"Everything in here works?" Bobby asks me, clearly skeptical.

"That's what I just said isn't it." I tell him, calmly.

"Hmm." he says in reply, although it was more of a sound than a reply.

"Is there anything in particular that you are interested in?" I ask him, hoping to at least be able to point him in the right direction. Surprisingly I am a bit uncomfortable around people who have murdered me recently. Recently because I don't have any idea how I am going to feel about people after it has been a while since they murdered me.

"I already told you that there is a lot of things to look at around here." he says, sounding a bit exasperated. I suppose I had already asked him.

I suppose I asked him if there was anything I could help him with a second time because I already have an idea of what he wants. A love potion. Something I really don't like the idea of, not at all. I sigh inwardly, not letting the sigh actually pass through my lips. I don't need any reason to set him off.

"I apologize." I tell him simply in response.

"That's okay. There are just so many things here that I have never seen before, or even heard of!"

"What can I say, I am the creative sort." I say.

Apparently in this life as well as in the last life. Don't let anyone tell you that people who make videos and let's plays for a living aren't creative. We have to be, with a dramatic flair added in. I wonder if Aria likes to have a flair for the dramatic. Don't most villainesses?

"Anything that you are curious about? Not what are you interested in buying necessarily. You said that you haven't seen many of these things before, let alone heard of them. Which makes me curious if there is anything in here that you would like to learn more about?"

Please don't walk over to the dolls, please do not ask me what they are for. I don't want to make something up to be wrong later. As I think this a thought pops in my head. There IS a journal in which she wrote down all of her recipes and what everything does, and she keeps it under the counter. I reach beneath the counter and pull it up, setting it in front of me.

"What is that?" he asks.

"My cheat sheet. I make ever so many things that I happen to forget what everything is and what it does." I tell him and shrug.

"Okay then..." he says, voice trailing off as he walks over to the dolls.

He picks up a stuffed bunny and asks me, "What is this one for? What's it do?" he gives it a small squeeze and shakes it very gently while putting it close to his ear.

"I'll tell you. But first, please tell me what it is that you are doing?" I ask him, immensely curious.

"I was testing to see if I could hear any unhappy souls that you may have shoved into this. It's cute but everything in here is a bit unnerving."

I flip open the book and look through it, looking for a description or a drawing of it. Aria has a lot of drawings in here, maybe to help her locate what she is looking for more easily. Or she likes to draw. I like to draw, so that's good. Although, I don't think that I will really be coming up with more ideas. Oh, but maybe I will since I have Aria's knowledge, as soon as I can tap into all of it.

"That rabbit has two uses. The first is to help you grow closer to your pets, and the second is to help you become less timid. You just whisper your worries into its ear."

Bobby looks at me incredulous, as if waiting for me to tell him that I am joking. I'm not. I guess my face informs him of this fact without me needing to utter any words.

"Okay then." he says as he sets it back on the display table. "This one?" he asks, picking up a creepy looking wool doll with crossed out eyes.

"Easy." I say and flip to the image. "That's a curse doll. You take an image of the person that you wish to curse, place it upon the doll's chest, and hammer a nail into it while whispering the person's name five times. Then you say louder the curse you wish placed upon them." I say, casually.

Bobby quickly puts the curse doll down and stares at me. "There is something seriously wrong with you." he tells me.

"I am missing enough love in my life." I tell him.

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Bobby glances at the rest of the dolls and stuffed animals on the table and takes a step away from them. "Clearly" he mutters. I am once again glad that Bobby isn't the hidden route. Unhappiness dodged there.

"Is there anything in your shop that is, I don't know, normal?" he asks.

"I don't know what you mean by normal. Don't you know what my shop is?" I ask him. "I have charms, potions, cute things and plants. And cursed things too. Those are normal for a shop such as this."

After I mention potions, Bobby makes his way over to them. As he picks them up, I look at them alongside of him. Luckily it seems that Bobby is the type that likes to read things out loud.

"Luck potion, sleeping drought, speed potion, mana rejuvenation, potion for increased fire magic, potion for increased water magic..." he glances at the rest to boost specific magic.

"Nullification of magic?" Bobby asks, confused.

"You drink it and for a few hours magic doesn't work on you. There are more fun things there too, such as potions to color your hair, color your eyes, change the way that you smell and such."

"Why would I need to change the way that I smell?" he asks me.

"Some people have strong body odor and halitosis." I tell him calmly. "I also make love potions." I tell him, almost flippantly. Is he going to take the bait?

"For that, do I need any of her hair, or spit or blood?" he asks.

What nonsense. Does he need any of her bodily fluid. Does he need any of her bodily fluid? I flip through the book.

"No. You don't need anything of hers. You will need things of yours." I tell him, placing emphasis on yours. "And what you give me can make the potion stronger. If you want to that is. I have average love potions, where the receiver develops stronger feelings for the person that gives it to her. Or... Or you can add a personal touch and make one just for her."

I personally hope that he chooses the first one. It fades much quicker. If the giver and receiver don't create memories and grow the fond feelings, they fade. Poof, all gone.

"It makes it stronger if I work with you to help create the potion?" he asks. I see the slightest bit of hesitation in his eyes before it gets quickly snuffed out.

"It amplifies all of the feelings that she has for you, but mostly latches on to the feelings of affection and love and makes them grow and bloom. However, if she has no feelings for you at all, it will grab on to whatever her strongest feelings for you are. Will you take the risk?" I ask him, partly hoping this all blows up in his face.

"If it grows the feelings that she already has for me, it can't be that bad then, can it?" he asks. "What do I need to do?"

I look through the contents of the potion in the journal and all of the additives that can make it stronger, as well as its base components.

"This is not going to be a fast process. We can finish it today, but it might take all day. Either that or a few hours. The potion itself decides how long it takes." I clap my hands.

"Now then, there are things that you must go get and pick out with your own hands. You must get your favorite flower, a piece of your favorite food that you chew the number of times as the number of letters in her first and last name. Bonus points if you add the numbers for her middle name as well, but that isn't needed. You need a splash of your favorite drink, something that reminds you of her, extra potent if it is something from the first place you met, something that represents an activity the two of you do together, some of your nails, hair, blood and sweat or tears. You don't have to give me everything from your body, but it is more powerful if you do. Also, you need to go and buy the needle used to prick your skin and the clippers for your nails." I tell him.

"What will you be doing while I get all of this stuff?" he asks me.

"I will be gathering the base ingredients, as well as some vanilla for smell and some cinnamon and cloves for taste. Or peppermint?"

"She likes the combined flavors of oranges, cinnamon and chocolate." he tells me. "If that matters."

"It does." I tell him.

"I'll be going then." he says and heads out of my shop.

"Hey Bobby, knock 3 times, pause, 4 times, pause, then 3 again so I know that it is you at the door without needing to check. I will be busy and only want to be interrupted to let you back in."

"Okay." he says and leaves.

Now then, what do I need to do? I take the journal and head into the backroom.

I am amazed upon entering the backroom. It had vials, pills, powders, flowers, books, cloth, needles with thread, mortar and pestles. There are plants growing and dried plants and herbs hanging from the wall. There are oils and candies as well. Oh, and are these baking ingredients? There is a tiny oven and pots and caldrons of different sizes. If there was any doubt in my mind that this is a world of magic, that doubt has been crushed.

I see a small closet which I open. A burst of sweet fragrances hit my nose and I see bundles of dried flowers, which are labeled luckily. I read through the types and it seems some might be unique to this world. Either that or I really just don't know much about flowers. Which is entirely possible. I have a green thumb but there wasn't much room in my apartment to grow too many types of flowers. Also, there was no one in my life who would give me flowers. It seems that it is the same for Aria.

"Alright!" I say out loud and Blizzie comes over to me. "Oh, are you going to be my little helper?" I ask him, and rub beneath his soft chin with my knuckle. He purrs loudly, filling the space with his love and sweetness.

"Let's see, first I need to get water mixed with oil of sweet dreams." I look around and see gallons of purified water. Nice. I glance at the journal to see if there was a precise amount of anything. There was for a few ingredients, but not for most. I pour some water into a cauldron and set it down. I then look around at all of the vials for the vile of sweet dreams. I find it easily, as though I am using muscle memory. Okay it says put in four drops. I pull out the stopper and drop in four drops.

With each drop the water in the cauldron shimmers a different color. It is red, then green, next it is blue and then it settles with a beautiful violet color. Seems good so far. Okay now I need some potion base x. Do I even want to know what this stuff is? It looks like I need fifteen drops. Okay. I count them out slowly and methodically to make sure that I mess nothing up. My life is on the line after all. I watch as the water and oil of sweet dreams glitters and shimmers with each drop. This is actually kind of fun!

Next it looks like I need to crush up flower petals. I decide to pluck them all at once instead of going back and forth. I bring a large mortar and pestle with me. Okay.

"Alright Blizzie. Looks like we need three red tulip petals, three pink rose petals." I say as I pluck them and set them into the mortar and pestle. "Five hyacinth petals, six peony petals, four lilac petals and seven sweet pea petals. Why so many petals, and why the different numbers?" I ask out loud.

After I gather those, I sit on a stool and check the notebook. Okay looks like I need to crush these up into a mostly fine powder. What does mostly fine mean?" I ask as I begin to crush them up.

The air begins to have a sweeter and more floral smell to it. It lifts my spirits, and I am able to forget what I am doing. Is this how Aria felt when she was making these? How did she even know how to create all of these different recipes. Maybe she is brilliant, and no one gave her any credit or recognition. What a lonely life.

I hum to myself as I continue to crush up the dried flower petals. I don't know what song I am humming; I am just humming. Is it even a song I know or a song that Aria knew? Does it matter anymore? I feel like my thoughts and hers are blending together, like the ingredients of this potion. I suppose that will make living her life easier. Once the dried petals are ground into a mostly fine powder, I reference the journal.

"Set the potion base over a small fire and as it warms add pinches of the ground up flowers slowly over time. The last bit should be added once the base is boiling. Easy enough." I say. I look around and see the area meant to start the fire and hang the cauldron over it. The ground and been dug out and there are runes carved in and around it. Looks like all of these are meant to meant to make starting a fire safe so that my store doesn't go up in flames.

I gather up some of the fragrant dried logs and add them to the area. Next, I see flint and tinder. It takes me a couple tries to get the fire started but once I do I hang the cauldron over it.

"I am starting to feel like quite the little witch." I tell Blizzie and laugh softly to myself.