Fantasy greatest secrets, hidden in secret places

[melancholyhanahaki]

Julia held her pendant close to her chest as she made her way through the crowds. The marketplace was especially crowded today, and she kept her hood up to avoid being called out by strangers to buy their products. It was either the festival today, or the kingdom got lucky with their visitors. The former was more likelier than the latter, however, when she considered it. A bell rung when she stepped foot into her shop and her home, sighing as she took off her hood, letting her tied-up white hair free. "He-ey!" she called out, placing down a bag filled of herbs and a satchel filled with things personal to the girl. She didn't see anybody at the desk and the door was unlocked. "I told you to look after the shop!" Possibly from the sound of her voice, her cat came downstairs to greet her, sitting on the countertop and licking her claws in front of Julia.

Julia pet the cat, scratching behind his ears. "Hello Eve, where is my friend?" she asked gently, her green eyes looking into the cat's yellow eyes. The cat purred and laid down on its back and so Julia began rubbing her stomach. She looked around the general area of the store, before locking the front door and heading upstairs. If her friend hadn't been playing a prank on Julia, she would have responded to her calls by now, unless if her friend happened to be so irresponsible she went out without locking the door.

The girl fiddled with her glowing pendant before heading back downstairs, going to grab the herbs - they weren't going to stir themselves, after all - and carried the bag over to a side room where she often made her concoctions. With more and more people coming by, she had to properly be on stock for anything. She peeked her head outside briefly to take note of anything they needed more of before she got to work, taking off her cloak and putting on gloves. She wrapped a neatly-knit scarf around her mouth and nose as she began filling up a decently-sized cauldron (about half her height, since she was a short person) with pure moon water that she left on the window sill at night.

 

[Joyeful]

Amaryllis stood in the doorway, smirk lining her lips.
"And what's my favorite witch up to today?"
The pale shadow-wielder looked her best, as usual, black hair in a short pixie cut along with signature bloodred lipstick, highlighting her much lighter silver eyes.

The short witch by the cauldron was something Amaryllis would never admit to finding hilarious, except in endless teasing.
She had heard Julia come in, she just hadn't wanted to be a normal person and greet her at the door.

 

[melancholyhanahaki]

Julia glared at Amaryllis after she poured two herbs into the cauldron. "What if somebody came in? We can't have someone taking any of our products by just anybody," she told her, digging into her pocket to find the equivalent to a tea bag. She puts the bag in after shaking it a bit. Eve came in, sitting on top of a table and watching the two keenly. Julia continued stirring the contents of the cauldron quietly, clearly devoted to her practice and her shop. She hummed. "The next time you use the invisibility cloak, don't try to use it to scare me, thanks," she commented. She stopped stirring briefly to let her hair down, which reached all the way to her waist.

 

[Joyeful]

The taller girl shrugged.
"Hey, I've been trying for at least two years, I won't stop now. And besides," she chuckled with a dark note to it, drawing a dark, writhing shape from the, well, shadow, "You know thieves don't stand a chance against all the lovely darkness in this shop."

 

[melancholyhanahaki]

Julia shook her head, continuing to stir. Eve was now circling around her feet, tiptoeing around Julia's boots. "Thieves are now learning how to read, and it won't be long until they learn magic, Amaryllis," she said. "You really, really should strengthen the magic seals and put firmer locks on them if you want me to stop whining about things getting stolen." Eve stood between Julia's legs and then sat down, using a hind leg to scratch behind her ear. Julia huffed, stirring the concoction carefully as she looked into the cauldron.

 

[Joyeful]

The girl sighed, letting the shadow go.
"I'll go do that now... but don't you agree that thieves shouldn't have to steal? I mean, it's not like I don't understand why they do it, at least, the majority of them."

 

[melancholyhanahaki]

Julia rubbed her nose, her face scrunching up as she noticed a stench coming from the concoction, and even Eve left her feet and sat elsewhere, where the smell wasn't as potent. "Thieves can steal, but they shouldn't steal things that could potentially harm others," Julia stated, "like our products." She paused stirring for a moment to tighten the scarf around her nose and mouth to suppress the smell. She continued stirring the pot with both hands before pausing for a moment and grabbing a vial afterwards. "Fix up those seals and make sure no customer is left unattended." She begins filling up the vial she had, before looking up at her. "Should be simple enough, hm?" She puts a cork on the vial.

 

[Joyeful]

Amaryllis shrugged, a melancholic look on her face.
"Yeah. Easy enough."
Walking back through the small shop, she was struck with memory after memory, as usual. It wasn't surprising to her that there were more than a few dangerous vials along the walls, but it was a surprise that she, for the first time, didn't really care for them as much as she might have, say, when the shop had begun.
Sighing, she got to work on the seals over the door, moving on back from there, giving more potent concoctions more attention.

 

[melancholyhanahaki]

Julia finished stirring the concoction and sealing it into tiny vials. She began to clean up the cauldron before she tended to the front. She began stocking the vials, making sure everything was neat. As people came in, Julia would tend to them. By the end of the day, Julia expected all of their stock to be gone. Eve stayed with Julia, whether it was at her feet or sitting right in front of her. Eve never left Julia's sight and Julia never left Eve's sight.

Julia sighed as all the people left the store later that evening as they began to close up. She sat down in her chair behind the counter and leaned back, closing her eyes. "Thank the Sol system everyone's gone, I'm tired of talking," she said softly. Eve climbed onto Julia and rested on her stomach, and Julia began to pet her absentmindedly.

 

[Joyeful]

Amaryllis finally finished with the rest of the seals, before closing the door behind the last customer, locking it for good measure before placing another temporary seal on it.
She walked back to the counter, clearly exhausted as she very nearly slumped over it.
"I always forget how much energy reinforcing that many seals takes," she sighed, "I did a couple we haven't touched in awhile. How was your day?"