Author's Note: Let's hope the good old Goddess of Love knows her old tricks well. We wouldn't want Jack turning into a skeleton frog now would we? Speaking of Jack, he and Sally are the romantic protagonists of The Nightmare Before Christmas. That film, derived from a poem by Tim Burton, is what this and pretty much all of my stories here are based on. I had no part in the film's creation, but I've watched it many a time. I grew to love it and then I started writing about it, and that's where I stand- not a creator, just a fan.
It was a circular room with all of its light streaming from a hole in the high ceiling. In the very center were an assortment of cauldrons and long wooden spoons sticking out of each of them. On the walls were shelves filled with all kinds of bottles. Each had a kind of liquid, mist, or flower inside. Jack and Sally had to remember they were in Valentine Town, or else they would have been sure they had gone home by accident.
"What is this place?" Sally asked as she walked over to the shelves.
"The Enchantment Room. It is where all of my major magic comes from. You know, things I cannot do with just thought," Venus said as she joined the rag doll. "Like what you see?"
"It looks like the kitchen cabinet back at home, only bigger."
"I'll say," Jack said as he peered into one of the cauldrons. "How many of these do you need, Venus?"
"Be a dear and just grab the joined ones, Jack."
"Joined ones?"
"You'll know them when you see them."
Jack looked around the cauldrons even more. There were small ones, medium-sized ones, and one he could fit into easily. There were cauldrons in all shorts of colors and metals, and cauldrons within cauldrons. Then, Jack came upon two that seemed to be stuck together. The pair of fused cauldrons was small enough to carry, although the gleam from its silver surface was a bit blinding at first. Jack put the cauldrons on a wooden table near the largest cauldron he saw and noticed that both of the fused cauldrons had joined hearts on them before Venus and Sally joined him.
"See, I knew you would find them," Venus said as she placed some empty bottles and materials next to the joined cauldrons.
"Venus, don't we need fire to make the ingredients mix well?" Sally asked as the goddess grabbed two wooden spoons.
"No, and you will see why," Venus said as she took an orchid and a rose out of her pile of materials. "Jack, you put the petals of the orchid in one cauldron. Sally, do the same with the rose in the other. Be sure not to mix them."
"Why not?" Sally asked as she carefully took the rose and began to pick off its petals.
"It will tamper with the potions."
"We're going to drink these?" Jack asked in a surprised tone as he examined the orchid.
"You will if you want to have children one day."
"It's a little strange, really," Jack said as he too started to pick petals from the orchid and put them in his cauldron.
"You are certainly not one to talk, Pumpkin King," Venus said.
"Point taken," Jack said as he finished plucking the orchid's petals.
"What comes next?" Sally asked, putting the leftover stem from the rose down on the table.
"Sally, pour this milk into your cauldron," Venus said as she handed Sally a cup of milk.
"Do I get milk too? Can it be chocolate?" Jack asked while Sally poured the milk in her cauldron.
"No. You get spring water," Venus said as she passed a bottle of it to Jack.
"Why can't the potions be identical?" Sally asked, noticing Jack's slight look of disappointment as he poured the water in his cauldron.
"They have different purposes. One is to make you biologically ready to be a mother and the other is for Jack to be capable of having children to begin with. If we mix the wrong ingredients the wrong way, well, we would have a kind of gender problem," Venus said. "It's for your own good, dearies."
"What's after the water and milk?" Jack asked.
"Glad you asked. Now come the traits."
"Traits?" Sally asked just as Venus took out bottles of colored mists.
"Here I have bottled essences of the six most important traits that both of you need to be good spouses and parents. They are patience, compassion, trust, faith, common sense, and of course, a grand old helping of love. Watch and be amazed."
Venus uncorked the bottles with a wave of her hands and didn't even flinch when the mists shot right out of their containers. Jack and Sally ducked for a few seconds before they realized that the mists were harmless. In fact, they danced around the pair, as if feeling out what they needed most. After a short while, the mists dived into their respective cauldrons. Of course, most of the common sense mist, a cool shade of blue, settled in Jack's cauldron. Apparently, he needed it more than Sally did; that and faith, a white mist that followed the common sense. Sally's cauldron became home to the larger amounts of patience and trust, gray and yellow mists, respectively. The pink compassion mist was spread evenly in the mixtures while the red love mist lingered in the air before seeping back into its bottle and corking itself.
"Hey, what's the idea?" Jack said to the bottle entitled 'Love'.
"Now, now, this is a better sign than you think," Venus said as she examined the bottle. "It feels you have enough love to go around as it is. Any more and you might explode with it."
"I think we can let it be, Jack," Sally said as the potions began to bubble.
"See? All the traits are heating the potions," Venus said. "No fire necessary."
"Amazing. I haven't seen this kind of magic at home. Have you?" Jack asked Sally.
"No. I guess every world has its own kind," Sally said.
"When the potions settle, you will have to drink them. Pay no mind to the taste, it is the effects you want. I suggest you two start stirring them to get a good consistency," Venus said.
"When will effects happen?" Jack asked when he and Sally began to stir their respective potions with the wooden spoons.
"In about a month. However, that will not be the final step in your dual metamorphosis," Venus said as she grabbed two very small vials from a nearby shelf.
"What's in those?" Sally asked, noticing the golden shimmer in the vials.
"These two hold the Essence of Life. The potions will allow you to enjoy the fun aspect of creation, but no more than that. These vials are the key to any little ones you might have. You are to keep these under lock and key until you feel ready to begin a family. When you do, you must both drink from one of the vials."
"Why can't we have them now?" Jack asked.
"The Stork specified that you remain a couple for a period of time. Without the essence in your systems, you will not be able to create life, either by accident or on purpose. I think it is the best course of action, just as long as you follow my instructions," Venus said before noticing the bubbling in the cauldrons had stopped. "Well, I'll go fetch you some drinking glasses. Time to drink up," she said before leaving the room, taking the vials with her.
"That was fast," Sally said as she peered into her cauldron.
"Sally, if any of this is getting too uncomfortable for you, we can leave," Jack said.
"I'm fine, Jack. Are you?"
"Not really. I haven't been fine since I had to drop my pants."
"Oh. Does this make you feel any better?" Sally asked as she wrapped her arms around him.
"A little," Jack said before realizing he and Sally had stopped stirring the potions. "Uh-oh."
"Uh-oh?" Sally asked.
"Were we supposed to stop stirring those?"
"Well, they look fine to me," Sally said, letting Jack go and looking at the potions. "Not too thick, not too thin. Just right."
"Do I really need all that common sense?" Jack asked, looking into his settled potion and then to Sally.
"Maybe it'll help us," Sally replied before the both of them heard a crash from the other side of the doors.
The pair didn't hesitate to walk over to the doors and see what had happened outside. Venus was looking over two broken glasses for a moment before glaring angrily at the person before her. Apparently, Saint Valentine had "accidentally" gotten in her way as she walked back to the Enchantment Room. This was going to be quite the confrontation.
"Oops," Saint Valentine said coldly.
"You did that on purpose!" Venus exclaimed.
"I have been very lenient with you, Venus."
"Hardly. All you do is spy on my every move over my shoulder. I really liked those glasses, you know."
"Have you put the Essence of Life in the potions?"
"Of course not! Were you paying attention to the Stork?"
"I was. Venus, you cannot interfere with the life-creating aspect of lovemaking. It is a sin."
"Only to you and your repressed people. Valentine, come on!"
"So you are just going to ignore the Essence of Life?"
"No! They are going to drink it when they are ready."
"That is not how it is supposed to work. They are supposed to have as many children as the Lord will grant upon them."
"Tell me, Valentine," Venus said, squinting at the saint, "How many little Skellingtons would you like running around? Ten? Twenty, even? Think about how curious they would all be, just dropping into our world whenever they pleased or any other ones and causing all sorts of trouble. Imagine Nicholas reprimanding you for not bending the rules this one time. Go on, I dare you."
"I... well, I see your point," Saint Valentine said as he grew pale at the thought. "If you have gone this far breaking the rules, then I might as well help you. I will replace those glasses," he finished as he ran off, not noticing Venus cheer to herself.
"That wasn't very nice," Jack said, causing Venus to turn back to the doors.
"No need to take it personally, Jack. Just using good old divine manipulation. Works every time," Venus said, winking happily. "Honestly, it should be called Venus' Day."
"Are you sure we shouldn't drink the essence and the potions together?" Sally asked Venus. "He seemed awfully mad that we weren't going to."
"Valentine is simply stuck in his ways, most of his kind are. They stick to rules that were created thousands of years ago and refuse to budge from them. There are all kinds of technologies that allow couples enjoy time together without worry that I feel are absolutely marvelous. So they delay Nature, they don't cancel it."
"What are these technologies?" Jack asked, watching Venus' face begin to grow a bit red.
"Oh, well... erm, no need for you to worry about them. Not yet," Venus said, relieved to hear Saint Valentine's footsteps. "About time," she said, turning around to face the saint.
"Do these suit your needs?" Saint Valentine asked as he passed Venus white ceramic mugs.
"These will do. Thank you, Valentine. You are making the right choice," Venus said as the saint walked away, heavily sighing. "Well, come along you two; those potions are not going to drink themselves."
Jack and Sally followed Venus back into the Enchantment Room. Neither of them said a word as she gathered their potions in the mugs and handed the right ones to each of them. She bowed her head to them before exiting the room. The Goddess of Love was certainly one to know when couples needed some privacy, and this was definitely one of those moments.
"This is it," Jack said to Sally, gulping a bit. "After we drink this, we're not going to be the way we are now. Not exactly, anyway."
"We'll be better, right?" Sally asked.
"Right," Jack said, nodding bravely. "On the count of three, we drink. One," Jack started.
"Two," Sally said, readying the mug to her lips.
"Three," the both said in unison before drinking down the contents of their mugs.
Where will they go from here? Is there anything else Venus has to tell Jack and Sally? Or can they just go off to Halloween Town and wait for the potions to start working? That's for the next chapter to answer, folks. (Re-edit Comment: I really like how this chapter came out. One of my favorite mixes.)
