Ariana felt conflicted, she was just here to buy a fruit for her and her friend, but who knew that she would refuse it outright.
Lola haughtily stood straight feeling indignant that she had been taken to such a disgusting place.
Flies flitted everywhere and dirt soiled her heels. She felt that her beauty would be greatly diminished if she went here.
Yet she was forced to come despite all her pleas. Her father sought to gain power and had her scout the shop out.
Her cheeks jiggled in anger as she stuffed herself with some snacks she bought earlier. "Are we there yet?" She asked Ariana, she had been sheltered from reality so she never really went out much.
Shaking her head Ariana replied with a simple no. Her frustration grew but she was patient.
They set forward delving deeper into the forest until they found their destination. Ariana's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Finally!" Unable to hold it in anymore she rushed forward with all her might and hastily opened the door.
Lola tried to keep up with her barely catching her breath. Her body shook in agitation, exhaling and inhaling heavily she forced a smile towards Ariana.
No matter what she still had her pride. The other party nodded and went in with no hesitation.
Despite the humble shopfront outside, the inside was lavish yet still remained a modest mood.
Lola's eyes shone with greed, she knew exactly how valuable the merchandise in this store was.
"Oh? Aren't you Ariana?" A voice called out to them, it was Rude in a mask but due to a spell his voice was distorted and unrecognisable.
But Ariana knew who he was. "Rude." She whispered, biting her lips she couldn't help tremble in fear.
"Miss Ariana?" Another voice called to her, it was that monstrous shop owner! Her mind was clouded with panic and anxiety of what happened earlier.
Seeing through the situation he called out to Rude and told him to suppress her emotions. It had worked gradually allowing her to regain her composure.
Sighing deeply she went straight to the point. "On behalf of Princess Tia I am here to pay the price and as for me I am here to buy one, no two fruits from you."
Gulping Ariana began to take out her money bag full of gold. Throwing it towards Nathaniel.
He swiftly caught it and his gaze swept through the amount of money. He whistled, "This is a lot of money for four fruits." In truth the Devil Fruits were worth more than the amount they had given him.
In total the fruits would be either over or around 3 billion USD in his old world but here it would probably be a bit more.
Still it was already surprising that they would spend over one hundred million ril for them. Seeing how he was lacking money for his 'projects' he accepted it casually and moved on.
Asking Rude to go to the storage room and told him a specific set of instructions. "Find Case No.3 and 45." Rude then bought back two black boxes which greatly resembled treasure chests.
Opening it the boxes revealed two colourful fruits. The first had a tangerine like shape with black and white stripes covered in peculiar swirls.
The stem itself had curled itself and a small leaf was stuck at its tip. The second fruit had small apple like shape and had a scarlet colour to it exuding a shiny gloss.
Like all Devil Fruits it had swirl patterns all over its body. Nathaniel scrutinised the fruits before giving the ones that befitted them the most.
Clicking his fingers Nathaniel began to cast a spell. "Spatial Magic: Looped Destiny." The two girls figures warped before him as they disappeared in place.
After a while they settled and returned to a familiar place. It was Lola's room. They were surprised but had already anticipated this.
So they diverted their attention to the fruits. Gazing into each other they began to take a bite of it.
They slowly savoured the first bite before moving on to the next until finally they finished it.
The only thing in their minds were the fact that it was- "Absolutely disgusting!"
.....
In the middle of the room four people idly gazed at their guests from the surrounding countries.
They were ambassadors chosen to attend a meeting. After the recent update in the state of affairs the Barossa Empire has chosen to side with Princess Tia discreetly.
From Tia's side were her most trustworthy comrades. Like her they were Devil Fruit users.
From the left end was Lola wearing a simple dress.
She wore her auburn hair in a derivative style of the regal ringlets style and let it loose.
After eating the Smooth Smooth Fruit she had lost a great amount of weight and her acne cleared away.
This left her skin becoming clear and smooth yet she still claims that her previous form was more beautiful and that she hadn't changed a bit.
Next to her was Ariana, she had eaten a Devil Fruit that granted her the ability to transform into a zebra.
Her wavy hair that was connected to her groomed mane which swivelled around before resting in her shoulders.
From time to time her ears twitched listening intently to the words of the Princess. In the right of Tia was Tetson.
He had also transformed having an exaggerated half turtle face.
His skin looking aged beyond his years, his carapace gleaming in the dim light. In the middle of the room there stood Tia.
Her tail swished around as she glared at the man before her. Her face a mixture of disgust and anger.
"Well then ambassador. I hope to see the Royal Family of Barossa to agree with my conditions."
She neighed softly and turned away from him changing back into her human form. "I hope that this carnage shall bring prosperity for all of us!"
She laughed crazily as sparks emitted from her body. Her plan had already commenced.
....
Meanwhile in the shop.
A girl in a revealing gown faced the mysterious shop owner. Her ringlets jumped up and down as she walked closer.
Her dress a light gold colour accentuated her beautiful platinum blonde hair.
Her movements were suggestive which made her necklace fall into her cleavage. She fished it out with obvious intentions to seduce him.
But contrary to her expectations he was not looking at her but rather the person behind her.
Swiftly turning around she saw a girl in blue; her beauty not any less than hers. But somehow she was able to draw his attention.
Was I being too obvious? She thought to herself but shook away all such thoughts.
What she was here for was to see their capabilities. As the Princess of an empire she had no choice but to scout out a potential ally.
But if the shop was already allied to the Krey kingdom then she had to kill him at any cost.
The man in front of her walked past her without hesitation. What surprised her the most was the identity of the woman behind her.
"Evening Princess Rose. Whatever is the occasion for someone like you to come here personally?" She was shocked.
She had never thought that the Royal Family had already taken the chance to ally with him.
Since that was the case there were no qualms in killing him. Right?
Princess Rose laughed and simply smiled. "May I have a drink?" While these words may seem out of courtesy they had an underlying meaning to it.
She had already figured out the identity of the woman that came before her and wanted to scare her with Nathaniel's power.
"Of course. Do you have a preference?" He walked back to the counter and took out two wineglasses from under the desk.
Then went back to her with the glasses. "Do you have, a cat?" Nathaniel sullenly frowned beneath his mask and nodded.
Cat juice was his favourite. Although he never liked doing it since his favourite animals were coincidentally cats.
Going behind the door less room behind the desk he bought back a cage. Inside was a fat orange tabby cat.
Gently picking it up he then sighed. He hated this part the most. Exerting a small force he twisted its body like a rag.
The cat screeched out as liquid dropped down from its body. Rose smirked as she held her glass out.
As the wineglass filled to the brim Nathaniel went on to the next glass. After his own was filled he bout the cat back into its cage for later use.
He shifted his mask so that only his mouth was visible and began to blow.
The surrounding temperature dropped and a sudden chill came over them. Two ice cubes were conjured within the glass out of nowhere.
Nathaniel rummaged through his coat pocket before eventually finding another mask that covered the top part of his face.
Changing them quickly he began to take a sip of his own concoction. An exotic flavour burst forth in his mouth tingling his tastebuds and stimulating his want for more.
The woman that stood behind them was horrified. She had truly never seen such a thing before.
After they finished their glasses the two began to chat. "Mister Vexlock. I need your services for the upcoming feast and of course I may need your help on one other thing."
She glanced at her surroundings and was relieved when she saw that the other party was scared off.
She then got straight to the point. "I need you to lure the greedy men from the other countries with a competition."
What Rose and Crow decided is that by having a competition they could ensnare others with a tempting prize.
Power, wealth and anything they wished for could be granted through this competition. If they knew that the owner of the Shop Of Wishes would reward the winner with a wish then it'll make their jobs easier.
What others wanted was nothing more than to fulfil their desires and nobles were no exception.
This competition served to seek out how powerful the other kingdoms were and exactly how strong their top men were.
"I see then shall I add in another tempting offer?" Nathaniel smirked as he walked out of the door less room with three fruits.
Dragon, Yamata No Orochi and last but not least, Phoenix Devil Fruits. Those who won could choose on of the three.
Of course he had no intention of actually giving them but it was the bait. "Ah, and for your other request here you go."
Nathaniel gave her a green melon shaped fruit with bumps on them.
It had swirl patterns even on the bumps which had small spirals as well.
The stem was extremely twisted resembling a rag undergoing a wringing.
This was a present for the man she loved, she just hoped he would like it.