It didn’t take an expert to understand that things had changed. The outside of the Glass Stopper glowed from the rings of light and runes that circled its entirety.

It was mesmerising.

Theo found himself transfixed for a moment as ribbons of light caressed the dirt in the darkness and cascaded across the district like sunlight rippling across the seafloor as water danced in waves. Even from a distance, it was such a sight.

It took some time for him to realise that it hadn’t just been a moment; instead, he had been staring at it long enough for most of the other stalls he’d passed to close for the night.

He walked closer, mentally promising himself to keep on track. Theo approached the entrance, the runework spiralling and traversing the surface of the store in ways it had never done before.

After closing his eyes, Theo walked in. The change was electric.

His hair almost stood on end, goose bumps rising on his flesh and every breath felt…brighter. It was reminiscent of the clearing in The Woods, but less earthy.

It was the mana concentration, Theo realised. The amount of wards and runes were putting out so much waste mana from not being perfectly efficient that it had raised the ambient mana levels.

The taste was almost electric, and his tongue tingled as he licked his lips.

The interior of the Glass Stopper was also different. Not in the range of products, as those had stayed relatively constant in all the trips Theo had made to chat with Chris (seasonal variance notwithstanding).

No, the change was in what was around them. The shelving glowed with circuits of mana, lighting up the products in a much more appealing way than before, while also projecting a barrier similar to the one on the outside. No runes ran along this one, allowing for a clearer view of the glass bottles lit from below.

One other major change was the counter where Chris would lean on and stand behind as they chatted. That was now a palisade, a fortress made of metal and magic. More of the barriers filled it, and while the rest of the store looked elegant and almost ethereal, this was brutal and practical. It was a brick of dark, scratched plating covered in a series of equidistant holes, and the glow was more reminiscent of surveillance than enlightenment.

What wasn’t there was a bell or anything of the sort with which Theo could alert Chris to his presence, not that Chris had needed it previously.

He had said something about the aesthetic of a bell being crucial; Theo had tuned him out at the time as another of his interesting but just-for-fun ramblings.

Now, he stood around and started to think that maybe there was something to having that there, even as an aesthetic choice. It had been more welcoming when the bell was on the counter (but then again, that could be the fact that it just seemed like a suddenly-fancier and intimidating store. Or the lack of a counter entirely).

“Identify yourself.” Chris’ voice seemed to echo around the whole store, as Theo looked around for a source. He saw none.

“Uh. Theo?” He was thrown off, and frankly perplexed at what was happening. He found himself complying far before his mind caught up and questioned why he should answer in the first place.

From each corner of the store, Chris appeared. All four versions of him walked in sync, up to Theo.

Theo waved hesitantly, rapidly reaching the point where he would stop questioning how things worked as long as it stopped hurting his head.

The four Chris’s stood there, inspecting him in silence. Theo felt self-conscious, and squashed an urge to sniff his armpit.

The Chris’s nodded, and all of them disappeared. Behind the black box, Chris’ face appeared out of nowhere.

Theo looked between where Chris’ face was now, and the four places it occupied previously.

“Sorry about that, just had to make sure you were, well, you! Can’t be too careful these days, you know how it is.” Chris apologised, continuing on without so much as a pause. “It’s absolutely dreadful, and I hope you’ve been doing well even during these trying times – actually, I heard you were caught up in that business over at the Flake estate! Did you get hurt? It sounded terrible.”

Theo didn’t have time to process everything that was said, but he had to interrupt Chris’ spiel before it gained so much momentum it couldn’t be stopped.

“Nice renovations! They look very complicated.” The first question that came to mind, was just exactly how Chris had managed to afford kitting out his store with all the runework. Of course, his alchemical wares were also expensive, but this felt like another league of financially ruinous.

“Thank you! I had to call in a few favours from Chrysantheus, but luckily they were also testing out a lot of prototypes thanks to some newly discovered notes and needed some places to try things out. Can you believe that? Some ancient texts that…”

While Chris was definitely ‘enthusiastic’, Theo found himself glad. This was why he came here today, after all. It was easy to have a lovely time and forget about things for a while when you’re engaged in a conversation about gossip.

Well, until you are involved in that gossip. It took a few minutes, but Chris eventually came back round to what Theo hadn’t answered. “So, tell me about what happened at the estate. How is everyone holding up? It sounded very exciting, but also rather dangerous.”

“…did I mention that I was the one who found those texts?” He desperately tried to change the subject.

The look Chris gave him was one of pity, empathy, and knowing exactly what he was trying to pull and not being fooled, not even a little bit.

“I’m serious.” The ever-present smile that Theo was accustomed to was replaced by a pained grimace, one weathered by time and use. He expected anything except a smile to look odd on Chris’ face. Instead, he was disturbed by how much more natural this was.

Chris sighed. “I was hoping that it would be a swashbuckling adventure full of intrigue and excitement, and not something that’d pop up in nightmares. But stories like that always come at a cost.” He had a faraway look in his eyes, seemingly forgetting Theo’s presence as he reflected on memories.

Eventually, he turned and stared directly into Theo’s eyes. “Wounds of the mind are much worse than wounds of the body. Those linger and fester far too easily.”

Theo thought back to Jenny, a woman who fearlessly used point-blank explosions as a means of propulsion, so fragile in his embrace.

He agreed.