It was an idyllic autumn morning at the edge of a quiet town. It was filled with stone buildings reinforced with magic sigils, a rarity amongst towns that small, but it did help ease the minds of the townsfolk… somewhat. The creator of these sigils was the kingdom’s most renowned alchemist, and normally the town would appreciate such a prestige guest. If it wasn’t for the… hazardous elements of befriending such an alchemist.

The daily reminder of their folly was fast approaching, as in the corner of this quiet town in a grove surrounded by bizarre trees of purple, blues and yellow leaves and deep red trunks sat a little house that was rarely quiet.

A massive explosion shook the area blowing off the wall on the far side of the cottage, black smoke billowed from the place the wall once was. Rubble strewn across the clearing a single figure walks out coughing and spluttering.

The figure is somewhat short, frizzy hair that is currently pitch black like the smoke wafting from the ruins of the stone wall. Whatever colour it may have been black it is now. Their face is covered in soot except for the eyes which have goggle markings around the edges and reveal a strange pair of blue and purple irises that flit about the scene taking it all in. They have a hunched and gaunt frame, that would look somewhat sickly if it wasn’t for the healthy glow in their eyes and small visible patches of skin

In stark contrast to the destruction and soot in the figures hands is a potion that glows an eerie purple light in a crystal bottle with a heart shaped stopper on top. The figure manages to cough and hack out a few mouthfuls of soot before straightening themselves and preparing for the next stage of the fallout.

“MAVE!” Yelled a tall figure striding out of the woods towards the ruined cottage. This woman was 6ft tall with wiry arms and an archer’s build. Lithe and full of lean muscle this figure stood glaring down at the diminutive figure covered in soot. Her short-cropped hair blowing slightly in the wind and her brown coat flapping behind her.

“What? I was just making a potion, this one’s really important I promise Brynn” replied Mave.

Brynn trudged over and lifted the alchemist by her collar and shook her around. “You promised me only one explosion per week, this is the THIRD one, and you still have two days left”

Mave tried to respond but anytime she tried to speak Brynn would just shake her harder slamming her mouth shut. After a while Mave relaxed, it was best to let these things take its course before arguing in her defence.

This time it seemed that Brynn wasn’t content with a light shaking, instead she stopped for brief rests then waited for Mave to make the slightest movement before continuing her harassment. It took a full 10 minutes for Mave to finally calm down.
“So, do you want to hear what I made now or do you want me to tell you another day once you’ve calmed down”

“I am calm” responded Brynn in the most serene beautiful voice she’d ever spoken in. Mave knew at this point she was in a dangerous spot.
‘I really wish I’d thought of this plan last week, now even if it goes off without a hitch I’ll still probably fail.’ Thought Mave.

“Right, of course. Um, in that case, considering your exceptional calm is it in my best interest to tell you now or later?” asked Mave

Brynn let out a long sigh and Mave could practically see the anger seeping out of the tall woman. As much as she complained she was always willing to spend more time with Mave, that’s why she’d come up with this plan in the first place.

“So…” said Mave waving the potion in front of Brynn and stepping back “What I have here, assuming it all worked properly is a true love potion”

Brynn gagged a little hearing that “What you want to be one of those creeps selling fake love potions to people. Those are horrible things that have been outlawed for a century”

“No no no Brynn” said Mave, wagging her finger in front of Brynn’s face but making sure to keep out of grabbing range just in case. “I’m not like those vulgar fools that made the other ones, this potion doesn’t make someone love you, it tells you who the person that will love you the most is”

“Huh?” said Brynn, visible confusion on her face “I know you’re good but how could something like that even work”

“Well, I tested a version on mice a few times and it puts a giant golden glowing question mark above their true love’s head… most of the time, I think…” said Mave

“What do you mean you think?! How do you even test something like that?” said Brynn

“Well, I had a lot of mice, and most of the time it worked but sometimes there was no marker I could find. Maybe it did work but that mouse wasn’t in the lab, who knows.” Said Mave

“Wait other people can see that mark?” asked Brynn

“Well yeah? How else could I test it on mice, I had to know it works didn’t I?” responded Mave. “Now, let’s drink this and see what happens”

Just as Mave reached out to unstopper the potion a blur of movement rushed past her and snatched it out of her hands. Brynn now stood behind Mave potion in hand glaring at Mave.

“I don’t think you should be trusted with something like this” said Brynn keeping the potion high in the air out of Mave’s reach.

“Hey, I don’t see you trying to court your true love, why not let me have my happiness” said Mave. Brynn faltered a little at this going slightly red in the face but she held strong against the jumping soot gremlin that now stood at her sides.

“This and that are two separate things” said Brynn stammering the words out.

Mave jumped backwards across the clearing over ten metres away from Brynn and well out of her grabbing range, for real this time. Reaching into her coat she pulled out another identical glowing purple vial and grinned at Brynn.

“No” said Brynn

“YES” Yelled Mave “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t drink this, I’ve got spares if you really want them”

Brynn bit the inside of her lip staring at Mave angrily face getting redder by the second. Scrunching her face up in what looked to be anger she glared at Mave before exhaling and letting her hands hang by her sides.

“Fine, I’ll give you your damned reason” said Brynn pulling herself up to her full height. “I love you, I’ve always loved you, and if you drink that potion I’ll hate you forever”

There was a flash of light and a wave of wind as Mave appeared beside Brynn jumped straight to her mouth and kissed her. It was very quick and before Brynn could gather her senses Mave had already backed off and was jumping and screaming like a maniac.

“MAVE! What the hell was that?” said Brynn angry and embarrassed face even redder than before, a feat Mave hadn’t thought possible.

Mave stopped her running around to face Brynn and take a swig of the potion before wiping her mouth with her sleeve. Brynn appeared beside her in a flash and slammed her into the ground.

“How could you do that! I just told you I loved you and you still take the damned potion” said Brynn. A chuckle could be heard from underneath Brynn’s boot and it only got louder and louder as Brynn held her there. After the laughter started to get uncomfortable, she let up her foot to reveal Mave slamming the ground and laughing with tears in her eyes.

“Haha, did you see the look on your face. Ha, this was so worth it, I finally got you to admit it” said Mave

“Wait… what do you mean admit it?” said Brynn

“These potions are just water with a light spell cast on them. I made the whole thing up” said Mave before she felt a kicked land on her stomach. Flying into the nearest tree and leaving a Mave shaped dent she fell face first into the ground groaning.

“How could you? Why would you?” stammered Brynn

“Well, I thought I’d made it pretty obvious I was in love with you. You just ignored all my advanced” said Mave

“Oh yeah like what?” said Brynn

“Well, what about that Goldenglow Cutfleaf I gave you. That’s a rare flower in these parts, and beautiful to look at too.” Said Mave

“That’s one of the most poisonous plants in the kingdom, why would anyone be happy to get that as a gift if they knew what it was?” said Brynn

“Right, um well, woops?” said Mave

“You didn’t know it was poison?” said Brynn

“Nope”

“Aren’t you an alchemist? Shouldn’t you know this?” asked Brynn bewildered

“Apparently not… well then what about the chocolates?” said Mave

“I’m allergic to cocoa, you know this Mave, I told you this after you gave me chocolates the first time” said Brynn

“But, I replaced that with an alchemical ingredient it should have been safe for you to eat” said Mave

“Well you didn’t tell me about it at all” said Brynn.

“Ok, well, um what about the dress?” said Mave

Brynn paused. Raising a finger and hoping for a response to come to her before dropping it again and deciding that the grass was a very interesting shade of green today. The dress Mave was referring to could hardly be called a dress at all. It was a nightgown that did an exceptionally poor job at keeping anything covered. Its purpose was exceptionally clear to anyone who thought about it for more than a few seconds but Brynn had ignored it on account of the exceptionally thin cloth that would never keep anyone warm.

“Ok… maybe you win that one” said Brynn, still admiring the grass. Turning to look up at Mave with questioning eyes. The kingdom frowned upon same sex couples, at least in important figures like Mave was. She would be expected to take a husband and start a family. Brynn had never imagined she really had a chance to be with Mave and had kept her feelings quiet.

“So you did all this for me?” asked Brynn

“Of course silly, I couldn’t have made my affection much more obvious, and I didn’t want you to feel pressured by asking you myself. My station is a lot higher than yours and I’d hate for you to subordinate yourself to me further just because my word is supposed to be law in this little village” mumbled Mave not looking Brynn in the eyes.

“So the potion was never real?” asked Brynn

“Nope”

“Then what was with the explosion” said Brynn

Now it was Mave’s turn to look confused. She searched for a good answer for her now hopefully girlfriend but could only shrug.

“Wait you don’t even know why your lab exploded?” said Brynn with a sigh

“Eh, that’s your job. Worrying about why things explode. It’s my job to fix the house afterwards” said Mave dusting herself off and walking over towards Brynn who was now watching her like a hawk.

Right as Mave moved in to give her a kiss Brynn grabbed her by the face and held her in the air.

“Ow, ow, Brynn, now that we’re dating, I don’t want to be in an abusive relationship” said Mave shockingly well for someone with a hand clamped over their face.

“Well, YOU are going to have a bath. I let you get away with it the first time but you are covered in soot and I will not have you getting it on my face” said Brynn still holding Mave at arm’s length.

Mave desperately tried to suppress a grin as she looked at Brynn’s soot smeared face from the first time she’d kissed her. “Well, you say that but it looks like you need a bath as well” said Mave in her best sultry voice.

Shamefully for Mave she sounded more like a baby bird chirping than a sultry women so Brynn just burst into laughter. “Perhaps I do, perhaps I do”

“Well, then wife, let’s bathe together” said Mave

“Boy you’re getting ahead of yourself, show me the ring first” said Brynn dropping Mave casually back on the floor.

And yet to Brynn’s horror and joy Mave reached into her messy bunch of hair and pulled out a beautifully engraved silver box that lit up with magic circles rotating slowly on each of the faces. Mave quickly twisted the circles this way and that and the box popped open with a rasp.

Inside was unbelievably white fabric, impossible to acquire without the most skilled alchemists available. And in the centre of that fabric was a dark black ring that seemed to suck all of the light from the area, inlaid with what could only be described as captured light that ran around the edges.

“I made it just for you” whispered Mave “It has an invisibility enchantment on it, I know you always wanted to learn the spell, and despaired the potions were so expensive, that was even after I’d discounted it long past the point of profit”

“Brynn, um would you” stammered Mave looking up at Brynn with tears starting to form in her eyes.

Brynn looked back at her friend, her love… her wife. Crushing the small figure into a tight hug she cried as well, nodding into the soot covered hair of Mave.

“Yes Mave, I’m sorry it took me so long to say it. Yes… I’ve loved you since you moved in. I shouldn’t have waited five years”

“I should’ve given you better gifts, or made this potion earlier” stammered Mave in response.

The pair of them held each other tight. The soot no longer a concern for Brynn, and Mave had never minded. They were afraid to let go of each other just in case this was a dream they’d be forced to wake from. Luckily for them, this moment was real.