"What do you mean by its 2 pieces of silver?" Mulan asked, her purple iris glaring at the Robes merchant who rolled his eyes.
"Times are tough, kid, it's 2 pieces or none!" He said and Mulan's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you calling a kid?" She asked, about to attack the man, only to be blocked by Gabriel, her best friend.
"Mulan! It's just two pieces of silver, Give it to him!" He mumbled in her ears and She scoffed.
"There's no way I'm spending that much, it's one piece or none!" She snapped and the man scoffed.
"I'm not bringing down the price!" He said and Mulan rolled her eyes.
"Fine, what about one and a half?" She asked and the merchant tssked, taking the robes back in.
"Sorry, but it's a no!" He mumbled and Mulan grimaced.
"Whatever, I don't want your dumb robes anyway, I'll see someone who'd sell for half a silver!" She snapped and faced Gabriel, grabbing his arms as they left the store.
"Such a rude man, he should have been happy that we're going to buy that robe from him! Two silver? It's not like we were buying a royal robe!" Mulan grumbled as they walked through the market.
"Two pieces is cheap, mulan!" Gabriel muttered in a tired voice.
"Cheap? It's not cheap! That is why he hasn't sold any of his robes yet, nobody wants to buy cuz it's too costly!" She complained and He sighed but didn't say anything.
Arguing with Mulan was no different from arguing with a tree stump.
Neither would get you anywhere.
Mulan stopped in front of another store, and she checked out the robes on stock.
"See anything you like, Beautiful Miss?" The man asked and She looked up.
"That depends, if it's cheap, I like it, if it's not, then it's useless!" She mumbled and the man nodded.
She touched a particular one, silver Colored with beautiful rose petals.
"How much?"
"One silver, Miss!" He answered and She blinked.
"Finally, Now can you buy it?" Gabriel asked and She hmmphed before looking back at the man.
"Half a silver!" She bargained and Gabriel was about to say something before the man replied.
"Sold!"
Their eyes widened as he packaged the robe, handing it over to them, while she paid him.
"You see, Gabriel! Silver still has value, even though some ominous crook are starting to make it seem like a lie!" She said as they walked, a triumphant smile on her face.
"I'm starting to wonder who the real crook is!" He mumbled, but not to her hearing.
"Granny would be so happy!" She said, hugging the material but then frowned on noticing something.
She paused and so did Gabriel.
"What's wrong?" He asked, but she ignored him, bringing out the robe from a piece of nylon, but immediately she held the material, it tore, the other half Falling to the ground.
Gabriel burst out laughing immediately while her eyes turned deadly red.
"That darn aśshole tricked me!" She yelled and Gabriel only laughed harder.
"You had it coming with your cheap pricing!" He said, picking the other piece from the ground and taking the one in her arms while She turned to glare at him.
"I'm going back!" She mumbled and He held her.
"You had me walking in this market for over four long hours, in search of a cheap robe for Granny's birthday, you finally got one and I will not go back!" He said in a serious tone and she scoffed.
"So what? We should just let him go?" She asked with a glare and he sighed.
"I'll pay you back the money!" He mumbled making her smile.
"Good, Then you're at loss!" She said and he Nodded as they continued their walk.
They came to a stop in front of Willy's Drunken Pub, or at least, what remained of it.
"What the hell happened here?" She gasped, about going towards it when Gabriel held her again.
"I know it's in your spirit to butt in, but please don't do something that would get us in trouble, again!" He said and She Untangled her arms from his, running towards the burned tavern.
He sighed, running after her.
"Uncle Willy!" Mulan called and the old man turned, a small smile on his face.
"Mulan, my dear!"
"What happened?" She asked, staring at the remains of the once vibrant pub.
"It was the fire prince!"
"Prince Diego?" She asked and Gabriel appeared by her side, shshhhing her immediately.
"Don't say his name out loud, please! I still value my life!" He whispered and Mulan rolled her eyes to Willy.
"What would you do now?" She asked and he sighed.
"I don't know, it'd have been okay if it had been just the pub, but there were people in it also, they're all dead!" He mumbled and Mulan's fist balled immediately.
It's always that firegod, entering their town and killing their people because of one stupid reason after another.
Talk about Childish.
"Mind if I take a look?" She asked and the man nodded.
She dragged Gabriel in, who obviously didn't like the fact that he's being brought into the matter.
The ground was covered with ashes, and as she bent down, she began to wonder if it's that of a human, or just the pub.
"He's a monster!" She mumbled.
"Well, thank you for realizing that, can we go now?" He asked and Mulan sighed, about to stand up, when her eyes caught something in the sand.
"Wait!" She said and Gabriel groaned as she began to scatter the ashes away, her eyes blinking in admiration as it came face to face with a silver hair clip.
"Oh My God!" She gasped, picking it and standing up.
"Uncle willy, Do you know who owns this?" She asked the old man who came and checked it out.
"There's a royal symbol on it, better keep it back, I have a feeling it'd attract problem!" He said, turning to walk out.
"Okay uncle!" Mulan said, a mischievous grin appearing on her face as she pocketed it.
"Mulan!" Gabriel snapped lowly and she sent him a glare.
"What? It'd make a good sale!" She whispered.
"Okay, uncle willy, I'll be going now!" She said with a smile, waving the man off, as she left along with Gabriel.
"That hair clip obviously belongs to the fire prince!" Gabriel said and She shrugged.
"You really think someone that rich would fret over a common jewelry? Don't be a baby, we could sell it in Granny's shop, just imagine how much gain would make, we would split the profit even, 90 - 10!" She said with a dreamy smile and he scoffed.
"I don't want to get in trouble!" He mumbled and a smile appeared on mulan's face.
"Incase you've forgotten, I'm a trouble magnet, bestie!"
*REAR PALACE*
**KING'S THRONE ROOM**
King Conrad sat along with his nobles, a discussion going on when a guard walked in.
"Your majesty!" He bowed and the king arched an eyebrow.
"It's Prince Diego, your majesty!" The guard said, his head still bowed and one of the nobles tssked.
"It's always the last prince!" He mumbled.
"What happened with him?" King Conrad asked, ignoring that comment.
"He burnt down Willy's Drunken pub along with everyone inside, and now he has first Prince Caspian dangling out the Window with his private part tied with a chain of fire!" He mumbled and King Conrad sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose.
"Everytime he comes here, he always has one insane thing planned!" He said, releasing a tired breath before facing the guard.
"Assemble them for a meeting, I'm pretty sure my queens would have heard about this, there's going to be a war!" He said and the guard bowed again before leaving.
*******
Diego walked out of caspian's room, his arms feeling around his hair.
He met Matteo outside, who bowed.
"I can't find my favorite silver hair clip, it must have fallen in that pub, retrieve it!" He commanded and Matteo bowed again.
"Okay, my prince!" He said and left immediately.
"My prince!" A different voice called and he turned to see a guard, head bowed.
"Yes?" He asked and the guard gulped, obviously afraid.
"The king has asked for your presence in the throne room for a meeting!" He said and Diego scoffed.
"About Time that old man called for me!" He mumbled and the guard was just about leaving, when diego's eyes fell back on him.
"I didn't ask you to leave yet!" He said and the guard paused.
"Untie Caspian from the window, the meeting wouldn't be fun without him there!" He said and the guard bowed, entering the room quickly.
Minutes later, Matteo appeared and Diego arched a brow.
"Someone took it from the pub, and now they're selling it at a shop!"
"A shop?" Diego asked, the anger in his eyes obvious.
How dare a mere peasant steal something that belongs to him with the intention of selling it?
"Yes, it's going to be an auction, the highest bidder gets it!" He said and Diego's jaw clenched.
"We're going there and coming back in the next 10 minutes, I have a meeting to attend with my promiscuous father!" He said with an eye roll.
"Okay, my prince!" Matteo answered with a bow.
Fire appeared from underneath, lighting them up as they disappeared immediately.
**GRANNY MCPHEE PERFUME SHOP**
Granny Mcphee is Gabriel's Grandmother and runs a perfume shop not far from their home.
It wasn't much of a successful business, but it was however, enough to cater for their needs.
Mulan had earlier handed her the ripped Robe, with the promise that she'd buy a new one from the money she'd make from the sale.
So even when she and Gabriel set up a small shade in front of her store, she didn't complain, as long as she'd be getting a new robe.
"I still have a bad feeling about this!" Gabriel muttered as they set the hair clip on a case.
"Then back out!" She mumbled and He scoffed.
"I wish I could, but the best friend's code section 123 says and I quote 'Anything your best friend does, must be accompanied by you'" He said and She smiled.
"You're the best!"
In less than a minute of them setting up the shade, it was already swarming with people, each wanting to get a peek at the clip.
"Hold on, Hold on!" She cautioned but that didn't stop them.
"Oi! Quit it!" Granny Mcphee yelled from her perfume shop and they all kept quiet.
She's known to be very strict, the kind of strict that a old lady living with her grandson wasn't supposed to be.
"Thanks Granny!" Mulan said, blowing her a kiss and the old woman rolled her eyes.
"So, let's start the bidding!" She said and someone bidded a hundred silver immediately.
"A nice price to start with!" She said and another bidded 200.
"250 silvers!"
"350 silvers!"
"400 silvers!"
"450 silvers!"
"500 silvers!"
A woman amidst the crowd bidded and they all gasped.
Mulan's brow arched as she looked through the crowd, it was obvious that nobody wanted to go pass the price.
"Is that the last price?" She asked and everywhere went silent.
"Going..Going..Go.."
"Isn't it stupid? Trying to sell an hairpin worth over a million silver for just 500?" A voice came and everyone's eyes widened as Diego appeared along with Matteo.
"It's the fire prince!" The terrified voice of the bidders came as they rushed off immediately.
On a normal ground, Diego would have burnt every single one of them before they could make a move, but right now, his eyes are on Mulan who stared back at him with a frown, not happy that he ruined her business.
"Mulan, it's the Fire prince, let's go!" Gabriel whispered Fearfully, tugging at her arm but she shook him away.
Diego took slow steps towards her and all the while, none of them broke the contact.
Gabriel bowed his head, but Mulan didn't, making Diego angle his head sideways.
"You darn bastàrd! How dare you drive away all my customers!?" She snapped and Gabriel's eyes widened along with Matteo.
"Did you just raise your voice at me?" Diego asked and She scoffed.
"Yeah, I fùvking did, How does that affect you, diego?" She snapped again with a sneer and Matteo shook his head.
"She's definitely getting the cruelest death ever!" He muttered.
"How dare you steal from me, yell at me and call me by my name?" He asked and she scoffed.
"How dare you burn the people at Willy's pub and come to Granny's shop to ruin my sale?" She asked back and Diego's brow arched in anger.
"I see you don't value your life, Thief!" He snapped.
"Says the son of a mere concubine, going about acting like he's some god, we could even do a competition, who is more shameless!" She said and Gabriel was already crying on the spot.
He was doomed, they were doomed.
"How dare you!?" Diego yelled, making a huge ball of fire and throwing it at her.
It met her, swallowing her in an instant.
The blast threw Gabriel away, and Diego glared at the direction, making the fire burn brighter.
"Mere shameless peasant trying to banter words with me!" He scoffed.
"Like I said, we really should check who is more shameless!" Mulan said and his eyes widened as the fire cleared only for her to stand, unhurt.
"Oh, Did I forget to mention? You can't hurt me, Bastard prince!"