Nix Terra

The Vaults - 8

Lavender was sitting in the cushy armchair in her front window and reading a book when Finnikin arrived at her house.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked when she opened the door.

"Yeah, Finn, one second," Lavender had to put her coat on, then she was ready to trek across town with Finnikin. She closed her book on the history of Nixta and put her little phone book in her desk drawer. She still hadn't been able to find a way to contact Corey Gesly's wife. A hope rested in her chest, maybe Corey's family had found safety with the Aboveground government. Perhaps they were safe from the D.C.s for good.

She supposed she would find out once Corey was released from questioning. The week of the supposed attack had come and gone without incident, and the UMR intended on holding Corey until they were certain that the threat was gone.

"Lavender, everything is going to work out okay," Finnikin, seeming to have read her mind, assured her.

"You're right, Finn. I shouldn't worry so much," Lavender mused. "The UMR is taking care of everything, I should just focus on my job and my life here for the next eleven months." She finally closed the drawer and grabbed her key. "Let's go."

Lavender closed the door behind them and took Finnikin's hand to walk with him to their next destination. "So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," Finnikin said with a small smile. "But I can guarantee that it will be nowhere near those dreaded vaults. God knows you spend too much time there."

"I can't believe you convinced me to take the day off today. It was almost impossible to get someone to cover my shift. Whatever you have planned had better be good, Finn."

Finnikin nodded confidently, "It will be. You're going to have the time of your life. A chance to relax and be a normal human being instead of some stiff soldier who only studies."

"I'm not stiff."

"Sure. Oh- one second I need to tie my shoe." Finnikin let go of Lavender's arm and bent down to fix his bootlace. After a moment of reaching around on the ground, he stood back up and chucked a snowball at Lavender's chest.

Lavender, completely bewildered, took a moment to react. "You little-"

Finnikin cackled threw another one and then started running through the snow away from her.

"I see what you're doing! Finn! You're not getting away that easily!" Lavender bolted after him, bending down to get her own snowball of mass destruction.

She followed Finnikin around the corner and then threw. The bundle of snow hurtled toward Finnikin, only to stop in midair and fall to the ground. Finnikin had a mischievous grin on his face. Lavender shouted, "What did you do? That's definitely cheating!"

"You seem to have forgotten that I'm a thaumaturgist," Finnikin said, twirling some snow and ice shards around his hands by magic. "And you've engaged in a snowball fight against him." Finnikin raised a flurry of snow into the air and sent it billowing toward Lavender.

"Definitely cheating!" She dove to the side to avoid the snow blast, but still got a faceful of snow.

Finnikin's laughter intensified, and he took off again away from the snowbound necromancer.

Lavender dug herself out of the snow and eventually caught up to Finnikin, who was sitting on a bench outside a small clothing boutique. "You made it," he mused. "Here we are. The site of our date."

"A clothing shop?" Lavender asked.

"Not just any clothing shop," Finnikin stood up and approached Lavender, then brushed off the top of her head with his glove. The snow clinging to her coat floated off onto the ground.

"Wait... Is this your dad's shop?"

"Mhmm, you've never been here. Now you can see where I live and work all the time, and maybe even try out some clothes."

Lavender looked into the shop again and nodded, grabbing Finnikin's hand and dragging him inside.

The little bell at the door chimed as they entered the store, and a little machine at the front seemed to blow any remaining snow on them into a grate in the floor. There was a coat rack by the door, which the duo immediately utilized. The store itself felt bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. There were rows upon rows of coats and pants for cold weather, but the other half of the store contained more fashionable outfits for a variety of functions. The front of the store was full of accessories and knick-knacks.

"This place is adorable," Lavender whispered. She was immediately drawn to the more formal attire, outfits that were suited for the streets of Bellum. She traced her hand along the row of fine business suits and then on to the gowns. "And these clothes are beautiful. Did you make these?"

"Most of them are my father's work, but he's teaching me the trade. I can show you my collection in the back," Finnikin said. "Come on."

They went to the back of the store where a small section labeled 'Finnikin Frost' contained even more lovely outfits. Most of the outfits appeared unique with limited sizing and color options. Lavender assumed Finnikin only made one of each design instead of mass producing them like his father appeared to do.

"Do you do traditional sizing?" Lavender asked, checking to see if any of the outfits would fit her.

Finnikin nodded. "Yeah, if you know the Bellum clothing line sizes then you'll know how I size clothes."

"In that case..." Lavender ambled over to the outfits that were her size and picked out a long black dress with the necromancy insignia on it. "Where can I try this on?"

"Right this way, Miss." Finnikin gave Lavender a little bow and led her to the changing room.

Lavender tried outfits on until she'd exhausted all of Finnikin's designs that ran in her size. As she came out of the changing room in her own clothing, the bell rang and a tall man with snowy white hair entered, seeming to be in a hurry.

"Dad!" Finnikin exclaimed, "You're back! Oh, I'd like to introduce you to my-"

The man interrupted him, "No time, son. I have to get down to the vaults."

Finnikin paled and looked back at Lavender, who asked, "What happened?"

"The guard on duty was found unconscious and the door was open. Some troops are being sent to investigate now, but I need to make sure my textiles are safe."

Lavender dashed to the door and grabbed her coat, "I need to go to the vaults. Right now."

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