Hidden Properties

Summary: We can all agree that some things should remain forgotten, right?

As part of the New Years Resolutions 2016 collection.

For NightsMistress (AO3)

"Uh huh." Escha kept making interested little noises as she looked through the books she had spread across the surface of their work table. It was covered in at least seven, all from her house, straight off the shelf her mother stored her alchemical books on.

Which had also left wisps of dust on the surface when she first plopped them down onto the table, stating her intent loud and clearly for everyone in the atelier to hear.

"I'm going to find out how my mother made this tail today! She has notes in here, I just know it!" The aforementioned tail waved excitedly behind her as she spoke, "There must be a trick to making it move."

Before she had settled in to start going through those books. Logix glanced in her direction from time to time, checking her progress while wiping the sweat from his brow that had come from his close proximity to the Trainer as he worked, shaping metal into one of the alchemical sword blueprints he had found recently in a shop.

"I got it!" Escha's shout drew his gaze back to her as she jumped from her chair, running off to the cauldron. She was now rummaging through the drawers and taking various items off the shelf, placing them on a rather small stand not too far from the cauldron.

Logix placed another metal stone on his own alchemical equipment before focusing his attention back on her. He had already changed the temperature of the fire inside the Trainer so the stone would melt down and slowly mix with the metal, while keeping the current mixture warm enough that it didn't cool. "Did you figure it out?" he asked, watching as she placed the last item onto the table.

"I think so." Escha said, tucking a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. "We'll see in a bit. You can test it out, Logy."

He blinked, glancing over to those books before looking at Escha once more. "Is that... safe?"

"Of course it is," Escha replied instantly as she grabbed a measuring tool from one of the cabinets. "Mine hasn't ever done anything dangerous."

Well, it was made by her mother... who created this recipe in the first place, but didn't write it down. Had there been a reason for that? Or was it just as Clone said? That Miria didn't tend to write all her experiments down? He was starting to wonder if that was actually true or not.

"Besides, didn't you hear me before? I told you I was going to try and create a tail for you. Then we'll match!" Escha threw a bright smile his way before looking back to her table of potential ingredients.

Logix forced his lips up into a tight smile in response. Honestly, he had hoped she had forgotten that last bit. As much as he wanted her to learn new things - and connect with her dead mother - having a tail had not been something he had initially signed up for. "Yeah," he agreed, trying to keep his tone neutral.

"Everything will be fine," Escha assured him, picking up four of the items to walk up the few steps to the cauldron.

He found himself raising a hand even though he was across the room from her. "Be careful, Escha." She looked like she was about to tip over under the weight of the items. Was it really necessary for her to use so much of the material? Not that it couldn't be easily replaced if this experiment of hers didn't turn out the way she wanted... Just how big of a tail was she trying to create?

"Will do!" Escha chirped as she dropped a bundle of cloth scraps into the cauldron with a big smile on her face. It was quickly followed by a stack of multi-patch, some leather, and a ball of strong yarn. Escha took hold of the ladle to stir the mixture of items clockwise seven times before moving back down the steps to the other items she had lined up.

Logix watched silently as she grabbed a gem from the table, racing back up the steps to drop the bi-color corundum into the cauldron. This time though she only seemed to observe whatever was going on inside the cauldron before moving back down the steps with a smile on her face.

She repeated the process three more times, doing a combination of stirring and observing the mixture with each new item. The first of which was a crystal ball, then some magic fiber - her tail waved back and forth as she leaned into the cauldron, carefully placing it inside - before she poured in a measured amount of sp neutralizer.

A few seconds of near silence passed as Escha hummed, stirring her concoction while bouncing on the heels of her feet. Then there was a loud bang; and suddenly the room was filled with color. Strings of multi-colored yarn were hanging from the fan above the cauldron, sticking to every surface that could be reached from the cauldron's vantage point: walls, shelves, the books on the work table... it was everywhere.

As for Escha... well, she was crouched down next to the cauldron, somehow having avoided most of the blast; with an expression that was unable to settle on one emotion for very long.

Logix didn't know if he was more terrified of the prospect that she had succeeded in her venture or the mess it had just created.