Making do and Making Messes

[Clopin]

Clopin raised a brow at Varian’s evident dismissal of magic, but figured that there would be a time and place to tell him that both could coexist.

He knew it for a fact, and if he wasn’t enough, Shanty surely was. He listened as she spoke, nodding his head in agreement.

At her comment about a communications relay, the gypsy king lightly smacked himself in the forehead.

“But of course. How could I forget?” Clopin said, with a grin. He paused in front of a marble wall, and looked at it for a brief moment, as if inspecting the wall. His right hand suddenly became engulfed in what seemed like sparkling purple flames. He then drew a pattern on the wall with the same hand, and stepped back.

The wall slowly opened to reveal a massively decorated alcove, filled to the brim with various kinds of glassware, chemicals, and other things. For how unstructured Clopin was known to be, his instruments were somewhat organized. Off to the left stood a small collection of various books, covered halfway by a colorful piece of fabric. To the right, stood a jet-black marble sculpture of a jackal, reminiscent of Anubis. Between its jaws, it held a deep red stone.

Clopin stepped in first, cloak dragging lightly on the floor behind him, and then turned to face Shanty and Varian, resting one hand on his hip as he gestured toward his little “laboratory” with his opposite hand. A mischievous grin crossed his face, as he looked at the two of them.

“Bienvenue, to the King’s personal alchemy chamber.”

[Varian]

Varian swatted at the hand ruffling through his hair with an annoyed little hiss, but not nearly as annoyed as ic could be, it was all more of show really, "right! Life would become quite boring if there was nothing else to learn." He nodded sagely in agreeance as he watched Shanty expertly snap the canon back into place, he was still fascinated by the whole science behind it, the mechanisms and every detail, but for now he kept the burning questions to himself, he would ask later.

When the other two seemed ready to leave, he followed after them curiously, keeping pace with the other two as their path took them through to what seemed to be an empty, plain wall. He turned a dubious look to the king and screwed up his face, before watching him carefully, eyes growing wide as the wall just creaked open, "fascinating!" It took him a moment fo inspecting the edges of the opening for whatever mechanisms happened to cause that, before he noticed he was being left behind and followed.

The lab was like nothing he'd seen before, and he couldn't help the giddy, almost fanboy-ish behavior as he seemed to become a distracted squirrel, setting Ruddiger down before running to inspect the first thing that had caught his attention, "what is this? What's this stone?" He eyed it, leaning as close as he could without directly touching the thing(he wasn't stupid after all!), "I have never seen a stone like this!" He turned a curious gaze back to Clopin, waiting expectantly for answers.

[Shanty]

Shanty can't help the impressed expression as Clopin not only opens a bare wall into a secret nook, but reveals quite the lab behind it. Unlike Varian, she steps carefully, almost aware of her weight and her cannon and the possibility of breaking something. She couldn't analyze these chemicals through the glass, so heavens knows what interacts with what in here...

A gloved hand runs carefully over the seam where the wall had split, a curious glint in her eye, "You'll have to teach me that trick, that was rather stunning..." Though, her thought is drawn when Varian questions the statue and the red gem, "It's rather lovely, isn't it? Beautiful work on the carving, and it even looks like he's got his favorite ball~" Her tone is playful, but she's very aware that must be something important. If it's hidden behind a hidden door, presented like that, then that's no ordinary stone.

"He looks rather regal, though. A god of some sort?"

[Clopin]

The gypsy king whirled around on one toe, as both Varian and Shanty focused in on the statue of Anubis, with the red stone between its jaws. He groaned inwardly, scolding himself for not hiding it any better. The two of them asked him what it was, and for a brief moment, Clopin could see the former king standing there, threatening to reveal his secret. His brows furrowed together, and he clenched his jaw for a moment.

He swiftly moved to draw the curtains closed, thrusting the trio into near darkness. The only things that remained as a source of light was the glow of the chemicals sitting in the various flasks on the king’s workspace. He lit a torch, holding it out in front of himself, illuminating his face and the faces of Varian and Shanty.

His dark brown eyes moved from one to the other, and it was easy to see that his jolly, carefree attitude had disappeared. His demeanor was much more serious. Clopin strode over to the statue of Anubis, the light from the flames dancing across the surface of the wall and the sculpture.

“You are correct, Shanty. This is Anubis, the Egyptian god of death.” Clopin said, as he lightly tapped the sculpture’s muzzle with a gloved hand. The lower jaw fell open, allowing the stone to fall into Clopin’s hand. He held it up next to the flame of the torch, bathing the walls in a red light.

“Anubis is why our symbol is that of the jackal. The jackal represents the tricksters, the inventors, and those that don’t quite fit in to society, much like ourselves. As for this stone, I must make sure that you both are sworn to secrecy.” Clopin said, leaning in closer to the pair.

“I wouldn’t want you both to end up like the former king.”

He then gently turned the stone in his hand, as if he was inspecting it for any blemishes.

“This is the Philosopher’s Stone.”

[Shanty]

Shanty gives a soft whirring noise of surprise when Clopin draws them into darkness, bright blue optics and the smoldering porthole in her chest fighting against the shadows. When the lit torch illuminated her, Clopin’s serious gaze is met with a curious one of her own. Clopin was... very dramatic. Not that it was bad, many of her favorite people were. Dramatic or not, however, he meant business in this moment in time, and the Captain recognized that.

When Clopin speaks of the Jackal-Headed God, she can’t help but hum curiously. She’d store that knowledge away for later. When he speaks of the stone, however...

Brows raise in an impressed expression, a soft breath of air escaping between her lips. There’s a hang here, one of... disbelief, it seems, but her stub turns into a smile. It’s crooked, and more than a little wicked looking.

“I know at least three dozen captains who would kill their own mothers and sisters for that stone. Thankfully, I take my loyalties very seriously, and I’d much rather see those men and women choke on that rock before getting to use it. The King’s Secret is safe with the Artillery.”

Ah, good. That’s not a turncoat’s grin. That’s one of Schadenfreude.

“Does it really work, then, like the legends say? Turn any metal to gold or silver? Turn a man immortal?”

[Varian]

Varian had to appreciate the theatrics that his king tended to use for everything, being that he tended to like doing the same thing(though you'd never hear him admit that), so when the room was suddenly swallowed in darkness, he crossed his arms over his chest and took a good look around, half expecting dramatic smoke to start wafting into the room at any moment. But he could also tell the absolute severity of Clopin's demeanor, and his own expression only became more curious, whatever he was being told was deadly serious.

He mostly filed away the words about Anubis, it was fascinating, but not the thing he was currently fixated on knowing, his eyes were locked on the stone, which spoke to something familiar that he couldn't really place until the words left Clopin's mouth and his eyes widened.

"Pull the other one!" He turned his eyes up to the king, somewhere between utterly awestruck and disbelieving, "alchemists have been working to unlock the secrets of that thing for ages and you have it just....Just like that?!" Varian slipped the goggled off his head and gave a dramatic bow, "I take off my hat to you." He looked up at him with a serious expression as he fixated the goggles back on his head, "I will not utter a word to anyone. I promise." His expression darkened just a little and he snorted, "and unlike some people, I keep my promises." He wouldn't be a backstabbing fair-weather friend like any of the others he'd trusted.

He looked over to Shanty, then back to the king, "right! Does it posses all of the incredible properties fabled?" He'd heard and read countless stories of the things that stone could do, he was almost salivating at the thought of the experiments he'd do with it if given half the chance...Of course he knew the likelihood of such a thing was more slim than snow in a volcano, but one could dream, right?

[Clopin]

The gypsy king nodded silently to both questions. The stone felt heavy in his hands, and slightly warm to the touch, as if it was burning from the inside.

“I came across it purely by accident, while on a mission for the former king. It required me to go through a very old castle, and while I searched, I noticed strange writings on one of the walls on the lower level. And before I knew it, I was looking at the Philosopher’s Stone! And so, I took it and hid it, never saying a word to the king until he discovered it. It was not my smartest idea to let him get so close.” Clopin said, with a faraway look in his eyes.

He then took the stone and turned away from them for a moment, as he set the stone in a small pewter plate. With a few swift movements of chemicals and base metals poured into various flasks, the stone began to glow a brighter red, as it worked its magic. And within a few minutes, after Clopin had poured the chemicals and metals in with the stone, gold poured into the mold that Clopin had set under the pewter plate that the stone sat in.

He then bowed, presenting the mold to both Shanty and Varian.

“As for immortality, I cannot be certain, but I have managed to look rather young for my age, no?” Clopin asked, as he cracked a grin.

“But! All jokes aside, the real reason why I chose to show you both this stone is because I think it can be the key to helping us with furthering Varian’s alchemy, and to help Shanty build her communications systems.” Clopin said, holding up his index finger.

“A little bit of magic may be required to make this work. But if we do it right, we should have a system set up in no time.”

[Clopin]

MAKING DO AND MAKING MESSES IS NOW CLOSED. PLEASE DO NOT POST REPLIES.