ANTIDOTE

Clouds of greyish-black smoke hung in the air, obscuring any and all features of the room, yet in a small air pocket at its centre, Circe stood before a large wooden cauldron filled to the brim with a thick, viscous blue liquid. It seemed to have a life of its own. It swirled and twirled, forming strange monstrous shapes that snapped, growled and bit at the air. The cauldron was not mundane either as it seemed to be naturally grown from the ground, with miniature trees intertwining and curving leading to its unique shape.

Circe, on the other hand, was no longer wearing her long rippling dress. Instead, she looked akin to what many would describe as a scientist. A long white lab coat, thick black gloves that protected her from the liquid's corrosive nature and a pair of enchanted goggles that boosted her already perfect vision. But her dark hair which was braided with threads of gold was the exact same. Her eyes squinted in concentration and her eyebrows rose up and down as she carried out an incredibly delicate procedure.

Before the cauldron were numerous ingredients, ranging from exceedingly ordinary to highly exotic. One hand carefully lifted specific ingredients before dropping them into the mixture where it promptly dissolved and the other stirred the celestial bronze ladle in a systematic manner - sometimes clockwise or sometimes anti-clockwise.

"Two pounds of ambrosia and two litres of nectar", Circe muttered under her breath as the ingredients entered the cauldron and dissolved, eliciting a rather violent reaction. The mixture showed signs of turning unstable as the white cubes and the golden liquid melted into it. The monstrous shapes became far more vivid as their growls increased in intensity. Some almost managed to jump out but Circe's face showed no signs of panic. She flicked a finger and the sea serpent blob smashed into an invisible wall and sank back into the cauldron.

"Lastly, a whole unicorn's horn", Circe muttered picking up a gold and silver spike and for the first time, her expression changed into one of great unwillingness. Unicorn horns were tremendously valuable due to the sheer rarity of the creature and the fact that a unicorn's horn grows incredibly slowly over vast stretches of time - even centuries. Their wild population had practically been reduced to zero due to Roman demigods capturing them and keeping them at Camp Jupiter, but even they used the immense healing properties of the unicorn horn sparingly.

They carefully shaved minute parts of the horn from a living unicorn to let it grow and dissolved the shavings into a large vat of water which lead to the formation of unicorn draught that could contend with nectar in terms of healing a demigod. On the other hand, Circe was required to use an entire horn and as she saw it slowly melt into the mixture, an invisible wooden stake dug into her heart. The horn alone was one of her most prized treasures and it ended up as a part of the antidote for that bitch.

The result was immediately visible. The greyish-black smoke immediately rushed back into the cauldron, revealing a pristine lab that was decorated in a similar fashion to the living room - completely white. The volatile mixture immediately cooled and the monstrous shapes ceased to exist, losing their shape and liquefying. The previous thick viscous blue liquid was now colourless and had the same consistency as water. In fact, if one hadn't seen its previous form, then one would think that Circe had been staring at a cauldron of water with a gleeful smile the whole week.

But the joy didn't last for long. The colourless mixture was still incomplete. It was missing the one ingredient that would turn it from a Divine healing potion to an antidote specifically tailored for Scylla. Her face fell, looking far gloomier than when she used the unicorn horn.

She steeled herself and stretched out her hands, ripping space apart as though it were paper - revealing two small bottles, one empty and another filled to the brim with a vaguely silver liquid that had the same consistency as blood. The two bottles were her most prized possessions. No amount of unicorn horns could possibly match the contents of the once-full bottles that she'd received from Hecate after much effort. The blood of two races far stronger than her.

She had used one bottle in the name of love and now she'll have to use the other to fix the mistake she'd made due to her first decision. Life was indeed funny sometimes. One for the poison and the other for the antidote.

She picked up the silver bottle and uncorked it, releasing an aura that felt inexplicably powerful but ethereal at the same time. A bright light enveloped the goddess and soothed Circe's frayed nerves, making her involuntarily let out a sigh.

'Am I really doing this?', she bit her lip, her eyes contemplating whether she should really use it. A few seconds went by but she eventually relented, pouring the contents of the bottle into the cauldron. The consequences of breaking the oath were not something she wanted to go through. Even the Elder Gods hesitated before the River Styx, so how could she, an incredibly weak goddess, do anything?

The colourless liquid inside the cauldron began to condense, glowing a similar shade of sliver and within a few minutes, the previously large amount of liquid had become a small blob. It shined such a bright silver that it was almost white. Circe acted quickly, forming a magical bottle and carefully transferring the blob into it. Once it was done, she corked it and sealed it, raising it up to eye level.

She inspected the antidote bottle that was still glowing, with helplessness. If the two race's blood in her personal space wasn't highly diluted, then she would have no reason to make an antidote. She wouldn't have needed to make the poison in the first place. Just pouring the purple blood into the pool would've done the trick and merely pouring the silver blood would've healed Scylla.

"No use crying over spilt blood", Circe sighed before snapping her fingers.

Her scientist attire morphed and twisted before turning into a long dress that was pitch-black as though she were mourning something.

'Time to see that tyrant.'

***

Circe slowly made her way into the Library - her every step looking as though it was causing her pain. She walked through hallways and rooms, ignoring her students who looked at her with worried faces and passing by her domesticated animals before walking into a room with a large transparent doom for a ceiling.

Numerous students filled the library but her eyes immediately snapped to a table not far from her and her eyebrows rose in surprise.

A man in a black and blue suit sat in the middle of a fortress of books. [ Introduction to Magic Systems ], [ Rune Magic ], [ Establishing Connections to the Primordial ], [ Divine Races ], [ Manipulating the Mist ], [ Cultivation ].

'He read all of them?', Circe thought in disbelief. She'd thought his request to access the library was simply a powerplay - to take away the core of her university, but she'd never thought he'd actually be genuinely interested. After all, if he was so powerful, shouldn't he know most of what is in the library?

The man's sleek eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as he read, taking occasional sips from a cup of coffee next to him. She walked closer unable to reel in her curiosity and took a peek at the book he was reading.

[ Khaos Magic and its Applications ]

***

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