Secrets of The Alchemist

Chapter 5

Murgot Lane 

The three of us stand before a bright yellow bakery, I look over at Selene unsure of why we had hurried out of their cluttered bookstore to stop by a bakery and get a pastry. But Selene gave nothing away, only taking strides forward and opening the door.

We were welcomed with the small bell of the door ringing, smells of sugary cakes and sweets becoming the first thing I noticed. My body, despite the craziness of the night, relaxed on instinct as I looked around the small, comforting bakery. A woman with large, kind blue eyes and somewhat grayed, blond hair that was tied up into a tight bun, stood on the other side of the counter. Her aura merging perfectly with the ambience of her bakery.

“Selene? Though I am always happy to see you my dear, what brings you back so soon?” Her eyes now had a layer of concern that also showed in her brows slightly knitting together in confusion. “With Alistar nonetheless.”

 Her eyes then strayed to me. “Oh, and who is this handsome fellow?” then darted back over to Selene expectantly. I could practically sense the small assumption of hers forming in her mind, and my cheeks warmed at the thought. Before she could even voice the question, I impulsively blurted out

“I’m not her boyfriend!” My once tan face began to get redder as I realized how abruptly I yelled. 

“In case…you were wondering.” My voice gave out as I tried to recover from the embarrassment, the three other people in the room stared at me as I began to turn away and observe the baby blue walls that were decorated with old photos of the bakery, with extreme focus. 

    “Thank you very much for clarifying, Myrsky.” Selene said in a not so thankful tone, it sounded more like a ‘I want to slap you’ sort of tone, but she simply shook her head and sighed. Alistar's voice soon cut through the awkward silence.

    “Marigold, I apologize for making such a request so suddenly but we need access to Murgot Lane.” His tone was direct and firm.

    She took a moment to process this before nodding, turning on her heels to walk through the curtain behind the counter she called out 

“Come along then everyone, I needed to do some shopping anyway.” I spotted Alistar smiling as they walked around the counter swiftly, except me, I decided to hop over it. 

    Selene couldn’t help another roll her eyes at me as we joined together again to walk through the curtain. We walked through a slightly lit, white tiled hallway for a few moments before Mrs. Abbot stopped by a dark wooden door that contrasted the stark white of the walls and floor. 

She pulled out a silver, old looking key out of her apron pocket and I heard the key rattle in the keyhole. It clicked as her wrist turned. The door opened to an explosion of sound and color, I barely had time to take it in before being shoved through by Selene's aggressive hands. 

I stumbled forward, almost bumping into a pedestrian before I reflexively twisted so I didn't hit them. Alistar and Selene were quick to appear beside me, my arm was grabbed this time by Alistar, who perhaps had taught Selene this method of bringing people around, and steered me through the hoards of people.

    I couldn’t see much through the concentration of people around us, but if I looked up, I could see that the cloudy night sky I had seen outside the bakery had cleared. The clouds were now long gone, allowing me to see the stars, clearly visible even in the light this place showed, they were perfect for staring at. An elbow into my side brought both my hand to it and my craned neck back down. We struggled through the bodies for about a minute more before the scene opened up the slightest bit more to where I saw the source of most of the light I’d noticed when we first arrived here.