Sapphires | Kotlc Fanfiction

IV

One year later...

Skylar followed her father silently around the shop. He was telling her about various concoctions and their uses. "..and then here's Hush Slush. It can make someone shut up for up to five hours! Alas, your mother never lets me put it in the triplet's drinks." He shook his head of strawberry-blonde hair. "Such a shame!" As they moved on, Skylar made a mental note about that one. It could give her some peace and quiet if she was ever desperate enough.

An hour or so later, when Kesler was satisfied she knew the basics of their stock, he led her over to the counter. "Wait, one moment. DEX!!!" he shouted into the back rooms.

"Yeah?" came a slightly muffled reply.

"Come down here!" Kesler called. "Sky's gonna make her first potion!"

Skylar blinked. "Me? I thought I was just here to greet people."

"Nah, that's what I had to tell the triplets to not make them be jealous. Now get over here!"

Dex thundered down the stairs in a whir. "Gotta make sure she doesn't cause any explosions!" he explained, tying an apron around his neck.

Skylar was still pretty puzzled as to what she was to do. "So..."

"For now, just pour this in when I say to." Her father handed her a cup filled with something gritty and blue. "Oh, and put those on for extra safety." He pointed to some goggles sitting on the counter. When she stretched them around her head, they covered both her eyes and nose.

After Dex strapped his googles on, he picked up a pair of tongs that Kesler had given him. "So, what are we making?" he asked, his periwinkle eyes sparkling with excitement.

Kesler smirked. "We're going to try--key word: try--to make something I've been calling 'Busy Body'. It's supposed to make you be jumpy and fidgety like you've got gremlins in your pants." He straightened his lab coat and readied the vials. 

"Why in the world would you want that?" Skylar said with raised eyebrows.

Kelser laughed and patted her shoulder. "You never know when the need may arise. So far though, it's only made your knees itch, but I've made some adjustments."

That's... specific. Skylar thought, thoroughly bemused. "Um, alright... I guess."

"Alright, I'm going to count to five. I'm going to pour in the base serum on one, Dex, you drop this congealed selkie skin into the vial on three, and Sky, you dump the powder in on five. Got it?" He repeated his instructions one more time and provided a turquoise lump of congealed skin for his son. 

"Ok, here we go! One," slosh "Two, three," plunk "Four, five!" ploof! The vial sizzled and suddenly exploded in a plume of stinky, feet-flavored smoke. 

Skylar took this as her chance. She ran around the counter and stepped away, pressing her back against one of the shelves of Slurps and Burps, gratefully sucking in some clean air. 

Kesler laughed and smacked his son on the back. "We did it! Sorta. Good job Sk--" He saw her turned away from the cloud of stink. "Aw, come on, it's just a bit of stink! What's wrong with that?"

Someone cleared their throat quietly. All three Dizznees turned toward the noise to find people in the shop.

"Eda?" he exclaimed, reaching out for a hug. "It's been so long! How are ya' doing?"

Skylar studied her Aunt Edaline. She hadn't seen her for years, just one time a while back. Then she figured she should at least wave. That would be polite. 

As she did so, Skylar noticed a small girl standing silently beside her. To her surprise, the girl had brown eyes, not a shade of blue like all other elves had. Her golden blonde hair was draped across her shoulders, giving the girl a very shy appearance. She continued to study her, almost cataloging her as she did with most people.