Day 1 (Part 2)

They were seated in a small break room behind the counter, fitted with a basic sink, refrigerator, two beds, and a door that led somewhere in the back. Sora took out two cups from a cabinet, and served Jess his own purple drink he brought with him.

“Bolvati fruit, some of the tangiest stuff in the market. Great first choice.” Yhorn took a large swig and roared, as Sora clapped. “Try the Yinghst flavor next, the- uh- red one.”

Jess took a small sip of the purple drink. It was indeed tangy, extremely so. It tasted like grape, with the tangy density of seven oranges squeezed within. He fought the urge to spit it out.

“So, welcome to Ghellerth, Bazaar of Dreams. I’d recommend just following Sora around on your first day, considering you’re likely to get scammed all over the place. But personally, I’d stop by Rupert’s to get a map. It’s scanned directly in your brain, so you don’t even have to carry anything anywhere.”

Just then, a Ding pinged inside the break room, and Jess heard the store door slide open. Sora scrambled out her seat to greet them immediately, and her conversation with the customer became muffled as the door to the break room closed shut. Yhorn took another sip of the juice.

“So,” said Jess, fighting to keep the shakiness out of his voice. “How can I leave this place?”

“You want to leave? You just got here!”

Jess nodded.

“Well, every Master gets a button out in case of emergencies. Whoever presses it can leave whenever they want, right back to where you inserted that coin. And by the way, I’m the Master of this shop, since, well, I built it myself.”

Relief washed over Jess.

“Then, may I press it?”

Yhorn pressed his hand to his chin, thinking.

“Nah.” he said, after a while. “At least not today. I want you to experience the Bazaar.”

The relief came and went.

“Excuse me, but I really have to get home tonight. Everyone’s going to be worried sick, and they’re going to call the police and I also have a test to take soon that I need to study for and-”

“Everyone’s going to worry? After the shit you pulled on your brother?”

Jess flinched.

“Besides,” he continued, “You won’t have to worry about missing anything here. Midas’ rule stops time while we’re inside here, so not a single second will have passed on Earth.”

“Midas?”

Yhorn tapped his finger on the table.

“Midas is- Marcy really didn’t tell you anything, did she? Midas created the Bazaar we’re standing in. Legends say he was a hero, god, deity, everybody has their own interpretations, depending on who you talk to. But a few things are the same about him no matter who you ask. Midas created Ghellerth to let the best merchants from worlds apart compete in his challenge: be the first to make a million Deni within 3 weeks. Do you know what Deni is?”

Jess shook his head.

“Sheesh. It’s the coin I gave you. It’s the ticket to this place, and its sole and only currency. Useless anywhere else, since when the 3 weeks are over, we only get to keep our one to come back in the future.” Yhorn took out a coin from his suit, and spun it on the table. “Anyway, the story goes, Midas met such a charismatic merchant during his travels, that he found himself buying everything that merchant had to offer. He was penniless after, but happy about everything he had bought. Midas found himself using everything he got to good use, and experienced an unmatched quality of life improvement. He never met that merchant again, but he found himself impressed by what it takes to be a merchant. In his words: ‘The best merchant is one that moves, and one that knows all aspects of an individual to a level in which the individual themselves would not know.’ If you ask me, I think he got scammed and he just created this challenge to find that guy again, so he can beat the shit out of him.”

Sora walked in that time, and jostled Yhorn.

“Don’t say that Dad, he’s gonna get the wrong idea.” Sora walked by and grabbed a bottle of water from a refrigerator behind Yhorn. She tossed it to Jess, who happily obliged. She sat down between them.

“That’s a cool story and all, Mr. Yhorn, but I’d really appreciate it if I could just leave right now.”

Yhorn grinned.

“I mean, if that’s the case, sure. But are you sure you don’t even want to know the prize?”

“Prize?”

“Come on, Jess. It’s not a challenge without a prize. Midas offered one simple thing to whoever wins the challenge. They get the chance to get whatever they wish. Of course, there’s some rules to it. You can’t wish for anything evil, and as vague as that sounds, it seems to have worked out for most people for their worlds. The last time someone from your world won was a long time ago, what was his name…Weller, Washerton, or something.”

“Washington, Dad. George Washington.”

“Oh yeah, him. Is he famous?”

Jess nodded slowly. It’s all he could do.

“5 years ago it was some guy from somewhere I’ve never heard of. Point is, you won’t get this chance again anytime soon. Midas opens Ghellerth every 5 years, and you’d be one of the first to voluntarily leave on the first day. A stupid decision in my opinion, since you can’t come back even with a coin. Once you leave, say goodbye for 5 years.” Yhorn stretched his back and yawned. “I mean, either way it’s getting pretty late. We’ll close up shop for the night soon, so at least do Sora a favor for saving your ass back there and think about helping out- I mean- hanging out at the Bazaar tomorrow. I’ll go grab the spare bed.”

He stood up, Sora in tow, and went back to the front store to dim the lights. Jess took this moment to drink water, but he found himself taking a swig of an empty bottle. The world as he knew it began to slip from his brain, but he took a deep breath, anchoring himself. He balled his hands into a fist, and opened them again. He felt each nail against his palm. He closed his eyes and opened them again. He was present.

Jess took out his phone from his pocket, having almost wholly forgotten it was there. The battery had gone, and there didn’t seem to be any outlets around. He fished his pockets and took out his wallet, where besides his ID, was a picture of the earth from the moon’s surface. He took out the picture and pressed it to his forehead, breathing slowly.

He let himself float in his mind, and let the glass dome slide over his head. The air inside the helmet was actually one of the cleanest sources of air anywhere, since it was pure oxygen being fed. He let himself breathe that air, and hear the serene silence of the vacuum of space. This was his true goal.

He opened his eyes again, back at the break room behind Yhorn’s shop.

Jess made his decision right then.