"Or maybe the hint means he never had a laboratory, and this was a Wild Goose chase. A deadly one." She shrugged.
I nodded. "Let's go find out, hmm?" I grinned at her.
She laughed. "Sure. Let's."
--- Greta's POV ---
I stood in front of a large stone building, in the middle of the market of New Cairo, and checked my map again.
I pushed on the metal studded door, and it swung open quickly, knocking against the wall. I winced and checked the marble for scratches, continuing into the building.
I quickly realized this was a Moroccan Style Riad, as there was water in the center, surrounded by courtyard.
The courtyard was expansive, 200 feet by 200 feet, with a large swimming pool in the center as the 'Oasis'.
The entire courtyard and pool were massively overgrown, the tiles in the beautiful art mosaics cracked by leeching vines, the sculptures covered up. I shook my head and began cleaning it all up magically, coaxing the vines to travel along their intended paths, the trellises, and renewing the mosaics, shining the glass and marble.
I polished all of the marble surfaces, refilled the pool, freshened up the paint in areas that needed it, and finally stood still, smiling.
Mirage stood outside the door. "Dear? I can't get in." She said, humming in confusion.
I held out my grimoire, and she was placed within, and then I released her inside the Riad. She nodded. "Powerful Wards... I've never seen the like of them. That's why no one has ever found this place... interesting." She nodded again.
I picked up a rusty old key I'd missed, and inserted it into the outer door, locking it. Mirage immediately disappeared. I unlocked it, and opened the doors, and she stood there, eyes crazed and hair frizzed, smoking. "Please don't do whatever you just did a second time." She coughed.
I nodded and placed her in my grimoire, closing the door, and locking it. Then I summoned her again, and she immediately burst into flames.
I shrieked and swatted her with my grimoire, pushing her back inside it. "I'm so sorry, I thought that would work!!!"
'I did as well... ow. Let's not do that again. Ever.' She replied mentally.
I nodded and looked at my wrist. Seth was also gone. I unlocked the door, and opened it, to find him patiently waiting for me. I let him into my grimoire, and closed the door, locking it.
"Well alrighty then... a fully demon-proof house... I am amused. I wonder what Wards they have placed, and how they placed them so severely... and why?" I hummed.
I looked up at the open part of the roof, and smiled. It wasn't actually open, but made of glass. And, according to my hawks eyes, it was imbibed with millions of tiny protection runes, focusing mostly on Demonic energy.
The walls were similarly constructed, and if my nose was right, the marble was made from ashes. What type of ashes I had no clue, but I figured it was some holy material. Probably dead Priests. The stones were carved much as the glass was, and the mosaic, upon further inspection, was made of human Bones, filed down and painted with different glosses to change color. Probably more dead Priests.
This entire Riad was a fortress, built to protect something. But what?
There were Four separate sections. The first held the entrance, and was filled with pillows, couches, and other lounging-related items.
The second was screened in, and contained a large, luxurious Roman bath, slightly out of place in a Moroccan Riad. (Then a gain... a Moroccan Riad, in Egypt, built by a white Christian Mage, that might not be the oddest part of this place...).
The third section, across from the entrance, held a library, which made me happy, along with more lounging cushions. It, to, was screened in.
I searched the books, one by one, spending a few hours going through them. They were all books I'd read before, except a journal, bound in cow leather.
I opened it, and grinned.
---
'I am Adam Darron Oxley, or, as you will know me, by my Pen Name, Oxford Angstrom.
I write this first entry of this journal, as my memory begins to fade. I am old. This is the truth. I am 50 years old, and as a Mage, I should survive many hundred more years, easily, but I've made a grave mistake. I have tampered with magics that no human should ever attempt, and it has had a very real, very marked effect.
I reside here, in the home built by my grandfather, dreading to open the Doors once more. My family once used them to explore. I have only used them to extort, destroy, and pervert. I am ashamed of my use of my families legacy. They would be ashamed of me. They will shun me, when I return to them in the Fold. But perhaps... I can undo one of my many mistakes.
This entry will be addressed to my Eldest Son, Drew, who is already a wicked Alchemist. Perhaps you will be able to create that which I cannot.
I am a Mage, and as I have always lamented, I am unable to perform the majority of magics in this world. But you, Drew, are a Witch. Perhaps you can create my cure.
Long ago, to secure my own future, and power, I extorted the King of Hell out of his sons blood. In doing so, I poisoned them with a little-known poison known only as 'Dragon's Piss'.
It doesn't sound very deadly, I am aware, but my grandfather was very adamant that was what he was naming it, after he was finished inventing it.
The effects are completely non-existent, if the body remains below a marked Mana Threshold. But beyond that threshold, and the excess Mana sparks literal Dragon Fire in the poisoned Bloodstream.
This death is the most painful that has ever existed, as any being with the mana to spark this is nigh-immortal, and would survive for several hours. But, obviously, its lethality is 100%. The effects can also be pre-activated by a solid spike in Mana, a bit of Trickery to make it think the mana content is potent enough.
The ingredients are rather simple. 'Dragon Venom', (extracted from refined Dragon Marrow, by boiling Marrow with Blood and literal Urine, all from the same dragon, which is where it gets its name,) mixed with a powdered form of Phoenix Ashe and Unicorn Horn, all melted together and stirred into a powder again with an in-ratio amount of the Magnesium Carbonate's such as Hydromagnesite (4MgCO3·Mg(OH)2·4H2O), or, even better, Dypingite (4MgCO3·Mg(OH)2·5H2O).
When the powder comes into contact with blood of any kind, saturated in the correct levels of Mana, it ignites, and it never stops burning, until the mana is completely gone. If it come into contact with blood with levels of Mana that are too low, nothing will happen, as I've said.
Unless, of course, there was a way to trick the Magnesium Carbonate to De-Stabilize, which would dissolve the Dragon Venom, and an immediate blood transfusion and subsequent bloodletting would flush out the remaining components.
Perhaps an Aluminum Oxide composite of some kind to bond with and disrupt the Magnesium Carbonate? My mind isn't what it used to be, you'll have to forgive me...
Anyway. Once you've managed to create and Synthesize an Antidote, find and Summon the Demon Anorak, and give him the Key Phrase you'll find in my other Journal. He will give you twelve vials of Golden Blood with Black Shadows swimming throughout. Apply the antidote, and open the Red Door with the Black Key.
Approach the King, and do not speak of your connection to me. Only speak of the Antidote, and your wish to help. Perhaps you will be able to. I hope, sincerely hope, that you will be able to cure the Three Sons of Hel. If not... then may God Help My Soul.'
I turned the last page, and saw a drawn representation of the finished poison.
"Whoa..." I breathed.
'Now I remember his name. Adam Oxley. His grandfather was the inventor of some of the worst, deadliest, Nastiest poisons in the history of Magic, and believe you me, that is saying something amazing.' Mirage spoke up softly.
"Oh. So being psychotic ran in his family?"
'No. he was a good man. His 'Poisons' were used to destroy Demons, and to create cures to some rather deadly diseases. His Son, Drew, continued his work, and cured hundreds of diseases. Like Cancer.'
"He cured cancer?!?" I exclaimed.
'That he did. He created a poison that targeted cancer cells, and administered it to the entire world. Hundreds of patients died, their cancer too far progressed to survive the destruction of it, but no one has ever had cancer since.' She chuckled.
I smiled. "Interesting... so let's make this Antidote... basic chemistry... Aluminum Oxide... wait... isn't that just Corundum?" I asked.
'Correct.' She replied.
"Then let's go get some corundum!" I smiled, and walked out of the Riad, wandering the market to search for rubies and Sapphires.
I found a small gem seller, and smiled at the elderly woman. "Hello. Do you happen to have pure Corundum? For Alchemy." I explained.
She smiled and nodded, slowly pulling over a sack, and opening it. She presented me with six well-polished crystals, one of them being quartz, not Corundum. I selected two of the actual Corundum crystals, and paid her with the local currency, provided by Mirage.
I took them back to the Riad, and sat in the small library, grinding them into a powder. "How will I know it works?" I mused.
'You'll need to poison someone, and cure them.' Mirage answered easily.
I sighed. "This is becoming something of a Moral Dilemma... I wonder if master Dion will promote me for my efforts?"
---
"So I'll need to poison you, and hopefully cure you. Is that still okay?" I asked the elderly man in front of me.
He grinned. "I am very close to death. If I can help cure a child of a deadly, painful poison, I would love to do so. How soon can we start?" He asked.
"Well I'll need to draw a decent amount of blood... half a Pint a Day, for 18 Days, should give me the correct amounts... and then the poisoning, and then, hopefully, the curing." I nodded.
He sat down and held out his arm. "Then let's get started, hmm?"
I smiled and opened my medical bag, setting up a simple blood-draw, and setting the needle into his forearm, attaching the tubing to a glass vial, with a half a pint capacity.
It filled slowly, and once it was filled, I detached the needle from his arm, placed a bandage over it, and nodded. "Now. DO NOT Come into contact with Magic, for the entirety of this process. Understood? It could be fatal, and would ruin my results." I said clearly.
He nodded. "Aye aye, doc."
I smirked. "Get out of here." I laughed, shooing him, and calling in the next person, the second of five I was testing on.
---
I mixed the Dragon Venom, Phoenix Ash, and Unicorn Horn with Magnesium Carbonate, (4MgCO3·Mg(OH)2·5H2O) or Dypingite, and grinned at the resulting red Powder. "I believe I've done it..."
"Allow me to check?" Master Dion leaned over and smelled the powder. He hummed. "From the notes you gave me, I believe this is indeed the poison... Apply the Antidote?" He asked.
I separated a small bit into a mortar, added blood, and mixed it until it dissolved. Then, I poured a small sprinkle of Aluminum Oxide into the bowl, and it flared to life briefly, before separating visibly, like oil and water.
The blood drifted up, and the solid Magnesium Oxide and Aluminum Carbonate settled down at the bottom.
I cheered, and laughed. "Ha! Take THAT, OXLEY!"
Master Dion smiled. "Well done indeed... but you said there was a patient that was dosed with this poison?"
"Six, actually. I'm curing them tonight, it seems." I smiled.
He hummed. "Alright... I don't know if I should be allowing this, but I confess I've never heard of these poisons you have created antidotes for... they seem mostly Alchemy based, instead of Herb based, so I'm not surprised... ah well. C'est La Vie. Do well." He waved me off, and I grinned, grabbing my poisons and cures, and darting out.
---
"And just a bit more..." I watched as the new blood entered the bloodstream, and the old blood leaked out into the 50 Gallon Drum I had nearby, for all of the bloods I removed.
Jacob, the first of my five patients, grinned. "So am I good to go?"
"One last thing... I have to remove the metal." I pulled the needles out of him, and replaced a 5 gage, the biggest I had, into his chest directly. "Sorry, this'll hurt a Bit..." I pulled all the Solid Metal, Magnesium Oxide and Aluminum Carbonate, through his bloodstreams, and into his chest cavity.
Several hundred smaller blood vessels busted, but the metal flew out into the air, and into my hands. They solidified slowly into two balls, one white, and one red. The white was the aluminum, which red was Magnesium. The oxygen and carbon fused to make carbon dioxide, and went to feeding my plants a very healthy dinner.
I threw the solidified metals into a bucket, and grinned. "You are indeed cured, Sir! Have a cup of tea Downstairs, a bite to eat, on the house, and I hope you have a wonderful evening!"
He chuckled. "I think I will! I'm in a little bit of pain, but otherwise I feel great! Like my blood isn't as Heavy as it used to be, you know?"
"Hmm? Ah, Yes, the Cholesterol blocking your arteries was also removed with the metal, as well as the massive Sodium Content. Eat better from now on, you hear? I'm watching you." I chided him gently.
He laughed. "So that's why! Ha! Good, good... well, I'll be off, after that bite to eat. I'm Famished!"
He started down the elevator, a spring in his step, while whistling a soft tune.
The next patient came up, and I smiled. "Ahh, Miss Dickens. Welcome. You'll feel right as rain after this, I promise."