May Peace Grace Us

Chapter 49: Her worries

Aila examined her first attempt before she called Liza with the radio to come over. Among her friends who have awakened their powers, Liza was the only one she could ask to be her guinea pig. Her plant ability is the gentlest and the most adaptable one among all abilities.

While waiting for Liza, Aila did the same with the other colored crystal. By the time Liza arrived, Aila had four finished products to test. Much to the amazement of Liza when she saw them.

“What are these?” Liza asked as she marveled at the now pure crystals that Aila piled at the side. “These are first-class gems that can fetch for a fortune at an auction of the world is still normal.”

“Those came from the heads of the zombies.” Aila off-handedly said as she took the now cooled test tubes and gently shook it. “I purified it a few times before it reached that gleam and beauty. Careful in handling those, they became so fragile after I was done.”

Liza almost dropped the crystals when she heard its origin. Thankfully she did not really drop them on the floor. Otherwise, they might shatter and be hard to gather in the worst case, while exploding the lab if somehow one of the crystals are particularly active and intensely compact in energy in the worst case. 

“What did you call me for?” Liza asked as she placed the crystals back to where they were placed.

“I need you to help me adjust the ratio in which this will be consumed by our people.” Aila said as she gestured to the gentle green colored water in the test tube she was holding. “This can help supernaturalists upgrade their abilities while it can help improve the non supernaturalist’s constitutions if consumed in minimal amounts.”

“Travis is the right person to call in regards to this, you know?” Liza said as she took the test tube in her hand, marveling at the glow of the waters now that she closely examined it.

“I was thinking of calling him first, but he is busy. Jerome and his team were in need of his treatment so I can only call you for feedback.” Aila replied as another person popped out of his mind. “Suppose I could have called Harry too. But I remember he wanted to sort the books and other files we had for future use, so I would rather not disturb him and suffer from his sharp tongue.”

“Well your reasoning is legit enough for me to accept.” Liza giggled as she took a syringe and extracted a small amount of the solution. “In our group I am indeed the most suitable one to call upon when those two are unavailable. Wait for a while, I’ll get some volunteers after I test this on myself.”

Liza dropped a drop on her tongue as she smacked her mouth trying to capture the taste of the solution. In just minutes she could feel heat in her belly before it dissipates as she used the breathing method Aila has taught them to exercise their abilities. It was a weird and gratifying feeling that Liza wanted to do again.

“How does it feel?” Aila asked as she saw the intoxicated face of the other. 

“It feels fantastic!” Liza said as she dropped another on her mouth. “ My whole body is clamoring for more and I think it helps my ability to increase or something. Other than that, I feel no discomfort to speak of.”

“How much do you think your body will take before it will feel satisfied with your consumption of this?” Aila asked as she wrote Liza’s feedback to the notebook she grabbed at a drawer under the table. “Take notice of this because we have to control the intake for the best result this product can give.”

“Currently I think just one of these test tubes is enough for me for the day.” Liza replied as she was trying to grasp into a particular feeling that this liquid that screams she should not take too many. “This one is quite incompatible for me? There exists an energy that is not harmful for me, but too out of place in my body. It will take a while before I can use this energy for my use. You know what this is?”

“That is the element or power natural in the crystal.” Aila said as she wrote ‘can be consumed by all supernaturalists, but the compatibility is a factor to take note of’. Thinking a little more she then added, ‘ incompatibility will result in longer consumption time, thus if possible used in moderation for non matched supernaturalists’.

“Is that so? What element or power this one is supposed to be?” Liza asked as she put down the test tube on the nearest test tube rack.

“Wind.”

“No wonder it felt almost breezy to me.” Liza said as she found a word to describe the energy she is now slowly digesting. It is not the most accurate word to describe it, but it's close enough. “What are the other three?”

“Earth, water and a transparent one. I don’t have a classification for the transparent one, but I think it is okay for everyone.”

“Gimme the transparent one.” Liza said as she wanted to test Aila’s hypothesis. 

Aila gave her the transparent one and Liza instantly felt so energized when she dropped a bit on her tongue. “This is so amazing! Can I finish that whole test tube? There is no weirdness at all!”

“Later.” Was all Aila said as she made Liza focus on the ratio she will distribute to everyone. From Liza’s reaction, Aila is pretty sure that the transparent one is the one to be distributed to the population.

Liza pouted and seriously talked with Aila about her thoughts. A small debate was made before the two called it a day. Sometimes when they talk things do get heated up. Both of them suddenly thought it was a bad idea to have this discussion without a third party to mediate them.

Aila brewed some tea using her equipment to calm them both down. Coffee was an option, but they agreed that they need no caffeine after the excitement they just had. They don’t want to be too stimulated at the moment.

“Are you happy now?” Aila suddenly asked Liza who was puzzled by her sudden question. Passing the breaker she used as a temporary tea cup, she continued. “About Geoffrey and before you meet up with us.”

Liza took a sip with the tea and stayed silent over the question directed to her.

“I notice you are spacing out more than you usually do. Was I too late in warning you about him?” Aila cautiously asked.

“No. You are not late nor are you too early in your warning.” Liza sighs as she places down her breaker. “I had noticed him being sneaky before and had a hunch of him tricking me. Because I have no direct evidence of him making a fool of me, I stayed still in our relationship. Although I liked him too much, in our relationship everything is way too complicated for us not to have a crack.”

“You should have told us about your suspicion then.” Aila said as she met the eyes of her friend. “We are more than capable of doing something about it before you get this hurt.”

“As much as I liked to do so, I really cannot tell any of you about my situation. Many relationships I had, I am still a child of Kanes. They are satisfied with Geoffrey for some reason and our families are in the middle of marriage talks.” Liza said as she laments her too controlled life. “So if one of you guys get in between the two of us, his family will have a reason to trouble ours. This is what I am dodging.”

“But that guy was maintaining his lover outside.” Aila pointed out. “As far as I know, before the two of you got together, he and Fritzi were already together. I have some evidence for that and Albert is sure to have more materials than me about this. That friend of ours never concealed his dissatisfaction with that man of yours.”

“...even with that it will not change much if you show that to me or to my family.” Liza weakly laughed. “His family could say that his lover is only something their son is temporarily playing. They might convince me that only I have the real legal status when we get married. You’d be surprised that my family might agree to it as long as it will bring them enough benefit.”

“Your brother might have a thing or two in regards to it.” Aila remembered that Liza’s brother is quite protective of his sister.

“He might, but ultimately he has no power in this. At most he could delay the marriage as long as possible until Geoffrey will make a huge blunder. Which is a very small hope to stay on.” Liza was sad as she talked about her brother. “I kinda planned to bring him here with you, you know, my dearest brother. But I figured out I really cannot take him away. As the apple in the eyes of our parents, it is impossible for him to leave without others tracking him down. Even the fake death I did will not ease what our parents will do.”

“Did he know of our plan?” Aila was aware that the two were close enough to share secrets, so she wanted to be clear if someone had known of their whereabouts. 

“I told him we are planning to stay somewhere our parents have no reach.” Liza sadly sighs. “ He was very supportive of me and he was the one who arranged my escape to be as perfect as possible. I had warned him of the apocalypse days after you told me about it, and I trust he had prepared well that he will be well-off to where I left him.”

“That’s good.” Aila only commented as silence once again envelops them. 

They then continued their little test before Liza went out to ask for volunteers to test the liquids. Aila simply stayed at the lab and waited for her and her haul back. Somehow, Aila felt relieved that she could breach the subject in their privacy. At least she knew that Liza is feeling a lot better than she thought she was. Though she felt some sadness, from the tone and her words, Aila knew she was only adjusting to things that did not need her family to keep intervening.

The rest of her friends also had this issue but they are adapting well enough in her opinion. At least they are more open now than they were before. If it was back then, it is impossible for Liza to open up what’s bugging her as to not alarm her family one way or another. 

“At least more or less I don't need to be too worried about their states.” Aila whispered in the space of her lab. “There are lesser things to think about now. Next I need to nudge our priorities to our security. There is no need for us to venture out farther in our current situation.”