Anyway. Sally's reasoning was like this.
Hopefully, Itvasme and the Dark Rizzards would see the message about the "Information Customer Service Help Desk" on the In-Store LCD screens, and then actually go to the Information Customer Service Booth and from there, she would be able to bring them to the right place, and eventually, to Justicé...!!!
___
Wait… was that Justicé with an É?!?!
The esteemed readers of this novel, all of them intelligent, witty, and good looking, might I add, immediately picked up on this subtle tell…
That's right!!! As a by now veteran venerable grandmaster reader of this novel, you would of course know that Justicé, better known as "Just-Icé Inaglás" or just 'Justicé' for smoother spelling and reading, was in fact a veteran Anti-Rizz Realm contractor, who helped out with various mundane tasks like stocking the shelves, mowing the frosted lawns, and general managing duties like orders and deliveries to ensure that the Central Convenience Store was shipshape, and running smoothly.
Every Store, every organization, has that one person, that one staff member or otherwise, who just knows where everything is.
You never notice them normally, since they're not loud nor attention seeking. But when sh** hit the fan, when something needed to be known or things actually needed to get done, then there they were, ever reliable and dependable!!!
Justicé Inaglás was one such person.
Particularly, in the setting of the Central Convenience Store, Justicé would - often quite literally - 'deliver the goods'…
Moreover. At the moment, this unassuming pillar of the Anti-Rizz Realm management was currently helping out some very interesting customers…
*Unbeknownst to both Sally and Itvasme and the band of Dark Rizzards…*
"Moustache twirlers? You want Aisle 538, on the left, second row."
"You want a fake hook for your arm and a false wooden leg? Yeah, Aisle 933, on the right next to the false eyeballs and Pirate voice transformers…"
Justicé Inaglás calmly rattled off the answers to the current enquiries and enquirers before him.
"And just who might these people be now?!??"
One of the audience members asked suddenly invested.
Author grinned. That's right!!!!
Author had promised a pirate arc, and what Secret Island, nautical escapade would be complete without… actual, honest-to-earth, actual pirates?!?!?!!?!
___
…Pyers Raté-io-Kapitan, Py for short, was currently at the Information booth with his buddies Firs T. Maté - the enthusiastically sycophantic, over-supporting type who would usually vehemently agree with everything Pyers might say, and another charming lout, appropriately named Sinbad - the 'enforcement, muscle-type guy' - and looking quite glum.
You see, Pyers came from an esteemed, venerable, and illustrious line of Pirate Captains (this title, incidentally, was… 'self-conferred', but this would be a tale for a later telling...) which was a great thing, he felt, save for one problem - and one which kept him up awake at night…
Indeed. No one gave a f*** about pirates anymore these days. Gone were the days where they ruled the Six-Seven high seas, drank liquor by he barrel, and thrust their pointed prows with practiced prowess into the various virgin vessels that were sailing around minding their own business, plundering pillaging and all in all, pirate-ing!!!
But No. These days, Pirates had been replaced.
Or rather. Forced to evolve. It was adapt or die.
The modern pirate was nothing like Captain Hooké, or even like his famous ancestor, Jock Sporrow, who ruled the Caribbean back in the days apparently.
Instead, all he did - and why he also literally was awake at night - was run a sh*tty website called TPW - The Pirate's Way - which allowed for the proliferation and promotion of all things Pirate-based, as well as the smuggling of 'certain goods' although this might well be beyond the scope of this book to fully elaborate upon…
- although of course, for the right number of Powerstones 👀✨🤭… (Thank you so much for your contribution as always legends!!!)
His hedonistic honour. His pride as a pirate. Had been regrettably lost over the generations.
But now. All that was about to change..!!!!
___
Anyway, we slightly digress.
Going back to Itvasme, the Dark Rizzards, Sally, Rowena, and Tristen…
*Ding ding ding ding* The ascending D major broken chord rang throughout the Convenience store, rousing the Dark Rizzards from their shopping-fatigued stupor.
Immediately, to their credit (I mean just a few cents since to be fair, it was pretty hard to miss) they noticed that something new was scrolling across the LCD display screens situated all around the store.
As a matter of fact, the Dark Rizzards had followed the screens earlier to try out some of the $2 hotdogs and the $1 meatballs that were being served in the Central Convenience Store and were happily munching and enjoying the feeling of getting a good deal from the so-called 'loss-leaders' of the store.
In fact, they happily forked out the cash for the food, which goes to show that it wasn't that the Dark Rizzards always had to resort to stealing, but it was more that they liked the feeling of being on the better end of the deal when they could help it.
Of course, in actual fact, all this just demonstrated the all-overwhelming power of advertising, but this would be the topic of another chapter…!!!
Anyway to cut a long story short, Itvasme and the DRSABCDs saw the directions for the Information Desk, and decided to head over to see if they could figure out where exactly in this massive store Sally and the EVP Blueprints might be…
Oh! Sally! A Princess, an Ice Queen it was true.
To her, oh the things they would like to do!!!