In an alley in one of the neighborhoods of the Scarlet Empire Capital there was a red brick store with a beautiful oak door. Inside the store there was a young and beautiful female witch walking in her black high-heeled shoes. Around this young woman were three magnificent representatives of the felines: a black cat, a gray pussycat and a white pussycat. What was not in the store were customers.
"I do not understand why we have to work on Sundays. There is not even a single customer. " Little Sun protested, for he was that black cat that had spoken, while lazily licking a neatly groomed paw.
The two female cats exchanged a look and nodded to show their agreement with their colleague.
"Clients can enter at any time," the young lady replied, the hope visible in her face.
The cats turned to look at each other again and sighed audibly. Little Sun slowly approached to the door in a deliberate manner. Then he opened it and took a really long look outside.
The alley was completely empty. The feline closed the door and turned to look at the pussycats. He shook his head and sighed again. Moon and Shadow sighed along with him.
"Do not be like that, Little Sun. With that attitude we are not going to excite anyone to come. You have to think positively. In addition, now that no client has arrived, we can redecorate the storefront. Any suggestions?"
The cats scratched their heads.
"There are too many books. They are very boring, " the gray cat suggested as she pulled a fish out of nowhere. "Let's take them all out and put a lot of delicious food instead"
"No way! Books are the main product offered by the shop! Also, I remind you that this is not a restaurant, "replied Moon shaking her head, as she took off her eyeglasses and wiped the lenses with a cloth.
"Fortunately! After the fiasco of the candies, I tremble at the thought of what could have happened if Zanthia had decided to put a restaurant instead of a shop of horrors, " added the black cat with a shudder of his shoulders.
For a brief moment all the felines pictured Zanthia in a kitchen stirring a big cauldron instead of a cacerole and laughing like crazy while she threw all sorts of strange ingredients in the mix. The cats suffered a chill just from imagining the situation.
"Hey, what's wrong with my food?" the witch asked with her hands on her waist and a frown on her face.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" the felines answered her in an unconvincing tone.
"I already explained that it was just a little bit of confusion with the labels of the condiments' bottle," she insisted.
"Yes! Yes!"
"Right!"
"We believe you!"
"Let me prepare a good breakfast to prove it to you!" Zanthia said with enthusiasm.
The cats paled. The witch started walking towards the kitchen. The cats moved quickly to intercept her. In the sudden haste, Little Sun unknowingly threw to the floor an ancient and beautiful white ceramic vessel with light blue filigree clouds that was on a pedestal.
*CRACK!*
"Oops…"
"What was that noise?" asked Zanthia, stopping and turning to look at them with a frown. "What did you do now?"
The black cat made a face of not having done anything and began to whistle a melody. The witch looked at the female cats. The white pussycat and the gray pussycat looked at each other. Then they nodded and the two pointed to Little Sun with their paws at the same time. The witch focused her eyes first on the black cat and then on the vessel, which had split into several pieces.
"Nothing! Nothing at all! It's just a silly and unimportant vessel. Nothing to worry about!" said Little Sun.
A kind of greenish mist arose from the remains of the broken vessel. In the mist you could see yellowish eyes, teeth and claws.
"Yes! Finally free! Free after 10,000 years to return to terrorize the world. Hahahahah! " roared a voice coming from the mist.
" Nothing! Nothing at all! He is just a silly and unimportant ghost. Really nothing to worry about!" said the impassive black cat.
[SYSTEM: Warning! It has been detected that a level 100 horror has been released from its seal. If the horror manages to leave the store it will be considered a loss of inventory and will be discounted from the store's profits. Additionally, losses of prestige and reputation will be allocated in proportion to the damages that the horror causes in the outside world.]
Zanthia and the pussycats glared at Little Sun with a frown. A few pearly drops of sweat crossed his forehead and his cheeks to the black cat.
"I can feel tens of thousands of people outside this place. Excellent! With so many souls at my disposal to feed me, recovering my true powers is only a matter of time," laughed the horror in the mist.
"Who are you?" asked Moon to the terrifying ghost.
"I am the mighty Melchior, scum of the earth, terror of countless countries, one of the twin horrors of the ancient Teni Empire. Infidels! As a reward for freeing me, I will reluctantly forgive your life and grant you the grace to obediently serve me as slaves. Now, kneel before me and acknowledge me as your master!"
"It's a joke, right? Listen to me, old ghost! The best thing for you to do is to quickly surrender before this Lord Cat do something you will regret... "said Little Sun.
"Disrespectful brat! Do you dare to mock the mighty Melchior? Do not you know who I am? I will kill your families until the 5th generation if you do not obey me! " roared the ghost and the store's things began to tremble.
Some of these things floated in the air, and after a few moments, they rushed towards the cats and the witch. None hit the target. The gray cat plunged into the shadow of a piece of furniture to avoid a heavy book. Moon hastily whispered an incantation; a magical barrier made of runes rose impenetrable against the series of sharp daggers that came upon it.
Little Sun jumped nimbly to dodge a bubbling liquid potion; the glass jar exploded into little pieces and the spilled acid made some holes in the polished wood of the floor of the store. A medium sized vase flew towards Zanthia. The witch materialized her trusty broom and using it as a baseball bat she returned the vase to the ghost of a powerful blow.
[SYSTEM: WARNING! Customers are detected approaching the store. If the horror has not yet been controlled before they enter the store then both the owner and the shop reputation will decrease by 10.]
"What? No! My reputation is already quite low. If it continues to decline, it would be terrible. I will never be able to show my face at the annual meeting of the Association of Horrors. All the owners of the stores of horrors will laugh at me! I could even lose my membership!" said very anguished the young witch and her broom dematerialized as she used her hands to wrap her head and hid her teary face.
The situation threatened to damage the mental and emotional state of the young witch, always so obsessed with cleanliness and order. She was having difficulties to cope with this disastrous situation but not so much because of the powerful ghost as for the sudden and unexpected mess.
"Do not worry, we'll avoid it!" the white cat and the gray cat said in a reassuring mood.
"Yes! Everything is under control, Zanthia, do not worry," Little Sun added shamelessly.
The female cats heard that and facepalmed themselves.
[SYSTEM: Customers will arrive at the store in 15 seconds. 15 ... 14 ... 13]
Zanthia looked pretty desperate. The situation was not controlled at all. She was hesitating about what to do. The store environment was a mess, with scraps of objects littering the floor and a lot of things thrown away. The ghost was trying to destroy everything. Her own magical familiars added to the chaos by confronting him. She tried to recompose herself as she observed the battle.
Moon extended a paw wrapped in brilliant magical energy to contain the ghost while frantically searching in her books for some enchantment to help them in this difficult situation. For her part, Shadow used her skills to the maximum to try to restrain the ghost with tentacles made of darkness. Neither was having too much success. Little Sun jumped to catch the objects with both paws and his mouth and then he leaved those items on the floor before hurrying to catch more..
"I will consume their souls to restore the glory of the Teni Empire. Hahahahah! " laughed cruelly the ghost as more things fluttered around him.
The horror´s energy flooded the store and his strength increased abruptly. He roared. Shadow's tentacles of darkness slackened and broke. Moon gave a groan of pain when the sudden change in the magical forces was too much for her spell and the stunned cat fell hard to the middle floor.
However, the efforts of the cats at least gave the witch a moment to calm down and control her phobia. After all, if she had been truly incapable of recomposing herself in that short period of time then she would not have been worthy of being called a witch.
"System! Activate the Mystic Bell! Target Designated: the ghost Melchior. "ordered Zanthia.
[SYSTEM: Impossible to fulfill the order. Since the horror is still part of the shop's inventory it cannot be identified by the automatic defense system as an outside enemy. ]
"System! What does the horror have to do to be considered a valid enemy? " asked the witch impatiently.
[SYSTEM: The horror must be removed from the inventory. Event that will happen automatically if and when he actually manage to cross the exterior doors of the store, along with the trigger of the corresponding penalties.]
"Damn! That does not help us! Can I summon the shop´s guardians to help us subdue it?"
[SYSTEM: Yes, you can. The guardians are ready and waiting for your orders. However, customers are about to enter the store and if they see the guardians battling against the horror then the loss of reputation would be even more considerable. Clients will enter in 9 seconds ... 8 .... 7 "]
"I will fix this. It's time for drastic measures!" decided the black cat and burned some of his inner mana reserves.
Suddenly his aura seemed to grow until it surpassed that of the ghost and even encompassed the entire store. Zanthia, the cats and even the ghost ceased all their actions to focus their attention on Little Sun.
The black cat opened his mouth in a disproportionately wide shape and inhaled strongly. The suction effect attracted the green mist to the cat's mouth and along with it came the yellowish ghost. As more and more mist entered the body of Little Sun, the belly of the cat began to grow and grow into a big round shape that heavily contrasted with his original form.
"You ignorant beast! What are you doing? No! Stop! Stop!"exclaimed the ghost .
The cat suctioned the green mist with more and more strength. He gulped loudly. The system continued with the countdown.
[SYSTEM: 5 ... 4 ... 3]
"I am the mighty Melchior, scum of the earth, terror of countless countries, you cannot do this to me!" the horror complained plaintively as it weakened.
The ghost finally reached Little Sun's mouth and, although the horror tried to keep it open with his arms, the cat's tongue forced him to enter. Once inside, the black feline chewed repeatedly and swallowed it. But the ghost got stuck for a few moments in the cat´s throat. Little Sun´s face turned blue and then gray. Finally he swallowed the horror with a loud gulp and the normal colors returned to his face.
Now the cat looked like a giant round ball. The ghost was temporarily locked inside the black cat's stomach. However, there was still a big problem. The shop was a complete and utter disaster. And the customers were about to enter. There were only a few seconds left ...
"PEGASUS. Sandal style. "
The witch used the change word of her magical high-heeled shoes to transform them into something that had no risk of tripping using super-speed. At the same time she materialized her reliable old straw broom again.
Zanthia struggled to the limit to clean up all the spills and remove the debris, waving her broom furiously as she ran, taking advantage of the power of the magic sandals. She moved so fast lifting everything that was broken and thrown away that it looked like a tornado was lashing the store. Magic flooded the shop in an effort to forcefully restore everything to the way it was before the vessel broken.
Meanwhile, Moon and Shadow took advantage of those two seconds left. They gave a few pushes to a Little Sun as round as the wheels of a farmer´s cart . The cat rolled slowly all over the room until it stopped just behind the lead-gray counter. He was momentarily out of the public view.
[SYSTEM: Customers are now entering the store.]
* DING DING DING! *
The oak door opened and three men entered slowly and deliberately. All were neatly dressed in black suits, white shirts and red ties. They moved almost in synchronized form.
[SYSTEM: Client acquired.3 Human males. Type of clients: FORTUNATE. Sales Restrictions: none.]
One of them was a bald, fat, ruddy man with a red-haired imperial mustache. He smoked a cigar in his mouth with delight. Occasionally he would remove it from there with his left hand to proceed to exhale a cloud of smoke in the form of rings. He was leaning with his right arm on a very expensive black cane with a platinum skull hilt. He was the kind of person who emanates authority and clearly was the most important in the group.
The second was a tall, skinny man, like a toothpick, and had the appearance and bearing of a trusted secretary or perhaps a butler of an important family. A padlocked beard and some golden hairs decorated his egg shaped head.
He had an impassive expression on his face and held an oiled paper umbrella from which hung Little red chains. This man had a certain dignity in his posture and if a sharp-eyed person examined him carefully he would have discovered an aura of dangerousness hidden behind his efficient actions and courteous manners.
The third was the most nondescript of the three. He had average height, common build and a face that was not remarkable. He was dark haired and gray-eyed but nobody who had seen him less than three times would remember this or any other detail of his person.
The only possible exception to this was that he had a mustache similar to that of the fat guy but of much lower category. It was clear that this poor imitation was an attempt to flatter the other person. His mustache was constantly being nervously played and next to the other two he had an abject and servile air.
One of them walked a few steps ahead of the other two. He was the fattest guy, who was as round as a gold coin.
Each of his footsteps was given with solidity and security, as if it were a mountain and not a person who was moving. And not precisely a mountain made of earth or stone but one entirely made of gold. In truth, such riches were probably only a tiny fraction of the wealth that this man controlled.
Then, once in the center of the room, he took a monocle out of his pocket and turned slowly on himself. He was giving a calculating look on everything around him, as if he were evaluating the quality and value of every aspect and item of the room.
First the walls, the floor and even the enclosures. They were neat and free of spots. The painting had soft and warm colors. The decoration was of impeccable taste.
The materials were of the highest quality: red bricks and white paint for the walls, black marble tiled floor and polished wood floor, oak wood ceilings, doors and frames, transparent and polished glass windows, signs and ornaments of wrought metals inlaid with gold and silver.
Second, solid and well-made furniture, in various types of woods and precious metals, with predominance of oak and gold. He especially paid attention to the different types of polished glass showcases and marble and obsidian supports and pedestals. Everything was artistically arranged to please the eye.
Finally, most importantly, the quantity, variety and quality of the merchandise exhibited. Mysterious books of strange origins with various bindings and written in many different languages.
Yellowish scrolls arranged in rolls that transmitted the unmistakable roar of magic retained by force by a mystical seal. Bubbling liquids that moved and shone inside jars in the most peculiar forms and with different presentations.
But that was not all. There was also an army of statues and sculptures in different sizes and figures that waited very still as if expecting for the order of a general. Dry herbs and fresh flowers that filled the store with a fragrant medicinal scent. Wax candles in all colors and possible thicknesses that burned without firing smoke. Very white bones of small animals carefully arranged in geometric shapes and even a human skull in a showcase completed the collection.
While the individual was evaluating the store, his companions waited further back in a respectful posture. The young witch also waited patiently without speaking or making any gesture. When the man's gaze rested on her for a moment, Zanthia almost felt like another commodity.
Unconsciously she straightened his posture and adjusted her clothes. He observed her, not in a sensual way but mechanically, as a collector values a valuable piece. It was only for a brief moment.
Very soon he continued with his meticulous examination, observing with attention the objects in the showcases near her, before moving on to the furniture of another wall. The fat man took his time inspecting everything in the room without saying a word. Nobody could bear interrupting him.
Finally the fat man with the red-haired mustache put the monocle back in his pocket and made a grim gesture of approval with the seriousness of the person used to doing business.
The atmosphere in the store relaxed. The men relaxed their posture and Zanthia smiled.
She still did not know exactly what had happened but she felt that her shop had gone through some kind of examination with a rigorous teacher and had obtained an excellent grade.
"Hello, client! Welcome to the witch Zanthia´s little shop of horrors. I am Zanthia, the owner, at your service, "the witch finally said.
"Good morning, Owner Zanthia! My name is Lord Johan Alexander Abercrombie III. I am the principal director and shareholder of the Abercrombie Company of the Scarlet Empire." The fat man pompously introduced himself.
"So it's Lord Johan. And what can this young witch do for someone as distinguished as you? "
"I have come to make a proposal."