Welcome to Gaia! ::

The merchant seemed delighted with this response; a smile played on his lips and his eyes sparkled with interest. “Oh, aren’t you precious. Come here, come closer. I won’t bite. Is it really so surprising to see a shop out here?”

He smoothed his hands across the table cloth; there was a small bit of space in front of him devoid of anything on display, but the rest of the table had been carefully arranged to show off as many of his wares as possible.

“I am but a humble merchant, looking to part with some of my wares. I’d like to send them to good, loving homes. For a price, of course. Just a trade, I’m not even looking for money. Just, things. I’m open minded, and very generous. So if you’ve got something to part with, please.”

He nodded to his collection. “Feel free to browse. You’re in good hands with me.”

“Rude? Hardly. Earth just has its quirks, I can’t fault you for curiosity. I’m quite a sight.” He flashed another smile and extended his hand in greeting. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Erytheia. I find that people often have more to offer than they think they do. Especially when they find something they want. I’ll be here for a while yet, so the absolute worst case scenario is that I put something on hold for you and you come visit me again.”

He smiled sweetly, in what seemed to be a genuine show of how charming he could be.

“I don’t blame you for traveling light, though. It would make my life easier if I didn’t have so much stock. Thankfully, my trips to Earth are very productive. I always eat well here, too. So, I’ve got no complaints. Come, take a look. See if there’s anything you like. At the very least, you’ll get a nice show and tell. And maybe you can tell me a bit about yourself, too. I think Cosmos Knights are very interesting.”

“Oh, you can call me Almadel.” His smile never wavered, but his eyes did dip from the Knight’s face to the bell. “My friends call me Alma.”

He watched for a moment, maybe taking in the item itself, or just the way Erytheia’s eyes lingered on it.

“I come here every year. Always a few weeks around this time, I like the weather. And everyone has so much energy, I should have done it sooner. I like festivals. Sometimes I visit at other times, but this is business more so than pleasure. Your outfit is lovely. But then, Cosmos Knights have a certain flair, don’t they? I’ve got a thing for stars. I’m sorry to hear about your tree. I can’t imagine what a loss that would be.”

He pursed his lips in thought and tapped his cheek with one finger before shaking his head.

“Have you been having much trouble back at Erytheia recently or was that it?”

Almadel saw the sadness in the smile and pursed his lips just slightly before he reached out to pat the back of Erytheia’s hand. “Well, never lose that hope. I’ve heard of Knights performing miraculous things with the power of their Wonders. And I’ve always been a bit partial to Cosmos Knights. Hard not to be when you’re surrounded by stars and, well.” He looked up at the sky.

“The cosmos is a vast place. I’m from all of it, I think.” His gaze returned to Erytheia. “I bounce around quite a bit, it’s hard to say that where I come from is particularly far away. I like to spend my time in lots of places. But, yes. If we’re being rather frank–by Earth standards–I think you could say I’m from very far away. It’s very different from Earth. There’s something–well, magical, about this place. I can’t really say I’ve ever found a world just like Earth. And, trust me when I say, I have been around just about everywhere.”

He didn’t quite sound like he was bragging, but he certainly seemed proud of it.

“Maybe some time you can show me Erytheia. I’ve seen a lot of world, maybe I can help.”

Or, maybe he was just looking for a free trip. Either way, he put on his most charming smile.

“For sale? No. For trade? Absolutely.”

Almadel smiled politely and sat up a little straighter, like he was finally excited to be talking business.

“I like to cut out the middleman. Currency can be so prickly, you know. Dollars and quarters might be good here on Earth but they won’t do me much good anywhere else. But if you’ve got something you’re willing to part with, I’ll make you a good deal. A very good deal if you’re serious about bringing me along with you sometime.”

Almadel seemed instantly pleased with the guaranteed ride, but the icing on the cake was a good trade. On its own, the bow didn’t seem like anything special–just a sentimental item. A ribbon. Damaged and worn, hardly in any condition to be displayed.

And he loved it.

It wasn’t the quality of it, it wasn’t like it was a rare item he could resell for any great value.

But, it was treasure. It was important to Erytheia. He could practically feel the emotions that saturated it.

It didn’t take him long to decide that it was a worthwhile trade.

“I’ll take it,” he said, and extended his hand to retrieve the bow.

“You’ll have to tell me if you find him, though.” As his fingers brushed against it, he was only more pleased with this exchange. “You’ve had this for a long time, haven’t you?”

Almadel accepted the bow with great interest, and he didn’t take his eyes off of it for a few seconds. He smoothed his thumb over it before nodding, and then he tucked it away somewhere behind his table.

“Well, one can only hope. Six months isn’t so long that you should lose hope. I’ll take good care of this for you. I hope you find him, though. I’d hate to see you with such a sad face.”

He looked at Erytheia again for a moment and then nodded approvingly. “You have a lovely smile, I’d like to see more of it.”