Yet, all fun is not meant to last. Robin came striding into the kitchen, her mask on her face as usual. She had placed it on in Jasmine's carriage earlier. But, now she needed to make a new one, since the dye was starting to drip down due to that potion earlier.

"Lock the door, Pons.h.i.+eu." She said with a bit of gloom in her voice.

"Hero Robin? Puh-! Er... What exactly happened?" Keith asked, holding back his laughter.

Robin looked at him a pleasant smile on her face, one which Keith knew very well meant that things were not very pleasant. "You might ask that of Prince Christian. He is very much aware of what happened, since he is the sole perpetrator." Robin said, mincing her words to an unequaled clarity.

Keith, unable to hold in his mirth, left the kitchen in search of Christian. Gerard locked the door behind Keith again.

"Pons.h.i.+eu." She said. "I need powdered gelatin, water, and-do you have any glycerine?" Pons.h.i.+eu shook his head. "Then I'll need white vinegar, coconut oil, salt, and some lye." She also grabbed several pots, pans, and utensils, and moved over to a side counter.

"What are you making with that?" Gerard asked.

Robin glanced at Gerard, and sighed. "A new mask. This one will definitely be waterproof!" When Pons.h.i.+eu arrived with the ingredients, Robin glanced at them, then asked Pons.h.i.+eu. "I am rather curious, though: how do you acquire powdered gelatin?"

"We have a castle alchemist who is good at that. We usually pa.s.s him animal byproducts which we can't cook like hoofs and such." Pons.h.i.+eu said. "In return, he can keep some of whatever he makes for his experiments."

Robin nodded. "All right, then. Pons.h.i.+eu, I will show you how to make glycerine." And Robin explained that Glycerine is a natural alcohol that is a byproduct of soap-making.

"So, we're going to be making soap?" Pons.h.i.+eu asked, confused.

"A vegetable-based soap, yes. That's why I asked you to grab some lye." Robin nodded.

"Then, do you mind if I go grab a soap mold?" Pons.h.i.+eu asked. "I really don't want to have one of my pans be sacrificed to hold the soap while it cools."

"Good idea. Oh, and grab a bottle with a cork stopper, too. I'll need that for the glycerine" She said, as she put on a pair of gloves. Pons.h.i.+eu did so, and he also put the food he cooked away in warming cabinets to retain their heat until lunch time.

"One more thing-do you have any way of telling how hot a liquid is?" Robin asked.

"We have a color-changing scale of the lavsalamander." Pons.h.i.+eu replied.

"Oh? Explain to me how it works." Robin said, intrigued.

'Well, At room temperature, it is usually a dark blue." Pons.h.i.+eu explained. "Boiling temperature is Yellow. Half over twice that temperature is Orange, and half-step to Lava is red. That is the normal temperature of those beasts."

"So, half of boiling temperature is Green?" Robin asked.

"I would a.s.sume so, yes." Pons.h.i.+eu replied.

Robin did a few calculations. "Well, it won't be perfect, but it should still be possible!" She nodded.

Pons.h.i.+eu came back with a long dark blue scale, and Robin heated a mixture of one cup of Coconut Oil, and one cup of Olive Oil on the stovetop. She carefully added 2 tablespoons of Lye, and One cup of water, keeping a pot lid in front of her to avoid the splatter. Then she heated the mixture until the scale became a bright shade of chartreuse, stirring it to make sure it was mixed thoroughly (approximately 125 degrees).

She lowered the temperature once everything was blended together properly. The scale now had darkened to a nice emerald green (approx 100 degrees). She kept it at that heat, stirring until the mixture was thick enough that it would still hold the shape of the spoon's path for a few seconds after stirring. Then, She poured half a cup of salt into the mixture and stirred it one last time before setting it aside to cool for a bit.

Once it had cooled a bit, the soapy part congealed at the top, while the glycerine was the byproduct liquid underneath it. All that was left to do was to skim the soap off and stick it into a mold to cool completely. Gerard helped to pack the soap into the mold, making sure that none of it was left in Pons.h.i.+eu's pot. Then they stored the glycerine in the air-tight bottle to await its use.

The glycerine in the bottle would have a shelf life of three weeks to one month if placed in a cool room. Robin wanted to make sure that she had the ingredients in case she needed to make her mask again, so she instructed Pons.h.i.+eu to place it somewhere the other chefs wouldn't touch it in the cooling room after they were done with it.

Once they had done so, Robin moved on to make the glue. She quickly brought six tablespoons of water to a boil and then removed it from heat, adding three tablespoons of gelatin into it and mixing thoroughly. Then she added two tablespoons of white vinegar, and two tablespoon of glycerine into the solution and stirred, mixing thoroughly. And, that was it. The glue was finished.

She enjoyed learning how to make things like this using natural home products. It wasn't part of her survival training, but it could be said that her handicrafting for homemade products was the flip side of the coin. The handicraft part made certain that she could live more comfortably wherever she went. Also, knowing how to make waterproof glue was VERY handy. Robin couldn't tell how many times she had made it before.

"Could you please get me some dye or some quick-drying paints?" Robin asked. Pons.h.i.+eu smiled and brought out a few small bottles. "Vegetable dyes." He said. "I sometimes make them when I'm free."

Then, Robin withdrew the notebook she was using for sc.r.a.p paper, and tore several sheets out of it. The glue was ready, so there was no reason not to start. She once more drew out the design for the mask and cut it out of the paper This would be the base. She cut out the eye holes and coated the whole thing in glue.

Then she tore the rest of the paper up into strips, which she took a few moments to fas.h.i.+on into feathers. These feathers were colored with the dye first, then affixed to the mask. the color scheme was the same as the first one: brown with white around the eyes. The beak part was left practically untouched until Robin painted it a bright dandelion yellow.

With the glue, the dye, and the paper feathers the whole thing soon took shape in Robin's hands as the new and improved Robin mask. Then Robin coated the whole thing in a top layer of glue, which added a layer of s.h.i.+ne to the mask as if it were lacquered wood instead of paper. There was no remaining glue, and half of Pons.h.i.+eu's sepia dye had been used.

All that was left was for it to dry. Robin placed the mask on a tray and brought it back with her to her room, carefully storing it by the bedside. Then she once more went to the bathroom to take a bath.

The Baff attendant fairy burst out laughing. "Ahahahahaaha! What happened to you!? Did you apply makeup to that mask? Because it's dripped down your face! Oh! Oh I can't breath!" She chortled.

"Do you have any soap that can remove dyes?" Robin sighed and asked.