Burshis’s kit, her, her available, um, shop whatsit, the thingy, the inventory, it, it sounds like, like mundane things, like actual, real, usable things, not with fancy fake fantasy names. Nietru’s though, it sounds like tools. Lots and lots of tools that might actually contain magic. Quick, quick, dig through them, come on, come on, come on. Please please please please.

  Enchanted Woodcarving Knife

  Crystal-Infused Paintbrush Set

  Mystical Embroidery Thread Collection

  Dragonfire Forge Anvil

  Celestial Starlight Loom

  Alchemist's Potion Mixing Cauldron

  Enchanted Quill of Infinite Ink

  Elemental Gemstone Chisel Set

  Whimsical Fairy Dust Glitter

  Timeless Tapestry Loom

  Potion of Endless Creativity

  Gilded Gold Leaf Kit

  Dragon Scale Sewing Needles

  Celestial Moonstone Calligraphy Set

  Enchanted Sculpting Clay

  Phoenix Feather Quill Pen

  Ancient Rune Carving Tools

  Starlight Inkwell of Inspiration

  Can’Z’aasian Carpentry Kit

  Time-Traveling Sketchbook

  Crystal Epoxy Resin Kit

  Steampunk Leatherworking Tools

  Enchanted Glassblowing Pipe

  Elemental Crystal Engraving Set

  Alchemist's Potion Crafting Kit

  Whimsical Woodburning Set

  Dragonfire Pottery Kiln

  Celestial Moonlight Knitting Needles

  Vintage Thread Spool Organizer

  Timeless Engraving Hammer

  Potion of Artistic Vision

  Gilded Calligraphy Ink Set

  Dragon Claw Quilting Hoop

  Celestial Constellation Embosser

  Enchanted Alchemist's Mortar and Pestle

  Phoenix Feather Pencil Set

  Ancient Rune Stamping Kit

  Starlight Charcoal Sketch Set

  Faerie Wings Stencil Collection

  Time-Traveler's Weaving Loom

  Crystal Jewelry Making Kit

  Steampunk Metalworking Tools

  Enchanted Needle Felting Kit

  Elemental Gemstone Faceting Set

  Alchemist's Enchanting Ink Kit

  Whimsical Papercrafting Supplies

  Dragonfire Enameling Kiln

  Celestial Moonlight Embroidery Hoop

  Vintage Paint Tube Organizer

  Timeless Leather Tool Set

  Potion of Color Harmony

  Gilded Quill and Ink Set

  Dragon Scale Embroidery Scissors

  Celestial Moonstone Seal Set

  Enchanted Pottery Wheel

  Phoenix Feather Ink Brush Set

  Ancient Rune Casting Molds

  Starlight Sketching Charms

  Faerie Wings Glitter Glue

  Time-Traveler's Calligraphy Set

  Crystal Bead Embellishments

  Steampunk Metal Etching Kit

  Enchanted Glass Etching Cream

  Elemental Gemstone Polishing Kit

  Alchemist's Magical Inkwell

  Whimsical Scrapbooking Supplies

  Dragonfire Jewelry Soldering Kit

  Celestial Moonlight Crochet Hooks

  Vintage Sewing Machine

  Timeless Engraved Wood Block Set

  Potion of Masterful Creations

  Gilded Illumination Set

  Dragon Claw Embroidery Frame

  Celestial Star Gouache Set

  Enchanted Crystal Sculpting Set

  Phoenix Feather Drawing Charcoal

  Ancient Rune Metal Stamps

  Starlight Watercolor Set

  Faerie Wings Craft Punches

  Time-Traveler's Carving Kit

  Crystal Resin Casting Kit

  Steampunk Gear Stamps

  Enchanted Embroidery Floss

  Elemental Gemstone Wire Wrapping Kit

  Alchemist's Magical Invisible Ink

  Whimsical Rubber Stamping Set

  Dragonfire Stained Glass Kit

  Celestial Moonlight Cross-Stitch Set

  Vintage Button Assortment

  Timeless Leather Burnishing Set

  Potion of Artistic Inspiration

  Gilded Embossing Powder Set

  Dragon Scale Embroidery Needles

  Celestial Moonstone Inkwell

  Enchanted Pottery Glazing Kit

  Phoenix Feather Charcoal Pencils

  Ancient Rune Engraving Tools

  Starlight Watercolor Brushes

  Faerie Wings Calligraphy Ink

  Time-Traveler's Magical Sewing Kit

  Leaping high into the air, I scream, “Yes!” at the top of my lungs, startling Teuila and Vyela. I need to kiss the hell out of Nietru DeValor. Can’Z’aasian Carpentry Kit. Quick, quick, okay, that’s about four-hundred grand, wow, but that’s fine. Hopefully, gulp, hopefully it’s as powerful as Sugar’s carpentry crafting kit from Can’Z’aas, and can actually make the enchanted buildings. Friggin’ hell, gods, if, if, if, if this is real, if these are real, if any of these things in Nietru’s shop, but especially the Can’Z’aasian tools actually contain enchantments, I—. I owe her everything that happens next.

  Okay, okay, okay. If, um, but, well, if—. Fudgeknuckles. Right, right, um, begin the myconid transformation maybe? It’s got my crafting skill baked in. We need a Can’Z’aasian crafting skill to be able to utilize the tools if they’re like Sugar’s. The shops didn’t come about until she had like at least a hundred skill or something, and I’ve easily got at least that much, but I don’t know if anyone else does. I can’t remember offhand, because I’m just, I’m just, I’m—. Calm down Reggie, breathe. It’s exciting, and nerve-wracking, and there’s a lot of options to explore. Literally hundreds of thousands of items across all the residents of Mount Solace, and everyone you’ve met on your Rayileklian journey so far. Take it easy. Things should fall into place. I’m distracting myself from actually making the purchase, but I’m breathing so hard.

  Hyperventilating until I can calm my breathing, I agree with myself. That—. That’s just weird. Teuila snirks as she reads my mental monologue, and can’t help giggling after a bit. I manage to chuckle as I slow my breathing. Phew, deep breath Reggie, in, and out, in, and out. Wait, there was a hint, with the tingle. The only reason, ah. Okay, I get it. The only reason I’m able to buy from the shops without the participant actually being the one punching in their code, standing behind the stall, is because of my weird dual digital critterkin-adjacent nature. No one else could—. Dangit all Reggie. I know, I know. It falls to me again.

  Huff. I breathe deeply, and sigh easily as deeply, before my sigh morphs into a yawn. No one else can do it all as fast as you, or even at all without you, unless they coordinate with everyone else. Like, literally everyone. It, um, it seems—. I sniffle. Aloud, still sniffling, I mumble, “It seems like I can even purchase from the, sniff—. The shops of the deceased. I—. I don’t have the heart to look. I—. Te. Teuila, I can’t.” I begin crying my heart out. Teuila gulps as she frantically flips through to the Ds alphabetically in the code listing.

  Te gulps, sniffles, and mutters, “Oh my Airhead, my Air. It’s—, she’s here. She’s here. I—. Let’s buy something. Please. From her shop. Quick.”

  Teuila quickly punches in Dawn’s code, snags the phone, grabs the file from the till, and passes it to the copier, printing out Dawn’s inventory. Vyela’s eyes bulge as she asks, “Purchasing from the deceased? Someone you’ve lost? That—. That is impressive Schism. I wouldn’t—. Hmn.”

  I flash a furtive, saddened smile towards Vyela as I nod. Inhaling a shuddering breath, and loosing it just as shudderingly, I pick myself up to do what Teuila requests. I nod at her, mumbling, “Name it, name anything. I don’t care what it costs, even if it screws us out of everything else for a while. Anything Te.”

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  Gulping, Te glances through the inventory list quickly, and decides just as quickly, “I—, I think, the, glp. I think the Amulet of the Timeless Woman’s Memories. I think, because, because she, she got known as timeless, ageless, unaging, stuff. Right Air? She did, right? That one. Please babe, please. It’s, um, wow, a hundred grand, no, wait, a million, that’s a lot of zeroes. Please babe, please. Air, I, if I have to, I’ll—.”

  Cooing, whispering my love, I mutter, “Shhh, it’s okay Te. We can easily afford it. I’ll go snag some of our cash. We’ve got a few million, each of us. Just in cash, not counting gems and coins. We probably have more value worth in stuff like gems and gold coins. I’ll pull a few stacks of Rands too, in case it’ll do an exchange rate for them. It’s okay. It’s okay.’

  Vyela balks at the numbers being thrown around, being plenty familiar with basic arithmetic, and realizing I said I had even more than that in coins and gems. I can sense her curiosity about the insides of my vault, and I flash her a smile and a wink, trying not to be too much of a dick about teasing her. She’s welcome anytime, but I’m trying to keep my mood light, by snatching any silly little joy. It seems like Lu, Leeza, and Lucky are done expanding Leeza’s new home. It’s uncomfortably close to my vault, being that mine is the nearest to this main cavern.

  I gnaw on my lip, concerned that Leeza might take it upon herself to sneak into my vault. Even if she isn’t malicious about it, she could get herself hurt by random magic items we haven’t figured out yet. Calm down Reggie. We were giving her the benefit of the doubt, remember? I—. I know. It’s hard though, to not be at least a bit cynical. She’s literally turned over a new leaf in a night. You did sort of break her down on a level most people don’t even come back from. Gulp. Y-yeah, true.

  Phew. Okay. Massive pile of cash, and a few regular old cloth sacks to stuff it into. I’m not even going to count, to see how much there is, nor even care if the shop system decides to take all three bags without leaving any change. It’s—. It’s for Dawn. Our memory of her. I re-lock my vault after exiting with the bags floating behind me telekinetically. Flashing a sad smile their way while I trot back towards the dugout with the shop, I wave to Lu and Lucky, as they seem to be taking a break, and hashing something out with Leezahna. I can still sense Lucky’s apprehension around her, but he’s being his best at our request. He’s such a good boy. He’s so good. I try not to grin too stupidly when his ears perk up and his tail wags when he hears my inner monologue.

  I’m about to hand the cash over to Teuila, when I realize I have to be the one to purchase it. I close my eyes and inhale sharply, still shudderingly, fighting off sobs. Te gives me the code for Dawn’s inventory, and I punch it in. The three of us in the dugout wait with bated breath as I psych myself up to make the request. Gulping, I plead, “Shop system? Please, please let me purchase the Amulet of the Timeless Woman’s Memories from Dawn’s shop inventory?”

  There’s a long pause, and for a moment, I’m worried I was wrong about the clue I thought I’d deciphered, but then the sacks begin to deflate, shrink as the money within them derezzes, leaving our reality. A very simple locket, with an ever-lasting durability enchantment on it appears on the shop’s countertop. I pick it up, with tears in my eyes, and go to place it around Te’s neck. Teuila opens the locket, and we both fall to our knees, blubbering at what’s within.

  It’s a multi-image photo, somehow, of us, and Dawn. The photo changes based on the direction it’s viewed at, and shows different events. The best one, the clearest image is the three of us in the carriage when we were leaving the Hidden at the Heart of the Wilds together. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand it at all, and all I can manage to do is cry my heart out, grasping Teuila desperately to me, as she does much the same.

  This is too much. It’s just too much. How? Shop system, how? My guts churn, and flop, as I’m disoriented by the emotional turmoil that recalling Dawn puts me through. Our journey together. My failure to stop her curse. The friendship that grew between us. The laughter and the smiles. Her periods senseless, or even completely shut down. There’s so many emotions swirling in me like a vortex at the eye of a storm, its absolute ground zero is my heart. This pain, this torment, is the pinnacle, it’s the apex I’ve ever felt tear my heart apart.

  Even Vyela looks a tad stricken as she stands near, and places fingertips from her left hand on Te’s shoulder, and those from her right hand on mine. She offers her usual cursory, “Hmn,” but there’s compassion behind it, knowledge of loss. She’s ancient, and has seen her fair share. I completely lose track of everything else except my desire to keep Teuila close, and safe, to never let either of us suffer like this, ever again. Yet even still, I wouldn’t give up this suffering. Knowing that I nearly did, that I nearly entered a future where we wouldn’t even be able to remember Dawn, it hurts, it breaks me almost as badly as anything else ever could. But we didn’t go down that route. I stopped that, that one, horrid little fate, out of the many befalling us at the time.

  My head is swimming. My forehead and cheeks feel flush. I’m a tad ill from the neurochemical whiplash of the rapid swirl of emotions. Teuila seems similarly ill. I—. I need to be present, in the moment. I need to thank the Queens for their guarding this. I need to quickly get the Can’Z’aasian Carpentry Kit, before anything else can happen. I rush to snag a ton of money and gold, then return as swiftly as I’m able to.

  With my head swimming, it’s hard to recall whose shop the carpentry kit was in, or their code, but then I recall wanting to kiss Nietru in gratitude for her shop’s inventory, despite her having no control over it. I punch in her code and plead, “Shop system? Please allow me to purchase the Can’Z’aasian Carpentry Kit from Nietru DeValor’s shop.”

  The toolbelt that arrives, packed with tools with brilliant auras, is just like the one that Sugar evolved with. It brings back so many memories. That first party. Giving her geode stones to crack open. How much she loved to break things as much as or more than building them. Her brother Spice, whom she was fiercely protective of. Our beloved family on Can’Z’aas, and all that we went through together. I snatch the toolbelt and strap it tightly to my waist immediately, and stroke it lovingly, as if I could somehow reach back in time to Can’Z’aas, to pet, stroke, and comfort my family back there through this touch.

  This does however leave Luni and Teuila giggling at the mental image of me stroking the area of my belt-buckle. I roll my eyes and chuckles—. Chuckles? Chuckle, as my emotions slowly return and calm from their overexcited tumultuous state of turmoil. My deep inhalation is still a shuddering breath, and my lower jaw still quivers, but we’ve made impossibly important purchases, and strides, and done so much, in such a short time.

  Rushing to gather everyone, I present two quite large sacks of precious coins to Vylon and Vyela, who, despite themselves, lick their chops at the gratitude I’m attempting to pay them. I toss a half smile their way, and nod that I truly mean to give it to them, in gratitude for protecting our asset so far, and in the hopes they’ll continue to do so. I glance at Teuila as she thumbs her smooth silver locket repeatedly, as if she, like my attempt with the tool-belt, could somehow reach back in time, and touch Dawn, by the act of her brushing the now-beloved object. We’re suffering so many hurts, we have suffered so many hurts. Everyone around us is hurt somehow. Yet these little comforts, these successes, these steps forward—. No matter the hurt, our love is always stronger.