The combined groups had stopped to stare at a tiny pink cupcake in a clear glass box with a still flame paused mid-flicker atop its sole candle.

"Okay, but if it's in stasis, why is light still emitting from the fire?" Gio asked. "That shouldn't be possible."

"Theatrics. The light from the fire is added in after the preservation matrix to enhance the display, to make it more enticing. It's fairly common practice in reagent shops, especially with bioluminescent monster parts. Nobody would want to buy a sad, unlit birthday cupcake." Sapphire answered.

"Crazy. And this isn't time magic." Donovan gawked.

"Nope." Jean replied. "Time magic doesn't exist. It's just a lot of other effects all lined up to make it almost as if time had stopped."

Gio stopped to read the placard for the hundredth time. He didn't know what it said to anyone else, but his eyes burned into the last line of the Shop's evaluation.

"A single birthday cupcake baked by Marie Bain, Chef of Infamy. Imparts the consumer with a small bonus to all stats for one year when consumed on their birthday. You cannot afford this item."

"You cannot afford this item." Gio repeated in his mind. Not that he wanted the cupcake, but the concept of not being able to afford it was slowly driving him mad.

Gio had read a few hundred labels at this point. Many items had prices displayed for him, even if those prices were unusual or something he'd be unwilling to pay. Such as "Your entire spellbook.", "Ten percent of your sense of smell. (cannot be recovered)", or most unsettlingly, "The entire contents of your chest cavity. (This will kill you.)"

The Shop is telling me that there is absolutely nothing I could trade to be able to pay for this cupcake… not even my life. Is it the Shop that is coming up with these prices? If so, does it consider the information I chose not to give the Shopkeeper?

Gio squinted at the label. It changed before his eyes.

"Disclose your Destiny to the Shopkeeper. (+Store Credit, +Platinum Membership Card)"

Gio's eyes widened. He glanced around, noting that everyone was still absorbed in looking around the aisles of the Shop. He tried to tell himself that it was unlikely that anybody else would see what he saw in the price tag, but seeing his secret laid out in front of him when he was with his friends still left him feeling vulnerable.

Um… no thank you, spirits! System, please change the label back.

"You cannot afford this item." The label once again read.

It did little to make Gio feel better.

So there is something I could do to afford the cupcake… it would just completely upend my life, and probably kill me. At least it's better than selling 'the entire contents of my chest cavity' for a steak from a mythical creature… although I do wonder what Hippocampus meat would taste like... probably too chewy anyway.

Gio looked over to his side. Jean's eyes lingered on the cupcake for a long time.

"Is it normal for food to… do something like this? That's basically a magic item." Quinn asked.

"It is a magic item. Marie is… legendary, in so many ways. I don't know what it would be like to see her in her full power, but I imagine that if she is properly incentivized and given the correct ingredients, she could probably make something insane." Sapphire said.

"And you guys get to eat like this all the time." Quinn said wistfully.

"Well, no. She doesn't really go all out for us, and it certainly doesn't give any sort of magical benefit… but the food is very good." Gio answered.

"Then I'm still jealous. Chef Bargo is a decent cook, but he's all about 'proper nutrition', most of the time at the cost of flavor." Donovan huffed.

The Prince was carrying a wrapped parcel over his shoulder.

It looks like Quinn didn't manage to stop him from buying whatever it is Henriot was trying to stop him from getting.

"Well, it looks like this is goodbye for now. We don't want Mother to think she's lost another son, lest she do something rash like declare war on the Shop. " Donovan joked.

Gio didn't know how seriously he should take the joke, so he nervously laughed.

Jean and Donovan clasped arms and hugged at the same time that Gio and Hatra practically tackled Quinn.

"Write to your fathers." Hatra demanded.

"Yes, boss." Quinn intoned.

"We're serious." Gio said.

"Don't worry. I'll see to it that he does." Donovan said, clapping Quinn on the shoulders.

The Prince turned to Gio with a warm smile. "I need to remind myself to write to my family more. Quinn and I will do it together. You know, you sort of remind me of my brother. You both seem to have an easy time understanding people. He'd like you, I think."

"Your brother… as in the Crown Prince?" Gio sheepishly asked.

"If I could tell you a secret… None of us kids are particularly fond of the whole royalty routine… least of all Arthur. He's far more grounded than the tabloids make him sound. You should get Jean to introduce you two sometime." Donovan casually said.

Jean paled. "I'm sure Arthur is far too busy for-"

"Nonsense. He could use the friends, with all of those classes that mother is making him take. He asks about you, you know." Donovan said, turning to his friend.

Jean was whiter than snow. "H-He does?"

"Yeah. Poor thing must be lonely, as his only companions are the stuffy old politicians in the court. I visit when I can, but with Arnault missing in action, Merlia off doing who-knows-what, Dasha and Mara in school… Mom and Dad are his only real company. You'd be doing me a favor if you took him away from his duties." Donovan replied.

"Okay… I'll… see if my mother can invite him over sometime. She should know how to do it without violating any… rules of etiquette." Jean said, looking faint.

Hang in there, Jean.

Donovan, Quinn and the rest of their battalion left the Shop shortly after.

Jean turned to pierce the group with a terrifying glare. "What?"

"N-nothing." Sapphire replied.

A spark of madness in Jean's gaze caused the rest of the group to back away from him slightly.

"Listen… I've had quite an interesting day today, and we haven't even fought the boss yet. Why don't we all wrap up whatever business we have here so we can get back on track to the Spiritspring, agreed?" He stalwartly said.

Everyone nodded.

_____

Gio walked through aisles of spellforms, trying not to pay attention to prices.

Jean is off looking at spears. Chandrika is buying some fabric. Sapphire and Hatra are geeking out over monster parts... Maybe I should just go sit near the exit.

Gio wasn't particularly in the mood for window shopping, and with Jean's completely justified desire to get back on the path ahead, Gio was left with little to do but sit with his thoughts as the rest of the team quickly made off to various sectors of the Shop to complete their trades.

Left to his own devices, he thought about Rio. His reflection was currently doing exactly what a normal reflection should be doing… likely trying not to be detected by the Shopkeeper.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Is it really necessary for me to spend so much effort to keep this a secret? It's not like I asked for the spirits of Chaos to choose us.

Gio thought about Hart's casino and the mayhem he and his reflection had inadvertently caused. Rio, and consequently Chaos, had been the sole reason he had made it out of that mess alive. Regardless of how he felt about it, they were chosen together… and Gio would not be abandoning Rio.

[Din's Invocation]. A skill that can literally change the world… and all Rio needs to do is ask.

The more he thought about it, the more Gio felt that he did pose a potentially grave threat to the world. What were the limits of being an Aspect of Chaos? What would happen if he fully embraced his so-called destiny? What could he really do if he were willing to sacrifice a bit more?

Gio shivered.

But I wouldn't take that risk. I'm not someone who jumps at the chance for power at the cost of the safety of everyone around me. Am I?

Come to think of it, Gio had been keeping his friends ignorant of his reflection's capabilities.

"His capabilities are shocking, and at times worrisome." Chandrika had said of Gio's capabilities mere moments ago.

And she doesn't even know about Rio. Maybe… Should I tell them? Is it even safe for them to know?

"What's got you so deep in thought?" Jean asked.

Gio jumped.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." Jean apologized.

"No, it's fine... I was just thinking about stuff." Gio replied.

One by one, the group members returned. It looked like Chandrika was the only one who had actually bought anything, returning with several bags of fine fluff.

"For my new toy." She had said, answering the unasked question.

"Ah."

"Hypothetically speaking… if you guys had a secret that you knew that you should probably share with your friends, but that would vastly complicate… everything… in your life if it were to get out, would you tell it anyways?" Gio asked, stunning the group into silence.

Chandrika grabbed him by the shoulder, looking him deep in the eyes. "No." She said.

"No? Why not?" Gio asked.

"Well… hypothetically speaking… if you were to tell us that you had a good reason for keeping this secret, I'd trust you and your judgment." She answered.

"...Even if that secret could potentially put you all in danger?" Gio asked.

"Buddy, we're already heading into a dungeon with you, we've been ambushed twice, and I'm expecting more." Sapphire said.

"Yeah. I don't know what you're referring to… hypothetically, of course… but I really seriously doubt that it's something we couldn't handle." Jean said.

Gio smiled.

"Thanks, guys."

"Now… may we hypothetically get back on the boat? I'm raring to get this show on the road." Jean asked.

_____

Gio was at the back of the boat, watching the Shop entrance fade into the fog behind them.

"How long do entrances to the Shop usually stay open?" he asked.

"That's a good question. Truthfully, I don't know. I'd imagine that the Shopkeeper may put their thumb on the scale to extend the lifetime of a particular entrance if they deemed it interesting enough… but I've also seen entrances vanish after a day. Who knows?" Chandrika replied.

Gio thought back to his conversation with the enigmatic figure.

"I'd think that perhaps this entrance might stay a while..." Gio pontificated.

Jean made a hand signal at the front of the boat, silencing the group.

"Heads up. We're being watched." He said.

Another crafting pavilion emerged from the fog. The Telchine crafter had its eyes pinned to the boat, tracking their movements with an eerie focus. The Telchine hammered down, messily denting a roughly formed plate of metal.

"It… doesn't even look like it's hitting the metal it's working on." Sapphire remarked.

"Spooky. It's like… a broken automaton." Hatra added.

"Perhaps the servants of the divine that pollute this place are becoming more interested in our progress." Chandrika said.

Five Telchines broke the surface of the water, pointing ugly, thin spears towards the group in a threatening manner.

"Looks like we pissed them off." Gio grunted.

"I'll keep a wide arc. Be ready for anything." Jean announced.

A tense moment hung in the air. The only sound that pierced the silence was the dull splash of the oar paddling the boat forward under Jean's command. Their current angle was awkward, trying not to face their back to the pavilion at the cost of precious speed. Each side eyed the other without blinking.

The boat was just about to reach a point where it could finally get around the metal pavilion without deviating from Chandrika's course when Jean barked an order.

"Brace!" Jean yelled.

Gio surged forth, intercepting a heavy spear from the opposite direction. The reflected spear went wide, just missing a second formation of the dungeon dwellers closing in on the boat from the fog.

"They've got us on both sides!" Gio shouted.

The group erupted into motion.

Hatra cocked her mechanism, rapid-fire launching globs of iridescent liquid that erupted into greasy flames upon contact with the water to awe-striking effect. The flame burst out with a wall of heat, clearing the fog for hundreds of feet.

Jean and Gio cursed.

"We're surrounded." Jean uttered.

Formations of Telchine Watchers dappled the waters, bunched together in siege formations, closing in slowly from all sides.

"Ooookeydokey. We need options, people." Sapphire chirped.

"Hatra, war crime time?" Gio quipped.

"I can't produce enough pressure to reach that far. Even my foulest sludge wouldn't be effective with this much water in between us and the enemy. " Hatra replied.

"Jean, Rika? Either of you have any big explosions?" Gio asked.

"I've got [Angelfire], but I can't cover all directions. I'd be open from the rear, and the second I start casting, they'd close in on us." Jean detailed, no hint of mirth in his voice.

"I've got… nothing I feel safe using in this situation." Chandrika replied.

Gio squinted at Chandrika briefly but trusted in her instincts.

C'mon… think. Can I take everyone to the Mirror dimension? No… I haven't practiced taking anyone with me, and [Mirrorwalker] was only designed to be cast on a mirror mage. Likewise with [Mirror Jaunt]. I don't think Rio has anything… besides [Din's Invocation].

Gio's muscles were taut with tension. He didn't know what to do.

"Okay, plan B." Hatra announced.

"You've got something?" Gio nearly shouted.

"Yep. Been thinking about it this whole trip, but it's not gonna be fun, and it's not gonna be safe. Gio, you're going to be at the front of the boat. Your job is to make sure that we stay on top of the water with [Flow]. If we start to go down or up, I need you to correct that. Push the water out of the way. Jean, you're gonna be holding onto me like your life depends on it. Saph and Rika, hit the deck, maybe do something to make all of us stick to the boat if you've got it. You have thirty seconds while I charge it up. Go now." Hatra commanded.

Gio's eyes went wide with recognition. "You're crazy. Let's do it."

Everyone scrambled on the boat. Hatra's gun-like instrument began shifting in strange ways, as she reconfigured the nozzle. A bundle of spouts like a showerhead screwed themselves onto the front, and a tiny Hatra visible through the window on the side of the device scrambled around, pulling levers and knobs. A red light flashed in the miniature warehouse inside the gun. A hiss of several concerning-smelling vapors began emanating from the tip, which she had pointed down into the water at the rear of the boat.

"This is gonna be a little itchy," Chandrika said, covering Gio's lower body with a cocoon of webs as he kneeled in front of the boat, facing ahead.

"Ready…" Hatra began. She lowered her goggles, a gift from her mother.

Jean, Sapphire, and Chandrika each tied themselves to the benches, facing the rear of the boat, and prepared to support Hatra by cradling her with their bodies.

"Steady…" Hatra continued. Her device was making worrying sounds. A humming whistle bubbled up from the nozzle, just underwater.

The Telchines hadn't stayed idle, noticing the shift in the boat. They crept closer and closer, cutting through the water with spears angled inwards, like the closing jaws of a sea-predator.

"And here-"

The Telchines surged forth. A spear clipped the boat, sending splinters through the air.

"WE!"

Gio quickly messaged Rio, telling him to stay close, taking his place as a regular reflection. He prepared [Flow], focusing on the water. Splashing and the whistle of spears through the air sounded over the sides of the boat. Everyone was low into the boat, waiting with a held breath.

"GOOOOOOOOO!" Hatra shouted.

She pulled the trigger, and the boat exploded forward with a gut-dropping burst of speed. A pressurized geyser of fluid erupted from her device into the water, creating a tidal wave of multi-colored froth in its wake. Each liquid mingled poorly with the others, like uneasy neighbors. Frost mixed with fire, and explosions from behind only rocketed the boat further ahead. Icebergs and gouts of steam tore through the Telchines, scattering any and all formations.

"AAAAHAAAAHAAAHAHAAHAHAAA" Hatra cackled, the pressure of the stream plastering her up against her catchers. The boat surged up at a lurching angle, threatening to jump up and out of the water.

Gio wrestled with the flow of the water, angling two streams of mana that were coiling around his hands like angry vipers.

Not! Working!

The spray of water in his face had him nearly blind, even though he had diverted most of it to the side. The boat was skipping across the surface, colliding with Telchines under the hull and flying forward.

COME ON!

In a fit of inspiration, Gio opened his palms and clapped his hands together with thunderous glee. The mana of his spell responded in kind, and the boat angled down, cutting through the water like a fish.

Curtains of water arced gracefully over the sides of the boat, spraying the team with a fine mist.

"Wooohooohoooooo!" Gio cried, reveling in the moment.

"We're alive!" Sapphire screamed, laughing with relief

"We're heading off course!" Chandrika yelled, yanking Gio's arms to the left.

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