Welcome to Gaia! ::

The merchant’s eyes were on him immediately, raking across his body almost desperately, trying to take in every detail.

“My goodness. Come closer,” he insisted, gesturing him nearer, to the front of the table. “What are you?” he asked, seeming like he was almost ready to stand up from his seat to inspect him.

“In all my years, in all my travels, I have never seen one such as you. You are stunning. I don’t recognize your uniform at all. Who do you serve? --Ah, or what? I’ll make this worth your while. You have brought me something to trade?” he insisted, but he didn’t take his eyes off of the senshi’s. “...I’ll make a special exception for you. Something better than anything I’ve got out on the table. Unless you’re smitten by anything, I would not deprive you. Not when you are so interesting.”

"You could ask, you certainly could. And I'd answer, of course," the merchant said. "Pleasantly Unusual is a unique compliment." It was clear he didn't intend to take it as anything but a compliment. "A Dark Mirror Senshi. I've heard of Senshi, of course. But never Dark Mirror. I'll have to keep my ears open for more. I can't believe such a lovely specimen exists here," he said, almost wistfully.

"I'll have to visit more often. I want to learn more. But--yes, to trade. Preferably something of yours, something interesting--I'm looking for gemstones, sort of. They would look raw, uncut. I'm looking for something that needs a little love and care, but something shiny. Something you can't find just anywhere. And I'd be willing to trade, well."

He gestured to the table. "Anything, if you've got the right piece."

He examined the goods on the table and then reached for something under the table. He fished around for a moment and then extracted what seemed to be a sealed glass tube filled with water. It danced gently in an unseen current. There was a beautiful silver top and the matching bottom had four solid legs to ensure that the tube din't fall over.

The tube was roughly six inches in diameter and a foot tall. The plant inside seemed to have a blossoming flower that looked nearly identical to a Daffodil--only, its petals were a lovely magenta and seemed to gleam silver in the moonlight.

"This is incredibly rare. I mean," he looked up at him. "I don't have many living things. But I can't help but look at your brooch and thing of this. You must know--this specimen is rare. And absolutley lovely, in every aspect--don't you think? The downside is, it's fragile. At least, when you're taking as many trips as I do. It needs a home, a good one. Tell me you like it," he insisted. "Tell me it's going home with you, and that you're going to take good care of it, and that you have just the perfect thing to trade me for it."

The man's interest was clearly piqued when he was asked to borrow the mirror. "Oh, by all means." It wasn't something he would have done for just anyone, but curiosity came with a price. "I wasn't planning on moving it. Do go ahead," he said, visibly eager to see what the man needed it for.

"I like your questions, so I'm happy to wait for...whatever it is you're planning on doing. Just don't take too long or you'll miss out on all the juicy details. I can't answer your questions if you aren't here. So you'll never learn that I'm just a simple merchant, from a far away place you've certainly never heard from. And you'll never learn that I'm not magical like you, with your fancy Senshi powers, so I don't really have any special energy about me to read up on. I'm just me."

He smiled, a pleasant, toothy grin.

"Me, who is curious, and waiting for a magic trick, it seems. And to find out what it is that you're hiding in that mirror."

The merchant had waited, smile primed on his face as he eagerly watched. "Oh! That was magnificent! You went through the mirror? And came back! Fascinating, I've never seen anyone do that! Ah," he sighed, as if he'd just observed some fantastic display.

"--Have you hurt yourself though? Your hand. You didn't cut yourself on the glass, did you? Oh," he clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "Do you need a bandage? I have some over here. Give me your hand and I'll patch it up."

He reached for something under the table and answered, "I'm looking for those things because I'm a collector. As you can see, my collection is quite large. But it's not exactly safe, or wise, to carry so many treasures around the universe. I've been thinking about it for a while. If my collection were to fall into the wrong hands, well," he shook his head. "There's no telling what could happen. And I'm getting on in years," he said, despite looking perfectly young and healthy, "Something's brewing out there. So I'd like to minimize my collection. The crystals are pretty, aren't they?" he asked, peering at it through the cage of fingers. "...You have rare and valuable gems on Earth, don't you? Think of it as something like that. Only, I can make something more of them. I need before I can even think of doing anything with them, though. They'd make beautiful jewelry. Ah, or a sun catcher, even...Mm. Or something more. It depends on how many I can come across that determines what I craft, and what it will do."

The man snorted, not quite offended, and gave Narcissus a look. "You don't think I'd try to kill you, do you? If you don't want the help, I won't press it, but I assure you that any treatment I have to offer is most certainly sterilized and would cause you no harm. But if you're worried, all the same, I'll try to make this quick."

His hand hovered near the first aid box, but drew away so he could make this exchange a little faster for him.

"I don't want to make a weapon. I don't even like weapons, rest assured. What I have in my collection are antiques. I suppose, anything can be made into a weapon if you try hard enough, but I'm not the sort to see how much damage I can do with priceless treasure. But I appreciate your concern and good intentions. No, I'm not creative enough to make anything like that. It would be a waste of power. I'm interested in value. Though," he seemed to muse, "Protection is one thing. Hostilities another. I don't travel completely unarmed. But, no one has attacked me here, so I'm in a rather good mood. --I use a starstone, to travel. You have them here, no?" He glanced around.

"...Oh. Well. Maybe not, I suppose. They're hard to come by. Probably why you're all still here on Earth, if you don't have the means to get off it easily."

The merchant seemed amused, like he was still enjoying the exchange. When the stone was offered, his fingers wrapped around it before it could be withdrawn, and the little thing disappeared from sight like he'd performed some magic trick.

In exchange, he pressed a gentle finger to the object he'd shown off earlier, pushing it just an inch closer towards Narcissus as if to draw his attention to it. "You're welcome to anything on the table." He'd made his recommendation, and his smile remained pleasant on his face.

"It's so strange to hear about Senshi living on another planet than they serve. But it makes sense, I suppose. Senshi have always had the ability to return home and return from their destinations. A bit of a cheat, I suppose, when the rest of us have to work so hard. Though, my starstone lets me go anywhere I like, not just slingshot me back and forth. My starstone came from the core of a dying world."

He opened his hand and a little light sparked; a glittering gem that seemed to catch light and reflect it like it was encased in a kaleidoscope hovered above his palm. In the darkness, it seemed to emit its own light, and the air around it glittered like sparkles were hidden in the air.

"I traded it, from an expert craftsman. They say he had the power to reach into stars and pull out their hearts, and craft them into tools to sail the universe. I mean, that's why I sought him out. But," a wistful sigh. "I haven't come across someone of the sort in such an age. I suppose they've all died out. A highly sought after skill, though. Such a shame. If the starstones aren't properly maintained, they explode, though. I suppose if there were any abandoned across the universe, they must have returned to the cosmos by now."