The duo walked into the shop. Steam fogged the inside, making it troublesome to see through. But not troublesome enough to make it insanely difficult to look where one went.
Jakery munched on an apple, enjoying the overflowing sweetness of the juices. His cheeks swollen by the amount of fruits he had eaten already.
Their cores lined the counter, starting his own collection. Something Ether joked about earlier. Commenting on how he would one day tell his kids about his brother's apple core collection.
And Jakery laughed. Apple pieces flew out of his mouth as he tried to hold it all in.
Valentine took a seat beside the young Zesher. He looked down at the counter to study all seven eaten apples in comparison to the four remaining ones.
"Careful, little one. Eating too many so fast can make your stomach hurt," he commented.
Jakery smiled. "Ya sha na. Stavi ihm, hiana. Shora!"
Ether hugged his sibling before giving him a gentle peck to the back of the head. "Ya, ineri. Uhim, e."
As the siblings were warmly embracing each other, the shop keeper walked into the room. She held up a tray with a white cloth covering what was beneath it.
It settled down in front of the group. Steam escaped from the sides. Making it obvious what was beneath the sheet before it even was revealed.
"As requested. I made some slight modifications to the original sketch, but this should do. So far, these are the helmets. The chest pieces are cooling off in the water right now," the shopkeeper said.
She glanced up at the unfamiliar face, causing her to flinch. "Oh, uh. Hi, my name's Meria Ignon. Is there something you need? Weapons, paint jobs, or anything involving armor?"
Valentine smiled beneath his mask. "You're a sweetheart, I can tell. But I'm with them. And by the way, my name's Valentine Tavious. Pleased to meet you."
Meria nodded. "Thank you. It's nice meeting you as well. Anyway, here it is."
The sheet slid off, exposing all the steam. Which added to the tension in the room. Everyone was excited to see what their new armor would look like.
Once the steam wore off, they finally got a nearly clear view of the helmets. Both pieces of armor stared out into nothingness, demanding everyone's attention as they spoke their silent words.
Grey glass called Eddision glass formed a visor, designed to preserve the identity of its wearers while maintaining a clear view of the outside world.
To contrast the in-between color, a black crest sat at the top of the helmets. It stretched horizontally. Which remained the same for both helmets, except for the fact Ether's was bigger.
Each crest connected two horns together. Just like the crests themselves, the difference between both armor sets rested inside of these. Ether's were larger than Jakery's.
All other pieces to their helmets were a navy color. Except for one minor detail on Jakery's helmet. Instead of it being pure navy, there was a cyan stripe coming down the visor where the eyes would sit.
Making it seem almost like war paint, but in a more innocent manner. Trying to be respectful of who the wearer was: a young and loving Zesher.
While the trio admired the helmets, Meria walked back into the room with another tray. This time, the sheet was flatter than before. Meaning smaller pieces of armor were beneath it.
"Here's the gauntlets. Oh, and by the way, you guys can open the windows if the steam makes it difficult to see anything. My commander reminded me to tell you three that," Meria added.
Valentine agreed, it was difficult to see already. So he stepped across the room and opened the closed windows. Instantly, the air got cooler and seeing got easier.
Allowing Ether and Jakery to admire their gauntlets better. Which followed the same black and blue color pattern all the way through.
Black elbows allowed the users to freely move their arms as blue arms and forearms remained functional. A small blade ran from elbow down to wrist on every arm piece.
Displaying a low profile back up weapon, just in case their primary weapons were broken or thrown away during battle.
Their gloves rested beside the arms. There was nothing special about them. Aside from the black armored portions of the armor with the blue underlying leather.
"Just look at this. I mean, you and your family did an amazing job, Meria!" Ether complimented.
"Thank you!" Meria called out from another room.
When she came back, she had another tray. This time, the sheets were oddly figured. Making it difficult to tell if these were the boots or the chest pieces.
But that became clear when she placed that tray down. Her hands swiftly pulled back the sheets to reveal their lower body armor.
"Here it is. Legs and boots. Also, a nice little accessory if you guys are feeling fancy. But there's only one since that's what my overseer could make, sadly. But anyway, enjoy!" Meria explained.
Before Meria could leave the main room, she fixed her eyes on the helmets. "I, um... need the tray. We only have a few lying around this shop. So, can I please have this one back?"
Jakery quickly picked up his own helmet, bringing it closer to his head. As the piece of armor crept near, he tried looking for himself in the visor. But couldn't see anything.
His thumb smudged the highly reflective metal that created the helmet. It felt fresh, the paint and metal both. Giving him hope for their survival.
Ether picked up his own helmet, holding it gently in his hands as he stared into its visor. Not looking for himself on it, but behind it.
Meria took the moment to sneak her hand over to the tray and picked it up. Taking it with her through the curtains that divided the counter with the rest of the shop.
Valentine crossed his arms. "She's real polite, and her family is real fast. How did they make it in such little amount of time?"
"These were pre-made. We are lucky as well, because these were about to be melted down. No one would fit in them, except for us. So I saved us a pair. All they had to do was remake a few pieces and paint them," Ether answered.
Jakery closed his eyes, keeping a smile on his face. "She is very nice. Her overseer gave her permission to give me apples. I was huuuungry!"
Ether patted him on the shoulder. "You deserve it. Such a powerful little one, even if you don't show it. You have the heart our mother had, Jakery."
While they talked, Meria walked through the curtains, bringing a new tray in hand. This time without the sheets.
"And finally. This was where my commander spent a lot of his time drafting. You two wanted a lot of defense, but he thought otherwise. So I helped shave off some plates here and there," Meria explained.
Both torso pieces had broad chests, making it seem like their users had pact muscles capable of withstanding giant boulders for hours at a time. However, the reality wasn't the same.
There were ribs curved out on the armor itself. Each one was black, contrasting the navy background. Which was what most of the pieces were colored.
Except for a medium-sized icon over the left breast. It was a slanted infinity symbol, except there was a divide towards the center. Instead of continuing, it left a small gap there.
On the other side of that gap, between the curve that connected the entire symbol together, the gap finally stopped. Turning to connect the center curves to the outside.
Right at the most bottom left part of the symbol was a thorn that broke that end of the infinity symbol. Which pretended to lean with it, hoping to infuse itself and fix the symbol for good.
"This looks amazing. Your family has incredible hands, Meria," Ether thanked.
Valentine nodded in agreement. "I want to return to the bunker before sundown. We have some things to talk about, anyway. Where is Oria?"
Jakery softly laughed. "She wondered off. Adorable Oria, Ether called her!"
"Excuse me?" Valentine asked.
Ether placed a hand over Jakery's mouth. "I mean, I am not going to deny. She is pretty adorable. However, it's a joke. Nothing big."
Valentine began to laugh along with Jakery. "Yeah, I believe you. Anyway, wait beside Gloria. I am going out to find her."