Chapter 7: A healing potion that actually kind of hurts.

"Chariot!" Both of my teammates yell at the same time when the potion we were working on explodes. I flinch and give them the most innocent smile I can muster, even if we all know what happened was most probably my fault. But hey, I was getting tired of not being allowed to do more than just watch them as they worked, and figured I would help a bit if I just added one of the ingredients. We were making a levitation potion, which isn't so complicated, and I studied how it was made with Croix the other day, so… I don't know what went wrong.

"Ah… sorry?" I squeak under the angry gaze of Karen and Amelia, as well as Professor Lukić's. "I-I just… uhm… I added some mandrake leaves, like the book says. I don't know why it exploded!"

"Are you blind, girl?" The old professor asks, obviously very upset that I just blew up yet another one of her precious cauldrons. "The book says you have to boil them before you add them!"

"It… does?" I look down at the opened book at my desk to corroborate her words, and sure enough, under the list of ingredients (the only thing I read), there's a paragraph detailing how to prepare some of the ingredients before adding them to the potion, and yes, mandrakes leaves have to be boiled. "Oh."

"You three will have to stay here and clean this mess after class. The rest of you are dismissed." At this, all the other students start walking out, all looking at me with either pity, contempt or amusement.

"I guess we can always count on Chariot to blow up the classroom and get us out early!" A girl from the yellow team says as she passes, laughing loudly with her twin, who is from the pink team. Those two are even better than me at getting into trouble to be honest, but at least they never get caught, so they can laugh all they want when I get punished, but I can't do the same to them, so I just blow them a raspberry as they walk by.

"I want everything to be nice and clean when I return." Lukić says once very student has exited the classroom. "Or else I'll rip off your tongues! Hehehe." And with that odious laughter she has, she closes the door and leaves us alone.

"Seriously, Chariot what were you thinking? We told you not to touch anything!" Karen says immediately, not giving me even a moment to breathe.

"But I was so bored! You guys won't let me do anything!" I immediately protest.

"Because you always end up blowing something up!" Amelia retorts, scowling at me. "And now we have to clean your mess. As always."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" I answer defensively. "I just thought…"

"You clearly didn't." Amelia cuts me off, visibly angry. Which makes me feel even worse because she's usually nice to me. Nicer than Karen anyways.

"And you, Amelia?" Karen then directs her glare at her, which gives me a moment to relax slightly. "Where were you? I told you to keep an eye on her!"

"Oh, so now it's my fault?" Amelia answers, glaring right back at Karen.

Great. They're going to start fighting again.

"G-girls, please, let's calm down…" I try to interfere, but I just manage to direct their anger right back at me, and I can barely stop myself from taking a step back in fear for my life.

"You want us to calm down?" Karen asks in disbelief, her green eyes piercing me all the way into my soul and making me shudder because of how cold they are. "How can we? Thanks to you we got punished again!"

"And I certainly don't look forward to cleaning all of this." Amelia adds, turning to look at our table.

I also let my gaze wander for a moment, looking at the mess I caused. The contents of our cauldron are now scattered all over the laboratory, staining the tables with a purple substance that appears to be sticky, so it'll probably be difficult to remove. There are also some flasks that got knocked over because of the explosion and their contents are now spilled all over the floor. And to top it all, there's a very nasty aroma impregnating the whole place.

Yeah… I wouldn't want to clean this either.

This will surely cause another crack to appear in the already fragile relationship between me and my roommates. I wonder how long it will be before they make me sleep in the hallway. And with good reason, at that.

But before I can suggest they let me clean it all by myself, the door opens. We all tense instantly, thinking it's Lukić coming back to check on our progress, but instead in walks…

"Croix?" I exclaim, unable to hide the smile that instantly appears on my face, like I'm seeing the first ray of sunlight after a particularly fierce storm.

"Chariot?" She also says, clearly surprised, but then she takes in the rest of the laboratory and chuckles. "What the hell did you do this time?" She shakes her head in amusement.

I can only blush in embarrassment at her seeing one of my infamous disasters. More so because she's tutoring me, and she's a prodigy, and after taking so many lessons with her this surely shouldn't be happening. Great, now she'll think I'm even more of a dunce.

"Croix Meridies?" Amelia speaks, looking at my friend with a mix of surprise and confusion.

"The one and only." Croix smirks, modest as ever. I can only roll my eyes at that. "I'm sorry to intrude, I just came here searching for my favorite slave over there."

"How can you even stand her?" Karen scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "With how bad she is at literally everything I thought you'd turn her into a frog at the first chance, given your reputation."

"Maybe I should turn you into a frog." Croix answers, her eyes narrowing into slits and her whole demeanor changing from casual to murderous in less than a second. Karen gulps at this, and then looks to the side, avoiding looking directly at her.

"I'm just saying… with you being a prodigy and all, I bet you could find someone better to help you out while you're injured." Karen shrugs, trying to appear nonchalant, even if she's obviously scared of Croix. "That's what everyone else thinks, anyways." She adds quickly, probably not wanting to upset her even more. But now that I think about it, why is Croix even getting upset? It's not like Karen is wrong… even if it hurts.

"I don't suppose you can understand why I chose Chariot instead a snobby brat like you, so I won't even try to explain it." She makes a dramatic pause, getting out her wand and twirling it around for show. "But I won't tolerate you insulting her anymore, are we clear?"

What? Why is Croix defending me? I thought…

"Why do you even care?" Karen voices out my exact thoughts, though she does so in a defensive manner.

"Why do you care why I care?" Croix shoots back, instantly shutting her up. "Now, I recognize that Chariot can be quite… disastrous, to put it mildly."

"Hey!" I protest. I thought she was defending me!

"Which is why…" She continues, looking at me with an expression that clearly says 'Don't interrupt me again, or else'. "I believe it's only fair if she cleans this mess alone, wouldn't you agree?"

"What?!" I shriek. Just when I thought Croix was being nice for once!

"But professor Lukić said the three of us should do it." Amelia interferes for the first time since my friend walked through the door.

"And she'll cut out our tongues if we don't finish in time." Karen adds. "And I honestly don't trust Chariot to do it all on her own."

For once, I agree with Karen. But I wouldn't say that out loud.

"And if I help her?" Croix says, to the astonishment and confusion of me and the rest of the orange team.

"W-what?" This is getting more and more confusing by the second!

"You would do that?" Amelia asks, eyes wide as saucers, since she clearly can't believe what she's hearing. "Why?"

"I have my reasons." Croix shrugs, smiling in a way that I know she probably has some experiment in mind, and all I can do is gulp and see as my fate is sealed. "But rest assured, I swear on my honor as the top student in Luna Nova that this place will be spotless by the time your professor comes back."

"That sounds… tempting." Amelia says, turning to look at Karen questioningly, silently asking for her opinion.

"Certainly." Karen agrees, smirking maliciously in my direction. "It's hard to argue with Croix's reputation, and I do have homework for tomorrow, so I would benefit from some extra time."

"Girls." I practically whine, begging them not to leave me alone here.

"Then it's settled." My friend smiles, crossing her arms over her chest. "Come on, get out before I change my mind."

Before I can even protest any further, and with my begging falling in deaf ears, my roommates take their belongings and exit the classroom, all the while thanking Croix profusely and blatantly ignoring me. And in just a few seconds they're out. Great.

I turn to glare at the lilac-haired prodigy.

"Why did you do that, Croix? You're so mean!"

"You'll thank me when your teammates don't murder you in your sleep." She shrugs, smiling excitedly. "But that aside, I really needed to be left alone in here."

"What are you planning?" I ask with a mix of curiosity and caution. After all, I don't want to get in any more trouble, but I'm curious to see what kind of experiments Croix does on her lab.

"I need to get some ingredients from Lukić's personal stock, but I can't just ask for them because they can be… dangerous." She explains, the smile not leaving her face.

"You're gonna make me use them, aren't you?" I say once I come to the obvious conclusion.

"You're the one who won't let me do any magic." She retorts, and I'm left without any good answer for that.

"Okay, but first you have to help me clean this." I relent at the end, knowing I have really no other option.

"Like this?" She raises an eyebrow as she points to her injured arm.

"Uh…" Damn, I hadn't thought about that! Is she really going to let me clean all of this on my own?

"We need to use magic if we want to finish on time." Croix says. "But the spell is quite advanced, especially for a first-year like you…" She trails off, looking pointedly at me and silently asking me something. And while her offer is very tempting, I'd rather spend the rest of my life scrubbing this classroom than letting her hurt herself trying to clean my mess.

"Forget it. You're not doing magic." I deadpan, crossing my arms over my chest for emphasis.

"Fine then, catch this." Croix takes something out of her pocket and throws it at me without warning, but thankfully I'm able to catch it, though I do fumble with it for a couple of seconds before I can properly secure it in my grasp. Then I notice it's a small flask of glass containing a transparent blood-red liquid. "Drink it and you should be able to cast the spell."

Oh! So it's a potion then.

"Were you just carrying it around for no reason?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. It's a little too convenient, to be honest.

"I bought it from a third-year. Just in case you did something stupid and wouldn't let me fix it." She smirks.

"I hate you." I say pouting. But I have to admit it did come in handy… which just makes me hate her more.

"You're welcome." She answers, undeterred and continuing to smirk as odiously as she always does. She appears to be in a good mood today, and honestly? I almost miss grumpy Croix. "The spell is Yera Retoure."

"Year Tour?" I mispronounce it just to spite her.

"Yera Retoure." She corrects, rolling her eyes. "Now come on, we don't have all day."

"Okay, okay." I agree, since I do want to finish it as quickly as possible even if I'm not looking forward to working with dangerous substances in Croix's lab. But I'm more afraid of Lukić, to be honest.

So I uncork the flask and swiftly drink it all in one just one gulp. It tastes gross and bitter, like medicine, and the taste remains in my mouth even after I've swallowed, but as soon as I put down the flask and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, I start feeling something like a tingling. It's like the magic inside my body is getting restless and trying to break out of the tips of my fingers… it's the same feeling than when I try to cast a spell, except it's like someone else is doing it for me. I don't really like this sensation, but if it gets the work done without any more disasters then I ain't going to complain.

Anyways, I decide to ignore the unpleasant sensation and just cast the stupid spell.

"Yera Retoure!" I yell, pointing towards the broken cauldron and scattered stuff. And as if by magic (ha!), everything starts going back to its original state and position; the flasks' pieces regroup and attach, like they were never broken in the first place, the ingredients go back inside the now-repaired jars, the burning marks disappear and the gooey substance returns to the cauldron. "Whoa!" I can't help gasping in awe. Everything looks so pristine! Professor Lukić will be so impressed when she comes back.

"Yeah, yeah, very impressive." Croix rolls her eyes one more time, clearly annoyed I'm just staring at the cleaned laboratory like it's the most marvelous thing I've seen all day (and it is!). "But don't get cocky, okay? That was just the potion at work. If you tried to do it on your own you'd probably cause an even bigger explosion."

"I know." I answer, pouting at her. I didn't need that reminder! Come on, Croix, just let me believe I can actually do decent magic for now!

"Good, now… I think it's time to collect some ingredients."

That smile definitely means trouble. What did I get into now? I'm starting to think the free lessons aren't worth this.


We arrived to Croix's lab safely after stealing a bunch of stuff from Lukic's stash. But she had to use an invisibility spell to hide us, as I tried to cast it myself but I kept getting it wrong and we didn't have much time. Thankfully it didn't hurt her as much as before, which probably means my constant reminders that she can't use magic are actually helping her heal faster! Either that or she's been practicing magic anyways and is now so used to the pain that she doesn't even feel it anymore.

But anyways, maybe I should worry less about Croix's health and more about my own, since what we are about to do is rather dangerous. It's kinda ironic, really. With all this stuff it might look like we're trying to kill someone, but according to a very old book that Croix stole from who-knows-where, these very dangerous ingredients, when mixed the right way, can make for a rather powerful healing potion.

That's right, a healing potion that's (hopefully) able to cure Croix's arm. But really, it will be a leap of faith for her. If done wrong, this thing could kill her, or injure her even more… and since she can't do magic, I will be in charge of making the potion.

Yeah. I'm sweating cold right now. But Croix appears to be rather calm. Oddly calm, I'd say.

"Okay." She says, settling the ingredients on her table. Thankfully the invisibility spell is starting to wear off and now we can see each other, even if we're still a little transparent. "First things first: put the ingredients here and go heat up the cauldron. I assume you won't need help with that."

"N-no, I can do it." I answer, placing the flasks I was carrying next to the ones Croix just put on the table. "But Croix… are you sure this is a good idea? I'm terrible at brewing potions!"

"Well then it's about time you learn." She shrugs nonchalantly. "Plus, even though you'll be doing it, I will supervise. I will be guiding you every step of the way, so I doubt there's a chance of you getting it so wrong it'll kill me."

"I still think it's a bad idea." I argue.

"We'll worry about that later." She dismisses it with a wave of her hand. "For now, let's just make the potion, okay?"

"Fine." I sigh, knowing that trying to convince Croix to give up on her plan after she went all this way to execute it is an exercise in futility. But maybe I could convince her to use me as her test subject… which actually doesn't sound any better. But at least if something happened to me she'd be able to act faster, right? I trust she'd knew what to do in case I was poisoned by my own stupidity. Hopefully.

For now, all I can do is obey her orders and heat up that stupid cauldron that she keeps on a small table under the balcony stairs, by turning on this little metal thing (electric stove, I think?) connected to a car battery.

"Is it ready?" Croix asks as she comes to stand beside me, holding the open book in her left hand.

"Yeah, I think so." I nod.

"Good. Now we first need to pour in a cup of fire toad mucus."

"Got it!" I say as I rush to fetch the ingredient, but Croix' panicked yell stops me dead in my tracks.

"Wait! You shouldn't be handling this without proper protective equipment!" I smile sheepishly under her strict gaze. "My coat and gloves are on a box under the desk. I'm afraid we'll have to do without glasses though."

"Right. Right." I answer, quickly going to put on the coat and gloves before fetching the ingredient and Croix's tea cup to measure it. However, as soon as I return to her side and she notices what I brought with me, she sighs, puts the book away and takes her cup off my hands.

"Seriously, for all your good intentions I'm starting to think you're actively trying to get us killed." She says semi-seriously. "The measuring cup, which is to be used only for this purpose, is on the bookshelf."

"Oh." Well, that makes sense. I probably shouldn't use something which is primarily used to drink tea to measure the quantities of dangerous substances. Why didn't I think of that sooner? I'd even seen the measuring cup before! I just never asked what it was for.

So, after fetching the glass cup with painted lines measuring ounces and milliliters, I uncork the bottle containing a viscous orange liquid and pour it on it, making sure to take exactly the amount we need. Then, I add it to the boiling water in the cauldron, but soon notice some of it keeps sticking on the cup. I try shaking it a bit, but it's no use, and I'm about to try and bring it down using my glove-covered fingers, when Croix's voice interrupts me.

"Try taking some of the boiling water with the cup and then pouring it back at the cauldron a couple of times. That should do the trick." I nod and quickly follow her instructions, effectively managing to make every last drop of fire toad mucus get into the potion-in-making. "Good. Now stir it for exactly two minutes counterclockwise." She instructs, handing me a metal scoop.

"Got it." I say, taking the scoop and pausing for a moment to remember in which direction the hands of the clock rotate before energetically starting to stir on the opposite direction.

"Wait! Slow down or you'll spill the contents, jeez!" Croix chastises me. "No wonder your teammates don't let you do anything in potions class."

"But it's still a wonder you do let me do everything for you." I retort, remembering when my teammates questioned her about it earlier, and still having found no satisfying answer myself. "Maybe you aren't as smart as everyone makes you out to be. Just saying." I then decide to tease.

"Well, just saying, I have enough confidence in myself to know that, if I'm here, it's less likely you'll ruin it all." She answers, rolling her eyes, but it does look like she's holding back from laughing.

"You'd be surprised." I joke.

"Just stir the damn thing, Chariot."

"Okay, okay." I chuckle, returning my attention to the potion, which seems to be slowly becoming a lighter tone of yellowish orange. "So… what's next?"

"Next…" Croix pauses, checking the book. "Next we have to add three spoonfuls of pulverized lapis lazuli, and let it cool down until it's 36 degrees celcius."

Apparently deciding it's better for me to keep on stirring the potion, and seeing the next ingredient isn't dangerous (for once), she decides to retrieve it herself and comes back with a bag of blue powder, as well as a large crystal thermometer and a measuring spoon. Then she adds said ingredient, instructing me to keep stirring until the mix is homogenous. Once it's mixed to her satisfaction and the potion has turned a very weird pinkish color, she puts the thermometer on the cauldron, so we'll be able to see when it's on the right temperature.

"Alright, so now that that's done, we need to… Great." Croix frowns as she reads the next part on the recipe.

"What?" I prompt when she doesn't say anything more.

"We need to mix the next three ingredients separately before adding them to the potion." She sighs. "It can be a bit difficult because it has to be done at room temperature, which means they won't be so easily dissolved."

"Don't worry, I've got it. Just tell me what to add… and where, since I suppose we can't use your cauldron." I say, looking at the currently occupied thing.

"Right." Croix nods, adopting a thinking expression. "Well, I suppose that we could use the metal can where I keep my pens." She points at her desk, where the thing in question is located.

"Got it!" I say as I go retrieve it, leaving Croix's pens and pencils lying on the same spot. It's actually a pretty ordinary metal can, which probably had soup or something like that in the past… I hope it won't break when we pour the very dangerous ingredients into it.

"Okay, leave it there next to the cauldron. Good. Now, first add a cup of Night Viper venom." I start to reach for the amber bottle filled with a dark liquid, when her voice makes me stop for a moment. "Be careful though; that thing is super deadly."

"Don't worry. I'm the most careful person in the world." I assure her, but her ironic chuckling makes me see exactly what she thinks of that statement. Still, I somehow manage to measure and pour the dangerous substance into the can. I can't help thinking it's actually very pretty though; it's transparent and of a light blue color. I wonder if it tastes like blueberry…? But I won't drink it! I'm not that stupid.

"Okay, now add a pinch of Lunar Moth dust." Croix continues with the instructions. "Don't worry, that one's harmless, so you can just grab it with your fingers."

I follow her orders, enjoying the silver color that remains in my gloves even after I've let go of the dust. It looks like I'm glowing! But anyways. I should probably just mix it before Croix chastises me for staring at my fingers for so long.

"Okay, for the next ingredient… half a cup of ashes from a branch of the legendary tree Wagandia, burned by fire dragon a hundred years ago."

"That's oddly specific." I comment. Aren't ashes from all trees the same?

"It's also the rarest ingredient, so don't waste it." She instructs with a severe expression.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful." I reassure her as I take the measuring cup and carefully start pouring in the ashes until I have all we need. Then, I empty the contents into the can only to start mixing the ingredients with the scoop. One of the reasons brewing potions is so boring: a great part of the time you're just stirring stuff and waiting around.

"Be sure to keep stirring until it's a light grey color and of uniform consistency." Croix says. "It's very important since it neutralizes the venom."

"Yes, Croix, don't worry. I got it." I almost roll my eyes at her. I mean, it's not like mixing three ingredients was that big of a deal! You just have to keep moving. And moving. And moving, and… why am I not making any progress? The venom is still resting at the bottom with the ashes floating on top, and no matter how I try to mix them up, they keep being stubbornly separated. Like water and oil.

"Croix!" I whine.

"I told you it wasn't as easy as it seemed." She sighs in exasperation. "Just keep going and they'll eventually dissolve. I'm going to check on the potion."

And with that she leaves me struggling with this stupid thing to go check the thermometer we left on the cauldron. I just sigh, but decide to stir it a bit faster, to see if that makes it easier to dissolve. And soon I see some parts of it starting to look of a more homogenous grey color! So I get excited and try moving it a bit faster. And faster. And faster! And…

Suddenly the can tips over because of all the force I'm applying to it (even though I was trying to stabilize it with my other hand), and the contents spill all over me, some even reaching my face and making my clothes wet. Instantly, I remember what Croix said about the venom being super deadly and I let out a terrified squeak.

"C-Croix!" I call for her, who is only a few feet away, already looking at me with an amused expression.

"I should have imagined." She chuckles. "I can't leave you on your own yet."

"Am I gonna die?!" I ask, dread settling into my stomach as I start feeling a burning sensation at the parts of my body that have come into contact with the potion. "I don't wanna die! I still have so many things to do! I'm not even a real witch yet! I-I…!"

"Okay, calm down." Croix is visibly trying to contain her laughter… and failing. She looks like she just saw the funniest thing in the world. "You're not going to die."

"B-but you said…"

"I know what I said." She rolls her eyes. "And you're not going to die, so calm down and follow me."

Deciding to trust Croix for now, hoping she'll give me an antidote or something, I follow her upstairs to the balcony until we come to a stop next to the window, from which the afternoon sunlight is entering creating a circle of light on the floor, in which Croix gestures me to stand.

"Okay, now listen carefully. I'm going to sound like a pervert, but you have to trust that I'm just trying to help you." Croix takes a deep breath before speaking again, while I just stare at her with curiosity. "You have to take off your clothes."

"Huh?" I look down at the wet lab coat under which my school uniform was also soaked by the potion, so… taking them off does seem like a good idea. Plus, Croix probably knows what she's doing, right? "Alright." I agree and promptly start undressing.

"You can keep your underwear." Croix says after I'm done unbuttoning my shirt. I just nod and proceed to take off the rest of my clothes until I'm left standing in only my underwear and shoes. I'd be lying if I said I'm not feeling rather… exposed, more so with Croix staring at me as intently as that, but I have to fight the urge to cover myself with my hands because I know she's probably doing that to assess the damage.

"Well, it looks like it's already started to take effect." She says, no doubt referring to the angry red patches of skin that have formed where I came into contact with the venom.

"What do we do then?!" I ask, sounding like I'm starting to panic. Probably because I am.

"Night Viper venom is destroyed by sunlight." Croix explains. "You just need to keep standing here until the symptoms have disappeared." She smiles reassuringly. "It should take a few minutes."

"Didn't you say it's super deadly?! What if I die before that?"

"It kills you instantly if it enters your bloodstream. And it'll take less than a minute if you drink it." Croix says patiently. "But if it comes into contact with your skin, it'll only give you slight irritation, like nettle." She laughs again. "Still, I never thought you'd be so careless as to just… spill it all over yourself!" She's interrupted by her laughter. "Were you actually trying to kill yourself?"

"Croix!" I pout. "Stop making fun of me!"

"Sorry, sorry. It's just so you to go and spill a can full of dangerous ingredients all over yourself as soon as I turn around." She chuckles, not looking apologetic at all, but since her gaze is soft as she looks at me instead of mocking or belittling, I find myself laughing a bit too. Maybe it is indeed amusing that I'm such a clutz I'm actually a hazard to myself.

If only my teammates reacted like Croix whenever I do something stupid! I mean, it's not like I do it on purpose! And in this specific instance I spilled dangerous and rare ingredients all over myself, yet Croix doesn't look the least bit angry. Granted, she admitted herself she took ten times more of each ingredient than what she'll actually need, but still. I'm sure she did that only because she knew I would probably screw up half a dozen times before getting it right. And she didn't rub that fact all over my face, so that's nice too. And she even defended me from Karen earlier! Speaking of which…

"Thank you." I smile warmly at her, but she looks at me with a confused expression.

"Are you thanking me for making fun of you?" She asks semi-seriously.

"No! I'm thanking you for defending me from my teammates earlier. It was a nice gesture." I say with a sincere smile.

"Yeah, well…" She looks towards the window to avoid eye contact as a prominent blush appears on her face. I'd never seen her blush so much. She looks so cute! "It was nothing. I mean, we're f…" She cuts herself off hastily before clearing her throat and trying again. "We're… I mean, I'm your tutor. What kind of tutor would I be if I just let them bully you? That's literally my job! Only I can do that." She chuckles nervously.

I don't believe she's used to expressing her feelings at all, or even calling other people 'friends', so she hides her emotions behind a mask of sarcasm and jokes. But I'm not really disappointed. She'll get there, I'm sure. She just needs time.

"Still. Thank you." I say, before hesitantly reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder. She tenses up a bit, but doesn't pull away this time. "I'm glad to have such a good friend as you."

"A-ah… yeah." She stutters, continuing to avoid eye contact. She looks so unlike the usually confident Croix! So this is her Achilles heel? Showing affection? "I have to be the best at everything, right?" She jokes, still blushing. "But anyways." Croix then clears her throat nervously as she takes a step back, making me let go of her shoulder. "Uh… I have to go clean everything up. I'll be right back." And with that, she pretty much bolts down the stairs, visibly flustered, which is such an amusing sight I can only chuckle and shake my head.

"Don't use magic!" I call.

"I make no promises!" She answers.


A/N: Fun fact, this chapter was actually inspired on a real life experience that happened to me (I was Croix in that scenario, and my dumb friend spilled dangerous substances all over herself lol), and was also what gave me the idea to write this whole fic. Anyways, I hope you liked it and as always please leave a review telling what you think. Thanks for reading!

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.