10. Anything Once at Javier's

After breakfast, I head outside into the village. I want to get a gift for Jax. Which shop should I go to? I ponder for a moment, then remember I brought the coin with me. I'm still not fully sure what it can be used for. I take it out of my pocket to read what it says again.

𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓖𝓞𝓛𝓓𝓔𝓝 𝓒𝓞𝓘𝓝 𝓞𝓕 𝓕𝓞𝓡𝓤𝓝𝓔𝓐𝓝𝓨𝓣𝓗𝓘𝓝𝓖 𝓞𝓝𝓒𝓔 𝓢𝓣 𝓙𝓐𝓥𝓘𝓔𝓡'𝓢

Anything Once at Javier's? What is that supposed to mean? Wait a second... There's a shop called Javier's Jewels and Exotic Treasures! I've only been there once with my friends. It was years ago, right after the store opened. That's when Maxine bought Darlene's lamp.

I decide to head over to the shop to see if I can figure out what this coin is for.

I walk until I reach the musty smelling shop with weathered wood doors. The partially-lit sign reads Javier's Jewels and Exotic Treasures. I hesitate, but I decide to go inside.

I enter and see no one inside. This is exactly what happened last time. I guess nobody likes this store, and I don't blame them. It's pretty dark in here, and the shelves are dusty. It's also dead silent, except for a grandfather clock ticking somewhere in existence.

"Hey, is anyone here?" I ask.

"Yes." A voice responds. "I'm over here polishing some decade-aged, very-antique, pristine scroll handles that are made from only the finest spruce wood and lined with twenty-four carat gold and real Captiva garnets. Oh, and I only use the highest grade of clear wood polish." Someone, most likely Javier, declares.

"Ok, umm, I have a question." I say.

"Mhm?" He yells from somewhere in the shop.

"I have a coin and I thought you might know what I can use it for." I add, and suddenly he's right in front of me.

"Ooh, is it made from ancient gold harvested from the deep caves of the Wetherby section of Enchantasia?" He asks. "If it is, I'll take it for my store's collection."

Geez, this guy is interesting.

"No, it's bronze, and it says, The Golden Coin of Fortune; Anything Once at Javier's. I wondered if—"

"WHAT!? Where did you get that!? How!? That was from an auction I did years ago when this shop opened! How did you get it? Because my rule is that you have to win it to be able to use it." He admonishes with a skeptical look.

"I won the auction, you should remember." I lie, casually.

"Well then, Let me go grab the scroll with all the details." He chuckles, and walks away slowly to avoid tripping over something in this mess of a shack.

That was easy. Javier is either really oblivious or I'm just a good liar. Or both.

Yeah, both.

☆𖣔︎᯽—𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓹—᯽𖣔︎☆

When Javier comes back (which took a while), he has a dusty mini scroll in his hands.

"It took me a while because I haven't laid eyes on this scroll for years. I had to dig around to find it. Anyways, here are the terms and conditions. Please read thoroughly. Oh, and just so you know, this scroll's handles are made from only the finest spruce wood—"

"I get it, thanks." I cut him off (with a bit of snap), and take the scroll from him. I begin to read.

Congratulations! You have won the auction for the Golden Coin of Fortune at Javier's Jewels and Exotic Treasures! The Golden Coin of Fortune can be used to purchase only one item (of any price) at Javier's Jewels and Exotic Treasures only one time. After using, the coin must be marked void. Once you purchase one item with the coin, the item cannot be returned back to the store.

"Alright, I think I got it! So basically, I can use it to buy something of any price?" I ask.

"I guess so. Hmph." He complains, and I start walking around. Even if I just found—umm, won, a coin that lets me buy anything, I still don't like this store. There are cobwebs all over the place and dust covers the shelves. The place is so small, why can't Javier just keep it clean?

I walk by pottery, vases, antique tiaras, creepy statues, jeweled mirrors, and clocks that don't even work. There is literally nothing here that I want.

☆𖣔︎᯽—𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮 𝓼𝓴𝓲𝓹—᯽𖣔︎☆

After I spend a few minutes looking at almost everything, I'm about to walk out when I realize there's one small corner of the shop that I didn't look at. I hesitate, but decide to check it out. I doubt there's anything better over here.

I look up and down the shelf, and see nothing interesting. There's some bronze silverware, a very tiny piece of a broken dragon tooth, and... wait, what? Did I just see a price sign for fourteen-thousand-something dollars? I squat down and to check and—

Whoa. I was right.

$14,699

Fourteen thousand, six hundred ninety-nine!? That's insanely expensive. On the very bottom shelf, behind the price sign, there's a battered and worn leather case that looks semi-interesting, so I pick it up. What could be in here that's so expensive?

I carefully unzip the rusty zipper and gasp.

It's the pocketwatch attachment that Jax has always wanted!

This attachment has many features. It gives the ability of five blasts per hour instead of one, and if you're using the watch on a living being, it paralyzes the victim for ten extra minutes. It also has the ability to do one ultra-blast per hour, which is ten times stronger than a normal one.

Jax has never been able to get the attachment because supposedly there are only two in existence, and rumor has it that they are both in Nottingham. Maybe one of them is, but I have the other right here. And the good thing is, the watch attachments are not in high demand because hardly anyone has the same pocketwatch as Jax.

I'm totally buying this. Well, not buying, because after all, it's free, right?

I walk over to the checkout counter. Javier is sitting behind it.

"I'd like to use the Golden Coin of Fortune to buy this." I hold up the case.

"Alrighty, I don't even know what that is." He says in a bored voice, and I decide to stay silent, just in case. "Hand over the coin." I give it to him, and he stamps void on the front and back with cursed red ink (It's impossible to wash away). "Alright, whatever that is is now yours."

"Ok, bye!" I start to walk away.

"What is in that case anyway?" He finally asks.

"A lightning pocketwatch attachment." I say as I open the case to reveal it.

"No... It can't be. I didn't even know I had that in inventory!!" Javier is flabbergasted. "I'd like that back please. It's no longer for sale. It's worth almost fifteen grand! I could cash that in at Arabian Nights Pawn Shop, and, and, be rich!!"

"Well sorry, the fancy-spruce-whatever scroll said that once an item is purchased, it can't be returned." I smirk, and Javier's face is blank. "I'm outta here." With that, I make my way out of this rickety shack and shut the squeaky door behind me.