Golden Boy

N I N E

In between some of the glass shops, were different size tents and open stalls where people were lined up to purchase their products. Above each shop, tent, and stall was a combination of letters and numbers that I noticed increased as we moved along them starting from A1, and the farthest one I could see, A78. 

I was amazed by what laid under the Columbus Circle shops I loved visiting since I was a kid. Never in all of my years would I have guessed this was down here, and that these many people were a part of the world Jace accidentally introduced me to. 

We passed all kinds of stalls that were selling everything from food to clothes, skincare products, household items, jars of pink and blue liquids, jewelry, books, weapons, cloaks, technology, and everything in between. I stopped at one that was giving away samples of cookies, but Jace dragged me away before I could get one mumbling something about them tasting like mushrooms.

Bev finally stopped in front of a small train platform. We climbed the three steps and waited on a short line to get on an open train with three carts, each one with four rows of seating that held three people. It reminded me of one of those small kid trains at Disney World where they took you on a tour of the park. Except this was on an actual train track and you weren't expected to be accompanied by a paying adult. 

I sat in the middle of a row with Bev to my left and Jace on my right. The sides of the rows were open, kind of like a roller coaster or a pew at church. The train started moving at a slow speed at first, but then picked up after the first 5 seconds. It went at what felt like 40 miles per hour, which would have been fine if not for the lack of seatbelts or even doors on the train. It took a sharp turn to the right which caused Jace to push into my side as he tried to steady himself. 

The train reached the next platform that was at least two miles from the first one, in a record of 45 seconds. It was the quickest ride on an indoor train, or train in general, that I've ever been on. Neither Jace nor Bev made a move to exit the train, so I sucked in a deep breath as it began moving again. 

I was amazed by how far deep into the markets we were going. The blur of lights from the shops was never-ending. I kept thinking we would reach the last row of shops any second now, but they stretched on forever. 

After about six minutes on the train traveling probably a total of ten miles, we finally got off at the 4th stop. This section of the market was labeled 'Magistry.' The shops here were spaced farther apart and there wasn't as much foot traffic as the first section of the platform. 

The glass-paned floor to ceiling, four-walled shops were also a lot bigger here, spreading to be about the size of a two-door car garage. The numbers on the top of the shops started at X100, which indicated to me that this market was too large to ever be able to explore all in one day.  

The stores were laid out like a neighborhood, giving them the feel of a house rather than an outlet. Bev led the way again, briskly walking past all of the open shops and I got distracted watching a man sell me a mirror through which he stuck his whole arm in and pulled out a handful of flowers he picked from the field shown in the mirror. My mouth hung open and I wanted to ask him a million questions. 

Jace turned around and noticed me stuck at the shop. "You're going to attract unnecessary attention to us," he said tightly holding onto my hand and quickening his pace to catch up with Bev who stalked forward. "Try fitting in for once in your life, El."

"I'm sorry, but you brought me down here without any warning. What else would you expect?" I hissed back. "And never call me El ever again."

"What was I supposed to say?"

"Easy! How about; 'hey, we're going into a super-secret underground magical market with a bunch of crazy shit you'll never see anywhere else, but you can't like freak out, or anything, otherwise everyone will know you don't belong and want to kill you'."