Chapter 25:
I Found my Pathetic Self Transported to Another World after Having my First Love Confession Rejected. Will I be Able to Find the Life I Want to Have here??
“This should be it.”, said Violet.
She and Alex stood in front of a small shop with a sign that read “Atelier Juwelgriff’l” over its door. Inside they found themselves amidst countless shelves, full of every accessory you can think of. There was rings, bracelets, amulets, hair ornaments, earrings and other things Alex had no Idea what they were for or how you would wear it. The light was generally rather dim, but some light sources had been placed on the shelves, so every gem gleamed and painted the room in a colorful light.
“Oh look, the gems in this one are lovely.”, said Violet and pointed to an amulet.
It was a golden plate with silvery inlays on a silver chain. On the plate were five gems side by side. The outer ones were two rubies, then two rhodoliths and in the middle a amethyst. Together they made a flawless gradient from red to purple and back to red. Alex eyes were caught in the gleam of them for a moment.
“It would be perfect together with your hair color…”, thought Alex aloud by mistake.
“You really think so? Thank you! But I bet this is way to expensive for me…”, said Violet with a smile.
She quickly turned around and went up to a counter at the other end of the room. Alex followed.
“Hello?... Huh… nobody seems to be here…”, said Violet and looked around.
She was right, nobody else besides them were in the room. The counter was nice and tidy. Only a small brass bell was on top of it. Violet and Alex looked at each other.
“Rock, Paper, Scissors?”
Alex nodded.
“On go, okay?”
Alex nodded
“Three… Two… One… Go!”
Violet rang the bell. A clear and high-pitched sound echoed through the shop.
“Coming!”
They heard a muffled female voice through the door behind the counter. Then they heard something rattling. Something smashed into something. Someone cursed. Something shattered. Someone cursed even more. Footsteps, fast ones. Something fell. Someone groaned muffled through the door. Some more cursing. Footsteps, this time slower. The door opened.
“Oh, hi… hello!... welcome!... uhm… what can I do for you?”, said the woman appearing in the doorway.
She wore an apron, covered in gold and silver dust. In fact, her whole body and messy clothes were shimmering. And it was not only gold and silver. There were some tiny gemstone pieces in her long, black and very chaotic hair giving it a beautiful sparkle. Her brown eyes darted lively between Alex and Violet from her narrow eyes. She gave them a very warm smile. Alex was speechless. All the shining around and sparkling on her gave the woman a very magical appearance. Suddenly a stream of blood ran down from her nose.
“Ah shit, sorry… give me one moment.”, said the woman and turned around, fishing a cloth from her pocket and sneezing hard.
The magic was gone.
“You don’t look like Herrman…”, said Violet slowly.
“Huh?... Well, I would hope so, or else I would be all old and wrinkly… Why do you need the old man?”, answered the woman cleaning her nose.
“We were hoping he could have a look at something for us.”
“Oh, well… then I’m afraid you’re out of luck. He retired and went back home to the Dwarven Kingdom of Stahal in the north just a week ago. He won’t be coming back for a while…”
The woman finally finished cleaning her nose and fixed her hair.
“If it’s something related to jewels and accessories I could have a look at it. I may not have the level of skill of my old master, yet, but I’m damn good at what I do!”, said the woman with a smug face.
Violet and Alex looked at each other. He nodded.
“Huh… well, we came all the way after all, so yeah I guess you could take a look.”, said Violet.
“Great! I’m Yuka, by the way. I run this shop now.”
“I’m Violet and this is Alex… And this is what we would like you to have a look at.”
Violet held her arm with the bracelet out. Alex did the same. Yuka looked at them for a moment.
“Oh? Old fashioned, are we? Congratulations! When was it?”, she said.
“Huh, what? When was what?”, asked Violet confused.
“The Wedding.”, said Yuka even more confused.
“What? Huh? What do you mean?”
“These are old gnomish Soul Entwining Bracelets, used in the old days at weddings as proof of the true love between bride and groom… Huh… must be nice to have someone like that…”
Alex turned red. Violet looked shocked, her mouth open. She was speechless. Yuka looked a bit closer at the bracelets.
“But... huh… the gems are not aligned properly… They only occasionally work, right? Hey, what’s up with you two?”, she said looking up at them.
“There has to be a mistake! We’re not… lovers… we are not bride and groom! There was no wedding! This has to be a mistake!”, said Violet panicked trying to find her composure.
“Huh? Who do you think I am? I know my gnomish jewelry! There is not much left nowadays, since most of the techniques have been lost over the ages, but I do know these ones!”
“They have to be fake then!”
“Can you get them off?”
“No…”
“Do they feel in anyway uncomfortable to wear?”
“No… they… most of the time I don’t even notice I’m wearing it…”
“Did you occasionally experience strange visions… of memories, feelings, thoughts or any of that sorts, from each other?
“Yeah…”
“Then they are not fake… only slightly broken.”
“Shit… Can you fix them… and can we take then off then?”
“Yes… and I don’t think so…”
“Fuck.”
“Wait… so you really tell me, that you are not together? But the bracelet reacted? One of you put one on the arm and a identical one appeared on the others after touching?”
Violet and Alex nodded slowly.
“Huh… that’s weird…”, said Yuka surprised.
“What, why?”, asked Violet.
“Because it should not happen then… I think… I have to look that up… come with me. Let’s get those bracelets fixed up first, so they don’t randomly activate… I think you would like that better at least?”
“Yes, please!”
Yuka led them through the door behind the counter. They entered some sort of Workshop. A lot of tools lay on tables and a lot of jewelry. Some in half-finished states. A huge number of small gems lay strewn across the floor and a shattered glass container.
“Oh, be careful!”, said Yuka and grabbed a broom.
She cleared a path for them. They reached a worktable with a chair in front of it. A lot of books and pages with illustrations lay across it.
“Oh, shit… Ehm… don’t mind those… I was doing… some research…”, said Yuka and quickly tidied up.
She tried her best to shield the view with her body, but Violet and Alex got a glimpse of the illustrations. There was indeed jewelry, but some of them in some unusual places and a lack of clothing for the models was omnipresent. Violet chuckled and Alex pretended not to see.
“Well, let’s get those bracelets fixed!”, said Yuka after stowing the illustrations away.
She put on some kind of magnifying glasses and took a long and pointy metal tool in hand. It looked a bit like a screwdriver, thought Alex.
“Arms on the table please.”, said Yuka.
Alex and Violet placed their arms on the table. Yuka touched the Gems with her metal tool, and they began to gleam. Yuka touched and prodded at them gently. The gems seem to rotate a bit.
“And that does it… It should be fixed now.”, she exclaimed after a few minutes.
“But… I … don’t feel any difference.”, said Violet slowly.
“Try looking into his eyes and think of a memory, feeling or thought… anything that you want to show him.”
Violet looked Alex in the eye and thought of something. He sniffed his armpit.
“I don’t smell! I washed properly today!”, he exclaimed.
Violet laughed.
“So now there should not be any random transmission between you two, only when you want it… With a bit of training, you could even do it without being face to face.”, explained Yuka.
Violet tried to get the bracelets off.
“They still don’t come off…”, she said and sighed.
“Well yeah, I thought so… wait here, let me get something.”, said Yuka and stood up.
She vanished through another door. Alex began walking through the workshop looking at the different stuff. Yuka returned a few minutes later with an old book.
“Here, read for yourself.”, She said and handed the book to Violet.
She took it and began to read.
“What does it say?”, asked Alex coming back to them.
Violet cleared her throat and began to read.
“The Bracelets of Soul Entwining. They are an exceptional example of gnomish craftsmanship and imbued with old magic. If done correctly they will be able to entangle compatible souls and allow them to share their past, present, future and their very being with each other on a much deeper level. They are given at weddings by the groom and bride as proof of their true love and willingness to connect their lives together forever. For that to happen one of them has to simply put on the bracelet and get touched, usually by a kiss, by the other. Are they now truly soulmates and have compatible souls, a second identical bracelet should appear on the arm of the partner. To finish the ritual and strengthen the bond it is advisable to… have… a… pass… huh?... What the?... No… no that can’t be…”
“What? What does it say?”, asked Alex curious.
“What? Ehm, yeah… uhm… It says… it’s advisable to have a… passable night of sleep in separated beds and think of what you like in the other person…”, lied Violet quickly.
“Ah… that’s… nice?”
Alex shrugged and went back exploring the room.
“That’s not what is said there.”, said Yuka quietly.
“Shhhh! I know! But he does not have to know!... I can’t believe what is written here… that’s just…”, whispered Violet with a hushed voice.
“Yeah, those gnomes were a really lewd bunch… I have some more books on that subject, if you are interested…”
“What? No thanks… what I read there… was enough…”
“If you say so… well what now?”
“I don’t know… It doesn't say anything about taking the things off again.”
“Maybe if you… finish the… ritual…”
“What? No! Definitely not! That’s… no, no… It would not even work, I think…”
“You’re right… it does say here… and an unbreakable bond will be forged in the juic-“
“Shut up!”
Yuka made a smug face as she saw the flustered Violet hiding her face behind the book.
“Shit… still not anywhere closer in getting those things off… well at least they now don’t randomly activate… thanks Yuka…”, said Violet with a sigh of disappointment.
“My pleasure… Well, maybe my old master knows more… but you have to visit him in the Stahal Kingdom.”, suggested Yuka.
“The Stahal Kingdom in the north, huh… that would mean we have to… hm… maybe it’s time to face it… well, thanks for the information, anyways…”
They both looked at Alex fiddling with some strange tool he found on a table. Yuka tilted her head.
“Maybe I can help in some… other way…”, she said.
“What do you mean?”, asked Violet raising and eyebrow.
“Well in the book the way to finish the ritual is described… but what if he does it with me… someone without the bracelet? Or you could do it with someone, but then you have to find someone else, I don’t swing that way.”
“What? No! No…”
“I’m just suggesting… don’t know if it will work even…”
They both looked at Alex again. He pulled on something and suddenly broke the thing he had in his hand into two.
“Sorry…”, he shouted looking at them embarrassed.
“Don’t worry, that was broken anyway…”, answered Yuka back.
Alex put the thing back and moved on, only looking from then on.
“Well, we have no guarantee that it would work… and I doubt you would even get him to do it…”, said Violet quietly.
“What? You doubting my pickup skills? I’ll have you know that I always get what I want!”, said Yuka playfully.
“No… I… Hm… wanna make a bet?”, said Violet after thinking for a while.
“What kind of bet?”
“If you don’t manage to do it with him in… let’s say two weeks… I get something from your shop for free.”
“And what do I get if I manage to do him?”
“Well… him?”
“Hm…”
Violet leaned in and whispered something in her ear.
“Oh? Is he now? Deal!”, Yuka agreed immediately.
“What deal?”, asked Alex coming over to them again.
“Nothing!”, said Violet quickly.
“Wanna grab a bite? I know a very good place just around here!”, said Yuka, tilted her head and smiled at Alex.
“I… hm… yeah I could eat something… what about you Violet?”, he asked.
“Oh, I’m not hungry… you two go… I’ll go back and rest a bit… see you later.”, answered Violet.
“Perfect, then let’s go!”, exclaimed Yuka happily and grabbed Alex by the arm.
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