Hard as Diamon(d)s a ‘Midnite’ Short story:

Cassandra was in the pharmaceutical lab at her job, her lab techs had already left and this left alone, her new concoction was in its testing phase and she wanted to get it right.

The potion could be revolutionary and if perfected could end the need for heavy armour and shielding within the police and military forces.

Its composition wasn’t difficult, just the ingredients, sat on stool, Cass stared at the diamond shaped vial bubbling in the lab’s water bath, the shape was a side effect of the composition as the liquid within was heavy.

The potion could only be made here in Midnite because of the minerals found in the earth surrounding the city, their properties meant that supernatural and mythical occurrences were often and powerful.

Cass pulled on some goggles and a pair of heat resistant tongs, the Vial had started to gently crackle forming veins within the diamond which signaled the end of the potion’s internal brewing.

Cassandra took the vial out of the bath with the tongs, holding it at arm’s length with one hand and she let it cool, remarking a small vapour coming off the shape as it cooled.

“Hmm”

It was the lightest of all the iterations and it did not strain the tongs or her strength.

She smiled, this felt finite, definitive even, the vapour had stopped and any heat that was present had gone.

Cass felt bold and rested the bottom of the vial in the palm of her free hand, it was indeed light, but full of promise and weight, grasping it, she placed the tongs on the table and started to examine the veins within the diamond and the liquid sloshing inside.

The stopper had held throughout the process, she popped it and a smell that resembled cooling glass and fresh blossoms, the blossoms were her touch so it could be marketed by her team.

The liquid was now still.

She rolled up her lab coat sleeve up to her elbow showing off a contemporary tattoo of a raven run through by an arrow bolt, it was still fresh and healing with gentle reds around the edges.

She proceeded to pour the potion over the tattoo, coated the design and the skin around her forearm, not running off, gritting her teeth she muttered a spell to quell the feeling of cold metal running over her nerve endings.

Her skin started to match the temperature of the liquid and solidified, forming a thin strong clear cover over her tattoo that included the facets of a diamond.

She had succeeded, she rolled her lab coat sleeves back over the diamond coating, it didn't feel rough against the material.

“Well done Cass”, she said in the third person, gently rubbing the diamond through her clothing there was no irritability either.

With further experimentation it could push the potency of her other potions as well as strengthen her spells.

They would not need to know that though

She laughed, the thought of coating Joseph her familiar in the potion was caught in the back of her mind.

“I shall call it Diamon”, that sounded good, easily marketable to the right people and in the end that was her job…

…

The End.

…

I love you Baby