Chapter 38 - Fear

Tetsuo, Alon, and Pia stood in front of a familiar shop. The “Photo” sign that hung at the entrance seemed more worn down than usual.

Tetsuo turned to Pia, who stood trembling at the entrance of the shop. He crouched down and calmly told her, “Are you sure you can do this?”

Pia shook the nerves out of her arms and nodded. “That ugly blacksmith hag got my friends locked up for looking for answers, while she’s been hiding way worse secrets in her weird stupid magic basement. I’m gonna pay her back for all of it.” She pushed open the door entering the building. Tetsuo looked at Alon who shrugged. They both followed in after her.

Inside, Tetsuo immediately noticed one large change to the interior: the massive parchment of his wife hung up on the wall. It was the same one they had made the last time they had come here, although now attached to it was a gaudy sign that read, ‘capture memories just like this!’ To an extent, he was glad she had stayed behind with Veera to discuss more of the plan. He couldn’t even begin to predict what she would do if she saw her face being used as an advertisement for a scam.

The old lady working the shop began to greet them. “Ah! Welcome! What can I d– Wait hold on a second. It’s you again! The husband!” She waddled out from behind her desk, and shook Tetsuo’s hand. “It’s been so long. Here to make another amazing portrait of your wife?”

Tetsuo pulled his hand back, scowling. “Are you gonna overcharge for it again?”

The old shopkeeper began to recant. “I provide a service that no one else in the kingdom can provide.”

“Is using my wife's image to advertise your shop part of your service?”

“Should have read the contract…”

“You didn’t give me one!”

“Should have asked…”

Tetsuo sighed in exasperation. He looked at Alon who again, simply shrugged. He had a point, he knew what she was like already. Pia was looking at the portrait of Tetsuo’s wife wide-eyed.

“She’s beautiful…”

Tetsuo pulled the shopkeeper to the side and quietly spoke to her. “Look, let’s be straight with each other here. I need one thousand copies of one image, give or take small enough to fit in an envelope.”

The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up at this opportunity. “Very well! Let’s see the money.”

Tetsuo shook his head. “We’ll pay you 40 siv for the first one, but everything else we’re expecting for free.”

The smile dropped her face, her wrinkles forming into a frown. “You’re trying to rob me. I might be old but I’m not senile.”

Tetsuo reached down and held her hands for a second, kneeling. “We are about to make history. Think about your business for a second. If you do this for us, your business and your name will permanently be a part of Alvania’s history books for the rest of time. The entire kingdom will know that you, and you alone altered the trajectory of Alvania’s civil war, ending it.”

The shopkeeper's expression returned to a neutral state for a moment, before she pulled her hands away. “Please, I know when a youngster’s tryna sweet-talk me for a deal. Get out of my shop. Now.”

Tetsuo frantically waved his hands. “Okay, okay, forget it, one picture. We’ll make do somehow. Please. We need this.”

The shopkeeper extended her hand. “One picture, no more no less.” Tetsuo handed her a small pouch filled with sivs. “I’ll count them before I give you the card. Come with me.”

She opened up the door that led to the back of the building. She called over the three of them, interrupting Pia who had been explaining some of the Earthen logos on the walls to Alon. The three of them walked into the room with the chair and pile of sand in front of it. The shopkeeper gestured to the seat waiting. “You already know the deal.”

Tetsuo looked at Pia, who gulped before sitting moving towards the seat. Tetsuo gently grabbed her arm for a moment. “Pia, if you don’t want to do this anymore it’s okay. We’ll figure a different way out. No one will hold it against you.”

She turned to look at Tetsuo, nervousness in her eyes, before shaking her head. She gently pulled her arm away from him, and sat herself onto the seat.

The shopkeeper grumbled, “Just focus on one singular memory. Ignore the background, and keep a strong focus. It should be fine as long as you listen.”

The shopkeeper closed her eyes and rested her finger tips on the sides of Pia’s head. Pia looked nervously at Tetsuo.

“Remember what I told you,” he mouthed to her. “You can’t just remember, you have to feel it.”

Pia nodded and closed her eyes. Her brows were tightly knit together as she winced slowly trying to remember.

Tetsuo watched the sand in front of her begin to swirl. A grey stream began to swirl around the pit, slowly engulfing the color of the entire pit. Yellow sand began to enter part of the swirl, as the two colors alternated between each other. The shopkeeper let go, causing the sand to abruptly stop.

“Kid, relax. I’m not seeing anything useful here. You can’t remember and fight it. Otherwise I’m not gonna be able to do anything.”

Pia sat ashamedly for a moment. She inhaled deeply and turned back to the shopkeeper. “I’m sorry. I’m ready now.”

She readjusted herself into her seat and closed her eyes again. Her face was relaxed this time, although Tetsuo could recognize a solemnity in her expression. The shopkeeper got her hands back in position and began anew.

The sand rather than swirling, seemed to gather at the center of the pit, slowly trickling outwards into clumps that became defined masses. An obsidian pillar began to emerge within the center of the sheet, as a golden horned devil stood atop of it. Below the pillar were figures of people writhing in pain stepping on each other. Masses carried children offering it to the golden devil above. The backgrounds and buildings were defined with white, and warped around the pillar.

Pia slowly began to whimper, tears beginning to stream from her eyes. Tetsuo was going to interrupt the process, until he realized the old shopkeeper was quietly crying as well. The images on the sand transformed into masses dragging each other down, as the devil figure seemed to command them. Pale hoops formed around him peeling back the ash decorating the air. It all seemed like a horrifying depiction of distorted divinity, golden terror. Tetsuo didn’t remember it being this bad, but considering what she had been through, maybe this is what she really felt back in Remes.

“It’s done.” The shopkeeper pulled away, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Any more and I think the image would fall apart.” Gently the shopkeeper reached out and gently helped Pia out of the seat. Pia wiped away her tears, looking down at the image of torture she had made from her memories of Remes.

Alon ran up to her, crouched down, holding her hand. It seemed like she appreciated this small gesture of caring. Tetsuo walked up to both of them.

“Pia. How are you feeling?”

She looked towards the image in the ground again. She rubbed her eyes again before turning to Tetsuo smiling. “I’ll be alright.”

Tetsuo replied quickly, “Are you sure?”

“You know it’s funny. The memories are still there, and it all still hurts to remember. But now that it’s on the ground, out of my head, it seems so much more manageable you know? Like if I wanted to I could just stomp it out of existence here and now.”

The shopkeeper interrupted. “I still need that picture for the prints, but if you’d like you can clean it all up after.”

Pia shook her head. “It’s okay. I’ll be alright.”

The shopkeeper ushered them outside, back into the main waiting room. She pulled Tetsuo close and whispered. “I can’t do a thousand. It’ll put me out of business. But I may be able to manage five hundred if that works.”

Tetsuo’s eyes lit up with her offer. “Yes! Absolutely! Thank you!”

The old lady smiled while rubbing her nose. “It’s nothing. Just can’t stand to see a kid cry.” Quickly she added, “Don’t go telling people this is a charity though.”

Tetsuo nodded.

“I’ll have your cards ready in a few days. Don’t forget to tell people where you got them.”

She left and went back into the backroom of the shop. Tetsuo saw Alon trying to comfort Pia by asking more about the Earthen relics around the shop. All things considered, she seemed like she had a weight lifted off her shoulder, as she smiled showing off all the things she knew.

Pia noticed Tetsuo watching her, so she ran up to him and tugged on his sleeve. “Please make sure that nobody in Remes will suffer anymore.”

Tetsuo nodded. “I promise.”