Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon...*sigh*



The Magic Shop




He sighed restlessly, looking up at the clock as the seconds until school ended ticked away slowly. He glanced once more at the girl ahead of him, as he did everyday. His marks had been dropping drastically in math, but you could hardly blame him considering how distracting his latest conquest was.



His thoughts drifted to the Magic Shop and the potion he had just purchased last night. He had considered what he had done yesterday carefully, and, after awhile, he realised why he felt so terrible about it all. It felt as if he were cheating. But nothing was more important than holding up his reputation, so he quickly pushed that thought to the back of his mind.



Matt's thought's shifted once again to the spell. He wondered how it would work, and what he might be made to do. He took a minute to consider if he had seen a sign on the counter saying 'Refunds accepted', just in case. But it wasn't a bad purchase, after all, he got to spend nights trying to uncover the mystery that was Sora.



She had been invading his thoughts since he had left the Shop last night. Matt figured it was probably due to all the mystery surrounding her. He had always wanted to solve mysteries, like the famous 'Sherlock Homes', but had never come across any. Now was the perfect time to try out his skills, since no one seemed to know much about the crimson-eyed girl he had met last night.



The bell sounded, breaking into his daydreams. He quickly packed up his books and left the class. He didn't look back at Mimi as she met Joe and they walked to her locker, hand in hand. The same cheerleaders as yesterday asked him whether he was doing anything later on, he replied 'yes' and they left disappointedly. Deja-vu was a big part of life here at Odaiba. Nothing seemed to change. Thats why a little bit of mystery was exciting to him.



Matt silently counted down the seconds before Tai would tap him on the shoulder, attempting to surprise him. He was off by two. "What kept you Tai?" His friend looked at him questioningly before replying "Mr. Tustyui wanted to talk to me about the mark I got on my last geography quiz. Apparently, I seem to be failing his course."



They walked the rest of the way to Matt's locker in silence, each deep in their own thoughts. When they reached their destination, Matt shifted his books to his other arm and began to fiddle with his lock. Tai broke the silence. "Hey Matt, you haven't done anything 'drastic' to get Mimi yet, have you?" Matt looked his friend up and down. Tai seemed very tense, so he replied 'no'.



Tai let out the breath he had been keeping in it seemed since yesterday. "So, are you willing to consider giving up your little quest?" Matt answered 'no' to that as well before smiling to a group of girls walking past him down the hall. They giggled and slowed their pace a bit, but Matt ignored them. He didn't go any further than smiling- converstaions just weren't his forte.



He suddenly felt an hand grip him by the arm and pull him up abruptly. He glared at Tai before following his friend's hand down the hall, where he pointed out something that seemed to catch everyone's attention. Sora was making her way past all the stares, seemingly oblivious to them. She moved her eyes to the person she had been looking for to make sure he knew she was there.



Matt just stared dumbly at the girl nearing him, it was obvious her eyes had been seeking him out and she smirked as his mouth dropped and he stared at her wide-eyed. She was wearing an old black cloak and skirt that cut of just above her knees. She was wearing black high-heeled shoes and those criss-crossed kind of tights that all witches seem to wear in the movies. Her head was adorned with a black witch's hat and she seemed paler than yesterday, but that could just be caused by the dark purple eye shadow and lipstick.



'She's proving a point to me' thought Matt, unaware of the whispers that were making their way all around him. He was waiting for the moment when she would stop and say 'hi' to him, he also knew he wouldn't be able to handle that when so many people were watching them. It just wouldn't fit his status if he acknowledged her. But Sora seemed to understand his turmoil and walk by him, saying nothing. Once she'd turned the corner, the hall began once again to buzz with activity and Matt returned to what he had been doing.



"I always knew she was a witch..." stated Tai from somewhere above Matt's head. "What do you think that was about anyway, you know she just looked right at you?" Matt's cockiness, that had left him for the moment, returned full-force. "I guess even witches can't resist the Ishida charm, huh?" He punched Tai playfully in the shoulder before picking up his bag full of the books he would need that night.



"Don't play dumb man. She looked right at you, thats not an everyday occurance at Odaiba. She usually never meets anyone's eyes. You should watch your back, she may just put you under a spell if you're not carefull" Matt laughed softly before whispering, "You don't know what you're talking about Tai." He left the way Sora had and walked through the doors seconds before his usual swarm of fans came up to his locker.



Tai was left completely disgruntled. He had no clue what Matt was talking about, but he vowed to find out. Tai quickly headed towards his own locker as a thought struck him like lightning. He had to find Joe.



~*~*~*~45 minutes later~*~*~*~



Matt had stopped off at home to drop his bag in the doorway before making his way towards where he thought the Magic Shop may be. The funny thing was though, he didn't remember at all where the nameless street had been, but something seemed to pull him in the right direction and he made it there within ten minutes.



He looked through the antique door's glass window and a sharp feeling of dread suddenly filled him. What exactly were they going to have to do to make the spell work? He remembered a movie he had seen where the person performing the spell had had to cut off one of his own fingers as an ingredient for the potion. A sudden feeling of nausea filled him at the thought, but he opened the door nevertheless. It was still 5 minutes before closing time.



He noticed Sora look up as he entered the cluttered store, but she remained silent. He wondered if it was because of how he had acted only an hour before. He also noticed Sora had changed out of the witch's costume to a normal long-sleeved blood red shirt and dark blue jeans. The shirt was tight and showed of her perfectly curved figure. Matt realized with pleasure that his eyes were beggining to adjust to the heavy darkness in the store.



"Nice to see you again Matt" she said "I thought you would chiken out after I saw that look on your face when I walked down the hall" Sora smiled at the memory. Matt put on his most blank stare, hoping she wouldn't guess about the second thoughts he had had just a few moments before, at the door.



When he said nothing, Sora spoke again. "I guess you must be excited to begin the spell, so if you'll just follow me to the back, we'll get started" She made her way to the back of the store and began to pull open the curtain.



"B-but who's gonna watch the store while you're helping me?" Sora smiled lightly again. He was nervous. He didn't want to get stuck in something he'd be too scraed to finish. She knew she had guessed right. "Oh, I guess you haven't met Aiko. She'll look after things while I'm helping you." Sora pointed to a girl on Matt's left who seemed to appear from the shadows- he hadn't noticed her before.



Matt remembered Aiko from his History class. She had long raven-black hair and a pale, oval face. Her eyes were dark, like coals, and held a lot of emotion. Matt briefly wondered if all witches were beautiful before Sora grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the curtain and then out of sight of the door.



Matt found himself in a damp room that held about a hundred different sized candles, all lit, that were the only source of light. The room was small and he noticed many cobwebs in corners and attaching themselves to different pieces of furniture and boxes. He found, in the middle of the room, a star drawn on the ground with what seemed like chalk with candles on all five points.



Sora followed his gaze and shook her head, "We won't be using the Star. This spell isn't so advanced as to need the help of the Sisters" Matt cocked his head curiously and was about to ask what she meant by that when Sora, still holding his arm, pulled him over to one of the larger tables covered in dust on the other side of the room.
"We can work your spell here. Just give me a second to summon a protective charm before we begin. We don't want someone messing with it while we're half way through" Matt nodded silently. He suddenly felt very out of place as Sora talked about magic carelessly.



It was then that he noticed all of the other jars and papers and boxes on the other tables. He reached out towards the nearest one and felt a tiny electric shock, as if there was some sort of force field guarding it. He cradled his hand to his chest and moved back to where Sora was standing, tapping her foot impatiently. "Are you ready to begin now?"



"Are all those other things spells?" Matt motioned to the various tables around them. Sora nodded. "Are there any spells that need to use that Star thing?" Sora shook her head. "Trust me, if you've used that then you'll be far away from here by now" Matt just furrowed his brows curiously, but didn't tempt to ask why that was- he was too scared of what the answer may be.



Sora simply crossed her arms impatiently and asked, "Are you ready to begin now?" Matt shook some questions out of his head and answered 'yes'. "Good, then sit down right here and we can get this over with" Matt paid no attention to her haste and sat down slowly, avoiding squashing the spider that had been crawling across his seat only moments before. This place reminded him of the movie where the guy had cut off his own finger.



"Now, to make sure you understand and follow the rules, I'm going to give you a little threat. If you don't do exactly as I say, then we can and will hunt you down. I'm sure in time you'll come to realize what we're capable of" Sora's eyes changed and they flashed brilliantly- fire buring in their depths. Matt caught his breath and tried to listen to what Sora was saying but it was hard when she was staring at him so intensly.



"Now, here are the rules. Number one: You are not to tell anyone you know where we are, alright? No one is to know where they can find this shop" Matt wondered why they had put the add in the Yellow pages if they didn't want to be found, but said nothing of it. Sora continued. "Number two: You may not come to this shop after hours, excepting when you are with me, of course. And rule number three: You are not to bring home any of the things we use for your little spell, understand." Matt nodded, mouth firmly shut in order to try and keep his questions to himself.



"Okay then, do you have any questions?" Sora's eyes lost their fire and her mouth quirked up into a lopsided grin. Matt wondered if reading minds came with the entire 'Witch' package.



"Actually now that you mention it..." he said, eyes narrowing in mock annoyance "...I do have a few things I'd like to ask. Why don't you want people coming to the shop? Isn't it bad business?"



"Not if you're dealing with what we are. We really don't need the money anyway"



"Okay, well why can't I come to the shop after hours? What if I forget something?"



"Trust me, you'd rather not chance it" Matt nodded at this, accepting the answer. From what he had so far, this 'Witchcraft' stuff could be very dangerous and not something he would want to mess with.



"Why can't I bring home some of the instructions for the spells, you know, so I can actually have an idea about what we're going to do?"



Sora gave him a cocky grin. "Unless you want to take me home, I suggest you forget that thought. We do not write down the instructions for spells and you will forget everything that has happened after it is over" Matt didn't feel that he wanted to forget the things that would happen, or Sora and her fiery eyes for that matter, but he let it slide for now.



"And last but not least..." he said "...who are 'We' exactly?" Matt noticed Sora's eyes cloud over as he said this.



"I'm going to forget you asked that" she answered finally "Besides, you'll find out soon enough"



"Yes, but I'll forget it just as soon" he said regretfully. A ghost of a smile traced itself on Sora's lips. "Don't get your hopes up" she countered. Matt shivered uncontrollably at the playfullness, yet seriousness, of her voice.



"So where do we start?" he said finally, after recollecting himself. Sora just lifted a box of the floor, spoke a word Matt didn't understand, and put the box on the table. "What did you just say?" he asked curiously. He didn't think Sora was the kind of person that couldn't be trusted- but you never did know for certain.



"I just disarmed the protective charm" she replied "You'll be able to touch the area around the table now without getting shocked. I'm sure that'll be a relief to you" Sora moved her eyes down to his hand, still being cradled to his chest, and back up to his eyes mischieviously. Matt quickly dropped his hand to his side after realizing what she was staring at and flushed slightly. 'Stop it Matt!' he scolded himself 'Since when have I been embarrassed in front of a girl before?' Sora didn't seem to notice his blush, or she didn't show it if she had.



"Well, now's a good a time as any to start. Today we're just going to gather the ingredients, since we've already wasted enough time on the rules..." Sora flicked her eyes towards an old clock on the wall. It was in roman numerals and the glass was so misted that Matt had a hard time finding the hour and minute hands, let alone noticing the second hand and an even tinier one that seemed to be zooming around the clock at break-neck speed.



"Whats that tiny little hand showing?" he asked curiously, still not taking his eyes of the clock. It was held up by a single rusted nail and he felt that if he removed his gaze, it would fall. "That little hand shows mili-seconds. Some spells- not ours -need perfect accuracy" He turned to Sora to find her staring longingly at the Star.



"Well....weren't we starting...." At his voice, Sora snapped back to the present. Matt looked amusingly at her as she mumbled a 'yes' before walking over to some stacks of boxes on the other side of the room. 'She's only human...I don't know what I was so nervous for...' he thought, before walking over to see if she needed his help.



Sora grabbed some boxes off the top of the pile. She had to stand on her tippy-toes to reach them, but they obviously weren't heavy because she carried five or six shoebox-sized boxes at the time. She set them all down on the table and beckoned Matt over. "Now here is what we need...."




~~~~The End of Chapter 2~~~~


A/N: How was that? I really need some ideas for the spell, so if you have any I'd love for you to share them with me. I'll give you full credit of course. Oh, and please remember to review! The more reviews I get the faster the chapters come out. Motivation is the key! Thanks- minda