It was well after ten o'clock before he entered his lab. He had less than an hour before his swim to make all the necessary preparations. Once down in the basement he went straight for the place where he hid his grimoire behind a loose stone in the cement block wall. Okay so he knew he wasn't a warlock or a practitioner of the craft, but there was no better way to describe his notebook where he kept all his potions, brews, and draughts.

He knew a grimoire usually held spells and invocations that a practitioner could use and that they were often considered family heirlooms that were the property of covens before the council had tried and failed to outlaw covens over fifty years ago during the witch uprising of the 60's. It was hilarious how humans had thought: communes, flower power, peace, free love and the feminist movement had been about bringing change in the human world, when it was really about creating a greater number of human Enlightened. He learned about it all in Magical history.

The witches introduced the Unenlightened to the magical world using powerful sex magic. Mary Jane and LSD was a way for the covens to tap into the residual magic that all humans have. By living in communes, the witches strengthen their numbers and created human shields to protect them against an all out attack from the council. The introduction of disco music in the 70's had spelled the end of the uprising. Before that every type of music was psychedelic pop, folk, rock or otherwise. The emphasis had to be put on the psychedelic part. Big concerts like Woodstock had been a means of siphoning the extra power from the humans needed to bring down the council. That the hippie movement began in California closest to the hub was no coincidence.

Cam entered his alchemy lab, or according to his mother, his chemistry lab. She was rooting for him to become a chemist, but she rightly pointed out that he would be hard pressed to find a college or university willing to accept him given his abysmal test scores, but since he had another three years to bring his marks around she wasn't too worried – at the moment, but she'd threatened him with tutors in the past. The thought made him cringe. He had such little time as it was imagine if he had to waste hours with a tutor as well. He sighed when he thought it wasn't easy hiding things from his mom.

Cam opened his Grimoire on his work table to the page which held the duality potion. He'd found the mention of it in a Black Grimoire he'd stumbled across in the library. In this case Black did not stand for the color of the tome but the dark spells inside. The ancient text had actually been wrapped in sheep skin. At least he hoped it was sheep skin.

He'd had to get Clio's assistance to translate the ancient druidic words, and even with her help it had taken them a week to decipher, not to mention that the Celtic ingredients were the toughest he had ever had to find. It took him three trips to the Menagerie to get everything, but if their translation was right then it should work. If not . . . well who knew what the consequences could be?

Let's put it this way being turned into a frog that a princess could turn back to a human with a simple kiss would be the best outcome. He shuddered at the thought.

Just then his alarm went off in his bedroom reminding him it was time to take his nightly swim. He wasn't looking forward to swimming without his father especially after what happened yesterday, but the maddening ache in his bones left him no choice.

He walked down to the shore feeling leery of every shadow and sound that he normal wouldn't have notices if his dad had been present.

He'd swum alone before, but the sea hadn't tried to murder him the day before and he hadn't been in the grips of rejection at the time. His body's betrayal was the last thing he wanted to think about now so he pushed it back into the deep recesses of his mind.

When he took to the water he found himself staying on the side of the breakwater closest to the shore. It was like he was staying in the shallow end of the pool at the Y, and he knew it made him look weak and childish, but you try swimming at night alone in the dark with sharks and see if you're any braver.

He spent as little time as he could under the water just until the itch subsided then he made his way quickly to shore. He was heading home when he spotted it lying on the beach. He went over to the piece of debris and sadly plucked it out of the sand where it lay. Lovingly, he wiped the surface with his shirt and read the words Megan's Song on the broken plank. Sighing he tucked the piece of debris under his arm and walked home. He'd hang it on his bedroom wall tomorrow as a reminded that the sea gives, but it also takes away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Once back in his lab he started concocting the brew. He brought his propane burners down from a shelf, and placing them on the table, plugged them into an extension cord attached to it. His cauldron (or in his case his mom's old stew pot) was placed on it. He was currently saving for a Hessian crucible. These pot where manufactured in the 15th century in Germany. And even modern scientists were baffled by their world renowned heat resistance. But modern science did not know about dragon's fire either.

When he'd come back with all the supplies from the Menagerie the first time, his dad had taken one look at the strange ingredients and quickly built him a secret shelf behind the wall. Okay so it wasn't so cool that you could open it with a book lever like in the movies or Scooby Doo, but it was still awesome to be able to place his unmentionables their and no he did not mean his secret stash of porn.

He pulled the crushed dragon scales carefully off the shelf -- you'd think dragons were more plentiful given how often that ingredient is listed in any potion of worth. It had cost him a small fortune to purchase, so this had better work; because he currently couldn't afford a second try.

He withdrew the witch hazel next and the nightshade, corpse ash, monarch wings, and fairy spit. And yes, if you guessed he simply got Lauren to spit in a vial well, you'd be right. After spending all his money on dragon scales could you really blame him for cutting some corners?

The phoenix feather and mountain ash came next. Pixie dust was the next thing off the shelf.

He'd collected that himself. It had cost him the price of a hot-n-ready pizza and the admission to the tea gardens --and not to mention his dignity. He'd spent an interesting afternoon chasing their invisible forms around the park while he looked like a crazy person. Once he caught them he offered the-somewhat-willing participants pizza before he shook their invisible forms over a plastic mop bucket he'd borrow from his mom's kitchen. Needless to say there are still a few unhappy Pixies in the park. He'd be giving it a wide berth for the next little while. He just hoped that Pixies had as short memories as they're attention spans.

Cam set up the Alembic which is a series of glass vessels connected with tubes used to distill the alchemical compounds of the potion. Also this potion would require a hermetic vase. He was lucky that Xan's black card had covered that cost because one of these does not come cheap.

He took great care in setting up the three leveled pots that would separate the distilled compounds from their heaviest elements to their lightest formulations.

He started the brew and brought the individual compounds to a boil. The process would take all night, but a successful brew could mean the difference between finding out the truth about the students or remaining in the dark and possibly having the same thing happen to him and his friends.

Cam followed the Celtic instructions to the letter and settled in to add his own notes about the process to the ancient text. At each stage he was relieved when the liquid took on the right hue described in the Black Grimoire or the right consistency.

Finally when his alarm rang for his morning swim he shook his head to wake from his deep concentrative trance. In the end he distilled a tincture bottle full of fluid and capped it off with a rubber stopper. Lifting it up to the basement window in the amber light of dawn he examined it more closely to make sure it was the deep amber color the text had described.

At every step of the process he had met his goal and achieved the perfect outcome, however they were no guarantees that it would work until he tried it. Potions were a tricky business. One was as risky as the next. Even a simple love potion could be deadly if brewed improperly – given that belladonna was one of its main ingredients.

Cam tidied up the lab carefully cleaning and hiding all his equipment away before he went for his morning swim.

Thankfully it's not as scary to swim by yourself in the light of day. So he swam past the breakwater and joined the herd for a morning romp. When he left the water he felt better than usual and he was beginning to wonder if the Jengu had been wrong when he started throwing up again. He didn't want to think about how long he'd crouched on the beach retching up his guts but it left him in no doubt that regardless of what happened today come hell or high water he had to start trials on the Molecular modification brew tonight.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Megan was still mad at him when she picked him up. The drive to school had been awkward and quiet. The silence was suffocating and he wanted it to end, but he had no idea what to say to her. He knew that she was only angry with him because he was putting himself in jeopardy, and he never wanted to see her hurt or angry, but he couldn't not take the potion; they needed answers.

So they road silently until she parked in her customary spot.

She shut the engine off and turned to him with a deep sigh and said," You're going through with it aren't you?"

"Yeah I'm going to take it this afternoon. I thought I might take it as soon as we get into the magical wing for afternoon classes, but it would look weird if I was caught in the hallway by one of the mentors while my double sat in class. So the only time I think I can get away with it is just before training."

She breathed a deep sigh again and said sadly, "I see you've thought of everything. Are you sure I can't talk you out of it?"

"Hey," Cam said cupping her face in his hand as he stroked her cheek with his finger, "are you doubting my mad skills?"

"A little yeah," she looked down at her hands then that were knotted on her lap with worry.

"Meg the brew turned out beautifully. It might even be the best thing I've ever concocted. No worries okay?" he ran his finger over her full bottom lip as she snaked her tongue out to damper her dry lips.

He kissed her then long and deep and tasted the ocean spray on her tongue.

He leaned back then and looked her deep in her beautiful blue eyes and said with conviction, "Ours is a fairytale romance but we're the ones that make it. No phobia, curse, or potion will ever come between us. You're stuck with me Babe so get used to it. "

She kissed him then and if she kept kissing him like that they were never making it to school let alone first class.

"Wow," he said, "what was that for?"

"That was for reminding me why I love you so much. Now get your sexy butt out of my car before I show you how I really feel-- right here, right now."

"Really," Cam leaned in suggestively.

"NOW!" She barked which got his ass in gear.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cam snuck into the bathroom before training at the last bell and went immediately to the handicapped stall. He didn't know what the side effects of the split might be but he guessed he would probably need a little more elbow room then the cramped regular stall provided.

He stripped naked not knowing what to expect. He hope he wasn't going to psychically split in two because that would truly suck but if he did he didn't want to rip his clothes. He even brought along extra clothing just in case.

Meg was waiting outside for his double to make sure he ended up in the gym and not wandering around. Connor and Olivia would take over once he was in the gym and look after him while they trained with Conte. They were all set it was just a matter of taking the concoction.

He took a deep breath and counted to three before prying open the rubbed stopper of the tincture vial and downing the whole thing. That was one of the pieces of information left out in the otherwise very detailed instructions. He couldn't be sure that he was supposed to have a drop or the whole thing. Well he thought in for a penny in for a pound.

When he doubled over in agony, he second guessed his alchemical affinity, and when he started to rip apart lengthwise he had to grab his t-shirt and stuff it in his mouth to keep himself from screaming bloody murder.

Tears of sheer anguish raced down his cheeks and his vision blurred from the pain. When he realized that they hadn't blurred from the pain but from the splitting of his head into two halves he nearly passed right the 'F' out. It had sounded like the squashing of an over ripe grape; he tried to gag but he lacked the proper implements to do it anymore.

He was writhing on the floor praying that there was more to this process then this. And stupid stupid him had never even given any thought to reversing the procedure. That was another thing the ancient text had neglected to mention.

When his other half that had taken up residence on the opposite of the stall started growing the necessary limbs he was relieved to see he was doing the same. He had no reference for how long it had taken, but he could truthfully say: he never wanted it to ever happen again. Yup when he got home he was ripping this brew out of his grimoire for good.

After what seemed like forever the complete replica of him sat across from him. Staring at him like a Mattell doll, but looking only half as bright. He dressed him and walked him to the bathroom door on shaky legs.

When Meg took one look at his too pale face she started to ask, but he silenced her with a raised hand.

"I'm fine and relatively in one piece aside from that I never want to talk about what happened in there ever again okay?"

She just giggled and said, "Okay."

"I'll see you after school okay. Just bring him out to the Bug if he doesn't disappear. "

He bent over to kiss her then and his replica went to do the same.

"Hey," he hissed, "hands off my girl."

"Hey this could be interesting," she said with a smirk before winking at him.

"Don't even joke about it." He whined.

She just walked away laughing and wiggling her ass suggestively.

"I mean it," he said, "hands off the creepy me doll."

"Megan . . . you hear me!"

All he could hear was her departing laughter. 

****************** THANKS FOR READING********************

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