Welcome to Gaia! ::

So I had a little fun with my indigo paint, and I'm thinking about doing something similar except with purple roses for the RST banner.

A mini-victory to share: For those of you who don't know, I moonlight as a fanfiction author under the name "Purely Superficial," and after posting a chapter for a Labyrinth fanfic, I got 539 hits from 178 visitors. I'm a little lightheaded, but I'm hoping it's a sign that I'll have a good readership if I ever become officially published!

Huzzah! biggrin

also, i must have like half of those problems. o.o

Twilight stumbled around in the night, physically exhausted but too restless to sit down for long--much less sleep. He hoped a walk would help, but so far, his sleep-deprived sense of direction only got him lost. Which was strange, since he'd lived in this area most of his life. He should know every shop and store in town--but here was a new one.

Well, 'new' really wasn't the word. The windows were coated with dust, the unvarnished wooden door was bleached and cracked with sun damage, just like the antique wooden store sign, jutting out on an ornate curl of wrought iron above the store. The store was old--but Twilight had never seen it before. Curiosity pulled him towards the store. Finally, he was able to make out the faint paint on the store sign: Apothecary.

He pushed through the door and a stone chime announced his arrival. The smell hit him before his eyes could adjust to the dim light; the store smelled of smoke, fresh tea, the yeasty dregs of wine, and cat. Not the typical litter-box stench, but the illusive scent of a confidant predator. Finally his eyes became accustomed to the light given off by old oil lamps, and he could take stock of his surroundings. The inside of the store was small and cramped with tall but sturdy shelves holding all sorts of unusual merchandise. Pieces of art, bones and horns, skins and lengths of ribbon, were piled in no decipherable order. Turning slowly to take in the entire store, his eyes fell on the antiquated mechanical cash register. And then the woman beside it.

"Hello," she said in a musical voice, deeper than he expected for a woman. She had wild tawny hair and warm cinnamon-colored skin. Her eyes were unusually round and glittered like spheres of amber. Then he saw her ears--catlike, and closer to the top of her head than normal human ears. She also had horns. Large, curly ram's horns. She was dressed simply but strangely in a bodice that seemed to be made of copper bars with ribbons of leather woven between them, holding her considerable bust tight against a very narrow ribcage. Something fluttered behind her in the shadows--and for a second, he thought he saw wings! "Can I help you?"

"Um...I don't know," he grumbled, rubbing his eyes. As much as he enjoyed fantasy, this was the real world. She was just wearing an elaborate costume for Halloween. "I...I've been having trouble sleeping. You got anything for that?"

She smiled in a very feline way. "Come closer," she invited.

Without realizing what he was doing, he stumbled up to the counter. She reached out as quick as a snake and grabbed his left hand. She traced the lines of his palm with her sharp nails even as her strange eyes never left his face.

"You care too much," she said bluntly. "Your heart is not bound, by love or by discipline, and you give it too freely to those who don't know its worth. Even after they reject you, you still leave a piece of yourself with them, and their pain and misery haunts you by tracing the strands of your affection. You do not seek to carry the world on your shoulders, but you do not set it down either. It is difficult to rest under such a burden, Atlas. And you are so angry about your burden, but wishing ill on others won't change them. Even if they were struck down for piling their problems on you like you were their personal pack-mule, you would still be left with the weight on your back. So much weight, you bear, so young too."

"Wha...how did you know all that?" Twilight asked, bewildered.

"I can help you a little, but the solution is only temporary," she warned. "And there is always a price."

"I don't have much money," he grumbled.

She waved a hand as if dismissing smoke. "If I wanted green linen paper, I would ask for green linen paper. Wait here." She turned and...walked behind a bead curtain to the back room. Her wings moved to avoid catching on the strands. As she went, Twilight noticed that her back tapered to...another pair of shoulders? And from there it went into a golden feline back. At the peak of the rump, something red glinted in the lamp light. He leaned over the counter to catch a better look. An unnaturally supple scorpion's tail waved back and forth in rhythm with her four-beat pace, making a soft click-click-click noise, distinctly different from the rattle of the bead curtain.

Twilight jerked himself back and squeezed his eyes shut. He had always hoped that something fantastic and unexplained and even mythical still existed in the world. Quickly, he put the pieces together. A lion's body, a scorpion's tail, bat-like wings and a woman's torso... well, if it had just been the woman's head, he would have said she was a... manticore.

She was back. In her arms were several strange bottles and jars, a shallow bowl slightly larger than his palm. She selected one vial, a slim green glass bottle smaller than all the others. She placed it in the middle of the counter and uncorked the top. She dug out a small ceramic funnel from under the counter and gently held it in the mouth of the vial. Uncorking another bottle with her teeth, she dribbled a few drops into the funnel. Twilight caught the scent of snowdrops--not faked flowery perfume snowdrops--the real tiny white flowers poking their head up through a March thaw.

"Distilled wonder. It will open your mind and curb cynicism," the manticore explained.

Then she opened another jar and added several generous pinches to the funnel.

"Ashes of Sighs, to keep the bad dreams away for a little while."

Next she added a large drop of black sludge from another bottle.

"Vapors of Closure. It will help you move on from some of the issues you refuse to let go."

Then, from another jar on a shelf behind her, she added a small handful of pink rock salt.

"The ions sooth and the minerals rejuvenate," she explained, tapping the side of the funnel on the edge of the vile to get the last of her strange remedy down. Then she corked it and placed it in the bowl. "The agate will help unify the ingredients and help your mind to accept their influence."

Twilight looked at the bowl for the first time. It was carved from wavy agate, brown and cream and pink and amber. It was a beautiful work of art.

"When you get home, place a tea-light--without a cup or other holder--in the bowl and add the contents of the vial around it. Burn it throughout the night, let the wax absorb everything as the candle burns, and it will provide some relief. The smoke will linger for a few days, and should help you rest," she explained, as careful as any pharmacist. She pulled a black velvet back from the counter and slipped her remedy into it. "Now...about the cost..."

Twilight involuntarily gulped, uncertain of what she would demand and afraid that he would pay it for any relief from his demons.

"Your soul," she said darkly. Before he could respond, she laughed, a surprisingly rough sound for so musical a voice, it was more like purring than laughter. "I'm only teasing," she said with a smile that showed unusually long canines--not vampiric but definitely carnivorous. Hesitantly, he joined her humor with a small chuckle. Then she looked deep into his eyes with her own glowing amber orbs. "I will trade you this remedy for the jade pendant on your necklace."

Twilight's hand went to the small ornament. It didn't have any sentimental meaning--he just liked jade. "Why this?"

"For starters, because keeping it so close to your heart only makes it that much easier to give away you affections indiscriminately," she chided. "As a shaman, you should know the properties of jade."

"How did you know I was a shaman?" he demanded.

"Secondly, a shard of that jade is exactly what I need to create Second Love, which I am unbearably low on at the moment," she continued as if he hadn't spoken. "Is it a deal?"

Momentary relief against a small charm. Twilight quickly took off his necklace and handed it to the manticore woman. "Fine, it's a deal."

She accepted the jade and offered him the velvet bag. He gently took it and turned to leave. Then he turned back.

"What is this supposed to do about my too-generous-heart-carrying-the-world-on-my-shoulders problem?" he wanted to know.

"Nothing," she said with a shrug. "I'm an apothecary not a miracle worker. You have to find the big answers by yourself. Hopefully, you'll use the reprieve my remedy gives you to find just that."

He nodded thoughtfully and turned away again.

"One more thing," she called. He turned back. She walked out from behind her counter, so he could see her the rest of her body from her narrow waist wrapped in a chain of silver to her large lioness paws. Fear and wonder froze his feet to the spot. "You need this," she held out her hand and something that looked like a small shard of glass glinted in her dark palm.

"What is it?" he asked automatically.

"Slivered silence. Eat it, and it will banish the internal voices of negativity," she explained.

"Is there are price for that too?" he half-joked.

"Silence," she replied. "If you haven't noticed, this isn't a normal apothecary. No one comes through my doors unless they need my remedies, and those who don't need them, or don't really want them, often get hurt looking for my door."

"I understand," he said. He took the tiny shard between his fingers and placed it on his tongue. It stung like a dentist's Novocaine needle and briefly numbed his entire mouth. Feeling came back quickly, however, and somehow it was a little quieter in his mind. Nodding his thanks and fair well, he walked out the door--

--and found himself only two blocks from home. How the hell--? But then she was a manticore. With softer thoughts preoccupied with something new, he clutched the velvet bag to his heart and walked home, hopefully to find peace and answers.

hmm i dislike pidgins, alot....>.> however that is horrible, for both the pidgin and the other birds. *sighs*
on another note, Scarlet, did you see my shark pic.s? from hawaii?

aye, even though in my distress I lost patience and eventually passed out (missing class, as I feared my sleep would do), I am very much relieved at the moment from reading it now. ^_^

I can see that it was alot more than I expected, which explains why it took so long. well worthe it, in my opinion. you realy tried to offer me some real-life insight, I noticed. I caught leastways some of it. thank you.

is alright, only one more week to go to Finals. if I don't miss any more I should be fine, I've still got an 82.something %, and unless I missed an important lesson I'm sure I'll end with an A.

heh. thanks. I still gotta figure out this ******** Financial Aid BS though, or it won't count for nothing.