Circe nodded curtly. "All well and good. Now, are you ready to pay your debt to Lucy, Sierra?"
Sierra jumped at the sound of her name. "What?"
"You heard me, Sierra Abigail Belville," Circe responded, her tone acid. "You harmed Lucy by keeping secrets from her. What's more, you interfered with the will of the Fates by obscuring Lucy's destiny from her. She no doubt would have found me eventually, for it is the gods' will that she be hirsute, but it might not have happened for ten years when my shop is scheduled to return after it vanishes next month. Do you realize the gravity of your actions?"
Sierra was trembling. "But... but I didn't have a freaking clue about her destiny! I thought–"
Circe waved a hand to silence her. "No excuses! None of your petty justifications are of importance to the gods of Olympus, and I am duty-bound to enforce the sentence, just as Lucy Wong is duty-bound to carry it out."
Lucy raised a thin, dark eyebrow. "Sooo... you're saying I have to... punish Sierra for hiding this place from me?"
"Don't you want to?" asked Circe.
"I dunno..." Lucy answered. "I mean, I like her and all. She's cute. But, ya know, she DID try to hog all the magic for herself and her friends, which was pretty damn bitchy. Hmmm... Yeah, I guess I'd like a little payback, Circe. Get it outta my system so we can all go back to being friends."
Circe smirked. "I thought so."
"Sooo..." Lucy asked, blushing slightly, "how exactly do I punish her, Circe?"
"Any way you wish, Lucy," Circe said. "Look around the shop. There's a world or two of possibilities crammed into those shelves, just waiting to be unleashed on some unfortunate."
Krystal nervously raised her hand. "Am I fucking part of this?"
"Not at all," said Circe. "I can see in your eyes that you offered Lucy no deception when she asked for your secret. Moreover, you rebuked Sierra for her lies after the fact. Your only part in this is to pull up a chair and enjoy the show."
Krystal nodded. "Cool. Yeah, Sierra way way outta fucking line."
Sierra shot Krystal a dirty look. "Krys!"
Krystal shrugged. "Hey, there's consequences when you do something shitty. Hell, I've been to jail a few times! Remember that time when I took a joyride in the mayor's car and fucking crashed it into..."
"Yeah, I remember," said Sierra. "I'm just worried about what Lucy'll do to me. What if she does something awful to my..." Sierra just stared at her lush, verdant arm hair, unable to voice her fear. She clutched a protective arm around her mane, feeling sink into the ocean of red hair growing from her chest, neck, and shoulders. Would she soon be parted from it?
Lucy wandered the aisles of the shop, seeking a suitable magical punishment for Sierra's deception and stinginess. She passed numerous "Caution! Cursed Artifact!" signs and diagrams of people transforming into everything from animals to old crones to statues to furniture. She glanced at a mysterious golden razor whose tag promised a permanent shave as effective as any laser treatment (with far lower risk of skin cancer, no less). She wondered if making chop suey out of Sierra's prized mane and arm plumage would be too mean. On the other hand, she WAS feeling more and more vengeful as she shopped...