After reaching town they first drop off the cart and head to the trade market. Rows of stalls adorned the streets, showcasing an array of fresh produce and local goods. Beyond the immediate street scene, nestled within charming storefronts, lay unexplored territory that had escaped Maya's attention since her first day in town. Emma's excitement was palpable "This way!" as she tugged Maya towards the first store. As they entered a world of fabrics, bolts of richly hued cloth adorned the walls, creating a vibrant backdrop against which the seamstress diligently worked on her sewing project behind the counter. Only a handful of customers browsed the store, focused on exploring their options. Emma and Maya began to browse as well.

Emma and Maya begin rummaging through clothes in the store before deftly picking up some dresses that caught their eyes. Maya's fingers trailed over a deep sapphire dress; its silk as smooth as water reflecting a clear summer sky. It seemed to have a subtle shimmer. Beside her, Emma's attention was drawn to a dress of emerald green, adorned with delicate floral patterns that seemed to come alive as she moved. With their arms full of possibilities, they exchanged glances and made their way towards the back of the store, where a few fitting rooms awaited. The rooms were cozy, each adorned with a full-length mirror and a small bench. As Maya peeled off her dress and removed Enit from her head, she felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness envelop her. She slipped into the sapphire dress, its flowing contours embracing her like a gentle breeze on a summer's day. Meanwhile, Emma stood before her own mirror, admiring her reflection in the emerald dress. The fabric draped gracefully around her, and she twirled experimentally, watching the dress spin and sway in response to her movements. Both girls emerged from their respective fitting rooms, showing off the dresses they chose before going back into the fitting room and trying on different dresses they had picked out. This continued until they had gone through all the dresses they had picked out.

Stepping out of the changing room for what should have been the final time emerging back in her sun dress, some other clothes happen to catch Mayas eyes. Maya grabs the clothes and heads back into the changing room. Emma, stationed outside the fitting area back in her original attire, couldn't help but wonder what prompted Maya's sudden return to the changing room. Her curiosity manifested in a concerned inquiry “Everything alright in there Maya?”

“Yes, I just found something else to try on. I’ll be out in a moment.”

Emerging once more, Maya wore a white button-up shirt with a straight collar that accentuated her confident posture. A splash of vibrant blue was tied in a western-style ribbon bow around the collar, adding a touch of flair to the ensemble. The sleeves were casually rolled up to a midpoint, revealing a hint of her wrists and imbuing the look with a relaxed charm. The black pants lent a contrast that was both polished and subtly casual. “A little boyish but it’s very cute Maya.”

“You really think so?” Maya says while thinking “I was hoping for something that was unisex in case I ever want to be myself and I would have clothes to wear outside what the one set of clothes I have. I don’t think I would look all that great in dress as a guy at least.”

“Definitely!”

Looking at the price and seeing that all it combined was cheaper than most of the dresses she was trying on just a moment ago, “Well in that case I think I’ll buy it.” Before heading back into the dressing room for the last time to put her clothes back on and emerging with the clothes she planned to buy in her hand.

Maya and Emma walk up to the counter where the seamstress was working and purchased their clothes. Headed back out into the market, “Want to grab some food, Maya?” Emma asks.

“Let’s, I am starting to get pretty hungry.”

Walking through the market they stop at a stall and grab some food to munch on as they continue exploring the other stores. They purchase some fabrics from another store to hang as curtains in Maya’s home. As the day continued and the sun began to draw near setting, they headed back to Emma’s home to grab a small cauldron and chalk to bring back to Maya’s home.

“Well, I am going to head home and start getting everything set up for tonight. Just worry about getting Lizzy ready to come over tonight and I will see after the sun sets, ok?”

“Are you sure that there isn’t anything else I can help with?”

“Yes, I am sure. I have everything I need now so I just need some time to prepare.”

“Ok, then I will see you soon and I will have Lizzy with me.”

Maya begins to head home from Emma’s house. Light still in the sky on her walk home. “Hey Enit, I have everything we are going to need tonight. I’m guessing we should start with the chalk while we still have light out.”

~ Correct, we will start with the chalk and once that is ready, we will get the potion started. We should have plenty of time for everything to mix thoroughly ~

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“Great.”

Maya quickly returns home with everything, and places everything inside excluding the chalk and spell book before returning outside. Maya pulls out her spell book and focuses on the chalk, both of which are now hovering in front of her. Drawing from the instructions laid out in the spell book, she first has the chalk create a large circle in front of her home. Next, she looks very closely at each symbol in the book meticulously re-creating each, one by one, going around the circle. Once all the symbols had been written out in chalk, she creates a smaller circle in the middle and then draws a line from each symbol to the inner circle.

“How does that look Enit?”

~ Looks perfect. Good job following the instructions. ~

“Seems like we finished that just in time before the light was almost out. Time to put the candles in place and then we will work on the potions for Lizzy.”

Maya then grabs eight candles and places them around the larger circle with even spacing in-between each of them before heading back inside her home. “It’s going to be easier with some light inside to see what I’m doing.”

Maya pulls her wand out and begins to focus on having the room lit up to see everything clearly just like mid-day. “In the dead of night let the stars be my guiding light,” as soon as she finished the incantation the ceiling begins to have light radiate from it. Looking closely, each of the small lights scattered throughout the living room looked like little stars. However, the room was brightly lit as if she had actual ceiling lights. “Perfect, now to start putting everything together for the potions.”

Grabbing all the ingredients that she had stored throughout the month whether she had found it locally or happened to have some from what her mother gave her before leaving, she places them next to the cauldron. First, she started off by using magic to create water and fill the cauldron about halfway. Next, she pulls out her mortar and pestle, beginning with the dry Thyme “For new beginnings” she begins to crush it into a fine powder. Followed up with Sea-Buckthorns berries and Hawthorn berries “For breaking the curse and healing” she begins to crush the orange and red berries with the Thyme, now creating somewhat of a paste. Finally, she adds Moonwort and Aloe Vera “For extra strength from the moon and protection” and crushed the leaves into the paste. Once it was all mixed together Maya scrapes out the paste into the water in the cauldron. After letting it set for a while, she fills up the rest of the cauldron with water before taking it outside. Maya then grabs some wood to build a campfire for the cauldron. Using magic, she lights the wood and then focuses on the cauldron floating right over the fire. With the cauldron now over the fire, Maya waits for the water to begin to boil.

~ Alright now that the potion is starting to cook, next we will use your wand to stir the potion as soon as it begins to boil ~

“Alright”

Once the potion started to boil, Maya grabbed her wand and began to stir.

~ Great, once everything is thoroughly mixed up pull your wand out and recite, “From essence drawn, bring these ingredients fullest properties to light” ~

As the potion continues to boil and Maya stirs the mixture, the ingredients meld into a thick stew-like concoction. With her wand in hand, Maya begins the incantation, "From essence drawn, bring forth these ingredients' full properties to light." Abruptly, the cauldron flares, and a puff of smoke wafts from the potion. In an instant, the liquid transforms from a murky gray green to a serene ocean blue. The potion's bubbling ceases, leaving the contents still. It's at this very moment that Maya realizes the fire beneath the cauldron has extinguished in tandem with the bright flash.

“Did I do everything correctly?”

~ Yes, everything looks correct. We just need to wait until Lizzy and Emma show up and then we can begin ~

"Well in that case, I'll prepare the potion in a vial and unwind until they get here," Maya decides. She gently removes Enit from her head and retrieves a vial from her belongings. Using a ladle, she carefully fills the vial with the potion and seals it with a cork. Not wanting to waste the remaining potion in the cauldron, Maya takes out three more vials and repeats the process, storing them inside Enit for safekeeping. Finally, she settles down in front of the door, anticipating Emma's arrival and ready to welcome her.

~ Remember, once they get here and we begin the ritual to free Lizzy from the curse the potion and spell work in conjunction with each other. The low-grade curse placed on Lizzy is a perpetual curse from what I can tell, basically it’s a miniature time loop. When we combine the potion with the spell, we break the loop causing the curse to fall apart and end ~

“Yes, I remember. The problem is figuring out what caused the curse to begin with. If we assume it was a person, then was it someone who passed by town or someone from town? If it wasn’t and it was an object of some sort, then are we at risk of this item being re-discovered causing the same fate for someone else?”

~ I've given this a good amount of thought. The only information I've managed to piece together is that because the curse seems to be intertwined with a sickness, it must have been introduced through ingestion. So, if it was present in a plant or some other source, that remains a concern. It's perplexing that no one else has encountered this issue, which adds an element of suspicion. If this was intentionally caused, it's curious why only one person was affected when, over the span of a year, others could easily have fallen sick too. What seems more plausible is that it might have been an unintentional act by someone passing through town, possibly unaware of the cursed item in their possession. It seems like a one-off incident that won't likely repeat itself after this much time has passed ~

“I see, in that case it’s probably best to be more aware in the future but nothing we can do about something that is nearly untraceable with the amount of time that has passed.”

~ Correct ~

After some time passed a small light could be seen in the distance swaying back and forth. As the small light slowly approaches Maya can start to make out a figure carrying a lamp. It’s Emma with Lizzy on her back being carried to Maya’s home. “We made it!” Emma says loudly as she approaches Maya.

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