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

by Tj Dixon

  “Can anyone sense any enemies?” Peter asks us, sounding desperate. He is mostly looking at Rin.

  “I’m sorry, but I can’t sense anything.” Rin admits. Peter looks at me next but I shake my head and so does Midori.

  “Too late, damn it.” Peter says and he looks up desperately at the sky.

  Chapter 21 (Hermes)

  The house is very basic with just two rooms. It has two beds in the bedroom, whilst the main room has a small kitchen area with a mini magical oven and a small worktop to prepare food. The room also has a square table big enough for the four of us but with only two chairs. I’ve only just closed the door to our new home when there is a knock on it. I laugh quietly and open the door again. There is a woman probably in her late thirties standing there in the same red robes that most of the mages we’ve seen here were wearing.

  “Hello.” She says with a smile. From her voice I realise it is Cherry and Sherry’s mother, Hilda.

  “Hello.” I say with a tired smile and gesture for her to come inside.

  “Hi.” Rin calls out from across the room. Peter is still brooding so he doesn’t react and Midori’s focus is entirely on Peter so she ignores us too.

  “Sorry. Peter’s a bit upset at the moment.” I tell Hilda quietly.

  “I can’t say I’m exactly happy right now myself. Two of my comrades didn’t come back from their patrol. They’re assumed dead or captured. It’s not the first time and it isn’t going to be the last time either.” Hilda says sadly. Then she takes a deep breath. “So what’s the situation at the academy?”

  “It was protected by a powerful ward. Everyone should be safe inside.” I assure her.

  “And my daughters are inside?”

  “Yes.” I nod.

  “Were Lily and Rose inside too? Their mother is in my company.”

  “Yes.” I tell her with a small smile.

  “Thank you. How did you end up outside the academy?” Hilda asks curiously.

  “Rin and Peter were helping protect the academy when the shield went up. I left the academy with Midori through a small gap in the ward underneath the academy. Don’t worry though, there’s no way the enemy will find the gap from outside.” I assure Hilda.

  “I hope they don’t.” Hilda says, sounding very worried again.

  “It was hard enough to find from the inside. We had Sor help us find it and she’s the best dimensional mage I’ve ever met.” I assure her.

  “Sor of the Silver Flow?” Hilda asks.

  “Yes.” I nod.

  “She’s probably the best dimensional mage you’ll ever meet.” Hilda says with a smile. She seems much more confident now. “So why did you leave the academy?”

  “We wanted to help Peter. We were worried he might be dead.” I tell her.

  “To risk your lives like that, you must be in love.” Hilda says and I blush but there’s no point denying it so I nod.

  “So how many rivals does my Cherry have?” Hilda asks with a smile.

  “Everyone here.” I admit and Hilda laughs.

  “With Aventurine that makes four rivals.” Hilda nods thoughtfully. Aventurine? I had a feeling she might be interested in Peter, but is she really a rival? I hope not, because I have enough rivals already! Then Hilda frowns. “It doesn’t look too hopeful for Cherry though, if she’s one of the only two left behind. Anyway, I’d better be going. I have another patrol in the morning.”

  “Thank you for your help earlier.” I tell her.

  “Yes, thank you.” Rin tells her with a grateful smile.

  “Don’t worry. Just try to stay safe.” Hilda says and then ports away.

  Rin and I quickly turn to Peter. He is sitting there looking really depressed and Midori is sitting next to him on the only other chair. They are both looking up at the window with the curtain pulled open. Midori has her right arm around his shoulders. I see Rin glare at Midori’s back for a moment but then she sighs and shakes her head.

  “Peter…” Rin says and approaches him. I follow nervously but stay a couple of paces behind her. Peter’s gaze is still firmly locked on the window.

  “Why did they kill him?” Peter asks quietly without turning to face us.

  “The star?” Rin asks nervously.

  “Yes. Hercules.” Peter says quietly.

  “Are you sure he’s dead?” Rin asks.

  “Not entirely, but from the way the other stars are acting I’m fairly sure he’s dead. At the very least they did something very bad to him. He was just minding his own business in the sky, shining down on us. Why attack him like that?”

  “I don’t know.” Rin admits.

  “If the stars weren’t already distracted they would definitely punish his killers.”

  “What’s distracting them?” Rin asks.

  “I’m not sure, but nothing good.” Peter answers grimly.

  “Did you know Hercules well?” Rin asks and it just feels so weird that they’re talking about a star as if it was a person.

  “No. He was a young star and didn’t talk to strangers, so I didn’t get a chance to talk to him.”

  “How old was he?” Rin asks curiously.

  “I don’t know.” Peter admits. Then he suddenly stands up, pulling away from Midori. “I’m going to bed. I don’t want to talk.”

  “Sorry!” Rin apologises and this time it is Midori’s turn to quickly glare at Rin.

  “I’ll help you.” Midori tells Peter but he shakes his head.

  “I’ll be fine. Hermes, you stayed up to keep watch over us. You must be exhausted. Get some sleep too.” Peter says and then walks quickly to the bedroom. He opens the door and walks to the right. That’s the wall with a window. I follow him into the room, because he’s right. I am exhausted.

  I look back at Rin and Midori apologetically and then close the door behind me. Peter is already in the bed on the right wall so I head over to the left wall. I look back at Peter but he has his face in the pillow. I don’t have my pyjamas. They’re in Rin’s bag and I didn’t think to get them out. I don’t want to go back out to get them and Peter isn’t looking, so I strip down to my underwear and quickly get into my bed.

  In bed I look at Peter again and realise he is already asleep despite having slept only a few hours ago. I on the other hand haven’t slept in way too long so it isn’t long before I start to drift off to sleep.

  I wake feeling refreshed, but I quickly recall everything that happened and find myself feeling uneasy. I look over at Peter and see he is sitting up. His face is still a bit green. In fact I get the feeling it looks slightly more green, but maybe that’s my imagination. Noticing me he smiles.

  “Good morning Hermes.” Peter says with a smile.

  “Good morning Peter.” I say nervously.

  “Would you go on a date with me today?” Peter asks and I blink in shock.

  “Are you feeling up to that?” I ask cautiously.

  “I think so. I don’t want to move on yet, because I’m worried about those star killers. If they strike again I want to be here to stop them. I also want to do something fun to distract myself. I don’t want to have our date in Utopia Camerona either. I hate that place.” Peter tells me with a wry smile.

  “Is there going to be anything to do here though? Most of the people who lived here have been evacuated.”

  “I’m sure we’ll find something to do.” Peter tells me confidently.

  “Ok then.” I smile.

  “Let’s go right away.” Peter tells me and quickly gets out of bed. I am about to do the same when I remember what I am wearing. Just my underwear… That would be embarrassing.

  “You wait outside. I need to get dressed.” I tell Peter and point at my clothes on the floor.

  “Ok. Don’t take long though.” Peter tells me with a smile and leaves the room. As the door opens I see Midori and Rin are sitting next to each other facing the door. They both look up with a nervous smile. Then the door shuts behind Peter.

  I get out of bed and use wate
r magic first on myself and then on my clothes. I don’t have any perfume so I hope we don’t do anything too energetic. I don’t want to smell of sweat and unlike Peter I’m not good enough at water magic to freshen myself up with my clothes on. I was planning to buy some perfume and a potion to prevent sweat before our date, but I never got a chance.

  I quickly get dressed. There’s no mirror but I think I look ok. I hope I look ok. I look at the door nervously. It’s actually odd how nervous I am. I didn’t feel like this fighting monsters, but now I am about to go on a date with Peter I feel so nervous that I am actually shaking.

  I take a deep breath and force myself to calm down. I open the door and see Peter is busy talking to Rin and Midori. I suppose I kind of expected him to be watching the door waiting for me to open it, but it is actually a relief that he wasn’t. It is also slightly disappointing too though.

  “Good morning.” I call out as I approach everyone.

  “Good morning, Hermes.” Rin says with a smile.

  “Morning.” Midori says, whilst still looking at Peter.

  “Hi Hermes.” Peter says sounding cheerful. He pauses a moment and then continues. “Rin and Midori were telling me about the sort of things you can do at the beach. It sounds like you’re going to need a swimsuit. Rin said she has a couple in her bag that she doesn’t mind lending you. So how does a beach date sound?”

  “I suppose that is the main attraction here. So what sort of things can you do at the beach?” I ask curiously. Peter looks at Rin so I do too.

  “Swimming is always good. You’ll need to use magic to stay warm enough, but that isn’t going be a problem for either of you. When I was younger I always built sand towers. I often built ones that looked just like famous mage tower from books that I’d read, but sand towers are for kids. I always had a nice meal at a restaurant just back from the beach, called ‘The Sand Tower’, but I doubt there are any restaurants open anymore.

  “If it was summer then sun bathing would be good, but not in the winter. My mother always said if we went in winter we’d go walking, but that’s boring. The other thing she said we’d do is look for shells, because interesting enchanted shells get washed up onto the beach by the winter tides. The creatures that live in them shed their shells each year like a snake shedding its skin. Like a snake grows new skin they grow new shells. The shells can be used in alchemy, but this is meant to be a date.

  “If you go underwater and go out to sea a little way you can see all sorts of interesting sea creatures, but be careful not to go out too far. The mage guards only patrol about two hundred feet from the shore. You should probably keep your guard up a little anyway if you start heading out to sea.” Rin tells us.

  “So shell hunting, swimming and going underwater with magic to look for sea creatures.” Peter says and then looks at me as if to ask if that sounds ok.

  “It sounds fun.” I tell him. On the plus side it means I get to wear a swimsuit, but on the other hand it also means I have to wear a swimsuit. I hope I look ok in it.

  “You should take a picnic. A picnic on the beach is fun and without any restaurants there’s not much alternative.” Rin tells us and I nod in agreement.

  “So can we borrow your bag?” Peter asks and Rin frowns.

  “I have a few ordinary bags in my bag. You can borrow one of those.” Rin tells Peter.

  “That might be better. I don’t have to worry as much if it’s just an ordinary bag.” Peter says.

  “First I’m going to go in the bedroom with Hermes and see if either of my swimsuits fit her.” Rin says, getting up. Then she heads towards me so I go back into the bedroom ahead of her.

  “Thanks Rin.” I tell her as she shuts the door.

  “It’s fine. Just make sure you have a good date. I don’t plan to lose to you, so it may be the only date you get with Peter. I just hope he’s up to this.” Rin says sounding as worried as I am about that.

  “Me too, but it was his suggestion. He wanted to do something to distract himself.”

  “It didn’t have to be his special date with you though.” Rin sighs.

  “I couldn’t really say no.” I tell Rin.

  “I know. Anyway, let’s see which of my swimsuits fits you best. I’ve had one a while but the other one is new.” Rin says and takes her bag out of her pocket. She then searches for a few moments and then pulls out a pale blue bikini. The bottom half ties together at the sides with blue string. The top half ties together at the back with a similar string.

  “How about the other one?” I ask nervously.

  “Give me a moment.” Rin tells me and looks for a bit longer. “Here it is.”

  “Ah, that looks better.” I say grateful that this one is a one piece swimsuit and leaves me much less exposed than the other one would. It is red with a flame pattern so suits my secondary element perfectly. Even though earth is my best element, I think a flame design looks better so I’m happy with this.

  “You’d better try it on. In fact you should wear it under your clothes because there probably isn’t anywhere to change. There were small huts for changing in, but I don’t recall seeing them last night.” Rin tells me.

  “Ok.” I say and quickly take my clothes off. Like at the hot springs in Portalis I don’t have an issue being seen naked by another girl, but if it was a boy it would of course be a different matter. I take the one piece swimsuit from Rin and put it on.

  “How does it feel?” Rin asks.

  “It’s a little tight around the chest, but it’s ok.” I admit and Rin glares at me for a moment before laughing.

  “That still fits me perfectly. I thought we were about the same size too.” Rin tells me sadly.

  “I feel a bit better now.” I tell Rin with a cheeky smile.

  “Oh well, I don’t imagine that Peter is going to choose us because of our chest size.” Rin tells me.

  “I know. Besides, there really isn’t that much in it between any of us.” I tell Rin.

  “Are you going to put your clothes on over that or are you just going to walk to the beach like that? It isn’t far.” Rin asks.

  “I’ll just go like this. That way I don’t have to worry about where my clothes are.”

  “Then go out there and stun Peter.” Rin tells me. I look down at myself and laugh.

  “I wish.”

  “You never know.” Rin tells me with a grin.

  “So what will you do with today?” I ask.

  “Make sure Midori doesn’t follow you two around.” Rin says with a glare at the closed door.

  “Thanks Rin. I’ll feel much more comfortable knowing that.”

  “You can return the favour when it’s my turn.” Rin tells me.

  “Of course.”

  “Now go out there and see what Peter thinks. If he doesn’t compliment you, I’ll give him a good freezing.” Rin says enthusiastically.

  “There’s no need to freeze him. I probably don’t look that great anyway.” I tell Rin honestly.

  “You do look good.” Rin tells me sounding very sincere but it’s hard to believe. I know my skin is unnaturally white. Not what people call white skin, but actually white.

  “Rin, do you ever miss the days when it was just the five of us? I sound like an old lady, don’t I?”

  “Maybe you do a bit, but I really do miss them, so I must sound like one too.” Rin says wistfully.

  “To be honest I don’t think I stand a chance. At least when it was just the two of us competing, I only felt like I was the underdog. Cherry and Aventurine are both so pretty. I feel guilty for saying it but I’m glad they aren’t here and that Aventurine hasn’t asked Peter out. Midori may look a bit unusual with her purple eyes and green hair but she is so devoted to Peter.”

  “Then there’s Lucy.” Rin sighs and shakes her head.

  “If Lucy returns to her proper size do you think Peter would choose her?”

  “I’m not sure, but maybe.” Rin sighs. Then she looks at me seriously. “Stop worrying about thing
s you can’t change. Just do your best today and have a great time. There will be plenty of time to worry later.”

  “I’ll do my best.” I tell both Rin and myself. Then I take a deep breath and open the door. Peter was sitting there talking to Midori but he looks up and his eyes go a little wide.

  “Hermes, you look… really nice.” Peter says and I feel Rin’s silent ‘I told you so’. He stands and looks at me a moment longer before asking. “Are you going to feel comfortable wearing that outside?”

  “If you think I look nice in it I’ll feel very comfortable.” I tell Peter, although I am a bit nervous about going out in public like this. The other swimsuit would be much worse though. “What are you going to wear?”

  “I only have what I’m wearing, but my uniform is suitable for swimming in.” Peter tells me and I feel a bit disappointed, because seeing Peter in swimming trunks would be good. I don’t suppose we’ll get any now though. Then Rin surprises me.

  “Actually Peter, I have something you can wear too.” Rin tells him.

  “Oh, ok.” Peter says.

  “I’ve left some swimming trunks on the bed.” Rin says with a mischievous grin that reminds me a little of Cherry and Sherry. “I enchanted them to allow the wearer to breathe underwater. Well, my mother helped a lot, but I was the one who created the enchantment.”

  “Thanks Rin.” Peter smiles.

  “Then hurry up and change into them.” Rin tells him firmly.

  “Ok.” Peter says and hurries into the bedroom. He quickly closes the door behind him and I can’t wait to see what these swimming trunks look like. More importantly though I want to see what he looks like in them.

  Peter rarely takes his clothes off, because he can clean himself with magic so effectively that he doesn’t need to. He normally wears his uniform so there isn’t normally a need to get changed either. So even though the door is shut I listen carefully to try to hear him take them off. I feel guilty for doing so but I can’t help myself. It doesn’t work though, so I don’t feel too guilty.