Chapter Text
Test No. 37: Electro Amplified Pyro Flower
Experiment: Combining electro elemental crystals and flaming flower stamens in order to amplify its growth speed.
Due to the nature of dendro reactions to elements, it is well known that electrifying a plant will increase its rate of growth. Sucrose is aware that the flaming flowers that occasionally dot the nation have unique properties that are useful for medicinal practice. After cutting, the pyro energy becomes less lethal, and the balms created from its stamen are useful for soothing sore muscles. The issue is, in Mond at least, the market for these flowers is high, as they only grow in places that have high concentrations of ley line energy, which can be dangerous for those without a vision to defend themselves with.
Sucrose had joined the Mond sector of the adventurer's guild, taking on small commissions every once in a while to support herself while she lived in Mond. More and more frequently however, the commissions ask for as many pyro stamens the adventurer could find. It wasn't too much trouble for her, equipped with an electro delusion as she was. Anything that got in her way would be taken out posthaste with a few zaps, and if things got too heated she could always “blink” out of there. The training of an Electro Cicin mage was hard to shake. She took great care to make sure no people were near when she wielded this power, it wouldn't do for her secret to crumble like that.
Ever since she'd made it to the city of freedom, Sucrose meticulously performed the part of a native Mondstadtan. After months of training to not let her Snezhnayan accent show when she talked, hiding the delusion from wayward eyes, adopting a native dress style, and crafting an elaborate backstory, she was confident in her ability to pass as a local. They would be none the wiser so long as no one looked too closely to her documents, or listened to her talk when she was passionate, where her original accent slips through. It didn't take long to craft the story of Sucrose Atem, a young adventurer from Dornman Port who moved to Mondstadt city proper in order to find job opportunities other than being a dock worker. Getting an apartment was surprisingly easy too, with a mysterious donation to her rent fund that made her shake her head with fondness.
Really the only hard part of living here was avoiding the local chapter of the Fatui. Not that any of them had reasons to be suspicious, but if one of them did find out who she was, what she did, Sucrose Atem would be found dead in her apartment the next day, no culprit would be found. Avoiding the Goth Grand Hotel was second nature at this point.
All of that takes a back seat to her current train of thought however, after the fifth time she's asked to collect 10 flaming stamens in a commission. She needs the funds, but still, looking for the rare flower is exhausting. Cultivating them is difficult, and hardly worth it, the dangerous plant requiring far too much care for the amount of balm you can create with each stamen. Sucrose had the idea to accelerate the growth of the flower using the natural outcroppings of electro crystals that also dotted the landscape. After a few rounds of testing, it seemed the specimen is resistant to existing in the vicinity of the crystal, the energies both specimens let off constantly combining to create overload explosions. Sucrose sported more than a few burn marks to show for it as well.
The thing is, only the top of the flower produces the pyro energy. The stem is perfectly safe to touch. If Sucrose could figure out a way to get the plant to grow around the crystal, it would amplify its growth without being super dangerous to interact with. Alchemy can accomplish this. A simple combination circle would combine the two, but modifications would allow her to dictate where exactly the parts would end up. She set up a lab in a clearing in the Whispering woods, a flat area of grass free dirt perfect for etching the alchemical array. Off to the side was another patch of dirt, full of past iterations of the project, each with varying amounts of volatility. The location was strategic, near the base of the cliff, and hard to find. When she first found the location, a few hilichurls had set up camp there, but she scared them away easily enough.
The current specimen she was examining was her 36th attempt. It had been tedious to make any successful combinations, but Sucrose wasn't known to give up on things, ever. Only the last 4 plants had survived the transmutation. All previous 32 had exploded upon cooldown, the electro being too close to the stamen, overloading and taking out the whole plant.
The process only worked because she carefully set up the circle after the 4th attempt to hold the separate specimen on either side of the circle, far enough apart to not interact before the transmutation. The most recent one didn't die immediately, even blooming almost immediately after the flash of light that alchemy gives off receded. A partial success, she noted, as the stem began to steam and spark, the electro eventually taking over the pyro at the top, overburning the flower and wilting it. The whole process lasted several minutes.
“Electro Amplified Pyro Flower Test No. 36, a partial success,” Sucrose said quietly to herself. She never got around the habit of dictating her scientific processes aloud. A bucket of water that was set to the side for this very purpose was splashed on the flower, to ensure it was completely safe to touch, and she plucked the plant from its container. At the table set up at the edge of the clearing, she cut into the dead flower with a paring knife. The inside of the stem showed the electro crystal had fused with the stalk, which was good, but had grown too closely to the veins of pyro energy, causing the internal reactions. After studying each failure, she was getting ever closer to a good fusion that wouldn't die. Once she did, she could take a clipping, cloning the plants and producing more and more flaming stamens in a smaller timeframe.
Sucrose wrote the results in her note book, getting lost in her speculation and almost missing the sun dipping below the horizon. Sighing, she packs her supplies, making sure to smudge the circle enough to be unrecognizable to the untrained eye. Alchemy might be difficult to perform, but a layman could cause serious damage without the proper supervision. The dark of night protected her from the eyes of the monsters nearby, making for a peaceful walk back to the gates of Mond, where she was stopped.
“Halt, who goes there,” the guard at the gate called. Lawrence, if she remembered his name right.
Sucrose raised her hand to wave to them tiredly, “Just me, time got away from me I think.”
The guards relaxed, “Ah, Sucrose , out late again? You should really pay more attention to the time, civilians like you are in danger of monster attacks this late at night,” Swan, the other guard, admonished. As Sucrose got closer though, he got even more concerned, “Are those scorch marks?! Ma'am are you alright?”
She looked down at her singed sleeves, as if just noticing them, “Oh, um, no I'm okay, just a little accident with a fire, no need to worry!” If they started pressing for information she wasn't sure how to explain she'd been doing dangerous experiments in the woods in a way that didn't make her sound like a criminal. Not that she wasn't a criminal, just not here yet, and she hoped to keep it that way.
Swan didn't look too convinced, but let it slide, “Alright, c'mon in then, we're just about to close the gates for the night, wouldn't want anyone to get locked out here.
——
Albedo was having a terrible afternoon. He'd just gotten back from his Dragonspine trip of the month, barely having time to set his bags down before being harassed by another knight that Jean wanted to see him. He respected Jean, so he would accept the request, but that didn't change the fact that he'd been walking for the past two days straight. He was tired, sue him.
The knight directed him up to the Cathedral’s infirmary to meet with her. He found her sitting next to a bed questioning a heavily bandaged man, who from what he could see of his attire, was a member of the adventurer's guild. “Jean, you wanted to speak with me?” he asked.
“Ah Albedo , just the person we need. There's been an incident.” She gestured to the man in the bed, “This is Mark, an adventurer with the guild. He's suffered extreme burns from what looks like overload explosions. He says he was tasked with collecting pyro flower stamens, a very common commission these days, but the flowers he found exploded on him in an unusual manner.” Mark nodded as much as he could, confirming her recount.
“I see, how does my expertise weigh in here then?” Its not like adventurers didn't get injured all the time, but if Jean called for him, something is afoot.
“Well, when one of our knights passing by found him near the patch of exploding flowers, he noticed what looked to be a lab set up next to it. The flowers were planted there.” She gave him a pointed look.
“I assure you, the lab isn't mine. I've been in Dragonspine for the past month, Knight's honor.” Albedo knew Jean, she wanted to rule out every possibility of an internal issue before turning the search lens to the outer populace.
Jean looked both relieved and more concerned at the news. “Then that leaves the question of who it could be, keeping dangerous plants where people can stumble upon them. Albedo , I want you to investigate, see what you can find out about this mysterious person, so we can bring them to justice.”
Sucrose , eating a lovely sticky honey roast at Good Hunter, sneezed.
— —
Albedo reached the location described to him by the adventurer easily, being only a short walk from the city. It was a lab, that's for sure. The table with various tools set off to the side, the rows of pyro flowers in various stages of growth. The thing that caught his eye however, was the smudged alchemical array in the center of the clearing. From the parts that weren't completely erased, he deduced that the circle was a generic combination array, with the input locations on opposite sides, rather than right next to each other in the center as they usually are. There were other modifications to the common array, but they were too smudged to make out. If he had to guess though, the alchemist was combining something to the pyro flowers to make them explode upon contact. Why would someone do that though? What were the uses? The only cases that came to mind weren't pretty.
He'd seen all he could here, to gain any more information he would have to ask around to see if anyone had seen suspicious individuals passing through.
If anyone were to have seen anything, it would be the guards at the gate. Unfortunately they worked on rotating shifts, he would have to ask them all in order to cover all his bases. The first eight guards were unhelpful, saying they hadn't seen anyone remotely suspicious recently, other than Diluc , one knight joked. That man put everyone at the knights off, knowing his stance on their organization. They still went to Angel's Share though, best tavern in Teyvat.
“Suspicious individuals? Not that I know of, why, what's this about?” Lawrence asked.
“There's been an accident in the woods nearby dealing with unusual pyro flowers, we're looking for the person who might have planted them there.” Albedo explained for the 20th time that day. “If you've seen anyone who could be performing these experiments, any information would be greatly appreciated.
“Hmmm, y'know, now that I think about it, I have seen something odd.” Lawrence tapped his chin, “the other day, bout a week ago if I had to guess, there was a civilian who came back right before we closed gates for the night, she was covered in scorch marks. We didn't ask too many questions, she said she was fine, but she always is travelling to and from the city, usually for commissions.”
Albedo nodded, “Her name? She may well be the only lead we have.”
“Oh yea its Sucrose Atem, she's a green haired girl, yay high, lives in an apartment next to Angel's Share.” Lawrence helpfully provided, giving an estimate of her very short stature. “She's got these adorable animal ears too, real soft looking.”
Finally we're getting somewhere. “Thank you, Lawrence, I'll be sure to let Jean know how vigilant you've been,” Albedo said.
Lawrence's face brightened, “You- you will? Thank you so much!”
Albedo was already walking away, Sucrose Atem, I haven't heard that name before. He would pay her a visit after looking into her records. All information about the people of Mond was handled by the Knights of Favonius, if there was a paper trail to follow, the librarian was sure to be able to track it.
He reached the library quickly, knocking on the door, “Lisa, are you in?”
A muffled reply gave him the affirmative to enter, finding the woman hunched over documents that were all tangentially related to a rare disease.
“ Albedo , hello sweetie, you'll do nicely as an excuse for a break. What can I help you with?” she yawned. Not for the first time Albedo wondered how she managed to get so much rest yet be so tired all the time. The knights knew of her penchant for living a laidback life style (outside of caring for her books), but never have they seen her like her close confidants have, ie; tired as hell.
“I'm looking for documents related to one Sucrose Atem.” He wasn't ever one for pleasantries, something his coworkers both appreciated, and often tried to train out of him.
“No problem cutie, just have a seat, I'll be right back with those,” She said, stretching as she got up.
It took her only a few minutes to find the documents, a sly smile on her face as she flipped through them. “You know Albedo , if you want to know more about a girl you're interested in, you should really just talk to her.”
Albedo didn't rise to the bait, used to Lisa's antics, “Its for a case, actually. Why, is there something in there you think would pique my interest?”
“Yes actually, says here she's a Mond girlie from Dorman Port, 21 years old, employable skills include basic adventurer training, and a basic education certificate from Dorman academy” She read from her citizenship application. Lisa hummed, “In her medical records it also says she's an animal hybrid, but her exact species is unspecified.”
“Anything in there related to alchemy experience?”
Lisa giggled, “after someone with similar interests to you I see.” She flipped through the rest of the papers, “It does look like since she's lived here a few academic articles were penned under her name, if you want to take a look.”
She handed him the documents with the usual threats on his life if he lost them, before settling back in her own pile of research.
Taking a seat nearby, he looked through her papers himself. A certificate of birth 21 years ago from Dorman Port local hospital, a certification of general education, the application for housing in Mondstadt city, and a document detailing the terms of employment at the adventurers guild. Everything appeared normal, no criminal record in sight. The only thing that really drew his interest were the scientific papers she wrote. As the Chief Alchemist, and overseer of anything alchemy related in the nation (as well as a few surrounding ones) he would know if anyone in Dorman Port was teaching alchemy. So why, then, were the contents of these papers of a far higher level of alchemical knowledge than anyone in Mond was meant to have? It would take Timaeus another 10 years to reach the concepts detailed in these reports.
A study of elemental flora, the effects of electro on regional specimen, using alchemy to create giant versions of existing flora, all of these things required a high degree of biology knowledge on top of the alchemy skill showcased in the results. It wasn't anything on the level of his research, but it took a completely different direction to alchemy he'd never really encountered before. Rather than using the ingredients to create something from scratch, she used existing materials to enhance the subject, creating complexity out of the relatively simple combination circle so common across Teyvat. She even included diagrams of the circles used, and he had to commend her on the attention to detail, despite no one from modern Teyvat having access to the true knowledge of Khemia. He had to learn more about this person, all of the evidence pointed to her being the only one in the region other than him being capable of the complex transmutations to create the dangerous plants in the woods.
She lived in the Dandelion Apartments complex, room 12, a building next to Angel’s Share, just like Lawrence said. It would seem it’s time to pay our little alchemist a visit , he thought, packing the documents up, Lisa waving him off as he thanked her on the way out.
If this Sucrose ended up being innocent, he would love to pick her brain of what she knows. Perhaps she would be instrumental in his own research, another set of comprehending eyes could change everything.
— —
Sucrose was startled out of her notebook when three sharp knocks resounded on her door. She wasn't expecting any guests last she checked. Scrambling to hide any incriminating items: her delusion tucked under the mattress, her notebook tossed into the closet.
“Miss Sucrose Atem? Are you home?” A man called through the door.
“Oh um, yes! One second!” She called back, feeling confident enough that nothing in her apartment would point towards her past affiliations to the Fatui. Cracking open the door revealed he was just about to knock again. Coughing into his hand to avoid looking too awkward, he stood back from the door to not crowd her space. The man didn't try to hide the fact that he was trying to look into her apartment
He was taller than her, though not by much. His eyes were strange, blue with a ringed iris that reminded her of the crafting table in the square. “Good, you're home, I have a few questions to ask you pertaining to your research.”
That was unexpected, she had submitted a few of her papers to the Knights of Favonius research department several months ago, but it felt strange for a random person to show up at her house out of the blue.
Oh dear, this strange man is a stalker isn't he. Why else would he know my address? “ Um, sorry, but who are you?” She blurted.
He was shocked she didn't know who he was, Sucrose could tell by the way his eyes widened imperceptibly, years of Fatui training on facial expressions were hard to kick. “I am Albedo , Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonius, you've submitted several papers regarding bioalchemical studies, and I wish to discuss them with you.”
Oh. How rude of her, this was the best alchemist in the nation, archons, maybe all of Teyvat, and she'd assumed he was a creep. Of course he knew where she lived, he has access to her citizenship documents. Her face was now burning more than it was before, “O-oh, well then Mister. Albedo , feel free to come in! What did you want to discuss?” Surely the world renowned alchemist had a good reason to seek her out about her papers, the thought excited her, what if he wanted her help with something! It wasn't likely, seeing as she wasn't professionally known, nor did she work the knights in any capacity, but she could hope.
She ushered him in, ignoring his protest of, “Just Albedo is fine, really.”
She guided him over to her dining table, a tiny one with only two chairs, everything absolutely covered in papers and equipment. Rushing to clear an spot for him to sit, she remembered her hospitality manners, “Oh! I'll get us some tea, you wait here.” Dashing off, she left him at the table to look around her apartment.
__ __
This young woman was...eccentric. Even in the tiny apartment, she had much to take note of. Sucrose herself was unique, hidden in her hair were animal-like ears from a species he couldn't place. She wore gloves even in the comfort of her own home, which, looking around, made sense. Scattered across every flat surface seemed to be either papers, books, or some form of biology experiment in progress. Near the window in the living room was a large collection of strange plants. Some were of Mondstadt origin, all with modifications to their natural state. In the collection he spotted a lamp grass weighed down by several extra bulbs on its stem. If it wasn't related to bioalchemy, the rest of the space was packed with bones. They dotted every nook and cranny, some from small vermin, scaling up in size until he spotted an entire hilichurl skeleton tucked into a corner.
At least it appeared she had the tact to avoid performing alchemy in this confined space, no evidence of transmutations to be seen. Then the makeshift lab in the woods could very well be hers then, where else would she be performing this research?
Sucrose came back into the room, two cups of tea in her hands. “Sorry for the wait, what was it you wanted to discuss?” She was open, sitting at the table waiting for him to reply as if there was nothing amiss.
It would be surprising at this point if she wasn't the owner of the lab in the woods, but he had to admit she didn't seem like someone with malicious intent. “Well,” he began, “I've taken a look at some of your papers, and they match some of the methodologies involved with an incident in the woods yesterday.”
Her ears perked up at the mention of the woods, her head tilted in curiosity before realization strikes her and she blanches. “O-Oh, this....isn't a friendly visit is it” she slumps a little in her seat. “Did.... did something happen?” She said, wringing her hands.
“An adventurer was looking for pyro flower stamens and came across what looked to be a lab in the Whispering Woods, encountering a particularly dangerous group of them. They exploded when he interacted with them, and is now in the care of the church of Barbatos.” As he spoke, he noticed her face lose even more color than it already had. “We're looking for the owner of the lab, I was dispatched due to the rumors that it had something to do with alchemy. It is your lab, am I correct?” Nothing in his tone was accusatory, just stating the facts and conclusions he'd reached during his search.
“Y-yes, I created those pyro flowers using bioalchemy,” she mumbled defeatedly. “They weren't meant to explode though! That patch of flowers were failures of the experiment.” She said, frantic.
So he was correct, she meant no harm. That didn't change the fact that someone did get injured though. “And what was the intention of the experiment, if not to create an explosive for someone to stumble upon?”
Her eyes lit up, “Oh! I'm attempting to create a strain of pyro flowers that mature more quickly, that way we can harvest them faster, instead of having to scour the land for them, rare as they are. Using bioalchemy, I can enhance the growth rate only so much, so I'm introducing small amounts of electro crystals into the stem of the flower during the transmutation. Theoretically, the dendro of the stem should interact with the electro before the pyro energy gets anywhere near it, avoiding overload explosions and quickening the growth of the plant.” she rambled. Clearly her research was something she was passionate about, which wasn't at all surprising, considering the state of her apartment.
He took a sip of his tea, “Hmm is that why you modified the alchemical array to have the inputs be on opposite sides of the circle? So no reactions would occur before you wanted them to?” he asked.
“Exactly, the default combination array would have resulted in an explosion before I even started. Other modifications were made later to specify where in the stem the electro could be grafted without running into the veins of pyro energy. With trial and error I've managed to produce two stable specimen now!”
“I see, Miss Sucrose , I feel there's been a misunderstanding on the half of the knights. I was assigned to find the cruel person who created a dangerous trap in the woods, only to find a very talented young woman who is very passionate about her work.” He clasped his hands, leaning forward over the table, talking right past her growing blush, “I believe this whole situation can be cleared up, so long as you pay for the adventurer's medical expenses, and understand that the lab in the woods will have to be taken down.”
Sucrose deflated, sighing, “but... how will I be able to continue my research? I tried to choose an area with low foot traffic to stay out of the way.”
“Simple, you continue your studies with the supervision of the Knights, under me, as my assistant.”
She choked on her tea, “M- Mister Albedo !? Are you sure?” she said between coughs.
“Absolutely, you show commendable skill with alchemy, more so than anyone else in Mond, aside from me of course, it would be an honor to work with you.”
Sucrose sat stunned, ruminating on his offer. It took a few more beats before he watched her resolve steel, “I- I accept!”
“Wonderful,” he stuck his hand in her direction to shake, “and just “ Albedo ”, is fine.”
Her handshake was gentle, but he sensed a hidden strength in her grip. “Alright then Miss Sucrose , I'll clear up this whole mess with Jean, and let her know we have a new employee,” he gave her a reassuring smile. “Don't worry, Jean trusts my judgement, I'll have you hired by tomorrow.” He was looking forward to see what she knew.
She could only nod, already too flustered about the whole situation to respond. He took his leave from her home, satisfied that the mystery has been solved. He was used to working alone, or with people far below his level of skill, this would be a welcome change of pace. If only he knew about her sooner! They could have met on less serious terms.
— —
Sucrose waited until her door was shut to melt. That was... wow. Working with the chief alchemist of the Knights of Favonius? A dream come true. They had nigh limitless funding, a fully stocked lab! Access to research she's only ever heard of in tall tales! If she had a mirror right, now, she's certain there would be stars in her eyes.
She was of course, guilty over the fact that someone got injured interacting with one of her specimen, she would have to make sure everything was payed for, and that he wasn't hurt too badly.
Making her truly nervous though was the chief alchemist himself. He was so observant, too observant. Her backstory was solid, she'd worked so hard to make it plausible, trained night and day to hide her accent, took every precaution to hide her past. She had a feeling that it wouldn't hold up to his scrutiny.
She would just have to be careful, an opportunity like this was too good to pass up.