Alchemical Creations: Sleep-Aid
Knock knock knock.
“Just a moment!” I call out.
And just in time, I think as I finish up the work at my station and start towards the door.
I can’t blame anyone for myself for being almost-forgotten this past year – well, I can blame Cyndaquil for giving me some sort of bad reputation, but me staying locked away sure didn’t help. Now, it seems that some… unpleasant information pertaining to my species has come to light, and I need some way to show that I can be useful. But here my answer–
I open the door to see the person I had asked for help – the white ribbon dog-thing named Enny – appear.
–shall appear, I finish my thought before saying, “hello Enny! It sure has been quite some time since I last saw you in the mess hall.”
As I had come to expect, Enny approached me and, as usual, began to flirt with me. “Of course, Ikarus, anything for a friend,” she says as one of her ribbons caressed my arms. The flames on my chest burn brighter at this.
“Ah, well, yes. Uh, where is your friend?” I ask. Since I interacted with others so little since I arrived, the little attention I did receive unfortunately had an inflated effect on me. With this damned flame, though, I was unable to hide that fact not only to myself, but to Enny, who always seemed to enjoy the reaction.
Before Enny can respond, a red fluffy dog-thing appears behind her, and says, in a voice that to me seemed to me to be already annoyed, “I’m here. Never been down here before. And I’ve never seen you. You’re not a fuck-up like Cyndaquil, are you?”
“Oh I assure you I am not! I have simply been getting acclimated to this world. But – and I am sorry for the confusion – I asked Enny to get your other partner, the black one who I learned had issues sleeping. Adrian?”
The few times I went to the dining hall and saw Enny, I wound up learning a few things about her team, including the one called Adrian who was nocturnal.
I notice the red dog-thing’s eyes narrow. “That was me. I turned into a Flareon now, but I’m still Adrian. Hold on, that happened months ago. How long have you been living inside a cave?”
Cave? Damn it all, he knows. I better get right to it before I get even more closely related to Cyndaquil.
“Well, no matter. Is your circadian rhythm still inverted?”
“If you’re asking if I only sleep during the day, the answer is no,” came the response before Adrian turns to Enny and asks, “why the fuck did you drag me down here?”
Come on, is there any reprieve for me? Well, I suppose I should at least show them my creation. Perhaps word of it will spread and that, even if not needed by Adrian, someone else might have use for it. And my reputation will shift from shut-away sex maniac to, at the very least, alchemist.
“Well, though you have no use for it, nonetheless I’d like to show you my latest alchemical creation!” I say as I gesture towards my alchemy station and begin to saunter to it, with Enny and Adrian trailing behind. “Perhaps you might know someone for which it can be used!”
“This,” I say as I pick up a small tablet, “is the effort of months of hard work, including the process of learning this world’s alchemical processes!”
They both look at it with intrigue, but Adrian’s interest is clearly blended with annoyance. Nonetheless, I have interest! I think with a joy I barely manage to suppress.
“I learnt of the extreme bitterness of sleep seeds and, using an extremely complex series of formulations, I have managed to not only get sleep seed extract, but combine it with a compound that negates its flavor, rendering it without flavor, free of its bitterness! Hence, we have what I call a ‘Sleep-Aid!’ It is free of the vile taste of sleep seeds while also more compact!”
I hand the tablet to the more interested of the two who grabs it with her ribbon and looks at it closely. “While you have no need for it, would you like to try it to prove its tastelessness? All you need to do is put it in a liquid to let it dissolve, and it’s not too potent. It takes two to make me sleepy so trying out one should do no harm.”
I can prove not only to the guild, but to her that I am an adept alchemist. I mean, once I go out more, some companionship would be welcome…
“Sure!” Enny responds with usual glee. I hand Enny the water I already have on standby and she drops the tablet into it. I can’t help but feel proud as it rapidly dissolves, leaving only the most minor of discolorations behind that I notice only because I know to look for it. To the untrained eye, the water appears perfectly normal. Truly, I think, this Sleep-Aid is among my greatest creations, in both Terra and this world.
I watch Enny rapidly down the whole glass, which she wasn’t supposed to do, then turn to me and declare “I didn’t taste a thing!”
My flame burns even brighter, now because of the great pride rising within me rather than my blushing from Enny’s flirtations. I look at Adrian, who only says, “would’ve been useful if I had this half-a-year-ago.” But his attention quickly turns to Enny, and I follow suit and see why.
Enny with eyes half-open, looks at us and speaks gibberish as her condition rapidly – too rapidly – deteriorates. She looks at me, says a second series of slurred words, then slams her head onto my workstation, unconscious.
I stand stunned in silence for a moment, wondering how my Sleep-Aid could’ve been so effective even if Enny drank the whole drink since it was a single tablet, until I recall that two was effective for me. For Enny, being around a third of my size, a single tablet was more than enough.
Adrian breaks my trance when he asks, “you said this was tasteless, right?” to which I reply in the affirmative. Is he still interested? It’s quite clearly effective. Well, perhaps too much.
“So, again, let me get this straight… you made a flavorless, water-dissolvable tablet that puts a Pokemon to sleep?” he asks.
“Y-yes?” I reply, confused to the edge present in his voice
“Well congratulations, retard, you just invented a roofie.” Adrian looks at Enny and sighs, clearly annoyed. “You just wait there while I get some help to carry Enny outside of your rape-dungeon. Don’t touch him or I’ll fuck you up personally.”
Adrian looks at me with disgust as he walks towards the door as he says, “goddamn, the whole Cyndaquil line really is fucked-up from start to finish” before exiting my view, making his way up the stairs.
It takes me some moments to process everything that just happened. My thoughts shift rapidly from the now-apparent potential misuse of my creation that may very well forever connect me to Cyndaquil and that God-forsaken fable to wondering if I might ever have the face to leave the lab and go out and join a team despite this setback, but finally settling on the most confusing thought of them all.
As I glance at the deeply-sleeping Enny beside me, all I can think of – while trying to not realize the implication it might have for me – is: he?