"From what we can tell, there is something to be said for seer's, precognition and any number of divine messages to mortals. We are studying the phenomena with much more intensity now that we know the truth of a great many things." - MIT professor addressing his change in field of study.

Once more Kurt was in that forest and being greeted by the wolf. Once more, the wolf didn't say anything and just turned to lead him to the cave. And once more the cave revealed the strange multi-era construction. Nothing new so far in this visit.

Kurt felt that the wolf was different this time. It felt familiar to him in a way that he couldn't put his finger on. He quit pondering as soon as the wolf spoke to him. It also looked a little… less than it had been.

"Learn." Was all the giant wolf said before it backed away and Kurt was left to his own devices for how to proceed.

He turned to the gallery before him as the LCD-like screen glowed brighter, beckoning him to it like a flame does a moth. He approached, careful to check his surroundings as best he could before stepping up to the wall of light.

The panel depicted a scene that moved slightly, each piece slowly shifting around and seeming to tell the story. In the first section there was a man and his family, his features depicted in rough paints. It somehow overlaid more details, giving depth to the crude painting that didn't belong. The next section showed that the man was prostrate before a bright light, head lowered in… fear, rather than reverence as the light enveloped him.

The scenes continued showing that the man was spread out by his arms and legs, his face a rictus of pain as his body turned from the light brown to a blotchy red. The next scene showed the man hunched on the ground, curled into a fetal position under a starless night sky with nothing around but trees. That was the end of the first panel and just as Kurt wondered what to do next, the next wall section illuminated, and he stepped over to see it.

It appeared to start with a repeat of the last section of the first panel but as he watched, the clouds parted, exposing the moon in its full state. The next scene was of that man now screaming to the sky in pain as his body distorted and grew fur in a process Kurt was all too familiar with.

His eyes flicked to the next scene, and he saw the werewolf, even without scale he knew it was at least as large as he was now. Looking at the werewolf, he somehow knew it was the wolf he had met before. This time, he recognized the struggle that the werewolf underwent. He watched as it thrashed and writhed on the ground in a series of blurry shifts from the image until it finally stopped, and the eyes looked directly at him with a glowing, amber intensity.

Kurt almost hated to do it, but he had to know and turned to the last section on the panel. It depicted a group of people around a fire that sat in the midst of some crude huts. He wondered briefly what he was supposed to see when the stylized outline of a werewolf's head descended on them and snuffed the light from the picture.

Heart pounding in his chest Kurt turned to the next panel but when he stepped before it, the panel remained dark, like the rest of the gallery that stretched before him. He had just turned to look for the wolf or for anything else when he heard a voice.

"Kurt…Kurt" the voice called. With an abruptness only found in dreams and nightmares, Kurt was pulled from the scene and into the waking world.

*****

"Do you think you will see more?" Kristi asked over the table as she held his hand.

"Yeah, I just don't know when." Kurt heaved a sigh. "It's like I know it's coming but don't know when or how much. Like a really shitty version of a holiday bonus.

It had been two days since the girls had woken him from his visit to the gallery. While they had talked about it, none of them were happy with the answers. Kristi had seemed more interested in it for the possible historical context while Val was pissed that this was happening to him.

"Gods dammed wolf dreams. At least dogs are cute when they dream about shit." Val muttered into her cup. She took a very long sip of the coffee before taking another bite of her pound cake. "Sorry, I know it's not your fault, but I just get mad that I can't help." She said after swallowing and noticing both of them looking at her.

Val had not been sleeping well and was having a hard time coping. It wasn't anything Kurt was doing, and it wasn't for lack of trying but he knew she was scared and confused just like him. She had been especially clingy for the past couple days, barely letting him out of physical touching range let along from her line of sight. Even now, she was sitting nearly in his lap in the booth of the coffee shop.

Kurt had gotten a message from Tent about moving their appointment up since his bank finished the paperwork early and he wanted to get a move on before the end of the month for tax reasons. Naturally, Kurt agreed, and they had set the meeting for that Monday morning.

The chime of the bell above the door made them all turn their heads to see Trent strolling in. He looked around briefly as he put his umbrella in the stand near the door. After spotting Kurt, he waved and pointed to the counter, signaling he would get a coffee before coming over.

After Jamie got him all squared away, he approached the table as Val shuffled away from Kurt, pretending to have some propriety. "Morning Kurt, ladies."

"Hey Trent. How are ya?" Kurt said while standing to shake his hand.

"Oh, you know." He gestured to the rain pelting against the windows. "Better inside than out on a day like this. Almost makes me want to take a page out of Don and Leslie's book and head south for winter. Actually, I am pretty sure they stole that idea from birds, now that I think about it."

Kurt laughed and they made some small talk while he pulled papers out of his briefcase. They did a quick walkthrough of the property, going through the check list of items that they agreed on. It was also the first time that Kurt had seen the other side of the building.

Where the coffee shop had the majority of its space in the upper section, the other unit was the opposite with the majority of its floor space in the lower floor. Kurt had been expecting some staleness or perhaps even water damage, but the space was fairly well kept other than some dust and cobwebs. Really, his only unpleasant surprise was that the bathrooms had a funk to them since water hadn't been run down the drains for a while.

All in all, Kurt was pleased with the condition of the building and thought the layout would work perfectly for what he had talked about with Penny. Kurt and Trent signed papers before exchanging a check for the keys and a small packet showing he was the owner.

"Well, Kurt, I really wish you luck. While Don and Les are great tenants, I hope you have a plan in mind for that other unit." Trent said with one last handshake. He topped off his coffee one more time before leaving, promising the old couple that he would be sure to stop in every now and then.

"Hmm." Val said with a frumpy look on her face as she watched Trent fight through the wind and rain to get back into his car.

"What?" Kurt asked before pretending to tuck the envelope in his jacket but actually storing it in his ring.

"It just feels… anti-climactic." She answered. The turned to see Kurt bouncing eyebrows at her. "What? What's with the look?"

"I mean if it's a climax you are looking for…" He said while Kristi was sneaking a pinch on her butt that made her yelp in surprise. He shared a quick high five with her while Val rubbed at her butt.

Kurt then sent a text message and looked out the window. Within three minutes a pair of vans with a familiar company logo rolled up and a bunch of people piled out before immediately headed inside the door to the other unit. One person that was familiar to them came into the coffee shop.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Morning guys." Penny said when she saw them waiting for her. "The crew is already doing their thing."

"That's great." Kurt said. Before signaling for Jamie to come join them. "Jamie, there will be work crews next door for the next few days and I want to make sure all their coffee needs are taken care of. Keep a running tally and I will stop in each morning to pay off their tabs and tips."

"Got it." Jamie said and made a note on his order pad. "How will I know its them?"

"They will say they are with 'The Company' or 'Stability Inc.' and they all have shirts with this logo on it." Penny said and showed the embroidered design on her jacket. She did slip an order in with the young man as he went back to work and watched intently as he made his way around the counter.

"I gotta ask, how did you get here so quick?" Kurt said after Jamie left the huddle.

Penny smirked. "We have a warehouse in Grand Rapids that we keep vehicles and other things in. There are other ones scattered around and they are mostly just for holding equipment and we use a portal to get in and out."

"Oh, that makes sense. I thought you were like teleporting entire vehicles and stuff." Kurt admitted with some chagrin.

"The mana cost on that would be insane." Val said. "That and could you imagine some poor guy in a parking lot somewhere when a sprinter van suddenly appears next to him?"

Kurt ignored the laughter from the girls and moved on to his next order of business. "Is the plan to still put a security company in there?"

Penny confirmed that it was indeed still the plan and that the Order was currently looking for people to fill the roles while willing to work and live in the area. They had the manager already picked and the guy was having a hard time finding people internally that wanted to do the job.

"I might have a candidate." Kurt said. "As long as he is willing to take an outsider, normie human."

"At this point he will take about anyone with experience and a pulse." Penny said after Jamie brought her coffee up to the counter and she palmed him a couple bills and what looked like a note.

Jamie looked at his hand with a little confusion before putting the cash in the jar and the note in his pocket before flushing red and looking at Penny before excusing himself. "Hmm, I hope he calls." She muttered while looking after him. "Anyway, care to explain why Kristi and Val are making those faces after you mentioned your candidate?"

Kurt turned to look and saw both the girls making faces similar to when people saw cute puppies or perhaps a laughing baby. Tears were almost in their eyes as they tilted their heads and looked at him, somehow making him feel like he was in an anime.

"It's this really sweet mom who fell on hard times." Val began. "She has a background in IT or cyber something, I don't know. We kind of met her through happenstance and Kurt being a nice guy."

"What did he do?" Penny asked while giving him a look of incredulity. "Forgive me but I don't really get 'nice guy' vibes from him."

"Well, they were in the Halloween store." Val began but was cut off when Kristi just jumped to what she though was the good part.

"He bought her two children nice costumes, probably even gave her enough to help with some bills." Kristi said while beaming at him. "You should have seen how happy those boys were…" She actually had a few tears in her eyes now.

Kurt again made a mental note to ask about her thing with kids before returning his attention to Penny. "Yeah, I was just hoping she could get a better job with some extra flexibility for her being a single parent." When she gave him a questioning look, he explained she was a widow which seemed to make her even more sympathetic.

Penny said to check in after a couple days and she would set up an interview. She then told him that Renee had been in touch and was in need of more inventory which suited Kurt just fine since he wanted to head that way now that his business in town was finished.

They returned to the house and made lunch before Kurt grabbed his box of goods for their gargoyle business partner. Once more the girls forced him to navigate the halls, making sure to lead him astray first so he couldn't just follow the same route as before. While he didn't appreciate the comments when he got stuck in a loop for a few minutes, he knew the practice was necessary.

After climbing the tower within the bazar, they found a slightly alarming sight. The gargoyle guard that had once barred them from entering a shop was now standing outside the entrance to Renee's shop. As they approached, he raised his clawed hand to stop them.

"Hang on. I hope you aren't after any enchanted items. We are fresh out and are not accepting any back orders at this time." He said in his typical heavy accent.

"Umm…" Kurt began but was silenced a moment later when Renee walked past the entrance and spotted them.

"Oh, hey Kurt." Renee said and all but sprinted out to meet them. "Heinrich, this is…'a supplier' that I have worked with before."

"Renee!" he hissed before ushering everyone into the shop. "Don't just say that." He said, still in his low whisper. Once they were inside, he went back to his post at the entrance while muttering under his breath.

"Tshka. Sourpuss." Renee murmured as she walked them back to the counter. "It is good to see you again." She said then looked to Kristi. "Who is this?"

"Renee, Kristi, my girlfriend." Kurt said and they shook hands.

"I though Val was … Oh hoho. I see." She said with a wink. "Either way, welcome, it's good to meet you. And now to business."

"Ah right. I have more inventory." Kurt said but didn't make a move to pull out the box.

"Thank the gods. They sold faster than I could have hoped and for more than we expected." Renee retrieved her ledger from behind her counter. "The first few customers were a little skeptical but once they saw that it was a production run and not something looted from the dead, they immediately jumped on them. I had to double the price and do limited releases each day just to keep some in stock."

"Really? They were that popular?" Kurt was surprised that the low tier enchantments had sold so well. "What did you tell people about their origin?"

"Oh, yeah, super popular because some people just want a functioning item and don't need bespoke." Renee's eyes tracked the girls as they wandered around her stall and inspected some things. "The customers that asked were told it was a new enchanter that was clearing out some of his practice stock. The guild did come sniffing though, they are the reason I had to hire my brother."

"Any serious trouble from them?" Kurt was not pleased by the news and apparently it showed on his face because Renee was quick to brush it off.

"Not many people want to tangle with a gargoyle, magic or not." She said and smiled as Val placed a box on the counter.

Renee then slid her ledger over and showed her sales to Kurt. She showed the gross number for sales and didn't mention anything for a cut, leaving that hanging for him to decide. A decision that he was happy to make and offered her a sixty-forty split with her taking the lions share.

The gargoyle seemed surprised but graciously accepted before asking her next question. "So, ah. This is awkward, but umm…" She was hesitating more than normal. "How do you want to get paid?"

Kurt raised his eyebrow. "With money?"

"So, I don't have much in cash. I track my sales and inventory in dollar value but take most any currency." She was explaining. "Would you take gold or silver by chance?"

About to offer an alternative, Kurt paused and considered a moment before responding. "Is it pure or minted and alloyed?"

"Both."

"I would take pure gold and silver in bars." He decided and was surprised when Renee reached under the counter to pull out a sturdy steel box that looked like a large tool box.

She opened the box and counted out a series of segmented bars that appeared to be five ounces each, judging by the markings on each section. "I have these in gold and silver." She offered. "Guaranteed pure."

"I'll take it." Kurt said immediately. "Also, I have some things for you. But I need you to promise me not to freak out."

Squinting and eyeing him up and down, Renee took a moment to answer. "You're not trying anything freaky, are you?" her tail lashed behind her as she spoke.

"Please, a little trust would be nice." Kurt said and held out a ring to her.

"Uhh, sorry but I barely know you and you're not really my type." She said after looking at the ring in his hand.

"Why does everyone say that when I give them a ring?" Kurt muttered to himself. "Ugh, here hold this and I will show you." He deposited the ring on her palm before summoning a box into his hand, placing it on the counter. He then summoned two more boxes and placed them beside the first.

Renee was staring at the display, and while not saying anything, was clenching her jaw as her nostrils flared. She took a moment before wheeling on him and hissing in an accented voice. "You are the enchanter, aren't you?" She stood straighter, almost standing to her full height while flaring her wings slightly to make herself look bigger.

Kurt was startled by the sudden switch, not only in her tone but also her accent. "Yeah, but that's beside the point." He reached out and closed her fingers around the ring. "That is yours, no one else's. Not your mum, not your brother or your best friend. It is yours to protect your inventory." He rapped his knuckles on one of the boxes.

She still had her eyes locked on his when she inhaled deeply, like she was scenting something. The smell seemed to tell her something since her expression eased. "Very well, Kurt." She straightened up and slid the ring on her finger. "I don't know how I am going to pay this back, but I am sure I can gouge a bit on the prices for the enchants…What?" she saw the look on Kurt's face and also the girls behind him.

"Renee, sweetie, it's a gift." Val said, "Kurt doesn't want you to pay him back, otherwise he would have asked if you wanted to buy it rather than shoving it in your hand."

"RENEE?" Heinrich called from the front. "Everything ok in there?"

"Shut the doors, we are closed for the day." She said in a rather blunt tone. "Put a sign up and say we will be back tomorrow. Then you can head home, full pay."

"Renee, are you sure?"

"Yes, damn it!" she snapped back. "I got it from here for tonight, this is just business."

They waited for several minutes before the shop was locked up and the guard had glided over the edge of the handrail, off to wherever he went. While Heinrich had gone, Renee was inspecting the inventory. She was stunned that each of the boxes was stuffed with the enchanted items. She clearly wanted to ask how he made so many so quickly but exercised some restraint.

Kurt naturally expressed his concerns for her to be cautions and to not show the ring off, which she naturally agreed to. She was also very inclined to give a little slack on his take of the sales, so she didn't have to get fancy with the bars and cut or weigh them. After a couple hours, they all parted ways and Kurt headed home with the girls, utterly exhausted from dealing with money and business for the day.

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