Norbert came to consciousness as he looked around, feeling drool coming down his neck. Wiping it with the back of his hand, Norbert looked towards the two, both staring at him as he returned to consciousness.
Norbert looked down at himself, making sure he hadn't soiled his pants, the feeling sticky between his legs. He hoped he hadn't completely ruined the Chesterton chair he was currently sitting in.
On his lap sat the empty elixir he drank out of. Norbert still saw a drop of pink liquid inside and moved it to his lips. Norbert swallowed the last of it as he looked at Elizabeth and Vivienne with a shocked look.
"Are you going for more?" Vivienne asked him. Elizabeth looked on in shock, quickly composing herself, thinking back to the last time he had downed the elixirs.
"Well, of course. I'm not dead yet." Norbert said to them as he started reaching for the next elixir.
"Do you realise how close you were?" Vivienne asked him.
Norbert placed two fingers on the arm of the chair, walking down it. Norbert had one finger off the edge and tipped. Holding it there, Norbert looked over to Vivienne, taking his hand off the chair and reaching for the next bottle in the case, only two more remaining after the one he held in his hand.
The elixir looked like another normal one, and he was thankful for it, needing to recover from the last one he had. Looking at the brown one before him and nodded his head as he swirled the contents in the glass flask. Confirming that nothing special was within Norbert, unstopping the elixir.
Holding it under his nose, the smell of coffee wafted out of the drink. Smiling as the smell invaded him, he forced himself to relax slightly, taking the edge off his mind and the troubles that he had forced himself to experience.
Holding it to his lips, Norbert let the liquid flow slowly down into his stomach. The taste of a warm, hot chocolate with two marshmallows melted within it flowed into his mouth, sending warmth all over his body. The hairs on his arms and legs slowly came back down, no longer on edge.
After finishing it, Norbert sighed contentedly, placing the glass back in the case and putting the stopper on it again. Looking at the other two, Norbert paused momentarily, having not seen any of them.
One seemed to have a light coming off of it, brightening up the red velvet lining within the case used to support the elixirs. Turning his eyes over to the other side, Norbert saw one in complete blackness, seemingly absorbing the light the other was producing. His eyes were glued to the two on either side, and he remembered his positions: the four making a circle, with the red and pink one in the centre.
The two were light and dark on completely different sides. Taking both of them out at once, Norbert placed them both on the coffee table, allowing all to see what they were.
Gulping, Norbert asked, "Have you ever seen ones like this?" He felt concern grow within himself as his eyes could not stay on a single one, bouncing from one to the next like a bouncy ball off all the walls of a room in a sporadic manner.
Elizabeth and Vivienne looked at each other for a moment before shrugging their shoulders. "I never really had a look at elixirs; I just had one, and that's enough for me," Elizabeth said to Norbert.
Vivienne nodded in agreement. "Only fools go for more than one." Agreeing with Elizabeth's sentiment.
Norbert left the two of them there as he thought, "Then why are there still shops with them around? Why does anyone still overdose?" Norbert asked the two of them.
Elizabeth slightly shakes her head at Norbert's reply, knowing where his lack of knowledge comes from. She internally curses the question in front of the witch sitting beside Norbert.
Vivienne opened her mouth. "The allure of power, hitting an obstacle that can be overcome, and reading too many stories about legends bathing in the liquid," Vivienne said to them.
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"Well, that's all and good, but looking at the pricing, and if people only have one at a time, then why is there at least a store in every major congregation?" Norbert asked aloud, thinking back to every city he had been in.
"Elixirs aren't just for humans; any and every creature can use them," Vivienne said to him, taking a sip of tea before continuing. "Much research has gone into how far an elixir can be pushed and on what," she said to Norbert.
"Well, with that little nugget of information, I'm guessing that the rich and powerful dose everything up to the max on elixirs, probably even the food they eat." He said, the last bit of his mind wandering, thinking of the rich and the elite on Earth and the culinary decisions they would make to fill their free time.
"Precisely, it's a way of ingesting elixirs without the negative consequences, though you need a lot more to see any increase," Vivienne said, licking her lips. "Adds an extra layer to the dishes." Lost in thought, Norbert assumed the last time she feasted on the elixir. Norbert understood the allure due to the flavours of just having it by itself gave him.
"So, neither of you know about these?" Norbert asked, spinning each bottle around, the golden one making a circle of light on the table. Norbert confirmed that the bottle had no tags, possibly hinting at what the contents might do.
"Do you have any idea what this could be?" Norbert asked, looking up at the ceiling. Vivienne opened her mouth. "We've already …" She finished as she saw where he was looking fondly.
Vivienne turned to Elizabeth. "You let someone who prays to Luck play at your casino?" she asked the establishment owner in which they currently reside.
Elizabeth was just shaking her head. "Everyone around him gets into a frenzy every time he's played. Just the extra drinks they buy to watch the show that Norbert pays for the several golds he takes from here," Elizabeth said as she fondly thought of the money filling her coffers.
"The people don't have enough on the first floor to offset that," Vivienne stated boldly, knowing the wealth of those on the tables. Although they had a lot, they could barely afford a single gold coin a night.
"Who said it was on the first floor and only of this establishment," Elizabeth said.
Norbert stirred from his thoughts, wondering what Luck would want him to do. Luck was steering him on the correct path as the words' this establishment' filtered through his head.
"Wait, hold up," Norbert said, holding his hand up before him, causing the conversation between the two women to come to a screeching halt immediately. "You recording me and making money off it?" Norbert asked her.
"Why else would you be allowed back here in any of my establishments if I knew you were racking me dry due to your relationship with Luck"? Elizabeth said matter-of-factly to Norbert.
"So you're not the one giving me these elixirs?" He asked her.
"No way, the fortune this would cost, ever-increasing, isn't something I would ever endeavour," Elizabeth said, a matter of fact, that Norbert had seen underneath her eyes the cost of doing something and how much that would set her behind in making money.
"I thought you were giving it to me in some roundabout way", Norbert told her, thinking about all the elixirs he had consumed from her. Worry grew within him as he thought about all the elixirs he had drank from this mystery person.
Swallowing it down, he nodded to Elizabeth. "Well, tell whoever this person is, thank you," Norbert said as he continued to look around, changing his vision to magic as he tried to spot where the recording spells were placed, wondering if this very thing was being at this very instant.
"You're not going to find anything; only the first floor is recorded and published to the other establishments when an interesting person arrives," Elizabeth said to him, instantly crushing Norbert's worries.
Breathing out in relief, thankful that he wouldn't need to worry about it now, Norbert took both elixirs in hand, sizing them up. Still unable to decide, Luck is not blessing them with her presence now, Norbert.
Reaching into his coin pouch, taking out the coin h, he said aloud, "Heads for the black, tails for the golden." Flicking it up into the air, Norbert watched as it spun around; taking it out of the air once more, Norbert saw a trail of golden light falling off it; remembering his vision, Norbert changed git back to normal as he palmed it over to his other hand.
The tail side shows that Norbert placed the coin back in his pouch. He took the elixir, uncorking it and lifting it to his nose. Norbert was surprised by the smell of sunshine. A whole bag of coins clicking next to each other while being counted, a waterfall of possibilities opening up and closing right behind the next sip.
Lifting it to his lips, Norbert allowed it to flow down his throat. It was the taste of sunflowers over the rolling hills of his hometown, of loud late nights spent with friends after a hard day's work, and of the lemon meringue his mother used to make after a stern test in school.
Sitting the elixir back in the case, Norbert did not feel anything different than before. Lying back down and letting the bliss come over him, Norbert punished the energy in his body, wondering what the difference would be.
Staring at the ceiling, Norbert thought he saw Luck looking down at him, smiling at him from her chair in her room. Lifting her teacup in a toast to Norbert, she downed the contents.
"Another," she said to him as Norbert was brought out of it, staring down the last elixir sitting alone on the table.