Amy spent some time wandering the aisles. Each was filled with items ranging from normal to incredibly bizarre. One set of shelves was covered in glittering swords from out of a fantasy story, yet the ones right across from them were filled with all sorts of energy drinks.
"What kind of place is this?" Amy wonders aloud, nonplussed at the assortment of goods on display.
She walked down another one of the aisles. The items are marked on the shelves by descriptions as well as prices. There seemed to be scrying stones, enchanted jewelry, and cursed discount items. Along the opposite shelves were statues and pose-able figures of all kinds of shapes, sizes and species.
She reached the end of the shelves and came to a messy intersection of aisles. The various rows splintered off in uneven angles and ran off into the distance, with no end in sight. At one side of this gap was a young woman standing behind a small folding table. Emblazoned on a rough, cardboard sign was the word "FREE SAMPLES!" in equally messy handwriting.
Still confused by the store and everything it had showed her so far, Amy wandered over to this seemingly normal lifeline in a sea of strange.
The girl looked to be around Amy and Lina's age, if not a year or two older. Slender with honey-blonde hair and an expression of boredom on her face. She was wearing denim overalls with a white shirt with puffy short sleeves underneath, a pair of red Vans with white socks peeked out from beneath the table. Perched precariously atop her head was a rumpled black witch's hat, and clasped about her neck and shoulders was an equally black cloak. These last two items were rather at odds with her otherwise regular clothing.
The girl wasn't looking at the Amy, but rather was scrolling lazily through her phone as she leaned up against the shelf behind her.
"Excuse me," Amy said, approaching the girl. "What kind of store is this?"
"Eh?" said the girl, jumping slightly at the interruption. She squinted at Amy for a moment, then rolled her eyes as though the answer should be obvious. "A magic one of course..."
Amy noticed the girl had a gold name tag clipped to one of the straps of her overalls, it read: "Miriana".
The girl followed her gaze, glancing down at her name tag. She started again, her eyes flitting from the tag to the table in front of her and its many goods. She straightened up abruptly, as if just now remembering that she worked here, clearing her throat and stuffing her phone into a pocket of her overalls.
"Ahem. Samples!" she exclaimed, her voice slipping into a half-assed mix of a salesman's pitch and a town crier. "Try before you buy! No cost, only benefits for our discerning customers!" Miriana then stiffly waved her arm over the goods laid out on the table. The gesture was awkward enough that Mandy was sure she was just rotely repeating what a supervisor had showed her to do earlier.
Amy paused, unsure on if she should take the young employee up on the offer. She wished Lina was here.
"Well, it couldn't hurt I suppose." She said noncommittally, not entirely believing her own words.
On the table in front of her were a number of goods, all nearly as varied as those to be found on the rest of the shelves. There was a steaming teapot with small cups in front of it, candies in all flavors, perfume spritzers in many colors, pieces of jewelry, and even a couple packs of socks just to name a few items.
"Uhhhmmm." Amy said, "I think I'll take..."