Chapter 41: The Family
Nikola was all for paying more to the goblins, but they refused to get more food. They refused the money, saying that they couldn't go in town to shop.
But they did give him a shopping list.
Jean and Jack were looking after Timmy. Dimitri was with him. Andrew had gone to secure more deals. The goblins were preparing the shipments.
But Nikola was unable to figure out why the goblins needed this much fabric. They had their clothes, which might be shabby, but were typical goblin fare.
He still entered Emily's shop with the full intention to let the woman sort all the demands out.
"Welcome to… I can't buy today! I am broke!" Emily yelled, which was a clear sign that they needed to leave.
But Dimitri stepped before the counter anyway.
"Well, we bring you a solution to this problem. We want to buy everything from this list. I hope you have what we are searching for."
Emily's frown bled into a wide grin. She began to take fabric bushels. Began to go through the list with the sense that she would soon have everything she needed to get out of the pickle the mana crystals had gotten her in.
"Ok, you can place it all in the bottomless bag! This will be 10,000 dollars!"
Nikola blinked, as he took the shopping list from the counter. It was three pages long, but he doubted that such a bill was normal.
"Did you give us enchanted fabric?" Dimitri asked. Emily's eyes went wide. "Did it have blessings or curses on it?" The vampire added.
"Well… blessings. For a lot of health and fun times. But you and Niki could use the fun times, so…"
Emily hoped that the two would just take the fabric and won't protest anymore.
Nikola beamed at her.
"How is the order for the baby clothes going along?" He asked, as he began to sort everything for the bottomless bag.
"I have them right here! I was just about to go to the post office and send them off! I hope you like it! There was enough money left after the baby clothes, so I had some clothes made for the two of you as well! Amanda, the seamstress witch, is the best one around!"
Emily took out a heavy bundle from below the counter. She opened it.
Nikola gasped.
The colors were so vivid! Perfect for a baby! And there was a little frog onesie he was going to put Timmy in with or without fussing!
His fingers brushed something made from silk. He pulled it out. It was a lovely silken shirt. He guessed it was for him, seeing as it was green.
"Thank you, Emily," Nikola said. Only for something to catch his eye.
"Is this for sale?" He asked, as he pointed at a water bottle, which refilled itself from the moisture in the air.
Emily beamed at him.
"That would be another 10,000 dollars!"
Nikola sucked in a breath. That was practically as much as their other purchases put together!
But if he had to go on the run, now that he was rich and was at odds with the Church, he supposed that not worrying about water bottles was going to be a nice development.
"Oh, is this what I think it is?" Dimitri pointed at a black crystal. Emily nodded.
"Yes! You will be transported to a different realm, where most supernatural beings go to! Oh, if I could only visit that place. Just for a day! But I am a human."
Nikola smiled.
"We are taking it," he told her. Dimitri turned to look at him.
"You want to go to a different dimension? Why?" He asked, but Nikola was already taking the black crystal off its case.
"I am dead here anyway. Timmy might start to breathe fire one of these days. We can take the dimensions with the food and the mine with us! Dimitri, this could be a grand adventure!"
"And this is the last crystal I have for this particular world. It is almost like an MMO. Perfect to learn magic into! The only downside is that you won't have a car there."
Nikola nodded. Already considering being a mage.
"Do you have some currency of that world?" Nikola asked, as he packed the crystal. He wanted to take his entire family there.
Before some laboratory started to snatch them away. A fear Nikola had had from the very start of his new life.
"Sure! I can give you some gold coins. But I have to warn you: They will be exchanged with the value of the gold in terms of this world's economy in mind!"
Nikola nodded.
When he and Dimitri left the shop, he looked around. The streets were clean; the cars were being driven slowly.
But Nikola couldn't be himself here. He couldn't be a citizen.
"Do you really want to leave this place?" Dimitri asked him. "This crystal is a one-way ticket. Once we all go there, there won't be any coming home."
"I will miss the cabin," Nikola said, as he began to walk towards their truck. "But think about it: Timmy will have an easier time in this new world."
Dimitri kept his silence.
The question was whether he loved Nikola enough to leave everything he had built so far and prance off to the next realm with him.
"Let me think about it," Dimitri said, as he kicked the car into gear.
The drive home was quiet. Dimitri had a lot to think about. In that new world, Nikola would need to fight. Or learn to heal. At any rate, if Emily was right, and it was like an MMO, then there would be more ways to advance than just by killing.
He imagined a wild world, where dragons flew over their heads. A world with dungeons.
He smiled.
They needed to ask Andrew, Jack, and Jean. But he was certain that Nikola could convince them.
A world where Timmy would not be thought to be a freak was something that tempted Dimitri.
A new home, a new life.
But one led with his entire family.
Plus, the goblins.