Walked out with timing, case in hand and avoiding being bothered by people as I walked on through. Getting out from there and taking the human route up to the level.
I am glad to find this shop flat project has a lot to do before being anything to be a desired. I had in fact, got on with boarding the outside shatter in windows. I will not change any outside looks until the place has any change of security. This was the fifth floor, the last shop floor before flats and merges this half shop and half home design about it. The front door to my home portion was next to my shop front door. Yet my home door is camouflaged as part of the wall.
Well, at the moment the paint of this front makes everything stand out about it. the pipe and electric through is to safety standard… just not humanly livable with the exposure of the place. There isn't any cut off between home and shop. And it's all bust junk here. Before even fetching my stuff out of 13:13. This place has a need to clean out status about it.
The good news it that there is one closed off room that is perfectly intact as a living room bedroom. Needing painting but nothing else. Here I unpacked my entire shadow storage here and sealed off in double layering of locks from the inside. Shadow warp my way out of the realm to pick up wood plank supplies and the many variety of security measure materials I am going to build into the place.
It took 12 trips and one week of stripping the place out to bare basics. I got on with supporting the place with keeping the structure sound. Hammering new planks, drilling in my counters and overall hiding away the accessing piping and electrics. I official had artificial lighting the second week in here. I made the most of being a part of bulk sales auctions. I sold the meats, sands, crystals and the few fixed luxury items. I bought my bulk supply of woods, new tools and all new furniture items for my house.
The markets I had advice about what paints to use, to alter mood to each room. Most of all I bought sample amounts out paint. I would paint a shapes on the shop area… the resulting work came off being hypnotic and quite a headache. Left me with a terrible idea… of leaving it like that during my project of fixing the place. As this was a good deterrent while fixing the outside appearance. It put my glass plastic case to the test with tricking anyone that there were object to steal in here.
It's been to funny not to sit here with a camera and watch them climb through the windows and be scared senselessly in running out of here. The shop area gained 'horror laugh' as that what most of them remember about coming in here. Me laughing at them, flashing them with a camera and them scrambling away in fear of there lives. Jump scares aside, I moved on with placing in the crystal windows.
I hooked up a system that allow me to fog the crystal or have the crystal act as like a tv screen. This testing of the crystal screen just added into the local chatter into urban horror about this place. All this just had new shop names dancing about my mind.
Going by the horror legend this place has gained, the fact it's a repair anything shop, lost and found services… I had been thinking of calling the hollow's seeker. The horror's curiosity (which references the old shop) or just, 'the hollow'. I run a debate by poster on my crystal screen window – closer to the time when I repaint this place.
Maybe to be that confusing I lightly toned down the place with a grey wash but I allowed the old paint bellow to seep through. Makes the place full when even empty. How it was like looking at the shadow casted off objects had marked the walls. My ceiling had been bolted of the weapons I sold (or that where they will live when I fetch them). My made a main workshop that let to boxes on shelving. I labelled every box of what is going in it. On shelf being my repair tools only.
The rest was stocks of crystals, papers, charms and just about everything else I sold. One shelf along the bottom of every place was broken things or spare parts for those broken bits. Finished pieces were put into the sale display areas or added in my living area ad part of my collections. My clock that I restored was the master piece that stood where I can always see it. It were the inspiration of the theme of this living room guest waiting area. This room is my dedicated memorial area; here is where if I had guests for me; they would marvel about the vast places I got to and the names of those that passed in my hands.
I have display lock case for my old life; the parts of those I loved and a part of old me whom died. Unlike what they believe of slayers, when I died. I couldn't convert all of my body to the egg I became. I have in fact, lost skeleton and converted only the meat. My old head now sits with those feathers and my scale too. It were near the clock, the wall next it. Always prayer at it and their personal crosses hung to each feather. Never forgotten, always where I left them.
Around a pass of 2 months, I came out from being a no one. I directly greeted with my new neighbors – everyone is 'normal' here. My nightmare ex-neighbor hangs higher up the banister these days. I haven't spoken to anyone from my previous life (other then the boss bird). Not even the traders directly or sent them any words of warm greeting. Haven't sense any changed of those begins after me; there still this hunt for the seven coins I happen to be in the hold of. I am not trusting fate to get them back to the box; I would rather making the trip myself.
Several different shifting forms of testing what I wanted to be to fly up there as. I taught myself to fly and then took advice and guidance with the bigger birds on my travels. I had to leave off realm for hell crystals and ended up with this sort of talk of how to fly with a demon scale message carrier for hells version of postal services. They taught me a lot about being a bird… I found comfort in being scaled then feathered. Scales was my natural way; hiding away my night scale coloring had been spoken as some sorrow in the past.
Best of all I happen to meet real dragons; my nature was a direct mirroring of them. In fact the difference between those dragons and slayers like me was very few. They are such in only some types of realms, shapeshift to only dragon or human and that they are very godly intelligent. I can go any any realm, any shape but I am not a god thinking reptile. More mortal thinking in nature where I don't need to be. They are my advice givers for when I need to and were welcomed as the god slayer among them. Such names are overlooked when dragons are named – and they choose that as my dragon name. Approval and all.
Getting back to the point of it all. All that really matters is that I were a scaled miniature dragon sitting on the banister, watching folks walking by and waiting.
"Court hunter, would you ask our scaled friend to come join us?" this was the exact sort of thing I waited for. The new court hunter isn't the drunk guy that wanted the title when I had it. That drunk guy is in fact just a hire mercy sitting around the waiting area. Over there quite a collection of youths or ex-solider hung up right there.
"Would you mind joining us over at Sir Death's desk?" I bow a nod and shifted to something smaller and fluttered to the guest perch. I have my greeting with the boss bird; whom cooed about how boring it been. I tilt in a suggestion that about to make folks very busy… the bird hackles lightly.
"You're not a message of hell but our allusive returned resident. Welcome home if none stated so." I bowed with that, "I must ask if you have any clue about the vault coins that been unaccounted for."
"I happen to have seven, from around the time… that I woke up." My long pause of finding less weirder words didn't work, "In any case, I did want to return them. Yet I wasn't going to allow chance or luck ruin that. As that the legend around this box of coin right?"
"It worse then that." I waved about not needing details and lower to hang to touching wood distance. Placing the stack of coins there at view, "there the one coin I worried gotten away." The top one being a different quality to the rest as the rest we decoy, "How you end up with it?"
"Whomever took the egg had bagged a random amount of coins for that box. They died after three crossings. Their corpse is currently unseen and unmoved from the scrap yards of the god realm for the retired." Death put the coin somewhere within his robs of mysterious pocket storage, "That was where I ended up too. Picked up by a kind soul and looked after. Their funeral was a sorrow and that of the business he made there." They all have the curiosity at me, "In any case, after the current title choose to sale the place on, I was time I returned here. Sort of a few things I left unfinished in lives before. Just how things are these days."
"Hunter?" I tilt with that.
"Not my name anymore but yes."
"You're the…"
"I am a god slayer but I don't eat people. I find that terrifying."
"You're a joke."
"I am a shapeshifter whom prefers to act a little more civilized then the barbarian brainers of my race. Those lot are creature with tortured past lives and terrible soul issues. I am fine."
"You're as always a unique as ever." The lord apprentice Darth stepped and and crossed his arms, "You have access to you old flat, right?"
"Yes and know how to unlock my stock door. I am guessing you go curiosity lost something if your bring it up."
"I did. Sorry."
"No issue. I haven't got back up there to fetch everything out yet. I still renovating the new shop and flat." I get blinked at, "What? I already live here and had permission already. And the paper work under new name. There was a bunch of things I been doing. My favorite has to be scaring people for a photo." I purred to the thought, "I have to think about that another day…. Amusing to look at these days."
"You have been scaring locals to take pictures?"
"They only thieves trying to steal. They climb through the frames of the windows before I got them replaced."
"That makes sense with you. Always something weird." I shrug and coiled comfortable to the perch spot, "How come the coin hasn't affected you?"
"Should have?" I asked, "It were a slayer's curse manipulated with some god influence. What kills folks is the metal ability to product slayer venom when reacting to the air." I offered some sort of cookie biscuit item. I looked about and have a smell of it, "Well, I think it is. I not one to poke about spell craft mess. Its not my study. I fix anything, godly or normal. And has to be a item. I am not a soul crafter or world builder. You go ask them for that."
There seems another conversation going on passing here, but I stay out of the affair. Biting small little crumbles from the cookie. Nibbling away the cookie as normal looking and without mess. Paused with them peering my direct; slide the cookie away to my shadow for it to eat.
"You sure learned a lot since being at 'orbis terrarum deos quiescendo' (Latin for 'world of resting gods'). I am sorry for the losses you must have had while being there." I nod with thanking the sincerity, "You seem to be the best one to find these coins."
"The real one's." I commented, "I don't know anything other then they were vaulted items that happened to be cursed and stolen from you."
"The real coins are each a disaster or calamity contained. They are fragile so that the calamity can be released. The decoy's as spare's to contain if any were to be broken."
"I am sure these calamity's must have a place they belong to. Sometimes a place need a start over and letting a storm pass is just what it takes often." Muttering my mind out loud but it were in the wrong language. Getting the odd stranger to sit forwards and glare at me. I tilt in thought.
"I better hope your not going to be doing that." This stranger is a nightmare and they sure hissed back in the same language.
"You clearly have seen how resilient folks are or see how much change a society goes through when pressured in all the right ways. Terrible sure, but it can become brighter after." The nightmare sneered and backs away again. I have the cookie back out, alone to thinking my thoughts, which did worry folks I seemed secretive.
They were worried of other things other them me; the possibility of bad things to happen if the coins were used for selfless gains. How extreme they were talking had changed the nightmares thoughts of what I meant – seeing that these could be used in the right places. If only they weren't so negative about the ideas. Nightmares have always thinking the worse as they are put through the worse; so when hearing normal people talk like them makes them wish things would be seen differently. Souls sounding all the same of their chooses.
"Do you know what we are going to do about this slayer?" Some among them is someone that judges me, "They are to be rid of before any trouble starts."
"How the cookie?"
"flavorless." I commented and I hide the cookie back. As they wanted me to eat the coin backed into the cookie, "How many calamity coins are there officially?"
"A unlucky number and only 8 have been counted for in the chest." Plus the one I gave death and the one I almost ate – 10 out of 13. The coins back around the ship yard weren't. I didn't check the mouth of the victim. A good thing my mask can sneak off and go find out. This lot natter on and on in the debate. There is only one missing now. The victim ate one and held one. I missed that when investigating and so did the hell court hunter. Hell court hunter is hunting people by name now among hell only at the moment. Nothing secret about why they were interested in me and the coins. Ordered by the hell gods to beat Death to the punch.
"Are you ever going to join in?" Darth poked me, "Wow, you're scales are smooth. I wasn't expecting that. Can I…"
"Pick me up and cuddle me like some lost kitten? Sure, prove that I am less a threat then one them full mouthed demons." He get the whole groups hissed opinions, and I ignored them and crawled up the arm. Coiled around the shoulder and sit there. They went well into silence.
"How old are you?"
"Mmm… seven years old now. Mind of a pre-teenager." I muttered and that changed expressions of people faces very quite to some sort of greedy glint, "You can forget that I would be some fool to accept being some lap dog to anyone of you. I would consider eating you in that situation." They lost the glint, "Bare in mind that your not just long moths that have non-stop opinions but you hell lot have very foul souls that have fouler wishes. You should be a shame of yourselves."
I had not making new plans and I straight hissed at them. That backed them off very quick like.
"You sicko." I commented, "You leave those folks alone. They already have a terrible time with their self-awareness."
"You mean the nightmares?"
"Yes. I do mean the lovely folks around creeper town. They don't need you stirring it up with they have the fool over them already." I back away, "No one reads lore anymore. Or pays any mind to what the living say of what they believe in." I sigh, "I am not looking forwards to the computer age of humans. they headaches as is."
"Why would you say that?" Death asked, "How would you know?" I paused about this for a long time on why I would know something like that. Confused with myself now I asked these sort of questions. Peeled off from the apprentice's shoulder and put down on the perch again; I coiled up a little more afraid of myself then them.
I had to move these questions and thoughts to the side; uneasy as that was to do that. Gaining some composure helps with them not being freaked out by me. They day I would lash out at someone, I hope it be the day I turn it on myself.
"I have an idea, why don't use you flesh to force summon all the coins back into the box." The god whom has it out for me had directed this at me. That nightmare beside them looks ready to strangle them… something I watched very intently for not to happen, "What?"
"I wouldn't kill a god even if they threaten me to the inch of my life, nightmare." I spoken to the nightmare. They sigh and weight up their chooses; my opinion tilted away form them murdering. I settled and change tone back to a normal talk with the others included, "Why do that when I have already found all but one?" this god laughed at me, "the day you regret something and forget how to breath; I hope you never come to me for advice. I will only be more teased to ate you then any other point of threat or thought from you." They stop laughing and try to understand how this was a threat.
"You see, you know that theory about the damned and souls. That research I have been making into a book." the apprentice cuts in, "Maybe you should read it some time."
"I read a copy of that, it been a interesting read." I commented, "Then I share that with folks that have a better grip of what they are. They were very enlightened by the thought that you thought of them. They would have thanked you if they hadn't converted back through the cycle system."
"I helped folks with a book I haven't published yet?"
"Yes. Them damned have sticky fingers. Why else would it keep moving around? Or the mysterious appearing fan mail on top of said book. Nosy souls are when they are free to fix their wrongs. It's the scary larger ones or complete human mimic that you got to bow to. Them lot are tough regrets for a very special reasons… so many things one can regret or one life altering realization can haunt you for lives to come. Something like that makes them lords of damned."
"The more you learn when speaking to such lord."
"Mmm, but I am give my title for being what I am. Those lot fear me as much as your heart fluttering panic god over there." The directed tilt to such example, "I simple refuse to eat souls that can endure such wraths. Those lot can been horrifying. The twisted souls that fall into regret. Them lot are… difficult to speak to. Which would have a different meaning in the damned language."
"Twisted?"
"The point better a soul going to shatter and them keeping it together just enough to do something about it all. Humans of the living kind are sharing to that ability. You could be straight out dead with all that has happened around you but this urge of instinct kicks in. A fight or flight mode that is terrifying. A sort of will to live and not shatter. Scared of being forgotten."
"Great I have to make this a side chapter." He made notes on everything I just said.
"Makes me think of where that last coin might actually be… I hope it is not. It be the last thing we need right now." my mask to the rescue… and such fact was right. A forgotten twisted victim of this god whom stolen them for himself (the same freak that baked on in my cookie) had be contemplating using it on the god.
A long damned talk of getting them out of such a suicidal thought had my full attention. I may have hung on the perch on Sir's desk and being poked at by these terrible people. My mind were fully on this victim whom needed a hug, needed to be show love and how to be safe again. Guided to the path, broken down to dust… a name whispered to my ear and a coin in my hand.
"I promise to forget you lass." I muttered with coming back together, "Uh… 13 coins?"
"Yes." Death muttered.
"We have them all accounted for. Even one's they hide from you, in spite of sitting here at your desk pretending be all innocent. They are all safe." I am pet by the apprentice at least, "Do they need putting in the original decoy box of coins or would you like a new box that locks?"
"A new box would be nice." Death calmly nods and the other sneer at their own ways. It was the bright idea of looking through there pockets to prove I have in fact taken them from them. I slide from the perch and coiled in front of death. Shadowing the lift of a new box four layered box that hide all the important things from the decoy box in this new smaller box. I moved off the box, as death picked it up and inspected it. The locked box goes to the apprentice that goes to put it to the new vault. This one issue doesn't fit the 30 others that became related to this locking of the calamity coins. In someway, it were made worse.
"If the things are all back, then it best to let you hide away again before anyone else has any other plans." I hear that even Sir death's soul has been aware of these calamities being a solution to the issues I thought of. Comfort in hearing it will try helping them before things become to late. The long pause of listening unsettled Death, but I bow as I often do. I honored the respect that he tries to share to others when they don't realize what a good man this person is. The blind and young are are often some of the few to understand death as a person then the figure to take their souls.
"It become clear in a month time where I have been. I am opening a new store in a new location within this tower. Both a home and place to speak simple services. I hope not to be a bother to anyone." I looked at how the rest are and sigh at them with great pity, "I hope you all find a way to accept the things you leave yourself to hate. A terrible feeling to become of one the lost, I don't recommend it. It's as the humans would say, 'a living nightmare comes true' or some other phrases they use in such vain." I jumped into a larger scaled winged form, back to the banister.
I look back at them a last glance, drive down and faded into the shadows. As shadow, I see that the few did go see where I disappeared to and how they marveled with how gone I went. I shifted as a person on the floor bellow, straightening my shirt. I have a glance to someone questioning me and step around to the elevator. I blended in all the more as each time the lift stops, my looks became closer to how me I wanted to be.
The corridors that ring around the central look down, maze of people looking through books or looking for ways to other realms. Short cuts that are often forgotten are rediscovered and explored again. People watching as a hobby becomes handy for when you reading the intentions; how they expressed feelings or thoughts from poses of their body. A conversation shows how close friends can be; the more defenseless one is towards the other. Trusting. On everyone I have met, even fewer would even speak to me without some sort of unsure manner about them. Hiding what I am is what is the only way I can make any friends anymore; my neighbors whom seem clueless are friendly towards me. I feel worse hiding from them. Guilt ridden when speaking to them.
I got off at a low floor to change elevators; I finally need to move all my things from the storage of 13. I have plenty of room to fit it all in my place now. By the looks of it, everyone living here in 13 are at work and no one is home. I feel like the intruder walking in. So all I did was move on price of furniture from my door. Broke the seals that binds it. Light a candle, engulfing the shadows to eat every last part of it to storage. I cleaned it all away. Refreshed the room and left it open for them to use. To the kitchen, I took back my locked freezer. I build a extending part of the counter there to replace it. Moved their stuff back on top of it. I wrote a note stating that I came for my things and nothing else. Place it on the open door… leave this flat for good. I locked it. Checked the left mail for anything mine. No. Good.
"Excuse you." I looked to the hissed off renter, "Do you mind?"
"Very sorry. I was leaving anyways." I back away and she glared, "Do you need help or are you just that pissed that I have no reasons to where live?"
"Just leave, stranger." I nod and bowed. Walked over to the elevator, my next to was to be returning the key to the rental folks. I did with a simple note of what room the key was and thanking them for the allowing me to have my things back. A contact number for when the folks that live there complain about me, a total stranger walking in there home. An apology for the intruding as you will. I don't stick around with the note passed off now.
Back around the mazing, walking off to my normal route home. Down to my fifth floor and standing back to admire the front. Pondering the look this place needed from the outside. 'The Hollow for Curiosity'.
Yes. Strip the wood bare and paint it in my scaled coloring. A glitter specked black background… mirroring my scales as artificially as possible. Four weeks of getting it right and not getting paint on the windows of crystal. Dry… and blended to around it while still being easy to spot when looking for it. The white lettering that catches but fades with it. My front door is of all the same color and just seems like a wall. There is a bird flap for mail to come through or a bird to send word.
Finally this place was looking more like some Aladdin cave of wonders. The ceiling and under the glass of the front desk of all the weapons. The shelfing of crystals, charms, a barrel of casting sands… display cases of devices on sale (restored to working order). Watches or clocks being the stock I happen to have new, replacing what I would have sold as meat to birds. There is even a shelf of brick metals; as this is a new popular tend of owning.
The first ever people I invited here to inspect the place was all the safety officers and market controlling powers. This is for regulation and safety certificating my flat. They do electric testing for the whole place, gas checks and water plumbing standards. They mimic for the shop area two; separated by a bricked wall that helps support the flooring above. The market folks are here to ensure customer safety standards, that rules are breached and most of all that this were following laws. The frame of certificates to buy and sale regulated materials had answered many questions they had.
"How do you remove a item from the ceiling for the customer to see up close?"
"If that is the case, I go through some questions with them about if they have the permits and education about the item they wanted touch. I detail why it is a bad idea for them to be holding it if they are equipped enough to handle that. If I do find that they are, I take it out by a method I can't share. As there isn't any phiscal way of getting through the air tight seal of the front of the display."
"Right, very good. But I meant I wanted to look at the syth there."
"That is a mimic syth, it may look like a soul cutter used by reapers. But it isn't. It is a cursed item, it tricks reapers into picking it up and using it. but instead of you contorling it – it posses the wielder and has you do one of three things. You to commit massicure, eat any soul (you or someone else's) or the worse has to be that it take total possession of you and you become sealed within the blade as it puppets your body into other nasty acts. Although somethings I question the morals of that blade. I found that one on someone totally possessed by it; it tried to kill me but then sort of just gave up and turned their puppet to dust. Ever since, that blade been a bit too quite. Like it plans something."
"And your saling it?"
"No. it makes fools like you realize that lone syths laying on the floor are sometimes not to be messed with. I have there as a story teller and warning. I encourage that if anyone was to find one like that; report it to the nearest authory or have a god summoned. It seems gods have the powers to overwhelm it. Or the luck few like me that know how to cruse counter and make it sleep. 100 blood crystal went to appeasing that thing and I gladly do that over giving my soul."
They nod about that and have a look around, a good knock on the counter tops… a crazy fool went to shoot a case, the bullet got incased into the plastic glass. The folks around him grounded him and took the weapon off him. The not busy ones look at the non-existing damage. I walked around to the spot pulled the bullet out and heat treat the spot back to clear again.
"Are you the bulk saler of black sand?"
"In acutions, yes. I bulk sale a lot of things and the one or three items. Soon I have this shop saling the normal things at the averaged pricing – based on the homework and trust trade of other stall sales."
"Do you know it's illegal?"
"Unless you have permission, signed documenting and good word with higher ups. I do have my own background checks and triple checks on the one that odtain my sales. We can't have over used sand summons." This is directing them back to my wall of framed documents, "All here."
"What is anyone came in here to steal anything?"
"I wish them good luck with it. the place is full little securitys, like the windows aren't glass nor the display cases. Place is fire proof, cruse warding bountdarys, there a little small unnoticed tricks and nothing flies past me. I have good eyes, not just telling fakes from real." the pests of this place are driven out and the real folks with real jobs are still around checking untility meters.
"How long have you lived here?"
"Sine this place was in shambles, 9 months to be exact. The meter started at 390 electirc, 92 water, 9480 gas. I have proof of such things."
"Alright, you check out well. But… what race are you?"
"Ah, I don't share that. I am no reaper, no saint, no sinner or a clothus freak. I fit in with anyone and anything. My sight can see the hidden like nightmares or damned. My hearing can count just how many more times that mr Selma with ignore answer his phone and further could I count how many people walk pass this place. I can hear any display being opened and I can hear anyone whispering from the front door." I titled, "You see, I don't need to share my race when you hear of those things from me."
"I put you down as a nightmare with a question mark." I bowed to that, "It has to be filed, that all."
"I understand. I plan on living alone here and running my little shop. I go business trips on the odd notice. Bulk sale all goods that I would consider sale in the acution if they aren't suited to my shops services."
They added it into the comments sections. They flick through the last fewer checks and wing through all the rest of the check listings. I show my more private documents with these official lot. they leave with all certifitated customer and housing checks. More to file away or frame to the wall of certificating. Back to the late hours I have it all closed and locked. I give the place I proper clean up. I had my count down commencing for when the place was opening. A window listing what was on sale and how much. It just look like pattern but it were writing.
It has gathered folks to take a look at things walk on not longer interested. So I added the official service this place will always do on request and cost: 'repairs, gathering rare or unique items and possible searchs into missing persons (details needed for each service and fair trade pricing)'.
The count down window as names of missing folks on scrolling, contact information and a short list 'no allow' this. No trade of souls. No giving souls. No refuse on services. All signed on paper but not a demon contract. Must follow within the laws of relevant realms (must be accepted in court of law to which ever lands it may concern). Up front about the terms and conditions.
Ten days until open day.