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Nellwyn Richardson had locked herself in the alchemy lab and made the decision not to leave. Most of her fellow students were off at Yule, which left the place to herself. Finally she could work on her experiment without prying eyes. She was so close, so damn close. If she could get as far as she did finagling everything in her dorm, then with the right equipment…
In a fury of motion, the young cryptozoologist grabbed vials, Bunsen burners, beakers, and flasks. Her small green micro wyvern Trill clung to her shoulder, hissing in annoyance from being jostled out of his nap. “Shh, you,” Nell whispered. “It’s game time.” She picked the wyvern off her shoulder and placed him down on a small pillow she brought. It was going to be a long night, and she wasn’t going to deal with a grumpy wyvern nipping at her heals. Her half blind pet snipe Bartholomew was already passed out on the soft fabric, laying on his back with his little blue feet wiggling as it snoozed.
Once everything was set up to her liking, Nellwyn carefully removed a large block wrapped in cloth from her bag. She placed it gently on the counter, making a soft thud, and unwrapped it. A soft smile escaped from her lips as she rubbed a hand over the pebble like pattern on the stone. Picking up a small chisel, Nell carefully worked a piece of the stone free. She picked it up and examined it under a magnifying glass. Nodding to herself she dropped the sample into a beaker. She grabbed her wand and lit the Bunsen burner beneath, then picked up one of the vials she selected and poured it on top of the stone. “Let’s give this a whirl,” Nell said, gulping nervously.
The moment she poured the liquid over the stone, the young mage gripped her wand tightly and began to chant a spell under her breath. She touched the tip of her wand the beaker, and on contact the liquid began to boil. “Helix Animus,” Nellwyn said with a quiver in her voice. The liquid bubbled violently and then turned black. The beaker cracked and the bubbling black liquid fell out on to the desk. “Crap!” Nellwyn yelled, jumping backward as the foul stench from her concoction reached her nostrils. She quickly grabbed a towel and cleaned up the mess. “Again,” she mumbled once the station was ready to go. She replaced the beaker, carved off another piece of stone, and started over.
Over and over, Nellwyn tried and failed with many beakers meeting their death. Hours passed, with the mage tweaking her potion, her spell inflection, the amount of stone, anything she could think of to make this spell work. It should work. Everything in her research lead her to believe it would. Occasionally, Trill would wonder over to see what the fuss was about, and upon receiving no pets, would grumpily flap over to the nice warm pillow.
Nellwyn slumped against the desk and took a sip from a nearby glass. Her eyes were drooping as she chiseled away another piece of the now beaten and scarred stone. The spell itself was draining, and casting it over and over was taking its toll. The mage almost dropped the beaker when she went to put it back in place. Last time, she thought, might pass out after this one. She closed her eyes and focused on the spell. She thought of how much she wanted, needed this to work. All of those years studying, searching, it all lead up to this spell.
Nell wanted to do the impossible. She already did it once. The Sapience Awareness club managed to create a device to translate Chupacabra’s thoughts. Proving the cryptids were sapient was something she wanted to do since she could talk. Activist, that is how the world knew her. And while she loved that title, there was something more. Something… else. Nell wanted to make her mark on the world. Being one of four kids, she was used to being part of a group. For once, she wanted people to know her for her personal accomplishments.
The only person who even knew of her studies was Professor Barber, without her she wouldn’t have been anywhere near where she was now. Nell wished she was here now, as obviously she was messing something up. Why wasn’t it working?
Taking a big gulp of air, Nellwyn poured her last vial over the stone in the beaker. It began to bubble. Forcefully, almost angrily, with a tinge of exasperation, Nellwyn tapped the glass beaker with her wand and cried, “Helix Animus!” There was a popping sound, and a brilliant bright light that flashed from the beaker. Nell jumped back, wand raised high, but the light vanished instantly leaving nothing but a crystal clear liquid behind. “Woah…” Nell managed to murmur before her eyes rolled backward and she face planted in to the desk.
Something throbbed, made worse by something jumping on the back of her head. “Ughh…” Nellwyn halfheartedly swatted at whatever was assaulting on her. Her eyes blinked opened, immediately drawn to the light seeping underneath the door. Did she pass out for that long? She didn’t have time to check however, as a green, angry wyvern was clawing up her shirt to sit back on her head. “Trillian, no,” she grumbled. She grabbed the small lizard off her head and placed him in her lap, running her fingers down his spine and massaging out his wings. Trill’s eyes blinked closed and he let out a high pitched trill and chirp. While she gave in to her wyverns need for attention, her eyes flickered up to the clear liquid swirling around the beaker.
“I think it worked,” Nellwyn said softly, just so Trillian could hear her. The green wyvern looked up, glancing at the beaker with disinterest. He chirped and nudged her hand, demanding more rubs. “That could be your future brother or sister,” Nell said a bit louder. The realization of what she was looking at hit her. “I… I have to get this incubating. Sorry Trill.” She put the wyvern down and ran to her bag she had discarded on the floor. She rummaged around, reaching in deep and pulling out what looked like an ostrich egg. She carefully carried it over to the desk and placed it down. Nell removed the beaker and grabbed her wand. She tapped the top of the egg and said a quick spell that created a very tiny hole at the top of it. Saying another spell and flicking her wand, she began carefully guiding the clear liquid into the small hole in the egg. It was painfully tedious work, she couldn’t let any of the precious fluid leak or eall had to make it in. By the time task was complete, an hour had passed and Nellwyn was drenched in sweat. A spell to seal the hole, and a final wand flick to heat and incubate the egg, and the work was complete.
Nell slumped down on the ground against the desk, the egg in her lap as she stared at it though lidded eyes. This was her future. This was how she was going to make her mark on the world. She bundled the egg up and placed it carefully in her bag. With a swish of her wand, the workspace was clean. Now to find some food, and a nice bed. Nellwyn wanted to sleep for days.