Chapter 12: Healing potion! It works?

"Croix!" I pretty much yell as I walk into the astronomy tower skipping happily. Today is such a great day! It's only been a few days since I won the broom relay, and my roommates have been nicer than ever to me (which for Karen isn't saying a lot, honestly), my friends seem to have a little more respect for my magic abilities, and even the teachers haven't chastised me as much lately! Gosh, life couldn't be more perfect right now. I'm so happy! And I'm going to 100% share that happiness with Croix, whether she likes it or not.

"Chariot!" She startles, before fully processing that I'm here and rolling her eyes. "Don't you know how to knock?"

"Yeah, yeah." I wave off her chastising. "Now, I was thinking…"

"Bad idea." She deadpans, cutting me off.

"Hey!" I pout. "So, anyways, I was thinking that I…"

"I know what went wrong last time." She cuts me off again before I can tell her my super plan of taking a break for today.

"You're gonna make me do it again, aren't you?" I deflate.

"Yes. The sooner the better, right? Now come on, I'd like to be able to use magic before the day ends."

So, it looks like my perfect plan of convincing Croix to celebrate with me and my friends will have to wait until the weekend. But that's okay. I can't be selfish and demand that she spends more quality time with me instead of trying to cure her hand, right? I have to remind myself that, even if this is little more than a tedious task I have to do every other day, for Croix it's her only chance at using magic in the near future.

While I start preparing everything in order to make the potion, Croix reads the recipe once again with an expression that clearly indicates deep concentration. I wonder what she's thinking. She seems determined to make it work this time.

"It's ready, Croix." I say once I finish measuring the ingredients and heating up the cauldron.

"Good." She nods, closing her book. "Get started then."

"But… you haven't told me what went wrong last time." I frown. I mean, what if I do the same thing again and this all ends up being for nothing?

"The iron can we were using to mix the ashes and the venom ended up neutralizing the effects of those two ingredients." She explains, shrugging. "I should have known. Iron is such a good magical conductor there was no way there would be no interference."

"Wait… so it was your mistake?" And all this time I've been assuming I was doing something wrong.

"First of all, I never make mistakes." She smirks smugly. "If we hadn't used the can, I wouldn't have learned that iron is not good for brewing potions, so I like to think of it all as a learning experience."

"Right." Isn't it still a mistake though?

"And second, you didn't realize what we were doing wrong, so it's your mistake as much as it is mine."

"I can barely remember the difference between mandrake and mimosa." I deadpan. "Did you really expect me to know anything about brewing potions?"

"Fair point." She laughs. "So, anyways, let's start with the potion. I stole another cauldron from the laboratory, so it should all be good now."

And then we spend almost an entire hour brewing the stupid potion for like the hundredth time. Well, I do it; Croix just watches, as always. And also corrects me when I'm doing something wrong… which surprisingly still happens a little too often. But still, I make the potion just like the book says, and by the end of it, it's a bright purple color, unlike the other times that it turned a dull orange. So… I guess I did it right? But then again it's me we're talking about, so I wouldn't drink it if someone paid me. Guess Croix has a little too much faith in me, to be honest.

"Hey Croix, don't you wanna try it on like a rat or something? You know, before you…?" I trail off. Truth to be told, I don't like the idea of sacrificing a rat either, but it's still better than Croix tasting it herself.

"Nah. It should be fine." She says too confidently for my taste. "It's purple, see? Like it's supposed to be."

"Yeah, but… what if I screwed up somehow? You could die!"

"Honestly, Chariot, sometimes you worry too much." She rolls her eyes, already pouring the potion on a cup.

"At least tell me what I should do in case you get poisoned or something." I protest. I don't think I could live with the guilt of accidentally killing one of my friends.

"Nothing." She shrugs casually. "By the time you got to tell the teachers I'd be long dead, if you really did this wrong."

"Croix!" Geez, does she really not care about her own safety?

"Relax, Chariot." She laughs. "Everything will be alright, I promise."

"You can't promise that." I pout, but she just gently pats my head and smiles.

"Then I don't promise anything." And before I can't even think about stopping her, she brings the cup to her lips and downs it all in one big gulp. Then, she puts down the cup and grimaces. "I can't even begin to tell you how gross that thing tastes." She shudders.

"Did it work?" I ask apprehensively.

"Well…" She starts, but then she clenches her stomach and doubles over in pain.

"Croix!" I panic, moving towards her but being unsure of what to do. Should I do the Heimlich maneuver? Give her an antidote? Can I even touch her? Oh, what do I do?! "D-don't worry, Croix. I'll go for the teachers." I say as I'm about to run off at the speed of light, but her hand grabs me and stops me before I can even take a step.

"Wait." She says.

"Croix, what…?"

"Haha! Got you!" She laughs, straightening herself again and looking at me with a mischievous smile. I stare at her for a couple of seconds trying to comprehend what's going on, but when I finally do I don't even hesitate before my fist is flying straight to her stupid smug face.

"Don't scare me like that, you idiot!" I yell as my fist makes contact with the arm she used to protect herself. However, she just laughs even harder. "It's not funny, Croix!"

"Ow! I think you'll have to make me another healing potion. It seems like you've broken my arm." She complains, pouting.

"You deserve it." I say, turning around in an indignant gesture.

"Oh, don't be like that! It was just a joke." I can perfectly imagine her rolling her eyes, even if I'm not watching. "And anyways, don't you want to find out if it worked?"

"It clearly did, or you would have dropped dead already." I retort, still refusing to look at her.

"Well, then I guess I'll go get my wand and do some magic. On my own. Without anyone seeing me. It'll probably also be pretty spectacular because I'm Croix and I'm just that awesome."

Well, I mean… I do love magic. It's my weak point really, more so if it's spectacular. And come to think of it, I've never seen Croix do magic, have I? Maybe a couple of times, but it was nothing big and I was worried for her health, so the promise of seeing her doing magic deliberately and without restriction… how could I ever resist that?! Even if she's an absolute idiot for making me worry needlessly.

"Go on. Do magic." I say, finally turning around and seeing she already has her wand in her right hand. "I just hope it explodes in your face."

"Like that would happen to me." She rolls her eyes, but then concentrates her gaze on the still unlit tip of her wand. "I think I'll start with something simple, like an illumination spell, just to see if anything hurts."

Croix then furrows her eyebrows in deep concentration, watching as the tip of her wand finally lights up… except the dot of light is smaller than it should be. Or maybe she just decided to take it easy for now?

Sure enough, the light grows in size and intensity little by little, and at first I think Croix is being too cautious. Like, it's a freaking illumination spell! It should barely be taking any magic at all! But then I notice the sweat on her forehead. And the way her jaw tenses. Is she in pain? No, she would have stopped… right? Maybe she's just trying to get used once more to doing magic? I just hope she will actually stop in time if something is really wrong.

The dot of light then grows even more and starts shining blindingly, and Croix's expression turns from concentrated to determined and… angry? What? And in her hand some weird lines start appearing on her skin. At first I think they are just reflections of the light on her wand, but… no, they seem to be veins of luminous energy flowing just under her skin. They are a greenish blue color, and barely noticeable, but they are undoubtedly there, and I don't think that's good.

That's when I realize Croix's face has now paled, and her expression shows more pain than any other emotion at this point, excluding perhaps anger.

"Croix, wait… stop!" I yell and lunge forward, trying to pry the wand out of her. But she's faster, and she reacts by pouring what appears to be all of her magic in the one single illumination spell. The light then becomes as bright as the sun, blinding me momentarily, and this flash of light is quickly followed by Croix's pained scream, the clattering of her wand falling to the ground and, finally, nothing.

When I'm able to see again, everything is back to normal; there's no blinding point of light, and nothing is out of place except for Croix's wand, lying on the ground. And Croix is… well, she doesn't look so good.

She's clutching her right arm tightly as tears stream down her face, her eyebrows are scrunched and her jaw looks tense. She's obviously in pain, so I don't hesitate for even one second before going towards her and trying to soothe her.

"Croix? What's wrong? Are you hurt? Can I do anything to help you?" I say as my hands hover over her, while I hesitate to touch her. I don't even know what I want to do, really. Hug her? Help her sit on a chair? This whole mess is probably my fault though, so I doubt she wants anything to do with me right now.

"Just leave." She sobs as she unceremoniously drops to the ground and hugs her knees, continuing to cry.

I hesitate as I just remain frozen in my place. I don't want to leave her alone! She doesn't look good at all right now. The bright veins of magic under her skin are actually still visible, but receding, her hand is trembling and she appears to be in so much pain! I can't just leave her alone! Even if she hates me.

"Croix." I say softly as I sit at her side. "I-… I'm sorry. If I had know I would have drank the potion myself. I didn't mean to…" I try to swallow the painful knot on my throat, but seeing Croix in so much pain is making me want to cry myself. "I'm sorry. I wish I was better at brewing potions."

"It wasn't the potion." Croix finally speaks, but she doesn't look at me, instead choosing to stare ahead blankly as tears continue to fall from her eyes.

"What do you mean it wasn't the potion? You know I probably messed up somehow!"

"No, Chariot. I messed up." She clenches her fists and an angry expression overtakes her face. But now I know she's not mad at me; she's mad at herself.

"W-what do you mean? You're Croix! You can't make mistakes, right?" I joke, trying to lift up her spirits a little, but if the bitter chuckle is any indication, I'd say I didn't succeed.

"Chariot, you know better than anyone that the only reason I even got hurt in the first place was because I made a mistake. I was reckless, and stupid, and…" Her voice cracks and she starts sobbing with her face buried on her knees. My heart clenches painfully at the sight, and I want to do something to alleviate her pain even a little bit, but… what can I truly do? I could hug her, but she hates that. I could try to reassure her, but she'd probably just dismiss my encouraging words. Maybe I should try a more logical approach, instead of emotional. Like she does.

"So… are you sure the potion did work?" I ask.

"Yes." She makes an active effort to stop her sobbing in order to respond, lifting her head slightly, just enough to look at me by the corner of her eyes. "The physical pain in my hand stopped almost immediately. And I can move it around freely now."

She extends her right hand and moves it in circles, from left to right and from up to down in order to prove her point. Unlike what I was expecting, she doesn't seem to experience any pain from those actions alone.

"Then… what happened earlier… why did it…?" I trail off, utterly confused. The potion was supposed to be powerful enough to cure any kind of illness or injury. Croix should be able to use magic now!

"When you agreed to be my assistant I told you that I had suffered both physical and magical injuries, remember?" I nod slowly once I recall said conversation. "Well, I was hoping a potion so powerful would be able to cure my magical injuries, but… I guess there's no real cure for that."

"Are you sure? We could go search at the library, if you want!" I say cheerfully, trying to make her feel better.

"I already did." She says, shaking her head in distress. "Everyone says the same: you can't cure magical injuries because magic isn't something physical and tangible; it's pure energy. Once the balance of energy in your body is lost, it's very difficult to reinstate it. Depending on the severity of your wounds and the way this balance was broken, you can take many years to recover. Or, more commonly… never." She practically snarls that last word and closes her eyes, choosing to bury her face between her knees again, and I… I don't know what to say. Should I even say anything? I can't even begin to comprehend what she must be feeling. If I was told that I can't do magic anymore, probably for years or maybe never, I would feel like my whole world has crumbled, like a part of me is dying, like… I don't even know! It must be terrible.

But I can't say that. I have to give her hope because, even if I know I wouldn't be able to do anything if this tragedy happened to me, she's Croix. And she's the prodigy of Luna Nova. Hell, she's probably smarter than any of the teachers! I'm sure that if someone is going to be able to get out of his situation it's her.

"Croix, I know this looks bad. That potion was probably your last hope for finding a quick solution, right? But… I mean, even if there's no cure right now for what you have, you can make your own."

"Make my own?" She scoffs. "Hundreds of witches throughout the centuries have searched for a cure without finding it, and you think I will?"

"Well, you are smarter than most witches, more talented, knowledgeable and… and you don't like following old outdated rules."

"And just where did you get that idea?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.

"This!" I answer, gesturing towards her whole laboratory, which is filled with technological junk. "I bet no other witch uses technology and magic the way you do."

"There are a few." She answers, frowning. "But most witches agree it's dangerous to mix magic with technology… and I was just too stupid to realize they were right."

"No, they're not!" I mean, granted, I've never seen Croix use her technology since the day of the accident, but just the idea of combining it with magic sounds fantastic, and very creative! So I'm not going to let her throw her passion into the trash.

"Using technology was what put me in this situation in the first place! That and… my own ambition." Croix grimaces, no doubt still kicking herself.

"It was a mistake though, right? You only got hurt because you didn't do something right, but it you're careful you could even end up inventing something to help you with your problem."

"Chariot…" She sighs. "The explosion wasn't what actually caused my magical injuries."

"Huh?" Okay, now I'm lost.

"I was trying to inject magic into myself, in order to gain more power and be at the level of even the descendants of ancient families."

Like me. I can't help but thinking, and that thought bothers me more than it should. Perhaps because I know that despite what she may believe, Croix is a far better witch than I'll ever be.

"I didn't take into account how my own magic would react to an external energy, however." She continues explaining. "My body rejected it, then the machine destabilized, and the explosion occurred, causing my physical injuries." Croix sighs. "As I said, I was greedy and stupid, and because of that I can't do magic anymore. Not without hurting myself further."

"But… but wait, why did you try to get more power? You are already above most of our classmates!"

"That isn't enough, Chariot." She smiles sadly. "I wanted to be the best. I wanted to be the most powerful, to… to maybe be worthy."

"Worthy of what?" I tilt my head, confused. In my mind Croix is already the best witch ever. The best friend I could ask for. The best person I've ever known. And the teachers and students already admire her talents! Why could she possibly want more?

"The Claiomh Solais, the grand Triskelion, the power to change the world and revive magic, and… I don't know. I just… I just wanted to be someone." She sobs again, as even more tears fall from her eyes. And the sight, coupled with her words, is just so sad. And I don't like sadness, much less when seeing it on someone I love.

"You already are someone, Croix." I say, letting my head rest of her shoulder as a comforting gesture.

"I'm not." She continues saying stubbornly. "And now that I can't use magic, I'll never be."

"Well, then use your technology!" I reply, separating from her and looking at her eyes with what I hope is a determined expression. "You can't just give up! If technology can help you, then you should give it a try instead of just giving up on your dream! You have nothing to lose, right?"

"Well, I…" She starts protesting, but then pauses, pursuing her lips. I take that as my cue to continue, hoping my words will serve as encouragement.

"I bet you've already invented tons of amazing things I don't even know about! Like that one!" I get up and walk towards one of the weird contraptions Croix has lying around, next to the stairs. It looks like some sort of cart, not big enough to transport a person, but perfect for carrying things around. Attached to it are various metal cylinders from which a green light emanates through some orifices, indicating it probably runs on magic.

"What's this, Croix?"

"Oh, that's just… it follows you around at your command, being able to transport all sort of things and even pick them up with those claws." She answers, and though she doesn't look any less miserable now, at least I managed to distract her from her suffering.

"Cool." I muse, noticing the big red button it has at one of its sides. "Is this how you turn it on?" I ask, pressing it. Instantly, the little cart comes to life and starts moving around the lab, expertly avoiding all obstacles (and there are a lot, with Croix being as messy as she is), until it finds a screwdriver, takes it and puts it on its compartment before driving towards Croix, stopping obediently in front of her.

"I must have shut it down before it completed its last task." Croix says with certain melancholy, taking the screwdriver from the little car before shutting it off again, looking at it intently, with a conflicted expression.

Guess that means my plan is working!

"It's amazing, Croix!" I say honestly. "And I bet that's only the tip of the iceberg! Like, is this even a normal computer?" I take her laptop from the desk and lift it up, turning it around to see if there's something amiss, but finding it to look like every other laptop I've ever seen… granted, I haven't seen a lot.

"No. It runs on magic, instead of electricity." She explains, finally getting up and slowly walking towards me, almost forcing herself to take each step. "It also is able to connect to the crystal ball web instead of the regular internet." As she says so, she takes it off my hands and opens it, which makes the screen light up instantly. "I've also copied most of the books in the library here, for research purposes." She opens up a folder, in which are tons of subfolders with titles like "Astrology and divination", "Transformation magic" and "Magic History", in which I assume are the many different books that the library houses.

"Whoa!" I exclaim. "That sounds useful!"

"It is. That's why I invented it." She manages a tiny smile before closing the laptop and putting it at the desk once more. "Unfortunately, nothing I have created can help me with my problem." She sighs.

"Nothing you have created yet." I correct her, but she just frowns, shaking her head.

"No, you don't get it! My problem is that I injected foreign magic into my body, and I can't take it out. Not without getting rid of my own magic too, at least." She sighs again.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes, Chariot, I've done my research. I'm sure." She answers, almost annoyed.

"Well, then just find a way around it!" I smile encouragingly. "Like in the broom race, when I was behind the lead girl and she wouldn't let me pass, so I just jumped over her! Surely you've done something like that at least once?"

Croix purses her lips, thinking, her eyes flicker for a moment towards the cellphone at her desk, but then she quickly deviates her gaze to the floor and shakes her head.

Well, now that just won't do.

"Really? Then how does this work?" I ask, strolling past her and grabbing her cellphone.

"That is… I mean… it's not the same!" She snatches it out of my hands and turns it around, opening the battery compartment, in which there's a battery, sure, but it's wrapped in cables that shine with green light, like they were made of the same stuff as spellstones.

"Whoa! What's that?" I get closer, trying to look better at the contraption.

"I just… I was trying to get it to work on magic, like my laptop, but the battery didn't appear to be compatible when I tried to charge it with magic instead of electricity." She explains. "So I used a cable covered in spellstone powder to connect the electrical circuit while allowing magic to pass though at the same time."

"And it worked." I smile, not bothering to phrase it like a question since I already know the answer. I may not have truly understood what she just said, but that just confirms how awesome she is.

"Well… yeah." She frowns. "At first I didn't fully understand why, but I guess it's because energy is always trying to find a stream to follow. The battery is like a large lake, and I was trying to fill it with oil while it already had water; they just don't mix. So I provided an escape route for both and suddenly I have a phone that works on magic and electricity."

"Huh. That sounds a lot like what you said earlier. About your body rejecting external magic." I muse.

Croix freezes, her eyes widening as she keeps staring at her phone, like an idea suddenly popped in her head, and I think I know what that is.

"I just have to… find a way around it." She mumbles before leaving her cellphone on her desk and rushing to search for something in one of her toolboxes.

"Croix?" I call, walking towards her, but she seems to be too concentrated on her task to even hear me. "What are you…?"

"One second." She answers, finally getting what she was looking for; a cable that seems to have some kind of crystal growing on it, I suppose spellstone, even if it's not glowing now.

She quickly gets up from her kneeling position and tries to unbutton the sleeve of her shirt, which is quite a difficult task giving her left hand is still holding the cable.

"Let me help you." I say, rushing to get to her side and complete the job, pulling her sleeve all the way to her elbow.

"Thanks." Croix smiles at me. "Now hold this in place." She places the tip of the cable on her elbow, and I put my finger over it, preventing it from moving while Croix starts wrapping it around her arm, all the way to the base of her middle finger, where she wraps it around a few times, creating some sort of ring, until she has no cable left. Only then, I let go.

"Well, now I just need to test it." She says, going to pick her wand from the spot where it landed on the floor earlier.

"Just… take it easy this time, okay?" I say apprehensively. I just don't want to see her in such pain ever again.

"Yes, yes." She pretty much dismisses my concerns again as she holds up her wand, preparing the spell. "I doubt this will work anyways, but I guess there's no harm on trying it."

She then scrunches her eyebrows and concentrates, obviously trying to light up the tip of her wand again… except nothing happens. A few seconds pass and her wand still refuses to make any magic. Which is… quite a disappointment, really. I was hoping this would work! Now Croix will be extra sad. Great.

But wait… what's that on her arm? Oh. The cable is lighting up! Starting at her elbow and slowly climbing upwards there's a green light originating from the spellstone, no doubt as it comes into contact with Croix's magic. And when it reaches her finger the wand finally lights up! Sure, it's a small dot of light, and not all that bright, but it's there. And most importantly, Croix doesn't seem to be in any pain… though her face is red like she's doing a lot of effort.

"Croix? Are you okay?" I ask, just to make sure.

"Yeah, just…" She trails off, relaxing her grip on her wand and letting the light disappear as the cable also regains its original unlighted state. "It could use a few adjustments." She says, almost out of breath. "An amplifier would be nice, as well as a battery to store excess energy. Also, copper is not such a good magic conductor, so I should replace it with steel." She pauses as she starts unwrapping the cable. "The design could also be better. I'd prefer something less conspicuous for sure."

"But… it didn't hurt, right?" I ask, again worrying for my friend's health.

"Not one bit." She grins. And I smile right back.

"Who would have thought that you're just one big cellphone battery?" I joke.

"Only you." She laughs.

And as we keep laughing and joking around while she starts coming up with ideas for the design of her new contraption (power gauntlet, as she calls it), I can see the light slowly returning to her eyes, replacing that deep anger and sadness she expressed earlier, which I hope to never see again… even if I know I most likely will.


A/N: Well, I hope you liked that little bit of Charoix, and if you did please leave a coment, or favorite and follow if you haven't. Thanks for reading, and see you soon :)

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.