The Magic Box, Wednesday

[iceolatedqueen]

Elsa still wasn't completely certain how she'd gotten herself talked into this. Rinoa, her manager, was apparently some force of nature unto herself, and after a single conversation, suddenly Elsa had found herself agreeing to take a job. In a magic shop, of all places

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[voiceoverdue]

In the months that Cecil had lived here, he couldn't recall seeing a magic shop before. So, since he was at loose ends, he decided to stop in and see what they had.

"Oh!" He smiled, knowing the girl behind the counter. "Hello, Elsa."

[iceolatedqueen]

"Um... hello," Elsa offered, along with a polite but somewhat curious smile at the man who apparently knew who she was. A teacher, perhaps? She was so bad at getting out and socializing, she'd managed to completely miss whoever this was. "Can I... help you with anything?"

She had no idea if she actually could or not, of course. Any questions about the merchandise would likely be met with an offer to look it up, at best.

[voiceoverdue]

Cecil wasn't bothered by her lack of recognition; they'd only met a couple times, after all, and it wasn't like he was particularly memorable or anything.

"Not really," he answered cheerfully. "I just hadn't seen this store open before, so I thought I'd check it out. What kind of magic do you sell?" He eyed the shelves curiously, his hands tucked prudently behind his back just in case.

[iceolatedqueen]

"Herbs and stones and a few books about spiritualism, mostly," Elsa replied, glancing toward the shelves herself. "There are a few sets of cards that are meant to be oracles of a sort, and I stumbled over a box of incense earlier that made me sneeze..."

That was all very helpful, Elsa. Well done.

[voiceoverdue]

"Oh!" Cecil brightened. "Do you know if you have bloodstone polish? I meant to get some from home on spring break, and...well, I kind of forgot. Mine are looking a little worse for wear," he added, slightly embarrassed.

[iceolatedqueen]

"Bloodstone?" Well, there was a thing she'd never heard of before, though if she was going to work in a magic shop, she was going to have to learn. "I'm not entirely certain... it is my first day here. But if we did have it, it would probably be over by the semiprecious stones, I think. For... maintenance purposes?"

It seemed like a fair guess. To her, at least.

[voiceoverdue]

"Yes!" Cecil beamed. "Thank you!" He looked around for the stones.

[iceolatedqueen]

"To your left," Elsa supplied, helpfully. "If you don't mind my asking, though... what is bloodstone? I don't think that's something we have, back home."

Or at least something they tended to use for anything.

[voiceoverdue]

"Everyone back home has a bloodstone circle," Cecil explained. "It's still so strange to me that nobody here does! But I guess folks out here don't have as many required sacrifices and rituals and things." He shrugged.

[iceolatedqueen]

"... Sacrifices?"

There were some words in that explanation that stood out a little more than others, yes. Elsa wasn't going to let herself become too concerned. Not just yet. But curiosity wasn't going to let her let that explanation go without asking, first.

[voiceoverdue]

"Oh, you know." Cecil waved airily. "Daily offerings, municipal fees, that sort of thing. I can't believe the city here hardly ever requires them!"

[iceolatedqueen]

"Where I'm from, the people pay their taxes to whoever is ruling the kingdom at the time, no bloodstones necessary," Elsa shared. "But Fandom Island doesn't seem like it's exactly normal by most people's standards. I'm surprised it functions, sometimes, given how seldom people actually need to work in order to afford to live here."

Look, she might have been a princess who was more than simply 'financially sound,' but she did have a pretty decent grasp on how economics were supposed to work. It was kind of important for little things like 'not someday driving Arendelle into complete financial ruin.'

[voiceoverdue]

"Taxes are important," Cecil agreed. "I'm not sure how Fandom does a lot of things. I mean, okay, there's a mayor. But there's not even any City Council!" That was a bit boggling.

[iceolatedqueen]

"There's not really a council of any sort, unless you count the student council," Elsa agreed with a thoughtful frown. "And so far as I can gather, all their job really entails is figuring out how much glitter to cover the school dances in."

Which was probably an important job, somehow?

[voiceoverdue]

"I've sat in on a few of their meetings," Cecil answered. As a curious teacher, naturally. "They also eat pizza and talk about themes for the dances."

[iceolatedqueen]

"How many of those theme brainstorming sessions have started with glitter?"

It seemed like a perfectly valid question to Elsa!