Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon...*sigh*...Oh, and I also wanted to thank ~*Sora's twin*~ for her great ideas!



The Magic Shop




He stared at the jar as he felt his lunch begin to rise in his stomach. 'Why me, why me, why me...' was the only thought that remained running through his mind, except for that of utter disgust. Sora had just removed a can of pickled bats' eyes from one of the boxes. They smelt of a garbage dump and weren't much to look at either.



Sora only watched Matt, quite amused. Matt was 'The Man' at school and it was extremely funny to watch as he almost lost his lunch over something that wasn't much worse than the food served in their cafeteria.



"Are we really gonna need to use these?" asked Matt, almost horrified at the thought. She hadn't explained what they were going to need to do yet, but he had the distinct feeling it had something to do with 'swallowing' or, God forbid, 'chewing'.



"Of course we're going to use them. They aren't only good for eating you know, they're very useful for many kinds of different spells too..." Matt clutched his stomach as his face began to turn an unhealthy shade of green. Sora could only laugh.



"I'm glad to see someone thinks thats funny. Now could you please put those back in the box and we can move on" Sora was still smiling as she closed the lid to the first of the 5 boxes and placed it on the floor next to her. She then waited until Matt was closer to his normal colour before moving on, just in case.



"Alright. Here we have caterpillar legs." She took the lid off another box so Matt could carefully peer inside. He quickly jumped back in surprise only a few seconds later. "Those things are still moving!" he shouted. "Of course they are" replied Sora. "They've just been harvested a few days ago." Matt's face paled a bit more, but he motioned for her to continue.



She opened two more boxes, one containing a rabbit's ear and the other holding some snake venom. When Matt had asked if the venom was illegal, Sora just shrugged. "We don't use it as poison and no one would be able to steal it anyway" she had said. Matt hadn't a doubt about that.



The last box held something that Sora was rather reluctant to open. She stared at Matt, sizing him up, and once again made sure that he would say nothing of any of this to no one. He had already decided not to tell anyone anyway because he didn't want people to know he, Matt Ishida, had needed a 'love potion' to get a girl.



Sora opened the box slowly, wincing slightly as if this hurt her. 'What could be such a big secret anyway?' thought Matt wonderingly. He watched intently as the lid of the box was laid to one side and Sora picked something dark- greenish-blue out of it, holding it carefully in her hands.



"Now I don't want you to get the wrong idea...but this is what you might call a 'dragon scale'." Matt's eyes widened to the size of grapefruits as she said this, his heart pounding loudly. He stared at the scale, it looked just like your ordinary lizards' scale except a bit bigger. "I-Is it...I mean...Are there really...?" stammered Matt, itching to touch the smooth piece of what seemed to be metal.



"If your asking if there are real dragons, then I'd have to say no" Matt's hopes dropped slightly, but he still felt the need to touch it. "This is your ordinary piece of metal, only with some magical properties. We fill these metals with certain desires...Like greed for example. This one here is filled with longing and need. Because you are so anxious to get this over with and you don't want Mimi to completely fall in love with you anyway, we're going to take a little short cut."



Matt was hardly listening to a word Sora said. He stared at the item in her hand and concentrated on it and it alone. Every fibre in his body screamed with the need to hold the treasure...And he was only a hair's breadth away when Sora must have realized what was happening and slid it back into the box. Matt felt himself relax slightly, but the feeling still lingered.



"Matt...Matt...Are you listening to me? Matt!" said Sora sharply. He quickly snapped out of his thoughts, the dragon scale forgotten. "What?" he asked annoyed and a bit embarrased that she had caught him so unfocused.



"I want you to swear to me that you will never, ever lay even just one finger on that scale. Do I make myself clear?" she snapped, hands clenched at her sides. "If you do touch it, I promise you, not even I could have given you a worse punishment" Matt only nodded in response, wondering what had been so special about it anyway. The effects wore off fast.



Suddenly, a cold breeze flew through the room. Mr. Ohayo Mitsumi walked past the curtain moments later in a furious rush. It was as if he were a panther after his prey, unfortunately, that prey seemed have been Sora.



"Sora! Did you know that check your mother gave me yesterday was from a non-existent bank account? How dare she make a fool of me! Well, no matter. She will pay...whether I have to go through you to get to her!" Ohayo sounded on the verge of madness as he yelled, his eyes glowing. He seemed to be putting a lot of effort into the ferocity of them, but they were nothing compared to the fire Sora's eyes had shown Matt only a little while before.



"Ohayo, please calm down." said Sora, a bit too sweetly. "We have a customer here and we wouldn't want to upset him, now would we?" Ohayo's eyes flicked quickly to Matt, who was standing to Sora's left. It seemed to be the first time he had noticed him. "Now would you please tell me what seems to be your problem?" asked Sora, still using that sugary-sweet tone of voice.



Mr. Ohayo only sniffed indignantly and turned on his heel. He obviously didn't want Matt to hear anything else. "I'll talk to you tomorrow Sora...Or your mother. Whoever I come across first" Matt once again caught the blaze that ignited in Sora's eyes, much more spectacular than Ohayo's, who had seemed to have sensed it as well. 'Small wonder' thought Matt 'That stare heats the whole place up'



But as they heard the door close behind the older man, and Sora turned once again towards her client, her eyes were already back to normal. Matt breathed a sigh of relief. He would hate to have that stare on himself, even if he did seem to be physically stronger than her.



"So where were we?" asked Sora. She picked up the boxes from the floor and put them back onto the table before speaking some foreign word that Matt was determined to learn. It sounded like 'fumbuldgded' or something. This time when the word was spoken, however, a light blaze up around the objects on the table, slow enough for Matt to see but fast enough for him to question whether he had or not.



"Matt, did you just see that?" Her other question was completely forgotten as she stared into his eyes searchingly. Matt had the feeling she already knew the answer. "Yes" he whispered, not quite sure if he had done the right thing by admitting he had.



"Good, then my job'll be all the much easier!" she said happily, but Matt could sense something like hope spring into her voice. "So are we done here then...Or do you have any more of your questions?" Sora's mouth quirked up into a grin as she said this, eyes dancing. There must not be that many people that ask questions about the stuff that they deal with here...But Matt himself decided to accept the chance she had given him.



"Actually, I would like to know about a couple things...un-related to the spell though..." his voice dropped off as he said this, knowing she would most likely refuse. But instead Sora took a seat on one of the old chairs near their table and gestured Matt to take the other. Matt smiled, but at the same time tried to remain discreet. He didn't want to hope for something and be terribly disapointed. Sora could always refuse to answer any of his questions.



"Okay...where should I start?" Matt frowned slightly. He needed to know so much...But how could he ask it without Sora eventually catching on? He decided then that the simplest way would just be to come straight out with it....



"Are you a witch? A real one, not fake like your supposed 'dragon scale'." He cocked his head curiously, trying to brace himself. Although she seemed to know a lot about spells, that didn't make her a real 'witch'and it didn't make those real 'spells'. She had, in fact, never even mentionned the word 'witch', and her little parade down the hall in the pointy hat and black cloak seemed more of a joke than anything else.



Sora snorted, eyes crinkling in laughter. Matt thought it looked as if it were very hard for her to keep from bursting out into a fit of giggles right there, like most girls. But she managed to hold herself together long enough to say, "I should think that had been quite obvious". Matt smiled at this. She was more approachable when she was laughing and visably happy, not that she always seemed depressed otherwise, just very...serious.



"Well, I thought you were, but you kept using 'we' and not 'us witches'...I guess I got kinda confused..." said Matt sheepishly, avoiding her eyes. 'Why am I so nervous?! This is ridiculous!' he cried to himself. His head snapped up, as if contradicting the nervousness he had felt only moments before. But as he did so, her eyes caught him, and held him. He felt naked under her gaze and could feel the heat rise to his cheeks. 'This is wrong...I shouldn't be...I can't be...There is no such thing!'



Sora watched as Matt shook his head, clearing his thoughts. The intensity of the moment before had passed, Sora seemed unawares of Matt's sudden distress, just like he was oblivious of the now darker-reddish shade of her eyes. Sora seemed not to notice the change in her own appearance either though, and asked Matt if that were all he had wanted to know.



"N-no, I still want to know more. Like who is Ohayo Mitsumi really? And why are his eyes the same colour as yours? Also, why do your eyes glow...Like there's fire in them or something when you have a lot of emotion running through you?" He considered his questions harmless, but as he leaned forward and spoke of the fire in her eyes, Sora couldn't help but blush lightly. After all, it wasn't everyday the hottest guy in Odaiba talked about her like...that.



"Well, I can answer you this. Ohayo Mitsumi is the owner- or half-owner -of this shop. He is looking to be the full-time owner, because he doesn't like how we run the business. Hiding from the public and all. He's the one that put that article in the yellow-pages, the one that brought you to us. Anyway, he figures that if he can marry my mother, he can own the shop entirely. The problem is my mom doesn't seem to see that thats what he's really after."



Matt took this all in, feeding his curiousity. An understanding donned on him as she told him about the add. 'So that explains it! They hadn't wanted too many customers, but obviously Mitsumi's in it all for the money...But that also means that I wasn't wanted here, that they didn't need to help me...' His thoughts wandered, but as he remembered the way Sora had stopped him from leaving, he felt slightly reassured- even though she may have only stopped him from spreading the word around that there was a magic shop.



Sora waited for Matt to snap back to reality before continuing answering his onslaught of questions. She hoped he wouldn't get too curious for his own good...She noticed Matt look up at her and she began talking once more.



"Now let's see...Oh yes, eyes. Well, when you're a witch..." she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye to notice him shudder slightly before finishing her explanation "...you have power stored in you. A way to release that power, let it flow through you so you can do magic, is to open your eyes to it. I have fire, as you so kindly put it, in my eyes when I have a build up of emotions because its a way to vent them and the magic that comes with them. It also works well to threaten people, like Mitsumi."



Matt stared at her in wonder. She knew so much about something he had just realised existed only yesterday. He gripped the edge of his seat until his knuckles were white, it was a way to let go of the fear that had built up inside him during only a short time. He remembered the glow in Ohayo's eyes compared to the blaze in Sora's, and suddenly began to understand why he disliked her so much- she must be more powerful than him.



"But Ohayo's eyes glowed, like yours, and men can't be witches...or can they?" The question seemed so utterly stupid that he had to force it out of himself, but he had to know for sure. Still, the answer surprised him.



"Of course they can" replied Sora, it seemed as if she were explaining this to a two-year old. "What you know is all the stuff you get from watching movies. The only reason they didn't make men witches in those 'classic' films is because they had never seen one, a man witch I mean. Women used to be abused in the olden days, they let their power go more freely- unlike the men who could hide it well. Nowadays though, we all know enough to keep our magic a secret."



"You still haven't answered my question about why your's and Ohayo's eyes are the same colour." stated Matt stubornly.



"And I'm not going to...but I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. I just don't think you'd be able to handle the answer yet-"



"What do you mean 'I won't be able to handle it'? Don't you think that if I weren't able to 'handle it', I would have lost it by now? Or do you have that little faith in me?" He looked at her, determination clear in his dark blue eyes. She knew he wouldn't give up his search until he knew.



"Okay, if you're sure...just don't act different towards me. Everyone always does. Aiko did when she found out, so I'll only tell you on one condition: you don't get nervous around me or scared or anything, got it?" Matt nodded soberly, even while they both knew it was an empty threat.



"What is it? Is Ohayo like your father or something?" Thats what usually happened in the movies. 'God I watch a lot of those...' thought Matt suddenly, then returned to the present to place his full attention on Sora- something he hardly did for anyone.



"Of course he isn't my father! That would be simply....yuck!" Sora shivered violently before going on "Ohayo and I have the same eye colour because we're at the same level." When she saw Matt's questionning glance, she started explaining once again.



"Okay, you know how they have different coloured belts for the different levels in karate and stuff? Well its the same for witches, except we have different coloured eyes and the colours represent different levels than the karate colours, for example black is a beginner. Like Aiko." Matt nodded. "Well, there are only 6 levels in witchcraft"



"So what level are you?" asked Matt, obviously very interested in how powerful the person helping him make the potion was. Sora grimaced at his enthusiasm.



"Well, like I said, black is number one, brown number two, green or hazel is number three, blue is number four, silver is number five and crimson is number six" Matt stared straight at Sora's eyes, he could have been looking through them for all they knew because he didn't speak another word until about ten minutes later.



"Aren't there any other levels above yours? I mean, you can't have reached your limit...can you?" Sora laughed softly. She had been so worried that he would have fainted, or at least run out of the shop screaming for dear life as so many others had done- but no, he had way too much enthusiasm to be put off by that.



"Well, the most advanced witch in the world is Crimson- I'm sure you would consider her eyes like volcanoes" Matt flushed lightly but continued listening "There is supposed to be a level after Crimson, but no one has reached it since well before the Iron Age. They say it has to do with feelings...Something most witches don't believe in, but I do. I think that true power can only be realized when you join with another...love another, and not like mother-daughter love, I mean the other kind...you know" She eyed Matt closely, waiting to see his reaction.



"I don't believe in that kind of love. There is no such thing, there can't be...Otherwise my parents would still be mar-" Matt was quickly cut off as the clock on the wall made a sound quite like that of the bells of Notre Dame. Matt had to cover his ears, afraid he'd go deaf. When the clock finally stopped however, his ears were still ringing.



"Oh, you stayed later than you should have...Its already seven...Hurry, get out of the shop fast, They should be here any minute." Before Matt could protest, or even ask who 'They' were, he was pushed by Sora past the curtain, all of the stacked boxes and the counter, and out the door- which was quickly shut behind him. He looked back through the glass, but the shop was even darker inside than it was out- if that were possible.



'How did I get in this deep?' thought Matt, furious at his curiousity and need to know. 'All I need to do is mind my own business, figure out the spell to make Mimi mine, and thats it...I'll forget everything that has to do with all of this and go back to my normal life...' The thought wasn't as reassuring as he had hoped it would be, but that was only because behind every thought and feeling, there were a pair of crimson eyes- watching, and judging, him.



~~~~~The End of Chapter#3~~~~~


A/N: I hope you liked that! It took me so long. Oh, and I'm sorry for any spelling mistakes- I was in a rush. Anyway, please review and send in any ideas you may have (you'll get full credit). Remember, the more reviews I get, the faster the chapters come out...its a strange world...So till next time - minda