The group immediately decided that it was time to leave. This boutique wouldn't remain calm for much longer. Just as they were paying, a shriek echoed from one of the back rooms.
"EEK! SNAKE!!! THERE'S A SNAKE IN THE PURSE!!!"
"Please calm down miss! Don't agitate it!"
"DON'T MAKE IT ANGRY?! DON'T MAKE ME ANGRY! GET RID OF IT NOW!!!"
"KILL IT! KILL IT!"
"NOOO! DON'T LEAD IT TOWARDS ME!"
Shouts and screams of fear continued for several minutes. Sparks and smoke bellowed out of the room then a sharp breeze blew through the room. Clothes flew everywhere inside the boutique. One of the third-years hastily stopped the gale.
Frightened customers started running out of the boutique. The door way soon became crammed as no one would give way to others. A green flash shot out of the back room like lightning. Those trapped away from the door climbed on furniture like wild monkeys, uncaring about their embarrassing state.
Aayla jumped over the counter and pulled her companions with her. Several employees surrounded the snake a corner of the store. They yelled and waved their arms to attract its attention. Almost two and a half feet long, the emerald green snake defensively coiled itself into a bundle. It hissed at anyone who tried to get near it.
"Manager, what kind of magic beast is that?"
"I don't know. Let's just keep this status quo until the police get here."
By this time, the other customers had calmed down a bit. The crowd by the door slowly thinned as people fought their way out. As the screaming died down into sobs, the snake slowly calmed down as well.
"What is that snake?"
"It's green, so is it toxic or maybe have earth elemental magic."
"I can't sense much mana at all, but it's still so fast and big. Maybe it just got out of hibernation?"
"It's not that time of year! It's probably toxic!"
The girls whispered amongst themselves behind the counter. Aayla carefully looked at the snake while listening to their conversation. It was a bright emerald green with a golden belly and smooth scales. Still bundled up tightly with its head up, the snake glared and hissed at the shop employees.
"It looks like a Canadian smooth green snake."
"Eh? What was that Ms. Glowery?"
"Ah, nothing. Nothing. Just babbling to myself."
If it really was a smooth green snake, those are non-aggressive and non-venomous. The poor thing is probably just scared. She watched as it hissed and struck at the shop employees nervously scattered around it. With its head up and mouth wide open, she could see plenty of razor-sharp teeth but no fangs.
That's good. It's probably not venomous and it shouldn't have magic. Is the portal to Terra still open somewhere? In any case, Aayla has other problems to worry about for now. A plan quickly formed in her mind. With her limited snake handling experience, it would have to do. She turned to the only fourth-year girl.
"Can you confirm if there's any mana emitting from that snake?"
"Excuse me? Any mana?"
"Yes, please."
The girl bowed her head for a few seconds. She frowned.
"The snake's mana is very faint like it's injured. Its condition is really strange."
Aayla thought that it wouldn't be so weird if they knew where she was from and her condition when she first arrived. She climbed over the counter and grabbed a long-sleeved dress. Aayla knotted the sleeves and neck together to make a bag.
She cautiously walked behind the employees and started pushing furniture away. The area was cleared of furniture and customers. One employee came out of the back with a broom. Before he could strike at the snake, Aayla quickly pulled him back.
"Sir, I'm going to need you to calm down. The snake is already very agitated. It's more scared of us than we are of it.
That goes double for the rest of you. STOP SCREAMING AND FLAILING AROUND!"
The shop went quiet. Aayla was about to continue when the screams suddenly started up from behind her. The Butterflies clearly weren't the bravest of beauties. Aayla rubbed her temples. She pushed the employee towards the back of the shop.
"Could you shut them up?! Just move them towards the storage room and lock the door or something."
The employee nodded and stepped towards the back. A few of the other customers followed him. They pulled some furniture with them to make a barricade, rendering Aayla speechless.
She turned her attention back towards the snake. With a calm voice, she soothed the nervous employees.
"What we're going to do next is calm this snake down. We don't need it to go into fight-or-flight mode then either bite someone or flee to where we can't get to it. Stop flailing around. Move quietly and slowly. Has anyone been bitten?"
The employees all shook their heads after a couple of minutes. No one had been bitten. So far, so good. She grabbed a large jacket from a nearby rack and slowly approached the snack.
The emerald beauty had calmed down, but still raised its head as Aayla slowly approached. It puffed up its body and hissed as she approached. The snake struck out at her several times before she could get close enough to cover it with the jacket. It's hissing died down as it was immersed into darkness.
"The jacket should help calm the snake down but we need to get it out of the store. You two! Brown haired lady and guy in the dark blue vest! Help the customers get out of the store. Someone get me a broom."
Several minutes of shoving later, the customers cleared the door and stood far away. An employee found a broom in the back storage room and hastily shoved it into Aayla's hand before getting back behind the barricade.
By now the hissing had stopped. With the door cleared, Aayla gently pushed the snake and jacket towards the door. The snake angrily crawled out of the jacket and slithered towards the door.
The surrounding crowd hastily backed away from the re-infuriated snake. Hissing and lunging at all who came close, the snake caused many of the faint-hearted onlookers to shriek in fear. Aayla grabbed her makeshift sack and forcibly borrowed a robed woman's staff with a gentle crook on the top.
For several minutes, Aayla carefully watched the snake while using the staff to keep it away from the crowd. While the snake was distracted by another onlooker who got too close, Aayla slowly moved behind it. In an instant, she firmly grabbed its tail.
The snake hissed in fury. Whenever it tried to get close, Aayla would back away and push the head of the snake away with the staff. The snake slowly became exhausted. Aayla nervously looked for her makeshift sack. Where did she put it?! She couldn't exactly just let go of the angry snake in her hands.
She soon spied the sack on the ground. Aayla carefully walked towards it then kicked it open. The mouth of the bag hung open in midair. Someone from the crowd used magic to keep it open. Aayla coaxed the head of the snake inside.
When the head was far enough inside, she pinned it with the staff. Aayla dropped the tail and grabbed the edge of the sack. She pulled up the top just as she pulled back the staff. The top was tied shut in an instant.
The snake was in the bag. Aayla sighed in relief as the audience broke into applause. She did not want to do that again ever. That was one seriously ticked off smooth green snake. Someone tapped on her shoulder.
"We'll take care of that from here, Miss."
She turned around to see a tall uniformed man standing behind her. A short, robed woman stood behind him. Each wore a golden police badge. Several armored people were controlling the crowd and interviewing the boutique's customers and employees. The crowd had already begun to disperse.
"Are you the one who kept the bag open?"
"No, that would be my colleague behind me."
The woman smiled and waved. Aayla realized that she was the same onlooker that she borrowed the staff from. She handed the bag over to the man and sheepishly returned the staff to the woman.
"By the way, the sack is actually –"
Aayla was cut off by the sudden tackle of several sobbing young ladies.
"That was so dangerous!"
"We'll forgive you this time because that was amazing, but don't ever do that again!"
"Yeah! Dinner will be on you this time."
They had been terrified when Aayla suddenly jumped out from behind the counter. Without any time to stop her, the girls watched as she pushed the snake out of the store and grabbed it by the tail. They had never felt so stressed before in their life!
Chris told them that she was a bit crazy, but that was obviously an understatement! Aayla Glowery was a special type of crazy. That jerk, he gave them useless information! They'll deal with him later.