Rising Shards

“And if you ask me, Renderfold’s Tryst is entertaining, but not really good, while Tower of Hate and Love has enough good quality to make up for the seasons that aren’t quality.” I said.

“Uh huh,” Stella said, looking at her phone.

I was walking with her through Iho Vinai on a rare weekend where Stella had time off work.

“I can’t believe you actually got me to drive all the way to Iho Vinai,” Stella said.

“Well! It’s easier than getting the stupid leave school tickets!” I said. “That system is needlessly confusing.”

We had just finished the tour of the farm that the creator of Tower of Hate and Love grew up in. Even though there was a really annoying boy from Falling Shards who kept talking about how much better a show Renderfold’s Tryst was than Tower, nothing could stand in my way of enjoying the tour. Stella was even gushing about seeing some of the stuff that inspired the show in person.

“So, gift shop next right?” I asked.

“No, if I go in there I’m gonna overspend,” Stella said. “That tour has me on a Tower high.”

“Aw,” I said. “Well, let me buy something!”

“Fine, but I’m not going in there.” Stella said, reaching into her purse. She gave me twenty bucks. “I’m gonna get more pictures, I bet I could get a good new banner image from here…”

“If you get the farm in it people might think you got a role on Tower!” I said.

“Oh, if only,” Stella said. She could see I was getting antsy to get to the store. “Wait, before you go!” Stella held her phone out to me. “Get some pictures of me in front of this field, it’d be great for my actor page.”

While Stella was really busy at work all the time, she was still trying to get roles in the LE theater scene. I did my best to get some good shots of her until she was decently satisfied.

I didn’t get to look too long at the Tower gift shop at Iho Vinai the last time I was there, so I planned on relishing it this time. Just before I got to the store, I heard someone call my name.

“Zeta!”

I turned to see Oka running towards me. She caught me off guard with a quick hug.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” I said.

“Oh, Berin wanted to get something here, I wasn’t really paying attention.” Oka said. “And I assume you’re here for the Raina thing?”

“The what thing, excuse me?” I asked.

“Did you not see it?”

“See what? A Raina thing here?”

“That like gold Arlit figure. It’s at the—"

“They have a gold box Arlit HERE?” I squealed.

“Yeah, I saw it at the…” Oka said. “Are you alright?”

I was practically drooling. “Which…which store? The gift shop? I was going to the gift shop.”

“It wasn’t at the gift shop, the antique store closer to the farm.” Oka said.

“Show me,” I said, grabbing her by the shoulders.

“Alright!” Oka said.

I burst into the antique store, then remembered Oka was the one leading me. She showed me the toy section and just past a display of scifi spaceship toys…there it was. An action figure of Arlit from Tower of Hate and Love (who was played by Raina Starlight) in gold armor, from the gold armor arc, in incredible condition in its box.

“No way…” I said. “I would have never looked here.”

“I didn’t see it at the other store,” Oka said. “I don’t know if it’s that new if it’s here at an antique store…”

“It hasn’t been stocked since it first came out,” I said. “They made way more of the other gold armor characters…I’ve been searching for one for so long.”

“Really?” Oka said. “I’m glad I spotted it then!”

I held it with shaking hands.

“Are you crying?” Oka asked.

“No, but…I’m very emotional about this,” I said. “I’ve only ever seen one in person once before. It was my birthday and Stella took me to the Twin Wolves mall…it was at this toy reseller kiosk. It cost like fifty bucks there, though, so Stella told me I could get it but if I did I wouldn’t get any other presents, so I didn’t get it…and now I finally can…”

“Wow,” Oka said.

The money Stella gave me was miraculously enough for the figure. I didn’t want to give away that it potentially was worth more because the figure was mine now. It was such an incredible find I didn’t even need to look at the gift shop with all the new Tower merchandise.

I kept thanking Oka over and over when we left the store to the point that I probably made her uncomfortable, but I meant all of it. Oka’s adoptive dad Berin called her over, so we weren’t able to spend more time together at Iho Vinai, but I figured Stella probably didn’t want to spend any more time taking pictures.

I found her still aiming her camera at the farm though. I poked her in the back to get her attention.

“Stella, look,” I said, sliding the figure a bit out of the bag.

“No way,” Stella said. “They did not have that thing in stock at the gift shop, did they?”

I explained how I ran into Oka and she had found it, going over the story in great detail all the way back on the trolley. By the end of the ride, it occurred to me that I had spent more time gushing about Oka than the Arlit figure. It was probably good she was taking a different trolley ride back so she didn’t hear me talk about her pretty much nonstop for twenty minutes. While the figure was amazing and I knew I’d cherish it forever, I think I was happier with the fact that Oka had found it and thought of me.