The Magic of the Ancient Rune - CHAPTER 1

What a day at work.

Naeggi walked down the street, making his way home. He had just finished his job for the day. What was supposed to be a regular day turned into an exhausting one as he was required to attend a multitude of meetings, a lot of them barely seeming to need his presence. He was getting tired and just wanted to relax at his place for the night. He had stayed at the school for so long, the sun had already begun to set. Hopefully, he could get home without any dilemma, though when it came to a guy like him, that was a lot easier said than done.

He had made some good process so far. No wayward puddles appeared, no one had accidentally bumped into him and knocked him over, and nothing had flown out of nowhere to hit him, so needless to say, this was going better than usual. It was getting kind of suspicious if he was being honest.

He turned down the last street that he needed to before he would wind up home. On this street were a bunch of shops lining each side, with a huge amount of variety between them. A non-exhaustive list included a café, a flower shop, a collector shop, a bakery, and more. Cinnas of all kinds were going in and out of them, though it wasn’t too many, and most stuck to the walls of the buildings, keeping a clear path. He was so close to getting home with no incident. He could do this.

As he walked, he started to pass by one of the shops. There was a cinnadog outside, dressed in a top hat, fiddling with one of the displays outside the shop. They had a ridiculous number of tube-like objects in their arms, and they were filling a basket with them. It became clear to Naeggi that this must be the shop owner restocking their products, though he didn’t know what it was. He continued to walk by, right past the shop owner, when all of a sudden the glamorous stack in their arms began to wobble, and some started to fall from their paws, right towards Naeggi.

Wah!

“Ack! Crap!” They sputtered nervously and very quickly shot out their arm to catch the falling stack. It all happened so fast that Naeggi barely had time to turn around to face the oncoming threat. The cinnadog managed to catch a tube before it clattered to the ground, however, they had reached out with such speed they were unaware of their strength, and they squished the tube. It was at this moment Naeggi figured out the tubes were party poppers, as he was blasted in the face with a cloud of confetti.

“Oh god! I am so sorry, sir!” At this point, the cinnadog couldn’t care less about holding all her party poppers, as she placed them all on the ground. She looked at him with extreme concern. Naeggi began coughing, as a few pieces of confetti had managed to shoot into his mouth. He was covered with the stuff as well.

“It’s fine,” Naeggi spoke, clearly still frazzled from the explosion. When he talked, it was clear there was still some of the stuff in his mouth, so he picked it out with his paws. Once that was done, he began brushing off the parts that got stuck in his hair. The other cinnadog began helping, getting all the ones sticking out of his furhood. Soon enough, he was clean again.

“There, see? Everything’s fine.” He reassured them.

“Still, I’m really sorry about that…” The cinnadog scratched their arm nervously. “I guess I chewed more than I could swallow. I just wanted to get the stocking done.”

“I totally get it!” Naeggi looked down at all the party poppers she had set down and lowered to the ground. “Here, I can help you with them.”

“Are you sure?” She said while also bending down to grab some. “You don’t have to help me, you know.”

“I know, it just looks like you need it.” He grabbed a few of the tubes, rose from the floor, and put them in the basket she was trying to fill, making sure they were displayed appealingly, and repeating. The other cinnadog did the same thing, and together the basket was fully stocked within two minutes.

“Thank you so much, sir! I can’t thank you enough!” She beamed, eyes sparkling with joy. “Oh hold on! Here! Come inside! I’ll give you anything you want in my store free of charge!”

“Oh no, that’s ok, I don’t need anything.” Naeggi tried to brush off the generous offer.

“Please, I insist!” She pressured, extending a paw.

This cinnadog seemed to be extremely sure about this. It would be rude to decline. So Naeggi took their paw, and they shook it. It was at this moment Naeggi realized he didn’t even know what this cinnadog sold, so he looked up at the sign, which read “Presto’s Wonder Emporium”. The sign did not help. He’ll just see what it is when they walk inside.

“So you’re Presto then?” he asked.

“The one and only!” she chirped. “Prepare to enter a world of magic so mystical, it will blow your mind!”

Upon entering, it became clear what her shop was. There were colourful boxes everywhere, silk scarves tied to each other to create mile-long ropes, balls of all shapes and sizes, metal rings, cups, fake paws, and an entire corner dedicated to playing cards. It was a magic shop. Maybe that should have been clearer, given Presto’s get-up. Even their furponcho looked like a magician’s cape.

“Go ahead and pick anything you want!” Presto called to him, now sitting behind the counter.

Naeggi didn’t have a use for any of these things. Maybe he should take a deck of cards, that’s simple enough, and he would get a use out of it. He thought about it for a second, but then he reconsidered. Maybe he should get a trick. He could use it during his class one day during downtime. His students liked when he goofed around, so this could be the perfect opportunity. He could also get a funny prop to put on his desk, like a rubber chicken or something and see how long it takes for them to notice. He began rummaging through boxes, the first one he went through contained a collection of fake sorcery-looking amulets, like carved stones, plastic orbs, and whatnot. There even seemed to be fake versions of real artifacts, as he skimmed through several plastic ancient runes. Maybe he should get one of those.

As he continued to rummage, he felt something different. Whatever he touched wasn’t plastic like everything else in the box, it was rough and made of wood. Curious, he pulled the mysterious object from its container, and his jaw nearly dropped to the floor. It looked like an ancient rune. A real one.

No way… There’s no way this is a real rune... 

He continued to inspect it, continuing to run his paws over it. The texture matched every description ever given about them. All of its grooves were extremely intricate, and the blue veins had an iridescent finish, a feature that was completely missing from the fake ones. 

Holy crap. Holy crap! This is real!! I found one! Finally! An important piece of history, and it’s mine! 

Of all the places to find one, it was a novelty magic shop. He wanted so badly to cheer out in glee, but he was restraining himself. The happiness soon began to get washed with worry, however. Did Presto even know she had this? Would it be fair for him to take this for free? This was such a priceless artifact, one Naeggi had been dying to get his paws on for years. However, if he tells Presto the truth about it, she will try to keep it or sell it to him for an enormous amount. Then again, how could he pass this up? What to do, what to do…

“Hey, you’ve found anything yet? I got a lot more interesting things than what’s in there. Those are all just props.”

Ack!

“U-um, This is fine! No worries!” Ok. It’s do it or die now. “I… I just want this.” He flashed the rune to Presto. 

“Just that thing? You sure?”

“I’m sure!’ He blurted out, maybe a bit too quickly. “It’s- I’m a history teacher. It’ll make good classroom dressing, don’t you think?”

Presto looked on in confusion, given his on-edge reaction, but did not question it. “Well, if you’re sure.”

“Can you please let me pay for it? I still feel wrong just taking it for free…”

“It’s just a hunk of plastic. Well, plastic and cheap lights. There should be a button on the side and all the blue parts will glow.”

The rune Naeggi had, of course, had no such button. He was desperately hoping that wasn’t an invitation to try it out in front of her. She didn’t seem to be waiting for it, which calmed him slightly.

“Can I just give you a tip then?” Please just say yes… This feels so wrong… 

Presto looked down for a moment, silent. Eventually, she gave in. “Alright, but I’m not taking more than twenty for it.”

Almost instantly, Naeggi whipped out the cash for it and handed it to Presto. He turned out the door before he could even see their reaction, quickly exiting and heading home. Maybe he should have been honest; he still felt bad about it. This thing could be worth thousands if not millions, and he just got it for twenty. Maybe he should go back there one day and just keep dropping Presto tips to make up for it, though he could never give them anywhere near the actual value. He wished he could.

As he kept walking, he continued to inspect the rune. He had it now. His very own ancient rune. A piece of the Cyzzyzzyphos themself, or so it is said. He always wanted one, mostly for the sake of preservation, but also, it was just incredible to have. He had to get this home immediately. No more distractions.

It was at this moment his phone rang. He grumbled a bit as he pulled it out, but his face shifted back to normal as he saw who was calling him. He answered, putting the phone up to his ear.

“Hi Cakeygiri!” 

“Good evening, Naeggi. I apologize for such a late call.” 

“It’s no problem. I was just heading home now.”

“Oh, did you just finish work now?”

“Well, I did just a bit ago. I had to stay back a little longer.”

“I see. Nevermind then. You should rest.”

‘Nevermind then’? What was she talking about? Naeggi thought. “Huh? What is it? Did you need something?”

“I did, but you should get some rest. I can get someone else for this.”

“Kay, just tell me. I’ll help you.”

“...Are you sure?” She said after a pause.

“Yes. I promise.”

“...Thank you.” He could pick up a sense of relief from her, even through the phone. “Meet me around Fortune Bank in about thirty minutes. Keep your guard up, and don’t be seen.”

“See you then. Bye, Cakegiri.” The call ended. 

What could she need him for? He did promise he’d be there, though, so he should start heading over there now.