"UGH! I... HATE... SAAAAANND!!" Jet shouted at the sky, clearly agitated by the scorching heat.

The two girls had been making a trek across the desert in search of Clara. They had received a reliable tip that after the ruins incident she made to head west, in order to find some great sage (and probably con them). Jet was stubborn and couldn't let Clara's betrayal go, she was willing to hunt her down as far as she traveled. That said, her patience has wearing thin.

"Hollyyyy" she whined childishly, "Can't you give me some more of your waterrrr?"

"No! Just because you drank all of yours a day early that doesn't mean I'm going to let you drink all of mine. You should have sipped a little at a time, like I told you."

"Pleeaaaasse!"

"The map says we should be close to the village soon. Just wait a few more hours and then I'll let you have a small drink of- wait. Is that it?"

Holly pointed out something in the distance. Over the hills of sand lied a few tiny dots, marking where the mid-desert village of mages was. Jet squinted her eyes. The buildings wavered in the sizzling heat but unlike the mirages that plagued them earlier, these were real.

"WE'RE SAVED!" Jet cheered, dashing ahead and kicking sand into Holly's face.

"Jet! *cough* *cough* Slow down! I swear, where does that girl get her energy...?"

Another hour later and they made it. Holly had caught up by going at her own pace, but Jet was barely able to stand. Her knees wobbled, and a faint dry voice escaped her lips.

"Water... please... water..."

Despite the many huts, the streets were empty. Likely the villagers were staying indoors, to escape the sun's brutal glare. Mages were typically hermits and rarely got out, they would stay isolated all day working on their magic. The desert seemed like a perfect fit for them, as they only went outside when they absolutely needed to. Holly surveyed the street.

"Hm, maybe there's an inn or somewhere we can stay."

"So thirsty..." Jet complained.

Then she saw it. In a horseless cart were several glass jugs, each shimmering in the intense light. There were at least three dozens, beautifully clear and filled to the brim with water. Jet's strength returned and she pounced onto the cart. Holly tried to stop her but Jet busted the lid off the first jug of water and guzzled it down. It was delicious! She couldn't believe how refreshing the water was. Even in the desert sun somehow it was still cold! Tossing the empty jug away Jet opened the next. This was easily the best water she had ever had in her life! She lifted it above her head and let it pour all over herself, showering in the cool feeling of-

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!!!"

The hut beside the cart had its windows slam open. An old man was yelling at Jet. The shock was enough to make her stop, blinking at him. Next his door swung open hurling up a puff of sand. He came out storming, eyes fixed in a rage at Jet.

"Do you have any idea how precious that water is?! You damn travelers are all the same! You just take what you like without thinking of anyone else!"

"I'm greatly sorry sir." Holly intervened "We had just crossed the desert and she was really dehydrated-"

"I only had a few jugs old man, what's the big deal? You still have a ton left, don't you think it's kind of selfish to hog it all yourself?" Jet talked back.

"You utter FOOL!" howled the man, fuming with anger.

Several other mages came outside to see what the commotion was. They didn't get visitors in the desert too often.

"That water was Pure Water delivered from the southern alchemists" a kindly mage explained. He was thin and wore robes, but was polite enough to take off his hood to address the girls. "Since water is so hard to come by here we have it imported. This Pure Water looks normal, but I assure you it is no ordinary drink. We process it with our magic, and can greatly expand it's quantities."

"That's right!" yelled the angry old man. "One drop of Pure Water can be turned into gallons of water! What you just drank was enough to last a family for weeks!"

Jet shuddered. She had clearly messed up, big time. Holly came to her defense again.

"I- We- We're so sorry! She had no idea what she was doing! Please can you forgive her, she meant no ill will!"

"It's unfortunate but I believe your friend has to be punished." The tall mage said. "Stealing water is a great crime in our village and we'll have to go through the usual proceedings. You of course will be free to do as you please since you didn't drink any of the Pure Water. Miss...?"

"Er, Holly." she stammered.

"My name is Ethos." he reached out and shook her hand.

Holly blushed red. Ethos had a really handsome face, and was being kind to her. She wasn't used to guys touching her, even on the hand. Was this infatuation she was feeling? She looked back at Jet, soaking wet, and surrounded by angry villagers. Jet's eyes silently screamed for her to help.

"Um... Jet? Ethos is going to show me to the inn. I'll check on you tomorrow, okay? I wish you the best with your punishment."

Holly then took the handsome man's arm and left.

"HOLLLYYYYY!" Jet cried.

----

*Knock knock*

"It's open!"

Jet cautiously opened the door, and was startled a bit when the hanging bell rang. Nothing inside the sorceress' hut seemed outright dangerous but she didn't want to let her guard down.

"So you're the one they said was coming right? Forced labor for drinking our Pure Water the second you entered the town? Anyway, welcome to my shop."

Jet was greeted by a woman. She looked mature, with long purple hair and a beautiful face. Her body was fully developed too, she had large breasts sticking out in the front, ones much bigger than Jet's. Her long green dress hugged the curves of her body, down her waist all the way around her big wide hips. Jet secretly hoped she could look that sexy when she grew older. This woman was a bombshell.

"My name's Beatrice." she smiled. 

"Jet." Jet said.

"They told me you'd be coming. Let me give you a run down. This is an item store, used by both travelers passing through and mages in town. We sell all sorts of magic books, spell scrolls, magical knick-knacks, and random things. You'll be assisting me for the next few days until your punishment is over. Honestly, I think they're letting you off easy, but maybe they were able to crack a deal with the alchemists for more Pure Water..."

Jet looked around the room. The mage's brick house was already small and cramped, but inside it was cluttered still with various items. Shelves lined the walls stocked with tomes, wooden carvings, and metal trinkets. Orbs swirled with illuminating gas next to bottles of multi-coloured powder. There was even a small collection of animal parts, no doubt used to concoct some magic brews. Everything had been sorted nicely but the sheer surplus of objects made the store have a disorganized appearance.

"Er..." Jet spoke up.

"Hm?"

"What exactly should I do when a customer shows up? I've never worked in a store before, I've only taken odd quests for cash."

"Ah, you don't need to worry about that." Beatrice laughed. "We barely get customers as it is. Maybe two or three a day if we're lucky. There's some sort of rumor going around that I'm a heartless old witch, but as you can see I'm nice when you get to know me. Either way the pay is good so running this store makes for comfy livin'."

Jet was going to ask more about Beatrice's ...unique reputation but was stopped by a loud noise. It came from the back room, a huge crash followed by the sound of several objects dropping on the wooden floor. Someone emerged from the back room shortly after, clearly flustered.

"Sorry! I was trying to carry too much at once and- Oh! Are you the new girl?"

She walked up to Jet, curious to see a foreign traveler. This girl was young, and had bright green hair that was cut short. That wasn't the only thing short about her, she was only tall enough that her head went up to Jet's shoulders. Her body was the complete opposite of Beatrice's, small and still developing. Compared to the older woman's lax attitude, this tiny girl was almost bursting with energy.

"Hi! I'm Nino! Nice to meet you!" she said cheerfully.

"I'm Jet." she looked over the Beatrice "Is this your daughter?"

"W-WHAAA?!" she yelled in surprise "Do I look that old to you?! I've still got my youthfulness, right?!"

Nino ignored her ramblings "I'm Master's apprentice! She's been teaching me magic while I help her with the store!" she explained to Jet.

"That's right, now you go clean up your mess before you forget about it again." Beatrice ordered, sending Nino back from where she came. "Who knows what kind of trouble could get stirred up if you broke the wrong kind of item..."

Something dawned on Jet. "Wait a minute, if you already have an apprentice working here, then why do you need me?"

Her answer came in another loud crash from the back room.

"W-waah!! Sorry!" Nino cried. Beatrice sighed.

"See? That one causes as much trouble as she's worth. She's notoriously clumsy. I've tried all my spells and rituals to get rid of any 'bad luck' curses she might have caught somewhere, but there aren't any. She's just like that."

Jet looked away guilty, knowing her bad luck was going to be just as big of a handful. Her curse was real, but she knew it couldn't be removed so easily until she found Clara.

"Anyways, now that you've met the two of us it's time to start working. First thing I want you to do is take inventory with me."