Water Heart | P.Sh

| 21 |

Jiyeon quickly checked her small pocket to count how many coins she had dangling around in it.

"It should be enough to get you a pair of earrings and a few other jewels," she happily grinned before looking up at me, "the girls are going out!" Jiyeon yelled up towards Jungwon, who was pulled out of his conversation with Sunghoon and Jay, probably debating something about how we were to continue our sailing.

"Be back before dark!" Jay yelled in return and Jiyeon only waved her hand before linking her arm with mine and marching down the ramp from the boat.

The moment we had proper concrete and solid ground under my feet I had to take a second to stabilize myself, making Jiyeon laugh happily at me.

"Oh my... proper ground," I muttered and she only chuckled.

"What about the tavern?" she pointed out in amusement and I only shook my head at her.

"Clean ground," I clarified and she only shook her head in disbelief before pulling me along with her.

People were looking at us funnily as we walked through the streets, some people were taking distance from us as we walked past them. Usually it would've bothered me, but the way Jiyeon kept just laughing at it had made me just laugh at it as well.

"Ah, here it is," Jiyeon happily stopped outside a small black building pressed in between two stone-build houses. The small black one resembled a shack more than an actual house, yet Jiyeon just wandered in with no hesitation.

Above the door a small bell rang and I was met by the craziest sight I had seen, and that said something compared to what I had seen in the past few weeks. 

The store was equally as dark inside as it was outside. The limited windows in the building meant the shop had to be mainly lit by candles standing everywhere. Meanwhile the shop was filled with weird things, crystals, alchemist thingies, cauldrons, jewels. It all just seemed so odd.

"Ah Ginevra," a voice called out and Jiyeon immediately grinned widely.

"Hello old miss Lina," Jiyeon smiled widely as I glanced between her and the elderly woman who had black fabric draped over her hunched figure.

"You're back in town," the woman commented and Jiyeon nodded before she glanced at me, "and you've brought a friend."

"This is Mae Soomin," Jiyeon nodded as she happily gestured to me, "we're here for a pair of proper earrings for her. You know... the proper stones," Jiyeon excused and the woman nodded before immediately waving me over and forcefully grabbing one of my hands.

"And how's it going with your Boatswain?" the woman questioned as Jiyeon began wandering around and picking up various things to check their price, "has his curse killed him yet?"

"He's begun wearing black clothes to still keep the warmth," Jiyeon shook her head and sent her a small smile, "however, he's been going out to get cold lately so it won't surprise me if he is to die within the coming month or so."

"How stupid must a man be to expose himself to the cold, well aware that it inevitably will be his death?" the woman shook her head before letting go of my hand and fishing out something from under her desk.

"Well, a person can't really be cursed," I spoke up and looked to Jiyeon, who only stared at me in amusement before grabbing a small bowl of various crystals and looking through them, "I mean that is impossible. There's no such thing as spells and curses."

"There is no such thing for the person who doesn't believe my dear," the woman corrected me as she placed down an old wooden box on the desk in front of her, flicking it open and looking through various stones before picking out a few ones, "the earrings to be made on the spot?"

"We don't expect to be in town for more than two days," Jiyeon nodded and the woman immediately walked over to sit down by a small table, a few tools laying on the table as well, "is there anything else you need Soomin? A ring? Bracelet? Necklace?"

"No, I think it's fine," I shook my head quietly and Jiyeon immediately grinned widely before rushing up to the counter with a small bowl of crystals in her hand.

"What do you charge per crystal?" Jiyeon excitedly questioned and the woman glanced over at her.

"For you my dear, I would give you two crystals per coin," the lady replied, "the earrings will be the usual price of seven coins."

"So that means..." Jiyeon trailed off, clearly calculating in her head, "Six crystals."

Excitedly Jiyeon rumaged through the crystals in the bowl, picking out various kinds and laying them on the counter before making her final decision six different crystals. Out on the counter Jiyeon placed the ten coins as the lady walked up to the counter once again and displayed a new set of earrings.

"I've used Amber for the fiery side of the zodiacs Leo and Aquarius," the woman started and I looked up at her, "your birthday falls within the zodiac of the Leo, doesn't it?"

"August 2nd," I murmured, frowning at how she could've possibly known. Meanwhile Jiyeon didn't react at all.

"The amber will help you balance out your intellect and emotions, such as love," the woman continued and I just continued to look at her weirdly, "it is mainly known as the warrior stone."

"Woah... even I don't have the stone in any of my earrings," Jiyeon murmured quietly and I glanced at her before looking back up at the woman.

"The other stones are Topaz for love, happiness, health and wealth and Sodalite to help you with companionship and solidarity. Both belonging to the zodiac of Sagittarius," the woman pointed out and I only looked down at the earrings in confusion, "and that was the ten coins?"

"Yes," Jiyeon smiled widely as she grathered her crystals and I hesitantly picked up my earrings before following after Jiyeon out of the shop, "magnificent lady. She just knows how to make the jewelry you need with the proper stones."

"She's a lunatic," I shook my head in disbelief as I replaced Jiyeon's earrings with my own and handed her back her own ones.

"Oooh I like those earrings on you," Jiyeon commented and carefully turned one of the earrings between her fingers, "should we go do other things before we go back to the ship?"

"What else is there to do?" I questioned her and she abruptly stopped walking.

Jiyeon let out a small huff as she placed her hands on her hips and began looking around - lips pursed and eyebrows knitted together in a frown. Slowly her hands fell from her hips as her face went blank. She immediately grabbed my arm and began dragging me along.

"What?" I questioned and she only shook her head, "what is it?"

"It's a crewman from the Flottante," she excused and I quickly picked up my pace as I rushed beside her.

Down by the harbour another ship had laid to the same bridge as the one we had laid to. The sails all black. I shuddered at the memory of how those sails had flowed in the wind while Jiyeon had been on that ship.

"We need to get you back, get you fixed up and Sunghoon ready to go with you," she hurriedly listed as she sent the Flottante a glance and pulled me up the ramp of our ship.

"Thank god!" a voice exclaimed and Jay rushed up to us, "we need to get you ready to steal the key," he quickly pointed out to Jiyeon.

"Mm-mh, Soomin is doing it," Jiyeon insisted and Jay looked at me in shock.

"Sunghoon offered to stand on watch," I excused and Jay immediately looked up towards the helm where Sunghoon only nodded in confirmation as he leaned against the railing looking over the deck.

"Get her fixed quickly Yeon, we need her ready for sunset," Jay pointed out and Jiyeon immediately nodded before pulling me down towards the dress room.