Soulseer ✔️ *COMPLETE*

Chapter Thirteen

They call this area the Bazaar. But "bizarre" would work just as well in my humble opinion. Imagine a rampaging giant gobbled up open-air markets from around the world and vomited them up in one small square. Then you will have some sense of the Bizarre Bazaar. It is a riot of colour and sounds. Even at this early morning hour, there is a melee of scents in the air.

A farmer setting out her produce for the day smiles as we stroll past. A family of fishers with several glistening fish laid out on ice wave in greeting. At a noodle stand, not yet open, Mohsin and Ximena agree that Hu's has the best lunch but argue about whether the chicken or pork dish is the one to order. When I ask about the best coffee, Mohsin smiles and nudges me into a tiny little bookstore cafe where I almost weep for joy. We walk out with steaming mugs of goodness and my day is instantly better.

We near a vendor with a push cart of tropical fruit. Some I recognize quickly. Others I am stumped by. But the sight of so much fresh food sets my stomach growling again. Mohsin sees me eyeing the fruit and approaches the woman pushing the cart. After a brief exchange, Mohsin hands Ximena and me a plate and takes one for himself.

"Thanks," I say, "But I don't know how to pay you back - the coffee and now this." I don't even know what currency they use here.

Ximena rolls her eyes. "You don't have to pay us back. As a Noviciate, everything is covered."

Okay. It IS free. "Everything?"

Mohsin's head bobs side to side quickly. "Well, it's not free," he says with a kind smile for Ximena. "The expectation is that you'll continue to participate in the Gathering when you're capable of contributing."

I look around the sprawling market. Clothes. Food. Restaurants. Bars. Bikes. Books.

"So I can walk up to any of these stalls," I say, "and they'll just give me whatever I ask for?"

"You can't be an asshole about it," Ximena mutters.

"And Diarmid'll cut you off if you've hit your limit at the pub," Mohsin adds.

Student loans that no one keeps track of and repayment is on a flexible timeline. Civilized. "Well that's the first good news I've heard in a while."

Mohsin smiles. "Inspired, right?"

We eat our fruit as we wander past more stalls and more people. I've never seen such a diverse array of souls - never mind the people that go with them.

"Is everyone here a Soulseer?" I ask. Sometimes you can tell: someone's soul is so ... developed, or structured so uniquely that you know they work with it regularly. But some Soulseers look like any random Fiver.

"Of course," Ximena says with another condescending eye roll while Mohsin swallows a piece of what I've just learned is called Cherimoya. "How else could they get in here?"

I give her a blank look. I have no idea how other people got here, Cranky-pants. I came in a prehistoric plane. Should I assume that Maia flies everyone in?

"You cannot enter the Gathering unless you're Enshrouded," Mohsin says giving Ximena a 'play nice' look.

"In - what now?"

Mohsin and Ximena share a look of confusion.

"Did your flock not teach you about it?" Mohsin says, a small horror growing in his eyes about this gross negligence.

Ximena groans. "En-Shroud-Ing," she says as though I am a particularly dull 4 year old. "If our survival really does depend on you I'm going to take a long walk off a short pier right now."