What am I even doing starting another multi-chapter CoLu? I don't know. I don't know anymore.
Gonna be shortish chapters. About 1,000 words each.
To be honest, this was the best title I could come up with. If you guys think of a better one, feel free to tell me.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Juvia entered a dimly lit shop with trepidation. She remembered what had happened the last time she'd attempted something like this, after all. Although the water mage was not eager to repeat her previous experience with rather suspect liquids of unclear origins, she was somewhat desperate. Besides, now she knew better than to ask for a love potion.
Though the statement, scrawled above the doorframe – "We are not responsible for mishaps or maladies that occur from misuse of our potions" – was not exactly confidence inspiring.
"Can I help you, dearie?" a raspy voice emanated from the darkened nook to her left.
Startled by the unexpected question, Juvia jumped and squeaked. "Oh my goodness, you scared Juvia!"
A middle-aged woman peered strangely at the panicking mage in her shop. Clearing her throat, the blonde woman tried again, in a much more normal tone of voice. "I was here the whole time?" she offered.
"That only makes it even scarier!"
The shopkeeper blinked slowly, and then shook her head, giving up trying to understand. "Alright then…" A couple of strides took her to the desk in the cramped shop. Once she was seated, she looked back up at Juvia. "Let me know if you need any help finding something in particular." With that, she opened up a drawer and took out a pair of tiny reading spectacles. Placing them delicately upon her nose, she brought out a thick tome as well and began to read it.
When it became clear that the shopkeeper was done with Juvia's general existence for the time being, the mage sniffed and began to look around. All around her were shelves, stocked with vials of all shapes, sizes, and colours. Each one was labeled neatly, in precise if somewhat blocky script. It was, however, somewhat difficult to read what they said despite that, due to the poor lighting in the shop.
In fact, that was the only issue Juvia could see with the shop in its entirety. The shelves weren't over packed, everything was labeled, and there wasn't a speck of dust to be seen anywhere within the startlingly immaculate place. It was just simply… dark.
"Um… It's… it's a little hard for Juvia to read the labels. Is it possible to make it a little brighter in here?" Juvia asked tentatively.
"Our main clientele consists of mostly the undead," the shopkeeper replied. She turned a page in her book. "They rather dislike the light, so we keep it low. Also, the main lightbulb needs to be replaced."
Juvia stared at the woman a long moment, uncertain as to whether or not she was joking. "Then… why not change it?"
"We're out. Also, in case you haven't noticed, it's two in the morning. So I can't buy a new one."
She had a point there. Juvia had specifically chosen this shop precisely because it was open despite the late – or early? – hour.
The shopkeeper restrained a heavy sigh as the water mage returned to perusing the shelves. These late nights with no sales was really beginning to wear on her. She hoped that the mage would hurry up and buy something soon. The only other customer that night had been a rather confused young man that hadn't seemed completely all there. Literally. He had sort of been fading in and out. And he didn't respond when she tried to talk to him. Eventually, he'd just wandered off.
Maybe she should take a vacation. Yeah… somewhere tropical, perhaps. Yes. That would be nice. Actually, why wait? As soon as she closed up the shop, she should get packing and hop aboard the first train out of Magnolia bound for someplace warm. Sleep could always be done on the train, after all.
Sensing the shopkeeper's stare on her back, Juvia kept her gaze intensely focused on the mysterious, small bottles in front of her. "For Skin" read the shelf label. Juvia immediately cheered up. This seemed like the right section! What she needed must surely be here!
Cerulean eyes squinted, Juvia inspected each of the vials. Near the end of her search, her gaze caught on one in particular. It was thinner than the rest, and tall enough to scrape the underside of the shelf above. Juvia couldn't tell if it was because of the liquid contents, or due to the hue within the glass itself, but it was a dark amethyst in colour.
"Scales," read Juvia aloud, hoping that the sound of the word would bring forth clarification.
"For scaly skin," supplied the shop mistress.
Joy spread throughout Juvia just like it had the day Fairy Tail had accepted her into its ranks. This was perfect! Juvia had found it so embarrassing when she awoken a couple of days earlier and discovered that her skin was rather dry in places. Really, it was just humiliating for a mage whose elemental specially was water to have a moisture problem! There had been no way she could go to Wendy about the problem, it was just too shameful. Forget telling Gajeel, either – the dragon slayer would have laughed until he nearly suffocated at the idea of Juvia having dry skin. Hmph. As if Gajeel knew anything about proper skin care. Or hair care for that matter. Was the dragon slayer unaware of the existence of items such as shampoo and conditioner? Juvia would like to put a hairbrush in the man's hand to see if he knew what to do with it, honestly. Or would a wire brush be more appropriate?
Juvia shook her head furiously. Now was not the time for daydreaming! The sooner this dry skin problem was taken care of, the better. Calling it scaly would be a bit of an over exaggeration, but semantics hardly mattered at this stage.
Removing her chosen bottle from its place, Juvia happily placed it on the desk in front of the shopkeeper. "Juvia will take this one, thank you! How much does it cost?"
"For the Scales potion? Fifty-thousand Jewel."
Wincing at the price, Juvia nonetheless accepted it. "Juvia will still take it," she crisply informed the shopkeeper. Her need was too urgent to worry or quibble over the price.
Relieved that Juvia was purchasing something after all, the woman pulled out a giant ledger. Dipping a steel-tipped, large owl-feather quill into a waiting inkpot, she began to scrawl out the sale. Bit of an odd choice for this customer, she thought, but then it was hardly her concern what her patrons intended to do with her products. She was just the potioneer. There was a disclaimer above the door and everything. "Now when you use this, shake it vigorously – preferably with the cork still in. Then apply it directly against the skin. Let it soak in, and you should see results within about five minutes or so."
"That fast?!" Juvia gasped. "Then Juvia will have to try it first thing when she wakes up!" Best to do it early in the day, she reasoned, rather than have all the benefits wasted while she slept. "How often does Juvia need to reapply it?"
"Just the once should do the trick."
Restraining a squeal of excitement, Juvia gladly handed over her money to the older woman.
Still regarding Juvia as if she were some strange creature she didn't entirely understand how to handle, the shopkeeper handed over Juvia's new potion in a small, brown paper bag.
Juvia, with little further ado, exited the shop, softly humming under her breath.
The shopkeeper shrugged. Well. Now that that was handled… Time to get ready for that vacation, then!
Moral of the story? Semantics matter. They very much matter.