"Mise? Have we arrived yet?" Miro queried the shop.

"We'll arrive momentarily." Mise spoke softly before ducking beneath the 
counter.

"Eh? Mise?" Miro took a step towards the avatar, pondering what had made her 
duck, when a hand latched onto his arm to stop his movement.

"Miro..." A sexy voice spoke from behind.

Miro whirled to take in Reia, who was wearing considerably less than usual. 
Miro's mouth hung open.

"I'll help you pass the time..." Reia drew in closer, pressing her breasts 
against Miro's arm.

Miro's face grew red and he took a step back. "Reia, wha?"

Miro took another step back as Reia snuggled in again. He bumped into 
something soft and bouncy.

"Oh, Miro. You're so bold."

Miro whirled as much he could with his arm still locked in Reia's grip. His 
eyes bulged. There was Alea, wearing one of the skimpiest (and nearly 
see-through) two piece swimsuit he'd ever seen.

Alea slid Miro's free hand beneath her top. "I've waited for this since I 
met you Miro."

"A....A....why are you here?" Miro stuttered and jerked back a bit, only 
managing to lodge himself further into Reia's embrace. Blood trickled out 
from his nose.

"Miro..." Mise's muted voice floated in from underneath the counter, drawing 
Miro's attention in that direction. Mise hopped up on top of the counter, 
fully decked out in a skintight bunny suit.

"Guah." Miro's mind tried to fix itself around the current situation.

Mise slowly hopped over to Miro. "I'm here to serve you master..."

Miro stumbled back and fell over as Alea and Reia let go of his arms. Miro 
scrambled back to his feet...or he would have, if Reia and Alea hadn't 
resumed holding his arms, and Mise hadn't taken up a position on top of his 
chest. "Uh...can you get off?" Miro asked halfheartedly.

Mise dipped down, slowly bringing her face closer to Miro's. Miro shut his 
eyes, and brought his head up to intercept the kiss...that never arrived. A 
loud bitch laugh was Miro's cue to pop his eyes open.

"R...R...Red?"

For it was indeed Red...decked out in full bondage gear, and holding a nasty 
looking whip. An evil glint in her eyes told Miro she wasn't just dressed 
for show.

Miro struggled to stand, only to find his hands and legs bound. "Reia? Alea? 
Mise? ...HELP!"

"There will be no help." Red spoke calmly with a threatening tone in her 
voice. "I already own them. Just like I'll own you." Red drew her whip back 
and brought it down to lash Miro.

Reia bolted upright in her cot. "What the hell was that?" She yelled out to 
the cooling dusk air.

*******

One of Those Shops

Started by Farsan de Arnibia
This Chapter by Smlee

Chapter 12A: Some Like It Hot

*******

Reia hopped off the cot, pulled on a pair of shorts, a loose sleeveless 
shirt, and a pair of high cut shoes, and then opened the flap of her tent. 
What sun was left that day flared in her eyes. Reia cursed the light, and 
reached back inside the tent to pull out a wide brimmed hat.

"Reia!"

Reia glanced to her left, and spotted the source of the voice. She waved 
back. "Hello Rodel! Sleep you well?"

The man known as Rodel nodded and grinned. "You're picking up the language 
quickly Reia. But I think you meant to say, 'Did you sleep well.'"

Reia shrugged.

Rodel barked out a laugh. "That's what I like about you. Come. Let's grab 
some evenfeast before we have to head out to the dig site again."

A hand clamped down onto Reia's shoulder. Reia nearly jumped. A raspy, but 
still feminine voice spoke, "Why did you have to yell?"

Reia whirled about to view her disheveled looking tent-mate. "Sorry Mesaana. 
Not mean to you wake."

Mesaana rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Aw, forget it. I needed to get up soon 
anyways."

Reia nodded, keeping a smile fixed on her face. She was indeed picking up 
the local language quickly...but Mesaana's consistent use of expressions 
that had special meaning beyond the basic words still confused Reia to no 
end. What was it she was telling her to forget?

"We're heading off to the food tent. Care to join us?" Rodel questioned 
Mesaana.

"In a bit. Gotta take care of some things back at the ranch first." Mesaana 
pointed back at the tent.

Rodel nodded, and took Reia by the arm. "Shall we?"

Reia and Rodel began to walk. The sky was gradually darkening, and the 
temperature dropping rapidly, but not enough to be a big discomfort. Reia 
was glad she had shoes on...the sand would still be quite hot.

"So how long has it been? Since you came to the camp that is. Three...four 
weeks?" Rodel asked, breaking the silence as they exited the workers camp.

Reia pondered. Another day had passed...so it would have to be..."Thirty 
seven days..." Had it really been that long? It seemed like such a short 
time since she'd last seen Miro...

Rodel stopped walking. Reia walked a few more paces before stopping herself 
and turning around. "Something wrong?"

Rodel glanced towards Reia, and immediately turned his gaze upwards. 
"Reia...I've wanted to ask you for a while now...are you single?"

Reia blinked. "Only one Reia."

"No, I meant are you seeing anyone?"

"Reia see you." She replied innocently, the meaning of Rodel's words not 
being understood.

Rodel chuckled. "Not exactly what I meant. Forget what I said anyways." 
Rodel continued to look upwards though. "Looking up...sometimes it makes me 
wonder if there are other worlds out there, waiting for me to find them. 
It's almost like...I'm fated to go out there...maybe pick up a nice woman." 
Rodel grinned and looked back down at Reia. "Like that'll ever happen."

Reia caught the gist of what Rodel had said. He was much like she'd been, 
that short while ago. Before Red. Before the Shops. Before Miro. Pushed down 
her entire life, she'd often wondered if there was anything more out there. 
Reia flashed Rodel a 'thumbs up'. "Stick in it."

Rodel barked out another laugh. "Thanks. And the phrase you were looking for 
is 'stick with it.'"

Reia stuck out her tongue and darted ahead.

Rodel took off after her.

*********

Reia scooped up another spoonful of the bland, but filling porridge-like 
food they'd been served that night. She shoveled it into her mouth, and took 
another glance down at the map spread out on the table in front of her.

Mesaana, who'd caught up to the duo as they'd begun their meal had brought 
the map, along with their work instructions for the day. "Here," Mesaana 
indicated a circle on the map, "is where we've been digging for the past 
week. Here," Mesaana indicated another circle, "is where we'll be digging 
this week. I guess what we were pulling up wasn't what they were looking 
for."

Rodel glanced at the sheet containing their instructions. "And lucky me, I 
get to work with Reia down at the dig site. Mesaana's assigned to help move 
the camp to the new location."

Mesaana groaned. "It feels like I just put up the tent. Oh well. Better than 
digging all day, I suppose. You'll have all the topsand to deal with."

Rodel also groaned. "Don't remind me."

Reia ate another mouthful.

Mesaana leaned forwards, and indicated for Rodel and Reia to lean in close 
as well. "Y'know, all this work isn't for nothing. I've heard a rumor that 
the Goddess herself will be paying us a visit to check up on our progress."

Rodel blinked. "Wow. The Goddess? Wouldn't she just send some sort of 
representative?"

Reia grew excited. "Alea come here?"

Mesaana thwaped Reia in the head. "Goddess. G-O-D-D-E-S-S."

"You still sticking by that wacky story of yours, Reia? I thought you'd 
given up on that a while ago." Rodel's voice dropped another notch. "And you 
better keep quiet about it. Especially when the Goddess is here. I don't 
want to see you get into any trouble."

Reia's face darkened. "Alea is Alea. You see."

Mesaana leaned back in her seat. "Yeah, and I'm the queen of...hello. Who's 
this guy?"

Reia spun about in her seat and looked behind her. Her eyes sparkled, and 
she leapt up. "Miro!"

"Miro?" Rodel turned to question Reia, but she'd already run to Miro and 
swept him up in a hug. Rodel's eye twitched. "Just who does he think he is, 
muscling in on my territory?"

Mesaana bopped Rodel on his head. "Don't get so worked up. And just what do 
you mean, 'your territory?'"

*********

"Ha...ha...it's great to see you too Reia...but do you mind letting me 
breathe?" Miro coughed a bit as Reia loosened her bear hug.

"Sorry. I just haven't seen you in weeks! What have you been up to?" Reia 
had switched back to her native language, to make the conversation easier on 
herself.

"They reassigned me to the identification division. Seems I have a knack for 
identifying the artifacts they've managed to dig up." Miro explained.

"Yeah, you sure weren't cut out for manual labor." Reia grinned.

"But it was perfect work for you, being a brutish Amazon, and all." Miro 
joked.

Reia clubbed him over the head.

"Ahahaoww...I've missed this. Err...you that is." Miro cleared his throat. 
"Anyways, the reason I'm here is because I've been allowed to transfer into 
your camp. I'll be working here for now."

"That's great news Miro! It was sad when they split us into different camps 
when they took you off the digging force."

"Great timing too...have you heard...?"

"Alea is coming here. Yes. I heard. We'll finally be able to get off of this 
dustball planet." Reia said cheerfully.

"I'm kinda sorry we had to waste this much time hanging around here. But it 
was the only way we'd have ever gotten to see Alea. Remember when we got 
here? Security is tight." Miro looked a bit gloomy.

"Have you heard from Rikura yet?" Reia asked after a moment.

"Yeah, she arrived on planet shortly after we were split up. Said she'd left 
Earth five minutes after we did. Time really passes quickly here. From what 
I can tell, Alea's been passing herself off as a goddess for close to nine 
months now."

Reia whistled. "How'd she manage to pull that off? Why'd she want to pull 
that off anyways?"

"Well...I found out that too. She's managed to pass herself off as a 
goddess, even without having to demonstrate her powers...because she claims 
that the necklace we've been searching for these past seven weeks contains 
her spiritual essence. The reason she's up and about now though, isn't 
because her necklace has been found...it's because the neighboring country 
to the north seems to be revving up for an invasion. They've probably been 
planning it for a while now, but because of the 'Goddess' appearance, have 
held off on it. But she hasn't put on a single display of power to date, and 
I guess they've lost their fear of her."

Reia nodded. "Sounds like she's in a bad spot. But what I cannot figure out 
is why she's keeping up the charade this long? Why not just leave? She's got 
to know that now is not the best time to be drawing attention to 
herself...and what exactly is the true significance of this...necklace you 
said?"

"Yeah...but Rikura is working on that. According to her, the necklace is 
something that was given to Alea by Reill, Reill being her boyfriend or 
something...and right now Rikura's managed to get a job as a palace guard. 
How she pulled that off, I'll never know. But she's trying to work herself 
closer to Alea to find out what's going on. Still no luck, although she did 
say that she'd be one of the guards on Alea's procession through the camps."

Reia smiled brightly. "Then we'll be able to see Rikura again! It's been too 
long..."

"Um...Reia?" Rodel's voice spoke from behind.

Reia turned around and switched back to the local dialect. "Yes?"

"Well...um...it's almost time to head off to the dig site. Are you going to 
be much longer?" Rodel seemed a bit flustered...not at all like normal...

"Ah!" Reia gasped. "I rude. Miro, this friend Rodel. And this" Reia gestured 
to Mesaana who was finishing off the last of her food. "friend Mesaana."

Mesaana waved her hand. "Yo."

"Rodel, this friend Miro. Reia come with him here to work." Reia explained.

"Oh..." Rodel looked a bit relived, and then a smile retook his face. "So 
you're Reia's friend? And you know other languages? That'd neat..."

"Huh....I guess..." Miro shrugged his shoulders. "Anyways, I've been 
transferred into the identification division at this camp. I heard Reia was 
also here...so here I am!"

Rodel nodded. "I'd love to stay and chat, but me and Reia have to work 
tonight. Mesaana'd be more than willing to give you company...till they 
begin to migrate the camp that is."

Reia gave Miro another small hug. "We going. See later!"

Rodel and Reia walked off.

Mesaana motioned Miro over. "So...is Reia your girlfriend or something?"

Miro blushed. "N...no...well...um...I don't think so..."

Mesaana smiled cutely. "Oh? You're single then?"

Miro nodded.

"There's no problem then! So...what are you doing after work tonight?"

"..."

*********

Yukiri pounded on the blank wall. Even after all Miro had told her about the 
shops, and their abilities, it had been hard for her to believe that a whole 
building can up and move...let alone into another dimension. Rikura had 
called her several minutes ago, to tell her that she and Miro were leaving. 
Yukiri had immediately jumped into her car, and sped off to intercept her 
son, only to find herself too late. "Dang it!" She yelled into the open air.

"Is there something wrong? Miss?" A hooded figure seemed to separate itself 
from the shadows at the end of the street.

Yukiri jumped. "Uwah. You scared me. What the heck do you think you're 
doing?"

"You...are you looking for your son? He is the owner of the shop that was 
here?" A gnarled hand swept up to indicate the now blank wall.

Yukiri remembered her son had told her to keep the shop's secret...a secret. 
"What shop? Do you see a shop here?"

"Don't patronize me!" The hooded figure snapped. "I know far more than you 
can possibly imagine. Your son, Miro is the master of the shop that was 
parked here just a few minutes ago. His friend, Rikura, also a master of a 
shop, also left from her location, shortly after that. And you...Ms. Yukiri 
Masa...you wanted to go with him, didn't you? The thought of losing him a 
second time...much like the first...how sad."

Yukiri trembled. "You...who are you?"

The gnarled hand swept upwards and drew back the man's hood. Shocking green 
eyes pierced Yukiri's soul, and made her feel...cold.

Yukiri's voice quavered. "Wh...wha...wha?"

The man cackled. "My name...I have not spoken it for so long, I'd nearly 
forgotten...is Reill. And you have nothing to fear from me. I'm here...to 
help you."

"Help?"

Reill slipped a ring off his right hand. "Take this. Wear it at all times. 
It will protect you from what is to come."

Yukiri cautiously approached, and retrieved the ring from his palm. It had a 
plain silver band, and a small green gem, maybe an emerald, inset inside.

"Although you cannot see it, the gem is marked with a protective rune." 
Reill explained to clear up any confusion.

Yukiri eyed the ring again, and eyed Reill suspiciously. "Why are you giving 
this to me?"

Reill cackled once more, longer and louder than the first time. "You will 
come to have something I want. I'd like for you to stay alive until then. 
Now hurry, and put it on. You don't have a lot of time left."

Yukiri didn't quite understand the reasons, but for some reason, she felt 
Reill was speaking the truth. She slipped the ring onto her ring finger, 
where her wedding band had once found its home.

"Take this as well." Reill slipped a package out from underneath his robes. 
"But do not open it. Carry it with you at all times. She will come for it 
soon."

Yukiri accepted the package.

"Now I suggest you run, lest you wish to end your life here and now." Reill 
pointed to the empty alleyway next to the wall.

"Why? What's going on?" Yukiri asked, still a bit bewildered by the entire 
situation.

"I don't have time to..." Reill began.

"You're right. You don't have any time left." A shop had materialized where 
Miro's had been moments earlier. A blond man stepped from within.

"Weren. You look healthier than you did last I saw you." Reill cackled.

"Reill. You look slightly saner than last I saw you. I assume you know why 
I'm here?" Weren drew Reill's old Traveler's sword.

Reill drew his hood back up onto his head. Yukiri took note of the red tint 
that had found its way into his eyes.

"Our business is concluded. I have the sword, and the means to empower it. 
You no longer need to live."

"Aww...you're no fun, Weren! You just want to eliminate the wild card in 
your plans, eh? Hate to be the one to tell you this, but there are others 
you haven't taken into account as of yet..." Reill took a step forwards.

Weren scowled. He turned his attention to Yukiri. "Flee now mortal. I don't 
want anyone getting in the way."

Reill had scared her. The newcomer...Weren...scared her a lot more. Yukiri 
took off running into the alley.

Reill withdrew a dagger from a holster in his boot. He yawned, as if bored. 
"We going to do this some time today?"

"Quiet you. There is no escape, and I'm not in any particular rush to finish 
you off..." Weren smiled gleefully at the thought of the tortures he'd be 
able to subject Reill to.

Reill laughed. "Why don't I save you the trouble then?" Reill reversed his 
grip on his dagger, and plunged it into his own stomach.

Weren gawked. "Now I know where they get the name 'Mad One' from..."

Reill collapsed down to one knee. He jerked the dagger out and crawled his 
way over to Weren. "Here ya go, buddy. Think of it as a keepsake." Reill 
pressed the dagger into Weren's hand (the one without the sword) and 
collapsed to the pavement.

"...That...was unexpected." Weren said, after a moment. Weren checked 
Reill's cooling body to make sure that the ex-Traveler was dead, and then 
calmly withdrew to his shop. A few moments later, and the shop disappeared.

It was nearly a day later when Yukiri took the chance and went back to where 
she'd encountered the two men...what she was greeted with was a message, 
scrawled in blood upon the vacant wall. 'Dear Yukiri. I'm doing fine. Don't 
forget the promise. Reill.' It was a few minutes later, after Yukiri had 
read the message and left that a robed figure withdrew from the shadows 
placed his hand upon the wall, drawing what blood was there into his body. 
The robed figure cackled before vanishing.

*********

Red tapped her fingers on the table in front of her. She watched as sand 
dribbled through an hourglass.

"Mistress? Mistress Red? Do you need anything?" A shy voice belonging to one 
of Red's maids came from the doorway to her chambers.

Red watched the sands for another minute before slowly nodding. "I think 
they've had enough time. Fetch me the hound."

The maid bowed and backed out of the room.

*********

Miro and Mesaana were chatting quietly as Reia and Rodel returned.

Rodel punched Miro in the arm. "It's almost like you didn't go to work."

"Ow....I assure you, I did." Miro rubbed the arm rapidly developing a 
bruise.

"Oh! And you'll never guess what Miro found out!" Mesaana cut in gleefully. 
"The Goddess will be here this morning!"

Miro nodded. "An advance messenger from her entourage arrived no less than 
an hour ago."

Reia jabbed Miro. "Us see Alea?"

Miro nodded enthusiastically. "All that work...pays off today!"

Mesaana sighed. "Don't tell me you believe all that junk about Alea that 
Reia's been spouting!"

Miro blinked. "Why not? It's the truth."

Rodel sighed as well. "Even if it was the truth, something bad might happen 
if someone were to hear you saying something like that. Blaspheme is 
blaspheme."

A young man rushed up to the four and excitedly yelled out, "She's here! 
She's here!" before rushing off to tell another group.

*********

Miro, Reia, Rodel, and Mesaana rushed into the thickening crowd to get a 
good view of the Goddess/Alea. It was nearly fifteen minutes later when the 
procession had made its way to where they were standing.

Miro and Reia moved in closer, but were immediately stopped by the guards.

"Hey! Alea!" Miro yelled out. "Alea!"

The procession halted as Alea turned her attention on Miro.

Miro waved happily as he took note of the recognition is Alea's eyes.

Alea's eyes hardened and she looked away. "Who are these two to presume to 
speak with me? Detain them."

Miro's jaw dropped as his arms were taken up by guards. He looked helplessly 
to Reia, who was now finding herself in a similar position.

Rodel pushed his way closer. "Wait! Please let them go...they...um...have a 
fever! Yes! And they still wanted to see you...but they've been having 
strange delusions..."

"Yeah, he speaks the truth! Listen to him please!" Mesaana backed him up.

Alea waved her hand dismissively. "Detain those two as well."

"What the...?" Rodel yelled out as he and Mesaana were dragged out too.

*********

"...Well that went well, don't you think?" Miro asked his cellmate, much 
later.

Rodel glared daggers at him.

"She recognized us...so what's going on here?" Miro sat down cross-legged, 
and pondered.

A guard walked into the area, and relieved the other guard on watch duty. 
After the old guard had gone out of sight, the new one walked up to the cart 
holding Miro and knocked on the cage door. "Yo. Miro."

Miro's face brightened again. "Rikura! You managed to swing prison duty?"

Rikura removed her helmet and held up her fingers in a victory sign. "Yep. 
One jail break, coming up."

Rodel blinked. "Miro, you know this person?"

Miro nodded. "Rikura...I've been thinking. Leave me in here."

Rikrua nodded. "Sure, I'll have you out in a...what?"

"Don't blow your cover. Try to get closer to Alea. Find out what's going on. 
After all, aren't you supposed to be her friend?" Miro explained.

"I suppose...that makes sense." Rikura conceded.

"Oh, and can you check on Reia for me? I'm just a bit worried." Miro asked. 
Rikura nodded and moved off to another jail cart.

Rodel growled. "You know, Reia wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't 
for you. In fact, neither would I. What I did, I did to try and save Reia. 
Not you. I'd like to make that clear right now. I don't like you. Period."

Miro sighed. It was going to be a loooooong stay in the cell...

*********

Alea threw herself face first down on a cushion the moment she was in the 
privacy of her own tent. Tears leaked down her face, but she wasn't quite 
sure why. It wasn't as if she cared what happened to Miro and his 
friends...still, it had been quite the shock to see them again. That must 
have been the cause of the tears. Just the shock.

Alea sat up and wiped her eyes. She had to be strong. To keep up the facade 
of being a goddess. After all. They'd yet to find her necklace. She'd 
promised Reill that she'd never let it go...

Alea's tears sprung up again. Reill. What would he have done in this 
situation? Alea no longer knew. Why had he changed so much? Was it something 
she'd done?

In the attempt to put Miro and Reill out of her mind, Alea glanced over at 
the stack of reports she'd been given at her request. The armies were 
amassing to the north. There was no doubt they intended to strike. And 
whatever attack was coming would no doubt commence in a matter of days. Yet 
instead of preparing the troops for war, they were out here, digging holes 
in the attempt to find her necklace...

Alea's head sunk into her hands. Why was everything going so wrong just 
because she wanted to make herself right again?

*********

"I've brought him, as requested." The shy maid reported while bowing. She 
handed over the end of a leash to Red.

Red yanked it, bringing the hound closer. "You. I've got an assignment for 
you. You will seek out, and retrieve this person." She held out a picture of 
Alea. "If you succeed, you shall receive your reward."

The Traveler at the other end of the leash looked up to Red, tears in her 
eyes. "Thank you mistress. I shall not fail. I will regain my fate."

*********

Author Notes:

Exams make for a hard time to write. So...I kinda rushed through the last 
little bit there...Thanks go to Jex for last second pre-read, and the title. 
^_^

Ok! Some things to explain, in case it wasn't abundantly clear.

1) Time on this world is much, much, much, much faster than time on Earth. 
Hence, Alea has firmly entrenched herself in the society of these people, 
and Miro, Reia, and Rikura have been on the planet for over a month.

2) Why are they working anyways? They cannot get close to Alea normally, so 
they've had to resort to working (The Goddess came to visit). And it all 
works with the Shops as well, since technically, you can sell your services. 
A steady amount of energy would have been supplied to Mise and Mog, so there 
ain't nothing to worry about there.

3) New characters: Meant to be only temporary. It's not like they aren't 
going to meet anyone new on any worlds they may travel to. And yes. I am 
evil for making Rodel fall for Reia.

4) What's with the dream? Well...nothing. I just remembered that dream in 
Chobits...and decided to write up my own version. And then for the twist, 
there may have been a hidden meaning to it. And for another twist, Reia was 
the person dreaming. Blame it on the heat. ^_^ And maybe a little influence 
from her bond with Miro through the Shop? (Oh, and Rikura isn't in there for 
a reason...and that reason is...um...I forgot her?)

5) Yukiri has a role to play yet...what that is, I have not defined. Reill 
is either still alive and kicking (which is what I'd do) or that robed guy 
is someone else. Other authors, you decide. Weren's been warned to broaden 
his horizons, but when he thinks his plan is perfect already, why make a 
change? :P

6) Red...is she a nice person, or isn't she? She gave Miro and Co the time 
to...do whatever...and now she's actively seeking Alea herself. Or at least 
having the 'hound' do it.

7) The 'hound' is a Traveler...who wishes to regain her ties with fate. Red, 
being the powerful Shopkeeper that she is, may (or may not) actually have 
the ability to reconnect her. And so, in the attempt to make an adequate 
'payment', she pimps out her services. Nifty, eh? As for why she'd want to 
do it...who knows? Maybe she's just tired of living without a fate?

In conclusion, I have a sick, twisted mind. What's up with all the 
Red/Dominatrix allusions I stuck in? Blah.

Sunday, April 13, 2003
(Sometimes, things are better left unwritten. This might be one of em.)