Altran

2

Gilliame entered Arthurius' classroom, unable to see properly due to the massive tower of books he was carrying in his arms.
"Professor Draconio? I brought the books you requested."
The Doctessor was nose-deep into paperwork at his desk. Without looking up, he pointed to a relatively clear part of his desk. Gilliame put down the books where gestured and looked around himself, before sitting down on an empty chair close by, putting his hands in his lap, twiddling his thumbs, unsure of what to do next.
Arthurius picked up one of the books in the stack and stopped for a second. The older professor cracked a small, uncommon smile as he looked up from the cover. "These are your copies, mr Wyrm. You kept them that long?" The purple-eyed man asked.

Gilliame shrugged with a humored smile, never having seen his old professor smile before. "Your class was my favourite, so I felt it would be a waste to throw them away."

The older man tidied up some of the papers on his desk and opened a drawer. from it, he pulled out a piece of red satin cloth, as well as a few herbs and crystals. Gilliame craned his neck to watch what Arthurius did. Said man, with the swift hands of someone whom had been doing this exact ritual for decades, mixed together shards of cherry quartz, rosemary, calendula and basil together onto the satin cloth, before wrapping it and securing it with a small length of hemp string.

Arthurius stood up, his tall and slender form towering over the 5'7 Gilliame. The older man then headed over to a large cauldron placed in the middle of the room. It looked to be cast iron, and almost a meter wide and halfway filled with water, Gilliame observed.

The black haired Altran placed the satin puch underneath the cauldron and stepped back. In only a minute or two, the water in the cauldron began simmering.

 "Pass me the Pluteus salicinus, Wyrm. They are on the silver plate on the seventh shelf behind you." Gilliame went over to the shelf and grabbed the psychadellic mushrooms and presented them to Arthurius, whom took them with a nod. "What are the students going to make?" Gilliame asked with honest curiosity.

"They are going to make the Disgwyl Henaid-elixir." The elder explained as he added the mushrooms with some eyebright, and the near-boiling water turned midnight purple. Gilliame nodded, remembering making the potion himself in the Doctessor's class. The drink itself was ment as an aid to find your Henaid. For Gilliame it had been quite the harrowing experience, seeing the large, black snake-like dragon for the first time.

Gilliame walked close to the caudron and observed as crystals and herbs were added.

"The mushrooms have been in for ten minutes now." Gilliame said after a while of observing. He grabbed a pair of large tweezers and held it out for the professor. Arthurius looked at him with shock and grabbed the tool from the younger man and began plucking out the boyant mycels. "How? It does not say in the description of the potion in the book that you are to remove the mushrooms so soon." The doctessor said, confused, as he plucked out the last psychadellic mycel from the cauldron. The ginger smiled to the Alchemic master. "I learnt a lot from your book. Three stages, Five elements and seven Queens. That was the name, right?" He said, smile turning cheeky. Arthurius nodded as he placed the tweezers on a plate on the desk and dropping the soaked mushrooms into an acidic wash he kept for dissolving dangerous ingredients.

"There we go; it is finished."

It took only a few minutes before the heavy door to the classroom opened and the nineteen-year olds of the near-seniors stepped inside. The students sat down by the tables on each side of the room. Gilliame felt all the stars as the students whispered between eachother. Most of them remembered Gilliame. He had helped many of them defend themselves from bullies back when they were younger.

 Gilliame stifled his excited smile and imitated Arthurius' postiure, to seem professional in front of the students. "Turn to page 87, the elixir described is what you will make, form pairs of two. All ingredients are to be found on your desks." Arthurius explained coldly.
The class went well, up until the point where a student had decided to eat a mushroom from the discard plate beside him. The student had fallen backwards in petrifiction. Gilliame ran up to the paralyzed student and grabbed an unused knife from a desk to cut open his finger. He dripped two drops of blood into the student's mouth, knowing that it, just like his tears, had healing abilities. Gilliame lifted the young adult and laid him down on the floor, supporting his head as the anti-venom began working. "Mr Hansen, detention for two weeks." Arthurius said, clearly pissed off. "And also; I want a two thousand word essay on the effects of the salicinus mushrooms on professor Draconio's desk before Thursday." Gilliame said with a scowl.

The rest of the class went by without any more accidents, and when the last student closed the door behind them, Arthurius looked over at his apprentice with clear bewilderment in his eyes. "Two thousand word essay in four days, that is evil, Mr Wyrm." He said. The ginger looked at the older man and shrugged. "I learnt from the best, Mr Draconio." He replied.

The rest of the day went along good. Gilliame kept pleasantly surprising Arthurius with his knowledge of brewing. Everything was well until the class with the last years. 

The problems occured when Aliza, a girl that Gilliame had been protecting from bullies the last years he attended ATI, decided to break one of the most basic rules of the Institution, as she decided to flirt with Gilliame during the class.
As the apprentice teacher walked around and checked the students' elixirs, he felt a hand grab his ass. Gilliame jumped in surprise and swirled around, only to be met by the coy smile of Aliza Dickson. Gilliame's brows furrowed as he looked at the dark-skinned girl. "What is the matter miss Dickson?" He asked with anger dripping of his tone. Aliza's smile turned mischievous as she looked back at her old friend. "Nothing, handsome." She said and winked. Gilliame became speechless from how the student talked to him and he was unable to even utter the scolding which he wanted to give her for her unacceptable behaviour. But right at that moment, a looming figure moved close to the ginger. "You will be banned from using your alchemical powers for three days, for disrespecting the staff, and one additional day for disrupting the class, miss Dickson." Arthurius said with vigor in his eyes and venom in his voice. Aliza sunk back into her chair.
The class ended and the students left the class. Arthurius had a meeting with the headmistress, so Gilliame was left to clean up the classroom. As he closed the glass cabinet with the last of the ingredients inside, the door into the room opened and a girl with long, black, curly hair walked in. Gilliame saw the girl and sighed. "What can I do for you, miss Dickson?" He asked, arms placed on his back as he tried to mask his emotions with his straight-backed positure,
"Well, Gill, it-" Aliza's words were silenced as Gilliame shot in with a "Professor Wyrm." Correcting Aliza's way of addressing him.
"Professor Wyrm, it's just that," she sighed, looking down, gripping at her own upper arms. "I thought we could be together again, now that you are back. And really be together." Gilliame looked at Aliza with a sad and determined facial expression, and sighed. "Aliza. It cannot work out between us. Not only am I way too old for you, I never felt that way about you and I have already been married and had children. And after what happened, I cannot do the same again. I am not the same "Gill" as I was nine years ago. Also: you are a student, and that would not be appropriate in any way. So... I am truly sorry, but it can't work between us." He said before he turned and walked to the door, leaving Aliza alone in the classroom.