Chapter 2

The next day, Athos woke up at almost noon. Even though he slept late, he still feels like crap when he woke up.

"I shouldn't have teased Mom yesterday. I can still feel her slapping me, but at least I confirmed the success of my potion and Dad promised he would start teaching me alchemy today." Said Athos as he grabbed a sandwich from the kitchen and joined his parents at the store.

His house had two floors, the first being the shop and laboratory and the second the bedrooms. His mother's greenhouse stayed in a small warehouse in the backyard.

"Look who finally decided to wake up, forgot he was going to start his studies today?" Said Agatha sitting near the shop counter. In a backward city like Faltra where the only source of light came from the sun or torches and lanterns, people were used to waking up early. Sleeping until noon was like missing half a day's work.

"If you hadn't hit me so hard that I needed to use my potion, I wouldn't have slept right now." replied Athos sullenly.

"If you hadn't messed with your father's lab, I wouldn't have hit you in the first place!" Agatha countered as she started to get annoyed.

"But-" Before Athos could set the firewood on fire, his father appeared from behind to stop the fight.

"What's going on here and why are you two fighting already?" Asked Robert in an exasperated tone.

"He/she started." They spoke in unison.

"For God's sake, how can you fight so much being so alike?" Robert said in exasperation.

"Love, you know that using potions consumes energy and Athos' body is weaker than usual, it's only natural that he slept a little longer."

"And Athos, your mother is also right. You tampered with my laboratory without permission and were punished for it. Let this be a lesson to you, understand?" Said Robert seriously as he looked into his eyes.

"I understand." said Athos.

"Great, now you must still be hungry, right? One sandwich isn't enough for someone who skipped a meal. Go back and eat right, I'll wait for you in my lab for your first alchemy class." said Robert when he returned to his usual gentle tone.

After Athos went up to the kitchen, his mother brought up a subject that had been bothering her for some time.

"Whenever I talk to Athos we fight, he never listens to me, but he listens to you. He always gives me a sharp answer, but when it's you he just obeys." Said Agatha a little wistfully. "You know I feel like you're a lot better at this than I am."

"Did you just realize this now?" said Robert in disbelief. This was something so painfully obvious that it had never crossed his mind that his wife didn't know about it.

"Hey, you were supposed to deny it you know!? Why do you think you're better than me??" She replied annoyed at how blunt his answer was. His surprised face and the speed with which he responded only served to piss her off even more.

"You're bossy, short-tempered, easily irritated and your mood varies so much that if I didn't know you better I'd think you're bipolar." Robert said while counting one by one his biggest flaws. "Athos only teases you because he knows you will respond and yell back.

"I on the other hand try to act like an adult and stop the discussion."

"That's not true! I-" Agatha was about to deny it, when she remembered the previous discussion. "Damn it! You're right, I end up acting like a child when I talk to him."

"Yes, but that just proves how similar you two are, you know?" Robert said with a playful smile. "Angry mother begets angry son of course."

"Okay! But I'm still his mother, he shouldn't answer me like that." Said Agatha not wanting to lose the argument.

"Of course, because no child answers their parents." Robert said in a sarcastic tone.

"Well I wasn't-" The words died in her mouth as she reminisced about her past. From her childhood where arguing with her parents was routine until her adolescence when she ran away from home to become an adventurer.

"You're right." She sighed. "Athos is just like me when I was a kid. I just don't know how to deal with him."

"One thing at a time dear." Robert said as he gripped her shoulders. "You just need to talk without fighting, to realize how similar you are. How about you teach Athos botany too? That way you'll have a moment alone and without fighting."

"Love, that's great!" Agatha said with a bright smile. "But do you think he'll have any interest in botany?"

"Botany is a subject closely related to alchemy, so I'm sure it is. And even if he doesn't want to, I can convince him to go."

Before they could continue they heard the door open and a customer.

"Okay, I'll go back to my lab, let Athos meet me there as soon as he comes down."

******

After eating quickly Athos went downstairs and went straight to the laboratory.

"Hey wait son!" yelled his mother before he could walk right past her.

"Hm? What is it? If it's about me waking up late you've already fought with me, it's not worth fighting again!" Said Athos trying to approach the laboratory door to ask for help just in case.

"No, it's not about that. I just wanted to know if you want to learn about botany too. Learning about plants is critical to becoming a skilled alchemist after all." His mother said without ever turning to look at him.

She was eager to spend some time with her son, but she didn't want to be the first to give in.

After receiving only silence for several seconds, she couldn't take it anymore and turned to face him.

He was looking at her in shock, wondering if he'd misheard or if it was just a ploy to make him let his guard down.

"Hey, why are you making that weird face?" Said Agatha.

"No, it's just that you never ask me anything, you just give me orders, so I didn't know how to react." Athos replied still suspecting that it could be a trap.

Agatha had to take a deep breath to calm herself and not respond to the provocation. After a long second she asked again: "So? Do you accept it or not?"

"Of course, I was going to ask Dad if he could teach me about botany too, but if you can do it for me it would help me a lot Mom." replied Athos.

"Perfect! Now go to your father's lab before he gets tired of waiting." Agatha said with a triumphant smile after getting what she wanted.

After Athos entered the laboratory he quickly locked the door behind him.

"Athos what are you doing?" his father asked confused.

Athos approached him before whispering, "Father we have a serious problem. I think the mother has been replaced by a shape-shifting monster."

"What? Why do you think that?" Robert asked even more confused by the absurdity.

"You might not believe it, but just now she asked what I wanted without trying to order me around! I even tried to provoke her and she didn't even react! I'm sure she's a copycat monster!" Athos said with a serious tone.

"Pfff! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" After that, it took some time for Robert to stop laughing and explain the whole situation to Athos.