Peter and the Heart of Alchemy (War of Contractia Book 5)

by Tj Dixon

  There are five large wooden doors about a hundred feet apart. In between the doors are lots of large glass windows. The windows are each about ten feet by ten feet with a few feet of yellow bricks in between them. The building is about fifty feet tall and probably about six hundred feet long by about fifty feet wide. We enter the middle door.

  In front of us are shelves of brightly coloured enchanted sweets. It is busy in here with people filling small wooden boxes with sweets or wandering around seemingly randomly. The ceiling is about ten feet above us and the shelves go all the way to the roof.

  I look around and see a map on the wall near the door. I study it and see a section on the third floor labelled costumes. It is the only section that looks like it would sell clothes. I work out a route to the stairs and then from the stairs to the costume section.

  “We might find something there.” I tell Cherry, pointing at the costume section. Cherry laughs but nods. “Do you think we’re allowed to fly in here?”

  “Probably not.” Cherry tells me.

  “Then it may take a while, but follow me.” I tell Cherry.

  There isn’t room to walk side by side so I simply lead the way. It takes about five minutes winding in and out of everything to reach the stairs. We pass sweets and all sorts of enchanted models and toys on the way. The stairs are round but they are fairly wide so we get from the ground floor up to the third floor easily enough even without flying. Then it takes a couple more minutes to get to the costume section.

  “There’s plenty to choose from.” Cherry laughs and picks up a black cat costume. It is actually only a small furry top with matching shorts that have a cat tail and a hairband with cat ears. Oh, and a red collar with a silver bell. Everything is in a small wooden box with magic keeping it in place. Cherry puts the costume down and looks at another very similar one.

  “What’s this one meant to be?” I ask, picking up a box with white furry shorts and top. It has what looks like a rabbit tail, but the ears look like dog ears. It also has a red collar with a silver chain about a foot long.

  “That’s a rabbit hound costume. How much is it?” Cherry asks. I turn the box over and see the price.

  “One gold.” I say with a slight wince. I can afford it, but it certainly isn’t cheap.

  “That’s too much, but this one is two gold.” Cherry says turning her box over.

  “It says they cost one gold to five gold.” I tell Cherry, noticing a sign on the shelf. I turn my box over. “You have a rabbit hound as a pet, don’t you?”

  “Yes. I’m surprised you remembered.”

  “Why don’t you try this on and see what you think? Or would you prefer a different one?”

  “Isn’t a whole gold a bit much?”

  “It is, but I can afford it as long as it isn’t any more than that, and it can be your souvenir as well.” I tell her.

  “That’s really generous. I was thinking of asking for something small for a few silver.” Cherry tells me.

  “It’s fine. You need something and that enchantment isn’t going to hold for much longer. Where do you try these on anyway?”

  “They’re enchanted so that one size fits all, so you can’t try them on, but it will fit. You can change into them near the entrance where you pay. I saw the changing rooms on the map.” Cherry tells me.

  “So this one, or a different one?”

  “Definitely this one.” Cherry tells me with a huge grin.

  “Let’s go buy it before your enchantment fades.” I say and we rush back to the stairs and down them much quicker than we came here because the enchantment really isn’t going to hold much longer now. We hurry as much as we can to the correct entrance and then join the queue. It is worryingly long, winding around about ten short fences, so I can only pray that the enchantment holds for long enough. There must be at least fifty people in the queue, but it is at least moving and there are about ten people taking money.

  “In a store this big I wonder whether they have a problem with people stealing.” I say to Cherry, mainly just trying to distract us from worrying about Cherry’s skirt.

  “They don’t.” Cherry tells me confidently. “There are enchantments to prevent theft. You’d get into serious trouble if you ate anything or took anything out of the building without paying.”

  “What would happen?” I ask curiously.

  “I’m not sure of the details, but you’d be forcefully restrained and sent to a judge to decide your fate. Execution would be a real possibility if you took something valuable. If a young child just ate a sweet you might get away with simply paying for it, but even then there’s no guarantee.”

  “That’s pretty serious.” I say, a bit stunned. Cherry just nods as if it is to be expected. We pass the rest of the time in worried silence. Eventually we do reach the front and thankfully Cherry’s skirt is still enchanted.

  “One gold.” The woman behind the counter tells me and I quickly hand her a gold coin. She then puts her hand on the clothing and chants a few words. “It’s safe now. If you want to wear it out of here there are ten private changing rooms for female customers and one communal changing room for male customers.”

  “Thank you.” I answer and hurry with Cherry to the changing rooms. Cherry enters one of the private rooms just as the enchantment on her skirt fades, but I don’t think anyone notices.

  I wait outside and a couple of minutes later Cherry comes out wearing the costume. She is still wearing the same sparkling blue shoes but she is now wearing the white furry shorts and matching top. The rabbit tail on her shorts and the dog ears on the hairband looked really cute even in the box. They look much cuter on Cherry. She has her hands behind her back and an embarrassed grin on her face.

  Cherry is even wearing the red collar with the foot long silver chain hanging from her neck. I assumed she would leave that in the box since it seems a bit weird. It adds to her charm though, so I am glad she did put it on, even if it does still seem a bit weird.

  “How do I look?” Cherry asks.

  “I’m stunned by how cute you look.” I admit and I am sure my voice must convey just how stunned I am.

  “Thanks!” Cherry grins. Then she carefully moves her hands round to her front and I see she has the wooden box in them. She hands it to me and says. “Could you put this in the bag? I don’t want anyone seeing what’s inside here.”

  “Sure.” I say and quickly put the box in Sor’s bag. “So what do you want to do now?”

  “To be honest it was really nice, but eating that soup has made me hungry. Let’s eat the lunch you brought.”

  “How about eating by the river?”

  “Sounds good.” Cherry agrees and takes my hand. She rushes out of the shop with me and then flies us to the water tunnel. The queue is a bit longer this time but it doesn’t take long to reach the water tunnel. We speed through it together hand in hand again and fall gently to the ground as we shoot out the other end of the tunnel.

  “I’ll fly us this time.” I say and taking Cherry’s hand I lift us up into the air and fly us towards the river. Not where we picked up the river bird earlier but further downstream. I find a quiet spot and set us down. There will probably be the odd river bird going by, but as long as it isn’t all the time that shouldn’t be a problem.

  I take Sor’s bag out of my pocket and pull the floating blanket Rin lent me out of the bag. Her mother made it so I doubt it is something I could do easily. Not a permanently floating one, anyway. Obviously lifting a blanket with wind magic is easy, but a blanket that floats without any need to use magic is very handy. We both fly up onto the blanket, which is now floating over the river bank as the wind blows it towards the river.

  “Nilmo!” I command and the blanket remains exactly in place.

  Next I take out two bottles of happy juice and hand one to Cherry. Next are four small plates and four slightly larger dishes. I hand a plate to Cherry and put one aside for myself before putting the food on the other plates and dishes.


  “I doubt my food can compare to the food in that restaurant, but I hope you enjoy it. These thin slices are crispy fried potatoes. We had them at some of our celebrations during the tournament. These small brown balls are spiced meat. These bright blue balls are super sweet. A bit too sweet for me, but I think you’ll like them. These thin yellow square things are… Actually I forget the name, but they’re slightly salty and taste really nice. On the plates are mini sandwiches of course. I just got a selection so I hope you like at least some of them. There’s cake when we finish this, if you have room.”

  “Did you make all of this?” Cherry asks, sounding quite impressed.

  “Sorry. My cooking isn’t great, so I bought everything.” I admit.

  “Well you seem to have chosen mostly things I really like. Let’s see what these salty yellow squares taste like… Hmm, that’s really nice too.” Cherry tells me with a big grin on her face.

  Chapter 10 (Multiple)

  (Peter)

  It is dark now and this is the second time today that we’re sitting on the floating blanket, though this time we’re by the entrance of the park. There is a huge crowd below us and even the air around us is crowded. There are a few floating blankets and rugs similar to ours, but most people in the sky are using their own flight magic to hover above the crowd. Nobody is allowed to fly past a certain point though, so everyone in the air is gathered together in a fairly small area. The crowd on the other hand continues much further.

  “Today has really flown by. I really enjoyed everything, other than people trying to kill us.” I tell Cherry.

  “I’ve had a great time today too. I hope we can do this again someday, though preferably without anyone trying to kill us. Of course that means you choosing me.” Cherry tells me with a nervous grin.

  “Well, today isn’t quite over. There is still one more thing.” I tell Cherry who nods and looks up. As if that were the signal to begin I hear the bang of the first explosion. I look up too and the sky is lit by pretty explosions of red then blue then green then yellow then purple then orange then both silver and gold together, and of course it continues to change.

  “Wow.” Cherry says in awe.

  “Yeah… Wow…” I say truly impressed by the sight even if I do understand how it is being created. It is nothing more than an illusion, but still just as impressive. In fact being an illusion is part of what makes it seem so pretty to me. I’ve seen real explosions kill and hurt people, but this isn’t real so I can just think of it as harmless and beautiful.

  The illusion quickly comes to a crescendo with the final deafening and dazzling burst of every colour imaginable completely filling the sky. As the illusion fades the sky is clear and I can see the stars again. One star in particular looks very unhappy. Hades…

  “Let’s leave before the queue for the port boost is too long.” Cherry tells me.

  “Yes, let’s hurry.” I say and lifting us up into the air I send the blanket back into Sor’s bag. The port boost area isn’t far but by the time we reach it the queue to each port booster is already massive. Oh well, at least it’s free. I look up and feel Hades’ ire again, before turning my attention back to Cherry.

  “I’m really glad we came here today.” I tell Cherry.

  “Me too.” Cherry smiles back. We pass the time queueing in silence. We’ve spoken a lot today but now I have nothing that I can think of to fill this silence. It isn’t really uncomfortable though.

  Finally we reach the port booster. We place our hands on it and Cherry ports us back to her room. The first thing I notice is Sherry who seemed to be pacing up and down her room. The moment she notices us she smiles and a moment later her smile turns into a look of pure shock.

  “What are you wearing?!” Sherry gasps, pointing at Cherry’s rabbit hound outfit. Cherry picks up the chain hanging from her neck and looks at me with a very innocent expression, though her aura contrasts that expression sharply.

  “It was really embarrassing going round the park like this, but Peter insisted. It seems he thinks cute animals are better than cute girls. He led me round the park by this chain the whole time.” Cherry says sounding completely genuine even if her aura and the reality give away her mischievous lie.

  “Peter…!” Sherry says and her hands, now balled into fists, are completely covered in blue flames.

  “Cherry’s lying! It’s just a joke!” I protest. Sherry looks at Cherry who shakes her head in denial, before laughing. Sherry’s flames fade but she looks at me sharply and asks. “So why is my sister dressed like that?”

  “She had an accident with her clothes so we had to get a replacement. There wasn’t much choice so we ended up getting this.” I tell Sherry who looks at Cherry questioningly.

  “It’s true. My clothes got torn when I tried to kill Peter.” Cherry tells Sherry who blinks in shock.

  “Cherry… why did you try to kill Peter?” Sherry asks with a simmering anger directed at me again.

  “Cherry’s mind was being controlled.” I tell her.

  “So Peter kissed a whole company of mages.” Cherry says and the flames reappear around Sherry’s fists.

  “To drain them of magic and stop them trying to kill us. They were being controlled too.” I quickly point out and the flames fade again.

  “Did you capture the person controlling everyone?” Sherry asks angrily.

  “No.” I admit.

  “So did the rest of the date go well?” Sherry asks Cherry.

  “Mostly. There were a few ‘accidents’, but other than someone trying to kill us and the people around us the date went well.” Cherry tells her.

  “If I find this person trying to kill my sister, I’m going to send them straight to hell.” Sherry says and the flames are around her fists again. At least they aren’t directed at me this time.

  “I’d better get back to my room and get some sleep. I’ll see you both at training tomorrow.” I say and am about to port when Cherry surprises me by kissing me on the lips.

  “Good night.” Cherry says as she pulls away from me.

  “Yeah, um, goodnight.” I say and with a huge blush on my face I port back to my room. Lucy isn’t here to tease me but Hermes, Asuna, Angelika, Emi and Sor are all sitting at the table and Rin is standing there pouring a green liquid from a large vial into five glasses. The green of the liquid matches the bright green of everyone’s skin, other than Rin whose skin is her normal white.

  “What happened? I didn’t think you were going up against anything that powerful for today’s bounty hunt. What went wrong?” I ask in shock.

  “These five skipped the bounty hunt.” Rin says with a glare at Hermes, who looks down at the table as if it is the most interesting thing in the world.

  “So what happened?” I ask even more confused now.

  “These five idiots decided to follow you on your date. They didn’t realise that the park had an enchantment to discourage people hiding their presence. My mother has had to spend all day coming up with a cure to counter the enchantment they are under.” Rin tells me and I feel angry. I feel betrayed that they would spy on me like that.

  “Why?” I ask them. Sor answers me with a glare.

  “I had to make sure that you didn’t lose that bag.” Sor tells me but from her aura she is lying. I think she is anyway. Her aura is always difficult to read.

  “So why did Hermes, Asuna and Angelika follow me?” I ask furiously.

  “Um…” Hermes starts to say but just stops as if unable to think of what to say.

  “It’s my fault.” Asuna tells me and from her aura she is only partly lying. “I accept full responsibility for this. Please only punish me.”

  “So why?” I ask Asuna with a raised eyebrow.

  “I wanted to see how it went.” Asuna admits and I can tell it is the truth.

  “And what’s your excuse, Hermes?” I ask vehemently. It is Hermes betrayal that hurts the most because I trusted her the most. I’ve been friends with Hermes longer than anyone othe
r than Rin and Hades, and we’ve been through so much together. My chest hurts as I look at her.

  “I’m sorry.” She says weakly.

  “Fine, but forget going on a date with me.” I tell her and she gasps.

  “I’m sorry!” She cries out and there are tears welling up in her eyes. I glare at Sor next. She’s already drunk the potion and so has Emi, so their skin is back to normal.

  “Take this and go.” I tell her and throw the bag at her. She catches it.

  “That’s the last time you’re borrowing anything from me.” Sor shrugs and then ports away with Emi.

  “Isn’t my blanket still in there?” Rin asks me, a little annoyed.

  “Sorry. I forgot about that. I’ll ask for it back at training.” I tell Rin apologetically.

  “Fine. Anyway, I’d ask about your date but this doesn’t seem the best time. I’ll see you in class. Don’t be too harsh on these idiots though. I’m sure they only followed you because they were worried about you.” Rin tells me and then ports away. I look at Hermes but I can’t bring myself to forgive her. Not yet anyway.

  “We’ll talk tomorrow when I’ve calmed down.” I tell her. She nods and wipes her eyes. “Anyway, goodnight everyone.”

  I then cleanse myself with water magic, take off my shoes and get straight into bed. I feel worn out and the happy feelings that filled my heart not long ago are replaced by a dull ache.

  Although I am exhausted I have so much on my mind that I can’t sleep. The ‘window’ is visible, revealing the stars and the moons. Hades is still angry so the sight doesn’t bring me peace but it at least gives me enough light to see by.

  This is the last night Hermes will be sleeping here. I sit up and look over at Hermes. She is still awake and was looking my way, but she quickly looks away when she sees that I’ve noticed. Asuna and Angelika are still awake too so it seems that nobody is asleep yet. I’m not sure where Lucy is but she isn’t in here.

  “Hermes.” I say and she looks up nervously at me. “I may have been a bit too harsh earlier. I’ll still go on a date with you, but please don’t do anything like this again.”