The Alchemist's Scheme

The village of Aldam was the first human settlement ever created. A place for free humans under the protection of their first king. When a random slave gained a job other than what he was programmed for, it showed humans that they could become anything.

A few centuries later, a young girl found her passion in something she was too clumsy for. Yet, through trial, error, and hours of practice, she gained the job she had hoped for. Her job, however, was tainted by her numerous past accidents. On the day of her 18th birthday, she became an Unlucky Alchemist.

Despite her job wielding a less than ideal adjective against her, she was elated that she could become the thing that she loved. The skills of her job increased her chance of making mistakes. Her mistakes would add different effects or change the effects completely, based on the luck of her and the consumer. If the consumer's luck was sufficiently low, it could backfire completely.

She had been labeled a brewing disaster by her peers due to this backfire. Her explosive potions gained her an unintended rival in her friend Lyra the Firework Maker. At a certain point, people refused to take her potions, leaving her to practice and brew for herself.

Now she was showing a newcomer, who knew nothing of her reputation around Aldam. A man that saved her from a Gob-uh-lin stew pot. He had used her potions multiple times the day before, even after learning about their unfortunate probability.

She had been positive all day. She kept her agenda hidden behind a smile. She had promised him a reward for saving him, and she was excited to give it. She even had the legal paperwork drawn up. Today, she would lock him down. He would be hers, and she would be his.

"Here we are." Aki stood before her home, a small building decorated with brightly colored potion bottles and small herb gardens. "This is my place. You can get cleaned up in here."

Haruto walked in and removed his shoes. The house was situated with a counter and workstation in the front, like a store. Through the wide doorway to the back, he could see the living area. In the back was a single round bed, shaped like a potion bottle. The covers acted as the contents, while the headboard looked like a cork.

Aki skipped to the back, picking up the clutter on the floor. She had spent the night before planning and getting ready, but those plans didn't include tidying up. She tossed her loose clothing and certain unmentionables into a tall, curved armoire to hide them. She slapped it closed and leaned back against it, trying to look nonchalant.

"The bath is in there." She said, pointing to a closed door in the bedroom. "Take your time. You smell really bad."

"Yeah, take your time." The System said, sitting on the counter in the front. "We'll just chill out here and talk about you behind your back."

"Can you boil some water for me to drink while I'm in there?" Haruto asked, throat scratchy and dry.

"I can do that, but why?" Aki asked.

"I just... I need you too." Haruto walked into the bathroom and shut the door, taking the set of new clothes with him.

Silence fell over the room as Aki and the System locked eyes. They waited a few seconds until the water came on, expecting the sound of an explosion or crash. They both sighed deeply.

"Looks like something finally went well for him." The System said.

"It's sad that taking a bath is an achievement for him." Aki replied, walking over to her stove and fetching a pot of water.

"He's a pretty funny guy, all things considered." The System said, rifling through a stack of papers that it found.

Aki ran over to it, slapping the papers out of its grasp and sliding them away. "You're pretty nosy for an eye."

"Come on, let me see it." It floated around her to peek and rubbed against her arm.

"No! It's embarrassing!" She said, holding it at bay with one hand.

"Alright. Who cares what you little people have written down?" It said, pretending to give up on it.

Aki opens a drawer and drops the papers inside, locking it. "I don't believe you. You've got a shifty eye."

"I'll have you know I'm the most trustworthy eye in the world." The System lied.

The pot of water began to bubble and hiss. Aki trotted over to it, turning down the flame and adding some ground herbs to the pot. A smile came to her face, and before she knew it, she had added this and that to the water. As she filled multiple vials with her new potion, realization hit her.

"Can you really call that boiled now?" The System asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I got lost in it. I'll just boil more!" Aki said, filling the pot again and turning up the fire.

"So what do these do?" It asked, looking at the swirling green liquid.

"Well, it's supposed to be a Bark Skin potion, but who knows what it'll do?" She said with a sour smile.

The System floated over to her, speaking softly. "Let's put it in Haruto's food sometime."

"While I do think that would be funny, I don't want my potions to be used for pranks." She sat down at the counter and put her head on her folded arms. She rolled one of the vials back and forth with a finger. "I want my potions to help people. But all I do is screw up."

"Hey. You know that the only reason Haruto is alive is because of that last potion you gave him, right?" The System gave her a playful nudge, bouncing off of her shoulder to spin in the air. "He knew from the others that they don't always work right, but he took it anyway."

Aki's hands stilled. Her chest fluttered, and the glowing green in her eyes sloshed and bubbled like the potion she had just brewed. "He did use quite a few of them, didn't he? Even after I flinched when he drank the first one. Even after I turned him into a frog..."

"So they didn't always do what you wanted them to. Big deal." The System put a finger under her chin, making her look up at it. "Without you, Haruto would be street pizza a hundred times over... And I would have lost another bodyguard."

Aki gave the eye a light pat, changing its lenses' color from a pale blue to a pink. Aki smiled brightly. "Thanks."

"No problem." The System said, pausing for a moment. "Can I see the papers?"

Aki laughed and pushed it away again. "No!"

The bathroom door creaked open, startling them. Steam poured out, and Haruto called from the bathroom. "Hey, Aki? Is there a towel I can use?"

Aki's smile went devious. One of her plans had just paid off. She had purposely removed all of the towels from the bathroom so that she would have an excuse to hand him one. Another chance for her to scope the goods.

"I found one. Here you go." The System said, handing him a towel it had found in a basket by the bed.

"Thanks," Haruto said, shutting the door again.

"Nooooo!" Aki said, wilting in her seat, burying her face in her hands.

This was supposed to be her moment. She had crafted this chance perfectly as an appetizer to the main course. But it was fine. She still had her papers. She just needed to get the System out of the way for a while. She just needed to be alone with Haruto.