+-RT-+

I saw your review too late to add it to my notes last chapter Ragnarok, so I'll add it this time. I may be what you call a "historically" dark writer. Much of my "career" has been on that. But I am trying to keep away from making it too dark. I do promise to put some light moments into this. It's just at this part of the story, with Aval stomping closer to his dreams and Recette rushing to save Arma, I can't help but tint it darkly. I'm sorry about that….and while Recettear is a mostly light hearted game; there are just so many dark hints everywhere that it's hard for a career "addict" of the dark story to resist the pull.

The only other Recettear one is a vore? I'm glad I never saw it then…

Last chapter was cut short purposely. I felt that I had written myself into a corner, and so I cut in with Recette. Forgive me for being jarring. I am still quite out of practice after all, not to mention this chapter felt like pulling teeth. Throughout most of this chapter I wanted to just "Roar" in frustration and pick up the story and toss it against the wall before making this a time travel chapter where you see the confrontation with Avall…NOW.

+-LSRA-+

Chapter Five: Crisis.

Louie stared at the spot that Arma had been a few seconds before. Disappearing into thin air. Now that was a trick he wanted to learn. He turned to smile at Recette and Tear as the portal came up for the next floor, a kind of victory pose in the making, but he only met a somber look on a normally happy face and a confused one on the fairy with all the answers. It didn't bode well for him, but then Recette brightened up with a smile.

"You did it Louie! I'm pretty sure we don't have far to go now! Do you want to rest before we go on? Are you okay? Hungry?"

There she was. Things were back to normal. Forget about the confused know-it-all ball of greed. He smiled.

"Hungry?! After I had that walnut bread smack me in the face?! I've never been more fired up! I can't sleep now! Maiden in distress saving, now! I'm almost there, I can feel it! There is no way I can take a rest no-"

Louie hit the floor before he finished his sentence, and before Recette could even react with a squeak, he was snoring. Her face morphed into something halfway between embarrassment and laughter.

"Err, right, rest time then!"

Without further comment, she struggled to drag the warrior backwards into the barrier by his feet. Oh well.

+~1~+

The fire was bright in the darkness. It tossed odd shadows along the walls of the chamber, it's light seemed to lick the glowing teleportation circle on the floor as its symbols spun around. Next to the fire, three figures were hunched, well, one figure really. The other two were not hunching per se.

"Recette."

"Hmm?"

Recette spared the fairy a single glance before going back to poking the fire with her char stick, even though the fire needed no urging to continue to burn, and she knew it. Tear wanted to talk about what "Arma" had said…and that was something that the merchant wanted to avoid at all costs…So she stared at the fire, and Tear continued to watch her, bobbing up and down in the air. Louie continued to snore on, oblivious. He rolled a bit in his sleep, his scarf coming dangerously close to the fire. Recette brushed it away absent-mindedly.

The silence stretched, the wood spit and crackled. Tear hovered around to stare at Recette from the front. There was something new in those big, brown eyes of hers. They had always seemed to carry a warm cherry kind of glow on them, and never failed to be fixed in the mind as innocent…yet…

Perhaps it was just the fire dancing, reflected in her eyes, or a trick of the unstable light, but her eyes seemed harder edged now, as if there was a wall of steel behind that innocence…steel that kept back secrets. Tear tried again to rouse the human to speech.

"Recette…"

"…Tear…"

This time she responded with language instead of sound, but she still refused to meet her eyes.

"Who gave you that name, Tear?"

The question caught her off balance; literally, she dropped a few inches before she managed to regain control of her flight. Who…gave her that name? Where did that question come from? Recette was the one who needed to answer things, not her!

"M-Merde…Where does this question come from all of a sudden? Recette, how exactly did you obtain that swor-"

"I saw a slime wearing a shirt today."

Again, Tear felt herself somersault in air as she lost her sense of direction for a few. The equivalent might have been a "face-fault" moment for a human. Was Recette going to gloss over everything that she said?! Not only that but with pure nonsense? A slime wearing a shirt? What kind of…

"RE-CET-TE. I asked you a question!"

"No you didn't. You didn't finish your sentence. You didn't answer my question too, and I asked it first…and I'm serious. I saw a slime wearing a shirt today…It looked a lot like one my papa used to wear…"

"…"

What was she supposed to say to that? Recette had both made a point and then brought up a topic that usually shut them both up, her father…

"Recette…"

"I crafted it Tear. The sword. The materials I bought or crafted. You know that. What difference does it make…when they were bought?"

Tear kept silent. Recette waved a hand at Louie's prone, sleeping form.

"Papa was like that. He would go out and come back, days later and sleep. When he woke up, he would eat and tell me stories, then he would go again. He had done it ever since Mama vanished. First he would tell me he was looking for her, but one day he came back and started talking about adventure…monsters and dungeons and walnut bread fishermen…I remember one day he came home with a mountain of walnut bread…"

"…"

"Mama was like…Charme. Only one day she just didn't come home from the bar…she didn't come home…When I asked you, that day…if Alcohol was yummy…I was really hoping the answer from you would be yes…or maybe I was hoping for no. I think I wanted Yes because if would have made sense then, why people drink it until they forget where home is…Maybe I wanted no because then I would know you would never do that to me."

"…Recette…"

Looking up from the fire at last, she fixed Tear with a look the fairy had never seen before on her face. It wasn't the determination she'd seen the last day she paid off her debt, and it wasn't the anger she's seen her use against Griff…It was a kind of desperate, happy-scared.

"No matter what. We end this tomorrow."

That was the last thing Recette said for the night.

+~2~+

"Err…is this floor empty of a boss?"

By Tears rough estimate, this was the eightieth floor, yet she became less and less sure the further down they went. This one was situated on one enormous stump, one large enough to fit Recette's store comfortably on top. Bright sunlight shone down upon the trio, and a slight wind carrying a mulch-like scent blew in their faces. Louie had his feet splayed in his classic stance; seeking out the occupant he knew HAD to be on this floor. It was no doubt it was a boss floor; it was only one big room.

A noise up ahead caught his attention and he ran forwards to meet…a tentacle monster. It was one of those purple lightning ones. Annoying buggers. But there was somebody already fighting it…and yelling at the top of his lungs too.

"Argh! DIE you foul beast! Yells our hero as he swings at his foe!"

Was he…doing his own dialogue for a story? Err…Louie had to admit he had done that too…but when he was little, not like this guy who was obviously a full grown man with…IS THAT A PAIR OF PANTS ON HIS HEAD?!

A hesitant little cough interrupted his thoughts, and he turned to see Recette and Tear approaching, Recette pointing to a portal that had just opened up.

"H-Hey don't you think we should move on?"

Louie looked back at the dude with the pants over his head. Sure he was muscular and all, but…despite being all powerful looking he…kinda…didn't know how to swing that axe of his. He was fighting hard, but…well frankly…

He sucked.

"Shouldn't we help him?"

"I would have to agree Recette, he is fighting hard but…he's terrible at this. We should assist."

"N-No, I don't think so; we should hurry and save Arma!"

Over Louie's back, the man began yelling again.

"Agh! Our hero…is in a pickle! With the fire…and the claws…and the…lack of healing items, that's no good!"

Louie just blinked and turned his head half around at the guy. Yeeeeah…he was doing his own dialogue…and honestly, could he see out of those holes he cut into the seat of his pants? There was no fire and that thing had no claws…it was a tentacle monster for Pete's sake…Once more the guy's voice floated down to Louie.

"Oh my dear sweet daughter! I will defeat this fiend and bring back his treasure for you! Dear Rece-"

The rest of what he was said was drowned out by Recette practically screaming in his ears.

"PLEASECANWEJUSTGOISEENOREASO NTOSTAYHERE!"

Wincing, Louie pointed at the guy, who had just fallen down and was moaning in agony.

"Arrrrgh! If….there is….anyone out there….please…tell my daughter…that her father…died…a hero…"

With that he fell silent and Louie walked up to the tentacle monster and slashed it once, cleaving it in two neatly. He looked down at the guy and discovered that he was not dead at all…in fact…

"ZzzzZzzzZzzz"

"He's….asleep."

"Ohgoodsohesfineletsmoveonnow ."

"Recette you sure you don't want to help this guy? I have no idea how he got down all the way here fighting like that…and why are you talking like that anyway?"

"Noreasononlyweneedtohurryupl etsgoLouie!"

Shaking his head at the jumping eager girl standing in the portal, he took one last look at the pantless muscle dude. Must be his bod, he's heard girls go nuts for that kind of thing. Still, he was a bit old for Recette, wasn't he? Didn't he say something about a daughter? …Ahh whatever. Louie took out one of his limited Melons and placed it on the guy's torso. He'd need it more than Louie if that was the way he fought…"

+~3~+

"Hmm? Oh, sharp aren't you? Yes. That…pants-less individual was my missing father. This is why I was eager to leave. As you might imagine I could not have been more embarrassed if he were dressed up like a fish and singing the Tiger Deals Theme while dancing polka. What? Where did I get that analogy from? Where did you get such a big word from? I got that "analogy" because he did actually do that once…yes, he did…I'm sorry for the image it gave you. Do you need more food? Did I see my father again? He he…you'll have to wait for the answer to that….and what do you mean, where am I going? I've been talking for a long time…I need to pee. Don't make that face, you asked, so I told you! I didn't want to tell you like that but…well, you asked! I'll be right back, stay there will you?"

Recette left the room, which, to my surprise, was much darker than it was when I first walked in. Had the telling of the story been that long already? Getting up, I walked to the walls and felt them. They really did look like ruins, but they had a faint, magical glow to them. The walls had been like this for a long while…in some places, the masonry was cracked, giving the fake look of ruins more realistic fuel. Dust lined the shelves, but some tables still held merchandise, and although it too, was layered with dust, the gleam they gave off betrayed their value.

The entire place gave off an air of neglect and lost grandeur, the same as its proposed owner. A tinkle made me turn around though. The door…it was being held open by a young man in robes. His eyes roved the dusty shelves before locking unto me. His face set and he let the door close behind him. Behind me, I could hear a sigh somewhere in the back, and a mutter I barely caught as "Figures they would leave."

She thought I had left! She obviously was not expecting there to be more company when she came out…

The young man walked right by me, paying me no mind but still keeping his eyes locked on mine. He deliberately reached out his hand and rung a bell I had barely noticed on the counter, dusty and discolored as it was. He had to tap it three times before it let out a satisfactory sound.

"Now didn't I tell you I was in the bathroom? Why would you ring that bell? To satisfy some curiosity…Calliou. How nice to see you."

The young man rose an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, do I know you? I'm looking for the owner of Recettear, but all I see is some counter jockey…"

Narrowing her eyes, the other folded her arms in front of her and stood that way, her index beating out a rhythm on her arm.

"I think you know as well as I that Recettear is closed at the moment."

"You've been closed for the past few months, as far as I've been told."

"So it should not surprise you to hear what I just said."

The other lounged on the counter, stretching himself out languidly and looking at the girl, side-along; a smirk growing on his lips.

"Who said I was surprised?"

"Your face did."

The young man turned to look at her full on, standing up straight as he did so. He lost his smirk in a hurry.

"Now come on now. All I did was track you down to say sorry."

Recette raised an eyebrow on that.

"Sorry? For what? Your behavior now? Or years before? You didn't need to track me down when it was polite to apologize."

"…"

Recette fixed a look at me. Me of all people. As if I had the answer to this situation I had no idea about. All I could tell was this was probably the "Calliou" that she had mentioned earlier in her story. She seemed to find what she was looking for in my face though.

"Hmm, how close is the race in the council for Arch-mage I wonder?"

The other's face showed surprise, and then his eyes narrowed. For just a second, one single second, that surprise made him seem…innocent. As if a child was peeking from behind a mask of a cocky man.

"Hmph. What does the council selection for Arch-mage have to do with you?"

"I'm a merchant."

"I see no connection."

"To be an effective merchant I must take news from everywhere and analyze how they will affect the market. YOU taught me that, in case you don't remember."

"…"

"So Calliou you didn't answer me."

"I don't recall you asking a question I did not answer."

"I didn't ask it. MY face did. Just as yours showed surprise."

"…You're a lot smarter than I remember."

"Spending years fighting Terme Finance will do that to you. So Calliou, should I stamp your card?"

"…What?"

"You're here for the candy right?"

Calliou looked at her as if she had suddenly sprouted horns. Candy? What candy? What was this…

"Every Sunday, when I was little, I would go to church. I wanted a stamp on my card. I wanted that candy. Where is your card Calliou? You came for the candy after all."

"…I have no idea what you're talking about…I've-"

"Out grown such things? Why yes. You told me that years ago. I saw you in a church and we had this conversation…but it seems that for all the time that has passed, you've grown backwards. Should I get you a new stamp card?"

Again someone was looking at me, this time the mage. He was practically imploring me to help, but I obviously had NO CLUE what the heck was going on. I just looked at Recette, so he did too. His face spit again into a grin.

"You've obviously spent too much time cooped up in a closed store. You've gone a bit off hinge. Maybe some support from the council-"

"Hmm. Support from a council that you were planning on offering anyway to show "Good Faith" and all such. All the while you shove a potentially dangerous piece of your history under the carpet. You'd look like a savior while keeping your opponent from uncovering your past. Master strike in politics. That's a stamp for you!"

"…I see."

"Of course you do. Genius like you. Your stamps are all lined up. You just need one more and you'll get that candy. I'm sure being Arch-mage will be a VERY sweet taste in your mouth."

"…So he got you already."

"Of course, you opponent waltzed in here about a week ago. I naturally-"

"Told him everything."

"Told him NOTHING."

"…What…?"

Recette stood a little straighter. He hand automatically rubbed the counter in front of her. Unconscious action; habitual and comforting. It was the only indication that Recette was not as composed as she would like to seem.

"I'm not you Calliou. I know where my loyalties lie. You're…no….Calliou is my friend. He died years ago, but I would not betray him like that."

I could tell that last line stung. He almost literally jerked away; it ended up being more of a flinch. She had basically just insulted his honor, his integrity AND said he was dead to her in a neat little package. To his credit, he composed himself quickly.

"So I came for nothing."

Recette gave him a sad little smile.

"If you think that, then Calliou really is dead. I'd ask you to remove yourself from my premises sir. I may not be the owner of them for very long, but at the moment this is STILL my house. Recettear is closed."

With a little smile of victory, the man removed himself from her counter. He gave her a once over before turning around. He looked like he was going to say one last thing, but seemed to think better of it. The bell on the door rang out his departure loud and clear in the empty store, reverberating off the walls, or at least, it seemed that way.

With a sigh, Recette sunk heavily unto a counter. Her head hit the wall with considerable force but she didn't flinch. She still had that small smile on her face. She swallowed before speaking.

"It's…getting a little late. Just as well. I guess I have more to tell you if you want to hear it."

She gestured at the seat behind the counter, which I had left not much earlier, before the confrontation. I sunk into it a little hesitantly.

Not that I didn't want to hear more, but more like I could already tell this epic was not going to have a fairy tale ending. Still, dungeons, monsters, warriors, friends…and an item shop. Who would have thought an ITEM SHOP would have such a story to tell? Usually you just walk into it to buy stuff…the adventurers are the ones having the adventure after all…but I guess it's true…there are two sides to every story…and this side was just as novel as any other…

+-4-+

The darkness closed in around them all as their surrounding gradually became visible. Louie looked up at the ceiling, instantly regretting it as he got an eye full of slime. Sheesh this stuff BURNED. He was certain there was some kind of acid in them…he tried not to think about it too much as he pawed at his eye with his free hand, trying to rid the ooze form his vision. It was dim here. Not dark, but eerily dim. The walls seemed to echo as he took careful steps forward. This light was worse than pitch black. It was the kind of misty dim that made it hurt to look at, but seemed to bounce off the walls so if you were not careful, it would stab you with reflected brightness. As he went further, he noticed that the monsters he ran into were not exotic, as they had become in earlier levels with knights and pumpkins shooting lasers. They were…normal. Slimes, kobolds, bees…but they were all greyish, as if they were leeched of life, vibrancy. The slimes blended in the background, making them worse than tuna in a chicken sandwich to fight.

…What? He hated tuna.*

He was distracted by a ticking noise, one that got louder the further south he went. Without any other guide, he followed the sound, soon pinning it down to more of a booming…of drums. He could hear symbols clashing too, and then a horn joined in. He wondered if he was going mad…

Whatever it was, the song it was playing sounded extremely familiar…and alien all at once. There was no doubting its meaning though. Almost as if someone were screaming at him as he stepped by damp slime covered walls and tried to ignore the squishing of his boots, the music spoke to him of the end. This was the end buddy. The home stretch. The final run. The dragon is waiting man. The princess is right there…you gonna slay that thing…or be its lunch?

Unwillingly, he swallowed. His sword automatically flashed out and sliced a slime in two, a rock bounced of his shield. He moved automatically, his entire mind bent on the music…and then, quite suddenly, he felt something grab his foot.

He tried to turn, his eyes wide, his blade slicing thin air, but he was in the grip of the portal. He had stepped into it unawares…and this one was STRONG. It more SUCKED him up than transported him. The next thing he knew, all was black…

"Ugh…now what…"

Coming to his senses slowly, Louie realized he was still standing. That was a trick and a half. Next to him, Tear hovered on by his shoulder. Recette was on his other side, a bit back from him. He focused forwards. There…was Arma…and the biggest energy crystal he had ever seen in his life…in fact…

The whole place was FULL of them. The music he had identified before was now all around him. Ominous; but unidentifiable in source.

"Give me back Prime!"

Alerted to the noise, Louie jerked his vision to the left, almost getting one or Tear's wings in his eyes.

EVERYTHING WAS AFTER HIS EYES TODAY!

It was…err…a girl. He didn't think he's ever seen her before, but she was yelling her head off at Arma, pretty ineffectually too, since she was about 4 meters form her and not even trying to take a step forward…

Louie had more important thing to worry about, like Arma. There was some talking going on, but he wasn't paying attention to it. He had only one goal after all. He took a step towards Arma, but at that time, Tear went flying ahead of him, making a beeline for the crystal in front of her. The biggest one. It…swallowed her.

"TEAR!" "W-What has you done to her?! Give her back!"

Arma just laughed, and when she spoke, it wasn't as if someone was using her as a puppet anymore.

It was just that she was someone else now. Completely, totally. The voice was cold and deep. It was disturbing to hear it come from the mecha's lips…unbidden, Goosebumps rose on Louie's arms.

"You really are ignorant of the ways this world works aren't you, Recette? Once upon a time, Fairies were a bane to mankind. They did everything in their power to hinder us; until the hate between us was so great it started a war. A war which the fairies completely, disastrously lost…

"At the brink of extinction, they called a truce and disappeared, turning into themselves to try and train their young to become…acceptable to human kind. Bowing to the superior figures in the world, they would not let any one of their number beyond their walls unless they were "safe"…yet all the while, during that war, they failed to realized Humans had discovered their true purpose in the world. The war did not end in truce Recette…it ended because the humans decided to let the fairies live. They had…other purposes in our plans."

Recette seemed only to be half paying attention to this lecture; she was too busy trying to get past Louie to Arma and Tear. Louie knew it was HIS job to beat the monster not Recette's she'd be fresh meat no time flat. Knocking her back, Louie faced Arma and decided to shift the attention.

"What kind of purpose?"

Luckily, Recette had enough sense to understand not to interfere now. She soberly sat where she had landed; giving the worst set of sad puppy eyes he had ever seen. He focused on Arma. No time to get distracted. Arma turned to him.

"You don't see? What happens when you defeat monsters?

"Err…crystals come out."

"Correct, good boy. What are crystals?"

"Uhh…they uhh…make you stronger?"

Smirking, Arma let the huge crystal in her hands float to hang chest level.

"Indirectly yes. Crystals are life force boy. When you destroy a monster, it's life force energy crystalizes and is drawn to the most powerful source of life near. Since merchants are usually weak and behind a force field nothing can enter besides, it usually flies at the adventurer. After all, no dungeon has monsters that have more power in life than the adventurer themselves, if they did, the adventurer would not survive…As an adventurer collects more and more life energy, they gain power yes. Now…what is fairy dust?"

"Uhh…"

"Fairy dust is the same thing, only it's let out naturally by the fairy in question. Fairies are very close to nature, not just nature but the forces of life itself. It's known that they can directly influence the livelihood of a forest they inhabit. Why this is possible is because they, unlike most living animals, help PRODUCE this remarkable energy. Now, if you were to take an ordinary crystal and infuse it with a fairy, it would gain more energy of course…over time it would become quite potent I imagine…but what if you could speed this process hmm?"

"…!"

"Hmm, I see you catch on. You can force the fairy to give out an increased life energy output, of course, if done too much, you outright kill them…but I have perfected the art. I only take as much as they need to be awake…but the output from them is over a hundred times what it would have been naturally! Now…you know golems control the dungeons. This takes energy. Suppose one golem could be controlled…and then hooked to this system I have developed…"

"…The golems create anything in the dungeons…and with a power source…"

Arma smiled a dead's head smile.

"Yes. The golems can create anything I desire! ANYTHING! With a source of energy that is limitless, there is no bounds to the wishes I can have fulfilled!"

By the time Louie got it, his face had fallen into something approaching anger. He wasn't sure but if this was going the way he thought it was…

"...I'm gonna guess there's a catch huh?"

This time, it was Recette who spoke.

"You destroy the life of the golem, making them your slave…and the fairies…you're going to drain Tear dry! You'll kill her!"

"Hmm. Trivial details. There are always more fairies, and golems are not supposed to be self-aware, they work as a unit to create the dungeons. Your "friend" here has a particularly delicious bug that let her feel sorry for you, and thus help you, until her collection of built up error allowed her to break from the mold and become a single unit. Again it seems I must thank you. Not only have you made this possible, but you were vital in its operation throughout the entire way!"

Recette scrambled away on her hands and knees, as if to escape the accusation, but when she turned around, her eyes were huge.

"No…I wouldn't help you take Tear!"

"Oh but you did. It was you who made her stay with you, making a shop instead of taking possession of your house. You deplorable state made her pity you. Later on your inexperience and bumbling figure allowed a certain golem to take pity on you too, and with the actions you performed, that pity turned to a love that allowed her to alter the dungeons in your favor...

"It was YOU who later on proved that with one push here, the market can fall into perfect alignment and thus allow you to turn countless profit from a small investment. It was YOU who caused the golem to malfunction and become a singular unit, you who in "the good ness of your heart" chased her through this entire dungeon, making her errors all the MORE differing from her unit. You changed her until she could do nothing but bend to my will. She loved you too much….and then what else did you do but bring me EXACTLY what I needed and handed her to me on a silver platter? My dear you have a place of honor in my heart, I assure you."

Recette's eyes became even bigger, and even more watery. Louie felt like he was going to melt if he continued to stare. He couldn't tell how this guy could harden himself to stand up to THAT…that took some kind of evil.

"Tear…"

"Hmph. However, I see you don't share my glorious visions. You were useful my dear but now I'm afraid you know far too much. I will have to do away with you, though it pains me so, you are quite like the daughter I never had."

"Heh-heh-wha?!"

The mecha looked down at the crystal in its hands, and without any visual bidding, it began to shine and spin, throwing rays everywhere. Louie threw an arm up to protect this new assault to his poor eyes. All the crystals in the surrounding area were pulled in as if by a vortex all of them collecting unto that single crystal, making it blindingly bright.

"With this power, I can have anything I wish…even this…behold!"

The light faded slowly, but the music did not. It only got louder. When Louie could finally see, he felt like closing his eyes again. He had seen this thing before…in his nightmares. He'd read about it in fairy tales, seen pictures…but here it was…real.

~Geddon Device~

It was purple. It floated off the ground, in space, it suddenly struck Louie that this place's floor wasn't really a floor…but a floating platform. And it was…a LOOOONG way down from here. The geddon device moved off the platform, it's fingers rings of purple metal and crystal, it's torso a full plate of the same metal, with the crystal spinning slowly beneath it all…it had a helmet which was twisted into a snarl, and large, crystalline horns. It was beautiful...

And at that moment one of its arms launched off, raking the area with a laser, that actually traveled up and down the field. Louie tried to avoid it… but it spiked him, and that blow HURT.

Beautiful and deadly…

+~E~+

Hmm? Why did I stop THERE? Heh hee…ever heard of a cliff hanger? Hmm. Didn't I tell you I can do those eyes better than you? Come back tomorrow, if I'm still here, I'll tell you more. It's nice to leave your audience guessing after all…huh? It's not nice for THEM? Well then…it's nice for me. Besides I'm tired and have you looked outside?

I spared a glance. It was quite dark by now…and I did have an inn bill to foot. Sighing I realized I was not going to get more out of this wily store owner today. I looked about and snatched an odd looking hourglass off one of the counters. It was immeasurably dusty and I almost lost my grip on it. I placed it on the counter. Recette rose her eyebrows.

"I'll take it."

She stared at me for a flat second before grinning.

"The take it then. It's yours. You'll realize in time why I say that. "

What she wasn't going to sell it to me? But her dismissing gesture brooked no argument. I felt like a thief as I stole out of the store into the starry night. I thought I was going to do her a favor, instead, I walk out with a free souvenir…

+-E-+

Well this took a RATHER long time to compile. I'd blame the lack of computer access but that doesn't cover it all. I'd blame the fact that this chapter was hard to right but that's just taking an easy way out. I won't put blame on anything. It's fairly longer than most of the other's I've been putting out here; this is more of a normal length for me. Still a bit short though but…ehh. I can't write like I did in High School or College, where I had a bunch of free time.

~Finalage.

The music Louie was hearing? You might recognize its description. Alien like drums joined by symbols then followed by an eerie horn, for someone not in the modern world, the final boss theme in Recettear would sound VERY eerie, yet without a doubt would scream at you: "THIS IS THE END BUCKO!"

The game file is called "lastboss02" I call it "Geddon Device~ Released." Whichever you call it, it's there.

*= Remember, Louie does NOT like seafood.