Dance of the Gods

When Veronica left the cafe she began wandering a bit. There wasn't any place in particular she wanted to visit, so she just started walking down towards the harbor.

While walking she watched the people passing her. Some young, some old. Some poor, some rich. Some beautiful, some average. But every single one of them amazing. 

It takes a myriad of perspectives to be able to see the magnificence of a simple life, which she didn't have. That's why she spent a lot of time observing the general populace, her ascension was closing in, and she knew that things will start to change, not just by getting more powerful, but possibly her personality.

That was the one thing which scared her the most. Even getting stuck here for the rest of her life wasn't even remotely close to the terror of losing herself.

Suze told her that people tend to change when they become ascended. They begin thinking themselves as something better, and start treating regular humans as ants. It was this thought that frightened her the most. 

Throughout her life she always said that human lives were priceless. But after the ascended gathering she noticed the changes within her mind. For example when she read the rules, there was a bit of relief that a thief would die if they tried anything.

Before, this thought never even came to her mind, but now death felt much more comfortable.

'It doesn't really matter!... It's a necessary change for this life I'm about to live... Until I don't truly lose who I am at my core, these small changes don't matter...'

Coming to this conclusion, she began wondering what time it was exactly and she quickly realized her lack of ability to tell it accurately.

'Damn, I should get a pocket watch like the one Suze or Sofie has... I think I saw a store that sold watches... Oh, yeah there it is!'

On the other side of the street was a small store with a large variety of watches on display. As Veronica approached it she read the sign above the entrance – Smith & Wesson: Watch Store and Repair.

'Huh, weird. They have the same name as those pistol makers...'

She approached the door and stepped inside. Above it, the small bell which most shops had rang, and from a backroom an older man's voice came.

"Be there in a moment!"

The room that she entered was marvelous. The watches on the display were just a small fraction of the ones they actually had, there were hundreds of them and not just pocket watches, but wall clocks and large standing pendulum clocks.

The room was filled with constant, small clicking sounds. It was magical in a strange way, and as Veronica went further inside her eyes feasted upon the mechanical inner workings and designs.

From the back small shuffling sounds came as the owner approached the room. But as he was about to step inside the sound stopped, Veronica with a lot of effort dragged her eyes away from the watches and looked towards the man.

He had a hair which began thinning a long time ago, white was the dominant color of it. On his head he wore strange glasses, it had multiple lenses which gave it the ability to 'zoom in'. His clothing was nothing special, just a white shirt with a dark brown vest and black pants.

What was interesting is that he seemed a bit stunned by her presence. She raised an eyebrow, and decided to start the conversation.

"Good afternoon! I would like to buy a pocket watch!" She said a bit more loudly than needed, but it was perfect to get the old man moving.

He seemed to realize how rude he was, and soon a wrinkly but genuine smile appeared on his face.

"Of course you are! And I'm sorry for being rude, it's just rare to see woman come to my shop, especially one that is as lovely as you!" He tried to hide his embarrassment behind the compliment, which made her smile a bit.

He moved and went behind the counter, then motioned around the room.

"Have you found anything to your liking?" She looked away towards the watches, then just shook her head a little.

"Not really, I was just bewitched by this whole store. It is truly a work of art in and of itself!" As she said it the old man looked around proudly.

"Then I would happily show you a few pieces that might interest the kind lady." His tone and demeanor changed quickly from only a small compliment, but Veronica just smiled and nodded.

The old man went around the shop and brought back about ten different pocket watches for her to choose from. But before he could say anything about them Veronica asked a very important question.

"How much does an average pocket watch costs?" The man answered near immediately.

"Hmm... They average around 1 to 5 gelt, but the better ones only start from above 10. What's the lady's budget if I might ask?"

"I think the max I can go for is 3 gelt, do you have anything good for that?" The man became thoughtful for a moment then seemed to remember something, he quickly went to the back and brought out a strange box.

It took Veronica a second to recognize the engravings, and when she did her heart nearly stopped. The box was similar that the ones she saw in Suze's safe... A material box, made to contain items with ethereal property.

The old man smiled at her, then casually flipped the box open. She instinctively took a step back, which confused the man a bit. He gently lifted out a magically beautiful pocket watch.

The design was like non other. With it's dominant color of pink, but as the light hit it from specific angles it glowed in the colors of the rainbow, and when he flipped it open the watch face was a truly stunning orange color.

On the outside and inside there was a simple, but elegant pattern. It was a rose that was weaving through the watch's every segment and bloomed on the inside.

"This is something that an individual brought in. The person said that this watch brings good luck to the user. I don't know if the lady believes in these sorts of things, but I'm willing to sell it for just 2 gelt! I think it's a fair price only because of the design... There is only one issue, it doesn't work..."

'Why would I want to buy a damn watch that doesn't even work!... That is the only job a watch has!'

The man seemed to realize this fact as well and looked a bit embarrassed, but before he could say anything Veronica reached out her hand. Even though it wasn't working, something was pushing her towards it.

"Can I look at it?" The old man didn't understand what she meant at first, but then he slowly put it into her hand.

"You said it doesn't work?" Asked Veronica with wide eyes. The man was still very confused, but started talking anyway.

"Yes, no matter how hard I tried. I took it apart multiple times, put it back together... I never got it to actually work, the weirdest part was that everything is perfectly fine with it... I understand you probably don't want to buy a broken watch, so let me get you something else..."

Before he could say more Veronica interrupted. Her voice sounded very bewildered.

"It's working." was all she said. In her hand nearly instantly as she touched it, the hands began moving. The old man was even more confused than her and motioned to show him.

"Wha-what?... This is impossible!... It didn't just started working, but realigned itself to the current time!... How can this be?!... What did you do? Is this some sort of trick?" The man didn't seem to be angry, more like scared.

'Not every person should learn about the supernatural... They wouldn't be able to handle it!'

"I don't know, but since it's working I will take it for 2 gelt... If the offer still stands of course." The man slowly and absentmindedly nodded. Veronica tried her hardest to smother the smile which tried to creep onto her face.

It was very obvious that this item had ethereal properties, and she managed to get it for only 2 gelt! She wanted to jump around from joy, but that would make the old man suspicious.

Veronica brought out the 10 gelt note, and the man quickly exchanged it to, one 5 and three 1 gelt note. She was about to leave when an other realization hit her.

'I don't know what the item's downside is... I shouldn't just carry it without precaution!'

"Excuse me, do you mind if I take the box as well?" The man was still a bit shaky, but he forced out a smile and said.

"Of course not! Take it, and come again if you need a new watch or repair! Thank you for shopping here!"

Quickly she grabbed the box and put the watch inside. Then said goodbye and went outside. After standing there for a second or two, she began walking home with a very excited and happy smile.