THE MOMENT
"That's odd...," Brandy mumbled to herself. It was a cool, pleasant Saturday morning, and she sat at her stall watching the few pedestrians that were downtown that early. Brandy regularly participated in the weekly street market; she could not remember a time when she didn't. However, the last few times she started noticing strange details.
Every day that she was at the stall, the same homeless man sat across the street. She felt silly for thinking it was worth noticing at first. Of course, he was there during the week when the street market was not open. But, when he showed up again after being murdered by a stranger, Brandy decided to pay attention.
She tried talking about it to the other stall owners. It was the first time she ever remembered trying to be friendly. But, she quickly found out it wasn't worth the effort. No matter how Brandy tried to steer the conversation, her neighbors always insisted on treating her like a customer. They would only talk about their wares and little else except the occasional comment about the weather.
But, for as long as she was watching for strange things, this morning she saw something even stranger. A lean, tan woman with dirty blonde hair walked along the sidewalk next to a young brown-haired girl. They both wore casual clothes and could have blended in with the rest of the downtown crowd if not for the fact that they had text floating above their heads.
The blonde woman's red text read: Zero, but the young girl's was completely different. Her text was in gold and read: Six - Paladin. Brandy focused on the crowd around them, but no one else seemed to notice the text. She had been so focused on studying the faces of strangers that it took her an extra moment to notice everyone else suddenly had tags also. She realized it when the pair stopped at the homeless man and knelt to drop some money in his jar. The homeless man's tag read: NPC.
"Huh?" Brandy scanned everyone's heads and noticed the same tag. Everyone downtown was now labeled with the NPC tag. It was like a switch was turned on, she knew the tags were not on everyone when she arrived that morning. As she wondered what to do about it, the woman and the girl crossed the street to her stall. They ignored her and began to look over her flowers as they continued a conversation that Brandy assumed began somewhere else. But, as soon as she heard them talking, Brandy decided she would learn more by staying quiet.
"Ooooh, these are so beautiful...," the woman picked up a single golden rose from the pile of golden roses. Its petals looked rough and jagged almost like metal scales. "... I don't think we have these on my Earth," she said. It was a comment that Brandy felt like she'd heard hundreds of times; but, this was the first time she registered it. Her first instinct was to assume that the woman was from an alternate Earth; even as she tried to doubt how logical it was.
"That's what we're here for," the girl said. Her green eyes sparkled when she saw it. "Those are extra rare," she took it from the woman. "They're called "Dragonsbreath Roses", watch," she said. The girl wasn't speaking to her, but Brandy watched with interest. It was the first time she'd heard the Dragonsbreath moniker; she was used to calling them 'Golden Roses'.
The girl leaned forward and blew a stream of air over the rose. It ignited and produced a small, stable flame.
"Wow!" the blonde woman was notably impressed. Brandy was too; but, she was better about hiding her surprise. And, it helped that they behaved like she wasn't even there.
"You haven't seen anything yet," the girl giggled. "The multiverse is full of beautiful things like this and more!
"Thank you," the blonde suddenly turned to Brandy to pay for the rose. Brandy accepted it and nodded as they turned away. Brandy wanted to say something; but, she didn't know what. Instead, she decided to sit on her thoughts for a little while. She still had a whole week until the next market; and, she sold golden roses almost every week. She didn't have to ask these strangers for help, there would be other opportunities. By the next time, she would have a better idea of what help she was asking for.
Brandy was lost in her thoughts and did not hear the conversation as the woman and girl walked away.
"If these are so rare, how is an NPC shop selling them every week?" the woman asked.
"Since it's for a quest, the AlterNet can mimic real Dragonsbreath roses. But, if you give it to someone that's not part of the quest, it'll disintegrate. And, she's not selling them every week," the little girl added.
"The street market is what most people come to this Server for, it'd be kind of silly if all those players had to wait a week," she said. "It resets every day."