
"Well, this is the place," Arkeyla said to oc3an, unlocking the front door of the little shop, tucked away down the very end of a bust street in Durem. "After months of saving every last dollar..."
"We finally have our perfumery!" finished oc3an. "What fun! I can hardly wait to see what the place looks like inside!"
Opening the door at last (it stuck a little, but what did they expect, considering the cheap price they paid) the girls entered, flipping on the lights. It was lucky they had gotten the power on already, else they would have tripped over the furniture and junk scattered everywhere in the dark.
"It's... messy," Arkeyla muttered.
"Very," oc3an agreed. "Cleaning?"
"Cleaning."
It was near to midnight when they finished tidying the shop, and the girls were exhausted. They dragged two couches behind the counter space, and settled down for the rest of the night, as there was no way they were walking home as tired as they were. Before the clock had struck the twelfth time, they were fast asleep (and Arkeyla was snoring, too).
It was a great pity they fell asleep so quickly, for they missed a wondrous happening. As the last chime sounded, the empty jars stacked into the boxes nearby began to glow with a sparkling pink and purple mist. They slowly rose into the air, and began a slow, stately dance, forming figures of great intricacy in the air. Faster and faster they went, emitting joyful squeaking sounds, and rushed to line themselves up on the shelves and counter top. The mist began to fade, the sparkles disappeared, and with one final bright flash, so did the strange glow that had heralded the magic.
"WAKE UP!"
oc3an's screech startled Arkeyla, who fell off her makeshift bed, and stood, rubbing her backside.
"What? Who? Where?" she grumbled, concerned with her injury, and so missed at first the small critter that was sitting on a shelf, looking oc3an straight in the eye.
"Stop worrying about your tush and look," hissed oc3an, pointing. Arkeyla's jaw dropped.
"What the..."
"Ka-Pouf!" the critter said, drawing itself up to it's full height (which was about ten centimetres, but the two gobsmacked girls would probably have reacted the same way if it had been ten metres) and eyeing them sternly. "Ka-Pouf, I am!"
Once they had gotten over their shock at discovering that the critter could actually speak, oc3an and Arkeyla discovered that the shop had actually been a place that sold magical accessories, many years ago, and that some of the power had remained in the walls. The previous owner had been a strict non-believer in all things wonderful, and so the magic had remained dormant until Arkeyla and oc3an had arrived. It seemed that the critters were the result, and due to their unwitting activation of the miracle ("typical, it's not our fault and we get the work", whispered ocean) they were now responsible for finding homes for the Ka-Poufs.
Arkeyla shrugged. "It's not like we have a choice," she admitted.
"And this little guy is really quite adorable," oc3an added.
"Then I guess that means this isn't a perfumery anymore."
"No," oc3an smiled. "Its a Ka-Poufumery!"