She hums as she works, rooting through the forest. The trees are not that tall, but they have thick trunks that hold the liquid she needs. While it is winter, she is closest to the sun, so her forest still blooms with vibrant flowers and verdant leaves. Soon, her side of the planet will be turned away from the sun, the flowers and trees gone into hibernation. It is several hours left till the eclipse. She has heard of other travelers' day-night cycles, using moons and sometimes even years, but she likes hers the most. Most likely because she grew up with this cycle. While she is facing her sun, the moon passes in front, blocking the sun, providing a few lovely moments of darkness. When the moon passes to the other side of the planet, it reflects the sunlight, providing a night to her side and a day to the other side. She smiles at the living forest around her. It is beautiful. She walks until she finally reaches her destination: a ring of tall stones in a clearing. She placed them there several years ago, with the help of her family and friends. It is her's, marked with her sigil: a cross with a slash through the bottom. It is her alchemist's paradise. Every kind of plant she needs grows here. Her circle was hard to find. She had spent days tracking forest spirits, before finally tricking them to bless this spot. She shakes her head, remembering the fond memories. Growing against the tall stones are vines. Each vine blooms with ethereal purple flowers. Just what she needs. She walks over and opens her bag. She plucks the flowers off and tosses them into her alchemist bag.
When she gets down to the city, her client is already waiting outside her door. He sees her and waves. She hurries down the hill to him.
"It isn't ready yet." She speaks before he can.
"I figured as much, I was just waiting. May I watch you?" He gestures to the locked door of her shop.
"No, I'm afraid not. My work cannot be seen by the mortals!" She holds up her hands like a phantom. She laughs. "I'm kidding, you can come in." She kneels down to the door's lock while her client stands politely distant, a small smile on his face. After unlocking the door, she opens it widely, gesturing for her client to enter.
"Thank you, Madame." He nods to her as he enters, hands clasped behind his back. She nods back and closes the door behind her. Once she takes her place behind the desk, she pulls off her bag and places it on the table.
"I need a few moments to prepare. Can you wait?" She looks up from under the desk, while he stands in front of a potted plant, as there are no chairs.
"I can."
"Good." She looks back down and begins categorizing her bag into different jars, drawers, and boxes. When she finishes, she comes back up with a small box and a strange metal circle fitted with a crystal. "You have a frame, correct?" He nods, reaches into his backpack, and pulls out a small picture frame, the middle fitted with wood rather than canvas. "Good, good." He walks over to her desk and places the frame on it. "Now, up this on. Let me know if I need to adjust it. It should fit comfortably on your head." She hands him the strange headset, and he puts it on. "Good?" He nods. "Good. Now, I want you to imagine this memory as hard as you can when I tell you to. Every detail, every color, the faces, the shapes, whatever else. Got it?" She stares at him.
"Yes." He replies.
"Ok." She takes the items out of the box. A pestle and mortar. An almost purple, almost blue flower. A small paintbrush. A blueish crystal. She crushes the purple in the mortar, then places the crystal in the dry flakes. Then, she crushes the crystal in the flakes, creating something like a purple-blue paste. She dips the paintbrush in the paste, then paints it over the wood planks that fill the frame. Eventually, she covers the entire wood part with the paste. She places the paintbrush back into the mortar. "Ok, now imagine the memory."
Her client nods, and colors began to flicker through the crystal. Eventually, they changed to images too small and fractured to see. Slowly, the crystal begins to project flickering images onto the paste. The alchemist watches with curious interest at the flickering images as they began to develop. Slowly, they developed into an image of a golden library, filled with people of all kinds and species. A few tables held animals preserved in perfect golden amber. Many different colored books were proudly displayed on shelves. People browsed the Library, and some even went to sit down in chairs, comfortably reading ancient manuscripts and all other kinds of books. The alchemist inhales sharply. It is beautiful. But it is blurry. She looks up at the man in front of her. "Is that all you can remember?"
"Yes, my grandfather only visited this place when he was a child. He cannot remember everything about the Library."
"Wha-what do you mean? What does your grandfather have to do with this?"
The man blinks his eye. "My grandfather gifted me with this memory?"
"Oh! Oh, okay, yes I understand now. Is that all you can remember?" The alchemist nods.
"Yes." He smiles sheepishly. "Can I take this off now?"
"Yes." The alchemist helps him take off the headset and places it on her desk, the crystal no longer projecting images. As she does that, the image in the frame slowly develops into a more refined version. "Well, there you go, Mr. Serion." She jokingly calls him, they have no need for such formalities.
He laughs. "Alright, I'm leaving. Here's your money." He carefully picks up the picture, and tosses an assortment of silver and copper coins on the desk.
"Have a good day!" The alchemist calls after Serion.
"You too, alchemist!" He answers over his shoulder, the door closing behind him with a ding. The alchemist smiles and turns to her work.
