Shopping Trip

[Ava Brooks]

Ava had arrived in Magnolia the day before, and spent that day helping out a girl she met. The old woman was… different, but Ava was a strong willed young woman, and so help her, she wouldn’t bend to any sort of bad behavior. She had grown up being told to respect her elder’s, and she did, even if they were acting like obnoxious, spiteful children. It had been a long day, for sure. Luckily Ava had found a key she wanted to purchase. Sure, she had yet to run into one of the rare Zodiac keys, but that was alright. She wasn’t experienced enough yet, and she didn’t want to drag down a Zodiac spirit. They might not be as understanding and cuddly as her Sparkfly. She and Sparkfly were good friends by now, and soon they would have another friend to join them. A Glacial Renard. She’d seen the key, but hadn’t had the money on her to purchase it, so today she was going to fix that.

She had a nice place to stay, a friend of Rolland’s. He had friends? She wanted to question this, but it sounded rude. It wasn’t that Ava thought Rolland should not have friends, it was simply that she felt jealousy. It was a lovely young woman who left Ava sleep in her spare bedroom. So Rolland was keeping company with a lovely young woman while Ava was off doing other things… she didn’t say anything on the topic. He was a great guy, he was more than welcome to have friends. Clearly.

262/1000

[Ava Brooks]

Ava collected herself. Rolland’s day off was today, and she was going to meet up with him soon. He would come to his friend’s house and see Ava there, at lunch time. Of course it was his day off, but he still had a few personal things to tend to. Maybe he had other friends Ava didn’t know about. She would have to talk to him about these things, wouldn’t she? Well, perhaps. She didn’t want to seem clingy or inappropriate. Of course, how inappropriate could she really seem? He wasn’t her butler anymore, he was just her friend. Her older male friend. A young woman had to behave with certain manners around a single male. Was he still single? Had that changed? Ava brushed her hair a bit faster than she ought and pulled it back with a bow. She was simply not going to have these thoughts right now.

She left some of her things at the young woman’s house before heading out. She just needed a small bag of money. Enough jewels to buy the key. Hopefully no one had purchased it already. How many did they have? She knew silver keys were on contract with multiple celestial wizards, but it couldn’t be that many. She personally couldn’t remember ever running into a celestial wizard. Perhaps that was why the keys were so difficult to come by? People didn’t think to sell keys for people who were not readily available. Supply and demand, yes?

509/1000

[Ava Brooks]

Ava and her burgundy dress with light pink accents made it out of the house. She looked around town with a fresh perspective. Perhaps not as fresh as it could be, but things were different. Instead of walking around with supervision, she was walking around alone. Instead of people staring at her because they knew who she was… any stares she got were for the extravagance of her outfit. She didn’t wear these sorts of clothes when she went walking around, while she’d lived with her parents. That was because she so seldom went walking around. She loved to learn, and her parents love to allow her to learn, but only through examples, stories, books, and conversation. They were never so keen on their daughters going out and experiencing the world for themselves. Ava was very keen on doing just that.

She made her way to the shop and stepped inside. “Hello Sir,” she said politely, wearing a genuine smile. Now that her mind was temporary off the topic of Rolland, she was feeling a lot more secure. Thinking about him got complicated. The man greeted her and asked if he could help her. “Yes actually, can I see that key?” she asked, putting out her hand for it.

718/1000

[Ava Brooks]

The key looked unique and Ava wanted to purchase it immediately. Surely the fox creature would get along with her Sparkfly. For all of Ava’s seriousness and attempted maturity, she was still a girl. A young girl, not an adult. She wanted her companions to get along, and she wanted to live in peace. She couldn’t even handle extreme exertion, so why would she seek that out? Absolutely not. She ran a finger over the key gently and asked for the price. She knew what it was, but it was always good to ask instead of assuming. Perhaps it had changed. It hadn’t. Ava handed the appropriate amount of jewels over and watched as the man counted them. She knew how to give exact change, and did not mind.

When he released the key into her care Ava just kept smiling. She was doing her best to look appropriately mature, but she was extremely happy. She took the key and looped it into her necklace. Now she had two keys. When she got back to the house she was going to summon the Glacial Renard and discuss serious matters with it. Hopefully it would like her, and they would see eye to eye on things. Once things were sorted out, she would summon her Sparkfly and they could talk. She was planning all of this out as she walked briskly back to the house. Rolland would be so proud of her, she was sure of that. When she left him she was keyless and homeless. Now she was in a guild, she was back for a lovely visit, and she had two keys. Her parents were wrong, and she knew it. It wasn’t even that important if they realized it. Rolland would, and that was more than enough for the young Brooks.

1020/1000

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