Secrets of The Alchemist

Chapter 4

Alistar

The familiar smell of old books lingered in the air as I stepped inside, chills running down my arms. My hands went searching for the light switch, I could sense Myrsky walking past me, soon bumping into what was most likely a pile of thick books. He yelped in pain, and I turned to what I assumed was his direction, and shushed him quickly before going back to feeling for the light switch. 

The second I turned back around however, I heard the same familiar yelp, sounding more like a shriek this time. I whipped back around and remained on guard, before suddenly the room brightened, the dim, yellowish tone of the room’s ceiling light now filling the room. A tall figure stood in front of Myrsky, and I recognized him instantly.

“Alistar you nearly gave us a heart attack.” I said with a huff. “Especially him.” I nod my head to the direction of Myrsky, who 

coughed to cover his embarrassment. Alistar ignores him and walks up to me with a very clear displeased look, his arms folded over his chest as he sighed.

    “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all night, you can’t just storm out when we’re in the middle of a conversation and then come back with a boy I don’t even know--,” I interrupted him before he could get any further into his lecture. 

   

“Yes yes, I’ve learned my lesson, but right now we have something much more important to discuss.” Alistar quirks an eyebrow, shaking his head as his arms stay firmly crossed. I motion Myrsky to get closer to us, he nervously walks over, looking up at Alistar, and then looking at me swiftly, for what looked like some kind of reassurance before speaking.

    “Uh, hello…sir.” He holds his hand out for a handshake. I reach out my own hand to push it down as I shake my head, knowing this was not the time for formalities. 

    “Why are you holding a broken broom?” Alistar tilted his head down slightly to look at the dark haired boy questioningly.

   

“We have a more important issue on our hands.”  I look at Myrsky expectantly.

    “Show him the necklace.” 

He fumbles with his bag, hurrying to pull out the powerful piece of jewelry. He hands it to Alistar, who by now is more visibly confused, cautiously taking the necklace into his hands and was likely feeling for any alchemical traces. In the blink of an eye, his expression darkened, now more serious than I’ve ever seen him before. 

   

“Where did you find this?” he asked in a low voice, looking at Myrsky with his eyebrows intensely furrowed. Myrsky fidgeted for a moment before responding hesitantly.

   

“I was supposed to deliver it to Sotheby’s for an auction, the man who gave it to me was the man who usually gives me the items to deliver.” He looked at Alistar in the eyes, asserting that he wasn’t lying. “On the way to the auction house I was chased by a bunch of thieves in dark cloaks.” I couldn’t keep in my theory any longer, it was now my turn to interject.

   

“I believe they’re a part of the Legion of Mortem.” I looked up to see Alistars' eyes staring intensely into mine with intense concern.

   

“Uh, the what?” Myrsky cut into the silence of my statement, the obliviousness in his voice almost made me sigh. Almost. 

    “ Legion of Mortem, they’re bad people and now they’re after you.” My curt response was met with an eye roll from Alistar. 

    “What my troublesome pupil means is that we have an enemy in this world of Alchemy, Thanatos, a man who made some bad decisions and created the other side to this world. He leads the Legion of Mortem, who practice Necromancy.” He holds the necklace up for Myrsky and I to see better. “The gem you see in this necklace is a chunk of the Stone of Knowledge. Something every alchemist wants to get their hands on.” 

   

“Wait, how do you know that this is actually the ‘Stone of Knowledge’ and why is everyone willing to break their back for it?” Myrsky asked.

    “The Stone of knowledge has been reported throughout history to have a different, more powerful type of alchemy, one that could expand the knowledge of alchemy as we know it.” Alistar explained. “Any alchemist could immediately tell something about this gem was abnormal.” 

Alistar put his hand out, his eyes focused on his palm, uttering the incantation for transporting items.

“Transportari.” In the blink of an eye, a peculiar wooden box with familiar alchemical symbols engraved around all the sides. My peripheral could spot Myrsky looking wide eyed, his jaw practically hitting the floor, I cracked a small smile out of amusement. It faded as soon as I remembered another important detail that needed to be mentioned to Alistar.

“Alistar, I need to talk to you about something else as well.” I said as he put the necklace in the box, based on my knowledge, it was most likely a sealed box that only he could access. He looked at me for a second as he walked to the store counter, raising an eyebrow before motioning for me to join him. My eyes signaled for Myrsky to remain where he was before I walked away.

“I’m aware of the situation at hand and I hate to add more onto our plate.” I looked over at Myrsky for a split second, watching him look around the store as he held onto the broken broom he brought along, before looking back at Alistar.

“That boy over there isn’t an alchemist, however, he was able to fly a broom with the most powerful wind alchemy you could imagine.” I recounted the piercing wind I felt at the park.

 “I was nearly blown away by the gust of wind, quite literally. He did end up crashing the broom into a tree, but that's besides the point.” 

As I expected, the look in his eyes showed he was very clearly stunned to hear this information, he looked over at Myrsky, who tripped over his own feet when he noticed Alistar’s eyes were on him.

“He… was able to fly a broom?” Alistar’s eyes remained on the boy who was now browsing through the books awkwardly. “Him?” He asked again, like he was wondering if I was joking. 

“Alistar you know I wouldn’t lie about something like this, I’m absolutely certain that the large gust of wind was caused by him.” Alistar thinks for a moment, his hand holding his chin as he considers the peculiar situation. 

About a minute passes, Alistar stops pondering and turns to look in Myrsky’s direction. There’s a look in his eye that tells me he knows what we must do next. “If what you’re saying is true, then we need to use this to our advantage.” He says in a serious tone. 

“Right, time to head over to Abbott’s Bakery.”