2.5 Biz and the Principles of Alchemy

Biz leaned against the storage room door as xyr frantic friend beat the door with eir walking cane, the door finally clicking locked as xe managed to turn the key in the mechanism.

Xe took a step back and examined xemself, the heavy leather jacket biz was wearing had shielded xem from the majority of Li’s fury as the distraught individual had been physically dragged from the room, but there was a particularly tender spot where today’s pronoun badge, the classic xe/xem, had stabbed into xyr chest after a particularly vicious blow.

“Li, I’ll let you out when you stop freaking out, and CALM DOWN. The last thing your husband needs right now is you crying directly into their open wound!”

A barrage of swearing answered xem from behind the door and biz shook xyr head, it was good to care about your spouse of course, but Li’s hysterics had been making it very hard to concentrate.

After a moment the pounding stopped, replaced by a seething silence which Biz decided to take as a sign that Li was indeed taking xyr advice to cool down.

As xe left towards the central laboratory xe ventured to shout back through the door.

“The kettles on the left, I’d advise a green tea!”

More silence.

Biz frowned, but moved into the other room regardless, time was of the essence, and xe needed to make up for the time it had taken to lock away xyr friend.

An uncomfortable thought crossed xyr mind as xe walked into the room where Charlie lay; If xe were responsible for stopping Li from being with Charlie in their final moments… but no it wouldn’t come to that, without further distraction Charlie would of course be fixed up in no time and Li would forgive xem, but maybe xe should let em out sooner rather than later.

Xe felt xemself beginning to spiral and quickly snapped xemself out of it.

“Come on Biz, get your shit together and focus. You’ve got Li locked in the storage room, eir husband is passed out on your table. Lets focus on the task at hand”

Xe removed xyr jacket, and quickly replaced it with a worn lab coat as xe turned back to the table where the unconscious Charlie lay. The problem, Biz reflected, was the lack of surgical tools, and a proper medical professional to use them.

Biz had read a lot of medical textbooks and gone to a lot of E-lectures since arriving on the street, but xe was still at heart a chemist and extremely uncomfortable having to deal with severe injuries. Xe leaned over Charlie regardless, flinching at the acrid smell leaking from the wound, but intent to put xyr medical knowledge to as much use as possible.

Tentatively xe cut away the shirt Al had tied around the open wound, the dry flakes breaking away in flakes of clotted brown. Though, it looked like the shirt had helped prevent too much blood loss at least.

Biz shuddered as xe carefully wiped away the dried blood revealing the damaged flesh beneath. It was hauntingly familiar.

The glistening bubbles and blisters of bloody flesh where caustic chemicals still rested the skin, the raised ridges of puckered flesh. A chemical burn? – Biz felt a flush of relief, with Red’s frequent visits to xyr lab Biz knew that procedure by heart.

1) Flush the chemicals off the skin – the cool brackish tap water turned yellowish red as it washed blood and the caustic liquid out of the wound..

2) Remove the clothing contaminated by the chemicals – Biz carefully removed the fragments of Al’s shirt still embedded in the wound

3) Bandage the injury – the thick linen from the first aid kit stuck and sunk into the deep wound.

Biz stepped back and examined xyr work, the bandage sunk down nearly to the bone, around the edges. The telltale darkness of necrosis a growing smudge beneath the fabric. Was it a trick of the light, or was that subtle darkness spreading as xe watched?

Not just acid. Something More…magical?

The account xe had gotten from Al had been fragmented and panicked, the blood covered enby barely able to relay what it had seen. A magic monster, in a magic library? Far too feasible, far too terrifying to focus on right now.

What xe needed was a solution for the magically corrosive wound.

Xe eye caught upon the bag of books Al had left behind when it ran to get Li, a small selection of books, each focused on a different type of magic.

Five books in total, of which only two might be useful. Advanced Necromancy 3rd edition by Elder K’zz Dragon-Bane and The fundamentals of Alchemy. Biz’s mind immediately travelled back to xyr first interaction with Jack, and his violent reaction to electricity. Xe carefully placed the book to one side, it was probably best not to piss off giant magical spiders when you had other options.

Decided xe picked up the kind of dogeared copy of The fundamentals of Alchemy (M.G.S.T.), beneath the title was a green on black printing of same kind of molecular structure, the whole thing seemed highly similar to the chemistry textbooks of Biz’s degree and with a bit of luck there would be a health and safety section.

Biz held the took in xyr hands for a few moments and then with exaggerated care turned to the contents page and to xyr relief spotted a section labelled “Safety Hexes for the careless student.” Cautiously optimistic, xe turned to the page and began to read.

The spell or hex was apparently very simple, all it required was some minerals, two people chanting and “a powerful source of energy”. The minerals were all things that biz thought xe had scattered around the lab and with the aid of Li the chanting was doable too.

A powerful source of energy though? Something told xem that a bunson burner wouldn’t be sufficient… and the other option was not one xe wanted to use…

Xe looked at xyr unconscious friend, no choice really. No choice at all, reluctantly xe dragged the heavy metal device containing the silver vortex out from its hiding place. – Powerful source of energy? Check.

Now for a second chantee…

Biz walked over to the door xe had locked Li behind and knocked on the door cautiously, carefully modulating xyr voice to be as calm and soothing as possible as xe spoke to the trapped individual within.

“Hey there… buddy, I’m going to open the door now….I think I have a solution, but I need your help – and, well it’s a bit of a risk…”

Xe paused and stood to one side as Li limped through the open door.

“I will not be forgiving you for this. Were it not for the fact you have a way to save Charlie I am unsure I would ever speak to you again.”

Biz nodded curtly; it was about what xe had expected. Hopefully ey’d forgive xem in time.

Xe moved quickly. Taking Li’s hand xe, dragged em over towards the open alchemy book and the relevant spell, talking through the specifics as Li slowly read through the pronunciation guide. When ey had finished, ey turned back to Biz and simply said “I think we should try.”

The setup was quite simple, designed as it was to be done in emergency though it required a few compounds which would have been hard to find were it not for the meticulous organisation of the lab.

Sulphur and brine formed a circle around the patient whilst a dish of peppercorns smouldered over a bunsen burner and Li began to speak in time with Biz, eir body trembling with the stress of standing as ey leaned heavily against eir cane.

The phrasing was strange, the stilted awkward words stuck in the mouth. It seemed their very nature was to be said with exaggerated care, as they joined the air of the circle an uncomfortable energy began to build in the room. As it built, the lights flickered and dimmed, their electricity pulled free to hang in loose threads of crackling blue-grey light, as the box containing the vortex spewed forth a flurry of arcing threads.

The wording of the hex was long and precise, and Li and Biz’s carefully pronounced words echoed inconsistently as the magic began to take effect, errant bolts of energy struck the white walls of the lab. As the energy permeated the walls, they were transformed into a place of magic and mystery, the thick fireproofed panels transformed into dark runed slabs by the errant magics.

As the spell reached a crescendo the loose threads of energy snapped taut each thread of magic flowing towards Li. As Biz watched Li’s trembling hands moved in an elegant pattern, weaving the energy like a blanket over the unconscious Charlie. Each thread a gleaming line of light guided by Li’s loving hands into the spoiling darkness of eir lover's flesh.

As each thread touched Charlies skin it vanished, replaced by a spot of glowing healed skin, thread after thread, burning away the corruption and healing the damaged flesh a centimetre at a time. And then, as simply as that, it was over and the residue energy snapped back to its natural place with a dull crack of thunder.

As the world returned to normal, the depth of the changes was made apparent. Previously plastic tables, chairs and outlets had all turned to dense stone while every centimetre of the floor was marked with dense lines of runes. The air itself left filled with the smell of freshly ground coffee and the slightest tang of fried pork.

Biz shuddered at the mess, was this a mistake in the incantation? Or a normal effect of magic? Xe have no idea, and judging my Li’s exhausted, slumped form ey wouldn’t be suggesting any answers either.

But in all that, the greatest change was in Charlie, and not just with the healed flesh of their arm. Their ginger hair was now specked with faint flecks of gold, whilst the veins in his arm pulsed softly with a faint silver glow where the magic still dwelled beneath his skin.

As xe watched, Charlie sat up and twisted towards the duo, his eyes glowing with eery silver light as he grinned at the duo, his smile crackling with loose sparks.

Biz turned to Li who stood agape at eir luminescent husband.

“Err, I mean at least his arm is fixed right?”