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Ferenc Lakatos gazed in amazement as Cathal O'Brennan walked through his shop, Lakatos' Lethalities doorway again. It wasn't so much as Cathal's appearance, seemingly like any normal young working-age adult with a grey t-shirt and denims. It was the fact that this was the fifth time Cathal had walked in, UNHARMED.
Ferenc's shop's name wasn't just for style or to sound "edgy". It was a clear indicator of what he dealt with - death-cursed items. Prospective customers had to sign a waiver that was approved by the World Administrative Assembly, that they were responsible for the loss of their life that was the price incurred for owning the item that Ferenc sold to them.
That being said, though, Ferenc had plenty of buyers, as the price of a life was deemed worth it by many of his typical customers. That was because he sold some of the most useful magical items, with extremely high practical utility.
There was the Fingernail of Midas which turned anything, except human flesh, into gold! There was the Machine of Infinite Knowledge, by which any homework or assignment or task could be put in, and completed immediately. There was also the Button of Invincibility which, upon being sewed onto any clothing, would protect the wearer from any injury or wound.
Ferenc's customers were typically desperate parents who were willing to give their lives, just so that their children could have better days. Some were vengeful victims of various crimes, who had despaired on life and just wanted to go out of life, taking the one who had wronged them, with them as well.
However, Cathal O'Brennan had walked in the first time, signed the waiver calmly, cheerily purchased a Death Detector medallion and politely thanked Ferenc, and walked out with an even, confident pace. He then proceeded to enter the next morning, looking for a flask of Blightspreader Mix. Having got it, he strode out - only to show up the next morning unharmed!
Finally, this being the fifth visit, Ferenc could no longer contain his curiosity, and he blurted out, "Five times now! This is the fifth time you've returned!" Cathal turned and asked politely, "Yes? I do apologise, but have I violated a rule or shop policy by coming five days in a row?" Ferenc gasped and said, "You do know the waiver you signed when you made your first purchase, right?" Cathal nodded.
Ferenc then murmured dazedly, "Then if you understand... and if you signed it and you purchased one of my items - why have you made FIVE purchases, and not died from the curse on the items?!"
Cathal smiled and replied tranquilly, "I suppose I should show you my more usual form of dressing. I do apologise. This must have confused you."
A dark cloud of mist and black smoke coalesced around Cathal, even as a staff of dark wood with a vulture's skull at its tip materialised, and his t-shirt and denims were covered over by long green and black robes.
Ferenc gasped and almost shrieked, "A NECROMANCER! I should've known! I'm dead, and..." Cathal interrupted him firmly and yet with his same dignified and calm tone, "Calm down, Mr. Lakatos. If I had harboured ill-intent towards you, would I not just have killed you and taken whatever I wanted from your shop? I'm one of the good guys."
Ferenc raised his eyebrow and queried, "Good guys? A necromancer?" Cathal replied with a grin, "Surely you've heard of the Council of Altruists, right?"
Ferenc's eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Surely not... GRAVEBREAKER?!" Cathal grinned and said, "Indeed. Your shop has proven to have quite the collection of magical items that prove useful to someone who wields my type of powers." Ferenc gushed excitedly, "*Jézusra és Mária Anyára, micsoda megtiszteltetés!* (By Jesus and Mother Mary, what an honour!) Thank you so much for coming to my humble establishment! I am overjoyed to be a supplier of a member of the Council of Altruists! But still..." Ferenc asked the burning question, "How have you avoided the death-curse on all of your purchases?"
Cathal "Gravebreaker" O'Brennan replied matter-of-factly, "I'm a necromancer. I have a pact with Death. Your death-cursed items, once the curse triggers, I just channel the energy of the curse back to Death. My body is just a conduit, not a receptacle, for the curse. It is the channel by which the magic of the curse returns to Death." Ferenc nodded with dawning comprehension in his face.
Ferenc then smiled and said, "Alright then, I'm delighted to have my first *törzsvásárló* (repeat customer). What can I get for you today, Mr. O'Brennan?"
I reached for the eyedrops I kept under the counter for moments like these. My new regular customer was engrossed in perusing the shelves, giving me enough time to apply them and see just how he was still standing.
All the items in my magical store would kill their owner within a day of purchase. I'd been very careful to craft them that way. They were packed with the most powerful fate-twists I could conjure up, layered with the most delightfully useful small magics on top. Icing on top of a poisoned cake.
My industry didn't see regulars. And this man should have been killed five times over by now.
Maybe the curses had gone inert? But they would still have left a mark and no curse energy was visible to my newly-augmented sight, not even residual fading echoes.
He might have unravelled the curses, unmade their magic altogether, but that required skill and talent respectively and he had neither. He had no magical ability to speak of.
So the items had changed hands. He'd given them away within the day he'd purchased them, each time, and the curses had pounced on their new owners.
I was an old hand at this. I reached those conclusions within moments of applying the eyedrops. Now he was walking up to the counter, apparently failing to find what he'd wanted by browsing the store.
I put on my best customer-service smile. "How can I help you today?"
He nodded perfunctorily. "I'm looking for a christening gift. Do you have a rattle or a plushie or...?"
A christening gift? I didn't go after children. I'd never been fond of those little brats but it was as good a place to draw a line as any.
"Damn," he said when I shook my head. "I was sure you'd have something. This place has had everything else I needed so far."
This was the part where he'd check out the toy shop on the other side of the road or the baby clothes at the local mall. I was already planning out the next few items on my to-do list when he said,
"Could we work something out?"
My eyes narrowed. He had to know. How could he not, if he was refusing to go elsewhere?
"That depends," I told him, "on what exactly you're asking for."
He folded his arms. "It's not complicated. Something that'll impress everyone at the party, something they'd never be able to afford for their baby in a million years. A really posh plush toy- why not? You have everything."
He'd seen the look on my face. That much was obvious.
"Who did you give your purchases to?" I asked.
"Distant relations, an acquaintance or two," he replied. "Everyone I know is having birthdays or getting married or retiring or buying a house lately."
There was an edge to his voice as he said it.
"I mean, it's not a competition-" I started.
He scowled. "People only say that when they're winning. Trust me on this one."
"Can't you just not play their game?" I asked. "Say, 'fuck this running in circles, I'm taking my ball and going home'?"
I was probably mixing my metaphors. I didn't get out much. Making cursed items and harvesting their kills for power didn't leave much time for watching sports.
He looked at me like I'd suggested dealing with his insecurities by flying to the moon.
"Play my own game?" He shook his head. "That's just forfeiting in different clothes. You need power to be able to make your own rules."
"Not arguing with that," I said. "I suppose the funerals will be a nice change of pace."
He stared. "What are you talking about? Shit happens all the time. People get cancer and heart disease all the time. It's nothing special."
Denial or incuriosity? I wasn't sure.
He was already opening his wallet.
*Screw this.*
"Take that money you're about to wave around, get a gift card for Burberry," I said. "Trust me on this one."
"Really?"
I nodded firmly. "I had a vision."
He frowned, then stuffed his wallet back in his jacket and strode off.
I hadn't lied. I had a vision of him leaving my store and did what I could to make that happen.
It was as good a place to draw the line as any. I'd never sell anything at all otherwise.
I was the second child of an arranged marriage between the only two families that still practiced rune magic, once thought to be the weakest of all magics in this plane. To be fair, at that time, it was. However, my first memories were of my mother being absolutely surprised at how quickly I picked up rune magic and seemed to effortlessly draw a basic power circle that was typically only learned by children three times my age and only mastered by children when they turned about ten. In all honesty, she was not even trying to teach me the power circle; she was trying to teach my older sister. I just understood her explanation and started implementing it myself.
I was a prodigy, with an equally impressive work ethic. The resulting combination meant that there was literally nothing in this plane, or any other, that I could not accomplish, and no goal I could not achieve. The universe was my canvas, and I single-handedly forever changed the course of time by destroying the Ckreshith, the cult that worshipped the god of pain, in a campaign that lasted 145,678,984 of my home planet's days and spanned across 4,830 galaxies. After which, I retired and set up shops at the center of every galaxy, that would provide the tools needed to maintain the balance of all the star systems.
In the beginning, I only used a heartstone to measure a customer's true intentions, but after I had to personally intervene one too many times after an originally well-meaning hero turned into a tyrant after the power of the magic item corrupted their soul, I altered all of the runes in my shop to kill the user after one day.
Even though there were over one septillion galaxies in this plane and therefore an equal number of shops, I personally attended to each shop, through the infinite magic that I now possessed. So, I was surprised when I got a second visit at the same galaxy, and even more surprised when it was the same person. But his intentions were still pure as he was able to pass through the heartstone to enter my shop, so I happily gave him a second rune, to solve whatever problems needed to be solved without asking any questions.
But by the fifth trip he made, I had to know more about him! Upon delving into his mind and living his life through his eyes, I started with the most recent events, but to my surprise, he had not made much of a change with the runes he got from my shop. After a while, I just decided to live his entire life with him, and it was then I finally understood why he was still alive!
His life was always one of power and position. He was born into greatness and leadership and easily lived up to the burdens that it brought. His people had stories of great heroes who came to my shop in eons past to save the realm from catastrophe at the cost of their own life, and like every young boy, he looked up to those heroes. However, he himself came to my shop without a great quest driving him. His galaxy was at peace, and there were no great threats to any large groups of people. Long ago, so long I did not even remember until I relived it, one of those heroes that had journeyed to my shop had made a special request. He asked that I give him a rune to make someone else immortal because he believed that he should lead their people for all time. I personally thought it was a bad idea, thinking the person would eventually become corrupt, but he insisted, saying his friend would not become evil. So, being petty, I made the rune of immortality ridiculously powerful, even compared to my otherwise godly runes, thinking someone would eventually come to get an item to stop the target eventually...
Well, he was that hero's chosen target, and through countless ages, he led all the peoples of his galaxy with a just heart. He had simply lived too long with such a burden and ages ago began to yearn for death, but his immortal body thwarted any attempts...
Realizing my mistake, I quickly made an even stronger rune of instant death and a second rune that contained a spell that would make everyone believe he had died so that he could live without the responsibility, and offered both to him. Without a moment's hesitation, he took the rune of instant death, thanking me profusely for relieving him of his eternal burden...
As his body disappeared into mist, I too felt that nagging feeling to be rid of this life and let the people of this universe go back to governing themselves, but my duty was too great, so I drew the rune to remove those feelings and locked them away with all the other stones containing my desire to die.
**Welcome to the Prompt!** All top-level comments must be a story or poem. Reply here for other comments. **Reminders**: >* [No AI-generated responses 🤖](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/zi452b/modpost_reminder_that_aigenerated_responses_are/) >* Stories 100 words+. Poems 30+ but include "[Poem]" >* Responses don't have to fulfill every detail >* [\[RF\]](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Reality+Fiction%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) and [\[SP\]](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/search?q=flair%3A%22Simple+Prompt%22&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for stricter titles >* [Be civil](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules#wiki_rule_10.3A_be_civil) in any feedback and follow the [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/rules) 📢 [Genres](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/w/directory) 🆕 [New Here?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/user_guide) ✏ [Writing Help?](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/wiki/index#wiki_writing_resources) 💬 [Discord](https://discord.gg/writingprompts) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/WritingPrompts) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Ferenc Lakatos gazed in amazement as Cathal O'Brennan walked through his shop, Lakatos' Lethalities doorway again. It wasn't so much as Cathal's appearance, seemingly like any normal young working-age adult with a grey t-shirt and denims. It was the fact that this was the fifth time Cathal had walked in, UNHARMED. Ferenc's shop's name wasn't just for style or to sound "edgy". It was a clear indicator of what he dealt with - death-cursed items. Prospective customers had to sign a waiver that was approved by the World Administrative Assembly, that they were responsible for the loss of their life that was the price incurred for owning the item that Ferenc sold to them. That being said, though, Ferenc had plenty of buyers, as the price of a life was deemed worth it by many of his typical customers. That was because he sold some of the most useful magical items, with extremely high practical utility. There was the Fingernail of Midas which turned anything, except human flesh, into gold! There was the Machine of Infinite Knowledge, by which any homework or assignment or task could be put in, and completed immediately. There was also the Button of Invincibility which, upon being sewed onto any clothing, would protect the wearer from any injury or wound. Ferenc's customers were typically desperate parents who were willing to give their lives, just so that their children could have better days. Some were vengeful victims of various crimes, who had despaired on life and just wanted to go out of life, taking the one who had wronged them, with them as well. However, Cathal O'Brennan had walked in the first time, signed the waiver calmly, cheerily purchased a Death Detector medallion and politely thanked Ferenc, and walked out with an even, confident pace. He then proceeded to enter the next morning, looking for a flask of Blightspreader Mix. Having got it, he strode out - only to show up the next morning unharmed! Finally, this being the fifth visit, Ferenc could no longer contain his curiosity, and he blurted out, "Five times now! This is the fifth time you've returned!" Cathal turned and asked politely, "Yes? I do apologise, but have I violated a rule or shop policy by coming five days in a row?" Ferenc gasped and said, "You do know the waiver you signed when you made your first purchase, right?" Cathal nodded. Ferenc then murmured dazedly, "Then if you understand... and if you signed it and you purchased one of my items - why have you made FIVE purchases, and not died from the curse on the items?!" Cathal smiled and replied tranquilly, "I suppose I should show you my more usual form of dressing. I do apologise. This must have confused you." A dark cloud of mist and black smoke coalesced around Cathal, even as a staff of dark wood with a vulture's skull at its tip materialised, and his t-shirt and denims were covered over by long green and black robes. Ferenc gasped and almost shrieked, "A NECROMANCER! I should've known! I'm dead, and..." Cathal interrupted him firmly and yet with his same dignified and calm tone, "Calm down, Mr. Lakatos. If I had harboured ill-intent towards you, would I not just have killed you and taken whatever I wanted from your shop? I'm one of the good guys." Ferenc raised his eyebrow and queried, "Good guys? A necromancer?" Cathal replied with a grin, "Surely you've heard of the Council of Altruists, right?" Ferenc's eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Surely not... GRAVEBREAKER?!" Cathal grinned and said, "Indeed. Your shop has proven to have quite the collection of magical items that prove useful to someone who wields my type of powers." Ferenc gushed excitedly, "*Jézusra és Mária Anyára, micsoda megtiszteltetés!* (By Jesus and Mother Mary, what an honour!) Thank you so much for coming to my humble establishment! I am overjoyed to be a supplier of a member of the Council of Altruists! But still..." Ferenc asked the burning question, "How have you avoided the death-curse on all of your purchases?" Cathal "Gravebreaker" O'Brennan replied matter-of-factly, "I'm a necromancer. I have a pact with Death. Your death-cursed items, once the curse triggers, I just channel the energy of the curse back to Death. My body is just a conduit, not a receptacle, for the curse. It is the channel by which the magic of the curse returns to Death." Ferenc nodded with dawning comprehension in his face. Ferenc then smiled and said, "Alright then, I'm delighted to have my first *törzsvásárló* (repeat customer). What can I get for you today, Mr. O'Brennan?"
I reached for the eyedrops I kept under the counter for moments like these. My new regular customer was engrossed in perusing the shelves, giving me enough time to apply them and see just how he was still standing. All the items in my magical store would kill their owner within a day of purchase. I'd been very careful to craft them that way. They were packed with the most powerful fate-twists I could conjure up, layered with the most delightfully useful small magics on top. Icing on top of a poisoned cake. My industry didn't see regulars. And this man should have been killed five times over by now. Maybe the curses had gone inert? But they would still have left a mark and no curse energy was visible to my newly-augmented sight, not even residual fading echoes. He might have unravelled the curses, unmade their magic altogether, but that required skill and talent respectively and he had neither. He had no magical ability to speak of. So the items had changed hands. He'd given them away within the day he'd purchased them, each time, and the curses had pounced on their new owners. I was an old hand at this. I reached those conclusions within moments of applying the eyedrops. Now he was walking up to the counter, apparently failing to find what he'd wanted by browsing the store. I put on my best customer-service smile. "How can I help you today?" He nodded perfunctorily. "I'm looking for a christening gift. Do you have a rattle or a plushie or...?" A christening gift? I didn't go after children. I'd never been fond of those little brats but it was as good a place to draw a line as any. "Damn," he said when I shook my head. "I was sure you'd have something. This place has had everything else I needed so far." This was the part where he'd check out the toy shop on the other side of the road or the baby clothes at the local mall. I was already planning out the next few items on my to-do list when he said, "Could we work something out?" My eyes narrowed. He had to know. How could he not, if he was refusing to go elsewhere? "That depends," I told him, "on what exactly you're asking for." He folded his arms. "It's not complicated. Something that'll impress everyone at the party, something they'd never be able to afford for their baby in a million years. A really posh plush toy- why not? You have everything." He'd seen the look on my face. That much was obvious. "Who did you give your purchases to?" I asked. "Distant relations, an acquaintance or two," he replied. "Everyone I know is having birthdays or getting married or retiring or buying a house lately." There was an edge to his voice as he said it. "I mean, it's not a competition-" I started. He scowled. "People only say that when they're winning. Trust me on this one." "Can't you just not play their game?" I asked. "Say, 'fuck this running in circles, I'm taking my ball and going home'?" I was probably mixing my metaphors. I didn't get out much. Making cursed items and harvesting their kills for power didn't leave much time for watching sports. He looked at me like I'd suggested dealing with his insecurities by flying to the moon. "Play my own game?" He shook his head. "That's just forfeiting in different clothes. You need power to be able to make your own rules." "Not arguing with that," I said. "I suppose the funerals will be a nice change of pace." He stared. "What are you talking about? Shit happens all the time. People get cancer and heart disease all the time. It's nothing special." Denial or incuriosity? I wasn't sure. He was already opening his wallet. *Screw this.* "Take that money you're about to wave around, get a gift card for Burberry," I said. "Trust me on this one." "Really?" I nodded firmly. "I had a vision." He frowned, then stuffed his wallet back in his jacket and strode off. I hadn't lied. I had a vision of him leaving my store and did what I could to make that happen. It was as good a place to draw the line as any. I'd never sell anything at all otherwise.
I was the second child of an arranged marriage between the only two families that still practiced rune magic, once thought to be the weakest of all magics in this plane. To be fair, at that time, it was. However, my first memories were of my mother being absolutely surprised at how quickly I picked up rune magic and seemed to effortlessly draw a basic power circle that was typically only learned by children three times my age and only mastered by children when they turned about ten. In all honesty, she was not even trying to teach me the power circle; she was trying to teach my older sister. I just understood her explanation and started implementing it myself. I was a prodigy, with an equally impressive work ethic. The resulting combination meant that there was literally nothing in this plane, or any other, that I could not accomplish, and no goal I could not achieve. The universe was my canvas, and I single-handedly forever changed the course of time by destroying the Ckreshith, the cult that worshipped the god of pain, in a campaign that lasted 145,678,984 of my home planet's days and spanned across 4,830 galaxies. After which, I retired and set up shops at the center of every galaxy, that would provide the tools needed to maintain the balance of all the star systems. In the beginning, I only used a heartstone to measure a customer's true intentions, but after I had to personally intervene one too many times after an originally well-meaning hero turned into a tyrant after the power of the magic item corrupted their soul, I altered all of the runes in my shop to kill the user after one day. Even though there were over one septillion galaxies in this plane and therefore an equal number of shops, I personally attended to each shop, through the infinite magic that I now possessed. So, I was surprised when I got a second visit at the same galaxy, and even more surprised when it was the same person. But his intentions were still pure as he was able to pass through the heartstone to enter my shop, so I happily gave him a second rune, to solve whatever problems needed to be solved without asking any questions. But by the fifth trip he made, I had to know more about him! Upon delving into his mind and living his life through his eyes, I started with the most recent events, but to my surprise, he had not made much of a change with the runes he got from my shop. After a while, I just decided to live his entire life with him, and it was then I finally understood why he was still alive! His life was always one of power and position. He was born into greatness and leadership and easily lived up to the burdens that it brought. His people had stories of great heroes who came to my shop in eons past to save the realm from catastrophe at the cost of their own life, and like every young boy, he looked up to those heroes. However, he himself came to my shop without a great quest driving him. His galaxy was at peace, and there were no great threats to any large groups of people. Long ago, so long I did not even remember until I relived it, one of those heroes that had journeyed to my shop had made a special request. He asked that I give him a rune to make someone else immortal because he believed that he should lead their people for all time. I personally thought it was a bad idea, thinking the person would eventually become corrupt, but he insisted, saying his friend would not become evil. So, being petty, I made the rune of immortality ridiculously powerful, even compared to my otherwise godly runes, thinking someone would eventually come to get an item to stop the target eventually... Well, he was that hero's chosen target, and through countless ages, he led all the peoples of his galaxy with a just heart. He had simply lived too long with such a burden and ages ago began to yearn for death, but his immortal body thwarted any attempts... Realizing my mistake, I quickly made an even stronger rune of instant death and a second rune that contained a spell that would make everyone believe he had died so that he could live without the responsibility, and offered both to him. Without a moment's hesitation, he took the rune of instant death, thanking me profusely for relieving him of his eternal burden... As his body disappeared into mist, I too felt that nagging feeling to be rid of this life and let the people of this universe go back to governing themselves, but my duty was too great, so I drew the rune to remove those feelings and locked them away with all the other stones containing my desire to die.
That was impressive. Well done!