Fragments of Alchemy: The Code Keeper

The Nightmare

Thea and Chadwick walked across the upper walkway to the Canopy. They stopped at Formosus the Founder’s statue. Thea knelt down and pushed on the statue’s tall staff, which was a hidden lever, and the passageway opened up. “Go quick,” Thea said, and then she hurried into the dark tunnel. “Come on Chadwick!” she said when he didn’t follow her.

He grimaced and let out a little noise in the back of his throat as he followed her into the passage. The hidden door closed behind him, shutting them off from the light. “Now we’ll just sit tight and wait for Tajana,” she said.

“In this cramped closet?” he complained. “Do we really need to wait in here?” His voice sounded high and rushed. When she didn’t say anything, he started to gasp for air.

“Are you claustrophobic?” she asked, so shocked, she couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice.

“I just … have an aversion … to tight spaces … is all,” he said around quick panicked gasps.

“Isn’t that what it means to be claustrophobic?”

He scoffed. “I really need … to get out … of here, like … now.”

Thea sighed and put her hand in her pocket to touch her noctos. The contact filled her with a rush of bliss as her Kundalini rose up through her Chakras to connect with C.C. This time, when her Kundalini found her hand, she reached out to touch his back, and her Kundalini rushed about his body. “Calm down, Chadwick,” she said.

“What the?” he said, but then his breathing gradually slowed down, and he eventually sighed heavily. “How’d you do that?” he asked, his voice filled with awe and gratitude.

“I just told you to calm down. You did all the rest,” she told him. Then she felt an odd tickle in her brain, and she automatically pulled C.C. out of her pocket and brought her up to her face. In the blackness, she couldn’t quite see her, but she somehow knew that C.C. was trying to communicate with her. Her brain tickled again, and she smiled and tried her best to tell C.C. she was thankful for all the help, for herself and for Chadwick too.

Suddenly, the secret door opened, leaking a puddle of light into the cramped passageway. Tajana came in, and just before the passageway sealed shut behind her, Thea saw the look of shock on her face. “Who’s there?!” she demanded.

“Hey, Tajana!” Chadwick said.

“Tajana, it’s me, Thea!”

“Thea?” Tajana sounded extremely cross. “I thought I could trust you. What are you doing showing people this secret passageway?”

“She only showed me,” Chadwick said, obviously offended that Tajana was so upset.

“No offense, Chadwick, but this was my secret. I liked having a place I could go and be alone,” Tajana explained. “Besides, this is a secret passage for a reason, and you can’t be trusted with this sort of secret.”

“Well, fine!” he said, his voice filled with suppressed agitation. “We’ll be leaving then.” He grabbed Thea’s arm and proceeded to make his way back toward the exit, dragging her along behind him.

“Hang on!” Tajana said. “I’m extracting your memories. Come back here!”

“That’s simply horrid of you!” Chadwick retorted. “You can’t do that!”

“I can and I will!” Tajana reached past Thea and grabbed Chadwick’s shoulder.

Thea bit her lip. She opened her mouth to apologize to Tajana, but there came a sudden flash of light as the passageway opened again. Chadwick shot forward into Thea, pushing her backwards toward the end of the passageway. She hit Tajana and they collided with the far wall with a painful jolt, and it gave way, allowing light into the tunnel from the other side.

Then Chadwick collided with them in a heap, and they all spilled out of the tunnel into the dusty alley. Thea landed right on her face, her arms splayed out above her head, holding her little Chimaera safely in her hands. She rolled to the side and sat up to see Quentin come floating out of the passageway, kicking his legs and squirming in the air.

Then before their eyes, a masked man in a black cape rippled out of thin air, one arm wrapped around Quentin’s squirming body. The man was covered in black from head to toe: his mask was a sinister faceless void of blackness; his cape had a black hood and silky billowing sleeves; underneath, he wore a black trench coat with hundreds of pockets. Even his pants and boots were black and covered with pockets.

“It’s a Nightmare!” Chadwick shouted as he leapt to his feet. “Run!”

Thea stuffed her hand into her pocket, quickly returning C.C. to her hiding place. Before she could get up, the man in the dark regalia pointed at Chadwick and said, “Circumversio!”

He took one step and dropped face-first into the dust with a grunt.

Tajana pulled a silver coin from one of her pockets and said, “Praesidium!” An orange aura billowed out from her and spread to cover Chadwick and Thea.

“If you resist, this one dies,” the Nightmare said in a hoarse voice. Even though he spoke through that mask that literally covered his entire face, his voice wasn’t muffled at all. He shook Quentin, who let out a strangled yelp.

“Stop, stop, please!” Thea pleaded, reaching out to Tajana, just in time to stop her from performing another Conversion. She had reached out to Chadwick, who was lying still in the dirt. “He’s going to kill my cousin; stop, please!” Thea said.

Tajana’s eyes flicked back and forth from Thea to the man in black and then down to Chadwick. Then she looked at Quentin, who was blubbering, no longer trying to get away from the man in black. Lines of tears trickled down Quentin’s face. Tajana clenched her jaw and returned the Component to its pocket. She grimaced and waved her hand, and her orange aura faded away.

The masked man stepped forward, knelt down, and touched Chadwick. “Kinesis,” he said in his gruff voice. The Chemist’s limp body floated up into the air. Thea watched carefully, and sighed with relief when she saw that he was still breathing. Then the Nightmare said, “Spatium!” and a white portal appeared in the dust nearby, where the man must have created the Conversion Circle beforehand. With the flick of his wrist, he sent Chadwick floating toward the portal. Then he turned to the group of young Chemists and said, “Everybody join hands. Now. Or I send this boy through the Portal by himself.”

Unable to resist, Thea, and Tajana got to their feet and held hands. Tajana grabbed Chadwick’s arm, and the Nightmare held onto his leg. Thea took Quentin by the hand to complete the semi-circle. The small boy sniffled loudly and clutched Thea with both hands. “One, two, three,” the Nightmare said, and they walked into the portal.

Thea stumbled and nearly fell as she entered the portal to the fourth dimension. It was as if she had been a flat drawing on a piece of paper all her life, and she had now suddenly been turned into a three-dimensional person for the first time. The sensation was dizzying and extremely disorienting, and the act of controlling her limbs became a rather difficult task. It was almost like her body was a puppet, and Thea didn’t quite know how to move the strings to get herself to walk.

To make matters worse, this fourth dimension was like a crystallized version of the world. Everything was translucent, so she could see through everything to the inside and even the far sides of objects, making everything hard to look at. All Thea could do was keep herself on her feet.

“You with the caprequos, any funny business, and I’ll unmake your Chimaera before you can even blink, you hear me?” the Nightmare said. In the fourth dimension, his voice had a sinister aspect to it, almost like a second deeper, demonic voice was simultaneously speaking the same words.

“I hear you,” Tajana said to the Nightmare. Her second voice was higher pitched and had a round sound to it. It sounded a little like tinkling bells.

“Good. Now hands on your heads and walk,” the Nightmare said. He sent Chadwick floating in the direction he wanted them to walk. The odd group started walking with their hands up on their heads where their kidnapper could easily see. The Nightmare took up the rear in order to keep an eye on what all his prisoners were doing.

At first, Thea felt like she was trying to walk in a pool filled with jelly up to her shoulders, but soon enough she grew used to this fourth dimension, where it was incredibly easy to think about moving, but something else entirely to actually move. At the same time, each step was like a giant leap forward, which made it very hard for Thea to keep her balance.

The odd group reached the ocean and Thea hesitated. But Tajana boldly trudged forward, and Thea gasped as the Spectrum Scholar seemingly floated above the surface of the water. Thea swallowed and went after her, amazed with this new ability to walk on water.

“Where are you taking us?” Tajana demanded. Her second voice rang out like bells again.

“No talking. Just walking,” the man replied.

Thea looked back at the Nightmare as she walked. Quentin was hanging limply in the man’s arms, the dried tears making dirty streaks down his translucent face.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Quentin,” Thea said. Her own second voice filled her ears, and she instantly decided she didn’t want to talk again. It was a low flat monotone. She sounded rather evil.

“I said no talking,” the Nightmare roared in a booming voice, and Thea jumped and bit her lip.

They walked in silence for what felt like an eternity. The dark man barked out orders to turn right or veer to the left, and they walked on until finally they reached a beach and stood on dry land again.

Chadwick let out a groan as he began to regain consciousness, and the Nightmare said, “Stand still and keep your hands where I can see them.” Then he stopped walking and let Chadwick float down to the ground. The Chemist gasped and shot up to a sitting position, his eyes wide with fear.

“You try and run again, and this time you won’t wake up,” the Nightmare threatened. Chadwick blinked up at the dark man. “Now on your feet,” the Nightmare barked.

He cowered as if the Shadow Alchemist had struck him. Then he grabbed his head and groaned again.

Thea saw it coming right before it happened. The Nightmare shifted his weight and drew his leg back to kick Chadwick. Thea reflexively darted forward to grab Chadwick and help him up.

The Nightmare’s reflexes were just as quick. In the blink of an eye, he had Thea by her tunic, shoving her away from Chadwick. “Do I need to make you behave?!”

Thea felt a sudden rush of adrenaline pump into her blood. She shook her head violently, too afraid to speak.

Chadwick struggled to his feet and grabbed his head again.

“Keep your hands where I can see them and keep your distance from each other,” the Nightmare ordered. “Now walk.” He pointed, and everyone began walking again.

“Where are you taking us?” Chadwick asked.

“No talking!” the Nightmare barked, and they all jumped and resigned themselves to walking silently.

Finally after what felt like another eternity of walking, they stopped, and the man drew a Conversion Circle in midair, one eye watching the group of young Chemists.

The man looked away for a moment to finish his Conversion Circle, and Chadwick reached for one of Thea’s pockets. Before Thea could stop him, he pulled out the Endless Ink Quill. He used the pen to draw a Conversion Circle in the palm of his hand, and then with only a stern look of concentration, he shrank the pen down to the size of a pin. He closed his hand around the tiny pen and winked at Thea.

Despite everything that had happened, Thea found herself smiling at Chadwick as the Nightmare marched them all through another Portal, this one a black sphere, which returned them to the third dimension.

The small group emerged from the Portal and stood in a shaded yard. A large copse of trees provided the shade, but beyond the trees, there was also a tall wall that seemed to enclose the entire plot of land. In the distance, Thea saw a mansion with three stories, balconies, and covered awnings. In the nearby shade there was a pond filled with koi fish, and beyond that, a humongous garden with some of the most exotic flowers and plants Thea had ever seen. She took a step, and with a splash, a green lizard jumped into the water and disappeared under the lily pads.

Thea’s Kundalini began to stir at that moment, and she made a move to put her hand in her pocket and touch C.C.

Before Thea reached her pocket, the Nightmare yanked Thea’s arm back and said, “Make another move, and I break this arm.” Thea shook her head and clenched her jaw against the pain as the dark man twisted Thea’s arm up behind her back.

Finally, when it felt like Thea’s arm would snap like a twig, the Nightmare threw Thea down to the muddy ground and stepped away. Thea hugged her right arm against her body and rocked forward on her knees.

“On your feet,” the Nightmare demanded, and Thea struggled to get up before the man could decide to kick her. “Now move it.” The man pointed at the mansion, and Tajana started walking. Chadwick followed her, and Thea went next, with their kidnapper bringing up the rear with Quentin still in his arms.

Thea cringed as her Kundalini began to ripple up and down her spine. The unruly Spiritual Energy was unbearably hot one second and piercingly cold the next, making her stumble slightly as she followed Chadwick toward the mansion. Before they reached the mansion, she was gasping for air and holding her breath against the pain.

“Hey, you alright?” Chadwick whispered after a quick look back at Thea.

“It’s my Kundalini Syndrome,” Thea said under her breath.

“Sod it all,” he swore with a shake of his head.

As they approached the mansion, a set of double doors opened, and four men came out, all in black. They all donned varying lengths of black robes, two with hoods, and all with black capes and dark masks of different sizes and shapes. Finally, another figure in the Nightmare regalia emerged from the mansion and watched the young Chemists approach. The black cape, hood, and silky billowing sleeves rippled in the wind. The faceless mask of this Nightmare was just as devoid of emotion. Instead of the trenchcoat underneath the cape, the new Nightmare wore black flowing robes that touched the ground.

“The mission was a success,” the kidnapper said.

“I see,” the new Nightmare said, and Thea was shocked to hear a woman’s voice. “Each of you take one. Relieve them of their vests, and check their trouser pockets as well.” The woman’s voice was somehow familiar to Thea, and she knew she had met her before, but with the mask covering her entire face, Thea couldn’t be sure who she was. “Take them to the library. And bring their Chimaeras to me.” Then the Shadow woman turned and walked back into the mansion.

One man approached Thea and yanked her vest off. She winced, and the man laughed. “I didn’t even touch you, you yellow bellied coward.”

“She has Kundalini Syndrome,” Chadwick explained, and Tajana’s eyes went wide. “She needs help.”

“Well that’s just too bad,” another man said with a laugh as he forcefully removed Tajana’s vest. “Turn your pockets inside out,” the man ordered, and she glared down at the ground and did as she was told. Her caprequos came spilling out of her pocket, a helpless miniature unicorn. Tajana cupped the Chimaera in her hand and pushed her lips together into a fine line.

“I’ll be taking him now,” the man said, and he gently but firmly scooped up her caprequos. Tajana’s lips quivered as she watched her Chimaera disappear into one of the Shadow’s many pockets.

The Nightmare had set Quentin down on the ground and began to search his pockets as well. His Alchimaera cards scattered to the ground, and the man howled with pleasure. “I’ve got myself some new playing cards, it looks like. Now get in here.” He grabbed Quentin’s arm and pushed him at the door to the mansion.

The man who had Thea’s vest began searching her pockets. He found the Chimaera Compendium and put the thick little book in his own pocket. Then he found her Chemist Compendium in the other front pocket of her vest, and the man whistled as he took it and brushed it off. “Wow, fancy gigs,” he said, impressed with her burgeoning notebook. She felt her throat go tight as the notebook disappeared inside the man’s black robes.

Meanwhile, the last man was trying to get Chadwick’s vest off, but he refused to cooperate, and it was caught on his arms. Finally, his captor ripped the vest away, spilling some Components all over the ground. The man in black cursed and knelt to start cleaning up the mess.

“Leave it,” the Nightmare said. “Let’s get them in quickly.”

Thea hoped that the men would forget to search her pants pockets. So far, they all seemed more concerned with relieving the older Chemists of their possessions.

Thea’s back rushed with a blinding flash of fire. She caught a gasp in her throat. As her Kundalini surged back down her spine, suddenly frigidly cold, Thea knew she was in trouble. If she didn’t bring her Kundalini under control soon, she would be overwhelmed by the unruly Energy.

Thea risked putting her hand in her pocket again, and the contact with C.C. brought a rush of bliss as her Kundalini rushed up her spine. She sighed silently as her Energy left her body through her Crown Chakra and funneled into the tiny Chimaera hidden in her pocket.

“What have you got in your pocket?” a Shadow said, looking right at Thea.

All too late, Thea pulled her hand from her pocket and glared away, angry at herself for not waiting until later to put her hand in her pocket. Her Kundalini immediately traveled down her back and spiraled into a coil at her Root Chakra.

“Show me what you’ve got,” the man said sternly, and she put her hand in her pocket and brought out C.C. “Well, look at that,” the man said, whistling softly. “The Initium’s got herself a noctos.”

“She’s not mine, she’s my dad’s,” Thea lied automatically. “Please don’t hurt her.”

“I won’t hurt her, but I’ll be taking her now,” the man said. Then he gently scooped C.C. up into his hand.

Thea couldn’t help but start crying then, and as the dark men led them through the door into the mansion, tears fell down her cheeks.

The Shadows marched the three young Chemists and Quentin up a wide sweeping staircase to the second floor, where they went through a door with the word LIBRARY printed on the glass.

The Nightmare slammed the door shut after them. Thea stepped forward and grabbed Quentin in a big hug.

“Praesidium!” the Nightmare shouted in a booming voice. Purple Insignias flared up all over the room; the walls and ceiling of the entire library glowed bright red. Thea could only just barely see through the window in the door.

“Touch those walls, and you’ll be knocked out for hours and when you wake up, you’ll have the worst headache of your life,” the Nightmare said through the glowing red door. “So sit tight and behave.” Then he turned and walked down the hallway, leaving them alone in the mansion’s library.