The door opens and a hulking figure ducks low to step through. Eight feet of fur and muscle, wearing loose shorts and an oversized messenger bag and a red vest that covers maybe a third of his upper body and little else, carrying a very large woodsman's axe, and covered head to toe with thick yellow fur, with a wolf-like head.

"Heeeey, this isn't the tool shed at all!"

One of the teenagers will look up at him, smile and wave her hand.

"Hi! This is a magic bar! Doors sometimes go here by magic!

"And someone pointed it at our tool shed? Gale Rocks is the middle of nowhere, why put a door here?"

He looks around. "Nice place, though?"

"Our understanding is that the location of the door is determined by the whims of some mysterious entity, which is interested in bringing in particular people it takes an interest in rather than in the bar's success as a business. There's said to be more consistency in who finds doors to it than in where they find them."

"You don't need to worry about being trapped here, though; if you open the door it always leads back to where you came in even if someone else came in from somewhere else in between."

"That doesn't sound right but I'm no wizard. Just have the usual tricks, you know? Nothing like portals, or artificing, or whatever. You folks from, uh, from Faron?" He seems a bit nervous about this question. 

"According to the bar, it can open to a large number of different inhabited worlds. It's likely our home isn't even in the same world as Faron!"

"Is Faron a place in your world? How come you thought we were from there?"

"Yeah, no, different universes is much weirder. Weird magic I've never heard of is probably from Faron by default? They figured out how to kill dragons, they figured out large synchronous rituals, and the best Lume still comes out of Faron for all that Kelos and Remii get fancier with applications..."

He heads for the bar, looking around. "So what kind of magic do you all have, if it's not the usual kind with the five colors?"

"The main magic our world has is the Sailor Warriors! They're eleven heroes with magic powers who use them to fight against evil! Oh, and the enemies they fight also have magic, they drain people's life energy and turn them into zombie minions and things like that."

"On our planet in the present day, only a small number of people have magic, and both the magic and the people who use it are mostly a mystery to the rest of the population. However, ancient and alien texts we procured from the bar indicate that there are other inhabited planets in our world where magic is more widespread, and that magic was better understood and utilized by ancient lost civilizations on our own planet."

"Are you able to use your world's magic? It sounds like it might be able to help our wold."

"Everyone can do magic!

...Everyone in Scope who didn't burn it all up on wishes can do magic. Not archmage stuff unless you study for centuries about it, but, you know, drying clothes, chopping trees, healing colds."

"Does the healing just do colds, or - can it do other diseases as well?"

"I mean, you kind need to be a doctor to help with anything weird without hurting things worse... But if you don't have green magic..."

He shivers and starts walking towards the table.

"What are you dealing with?"

"My boyfriend is sick. The doctors said they hadn't seen anything like it before."

"...Yeah no I wouldn't want to try anything without being an actual doctor and seeing him. If you're really desperate I have a bottle of stabilizer meant for first aid but, uh,"

He is startled by a bartop napkin. "Oh, hi! Yes, thank you!"

A drink appears for him. He looks at the group and shrugs. "I don't think it'd help but stabilizer is meant to not hurt at least. Probably."

"What does stabilizer do?"

"Magically yells at the body to stop dying! Tries to stop bleeding, stop shock, stop poison. Doesn't cure stuff, but stops it from progressing real good. Drink it or pour it. Or pour it on stuff that got, uh, detached for the docs to sew back on up to a day or two later."

"Stopping it from getting worse would be wonderful."

"Might want to dose it out in real small amounts then. The use case I was told about was 'in case one of you idiots cuts an arm off or something', more for injury than disease. But I did ask, and they said, yes, it'll keep you from dying of the flu too."

He fishes a crude looking glass bottle from his bag. It's like an old Coke bottle, but cloudy and lumpy. The liquid inside looks bright pink. Wax seal on top.

"Also... It wasn't free. Y'all seriously don't have any magic? How about gold or silver?"

"As in the metals?"

"Yeah. I'm not exactly swimming in stabilizer, is all."

"How much silver do you want for it?"

"Let's say three draws?"

Milliways lets her understand that this is about half a kilogram.

Usagi will take her pocket money - a green paper note - from her bag and bring to the bar.

"Can I buy half a kilogram of silver for this?"

An apologetic napkin informs her,

I'm afraid not. That much will get you 18 grams of silver. You can run up a tab if you like.

She will return to the table.

"The bar said it wasn't enough. Maybe we can afford it if everyone chips in?"

The other children will produce various pieces of paper and copper-alloy coins, which Usagi will take back to the bar.

It still doesn't come to enough.

"It doesn't have to be silver. You all have nice bags and clothes- It might be a different artisanal tradition, something like that could be worth it instead?"

"We're not allowed to sell these clothes. They're school uniforms."

"Hey, miss Bar, any way you can help us out here?"

I try not to make a habit of engaging in arbitrage.

He sighs and puts the bottle back in his bag.

"This thing cost nearly a month's wages, you know? I'll think about it. What was that about other planets having magic? Just yours doesn't?"

"The bar allows people to borrow any book that has ever been publicly available in their own world. We discovered there were books from planets in our world whose inhabitants could change between human and animal forms."

Minako will move next to Ami and whisper to her.

"I could sell him my volleyball uniform, but I'd get in enough trouble for it that I want to make sure it's not a scam first."

Ami will surreptitiously investigate the stabilizer with the sensors built into her laptop. Are its effects as advertised? Are they versatile enough to extend to protecting someone from a deadly curse affecting him through a connection to his soul? Are they robust enough against raw magical power that it doesn't matter if the magical forces behind the curse and those already trying and failing to protect him from it are planetary in scale?

The stabilizer definitely contains magic, packed into tight particles dissolved in liquid. There are at least three different components to it.

One, to Stop Things From Happening, seems - sharp and slippery? It will try to prevent the body from doing things, and prevent outside forces from making things worse, both by stopping physical forces and by blocking magic. It looks like it might be relying on brute force for whatever capacity it has to resist other magic. Which would make sense if these are generalized, and not formulated specifically for specific curses.

Two, to Make Things Better, seems eager and energetic? It will invigorate cells or create new ones, promote normal stable blood flow, balance hormones, and do a bunch of other complicated biological tasks all aimed at 'healthy'. It has no interaction with the soul.

Three, to control the other two, seems almost circuit-like. It's hard to pick apart whatever logic or conditions must be inside it, but it definitely acts to direct the other two components more than anything else. It's the smallest portion of the magic.

"Ooh. I'd like to read about that. We don't change back and forth, it's complicated and exhaust8ng and mostly a one time deal."

Shall I provide you with a borrowed book?

The Wolfman nods, Bar provides. He sits on a stool and sips his milkshake.

Mauans are naturally able to switch between two forms, known by terms which we will translate as 'human' and 'cat', although their names in the Mauan language are not derived from the Solar-System species they resemble. The book will go into a lot of detail about the differences between human and cat forms which could be summarized as "like humans" and "like cats" if the intended audience were familiar with these. It is believed that ancestral mauans used the human form for persistence hunting large prey, carrying things, making tools and eating vegetable food, and the cat form for ambushing small prey.

While in cat form, mauans are able to speak and think in ways which should be impossible with the brains and vocal aparatus of this form, as the magic which allows their transformation allows these parts of the body to behave as though they were in the human form even when they aren't. For this reason, the human form is sometimes called the 'true' form, as it is the form in which the brain takes a shape which matches its internal function. However, the human form in fact requires continual support from the magic of the Mau Crystal to maintain, and without this mauans revert to their cat form, which requires only their own inherent magic. It is believed that the Mau Crystal could hypothetically be weaponized to force mauans into a non-magical version of the cat form, in which they would suffer dramatically reduced cognitive and vocal abilities in line with the physical shape of the cat form's brain and vocal apparatus. However, the magic that gives mauans their cognitive and vocal abilities is very robust, and the Mau Crystal is only able to interfere with it because mauan magic ultimately originates from it. The author seems to take it for granted that using the Crystal in this way would be horrible, but also that there is no serious risk that it will occur.

Many species have shape-shifting abilities similar to mauans. The human form is relatively similar between species where this occurs, while the cat form can vary dramatically. Chuuans and coronians and have similar abilities, as did cocoonans. Insofar as these forms differ from what is typical, they generally do so via incorporating additional features also found in the cat forms, such as mauans' and chuuans' tails and ears, or coronians' and cocoonans' wings.

A lot of sapient species not capable of shape-changing also seem to have forms resembling the human form. Humans are listed among examples of this category. They are stated to have been from the Solar System and referred to in the past tense. The cat form does not seem to have such a range of parallels, and it is generally believed to be unique to mauans. Claims that the Solar System was home to an entire race of creatures identical to hypothetical Mau-Crystal maimed mauans are almost certainly just creepypasta.

Usagi will remove her neckerchief (moving her brooch to her collar), empty her bag (onto the table) and head to the bar carrying them.

"OK, sir, you can take these, just please give me the stabilizer"

Untied, the neckerchief is just a square of red cloth.

He is pretty absorbed in the book about Mauans, and then in other books borrowed from Bar.

He blinks, then jumps slightly in recognition.

"-Um."

Is it interesting red cloth? Synthetic in any way? Does the bag have any strange parts?

The bag is a black leather briefcase, closable with two leather straps with stainless steel pin buckles and a central stainless steel lock. Stainless steel is also used for loops attaching the handle to the body of the bag, and for reinforcing the corners.

"Sheesh. Okay, okay, fine. If you really need it, I'll feel like too much of a jerk holding it over you for a better price..."

"Thank you!

"If you're worried about the cost, you could take my comic book? Most of the books we have here we need for school, but that I just brought to read during breaks. Milliways' translation effect won't apply when it's back in your world, but a lot of the story is in the pictures.

"I don't know how much it's worth to you compared to the medicine. I'm sorry if it's too little."

He peers at the comic. "Huh, even just as a curiosity it's probably worth something? Also as proof of Milliways! I'll make it work somehow. Don't you worry about me, I've got a steady job as a lumberjack, I'll be fine."

"Good. This is going to be a lot of help to Mamo, and I wouldn't want you to end up hurt for helping us."

She will go to the table and fetch the comic book, the cover of which depicts a girl in an outfit which resembles the girls' school uniforms, but with a slightly different design and the addition of a domino mask, gloves and pauladrons.

"The comic is about Sailor V, the pretty, sailor-suited soldier of justice. She was the first Sailor Warrior to awaken in modern times, and she can disguise herself as anyone and shoot energy beams and summon magic rain that breaks curses, and she has a boomerang and a mirror that sees through illusions, and cool fighting moves like the Sailor V Kick, and she's really pretty and athletic and glamorous and brave, and she fought against the Dark Agency, who set up fake businesses that drained people's life energy and hypnotized them into serving them, and she was in love with Kaitou Ace, the mysterious, handsome, card-throwing hero. It's a really good comic, and, for helping Mamo, you can take it, if you want, but I hope it winds up with someone who can appreciate the story.

"I'm Usagi, by the way. What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Brigo. Some people call me Stump though. 'Cause I end up stumped on riddles a lot! Heh. Look, here. If your guy needs it, he needs it, it sounds like your magic is really different and there's not much healing available."

He pulls the cloudy bottle in and hands it over.

"Just keep in mind that it's not really a cure..."

"Thank you. I won't forget the root cause is still there and, I won't stop trying to fix it."

"Are you OK with people calling you Stump? It sounds like a mean thing to call someone a nickname about. I'm not very good at answering riddles either and I don't think I'd like it if people gave me a nickname about it."

"We do have some healing magic. Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Saturn have healing abilities, and according to the ancient books we borrowed from Bar the Silver Crystal, which we're fairly sure Sailor Moon has in the modern day, can restore people's life and youth. And our doctors can cure a lot of things even without magic, with modern medical technology. Just not what Mamoru has."

She looks, somewhat nervously, back towards the table her classmates at, then whispers to him, "I have something else I might be able to do to pay you, but I don't want word to get around that I can do it. Can you keep a secret?"

Meanwhile, at the table,

"I don't like how long Usagi is taking dealing with the wolf jerk. Mako, Ami, you two come with me to back her up. Naru, Umino, watch our stuff."

She will proceed to head over to the bar, followed by two of the other girls.

"I don't mind, it's kinda true. I'm a simple guy. I cut trees, I play tasslefass, I go home and hug my wife. Secrets? I mean... I have no real reason to tell anyone, but also they say three can keep a secret if two are dead. Also, look."

He nods behind Usagi, towards where her friends are coming.

"Usagi, don't reveal any secrets to the guy who just demanded you strip in exchange for Mamoru's life. Also don't give him your neckerchief, we don't even know if it's even real medicine he's offering or just quackery."

"He's not a bad person, Mina. He ended up agreeing to give me the medicine even though I couldn't afford it. And the medicine's worth a month of his pay, it's expensive for him to give it up."

"You only have his word about that. And even if it's true it doesn't make what he demanded OK."

"-Oh, right, most places care about that. I didn't realize about the clothes, sorry. Even if I had thought of it I imagined you'd... Get spares from somewhere, or something. Ugh, bleh. And I guess you're right about the potion, wait. You could ask Bar for books from my world about healing magic?"

"Even if you can prove your world has a healing potion that doesn't prove what you're selling isn't a fake."

He makes a face and shrugs.

"It might have tests that can tell the real thing from a fake. Excuse me, Ms Bar, do you have any books from his world with information on stabilizer potions and tests used to distinguish genuine stabilizer potions from fakes?"

A napkin appears.

There is a textbook that covers the creation of stabilizer among other things. I'm not sure if it suffices as a method of verification. Would you like to borrow it?

Brigo says, "Hey, can I get another drink? Or maybe dessert? Something... Tart and sweet and cold."

A raspberry ice cream and chocolate sundae appears. He pays with a small blue coin.

"That looks good. Could I have one as well?"

"Hmm... - if there's some sort of harm where we can confirm it's not cheaper to get a fake stabilizer that only effects that, but which can be fixed with the resources available in the bar, we could test if it effects that. Aside from that, there might be other tests I'll be able to come up with from the information in the textbook. I would like to borrow the textbook, please, Ms. Bar."

Another sundae appears, with a different pattern of chocolate swirls- Flowers instead of stripes.

That will be ¥300, please.

And separately a textbook appears in front of Ami. It's titled 'The Dark Green Reference Book for Colonists'.

"I'd like to borrow some alien adventure stories!" Brigo declares. He peers at a napkin. "With weird kinds of magic where how the magic works changes things?"

Books appear.

The girl who asked for the textbook will head back to the table to look for information on stabilizer in it.

"Sorry about Mina's suspicion. She's just trying to look out for me."

"If he has a problem with suspicion he shouldn't act so sus."

"Should we go back to the table? I don't think he'll appreciate our interrupting his reading to argue about this."

They head back towards the table.

The textbook talks about how even an IDIOT who FAILED OUT OF TEMPLE SCHOOL can do these simple magic tricks that make your life noticeably better! Or even save your life! For example, did you know that there are lots of DIFFERENT kinds of poison? Don't fight a neurotoxin the same way as a necrotic toxin!