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Tweak says, "mmmm sammich"

ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇss ᴏғ ᴘʀᴇsᴛɪᴅɪɢɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ (

cigam) wrote in

valarlogs,
@ 2016-01-26 15:52:00

Who: Zatanna & Merlin
What: Crafting potions
When: Toward the beginning of the plot
Where: Magic Guild HQ
Rating/Warnings: Low, nada
Status: Complete

There was a first time for everything, and mark this down as the official first time where getting to the Guild had been an outright pain in the ass.

Zatanna wasn’t stupid - she would not wander in this fog, where one could easily get turned around or lost; Orange County distinctly wasn’t Orange County at the moment, not the familiar home they had all come to know and have a love-hate relationship with. Instead it was a twisted version of what they knew, like looking into a cracked mirror, and obviously since the latest crisis was dream bleedover, drip drop, she wanted to have a bit of magical arsenal at the ready to combat whatever effects it brought.

Her own magic, which wasn’t measured by the gram or set to boiling points but rather inherited, responded to it, but dully - usually she could feel the pull of something else phantasmal in nature. Not this time. It was almost like not having a voice all over again, and Zee didn’t like it. Teleporting to the Guild meant that, because of the fog, she ended up close to her destination but not quite there - she had to navigate her way carefully, the scent of magic and the Guild’s concealed entrance not so easily noticeable but yet she found it. And went inside.

Now, she was just preparing tea that smelled like perfume, so fragrant and spicy, and with an erif spoken she managed to light candles in the room. It was their potions room, cabinets stocked with ingredients - jars, bottles, oils, herbs, mortar and pestles - and there was sufficient space to work. “Potion making isn’t really my specialty,” she apologized to Merlin. “But I figure now’s as good of a time as any, to learn something new. Do you want tea, by the way?”

Sometimes, and it was actually quite rare considering what this place threw their way, but sometimes Merlin really really wished Orange County was a normal place. He was fairly sure that nowhere else in the world had to worry about evil fog getting you lost and random creatures attacking you. He’d made sure Audrey and Ben were safely inside the bakery, luckily the wards he’d put on there last time something like this had happened seemed to be holding. The issue this time was people being able to find the bakery, he knew Izzy had gone out and had taken a long time to return as she’d gotten lost and she knew the area better than most.

His own magic was stilted, and since he drew his power from the very nature of the world he knew it was something very strange indeed. But once inside the Guild he’d been able to focus his magic a lot more. Which was very good for what they were doing.

“Don’t worry, it isn’t really mine either. But between us we’ll be able to get some useful things stockpiled I’m sure” he told her, “Oh I brought tea, and pastries too. Audrey sent them for us” he rummaged in his back before pulling out a paper bag, napkins and two thermos flasks. “She wanted to make sure we were supplied” he grinned, his wife had been the mothering sort even before they’d had a child.

“Oh, that’s kind of her,” Zatanna smiled, scooting nearer to see what was available. The scent of pastries was divine - she took one that looked fruity, wrapping it in a napkin since it was flaky and buttery. Something about homemade baked goods really helped comfort a person, even when beyond the safety of their doors, things were tumultuous.

She settled with a cup of tea as well, after she’d brought over a rather large, dusty book from the shelf. Potion-making wasn’t really her forte, but magic in her dreamworld was sort of an all-encompassing thing; it required tapping into a reserve of mystical energy, which could once be found basically anywhere on Earth. Since the advancement of science that hadn’t so much been the case, but here in Orange County - well, the place was very magical on its own. Except when fog literally clouded that aspect.

“The news is saying that people should remain in their homes, but I know some have reported feeling sick, or unable to rest. I was thinking of crafting a bunch of potions in that regard - ones that would allow for combating the illness one gets by staying indoors, and also potions to relax and calm. This book has some recipes - “ Zee frowned a bit, turning to the correct page. “But my Latin’s a little rusty, how about you?” That was more John Constantine’s specialty - she knew magic came with the price of suffering. Perhaps her price was always wishing his Scouser ass was around when things got problematic, and yet he never was.

Merlin smiled and picked out a pastry himself, always happy when his wife supplied him with goodies. It was a good job he didn’t put weight on easily or he’d be the size of a house.

Sipping the tea he nodded, “Calming potions I think would be a wonderful idea, maybe a little bit of healing in there too for those who have been hit by the sickness feeling heavily” Ah now Merlin could come into his own, placing his drink down he leaned in, “Okay, yes this is fine” he nodded, translating the words for her. It seemed some of his dream abilities other than the magic were also coming in handy.

“Healing potions are always useful. We can never have too many,” Zatanna agreed. She had a brewing stand that she set in the center of the table, then placed the right-sized bottles into the correct slots, to hold them. From what she understood, in some worlds potion-making was so precarious that one slight mistake would cause a chain reaction of bad - therefore, she would be as careful as possible.

It was sort of like her backward-speak, in that regard. A very literal thing; if she said something wrong, that changed the outcome of the spell.

“So according to your Latin - is that a dream thing, by the way? - we need to grind these herbs up first. Here, I’ve got a mortar and pestle if you want to do that. I’ll work on some extraction from the plant leaves - steam, probably. It gets to the essential oils.” She felt like she was in a chemistry class!

“Especially around here, you never know what is going to come our way” Merlin nodded, luckily Merlin’s potions didn’t tend to be too dangerous. But being careful was never a bad thing.

“It’s definitely a dream thing, I wouldn’t have known anything before having them” he told her, “But yes that sounds like a good plan” he took the pestle and mortar from her so they could begin getting to work. “I think it’s actually going to be a rather relaxing job to do”

“I hope so. It’s kind of exciting too,” Zee admitted, with a grin, as she began her own preparations - in the potions room, there was a steam distillation chamber, and following the instructions in one of the more basic books (these instructions were in English, luckily), she began the process of loading up the raw plant material.

Then science would happen, but she sped it along with a quick taeh to get things bubbling and moving and percolating quickly. They had the mechanisms for temperature and pressure, but time - not much of that. The quicker these aids were created, the better.

Soon it began to smell floral - like jasmine, rose, some lavender. “Now, your magic is mostly...spell-based, of a sort?” she asked. “Though more like a whole natural force of nature, not exactly learned in a book?”

It was kind of exciting and satisfying as well, that they could use their abilities to help people this way and if not save lives then help a number of people recover should they receive any injuries. He ground up the things they needed grounding while Zee prepared the rest. They worked well together.

“Refined with a book but no it’s something that’s part of me, not learned. I’m connected to everything, but I can enhance or strengthen elements of it with spells when I need to” Merlin told her, thanks to the dreams a lot of the spells were in his head and he had no need of books.

Now that she had the essential oils, and the right herbs ground up, she could begin putting all of this together. Zatanna only imagined how it would turn out, since it was essentially her first time doing it without someone more versed in potions nearby, but between the two of them she was confident that the right results would be achieved.

“Same with me, I don’t need a book necessarily,” she nodded, scooping up the herbs Merlin had ground up with the mortar and pestle - a simple thing, but necessary for any ‘brew master’ or alchemist. “I think that’s why I’m so jittery about potion making. Because it’s not very straightforward, as in, willing the end result into reality or existence with a word or two.”

The bottles began to glow a little, once she added the right ingredients, then dulled. Like sputtering out. Huh.

“Well....it must be missing something. I thought I did everything though?” She scratched her head. A puzzle.

“It doesn’t come as naturally as the other magic” Merlin agreed, “There’s a lot more involved and more that can go wrong. Though the few I’ve done in my dreams have worked well enough. They at least didn’t kill anything or blow up” he smiled at her.

The potions looked good until the light faded, “Is there something we’ve missed?” he examined the book again, reading out everything as he went. Ah, perhaps some of these words needed to be said. Their own magic adding to the power of the ingredients.

“Seems to be that we do need to say the...verse? I guess you could call it a verse, but that needs to be recited. And - “ Zatanna rummaged through the cabinet again, looking for a very specific component. “A blue candle,” she smirked. “Apparently color is important.”

With a flick of her wrist, she lit the wick. Now the spoken words, and she slid the book a little closer to see the right incantation. “Let’s try it at the same time?” She knew the power the spoken word had - it was how she channeled her own magic.

Merlin had missed the colour in the first read over so that was his fault, he needed to look more carefully at things like that. It could be more important next time. He was glad they had a blue candle, but then the guild was pretty well stocked.

“Good idea. Are you okay with the pronunciation of everything?” he checked, knowing that Latin wasn’t a language she spoke and wanting to ensure that she was confident since he’d only read it briefly.

The Guild had most everything, especially in the potions room - candles of all colors, all types of herbs and plants, tools that one needed. It had started off with the bare essentials and then expanded over time, based on what people needed and what they brought - honestly, Zee was pretty proud of its success and how the place had flourished.

“I’m good,” she promised, leaning over to get a better look at the words, gathering her mass of dark hair and pushing it over her shoulder. “We’ll celebrate with pastries when we get these potions all finished.”

And sure enough! The combined spoken incantations would be what did it.

Merlin thought she should be proud of it, the guild was incredible and such a valuable asset to those who used it as well as those who didn’t really. He didn’t use it all that often but it was something he should make use of more often, if only to assist others who needed help.

“You’re on” Merlin agreed with a nod before they succeeded in making the potions work.

“Wonderful!” he exclaimed, “I’m glad that worked as I was out of ideas if it didn’t” he grinned. He was pleased with them both.

Zatanna had to laugh a little, jokingly wiping the sweat off her brow. “Excellent. Now we’ll just cork these, pack them up, and pass the word along that we’re ready to help if need be?” But before she did all that...

A reward for the hard work? Back to the fruit pastry, which she sunk her teeth into. Merlin’s wife truly was a goddess among women. It took a special person to have baked goods for the masses when there was a crisis. Zatanna just considered a bit of magic her own way of paying it forward - and hopefully it would pay off too. Guess they’d see.

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