Fan Fiction ❯ Naissance ❯ The Herbal Shop ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Ava sat at the back of the store, a deep frown on her ivory brow as her slim hand gripped the clear four inch stir stick as she grounded the sacred herbs together in the red clay pottery bowl. Her brown-grey eyes constantly gazed up to look at the front of the shop where her mother, a very pretty woman of forty, stood talking to another woman. This woman was dressed in high class fashion clothes and wore an almost continuous snobby look on her slightly upturned face. Finally her mother went over to a glass cabinet, one of many in the store, which had a yellow ribbon on the glass. Ava’s frown deepened until the look on her face appeared has an outright glare. Her mother however continued to smile as she passed the woman a small black pouch; the woman opened it and sniffed at the contents. It was all Ava could do to stop from giving a loud ‘hmph’ of disgust as the woman tied back up the pouch and handed her mother some money; turning to leave the woman once again stuck her nose up in the air. Turning her mother walked down the aisle towards the back of the store, counting the money. She didn’t even look up as she went to the cash register, her voice was soft and held a light tone of laughter to it as she spoke, “Ava if your look gets any darker you’re going to make it rain.”
Of course that’s all it took to send Ava into a speech her mother had heard a thousand times before, “Mom, how can you sell your herbs to –those- people, you know they don’t appreciate all the work that goes into them.”

Sighing, her mother placed the money in the cash register and closed it, turning to look at her daughter and the indignant look on her face, “Because, Ava we do need money to keep the lifestyle we have here.”

Ava understood that but it still didn’t keep her quiet, “But Mom, those rich women only use it to spice up their chicken! It’s Ginger aged five years, it holds the best flavour and potency and they use it on a dead bird!”

Twitching in her spot with angry passion she watched as her mother laughed a sweet delicate airy laugh and moved around her, patting her on the head, “Oh dear, I’m sure when you are older you’ll understand. Remember to grind the herbs until it’s a very fine powder or it won’t work for what you need it for. I’m going to go plant a bamboo for Geb.”

Shifting in her spot Ava began to ground the herbs harder into the bowl as she glanced over her shoulder at her mother, “Oh, Plant one for me too.” Once again her mother paused and laughed her delicate laugh as she bent to pick up a watering can stretching as she stood up she moved to a shelf and opened a green box and removed a single seed. Glancing over her shoulder at her daughter she moved to the door that led into the back section of the building which served as their house, “You know that’s not how it works Hun. There’s a place to the right of the garden for you to plant your tree.” Her mother quietly stepped through the door, closing it behind her. Ava could hear her humming a voice tune and she smiled slightly to herself, of course she knew that it didn’t work that way. If she wanted to make an offering to Geb she’d have to do it herself, no one else could do it for her. Looking down at the bowl in front of her she named off the herbs in her mind. Cloves, Marjoram, Basil and Sandalwood; chewing on her slightly full bottom lip she glanced around her; she was missing an herb. Glancing towards a small forest green pouch she plucked it from the spot on the table; opening it she removed a small whitish root and placed it in the bowl with the other ground up herbs. This was African ginger; it was one of many sacred herbs used in a protection bundle. Once again she began to grind the herbs; she hated grinding in ginger because you always had to use it in its purest form, which meant roots, if you wanted to produce good magic. Of course their were people who used store bought herbs and spices, however those potions would never be as strong as hers; definitely not as strong as her mothers who grew her own herbs, aged them for potency and flavour. Her mother also worshipped the Egyptian God of Earth; Geb. He was very pleased with her mother and often granted her favours, her mother had become a first class Alchemist, even though not many knew or appreciated her work.

Ava however worshipped four deities. The Egyptian Gods Ra and Geb, the Egyptian Goddess Nuit and the African Goddess of water Yemaya; her main focus of worship was Nuit and Geb and because of her devotion to them they had granted her special gifts. Ava paused for a moment as her thoughts drifted. Sometimes she thought it was strange. In her household magic was a common everyday thing. If you worked hard you could do so many things but magic could never work unless you believed in it and things much greater then magic. You had to believe in the sources that granted it, like Gods and Goddess; she supposed that’s why magic wasn’t a common thing in the world today because in these modern times people just couldn’t bring themselves to believe in something so unreal and unnatural. Even though it was a common thing among many people, most magic users did not show off their talent because making something burst into flame in public or doing something much more drastic would just scare people. They just didn’t know how to cope with such things. Shaking her head she came out of her reverie and began to grind the herbs once again, so many people in the world and most of them were horribly closed minded.

After an hour of grinding the herbs she stopped and looked in the red clay bowl, twisting her lips in thought. Anymore grinding and the powder would probably turn into liquid. Hopefully this time things would turn out right; grabbing a small white pouch she took a spoon and scrapped the powder into the pouch and washed the utensils that she had used, placing them back on the shelf in which she had taken them from. Sighing she glanced at the time, it was six o’clock and the store closed in one hour; once closed she could then go to her room and finish the potion and get onto more exciting things.

Quickly Raedon glanced down at his watch as he briskly walked down the street. The young gothic teen was muttering softly to him as his short black hair blew slightly in the wind his red highlights almost seemed to glow in the evening sunlight. Raedon paused at an intersection and glanced from left to right, where in the hell was that shop anyway and why did he have to go all the way to an herbal store to get basil? Shaking his head in disgust Raedon turned left and quickly walked down the road. Raedon wasn’t your typical teen; the young boy was 17 years old and had been through enough traumas in the past 4 years then anyone should go through in their entire life. It had traumatized him so much that his personality had done a complete 190. First his father was killed in a freak accident when he was 14, leaving his mother to care for his sister and him all by herself. Then a year later his mother drowned; the following year his younger sister who had just turned 5 was hit by a car and the year after his best friend was shot at their school by a crazy student. Raedon had been stricken by the events in his life; it filled him with such a deep sadness that he could hardly function. He couldn’t believe such bad things could happen to such good people, to the people he loved. Finally his aunt decided that they would move away from the place that contained such bad memories for Raedon and they came to Naissance. During the last year of his life nothing bad has happened to anyone around him and Raedon has been careful not to get close to anyone in fear that something would happen, however now he has suddenly developed these mysterious pains that would come upon him without warning. He had visited several doctors in the town by none of them had any explanations, Raedon seemed perfectly healthy. Now Raedon wore clothes to reflect his hatred of the world and the sadness that changed his life; his eyes which once held a bright laughter and enjoyment of life now held indifference, anger and hate.

Raedon’s dark almond eyes glanced down the street to make sure no cars were coming and he quickly crossed the road, making his way to an older building with a sign ‘Herbal Shop’ above the door frame. As he reached the door a young girl with strange blond hair which border lined grey was flipping the open sign to close. Raedon groaned loudly as he stopped in front of the doorway, one of his hands moving to rub the back of his neck as he glanced through the glass, his dark chocolate eyes pleaded with the girl. His aunt had been very instant that he get the basil from this store, he didn’t know why but she said she would know if he got it from anywhere else. Even though he was an angry teenager he wouldn’t deny his aunt anything because when all the people around him had died she had appeared out of nowhere and have taken care of him and his sister and when she died his aunt had been there, comforting and steadfast. He owned her a lot and perhaps it was her compassion and hard will that kept him from slipping into total darkness.

Ava’s eyes widened slightly as she looked up at the boy that had suddenly appeared in front of the door to the store as she was switching the sign. She couldn’t help but stare at him, it wasn’t due to the fact that the boy was clearly Goth. Naissance had it’s fair share of Goths and other types of teens; it was just a very strong presence about him that made him stand out, she almost felt rude staring at him. Frowning softly she pulled open the door wide so her body was between the door and the frame, her fingers curled around the edge of the door as she looked inquiringly at the boy, her voice sounded puzzled as she spoke, “Yes?”

Raedon managed a small smile at the girls puzzled look; his breath slightly laboured from the brisk walk half way across town. Shifting he glanced beyond the girl and into the store, letting his hand drop to his side as he spoke, “I need basil.” Raedon’s eyes shifted back to the girl and he noticed that her look had quickly turned from puzzled to angry. He didn’t have a possible explanation for the anger in her eyes, the only explanation he could offer was that she was a girl and no man could truly understand the female mind, let alone their emotions.

Ava glared at the boy and pulled the door slightly closed in a subtle hint for him to go away as she spoke her voice had a cold undertone to it, “I’m sure you can get your basil at a local A&P.”

Swiftly she step back and began to shut the door but the boy quickly jumped forward and pressed his hand against the door, the same pleading look on his face as he spoke in a light baritone voice; he almost seemed desperate; “Please, my Aunt said I –had- to get it from here and that she would know if I hadn’t. I honestly don’t want to know what she will say to me if she knew I went to an A&P to get it.”

Ava looked into the boy’s dark eyes with a small frown. He was so strange; she couldn’t place why he seemed to draw her attention. The dept of his eyes held dark emotions, that much she could tell but right now he seemed to be light, almost concerned. She shook her head slightly trying to rid herself of the weird feeling and she arched a slim eyebrow at the boy, “Oh? What kind of Basil do you need?”

Ava watched as the boy shifted his weight from one foot to the other, when he spoke he seemed to be recalling someone word for word, “Sweet Basil leaves grown for 10 years.” He quickly seemed to force a smile as if he wasn’t sure of what he asked for. Nodding Ava turned and moved to a cabinet which was marked with a red ribbon, opening the door she reach up to the top shelf and pulled out a white pouch; moving back to the door she held out the pouch to the darkly dressed boy, “It’s Fifty dollars.”

Raedon stared at the girl, was she crazy? Perhaps her hair was so grey because all the blood had seeped out of her brain? He simply watched as a smile appeared on the girls lips as she looked at him, probably wondering if he were crazy. The expression he was currently wearing was no doubt priceless and could be read like a book. Leaning slightly forward as he reached into his pocket, “Are you joking?.” The girl however simply shook her head and wiggled the pouch as if to tell him to hurry up; he was sure however that his aunt hadn’t given him enough money for this herb.

Making a soft hmph sound he pulled out the money in his pocket, “Geeze, for that price it better be made of gold or magic.” The slim girl before him let out a soft airy laugh; he had no idea what she found so amusing and he quickly glanced down at the money, counting it. There was exactly Fifty dollars in his hand. Had his aunt really wanted to pay that much for a herb? Shaking his head he handed the money to the girl and snatched the pouch from her hand, quickly walking away, not bothering to thank her.

Ava leaned forward to look out the door at the boy who hunched his shoulders as he walked as if he were trying to duck away from the sunlight that bathed his face and shoulders. There was really something odd about him. Wrinkling her nose in the boy’s direction she leaned back into the store and closed the door, locking it before she turned and moved to the back of the store; entering the door that separated the store from the house. Stopping in the center of the living room, which were mostly nice earthy tones of green’s and browns she bounced from foot to foot, her eyes glancing to the back door to the garden and then to the door leading upstairs to her room. It was getting dark and she really wanted to get started on some other things but she hadn’t made an offering to Geb this week and planting a tree would probably please him greatly. Making a loud desperate sound she began to shake her hands in an anxious gesture, what to do, what to do. Finally she stopped as she heard her mothers laugh coming from the doorway leading to the garden and she quickly turned to her as she gripped her hands behind her back, grinning a huge embarrassed smile. ‘

Currently Ava was only 15 years old and would be turning 16 soon, though she took her craft very seriously and was often more mature then other 15 year olds she was still very prone to childish actions which always made her mother laugh. Moving forward her mother placed the water can down in the corner and looked to her daughter, “Ava, I am sure that Geb will forgive you if you worship his sister tonight and not him, plus you know he’d much prefer day worship and the day is quickly fading.”

Ava smiled and made a soft clicking sound as she nodded turning towards the door leading upstairs to her room, “You’re right, I don’t think he’d smite me if I worshipped his wife. It might start an argument!” Her smile grew as she threw open the door to her room and ran up the stairs, opening the second door that was at the top, quickly closing it behind her. The room was rather larger and mostly soft blues and green but there were random splashes of darker blues and fire reds. She had a different deity sculpture in each corner of her room, which had a material background that hung from the wall in the God and Goddess favoured colour. The room had several pieces of Cherry oak furniture but was not cluttered; there were two windows, one was a large double window which you could push open and the other was a skylight in the ceiling. The ceiling itself was slanted to the right and painted black and was covered with glow in the dark stars, moons and planets depicting constellation of the universe in almost prefect accuracy. It was one of her gifts to the Goddess Nuit.

Taking a deep breath she moved to a large wardrobe that rested against the left wall of her room; opening it up she reached inside and pulled out a white dress with pale yellow stars on it, these also glowed in the dark. Ava’s breath began to come in quick excited pants as she forgot all about the pouch of herbs she carried, dropping them to the floor as she began to strip off her clothes; stopping when she stood only in her white cotton underwear. Swiftly she pulled the dress over her head; it fit perfectly to her form resting down on her arms to reveal her shoulders and upper chest. The sleeves of the dress curved in a V point reaching to the tips of her fingers. The dress pulled tight at her hips, revealing the slight curve of her hips; the thin white material then swirled downward to her knees, resting against her skin. Bending down she pulled off her socks and moved to stand before her large blue framed full length mirror. With a light, girlish laugh she swirled around, the dress swirled up around her hips in an umbrella fashion. Stopping she moved towards her bed which was about three feet off the floor, much higher then the average bed and with a smile she reached into the center of the soft blue comforters and gently took hold of the large stick resting there.

Stepping back from the bed she held out the stick before her. Of course it was no ordinary stick. This stick was actually a branch that had fallen from a weeping willow tree during a storm. It was 4 feet tall and 3 inches thick. Most of it had been smoothed down and was a light beige colour; it was very soft to touch. The last foot of the branch ended in vines and leaves that were custom to the willow tree. Her mother had blessed the branch in a ritual of worship to Geb and he had bestowed his kiss upon the branch so that it was perfectly preserved. The leaves would never fall off or rot away. This was her broom.

Moving to the window she reached forward and thrust it open to reveal the darkening sky. Shifting she danced forward and stood on the ledge of the window which overlooked the garden and faced the cliff that dropped sharply down to a sand beach and a large crystal blue lake. Moving she placed her right leg over the willow broom and rose it so that she sat lightly on it. Tilting her ivory face upwards towards the full moon which had risen in the quickly darkening sky her pink tinted lips began to chant softly and a gently wind began to blow.