Apothecary Adagio

Chapter 2

Dear Clovis,

I hope you all are doing well, I made it to a new village in one piece and have been looking for a new opportunity for theatre work. It’s rather small here in Sunmire, but the people are nice and they seem very lively. The village seems to be doing well for itself, hopefully, Fausten can keep a good eye on it. Make sure all of you are working hard to help Clovis while I’m gone, and treating each other well. I know how you all bicker better than anyone else. Behave.

Clovis. Sunmire has indeed been suffering through Zokaet attacks. I was able to meet the apothecary but that didn’t bear many answers. I am doing research into the victims now. I promise I’m being careful and I need you to not be too worried. I think I can find more information and hopefully stop the attacks. I’ll write again soon. Trust me.

I love you all,

Floria Fautus

“Is your tea good?” The woman before me slowly walks over and sits with her own cup of a matching tea set. I nod and raise my cup to my lips, taking a sip.

I was currently sitting in the house of one of the relatives of the victims. Apparently, after I left the atelier and I began to go around Sunmire asking about the victims of the attacks. I was able to gather a decent amount of information but nothing really added up. Different injuries, different locations, some at night and some during daytime. When I was ready to give up for the day, this woman approached me, offering to see me the next day to talk about her son. When I arrived, she had set the table and made tea for me.

“So,” I started as I set the cup back on the table, “About your son. Can you recall anything that happened around the time of his…” I trail off.

She clears her throat as she intertwines her fingers, looking down at the wooden table.

“He didn’t tell me anything, but he was behaving more secretive. Usually, he would visit me on his breaks but he stopped.” Her lips purse as she puts both hands delicately around her teacup once more. Nails tapping against the soft porcelain.

“And on those long nights when he used to come to refresh and sleep in my guest room. Those dwindled as well, but the last night he came to me-”

I sit straighter up, leaning on the table as I waited for her to continue. With shaking hands, she sips her tea. A sigh leaves her as she timidly plays with her fingers.

“He was bleeding, quite badly. His-” she swallows a lump in her throat, “His shoulder was injured, his whole arm was.”

“What did the injury look like?”

For a moment her fingers flick her nose, eyes becoming glossy as she gathers herself. I wait patiently, trying to give the mourning woman as much time as she needs to tell me clearly.

“When he came in that night, His shoulder was barely attached to his torso, his arm was mangled, completely unusable. As if some… thing took a bite of my son and didn’t bother to eat its leftovers.” Tears fell as her hand raised to her eyes. I reach out, my hand taking the free one of the woman’s. My thumbs rub onto her knuckles as I wait longer.

“He-” she starts once again, “He was screaming about something. That ‘He lost it’ and that ‘It was worse than they thought.’ I was panicking, trying to wrap his wounds and use some elixir he gave me nights prior.”

“Your son went to the Atelier for Elixir?” I ask.

She nods, “When he came back with it he told me to keep it here, just in case. It wasn’t too new, he would do this from time to time. He’s a militiaman, of course getting hurt is part of the job. But this elixir and this injury…was so much worse.” A sniffle. “It killed my son! Those monsters.”

The woman began to simply just weep as I fully rise and come over to her side. Kneeling down and rubs her back as she hunches over into herself against the wooden table. Before simply leaning up and giving the woman an embrace. Swaying back and forth as I try to wrap my head around it all.

So apparently, the Sunmire Militia were doing investigations on their own and this woman’s son was a casualty of it. He must’ve expected this, giving the elixir he gave her. But then a thought appears-

“Ma’am.” my voice was soft, hand running through frail hair as her sobs died down in my arms.

“Ma’am, I’m so sorry for your loss and having to interview you. It’s…horrible what happened to your son, and I promise that his death and this pain you are going through right now will not go in vain, okay?” She nods as she leans back and wipes her eyes, taking a napkin off of the table and dabbing her eyes and nose.

“Do you still have the elixir you used on your son that night? Even just the flask may be helpful.”

She shakes her head, “N-no. But I do recall him saying the elixir was especially potent and strong. He had gotten it from Atelier Francesca, as always.”

I look over to the small bag I brought with me, walking over to it I scramble through a bit and pulled out a familiar flask with yellow liquid within. Lifting it high enough as I swish it around before the woman’s vision.

“That’s it! That’s the elixir he had brought home.” She sniffles and wiped her nose with her napkin as I look back down at the elixir.

“You’ve seen anyone else use this Elixir from Atelier Francseca?” I ask.

Nodding, she sips her tea again before clearing her throat again. “I’ve seen other families and friends of victims use that Elixir. Apparently, it’s a good elixir for healing larger injuries.” She chokes up a bit, “It just couldn’t help my son.”

I stand and return to my seat, taking the woman’s hand as I try to think more about this. If multiple victims used this elixir after or before the attacks. The elixir itself could be an attractor to the Zokaets. When I tried to look into the components of the elixir I couldn’t and I have no ability to ask Arthur without giving him some notion of what I am doing. But it was enough Claude told me the elixir was a twist upon the original made by the Apothecary, then that could only mean-

The Apothecary is planning for this.

The realization hit me with a sickening force, slowly taking my hand and reaching for my cup of now-cold tea. I sipped it, as our talk from the day prior replayed in my mind. No wonder they were so accusatory, if Lucitri arrives with reinforcements, that will surely undo their whole plan. But there is one problem-

What even is their plan?

Half an hour passed before I left the woman’s house, thanking her for her time and information. As I walked away from her home I was surrounded by other similar houses of a rustic appeal. The neighborhood was close and locals seemed to all know each other quite well. So I decide to take this as a chance to go over the information I have gathered more thoroughly.

Sitting on a bench, placing my bag in my lap as I pull out the elixir I held. Watching the yellow liquid swish as I twisted it in my fingers.

“An elixir with a twist..” That’s was Claude proclaimed and its nearly golden hue with no sign of murkiness really proved that. Though, what in this elixir is enough to attract so many Zokaets to this small town? Let alone attack so many people? Besides, what is their goal for doing so? I cannot claim a criminal if there is no motive that makes sense.

They judged Lucitri harshly. Could it be out of spite? To make a point about how they believe the Faustus family to be complacent? Well, that would be ridiculous- but graver crimes have been done for lesser wills.

“Um, excuse me?” I look up from the elixir, putting it back in my bag as I come to see a young lady. Hands folded and gripping her dress, she seemed nervous.

“Yes? What’s wrong?”

“You’re the lady asking around about the Zokaet attacks right?” With that I nod to her.

“Um, my sister wanted to speak with you. Tell you what she knows.”

“Oh really? Where is she?” I ask.

“...At home.”

With that, I get a better grip on my bag and hook it over my shoulder. “Well if your parents do not mind, I can come and question her.” I stand as the girl looks up at me under brown bangs. She nods, before gesturing for me to follow her, back down an adjacent road from the other woman’s house.

“All the homes here are so quaint, Miss-”

“Oh just, Violetta.” she walks in front of me, as she tries to keep her posture straight, I watch her shoulders nearly slumped as she readjusts.

“I’m Floria.” She looks back at me with a small smile, before turning again and pointing to a slightly bigger home.

“There’s my house.”

I looked over to it, a charming larger home, with a porch and a few lanterns on top of the railings. Though it had a small yard and in front of that yard, I spot someone-

“Claude?”

He looks up from his spot on the yard, as Violetta gasps beside me.

“Claude, what are you doing in our yard?” She marches over to the boy, all hints of shyness gone in his presence. He flops back onto the grass with his hands out shaking to stop the seemingly angry girl.

“I was just trying to try a new alchemy technique.”

“You have your yard right over there,” she punctuates her complaint with a finger to the house right beside her own. “Do your weird recipes there!”

“But your yard had this cool pebble! I could use it for alchemy-”

“Go find a pebble in your yard!”

For a second I watch the two younger ones with my arms crossed. It reminded me of my siblings. Little back and forths on the dumbest of things, but it was those little bickers that let you know that people were close.

I hear the door open as the kids bickered, Revealing an older woman of similar brown hair to Violetta. She seems surprised to see me as I step over.

“Hi, I’m Floria. Violetta said her sister wanted to speak to me?”

Violetta’s mother, I assume, nods to me, stepping to the side and letting me in. A rather quiet woman she seems to be. I step into their charming home, warm tones and soft furniture, it wasn’t much on the inside, but seemingly enough to house a happy sum. I look to the auburn couch seeing a woman with similar brown hair with a cast leaning back on it, foot propped up on the coffee table before her. She turns to me, as I wave. She gestures to a chair beside the couch, and I walk over and take a seat. Seeing her mother go back up the stairs as she closes the door, leaving the kids to their bickering just outside.

“So what is your name?” I ask, my fingers intertwining over my knee as I cross my legs.

“Linette,” she spoke quietly, quite the quiet family.

“Pretty. I’m Floria.” I could see she wasn’t sure how to begin this, so I take a deep breath and reach into the bag.

“I suppose we can just cut to the chase, if you can- could you recall what happen to your leg?”

For a second she stares at her leg, the white cast as her crossed arms fall onto the couch. “As you know, it was a Zokaet attack.” I nod.

“I was with my training squad, doing some reconnaissance. We noticed that more and more attacks were taking place in the Dawn District.”

“The Dawn District?” I speak up, she looks at me.

“The district where the militia bases are. Where we train and make plans.” I nod and gesture for her to continue.

“At first, it was quiet, but it all happened so fast. It appeared and attacked us.”

“Was it only one?”

She nods, “It moved so fast but it was only one. I couldn’t get a good visual of it, only that when it bite my leg, I shot.”

I reach over, a soft hand to touch the girl’s arm, as I slowly moved to join her on the cozy couch. I wait for her to continue, her eyes trained on the cast.

“I emptied all of my rounds and I was barely able to save my leg.”

I look down to her cast as well, thinking about the horror this young woman barely survived. A Zokaet attack is no easy experience, and many have died already.

“It bled green.”

At that my head turned, “Green?” she simply nodded.

She doesn’t look at me, as I look in between her leg and her face.

“Linette, Did you-” I start, but I lower my voice, “ Did you see it clearly?”

For a moment she didn’t respond, only looking away and nodding once more. I shuffle myself closer to get a good look at her, as she tries to hide her face more, my hand coming up to her mouth.

“Linette, please. This could be used to help other people-”

“My squad all died!” she turns to me, tears welling in her eyes. “Remembering that night- What would it matter! More will come! And it will happen again!”

I stare at her, her sniffles into her hand as she scoots away from me on the couch, barely able to do so. I sigh, giving her a moment to recuperate as I speak again, calmer this time.

“Linette, I know this is hard. It’s an awful thing you went through, but your experience will lead to identifying the Zokaet and could help in getting Sunmire more protection.” I gesture to the door, around her home, and to more. “With this, Lucitri is guaranteed to send reinforcements and then-”

“It shouldn’t have taken my squad to die to get protection from the capital! We should have already been protected!” My lips close firmly, as I reach forward and pull the weeping young woman in. She cries into my shoulders, as I try think of a better way to say this,

“Linette,” I start, petting brown hair. “Let me help you in ensuring your squad fulfilled their goal to the very end.” At that I feel her tense in my arms, As I gently put my hands on her shoulder and pull her away.

“Let them protect Sunmire, even like this.” I hated having to sound so accusatory, this woman was a victim. Barely lived from an attack where she is lucky only her leg was terribly mangled if the stories of the other corpses were anything.

But even with my cruel words, she nods to me and takes a deep breath. “It had a cracked skull, like a bird, but with a lot of teeth.” I nod.

“Its body was thin, deathly so and it had wings.” She opens her arms wide, replicating the movement of wings as I nod.

“Was that all you were able to catch?”

She sniffles and nods, “Other than the green.”

“Okay…” at that I rise to my feet, “Thank you, Linette.”

She smiles at me, wiping her eyes, “Just- don’t make their deaths go in vain.”

I nod to her, “I won’t.”

I lean down and grab my bag, stepping around the couch and pausing before the door. “One last thing,” She turns to me as I reach into the bag, pulling out the elixir and showing it to her.

“Did you or your squad have an Elixir before the attack?”

She shakes her head. “Not at all, none of us went to Francesca for weeks at that point. We were being trained, we never got so hurt to need elixirs.”

So this attack happened with no Elixir in mind at all? Not even a classic? Just the Zokaet acting violently? The Apothecary did say there is a chance that there are multiple around, but if Elixirs attracted one, shouldn’t they follow that pattern?

“Anyway, Thank yo-”

“Violetta!” frantic shuffles come from the stairs as the mother rushes down them and towards me.

“Whoa, Mom what’s wrong?”

“Violetta and Claude are gone!”

My hand instantly went to the doorknob and swings it open, rushing out to the porch I see- no one. The kids were just out here going back and forth. Did they just go around to play? But with Zokaet attacks being the norm at the moment.

“They aren’t there?” Linette calls out.

“They aren’t” I reply with bated breath.

I can hear the mother’s panicked whispers of ‘oh no’, her fear palpable as a sinking feeling takes over my chest.

“It’s okay, Ma’am. I’ll go ahead and look for them. I’ll bring them home for you.”

The mother looks at me shocked, as she nods. “I’ll go tell Claude’s parents and ask the neighborhood.”

“Where do they like to frequent?”

“The Night District, they sometimes like to play in front of the church.” I nod to the mother as she hurries out of her home and heads next door. While I turn and start jogging my way down the road.

During a time like this, if they get attacked by a Zokaet they won’t be as lucky as Linette. And with Claude frequenting the Atelier he probably reeks of whatever the Elixirs hold. He’s probably a walking target for any Zokaets by now if I am right about what his beloved Master is doing. Regardless, it’s too dangerous and I’d rather not find mangled bodies of kids.

I can’t let anyone else get hurt in this anymore!