CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The Art of Potion Making

After a grueling five-hour surgery, we’d been allowed inside Number Five's room just so we could see that our friend’s life was no longer in danger. Although his medication had put him in such a deep sleep that he didn’t even react while Number Three wrote her number on Five’s cheek.

I think the adults who’d come in with us were just so glad that Number Five was okay that they didn’t mind that the other kids started scrawling their numbers on Number Five’s exposed skin so that his face, neck, and arms looked like a night club’s bathroom wall by the time we were done.

Number Three had made sure a space on the forehead had been left for me. She’d even swatted away Number Seven’s hand when he’d tried to claim it.

“That’s One’s spot,” she growled.

Yes, I did join in on the tomfoolery. It helped with the nerves, which I guessed everyone had been feeling too. Even the adults who hadn’t bothered to clean up Number Five’s face afterward seemed to be enjoying our shenanigans.

I didn’t scrawl my number on his forehead though. Instead, I drew a cross there, which, funnily enough, no one understood.

“Is that an ancient sorcery symbol for healing you’ve discovered in the library?” Number Nine asked excitedly.

“No, you twerp,” Number Seven replied. “That’s obviously a rifle!”

“Why would One draw a gun on Five’s forehead?” Number Six asked incredulously.

“It’s not a gun,” Number Eight joined in. “It’s a symbol of friendship and love. So sweet!”

“Looks made up to me,” Number Thirteen chimed in.

“Or maybe the traitor doesn’t know how to write his number,” Number Sixteen taunted.

Her partner, Number Seventeen, laughed at my expense. “Good one.”

“What did you say?” Number Three growled.

“You heard me,” Number Sixteen hissed back.

“Oo~oh, cat-fight,” Number Six said to Number Seven who replied with, “Girls are so stupid.”

Their jabs prompted Number Four to yell at them all. “This isn’t the place to be fooling around! Five needs quiet.”

“B-but you’re the only one s-shouting,” Number Two piped in just softly enough that everyone barely heard him.

“And you wrote your name on his arm same as we did,” Number Seven added in a belligerent tone.

A new argument started that I just didn’t have the energy to be part of. And so, I was the first of my crib mates to walk out the door which was just in time for me to hear Dr. Michel explaining to Major Wolf and Number Five’s nanny that my friend’s life wasn’t out of the woods yet.

“The concussion caused a brain bleed… We’re not sure if we caught it in time to ensure proper brain function if and when he wakes up,” she explained. “Only time will tell if he’ll heal properly.”

“Don’t tell the kids,” Major Wolf said. “Not until we know for sure.”

I ducked behind the door just as he trained a worried gaze on Number Five’s room.

“I don’t want them feeling any worse than they already do,” he added.

“Is there… is there any other way to ensure he recovers?” Number Five’s nanny asked.

“I’m sorry. We’ve done what we can,” Dr. Michel answered.

Damn this world for not having an MRI or some other high-tech gadget that could help them up Five’s chances of getting better! my brain screamed.

I wouldn’t let things end like this though. If this world’s medicine wasn’t enough to save my friend then magic would do it. And thank the All-Father that I had a resource that might provide the solution. In fact, Potions and Tonics for the Aberrant Mind would prove a useful boon the very next day.

The sun hadn’t risen yet when I’d left my room and snuck my way into the main building’s alchemy laboratory. A few researchers were already there working on their experiments, but I was such a common fixture in the lab that most of them didn't even bother to look up when I arrived.

Boss, the moniker of the big, barrel-chested researcher in charge of managing the equipment and ingredients cache of the laboratory, greeted me with his usual, “Hey-ho, kiddo!”

“Hey, boss,” I said.

“You’re here earlier than usual,” he said, a curious expression on his scruffy-bearded face. “Didn’t you say you preferred the quiet of dinner time for your experiments?”

Yes, the institute was mad enough to allow eight-year-old geniuses like me to play with dangerous combustible chemicals with little to no adult supervision. As the colonel liked to say, “If it’s not dangerous then it’s not worth attempting.”

“Yeah, but I woke up with this idea in my head that I’m just dying to try out,” I lied.

I hadn’t had a wink of sleep as I spent most of the night researching remedies in Potions and Tonics for the Aberrant Mind. I’d found a few promising recipes. None of which required arcanite as an ingredient. I think I might have even skimmed through an actual revivify recipe, but the idea of resurrection was so out-of-this-world bonkers that I didn’t pay it much heed. I’d have to revisit it later just to make sure I hadn’t just imagined seeing it though.

“Could I get these ingredients prepared, please,” I said as I slid my note across Boss’ table.

He took his time reading my note, whispering, “Sodium bicarbonate and Chlorosulfuric acid,” under his breath while his eyes widened with each ingredient I'd written down.

“What do you need Queen’s Flower for?” he asked. “You know that’s just a weed, right?”

“Didn't you say that all things have their uses,” I said, grinning.

“yes, but, a weed's a weed... unless you plan on smoking it?” he eyed me warily.

“Boss, I'm eight. The only bad drugs I take are the ones you researchers stick in my veins,” I replied wryly.

Boss actually looked uncomfortable at my teasing.

“Alright, alright, wise guy... you can have your weed.”

“Thanks.”

Queen’s Flower, an annoying weed with a long stem and thick red bulb at its tip that grew readily in both garden and pasture was the bane of a gardener’s existence. It had no apparent use other than peppering a landscape in garish red, or so most people believed. It was also considered an annoyance by florists who sometimes mistook the weed for a rose. However, according to Potions and Tonics for the Aberrant Mind, a medical researcher from Asya had discovered that Queen’s Flower wasn't just a simple weed. It was actually a medicinal herb that had powerful healing properties when combined with the right ingredients, all of which I’d added to my list.

After a bit more grumbling and shuffling around, which was Boss’ usual routine, I received a box filled with small vials and pouches of the ingredients I’d asked for in what I assumed was the correct dosage I’d specified. I didn’t need to worry as Boss was pretty meticulous with these kinds of requests.

“There’s nothing too dangerous on your list,” his brow creased, “but as I don’t know what you’re attempting, I’m going to have to ask you to be cautious, alright?”

He eyed me warily.

“I see another mushroom cloud in the air and I’m banning you for a month.”

Sheesh, it was just that one time when I’d tried to mix my blood in an unstable nitroglycerin solution. No one even died. Just One time and I still got flack for it.

“Yes, yes, I’ll be careful,” I lied.

Careful was for someone who didn’t belong in the laboratory. Experimentation demanded daring, after all.

I strode over to my station which you might have guessed was in the furthest corner of the laboratory just like my preference in the library.

“Ah, it still smells like my last success,” I said as I took in the scents that greeted me as I arrived at the obsidian countertop table that Number Three had scrawled a giant ‘Number One’ on a while back. “burned fat and peppermint… and a hint of sage, I think.”

My last accomplishment here was scented candles that I gifted to my nanny Lena and her nanny friends before I'd left for my first trip to the outside world. This earned me brownie points with the women who had all the young guards under their thumb because of, well, you know. One could never have too many ways to get out of trouble, after all.

I dropped the box onto the table and then proceeded to inspect the burners and other equipment I needed for the day, cleaning them thoroughly as I picked up each beaker and flask. When I was done with this preliminary step, I glanced over my shoulder and made sure no one was looking my way, before I pulled out the note that I’d copied my recipe into.

Of course, I didn’t bring Potions and Tonics for the Aberrant Mind with me. It was sitting safely underneath the floorboard of my bedroom along with my other contraband. But even this note might draw curious looks from the overly curious people who spent time in the laboratory. I had to be especially wary of the Boss, who, despite his wide gait, moved across a floor like he'd been a ninja in his past life.

I combed through the process quickly as I’d mostly memorized the recipe already.

“Fortify Health Potion… These Asyan doctors must be really good to create something that’s easily made with stuff that isn’t hard to find,” I whispered. “I think I’ll find my way there someday.”

The thought of traveling to another continent had lifted my spirits somewhat until I remembered that this was the same thing ‘G’ had done, and I didn’t like thinking that I was following in their footsteps. I didn't like thinking of them at all.

“Ugh, don’t think about that crap now… Focus, Number One… Five needs you,” I reminded myself.

To avoid the unnecessary scientific jargon required in such an experiment, I have attempted to explain this next bit’s details in layman’s terms. I tried at least.

The first step for the Fortify Health Potion was distilling the red bulb of Queen’s Flower in a solution of grounded Glowing Shrooms while heated to the tune of four hundred degrees Fahrenheit. And, while I waited for it to finish stewing, I started up on step two; carefully combining the colorless liquid vial of Chlorosulfuric Acid with the pouch of white powder that was Sodium Bicarbonate into a one-liter glass beaker that I also heated up.

“Careful now,” I whispered.

I didn’t want to stain my table as Boss hated messes.

“Careful,” I repeated as I added the vial of Ammonia to the mixture.

Wait, doesn’t this sound remarkably similar to base ingredients for Penicillin? You would be right to think that, although the similarities to my old world’s wonder drug ended there as I doubt Penicillin had grounded fire bear bone in its mixture.

“Grounded Fire Bear Bone creates chemical synthesis with the other ingredients,” I recited while I stirred the contents of my beaker.

At this point, the liquid swirling around in the beaker had a nice light pinkish hue just like the recipe stated it should have. It would need one final ingredient to get that vibrant red color I expected.

“What are you working on, Number One?” Boss asked over my shoulder.

Damn this giant, barrel-chested man for having such a high sneak skill. I mean, if you look overweight and you are overweight then logically speaking, you should sound overweight too, right?

“That pinkish tint reeks of a medical solution,” he noted. “Are you making a potion or something?”

Healing potions were a real thing on Aarde, although they weren’t like the game version where drinking a bottle healed someone’s HP. Nope, that shit’s a fairy tale. Potions like the one Boss was referring to were more similar to regenerative medicine such as cell therapies or collagen soup. They helped boost one’s regenerative abilities much like that shard of arcanite had done for me, but slower. Much, much slower. A fantasy healing potion, the kind that heals the body instantaneously, hasn’t been discovered yet. Well, at least not here in Eura. Luckily for Number Five, Potions and Tonics for the Aberrant Mind’s content didn't just reach its tendrils into another continent but the stuff in it also bordered on the realm of fantasy, providing me with a healing solution that theoretically worked much faster than the stuff that was on sale in Armestian pharmacies.

“Um, boss,” I glanced over my shoulder and gave him an apologetic shrug, “didn’t you teach me not to share stuff like our recipes with others?”

Boss smiled sheepishly back at me. “Ah, sorry about that. I was just passing by and got curious. I couldn’t help but peek.”

He raised his arms in surrender.

“I’ll leave you to it then.” His smile morphed into a frown though when he added, “Remember, no—”

“Mushroom clouds,” I finished for him. “I got it.”

I watched Boss walk away, making sure that he hadn’t turned around before I went back to my work with a smile of my own. There were a lot of shameless adults in the institute, but it was nice that a few of them, Milady and Boss included, weren’t completely unkind to us lab rats.

After I dropped the Queen’s Flower solution into my mixture, I watched as the liquid inside the beaker transformed from a pinkish hue to a red the color of rose petals in full bloom.

“One more thing… magic solutions require a bit of magic in them.”

I placed both hands against the sides of the glass beaker and began to pour my magic into the liquid inside it. Not enough to overpower the solution, but enough that its red hue began to glow softly just as the sparks of magic swam inside it.

“I’m not a hundred percent sure, but I think I did it,” I whistled. “Seriously…”

To test my experiment, I cut my palm with a knife. Then, as blood dripped down on the obsidian countertop, I dabbed a bit of the red mixture onto my palm. Yes, I knew this was risky, but who else could I test it on. I only had one lab rat, and that was me.

“By the All-Father,” I gasped.

There was a bit of pain that came with the intense heat spreading around my wound which heralded the moment the skin of my palm began to magically stitch itself back together. It was like watching my wound rewind itself from garish bleeding cut to a pinkish scar that was barely noticeable to my eyes.

“Sometimes even I’m amazed by how smart I am,” I whispered while goosebumps rose on my skin. “I managed a Fortify Healing Potion on my first try.”

I was grinning from ear to ear now.

“And Jana said healing magic was the stuff of fairy tales. I’d probably blow her mind if I showed her this,” I chuckled. “Um, well, but I guess this isn’t magic… it's more alchemy than sorcery.”

Then my brow creased as sudden negative thoughts came to life inside my brain.

“I just hope this works on Five,” I said. “And if it does… well, I made enough to get Allers on my side too.”

Later that afternoon, after I’d roped Corporal Allers into watching the door for me, I snuck into Number Five’s room with a bag full of hundred-millimeter bottles inside it. Each one filled to the brim with my latest product, one that might get me the other things I needed if it worked right.

I walked over to my friend’s bedside and checked on his status.

“Still asleep, huh, you lazy bum.”

A brief inspection of his chart told me there hadn’t been much change in Number Five's condition since the previous night, although his lungs were working better. His brain's condition, well, was still up in the air.

“It’s time to wake up sleeping not-so-beauty,” I joked.

I pulled out a bottle from my bag and popped its cork. Then, as my hand hovered over his mouth, I began to pray silently to the All-Father. That was all the ceremony I could afford though as a warning knock from the door told me we were about to get visitors.

“Please, please, let this work,” I whispered just as I tipped the glowing red liquid into Number Five’s mouth.

There were no visible wounds I could see that stitched themselves together so I wasn’t sure if my Fortify Health Potion worked before Dr. Michel stepped into the room while Corporal Allers tried and failed to block her.

“What is going on here?” she asked in a severe tone.

Luckily, I’d already pocketed the bottle so there was no evidence of what I’d done.

“Um, I just wanted to see Five... I was worried for him.”

For added measure, I gave Dr. Michel my best doe-eyed sad face which usually worked on the adults. However, if that frown on her face was any indication, she wasn't a pushover like Milady was.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in class, Number One?” she reminded me.

“I—”

The most awful sound to reach my ears interrupted me. It was the violent shaking of Number Five’s body that caused the terrible rattling of his bed.

“All-Father,” I gasped.

I ran to him. Dr. Michel and Corporal Allers followed quickly so that all three of us tied him down with our arms to keep his convulsions from hurting him more.

“Five!” I screamed.

“Hold him while I put something between his teeth and keep him from biting his tongue!” Dr. Michel ordered.

But then Number Five's body stilled almost like the episode had been a fiction of our collective imaginations, although I didn’t really believe that as Five's obvious reaction to my potion had been so terrifying.

“What did you do?” Dr. Michel demanded.

The guilt was clear on my face, but before I could confess my folly, another sound interrupted me.

“You guys… are heavy,” Number Five whispered.

All our gazes drifted toward him with eyes widening in surprise.

And to my great relief, my friend grinned that mischievous grin of his and said, “Can I… have some… chocolate?”