The Potion Master

Scarlet went back inside and noticed a small hallway leading to a room. When she entered the room, there was an assortment of cabinets. She began to look through the cabinets out of curiosity, there were numerous stacks of pill bottles. There was a rough picture drawn on the outside of the bottles. She was holding two pill bottles in her hands; one had a devil-faced doodle drawn on it with horns and another bottle with wings. There was one with a bunny on it. When she reached for one of the bottles farther in the back, they started to topple over and made a loud noise falling to the ground.

Clatter Clatter

Footsteps rushed in to see what was happening. Theo appeared in the room with a frantic look on his face.

"Scarlet! Everything okay?" Theo asked with a concerning face.

"Sorry, I'm alright." Scarlet had an apologetic face.

Theo sure has a lot of different pills.

He began to pick the bottles up from the floor and placed them back in the cabinets.

"You must be wondering why I have so many pills."

He turned to face Scarlet.

“I’m sorry Theo for snooping.”

"No.. it’s fine. I can show you the reason why." He reassured her.

Theo led Scarlet down to his personal lair. There was a bookshelf containing books about herbs, medicine, and psychology. He then chose one of the books and tilted it outwards. This activated the bookshelf, acting as a secret door. He gestured toward the hidden entrance, inviting her inside.

“My studies in school were potion making and magic pills.”

The long benches had steel countertops that were well maintained. There was an equipment area where flasks, glass test tubes, graduated cylinders, and hot plates were stored. In addition to that, there were various herbs and powders. In a small section on the bench, there were a row of potted herbs. The lamp next to the plants was a moving light source. It was making sure to time itself to give each plant enough light exposure.

The sheer number of materials surrounding her was overwhelming.

He pulled out a wooden chair for her.

"Here, have a seat."

Scarlet sat down.

"Thank you."

He pulled a pale rigid seashell from the drawer and placed it in a mortar. He began to apply pressure to it, eventually grinding it into a fine powder. A smoke cloud filled the air. Then, he took a fiery phoenix feather and placed it in on top of the powder. There was a large flame that grew, and the powder glowed a bright red.

The flames flickering reflected in Scarlet’s pupils.

"Wow, that’s amazing Theo." Scarlet clasped her hand in excitement.

Theo smiled. "It's been a long time since I’ve shared this place with anyone. This is where I can truly be myself. It's something that not everyone understands. "

"In this world, they're afraid when someone is different, stands out or is out right frightened by color."

Theo poured one sparking blue liquid into a green liquid. A bright teal was the result of the combination of the two.

"I like making colors."

"Why don't you try making something Scarlet?"

Surprised Scarlet pointed to herself, "Me?"

She was nervous. "I don't know where to start."

For some reason the room looked even larger than before to her. There were many options to choose from. She was slightly overwhelmed by the task.

"No worries."

He came up behind her, taking her hand carefully, and together they reached for the strange, open orb. He moved away from her to get a small bag out from another drawer.

"Now bring that over here." He was motioning her to come his way.

He poured a clump of plant ash into the orb. Then, he sprinkled some magical white powder over the top of it. The ash merged into multiple clumps. They began to come to life; there were tiny men soldiers that formed. One of them waved at her and tipped their hat over to her. The rest of them bowed respectfully to her. The tiny men soldiers ended up huddling, deciding what formation that should be in.

Scarlet was genuinely impressed. "Wow, Theo you're so talented."

Theo’s face grew slightly red.

After a while, the soldiers became an ash pile again. A small hand appeared from the pile until it vanished completely.

Her face was saddened for a little bit. “Oh no.”

He noticed her sad expression. "Ah sorry, they don't last too long. I'm still experimenting."

Then, an object caught her eye from the bench. Her body felt drawn to a small painting resting on the wall, it was yellowing in the corners. It was painted with soft orange and a red shade to form a beautiful sunset. It was signed by Rose.

"It's a beautiful painting."

"It is, but most fragile indeed."
Theo kind of tried to steer Scarlet away from it. She noticed that he seemed overprotective of it.

Her eyes changed positions and moved toward the brushes. She picked one up and began making strokes in the air.

As Theo watched her, he began to remember Rose when she would hang out with him in the studio. She was spilling paint; the wet colors were dripping everywhere.

"You're so messy." Theo commented in a teasing manner.

"Art is a chaotic mess, I'll have you know." Rose explained.

"There." She finished her last stroke and held up the painting proudly.

"What do you think?" She shoved it in his face.

Theo pushed it away gently.
"It looks nice."

Rose pouted. She then cleared a spot on his bench and placed it there.

"Now you have no choice, you'll have to look at it every day."

Theo smiled to himself while remembering that moment.
He did not notice he accidentally grabbed Scarlet's hand that was holding the brush.

"Theo?" Scarlet asked softy.

He stared into her sparkly purple eyes.
He blinked and realized what he was doing.

"I'm sorry." He let go of her hand.

Scarlet was flustered, she felt her heart beating, faster.