13435/Cauldrons Are Not Just For Soup

Cauldrons Are Not Just For Soup
Date of Scene:	04 June 2021
Location:	Tala's Lair
Synopsis:	Willow learns she can make a potion. This may be a bad thing!
Cast of Characters:	Tala, Willow Rosenberg
Tinyplot:	Temptation

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Tala has posed:
The cauldron was going again, though the ingredients around it were not the same as during Willow's last visit. There were some that looked normal and then things that were rather noxious appearing. Was that actual eye of newt in that jar?

Tala had a book floating to her side, opened but not actually something she was consulting. The fire was on beneath the cauldron but there seemed to be nothing in it but possibly water. Some sort of clear liquid that was running at a simmer, not boiling over.

She was waiting for the arrival of her apprentice.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Holy cow!

Willow had thought her one job would be better than two or three. Nope. She was hecticly trying to balance her job and everything else. Of course she was in the very beginning in her transition from the cafes to X-Corps.

"Sorry! I missed my bus." She didn't have anything to offer as an apology, to boot. "What's on today?"

Tala has posed:
"It is quite alright," Tala assured her as she motioned to the cauldron. "At the moment, it is water. Nothing more. When you are done, it will be a transformative elixir." She walked around the table to the opposite side, bare feet silent on the floor. She stopped across from where Willow would be at the cauldron.

"The book is open to the correct page. Follow it precisely or it could have...disastrous consequences." Tala smiled despite those words, a dark edge that disastrous might be appealing to her in some base way. "This is the potion version of a glamour spell. It does not require you to maintain concentration and allows you to have that magic available for other things, should you need it."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Oh.. no. Willow did not do potions well. In fact, she did even worse with potions that changed your body for a little time, or a lot. Amy was still a rat in her bedroom, waiting.

"Are you sure?" Willow looked at the instructions. It was almost the exact potion she was working for the last how many years. "I've not been very good prior?"

Tala has posed:
Tala watched her a long moment with those otherworldly eyes, the white on white with no obvious pupil. "You are a very smart woman, Willow. You know that if you are not good at something, you continue trying until you improve. I was not aware that you were that uncomfortable with potions."

She considered the setup and then looked back to Willow. "It is up to you. If you do not wish to follow this path, we will continue to work on more immediate spells that require not preparation. Though potions can allow much power to be stored, leaving your own inner resources full."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Drats. While Tala didn't scold her per se, Willow certainly felt like it.

She didn't even respond, she turned around and began. First she memorized the spell. First once, then twice, and finally three times. Then she began carefully measuring the components out, putting them into the cauldron.

At first it did nothing. Willow wanted to put more, or stir or , or something. But the instructions said in big black letter : do touch it until a foam settles on the top.

Willow wasn't sure if the piece of information was in *her* instructions. Maybe it was the missing link all along?

Tala has posed:
When Willow got to work, Tala hid a smile. She knew the young witch had it in her. It was her own doubts that limited her. Kept her from reaching her full potential which was truly a horrible waste.

For Willow's power was enormous. It may even be beyond Tala's own. If she could break the psychological barriers that held her back, how magnificent she would be to behold.

They had to wait a full five minutes for the foam to begin appearing on the surface. An eternity when one wanted to do something to hurry it along. But such magic could not be rushed.

When the foam was covering the top of the mixture, Tala moved to the side where she picked up--a spray bottle. One of those that could be bought in any store for any number of uses. She took off the top section and offered the bottle to Willow. "Transfer the potion to the bottle."

She did not offer a funnel. No towel or mitts to keep her hands from getting burned. Willow would need to use her own power. Or come up with another way.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow peers at the potion. Once it had settled down, it looked exactly like water. Clear, clear water. But how was she supposed to put it into the bottle without a scoop? Clearly she was supposed to figure out.

The best she could do was to transmogrify the liquid into the bottle. To take it out of the cauldron, to form into a thin line going from the amorphous liquid into the bottle.

Tala has posed:
Tala clapped her hands together, obviously pleased. Willow had used magic. Instead of asking for a funnel or spoon or anything else. She had used the tools she already possessed.

"Very well done." She watched the potion floating through the air as it was magically drawn up then over to fill the bottle. This way was also better because with magic, she got all the way to the last drop. Despite it being a warm liquid in the cauldron, it was cold in the bottle.

Tala passed over the screwtop with the pressure nozzle to make it into a spray bottle once more. "With this, you can use it mainly for small glamour type changes. Larger ones, it would need to simmer for a good 24 hours. For something truly astounding like turning a person into a frog? Five days, give or take three hours. It requires several additional steps at various time frames but this. This is the baby step."

She motioned to the bottle. "Think what you wish to change. Just like you do with a glamour spell. Do you want your hair a different color or style? Your eyes different? Perhaps a little more color to your complexion without the dangers of exposure to the sun?"

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
She did it! She really did it! Hot darn!

For a minute Willow was pleased as punch. Then Tala told her to think about what she wanted to change about herself.. Nails long? No, that was something not worthy for the first time. Hair? No. A tan.. maybe?

No! She's got it: Her eyes. She wanted them red, dark red. Almost black.

"I've got it!"

Tala has posed:
"Envision it in your mind. Down to the last detail. Whatever it might be." Tala eyed the bottle in the other woman's hand.

"Once you have it, use the bottle to spray the area of your body to be effected. It's set for a fine mist but it dries instantly upon touching anything, so you won't really feel a thing. If you envision it correctly, and the potion was brewed true, you will have that change for the next four hours."

She grinned a little. "And if you do not envision it properly, or failed on the potion, there will be a different reaction by your body. Nothing painful, I promise."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow had a vision in her head. The way she thought vampires should really be. Well their eyes. She'd always imagined a wider set than usual, and the pupil and the iris were so very, very close together..

(probably as a result of wearing that crazy vampire costume the other day)

Maybe she should give them a little bit of a slant. Not enough to notice, but just enough to make you look again. And red. Red as blood, only deeper coloured. The red of blood drying.

With that in mind, she used the squirt bottle to create a mist, and walked right on through it.

Tala has posed:
As Willow walked throught he mist, Tala didn't see anything huge change. No hair, no skin, nothing. Then she caught the eyes and she gave a bright smile.

"Now those remind me of something. Very daring. Just a hint of something not quite right because of that darker shade of red. A person can think it is brown then will double take. I like the slight olive shape as well. Very nice."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Now that's she's gone through with the eyes, she wished she'd thought of one more thing: The teeth. Oh but she could really use them to get back at Spike! Making fun of her!

"Do you like?" Everything gave a plan. A hideously evil plan. Willow smiled, crinkling her new-for-the-day eyes. Yes, she had an excellent idea. But first she would need a plan and some new clothes.