"Hey Beetle, can you help me with something?" Artichoke asked Axel.
The scouts were finishing off what was left of their food. Their captain and the Golden Guard had already left due to them having other duties.
"Depends on the problem," Axel replied.
"I just need an extra hand to help make a potion," Artichoke replied, "You don't need to do anything, just move things around," they said.
"Sure, doesn't seem too hard," Axel replied.
'This could be a good way to know more about potions'
"Thanks, I owe you one," Artichoke said getting up from the cafeteria seat, "Come on!" he said before starting to leave.
"We're going right now?" Axel asked getting up and following Artichoke.
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"Newt eyes," Artichoke asked.
"Here," Axel said tossing the newt eyes into the cauldron.
"Firebee honey," Artichoke asked.
"On it," Axel replied.
"And there it is!" Artichoke excitedly said.
Artichoke, who was standing over a cauldron, was casting magic with one hand and stirring the cauldron in the other.
Infront of them was a book outlining what Artichoke needed to do to make the potion, though Axel couldn't make out what was on the page from where he was standing.
"What are you making?" Axel asked while watching Artichoke work.
"It's a simple fever potion; it gives whoever drinks it a fever for a few hours," Artichoke answered, "There's a certain scout I need to deal with," they then murmured.
"Is this all you needed me for?" Axel asked watching Artichoke finish making the potion.
'I helped them, but I didn't really do all that much'
"Oh no, this was just something that I wanted to do," Artichoke explained, "The potion we're making next is something I need help for," they said.
"What are you making?" Axel asked.
"I'm sorry, I can't tell you that," Artichoke said.
"Fine," Axel said, "Just tell me what you need to do," he said.
"Thank you," Artichoke suddenly thanked.
"Why are you thanking me? We haven't started," Axel asked.
"I couldn't ask Captain to help me, Apple would have laughed at me, Lettuce can't be trusted, and Grape is too nice," Artichoke explained, "And you might weird, but that's better than the others, so thank you," Artichoke thanked again.
"Stop thanking me for being weird and let's get to it," Axel said.
"Let's do it," Artichoke said with a smile, "I need absolute focus for this, so please no matter what I need you to be quiet," they then asked.
"Got it, I am just doing the same thing I was doing?" Axel asked, referring to him putting things in the cauldron.
"That, and hand me a few things," Artichoke said.
Before Axel could ask about what Artichoke meant by things, Artichoke began quickly empty out the cauldron.
"Firebee honey," Artichoke called out.
'Coman ingredient I guess'
Axel quickly poured in the firebee honey into the cauldron.
"Water bucket," Artichoke said.
Axel then picked up the large water bucket and poured it into the cauldron.
Artichoke then began to cast a spell to keep the firebee honey and water separate. After that the water began to heat up.
"Porcuspine quills," Artichoke called out.
Quickly, Axel dumped a few quills into the cauldron. The quills began to curl and circle around the cauldron, Axel swore he saw the quills make an eye before the sunk into the water.
"Hmm," Artichoke hummed while flipping through their book, "Fairy tears," they then called out.
As Axel dripped the fairy tears into the cauldron, he got a look at the page Artichoke was reading from.
It was heavily scribbled on, with several terms that Axel didn't understand. There were several parts where 'This will work!' was written and scribbled over.
"This time it has to work," Artichoke mumbled, "Snaggleteeth," Artichoke excitedly said.
Axel tossed the snaggle teeth in, causing the brew to become highly reflective.
"Now for the fun part," Artichoke said with a smile, "Sand on the third shelf!" asked Artichoke.
'Sand?'
With a bit of confusion, Axel took the small jar of sand and poured it into the cauldron.
Smiling, Artichoke made several circles at several different angles shooting them into the cauldron.
"Oh, time rewind show me what I want!" Artichoke sang while stirring the cauldron.
Axel hadn't heard of any spell that needed someone to say something, with the exception of Abomination magic, however Artichoke seemed to be happy.
Looking over his shoulder Axel saw what Artichoke was looking at. In the cauldron was a moving picture of a kid sitting next to an older man.
"Light has passed through," Artichoke said, "So I should be able as well," they said before taking their hand and starting to put it in the cauldron.
Artichoke slowly lowered a hand in the cauldron, before shaking his hand a little bit. The potion then shook as well.
They then took their hand out and looked into the potion and saw that nothing had changed.
Silently, Artichoke carefully took his book, then they chucked it to the other side of the room.
"Maybe," Artichoke then said putting their head over the water, "If I drown in it, I can see him again," they said dunking their head into the potion.
"What are you doing!" Axel loudly asked grabbing Artichoke by the throat pulling them away from the water.
"Trying to see," Artichoke gasped out, "My grandfather!" he said continuing to try and dunk his head in the potion.
"Let's talk this out, ok?" Axel said slowly stepping back while pulling back Artichoke.
"Your right, I'm an adult, I can deal with this," Artichoke said calming down.
'You couldn't have thought that sooner?'
"Good," Axel said letting go of Artichoke.
"Sorry for that, and thanks for not letting me, you know," Artichoke thanked.
"Letting you drown yourself?" Axel responded.
"Yeah, that," Artichoke replied, "Mind helping me dump the potion?" Artichoke then asked.
"Of course," Axel said moving to the side of the potion.
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"Again, sorry for my behavior, when I get close the success, I get a bit odd," Artichoke explained while pouring himself and Axel some water.
"And what is your success?" Axel asked, grabbing the cup.
"To fix a mistake I made so many years ago," Artichoke replied, "I have to fix it," they mumbled.
"Your mistake has something to do with your grandfather?" Axel asked.
"It's personal," Artichoke quickly replied.
"Would it help to say I understand?" Axel asked.
"You've made a mistake too?" Artichoke asked.
"Not exactly, but if I could do something to see my grandmother again, I'd do just about anything," Axel honestly replied.
"Ah, so you do understand," Artichoke said, "May I ask you a question?" they asked.
"Go ahead," Axel replied.
"Did you spend a lot of time with her?" Artichoke asked.
"As much time as I could," Axel replied.
"And that was my mistake," Artichoke said, "I didn't spend enough time with him, when I was studying to get into the Emperor's Coven, he wanted me to study at his house, I said no," Artichoke explained, "He asked me over and over, and I said no each time, eventually when I joined the Emperor's coven, he wasn't there," Artichoke said putting his head down.
"He had died three days earlier, no one said anything because my grandfather asked them not too, he was worried that if I knew he was dying I wouldn't have gotten my dream," Artichoke said, tears falling from his mask, "What kind of witch am I? I could have given some more time to my grandfather, and I chose not to, I can't live with that knowledge," Artichoke explained.
"So instead of living with it, you're trying to go back in time," Axel asked.
"I have too, and it's not like it's impossible," Artichoke replied, "There's been stories about people traveling back in time through time pools," they explained.
"Why don't you use one of those?" Axel asked.
"You don't think I've tried? Other than them being nearly impossible to find, they always take people back hundreds of years, much too far," Artichoke replied.
"I see," Axel said.
"This isn't my first failure," Artichoke said cleaning the tears of their mask, "But it is the closest I've gotten," they said.
"That's good," Axel said getting up as well, "So do you need me for anything else?" he then asked.
"No, but I do want to give you something," Artichoke said going to one of his shelves, "One of my more useful failures," Artichoke said grabbing a potion.
"What's it do?" Axel asked taking it.
"It slightly rewinds the time on the body, goes back about ten or so minutes, so it should help with any sudden wounds," Artichoke explained.
"Ten or so?" Axel asked.
"More or less," Artichoke replied.
"Well, I'll take it anyways, thanks," Axel said extending his hand.
"I should be thanking you," Artichoke responded, grasping Axel's hand.
As the two shook hands, Axel noticed that his little dip in the potion messed up his watch.
"See you Artichoke," Axel said leaving the room.
"Keshal," they said.
"Hmm?" Axel hummed, truing around
"My name's Keshal," Artichoke said.
"You know the rules prevent me from calling you by your name," Axel pointed out.
"I know, it's still nice for someone to know my name around here," Keshal said.
For a moment, Axel looked at Keshal in silence. The gap between human and witch had never felt closer to Axel, and yet, he couldn't. He still had a job to do.
'I need to sever the connection between earth and this place'
"Have a good day," Axel said before leaving.
"You as well," Keshal responded watching Axel go.