Chapter 6: The Shop

Half an hour later, Isabella stood with Apple, Raven, Chev, and Kelsey outside one of the shops in the Village of Book End.

"An item-candy shop?" Kelsey asked, expressing hers and Isabella's confusion. She had met up with the rest of the group just before they left the school.

"You'll see once inside." Chev said while opening the door and holding it. "Ladies."

Apple walked in first, followed by Raven, then Kelsey, and Isabella took up the rear, each of them thanking Chev as they passed him. She paused shortly after entering, as the interior of the store appeared to be divided right down the middle. The lefthand side was that of an item shop while the righthand side was that of an old-time candy shop, though there was one counter centered in the middle toward the back.

It was behind the counter in which a single boy stood.

"Hey, Chev! Finally finish your latest masterpiece?" He called out with a wave, his voice carrying a British accent similar to Kelsey's.

"Not yet. Decided to take a break." Chev replied, approaching the counter. "Slow day?"

"So far." The boy replied.

"Well we got business for you." Raven said, drawing the boy's attention to her, and subsequently Apple when she gestured to her.

"Of course, what can I do for you ladies?" The boy asked.

"Would you happen to have a mirror in stock? Maybe even a magic one?" Apple queried, batting her eyelashes as she put her hands together hopefully.

"Ah ... let me check right quick." The boy reached behind the counter, taking out a MirrorPad. He moved his finger on the screen as if scrolling through a list, frowning after a long minute. "I'm terribly sorry, Apple, it looks as though I'm fresh out of magic mirrors and won't have any until next weekend."

"Awww..." Apple hung her head in disappointment.

"But," The boy continued to speak, tapping the screen of the MirrorPad a few times before placing it on the counter and turning it to where Apple could view it. "I can put in a special order for you. You can create and choose a design from this template if you'd like, and I will personally cover the shipping cost and deliver it to your dorm myself to make up for the wait."

"Really? That's so royally generous of you!" Apple perked up again.

"Of course." The boy briefly bowed to her before coming around the counter with one of the two chairs that were behind it. "Here, have a seat, Apple, and take your time."

"Why, thank you!" Apple sat down in the chair holding the MirrorPad the boy had set on the countertop.

"It is my pleasure. Let me know if need anything else." The boy told her, turning his attention back to the rest of the group. "Now, is there anything I can help the rest of you with?"

"I'm good." Raven said. "We've just been trying to help Apple find a mirror since hers, uh ... broke this morning."

"How did it break? Apple's the type that takes good care of her things." The boy asked.

"I ... have no idea." Raven let out a rather nervous laugh. "Uh, hey, I don't think you've officially met Isabella and Kelsey yet."

She suddenly moved behind Isabella and Kelsey, pushing the two of them forward as if to draw attention to them instead of her.

"I don't believe I have." The boy said, putting a hand on his chest and bowing slightly to them. "A pleasure to finally make the acquaintance of the next Enchantress and a future knight of King Arthur's court. I am Marnin Scrooge, son of Ebeneezer Scrooge."

Both Isabella and Kelsey blushed a bit, both taken aback by how gentlemanly Marnin was.

"How'd you know that?" Kelsey asked him.

"I heard you both take your pledges at rehearsals." Marnin replied, looking at Kelsey with interest. "I was rather surprised to hear that we had an Arthurian Legend at the school this year. Tell me, what story are you to partake in?"

"I doubt you've heard of it."

"Do humor me."

"It's Quest for Camelot."

"Ah, so you're the daughter of Sir Garrett and Lady Kayley, I'm guessing?"

Kelsey blinked.

"Okay, I'll admit, I'm pleasantly surprised."

"Well Marnin does read a lot of adventurous tales." Chev remarked. "By the way, Marn, where's Wally at? Isn't he working as well today?"

Marnin pointed a thumb to what appeared to be the door to a back room.

"In the kitchen. Shall I get him?"

"No need."

Another boy came walking out of the kitchen at that moment, being followed by the sweet smell of freshly made candy. He carried a tray of sweets, wearing a big smile.

"Oh, ho! I see we got some new faces in the shop today!" He declared, marching up to where Isabella and Kelsey stood. "Care for a free sample?"

Isabella looked down at the tray.

"What is it?" She queried.

"Why, it's chocolate!" The boy replied proudly. "Don't tell me you don't like chocolate!"

"I didn't say that..."

"Then please, have one!"

Isabella finally took a piece of the chocolate off the tray, popping it in her mouth.

"How is it?" The boy asked after Kelsey had taken one also and had let them chew a bit.

"It's really good." Isabella replied, covering her mouth as she spoke. "Did you make them yourself?"

"He certainly did." Marnin said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Allow me to introduce Wally Wonka, the son of Willy Wonka. Best chocolatier and candy maker this side of Ever After."

"Sweet." Kelsey said. "Good to meet you, Wally."

"Good to meet you two as well." Wally responded. "Now, Raven, would like some chocolate before Chev's sweet tooth attacks?"

"Hey!" Chev exclaimed. "That was one time, man!"

"And the last time I let you near the sample tray unsupervised." Wally fired back playfully while giving Raven and Apple each a piece of chocolate.

Isabella giggled with the rest of the girls at their exchange before feeling her stomach rumble, making her realize she hadn't had anything to eat yet today aside from the chocolate she'd just consumed. And glancing at the time on her MirrorPhone, it was a little past noon already.

"Is something wrong, Isabella?" Raven asked while stepping close to her.

"Oh, no. I just ... I forgot I haven't really eaten anything today." She replied sheepishly.

"Don't suppose I could interest you in some more sweets?" Wally suggested.

"Actually, I think we all could use a break for lunch." Marnin said after glancing at the time on the watch he wore on his left wrist. "What say we close the shop for a little while and go get some pizza?"

"Sounds great to me." Raven agreed. "Apple, what about you?"

"Sounds perfect." Apple nodded, turning the MirrorPad around then. "And I just got done, too! What do you think? Isn't it charming?"

"It looks great, Apple." Raven said after viewing the screen.

"Indeed, it does." Marnin smiled as he took back the MirrorPad. "I'll get this ordered for you after we have lunch."

"Hexcillent!" Apple beamed.

Marnin set the MirrorPad behind the counter again before turning to Chev.

"Sorry to keep asking, but would you mind locking the door for us?" He asked.

"Wait, do you guys not have a key to the shop?" Isabella questioned him.

"We did, but ... uh, let's just say I accidentally misplaced it." Wally replied with a slight laugh. "We're waiting on the replacement to arrive. In the meantime, we've been having to rely on Chev to open and close the shop."

"It's still a wonder how you don't lose your key to the dorm." Marnin commented playfully at Wally as he came out from behind the counter again. "So, Chev? You mind doing a little Keyblade magic for us again?"

"Sure thing, Marn." Chev replied. "But speaking of which, turns out I'm not the only Keyblade Wielder at the school anymore."

"Say what?" Wally asked.

Chev merely gestured over at Isabella, who gave a bit of a soft laugh when his, Marnin's, and also Apple's focus zeroed in on her.

"You?" Apple spoke with surprise. "You really can wield a Keyblade?"

"That she can, and she's also trained under three Keyblade Masters." Kelsey spoke proudly while putting her hands on Isabella's shoulders from behind.

"Kelsey..." Isabella hissed at her, feeling heat rush to her cheeks for the third time that day.

"What? If I had training like that, I'd want all of Ever After to know." Kelsey told her dismissively.

"That's you, not me."

"Um, can we get back to her being able to wield a Keyblade?" Apple came up to Isabella. "I remember you mentioning your training when we were in Madam Yaga's office, but I didn't think you could actually wield one. That's dangerous, why would you even want that?"

"Apple, my Keyblade chose me." Isabella told her. "Besides, even if it hadn't, I would still want to wield one. If you knew what happened to my home world, how I spent my childhood, you'd want to wield one too so you stood a chance against the dark forces that..."

Her voice quivered before it trailed off as she recalled all the pain and suffering the dark forces that had once claimed her home world had caused. Forces that it was still working to fight off completely...

"I, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset." Apple apologized. "I was just concerned."

"It's alright. You didn't know." Isabella forgave her.

"And on that note - who wants pizza?" Wally spoke up, clearly trying to lift the heavy mood that had suddenly befallen the shop.

Isabella felt her stomach growl again at the second mention of food. She put a hand over her tummy, giving a soft laugh when she heard Kelsey's stomach rumble as well.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's hungry." She remarked.

"Be quiet." Kelsey snapped playfully at her. "Come on, let's go before one of us passes out."

"Ah, so that's why Raven got all squeamish whenever someone asked how Apple's mirror broke." Isabella said after getting a text from Raven later that afternoon. She was still out in Book End with Kelsey and Chev, the others having dispersed shortly after they had lunch.

"Let me guess, she's the one that broke it." Kelsey said while peering over Isabella's shoulder at her MirrorPhone.

"It was likely an accident." Chev stated. "Raven was probably trying to use magic for something only to have it backfire."

"That's ... exactly what happened." Isabella looked up from her phone screen. "How'd you guess?"

"Raven tries to use her magic for good a lot. Her spells always backfire on her whenever she does." Chev replied.

"Yikes, that's gotta be tough." Kelsey remarked, then as they were passing by Marnin and Wally's shop, she paused. "Say, I'm gonna pop back in here for a spell. I'll catch you later."

Kelsey went inside, leaving Isabella alone with Chev.

O-kay... Isabella thought.

"Guess it's just you and me now." Chev spoke.

"Guess so." Isabella tugged at her hair. "I ... don't suppose there's anything you wanna do...?"

"Well, I don't suppose you could show me some Keyblade tricks, could you?"

"I'd love to." Isabella smiled. "But we're gonna need a pretty open space so there's no risk of someone getting hurt on accident."

Chev grinned back at her.

"I know just the place." He said.

Back at the dorms after a long day, Isabella stood in front of her dresser mirror braiding her hair as she got ready for bed. She couldn't stand leaving it down as she slept, and couldn't stand wearing her hair in curlers even more, so braids were always her go-to.

"So what'd you go back into Marnin and Wally's shop for?" She was asking her roommate.

"I wanted to see if maybe Marnin could hook me up with a sword." Kelsey answered. "You know, since I was denied one by the Hero Training teacher because I'm a girl."

"And did he?"

Kelsey produced a sheathed sword from a box she pulled out from under her bed.

"Check it." She said while unsheathing the sword. "Isn't it cool or what?"

"Very cool." Isabella agreed. "So Marnin didn't have any qualms about selling you a sword?"

Kelsey shook her head.

"He was actually rather supportive." She carefully held the blade in her free hand, her expression softening. "He ... actually just gave me it."

"He did? That was generous of him."

"Indeed. He's really sweet for someone who's supposed to be ... you know, greedy."

Isabella smirked.

"Do I detect a hint of a crush?" She asked teasingly.

"What - no, you're reading way too much into it!" Kelsey denied despite her cheeks immediately becoming as red as her hair. "I just think he's a rather decent guy. And what about you? I noticed how you kept glancing at Chev."

Isabella cleared her throat.

"Well, I, uh-"

"You think he's cute, don't you?"

"Kelsey!" Isabella whined, then groaned as she admitted, "Yeah..."

"I knew it!"

"Oh, be quiet, Kelsey."

Kelsey laughed. She put the sword back in its scabbard, then into its box, and slipped it back under her bed.

"Hey, think you could braid my hair too?" She asked while standing up.

"Sure. Have a seat." Isabella sat down on her bed and patted the space next to her.

Kelsey did so, turning her back to her. Isabella got to work, all the while continuing to think about everything that had happened that day.

Author's Note: Bringing back two more OCs from my original line-up - though, ironically, they (along with Kelsey) never did receive much love in my old series either...

Speaking of, I've been thinking about posting EAH style profiles for each of them on ... well, my profile. Would anyone like to see that? I'll probably do a poll over the next week to see.

Credits: Still gonna give a shout-out to the episode "True Reflections" despite basing no scenes of it in this chapter.