Undeath by Chocolate

The Chocolate Fairy - Chapter 2

Eugenia

When I came into the store Thursday morning, Grandmother Viola's spell book was on the counter. Viola was, technically, my great-great-great, possibly more greats than that, grandmother. Celesta, my great grandmother, told me that Viola was related to the Queen of the Fairies, or possibly the Queen of their branch of the Fairy family.

I never quite understood the politics or family connections of the Fairy realm except to note that my mother's mother was half-Fairy or something and therefore, I had some magic.

Gram Celeste never knew that I experimented a little to find out how much magic I had. She's convinced I have more than I think, if I'd just try.

Well, that's not going to happen now.

Even without magic, I loved baking from an early age, and loved to hang around "The Chocolate Fairy" with my father. By the time I was sixteen, I was doing most of the work in the kitchen, while Dad took care of the money and customer service side of things.

Now, the shop was all mine, and it felt great to have something I could call my own.

Except that I am still alone, still apparently considered a freak even by those who buy and enjoy, presumably, what I bake.

This was not what I had expected. I thought that when I grew up, all the teasing and exclusion from my adolescent life would be in the past, something I could chalk up to general teenage angst. Other kids were trying to figure out who they were, too, only I was the one they chose to focus their own confusion onto.

Shaking my head, I pushed those thoughts out of my mind, and went over to the book. Spells were useless to me, but I was curious what Celesta thought could help.

#

I took the book back to the kitchen, and after making a cup of coffee and turning on the ovens, I sat down to read the spell.

It turns out it wasn't a love spell. It was something called a "lure" spell. Apparently, it was for my mouse problem, not Jeremy.

I smiled to myself. At least, that was a weight off my mind. I truly had been worried that Gram was going to try something...magical whether I wanted her to or not.

This didn't seem like a dangerous use of magic, so I began gathering the simple ingredients, at least the ones I could find in my pantry. There were a few more exotic things, like dragonfly tears and hummingbird dreams, that I'd have to ask someone about, but at least this was taking my mind off my bleak, lonely future.

#

That evening after I closed "The Chocolate Fairy," I went over to my cousin Amethyst's house. Her branch of the family had more Fairy blood and therefore more magical ability.

"Dragonfly tears?" she asked after we'd had the traditional family gathering drink of rose hip tea and thistle milk cookies. I might be the baker of the family but Amy always had the cookies ready in case family came to visit, but the tea she brewed on the spot.

Housekeeping and hospitality were her skills, much like baking was mine. In fact, she had, on more than one occasion, offered to visit my house and straighten things up. She did this for other family members, but I politely refused. I like my privacy, and I didn't need her judging my homemaking deficiencies.

I nodded to her question. "Gram gave me a spell to help get rid of mice in the shop's store room. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with using that, though. How does one get dragonfly tears anyway?"

Amy sighed. "I have some downstairs in the cellar. It's not what it sounds like." She stood and I followed.

"It sounds like someone has too much time on their hands if they can torture dragonflies to make them cry."

I tried to look as though I was joking but in reality, that's exactly what I thought.

"It's a flower," Amy said. We'd reached the basement door. "And hummingbird dreams is a small mushroom. Both things can only be found in Fairy. The southern sector to be precise."

I stopped and stared at you. "You've been?

"You have too," she replied, "but you don't remember. Our mothers had to take us there when we were born to be presented to the Fairy Court, but they weren't interested in having us live with them."

"Why wouldn't they want us there?" I knew it was odd for me to feel slighted when I didn't want anything to do with the Fairy Realm, but something inside me wondered what was wrong with me that they, whoever they were, didn't want me around.

"We're part human," Amy said as though that explained everything.

"So are all the children born to Fairies now."

"I suppose, but some of us have more magic than others."

"And those with more magic are more desirable to the Fairy Court, I suppose."

She looked at me and sniffed. "Those with more magic can be trained to fit in. With the right training, our human part can be...suppressed."

"Is that what you want?" I asked.

Amethyst was twenty-five years old. Was she planning to leave the human world any time soon? She was the one person in the family still living that understood what my life was like. If she went to live in Fairy, who would I have to talk to?

She shrugged. "I don't know if I want my human part suppressed, but I would like to know what my magical ability could grow into. I don't want to necessarily be fully human."

Her words bothered me, and I bristled. "I don't want to be fully human. I just want to be...normal."

"Normal." Amy laughed. "I wonder what that means." She started down the stairs.

"You don't remember being in Fairy?" she asked when we reached the bottom.

I shook my head. "Why would I, if I was a baby when Mom took me there?"

"That wasn't the only time. You went with me until you were twelve years old."

I shook my head. "That can't be right." Either she was lying or I had no memory of those trips. Neither option appealed to me.

"You used to remember." She frowned at me over her shoulder. "I'm sorry they took that away from you."

"Who did?"

"The Queen of the Fairies and her Mages."

"Why would they do that?"

Again, Amethyst shrugged. "I suppose it had something to do with the chocolate shop. That's a Portal to the Court."

Then she turned, smiling triumphantly. "Here are the ingredients you need for your pest control spell."

I reached for them, but she pulled the bottles back. "Remember, cousin, the seeds and leaves are rare, and you can't let it get mixed with any other magical ingredients."

"I can't imagine how that could happen," I said, snatching the two small bottles from her hands, "but why not?"

"These ingredients are powerful and form the root of a variety of love and obsession spells."

I laughed. "I guess the last thing I need is for my mice to fall in love with each other."

Amethyst sighed and shook her head. "They can also be used to make a forgetting spell." She bit her lip, then said, "Like the one the Queen gave you."

I nodded slowly. "I see."

"Look, Genie," Amy said, reaching out to touch my arm. "You know, if you married someone who was part Fairy and had children, they'd have to let you visit again and keep your memories." She gave me a sly smile. "I could set you up with someone if you'd like."

"Don't bother. I'm not interested." I slipped the bottles into my purse.

In reality, I was curious as to what the Fairy Court was like. Celeste sometimes talked about how the whole Realm was a paradise, and the Court was the most beautiful thing in the place. Still, though, if they didn't want me, I certainly didn't want Amethyst setting me up with anyone.

"And don't worry about me screwing up the potion," I said, "I'm good with recipes."