Nifalia

I was in the westernmost region of Nifalia. It was called Nifalia because an old witch by that name hanged herself here. And now I was here. 

But not to hang myself. 

I was here to find Nifalia’s last brew. Ironically: A brew of happiness. It was said to cure indifference. 

An old dusty book sat perched against a pillar. I read the happiness recipe: toad flesh, warts, chicken talons (2), moss (collected on September’s first full moon), dragon tooth. At the bottom it read: Don’t fucking brew this. 

I knew Chichipita had most of this at home. The dragon tooth was missing. I chucked the book at the wall in frustration. And heard a clink. A dragon tooth fell out of the book. 

Must be Nifalia’s last gift, I thought.

I portaled back to Chichipita with the dragon tooth. She rolled her eyes and gave me the dungeon key.

"You find what you needed?" she smirked.

"Just portal hopping," I said.

"Sure."

The old elf guardian looked at me gloomily and let me pass. Goodness. Maybe he could use my brew later, I thought. 

I put all the ingredients together along with two cups of cold water and dumped everything in a steel cauldron and hung it over the fire. Weirdly, it smelled like cloves, crushed almonds and something that resembled turmeric. 

I ladled some of the orange liquid in a glass cup and waited for it to stop smoking. I drank deeply. I coughed violently. The taste did not match the smell.

The result was like the opposite of hemp smoke. I felt all of my rage bubble to the surface. Rage for my unfulfilled dreams. Rage for my fake life. Rage for…

A booming voice echoed in the chamber: "You are not indifferent."

It was Chichipita. And she was laughing. 

"You've just repressed your magic," she said. "You're not unhappy or indifferent, you're pent up!"

"Thank you, but I know how I feel."

"Pfft," she... something'd.

Suddenly I turned pale white and I felt my body lose control, though I was still lucid. I sank to the ground, unable to move my arms or legs. 

"It sucked out your energy," she said. 

"Fuck you, Chichipita!"

"Yes! Let out your rage!"

I started crying. "I'm not like you! I don't want to be here anymore."

"Okay maybe dial that back a bit. You're happy here, right?"

"Fuck you! I want out! I want to go live with the elves and dance and sing and hunt scallops!"

"Well that's not very realistic, is it?"

"I don't fucking know I just fucking know I don't want to spend more time with you!"

She didn't reply.

I felt bad. As I breathed deeply, I felt life return to my limbs. I felt rather decided on my next steps. From then on I continued to live a mediocre life with Chichipita and her gloomy elf companion. I used magic to make the most delicious brews. I sang delicious songs and wrote delicious poems. It wasn't that bad. I was relatively happy. I wasn't even sure I could figure out how to portal to the elves anyway.

And I never hanged myself.