Howl Your Appellations

Special Something

BOEN OPEOR

The man reminds me of Beanie. He's wears the same type of glasses, big and round. His grin seems to come from the happiness from having customers. I am too taken aback from his loud excited voice that I unintentionally retaliated. Nikki smiles at the store owner and says hello.

"Out of all the shops here, you managed to find mine. This must definitely fate." The man suggests. He spreads his arms towards the sculptures he's displayed in the store, "Just pick anything you like, they're all made from the same giant coral."

I nod and look at Nikki for approval to roam on my own. Nikki lets go of my hand and I feel like a newly freed elf. The room glowed as I beamed. I wipe my hand on Cain's hood, hoping to wipe away the sweat from having held Nikki's hand for so long. While I'm browsing the selection of beautiful, colorful coral sculptures, Nikki has a short banter with the old storeman.

There's about thirty sculptures on display, each with different forms and characteristics. None of these works of art seem to resemble any creature that exists in reality. All of them are, creations of this one man. There are some that resemble some animals like a seahorse, a sheep, a snake, and a few other animals, but none of them are the exact replica, there's always something that's intentionally made different. And something about them being under a glass globe makes them all the more desirable.

After a few minutes of contemplating, I've narrowed what I wanted to buy to three wonderful choice. The excitement in me when it dawned on me that I'm taking one for myself cannot be contained. It's something that can't be found anywhere else outside of Abalone, although it doesn't seem like the idea should be niche. I wonder what kind of coral he carved the little statues from. Is it from a coral in the Inner Market or ...a coral from some place else? So intriguing, so peculiar.

So I'm stuck between three fantastic beasts: the one shaped to look like a ball of wings, the hodgepodge of insect wings one, and the one that looks like an explosion underwater. These aren't really the more tame ones since they're all just abstract concepts and not animal-like. But these are the ones that pique me the most, the more absurd one, the thought-invoking ones.

I look at what the two are doing and they are still talking about the market and the karmas. They seem to be having a very normal conversation, not so important that it will be rude if I interrupt them. I open my mouth.

"Excuse me, can I bring these over there? There's three that I like so far but I only intend to buy one." I tell them. Nikki looks at the old man and he nods.

"Just bring them here one by one. Can't risk carrying three of them at once." He says, patting the non-existent dust on the table.

It's a considerably small shop, but it's very comfortable. I don't even know how he managed to build it in between all the rubble but he did a good job. I carry the one that looks like a ball of wings all clumped up together, the orange accent of the coral makes it seem that the sharp angel wings managed to scrape through somebody's skin. That's a little morbid but I describe it the way I see it.

"Oh! I love this piece, I call it 'Wrath' but if you decide to buy it, you have the right to rename them. I run an orphanage if you like to think about it differently! Haha!" He is as peculiar as the creations he is selling.

"Fodes here tells me that it's pretty hard to acquire chunks of this coral. He says the coral brings good luck and serves as a dream catcher too. Isn't that a catch, Boen? Of course, if the sculpture's over budget, you'll have to pay with your own Karma." Nikki explains as I place the specimen down.

"Oh of course! I was planning on buying with my own Karma anyway!" I say with sweat running down my face. I still don't know how much my Karma is.

The three of us spy on the coral carving as if expecting it to move, as I muster myself to eventually check how much Karma I have. Wrath doesn't move inside its glass chamber, but there's this fear in me that it might actually be alive somehow, just not how we are alive, but it's definitely giving those kinds of vibes. This piece in particular is called "Wrath" now I really can't see why, it's more of a '' Struggle '' than wrath to me.

"I see, I see. You like this piece, yes? I saw this creature in my dream once. I was so mesmerized that I couldn't forget it for a whole month. So vivid and demanding. So I gave it a form and named it 'Wrath' after I was forced to give it a shape. It's intimidating, isn't it? " he taps his glasses, but his expression does not match his words. Even though her was forced to make his creation, he's still proud of it. It makes me relate to him in a way, there will always be times when we can't create what we want, or that we're forced to create what we don't want. But in the end, we're artists and our works are our children.

Nikki inspects the piece but doesn't seem to get it. "I think it's pretty and the attention to detail is superb! I'm more interested in how you did it than anything else!" she exclaims. Fodes smiles and says, "That's a craftman's secret."

I went back to where the other two pieces are, and was tempted to carry both back to the table, but the risk of dropping or hitting them against each other is a bit high. So I decided to take the insects one. It's a bit grittier than the previous piece but I love the variety of the piece. The three choices share not a lot of similarities except they're all balled. As if trapped inside an orb.

"Ah! That one! I call it 'The Feast'! It's an older piece. I actually sold it twice and they always returned it. Something about it attracted a certain type of flower to grow in their dreams. The second boy that bought it just gave it back without giving me an explanation." He chuckles.

"F-for real? Are these sculptures actually magic items or something?" I worriedly asked, I'm already trouble enough, we can't add magic trinkets to the mix!

"Well I don't know why you're so worried about this being magic because this whole Market and the areas around it are bound and governed by the strongest most ancient of Magic. But, no no, you misunderstand. I made these with nothing but thoughts of good luck, since I believe that Luck and Magic go hand in hand. They're basically sisters! So what I want you to take from this explanation is that: the people who bought it probably did not want the luck that it gave them." He explains, but I don't think I understand.

"But that means that the pieces can interfere with certain scenarios in the future! I'm too anxious to buy anything like that!" I tell him and, despite my reaction, his expression doesn't change.

"Well if you feel that way then I'm sorry. It's out of my control after all, what happens when you buy one of my creations. These are all just little trinkets at the end of the day." He smiles.

Nikki, with her arms crossed, looks at Fodes and then at me. She notices that I'm taking his words a bit too seriously.

"You know Boen, these things aren't really any stronger than your moon ring. It's amazing how your presence keeps it from being noticed but they're basically the same thing." she says, not telling me to buy or not buy, just stating the fact that I already own something that's just as special.

"Hmm, well if you put it that way. I really do find these things so incredibly beautiful. I could stare at them all day and never get bored. " I reply, it's true that I might be overreacting a bit. And I could always not chose this one, even though I love the detail on some of the wings.

"Just a quick question though, have you sold a lot of these already? Just asking for reassurance." I inquire. The old man didn't seem offended. He simply taps his glasses.

"I've sold more than a hundred since I started. It's not a practical business but it does bring in some interesting people. I love it when things are eventful." He replies.

"M-more than a hundred?!"

"Yup! and I have not made a single same design. Everything's unique as the moods of time and the progression of the days!"

He's an even bigger artist than me! I can never come up with so many unique designs! That or I'm just a really slow artist that wants her work to be mass produced.

I carry the last one to the table, and it is the wonderful coral explosion. I love how he smoothened some of the edges of the protruding coral to make it seem like smoke. It reminds me of a star made out of water I saw in a picture book once.

"Oh, this one's 'Block'. I just went in and made this thing. I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to make when I made it. I just went in and this is how it ended." He explains, I think it's a very wonderful piece and that it reminds me of the sea.

Maybe it's because of the recency effect, but this one, I really like it. If I kept it in my room and placed it on my desk, I'd wake up happy everyday. "It's probably pretty obvious that I like this one a lot, right? It's just a little experimental explosion but it caught my heart."

"You seem like the opposite of it to be honest. It's my mind during it's empty state. You on the other hand, have more thought and planes than the average person. Very interesting, very eventful." He nods to himself.

"Yeah, this girl's nothing but empty! I'd be careful being around her if I were you!" Nikki jabs at Fodes and they both laugh.

I never know what to do in situations like this so I just let them finish their hahas.

"So you'll be taking this then, Boen?'' He asks. I nod rapidly as a reply, ''Excellent. I'll wrap it up for you." He takes out a small box from the table ans starts wrapping the trinket. I'm incredibly happy with my purchase but now comes the moment of truth. I'll have to check my Karma before I verify the purchase.

"Oh Boen, have you checked your Karma yet? I mean you don't even really need to. I'm sure it'll be more than enough." Nikki winks. I don't know how she knows that, but her wink tells me that it has something to do with the Inner Market itself, there's no evidence to back this claim but I know a good gut feeling when I feel it.

"Transactions are completed with a handshake." Fodes says as he finishes up with the wrapping and places his hand towards my way.

"Oh, sure. Lemme just check on mine real quick." I reply to him, "I don't even know how much this is I'm a little worried."

I close my eyes and I see it.

"Infinity"

I have infinite good Karma?! This has to be a joke, or that it's what first timers get for their first purchase! That must be why Nikki isn't worried about me losing money!

"That'll be 15,363 Karma." Fodes says, his hand still in the air. I immediately shake his hand and the transaction is complete!

I bought 'Block' with my own Karma and I still have...!

I thought the real number of my Karma would show up but it's still infinity...I don't think this is normal. But I don't think this place is somewhere where I can tell Nikki. I'll have to tell her when we get back on the Train.

"That's a lot of Karma for your first purchase, Boen! But I'm proud of you." Nikki puts the goods inside my backpack basket and holds my hand again, "Don't worry, the headband's on me! Thanks Fodes, see ya next time!"

I bow, he nods, and we proceed to exit the shop, as we slip through the door I hear the old man say, "Mags and that ram would have liked to see this."

We continued to shop and traverse the winding gigantic terrarium that the Inner Market. I tried to not worry about my Karama and enjoy Nikki's guide and company but something inside me just felt a bit off. We went for hours shopping for the pack, until finally, we reach Mei's prosthetic shop.