CAELIA (passionately):

“What if we fixed a lot of the other broken stands here? That way, if old businesses want to come back, they can or if new businesses want to open up here, they can too! An incentive could be that the stand is already built and paid for.”

[Cassian pauses, trying to think things through logistically in his head.]

CASSIAN:

“That does sound like a good idea but that doesn’t fix the issue of people not wanting to come here in the first place.”

CAELIA:

“But what if this is an issue of exposure? We can have posters around Kingsley promoting the area! I mean, there’s still some businesses alive here like Ulysses’ and people come to them! There could be even more businesses here!” 

CASSIAN (skeptical):

“It is a good idea… Maybe we can talk to Ulysses about it. It might be easier said than done though…”

CAELIA:

“We can ask him when he comes back, let’s try to fix his stand.”

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[Caelia and Cassian go back to Ulysses’ stand, taking it completely apart and laying the individual pieces out, keeping track of them. Using the stand that is in better condition as a reference, they reassembled Ulysses’ stand as best as they could with the original material, reinforcing it with better connections. Throughout the process, they made sure it was structurally sound. There were some pieces like the top bench that had to be replaced due to weakened strength.]

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[Ulysses eventually came back to Kingsley Central Square to check in on Caelia and Cassian. His stand was already almost done and when he looked at it, he was ecstatic.]

ULYSSES (pleasantly surprised):

“Oh my goodness! It already looks infinitely better! Thank you! The old man will be proud!!!”

CAELIA:

“We’re almost done, we just have to get some extra wood and then attach it! Ulysses, there was actually something we wanted to discuss with you!”

ULYSSES:

“Hmm? What is it?”

CAELIA:

“We were wondering if we could fix the other stands here and try to revive this area again? Is that something you think would be a good idea?”

[Ulysses stands there in pleasant surprise.]

ULYSSES:

“I actually was thinking that for a while, Caelia! I think it would be a great idea to try and bring some business back to Kingsley. What is your guy’s plan for it?”

CAELIA (explaining):

“The first step is to fix the stands. While the stands are being fixed, we’ll have posters around the kingdom with a launch date. Hopefully that will convince people to have their business in these stands, the incentive being that the stand is already provided. Then, lots of people will come and Kingsley can feel more lively again!” 

[He lets this proposal sit for a second while scratching his head.]

ULYSSES:

“It could be a while before it gets back to how it once was, but I think that’s a good plan! Maybe we should start out with a couple of stands first, maybe 10? I can also try my best to gather some people from the past to try and sell again.”

[Caelia geeks in excitement and smiles brightly. She looks back at Cassian with a big smile.]

CAELIA (geeking):

“Cassian! Isn’t this so exciting??” 

[To Cassian’s eyes, Caelia looks absolutely mesmerizing to the point where he becomes speechless, his face flushing. Seeing him speechless, Caelia catches herself geeking out and then gets a bit embarrassed.]

CAELIA (shy):

“O-Oh sorry, I got a bit too excited there.” 

ULYSSES:

“We should ask the other vendors that are currently here too if they would be okay with it. I’m sure they will be okay with it, but just to make sure!”

CAELIA:

“Oh, that’s right! We should do that. What do the other vendors sell currently?”

ULYSSES:

“Mostly food!” 

[Caelia’s mouth immediately salivates.]

CAELIA (excited):

“Food?!?!?! I want to try them all! 

[Instinctively, she turns and tugs at Cassian’s sleeve unconsciously to grab his attention and then lets go.]

Cassian, can we go eat after we are done with Ulysses' stand????”

[He looks at her excitement and gets shy and then waves for them to go.]

CASSIAN:

“You guys can go ahead and get food now. I can get the extra wood for the stands.”

ULYSSES:

“Are you sure? We can get you some food too!”

CASSIAN (adamant):

“Yeah, yeah get me some food. Let me get the materials.”

CAELIA (bright):

“Okay, thanks! You’re the best, Cassian!”

[Cassian’s face flushes even harder. Caelia and Ulysses go walk to the other active vendors while Cassian is alone, trying to calm his racing heartbeat down.] 

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[Caelia and Ulysses start walking around to visit the other vendors. They visited a corndog stand, a donut stand, a bread stand, and a drink stand. At each stand, Caelia and Ulysses tell the owners about the plan and every single one of them were on board. Caelia also buys a lot of food, making sure to get Cassian some that matches his taste: very sweet and very salty, which can be seen as a stark contrast to his character. At every stand, Ulysses was very friendly with the owners, knowing them by first name and striking conversations with them before asking. Caelia noticed how friendly he is to everyone and how he knows so many people.]

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[Caelia and Ulysses return to his stand with a bunch of food and find that Cassian still hasn’t returned from getting more materials.]

CAELIA (disappointed):

“Oh… It doesn’t look like Cassian is back from getting wood yet.”

[He points to a nearby bench.]

ULYSSES (suggesting):

“We can eat over there, Caelia.”

[They walk over to the bench with their piles of food and they sit on the bench, next to each other. Caelia grabs her bread from the packaging and immediately stuffs it in her face. She enjoys the taste of it very much.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

This bread might be the best bread I ever had!!! 

CAELIA (enjoying her bread):

“MMMM! This is so good!”

ULYSSES:

“Right? I told you that the best bread is made by that stand! I’ve been having it all my life!”

[Ulysses also stuffs a piece of bread in his mouth. Now both Caelia and Ulysses are feeling bliss as they’re eating their bread, their chewing in sync.]

ULYSSES:

“Caelia, I was very surprised at your proposition to revive Kingsley Center Square. It’s been something I’ve been meaning to try but the timing didn’t make sense. Even when I called you guys over, it was to only fix the old man’s stand, I wasn’t even thinking about the overall picture. So it felt like fate when you brought up your idea! Everyone seems on board!”

CAELIA:

“How long have you been working here? It seems like you are friendly with everyone here!”

[He looks up to the sky smiling.]

ULYSSES (reminiscing):

“I’ve been working here all my life, since I was 15! That was 25 years ago!”

CAELIA (impressed):

“Oh, really?”

ULYSSES:

“Yeah, this place saved my life back then! I was actually an orphan. I hate to admit it but this was the only place I could steal food everyday to live another day.”

[Caelia starts to feel sad.]

CAELIA:

“How did you meet the original owner of the stand?”

[Ulysses pauses for a second.]

ULYSSES:

“Being an orphan, I didn’t have many friends or family so I was very unhappy most of my life. I heard of Kingsley Central Square while walking around and when I went, it was bustling with people and shops- fresh food everywhere. At first, I started stealing food sneakily out of survival but none of the owners would notice me. Then I started to steal more and more just to see if they would notice me, but they never did. I truly felt invisible and very unhappy. No one wanted to adopt me because I was an older kid, so I gave up on finding happiness. Then, one summer day, an old man who ran a soup stand in the middle of summer noticed me looking at his food weirdly, because who sells soup in the summer? He then waved me to come over and I was surprised at first because I thought no one could see me- but he did. He then gave me some free soup and it was the most delicious soup I had ever tasted. And then I kept coming everyday and even up until adulthood! And that’s how I met him!”

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Giving up on happiness…

[Caelia then is reminded of her past life where she lived day to day, not necessarily happy, and resents herself for how she lived.]

I wouldn’t say I was too happy in my past life either… I lived a life that was meaningless and I had always just accepted that.

CAELIA (sad):

“That’s a beautiful story… Thank you for telling me.

But I have a question, you don’t necessarily have to answer.”

ULYSSES:

“Of course, what is it?”

CAELIA (serious):

“You ended up finding happiness even though you thought you never could?” 

[Caelia looks directly into Ulysses’ eyes, completely serious. At first, he was slightly taken aback by the seriousness but he eventually smiles.]

ULYSSES (gently smiles):

“Yeah. Yeah I did. Why are you asking?”

[She takes his story to heart and lets it sink beneath the surface, her face deep in thought. Being forgotten about or overlooked was the common denominator in most of Norma’s life.]

CAELIA (answering as Norma):

“I feel like I can relate to your past before you found Kingsley Center- feeling invisible and just living my life day-to-day…”

[He felt confused at first, as he was talking to the most self-centered woman in the kingdom but he didn’t let that deter him away. As he looks at her, he remembers her geeking out over building things.]

ULYSSES:

“Have you been happy building things, Caelia?”

CAELIA:

“...Yeah, I mean, beyond people still having the culture shock, I’ve been happy building things with Cassian and seeing people’s smiles at the end.”

ULYSSES:

“Maybe you’re starting to find your own happiness through just that! It does seem like you have a passion for it.”

[Her eyes widened.] 

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

Kingsley has been difficult but somehow I can still say I’m generally happy? It makes me regret how my life went the first time.

[Staying silent, Caelia takes another bite of her salty bread.]

Maybe my life is starting now… Just in a new body…

───── ⋆⋅⊹⋅⋆ ─────

[After a bit, Cassian came back from gathering the extra materials needed for the stands.]

CAELIA (happy):

“Welcome back! Thanks for gathering all of the extra wood!”

CASSIAN:

“No problem. How was the food?”

CAELIA:

“The food was very, very good! I got you some too! Sorry it’s not warm, but I got you some very sweet things and some very salty things, just how you like it.

[Caelia grabs Cassian’s bread and unwraps it for him. She then hands it over for him to eat.]

Here! I even unwrapped it for you as a thank you for grabbing all of the materials.”

[Cassian stands there for a second, looking at the unwrapped bread she’s holding and then up to her face, her expression smiling. He then leans his head down towards the bread and takes a bite of the bread as she’s still holding it. He stands back up straight and chews the bread, her widened eyes following his face the whole time.]

CASSIAN (while chewing):

“Mmmmm. This is pretty good. Thanks for the bite. I’m gonna go grab the materials.”

[He then immediately goes to the carriage to grab the wood. She looks at him walking away with a flushed face.]

CAELIA - INNER MONOLOGUE:

W-W-WHAT WAS THAT?!?!?! 

₊ . ⊹  ݁ ₊‧ . ‿⊱༻✶༺⊰‿ . ‧₊ ݁ ⊹ . ₊ . ⊹  ݁ ₊‧ . ‿⊱༻✶༺⊰‿ . ‧₊ ݁ ⊹ . ₊

[End of Chapter 6 Part 2]