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Chapter-56. Actual shopping
[Ezra]
"And at last..." I mumbled, staring at the building that was structured like a giant skull with two hollow eyes acting like the only two windows and a wide open jaw as its entrance. Chiseled into the giant skull's forehead were words that seemed to leer at passersby-
Bone Voyage: Alive skeletons at your service since the first death in the wheel of time.
Store open for purchase, rental and installments. Price negotiable for young aspiring healers.
The store does not give any guarantee. The skeletons are subject to running away and other risks.
A creepy din of clattering teeth emerged from the entrance of the store as though the giant skull building was vomiting some kind of ghastly, repulsive aura.
"Let's buy you a talking skeleton." I swallowed, peering at Xanthea's back as she stood into the shady frame. The faint red glowing light from the store lined her silhouette.
Xanthea slowly turned around and blankly blinked at me with an incredulous look on her face.
"What happened?" I asked her. "Go. Get your skeleton."
I waved my hands, urging her to enter the store. Meanwhile, I stood almost half a mile away from the store. And although the land post directly stood like a barrier between me and the store, I was clearly not hiding behind it. "Go! Come on. Get going. Go!"
"Alpha. You are a demon lord." She drawled, disappointment dripping from her tone.
"I am! That is why I, the great demon lord, Ezra Xipher, allow you to go on the skeleton hunt all by yourself. If you need me... which you won't and make sure you don't... I'll come," I yelled from across the street, smiling with all my teeth on display.
Thankfully, the store was located in an abandoned street and there was no one around except for one or two cloaked fingers crossing at some distance.
Turning into living skeletons was just one of the many tragic fates immortals met. Being an immortal was not as romantic as mortals perceived it to be. It was far worse because eternal life came with eternal sufferings.
Xanthea gulped hard. Her grip tightening around the pouch filled with gold coins to make the payment because skeletons didn't have a bank account, so they traded only in gold. Mostly, when an immortal turned into a living skeleton, they lost their previous identities, powers. Except for life running in their bones, they were left with nothing, not even enough strength to protect themselves.
So they were captured and sold for medicinal purposes, mostly. They were also used for festive decorations; sometimes they had a rope tied around their cervical bones and hung them on their porch.
Some were used in black magic rituals and sacrifices. Some unique and ancient skeletons, like the ones extracted from ancient ruins and mummies, were showcased as antiques in hospitals and museums. But no matter where those skeletons came from, being around them always gave me icks.
Xanthea looked at the store and then at me with her doe eyes.
'Here it comes. Don't look in her eyes. You can't melt...' Odeus taunted.
'Oh, shut up!' I growled at him in my head.
I glanced at her from the corner of my eyes, whistling, and then quickly averted my gaze to an abandoned gothic tower nearby.
I heard her take a deep breath, her heart pounding wildly against her ribs as she gingerly stepped into the store.
It hadn't even been five minutes since she entered the store and the store erupted into bouts of mad roof-piercing laughter.
I frowned. I looked to my left and then to my right and then walked closer to the store and eventually into it.
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!" The skeletons on display within floor to ceiling glass cabinets all pointed towards the scattered bones around Xanthea.
Xanthea giggled as the bones stacked themselves on one another, regaining its skeleton form.
"Nice bowling, young lady. Skully's knocked out bone to bone. Hahaha!" A skeleton spoke from behind the glass cabinet.
"Did you see the way she rolled his skull right into his bones?" Another skeleton asked.
"How can I see, Bony? I have no eyes!"
The caged skeletons chortled and goofed around.
"Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!" Skully cried out excitedly, holding his skull in his palm. "Not everyone is this pro at bone bowling. How long have you been doing this?" "Uh... this was my first time," Xanthea said with a proud, excited smile.
"First time! That's an achievement, eh? Skully, she deserves a heavy discount!" A skeleton yelled and others supported him by playing their bones like drums.
"Fifty percent discount for you, young lady," said Skully, fixing his skull on his neck.
Cheers and hoots reverberated in the store with bony claps, making an ugly, icky noise.
Oh, I hate that sound so much.Belongs © to NôvelDrama.Org.
"Really? Fifty percent!" Xanthea gasped and then beamed brightly. "Thank you!"
'Did we miss something?' Odeus asked, comprehending the situation.
'Yeah, a lot of fun,' I said. 'And one of her wins. Even though it's small, I still count it as a win.'
I was having an ick from my icks now.
"Choose the skeleton you want, lady," Skully said, walking behind the counter made of stacked up bones.
Xanthea looked around fearlessly. A few of the skeletons cracked some lame bone jokes that had her laughing and giggling like a child. She looked a lot more comfortable around those skeletons than she was around us. More reasons to hate those freaky skeletons.
"Ummmm. That one!" Xanthea shot out her finger at the skeleton that looked as though it was asleep, even in all this mayhem.
"Why that one?" I asked, walking closer to her.
She looked at me as though she hadn't noticed my presence until now, all because of those-
I glared at the skeletons, and they flinched in their glass cabinets.
"Just because it looks... easy to manage?" she shrugged, tilting her head as Skully woke that skeleton and dragged it down from the cabinet.
"That's right. Except for existing, Boredbones never does anything," Skully said. "Not as jolly as the others. Maybe because of a few minor cracks and fractures he has. But he is the obedient one. Boredbones, go with your new master and behave."
Boredbones, just as leisurely and unfazed, walked beside Xanthea, took the fit-it-all purse from her hand and, with a yawn, dived right into the purse, zipping the purse from inside.
I blankly gaped at the purse, and so did Xanthea and Skully.
Skully broke into nervous laughter, "told you, way too obedient. Anyway, that's just twenty gold coins, please."
***
"Boredbones, are you fine in there? Should I unzip the fit-it-all a little so you can breathe?" Xanthea whispered, sitting on the passenger seat of my car.
But all she got as a reply were his snores.
"Cute." She carefully placed the fit-it-all in her lap and caressed it as though putting it to sleep.
"Huh!" I scoffed, starting the car. "Cute, my foot! Let's see how cute he looks when he tries to steal your flesh and skin."
"M-my flesh and skin?" Xanthea asked, drawing in her brows.
"Yes," I looked at her. "These skeletons are always looking for fresh and beautiful flesh and skin to reform their bodies."
She gulped hard, placing the fit-it-all on the backseat.
I smiled to myself, taking the car out of the parking lot. It was just a childhood lie adults told kids to keep them away from alive skeletons. They weren't dangerous in any manner, but many considered them ominous for kids. But it was working, and it would definitely make her keep her distance from that Boredbones.
"Anyway, now that your urgent shopping is done and we still have half a day left, let's go on the actual shopping now," I said, speeding up my car on the road.
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she turned to me.
"Actual shopping?" she asked.
"Yes..."
My car tore through the air as I teleported us into the mortal realm.
"Shopping in the Virgo pack."