Three weeks after eting Jenny Vasquez, Marron stood in front of her apartnt mirror with scissors in hand and a determination that bordered on reckless.
"You’re really doing this," Mokko observed from his position on the bed. He sounded amused.
"I’m really doing this," Marron confird.
For the last three months or so (she also couldn’t believe it had been that long, in another world) she’d been pulling her long, curly brown hair into a ponytail.
But she was tired of how heavy it felt.
In light of her recent accomplishnts (the coalition among them) she decided it was ti for a change.
"You could go to a professional," Mokko suggested. "The Guild district has salons. People who know what they’re doing with scissors."
"I’m a chef," Marron said, sectioning her hair with the sa precision she used for mise en place. "I’m very good with knives. How different can scissors be?"
"That’s not reassuring."
"Too late. I’m committed now." Marron made the first cut—a diagonal line from shorter in front to longer in back, releasing the weight that had been pulling at her scalp for years. Hair fell to the floor in dark waves. "Besides, it’s just hair. It’ll grow back if I hate it."
Lucy watched from her jar with concern, her red sli core forming a question mark.
"I saw soone in the market with hair like this," Marron continued, cutting layers now, trying to rember the shape she’d admired. Shorter at the crown, longer pieces framing the face, texture and movent instead of weight. "It looked so cool. Like she was unapologetic about her hairstyle. I want that."
"You are the furthest from invisible right now!" Mokko pointed out. "You organized a resistance movent."
"Yeah, and the rchant’s Guild still hates ," Marron said as she carefully snipped her hair."but I’d rather feel comfortable, than demanding change while my hair weighs down."
She worked thodically, staring at herself in the mirror as she cut. Whatever she snipped on the left side, she tried to replicate on the right. It was far from perfect--Marron imagined a hairstylist would balk at her attempt.
But eventually, the woman staring back at her had a sharper hairstyle, instead of her usually flowy waves.
"Yes," she whispered. "now I look like I carry three Legendary Tools and won’t apologize for having them."
When she finished, her hair fell in choppy layers—shorter in back, longer pieces framing her face, the whole thing giving an almost wild, textured look. It was intentionally ssy, but in a nonchalant way.
"Well?" Marron asked, turning to face Mokko.
The bearkin studied her for a long mont, then smiled. "It suits you. And now you might not have people requesting you wear a hairnet while you cook."
Marron rolled her eyes at the mory.
"That human woman was way too concerned about my hair getting in the food. I haven’t had a complaint since I got here."
"But still," Mokko said reasonably. "She had a point."
"And that was why I tied my hair up, and continued to do so, even after I got a hair net." Marron sighed.
Lucy burbled approval and ford an enthusiastic star shape.
Marron swept up the hair from the floor, disposed of it, and looked at herself one more ti. Yeah. This was right. This felt like her—not the old her, but the her she was growing into.
"Alright," she said, pulling on her jacket. "Let’s go to the market. I want to show Jenny that magic water thing she ntioned."
"The what?" Mokko asked, following her out.
"You’ll see."
The street market had settled into its new rhythm after the decree crisis. Vendors operated under their partnership agreents, monthly inspections happened without major incidents, and the threatened closure had beco just an unpleasant mory. The market thrived—if anything, stronger than before. The crisis had unified vendors, created alliances, reminded everyone what they were fighting to preserve.
And Jenny’s cart had beco sothing of a phenonon.
Marron heard the crowd before she saw it—voices chattering excitedly, the sound of coins changing hands, soone laughing in delight. When she rounded the corner toward Jenny’s yellow and white striped awning, she found at least twenty people clustered around the cart, all waiting for... sothing.
"—never seen anything like it—"
"she calls it magic water, and I have no idea how she does it!"
"It really does look like water, but tastes even better!"
Marron pushed through the crowd carefully, Mokko clearing a path with his bulk. Jenny was working at her cart with the efficient energy of soone in their elent, serving drinks in clear glasses filled with... shimring liquid?
"Marron!" Jenny spotted her and waved. "Perfect timing! You need to try this before the lunch rush drains my entire stock."
"What is that?" Marron asked, staring at the glasses of ice-cold water. There was a pleasant sll she recognized from back ho--bananas.
Then her pink eyes widened at the realization.
"That’s magic water!"
Jenny grinned. "Exactly. I never thought I’d find banana extract around here!"
She reached into her apron pocket and showed her a tiny bottle labeled "banana essence."
"An alchemist wondered why I wanted to have bananas extracted, but...it’s just how we made it at ho."
On her cart was a large plastic drink container, shaped like a round do with a flat lid. Inside was completely clear water, frosty and glowing with mana-rich ice cubes. Floating inside was clear jelly, and custors were amazed at how refreshing it was.
"It took weeks of trial and error," Jenny continued as she opened the drink container and used a large white ladle to pour the magic water into a plastic cup. "but I finally got it. And people can’t get enough of it!"
She looked away to accept a few more orders as Marron clutched her cup like a lifeline to nostalgia. Cold condensation already ford on the outside, and Marron took a sip.
The sweet taste of banana spread gently on her tongue as the cold liquid poured down her throat. She couldn’t get enough of it and drained her glass imdiately, wanting more afterward.
No wonder people are practically throwing coins at her!
"This is incredible," Marron said.
"This is profitable," Jenny corrected, but she was grinning. "I’m charging five copper per glass and people are buying three at a ti. Nobody in Savoria has carbonated drinks. It’s all still water, tea, wine, beer. The concept of sweet water with gelatin is blowing their minds."
Reviews
All reviews (0)