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fandomtownies2014-03-05 09:18 am
iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomtownies2014-03-05 09:18 am
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The Magic Box, Wednesday
Elsa still wasn't completely certain how she'd gotten herself talked into this. Rinoa, her manager, was apparently some force of nature unto herself, and after a single conversation, suddenly Elsa had found herself agreeing to take a job. In a magic shop, of all places.
Granted, so much of her job at the moment still involved cleaning and sorting. She was hardly an expert on anything but the math it took to count change on a purchase. But she had stumbled across a few books in the back, written in runes, that were holding her attention, now.
One of them had actually appeared to be some manner of spellbook, and she closed it quickly and set it aside to give to Rinoa later, with a warning about what was within it. Another one was little more than a misplaced cookbook most likely shipped here by accident, and while Elsa was no cook, she was going to keep that one for herself. No sense marketing something here as something it was not, unless soups and salads held magical properties that she'd previously been unaware of.
Well, that, and she really just missed reading things in runes.
[Open, OCD-free!]
Granted, so much of her job at the moment still involved cleaning and sorting. She was hardly an expert on anything but the math it took to count change on a purchase. But she had stumbled across a few books in the back, written in runes, that were holding her attention, now.
One of them had actually appeared to be some manner of spellbook, and she closed it quickly and set it aside to give to Rinoa later, with a warning about what was within it. Another one was little more than a misplaced cookbook most likely shipped here by accident, and while Elsa was no cook, she was going to keep that one for herself. No sense marketing something here as something it was not, unless soups and salads held magical properties that she'd previously been unaware of.
Well, that, and she really just missed reading things in runes.
[Open, OCD-free!]
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"Oh!" He smiled, knowing the girl behind the counter. "Hello, Elsa."
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She had no idea if she actually could or not, of course. Any questions about the merchandise would likely be met with an offer to look it up, at best.
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"Not really," he answered cheerfully. "I just hadn't seen this store open before, so I thought I'd check it out. What kind of magic do you sell?" He eyed the shelves curiously, his hands tucked prudently behind his back just in case.
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That was all very helpful, Elsa. Well done.
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It seemed like a fair guess. To her, at least.
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Or at least something they tended to use for anything.
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There were some words in that explanation that stood out a little more than others, yes. Elsa wasn't going to let herself become too concerned. Not just yet. But curiosity wasn't going to let her let that explanation go without asking, first.
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Look, she might have been a princess who was more than simply 'financially sound,' but she did have a pretty decent grasp on how economics were supposed to work. It was kind of important for little things like 'not someday driving Arendelle into complete financial ruin.'
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Which was probably an important job, somehow?
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It seemed like a perfectly valid question to Elsa!
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Because really, "Loki" explained so much.
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"And the Loki that's a student here... his brother is Thor," she remembered, though it still seemed odd to say. "I think the goats that were at the dance were a little small to be Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóst, though."
But then, what did she know? Maybe they just came back a little smaller after Thor devoured their flesh every day.
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Literally or figuratively.
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It was a princess thing.
"How is your search for bloodstone polish going? If we don't have any, I can probably talk to Rinoa and get her to put some on the next order."
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Elsa slipped from behind the counter and walked over to the shelf as well, crouching down low to see if maybe it was somewhere near the bottom.
"Something to keep an eye out for, aside from its purpose, perhaps?"
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At least, she was pretty certain that she could make it work that way. It wouldn't do to be a retailer of magic supplies, and then not have something as basic as, er, rock polish.
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And what good was a magic shop if they didn't carry the one thing Elsa's only customer so far had actually come in looking for?
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"So are you finding everything?" she asked. "Is the cash register working okay? How are you liking it so far?"
It was a retail job, Rinoa. Calm down.
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There was a pause, and then she reached for the book she'd set aside earlier, offering it to Rinoa.
"I did find this, though. You might want to put it someplace safe, even if most people on the island can't read what's written in it. It looks like it might have actual spells inside."
And that on its own was an interesting phrase to use.
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"It's Norse," she replied. "And I don't think people even use these runes anymore. Not in the modern day. We still use them, back home. And the spells vary. There's an entire section on summoning trolls..."
Because of course that one had caught her attention. Not that she was particularly eager for another troll experience, mind. Having one as a janitor at the school was more than enough for her.
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Especially if any of the spells mentioned healing, or strange rifts.
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And she really wasn't certain if there were certain spells she'd feel comfortable translating for anyone to use. That would require a far more thorough read-through of the book than she'd given it.
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"I could certainly do that," she agreed. "There are probably even a few more harmless spells in the book... I could try translating one of those both ways, to see if it will still work if I bring it over into a language you can understand. That way, if there is a crisis, we won't have to waste time trying it in English and Norse."
And by 'we,' of course she meant 'Rinoa,' because she wasn't going there. Nope. No way.
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That bit might be a little urgent, was all.
"Which reminds me. If there ever is a crisis, stay in the dorms, they're usually safe. And if you're not in the dorms, look for a guy who's like --" She put a hand several inches higher than herself. "This tall, messy hair, wears a lot of black leather and carries a big sword with a gun-thing on it. He'll look really grumpy but you just go tell him to protect you and he'll do it."
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She had kind of been hoping that maybe they were something that people exaggerated to frighten new students, the same way they'd... absolutely... been telling the truth about the rest of the insanity.
...
"I'll take a look through the book to see if there's anything about portals right away, if you like."
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"Something's going on," she said. "I don't know what yet, but something's ... brewing. It's usually safe here, but sometimes things get a little ... iffy. And when that happens, just stay in the dorms and wait it out, okay? There are people here who are really good at this whole saving-the-world mess."
She lifted a shoulder. "Squall's one of them," she explained. "He's my Knight. Sworn to protect me, although I don't exactly need protecting the way you might be thinking. Anyway. He comes off all 'grr, I hate things' but that's just how he acts. He's a big softie, and he'll make sure you're okay. If it makes you feel better, tell him that you know me and I'd be really sad if you were hurt, and he'll hop to."
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'Something' going on seemed a bit foreboding. Made all the more that way by the fact that Rinoa didn't seem to know what the threat actually was.