A Lesson in Composition (Dick and Arsen)

Richard sighed, sitting down behind the desk of his very spartan office. The office was almost bare, with a door to his personal quarters opposite the door to the classroom, two filled bookcases and the desk and chairs. The solid oak desk was probably the most striking feature of the rather barren office and that was why Richard loved it so much. It was oak, a brilliant wood to transfigure, and it was large enough to put all of his work on it and still have room to spare. And right now, he was marking some summer work while he waited for his newest apprentice, Arsen Barela. Hades' adopted son and newest 'golden' boy.

Arsen sighed as he made his way to yet another lesson Hades had signed him up for although he did rather like that he'd be learner things the other wouldn't. He crossed the transfiguration classroom over to Professor Romains office and knocked on the door waiting silently for a reply.

Richard waved a hand casually and the door slammed open loudly. He looked up from his work to look at Arsen. He raised an eyebrow,

"So... you're the one that Hades' sends to me to learn advanced material..." he looked the slytherin boy up and down before sighing, "Sit."

He stood up from his seat, pulling on a pair of dragon hide gloves as he did so,

"Tell me Arsen... do you know what makes up the human body?"

Arsen jumped slightly at the sound of the door slamming open as he never expected it. He looked up to see Professor Romain sat behind his desk.

"Erm... yes sir."He said lowering his eyebrows, he hadn't seen much of this professor but from what Hades had said he was good at what he did. He stuck his hands in his pockets not entirely sure what to do as he looked him up and down. He slowly made his way to the seat opposite his desk and sat down and watched as Rich stood and made his way around the desk, pulling on gloves as he did so.

"Erm well apart from all the bones and organs you mean?" He asked just to make use. "Well i suppose matter, everything is made from matter, right?" He guessed not entirely sure that was right.

Richard nodded,

"You were paying attention in class." he noted dryly, "But the matter that makes up a human body has been listed, completely."

He took out a tiny box, set it on the floor, and quickly un-shrunk it with a wave of his wand. The large trunk opened to reveal several heaped piles of loose material and dozens of filled bell-jars. Richard began to recite,

"35 litres of water, 20 kilograms of carbon, four litres of ammonia, one-and-a-half kilograms of lime, 800 grams of phosphorus, 250 grams of salt, 100 grams of Saltpeter, 100 grams of nitre, 80 grams of sulphur, seven-and-a-half grams of fluorine, five grams of iron, three grams of silicon." he looked up at Arsen, "And trace amounts of fifteen other elements."

He shook his head slightly,

"Everything you need to make the average adult human male." he frowned, "But to do so is wrong. Against nature and magic. So I won't teach you that."

He looked the boy square in the eye,

"You will learn this off by heart because I am going to teach you a spell which breaks people down into these compounds and elements."

Arsen watched and listened carefully, as the professor talked about everything that made up the human body. He never knew so much was involved in making the body, a few bones, muscles and a bit of blood yes but this, this was new.

He squinted his eyes a little taking in each ingredient trying to remember everything he saw. But it was no good it would definately take a while to remember everything.

"When exactly am i meant to of memorised this for, because there is no way i'm gonna remember all of that before i leave." He said looking back up to Professor Romain.

"It would be cool though being able to make other human beings." He thought, he could recruit them to his side. "Cool would that kill them if we break apart their bodies into these elements?" He asked.

Richard chuckled,

"Don't worry... you'll figure it out over the course of a few lessons." he shrugged a little and tossed Arsen a small, over-stuffed notebook, "You can use that as a 'textbook'."

He frowned a little bit and pointed at him sternly,

"Tell no one of that book Arsen." he stared hard at the boy, "That book is a secret, passed from master to apprentice. It contains the elemental make-up of everything five generations of masters could think to examine."

He chuckled a little,

"As for making a human being... well let's just say that it doesn't work." he frowned a little, "We still have no way of manipulating souls. And until we do, all we can make is a souless thing which dies upon it's first breath."

He frowned a little,

"Well to answer your question about killing..." he gestured at the piles, "Say hello to my brother Calab."

"Thanks." He said flicking through the 'textbook' to get a brief understanding out what was inside. "Don't worry i'll guard this book with my life." He said turning it to the first page. "So this has been passed down through generations of wizards?" He asked, he loved anything like that. "And now your passing it down to me?" He asked staring down at the first page.

"Oh i really wanted to make myself an army." He smiled unzipping his coat to make himself more comfortable. "What? Really? That's your brother." He laughed. "Wow you really are twisted." He continued lifting his hand up for a high five.

Richard smiled a little,

"In that book you will find the rantings of Ravin, the mumblings of Malard, the commentaries of Crimona and a bit of my own research." he smirked, "I worked on blood for the most part. How to isolate the components of a person's blood and, at a moment's notice, transform it into another element. My favourite was a spell to transform the water in the blood plasma into lead. Really screws up a person's system."

He chuckled a little and gave Arsen the high five,

"Well the little creep deserved it." he cast a glance at the materials, "At least this way he's useful."

Shaking his head a little, Richard smiled cheerfully,

"Now to teach you a little taster spell... to transfigure some blood into water." he pulled a small vial of blood out of his robes, "Blood is already mostly water based so it shouldn't be too difficult. What do you know about the composition of blood already?"

Arsen flicked through the book amazed at it's value. "Yeah i bet it does. How does the person react? Do they die instantly or do they suffer?" He asked wanting to know what the spell could be used for.

He laughed. "If only i'd known this before my parents died i would of done the same to them." He said looking down at Professor Romains brother. "It's just a shame they were killed by the thing they treasure most, i always told them it would kill them but did they listen? No, i was locked away." He said having flash backs of that day. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself, his face paleing just remembering how close he had been. "Hey Calab hows it going?" He asked looking back up to his Professor "Doen't speak much does he?" He smiled, "That is so twisted, i like it. Will i be able to do that?" He asked pointing down at the elements on the floor.

He watched as he pulled out the vial of blood, wondering where he had gotten it from. "Erm.. not a lot. It's not something i take an interest in usually." He said looking up into his face. "Who did you kill for that? A muggle i hope." He said pulling out his wand.

Richard chuckled lightly as he looked thoughtful,

"Oh they die really quite quickly, but the faces they pull... now those are unique." he chuckled, "And watching them try to cast a spell, only to realise that they can't move their wands or move any of their muscles... now that is quite amusing."

He smirked,

"Ah a fellow hater-of-his-sires..." he chuckled a little, "Although I got the satisfaction of killing my parents. I used a spell to turn my mother's blood into iron... she's still stood there, stock still, in the middle of trying to fire a dark spell at me. Quite amusing really. Her heart stopped when the blood inside it turned to solid iron. My father... well I made him suffer. He didn't die from one spell. He died from the collective effects of dozens of spells. And even then he only died, after five days, because I physically couldn't keep him alive anymore."

He tapped the side of one of the bell jars with his toe,

"I know... Calab is such an awful conversationalist." he grinned, "Oh you'll be able to do that in a couple of years Arsen. But even then it is rather impractical to use in a deal. Takes ages to cast. Best use is to make an example of someone, to let others watch as their ally breaks apart on an elemental level before being neatly arranged into piles."

Richard smiled slightly,

"Biology and Chemistry are both Muggle dominated areas but they work wonders in this area of spellcasting. One of their few contributions to the world at large is their discoveries... discovering how our bodies work and then discovering how to kill more effectively." he pointed to the book, "Don't worry about memorising it right now but the make-up of human blood is in the book. Page 29 I believe."

He shook the vial slightly and watched the blood swirl,

"No, this blood was taken from a rather nasty Romanian bounty hunter. The guy held a grudge over how I've beaten him into the ground, while running through Stockholm. Tried to smoke me out of a small village by burning a house at a time with fiendfyre." he scowled, "So I made him bleed, until he was clearly going to die, before I used the most dangerous spells in that book... the magical backlash is something that will kill you if you don't know what you're doing but it is unlike anything else so you must try it first to get experience and know what to do."

He smiled,

"Did you know that fiendfyre is in fact liquid when it is first cast? And as a liquid... it is fairly easy to swap it for another liquid." he grinned, "I swapped the fiendfyre for his remaining blood. Burned him alive from the inside."

"Oh well it's good if you wanna get it over and done with, but some people deserve to die painfully." He shrugged rubbing the hidden scar on his chest. "But i bet it is funny seeing the look on their face, you'll have to show me it sometime." He smiled "I could do with a laugh."

"My parents caused me nothing but a life of loneliness and misery. I'm glad they are dead, i just wish i had the chance to kill them myself." He took a deep breath then smiled. "Remind me never to get on your bad side." He laughed. "I think i'm beginning to like you more and more professor, there arent a lot of professors out there like you. You make things more fun."

His face couldn't help but scrunch up in disgust at the mention of muggles, they kept creeping up everywhere and he didn't like it. He reached over to his book and turned to page 29, quickly scimming over the words.

"Wow i never even knew this magic was even possible, never mind actually being able to do this myself. I can't wait to use it against people." He imagined the fear in peoples faces as he used this type of magic on them, they would have no idea what was happening. He smiled to himself.

"No how can fire start as water? I thought water put fires out." He said his eyebrows lowering maybe that was why it couldn't be put out with water, because it had started as water its self. "Ouch i bet that hurt." He laughed, wondering why he had never heard of anything like this before.

Richard tutted playfully,

"Murder is illegal." he told Arsen before he burst out laughing, "Oh boy... could not keep a straight face."

He smirked,

"Most students would probably call this conversation 'mentally scarring' as opposed to fun." he replied with a grin, "But then again... most students are weak willed shut-ins who have been shown only their parent's 'perfect' view of the world."

Richard grinned,

"Most poeple are entirely ignorant of this branch of magic..." he leant in close to whisper, "Keep it that way Arsen. Don't let anyone but the dead know the details."

He smiled a little,

"Fiendfyre doesn't start as water, it starts as almost like an oil or an acid. It ignites within the first two seconds so everyone considers it simply as fire. However..." he opened his shirt and pulled it aside to let Arsen see the splash-like burn on his left ribs, "I know different."

He laughed along with Professor Romain only stopping to say. "It's only illegal to us the ministry are free to do as they please as long as they can make up a good reason for it." He said continuing the laughter, it was laughable to be sat here with someone who had murdered so many people, yet he was telling him it was illegal. "I'm afraid i'm gonna have to arrest you Professor the whole Barela family have been members of the ministry, it's time i stepped up to take my rightful place." He said managing to hold a straight face a little longer than Professor Romain before he too burst out laughing.

"Well i'm not most students, i'm stronger that they are because i'm willing to try anything. They are limited in their power because they don't know any better." He explained putting his hands in his pockets and sitting back to relax more, he didn't relax around anyone.

"Oh trust me i love the element of surprise no one is gonna know about this, not unless they are seconds away from death." He smiled. "How did you stop the fire? After it burnt you i mean."

Richard smirked,

"You try and arrest me and I'll have to tell on you." he grinned playfully, "I doubt Hades would like to hear about how his 'little boy' is a ministry man. He might just die of shame!"

He waved it off a little as he sat back down in his seat,

"Don't be too hard on your classmates Arsen. Most of them have been spoon-fed the ministry line." he shrugged a little, "And hell, some of them are willing to put forward extra work for... less respected areas of magic. Miss Starr, from your transfiguration class, is one such student. You are another."

He grinned,

"I'll let you know if I find others but I'm not too hopeful." he joked. His eyes turned dark for a second before he managed to smile it away, "On instinct I fired a cutting curse at myself. I took off all of the skin on the left side of my chest. The fire was attached to the skin and fell away. Shocked my brother enough for me to tear out his throat with my... modified glove."

He smiled. "Would i do that Professor? Really?" He laughed spreading his arms out. "Oh please don't Hades would kill me. Well i after i kill myself, i'm the opposite of what a Barela is and i plan to keep it that way."

"I've met two people that haven't been brainwashed, Eva being one of them and her cousin the other. It's not normal for people to be blind to what is right in front of them, is it? Surely not they all have eyes why don't they use them?" He sighed he hated watching everyone walking around happily without a care in the world.

"Ouch that must of hurt, but i suppose you've got to do what you can to survive. "People just don't realise you need to be prepared for the unexpected. A seconds hesitation is enought to kill you. Shame your brother didn't know that." He shrugged "How many people have you killed so far?" He asked interested.

Richard grinned,

"Well now... I guess you're lucky to have a Malfoy raising you now then aren't you?" he replied jokingly before shrugging, "Nothing wrong with a life-time of service, even if it is to the ministry. Shows a strong sense of commitment. Honour. Of course honour does you no good against a spell. Or a blade. Or a bullet."

He sighed a little,

"Arsen... most are born with two eyes, two ears and only one mouth. I could be argued that whatever gods exist made us this way so that we may watch and listen twice as much as we talk. Personally I'm a believer in evolution; that we developed two eyes to better spot predator and prey and that we developed two ears to better track our prey and evade our predators. Either way... you should talk only half as much as you see and only half as much as you listen." he waved a hand and a flask flew across the room to slid into his hand, "Now you and I both know that's not how it works in today's world. Today a man is blind until the obvious is close enough to strike him across the face. Today a man is deaf until there is nothing but the truth left to listen to. Today a man will open his mouth, sprout his opinion and issue useless threats before he engages his mind."

Taking a sip from the flask, he tilted his head to the side slightly,

"Tell me Arsen... do you think that a man today has half the intelligence he had thousands of years ago? A man a thousand years ago would hunt, he would kill and he would think. Looking at say... the ministry officials, supposedly the top witches and wizards in the country. Do you believe that they think? Really think?" he shook his head, "Our world is full of people, both muggle and magical, who ignore the truth daily, who refuse to see what is staring them in the face and shouting in their ears. They refuse to believe that 'their' world can be anything other than peaceful and forgiving. You and I know otherwise Arsen. Hades and Professor Blake know otherwise. Evageline and Belinda are open to the idea and they will learn. Almost everyone else... well they say ignorance is bliss."

Richard chuckled a little,

"It was a shame really. He was my older brother, always lorded his superiority in firing curses over me." he grinned, "And in the end I killed him with the element of surprise and a simple transfiguration to give my glove a punch dagger. Not a single curse fired from my wand. Just charms and transfiguration."

He whistled a little and stared up at the ceiling for a bit,

"Whoa boy... now that is a tough question..." he breathed out a deep breath and pointed to the flask on the desk, "You can have some by the way. It's only some german beer, quite a weak one too."

For a few moments he was quiet and his eyes lost their focus,

"Eight from my family alone... sixteen Romanians from the Maline family... twenty two from families connected to the Maline family... fifteen bounty hunters... ten aurors from Romania... twelve aurors from Germany... that one band of mercenaries the Malines sent after me was thirty people... but I only killed thirteen of them... I think that's all. Oh! Wait, there was that one obsessive serial killer too." he paused again and his eyes regained their focus. He smiled weakly at Arsen, "So that's ninty seven. That I am certain of, not sure if some died of wounds or if there was collateral damage."

He leant forwards and rubbed tiredly at his eyes,

"And I remember every inch of every face. I remember every detail of the fights before each death. Every move they made leading to their deaths. Every mistake in their form and stance." he smiled a little but it was hollow, "I see the light leaving their eyes. They flash through my mind every night..."

He grinned suddenly,

"Oh well... the punishment nature gives it's hunters eh?"

"I'd never work for the ministry, well not until someone decent takes over anyway. I don't agree with their methods, they are all wrong." He said looking around at the room taking in more detail. "I don't care about honour, honour won't get you anywhere."

"I know it sucks being one of the only ones to see the truth." He sighed again he hated not being able to talk freely to people without having them turn around and bite you for saying something they didn't like.

"Yes and no, some people and i'm thinking a small minority of the people do still have the intelligence, those are the one that are smart enough to think for themselves, those who embrace power and make it a part of themselves. The majority of people have lost intelligence altogether, thanks to the ministry brain washing people. Well that's what i think anyway." He shrugged.

"I know that's what i mean, it's hard not to feel alone at times like these. With no one to talk too, exept Hades. I love having Hades as a father and everything don't get me wrong, i'm the happiest i've ever been now, but i need to talk to other people too." He looked down to his ring, the ring his father used to wear before he stole it from him, he was after all the last Barela standing so the Barela ring was rightfully his.

"Wow where do i get a glove like that?" He smiled, "There are so many branches of magic out there and i'm just starting to find tiny pieces of them."

"As much as i'd love too, i don't think i can. I don't really trust you yet... don't take it personally or anything, i have trust issues." He shrugged. "Everyone that ever cared about me ended up hurting me for one reason or another." He looked up at the ceiling he hated all this, his parents had really screwed up his life.

"Wow that is a lot of people, doesn't it like ruin your soul to kill. Your soul must be seriously messed up if that is the case." He smiled trying to change the subject from himself.

"You must be an expert on killing then if you take note of all their mistakes." He said remembering to take note on all his opponents mistakes so he could make sure never to do them himself.

He laughed. "Us hunter anre the only real people in the world at the minute."

Richard shrugged,

"Honour's a nice thing to have. Kind of like a fancy painting." he smirked, "Great to show off to people from high society. But it means absolutely nothing in the real world."

He smiled a little,

"Don't kid yourself Arsen. People were blind and deaf before the ministries started up." he thought about it for a moment before grinning, "Of course it might have sped up the process."

He shrugged a little,

"I can't say I really felt alone up until I came to this school. Well, I probably was but I never really realised it." he frowned, "I didn't realise a lot of things. I learnt that I had sociopathic tendencies when I was thirteen and it's been really good to block out most unpleasent emotions and situations. After awhile everything becomes a series of motions, life has no colour to it so you don't really care that you're alone. I suggest that you continue trying to get to know people, a lot less depressing in the end."

With a smile, he slammed his right hand forwards, bent backwards to extend his palm outwards. During the motion, the bottom of his glove expanded into a thin blade and turned to steel. The punch dagger had both the energy of being formed and the energy of being in motion and so easily punched clean through the flask. He smirked, his wand tip glowed briefly, and the punch dagger fell apart, now falling to the table top as sand,

"It's one part of my training that you will not be learning unfortunately." he told the boy with a slight smile, "You'll have to content yourself with being able to turn water into wine, bone into steel and blood into lead. I hope that's not too bad for you. I have to have some secrets."

Richard smiled a little,

"I'm not a religious man, I'm not sure that there is a something called a 'soul'. But if it did... I'm afraid you might be right." he joked, chuckling a little, "I have a near photo-graphic memory. Real pain in the ass most of the time. You'd know if you could remember seeing your kneecap after it had exploded. Still get phantom pain from that because I can think of it so clearly. But it certainly has worked to give me an edge in battles."

He smirked,

"Oh you aren't a hunter yet my apprentice." he chuckled, "Soon enough though most likely. When you take the life of someone with the same capabilites as you... when you turn them from hunter to prey... once you've seen the light leave their eyes... then you will be a hunter. And I'm banking on you being a damned good one."

He shrugged he didn't care much for honour it wouldn't get him anywhere in life with just honour.

"Wow you sound like Hades, you two are more alike than you think, he's lived his life with nothing but anger on his side. Any other emotion is forgien to him." He said. "I'm heading the same way i think, emotions are pointless and just get in the way of things. It will be easier to get rid of them all." He thought looking across at Professor Romain. "I sure hope so Professor." He sighed it would be nice to finally have some friends.

Arsen jumped a little as he slammed his fist into this flask. "A little warning would have been nice. I may be young but i can still have a heart attack." He laughed sitting up straighter in his seat.

"That's not fair i'd love to punch someone wearing that." He smiled picturing hitting his father shame the muggles got there before him. He shrugged. "That will do, it'll cause quite a lot of fuss seeing your friend slowly being torn into their elements." He smiled.

"I'm your apprentice?" He asked, he loved to be part of things like this. "I can't wait." He smiled not a lot of eleven years olds dream of killing their first victim but he did all the time. "I hope so, i want to be the best one day like you and Hades. I'm going to make my own spells to take people down." He smiled rubbing his hands together. "Right where do we start?"

Richard smiled a little,

"I think Hades and I are more different than alike... even if we are very alike in some cases." he paused a little and rubbed tiredly at his eyes, "He embraced the life of no emotions, barring immediately useful ones such as anger and hate. I... well I didn't so much embrace it as work with it. I didn't use my anger much, I used the clarity to pick people apart, finding their weaknesses and hammering at them until they stopped moving."

He chuckled,

"Well you can ask Eva once I've finished teaching it to her. She might show you how to do that, but no promises on the rest I'll be teaching her!" he replied with a grin, "Oh it's great fun. And a good way to get rid of bodies too."

Richard smiled,

"Yes, you're my apprentice in this field of... composition. Or, as my master once called it, active alchemy." he smirked a bit, "Human beings are squishy little things Arsen. If you wanted to you could kill one right now, if you caught them by surprise. But I, and probably Hades as well, will teach you how to kill some with something else entirely. Style of course!"

He laughed before holding the vial of water out again,

"Alright... point your wand at this vial. Concentrate on the water, and nothing else." he smiled, "Then say only this; 'Et converte ad Sangui'."

Arsen shrugged, "If you say so, but i think your more a like than different." He said crossing his arms across his chest. "Well other than the emotions thing, but he has his reason for not wanting to feel. I sometimes think he has the right idea. Who needs emotions when all they cause is pain?" He asked seriously thinking about asking Hades how he does it.

"Yeah i think i'll do that, it's interesting to learn all the different types of magic out there, to be the best you need to learn everything and anything right?" He asked scratching his left arm. "Well that will come in handy when i turn killer like you guys, which wont be long hopefully im sick and tired of being the prey."

"Cool, i've never known an apprentice before." He smiled. "Of course that's another thing you have in common you both like to experiment with magic, pushing it to it's limits. I'm sure Hades will teach me all he knows, i will after all take over from him some day. I can't let the Malfoy name down now can i? Even if i'm not going to use it as my own." He smiled running his hand through his hair.

Arsen took out his wand and aimed it at the glass. He took a deep breath, picturing nothing but the glass of water in his mind then said the words loud and clear. "Et convert ad Sangui."

He shrugged a little,

"Ask me that question again when you've found a girl you're in love with Arsen." he commented with a small smirk, "Then you tell me that it's better to be unfeeling."

Richard scratched his chin absently,

"I am currently experimenting at the moment actually..." he frowned a little, "It's new. No one has ever been able to do it before, even the older masters of this craft. But I've got the drive for it. It's not just for the sake of experimenting, it's for someone who needs my help."

He smirked and nodded,

"And when you first become a hunter I'll buy you a drink." he replied before shrugging, "If you've not just drank some of the water from the body... great way to hide pints of water that would otherwise not be there."


Richard watched with a small smile as the water turned slightly pink. He patted Arsen on the back,

"Well done Arsen!" he picked up the test tube and opened it. He took a couple of sniffs at it before grinning, "This water is now 5% human blood. Congratulations, you've made your first step to becoming an alchemist."

"Do you believe that everyone has someone out there then?" He asked not sure when this love would come his way. "Cause i'm not too sure that's even possible, i dont even know what love is. No one has ever shown me." He said remembering the last minutes of his mothers life trying to decide if that was love, she had after all asked them not to hurt him. He shook his head and looked back up to the professor.

"I just think life would be easier without them that's all my life is so screwed up right now i don't no if im coming or going." He sighed rubing his Barela ring with his thumb.

"Who need's your help? What are you helping them with?" He asked wanting to know if this branch of magic seemed like a good idea to learn. "Oh sorry you dont need to tell me if you don't want to, my curiosity gets the better of me sometimes." He said giving a little smirk before letting his face fall back into his mask.

"I'll hold you to that i might need one." He smiled. "You never know they could give me one hell of a fight, so that drink could be with me with one arm hanging off." He sniggered imagining his first fight, he hoped they would give him a fight it made things more fun. "Ew that's gross im not drinking anything from a person." He smiled.

"Really? How do you know it's 5%?" He asked watching him guess just by smelling it. He took hold of the test tube to smell it himself. "It doesn't smell of anything." He frowned his eyebrows lowering in confusion.

"Believe me Arsen... I didn't believe it either." he replied with a slight smile, "I was raised by a baby-making whore of a mother and a 'soldier' bastard of a father. I was raised to hate my brothers and sisters. I know what it's like not to know love but I've found that it does exist. Hell, it hits you harder if you try not to look for it."

Richard shrugged a little,

"Can't argue with that. They muddy the water a hell of a lot." he frowned a little, "But you can't hold them away forever. And the longer you hold them back the worse the knockback will be."

He waved it off with a small smile,

"Curiosity is to be encouraged Arsen." he smirked, "I can't tell you who it's for, that's a surprise, but I will tell you what it is I'm putting the finishing touches on."

He paused a little before grinning,

"I've made a working human heart from scratch!" his grin widened, "I made it from the elements up... making it the most genetically perfect human heart in existence. Not only that... but I created it in a fluid statis field so it actually functions outside the body, allowing me to test it."

Richard stuck his tongue out at the boy,

"Oh grow up... it's totally pure water."

He tapped the side of his nose with a smirk,

"Little trick I picked up from a very dangerous man. I can enhance my sense of smell for brief periods of time enough to be able to detect various elements, and have generally improved smell all of the time." his smirked faded, "That man taught me that, a way to perfect my craft even more, and gave me only one other thing... a pair of shattered and broken kneecaps. Cobalt Smith was his name."