The market always attracted hoards of people who’d crowd amongst themselves as soon as the morrow drew its first sunrise. They’d bargain with the merchants to give up their coins for better prices, goods were shipped all the way from the high seas, and the temperament of traders gloated around as they load and unload their galleons. The stalwart process of give and take was busy as ever, and everyone lined up to keep it going, every day, even on that morning, when a stranger with a red velvet hood gathered herself a crowd of stares as she passed by the stands.

Her face was definitely not a foreign one, in fact, it seemed that she started to garner a lot of attention from the public after her participation in the Grand Magic Games, which in truth, made her rather uncomfortable. The Siren never liked being the centre of attention, but they did not stir from fear, rather, people liked to stare at odd, shiny things from afar, and she was no different. The woman didn’t want to acknowledge whatever they found interesting on her features, be it her clothes or her uncanny glare, and she simply busied herself with her daily morning routine of picking up food for the day ahead.

”Y-you’re Venus from D-Daeva Eye, r-right?”

A stranger crept up behind her, grabbing her by the shoulder that forced her to turn around only to see a weird-looking man with his nose flaring, his face flushed as he gazed upon her. Ugh. The female merely responded him with a frown accompanied by a rather disgusted look. The Siren wasn’t generally the most friendly person nor the type who would do things that would put her in favour of the public eye if she didn’t wish to. So, even if the eyes of the townsfolk were on her, she didn’t care if she received the backlash for how she was going to react. ”Don’t touch me,” she retorted, whipping her arm away from the man.

Venus had expected the stranger to retreat from her blunt response, perhaps out of shame, but instead, he pressed further into her body in an attempt to get closer to her. When the redhead was no longer able to contain her impatience nor her anger, she dropped the fruits from her hands onto the merchant table and balled them into a tight fist as she prepared to pummel his idiotic brain out of his thick skull.

Before the scene even played out, a piece of paper slapped right into her face, covering her vision for a mere second; almost as if someone had smacked some sense into her brain right at that moment. At the very least, the man had scurried away after she’d displayed some hostility. As the piece of parchment paper fell onto her hands, she’d read it only to discover that it was some kind of shopping list written by someone else. Her eyes shifted back onto the streets where crowds have now dispersed away from her and there, she would see another stranger behind her.  

”Is this yours?”

The fiery mage observed the other female carefully and one thing she noticed was how uncomfortable she looked standing in front of her. Perhaps Venus’ demeanour came off as intimidating but it wasn’t as though she was running around flinging daggers at people. From all the observations she’d done watching people, it was now a talent of hers to notice little things from an individual. It was also necessary for her to be quick-witted, as she was a pick-pocket. Venus looked at the paper once again.

”Do you need help with this?”

Almost with a scrutinizing gaze, Venus Rosé continued to watch the stranger who appeared as though her soul had left her body. From the looks of it, it seemed that the poor girl was intimidated by people (or her) or simply that, she wasn’t fond of social interaction. A sigh escaped her lips; she felt bad for the girl, considering how she looked like she would break down into tears if Venus were to say another word.

”Uh.”

The redhead looked around her subconsciously, unknowing what to do in this kind of situation while feeling awkward at the same time as she rubbed the back of her head. Not having the experience to deal with such kind of a person, she felt as if a big challenge was right in front of her. Before she could even speak a word, the girl dropped down to her knees followed by an incessant stream of apologies. She almost made it seem like Venus was bullying her or the sort as the scene gathered some curious glances from passers-by and a visible sweat drop could be seen on the temple of her visage.

”It’s fine, honestly.” The woman waved it off nonchalantly, letting out an almost awkward yet, nervous laugh. ”I’m not going to hurt you.” She held out both of her palms, in an attempt to display that she had no intention of harm towards the girl.

Venus looked at the piece of paper once again, this time reading through the list properly to see what was on the shopping list. There was a list of food ingredients followed by a few notes written beside magic items. ”So, you’re doing some shopping, huh? I could help you find the items you’re looking for.” The fiery beauty was free for the day anyway, aside from the daily shopping that she was doing, and though she wasn’t as generous as others in offering her services, it wouldn’t hurt to help a fellow wizard with their chores once in a while. Besides, the girl resembled to that of a clueless mouse or perhaps a lost kitten and she couldn’t help but worry in her stead of what might await for her if she were to leave her behind.

”What’s your name?”

Seeing her remaining the position of a curled up ball, the hunter bent down to maintain the same eye level as the other female and held the shopping list between two of her fingers before handing it back to her. ”I’m Venus.”

”Of course. Besides, you look like you really need help.” The woman chuckled. Usually the Siren wouldn’t be too generous offering her services albeit, she had far too much time in her hands and she needed something to kill her time other than training and completing mundane requests. When Venus came to notice that the stranger’s timidness stemmed not only from the wizard’s demeanour but also from the curious stares of passers-bys, the Icebergian woman waved off the onlookers dismissively. ”Shoo, nothing to stare at here.”

When the two exchanged pleasantries, Venus hesitated for a moment, registering the name ‘Mary Wraith’ into her head in which then was quickly followed by a nod of acknowledgment. It was rather strange for a woman like Venus to be protective over a stranger she had just met a few minutes ago, but she had to admit that there was the sudden urge to keep her safe from harm. Whether it was the introverted nature of the girl or the vulnerability that oozed from her – that she did not know. She realised Mary was a rather unusual girl, different from the bunch that she’d acquainted herself with; her appearance reminded her of a walking corpse that she had even conjured a false image of the girl in her head. Turned out it was the complete opposite and Venus certainly didn’t expect the extremely shy and reserved persona from her.

”Famous, huh?”

The woman laughed heartily. Out of everything that she had wished to be, being well-known wasn’t on the list. She’d wanted her identity to be hidden from the public, to not be known, but all that seemed to have failed from the moment she participated in the Grand Magic Games and the bounty posters with her face plastered across over the boards did not help either. A sigh escaped her lips. ”I wish I wasn’t.” The fiery mage muttered under her breath, to no one in particular, hoping that her newly attained acquaintance wouldn’t have heard what she’d said.

”Hm,” she tilted her head and furrowed her brows in thought as she read down the list that Mary had nervously presented to her. The awkward motions: she couldn’t help but stifle a laugh as the girl struggled to maintain her composure around her. It seemed that it might take some time for her to get used to the redhead. ”To the bakery, then.” And so, the two set off on their little shopping spree. Perhaps, she could even get a few things for herself along the way, she thought. ”I’m not that good with directions. I hope you don’t mind.” She grinned. To say she was not a good navigator was hardly any close to the truth – she was horrible at it.

It was hilarious how Venus offered to help her find the bakery when she, herself, had an awful sense of direction and would prove no help whatsoever. The only thing she was good at was being rebellious and pick-pocketing jewelry from the rich and the wealthy. Perhaps it was the confidence that radiated from her that made people think that she would be the pillar of strength and responsibility but, if they were to know the truth they would be disappointed. Those were the thoughts that crossed her mind as she wandered through the streets amongst the swirls and eddies of people in an attempt to find what they were searching for.

”Well, the worst thing that could happen is the two of us getting lost together,” she smiled smugly. There was nothing she was worried about, for she’s been through similar situations, if not, worse several times that she had already lost count. Her journeys were very rarely mundane as she was, at best, quite gifted in assuming a stroll whenever the times were most interesting. It’s as if there had been a compass implanted into her head that always directed the swordswoman to a fascinating venture in wait, where greater adversaries were seemingly wriggling in their impatience, allies bound to be part of the scheme, and she was surely more than willing to involve herself when an opportunity such as that came to present itself. It could’ve been said that it was also how she came to meet Mary, through coincidence.

”You’re a wizard, aren't you?” The young woman struck up a conversation to fill the passing time with idle chatter. ”What guild are you a member of?” It wasn’t difficult to notice the magic presence around the younger female, from having herself surrounded by mages at all times and also due to the vampiric eye transplanted into her left eye socket, Venus was able to see all her magical and physical details that Mary carried.

Shortly after the duo began their search, they finally stumbled upon a bakery at the end of the streets that introduced itself as ‘Mama Bon’s Bakery’ which she found the name rather adorable. ”Ah, that was fast.” Her comment was in relation to how quickly they found the bakery despite their lack of any directional sense. As they were about to enter, a group of old women obstructed their way of proceeding any further inside the bakery.

”Excuse me.”

No response.

The herd of old ladies continued their nonsense chatter, ignoring her presence entirely. She let out a discreet cough to attract their attention and once again, no response. Her eyebrow twitched in irritation. When Mary suggested that they should leave the scene, the woman showed clear intentions that she was going to act otherwise. ”Nope.” She grabbed Mary’s hand, pulling her along as she forced her way through the old ladies, pushing them away.

”If you wanted to gossip, should’ve done so at a different place, not in front of the entrance blocking way for others.” She gazed at them intently, with barely suppressed frustration within her eyes.

The Siren chuckled in regards to Mary’s confession of her lack of experience with her magical abilities. ”Everyone starts from there at some point, I suppose.” The cheeky grin that she always donned on her lips quickly turned solemn when she was reminded of her lost memories; when she remembered that she wouldn’t ever be able to recall how she became a wizard, other than the recollection of the only day that haunts her until now, where she escaped from the laboratory on the verge of death. The chime on the door rang as they entered stirs from her reverie and the her expectations of having the fresh scent of bread and pastries immediately shattered when the distinctive smell of something being burnt wafted into her nostrils.

”Oh god.” The woman muttered at the sight of the charred bread, with a wave of regret washing over the expressions of her visage. It couldn’t be any less a better timing for the baker (note the sarcasm) as he held out his pan containing loaves of bread that looked more or less like charcoals. A scowl crossed over her features, pondering what a waste of ingredients it must have been only for the bread to end up like this. What’s worse, the baker even came up with a name for these burnt bread as though someone would want to buy these.

”We probably should’ve just found another store.” Perhaps she should’ve taken the group of old ladies blocking the bakery as a sign that there was worst to come, but a stubborn mule as she was, it was etched in her blood to do what she pleases. She finally turned to face Mary. ”Are you sure you want to complete your shopping list here? Doesn’t look like you’ll get much, to be honest.” Her curious scarlet eyes wandered the store in an attempt to see if there was any more bread that was edible at the very least albeit, it seemed that most of them were either sold out or the baker simply hasn’t performed his duties properly.

She walked up to the man, stopping right in front of him before her eyes shifted down towards the pan. ”Seems like Mama Bon would have you sacked for that batch.” She nodded at the charcoaled bread and the man turned pale and went speechless from her comment. ”Don’t you have anything else better than this…Blackroot Bread?”

Dealing with fools was also another part of the day that makes her miserable; sigh.

The young woman hooted with laughter at Mary’s comment of how the charred bread resembled to hers whenever she would try baking. Venus wasn’t an excellent cook either, and she’s had her fair share of burning food in her attempts at cooking. It was not that she was horrible at it, but only because of the distractions that kept her away from the kitchen while cooking. Impatient as she was, it was more often than not that Venus would wander off while the pan was on the stove and when she would return, anything on the pan would be burnt to crisps.

Only fools would actually think of buying this bread, right?

Such were the thoughts that occupied her mind and it wasn’t until she would catch Mary reaching into her pouch as though she was planning to buy the bread – the bread that was charred to the blackest of all colours. The Siren almost went speechless as she gazed at the other female and bullets of sweat formed on her forehead. Oh, what do I do with this silly girl? It took her the strongest of urge not to burst into fits of giggles looking at the bewildered look on her face but in the end, the younger wizard chose to went along with Venus’ suggestion and decided not to buy them.

Oh, how she wished to tell her that these ‘Blackroot Bread’ wouldn’t taste any better than a piece of rock.

”Don’t worry, we’ll find a bakery along the way,” she’d say, resting her hand atop her head. Truth be told, Venus hadn’t expected a timid girl like her to be so tall – perhaps even a few centimetres taller than her – as they usually donned on the appearance of a petite figure.

A wicked grin made its way onto the line of her lips upon the mention of butchers. ”Butchers, eh? Come with me.” The duo returned to the streets of Magnolia once again and this time, Venus swore to herself that she would lead the way properly to the butcher. The man was an old friend of hers; one that she’s met through a fortunate encounter at a bar to be specific. Venus always had several acquaintances over the country, frequently attaining new ones whenever she set out to travel, even from places that one wouldn’t expect. It was her way of extracting information about whatever schemes the nobles were pulling and the important matters that were going on at the location.

”Here it is.”

Shortly after their stroll, the two were finally at the door of the butcher and beside them would be a wooden sign carved with the letters ‘Buckeye Butcher’. Venus took the lead entering the building and then there was that smell of blood, the death stench and in it all stood the butcher, cleaver in hand. ”Vee!” The man exclaimed, tossing the cleaver onto the sturdy table, the lines of his aging face wrinkling as he beamed a toothy grin at the female. Standing 5’6” tall, this stoic looking man was one of the few that she trusted: a very lovable man with his shiny bald head and his notable bucktooth, a feature where his name was derived from.

The two old acquaintances shared their pleasantries, spending a few minutes to catch up briefly before she finally got to explain about why she was here. ”Mary here was looking for a butcher and I know you have the best fresh meat around town, so help me out, will you?” she gestured her head towards her newly acquainted companion. ”Only the best for you and your little friend.” With a wicked smile, the butcher led them to the back of the store where he kept the freshest meat that was just recently butchered.

The Siren chortled at the younger girl’s attempt to form a proper sentence, which was purely not to ridicule her but because it sounded like a good pun. Venus quickly came to realise that she could always have a good laugh around this strange girl. As they travelled to where all the fresh meat was kept away, the smell of blood was so vivid that she crinkled her nose, unable to hide the distaste of stench of death that was just beneath her nostrils. Usually, she would simply buy whatever she needed at the local market, but there was no denying that the meat always tasted best when purchased directly from the butcher. So, Venus also found herself looking over the richest piece of beef she could get.

”A whole chicken, that’s a feast, eh?” The redhead smirked, taking a glance at the other female. ”I’ll just get 6 pieces of drumsticks and a chuck beef casserole.”

The butcher took his time wrapping their freshly ordered meat inside paper bags before handing it over to them while she waited with her arms folded across her bosom. She could’ve gotten more, perhaps to cook some stew for the next day but she figured she’ll do the shopping for that another day. ”What’re you planning to cook with this?” Venus enjoyed cooking and she was proud to share that she considered herself as a professional amateur chef. Living alone she had no other choice but to learn to cook for herself and it didn’t take her long to have the activity as her hobby and thus it always excited her to discover more recipes.

”I’ll take care of this.”

The redhead beauty hardly bothered to listen to Mary’s response instead, she dug into her pockets and retrieved a handful of coins, more than enough to pay for the both of their purchases and rolled them over the wooden bench, even including a little tip for her fellow friend butcher. ”Thanks for the fresh produce, Buck. I’ll drop by later again.” She performed a quick wave at him in the midst of heading towards the door.

”Should we go to the supermarket? I think they might have everything we need.” Venus was referring to the supermarket of the modern days, which was one that was inside a building and everything would be arranged in their own category in bulk. Whenever she was in a hurry to get the products she needed, she would visit one of these buildings instead of going to the bazaar and going through each and every stall. It saved a lot of time and though it was convenient, everything was twice as expensive as one could get from the market.

The young woman raised her eyebrows, almost out of amusement. It was something to be expected, Mary did seem like the type of person who would cook for her guild mates; she just had that selfless demeanour who would most likely do anything for her companions, but she could be wrong as well. Profiling – it was what the red-haired beaut enjoyed doing when observing people; to analyse the person of their behavioural characteristics and predict their personality.

”That’s very nice of you to do something for your guildmates.” An appreciative smile curved onto the corners of her mouth until it quickly faded away just as fast it made its way onto her lips when her shopping partner instantly ceased in her tracks upon the mention of supermarket. She looked as though her soul had left her body, even though the vacant look within her eyes and her pale appearance had always been a part of her since the very beginning, resembling to that of a walking corpse.

Stunned, Venus merely blinked as the unusual girl shook her head as if it was the last place she wanted to go on the planet. It was only then she would remember that Mary was terrible at social interaction and supermarkets did tend to be extremely congested at times: it was no surprise that she strongly refused to visit the supermarket. The two were truly the complete opposites; a wallflower and a social butterfly.

The Siren released a chuckle followed by a sigh as she ran her hands through her silky wine coloured hair. It wasn’t as though she needed to go to the supermarket but she would’ve preferred if the deed to do grocery shopping was done faster; it was always the worst part of the day. And, she had hoped that Mary shared the same thoughts as her, but of course, being two peas from completely different pods, they had distinct opinions.

With her lower lips briefly snagged by her pearly whites, she winced inwardly at the sight of the number of coins on her acquaintance’s palm, even with an addition of a dead fly. It almost relieved her that she’d paid for the chicken and ham earlier in her stead. Once, Venus was also in the same situation at one point of her life – worse even – that she had to succumb to the wicked ways of life and picked up stealing things from civilians as her mean of survival. Albeit, she was no amateur, in fact, she had become so good at the job she could live up to the name of a professional thief; nimble and fast, that was one thing she was proud of.

Venus gently pushed Mary’s hand away, refusing the offer. ”Keep that. Maybe next time we can do something better and you can make it up for that. See ya later, wallflower,” the young woman smirked, whisking away with her cloak billowing behind as the two parted ways and Venus would dissolve into the shadows of the crowd.