Fragments of Alchemy: The Code Breaker

Chapter Twenty-Eight ~ Fears Forgotten ~ Part II

Chadwick said goodnight to Thea at Guru Amathaon's door, and then he hurried along to his godfather's domicile in the Azure Hall. The short Japanese man let Chadwick into his flat and gestured for him to leave his boots at the entryway. Chadwick set his backpack down and pulled his boots off. Then he grabbed his stuff and followed as Miyamoto silently led Chadwick down the hall to a room about the size of a closet.

'Erm, Miyamoto Sensei,' Chadwick said, stopping just inside the door and hugging his backpack to his chest. 'I'm grateful and all, for you taking me in like this, but ... I can't stay in this room.'

Miyamoto gave him a stern glare.

'I'm just too claustrophobic,' Chadwick tried to explain. 'I'll feel like the walls are shrinking in on me.'

'What? The walls won't shrink. They are strong and sturdy.' He knocked his fist against the wall as if to prove it.

'No, I know that. I'm saying that it feels like it to me. Like, the walls will cave in on me.'

'Cave?' Miyamoto gave Chadwick a confused face. 'My home is no cave.'

That was when he noticed Miyamoto wasn't wearing his Intuition Amulet. Chadwick took a few breaths and tried to think how to explain himself. 'I'm clau—stro—pho—bic,' he said, stretching the word out. By now, just standing in the room had practically doubled his pulse, plus he felt like breathing just wasn't quite working the way it should.

His godfather only shook his head and started to walk out of the room while he muttered something in Japanese under his breath. Chadwick's Intuition Amulet began to translate it: 'Ungrateful teenager. No respect for his elders...' The rest was lost as the Japanese man walked away and his words faded to an inaudible murmur.

Chadwick gave up as the feeling of panic grew to the point where he couldn't speak for fear that he might scream. He dropped his stuff onto the floor and turned to stomp out of the room after his godfather. Back in the living room, the only room in the whole flat that Chadwick could stand to be in right now, he let out a sigh and tried to slow his heart down. He threw himself onto a pillow on the floor and let out a dramatic groan. 'What a day!' he said to himself.

'Chadwick-kun, are you okay?' Miyamoto asked him in such a way that Chadwick felt like he was being mocked.

'Peachy keen!' Chadwick glared at the ceiling, his jaw clenched tightly.

Miyamoto settled down on the floor near the short coffee table and pulled a long thin object out of a pocket in the lining of his leather jacket. 'Augendi!' he said, and Chadwick saw that the object was a long thin Japanese pipe. He struck a match on the table and said, 'Infundo,' and his pipe bowl glowed red while smoke slowly drifted up to the ceiling.

'You know, Chadwick-kun,' Miyamoto said slowly as he puffed on his pipe. 'I asked around about you, and it turns out that you did nearly die today.'

Chadwick scoffed. 'Tell me something I don't know.'

'You are very, very lucky, Chadwick-kun.'

'Lucky!' Chadwick sat up and glared at Miyamoto. 'My parents left me here when they should of taken me with them. My Mentor abandoned me; she went to Verdandi instead of coming back to Blackthorn. My Protégé is seriously sick, and her mum is gone now, too, and I don't know what we're gonna do. And the Keeper probably had to leave Blackthorn because of me. It's all my fault, because I had to go and get myself kidnapped by Shadow Alchemists, and the Keeper set the Code Breaker free in order to buy my freedom, and it was a total waste! He should have just left me in the Shadow Mansion to rot, since I'm obviously going to die anyway!'

Chadwick's heart hammered as he abruptly went silent. His godfather stared back at him with a look of shock, his pipe slipping out of his mouth, completely forgotten. Chadwick brought his knees up, leaned his elbows on his legs, and buried his head in his arms. His throat went so tight he couldn't speak, but that was probably for the best. He'd already said too much, but with any luck, his godfather hadn't understood a word of it.

For a moment, everything was still and quiet.

Then Chadwick felt Miyamoto firmly grab his wrist, just like he had so many times during Elemental Sparring. Chadwick jolted in surprise. He hadn't even noticed that the sparring master had moved, and now Chadwick was being forcefully pulled to his feet by his godfather.

Chadwick warily stared back. 'Sorry for yelling,' he said, but he stopped when Miyamoto pulled him into a giant bear hug.

The sudden embrace brought tears to Chadwick's eyes, and he quickly wiped them away and tried to hold it in. But the longer his godfather hugged him, the harder it became to stop the tears. Finally it became too hard to breathe. His throat was just too tight. He exhaled in a stilted sob, his shoulders shuddering. Chadwick immediately held his breath until he could breathe without sobbing.

His godfather said nothing. He simply let Chadwick cry in his arms until his nose was running and his godfather's shoulder was wet with tears. Then Miyamoto gave Chadwick a gentle pat on the back, let go stiffly, and left the living room.

Chadwick wiped his face on his sleeve and sniffed pitifully. Then he sprawled back on the floor, rolled to his side, and tried to calm down.

Stella uncoiled herself from Chadwick's wrist. She scurried her way past his arms and up to his face. Chadwick blinked at her as she flicked her tongue at his salty cheeks. He felt a blast of love, most definitely from Stella, and he let out a huffy breath and reached up to caress his tiny Chimaera in his hand.

'I'm so lucky to have you, Stella,' he said.

Stella purred softly at him and coiled herself into the palm of his hand. She sent him a mental breeze of fatigue as she settled down in his hand, closed her eyes, and yawned with a tiny squeak.

Chadwick let his own eyes fall shut, and just like that, he fell asleep, right there on the living room floor.

Thanks so much for reading and continuing to come on this journey with me. Please remember to vote and feel free to leave me a comment if you would like to share your thoughts. Poor Chadwick, huh? See you soon for the next chapter.

~A.C.