Fragments of Alchemy: The Code Breaker

Chapter Seven ~ The Magisters' Decree ~ Part II

But no one bothered to stop and investigate. Thea brought her Kundalini back under control and pulled away from the railing. Chadwick slowly walked up to her. 'You alright, doll?' he asked, raising his eyebrow.

Thea nodded silently. She turned toward the library stairs and continued walking, a bit slowly.

'Stop for just a moment. Will you stay with Thea?' Fiona asked Chadwick and Tajana. 'I want to go speak with Guru Ellhorn privately for just a bit.'

'Sure thing,' Chadwick said. He waited for Fiona to descend the stairs to the library before he turned to Thea and said, 'Looks to me like you're still just as bad as you were in the mansion. Are you sure you're on the mend now?'

Thea nodded bravely.

'Be honest, Thea,' Tajana said gently. 'We can't help you if we don't know what you're going through.'

Thea swallowed and dropped her gaze. 'It's really not so bad, now that I'm not separated from C.C. Whenever...' Thea looked up and brought her voice down. 'Whenever I touch her, my Kundalini rushes out of my body and gathers in my hand. After a moment, it comes back to me, and it's always less unruly, for a while anyways.'

'She's connected to you,' Tajana explained in a secretive tone. 'She's probably taking all your extra Energy, so it's not building up in your Chakras. You're very lucky to have her.'

Thea nodded solemnly.

'You've got to learn how to calm your unruly Energy on your own,' Chadwick said.

'Why?' Thea asked. 'I'll always have C.C. so it shouldn't matter if I depend on her to help me.' She almost seemed to be demanding that Chadwick prove her wrong.

'Well, what if you wind up in another sticky situation where C.C. can't help you?' Chadwick raised his eyebrows derisively.

Thea furrowed her brow. 'I won't,' she snapped.

Chadwick bit his lip. 'It's your call, I s'pose,' he said, glancing at Tajana. She pursed her lips thoughtfully but didn't say anything.

Meanwhile, across the large Crowning Chamber, a group of Gurus gathered on the Mezzanine. One struck Tingsha Cymbals together, and a high note emerged over the drone of voices from the crowd. A hush fell over the large group of gathered Alchemists and Chemists.

The Guru's Tingsha Cymbals struck another high clear note, and then the head Guru spoke in a strong voice that carried over the Crowning Chamber with the use of a Reverberation Conversion: 'Thank you for joining us in meditation. I know we all must be feeling the weight of the recent events. I feel I must remind you that a calm mind is the ultimate weapon against any challenges. Shall we begin?'

Then came the calming deep ring of the singing bowls. The wooden mallets rubbed against the brass bowls, creating a soothing vibration that joined the constant soft sound of the fountains along the stairs; the sounds added a calming undertone throughout the vast Chamber.

Tajana gazed dreamily up at the walkway above the Crowning Chamber, which led to the Alchemists' quarters; she was thinking of her secret passageway, Chadwick just knew it. He had only discovered its existence a mere day ago. The thought unpleasantly reminded him of being kidnapped, and he tried not to think about it. But he could see her mentally battling with the desire to go use her secret passage to sneak out of the halls. Perhaps she wanted to go visit the orphans she supposedly fed every day.

Thea seemed to notice too. 'Are you going to ... go out?' she asked in a hushed whisper. There was something very taboo about speaking when everyone down in the vast room below was meditating.

Tajana shrugged. 'I usually go at two on Sundays,' she replied secretively.

'They'd best get used to fending for themselves,' Chadwick said, surprising himself with his comment.