Chemistry: After Dark(private)

Ozaki continued his preparations, sniffing the beaker a few times to be sure that it was of the right smell. Blackberries. Weird that it had to smell particularly of that for this to work. At least for this particular part of the process. He was doing alright so far. It was then he noticed the cat in the room, and looked at it with brow furrowed. He guessed he shouldn’t have left the window open.

It suddenly clicked for him, and he bolted out of his chair as his instincts screeched at him to get the hell away from the divine being. He calmed after a second, still highly nervous but trying not to be rude. “Aaah…. Hi there… Umm… Excuse me. But this is school property so… Can you… I mean are you a student? A teacher?” Odds were that this cat was sentient. Usually things without some measure of intellect didn’t get to the level of divinity.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend. Its just my variant of vampire doesn’t take well to… Umm… Holy… Types. People. Cats. Cat people.” Ozaki was bungling this. And now he didn’t have the easy out of him saying she couldn’t be here. Of course she could be here. “I don’t remember if I introduced myself that night.”

Everything was a bit of a blur after he had been charred alive by that phoenix fire flare. He was completely healed by now at least though. In response to her question he looked a little guilty. “I’m Ozaki. I’m working on a potion… And… I need part of the spirit for the potion. Its kind of like an ingredient I guess.”

Ozaki bit his lip, having to be careful not to draw blood. “Umm… No. But it has… Well.. It has killed multiple people. And I only need a piece.” He started fidgeting heavily with his nails, looking down at the page of the second book he had in here that was opened to a part that would tell him how to split off a portion of the spirit’s soul.

To those that were unwilling it would be quite the painful procedure. “But it can’t exactly… Talk any more. So I can’t ask it.” It had lost a lot of its mind in the rapid state it was in, even before he had put it in a jar. If it were willing the method would be painless. Artists put a piece of their soul into whatever they made all the time. It was usually not painful, but it was intensive and required caring a lot about what was being done in order for it to truly work.

For a moment there Ozaki had thought she was talking to him whilst saying that, and was getting a tad riled up. If he had had the soil to offer, he wouldn’t be doing this. He then realized his mistake and was glad he hadn’t said anything aloud in contest to it. When she said it would be more cooperative he found himself confused. “What’d you do?” Was it some sort of magic thing she just did? He would need to know I case it altered the method of soul splitting he’d have to use. If it were the willing one... it would probably still be a little tricky given that it barely had a mind of its own to care about much of anything but revenge. Never mind helping him make the potion he was working on.

Ozaki’s eyes lit up in understanding as it clicked for him. He had seen her turn from cat into human, but many species had transformation magic. There were even a few types of cat-based species out there. But he was getting it now. She was a nekogami Commanding a spirit to provide part of its spirit willfully would be easy for them. “Oooh. I see now. Sorry for not figuring it out before…” He muttered, turning back to the spirit, then back to the book.

He’d like to pay her more attention… But this was a time sensitive concoction. And he couldn’t afford to wait.

Alright then… This should be easier if it were at least compliant. It if were compliant and cognizant of the good it would hopefully produce, this would be much easier. He might not even have to do anything, so long as the spirit itself played a part in creating the potion. Indeed if he could get Shirone to help even this might not be needed… But he dare not ask Shirone to help, to actually get her to care to the depths that would be required he’d have to tell her his real purposes for making this. And she might not even care about that reason.

The vampire wasn’t exactly jumping at the bit to tell people his sob story. If she were fully willing and cognizant it would not even hurt. All Shirone would have to do was genuinely care and want to do a good job, with all of her heart and soul.

Ozaki took a small blackboard and drew the ritual markings that were on the book onto it, placing the jar on top of it. He muttered a few words to the jar, most of it the spell. But the rest of it was also required in order for this version to work. He had to ask, appeal to its nature. Ozaki wasn’t sure if that were possible, but he had to try. “If you give me this I’ll let you go back home, I’ll put you exactly where I found you. I just really need this. Its important to me. I need this to work. It may be the only thing that can fix things.”
And while it could not understand the words, it could understand the intent of what was being said. It could feel his aura, his emotions laden within it. He was earnest and desperate. Coupled with the nekogami’s aide, it complied with the wish of the spell, and a small piece of it split off.

Just the tiniest drop, but that was all that was needed. Even a singular grain of one’s soul was enough to bring life to dreams. Ozaki unscrewed the jar slowly, surprised when the subdued spirit did not even try to escape, and reached his hand in slowly to pick out the tiny piece the spell had provided.

Upon putting it into the potion the murky black substance turned into a stunning aquamarine blue, vivid with the life it had just been given.

He nodded. While the storehouse would find an extra spirit handy, they would not bemoan the absence of something they did not even know he had had to begin with. He had no further need for it. Perhaps in the future he might, but Ozaki could easily acquire another one when there wasn’t a divine being lurking over his shoulder.

Ozaki took the beaker and then poured it into a crystal bottle that had been waiting on the side, twisting the stopper into it to make sure none of it would spill even if it fell over. He didn’t know why- but the potion was required to be kept in a bottle. A bottle specifically. Otherwise it would loose its effectiveness rather quickly. The bottle was even so pertinent to the cocktail that it was even part of the name. “Its called A Bottle of Stevens, and is said to awaken ancient feelings. Like… feelings you had long ago that have either been long since buried or moved past or maybe just shoved to the side. Stuff like that.”

He reached into his pocket and glanced at his phone quickly to see if he had gotten a reply from Olivia yet. Two weeks? Even in this bottle, he had to drink it within at least a week for maximum potency. And it would be best to drink it at such if he were to acquire the ability to replicate it within the first go. According to the book the effects of the serving size would only last thirty minutes. But that was on a normal person. For a vampire that would be five hours.

Five hours would be more than enough time to process and lock the potion into his talent’s memory.

But… She wasn’t here. Maybe he should go home and drink this. Or the bat cave? But what if something really bad happened and he needed help? Olivia couldn’t just drop everything for him. This could go disastrously if he did it alone. But if he drank here… There were other problems it could present.