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

by Tj Dixon

  It is crowded because it’s now lunch time, but the target is nowhere to be seen. Hopefully she is asleep in the room I kindly gave them. I even gave them a hint by telling them my real name. Not that it helped them, because they have no idea who I am.

  I continue up the stairs until I am outside the room, but even without entering I can tell it is empty. They’ll return here soon enough though. I place a temporary enchantment so I can tell when anyone ports into the room or opens the door. Then I head down the stairs to see if they return through the inn’s main entrance or port in downstairs.

  (Peter)

  This morning we climbed up and down countless stone ‘ladders’. We’ve been across rope bridges, through tunnels and up and down wooden towers. We’ve only met two children in here. One boy soon after we entered here and one girl just half an hour ago. It’s been fun and a complete change from everything else we’ve done recently. I am hungry now though.

  “How about getting lunch soon?” I suggest to Midori.

  “Sounds good, but I don’t think I can wait until tonight to talk seriously. I want to continue our date knowing that you accept me even knowing the truth. This magic suppression isn’t really holding either of us back completely is it?” Midori asks.

  “No.” I admit.

  “Then let’s talk in private.” Midori says and I feel her port a largish block of stone from behind the nearby wall up into the lake. She takes my hand and ports us into the makeshift cave that she just created. You’d need to be right on top of it to know it was there, unless you had created it or already knew where it was. It is big enough for us both to stand a foot and a half apart.

  “So what did you want to talk about?” I ask seriously.

  “First I want to show you something.” Midori says and starts to pull her dress over her head. As soon as the dress is out of place the enchantment covering her underwear disappears.

  “You don’t need to…” I start to say but the dress is already off and in her hands before I can finish. My eyes are drawn to her white bra and panties but she quickly turns. I gasp as I see a large green scar that starts at her right shoulder and finishes just above the left side of her panties. Midori turns her head to face me. Stunned I simply ask. “How…?”

  “I was given this before I was born. It was a curse given to me by the gods as a punishment. It’s often painful and ensures that I can never have children.” Midori says with a sad smile.

  “But if you hadn’t even been born, how could you possibly have done anything that deserved punishment?” I ask in complete shock and confusion.

  “My existence is a sin. You see, I am the daughter of a human and a goblin. That’s why my blood is green. As a half goblin I lived as a slave in the empire until I managed to escape to Contractia. I may look fourteen, but I’m a little older. I wouldn’t have been accepted into the academy if I had told everyone the truth, but I still lied to you.” Midori tells me and waits nervously for my response. Her aura is the weakest I’ve ever seen it and her words bring back the memory of all those goblins I killed.

  “So every time we killed a goblin, we were…?” I ask in shock and guilt.

  “I hate goblins. I would kill every last one of them if I could. But now you know what I am can you still consider me to, to, be…?”

  “You don’t choose your parents. You’re still the same girl you were just a minute ago. I don’t think any less of you because of this.” I tell Midori honestly.

  “I’m older than you too though, and I lied about it. I said I was fourteen.” Midori reminds me.

  “You wouldn’t have been accepted in the academy if you didn’t lie. Why did you want to go to the academy though?” I ask.

  “By becoming a Contractian mage I would have been safe from the empire, if the empire hadn’t gone to war with Contractia.” Midori says wryly.

  “Then you had no choice and I don’t care if you are a little older than me.” I tell her seriously.

  “Then would you hold me for a while?” Midori asks hopefully.

  “Hold you?” I ask confused.

  “Put your arms around me?” Midori asks in a small voice.

  “Sure.” I say and hug her just below her breasts. “Is this ok?”

  “Can we stay like this for a while?” Midori asks.

  “Sure. We can stay like this for as long as you like.” I tell Midori.

  “How about forever?” Midori asks and I laugh.

  “We may want to get something to eat before that.” I tell her.

  “Not right now though.” Midori says and I can’t argue. I am very happy to stay here like this for quite some time. Hunger can wait. Midori’s scar is a little rough against my chest and her bra strap feels a bit odd. Otherwise though, her skin feels so soft against mine.

  “How old are you?” I ask curiously.

  “About twenty.” Midori admits guiltily, but after a moment’s pause she continues. “Half goblins mature slower than humans though, and I never had a childhood.”

  “I get the impression I may be a little older than that myself. I’m not sure, but I might actually be over five hundred years old.” I remind Midori.

  “That’s true.” Midori laughs. “And I was worrying about seven or so years!”

  “So is your hair green because of your goblin blood?” I ask seriously.

  “Yes.”

  “Well it still looks cute and you’re still the same girl you were earlier.” I tell Midori and she laughs.

  “You’re still the same boy I fell madly in love with the moment I first saw you fighting in the arena. Of course I’ve fallen for you over and over again since then.” Midori says and her aura seems to be strengthening. “So please. Love me back. I don’t care if I have to share you with another girl. With five other girls. With twenty other girls. Just please give me a small part of your heart. Please…”

  “I think you already have part of my heart. I don’t know how I can choose one girl, but you, Rin, Hermes and Cherry all have part of my heart. I just don’t know how to choose one of you.” I admit honestly.

  “Then just ask us to share you.” Midori says.

  “Do you really think everyone will agree?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

  “No.” Midori sighs.

  “So one day I will probably have to choose one of you, but a part of my heart will always be yours.” I tell Midori honestly.

  “Then feel mine beat for you.” Midori says and moves my left hand up between her breasts and under her bra. I do feel her heart and am conscious just how close to her breasts my hand is. It isn’t touching, but it is so close that it need only move a little and I would be touching her breasts. “If you want you can feel more than my heart.”

  I stand there unable to move. Paralysed. Wanting to move my hand and yet unable to. Seconds turn into minutes and minutes into more. We just stand there in silence, unmoving.

  The mana suppression fluctuates a little every now and again. Weakening and then strengthening again. I think I sense another hole very similar to this one as the mana fluctuates. I focus my senses there and wait for the mana suppression to fluctuate again. Yes, there is another hole. In fact there is someone in it. Their aura is faint as if injured, but there is definitely an aura.

  “Midori, you’d better put your clothes back on.” I say and pull my hands and arms away from her.

  “What’s wrong?” Midori asks turning to face me. Her eyes look hurt.

  “I think there’s someone near us who’s badly injured.” I tell Midori whose eyes go wide with shock. She quickly picks up her dress and throws it over her head. Briefly I wonder if it was that quick to get dressed why it took her so long this morning. But it’s not the same and right now it’s unimportant.

  The mana fluctuates again and I port us both into the other hole. To my shock I see Hinata unconscious and suspended upside down by a rope attached to her toes. She is just wearing underwear and has painful looking red marks all over her body. I clench my fist in
anger but then with a wind slice I cut the rope holding her in place. I catch her with flight magic and gently lower her to the floor.

  I take a small healing potion from my pocket and pour it down Hinata’s throat. The marks disappear from her body and she starts to wake. Midori has already started to untie the rope around her toes.

  “Rin…” Hinata gasps. The healing potion obviously wasn’t enough.

  “What about Rin?” I ask nervously.

  “She left… to kill… Rin.” Hinata gasps. I stare at Hinata in shock and disbelief.

  “Who did?” Midori asks urgently.

  “Saya.” Hinata gasps. The name sounds familiar.

  “The woman who was staying in our room before us?” Midori asks urgently.

  “Yes.” Hinata gasps.

  “Then she knows where we’re staying, right?” Midori asks and Hinata nods painfully.

  “I’ve got to get back there then. Wait, I can contact her with the mind stone. Midori, please take care of Hinata.” I say, regaining my senses and not waiting for Midori to respond before closing my eyes and calling out to Rin. “Rin, can you hear me?”

  “Yes. What is it?” Rin answers and I breathe a sigh of relief.

  “Where are you?” I ask urgently.

  “Just outside the inn with Hermes. My mother is waiting inside for us. She managed to get away from her work early. Why?”

  “Stay there!” I tell her and try to port. It takes two attempts because of this damned suppression field. As I port in I see a flaming dagger sticking out of Rin’s back. It has an aura like in the goblin tunnels. Hermes is standing beside her and is frozen in shock, staring motionlessly at Rin. A moment later all I see of Rin is ash falling to the ground beside Hermes.

  I sense a small aura rushing towards me. Filled with grief I almost consider letting it kill me, but anger and the need to protect Hermes prevail. I send a blast of lightning that tears the very air apart. A shield tries to block it but it tears through the shield. It tears through a person behind the shield. It tears through the inn leaving nothing but ash. It tears through the houses behind the inn. It tears through the city walls and the city shield. It tears through the trees beyond the city wall leaving an area of devastation as far as I can see and further. Everything it hit has been reduced to ash and charred ground.

  I fall to my knees in shock. Not at the power of my attack, but at the ash that a moment ago was Rin. She was my first friend in Contractia. We’ve been through so much together. My very soul rebels at the thought of losing her. My soul begins to remember what I have forgotten. Who I am and what it is. Or more precisely what they are.

  That blast of lightning wasn’t powered by mana. It was powered by my soul itself. My second soul. The soul of a demon. A very powerful demon indeed. It destroyed the balance of power between my souls completely. That’s why my real soul was able to rebel. The demon soul should never have been in balance. It was there to power my magic. Nothing more.

  My soul turns to fire and burns away this pathetic mortal body that I have been living in. My dwarven arms, unharmed by the fire of my soul, fall to the ground in a pile of ash.

  I remember the years fighting, killing, dying in the Arena of Contractia and each time being reborn from the ash of my corpse, but each time a little weaker. As I remember everything I remember the face of the alchemist that created the Heart of Alchemy. That forced me to drink that accursed potion. That forced me to sign that contract. It is so similar to Rin’s that it cannot be coincidence.

  For a moment my grief turns to hatred, but the memories from these last few months cannot be denied. They may only be a few months but they are real. Besides, even if that alchemist was related to Rin, it wasn’t Rin. She wasn’t even born then. Her mother wasn’t even born then.

  The contract will kick in soon, but right now I have my full power as the Arch Angel of Fire and son of the Fire God Ikarus. My flames are soul flames. They are the same fire used by the phoenix. I will be reborn and my memories lost to the Heart of Alchemy, but right now I can use them to save the one girl who means the world to me. I suppose this means I probably would have chosen Rin in the end.

  I spin my flames into a whirlwind of fire and race towards Rin’s ash and towards her disembodied soul. As the fire of my soul engulfs her soul a new body is born, but it isn’t my body. It is Rin’s and it is exactly the same as her old body. Her soul is still close enough to get dragged back inside her body.

  Rin is wide awake but stunned. It only takes her a moment to realise that she is standing outside in a new ‘born’ body. She covers her breasts with her right arm and between her legs with her left hand. She can’t see my soul flames, because only gods, angels and very spiritually attuned people can see souls.

  “Why am I naked?!” Rin asks Hermes furiously.

  “You died…” Hermes whispers in sheer disbelief at the sight in front of her.

  “What are you talking about? Peter said to wait here, and then… What are those?!” Rin shrieks pointing with her right hand at my arms, her modesty forgotten. “They’re Peter’s arms, aren’t they?!”

  I feel the fire of my soul weaken. I no longer hear or see what is going on around me. Soon my own body will reform, my memories forgotten. Not just who I am but the memories of these past months. Rin, Hermes, Midori and everyone will be strangers to me again.

  I feel my flames start to form a new body, but this one is different. It isn’t my weak human body. It is my real body. This is the body of an arch angel. Spiked green leather wings. A green metal tail with a sharp spike at the end, capable of impaling and stealing the soul of even a demon. White bone claws, sharp and strong enough to cut metal, instead of toes and fingers. Green scales like armour all over my human shaped body and burning blue eyes of fire. Literally. It is still forming but soon it will be real.

  Is the contract broken? Was the death of the queen enough to free me from that contract? That can’t be it though, because if it was then I wouldn’t have continued to lose my memories. Looking at the ash that was Rin before she died and before I gave her a new body though, I realise the truth.

  The Heart of Alchemy didn’t merge with the one who drank it, but instead the one who made it. It must have passed down the generations until it reached Rin. It was her death and the manner of her death that destroyed it. Even though I recreated her body exactly the same as her original body, that didn’t include the Heart of Alchemy.

  This is true freedom. Freedom to remember myself and to be myself. But can my soul sustain this body? The centuries in the arena have weakened me and that blast of lightning has robbed me of the power of the demon soul. The demon soul is so weak that it is no longer worth keeping. I discard it and allow it to fall back into the seventh circle of hell, back to where it came from.

  I remember the dwarven arms. They are attuned to my soul. Even now one soul is gone they could give an anchor for my real soul, to keep me in this world. The strain would be much less if I used them. I race towards them and reform my body around those arms. It is my true body except for the arms and hands. Back in my body I look up at Rin and Hermes. With tear stained eyes they stare at me in shock and fear, not recognising me.

  “Hi Rin, Hermes.” I say and my voice is still the same. Still my human voice.

  “Peter? Is that really you?!” Rin gasps.

  “Yes. This is the real me. I remember everything now. Who I really am. Even our date.” I say the last part to Hermes who just stands there with her mouth open.

  “What are you?” Rin asks and from her aura I can tell she still doesn’t entirely believe me.

  “Peter, Sky Lord of Ishki, Arch Angel of Fire and son of the Fire God Ikarus. I have other titles too. Of course I am a Fallen Angel, but not one of Azrael’s fools.” I tell Rin who stands there staring at me in shock and more than a little fear. Her fear hurts. “I’m also the boy who you spent these last few months with.”

  “How old are you?” Rin asks.

  “I stopped co
unting a while ago.” I admit.

  “How old were you when you stopped counting?” Rin asks.

  “Pretty old.” I admit.

  “Centuries?” Rin asks.

  “A bit more than that.”

  “Millennia?” Rin asks.

  “A bit more than that.”

  “More than millennia?” Rin asks and shakes her head.

  “Get away from it!” A familiar voice shouts. I turn my head and see Mayor Perry and a circle of mages surrounding us.

  “He’s not an enemy.” Hermes calls out.

  “He did that, didn’t he?” Mayor Perry asks pointing at where the inn used to be. Rin turns and sees the destruction for the first time.

  “What happened?” Rin asks weakly staring at the ash that used to be the inn.

  “I used a bit too much power.” I admit.

  “You did this?” Rin asks and there is accusation in her voice.

  “Yes.” I admit guiltily.

  “You killed everyone in the inn and all those houses? My mother was in there!” Rin says in disbelief and turns back to face me with fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. It is not fear that she looks at me with now though. It is hatred and fury.

  “I didn’t mean to.” I tell her desperately.

  “You didn’t mean to murder my mother, so that makes it alright?” Rin asks with furious hatred.

  “Actually he didn’t kill her.” The Kuroneko says, appearing out of nowhere. Perry must realise how dangerous the Kuroneko is because she takes a step back and her aura shows she is very nervous. “She’s still alive. I moved everyone who was in the path of that lightning. Except the one who killed you. Not for their sakes, but for Peter’s sake. They’re in the cavern below the city now. So the question is… who will come with me, and with Peter?”

  “It’s been a while since we first met.” I say with a smile and stroke the Kuroneko behind her ear like I always used to. She purrs happily.

  “Hades will be jealous.” The Kuroneko says with a smile.

  “What are you?” Mayor Perry asks me incredulously.