“I can pay for it. I’m thinking I should buy it… This is the first store I’ve been to here. Maybe this… can be the first thing that belongs to me.”
Don’t push your luck, the voices warned once more. These self-indulgent thoughts are not any solace for you. Can you call anything yours? Do you deserve a possession of your own? Crona wanted to believe there could be just one thing in his life that could belong completely and solely to himself. Perhaps just this simple clock could be the beginning of his life without her influence. If he could have this one object to call his own, could he finally start to grow independent of those memories, of those deprecating thoughts that plagued his every move?
He was spiraling into this train of thought again. This was a familiar feeling, dwindling his resolve day by day, hour by hour, yet despite its familiarity never got easier to bear. Yet he was always alone when these episodes struck in the past. But now the poor store worker was trying to pull him away from this line of thought… Crona gasped, shaking himself out of his stupor. Something in the older man’s voice held an edge of warning, and the swordsman complied, shaking his head a few times.
“Y-you’re right, I’m sorry… I’ll try not to think about it anymore.” So he dropped the subject, though he knew his thoughts would still cascade into darkness every day of his life.
“Is that so?” Alpha questioned, blinking, before grinning and nudging the clock a bit closer to Crona. “Well, then that’s even more reason to buy it, hm? The option’s there for you if you need to think on it, anyway.”
But then the kid seemed fall into darker thoughts, and to Alpha it almost seemed as if he was transforming into a completely different person right in front of him with barely so much as twitch. Something about his expression, his eyes, was deeply unsettling to the blonde, and shadowy memories stole like thieves through his mind. That look in his eyes...
‘The Shade...while under its influence, would my victims have met a look like that?’
His thoughts snapped violently back to the present, and anger rushed to take the memory’s place. He snapped angrily at Crona, partly in self-defense, and partly in warning. And though the kid calmed, Alpha now regarded him warily. Anyone with such a look in their eyes like that could be dangerous, even a kid as scrawny as this one. Alpha knew that better than most... “Well, just keep it under wraps, kid. I don’t want you causing trouble in here.”
Crona seemed to get a little skittish at the sight of his sword, but as his question Alpha decided to let it slide. “Yes, it does. My sword is called Lazuli. It has a partner, a heavy sword named Lapis.” He glanced towards the back of the shop, where the owner of said blade was probably rummaging around.
Originally, back in Shadowvale he’d had a long sword of much simpler design than the one he owned now. But when they’d moved, and Pietta and the others had found out that both he and Beta knew how to sword fight, they’d put together some money to buy them both new swords. Alpha had been too grateful about the impressive blade to find it in him to complain that the swords were partners, matching and all. “What about your sword? Does it have a name, too?”
Alpha nodded at Crona’s words, handing the screwdriver off. “Exactly. So don’t worry if you don’t get it on the first try.” As the boy introduced himself, Alpha smiled and pointed at his nametag. “Well, Crona, as you may or may not have noticed, I’m Alpha. Nice to meet you-”
At that moment, Crona sent the cog flying across the room into the back, no doubt going to puzzle Beta about why it was there if and when she noticed it. Alpha stared wide eyed after the cog while Crona screamed beside him, causing a few confused heads to turn before he waved them off with a nervous smile, reassuring them everything was fine. “...too. Well, that...could’ve been worse, actually. I don’t think I heard anything break.” He leaned down to examine the clock. “And everything seems to be fine here. Looks like you tried just a little too much...”
Alpha rolled his eyes at Crona’s panicking, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “Look kid, relax. I was honestly expecting a lot worse, but you did fine. Don’t beat yourself up about it too much.” He eyed Crona for a few moments. “...That probably wasn’t as fun as you thought it’d be, huh?”
