“Weeks were spent preparing those capsules for safe consumption, so please don’t break them,” Elijah instantly requested as he stepped into the store. Jack looked at him, frozen in place in front of one of the cabinets with an open pill box in hand. The eye contact persisted until the capsule taken out of the box was put back in. “Thank you. And, Sasha, are you sure it’s a good idea to leave?”
While the man had been busy inspecting the wares, the woman had found the door and tried to open it. Not an easy endeavor, seeing as it was locked until a key was inserted into it, something only he and Aleksi possessed. It was technically possible to break through the glass, of course, but that was strengthened to the point of needing metal tools before you’d have a chance.
Good that the blinds are still down on the windows, or this could’ve spelled trouble.
“Wasn’t trying to leave,” Sasha countered, stepping away from the door after giving it a final rattle. “Just checking.”
“Well, I can assure you it’s locked unless the shop is open,” Elijah promised. The same was true for every other door and window in the house, the latter even having several traps for those who saw it as a challenge. Any wannabe burglar would not find it a fun experience, that was for sure. “If you’re thinking about how to run away in an emergency, however, I’d recommend the back door or the hidden trap door in the basement. Both can be unlocked from the inside.”
She studied him for a moment before silently nodding and moving towards the counter. Moving behind it, she sat down and stayed quiet.
Elijah supposed it meant less of a chance of accidental discovery.
“Do you make those capsules yourself, or did you buy them from somewhere?” Jack asked, bringing the man back into Elijah’s focus. “I know this world is magical and everything, but I’d always thought that this was a very modern invention and all.”
The wording heavily implied insult, but the tone made it seem unintentional. Elijah made a grunt in reply regardless, making the man put the pill box back on the shelf a second time before bringing him into the laboratory.
“I make them myself,” Elijah explained, going over to the unused side of the room where several molds were hidden away. “The gelatin comes from cartilage that I buy off the butcher down the street whenever he gets a new batch from the dungeon. It’s semi-boiled with water, put into the molds here to get the shape, dried, and then cut into two halves.”
Jack nodded as the words flowed from him, nodding along with understanding in his eyes. Elijah’s eyebrows rose a little at the sight. From the previous night that had been filled with some mildly inane questioning, he hadn’t thought much of the otherworlder, but was there potential to be found?
“... Do you have a background in extended herbology?” he prodded.
“Oh, no, not really,” Jack instantly replied, picking up one of the molds after getting permission to do as much. “I’ve just watched too many How It Works documentaries. Too many hours spent in front of the TV, if you get what I’m saying.”
…
“I see.”
His eyes left the man as the door into the room moved by the tiniest fraction, Sasha slipping inside wordlessly. Elijah wouldn’t have noticed her at all if he hadn’t seen that glint of light.
So the silent steps last night weren’t a one-time occurrence.
While Jack Larson seemed close to a baseline civilian, Elijah’s old instincts kept screaming every time he laid eyes upon Sasha Petrova. She was a danger, though what kind he couldn’t say. His body just knew to send a burst of adrenaline through his body whenever he saw her. No matter what, that wasn’t a good sign.
Nevertheless, there was no excuse to act upon his instincts. Though the pale woman was as tense as he, Elijah only saw her standing around judging him. There were no hostile actions, no attempt at knocking him down. Sasha acted like encircled prey and little else. Hesitant, alert, but not overly aggressive. Certainly nothing to call out.
Something to be studied until further notice.
“Do you have personal experience working with compounds then?” Elijah asked Jack. He didn’t fully understand what a ‘documentary’ was supposed to mean, but it sounded as if it was informative at the least.
“Theoretically, yeah? Might not be too much of an issue, depending on what you want me to do,” Jack replied, looking a little uncertain. Nervousness was blatant on the man’s face. “I’ve worked personally on something like this before, but I wouldn’t call myself an expert.”
“Experience is all I’m asking for,” Elijah assured the young man. Seeing the opportunity to have an assistant mixing some of the simpler products, he was ready to introduce many of the ingredients until he saw Sasha moving towards a door in the back. The pale hands touching the handle made his heart reach his throat. “Don’t touch that.”
It wasn’t a request. It was an order.
One that Sasha understood as she met his eyes once again, a calm face meeting his own. They wouldn’t be if she knew what was behind that door.
His heart didn’t have an easy time when she turned the knob and opened it regardless, revealing the small room.
What else could I expect?
“What are you so tense about?” Jack asked as he looked into the newly revealed room without stepping in. It wasn’t large, so it was easy to see all there was.
Barely the size of a closet, five purple flowers could be seen growing in a large pot, a covered window at the top allowing moonlight to barely enter when Elijah opened it. A modest setup for modest plants.
That’s what the average person would say, at least. They wouldn’t know what they’re looking at.
“Don’t touch them,” Elijah ordered, ignoring Jack’s questions as Sasha examined the purple petals. The woman hadn’t moved since opening the door, perhaps sensing the danger of those flowers. Or maybe she just felt Elijah’s fear. It didn’t matter. Elijah was just happy that she hadn’t tried to touch them. “I can’t help you if you do.”
I need to brew some new antidote, now that I’m thinking about it.
“Excuse me?” Jack asked, taking another step towards the small room. Elijah wasn’t a fan of that in the slightest, moving past both the young man and the woman, closing the door before those prying eyes could turn into prying hands. “You’re telling me those purple flowers could kill me?”
“Yes,” Elijah replied bluntly.
Sasha barely reacted, standing in place, but Jack’s widened eyes made their feelings clear.
“Is there anything else in here that’s going to kill me just by touching it?” he asked, wary glances given to the multitude of colored leaves covering the walls of the laboratory.
“Most likely not,” Elijah said. “But those purple petals will.”
Luna Nightshade was the official name, though Elijah rarely used it. Back when they were used in war, they were known as the ‘Silent Killer,’ able to down anybody who consumed it within mere minutes. It mattered little whether they were able to equal demigods in combat or whether they could die to a mild wind. A single glass poisoned with the plant was enough to make the organs shut down in a slow, painful manner.
Stolen novel; please report.
And they wither away so easily.
“They are very sensitive to natural sunlight, so don’t open the door unless it’s an emergency,” Elijah instructed the two, getting silent nods in return. Good that he did, since he refused to waste the past fifty years of keeping the plants alive without magical boons to sustain them.
Words nearly left him before the trio heard banging on the front door. Five sharp hits, evenly timed and without mercy for the old wood and glass. Elijah could guess the culprit.
Olivia.
“It seems you two will be staying inside here for the next few hours,” Elijah said, picking up a few prepared bags from the table. “There’s water and rags in the corner there if you get bored enough to clean. I trust that you can avoid hurting yourselves in the process.”
He didn’t allow them a moment to voice complaints, leaving the laboratory and closing the door behind him. Some muted words could be heard through the thick wood, but they faded into nothing as he continued through the store area and over to the door.
Surprisingly, Elijah saw two figures standing outside waiting for him.
“Olivia, Grace,” he said, unlocking the door and allowing the two women inside. “With your studies, I didn’t think you would have the time to visit again so soon.”
“What kind of friend would I be, if I didn’t make a small detour to visit?” Grace replied, all three knowing full well that the academy was in the direct opposite way from her house. “Looking out for the elderly is the youth’s most important job as well.”
A very dignified and respectful snort came from Olivia at those words.
“You always surround yourself with the finest of people, Elijah,” the head guard commented, accepting the bags from Elijah and glancing at the contents. “Everything here?”
“Everything meant to be there is there,” he confirmed dryly.
“Good,” Olivia said, not giving the bags a second look before she slung them over her shoulder. “Don’t mess up next time.”
And with that, she left, no farewell leaving her as she walked down the road.
Elijah was glad he made her get some hours of sleep before he had to interact with her again.
“How’d you piss her off this much?” Grace asked, going past Elijah and into the shop. He didn’t remember inviting her inside but that was no issue for the young mage. “I don’t remember her being so angry the last time I saw her.”
“I can’t take full credit for her current attitude,” Elijah replied, closing the door to stop would-be listeners from the street who were taking their time walking past his shop. “Could I ask why exactly you decided to visit me today? Was your mother in more pain this morning?”
He faintly remembered hearing complaints about it last year, when the seasons changed and the temperature caused old wounds to work themselves up in the older woman. Decades of physical labor had not helped their spine in the slightest.
“Oh, she’s fine. Mom doesn’t have any more complaints than usual,” Grace assured him, not looking him in the eyes as she studied the new flower sitting on the shop counter.
Hunched shoulders, slightly red cheeks, deeper breaths to forcibly calm herself… this can’t be good.
“If it’s not about your mother, can I assume it’s about you?” Elijah asked, preparing himself for what was to come. By the recent days’ occurrences, he guessed there were two things this could be about, and, seeing as he was rather sure there wasn’t any boy she fancied, it meant the topic had to be one he dreaded.
“Less me, and more you,” Grace said. A final deep breath left her as she locked eyes with him. “You know how you told me that you didn’t want anybody learning about your… newly-found gifts?”
Of course, you did.
Even if she was loyal to a fault, and would never try to intentionally cause him or anybody else harm, the young mage had always had a habit of trying to do ‘what was best.’ On this occasion, it was not heeding the one serious request that Elijah had given her in the past several years.
“How many did you tell?” Elijah asked, his voice filled with the kind of disappointment only those above fifty had any chance of harboring.
“It’s not as bad as you think!” Grace tried to assure him, though his unblinking gaze made it clear he didn’t believe that. “I didn’t tell my mom, my friends, or just any random person on the street.”
“Who was it then?” Elijah asked. Her mom could’ve been sworn to secrecy if it was needed, but anybody else would make it a possible endeavor to keep quiet.
“It’s my Mentor at the academy.”
Elijah turned around and went towards the kitchen, Grace instantly following him and giving out apologies that fell on deaf ears. Aleksi had luckily left a pot of half-boiling water on the stove, so it took barely two minutes before they were sitting at the small table with a cup of tea each.
“What’s the name of the mage who decides my fate?” Elijah asked, taking a sip of the tea. His recent batch of chamomile had performed remarkably well, though he expected that the flavor could likely be intensified now that he could enhance the properties of the leaves.
“His name is Rubeus Hayes, and he’s the most patient and kind man you’ll ever meet,” Grace said, laying it on rather thick. Elijah had heard of the man before, at least. “He’s one of the best mages in the country, he’s the one that oversees almost every project in the academy, and he’s somebody you can trust to keep quiet about… this.”
“I trusted you could keep quiet about this,” Elijah replied bluntly, the cheeks of the young mage becoming a tinge more red. “Could I ask why you decided he needed to be told?”
“Because awakening your abilities at 71 isn’t normal, Elijah,” Grace instantly said. Some resolve seemed to return as she spoke. “Children can die from the experience and stress of it all, even if they don’t experience side effects in the first few days. You might feel safe about taking the chance, but… I’m not able to see you risk your own life when somebody can help, somebody that won’t force you into anything.”
You thought you knew better because I told you a lie.
Fate had an awful way of getting back at him recently. Elijah hoped it wouldn’t continue like this.
“If you have more acts in you, for the sake of my well-being, consult me beforehand,” he finally said after several seconds of thinking.
…
“I’m sorry.”
“Guilt won’t change the past,” Elijah countered. How could he work with this? “Since you told him, and you’re telling me about it, I’m guessing he’s very interested in this late awakening?”
“Extremely so,” Grace confirmed. “He wants to meet you at your earliest convenience. And you don’t have to come to him! No need to get close to the academy at all. He can come here.”
I’d rather he didn’t, but there's little say in the matter now.
“When?”
“Late afternoon, most likely, so… in four-five hours maybe?”
Much too little time to work with, but Elijah could make do. Aleksi wouldn’t be home by that time, though that was maybe for the best. The giant never possessed a good poker face when confronted by the more powerful people in the world.
“If you don’t want to, I can try to—”
“No, it’s fine,” Elijah said, cutting in before Grace could make the situation worse than it already was. “You can bring him by in five hours, and we can discuss all of this over tea.”
“Oh,” Grace replied, eyes widened in surprise. “I… I can do that. Thank you, Elijah.”
“I’m doing this because I have to make sure your mentor understands the need for secrecy,” he noted. “And I also need to make sure you understand it.”
“I do!”
“You might think you do, but you don’t,” Elijah snapped, his tone making the young mage flinch. Seeing that, Elijah forced himself to take a deep breath. This wasn’t the time to make somebody cry over something they did to help him. “Promise me that you will not reveal this to anybody else. If you think it’s for my own good, consult me first. If the wrong people learn about my awakening, it can cause me more trouble than you could imagine.”
Half-teary eyes looked back at his own.
Grace nodded shakily.
“Thank you,” Elijah said, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. “You might want to finish your cup and head off soon. I think you spent more time here than you intended.”
“What? I— Oh shit,” Grace cursed as she saw the time. Downing the remains of her tea in one swig, she rose from the chair and hurried walked out of the kitchen and towards the front entrance. “Thanks for everything! I’ll be back in five hours with my mentor.”
At least her spirit had returned somewhat. Elijah hoped she would be back to normal by the time she had to introduce him to the mage by the name of Rubeus Hayes.
On that note, he needed more information regarding that mentor of hers. While Grace had talked highly of the mage, her words had too much bias to be trusted fully. He needed another source to know for sure, and Elijah knew exactly who that could be.
Before that, however, it would be best if he could check in on two inside the laboratory—
“I’m a fucking wizard!”
… Though the voice was muted, a side-effect of the door into the work area barely being opened, Elijah could already feel that his day just became so much more complicated.