HOME | DD

Description
Unbelievable and Impossible, And Only The Beginning.
Jordan was getting ready to leave the shopping mall, it was late and he didn't want to miss the border security show, he found it fun to watch people try to get away with the dumbest of things. Like openly carrying drugs in their bags. He walked out of the mall and down the street towards the bus stop, at first hurrying, until he checked his watch and realised he was late anyway, with almost an hour till the next bus he had time to kill. He pulled out his phone and thought to call his friends, or his mother, but it wouldn't come on. He swore, it had been fully charged that morning. He sighed and looked around the street, it was a shortcut he often used, but he was almost always running at full speed through it, he might as well have a look around. The street was empty, and not surprisingly, almost all of the shops were closed, only the meat place and an old antiques store were open. With a sigh Jordan walked towards the antiques store, wondering if it had anything good.
He looked through one of the windows and was surprised to be a sword resting on a velvet cushion. Beside it, hanging on a manikin was a long formal dress made of blue and green fabrics. Beside that was a book, also sitting on a velvet cushion, the golden runes on its leather cover seemed to call to him. He walked over to the other window, surprised to see what looked like an ancient egyptian necklace on another cushion. Next to that was a clear round ball the size of Jordan's head set in a golden stand which appeared to be comprised of five lions and five snakes. And the last item was a chair, an old chair made of intricately carved wood and upholstered with rich green velvet. He supposed this store must carry a wide variety of items, but that was not surprising, second hand stores always did. He pushed open the deep blue door, annoyed by the soft tinkling of the little silver bell, an entered the store.
He was actually quite impressed by it, the walls were covered in bookshelves, with ladders needed to reach the top shelves. It was also almost perfectly round, even down to the curved front or the shop, and much bigger than he had expected. It was roughly twenty metres, he guessed, in diameter, covered by a huge dome. There was a second level, it was a ring around the edge of the circular building, probably only five meters wide. The staircase up to it was for some reason in the centre of the store, connected only by a metre wide walkway with railings. The staircase itself however lacked railings as it made spiralled up the central column. The staircase, railings and column seemed all to be made out of black metal latticework, which contrasted nicely with the wooden floors and stained glass dome. The light streaming in from above in all its varied colours made the shop seem dustier and more mysterious. [can't have him say magical, not a term he would like]
Jordan roamed aimlessly between the shelves, poking at the furniture and wondering about the random clear balls. He didn't see the point of some of the walking sticks he could see, but some of the weapons were cool and the jewellery looked expensive. He pulled one of the clear balls off the shelf, surprised at how heavy it was, and read the tag.
"Crystal ball, for futures of others, for use only by psychics." He muttered.
He put it down, wondering what other nonsense this shop catered to. He walked over to the walls and began to scan the titles. All were ones he was unfamiliar with, and many were in different languages. Some seemed so ancient they would crumble at a touch, others brand new. He pulled out one at random.
"Histories of the known worlds." He opened the book, "We know of nine worlds, in the past they were linked, allowing the middle world, the magic-less world, to access the magics of the other eight. It is theorised there would be more worlds but..."
"Magic, as if." He shoved the book back onto the shelf.
He pulled out a few more books, most seemed to be fictional in nature, many seeming to talk about magic. He pulled off a newer book, it looked like a text book.
"The Imagination," He opened the book and read the introduction, "The imagination is the most important tool of those wishing to gain power over the world and others. This book will detail the steps needed to bring your imagination to its full potential and heighten your magical prowess manifold."
"More magic, is anything in this shop a worthwhile read."
The light seemed to drop, and he looked up to the dome. It seemed duller, surely he had not stayed to late. Then he heard the enormous crack of thunder. He looked out the front windows, but the heavy downpour meant he couldn't see the street beyond. He frowned, it had been sunny when he had entered. He wandered over to the jewellery, checking his watch. He needed to get the bus, but he couldn't go out in that with no umbrella. That's when he noticed the stand of umbrellas by the counter. He smiled and hurried over the counter. Grabbing a huge black one he pulled it out of the stand, he held it above him and opened it. Suddenly it snapped shut, propelling itself upwards towards the dome.
"Didn't you know, opening an umbrella inside is bad luck."
Jordan jumped and turned, surprised to see a very old man sitting behind the counter. Dressed in a frilly dress shirt and a blue and silver vest. He looked at Jordan over small wire framed glasses and smiled warmly.
"Nice trick old guy, wouldn't have picked you for a prankster."
The old guy just smiled in response.
"Well, could I borrow your phone to call my mother? So she can pick me up."
"I am sorry, I don't have a phone." The man said, looking slightly puzzled.
"Everyone has a phone!"
"Well I don't."
"Then how am I meant to get home."
"That could be a bit complicated right now."
"Right the storm, I guess I'll just wait it out here then."
[central pillar, climbs the stairs, hallucinations not to bad, proof next shopkeeper]
Jordan began to wander around the store again, trying to ignore the crazy old shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was doing the same, reading something behind the counter. Jordan quickly got bored of the downstairs area and made his way to the staircase. He looked at the steps for a while, marvelling at how unsafe they must be, what with the lack of railings. But they seemed quite wide, so he decided to go up.
"Don't go up there." The old man said before he had even put a foot on the first step.
"Why not?" Jordan asked, "Is it staff only."
"Well no."
"Then I am going up."
Jordan put his foot on the step. It felt unsteady, almost like it was rocking, but still he made his way up. He felt dizzy by the time he reached the halfway point, and was getting slightly annoyed at the weird fog in the central pillar. The fog just seemed to serve no purpose, it was contained in the pillar, it seemed to just make the glowing gems seem more mysterious. He looked down and was surprised to see he was much further off the ground than he had expected, the staircase lurched but he ignored it. He turned to look at the counter.
"You could have warned me it was a rickety old thing," Jordan yelled, "And this substandard fog machine doesn't make the gems look any cooler, are they lit up with LED's?"
He didn't wait to hear the answer but instead continued onwards, wanting to be off the dangerous staircase as soon as possible. He caught the old man watching him out of the corner of his eye, the man seemed surprised. He was surprised that the walkway from the staircase to the balcony was stable under his feet, and he stopped feeling dizzy, which was good. He had a look at some of the weapons, most looked quite traditional but some had really odd designs. He caught sight of a long spear with a foot-long single edged blade, from the dull edge extended a hook, half that length but curving back on itself. He read the tag in front of the case.
"The Spear of Lucas, enhances fighting ability and aids in inspiring others, good for potential leaders."
There was no price. Jordan was slightly disappointed in the name, who on earth was Lucas, it was a rather uninspiring name to have attached to a weapon. Next to it was and even odder blade, it had three edges, joined by inwardly curving surfaces. It was a foot long, with three hooks extending from the inwardly curving surfaces, like the other each were only half the length of the blade and curved wickedly back. It was like nothing he had ever seen before.
"The Blade of Frederico, can be attached to hilt or shaft, enhances fighting ability and aids in inspiring others, good for potential leaders."
Jordan considered this one even worse, Frederico? Not an extremely cringeworthy name there. He heard someone coughing behind him and he turned to see the old man struggling to make it up the staircase.
"These old legs are failing me." He said, then looked up at the boy, "Oh I see you found those two blades, Frederico and Lucas were the most amazing fighters of their time. They inspired others, and though they weren't leaders others just wanted to follow. They were the greatest of friends too, surprising considering it was Lucas who had chopped off Frederico's arm."
Jordan was just flabbergasted, surely the man didn't expect him to believe any of this. The man came over closer and looked Jordan up and down. Jordan shifted uncomfortably under the intense gaze.
"Well?" He asked impatiently.
"Hmm, I was wondering whether you wanted a job, the pay is good, and I need someone willing to take care of this shop after I am gone."
Jordan considered for a moment, it wouldn't be too hard, and he saw how much some of the merchandise cost. Jordan smiled, and if he did get the shop he could just sell off all the merchandise and sell the building, ebay would make short work of this lot.
"Okay I will accept."
The old man smiled, "come down the staff steps, I'll show you around the back room."
Jordan remembered how the room had not been perfectly round, it was like the store had had a small section cut off it, he wondered if the man lived there. They came to a smaller set of very cramped stairs which hugged the curve of the wall. At the bottom was a small room, it was about 3 and a half metres at its widest, but the curving walls meant that it got narrower at each end. The room itself was [do math, or ask Hamish to do math] metres long. Divided by dividing screens into three areas, the stairs came down into the central area, which appeared to be a study, its main feature being the large desk half under the stairs and covered in papers and books, the door into the shop was opposite the stairs. The old man pointed off to one side.
"That will be your room."
"What! No way! I am not sleeping here. I will work here but I won't live here."
"You might find that hard."
"Look the rain sounds like it has stopped, I'll be back in the morning."
The man just smiled softly, and Jordan stormed out. He didn't even glance out the windows, and slammed the door open. His jaw dropped. A horse snorted at him from where it was tied by a saloon. The dusty road was lit by two lanterns which rested on either side of the store's windows. He stepped back inside, staring in surprise at the guns which seemed to have appeared on the shelves quite suddenly. The old man just smiled at him.
"Go back and sleep, I'll close up the store in a few hours, we'll open again in the morning."
Jordan stumbled into the back room, still not quite believing what he had seen. He fell into the bed and fell asleep quickly, hoping that when he awoke he would find it all to be a dream. Though it was a very odd dream for him, he'd blame Inception, it was a stupid movie, totally unrealistic.

Description
Unbelievable and Impossible, And Only The Beginning.
Jordan was getting ready to leave the shopping mall, it was late and he didn't want to miss the border security show, he found it fun to watch people try to get away with the dumbest of things. Like openly carrying drugs in their bags. He walked out of the mall and down the street towards the bus stop, at first hurrying, until he checked his watch and realised he was late anyway, with almost an hour till the next bus he had time to kill. He pulled out his phone and thought to call his friends, or his mother, but it wouldn't come on. He swore, it had been fully charged that morning. He sighed and looked around the street, it was a shortcut he often used, but he was almost always running at full speed through it, he might as well have a look around. The street was empty, and not surprisingly, almost all of the shops were closed, only the meat place and an old antiques store were open. With a sigh Jordan walked towards the antiques store, wondering if it had anything good.
He looked through one of the windows and was surprised to be a sword resting on a velvet cushion. Beside it, hanging on a manikin was a long formal dress made of blue and green fabrics. Beside that was a book, also sitting on a velvet cushion, the golden runes on its leather cover seemed to call to him. He walked over to the other window, surprised to see what looked like an ancient egyptian necklace on another cushion. Next to that was a clear round ball the size of Jordan's head set in a golden stand which appeared to be comprised of five lions and five snakes. And the last item was a chair, an old chair made of intricately carved wood and upholstered with rich green velvet. He supposed this store must carry a wide variety of items, but that was not surprising, second hand stores always did. He pushed open the deep blue door, annoyed by the soft tinkling of the little silver bell, an entered the store.
He was actually quite impressed by it, the walls were covered in bookshelves, with ladders needed to reach the top shelves. It was also almost perfectly round, even down to the curved front or the shop, and much bigger than he had expected. It was roughly twenty metres, he guessed, in diameter, covered by a huge dome. There was a second level, it was a ring around the edge of the circular building, probably only five meters wide. The staircase up to it was for some reason in the centre of the store, connected only by a metre wide walkway with railings. The staircase itself however lacked railings as it made spiralled up the central column. The staircase, railings and column seemed all to be made out of black metal latticework, which contrasted nicely with the wooden floors and stained glass dome. The light streaming in from above in all its varied colours made the shop seem dustier and more mysterious. [can't have him say magical, not a term he would like]
Jordan roamed aimlessly between the shelves, poking at the furniture and wondering about the random clear balls. He didn't see the point of some of the walking sticks he could see, but some of the weapons were cool and the jewellery looked expensive. He pulled one of the clear balls off the shelf, surprised at how heavy it was, and read the tag.
"Crystal ball, for futures of others, for use only by psychics." He muttered.
He put it down, wondering what other nonsense this shop catered to. He walked over to the walls and began to scan the titles. All were ones he was unfamiliar with, and many were in different languages. Some seemed so ancient they would crumble at a touch, others brand new. He pulled out one at random.
"Histories of the known worlds." He opened the book, "We know of nine worlds, in the past they were linked, allowing the middle world, the magic-less world, to access the magics of the other eight. It is theorised there would be more worlds but..."
"Magic, as if." He shoved the book back onto the shelf.
He pulled out a few more books, most seemed to be fictional in nature, many seeming to talk about magic. He pulled off a newer book, it looked like a text book.
"The Imagination," He opened the book and read the introduction, "The imagination is the most important tool of those wishing to gain power over the world and others. This book will detail the steps needed to bring your imagination to its full potential and heighten your magical prowess manifold."
"More magic, is anything in this shop a worthwhile read."
The light seemed to drop, and he looked up to the dome. It seemed duller, surely he had not stayed to late. Then he heard the enormous crack of thunder. He looked out the front windows, but the heavy downpour meant he couldn't see the street beyond. He frowned, it had been sunny when he had entered. He wandered over to the jewellery, checking his watch. He needed to get the bus, but he couldn't go out in that with no umbrella. That's when he noticed the stand of umbrellas by the counter. He smiled and hurried over the counter. Grabbing a huge black one he pulled it out of the stand, he held it above him and opened it. Suddenly it snapped shut, propelling itself upwards towards the dome.
"Didn't you know, opening an umbrella inside is bad luck."
Jordan jumped and turned, surprised to see a very old man sitting behind the counter. Dressed in a frilly dress shirt and a blue and silver vest. He looked at Jordan over small wire framed glasses and smiled warmly.
"Nice trick old guy, wouldn't have picked you for a prankster."
The old guy just smiled in response.
"Well, could I borrow your phone to call my mother? So she can pick me up."
"I am sorry, I don't have a phone." The man said, looking slightly puzzled.
"Everyone has a phone!"
"Well I don't."
"Then how am I meant to get home."
"That could be a bit complicated right now."
"Right the storm, I guess I'll just wait it out here then."
[central pillar, climbs the stairs, hallucinations not to bad, proof next shopkeeper]
Jordan began to wander around the store again, trying to ignore the crazy old shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was doing the same, reading something behind the counter. Jordan quickly got bored of the downstairs area and made his way to the staircase. He looked at the steps for a while, marvelling at how unsafe they must be, what with the lack of railings. But they seemed quite wide, so he decided to go up.
"Don't go up there." The old man said before he had even put a foot on the first step.
"Why not?" Jordan asked, "Is it staff only."
"Well no."
"Then I am going up."
Jordan put his foot on the step. It felt unsteady, almost like it was rocking, but still he made his way up. He felt dizzy by the time he reached the halfway point, and was getting slightly annoyed at the weird fog in the central pillar. The fog just seemed to serve no purpose, it was contained in the pillar, it seemed to just make the glowing gems seem more mysterious. He looked down and was surprised to see he was much further off the ground than he had expected, the staircase lurched but he ignored it. He turned to look at the counter.
"You could have warned me it was a rickety old thing," Jordan yelled, "And this substandard fog machine doesn't make the gems look any cooler, are they lit up with LED's?"
He didn't wait to hear the answer but instead continued onwards, wanting to be off the dangerous staircase as soon as possible. He caught the old man watching him out of the corner of his eye, the man seemed surprised. He was surprised that the walkway from the staircase to the balcony was stable under his feet, and he stopped feeling dizzy, which was good. He had a look at some of the weapons, most looked quite traditional but some had really odd designs. He caught sight of a long spear with a foot-long single edged blade, from the dull edge extended a hook, half that length but curving back on itself. He read the tag in front of the case.
"The Spear of Lucas, enhances fighting ability and aids in inspiring others, good for potential leaders."
There was no price. Jordan was slightly disappointed in the name, who on earth was Lucas, it was a rather uninspiring name to have attached to a weapon. Next to it was and even odder blade, it had three edges, joined by inwardly curving surfaces. It was a foot long, with three hooks extending from the inwardly curving surfaces, like the other each were only half the length of the blade and curved wickedly back. It was like nothing he had ever seen before.
"The Blade of Frederico, can be attached to hilt or shaft, enhances fighting ability and aids in inspiring others, good for potential leaders."
Jordan considered this one even worse, Frederico? Not an extremely cringeworthy name there. He heard someone coughing behind him and he turned to see the old man struggling to make it up the staircase.
"These old legs are failing me." He said, then looked up at the boy, "Oh I see you found those two blades, Frederico and Lucas were the most amazing fighters of their time. They inspired others, and though they weren't leaders others just wanted to follow. They were the greatest of friends too, surprising considering it was Lucas who had chopped off Frederico's arm."
Jordan was just flabbergasted, surely the man didn't expect him to believe any of this. The man came over closer and looked Jordan up and down. Jordan shifted uncomfortably under the intense gaze.
"Well?" He asked impatiently.
"Hmm, I was wondering whether you wanted a job, the pay is good, and I need someone willing to take care of this shop after I am gone."
Jordan considered for a moment, it wouldn't be too hard, and he saw how much some of the merchandise cost. Jordan smiled, and if he did get the shop he could just sell off all the merchandise and sell the building, ebay would make short work of this lot.
"Okay I will accept."
The old man smiled, "come down the staff steps, I'll show you around the back room."
Jordan remembered how the room had not been perfectly round, it was like the store had had a small section cut off it, he wondered if the man lived there. They came to a smaller set of very cramped stairs which hugged the curve of the wall. At the bottom was a small room, it was about 3 and a half metres at its widest, but the curving walls meant that it got narrower at each end. The room itself was [do math, or ask Hamish to do math] metres long. Divided by dividing screens into three areas, the stairs came down into the central area, which appeared to be a study, its main feature being the large desk half under the stairs and covered in papers and books, the door into the shop was opposite the stairs. The old man pointed off to one side.
"That will be your room."
"What! No way! I am not sleeping here. I will work here but I won't live here."
"You might find that hard."
"Look the rain sounds like it has stopped, I'll be back in the morning."
The man just smiled softly, and Jordan stormed out. He didn't even glance out the windows, and slammed the door open. His jaw dropped. A horse snorted at him from where it was tied by a saloon. The dusty road was lit by two lanterns which rested on either side of the store's windows. He stepped back inside, staring in surprise at the guns which seemed to have appeared on the shelves quite suddenly. The old man just smiled at him.
"Go back and sleep, I'll close up the store in a few hours, we'll open again in the morning."
Jordan stumbled into the back room, still not quite believing what he had seen. He fell into the bed and fell asleep quickly, hoping that when he awoke he would find it all to be a dream. Though it was a very odd dream for him, he'd blame Inception, it was a stupid movie, totally unrealistic.