Charmed.

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Long, long ago, in the times of the Rennaissance, Mariotto Rossi shouldered through the crowded market square, basket in hand. Sellers of all kinds stood at their stalls to peddle their wares— different bushels & crates of different vegetables, strung-up meats, fruits, and grains. The fellow citygoers shared his expression of distress; it always got busier during the colder seasons, but never this bad.

Someone pushed him from behind, propelling him into a surprisingly uncrowded area. He caught his breath, making a mental note to make his daily market trip a bit earlier next time.

"Ah, rough fall. Are you alright?" The man behind a market stall asked as Mariotto stood. "The crowd can get a bit rowdy, eh?"

Mariotto chuckled as he brushed himself off. "Tell me about it. It is usually this busy around this time?" He asked, glancing at the man's wares. Some assorted fruits, but mostly apples.

"It has been recently. Are you looking for anything in particular?"

"Oh, just food, nothing in specific. I'm Mariotto, by the way, nice to meet you."

"Well, nice to meet you! I'm The Merchant."

"…yes? What's your name?"

"Oh, you can just call me The Merchant"

Mariotto had met stranger folks, so he simply shrugged and grabbed a red apple from the stand. It was fairly large, with no bruises as well, which was rare. The long journey into the city usually roughed them up. "Well then… Merchant. Do you get your product from out of town? I've never seen such a pristine crop."

"Well, where else would I get it? And yes, people tend to say that a lot. I suppose others aren't careful enough."

Taking a look behind him, Mariotto sighed at the crowd, then turned back to the man. The Merchant was good enough company, he supposed, might as well wait for everyone to clear up.

"That's a Golden Delicious you're holding. One of my favorite kinds of apples. Very sweet, good for salads."

Mariotto barely noticed he was still holding the fruit in his hand. He was momentarily confused by how he thought that the apple had been red instead of chartreuse, but was more caught off guard by The Merchant's comment. "You put apple in your salad?"

"Come on, is it really that strange?" He shrugged, then pondered for a moment before grinning. "You could try it. In fact, why don't you take that one? On the house, don't worry about pay!"

"Ah, thank you! I suppose I will, as soon as this—" Mariotto turned, gesturing towards the dissipated, much-calmer crowd. "Huh. Well, I suppose I'll be making my departure, then. Nice meeting you!"

"Nice meeting you too, Mariotto!"

And with that, Mariotto made a mental note to buy some lettuce as he tucked the golden apple into his basket, walking away.


"Hello, Mariotto! How was the apple?"

"Best I've ever had! I chopped it into some salad, and you were right. The sweetness mixed with the more leafy flavors very well."

"Hehe, good!" The Merchant tossed a Golden Delicious up into the air and caught it.

"You know, I've never met any merchants who give apples names." Mariotto chuckled. "Usually they just call them colors."

"Ah yes…" The Merchant sighed. "There's a problem with that. See, here?" He asked, holding two nearly-identical apples in his hands. "They look the same, right? But these are two different kinds! They have different flavors, the Golden Delicious in my right hand is sweet, but the Johnathan in my left hand is a bit more tart, better for baking. There's a clear difference, so they belong in different groups under different names."

There was a pause for a moment as The Merchant grumbled to himself, but then Mariotto chuckled. "You sound like me talking about paints."

"You're a painter?"

"Well, I dabble in all of the arts. I've actually been studying sculpture recently, it's really quite an extravagant emerging form. Painting will always be my favorite, though."

"So you're The Artist?"

"I'm an artist."

The Merchant set down the apples he had been juggling around and leaned forward across the stand. "The Artist. I see something in you, Mariotto."

Mariotto began to take a few steps back, only to crash right into a woman standing in the square. He started to mutter an apology, only to find that she was frozen, unmoving. In fact, the whole square was brought to a standstill. Sweat forming on his neck, he glanced up to the sky only to see a bird mid-flight, levitating in the air. The Merchant simply grinned as Mariotto pointed an accusatory finger towards him. "What is this witchcraft?!"

"Witchcraft? I thought you artists liked this kind of thing. Giving an image to the fantastical? And this… well, it's quite fantastical."

"I'll report you to the—"

"Hold on, friend. Can I explain a few things before you decide to burn me at the stake?"

Mariotto glanced around at the frozen world surrounding him, then gulped. "Fine."

"You have a specific… how do I say this? Energy in you. I can feel it. You just haven't uncovered it yet. But I can help." Taking one of the Golden Delicious apples in his hand, The Merchant spun it around on one finger, and a shiny gold finish slowly formed on its skin. Smiling, he held it out to Mariotto. "Take a bite and all will be clearer."

Mariotto hesitated, but took the apple. "What if you're just poisoning me?"

"Hmph. Guess you just have to trust me when I say that it won't kill you."

"Then I just won't eat it. Why should I trust you?"

"Because I can see the true you." The Merchant crossed his arms. "But if you want to stay here in frozen time for eternity, then be my guest."

Mariotto grumbled at the man's stubbornness, then turned, looking to the grey sky. "So, what? Am I some kind of witch?"

"Oh, please! You and I both know witches don't exist. They were probably invented so the nobles can prosecute women. You're just… well, I like to call it being Charmed."

He tried to resist the urge to ask, but for Mariotto, curiosity would always kill the cat. "Charmed?"

"Yes. It means you have the potential to do great things. Acts that are otherwise impossible. I suppose it's like a talent, really."

"And all I have to do to unlock it…" He glanced down at the golden apple in his hand.

"Is take a bite, yes. Well, actually, you could naturally lure out your powers, but this is much easier. After all, it took me years of practice to do something like this."

A long, tense silence rang throughout the market square, leaving Mariotto to contemplate.

His grip on the apple tightened. It's not like he had a choice in the matter, did he?

"Well then." He took one more look at the square, then down at the golden fruit in his hands. "You better not be lying about not poisoning this," he said, and he crunched down on the apple, closing his eyes. A blinding flash burst forth, and he let out a grunt of pain as the light burned his skin, but then darkness quickly returned.

Mariotto opened his eyes, feeling a strange sense of… some sort of change. An awakening.

"How was it?" The Merchant grinned.

"Well, before… that happened. The apple was delicious."

"It implanted knowledge inside of you. A new sense you haven't felt before."

Deep in his chest, Mariotto felt it. Pulsating and growing, enveloping his body whole. He reached his hand forward, and closed his hand around his paintbrush, which appeared in a flash. "What is it?"

"It's magic, friend. And I'm putting together an organization to awaken it. Care to join me, Artist?"

The Artist looked down, feeling the energy flow into his paintbrush. Full of a newfound exhilaration, he answered, and as such, The Union was birthed.

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