Twisted Wonderland - A Firelit Sky: Over the Sands

Chapter 3-10: By My Reckoning

After having coconut juice and flesh, everyone continues to explore around the Camel Bazaar, and are amazed at how big the bazaar is.

"Man, the Camel Bazaar is huge!" Cater says.

"It looks like all the stalls are sorted by category; fruits, flowers, and household goods are all in separate groups," Trey says.

"What do they sell over here?" Malleus asks.

"Nuts and dried fruit. Those are all staple snack foods here. Everyone likes them," Najma says.

Jamil remains silent.

"There's so much! Whole heaps of fruit and nuts and other goodness!" Cater says.

"They've got chickpeas, pistachios, sunflower seeds... Lots of nutritious stuff," Trey says.

Then turns to Najma, "Which do you like, Najma?"

"Oh, definitely the dates," Najma answers.

"The fruit from date palms, right?" Trey asks.

"Yeah! People generally eat them dried," Najma says, "There are also date jams and jellies... oh, and syrup!That store there has a ton of them. See the dark brown dried fruits? Those are dates."

"Let's check 'em out..." Cater says.

"Look, um, if we could move on sooner rather than later—" Jamil says.

Soon, someone calls out to him, "Why, Jamil Viper! It's been years!"

"Grk!" Jamil reacts in shock, recognizing the voice.

He turns to see the vendor and says, "Uh, yes, hello..."

"Doing a little shopping? Just make sure you don't cause another scene!" The vendor says.

"A scene?" Briar says, confused.

"What does he mean?" Sereia asks.

Jamil feels embarrassed, "Erk... You still remember that? I was just a kid back then...."

"What's he talking about, Jamil?" Cater asks.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," Jamil quickly denies it.

"Well, you see—" The vendor says.

But Jamil cries out, "Augh, don't! Fine, I'll explain it myself! Just don't say anything."

After calming down a bit, Jamil explains, "Okay, it's like this... I may have caused a bit of trouble here years back."

"Whoa, really? That's kinda hard to believe. You're one of the most responsible guys I know," Cater asks, surprised.

"For real. So what happened?" Trey asks.

Jamil then explains, "I used to love dates when I was younger. Najma and I would stop by here all the time to pick some up. But one day, we got a little surprise with our purchase... A BUG."

"A bug?" The group reacts, confused.

"It was sitting right in my hand with this nonchalant expression, like, 'Yeah, I'm just hanging here with my date buddies.' It freaked me out so badly, my first reaction was to use magic," Jamil says.

"You used your magic over a bug?" Jasper questions.

"What kind of magic?" Cater asks.

"...Fire magic," Jamil says, embarrassed.

"I know he was trying to get the bug, but he ended up burning the whole awning for my store," The vendor says.

"Yikes... I never knew you were so violent, Jamil," Cater says, shocked.

"Or the fact you don't like bugs," Tanzanite says.

"I was a kid, okay?! I didn't have the best control of my magic!" Jamil cries out.

"My awning was scorched black! And you wouldn't believe how hard it was to calm down Jamil. He was bawling up a storm!" The vendor says.

"Oh my," Sereia says.

"Daaang," Cater says.

"This guy right here, huh?" Trey says.

"AGAIN, I WAS A LITERAL CHILD," Jamil angrily shouts.

"You still are by my reckoning," Malleus says.

Jamil groans in frustration, "Augh... Would you all just drop it?!"

Then Najma comes in, "Okay, that's enough chitchat about Jamil! I'm gonna get some dates," and soon, Najma buys the dates. And brings them out for everyone, "Here you are, guys! Help yourselves."

Everyone takes a date and begins to eat them.

Grim happily says, "Oh yeah! That's the sweetness right there!"

"I didn't expect something with no added sugar to be so sweet. I could whip up some fun new treats with these. Their flavor and texture would be a great accent," Trey says.

"Gimme a holler when you do. I'll be your taste tester!" Grim says.

"Please, Grimmy. We all know you'd nitpick something every time just to keep the snacks coming," Cater says.

"Yeah, no thanks. I'll make a note NOT to rely on Grim for impartial evaluations," Trey says.

Cater brings out his phone, "The low calorie count's another big draw with these. This could trend for sure!" And types on it, "Something like... #GuiltFree #NaturallySweet #ATreatThatTreatsUsRight!"

"I'm interested in that date syrup as well. It sounds like it would be delectable on ice cream. Perhaps you might make me some later, Clover," Malleus says.

Jamil remains silent.

Cater turns to Jamil, "You're not having any, Jamil? These don't have bugs in 'em, you know."

"I haven't been able to eat them since that day. Even the sight and smell are too much for me. They always remind me of what happened..." Jamil says.

"Whoa, that bad, huh?" Trey replies.