An Alchemist’s Love

The Greenhouse

Genavie and Cleo arrived at the greenhouse after a couple minutes walk to the far edge of the backyard. The greenhouse was a sight to behold. In the last few centuries it had grown and morphed into an eclectic mix of designs and extensions. The original structure was a glass frame placed between the trunks of three trees, creating a triangular border. The extensions had all honoured the triangle framework to varied extents, creating iterations of triangular designs, but somewhere along the way it had become an six pointed star, staggered with several levels, layered like an Aztec pyramid. Each arm of the star held a different biosphere, allowing for a diverse range of flora within the one greenhouse. There was no main entrance into the greenhouse, instead there were entrances along the side of each of the six arms. The entrances were discreet glass sliding doors that would be hard to find without prior knowledge or guidance. They approached the closest entrance of the greenhouse, which was designed to house Amazonian plants. The doors were never locked, so the entered without issue. The path through the greenhouse wound in messy curved lines, branching off into smaller paths that lead to alcoves with smaller biomes. It was easy to get lost along the paths. When Genavie was a little girl, she remembered exploring the greenhouse, pretending to be a new world explorer - it was the perfect environment to bring her fantasies to life. In order to help navigate the greenhouse faster, there was a second floor around 9 feet high, with a stainless steel grid walk way. It was suspended from the steel structure of the roof, giving it the illusion of floating amidst the trees.

"We need to make our way to the beach biosphere." Cleo stated, gesturing to the nearby spiral staircase to the second floor.

"After you." Genavie beckoned, allowing Cleo to climb up first.

Even from just 9 feet above, the view changed dramatically. It was kind of like looking at a mini golf course. The design features and decorations throughout the garden looked miniaturised, while the winding paths became more defined and easy to follow. There were still areas where the tree rose higher than 12 feet, disrupting their line of vision, but as a whole the area was now demystified.

They both headed towards the beach biosphere, which was in the opposite side of the greenhouse. There were no signs, just years of practice, that allowed the Daughters of Vern to move through the greenhouse with precision.

"They need around seven ingredients, and one natural essence from a crab. Why don't we split up when we get there and search for them separately. One of us looks for the crab, while the other forages for the other ingredients." Cleo suggested.

"Sure," Genavie replied, "any preference for either task?"

"Yes, can I look for the crab?"

"Sure!"

It took a few minutes to arrive at the beach biosphere as they had to follow the entire pathway through the sss. Although a much more direct path then walking on the ground floor, it was still a winding path that wove around dense trees. All the arms of the star connected at the core, with a stunning five floor dome that spanned several hundred feet across. At the core stood the original greenhouse, the trees it was built on were petrified through alchemical means to create beautiful pillars supporting the structure. All the second floor walkways joined into one large circle that circumvent the area. No paths directly approached the ancient greenhouse, and only one set of majestic stairs led down to the ground floor. The stairs were intricately designed steel work, with the railings pattered like metal vines with blossoming flowers. The central greenhouse was the only area that was off limits and locked up. The reason was simply that there were rare and deadly plants that should not be accessed. Genavie doubted that was that actual reason why it was locked up, and had secretly been working on getting access (but there was a lot, a lot of paper work). They navigated around to the opposite side and entered the beach biome, getting hit with an immediate gust of brined air. The salty scent was always pleasant, especially on cold winter days. The contrast of the lush green interior and sandy floors, versus the snow covered lawn visible outside, made Genavie feel like she was in a snow globe. Even in Summer, like now, it was a welcome scent.

"Alright, divide and conquer!" Genavie said, as they entered, already half way down the nearby staircase and into the bush below. Genavie knew roughly where to find the ingredients and estimated she would need a half hour to collect it all.

Cleo had made her way to the sandy coastline that was artificially made at the tip of this section. It was a slice of heaven in dreary Connecticut, and Cleo's favourite spot in the greenhouse. She walked down to the bottom floor, taking off her shoes and digging her toes into the sand. She then began her search for a crab. It alchemical potion was not very powerful, so a small crab would suffice.

She knelt over and began searching for the indicative holes that led to buried crabs. Unbeknownst to her, the small blue glowing orb had followed Cleo to the beach and had begun darting in and out of the sand stirring up trouble. Around five minutes into Cleo's search for the crabs, she felt a slight tug at her skirt. There was on crab pincered onto the hem of her skirt. "Well that's convenient," Cleo thought to herself. As she reached out to pick the crab off her skirt, twenty other crabs began to erupt from the surface of the sand and launch themselves at her, tearing off pieces of material with their claws. Cleo was so surprised she screamed, sending an echo throughout the greenhouse.

Genavie heard Cleo's scream, shoved the ingredients she had collected thus far into her pockets, and ran for the beach area where she knew Cleo was. It took her a couple minutes at full sprinting speed to reach the beaches edge, where she saw the most absurd scene unfolding before her. Cleo was attempting to shake off around fifty crabs that had amassed around her and began tearing at her clothes. As Genavie approached she caught sight of a floating blue orb, a fae creature! She dashed over to the blue orb, pulling out a jar she had been carrying for collecting other ingredients, and lunged at it with the objective of scooping up the fae and locking it inside. Fae were michevious but not typically malicious creatures. The easiest time to capture the fae was in the midst of their trickery. They often expended their energy and needed to concentrate making them motionless for the duration that they were fooling around. Controlling this quantity of crabs required all the fae's attention, making it an easy capture for Genavie. Now that the fae was safely locked up in the jar, Genavie ran over to Cleo, helping her tear off the remaining crabs who had attacked her. Cleo was a bit hysterical, which was quite a normal reaction to being ambushed by fifty crabs. She stood wide eyed, and panting, her clothes now ripped and in shambles as the crabs had successfully destroyed her blouse and skirt. Her skirt was torn all over, exposing her thighs, and her shirt was stained and cut at random points. It could have been a trendy on someone like Claire, but on Cleo, with her dishevelled appearence, Genavie could not help but burst into a rolling fit of laughter. Cleo was not as amused.

"What the hell just happened?" Cleo asked

Genavie pointed to the jar she had placed in the sand when helping Cleo, inside was the small blue floating orb. It seemed to be bobbing with laughter (if that was possible).

"Little s**t!" Cleo exclaimed, walking over to the jar and picking it up to inspect it closer.

"I am not sure what type of fae it is, but it has a strange sense of humour." Genavie said.

Genavie picked up a crab and placed it in a small mesh bag. "Alright, I just need to find a couple more things, then we can head back to the house."

Cleo nodded, then followed close at Genavie's heels. She shuddered at the memory of all the crabs coming out from the sand and attaching themselves to her. As the walked into the bush, she looked over her shoulder at her favourite hideaway, suppressing a shudder before continuing on.