Casting a spell was something so simple, so minor, but it was so big for Aubrey who thought he could never do it before. It was frustrating because the magic was there, felt in his hands, but nothing ever happened no matter how hard he tried.

He spent an embarrassingly long time last night trying all kinds of spells, but nothing worked. The result was the same, failure.

However, he was certain that there was something. Potions did not react to desires, they reacted to spells, and that potion he made was most likely useless. It was mixed so badly that he suspected it was the spell that gave it a healing effect, not the potion itself. Aubrey could remember it not working on Kellen initially before he wished that it healed everyone but him.

It meant that he failed his first potion, but he succeeded somehow in casting a spell.

Because Kellen annoyed him.

And the fact that Kellen was involved in his first known accidental spell just annoyed him even further as he all but tore the plant in his hand viciously before he dropped it in the small cauldron Agnes had given him. This time he was making a poison, hopefully a very painful and deadly poison. Aubrey would like to think that his mentor's vast collection of poisons inspired him as he pretended to not be thinking about Kellen as he seethed.

There were no specific ingredients in what he was making, so he decided to try his luck with every deadly combination known to man. Then it occurred to him that the deadliest component of them all was the white powder Agnes keeps stored in her cupboard when she's not around.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that the white powder is crushed human bones.

Aubrey was probably retrieving the remains of that dead woman, Samantha, whose bones were now going to be used for his next project. He was going to use just a tiny amount, something Agnes wouldn't notice, but he was surprised to find a shriveled up black petal that fell on the white powder he was about to take.

Looking above, the beautiful blue flower that he remembered his mother having sat on the shelf that was right above the small plate containing the crushed bones, and it was obvious what had happened. That didn't explain how the petal withered away so quickly while the flower remained in an impeccable condition.

It made him linger there for a few seconds before he scooped it up, noticing that some traces of the powder remained on it. Flowers rarely affected potions, so he thought that there would be no harm in using it on the poison he was crafting. That little amount of bone powder that stuck to the petal should be enough, and he'll be done with his poison once he finishes mixing it.

Then he could fantasize about killing a certain someone after he's done.

After making sure that he left no trace of his little theft there, he closes the cupboard and quickly went back to his cauldron to drop the newly-acquired petal inside. The moment that he did so, the door was kicked open by Agnes who made a few things rattle around the place when the door slammed back on the wall, and she called his name making him sit up in alarm.

Thinking she somehow knew about what he just did, he slowly approached her as she struggled with something large she was carrying. "Yes?"

The nervousness he displayed went unnoticed when Agnes shoved a large bird cage into his arms making him stumble back in surprise and he looked down to see a crow cutely looking up at him.

"Put him anywhere, I don't care." Agnes huffed, sounding breathless, before she strode outside once more. It sounded like she had exerted herself doing something, but Aubrey didn't pay that much mind as he smiled down at the crow who cawed at him when he tapped its cage.

"You're kind of cute." Aubrey fondly looked down at it before he took it to where he was brewing his newest potion. The whole way, the crow was watching him silently before its cage was placed gingerly right on to the table Aubrey was working on not long ago.

This lovely moment was rudely cut off when the loud sound of something dropping on the floor made them both jump, and the crow let out a terrified squawk as it flapped its wings.

"Worthless." Agnes spat as she entered the cottage and walked around the unconscious bleeding body she proceeded to drag on the floor. A trail of blood followed her as she did so, and she was heading to her basement. "More trouble to have you around than not, I swear. I will kill you painfully."

Aubrey watched the scene, stunned, before he decided to ask. "Is that Kellen?"

Letting out a loud annoyed voice, Agnes kicked her basement's door open and gestured at the unconscious body in a hopeless manner. "Who else is this useless?"

"Is he- is he dead?"

Agnes considered his question for a moment before she bent down to check. A look of great infuriation appeared on her face when she shook her head in response. "Not yet."

Aubrey didn't know why, but he felt relieved. "Oh."

"He soon will be." Agnes assured him as she did the unthinkable and kicked the injured bleeding helper down the stairs watching him land with a satisfying thud. "Idiot."

The door slammed shut after that and she walked away without any concern as she approached her apprentice. Not knowing what to think about what just happened, he couldn't help but look at the closed door in worry. "Should we just leave him there?"

"Yes." Came Agnes' curt answer before she peered at the cauldron he was using. "What are you making?"

"Poison." He thought it was easier to just forget the whole thing and continue on as if nothing happened. If Kellen survived her this long, he was sure that this was just another day for him. At least that's what he hoped.

Agnes was a brilliant alchemist and spellcaster, he reasoned. It was a given that she knew all kinds of healing spells and charms to keep someone alive – or at least intact.

Besides, he was feeling a little bit elated at how her eyebrows rose in approval and interest when he told her that he was brewing poison. She took one of the wooden sticks lying around before she experimentally began to move the potion with it watching it swirl as she did so.

And that's when she nodded her head. "Impressive."

Aubrey lit up at that. "Really?"

"Yes, really." Agnes smiled at him, amused at the excitement he showed with this little success of his. "Go grab a bottle."

And he did, grabbing the nearest one he could find. There were always empty bottles around, and the one he found had no lid but it didn't matter as he grabbed a random lid from somewhere which seemed like it would fit. Everything was messy with Agnes, but he didn't mind as he handed her the bottle before he watched it be filled with his poison.

"Let's test this, shall we?" Agnes said, turning the bottle around in her hand while Aubrey nodded his head not realizing what she was saying.

When he did, he was quick to react. "Wait, no! It's poison."

"I am not drinking it." She scoffed walking towards the adorable little crow. "He is."

"No-"

But before he could do anything, he watched in horror as she poured the liquid where water should be poured, and the bird unhesitatingly hopped down and drank it oblivious to how deadly it is.

Within minutes, it let out a pained caw before it went rigid and fell over, dead. Its little foot twitched a few times as Agnes laughed at the unfunny display before the bird went completely still. "It actually works." She told him looking proud as she gave him a little pat on the head as he stared down at the crow feeling depressed.

He didn't mean to kill the bird, it made him almost regret making a poison.

Agnes watched her apprentice as he opened the bird cage and scooped up the bird in his hands looking down at it sadly. "It's really dead..."

"Yes, and you're too sensitive." She couldn't help but let the disapproval show at how affected he was by a stupid death. Everything dies, anyway. "It's just a bi-"

To both of their surprise, the crow's leg twitched again in Aubrey's hand making their attention snap to that little motion. They both stared at it for a few seconds before a croak was heard, and the crow blinked and Aubrey quickly returned it to its cage before it began to flap its wings.

It sat there alive and well as if it wasn't dead from being poisoned moments ago, and Agnes decided to make sure of what she saw by giving it one of her own, much more effective, creations and the bird thoughtlessly drank it once more and died.

And then it came back to life again.

"You made that crow immortal." Agnes mumbled in disbelief as she looked down at the poison Aubrey had made. She had spent so long trying to achieve it, and somehow her own apprentice did it. By accident.

Aubrey tilted his head, nonplussed. "I did?"

And that's when she let out one of her obnoxiously charming cackles. "You did! I expected nothing less from someone I am teaching."

There was nothing he could do but stare down dazedly at the crow who returned back to drinking the same poison that killed seconds ago, and he didn't think it would be wise to tell Agnes that she barely taught him anything.

He was just glad the crow was okay.