Darkness had completely surrounded Priscilla, eerie chatter masked by clattering bones as she pressed against the catacomb's walls. Chills ran down her spine, her arm snatching at anything that was hidden in the darkness. 'Please stop messing with Lucia, show yourself!!'
Giggles erupted from the darkness, in a very familiar voice. Lucia crept around the corner with her flashlight pointed up to exaggerate her expression, but regardless of how much she tried to act scary, she couldn't stop laughing at Priscilla.
'You are seriously the worst. You know that?' Priscilla cursed, no longer keeping her voice low.
'Shhh! You might alert the guards and get us caught.'
'Ugh, you bitch. I will get you back for this!'
================================================================================
Twilight had fallen onto the bustling city, thousands of tourists scrambled to restaurants and local tourist locations. The webbed tower beckoned people to reach in and create memories they would never forget, it's soft yellow light illuminating the night sky ever so slightly. Priscilla had been leaning against a wall, admiring the beauty created long ago, in her mind however she had been hoping someone would reach her heart and steal it in a moment of passion.
Her eyes glanced to her right; couples farther than the eye could see. To her left was Lucia, texting away on her little phone, and of course, more couples past her. She took a deep breath and sighed heavily, her dream of being swept off her feet in Paris seemed to be no more than a distant fantasy.
'Can we do something else?' Priscilla asked the busy Lucia.
'You were the one that wanted to visit the Eiffel Tower. Annoyed because you don't have a man to whisper sweet nothings into your ear?' Lucia dodged a quick kick.
She sighed and led the way toward a friend's house, one that lived pretty close to the heart of Paris. The walk was quick with many grumbles from Priscilla. Many drunkards walked past, launching cat calls at every chance they got. Though she was annoyed with how they were acting, she obeyed the rule she had set down for them where she couldn't use magic.
A small-scale apartment complex veiled by a shadow with lights only past the entrance gate stood before them. A touch pad that glowed blue sat just on the side of the gate, with nimble fingers Lucia put in the code and they both wandered into the eerily quiet space. Darkness played tricks on Priscilla's mind, invisible eyes dug holes through her body, disfigured bodies danced like madmen to a melody only they could hear, and lastly, voices of unknown origins scratched at her ears.
'Why does your friend live in this hellish place?'
'That is not nice. And this place has the cheapest rent in all of Paris.'
'Well, it's not worth it seems this haunted!'
'How did you know that it was haunted? A couple of poltergeists were found in this location a couple of years back and now the only residents here are students and my friend.'
'Why am I not surprised to hear that...'
They were soon met with a large door that separate the inside from the outside, about twenty little lockboxes were stuck into the wall, half open and half rusted away. Clearly, they weren't being used often. Lucia began typing in a code into an analog keypad, the buzzer began beeping at slow intervals before a lady's voice answered. 'Heyo! Come in come in. I am waiting on the ground floor, room number six.' The door clicked open, and the small speaker cut off, rusty hinges creaked in the concrete hallway where a set of stairs elevated the apartments from touching the ground. After passing the first set of doors, six apartments came into view, Lucia's friend's golden six letter was hung sideways, a screw missing from its side.
Three short knocks summoned the young witch, a large smile accompanied by massive eyebags that dug deep into her cheeks. 'How's it going Luci? It's rare to see you around these parts. Would you like some coffee, or maybe some tea?' Her hands were quick at work, preparing the ingredients for both options before either could answer. Despite her tired look, this girl was full of energy.
'Uhm...It's nice to meet you. My name is Priscilla.'
'My my. How could I forget to introduce myself? What a Clutz I am. People around these parts call me Luvi-'
'Her actual name is Kat.' Lucia cut in before Kat's ruse could continue.
'Why would you ruin it for me! You know I hate that name!' She sunk down into one of the many bean bags littered around the entrance.
Lucia took one near the very back wall, under several candles that flickered wildly from the opened window. Priscilla had taken one between the two, creating a little space between each of them.
'So, Luci, what brings you around here? I know you didn't visit me just because you missed your dear friend.'
'We just got back from visiting Nidhogg. I made Priscilla eat a small chunk of his shell; I have a feeling something fun will come from this. But yes, there is something I need from you.'
'I figured as much. What is it?'
'You are the greatest artefact creator I know, and Priscilla happens to have the same magical nature as you so I was hoping she could learn from you. We are going to be here for a week, is there anything you two could craft together in that time? Or perhaps you could teach her of some potion brewing.'
'Well, a week is not enough to forge anything major. Just minor wands, though its rare, there have been cases where mid-tier wands were created in just ten days, but that definitely won't happen. You need at least a month to make a solid mid-tier one, and six months to make a lower-level top tier.'
'Stop using confusing language, just use the system people set in place for judging items.'
'Ugh whatever, you are a buzzkill. Alright, the system goes from F all the way to SSS. Forget that SSS even exists because only one of those wands has ever existed, there are however twelve artefacts that are on that level, the zodiacs. Anyway, to make a wand that isn't below D tier would take about a month. So, let's not set up ourselves for failure.'
'Could we try brewing some potions then?' Priscilla asked quietly.
'Sure of course! What kinds of potions are you thinking about?'
'Love potions!'