Heart of the ashes - Chapter 2 - (Albert Wesker X Reader)
AO3 here : 🇫🇷 Version FR | 🇬🇧 EN Version
Chapter 1 -> Chapter 2 -> Chapter 3 (coming soon)
𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 : Albert Wesker was supposed to die in the volcano. But what if something had survived ?
𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐬 : Reader - Y/N - Female Reader - Albert Wesker - Slow Romance - Transformation - Esoteric Shop - Crystal Shop - Witch Shop 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞 : I use Y/N and a female reader because it's just easier for me to write. But of course, feel free to imagine the character however you want. ❤️
I know the beginning is a bit slow, but i just wanted to explain the environnement first before everything starts. I won't spend that much time on details in the next chapters, I promise. Also, don't take everything the characters say too seriously. I'm not an expert at all. I do some research and I try to make it as believable as I can, but I mostly write this because I think it's funny to imagine this character meeting scientist Albert Wesker one day. I'm pretty sure he would hate everything here. 😂 Since I have a lot of descriptions, it was complicated for me to translate it into English lol
P.S. Thank you so much for all your messages on Tumblr and AO3. It really means a lot to me, especially because I didn't dare to post my ideas for a long time. 💕 I'm trying to post one chapter every week.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 : An ordinary day in a small shop… until the time comes to open a mysterious delivery~ 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 : 2,159
𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝟐: 𝕮𝖆𝖇𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖈𝖚𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖘𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖊𝖘
The little bell rang when the shop door opened. A young woman crossed the threshold.
The wooden floor creaked softly under her steps. The woman opened the windows a little to let the fresh morning air come in, then went go to put her coffee on the counter before looking around the whole shop. She wasn't very tall, but she had style and every corner seemed to tell a story.
Dark wooden shelves covered the walls up to the ceiling. The lower shelves were full of stones, crystals, tarot cards, oracle cards, jewelry, incense, and a few small bottles with dried herbs. Between two candles, there were Triskell pendants, a small reminder of the Breton roots of the shop. The morning light made the crystals shine.
All kinds of curiosities were placed a little everywhere. Fossils were next to insects and butterflies under glass. Farther away, old mirrors, stone mortars, decorative cauldrons, pentacles, metal moons, and witch bells were on the shelves. Near the shop window, sun catchers spread colorful reflections all around the shop.
Several books about mythology, modern witchcraft, astrology and Breton legends were carefully placed next to old grimoires with old covers.
The young woman put an incense cone on the ceramic burner and waited for the first smell of cedar and lavender. Out of habit, she straightened a slightly crooked amethyst geode, touched the leaves of her plants to see if they needed water, then opened the cash register to prepare the cash while drinking a sip of her coffee.
Hanging on the wooden beams were hanging pots with aloe vera and pothos. Bouquets of rosemary, sage and eucalyptus were drying upside down. Plants was everywhere, like they had invaded all the shop.
In the middle of the room was a wooden counter, decorate with small carvings and the same dark color as the shelve. Right next to the cash register, a drosera waiting patiently. Its red tentacles, covered with a shiny liquid, were only waiting for an insect careless enough to get stuck on them.
Then she started her usual playlist, and a soft melody soon filled the whole shop. Like every morning, she made sure everything was in its place. Before going back behind the counter, she stopped in front of yesterday's delivery box. It was still not opened.
Damn... She hadn't arrived early to take care of it.
he picked up the box and put it in the back room, she would open it when she had a little time.
The back room was both a storage room and a small workshop. Big transparent boxes full of beads, chains, and everything for making jewelry took a part of the room. Farther away, there was a workbench with everything to identify and work stones, while a few plants were growing under horticultural lamp. On another table, several handmade candles were finishing to dry. At the back of the room, boxes and parcels ready to leave were waiting to be taken to the pickup point.
Finally, when she went back into the shop, she fixed her burgundy off-shoulder top, adjusted her black cardigan, and put back the necklaces that were tangled together. The many bracelets around her wrists softly touched each other at every movement. She pulled a little her black jean shorts, put back correctly her two leather belts, and quickly passed her hands on her red patterned tights before looking at her black boots.
Satisfied, she looked at the clock. It was 9:07. Then she turned the sign hanging on the door : OPEN. The first minutes were quiet. Only the music followed the light smell of incense that was still in the shop. Then the bell rang.
A woman around fifty walked in with a smile. "Good morning, Y/N!"
The owner of the shop looked up from the counter and smiled back at her. "Good morning, Mrs Kermarec, how are you?"
"The same as always, even if my knees keep reminding me that I'm not getting any younger. And you?" the older woman answered.
Y/N let out a small laugh. "I'm good ma'am. The day is starting slowly. I was wondering where your knees were today."
"You can make fun of me as much as you want. One day, it will be your turn."
Mrs Kermarec walked between the shelves. When she stopped in front of the crystals, she looked at a few of them before asking : "Any new arrivals?"
Y/N slightly shrugged. "A delivery arrived yesterday, but I didn't have time to open it yet. We'll see what's inside." Mrs Kermarec picked up a labradorite and turned it between her fingers. "You always end up finding things that we can't find anywhere else."
"The suppliers are starting to know me quite well." Mrs Kermarec put the labradorite back in its place and looked at the shelves one last time. "I'll come back when you open that box."
Y/N nodded with a smile. "I'll put the nicest pieces aside for you." "I don't doubt it."
Mrs Kermarec gave one last wave before leaving the shop. The bell above the door rang once again.
The morning went on with customers coming and going.
A man spent a few minutes looking at the crystals before walking to the counter. "Good morning, do you have something to help me sleep better?"
Y/N thought for a moment. "It depends. If you just sleep a little badly, a herbal tea with lemon balm, passionflower or verbena can already help. In my opinion, it often helps more than a crystal."
The man nodded. "And if you still want a stone... many people like celestite or lepidolite. I can't promise it will work, but some people think it helps them relax."
She picked up a small celestite from the shelf. "Buuuut.. don't put it in water. It's quite fragile. If you like crystal healing, one night under the moon from time to time is enough."
Y/N put the stone into a small paper bag, took the payment, then wished him a good day.
After he left, the shop became quiet again. The music was once again the only sound in the shop. Y/N stretched for a moment, spent a little time on her phone, then looked again at the delivery box in the back room.
"Well... Let's see what we got."
The young woman opened the wooden crate and took the first box, which opened easily. Inside, several layers of bubble wrap carefully protected everything. Every item had a label: supplies to make new candles, a box of small glass bottles, incense holders, pendulums, and seeds. Y/N carefully put everything away in the back room or went to replace the things that were starting to run out. Once she finished, she came back to open the second box.
On the top was written : Arrival "Lot n°A-27 - Kijuju, West Africa".
Y/N slightly raised an eyebrow. That was new. It was also proof that her supplier saw her as a loyal customer.
To begin with, she removed multiple lava stone bracelets, their black beads still covered with a thin layer of volcanic dust. Next, she took a few polished obsidian pendants, that were smooth basalt stones, and several smoky quartz points, each one wrapped separately. Small cloth bag contained frankincense and the other myrrh while also setting several bunches of dry plants tied with string apart.
Y/N extracted two small mortars made from dark volcanic stone with matching pestles and some incense holders made from carved wood. The wood had geometric patterns and spirals that looked like frozen lava flows. There was also a handful of talismans on braided leather cords.
At the bottom of the crate were several rough minerals: red jasper, carnelian, pieces of obsidian, a few porous lava stones, and small quartz geodes already shining under the light of the shop.
Y/N smiled. "Not bad... I got spoiled." One last stone was at the bottom of the box. Y/N picked it up without thinking before slightly frowning.It was neither obsidian nor basalt nor any other kind of rock that was formed as a result of volcanic activity, she usually received.
It was too rough to be called a clear crystal or any decorative stone. It looked like a black, irregular rock: a piece of lava ripped out of the volcano. Its surface was thick and heavy with folds and creases as though heavy and thick pieces of the rock had collapsed before they turned hard. In several spots, cracks appeared on the rock revealing some black thin layers with curved contours, as if different kinds of lava had melted and subsequently solidified together. Grey dust was still caught inside the cracks, while a few smooth, glass-like parts were faintly shining under the light. And of course, there wasn't any label.
Y/N turned it between her fingers for a few seconds. "Another forgotten sample..."
Without really thinking about it, she placed the stone on her workbench, but before being able to sell it or be able to cut it into smaller pieces, she had to identify it. Then Y/N went back to unpacking everything. She carefully put labels on the different items before putting them away. Some went directly onto the shelves in the shop, while others stayed in the back room until they would replace the ones that would soon be sold. She also added everything to her inventory.
Once she was done, she went back to her workbench. The strange stone was still waiting for her.
She think : So... what are you? she thought. You look like a volcanic rock... but which one?
The young woman sighed before sitting down on her chair. Once she was settled, she began turning the stone in her hands. It was no bigger than the palm of her hand, but it was surprisingly heavy for its size.
Y/N then picked up a small magnet and held it close to the stone : Nothing... of course.
She then took the supplier's paper. Just as she expected, there wasn't any reference on it. There was only a small note at the bottom : Unidentified sample – Bonus gift
"No surprise..." she sighed.
Y/N then picked up a book about mineralogy and crystal healing before carefully examining the stone with her jeweler's loupe. She turned it in every direction, looking at its cracks, its texture, and the few glass-like parts that caught the light.
Strange... It doesn't look like anything I'm used to seeing... If I really can't find what it is, I can always turn it into a decorative piece.
In new attempt, took her phone and launched Google Lens. She did not expect that it could help her, and the answer was the same as she expected it to be. "Okay...~ So now.. that we have tried the usual way, let us do something more interesting."
Y/N went to get her pendulum and an incense cone. She lit it, then slowly passed the stone through the smoke to cleanse it before saying out loud : "Let’s make a fresh start."
She left the stone on her workbench and held the pendulum above it. She asked her pendulum a few questions in her head.
What are you ? Are you a natural stone ?
The pendulum not move at all. "Fantastic..." Y/N sighed.
One last time, she took the stone in both hands and closed her eyes. She focused on what she could feel, slowly passing it from one hand to the other.
Wait...
For a brief moment, she felt like the stone was still slightly warm. Not on the surface... More from the inside. She opened her eyes again. "I must be imagining things..."
The stone came from a volcanic region. It was probably just her imagination. Time kept passing, and Y/N was still thinking about what to do with this strange stone. Even with its unusual look, there was something she liked about it. If she couldn't identify it, she could always transform it and use it in one of her creations for the curiosity cabinet. She took out her sketchbook and started drawing ideas.
At the time of closing the shop Y/N put away the drawings and placed the stone on the windowsill.
"We'll see what one night under the full moon will do."
She always purified and recharged her stones like this before selling them, but maybe it wouldn't change anything... Or maybe it would finally help her understand this strange rock. If... even after that... she still didn't find out what it was, it would probably end up cut into several pieces for one of her future creations. With its strange and uneven shape, it would be perfect.
Y/N then tidied up the shop, turned off the music, checked one last time that everything was in order, then closed the door behind her.
𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞.