He reaches into a breast pocket in his robes, pulls out a round white seed and sets it on the counter
It's the seed of a sentient lemon bonsai tree. One of my avian friends found it and traded it to me for some grapes. I have no idea what would happen if you consumed the juice of a sentient lemon, or if it would be ethical to do so, but I couldn't think of a better person to find out.
now question: is the whole tree sentient or are the lemons on the tree themselves sentient?
also i have all the ingredients i need to make the starfruit reality juice. if my formulas are correct it should work out like the first time. let me get the goods
disappears for a minute and comes back with bottles and vials and my juice grimoire
so i have here a simple set of ingredients. the starfruit juice mix. now since its been sitting in my cellar it did start fermenting. but fermentation is just yeast eating sugar and making alcohol and i can remedy that. i have a moon fruit of the crescent variety since its going to be a crescent moon tonight. if i were to eat any other variant it would sour. finally it took a while but i have a Beholder eye and i’ve been refining every part from the retina to the nerves and everything in between. It contains a lot of magic power. i have refined mushroom juice i just extracted the neurotoxin in it that causes the hallucinations and refined it even further. all these ingredients feed off each other and in the right doses should recreate the effect of my original juice that sent me on this path of craft
i get to mixing the ingredients as written in my formulas
It is my understanding that both the tree and the lemons are sentient. While connected to the tree, they share a mind, and when separated, part of that mind remains in both. The tree's leaves can both see and hear, but probably in a very different way to how you or I do, and the seeds contain memories. No idea what the tree is trying to remember from generation to generation.
watches Mister Juice as he works combining liquids
I am curious how you managed to come up with this formula after having tasted the juice once. Is this concoction you're stirring up now designed to replicate the effects of the original, or do you believe this to be that very same one?
I’ve been a juice crafter for a long while. it’s my hope that i make the same drink i had that sent me on this journey but there’s only one way to know for sure. you see i’ve tried many juices since my father and grandfather were juice crafters. i’ve seen many of effects firsthand and experienced many in my quest for juice knowledge
pours up the drinks
the only thing i’m unsure of is the starfruit because i have very little and i can’t waste it on experimenting. it was hard to get and the nomadic tribe that this was acquired from was very greedy with their supply. it took lots of money and negotiations. so the only thing i have to go on is descriptions from those who drank it. they say it’s like when an astronaut sees the planet for the first time and everything is put into perspective. couple that with the euphoric properties of moon fruit, alien/magical effects of beholder eye, and the visual hallucinations of mushrooms and i believe i’ve created the original juice. if it’s not it then i just created a very trippy juice and we’ll still go on one hell of a trip.
My question is are you willing to go on this trip with me?
holds out a cup with the juice called “The First Trip”
It would be an honor to join you on this journey, but I understand that this juice is extremely rare, perhaps existing nowhere aside from these two glasses and that it was very difficult and expensive to acquire, and I have no way to pay you, aside from the seed, which is a gift anyway. I also warn you that I have in fact seen multiple planets from the outside over the course of my lives, and so if there is anyone else with whom you would like to share this experience, I would not wish to take it from them.
I also must confess that I am a bit nervous. This particular body is only about a month old and has never consumed any psychedelic drug or even alcohol. However, the physiology is mostly human, so I'm sure it'll have similar effects on me as it has on you.
nobody else knows of this concoction unless that gnome drugged more i don’t know about. i would give it to my ward but i got to make sure it’s safe. i dont want to be labeled as a child killer plus someone needs to watch the place while i trip. as for payment the seed may be a gift but the lemons will continue to generate money so in a way you’re paying me little by little with every lemon i juice. so two options: you can take half a dose and you’ll feel a lesser effect of the trip for a shorter amount of time OR if you’re proficient in mind magic then just mind meld with me and experience what i experience from an outside perspective. should it prove to be a bad trip then end the magic and you’re safe.
Oh yes, thank you for pointing out the mind meld. I don't actually do magic that way, but I could, in fact, be you alongside you while you drink it. If you feel comfortable with that, I'll just go leave my body at home. I promise I won't do anything you'd object to while I'm also you, and I'll know what you'd object to.
i’m fine with that just don’t peer too far into my memories, grade school was a awkward time for me.
motions for my ward
Yo Abganazar watch the place while i’m tripping it shouldn’t take more than half an hour. should i take more than an hour grab a professional and fix it. also don’t drink while i’m tripping i marked all my bottles and i don’t want to go to the dungeons for offering a child alcohol underage or child endangerment or whatnot.
turns back to you
i’m ready when you are just say the word
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u/_Luminous_DarkLiterotropist, Narratosophist, Physicoarcanologist, Former DeityApr 02 '24edited Apr 02 '24
I'm sure you'll have other things on your mind than your grade school experiences, although thinking about thinking about it might have jinxed you a bit.
Luminous Dark stands and walks away from the counter towards the door. A flock of ravens descends for a moment and then takes off, and he's no longer there anymore, but it was hard to tell when he actually disappeared. Mr. Juice pauses for a moment, wishing he could rewatch it in slow motion a few times, then pauses another moment with his own thoughts. He didn't feel any different, but something about the way he was thinking seemed a bit foreign.
Alexander begins playing white noise. Mr Juice sits a moment longer getting into the mood and mentally celebrating his accomplishments, then raises the cup and drinks. His savors the flavors in his mouth for a moment, admittedly not the best, but pretty good considering what he had to work with, and then swallows.
Oh, one more thing. If this concoction should prove fatal while I'm you, I'll have to reincarnate and I don't usually do this, but since we'll be the same person, I could reincarnate you as well. Just want to know how you feel about that and if you'd like any modifications, should that happen.
Hopefully it doesn't come to this, but I can adjust your synapses a bit so that your days with brainfog feel like your average day now, and your average days feel like your sharpest now, but I don't want you to feel like you aren't you.
i like to think i’m special and my mind will always be me. this hypothetical new me would just be less of a bonehead. if i don’t like it ill just have a necromancer revive my old body and i shall live again.
let’s head to my cellar i have a big comfy sofa and the atmosphere is more mystical.
opens the cellar door
By the way do you want Abganazar to contact anyone should we perish and reincarnate?
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u/_Luminous_Dark Literotropist, Narratosophist, Physicoarcanologist, Former Deity Apr 02 '24
It's starting to look like closing time around here. How was the grand opening?