She stared and stared, hoping that someone had told reality a joke and she had arrived oblivious at the punchline and they've had their laugh at her expense and would now return everything back to normal.
No matter how much or how hard she looked at the ribbon, she could not sense anything from it. Not even a lick of energy came from it.
By every strata, the ribbon was just that, a ribbon. Some of its edges were even frayed and the colors had dulled. Even among other ribbons, it was lacking in quality, but just the way a crippled man would look up at the stars and see their magnificence even without understanding, so too could she.
This ordinary ribbon was so out of her scope of understanding that she would confidently call everything in the store a blatant fake and stand by it, except for the ribbon. The Philosopher's Stones were obviously luminous rocks and the carpet was on puppet strings. An amateur con being played in the face of the Sorcerer Supreme.
Everything else could be fake, even the changes in the tapestry of time could be a mere illusion cast on her by one of her students; everything else in the store could be fake, but not that ribbon. It alone was the exception.
There is a certain level of awareness and existence where lies completely lose their meaning as they are easily seen through. It was like telling a god of death that mortals don't die. The nature of the lie and the act of lying become so redundant that all you would do is succeed in making a fool of yourself.
The ribbon was the exception.
You could lie to any deity, demon or even a Celestial, and while completely useless in doing so, it is something you can do with your free will.
The ribbon was the exception.
It was impossible to defame it or call it something it wasn't. By existence alone, the ribbon was the same as a multiversal constant truth. The sun could be blue and the moon could be lavender pink, but the ribbon will always be the ribbon.
Because it is unfettered. Its existence is a sole truth and so no lie can be said against it.
She couldn't even begin to fathom just what sort of being wore the ribbon, just the understanding that he was so above the limits of her comprehension.
She looked up at him and briefly wondered how he even got something like that in the first place.
For example, if this ribbon was behind the Sanctum's wards, forget rogue sorcerers and demons, earth would have been razed to dust by every single pantheon of greedy gods. Celestials, Hell Lords, Cosmic Entities and Cosmic Concepts would readily slaughter themselves to get it.
There was no possible way he should have come in possession of such an item regardless of however strong he was. The beings that would be interested in getting that ribbon for themselves were beyond strength. She wouldn't even want such a relic on earth if she ever came in contact with it.
"… How?" Her voice shook as that single word forced itself out of her mouth.
How did he acquire it? How is he able to remain calm in the face of such an object? How is he able to hide it from the eyes of every entity out there?
"Hehe, trust me when I say that I went through Hell to get this. The things I had to trade to get my hands on it…" he shivered as he was drawn into an old memory before shaking his head.
"So have you made up your mind, or do you want me to dig deeper for more options?" He asked while she sighed in relief as he closed the box.
It took a huge conscious effort to draw her mind away from the memory of the ribbon and it helped when she remembered that she'd entertained the idea of a trade and now was time to talk about the price.
She, along with her order of sorcerers, were not material people and so they had very little want to possess any form of material wealth.
There was only one viable option for payment she could use but there was no way she could justify trading a chunk of Kamar-Taj's books for the selfish need to free herself from her own mistakes.
She laughed. When was the last time her curiosity and ambitions were stoked? When was the last time she fervently wanted something?
"You're a terrifying being, Isaac." He tilted his head in confusion at her words. "You so easily sell out people's heart desires. It's no wonder why you are so confident in your trade. But I guess to you all these are nothing more than trinkets for you to sell."
What had started as an interrogation had changed to a prospective trade and she was too stunned to put an end to it before it came this far. On the other hand, she now had an inkling of exactly what kind of being Isaac was.
"That's the entire reason for the store."
She nodded and looked through the list of items presented to her and debated on which one she would want if she could pay for it.
'Great, now I'm getting back into bad habits.' She always had a bit of a gambling streak, usually with cosmic stakes, and now it was rearing its head again.
"If I may, dear customer, how specific is this contract you want to break? Is it as strong as the one around your soul or less severe?"
"You can see it." She stated, unable to find the energy to even be surprised that he could see the nature of the bind around her soul. She decided to take a gamble. "The very one."
He nodded like he already suspected it was so then drew her attention back to items on the counter.
"I'll advise you not to underestimate the strength of these things. If you knew enough soul magic, you could even use that timepiece of yours to break the contract."
She frowned for a moment before shaking her head. "No one knows that much soul magic, except they read the very dark books. I can't do that."
"Understandable." He pushed the crystal towards her. "That should do it. Sometimes the descriptions fail to capture the full scope of their ability, that's why I make sure to explain to my customers about what they are buying."
"Are you certain?"
"Very." He replied. "The other party is fairly strong, I can tell that much." She snorted at that. Calling him strong was an oversimplification. "But you on the other hand are a mortal soul. Trust me, mortal souls aren't that complicated, and this," he tapped the Shard of the Un-Sworn Oath, "is more than enough to unravel the bindings on your soul."
Her first reaction was to doubt his words but she couldn't even do that as the memory of the ribbon was still clear in her mind. The box was still on the counter.
"And how much would this be?"
"In paper currency, $3.125M. You can pay in gold equivalent or in another form of payment available to you."
A daring idea came to mind as she was reminded that the Merchant accepted any form of payment, even souls.
"Am I right in assuming that you have a way of appraising the exact worth of things esoteric in nature?"
"You are." He replied, causing her to smile as she rolled another die in her gamble. "Do you have something you would like to have appraised?"
"Yes. My soul binds." She replied, smirking as she saw him let out an understanding 'Ah'. "How much would it be worth if I could isolate it?"
"May I?" He stretched out his hand to her and she took it, watching with rapt attention as a glow came to his eyes as he studied her hand. "Hmm, how fascinating. The Malicious Soul Bind of Dormammu, what an exotic piece. Ah yes, this will do well in my collection."
He released her hand and adopted a business air as a trade was put into discussion.
"I have identified the contract seal on your soul and have confirmed that it is both authentic and a vintage piece, as well as having the unmistakable malicious imprint of Hell Lord Dormammu. I'll give you a fair quotation of $4.75M. This is the write-up of your trade should you find the price acceptable."
—The Malicious Soul Bind of Dormammu – The workings of a Hell Lord is beyond the comprehension of mere mortals, and unfortunately for you, you have not only caught his attention but you also have his terrible imprint on your soul, thus you are now a servant of Dormammu both in life and death.
For his vice on your soul, your Master has deemed you worthy for some boons. Rejoice!
You have been granted an extended lifespan, a talent in the dark and infernal magics, increased magical prowess, necromantic essence, soul degradation and a very flexible moral compass. Continue to please your Master and he will see fit to bless you more.
"I'll preface that the reason for the price being this low is that you'll be selling the bind itself in its basic form, not the depth of it since that'll be something you'll be destroying should you use the Shard of the Un-Sworn Oath."
She read it over twice and found that she wasn't even surprised that he could so clearly see the details of her soul bind that he could put it in writing.
Seeing the nature of her chains written out somehow gave her a new sense of clarity. She was here and she really was doing this.
"I'm fine with it." She handed over the paper and didn't even bother to haggle the price. He had stressed the point of his business being simple and fair, and unbelievably, she was willing to trust it.
"Good. And thank you for the pleasurable trade." He said, all smiling face again. "Now, do you need anything else?"
"Yes, I do." She looked at the crystal shard of contained chaos. "I need a container that I can use to hold the curse after I sever it with the shard."
The smile grew on his face and she knew she had been right. He had given her a quotation for the price of the curse but the thing was that she was not the owner of the curse, Dormammu was. The narrative however would change the moment she used the shard to sever it, and for her to sell it she would have to capture the essence of the curse before it slithered back to Dormammu, being the connection of external influence that it was.
She had a feeling that he would have suggested it either way but the smile on his face said that he was happy with a smart customer.
She was proven right when he took out a pearl from his pocket and slid it towards her
—Cursed Pearl (Japanese Myth): A pearl formed in an oyster exposed to a drowned soul's bitterness. Can be used to absorb a new curse, growing darker and more iridescent. If cracked, releases all stored sorrows at once.
"The pearl comes at $625,000." She nodded easily at that, not really caring about the monetary aspect as her mind was on the hedged bets she'd taken to free herself.
"As for how to use them, well just hold them in both hands and use your magic to connect the shard to any part of your soul and it'll take care of the rest. As the curse unravels, it'll get sucked into the pearl— and you've already began."
He watched with practiced patience, while the carpet flew back a safe distance, as a complicated severance ritual took place in front of his counter. He ignored the sparks of energy and the faint enraged roar that shook his windows.
He ignored the rattling of smoky chains that appeared all over his customer and also remained unfazed when said chains turned red and green before being slowly absorbed into the unassuming pearl.
The light show of broken contracts and infernal rage continued for a full ten minutes before it pittered out into a light breeze and glowing reassurance.
She opened her eyes slowly, still doubtful of the reality that she couldn't feel his deadened grasp on her soul.
"… It worked?" She asked in disbelief. As a chronic gambler, none was more familiar than her about the slim chances of winning against impossible odds.
"It worked." She said again, this time more certain and confident. She looked at the modernly dressed shopkeeper. "Thank you."
He shook his head, professionalism still present in his regards. "No need. I'm just glad that your purchase was as helpful to you as advertised."
She chuckled, "Of course." He still remained adamant at appearing as a business-minded Merchant. She could respect it even. It made it easier to deal with him than probably every arcane entity out there.
"Here," she handed him the blackened pearl without even taking another glance at it. "One soul bind of a Hell Lord as promised."
"Wonderful." He easily accepted with a grin. "As promised, this trade is recorded at $4.75M of which $3.125M and $650,000 is used to offset the purchase of Shard of the Un-Sworn Oath and Cursed Pearl, which brings the total to $3.775M and your balance of $975,000. Would you like to purchase anything else?"
She didn't really care about the money, more than content with being free from Dormammu's clutches. She never would have made such a reckless decision to escape her predetermined death because of the disastrous consequences it would have on the timeline… but that was before Time decided to be more than extremely accommodating to any and all changes that were influenced by this tiny shop.
She still didn't know what type of being Isaac the Merchant was but she could content herself with not knowing.
As she casually thought of what to buy with the change from the sale — probably some magical teapot and a matching fan set — she felt a tap on her shoulders and saw the carpet giving her its equivalent of an imploring expression.
She was intending to spend every single coin that came from the trade, feeling it was only fair to Dormammu, so why not?
"I don't see why not." Her reply made the carpet do a happy spin in the air, making her chuckle, before stopping abruptly and gesturing towards the store. "Sure, my dear, go for it."
With her permission, she and Isaac watched in amusement as it rushed into the store and started frantically searching through the shelves.
"Check the clothes rack." Isaac said. The carpet paused its search and flew out of sight towards the clothes rack before returning a few seconds later with a golden ornately-designed lamp.
It dropped it on the counter and gestured something to its new hopeful master.
"A beautiful lamp," she said, only to be interrupted again as it gestured convincingly to which she nodded understandably. "I see. A multipurpose lamp that can also function as a teapot."
—A Genie's Lamp – A beautifully crafted lamp with a great sealing magic built into it. It once served as the gilded cage of a powerful, now freed, Genie.
—Magic Flying Carpet – A magic flying (beautifully decorated) carpet of frankly unimportant past. If its winning personality doesn't catch your fancy, then maybe the fact that it can fly faster than most modern craft will do. A very loyal piece of hardware too.
She drew in a breath of air as she left the shop, taking stock that, yes, Dormammu's influence was gone from her soul… and yes, Time was highly considerate towards any changes that came from the store. That was good.
She sat on her flying carpet with a golden lamp, a beautiful tea set and a jar of honey from some rare exotic bees. "Truly this has been a productive day."
She thought as she flew back to the Sanctum, planning to drink some tea and maybe check on Strange. What a filial student to help his master so greatly. Maybe she'll take it easy on him when he arrives at her doorstep.
"No. No, I don't think I will."
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