Fantasmia

Kestavsblir

Marchientine glided into the shop, her elegance and grace clear as she made her way through the aisles of Spleaky's Plestromel. Her cherry blossom pink robes billowed behind her, displaying her beautiful floral dress. Behind her, Carrenotaunt followed, staying in his mother's shadow, like a young boy.

He wasn't an attention seeker, and would rather have his mother do the shopping herself, as she was the opposite of her son, extroverted and her appearance was like one of a shining sun.

Marchientine was one of the prettiest women in Fantasmia, but that didn't mean she wasn't afraid to get dirty. Her profession was one in home decor and the fashion industry. She would often go to clients' homes and chat with them over a meal while viewing their home, then come back and have them leave on a special trip somewhere. The clients of Ms. Larvastr were always pleased with the results, as she kept the same items in their home and rearranged them, adding a little color and style here and there as she went. While she was at it, she would leave a plate of treats with a kind note. Marchientine loved her job as a way to make friends, and to make someone feel happy. She was a pleaser, that was certain. When she wasn't doing her job, she was helping out at community service locations. And that, that was when she got down and dirty. Almost all of the gossips in Fantasmia had heard how Marchientine had single-handedly wrangled and calmed a frightened Barnefta, which were known to be especially good at bucking people off. Sure, she got dirty, she had said to the reporters, but that was what made it fun. She would do it again if she had the chance, that was for sure.

However, that made her some unintentional enemy's. People envied her, and were sometimes rude towards her, but instead of shunting them aside, she actually recruited them and hired them as part of her service, helping them start their own business, and bringing the popularity to it. How do you think shops like Mifika's Mantelum of Animals were created?

Speaking of the shop, Marchientine was dragging her poor son there right now. As the pair entered the shop, soft chirps of colored birds could be heard. Mifika's Mantelum of Animals was a large wooden building, with all sorts of jungle plants growing around the perimeter of the shop. Inside the building, the shop divided itself into different sections, forest, rainforest, desert, ocean, river, arctic, bamboo forests, mountains, and swamps, all separated with the force fields of a Phorce. Inside of these sections were creatures, not in cages. They were all trained to be vegetarians in order to keep all of them from killing each other. Towards the end of the store was a small section of shelves stuffed with objects. Shelves leaned against the walls, and a small table held the food that was given to the animals, not at specific times, the owner let the animals eat whenever they wanted, but showed them the food to eat before putting it in the section.

"'Tina!" A young woman with dark brown hair that reached her waist, and sea blue eyes hurried over to greet her friend. "Oh, by the stars! I haven't seen you in a while!"

"So sorry, Mi," Marchientine replied sweetly, "I've been terribly busy trying to figure out how to get color-changing feathers to stay on the sash of a dress! Oh, what a dilemma! All of the feathers I try just won't work. I can't just create the plain old one!" Mifika looked a bit stunned at first, but then smiled and said excitedly "I know just what you need! However, this couldn't possibly be your only reason for coming here. You brought Ren, for the sake of the seas, what's up?"

Mifika gestured towards the boy who was currently entertaining a panther in the jungle resort. Unaware of the adults watching him, he continued to play with it.

"Ren," Mifika called, startling Carrenotaunt, "Darkslash's food is to your left. Just don't feed him too quickly, he won't feel good afterwards."

Carrenotaunt looked ecstatic.

"Sure!" The excited 12 year-old said, beaming.

"You always did have a wonderful way of naming you animal friends, hmm?" The blond female opposite Mifika said with a laugh. "Darkslash? Really Mi?"

"Hey!" the shopkeeper protested, "It's a wonderful name!" The dark haired woman pouted and gave her mentor a halfhearted glare.

Marchientine chuckled softly, her voice musically filling the room despite the quietness of it.

"I like the name," Carrenotaunt spoke up, "It's fierce and beautiful at the same time." Darkslash growled in agreement, turning and walking into the cave behind him, becoming one with the shadows.

Mifika smirked triumphantly as she heard his words. Marchientine raised her eyebrows as if to say "Seriously? That's your comeback?" while her friend merely rolled her eyes.

"Ren, whatcha lookin' at?" Mifika asked, noting that the boy was no longer playing with the panther. She followed his gaze and was met with the ceiling. "Ah," she said, smiling, "I think I know what you're curious about. That ceiling's old, Ren, it's one of the oldest ones here. You see, your great-grandfather built this building by his own hands. This was the first Fantasmian building ever created, which is exactly why it's so special to me and my animals friends. The scent is that of the past Fantasmia, from where they come from, when the land had no people. You want to take a look in the attic? It's your great-grandfather's old study."

Carrenotaunt, intrigued by this, immediately let out an excited "Yes!" until he remembered his manners. "Please," he added, "if you would be so kind."

The blue-eyed woman shook her head and chuckled softly. "You sure did teach him well, 'Tina," she said as she stepped forward, beckoning the boy to follow her. She then made her way to the wall, and pulled open a hidden door. Behind the wood were stairs that supposedly led up to the study of Marchenous Fantasmia.

"Feathers!" Marchientine called, reminding Mifika what they had previously been talking about.

"I'll just bring Ren up to Marchenous's study, and then I'll help you," Mifika replied patiently, "And before you get all worried, there are two different doors to the study, both of which I know of, and both of which we can easily access. If Ren has any trouble, he can always call to us, and we'll be able to hear him."

Marchientine sighed in defeat. "Fine," she said, "but don't take too long," she added, looking pointedly at her son.

"Sure, Mom," he replied calmly, and the two went upstairs to the study of Marchenous Fantasmia.