E.C. EDWARDS - The Mighty Antimagic Spell -
Chapter 40 - The Boutique Off All The Magic Things
As she stepped inside, she heard a harsh voice like that of a professor who scolds his student for not learning the lesson:
“WHAT DO YOU WANT!?”
Miss Edwards didn't know where the question came from, because there was no one there. She looked very carefully in the store so small and narrow, that almost no other person could enter. But she saw no human face.
Inside there was just a shelf with a few things on it. Some beautifully written papers suggested that stuff was at great discount. Outside the shelf was a very clean counter, with no one behind it.
“Everything for everyone?” the girl murmured. “I think you can count with your fingers the objects on the shelves.”
“I asked what you want! Come into the store and get what you need. Faster, for because of you the others cannot do their shopping.”
Elizabeth looked outside and saw several children waiting, unable to enter the shop because of her. What were so many kids looking for in that small, empty store?”
By the crowd of students waiting outside, you expected it to be a much larger store, at least as much as the two-storey grocery store near the orphanage.
“Can you can see me? because I can’t see you.”
A small creature jumped off the counter. He had a wrinkled face, only a few white hairs on his head, and he was wearing some tiny round glasses. A very small stone elf, smaller than other stone elves, looked at Miss Edwards angrily. Although she was only a child, she was almost twice as tall as that creature.
“If you don't see someone, it doesn't mean he can't see you.”
That little creature looked at the girl intently. He measured her from head to toe carefully.
“Come into the store, what are you waiting for?!” said the same harsh voice of the creature, completed by his frowning gaze.
“Well ... I don't know where else I could go.”
When the creature saw the girl was totally lost, he became a little softer. He reached out with a magic wand and shouted:
“Mutatio In Speculo Initus!”
The children, who were outside, after hearing the creature's words, began to enter the glass of the door one by one and disappeared.
“Is this the first time you come to my shop?” the creature said in a slightly lower voice, but still strong.
"Yes," the girl answered, wondering where all those children disappeared.
The creature saw the girl was a little puzzled because of what happened, as those kids suddenly faded away, so he needed to give an explanation.
“Stay calm. I let them go directly into my store. They’re safe.”
The elf took a pointy cap from the high hanger using his wand and then told the girl:
“What is your name, dear?”
“Elizabeth ... Elizabeth Catherine Edwards.”
The little creature when he heard the name smiled slightly. You couldn’t think that such a being could smile, considering he was always frowning, even when he spoke more softly than usual.
“Are you the daughter of the late Edwards? I can’t tell you how happy I am to meet you. I’m so excited and happy ...”
But his face couldn’t express emotion and happiness because it was impossible.
Still, Elizabeth already knew these stone elves very rarely, probably once in their life, could express on their face some of their feelings.
“Have you met my parents?”
“Yes ... but we’ll have to wait another day to speak about it. Because now we can't ...”
Rujnoiu reached out to the girl's hand. And as the girl made no gesture, he grabbed the girl's right hand with the other hand and helped her shake hands with him. He shook the girl's hand very strongly both horizontally and vertically.
“That's how we show our happiness, we, stone elves. I’m Rujnoiu ... and I’m the keeper and the owner of the shop.”
“I'm delighted Mr. Runj ... njoiu.”
“Rujnoiu ... But, let's better go into the store and speak there. I’ll tell you one day some things about how your parents were if you want. I knew them very well.”
The elf took her by the hand and called out:
“Intus Subtiliusque Intuenti!”
The two disappeared from that shop, as if absorbed by a vacuum cleaner hidden somewhere in the room, appearing in a huge room.
There were plenty of walnut, oak and beech shelves. Very high shelves, full with everything you could want and even more, arranged with the utmost care.
Several stone elves, as small as Rujnoiu, used magic stairs they could carry anywhere, just thinking about where they wanted to go, to arrange the goods on top shelves too.
“Hello, Mr. Rujnoiu,” the elves say in a voice.
“Hi, Alldfrec ... hi, Zgarnatt, hello, Bolommnoc,” Rujnoiu greeted the others.
A lot of young people also walked along those corridors getting various products.
"Don't overdo it with sweets!" He told in the harsh voice to the students who went to fill their arms with sweets.
The young people obeyed him.
Rujnoiu looked at the girl and gave her explanations:
“On these shelves you find everything you need. If you ever look for something and you don’t find it, come to me. Just to me! Something like this will never happen. But if it still happens you’ll have to come to me. I can't let anyone know I don't have everything in my shop.”
Rujnoiu and the girl walked along that corridor made up of shelves full of everything.
“Look ... I also have pies of all kinds here. There on the other side I have cakes ... I recommend the ‘Cyclops’ eye’ or my favourite ‘Phoenix puff’ ... it’s a little spicy, even hot.”
Walking with the stone elf, the girl had the opportunity to see in that huge "shop" what she had never seen in her life. All you needed to eat was on those two long shelves as far as the eye can see, on both sides of the corridor. All kinds of rolls and sweet breads and cakes. Plenty of candies and chocolates of all types and for all tastes. There was also chewing gum there with various flavours ... any products and sweets you've never heard of...
"Blinding chewing gum" ...You don’t get blind from it, but if you chew it, you can look at the sun without getting disturbed by its bright light. “Jumping candies”, “Underwater drops…” you can breathe underwater until they dissolve in your mouth ... and everything else you want,” completed Rujnoiu.
The stone elf was happy that Elizabeth was so amazed by everything she saw, but as they slowly approached the end of the candy shelves, slightly frightened he asked her:
“Is there nothing here for you?”
“No,” the girl replied ...
The girl smiled softly because she saw that Rujnoiu wasn’t too happy that a client didn’t find what she looked for.
“What sweets are you looking for, my dear?”
“I'm not looking for sweets,” said the girl. “I'm looking for a pen as my dad had ... I think. A pen with a nib made of water dragon scales.”
The elf, when he heard what she looked for, breathed in relief. If it had been possible for his face muscles to help him smile, he probably would do it.
The two finally arrived at the end of the corridor with sweets of all kinds. At the end was another corridor, which also had two shelves with other types of products. And this corridor also continued with another corridor and another corridor ... it was a real labyrinth of corridors, more than the palace of Knossos had, where the famous Minotaur lived for ages. You could get lost there, if there were no magic arrows that showed the way to the exit to anyone who seemed to get lost.
“I was scared you wanted some sweets I didn't have. But you don't want sweets,” smiled Rujnoiu. “Next we have other shelves, which continue with other shelves ... I knew you couldn’t want something I don’t have because I have all the wizards need.”
“So you have ...”
“I have everything you want, my dear. Just wait a moment.”
Rujnoiu raised his wand again, made some signs in the air and recited:
“Peñota Invenient Me...”
The two vanished and appeared by some shelves full of nibs of all kinds. Made of silver, gold or diamonds, water dragon scales, stone or fire dragon scales. You could even push your hand through the water nibs and they didn’t change shape. You could even pass your hand through a water pen, but it still didn’t change its pen shape. Those made of fire, had a playful nib like the flame of a candle, and those made of stone seemed to have a piece of rock on top.
The stone elf began to search the shelf with pens with nibs made of dragon scales.
“Mountain dragon, deep pit dragon, fire dragon, earth, red, azure ... Ah, finally!”
Rujnoiu took a pen with transparent nib. You couldn’t say that pen had a tip, so transparent it was.
“Here it is, dear, this is for you. And it's a gift from me. You don't have to pay me. Anyway, I still owe it to your father for all the help he gave me. That little creature had become so nostalgic that perhaps he’d cry if he hadn’t been a stone elf for they cannot cry.”
“Do you need anything else?”
“No, thanks.”
The girl touched the nib which was extremely cold with her finger ... it was ice.
“Then let's go. So remember ... when you want to enter you say Intus Subtiliusque Intuenti and when you want to go out say Exitus. Or you come directly to me and I’ll join you. And we chat, ended Rujnoiu with a very small smile. Got it?”
“I did.”
“Then go back ...”
“Exitus ...”
And the two returned from where they left, in the little shop with a shelf and counter.
“Thanks for all, Mr. Rujnoiu. I’ll definitely visit you again. I wish you a good day.”
“Have a wonderful day, my dear.”
The girl got out of the store and left. Mr. Rujnoiu continued his work beforehand, looking just as he did when the girl entered his store. Grumpy or maybe cheerful and smiling, because you couldn’t distinguish any feeling on a stone elf face.
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