Ashes

I reached down for my blade, but realized that I hadn't brought any weapons. They would have been confiscated by the police at the airport, and I didn't have a magical weapon that turned into everyday items, like dog tags or a paper clip. My reflexes kicked in, and I parried to the left, and the charging blond stuck his sword into a rack of SPQR Shirts. He pulled it out and flailed the bronze sword around, knocking over various nick-nacks and collectibles. Was it always this cold in here?

"Allen!" Anna said, dodging a Medusa head statue. I turned and had the tip of my hair cut off, a few, short, brown lines floated from my vision. That was way to close. I backed up, hoping to calm the man who was easily in his 40's from killing me.

"Woah! Woah! It's okay! We are friendly! Romans!" I said, pointing to the SPQR Shirt that the man had impaled. He cocked an eye at me.

"Roman?" He said in a steady and deep voice. He resembled a surfer dude. "Like, New Rome?"

"Yeah..." I said, slowly dropping my hands back to my sides. He sheathed his blade in its hilt on his hip.

"Welcome Romans! How may I help you?" He said in a slightly shaky voice. He hopped over the counter, and opened up the register.

"Ding!" He added, pulling out money from the cash register. "Thank you for your purchase!" He closed up the register. "May I help who's next?" Anna and I eyed each other.

"Yeah... You wouldn't happen to know of any Greek hiding out here? It's kind of vague, but we don't know his name, or his description."

"Yeah, i'll even take you to him!" He said giddily. "Dig!" He opened the register. "Thank you for your purchase!"

"Do you have any coats?" I asked, seeing Anna clearly shivering. It started snowing outside. Is there even suppose to be snow in Tennessee?

"I want a light pink Fushia jacket with fuzz inside with-"

"Sis! We'll take whatever he has!"

"It needs to be in pink!"

"No!"

"Ding!" The old man added.

"we'll take whatever you have." I said, pulling out the wad of cash. "Whatever this can get us." He grabbed the cash, examined it, and put in in the cash register without sorting it. All 100 mucks, stuffed into a ball in the $5 location.

"We have pink coats right over there, actually." The man said, pointing to the jackets in the back. I swear this store had every shade of pink ever invented. "That'd be 15 dollars. As for the other 90 dollars," He said. I'm guessing he wasn't good at math. "That'd get you something special. What do you like more- Red and White, Blue and Gray, or Black and Red?" He walked out from behind the counter, opening the door to the right. I thought for a second.

"White and Red. Why?"

"Come with me." He said, smirking. He flipped on the light switch, and bright white lights light up the large room. There were only 3 things inside- 3 jackets, lined up in a row, with the colors Red and White, Blue and Gray, and Black and Red. Each one had a pointed hood, and an odd yet compelling arm design, almost like red pillars stitched into the white fabric. It was an amazing outfit, the red accents complemented the white base nicely. Two black, open fingered gloves sat where the hands would be. It was a zipper hoodie, but the fabric was light, almost like a track jacket with improvements.

"Do you like it?" He asked, pointing to the outfit.

"It's amazing! Are you sure you want it for 90 dollars?" I said, going with it.

"I'm sure. It never really gets that cold in Tennessee anyway, so there isn't much use for them." He gave a cheeky, yet sly smile. "So you're name is Allen, huh? Who's your sis?"

"Anna. Are you rally going to help us find this guy?" I asked, slipping on the robes. It had a slight tail to it, the back of the hoodie separating into separate flaps that covered the back of my thighs.

"Sure, sure! I don't get many visitors anyway." He said, wiping dust off of an empty shelf.

"What's your name, anyway?" I asked, slipping the hood over my head. He gave another smile.

"Me? I'm Luke. Luke Castellan."

Notes