Author's Note

Apologies for the late update, everyone! I was a bit busy with school!

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Abnormalcy: Thank you so much; I'm so happy you think so!

At the sound of Sucrose's voice, Albedo could feel his vision clear, and he bolted upright, propping his torso on his arms just in time to see the hilichurl that had attacked him sprint hastily away. He could not see Sucrose's face, for she had turned around to ensure that the creature was fleeing, but a moment later, she rushed over to him, her eyes screaming concern.

"Mr. Albedo, are you okay?" was the first thing she said, using her Anemo Vision to gently blow the hair out of his face as her eyes diligently examined him for signs of trauma.

A flurry of emotions spun through him that instant and Albedo couldn't decide which one was most appropriate for the situation. He was grateful for her save, certainly, for his condition would be dire without her, but at the same time, he knew that Sucrose was a passive person, and vanquishing monsters was not her forte. She was by no means weak, but her battle prowess was limited, and most fighting situations did not behoove her to engage. She was always most comfortable and useful aiding the gladiators and warriors and chalk princes who fought for her.

By all accounts, her fighting something as a hilichurl for him of all people was dangerous.

But he soon realized that both of those emotions were overcome by his excitement to just see her. Her gaze was clear now, for her inspection had proved that he had sustained no visible injuries, and Albedo wondered how long he could stare into her amber irises before he would tire of their deep, rich color. He wagered "never."

After a moment, Albedo realized that several seconds had passed since she had asked him if he was okay, and his only response had been to stare dumbly at her. He flushed when he realized that because of his silence, Sucrose had begun to examine him curiously with her eyes again—probably taking his muteness as a sign that the hilichurl may have concussed him—and had leaned closer into him. Her face was now mere centimeters away from his, and he could smell the Sweet-Flower-essence-based perfume that she used. His face was already red, but he could feel it shift to vermillion.

Albedo flopped back down into the soft sand that lined Starfell Lake, hoping that it would distance himself from Sucrose's distracting presence, for she still leaned over him concernedly.

He coughed and finally answered her question. "I'm fine, Sucrose." Looking enigmatically at the puffy clouds that hung over them, he continued, "And thank you for the rescue. But what are you doing here? Starfell Lake isn't rich in the resources you use for your research, if I'm remembering correctly."

When he spoke, Sucrose looked relieved and leaned back. "Well, this—this past week, I've been trying to experiment with Bloatty Floatties, but I can't get their soil composition right to recreate their usual environment in our workshop—I think, I think it might have to do with the fact that they're highly imbued with Anemo." She pat a tiny bag she had slung over her shoulder. "I read in an alchemy scroll that Calla Lillies might help them grow better, and those only grow near lakes. I was coming here to pick some and that's when I found you! Mr. Albedo, what happened?" She squinted at the waters of Starfell Lake, which were still tinged with the indigo miasma.

He waved her concern away. "Just an assignment from Grand Master Jean gone awry." He cleared his throat. "Are you heading back now? I can walk you to the city."

"O—oh, are you sure?" she asked. "Mr. Albedo, you don't have to finish your assignment?"

Albedo nodded. "It's nothing that this cleansing blend of Wolfhook and Small Lamp Grass can't fix," he explained, retrieving several jars of said blend from his pack and sprinkling it liberally onto the surface of the lake.

Upon contacting the water, the plant particles dissolved and a deep purple mist leached from the lake and into the air, dissipating instantly. Before long, Starfell Lake looked back to normal, only with a significant decrease in the Black-Back Bass population, which he expected to return to its previous size next spring. He turned to Sucrose, who had been watching him with interest. "If you've picked all the Calla Lillies you need, let's go."

Their retreat to Monstadt was quiet, but Albedo didn't mind, for it allowed him to collect his thoughts as they passed rolling swaths of green and beautiful fields dotted with flowers.

Once they arrived at the Knights of Favonius Headquarters and in their workshop, Sucrose immediately began the process of dehydrating the Calla Lillies. With the expensive equipment that the Knights had bequeathed unto their alchemists, the entire process took only three minutes, and Albedo helped her scoop the dried petals into a thick, syrupy sugar-solution that Sucrose had prepared earlier. He watched as she delicately spooned the sugar-flower mixture into the soil of three drooping, sickly-looking Bloatty Floatties that were stationed in a row on her worktable.

"If I'm translating the alchemy scrolls correctly, this mixture should produce healthier Bloatty Floatties instantaneously, although …" she peered worriedly at the flowers, which had yet to show any sign of change, "I'm not seeing anything different."

"Maybe the scroll was mistaken," he offered upon seeing her crestfallen expression. "Let's give it a few more minutes before we pass judgment."

Sucrose stared at the weak flowers, before blinking and shaking her head. "Y—you're right, Mr. Albedo." She dipped a finger in the moistened dirt that held the Bloatty Floatties. "I—it's just that Captain Eula wanted to know if I could make enhanced Bloatty Floatties for one of her reconnaissance training missions, and I still feel terrible about what happened with the last time I experimented for her … I … I just was hoping I could prove myself this time with a perfect request." She shook her head even harder, and before Albedo could answer, she pounded a fist into her palm determinedly. "And I will! I just need to go read more scrolls!" She bowed toward him politely. "If you don't need me, Mr. Albedo, I'm going to see if Timaeus has anything worth reading at his alchemy store!"

She was off before he could assure her that, of course, it was okay, and Albedo found himself standing alone in the alchemy workshop.

He blinked a few times at her sudden departure, but he quickly turned back to inspect the sad-loooking Bloatty Floatties. The normally plump balloonlike blossoms were small and wilted, drooping heavily against their lanky stems. Like Sucrose had done earlier, he swirled his finger into the sugar-syrup-sodden soil, rubbing bits of dehydrated Calla Lillies between his fingertips thoughtfully.

Although she had seemed determined to succeed with experimenting on these Bloatty Floatties in the end, he could not get Sucrose's crushed face out of his head.

Albedo did not specialize in bio-alchemy as she did, so his knowledge on the intricacies of plant life was slightly limited compared to hers, but he figured that there had to be some way for him to help out.

Wiping his finger off on a towel, he made his way over to his own worktable. As usual, it was a mess of alchemical equipment, research notes, and his sketchbook. His eye, just then, however, was drawn to the last of the three vials Marjorie had given him earlier that week. After diluting the vial's contents in the Noctilucous-Jade-and-Horsetail solution last night, he had yet to examine what characteristics had been brought forth on the powder molecules' surfaces, since before he could do anything, Jean had called him to his assignment.

He picked up the vial, now, and carefully tapped its glass exterior. After soaking overnight in the mixture, the powder inside seemed to have turned a pale teal color. He furrowed his brow. That was strange; all three vials had had stark white powder when he had received them. After giving the vial a good shake, he noticed now that the particles were slow to settle, drifting leisurely in the air, as if the Noctilucous-Jade-and-Horsetail mixture had bereft them of a heavy outer coating, leaving them as lightweight and as free as could be.

Albedo raised an eyebrow. Teal was a color often associated with the Anemo element, and the way the powder refused to settle and floated in the air reminded him of the way dandelion seeds meandered through the wind—and dandelion seeds were a common representation of Anemo and Monstadt.

He could feel the gears in his head begin to turn as he realized that if this powder seemed to be related to the Anemo element, surely it could help a plant that was also related to Anemo grow better? He pinched a bit of the powder from the vial, walked over to Sucrose's table, and sprinkled it over one of the Bloatty Floatties.

As soon as the powder touched the flowers, the balloonlike blossoms sprang up immediately, looking as plump and as healthy as they did in the wild. Taken slightly aback, he gave one a gentle poke—too much force and he knew that the balloon would spring into the air—and was pleasantly surprised to see how firm and well, bloated, it was. It was perfect for any manner of target practice, which he assumed was what Captain Eula wanted it for.

Albedo twisted the vial in his hand. This was perfect; it was exactly what Sucrose was looking for, he was sure.

However, there was just one problem: there was no way he could give the vial to her. It wasn't that he didn't want to, because he did, but Marjorie had already paid him in full with Mora before giving him the vials to test, for she knew that she could trust him to properly do the job. When he gave the vial back to her, she would be selling it to the public at her shop "With Wind Comes Glory" for Anemo Sigils, and they that had any quantity of those were adventurers who found them in chests.

He was not an adventurer.

He had no Anemo Sigils.

He couldn't just ask Marjorie to give him the vial, nor could he take some from it to keep for himself—neither of those was right.

And there was no way he was going to let this perfect of an opportunity for Sucrose to slip by.

He had to help her.

Albedo sighed. The only way to pay for this vial would be, indeed, to go adventuring to acquire Anemo Sigils.

He wasn't fond of the prospect—he had nothing against adventuring, but he found no particular joy in it. He preferred scouting for scenery to draw as opposed to roughing through difficult terrain in search for a sliver of treasure and would rather spend all day warm in his workshop than in the middle of nowhere, with only a cave to shield from the bitter wind and weather.

He supposed if he wanted to obtain enough Anemo Sigils to buy the vial from Marjorie, he would need to commission an adventurer from the Adventurer's Guild to come along with him to find them. Surely, he had Mora for that.

He was frugal with his income from the Knights of the Favonius; the only things he ever really wanted were quality alchemy equipment and drawing supplies, and the former was always provided by the Knights. Apart from those, the rest of his Mora was usually spent on buying food, as well as entertainment for Klee, who never had enough Mora to pay for her own, since all her income from the Knights of Favonius was used to recompense those who had had property damaged from her bombs.

He still had plenty of Mora left over from his last salary and had no doubt that he could commission the most efficient adventurer from the Guild with it.

In hindsight, he probably should've realized that that was too good of a wish to come true.

Author's Note II

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