forum Sounds of the Underworld// 4/4 Closed// stalkers welcomed :)

Started March 13, 2021 by @knightinadream group

tune

Zachary waved to the customer as they left the shop. Twenty minutes till him and Clue can finally turn off the lights of the store and close up shop. As much as he enjoys talking to humans and smelling the wonderful aroma of old books all day, there is always something so satisfying about the time changing to eight o'clock.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a spirit appeared. He felt its presence but was too distracted by his own thoughts to acknowledge them at first. The spirit frowned as it waved its fingers causing a book to fall from a shelf in the back.

The thud caused him to jump. His hand clenched the walking stick that leaned against the back of the counter before releasing it. "My dear, must you always startle me everytime you're here?" He asked, beaming. The spirit shrugged as it chuckled.

Taking his walking stick, he trudged over to pick up the book. It was a pretty heavy book, you'd think a book with empty pages would be light. He tucked it under his arm then made his way back to the check out counter. After setting the book down, it opened on its own to a random page.

"Two wanderers will appear and change the course of destiny," He read quietly to himself. What could this mean? Zachary pressed his glasses back, getting a closer look at the sentence, then gazed back at the spirit. His mouth opened ready for questions to spill out, but suddenly the spirit disappeared before he could say a single word.

He looked all around to see if it would appear again, but to his dismay, it probably was off somewhere far away. A sigh left his lips. "Those spirits….Why do they always leave us with an ambiguous message?"

Zachary noticed that the sentence also disappeared, leaving him to stare at a blank page. Shaking his head, he shut the book then rested his elbow against it. On the side window, there were missing posters of all the other reapers in the area. He did his best to not make eye contact with them as he gazed out onto the street.

"Two wanderers will appear…."

At a cafè across the street from the book store, Eliza sat at a table looking at a list of job options she had written down. She crossed 'waitress' off the list with a sigh. She counted the jobs she had crossed off, then groaned and laid her head on the table. She had applied for nine jobs during her time in Darros, and she was turned down each time. 'You're just not what we're looking for.' Eliza had heard that sentence so many times over the past week, that she wasn't sure she'd be able to get a job here. She hadn't been able to find a convenience store in town that was hiring, so she'd had to look into some other options. She lifted her head and looked at the book store across the street. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to check it out." She muttered to herself, "Besides, I haven't had a chance to stop and read a book in a while." She stood and headed across the street, looking up at the sign above the door as she neared the building.

River hummed to himself as he sat on one of the benches lining the busy side walk. He had his camera of course, always looking at the world with that artistic point of view of his. The spirits often came and went as they pleased, some choosing to bother him, others simply to enjoy the day or chat.
Today was strange however, as one of them appeared straight in front of him, staring the male straight in the face. River blinked at it, clearly confused. He made no other sign as to confirm he had seen it. After finishing the one sided staring contest, it took off down the street. The boy furrowed his brows, finding the spirit's actions amusing. It was then that he saw it waiting for him. When he didn't move, it began making obvious motions at him to follow.
River sighed before standing to his feet. He knew if he didn't, it was more than likely he'd be harassed until he did. Here he was, walking aimlessly, following a being that supposedly wasn't even there. It was better than living a boring average life. Mostly.
A few blocks later, he found himself in front of a little café. He considered stopping for some warm tea before the spirit 'guide' stood in his way. River rolled his eyes lightly before continuing.
Eventually, he found himself just behind a girl who appeared about his age. The spirit he had been following seemed to be satisfied now, disappearing from whence it came. It was when River looked up at his destination carefully.
Books? Really? He didn't need to buy any books right now. He huffed before walking away. He had only taken a few steps before a spirit came again. It shook it's head at him, pointing back at the humble bookstore.
River cast a few glances around, noting there wasn't too much of a crowd. "I'm not interested," he hissed under his breath, before attempting to sidestep around the being in front of him. That didn't work though, as another appeared in front of him. He sighed again, turning around. When more than one were persistent, it usually meant he was better off listening.

Eliza stopped on the sidewalk and looked at the bookstore for a moment. Maybe a bookstore isn't the right job for me. I think it'd be too…quiet. She thought to herself, starting to turn away. Just then, she noticed a spirit gesturing at the bookstore. It wants me to go inside? Well…alright. I could check out a book while I'm here anyway. She entered the bookstore and looked around, taking everything in. If Eliza had to be honest, she loved books. She smiled and began looking for the fantasy section.

Clue was sat in a chair near the back of the store, thumbing through a book. The bookstore was never particularly busy, so Clue generally just helped with opening and closing, leaving Zachary to take care of the few customers the shop received.

It was quite startling when the bell announcing that the door had opened started ringing. Clue checked its watch. It was so close to closing time, why were there customers now? It carefully shut its book and wandered through the shop to find whoever had come in.

Clue quickly found a woman who appeared to be wandering through the shop. "Can I help you with anything?" It asked with a smile, picking up a cup of tea off of one of the bookshelves. It had forgotten about that tea. It was always leaving tea in the strangest places. It shook its head and turned its attention back to the woman.

"Oh, hi. I'm just looking for the fantasy section." Eliza said, turning to the person who had spoken. "And, hoping to maybe apply for a job here?" She added, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "If this is a bad time, I can come back tomorrow…"

The bell ringing sent a shiver down his spine. His shivers continued once a human walked in. Is the mysterious message true? Keeping his eyes towards the floor, he tapped his fingers against the counter while thinking. It's only just a woman, one person. Besides, spirits have been awfully playful despite everything else being strange as it is.

"Clue! Clue," He whispered, trying to beckon it to come over. Watching as it was talking to the customer, he shook his head. For a second he glanced over at the woman then outside. Pushing his glasses back, he took a step forward to the window.

Is it just him or is he seeing someone else in the direction of the bookstore? Zachary bit his bottom lip, not sure what to do aside from putting on a warm expression. Oh spirits, looks like they may not close the shop up soon. "What's Boss up to?" He mumbled to himself, "Why are there two humans showing up at my shop? I am done for."

River now stood in front of the shop, but glanced up, noting he was being stared at. He was used to spirits continually bothering him with their stares, but for some reason what looked to be the owner of the store was interested in him. He raised a brow slowly before heading to the door. He didn't go further than a few steps into the doorway.
"I'm sorry, are you about to close? I don't want to be of any bother if you are," the boy asked politely.

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Clue smiled. "We're always happy to have customers. Our fantasy books should be back there, the row with all the lights, and I think my uh, coworker is near the front if you'd like to apply!" It looked around somewhat nervously and sipped from its tea. "I'm not sure that we're looking to hire at the moment, but you're always welcome to ask. I'll go get our other worker while you sift through our collection!" It said brightly, quickly turning and heading towards where it hoped Zachary would be.

"Alright, thanks." Eliza gave a small wave, then headed to the fantasy section. She looked at the shelves, quickly spotting one of her favorite books and taking it down. She grabbed two other books and headed toward the front desk, stopping when she spotted the person she had spoken too before talking to someone else seated at the desk. Not wanting to interrupt their conversation, Eliza backed away and sat in a chair near the wall, opening one of the books and beginning to read.

"Hm?" Zachary looked up from the black book, meeting the young man's gaze. For a second he was frozen in place, his eyes slowly blinking. Noticing that the person was at the door, he waved his hand beckoning for him to come over. A bright smile swept across his face.

"Oh no worries, old sport," He reassured, "We will be closing soon, but if there's anything, I'll be happy to help. What are you looking for?"

River blinked at the strange endearment but walked over anyways. Upon reaching the counter, he found his hands going towards his camera. It felt a little better having something in his hands rather than seeming entirely awkward. "Ah, well… I didn't have anything in mind. A few friends told me I should take a chance and come inside," he replied, attempting to be vague. What else was he supposed to do? Tell the man some spirits forced him to come inside? Yeah, no.
"I'll try not to be long, I know it's a bit annoying having customers come in late when they aren't even going to buy anything," he assured, letting a smile across his features. To be fair, they probably had something one of his parents would like. He could make an excuse and say he found something after all and leave. Hopefully it was only the spirit realm nagging him that he didn't brush up on literature or something stupid like that. In and out. Make it easy and painless.