"Thurgun!  You're not even listening to me!"  Elisa's face reddened and
her lower lip pouted and quivered as she thrust a fistful of papers
under Thurgun's nose.  Way under.  Under his nose and slightly above his
navel.  But the intent was clear.

Thurgun laughed.  "Alright, alright.  Say it again, slowly.  You know
O'i 'ave a 'ard time with numbers."  The rumble of his voice echoed
through the empty store and among the curios, which shifted slightly where
they hung.

"The Shoppe.  Is not.  Making.  Enough money.  To pay off.  Your debt."
She struggled to even pronounce the words above her controlled fury.

"No, no, no," Thurgun smiled.  "O'i get money from Tetsuo.  O'i buy
shoppe.  Shoppe makes money to pay Tetsuo back.  In meantime, O'i get to
stay in shoppe, live upstairs, talk to customers!  It all works out.
That what Tetsuo say."

Elisa arrghed in frustration.  "That was the *plan*, Thurgun.  It was a
very nice plan.  It might have even worked.  But this," she shook the
papers again, "is reality.  Snowglobe sales are down.  Dreamcatcher
sales have never been good.  Nobody wants your new "I'm the Mummy" 
T-shirts.  Nobody has any 'pennies' to smash in that weird machine you
spent so much time converting.  The Jukebox might have brought in
something if you didn't keep turning it on for free for every doe-eyed
kid that comes in wanting to hear 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'."

"It reminded him of his mother!"

"And giving away our T-shirts for free!"

"He was cold!"

"You know what?  Give 'em the 'I'm the Mummy' T-shirts!  It'll make more
room on the shelves for the 'Seattle Rain Festival' shirts, and those
actually sell."  Elisa sighed, and looked at the papers again.  "The
talismans are making money, but not enough people know about them yet,
and we can't exactly advertise."

Thurgun's eyes brightened.  "That right!  Shoppe need more money, so
Long Feather teach me how to make talismans, make more money.  Now we
okay."

"'Better' is not 'okay', Thurgun.  Tetsuo gave you an extention last
month, because he saw things were picking up, and because you smiled at
him the right way or something.  But that means we owe *more* this
month, and things are not getting better!"

Thurgun frowned, and scratched his head.  "Okay, okay, O'im remembering
now.  Shoppe not make money, so O'i make talismans.  Shoppe still not
make money..." he brightened once more.  "So O'i start band!"

Elisa exploded.  "Band?!?  The 'Band' is no more than you and... and...
what's his face crooning and smashing things in your apartment!  It's
driving folks away!  A 'band' gets hired to do shows!  You two should be
hired to stop!"

"But the band makes money.  That the plan..."

"The band makes no money.  The Shoppe, not enough.  The talismans, maybe
in the future, but not now.  We need a new plan."

Thurgun's eyebrows furrowed.  "A new plan?"

"A new plan."

Thurgun cocked his head to one side, and folded his arms.  "Hmmm."  Then
he just stood there.  Even his breathing slowed.

Elisa sighed, and went back to organizing the receipts for the week.
Thurgun was thinking, which was good, but she knew from experience it
would take a long time.

Half an hour later, the Shoppe was clean, everything was locked up, and
Thurgun still hadn't stirred.  "See you Monday, Thurgun.  I'll be here
to open."  She patted him on the back, ducked at just the right moment
so as not to be crushed when he distractedly patted her back on the
head, and locked the door behind her.

                            *    *     *     *

Elisa blinked.  "You went *back* to Tetsuo?  That's the new plan?"  It
was bad enough Thurgun had spent Monday just grinning at her, and now
this.  "Thurgun!  You can't get a second loan to pay for the first!"

"What?" Thurgun pondered.  "Hmm, maybe that work.  But no.  O'i made a
new deal.  No money, no loans.  Just fair exchange, service for item.
Tetsuo is bringing me an axe!"

Then she was interrupted by a customer with a snowglobe in hand, and
Thurgun wandered off to chat with a grim-looking elf that had just
wandered into the store.  Before they closed that night, she was able to
get the basics of the deal out of him:  the Yakuza had a pair of
Orichalcum lochaber axes they needed enchanted, and Thurgun agreed to try.  
If one was 'good enough', he could keep the other.  If they were merely
decent, they'd consider him paid in full for the loan through the end of
the month.  Thurgun was sure he could enchant one of them well enough that
he'd be able to keep the other.  The fact that he'd never done it before
didn't really dissuade him.

Elisa was conflicted.  On the one hand, she was sure the Yakuza were
simply after a cheap enchantment and intended to keep both
axes, which made her mad at them (again) for taking advantage of him.
On the other hand, she shuddered to think what sort of plan Thurgun had
in mind for an axe like that.  Sure, things weren't going well at the
shoppe, but...

She was startled out of her reverie by a loud yelp, followed by raucous
laughter.  She turned to see, as expected, a very frightened kid by the
mummy case, surrounded by his laughing 'friends'.  The mummy had been in
the Shoppe for almost a century; the body of a woman who had died in the
desert many years prior to that.  The day Thurgun had first walked into Ye
Olde Curiosity Shoppe, he had seen the mummy and instantly declared it was
him--in a previous life.  (This 'fact', combined with the
currently-popular street catch-phrase, 'Who's your momma?' had inspired
the poor-selling T-shirts.) As proof, he summoned a hearth spirit that
did, it must be admitted, look a lot like the mummified woman. When
pressed to explain, he had triumphantly explained that shamans could only
summon spirits that were 'echoes' of previous lives, and he could summon
this woman's echo.  QED.  Not that he had said, "QED", of course, but
anyone who knew anything knew you shouldn't argue with a troll unless your
life is on the line, so they let it go.  Now that Thurgun owned the
Shoppe, he routinely summoned 'Lucy' to help guard it, and it had taken to
resting by settling right over the mummy. And the first time you saw it
awaken and move, you had to admit, it was a little startling.

But Lucy wouldn't be enough to protect him from Tetsuo, who was supposed
to show up that afternoon.  She was pretty sure she wouldn't be enough
either, but she decided she'd stay that night anyway.

                            *    *     *     *

Thurgun, eyes closed, hummed a pure bass note as he gently stroked the
first lochaber axe before him, music and action smoothing away the astral
imperfections that lurked within.  The afternoon sun beat on his shoulders
through a lonely skylight high above him in the converted warehouse that
acted as his apartment.  Tetsuo and his friends sat quietly nearby,
watching him work.  Nice men, if a bit reserved.  Thurgun thought one of
them must be sad about something, since he hadn't spoken to Thurgun at all
when being introduced.  No customers milled about downstairs, since Elisa
had insisted on closing the shop early so she could watch, too.  She stood
in the doorway to down below, nervously tapping her foot.  Thurgun relaxed
and imagined each part of his environment as it would be as an axe.  The
still menace of Tetsuo and his friends in the sharpness of the blade's
edge. The strength of the sun forged in the depths of the blade's metal.  
Elisa's nervous energy in the speed of the blade's dance.  Each imagining
brought into focus a new aspect of the weapon's qualities, and he could
see what needed to be removed, what needed to be smoothed, and what needed
to be reinforced.  There, finally--he could see no way to further improve
it.  His hum died away and he opened his eyes.  The silent man stood and
approached, holding out his hand.  Thurgun handed the blade to him,
nodding with eyes full of pride.  This was a very good axe. Thurgun would
be able to keep the other one, since this was so good.

"Amateur," the man pronounced, looking at Tetsuo and still not talking
to Thurgun.  Maybe Thurgun reminded him of something sad, like a lost
father.  And maybe being sad made him distracted, because he was
certainly failing to notice how good the axe was.

"No, O'i show you.  Here," Thurgon said, rising to his feet.  Suddenly the
room went all twisty, and Thurgon staggered and grabbed the table to catch
his balance.  The apartment shook.  After steadying himself, Thurgon
stepped forward to explain.  "See the edge?  Sharp here, in important
ways.  Like you!  And the metal, stronger.  O'i took out the weak parts.  
Move it around--it dances.  It very good axe."

The man turned and looked at Thurgon directly for the first time.  He had
cold, grey eyes.  "This axe was enchanted by an amateur, and it is a
weak enchantment.  If it has not actually damaged the weapon, I shall be
surprised.  I will remind you," he said, turning back to
Tetsuo, "that I strongly discouraged this course of action.  This
confirms it."

Thurgun was beginning to come to a different conclusion.  The man wasn't
sad.  He was an idiot.  If there was one type of person that Thurgun
couldn't stand, it was idiots.  "Now, look 'ere," he rumbled angrily, but
before he could continue, Tetsuo hastily cut him off.  "Now now, Thurgun,"
he said, "I only brought Sadato here to see if you and he could agree on
the quality of the axes.  Since it seems you can't, I'll take them to
our... panel of experts and have *them* decide."  Thurgun heard a snort
from the stairwell, but Tetsuo pressed on.  "If you're right--and I'm
certainly not saying you're not, because I wouldn't know," he added
hastily as Thurgun frowned at him.  "If you're right--the panel will
surely be able to see it as you do.  Please--we should keep working.  I
have an appointment later tonight, and would hate to miss it for a petty
squabble that can better be solved by people more objective."

Thurgun glared at the silent man a bit longer, then turned back to the
table with the remaining axe, muttering, "'We' aren't working, O'im
the one working."  Still, he should not let the man make him distracted.
The panel would see that the first axe was a good axe, and he had
his own axe to enchant.

                            *    *     *     *

Elisa watched Thurgun silently as the sun crept up Thurgun's shoulders
and across the second lochaber that now lay in front of him.  Her own
back was starting to sweat in the still, hot air, but Thurgun's skin
remained a dry dark green, despite his concentration and obvious
exertion as his hands passed slowly and deliberately over the blade.
She tried to keep her face impassive as she watched, since it wouldn't
do to anger the yakuza, but it hurt to have to watch them take advantage
of her boss.  Her friend.  The look in Tetsuo's eyes was clear--he
wanted that first axe.

The sun gradually slipped off Thurgun's back, started up the wall, and
took on a pink hue in the twilight. The yakuza sat placidly, watching
Thurgun.  She was tired, and itchy, and hungry, but she'd be damned if she
let them beat her.  She shifted on her feet again, and looked out the
window.

A commotion in the street made her blink.  Someone was banging on a door
and yelling.  Wordlessly, two of the yakuza rose and took positions in
shadows, but where could see out the window.  Tetsuo glanced out the
window, frowned, and came over to Elisa.  Thurgun twitched in his ritual.

"Someone seems to be at your front door.  Make them go away, or the
ritual may be disrupted."  He turned and strode back to the window,
frowning as he tried to get a good view of the street.  Arrogant
bastard.

Elisa could see he was right, though, and went downstairs.  She turned out
of the stairway into the shop itself and saw a kid outside the front
windows, hair toussled and with a wild look in his eyes.  "Let me in!" he
shouted, pounding with renewed vigor on the glass.  Elisa dashed to the
door.

"Not now!" she shouted as loud as she dared through the glass.  No good;
being inside meant she could be heard more easily upstairs.  She
recognized the kid now; he was in some sort of gang in the area, but
spent a lot of his spare time around the Shoppe.  Langston?  Lyle?
Liam!  That was it.  Always thin as a rake no matter what Thurgun fed him.
She quickly unlocked the door and stuck her head out.
"I'm sorry, kid, Thurgun's really busy right now, and can't see anyone."

Liam's reply came between jagged gasps for air.  "But--men with guns--
their car chased me down first--I got away down the harbor steps, but--
please, you gotta--"

Elisa made a split-second decision she was sure she would regret later.
Opening up the door wider, she pointed at the roof above them indicating
Thurgun's apartment, and covered her lips with her finger.  Loudly, she
said, "There's a ladder down to the water at the end of the pier--maybe
they won't find you if you're hiding under there."

Taking the hint, Liam groaned, said, "Thanks for nothing, miss," then
slipped into the shop.  Elisa closed and locked the door again, looking
through the glass to see if anyone was following him.  There, just
turning the corner.  A big white SUV covered with chrome that screamed,
'corporate goons'.  The wood above her creaked--was Thurgun already d...
No.  It was one of the Yakuza goons, coming down to check on things.
She didn't know how he might react to having the kid in the shop, but it
couldn't be good.  Desperately, she cast about the shop for someplace
for Liam to hide.  Nothing.  Unless...

                            *    *     *     *

Lights, blue and yellow.  Swirling, nodding... beseeching?  The physical
world was so confusing.  But the strong green light that made everything
make sense was up above.  The swirling blue was becoming more agitated.
Normally, this wouldn't affect her.  Why was it affecting her?  Where
was the green?  Something seemed important, though--and there it was.  A
thin filament of aqua, connecting this blue to her own strong green,
above.  Did that mean she should figure out what the blue wanted?
Gently, she enveloped the aqua thread, and tested the ends.

                            *    *     *     *

Tetsuo would take the other axe.  This was his.  His to use to make
money, keep his shop.  Protect it.  Protect the children that came to
him, needing to get away.

                            *    *     *     *

"Lucy, please!  You've gotta protect this kid.  Hide him, somehow--I
know you've done it before, please...

                            *    *     *     *

That would do.  But to gather the right motivational force, things
needed to be a bit more direct.  So, subsume the blue light, so.
Subsume the aqua thread, so.  Subsume the odd maroon and violet light
the green is shining on, and...

                            *    *     *     *

OK, that was weird.  He supposed it was a fitting culmination of his
day.  Being recruited to slip through that grate and steal something:
fairly normal.  His small size made him ideal for
those kinds of quick in-and-out jobs.  His target being a couple
freggin' big axes:  odder.  HeretiCorp finding him four hours later:
really odd.  If your mark found you, it was either immediately, as you
tried to make your escape, or it was two days later after tracing back
the evidence.  Four hours was unheard of, unless they had the best crime
lab this side of the Atlantic.  Which meant he had been sold out.  But
being eaten by the ghost of a mummy?  The clear winner of the 'Let's
Freak Out Liam' award.

It seemed to be working, though.  Nothing he did made a sound, and the
scary Jap with the glock had stared right through him twice before
eventually went back upstairs, with Elisa following.  The white SUV
cruised past twice without stopping.  The third time, he manged to work
up enough courage to wave.

                            *    *     *     *

It was so clear!  He had made the right gesture, hummed the right note,
or *something*, and the axe's aura had flared so brightly he almost had
to open his eyes.  But now he could see every flaw that needed to be
filled, every taint that needed to be removed.  Thurgun unconciously
drew on every reserve of power he could find, as he struggled to fix the
axe, to leave nothing behind but purity.

And then he was done.  He opened his eyes.  The silent man stood before
him, a flabbergasted expression on his face as he stared at the axe.
Tetsuo was looking at the silent man looking at the axe, and his face
displayed one emotion only:  greed.  But, that meant they would take his
axe!  The one that would protect his store; protect his kids!  "No,
wait," Thurgun managed to say before the room went completely twisty
this time, and he sank to the floor.

                            *    *     *     *

Tetsuo watched as Thurgun slumped.  "Guess he won't argue with us when we 
take both of the lochabers, then."  His fellow yakuza chuckled as he 
picked them up, and turned to the door.  That woman was there, glaring at 
him.

"That was *not* your agreement.  If one was good enough, he could keep 
the other."  What was she trying to pull?  She was obviously completely 
unarmed.

"Step aside, kid.  The agreement was between Thurgun and myself.  We'll 
work it out."

"Since he cannot speak for himself, I'm speaking for him.  Does his trust 
mean nothing to you?" she said.  Tetsuo frowned, and looked at the fallen 
troll, now breathing peacefully.  The woman pressed on.  "If he believes 
you betrayed him, what are you going to do?  Kill him, and run this place 
yourself?  What if he complains to *your* boss?  Besides, right now, 
you're the guy he goes to when he gets in trouble, and you've managed to 
make that pretty profitable for yourself.  You want that to stop?  What 
about the people he can recommend to you?"

The woman walked right up to him, eyes never wavering from his.  "Take the 
second axe.  Leave the first for him.  Think of it as an investment."

As Tetsuo pondered, Sadato tapped him on the shoulder, and drew him away a
few paces.  "The second lochaber is like nothing I've ever seen," he
whispered.  "What's more, the troll seems to have drawn power from the
first when enchanting the second--it's no longer quite as powerful as it
was when he started."  He nodded to their companion still by the window.  
"And Natsu says a HeretiCorp vehicle has passed by here several times.  It 
left, but if need be..." he trailed off.  Tetsuo sighed, and turned to 
Elisa.  "Fine.  He can keep the first axe.  And, hey, I'm feeling 
generous--tell him you're paid up through the end of the month."

Tetsuo tossed the first axe back on the table, snapped his fingers, and 
strode out of the room, the other three following.  He'd get plenty of 
a commission for this axe, and the woman was right--he'd do better in the 
long run keeping this troll mollified.

                            *    *     *     *

Elisa let out a sigh of relief.  She was still worried about Thurgun's 
plans for the axe, but she worried even more what he would do if he felt 
betrayed.  She watched him gently breathing in a contorted heap beside the 
east wall, pink from the sunset.  Wait, didn't sunset mean...

                            *    *     *     *

...that this "Lucy" would be dispelled?  Some kind of Shaman thing, right?  
Liam heard voices and footfalls on the stairs.  Freg.  He dove behind the 
counter, crashing into a pile of snowglobes.  They didn't budge, though he 
now had a growing bruise on his shoulder.  Wait, one of the globes on the 
top was tipping off... *thunk*, right into his hand.  At the same moment, 
the last of the pink disappeared from the room, and with a rush of wind, 
the *presence* that had enveloped him was gone.  He crouched awkwardly on 
the floor, snow globe in one hand, one foot stretched out behind him.

"HeretiCorp, eh?  Kid must've gotten away.  Remind me to hire him again if 
he survives.  Could be useful to have an expendable asset like that."  The 
frell?  That was the same guy who hired him!  Oooooh, yeah, he'd survive, 
all right.  He'd do more than that.

                            *    *     *     *

Elisa watched out the window as the four yakuza drove away.  Whew, Lucy 
must have lasted long enough.  She turned back to Thurgun, who was 
beginning to stir.  Helping him up, she said, "They took the good axe, 
Thurgun.  I'm sorry."


"Nah, O'i know.  S'okay.  That the deal."  He got to his feet and hefted 
the remaining axe.  "This still good axe."  He peered at it.  "Hmm, not as 
good as before.  Room dead, too.  Have to restart."  He plucked what 
looked like a dream catcher from where it hung above him, looked at it, 
shrugged, and tossed it on the table.  "This still good axe," he repeated.  
"It work."  He wandered over to the window and stared down the street 
where the yakuza had gone.  In a low, quiet voice, so low Elisa could 
barely hear it, he added, "...but that one was *great* axe."

Elisa stood beside him, and they watched dusk fall on the city.