Learning Grace of the Moons

The three vayrons went their separate ways for a day after Mel insisted he needed time alone. Eulalia relented, but Chalice was still bitter. Just like her time in Roenden, Chalice wanted to get home quickly, yet somehow, she got roped into waiting. They promised to meet back in the same room to start researching the next tea, ‘Grace of the Moons.’

Chalice was the first to the room. She paced along the walls, looking out the tall windows to watch the sun rise and glitter through the floating crystals around the library. Every so often, she looked over to the door, and after nearly an hour of waiting, she started to will them into existence. She cursed under her breath that she had let Eulalia take the book she needed otherwise she would have started by herself. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Eulalia panted as she burst into the room. 

Chalice glared at the bubbly pink vayron. Eulalia only smiled in return, walking to the counter to place the book on the marble surface. 

“Where’s Mel?” Chalice asked. 

“In the library. He’ll be here in a minute,” Eulalia answered as she flipped through the book to find the recipe. 

The pair stayed in a comfortable silence that slowly turned into something more tense. The longer they waited, the more Chalice made noises of frustration and sighs. Eulalia, for the most part, ignored her until Mel casually walked into the room. 

“What took you so long?” Chalice hissed. 

Mel glared at her, “I had trouble finding Bundleberries.”

Chalice held her ears close to her head and glared at the relaxed vayron, clearly not understanding the significance of the berries. 

Mel rolled his eyes, “we need them for the recipe.”

Chalice felt her frustration and anger fade until all that was left was an uncomfortable feeling, something like regret. Eulalia watched them quietly, letting them sort out the tension in the room. 

“Come over here, and let's research the recipe more thoroughly now that we have everything,” Eulalia’s gentle voice encouraged them to move past the outburst. 

Mel walks over to Eulalia and deposits all the ingredients he collected. Chalice takes a deep breath to relax because her outburst was unlike before she joined the duo at the counter. The trio looks over the first two pages, each reading at their own pace. Mel and Chalice are ready to flip to the next page before Eulalia. While they waited, Chalice turned to stare at the window. She would forever be fascinated by the crystal windows and how the light sparkles as it filters through them. 

Eulalia flipped to the next page, bringing Chalice’s attention back to the book. The trio read over the pages in the same fashion as the last, but this time, Mel and Chalice felt they had enough information to start. Without Eulalia, Chalice started to heat the water while Mel started adding the herbs, honey, and bundleberries to the cup. The pair worked silently.

Eulalia looked up to see the pair working together, and she smiled until she realized they had missed a key detail in the instructions. She exhaled, choosing not to tell them because she enjoyed watching their collaboration, even if she knew it was going to end in failure. Except, one thing she worried about was the availability of the ingredients. 

“Do we have more of the bundleberries?” Eulalia asked. 

Mel looked up from the cup, “Yeah, there’s a couple left.”

Eulalia nodded and then turned her attention back to the book. She was reading the next pages that talked about the flavour and the science behind the concoction. 

“Why?” Chalice asked, thinking it strange to worry about that when she and Mel were confident they had the recipe perfect. 

Eulalia started to answer but was cut off by the sound of the kettle whistle. Chalice dropped the question and carefully poured the boiling water over the mixture in the cup. Similar to the recipe for the ‘Spirit of the Sun,’ Chalice only filled the cup about three-quarters full, and then Mel added a splash of milk. Immediately, the pair knew something was wrong. Everything in the book described the tea as a silvery blue, like the moons, but the colour in the cup before them was closer to a navy blue or deep purple. 

“What did we do wrong?” Mel mumbled. 

“Maybe the book is outdated?” Chalice suggested, unconvinced they made a mistake. 

Eulalia tried not to snicker as she watched the confident pair and thought of something else that was written about the taste in the book. Because this tea was commonly made incorrectly, it was very well known that it would taste like dirt if made incorrectly. Eulalia thought it would be funny to watch them taste it. 

“Could taste it if you’re unsure,” Eulalia encouraged.

“What should it taste like?” Chalice asked. 

“Like bunbleberries, or blueberries.” 

Chalice nodded and then didn’t hesitate as she took a sip. Her reaction was instant as she spit the liquid out. Eulalia’s laughter filled the room around them and Mel cringed at the mess Chalice made. 

“Lia, what did we miss?” Mel asked once Chalice stopped coughing. 

“That was disgusting,” Chalice said and made more noises of disgust. 

“It’s a tea inspired by the moons,” Eulalia hinted, but when neither of the pair clued in, she continued, “We need to make the tea under moonlight.”

“Where does the book say that?” Chalice gasped. 

Eulalia laughed, “On the first page,” the pair leaned closer to the book, flipping to the first page as Eulalia continued, “It’s the first line under the title.”

Mel and Chalice sat back, shocked they missed such an obvious detail. Eulalia just laughed to herself, very pleased. She grew up with Mel and was used to being overshadowed by all his experiments, but it was always nice when his confidence got the better of him, and she had to help. 

The trio wandered around the Vitalus library separately as they waited for the moons to rise. The group read the instructions more thoroughly this time, and they found that they didn’t just need the moons; they needed moonlight, so they all hoped that the sky would be clear. Hours passed as the vayrons wandered around on their own. Chalice got to explore the library, letting the floating crystals light the way as she wandered into darker sections. Mel and Eulalia returned to their daily routines while they waited for the night. 

Finally, when the sun had fully set, and the moons brightened the sky, the three vayrons returned to their laboratory. This time, they let Eulalia lead them through the experiment. The pink vayron directed Mel to fill the cup with herbs, bundleberries, and honey while she let Chalice heat the water. The group waited in silence until the kettle boiled. Eulalia filled the cup to the usual height, and Mel added the milk. The three vayrons held their breath as the colour of the liquid began to change. 

Seconds passed before the tea turned a silvery blue, letting them know they were successful. They all smiled and gasped with their excitement. Then they took turns trying the drink, and as mentioned in the instructions, the warm tea tasted like blueberries. 

“We did it!” Eulalia smiled.

Mel and Chalice were just as happy. They each talked about the tea’s taste before turning in for the night. However, they all agreed to meet back at the library to keep learning together. 

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