Sig’s Secret Chapter 4 - The Uncanny Potion

And the next day has come. I headed over to the park like usual, meeting up with Arle, Ringo, and Carbuncle.

"Whew~..."

Right before me, Arle and Ringo had already set up the table and chairs from the day before yesterday. The table was made with wood boards and sturdy thick poles, and the chairs were small stools. Sure they're simple, but somehow they're really cute!

---

"Super wicked! Arle, Ringo, they look amazing!"
"Ehe, thanks Amitie. We only made one table and four chairs though. Still, we got into the groove of things!"
"Gu guguu!"

Arle's face went all rosy when she said that. Meanwhile, Carbuncle's bouncing about around her feet.

"I've grabbed hold of the ropes. Just leave it to me!" Ringo pumped a fist. "Anyway, how's the situation over there?"
"Goody-goody, ten out of ten! Lemres came from the neighboring town to save the project. You can be sure we soared with making the sweets...Ah! And then Feli did a bit of divination..."
"Divination?" Both Arle and Ringo asked me about it, and I had to explain the events.
"Sig and the others said they're doing alright, at least I think they are... But then of course, some kind of calamity is going to be a thing. A big one at that, but how big is it gonna be? So big it'll make me look straight up to the sky?"
"Uhh...Amitie, try and analyze what the calamity you're talking about actually is." Ringo answered, half-surprised.
"Geez, now you've got the misfortune bugging me. If you keep at it like that, then I'm gonna get put off by that calamity too. How about it, Carby?"
"Guugu...!"

By Arle's words, Carbuncle shook himself violently. I went and tried to shake off my worries and clenched my fist to announce something.

"But hey, I just thought of the thing. We gotta make a Special Menu!"
"Special Menu?" Everyone asked at the same time, tilting their heads.
"Yep! To make sure everyone has to come and taste our cafe's stuff, we gotta have a super amazing Special Menu! That way, it'll be a huge successful boon and won't fall flat. No calamity to be scared of!"

I threw my hand out like "Yeah!" and did the V-Sign, while Arle and Ringo have this look of "I see." Ringo has this excited look in her eyes and brought up something.

"Then, what sort of menu will it be?"
"I'm thinking about it!"

*stunned silence*

Even though I was in confident with that answer, their shoulders drooped.

"Come on..."

An embarrassed grin was on my face, and Ringo put on her thinking cap and tapped her chin.

"This Special Menu...In in other words, it is important that it will be following a new standard of nutrition and appeal..."
"Ringo? You don't have any more of that cor-whatsitcalled cream, do you?"
"Wh- Why do you know of that!?"
"It just came to mind!! You don't want to use it!?" I anxiously bit my nails in front of Ringo.
"Anyway...You discussed this with Lemres, didn't you? He's knowledgeable in sweets of all regions and types, isn't he?" Arle continued on the subject, but I shook my head at her question.
"Lemres went and told everyone how to in a hurry...and then..."
"And then what?"
"I can't rely on him, and I couldn't think of a single thing..."
"Amitie?" Arle tilted her head.
"B-But I'm the Leader of all this. I wanted to make the Special Menu because Lemres dropped a surprising idea on us."
"Hmm...I see!" Arle let out a cheery laugh. "On that note, I think I got the gist of it. Alrighty then, I got an idea we can work with!"
"Eh? You have some sort of idea, Arle?"
"Yep. I know someone who specializes in making all sorts of unusual things. How about we meet that person and see what they can do?"

Specializes in making unusual stuff...I'm not getting any images, but the anticipation on that idea is kinda thrilling!

"Sure thing, Arle. Absolutely!" I nodded over and over.

I came along with Arle to the edge of Primp Town, and we came across this big stand with a bunch of small bottles lined up on there. On top of that, there's a sign with "Medicine Bottles" marked right on it. Seems this is a small shop of sorts. The girl in the store had this big round pot that I could even fit in. There was a lo~ng stick in it, and she was stirring some mystery aqua-green liquid. The liquid was giving out a purple mist, in a bubbly boil, and it smells like it's filling the air with a really sharp sweet scent.

"...Wh-what the heck? Uh? What's she doing?"
"I-I don't know...My intuition is sensing high levels of danger..."

This scene isn't normal, and it's making Ringo and me shudder. But Arle isn't worried about anything, and just waved for her attention.

"Heey! Witch!"

And then the girl she called Witch turned to her. She had long blonde hair, and kinda strong-willed blue pupils. The robes and pointy hat she wears are even a deep blue. A bright red ribbon snugly wraps around her waist and is tied into a bow on her back.

"Ah, Arle. You need anything?"
"I'm here today to introduce you to someone. This is Amitie and Ringo!"

She looked over Arle's shoulder at us when she said that.

"Uhm, hello...?" I could barely muster up a greeting, being really nervous about the really freaky pot. "The name's Amitie, and my dream is to be a wonderful..."
"Oh hey!"

Before I could finish my sentence, Witch let go of the pot's mixing stick and grew a smile on her face with a sparkle in her eyes to match, happily clasping her hands together.

"How thoughtful of you to bring in some customers, Arle!"
"C-Customers!?"
"Er, well, that's not quite it! We're here to acquire some ideas, and..."

Ringo and I quickly tried to negotiate things, but I don't think Witch paid much attention to us.

"Come in come in♪ Please take a good look around my wonderful store! Oh hohoho!"

Ringo and I took hold of each other's hands and steadily wandered around. We kept pulling each other along the countless small bottles that lined up.

"What kind of shop is this?" I asked.
"Witch takes pride in making magic potions. She makes some really peculiar ones, but one of them around here has to be pretty useful though~"
"Gu~gugu~"
"Hey! What do you mean by peculiar!?" Witch responded to Arle with a huff.

As for the ever curious Ringo, she seems to be getting the gist of what a magic potion is.

"Huh...So then, all these small bottles lined up here are all magic potions?"
"Pretty much! Compounded from grandma's secret potion recipes, brewed up by yours truly♪ Instant effect! Perfect result! This is the limited-quantity Special Magic Potion!"
"Oooooh!" Ringo and I were pretty amazed.
"Witch...You're really stretching it beyond reason."
"Gugu..."

Arle and Carbuncle, on the other hand, aren't as enthusiastic, but still curious.

"Come on now, let's take a gander at it♪"

With the recommendation from the grinning and courteously giggly Witch, I started getting curious about the little bottles lined up here...With that said, the label on the small bottle here is written in complicated nonsense that I can't read at all. And well, I just don't understand what sort of potion it is.

"I can offer you a free sampling service right now!"
"Seriously!? N-Now my curiosity has reached a fever pitch!"

There she goes, Ringo's in a trance-like moment.

"Well then, what is this bottle with a bird drawn on it?"
"That potion lets you chatter words like a bird."
"Whaa- Really!?"
"Isn't it great!? No doubt, no wrongs!"

Ringo eagerly uncorked the bottle she got from Witch.

"Chatter words like a bird...Does this mean I could scan all the world's information from the bird's eye, and by a stroke of chance, listen to the wondrous creatures of the sky...!?"

After that mumbling, she wasted no time and raised it up to her mouth. I-Is she alright? Her burning curiosity spiked and she went in all speedy and stuff...The thought of it is making my heart race and flutter.

"Pii, pii?"

I turned over to Ringo after she gulped down the potion, hearing sounds of an adorable little bird's tweeting resound.

"A-Are you seriously chattering words like a bird, Ringo!?" I exclaimed.

"Pii! Piipiipii!" Ringo's surprisingly pleased about this.
"Whoah. So cool! Hey, try talking with that bird over there!" Arle pointed at the bird standing on top of the nearby house's roof. Ringo nodded, and gave her a quick "Pii".
"Pii! Piipiipii, pipii!"

Ringo went and started a conversation...neato! The little bird looked this way! It even answered back with "Chun! Chu chu." chirps.

"Ringo! What did that bird say just now!?" I excitedly asked her about it... Huh? She tilted her head with so much doubt. And from behind, Witch came and poked so sharply.

"Heya, excuse me? I'd like to note that it's a 'chatter' words like a bird potion. You don't understand what the birds say, do you?"

"Eh!?"

"Pii!?"

Now hold up. She managed to speak to it from here, but it had to answer with something from over there, otherwise it couldn't have...and it had almost no meaning!? So that communication was really not normal! And Witch just continued away.

"Oh yeah, while she's chattering away like a bird, she's unable to speak human words. Kinda obvious, really."

"Pipiiiiiiii!!"

"W-Witch! Tell me you can turn Ringo back!"

"Huh? You can understand bird speak, Amitie? How wonderful."

"But I totally can't communicate with those words at all!!"

Th-This...this store is nothing but weirdness isn’t it!?

---

"Well then...ahem."

Ringo got over her little problem and went back to normal in no time. She cleared her throat for a bit.

"Witch. What is this potion, the one with a person drawn on the label?"
"That is the slender growth spurt serum! Pretty cool, don't you think?"
"...I-In what way?"
"By growth spurt, I mean your face and body. The balance in style may look a bit unusual though."
"..."

Then Arle followed up.

"Hey Witch, what's the one with "Elegance Booster Potion" on it all about?"
"Oh hohoho! It's a potion that makes you as elegant as a lady!"
"Huh. How so, then?"
"Well it completely changes up how you speak, and makes you all 'posh' through and through!"
"I see~ Guess we don't need it all, Carby!"
"Guguguugu!"

I picked out one of the bottles myself and turned over to Witch.

"Hey, what about this one? The one with the question mark on it?"
"Fufufu, you've got a good eye there! That's the Transformation Tonic. One drink of that, and you'll be an entirely new you!"
"Whoah, that's crazy cool! Could I turn into, like say, Arle for that matter!?"
"Nope, you can't choose who you want to be. You might even suddenly turn into a complete old geezer."
"...eh?"
"On top of that, I don't even have a Nullification Antidote..."
"Then, I'd be like that for forever!?"
"Nope! If you keep drinking that same tonic, maybe you'll eventually turn back to what you originally looked like!"
"I-It's that vague!? At that rate, I'm ultra scared that I'll forget what my usual face looks like!!"

All of Witch's potions are giving me these vibes. It's all really incredible and all but I don't know if I should even use them.

"A-Arle...uh, what did we come here for again? About the ideas for my Special Menu..." I turned to Arle and whispered to her. She raised an eyebrow, then let out a chuckle and scratched her head.
"Welp, Witch's potions haven't changed from being too weird and novel. And I don't think I got an idea for the cafe~"

...O-Oh. Is it better that way? Now I totally don't know how unique of an idea is a good idea! And Arle's the only one that got the ball rolling... While Arle and I were chatting away, Witch got the eavesdrop on us and looked this way.

"Cafe? What the talk about?"
"Ah...you see..."

I panicked when Witch turned to me. So then I just explained Primp Festival and how I'm setting up the cafe for it to her.

"...in other words, we're trying to come up with unique ideas for the Special Menu, and we're here to request something..."

After taking a pause in what I have to say, Witch butted in with "Well♪" and laughed.

"So basically everyone's here in need of the wise Witch's creative power!"
"Uhh...s-sure, whatever you say." I broke into a sweat, nodding and running with it. "Still though, quick, spit it out, please!" I clasped my hands together in front of Witch's smiling face.
"Of course! You want the cafe to prosper, and there's a specific potion just for that!"
"Wha- What is it then!?"

If such a thing really existed, I should've told her about the cafe a long time ago! Radiating with confidence, Witch pat herself on the back and stood proudly.

"However! This potion contains a potently irresistible smell!"
"...wh-what do you mean by that?"

That's different from what I imagine. How do you use it then?

"One whiff of this, and passers-by will storm in one after another, the moment you put a single drop of it in something like black tea or your sweets. Then they will linger on and on trying to take in the aroma and will never leave your place, the ultimate in store prosperity~! This serum should put you at ease while you rake in all the money..."
"W-We can't do that!" Me, Arle, and Ringo all strongly objected to that.
"If we do that, we're not gonna get wonderful impressions at all!"
"Wouldn't that make it all just a trap!?"
"I must object, Witch! Even if you want the store to prosper, usage of that potion is not the ideal answer!"
"Sheesh! I wasn't planning to cheat the way to financial success!"
"We STILL aren't thinking of cheating!!" And we all loudly objected to her a second time...however, Witch gave us an unexpected reaction.

"C-C'mon...How could you be so cruel, guys..." Her pretty blue eyes watered up as her hand covered up the mouth uttering a choked-up voice.
"Wha..." I was frozen in place with nothing but shock.
"I thought it was fine showing off my various potions to you...and now you're just throwing complaints..."

The sad Witch took a half step back behind and hid herself. I have a bad feeling about this. B-But yeah. We did kinda blow off her kindness and advice, even if her various potions were kinda fishy.

"Sigh...Ah, er, I am so sorry!"
"I-I sorely apologize! Well uh, let's see, what do I say to raise your spirits..." Ringo quickly apologized too.
"No, it's fine...My services weren't useful, so it's fine to feel sad about it..."
"...hm~?"

Arle, the only one bothered by Witch's current status, cocked her head. Getting curious, I went up and tried to console her this instant!

"We didn't mean it that way! Cheer up, Witch!"
"...really? Are you cheering me up?"
"Yeah, yeah! Whatever it takes!"

After cheering her up bit by bit, Witch let a single tear go by and let out a laugh.

"I'm touched...Now then, will you come over here?"
"What for?" I went up to her after answering her.
"A-Amitie! Isn't that a bit dangerous!?" Arle called from behind.

But then it was too late...

"Oh hohoho! Now then, just to make me feel better, I'm going to do you in with a round of Puyo!"
"Huh!? E-EEEEK!!"

Her fragile image from earlier just came and went. With a big grin and a bold laugh, she began setting up her secret stash of Puyo without a moment's delay!

"Come on now, the game of Puyo is already underway!"
"Are you kidding me!? All those tears were an act!?"

And for me, I had to hurry and Puyo it up and stack them...Get really real, I don't have time for this!

"Oh...Witch's sense of humor is kinda messed up in places and tends to scheme some surprise attacks, so be careful with what she says...Good luck out there, Amitie!" Arle gave a rather monotone-sounding cheer.
"N-Now you tell me!"

I'm nearly tearing up while trying to stack these Puyo, and on top of that, I'm clearly no match for Witch's perfect setup from earlier. And unsurprisingly, it happened just like that...

"Oh hohoho! And this is for raining down on my potions' parade! Meteor~~~!!"

*KaBOOOM!!*

"AAAAAAH!"

With the perfect run, I couldn't stand against Witch's spell, easily getting crushed by tons of Puyo, making me a total goner.

"A-....Agh, those fake tears though~..."
"I was played for a complete fool myself. Witch...you're despicable..." Ringo forced a bitter smile, taking my hand and pulling me out of the pile of Puyo.

"Whew...well that was quite refreshing♪" Witch followed it up with a satisfied 'Oh hohoho♪'.
"Oh come on, you..."
"Guguuu..." Arle and Carbuncle sighed, coming up to Witch.
"Did you really have act so strangely whenever you get complaints? None of this should've happened. Haven't you done enough damage to Amitie?"
"Ugh..." Witch looked pretty upset from Arle's harsh words. "I-I get it. I overdid it a bit, didn't I. Uhm...yeah. I owe you an apology I guess. Come on, get up."

With a hurry, she went back and mixed the syrupy stuff in the pot, spooning some of it into an empty bottle and filling it to the brim.

"Well, here you are!" And then she turned to me and handed it over.
"Uh....m, the heck is this bizarro potion anyway?"

It's that syrupy liquid from before, and I was reluctant to accept it because of how suspicious it is. Witch answered "I'll let it slide for now...and for real this time," still looking upset. “This is the 'Wonder Power-up Potion.' Uh, well, that cafe Special Menu idea couldn't work out, but at least you'll vigorously get by your preparations with this! Make good use of it!”
"Well then..." I turned over to Arle and said "I guess it's all good." with a nod.
"Witch can get a bit moody at times, but she's not a bad person. I think your stand's ready to get on their feet too, Amitie..."
"Geez, you guys!" Witch turned away, hiding a blush.
"R-...Right. Anyhow, see you next time. And thanks, Witch!" I accepted the potion bottle with a smile.

...but I don't have the courage to drink up this syrupy thing. Sorry, Witch...I'll just have to carry it around instead of drinking it.