Things Change |albedo x sucrose|

Chapter 1

If you walked into Sucrose's office, all you would hear is the sound of a fountain pen scratching against paper, the pouring of liquid for new experiments, or, in a rare case, the young girl herself, muttering absent-mindedly about nothing in particular. You see, Sucrose didn't talk much. She wasn't a people person. She preferred to work alone. She liked quiet.

That was the way it would always be.

Sucrose was quietly working on her plant experiments, humming to herself. I should get a radio sometime, she thought. One that plays soothing music and some song that will relax me.

Then she heard a soft knock on the door. "Come in!" She called to whoever it was at the door.

The door creaked open, and Noelle entered. She was a pretty young girl, about fifteen years of age, with soft lime green eyes and lilac short hair, the colour of parma violets. Across her fringe was a braid and she wore a white hat with red roses. She dressed like a maid but wore armour on some of her body, which sort of resembled a maid in shining armour, if you were to call it that. Noelle really wanted to become a Knight of Favonius, but unfortunately, the rules stated in the Knights of Favonius Handbook that Noelle was to stay the maid and not move up any higher than that. Of course, there was never much for Noelle to do rather than take the food from out of the kitchen at mealtimes to the Grand Table. Most of the time, you could find Noelle in the gardens, curled up under the shade of a tree, reading a book.

"Hi, Sucrose." Noelle smiled.

"Hello Noelle. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Sucrose replied, as she looked up from her research.

"Do you happen to have that essay about bird feathers?" Noelle asked, closing the wooden door behind her.

"Oh, why certainly." Sucrose said, getting up from her lavender purple chair to the white bookcase on the other side of the room. She flicked through the files on the shelf until she found the one she was looking for. A brown folder, titled, 'Things For Noelle'. On the front was a photograph of Sucrose and Noelle, at a nature reserve. Sucrose looked at the photo and smiled warmly before opening the folder and taking out a couple sheets of paper with small handwriting and multiple drawings of bird feathers.

"Here you are," Sucrose said, and handed Noelle the essay. "I hope it will come in useful for your studies."

"Oh thank you Sucrose!" Noelle exclaimed, awestruck by the work that Sucrose had created for her. "You're a lifesaver!"

And Sucrose watched as Noelle left her office. Sucrose liked to think of herself as an older sister to Noelle, in a sweet and caring way that the Knights of Favonius didn't treat her. They did many things together when they were both on their break. Occasionally, Sucrose would book some time off to spend it with Noelle. A beautiful, strong friendship, that would never break.

Okay, back to the experiment on plants, Sucrose thought to herself. I need to create a chart to state what different plants across Monstadt will do once you soak them in sugar water. Hopefully this will provide new and interesting information for the future!

You see, these were the type of experiments that Sucrose always used to carry out. Sometimes they were completely useless. Sometimes they were quite useful. But most of the time they were random and fruitless. This was unbeknownst to Sucrose. She thought that every single experiment she did would help in some way. Of course, they didn't necessarily.

That night, Sucrose decided to read her new book. It was about two scientists who secretly liked each other, but were too shy to confess to one another about their feelings. 'What an interesting novel,' Sucrose thought to herself. Every night, Sucrose read for half an hour before she went to bed. She had very precise timings and she allowed herself not to be even a minute late finishing a particular task. She was a perfectionist.

That was the way it would always be.

She had only just started reading the book, but already it had captured her attention. The intriguing chapters, the incredible storyline, the descriptive setting, the detailed characters. So, because Sucrose was absorbed into her mesmerising storyland, she missed her curfew by 10 minutes. 'How slowly the time has gone,' Sucrose pondered. 'Whatever could the time be?'
And when she saw the time on her small pastel green clock on the bedside table, her mouth dropped in shock. Ten minutes! She needed to get to bed right away! Sucrose hurriedly put the book on the table and jumped underneath the covers. 'I'll never forgive myself. Eight years I have maintained this curfew. And I have ruined it!' Sucrose thought as she tried to go to sleep. But somehow, no matter how much she tossed and turned, she couldn't get to sleep. Surely it wasn't the mere difference of 10 minutes?

Sucrose checked her clock a while later. 11:30pm. She needed to do something about this restlessness, otherwise she wouldn't be able to get up in the morning.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed.

'Surely there are some sleeping pills here?' Sucrose thought as she rummaged in the medicine cupboard. 'Ah, here they are!' A jar of sleeping pills could just be discerned in the wan moonlight. They were very effective, perhaps too effective. They had been dubbed 'The Death Pills'. But they weren't poisonous. Just strong.

Sucrose poured herself a glass of water and assured herself that these pills were perfectly okay to take. 'Okay, just one pill.'

'Three...
'Two...
'One!'

Sucrose downed the pill in one gulp with some water and began to walk back to her bed. But her legs already felt like jelly. Her vision blurred suddenly and her room seemed to spin around her. The glass fell out of her hand and smashed, and Sucrose's body hit the floor with a loud thud.

Author's Note
Hi there! This is Ellie •w•, the writer of Things Change. Enjoying the story so far? If so, please comment in the comments bar! Thank you for your support!
P.S. My updates may or may not be very sporadic, I try to write when I can, but if you are waiting for a new chapter, please bear with me. I am currently working on multiple stories, including "Sunny's Crazy Life"(published)and "A Fractured World" (draft). If you would like more information please visit my profile send me a text, either on my profile page or privately. That's all from me until next time byeee!