Apothecary

Chapter 5

A/N: HOLY CRAP 76 VIEWS?! And comments, too! Dang...shame on me for not updating sooner. You guys are the best! :3

After the departure of the wolf, the days seemed to pass without a hitch. No rumors of wolf sightings whatsoever. Just as I resigned myself to forgetting once again, a new rumor formed within Castle Town: the Hero of Twilight, who had not been seen for nearly three months, would be returning to Castle Town! Of course, this sent half of the town into a stir. The week before he was rumored to arrive my little store was inundated with requests and orders for "love potions" or at the very least instructions on how to brew one. I was forced to drive away hundreds of potential customers simply because no such thing existed. It was a shame. Still, for those few persistent customers, I gave them a modified red potion recipe with hot spring water "for added passion". Of course the hero-hungry girls bought it. I was actually slightly disgusted by the thought that they'd drug someone in order to be with them.

The day of the Hero's visit dawned and every eligible bachelorette that was daring enough crammed into South Road, all claiming to be selling "red potions". Seemingly undeterred by the fact that there were dozens of doppelgänger shops lining the streets, the girls were currently competing with each other to sell the lowest-priced potions around. One even stated her potions were at a 100% discount. And I knew I had seen her begging me for a recipe the day before. How she intended to win over the Hero of Twilight with that business sense was beyond me. 

I rolled my eyes at the new stalls and continued to make my way down South Road. Suddenly a chorus of gasps behind me alerted me that the Hero had most likely arrived. I turned around in spite of myself and immediately spotted the familiar green tunic of the Hero. In spite of all my scoffing against the fangirling citizens of Castle Town, I had to admit he was a striking image. The heroic green tunic, sword and shield strapped to his back, and general travel-worn look about him made for quite the "wanderer" appeal. And of course, there were those fixating blue eyes that drew your attention at once. Eyes that, now that I looked closely at them, looked strangely familiar...

Of course, I then noticed that the reason that I could see his eyes so clearly was because the Hero was staring straight at me. Completely ignoring the others swarming him for attention, those blue eyes were unmistakably fixed on me. Just to check, I looked behind me to see if there was possibly some extreme fangirl jumping to get his attention--no, he was staring at me. I turned back to see that he was still looking at me, and was now fighting against the crowd to walk in my direction.

Okay, Y/N, stay calm. The Hero of Twilight who saved the entire land of Hyrule from the darkness is approaching you. Stay calm. Why is he approaching you? Do you have something on your face? Have you met? Did you accidentally snub him or something? Was he that rude customer from last week in disguise who was spouting some nonsense about Great Fairy tears? Oh no, that sounds exactly like the kind of item an adventurer would know about, what if he's angry--

"Excuse me, miss--"

Oh, goddesses, now he's speaking to you? What will you say? This is the chance to make a good first impression on the Hero who saved the world--don't screw it up! And what is he approaching you about anyways? That greeting seemed very polite, maybe he's not angry? Oh, stop staring at him like a frightened deer! He's a human being, not some god incarnate or something. No, that title goes to Zelda. You got this. Whatever he's about to say to you, you got this. Brace yourself.

"I was just wondering if you could tell me a good place to buy potions."

Oh.

I took a deep breath to try and calm the crazed ramblings of my mind. "Right. Decent potions. I assume you've noticed all the stalls?"