June has no idea how they missed it.
A one story house, like one you'd see in a suburb, sits sagging in the middle of the forest. In fact, it looks like it might have been simply picked up from the town and deposited here. June thought Lotus said "home" as a courtesy instead of something ridiculous like dwelling or habitation. But no, it really was just a house, sitting strangely in this forest with a dirt-caked wooden porch and Coleus scutellarioides hanging in pots above. Lotus unlocks the front door and holds it open for June.
The third thing June notices is the mess. The carpeted floor and busted shelves are covered in haphazardly strewn items. Only a few things stand out as clean - a folded blanket on a chest of drawers, a toy or stuffed animal here and there, and jars of things June doesn't want to look closely at.
The first thing they notice is the collapsed slab of wood surrounded by rooftop shingles on the floor, sitting directly below a sizeable hole in the roof about the size of a small round table - or a witch's cauldron. The opening cuts clean through the attic to expose the canopy of trees overhead. Beams of light from the afternoon sun squeeze between the shifting leaves, shining on dust and, yes, onto a cauldron nearby. That's the second thing June notices. They see all of these characteristics in very quick succession, so the order doesn't matter.
"Sentimentality."
June pries their eyes away from the chaotic interior to look curiously at Lotus. "What?"
"Ah, the emotion which is felt towards—"
"I know, but what about it? Is all this stuff important to you?"
Lotus walks across the room and picks up a pink stuffed toy rabbit, covered in dirt stains and cotton falling out of a tear. "No," xe says, "nothing here is owned nor cared for by myself. But each artifact was once owned by someone who loved and tended to it. Sentimentality has great power. If one claimed that power, coalesced it with the right material, the composite can be great... great, yes, and powerful..."
Xe holds the ragged rabbit for a long moment, staring intensely into its button eyes: one red, and one green, smaller and with a different shape. Lotus tosses it into the cauldron without a care. It splashes into murky liquid. Xe then trots into what June presumes is the kitchen, and after a cacophony of cabinet doors and glass bottles chinking together, xe returns with a salt shaker labeled "AMINE". Xyr eyes dart back and forth around the room and spot a jar of dried leaves from a species June doesn’t recognize. The witch takes the leaves and grinds them in xyr hand before dropping them into the pot with a grin. Xe goes to grab another item.
June stands in the entrance of the house, watching Lotus' flurry of movement with a sort of morbid curiosity. "What are you making?" they ask, fascinated. "What are those ingredients? You're not putting- is a chair really necessary!?"
"Denial, the seat is for you, not the potion. Sit now."
With all the excitement, June almost forgot about their leg. Both the leg and the arm resting against their cane for support had gotten tired, and they're thankful for the respite despite how old and uncomfortable the chair is. One leg of the seat was shorter than the other three, so it rocks back and forth when June shifts their weight. Lotus then brings a small stool and motions for June to put their bad leg on it.
"Thank you. You still haven't answered my question though - what's all this for?"
Lotus stops mid-pace, turning their head to look at June with one golden eye.
"Plant matter. Climbing your appendage, growing deeper. Vines and twigs to choke and scratch you." Xe continues moving again, throwing ingredients into the cauldron, but they don't stop talking. "Xylem and phloem instead of bones and arteries, functioning in similar ways yet competing with your flesh. You would be lucky if you retained the ability to move it by age twenty-five. What did seek me for, My child? Ah, do you have a walk-in refrigerator?"
June is too stunned to reply to the non sequitur.
"Likely not. Do not be concerned." The witch dips a glass bottle into the soupy mixture and brings it out again. Inside it is a swirling, glowing liquid of misty purple, entirely dissimilar to the grime it just came out of. Lotus hands it to June, who takes it without thinking. The potion catches in the sunlight, sparkling like one of May's glittery eyeshadows.
"A few drops a day, directly onto the epidermis. Allow it to soak in - it will, ah, hurt. Sting. Works best when low in humidity and temperature. One more affair." Lotus stares down at June with a grim face. "This denies arresting your twisted pine. It will continue developing, though... slower. You will have many more rotations of the Sol Keeper with this appendage attached."
June nods, believing they understand. "So, your payment, right? What do you want for it?"
Lotus smiles again. "Ah, this will sting as well."