Brynlee felt a vague sense of nostalgia wash over her as she roamed the streets of Loguetown. A little over ten years since she'd begun her journey here, was it? There was a lot less marine activity than she remembered, and the docks were bigger, too – more merchants and pirates alike coming through. She'd briefly entertained the idea of seeking out Captain Jack to say hello, but ultimately decided against it – she didn't want to risk getting him in trouble if he was found to be associated with a pirate.

'DING'

[Waypoint discovered!]

Brynlee blinked, pausing in her tracks. A Waypoint? She'd never received this kind of update before. Confused, and admittedly curious, she began looking around, but nothing really stood out. There was a fishing shop, a post office, a dark mysterious alley that seemed to call to her the moment she spotted it—

Uh, nevermind.

She approached the alley and, after a moment of hesitation, stepped forward. Her surroundings suddenly twisted and shifted and blurred – a blink and it was over. She was no longer standing in a dark alley, but in the entrance of a… shop?

"What the hell...?"

"Ah, welcome to Waypoint Wares!"

The cheerful greeting came from whom she guessed to be the owner, an androgynous entity whose voice held an underlying, somewhat unsettling echo. The more she looked, the more their facial traits seemed to blur, though, and Brynlee had to blink a few times to try and shake off the strange feeling.

"… what is this place?" she finally asked.

"A Waypoint! It is essentially a pocket dimension linked to your STAGE, which will become available to you every time you attain a milestone in your journey," explained the strange being. "As for myself, I am merely a universal, all-being construct, hence why I do not possess a proper physical form. I can only exist in this space."

"Right…" Well, I've seen weirder. "Well, what can I do in a Waypoint?"

The entity seemed to smile. "Why, shop, of course! In Waypoint Wares, we can sell you anything you might want, need, or simply happen to find! So feel free to look around, and do not worry: time is but another malleable construct in this space, so you will simply return to the exact moment you entered this space once you leave it!"

"Convenient," she mused. "I'll take a look, then."

The shop reminded her of an antique store, or an old bazaar – everything was all over the place, there were no price tags, and the more she looked, the less she found. Weapons and scrolls were buried under ridiculous amounts of accessories, magical artifacts and… fake passports? Shaking her head, she moved on, only to freeze in place when she noticed the large metal bin standing in the middle of the aisle – a bin literally overflowing with Devil Fruits. Curious despite all, she approached, and found a thick ledger attached to the bin, which described each Fruit and its abilities.

The Glasses-Glasses Fruit, the Quarter-Quarter Fruit, the Desk-Desk Fruit… What the hell even are these things!?

But then, looking down, she noticed the small sign attached to the bin:

Clearance Sale!

Experimentative Devil Fruits

500 berries a piece

Brynlee paled and promptly put down the ledger before walking away. She might be a gambler at heart, but she was not ready to involve herself with cheap, off-the-rack Devil Fruits. She distinctly remembered the horrible effects of the SMILEs. No thanks!

A rack of clothes then caught her attention. From mountain climbing gear to shoes fit for a MET Gala, there was pretty much anything and everything anyone could ever wear for any number of occasions. Boots to walk on the ice, evening gowns, a suit proper for a job interview, some military garments, even a marine uniform—

Wait. What's this?

There were a bunch of cloaks, ranging from all sizes and colors and materials. One in particular caught her attention – a deep black, with some red trimmings, its length stopping a little above her calves, and a label attached to it.

Concealing Cloak

100,000,000 berries

Wearing was believing, so Brynlee promptly took off her cloak before putting on the new one and going to stand before the mirror nearby. She was quite giddy to find that she no longer looked like a hunchback, since the usually protruding shapes in her back were now magically concealed by the cloak.

"I see you've found an interesting item!" the Waypoint entity suddenly appeared beside her. "The fun part about this item is that it will allow you to hide absolutely everything. Should you put up the hood, it can cast a shadow capable of entirely concealing your face and identity. And if you completely close it, it will render you virtually invisible to prying eyes! And, most importantly…"

The entity snapped their fingers. The cloak lifted itself from her shoulders, and she flinched when she felt the straps holding her wings together snap open. A distinct ache spread in her wings and her shoulder blades as the wings completely unfolded and unfurled, the lowest feathers almost brushing the ground. Before Brynlee could say anything, the entity snapped their fingers again, and the cloak fell back onto her shoulders.

Brynlee blinked at her reflection in the mirror – the wings were gone.

"I don't understand…"

"I can't really go into the specifics, but there is basically a pocket dimension sewn into the cloak, which allows you to 'store' your wings, so to speak. You can still feel them, of course, but no one can see them so long as you wear this cloak. Of course, you won't be able to use them unless you take it off, but I daresay it's a major improvement from your previous accommodations, right?"

"Definitely," agreed Brynlee, letting out a small, disbelieving laugh. "I'll take it."

It was definitely expensive, but she couldn't pass up such a useful item, no matter the price.

"Wonderful! Was there anything else that caught your attention?"

"I'll keep on looking around for a bit, thanks."

"Very well!"

So Brynlee took about another hour to look around, grabbing a couple of items that caught her attention while she was at it – namely two Log Poses, bug spray, and a medical kit. She also grabbed a couple of books that seemed interesting. Then, once done, she found her way back to the counter. It was a little strange, really, for there to be a cash register in a pocket dimension where money had essentially no value to the being demanding it. But everything had a price, and Brynlee was more than happy to hand over the required amount – although it made a fair dent in her savings, it was definitely worth being able to hide her wings without hurting herself anymore.

"There, all set!" The vendor clasped their hands together. "Now, before you go, please be aware that you will not be able to enter this Waypoint again until you reach a new milestone in your journey. So, if there is anything else, make sure you settle it now!"

"I don't think… Wait, what's that?"

There was a notice on the counter.

Fill a survey for a surprise!

"Oh, goodness! I completely forgot to tell you about this – new feature and all," chuckled the being. "But yes, as the notice says, you can fill out a survey regarding your current STAGE and overall reincarnation experience. In exchange, you will be able to spin this lovely wheel over there and win a mystery prize—"

"I'll do it!"

Brynlee always loved spinning a wheel.

"Wonderful! Here's the survey, then."

A stack of paper thick enough to pass off as an average book dropped on the counter before her – but before she could grab it, three more of the same thickness fell on top of it, followed by two more. A cold sweat broke out in Brynlee's back as she stared down at the hundreds of papers now stacked up that she needed to fill out.

They can't be serious…

But serious they were, so Brynlee got to work – and thank God time wasn't an issue in this space, because Brynlee definitely spent more than another hour or two filing everything out. There were questions about her general reincarnation experience, questions more specific to her STAGE, as well as questions regarding the randomizer and the effects she'd observed so far. She did put in the effort, recalling as many examples of system errors as she could, as well as the various bugs breaking out here and there, but when she got a question asking for a fifteen-pages long essay on the advantages and disadvantages of the randomizer option, she simply wrote "No thanks" and moved on.

And then, at last, she completed the survey.

"Thank you very much for your time and hard work! We'll make sure to take into account your opinions in order to better our reincarnation system experience!" beamed the entity, snapping their fingers and making the stack of papers vanish at once. "And now, for your prize!"

"Finally!"

Brynlee promptly took a hold of the wheel and, mustering all of her strength, she spun it. The wheel spun so fast it blurred, and it took over a minute for it to finally slow down, until it completely stopped on—

"Congratulations! You've just won [1,000 berries]!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… I'll take it!"

Definitely not worth the hours spent filling out their damn survey, but you couldn't win them all, as she'd learned over the years.

Aaaaaalright!

So, for all of those who kept on asking about her wings, how she intended to hide them and if she would keep on hiding them: here's your answer! Waypoint Wares was one of the key elements I came up with when I first started writing this story, so I really hope you guys like it ah ah.

As always, feel welcome to share your thoughts, and see you all in the next chapter!