"Wow, this place is weird," said Elizabeth as she entered the shop. "It's so much bigger in here than I expected, especially considering it looks so small from the outside. I wonder how I never knew this shop was here."
Elizabeth was a young woman, fresh out of college-- a short, slender girl with short black hair, brown eyes and glasses. Her complexion was light, with a slight cream tint; she was Polish on her father's side of the family, and Chinese on her mother's. She had always been a bit of an introvert, preferring to do things on her own, or occasionally, with her friend and roommate Gina or her boyfriend Steven. Today she was alone, just exploring one of the local shopping centers, when she noticed a shop she had never seen before. The sign out front said "Spellcast Magic Supplies, Est. 1966". Elizabeth was intrigued by this, and decided to look around.
Inside, she found a clean, dimly lit store, with walls of stone and several aisles of shelves full of books and bottles and trinkets. Passing by one of the aisles of books, Elizabeth briefly browsed over the titles. "Principles of Alchemy... Cantus Vitae... Summoning for Dummies... What the heck IS all of this stuff?"
"They're magic books," said a voice from behind Elizabeth. Startled, she turned to face the source of the voice and found a woman who seemed to be in her early to mid-twenties, the same as Elizabeth, sitting on the counter. She was pale-skinned and platinum blonde, with vermilion streaks in her hair, copious eyeshadow, a nose piercing, and ruby lips. She was wearing a black bodice with blood-red laces and a matching dress, along with fishnet stockings and black leather boots. Elizabeth could also see that her arms were tattooed with arcane looking symbols, and that her fingernails were painted black. "Sorry," said the woman. "I didn't mean to surprise you. I'm Devianne. I own this shop."
"I'm Elizabeth."
Devianne smiled. "Nice to meet you. You're new here, aren't you? Everything here is magic."
"Magic?" asked Elizabeth. "You mean, like stage tricks?"
"No," laughed Devianne. "REAL magic. I serve the local community of witches, sorcerers, and alchemy enthusiasts."
"But magic doesn't exist," said Elizabeth. "Not REALLY."
"Oh, but it does," replied Devianne. "And the fact that you're even here means at least part of you is curious about it. Not just anybody can stumble in here off the street, you know. I've put a concealment spell on this place to keep out the hardened disbelievers. I don't need a bunch of philistines coming in here and causing trouble for me and my customers." She jumped down from the counter. "So what can I help you find today?"
Elizabeth thought about the question. As hesitant as she was to admit it, there WAS something about the offer that appealed to her: the shy, quiet Elizabeth had a secret transformation fetish. The thought of others being turned into something else, or of being turned into something else herself, was very arousing to her, and had been ever since she was a teenager. It was a little embarrassing for her, so it was something she generally preferred to keep private-- Gina and Steven were the only other people who knew about it, and she only told them because she completely trusted them to keep her secret. But now, with the prospect of real magic suddenly presenting itself to her, she nervously asked, "Well... you wouldn't happen to have anything... transformative, would you?"
Deducing the situation from Elizabeth's coyness about the question, Devianne grinned knowingly. "Ah, I see. Don't be ashamed, honey-- everybody has their kinks. In here, there's no judgment. Now, since you seem to be a novice at this... Ah! I think I have just the item for you!" Devianne led Elizabeth toward the back of the store, until she found a small, red, hinged wooden box covered with ornate gold filigree. Devianne picked it up and said, "This will be perfect for you."
"What is it?" asked Elizabeth.
Devianne opened the box in a similar manner to a briefcase. Inside, held securely in place in form-fitting niches, there were sixteen small glass bottles, a small measuring cup, and a pen. Thirteen of the bottles were filled with liquids of various colors, and had labels-- each label consisting of a drawing of an animal, and writing in Chinese. The three remaining bottles were empty, and their labels were left completely blank. "This is something I picked up in a shop in Chongqing," said Devianne. "It's a zodiac-themed potion set, perfect for beginners." Elizabeth took a closer look, and noticed that the animals on the labels were indeed those of the Chinese zodiac: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The thirteenth was a picture of a human.
"How does it work?" Elizabeth asked anxiously.
"Each potion has transformative properties," Devianne explained. "All you have to do is drink them. The amount of the bottle you drink is proportional to the amount you change-- so, if you drink half a bottle of the rabbit potion, for example, you'll only become half-rabbit, and if you drink the whole thing, you turn completely into a rabbit. You can use this measuring cup to measure out exact amounts of a bottle, and if you so choose, you can even mix potions together. Once you drink a potion, just put the bottle back in the box and close it, and the box itself will automatically refill the bottles back to their original amount. If you want to change back to your normal self, drink the entire bottle of human potion."
Elizabeth looked at the empty bottles again. "What about these? What are these for?"
"Those are extra bottles for custom potions. For example, if you want to become an animal that isn't already included in the set, you can make your own potions for those." Devianne removed the pen from the case. "Just fill an empty bottle with water, and use this pen to write the name of the animal you want on its label. Put the bottle back inside, close it up, and when you open it again, it will be the desired potion. You only get three with the set, but I can order extras for you later if you wish." Devianne put the pen back inside and closed put the box. "So, what do you think? Would you like to try it out?"
Elizabeth's heart was beating wildly in her chest. "H... how much?"
"Fifteen dollars," said Devianne.
"Wow, really? That's all?" asked Elizabeth. She glanced back down at the box. Fifteen dollars seemed like a real bargain. It was too good to resist. "Yeah, of course I'll buy it!"
"Excellent," said Devianne, handing the set to Elizabeth. "Let me ring that up for you." The shopkeeper led her customer over to the counter and entered the amount into her register. After Elizabeth had paid for her new purchase, Devianne handed her a business card and a small slip of paper. "Here's my card. If you have any questions or problems with your purchase, you can reach me at this number. And this other slip is a standard magical item warning sheet. I'm sort of legally obligated to hand these out to new customers. It's basically a list of magical do's and don'ts. You know, like 'don't use your magic item for illicit purposes', 'don't resell your magical item except to a licensed magic dealer'... basically, just use your common sense. By handing you this sheet, Spellcast Magic Supplies is hereby indemnified from and against liability for any and all magical mishaps resulting from a failure to heed these warnings."
"Uh... okay," said Elizabeth, turning toward the door with the potion case in her hand. "I'll be sure to read it. Thanks."
"Thank YOU!" said Devianne, waving politely. "Enjoy your purchase, and be sure to come back soon!"