Pollen Theif
Make Or Break
The jeweler squinted through the glass of his display. The moonflower amulet was gone, and judging by the flash of light she'd just seen that was a sign that it had been snapped in two, rendering it useless.
"Uhm..." The nervous customer meekly backed away. "M-maybe I can come back tomorrow, if you're having trouble...?"
The jeweler glanced up at the customer, seeming to remember that they were still in the store. "Ah! I apologize, you said you were looking for a tame affliction?"
The customer glanced down at the display, squeaked in fear and darted out of the store. The jeweler blinked after them before looking back down just in time to see something small and golden flit by her nose.
"Bugs?!" She grabbed for her flyswatter, swinging it in the golden streak's direction. "There's no way, they're the size of Shingals! And I know they don't buzz!"
The door snapped shut on its own, and glowed with a magic barrier.
"Looks like the owner's got an affliction of their own!" Saolage said, shrinking against Bright's side.
Huh. You learn something new every day.
"So you don't know how to get us out of here?!"
Don't worry, I'm great at improvising. Hold on tight!
"I alreaAAAAA-!"
Bright was zooming towards the ceiling as fast as their wings could carry them. There was a tiny crack in the ceiling that led up to the attic, which Bright zoomed right into and, spotting another gap between the boards, right out of the building.
Hah! See, I told you we'd get out of... Bright looked at their back, and realized it was empty.
Saolage was still in the building.
Saolage wasn't just in the building, he was in a glass jar stoppered with a wide cork, being shaken every so often by an angry purple aphex.
"Alright, do you know how much money you just cost me?" The aphex brandished the empty half of the moonflower amulet at the jar. "I gave up the life of a pirate to settle down and be a law abiding citizen, and if I have to teach you the same lesson about stealing that was hammered into my own head? Believe me, I WILL be hammering."
Saol gulped and shrank against the glass. When you're less than a foot tall a hammer is a lot scarier to be hit with, especially if you don't know what a metaphor is.
"Well, don't worry, I can't exactly sell YOU." The aphex continued, placing the glass bottle on a shelf so she could tidy up the display of magic-infused items. "But, look, you took one of my wares, and a highly in-demand one at that. I guess you might've needed it, but in that case why not buy it like anyone else? If you're going to be thieving, I'll treat you like a thief."
The aphex lowered the glass cover back down again, and set it in place with a soft clink!
"I'm Proper, by the way." He said, dusting his hands off. "Since I already know you can talk, you're not fooling me by staying quiet, why don't you tell me your name?"
Looking back at the jar, Proper could see that the tiny Mythren was slamming himself repeatedly against the smooth walls of his glass prison and the porous cork ceiling, trying to either loosen the top or move it close enough to the edge to escape. Proper rolled her eyes and activated her affliction again.
There above its user arose a ghostly aphex torso with patterns of glowing green eyes that nevertheless moved like each one had a mind of its own. Ribbons of ethereal smoke trailed behind it where the rest of its body did not emerge, like it had crawled halfway in from a dimension of wisps and otherworldly horrors.
The apparition reached over and clapped a hand over the bottle, and the shrieking Mythren could do nothing but cower at the bottom of its travel-sized cage.
"You're going to need to listen." Proper drawled on, as the apparition carried the bottle over so Proper could speak to Saolage face to face. "Because one way or another, I'm getting my money's worth. Of all the times to try and rob me, Haunted Eve would be one of the times I'm most easily pissed off. First off, I've got money to save for the town festival, second, I've got more customers this time of year to fend off monstrosities that certainly are encroaching because of the weather, and third! ...What is that noise?"
A bright yellow dart slammed into the side of Proper's head, and grabbed on tight with feet as sharp as little needles. Bright had come back, and with a vengeance. Proper screamed and swatted at it, but that didn't loosen the apparition's grip on Saolage's bottle. No matter how he battered himself against the walls, he couldn't escape. And soon enough, Bright was in a bottle of their own.
Hey. Bright's voice through the mental link was clear, much clearer than when Saolage tried to speak through two layers of glass. Guess I blew it, huh?
No, I blew it for myself. Saolage curled up on the floor. Thanks for...coming back for me, when I asked for help. I don't know why I thought it might work.
Well, look on the bright side! Bright joked. This is the second time I've been caught, and it was your fault both times!
Saolage groaned. Shut up!
With tiny intangible ropes on their ankles, Proper had the two tied to leashes so they couldn't flee. The leeway was as tight or loose as the aphex desired, and for awhile they were barely able to avoid smacking each other with their wings.
"I know neither of you have much 'on the job experience' with fragile goods." Proper cut up little rags with scissors to make even tinier rags. "But I think if I can't even trust you to be able to wash fingerprints off of glass, I won't be able to get any use out of you at all. So get scrubbing, I have taxes to file."
And so their first day was spent scrubbing the glass as wide to them as streets were to an ordinary aphex. It was hard, annoying work, but their new employer was careful to periodically give them tiny bowls of water with small globs of honey when she noticed they looked tired. By the end of the day, the two had their work assessed by Proper's discerning eye.
"Well, you've certainly spread those smudges around. I'd give your day's work...lets see...10 ac!" Proper showed them the paper keeping track of their debt to him, pointing at a number 200 in big print. "19 more days of this, and that'll be your whole debt paid off!"
Soalage and Bright groaned in anguish of their employment.
The next day, there was a customer looking for an alert affliction. "I keep hearing noises at night, and I don't think my current power will be enough. The fire stone i bought last time has been serving me well enough, but I don't want to cause a fire in town if I don't have any way to put it out!"
"Hmm..." Proper pondered the conundrum. "If you'd like me to solve the issue of your fire magic possibly getting out of control, I'd offer you an elemental stone of water. But..." Proper leaned forward and put a hand on her customer's shoulder. "If you're just feeling nervous and jumpy...might I offer an elemental stone of spirit?"
"Of...spirit?"
"Yes, it calms the spirits of those around you, and helps locate spirits of a much more...fantastical origin. They often come out this time of year, after all."
"Well..."
"You know, could always buy both, just to be double safe."
"Oh, Proper!" The customer playfully smacked the aphex. "Classic upsale, you know how to make me anxious!" The customer gave it a little more thought. "So...I suppose that stone of spirit would be best for calming me down, wouldn't it?"
"I'll wrap it for you right away. You two!" Proper snapped her fingers. "Come here, I'm going to show you how to wrap an affliction item. If you do this properly, I'll double your day's pay!"
Bright and Saolage flitted over, and the customer cooed over how cute they were as Proper showed them the proper way to fold up his wares.
The next day, half the town was clamoring to Proper's shop to see the little workers as they did their best to clean the glass. Proper was a little miffed to see so many people who weren't interested in her wares, so she insisted they all go outside, including the two faeries of interest.
"Alright, everyone!" Proper called out to the audience. "Please get in line, if you would like to get up close to the little faeries, it'll be 2ac per person! Yes, children included, no shoving, I reserve the right to refuse money for any reason, do NOT rough-handle them, I don't want any injuries because I don't know how to cure them! Alright?"
Curious children in scribbly paper masks, teenagers in homemade costumes and adults with worried curiosity came in single file to examine the two up-close. They filled Proper's hat with coin, and at a concerned parent's suggestion their little booth was soon outfitted with a magnifying glass to deter prodding and encourage closer looking. Bright and Saolage spent the day sipping on nectar and being looked at, much preferable to the endless scrubbing of the two days prior.
By sundown, the line dried up as the townsfolk prepared to go out to the festival. Proper counted the coin and found a surprising total.
"One hundred and fourty-four ac!" Proper marveled. "You're only 24 ac away from freedom."
Sparing a glance at the two, she folded up her papers and put them away.
"Well, why not take some time off to visit that festival everyone's been clamoring about?" Proper scooped them up and put them on his shoulder. "It'd be nice if the two of you had the chance to do the marveling, wouldn't it?"
The festival was a delight of smells and sounds. Proper mainly kept the pair under a partially transluscent hat, but let them peek out to get a better look at whatever they found intriguing, or for a bite of whatever free samples Proper could get away with taking from the vendors. Saolage sipped on syrups, berry juices and hot chocolate, while Bright tore into freshly sliced cuts of cured meat, spiced apples and pumpkins.
"I could be charging you for these snacks." Proper reminded them.
But we're being so well behaved! Bright replied, cleaning their forelimbs on a napkin.
"My old village used to have a festival for this, too." Saolage said wistfully. "It was much smaller, not just our size, but we didn't have a lot of people in the village at all. This feels...chaotic."
"Too noisy?" Proper asked.
"Well, I didn't mean it negatively," Saol shook his head. "Sorry."
"You're not insulting me." Proper chuckled. "Maybe it's just my size, but this all hardly feels chaotic compared to what I'm used to. People aren't bullying or scrapping for what they want. It's...the sort of peace you can only get in a time of plenty. I worry what might happen to a town this accustomed to prosperity in a time of famine."
Saol and Bright looked at each other. "...What do you mean?"
Proper glanced down at them. "Nothing, I hope."
A day of glass scrubbing, with breaks to be gawked at by the remainder of the town who hadn't seen them yesterday. Including an aphex with an owlish snout who seemed to know Proper personally.
"They say you're keeping them against their will." Sabblack said to Proper, making the jeweler sweat. "I don't know how any mayor would feel about rumors of forced servitude in their town, especially so public as this."
"Oh! W-w-well," Proper fumbled for the paper detailing their debts. "I knew this would come up, so I made sure to keep a record of what they owed me and how much was repaid! So here, you see..."
"They've fully repaid, haven't they?" Sabblack continued. "So they can be released. Now, if you please."
"Of course." Proper waved her hand and the ghostly tethers dissipated. "N-now, you two don't cause any more trouble in my shop!"
"We won't!" Saolage hopped onto Bright's back. "So, where do you want to go?"
Bright didn't take off right away. I...don't know yet.
"You're welcome to stay." Sabblack said amicably. "We do have jobs open for pollinating the fields. So far only filled by bees, but I'm sure there's plenty a farmer who would find value in being able to more closely direct which pollen goes where."
"Oh, okay!" Saolage said, surprised. "You guys just...have extra pollen?"
"What do you mean, extra?" Proper asked, cleaned up the little curio stand. "Pollen is just a nuisance at best. Especially to people like me with allergies."
Saolage and Bright exchanged a glance. "I think...I need to tell my whole village about that offer."
It was the tail end of Haunted Eve, and the town was full of jingling Shingals and flitting Mythren. The smallest new residents would be promised warm homes with fires and pantries of honey for the harrowing winter months, and the promise of pollen and nectar aplenty come next spring. Saolage and Bright, formerly known as runaways and troublemakers, were now known all through the town as the brokers of this peace, and would be known as such for many years to come.