<Yes and no... care to elaborate on that?>Alice, however, was more than a little distracted by the sight of something new and strange in the woods just ahead.
"What is that?" She jogged forward a few paces until it came fully into view, ignoring Stella's grumbling about not completing her thoughts. It was a dark and dilapidated little house, the sides overgrown with ivy and moss, with hundreds of mushrooms poking up around the base like flowers. It had a strange quality about it (as if its very existence weren't strange enough) in that the hazy, wayward light of the woods seemed to illuminate the place. Like it was trying to draw her here all along.
<A house? Someone lives out here?> Stella had twisted to look at what Alice was so distracted by, and seemed equally surprised.
"Wait." She'd finally approached the sunken front porch and realized there was a worn-looking sign hanging from the railing that read
Arcane Infinity.
"I think it's a shop."<Doesn't seem like a very practical place to set up shop,> Stella remarked. He eyed the door warily.
"I'm going in."<Is that wise?> It was a rhetorical question because they both knew the answer: No, it was not wise to enter a creepy shop in the middle of the creepy woods they'd been hunting for ghosts in for the past... however long they'd been here.
Regardless, Alice turned the knob and entered.
"Welcome!" A voice sounded from somewhere... generally deeper within the shop - a voice with both warmth and an odd rasp to it.
"Please, take a look around. See if anything strikes your fancy."Alice glanced around, seeking the source of the voice, but couldn't find anyone immediately within sight. The shop - despite looking so small and broken-down from the outside - was quite cozy within. Every square inch of the place was stuffed with display cases, shelves, and glass cases that held all manners of items. There were strings of beautiful necklaces, earrings made of the finest jewels, rings with huge, stunning uncut stones set in gleaming prongs. But there were also things that made a chill go down her spine: Vials of liquids labelled with the species names of Pokemon, a rotting and dismembered hand holding a glass chalice, a smoky mirror that she couldn't find her reflection in but a pair of unfamiliar eyes instead.
"Are you around?" Alice called out, a little nervous as she found more and more unsettling items in every corner of the shop.
"Always!" the voice responded.
"Are you interested in making a purchase?"Stella was staring up at her, his eyes all but screaming,
Bad idea!"I'm not sure," she said, trying to sound as calm and collected as possible. She was hoping to pry the shopkeeper out of their hiding place, more to reassure her they existed than anything else. She pointed at a glass case full of harmless-looking, pretty jewelry.
"Could you open this case for me? I'd like to have a look."A moment's hesitation before the response came:
"I hope you don't mind, it's been some time since I've had a customer. The last one stole from me - I just want to make sure it doesn't happen again." The sound of a
click behind her made Alice whip around. The door to the shop had closed - it'd been closed by a Sableye that'd noiselessly snuck around behind them.
"Are you the shopkeeper?" Alice asked, staring at the Sableye.
The voice chuckled.
"Oh no, he's just my partner." As she and Stella watched, the Sableye hopped up on a couple stacked boxes and pried open the display case of jewelry for her.
"Which piece are you interested in?""Errr..." Alice peered inside the case, not really interested in any of them in particular. How else could she make the shopkeeper come out.
"How about the earrings? Fuku, show her." The Sableye plucked up a pair of
large golden earrings set with a pair of smooth, beautiful deep-purple stones.
"They match your eyes."The stones almost appeared to
swirl with color, drawing Alice's attention in a way she hadn't been before. How hadn't she noticed these? They were simply stunning.
"How much for them?""Let's make sure they look good on you first," the voice said. The Sableye lifted one earring toward one of her pink fox ears. Alice expected the inventory to automatically equip them and was surprised to feel a sharp pain as the Pokemon quite literally pierced her ear.
"Ouch!" He quickly did the other one before she could swap him away, eliciting another yelp from her.
Stella had leaped out of her arms now, leaf swinging threateningly, and Alice pushed away from the display case defensively. As she did, the world swayed around her, and her heart lurched in her throat. Something was wrong.
"Oh, they look lovely on you!" Alice grabbed the case for support as she swayed again, the pain from the earrings not subsiding and instead increasing steadily into a
roar. A tidal wave of agony washed over her - from the tips of her ears all the way down the course of her body, striking harsh and fast like lightning.
Alice! has whited out.
