Rooting Out a Plan
Summary: The rebel leaders and the Owl Familia discuss what the three found in Belos's Castle.
"Not that I'm sour about seeing you, Rainestorm," Eda asked, her tone slightly flirting, "But why you guys here?"
The Owl Familia and their guests were in the living room. There were snacks and drinks on the table, but they were untouched.
"I'm going to get straight to the point," Darius said calmly. "You all know that Raine Whispers, Eberwolf, and myself have been raiding the former emperor's castle, and we have uncovered many secrets of that man."
"Yes," Lilith replied, "But like my sister said, it doesn't explain why you three are here."
"It has to do with Deadwardian River Roots," Raine said, their voice slightly low.
Immediately, the three witches and one human's attention were on the rebel leaders.
"Turns out Philip Wittebane lied about the Deadwardian River Root's life cycle," Darius explained. "The plant does have a day lifespan, but it can be grown all year and in larger quantities than first believed."
"I want to say I'm not surprised," Eda quipped, scowling, "But Im trying not to be a liar anymore."
"Yes, I would be more surprised if anything that madman said was ever true," Lilith replied to her sister and looked at the rebel leaders. "While I'm still curious about your visit, I'm more intrigued by why Belos needed the River Root."
Darius and Raine looked at each other and nodded. Darius looked at the Familia and spoke.
"It has to do with the Dangerous Spell belonging to the Healing Coven," The Owl Familia locked their eyes on the abomination witch as he continued. "But calling it dangerous might be a bit much."
Darius left that as Raine took over.
"According to what was written on the spell sheet, not only does the spell cures any curse but ensures you can't be affected by that type of curse ever again," the bard explained, and then their voice got lower, "But, it seemed the problem in using the spell lays with the River Roots."
Lilith didn't like where things were heading but silently urged her old classmates to continue.
"The spell in question needs over ten essences of Palismen," Darius said, his tone grim, "and over a hundred and thirty Deadwardian River."
If Eda had been merged with her beast, her jaw would be on the floor as all members of the Familia had their mouths hanging open.
"That's just nuts!" Eda suddenly screamed. "With that many flowers, you made any potion as strong as the titan!"
"I thought as much," Darius responded, "But another truth is that the flower quickly loses a lot of its power when it starts to die. And if his notes are to be believed, Philip learns the River Roots began dying as soon as taken from the soil."
"Much sense," Lilith added, nodding, "River Roots are mainly enhancers, and you can't add that type of plant to pre-brewed potions."
Raine frowned as they looked at the four potion makers. "I have always been curious why you can't add enhancers to pre-make potions?"
Eda let out a laugh at this question. "That's easy, Rainestorm," she replied mirthfully, "And one of my kids can tell you that easily."
"Indeed," Lilith added, nodded, and looked at Luz and Amity. "Would you two care to explain?"
Luz's entire face lit up, and she nodded eagerly. Amity, however, turned a little bashful but still smiled. The young witches looked at their guests.
"Well," Luz started, "Most pre-brewed potions' ingredients had settled soon after mixing."
Amity nodded at her fiancee and turned her attention to their guests.
"Adding a potion enhancer to settled ingredients actually messes up the potion, and the potion may not even work at all," the young witch explained calmly.
Lilith couldn't help but smile at her daughter and niece, proud of how far both had come in such a short time. She turned her attention back to their guests and got serious.
"That's another reason why Rejuvenation potions were so few in number in the past," Lilith added.
"Yup," Eda added, "You needed some bad skill to use a crazy plant like that in a potion."
"Indeed," Lilith agreed, giving the rebel leaders her full attention. "Now that the small talk is done, would you care to tell us the real reason for your visit?"
Darius's face betrayed none of his inner workings; he leaned forward and locked his hands together.
"You're family was at the forefront of Belos's fall," the former coven head spoke seriously, "As such, I feel a reward is in order. You can have a stock of some of the budding flowers that Belos kept. We're even considering giving the recipe for that potion you all like so much."
Again, the Owl Familia was shocked by this. But kept their mouth closed to this time. Lilith's eyes locked on the ex-coven head and tried to get a read on him.
"However," Darius added after a pause, "I do have one condition; I would like to have a potion when it's ready. If you want, I will even pay for it."
"Why do you want a rejuvenation potion, goo-head?" Eda asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice.
"It's…for Hunter," Darius replied after a second.
"I would advise against using a rejuvenation on Hunter," Lilith piped in and held up a hand when she saw Darius getting angry. "Before you lose your composure, let me explain."
Darius relaxed a bit but kept his eyes locked on Lilith. The historian took a moment to collect her thoughts before she explained herself.
"Hunter isn't like the rest of us," Lilith said, "His body was created by artificial means. Therefore, we don't know the potion would react with his body."
"What do you think will happen if Hunter tries to drink a potion?" Raine asked, suddenly feeling uneasy.
"At best, Hunter would probably be one of the few people that a potion wouldn't work on," Lilith explained, and her face darkened, "At worse, he could suffer a massive overstimulation."
Darius and Raine exchanged looks and then looked back at the Familia. The two saw the unease that had crossed the human and her fiancee's faces.
"I don't get it?" Raine said awkwardly, "Isn't Potion Overstimulation what happens when a witch's body tries to rid itself of a potion that doesn't agree with them?"
"Oh, Rainestorm," Eda replied with a shake of her head, "It's more than that. Remember that track mate of mine who had a really bad case of Boiler Pox?"
"I remember taking pus to my eye," Raine replied with a shudder and then became confused. "I still wonder why I didn't get sick. I didn't get boiler Pox until my second year at Hexside."
"The reason behind that is that our classmate didn't have Boiler Pox," Lilith explained calmly. "Instead, he had taken a potion of his own making that didn't agree with his body. The result was his body trying to rid itself of the potion by any means necessary."
Lilith let that hang in the air, and it was clear that both Darius and Raine were disturbed by this new information. Thankfully, Lilith stepped in before things got too awkward.
"That said, I know all too well what it feels like to just stand by and watch as someone's childhood is stripped away by another."
Lilith looked at her daughter with a loving smile, and Amity returned the smile as a faint blush crossed her face. The ex-head witch looked back at the cousins, and her expression turned serious.
"We have a family friend who might be able to help on this matter," Lilith explained, "If you get Hunter to visit us, we can have Willia Oldstone examine him. Do these terms sound agreeable?"
"Yes," Darius said immediately, and no one missed how grateful he sounded.
(M Corner)
That, Witches and Demons, is how the Owl Familia went into the Rejuvenation Potion business. Also, think of Boiler Pox like Chicken Pox. But the boils are five times bigger and filled with pus.
And with this, we end the first Story Arc in Daily Lives: P2. Next up is the "settling in" arc. Before that, however, we had some Steve and Hooty antics.