Charlie: Potion fail

Today was the day Charlie would finalize her work. Although the theory of her current work was coined by Magnus, she was the one to do the heavy lifting and actually execute it. It would come to no surprise that after some religious revisions of the formula, a few tweaks on the method would have been set in the recipe. Now, she was putting it all into action.

Within her lab, various tools would be set on the working table she'd employ for this specific experiment. Multiple flasks with labels on them as well as mortar and pestels of varying sizes scattered across the surface. But the most noticeable would be the ingredients she had gathered specifically for this task, all set neatly at this respective position for her to utilize. In the center, a small cauldron with a burner right under it.

"Hoisin Mushrooms, Blue Roots extract, Crellus sludge, Bygone Castor Beans, Destroying Angels and ... Yokai leaves."

Her finger would point at each of the ingredients set on the table as she'd enumerate them. All of them seemed to have been freshly set in their respective containers while the Yokai leaves seemed to have been stored for longer. It had been Magnus who had gathered them a while back and gave full authorization to use them for this specific project.

Now it was time to commence. The pink lass would quickly revise her notes concerning the recipe, making sure no tool was missing for this job. Everything was out, as such she would begin the whole operation by pouring an entire vase of water into the cauldron at the center before igniting the burner at the bottom. The heat was strong and would make it boil in a matter of seconds.
(Charlie Avaline)
Sephan hadn't had much to do, with his prodigal twin sister focusing on her training most of the time while he devoted more time to snacks and Charlie. This meant he, too, would be wrapped up in this lab experiment. He trailed behind Charlie as she worked, watching her carefully to see if he could learn anything from the short pink haired alchemist-- probably not, though. Even for the talented child, this was way over his head.

"Whoa.."
(Sephan Ganlo)
Akrata followed Charlie in silence to her laboratory, slowly walking through te doorway before closing the door and leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She observed the process in silence, trying not to interfere with her pink haired firends work unless directly asked by her to assist with the brewing.

Her eyes remianed locked on the equipment, observing each step in silence and withlist paying close attention to details, clearly the sarradian wanted to learn as much as she could, after all she dwelved into alchemy as well, though even if just for healing purposes as the healers status required it.
(Akrata Draconis)
It seemed her two faithful assistants were there to insure everything would go fluidly and avoid any possibility of her being overwhelmed. First step was simple, Charlie would grab ahold of the Crellus sludge as it was the most noxious ingredient of the bunch - excluding the Yokai leaves - and would start to gather table spoons of the foul mass. They would be poured into a yellow bowl she had set next to the jar until it would be filled. Everyone in the room would be victim of the repulsive stench of the liquid.

Her hand would follow up by setting itself on the small, sealed can she had fit the Blue root extract into. It served her as a reminder that it would be her next step. However, her head would turn toward Akrata before her head movements would gesture toward the mass of Hoisin mushrooms that was all piled into another bowl.

"Akrata, take about ten of those and put them in boiling water. NOT in the cauldron! Boil them for five minutes and them cut off the hat and the lower stem. Once it's done, pile them up in the small bowl next to you."

She ordered with a professional tone as her hand would go about opening the can containing the roots. Eventually the lid would give it and the contents would be exposed. Within, there'd be blue powder, what she'd call the 'essence' of the roots. Slowly she'd commence spreading some of the powder onto the Crellus sludge she had just harvested before planting a teaspoon onto the thick liquid.

That task was put on hold as she'd swiftly grab a mortar and pestel and set it on her right. Right next to it would be a small set of castor beans originally from the Bygone. Charlie would gesture the small child to approach the set she had presented.

"Sephan, sweetie, you can crush these beans with the mortar and pestle, right? It's easy! You just grab this and crush them!"

She chimed as she'd demonstrate it with a couple of beans. The movements were simple and required no real knowledge other than basic motor skills. The tool wouldbe conferred to the child as she'd reel in a nearby stool for him to stand on and be able to supervise the whole table. He could finally conduct his mission.

"Just wash your hands when you're done! These make you very sick! All you do is crush them all and then give me the bowl when you're finished!"

With these instructions, it couldn't go wrong. By now, she'd notice that the blue root powder would start to fuse with the stench of the Crellus ooze, creating a more vanilla-like aroma, confirming that it was time. With a large, wooden spoon, she'd start mixing the slime with the powder while adding a little more every twenty seconds or so. At the same time, she'd swiftly reach into one of the cupboards and would help herself with some of the sulfuric acid Magnus had stored.

Once poured it, it'd have the effects of degrading certain parts of the sludge that had fused with the root essence. This would essentially make it more liquid and change its composition to the point of being usable for this specific procedure.
(Charlie Avaline)
Sephan watched carefully, definitely interested in Charlie's mixing of all the ingredients she had on the table, even if he wasn't sure what they were. Alchemy seemed... sort of cool. He was in the zone watching her work until he was given a job! He had to crush beans with some odd tool he'd never heard of before, but it seemed simple enough. He went through the process of crushing the beans, one by one. It was sort of fun for the child. Once he was done, he scooted the bowl over to her and went to go wash his hands-- he had to follow instructions as they were, after all. If he didn't, that would be bad. Once he was finished, he would return to Charlie's side.

"..Done!"
(Sephan Ganlo)
Sarradian nodded once she was called to help with the brewing, she grabbed spare metal couldron they had within the nearest storage just before filling it with water, soon she walked back with small hovering underneath the couldron, swiftly heating it and slowly causing the water in it to boil just as instructed.

With everything prepared she settled the couldron on one of the available stands and slowly submerged ten hoisin mushrooms in it, straight after she took out and unwarped small hourglass which she then settled and observed in silence as it was going to remind her when the said time has passed, trying to remain as close to the estimated time as possible.

When the last grain of sand ended up on the bottom part of the hourglass, idicating that the requested time has passed, Akrata moved towards removing the fungi from water just before proceeding with cutting off the hats and lower stems which she then placed in the small bowl.

"Done, she said once she finished.
(Akrata Draconis)
Both jobs were being performed simultaneously to her's, allowing the progress to be done without too much hinderance. As the beans were being crushed and mushrooms processed, Charlie was handling the sludge mixed with the powder by stirring it slowly, letting the two substances mix well together while the main item would liquify itself just enough to be potent for the next step.

"Well done sweetie!"

Charlie exclamed as the job was finished on Sephan's side. A tap on his head would be given before she'd appropriate herself the item and slowly dunk the mashed mass into the solution she had been stirring. It was slow but the powdered beans would be quick to sink into the sludge. The pink teen seemed to be expecting something out of this, for the solution to turn yellow instead of the odd mix of green and blue. The result wasn't happening. Perhaps a miscalculation of the dosage?

Charlie would stir the solution once more, to see if there'd be any change provoked. A slow change of tint, but surely not enough for this step of the process. Shaking her head, she'd set the mortar and pestle back in front of the kid with five more beans put into it.

"Hmmm, maybe we need a little more. Think you're up for it, lil' man?"

Despite the failure, she kept her head up and enthusiasm was still at max. She'd even lay a kiss on the kid's cheek for his hard work before letting him do his job. A little mechanical, yes, but Alchemy wasn't always the most fun of things.

Now Akrata had finished on her side, the Hoisin mushrooms were prepared with all impurities and spores eliminated through the boiling water. They were cut up to perfection as expected from a hunter. The Avaline nodded in satisfaction before commenting.

"Good, good. You're quite the cook huh. Alright ... You're going to crush them now, and use the filter tool next to you to only have the liquid from it extracted. They contain a lot with the water in it and you shoud get around a vial's worth! After that, dunk it in the cauldron and I'll tell you what's next."

The orders were given as Charlie would continue to stir the solution she seemed to have some trouble with.
(Charlie Avaline)
Sephan crawled back onto his stool as it seemed his work wasn't quite done just yet. He didn't like doing work, but for Charlie he could definitely make an exception. He wiped his cheek of the cooties that Charlie had attempted to given him before crushing the beans yet again and sliding the bowl down the table, quickly running off to wash his hands. He had to follow instructions exactly, right? If he didn't, bad things could happen.

"Alriiighty! Beans are done again."
(Sephan Ganlo)
Akrata listened to instructions that Charlie gave out, soon nodding and grabbing the filter and moving boiled and cutted hoisin mushrooms to it, ensuring that they all fitted in before setting the filter contraption after setting a clean, empty bowl underneath it.

Once everything was prepared she moved towards operating the filter and slowly squeezing the fungi, wanting to avoid any of the jucies splashing and going to waste in the process. She repeated the cycle few times to ensure she had squeezed all of the jucies out just before slowly removing the bowl from underneath of the filter and soon pouring the bowls content to couldron as asked.
(Akrata Draconis)
Charlie Avaline rolled a dice and it landed on: 5
So far the job was simple and mechanical, which reduced the risks for the untrained around Charlie. Roght now, the job was boring, but at least it meant they were on the right track. The Avaline kept stirring, making sure everything was mixed properly and the solution wouldn't harden. The little boy kept on crushing the beans while Akrata moved on to extract the liquid within the remains of the mushroom stems.

When Akrata would be finished, Charlie would be swift to grab the small bowl and with one quick movement would toss it all in the main cauldron. Her other hand would keep on mixing the slime, the movement must never cease. She'd then point at the large spoon adjacent to the cauldron for Akrata to take for herself.

"You're going to stir slowly in the big cauldron here until the hoisin is well mixed with the water. The hoisin extract is a powerful bonding agent, imperative when adding the Destroying Angels with the crellus slime. Do not stop to stir until all the water is light green!"

With that order, Charlie would lower the temperature of the water by restricting the burder under it. That way the steam wouldn't be too overwhelming for the Sarradian to handle. When she'd proceed to do so, she'd find out that the dosage was correct and the method perfect as the water would end up being the appropriate color.

Now back to the beans. Sephan had done his job as expected, and that would warrant another cheer from Charlie.

"You're getting good! Maybe you'll be a great alchemist too one day!"

The teen ruffled his hair before dumping the crushed beans into the solution she had been working for a while. After a few stirs, the result would finally come to be. The solution would turn out to be of a yellow-like color with a few stains of green around. Charlie smiled in satisfaction as progress seemed to be promising.

"Okay ... Sweetie, grab the jar with the white mushrooms over there and give them to Akrata! After that, can you try and find a large, black plate in the cupboard behind me? It has a strange symbol on it. Thanks sweetie!"

She instructed the kid as she kept the stirring going.

"Akrata, when you'll have the Destroying Angel mushrooms, I want you to cut them up into tiny pieces, okay? Only do it when the water is all green though, huh!"
(Charlie Avaline)
Sephan let out a yawn, rubbing his eyes. Doing all this extra work made him tired, especially because of how young he was. He did it all for the praise he could get for doing 'good', though, so it was worth it. He would continue to follow Charlie's instructions, hopping off of his stool and grabbing the jar of white mushrooms and carefully carrying it over to Akrata, barely managing to get it on the table with how short he was.

Next, he went into the cupboard. Pots, pans, plate.. he shuffled through several things until he found something that just about fit the bill for what Charlie asked him to find-- strange thingy on it, black. He crawled onto his stool and placed it onto the table, nodding his head. This sure was interesting, helping Charlie mix all this weird stuff together.

"Hmm. Maaaybe.."
(Sephan Ganlo)
With another set of instructions Akrata moved her hands towards the large spoon just before starting to stir the liquid inside of the couldron in slow and calm manner, watching as it slowly changed the color, continuing to stir it until the mixture turned green as from Charlies instructions.

With the mixture done, the sarradian moved towards the jar and removed the fungi from it, resting them on clean spot on one of the tables, she placed them all in pattern that would make it easier for her to cut them up all up with her trusty alchemical knife, something she bought few years ago and used only for herbs and ingridients involved in her work over healing salves and healing potions.

Her hands moved swiftly, with precision and skill cutting the fungi into small pieces until she ended up with small pile of cutted destroying angels ready to be used.
(Akrata Draconis)
Charlie Avaline rolled a dice and it landed on: 2
Charlie would stir a little more before she'd deem the solution fitting for the next step. Akrata was handling the mushrooms while Sephan was being quite the handy little man. The steam emitted from the cauldron would give off a mint-like aroma as its color was completely changed to green. The Destroying Angels would prove to be rather easy to cut up for Akrata, but their lethality was even a slight risk to unaware magis.

Finally, the teen would grab the large bowl she was stirring into for quite a while and would begin to lift it up. Keeping her hands steady, she'd set the edge of the bowl against the cauldron's before slowly pouring the liquidifed ooze that had been mixed with other poisonous attributes. If they were to consume it now, even a magi would potentially live massive organ failure. But, with the specific mixture she'd concoct, this issue would not longer be.

"Alright, thanks sweetie!"

She'd chime at the boy as he'd deliver the bizarre plate she had prepared specifically for this operation. But for now it'd remain on the sidelines. The ooze was still being slowly poured and mixed with the water of the couldron. When everything was dumped, Charlie would take over for Akrata in terms of stirring and would do so for about a minute.

At this point, she'd grab the cutting plate where the sliced up mushrooms lied before tossing them all in the cauldron. For a solid minute, she wouldn't do a thing, and merely observe. A frown formed on her face as the desired result would not come to be. This would prompt her to stir a bit, and quickly, and while some of the slices would appear to have been assimilated, a lot of the remains still floated on the solution. This wasn't good.

"Tch ... Okay! Sweetie, get the rest of the hoisin mushrooms at the other end of the table for Akrata please! Akrata, boil them and cut them up before filtering just like before, okay? And get me a cup of water while Sephan is getting your mushrooms!"

She ordered, a bit panicked that the bonding agent wasn't functioning correctly.
(Charlie Avaline)
Sephan had just gotten comfortable when he was set on another job. He hopped off of his stool before scuttering over to the other end of the counter. Mushrooms. He grabbed the jar and scuttered back over to Akrata, struggling to get it onto the counter but he managed. He didn't want to disappoint Charlie, so he couldn't drop anything! Otherwise he might make the pink haired shortie angry.

"Alriighty! Easy!"

He was enjoiying his small jobs, since he couldn't do much else in the mixing of the ingredients, or he might mess it up and make things harder than it needed to be.
(Sephan Ganlo)
Akrata looked at Charlie with somewhat concerned expression as she realized that something wasn't quite right with the mixture, she nodded as soon as her friend asked for cup of water, for that she cleaned her hands and grabbed empty cup and filled with with clean water, soon offering it to bit younger girl just before taking the jar from Sephans hands, petting his head gently and nodding.

She removed the jars lid and focued on removing the remaining fungi from it just before repaeting the process of boling them in the couldron before moving with them towards the filter and slowly squeezing out the juices out into a bowl beneath the filter, gathering the very last drop of it before handing the bowl to Charlie just before returning to observe the process.

"I guess something isn't right eh? I doubt you would have needed more of the hoisin extract if everything was alright."
(Akrata Draconis)
Charlie kept the solution stirring while hoping that she could still salvage this. The current product wasn't all that complex, as such she could easily rectify it, and it went really bad, she could employ a last minute time rune to stop possible chemical transformation from causing too much damage. Charlie would graceful accept her cup of water and asked for it only for the chance to get a quick drink. She needed it during this stressful phase.

The hoisin mushrooms were being cooked up like last time, requiring them to wait at least five minutes before continuing. It was both peaceful and intense at the same time. They weren't dunking anything new and possibly dangerous in the cauldron, but at the same time they were at risk of having everything go to waste. Charlie's forehead was drenched in sweat, and it wouldn't be uncommon for her to brush it with the back of her hand.

"Alright, that's good Akrata. Thanks."

Quickly, she'd gather the liquefied essence of the hoisin and would be quick to toss it in the solution before stirring rapidly. The bonding agent was apparently working well, until ...

The liquid would start to boil up uncontrollably, as if they had turned the burner on to max. No, it was a strong chemical reaction. Too much hoisin was starting to counterbalance the mix she currently had and would create an imbalance between the water and the crellus sludge she had used as main base ingredients. This was bad. Very bad. Not only was her potion in jeopardy, but her lab as well.

"Sephan, quickly, crush ten of the beans! Akrata, fill a bucket with water in case this all goes south!"

She ordered while frantically filling the bowl she used previously with more crellus sludge. She didn't pour as many, about half the bowl. Swiftly afterward, she'd coat it with the blue root powder like before and went straight to stirring. The sulfuric would be hastily added to start the liquefying process while she waited for the beans to be completed.
(Charlie Avaline)
Sephan scurried over to his stool and climbed onto it just in time to recieve his next orders-- crush more beans, and quick. Something must have been going wrong, if he had to do it pretty quickly. He crushed the beans quickly-- ten of them, shoving the bowl over Charlie's way. Hopefully that would be enough and her potion wouldn't blow up or anything. That probably isn't what would happen, but that was Sephan's idea of what happened when you messed up alchemy. It blew up.
(Sephan Ganlo)
Akrata sighed and runned off to grab one of the larger buckets out of the storage just before deciding to fill it with water and soon returning with it to the lab, holding it in her hand and soon turned towards Sephan, "Seph dear, please  leave the lab just incase, I wouldn't want for you to get hurt if something wrong was going to happen." she said calmly.
(Akrata Draconis)
"Yeeeaaaah you may want to take cover, sweetie!"

With that warning, Charlie went full 'damage control' mode. The rest of the tass were being repeated in hopes to rectify the imbalance that had occured. All the while, an emergency barrel of water was here to extinguish any out-of-control combustion.

Eventually she'd pour Akrata's last mix of Hoisin extract into the solution, in hopes to finally put an end to this sudden crisis. At first, the bubbles would calm down, and it would all seem to have been settled. Until .. Immense amounts of smoke would be generated from within the cauldron and quickly enveloped the whole lab.

"Ahhhh! Akrata grab Sephan and leave! This'll get messy! Don't breath the smoke!"

The fumes could also be toxic, as such she'd hold her breath as well. In a last ditch effort to prevent a catastrophe from occuring, Charlie would pick up the barrel and unleash the masses of water into the cauldron, drowning the solution and limiting the intoxicating transformation that was taking place. As the water made contact however, immense amounts of steam flooded the area, prompting Charlie to evacuate as soon as she was done.

While the lab was safe from certain destruction, the potion was indeed lost. Some of the steps she had nailed by then, and she could learn from this mistake, but some things had to be completely redone, that's for sure.

"Whew ... You guys alright?"

She panted, out of the lab, hands on her knees as she bent over. Various odd odors roamed the mansion at this point, but nothing toxic.
(Charlie Avaline)