons… She was saying stuff about someone trying to control her, and that if she let them they'd be able to control the dungeons through her…she was the one who formed them when someone stepped in, gave them shape…that was…incredible.
But wait! If that was true then everything that had happened, the-the Obsidian Tower, the medicine at Amber Garden…no way…it couldn't all be her! She hadn't really ever given thought to the dungeons before…more than that they were supposed to be "alive" and you could go in there to get treasure…but really, as Tear pointed out to her, why would something alive behave that way, and give out treasure like that, in chests no less?
Good question. Really, really good question, one she didn't have an answer for…Recette's confusion was whipped away however, as soon as Arma claimed she was going to remove herself from Pensee to be decommissioned. She wouldn't be shopping in Recettear anymore…but…Arma loved shopping. It sounded silly, but she did! Recette knew that…it's not like Arma needed all those swords and staffs she bought…the girl turned around to leave, but Recette stopped her cold.
She'd be coming to save her. No way was she going to let her just disappear.
Not that she really had any idea what was going on, but…
Arma was in trouble, and Recette wanted to help her…
The golem seemed to break a slight smile, just a small chink in her control…but it was gone in an instant, and the girl wasn't sure if it had even been there…but; as Arma left, the light caught on a bracelet she wore, one that probably had a real hard time getting on. The Maidens Bracelet…
Around here, Recettear was the only one who carried that in stock…
+-~C~-+
"I wanted to go right then, but I couldn't. Tear would have yelled at me, and it was too late for me to safely hire an adventurer. Sure, I could have, but what time would they have come home? They'd be very angry with me…and I had no idea how long of a trip it would be, trying to save Arma…no, I had to be smart here; I had to plan.
I was going into the heart of all dungeons after all, the place where, perhaps, all of Pensee's magical reserves and control lied. I needed to prepare…ohh, you're wide awake now, huh? Figures. Action and…aww, what was it again? Strife? That's probably it. Action and Strife are always the most interesting to the observer.
What? Who said that? You'll find out later...I see you helped yourself to the pack."
+-~E~-+
Way too long, it took way to long to write this. It's too short again, but longer than the first time...I'm still disappointed though. Something this long, I can type in about an hour and a half if I go nonstop...but I didn't, I don't have that kind of time anymore...I don't seem to have time for anything any more...not good.
Anyway, I planned to put more here, but looks like it's going to have to be next chapter again. Dang it, I wanted to be in the dungeons already...Well, I'm off again, see you all next time... ~Finalage.