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[center][h1][i]Transmutation and Conjuration[/i][/h1]
[h3][i]Part 3[/i][/h3][/center]

[center][b]Location: Shadow of the Moon Occult Curiosities– Lost Haven, Maine
Time: 3:00 p.m. - Three Days after HoH Defeat[/b][/center]
[hr]

The scent of chemical cleaners mated with the bitter aromas of a protective fumigation, coalescing into a slow rising mist that settled in the rafters overhead. Madalena, hair pulled up in a quick yet elegant braid with only a few strays to interrupt her vigorous scrubbing, had been hard at work restoring her business to its former glory, polishing wooden countertops and hardwood floors, dusting forgotten shelves and awkward corners while attempting to maintain the current layout of merchandise and failing to do so. Over the course of two hours, she’d dropped and nearly broken a series of pewter and ceramic bowls and statuettes. The final thirty minutes of cleaning had seen the death of two candle holders, shattered well beyond repair.

Even so, Madalena wouldn’t be dissuaded, fervently working to return Shadow of the Moon to a state of peace, readying it for her maiden voyage, a grand reopening after nearly two weeks of chaos. 

[i]Ding![/i] her phone reminded her of the time, buzzing twice before playing the shrill tone again, biding her to stop working. She let it ring, furiously scrubbing away a collection of wax fused to the front counter. 

To hell with it, she thought, moving the cash register a few inches to the right to cover the molten pile of red. Satisfied, she removed her phone from her left pocket and paused the reminder. [i]Charlie at 3[/i] the notification read. Looking up, Madalena checked for the familiar car pulling into the storefront parking.

Emerging from the old car, this time from the driver’s side was Charlie herself. Hair braided in pigtails, a backpack slung over her shoulder and dressed a few layers lighter than usual in jean shorts and a blue t-shirt, staff in hand. Locking the door by pushing down the pin she went inside Shadow of the Moon greeting Madalena with, “‘Sup.”

 Taking a look around, the clean up obvious from one look. The shop was looking closer than ever to normal again. She nodded approvingly as she looked around. “[color=honeydew]Nice work, looking good in here Maddi.[/color]”

She looked to the dust bin with broken ceramic pieces. “[color=honeydew]Need me to fix anything else?[/color]”

Plopping her backpack to the ground beside the counter, she flung the alchemical key onto the counter it skidded into a spinning circle. “[color=honeydew]I thought I made progress on the stupid thing last night but whatever I did didn’t stick this morning when I took another crack at it.[/color]” Leaning into her staff with a huff.

Madalena smiled and put away her phone, picking up the key and turning it in her fingers a few times. [color=BE1359]”We’ve got all day to figure it out,”[/color] she responded confidently, pulling the leather-bound journal from behind the counter and presenting it to Charlie.

[color=BE1359]”I’ve made some progress with the street names in the illustration. The inscriptions, I think, are hints to certain buildings where the key can be used, but the streets themselves were pretty easy to find.”[/color] 

She pulled out a tourist map of Lost Haven, pointing to a trio of circled locations. The first was a street in Chinatown, a few blocks north of Shadow of the Moon. The next was near Sherman Square, and the last was close to the university.

[color=BE1359]”I’ve also taken a look at the incantation at the back of the journal. It’s a conjuration of some kind, an invocation of three spirits. Although I’m not sure what they have to do with any of this.”[/color]

Leaning over the counter, chin in the palm of her hand she frowned down at the map, “[color=honeydew]I’d love to figure it out. At least the locations aren’t hard to get to, mom let me borrow the car for the day.[/color]”

“[color=honeydew]The spirits are probably some oldies with a grudge against the Winter Court.[/color]” Charlie guessed, “[color=honeydew]Puck seems like he’s lining up some pieces for a few power moves.[/color]”

She flapped her hand at the back room where the portal to the Red Devil is, “[color=honeydew]I won’t pretend to know what he’s planning, getting more involved in the magic community lately is just proving I don’t know as much as I thought.[/color]”

Glaring at the key in Maddi’s hand, “[color=honeydew]I will solve that fucking key,[/color]” Pointing accusingly at it, completely aware of how dramatic she must of seemed, “[color=honeydew]If only fuelled out of pure spite.[/color]”

[color=BE1359]”What’s the process here?”[/color] Madalena eyed the key, trying to understand its construction. She was familiar only with the illustrative and metaphysical side of alchemy, that which intersected with high and low magic. But the chemical compounds, the methodology, it was all foreign to her. 

[color=BE1359]”What do you actually do with the key, how do you ‘solve’ it?”’[/color]

Charlie perked up at that, clearly eager to to explain anything alchemy. “[color=honeydew]Gramps said I have to balance it perfectly in its weight. He stuffed the key with variously weighted elements.[/color]”

Lifting herself up to sit on the counter she reached behind it groping for a pen and digging in her pocket for a coin. “[color=honeydew]One go-to for changing elements is changing the form they’re currently in to something else.[/color]” The penny softened in her hand dripping over the pen, creating a dirty copper outer layer around it. “[color=honeydew]Like water from a solid, to gas or liquid. Encased in the key is a bunch of intricate and [i]sensitive[/i] webs of composition affecting its solid weight. Gramps essentially made it a giant ass chemical puzzle for anyone to scratch their heads over.[/color]”

She tapped the end of the penny pen on the counter, the copper cracked down the middle revealing the pen inside. “[color=honeydew]I’m afraid to crack it open because there’s so many things inside the key if it came in direct contact with oxygen it may just spoil everything else rendering the key impossible to solve.[/color]”

“[color=honeydew][i]So[/i].[/color]” She said with a sigh through her nose. “[color=honeydew]I’ve been playing with the composition to get it right but haven’t had any breakthroughs yet. It’s like…[/color]” Looking up to the left trying to remember the comparison Harry had used the day before to describe it. “[color=honeydew]It’s like playing operation.[/color]”

Madalena nodded half enthusiastically. It was obvious she didn’t understand the full process, but Charlie’s explanation was enough. 

[color=BE1359]”Does the journal not have any more clues?”[/color] the questions was genuine. Thus far, it had described the entirety of their quest, albeit cryptically. [color=BE1359]”Maybe there’s a piece of your granddad’s formula still in here to find.”[/color] 

She flipped back to the front few pages, presenting them to Charlie.

“[color=honeydew]I’m not sure,[/color]” Charlie said with the purse of her lips. “[color=honeydew]He used his formula to bring the key forward, I’m still blown away how much was in those pages to keep the key itself inside the book. Just when I thought we were getting close to peers he lays down new shit.[/color]” Leaning around the cash she pulled some scrap paper starting to write out lines of alchemical formulae herself, she continued to write as she spoke filling the page top down. “[color=honeydew]If you imagine Gramps in front of a few chalkboards filled from top to bottom of formulae he wrote himself, like you see in the movies. Intimidating as fuck to see at first right?[/color]”

“[color=honeydew]My instincts are telling me differently. He knows how it looks but it [i]is[/i] something simple. It’ll be a front for something I just don’t know what it is.[/color]” Pulling out of her little satchel a can of diet coke and a packet of sour cherries, she finished the page of formula sprinkling a few bits of candy onto the paper while popping one into her mouth and putting the can of soda alongside them. The writing lit up faintly with light, the candy disappeared. Charlie popped the tab taking a sip, “[color=honeydew]All that for cherry flavored coke. So you see what I mean?[/color]” She said offering the can to Maddi.

Madalena took the can, considering for a moment the complexities of Charlie’s gifts. She went to take a sip, but decided against it, setting the can on the counter and pushing it aside. 

[color=BE1359]”Haven’t had a soda in three years,”[/color] she explained, [color=BE1359]”weaned myself off them just before I moved to Lost Haven. But I see what you mean; all those pages of formula were just to hide the key. Guess we just have to work this one out ourselves.”[/color]

Charlie shrugged, “[color=honeydew]Yeah. . .[/color]” She could barely stifle her laugh, “[color=honeydew]Now you sound like Gramps,[/color]” Sipping the can. “[color=honeydew]Liquid poison tastes real sweet to me.[/color]”

[color=BE1359]”Bet I could brew up something deadlier that tastes just as sweet . . . actually, I wonder if I could.”[/color]

Madalena’s rambling was cut off by the tiny ring above the door frame, followed by a familiar voice.

[color=ffe4b5]”Knock knock,”[/color] Marie stepped forward, arms cradling a chilling hare the color of tar, [color=ffe4b5]”Hope I’m not interrupted.”[/color]

[color=BE1359]”Marie!”[/color] Madalena’s eyes went wide, her natural smile extending from ear to ear. She shuffled from around the counter and stood next to Charlie. [color=BE1359]”I wasn’t expecting you back so soon. Wait, why are you here? Not that I’m not grateful, I just assumed you’d run off again, but not in a bad way -”[/color]

[color=ffe4b5]”Good to see you too,”[/color] Marie interrupted. [color=ffe4b5]”I came because I had a little time to myself; the Ambassador and I are pursuing separate leads. I’m using some of that time to relax.”[/color]

Marie turned to Charlie, extending a hand, careful that she didn’t drop her shadowy companion. [color=ffe4b5]”Charlie, right? We never had the chance to speak the other night. Good to see you again.”[/color]

Charlie shook her hand squeezing lightly, “[color=honeydew]That’s right, glad your stuck up associate isn’t with you. Served up looks that could freeze hell over.[/color]” She laughed leaning back into the counter crossing her arms. “[color=honeydew]We’re just working on a project of our own, deciphering a stupidly difficult alchemy key.[/color]”

Charlie pointed to the rabbit in her arms, “[color=honeydew]That a familiar or something? Rabbits don’t usually look like a tub of black paint.[/color]”

[color=90ee90][i]”A rather crude observation,”[/i][/color] Holt spoke aloud in an echoed, raspy voice. 

[color=ffe4b5]”Right, he wasn't visible the other night. Charlie, Madalena, this is Holt.”[/color]

[color=90ee90][i]”Pleasure,”[/i][/color]

[color=ffe4b5]”He served under a friend of mine prior to my arrival in Lost Haven. This is one of his forms.”[/color]

Madalena leapt forward, gently running a hand over Holt’s head. His fur, or whatever made up his physical body, felt strange, cold yet comforting, soft yet brittle. [color=BE1359]”Well I’m happy to have you here, both of you. I did wonder if you had a familiar. Is Holt the only one? Wait, you probably shouldn’t tell me that, should you? Oaths and all that. Never-mind. God I’m just happy that we can talk about all of this. I had so many questions after you told me about The White Witch, but you were gone before I got the chance.”[/color]

Marie chuckled, eyes moving between Madalena, Charlie, and their alchemical key. [color=ffe4b5]”That’s partially why I came. I’ve been involved in something fairly complicated and wanted to share it with you. And given the state of the Hounds and the Winter Court, I wondered if I might lend a helping hand while I could. If that’s alright with you?”[/color]

“[color=honeydew]Crude but right,[/color]” She paused making a face, “[color=honeydew]Which is largely how I operate.[/color]”

Handing over the key to Marie, a little wary of Holt feeling her skin prickle with a strange vibe. “[color=honeydew]Any help is appreciated, I haven’t figured it out yet. We’re supposed to balance its weight so that when sits on the tip of my finger it doesn’t lean one way or another. Know anything about Alchemy?[/color]”

She looked to Holt, “[color=honeydew]How about you, Holt?”[/color]”

Marie turned the key over in her hands a few times, running a finger down its length, trying to gage from observation only if there were anything her magic could do to unveil its mystery. Alchemy in its more advanced states was a foreign concept, but perhaps her malefic version could still be of use.

Holt’s expertise was much the same. While under a previous master he might have been privy to knowledge pertaining to the science of magic, the knowledge was inconcise. [color=90ee90][i]”Perhaps the weight will balance itself,”[/i][/color] he offered with no further explanation.

[color=ffe4b5]”I see where he’s going with that,”[/color] she handed the key back to Charlie. [color=ffe4b5]”I’m guessing you’ve tried playing with its composition, probably the first thing you tested, right? Have you brought it into contact with something to see how it reacts?”[/color]

Charlie’s expression soured considerably grabbing the key back, “[color=honeydew]Gee, thanks for the helpful insight. Yes, I have tried oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, you name it. Been keeping it basic, need some gloves to test some acidic qualities against it.[/color]”

“[color=honeydew]Maddi please for the love of the periodic table don’t go cryptic on me alright?[/color]” Charlie said folding her hands at her friend walking around the counter to lean against it with a huff. “[color=honeydew]Shit, what if we end up speaking in limericks and rhymes next?[/color]”

Marie raised her brows. [color=ffe4b5]”I can see tensions are high.”[/color]

Madalena nodded. [color=BE1359]”She’s been at it for a while now, we both have. It’s frustrating to keep being given puzzle after puzzle after puzzle. I mean, I had to translate about three pages of Passing the River and overlay a map of Lost Haven onto a tiny tree map.”[/color]

“[color=honeydew]Instead of actually helping we’re stuck with puzzles, I get that  we’re fresh and still,[/color]” She put on a huge frown and brought up a pair of quote fingers, “[color=honeydew]‘[i]Students,[/i]’ I guess. Fuck, there’s bigger fish to fry.[/color]”

[color=90ee90][i]Rather interesting company you keep,[/i][/color] Holt whispered in Marie’s mind. 

[color=ffe4b5]”Tell you what,”[/color] Marie raised her voice a little to drown out Holt’s comment, [color=ffe4b5]”Rumour has it you’ve created a door to The Red Devil. Why don’t we all go to the workroom upstairs and calm ourselves. We can chat, get reacquainted. I’ll answer your questions while we work a little magic.”[/color]

[color=BE1359]”Yes!”[/color] Madalena’s response was immediate, somewhat embarrassingly. [color=BE1359]”I mean, I’ve wanted to try a little collaborative magic. Aside from the chaos in the square, I haven’t practiced much.”[/color] She turned to Charlie. [color=BE1359]”It’d give us a chance to rethink things, maybe have a breakthrough.”[/color]

Charlie’s leg bounced in thought, “[color=honeydew]I am calm. We’ll go back to the Red Devil, maybe a change in scenery will help after all.[/color]” She shoved the key into her back pocket, grabbing her cherry coke and staff. “[color=honeydew]Calm as a babbling brook.[/color]” She muttered, petulant.