Magickal and Melanated: An Anthology of Black Stories

The Alchemist

I had just finished cleaning up my lab, some beakers had fallen to the floor in the 'quake. Breaking to a million pieces, literally. Once I swept it all away, leaving the floor white and sparkly, just as it was before, I opened my glass cabinet to pull out some more beakers to replace the broken ones but as I put them down, I heard a knock on the door. I scratched at my pointy ear, "Who could be knocking at this hour?" I hummed

I pulled open the door, only to be greeted with the chaotic sight of The Inventor. She pushed her way in, "Hey! Did your hair get fluffier...or did your ears get pointier? It's hard to tell with you Alchemist elves." She dumped her stuff on an empty table and turned around, placing her hands on her hips awkwardly.

I closed the door. "Well, hello to you too." I said, "To what do I owe this very unexpected visit?"

She bit her lip and started pacing. She looked really guilty, which couldn't have been a good thing, ever. Uh oh. She takes a deep breath.

"Well, I was building a time machine and then I went to go get food and then my cat may have messed with one of the dials and then that's when the earthquake happened and there's a giant hole in my roof and I'm afraid something may have been affected!" She blurted.

I stood there and blinked for a moment trying to process all of what she just said. "Why were you trying to build a time machine?" I asked, cautiously. I had a feeling I knew the answer and it was unhealthy.

She chewed her lip, "I know what you're going to say," She breathed, "But I really could've brought vem back this time. Vey died at the wrong time, vey don't deserve death."

I shook my head, "I agree with you, that vey didn't deserve death, that vey were too young. But has it ever occurred to you that vey may not want to come back? How far back were you even planning on going?"

She didn't say anything for a moment, jaw tense and she looked like she was about to cry, which, I don't blame her. "I just hoped... that maybe I could make everything work, that I could just..." She trails off.

I stepped forward, pulling her into a much needed hug. She buried her face against the crook of my neck for comfort as I rubbed her back. "You're okay, it's all going to be okay," I murmured,

We stayed like that for a while. I honestly didn't mind, I could see how much she was hurting and I had to let her know that I was here for her in any way I could be. Eventually, she pulled away from the hug and sniffled.

"Can you help me? I need to fix this." She asked and I nodded, "Of course, let me just finish what I was doing. There's some sweet tea in the fridge, if you want it."

She nodded, shuffling over to the fridge to grab her favorite drink. I smiled and finished cleaning up the aftermath of the earthquake.

Once I finished, I grabbed my giant book from off the shelf, accidentally slamming it on the table because it was so heavy and dust flew everywhere. I coughed, "I probably have this written down somewhere. Give me a second."

It took more than a second. I flipped until I was in the middle of the giant tome. "Ah yes, time machine gone wrong. I thought of this years ago when someone brought to my attention a hypothetical scenario in which a time machine accidentally went off, of course, time machines hadn't been invented yet."

She came over to my side, to read through it. Her murmurs got worse as she continued to read it. "Oh no, what have I done?" She whispered. I patted her back, "I know how to fix this, we just need...a lot of people to do this." I started, flipping to a page with the same color bookmark, indicating that the subject was the same. "This machine is bigger than us. It takes magic and science, art and cogwheels to make it work." I hummed, grabbing a duffel bag and getting to work on packing, distractedly rattling on about the people we may need to pull this off.

"W-Wait? Where are you going? You can't just leave me!" She stuttered, wringing her hands together.

I chuckled. "I'm not leaving you, we're going on a quest! We have to stop by your house so I can check out the machine and you can pack your bag, deal?"

She looked dumbstruck for a moment and then nodded, "Heck yes! I've always wanted to go on one of those!" I laughed at her sudden excitement.

"I'll show you to my house and then we can go."