by Kimbro West
Ethan sat cross-legged with his alchemy jacket on and fastened the top clasp. Everything went quiet, so quiet he could hear his eyelids when they closed. He saw a flash, and then beams of light. He felt as if he were traveling through the Oroborus.
He opened his eyes. He was standing outside high walls he did not recognize. There was a gate flanked by two trees that reached to the clouds. The walls ran several feet up the massive tree trunks. Ethan was amazed at the intricate design of the wall. The curves and lines fit the tree perfectly, until it was impossible to tell where the tree left off and the wall began. The entire surface was a tapestry of decoration engraved in stone.
As Ethan stared upward, he noticed a platform at the crest of the wall. On top of the platform he saw a figure holding an object. The item was glistening in the light and getting larger and larger. Ethan realized that it was falling directly toward him and he jumped out of the way, hearing a loud crash. Ethan looked back and saw a chestplate, silver in color with a blue crest in the center, lying on the ground. Golden hinges held the seams together and gleamed, even though the armor was resting in the shade of the massive wall.
Ethan regained his composure. As he approached the armor, a second object fell from the wall. It was the figure from the platform. Ethan fell backwards, startled, but sprang back to his feet. The man rose from one knee.
“I am not wearing armor, not today … the only armor I need is precision,” said the figure.
A second figure landed on the ground directly in front of Ethan. “But you don’t mean to …” he began.
Ethan noticed this man had a strange blue marking on the left side of his face, which was glowing. The first man, who was also adorned with the blue marking, turned and looked past Ethan to address the second. This feature was much brighter and made it difficult for Ethan to concentrate on anything but the bright blue emanation. Ethan now realized this must be a Mitan, not a man.
“If I have to … yes. Enough of us have died, and it’s time for difficult decisions to be made. I will carry this burden alone, Hitomi. Do not interfere, regardless the outcome,” said the first Mitan.
“But you could lose your light,” argued Hitomi.
“Then so be it — there are others…,” the first Mitan looked over at Ethan, staring right into his eyes, “…who will someday stand in my place.” His eyes were light blue, kind, and very confident. He turned away.
“Loka, wait. All of us stand behind you. We are ready to lose our light,” begged Hitomi.
“You are a dear friend, Hitomi, but this is mine to resolve. I will not have anyone else give cause for death today,” said Loka with his back turned. He drew his sword and started walking; his pace gradually quickened until he was running. Ethan looked farther ahead and saw an army surrounding them. He thought there must be a thousand Mitan, all with glowing faces. They had been watching the entire time. Ethan suddenly felt dizzy; he lost his balance and fell to one knee. The figures turned to shadows as all light dimmed from Ethan’s view.
“Five hours, Ethan! That’s fantastic. You see, Auren, just follow Ethan’s example,” exclaimed Edison. “You’re going to be ready in no time!”
“Five hours? But … no, it was only a few minutes,” protested Ethan, holding his neck.
“Wow, you were really out of it,” said Auren smartly.
“The faces … they were glowing blue. He was going to fight them all by himself,” said Ethan quietly. “A thousand of them … while wearing no …”
“Armor,” finished Edison.
“Right,” answered Ethan, getting to his feet.
“What was his name?” asked Edison. “Was it Loka?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“That story is old — very old. What else did you see?”
“His friend tried to talk him out of it. He went to fight them … all of them … all by himself. He said too many had died.”
“Indeed, no one knows exactly why he went without armor.”
“Loka said precision would be his armor,” answered Ethan.
“I love thinking of books while I meditate, although I never heard that version before. Where did you say you read this? They banned those old stories here long ago. I’d be interested in getting a copy if you have one,” said Edison eagerly.
“I didn’t,” replied Ethan.
“I’m sorry, you didn’t what?”
“Read it … I didn’t read it, professor. It was just there. He looked right at me — said that others would stand in his place one day.”
Edison’s face wrinkled in a display of confusion. He looked as if he were fumbling for his spectacles but didn’t know why. He found them with his fingers, patted them, and left them in his pocket. “I see,” he said as he thought a moment. “Change of plans. There will be plenty of time to practice swordplay in Heinrich’s class tomorrow. We will have a test tonight to see how well you have been performing in my class, so prepare for more meditation.”
“Oh, man!” complained Auren.
“Go get some rest now, all of you,” grumbled Edison.
“Ah, sir?” asked Availia.
“Yes, what is it?”
“I was wondering … well, we were wondering. Other squads are volunteering in different parts of the city. And with you being a historian and all, we thought it fitting that we volunteer for the records department,” suggested Availia.
“Yes, that sounds appropriate,” answered Edison, still distracted with Ethan’s experience.
“Can you let them know to expect us then?”
“Yes, of course,” he answered as he started to leave. “I will let them know.” Edison walked away still fidgeting with his glasses.
“That was wicked!” exclaimed Auren.
“Yeah, when were you going to tell us about this plan to get us into the records department?” asked Ethan.
“I thought it was best if I kept it from you two. I didn’t want to bring it up until Edison was off his guard — didn’t want him to get suspicious. You should know this was Stanley’s idea.”
“Stanley!” congratulated Auren, slapping him on the back. “Great job, you put one over on the ol’ professor … and on us!”
“Ethan, are you alright?” asked Availia. “That seemed like quite a deep meditation you had.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied softly.
“But wait a minute. So Ethan, you didn’t know about this either? Then what was that whole story about the Loka guy for?” inquired Auren.
“I don’t know….” answered Ethan.
Chapter 16
The First Test
“So all we have to do for this test is meditate … again?” asked Ethan, poking his hand through the sleeve of his alchemy jacket.
“Yes, but this is a bit different,” answered Edison as he stood over a circular marble basin sunk into the ground.
“Yeah, of course it is. We’re sitting on a pile of rocks,” complained Auren.
“It’s a rock garden,” argued Availia. “And it’s very lovely.” Availia had a smile on her face as she looked around at all the small stones that came in many shapes and colors but were roughly the same size. There was a marble walkway leading to, and surrounding, the basin.
“First thing’s first!” interrupted Edison loudly. “I want everyone to pick up a stone of their choosing. Select one that best fits you.”
“What does that mean?” asked Auren smartly.
“Just pick a stone, Auren. One that fits your personality —something rough around the edges perhaps? Maybe something bold in color. Think about the texture, how it feels when you hold it, how it smells, tastes even …” said Edison as he shifted from one side of the basin to the other.
Auren leaned over and whispered to Ethan. “This is some important rock, eh?”
“Alchemy requires three things to achieve a result,” continued Edison. “The first is an element, the second a binding agent, and lastly an alchemist is needed to put them together. Change any of
the three, and you will change the expected result — add more and … it gets rather complicated. It is absolutely critical that when selecting a stone, you choose the right one — after today’s test, you will carry this stone around with you until you become an alchemist.”
The three looked around for their stone while Stanley stood near Edison. Availia selected a small, smooth, round stone. Auren started licking one stone at a time until he found an odd-shaped one that didn’t taste as bad as the others. Ethan picked up a perfectly flat, round stone that was dark grey and rather appealing to the eye. He then placed it back in the garden and selected the one next to it. It was also dark grey, smooth, and flat. It would have been round if not for a chunk that was missing from one side. He grasped it in his hand and closed his eyes — he was pleased with his selection and felt he had the right one.
Edison had been paying close attention to Ethan’s selection process and observed him discarding the first perfectly round stone.
“Well then, I see you have all selected your stones. Auren, you will go first since it may take you the longest.”
“Why would I take the longest? I’m gonna breeze through this test,” murmured Auren as he leaned over to Ethan.
“Everyone else can prepare on the balcony over there.” Edison pointed to a stairway at the corner of the building. “I will join you shortly.”
As the other three students headed toward the stairway, Edison directed Auren to approach the basin. “Ok, Auren, are you ready? Are you prepared to train as an alchemist for reasons of your own choosing?”
Auren looked slightly concerned. “Well…,” he thought for a moment, realizing he was doing this to facilitate his stay in Tirguard and help investigate the Stonewolf, “…yeah, I’m ready.”
“Good,” answered Edison. “Once you sit down in front of this basin, you will place your stone inside it. You will then meditate. Once you have reached a high level of clarity, the basin may reach out to you. If it does, it will fill with water — keep your eyes closed until this happens, or we will be here all night.”
“Wait, how will I know if there’s water in the basin … you know, if I have to keep my eyes shut?” asked Auren.
“Well that is the question, isn’t it? My best guess is, during meditation, you will become one with the basin — you will just know. After the basin fills with water, open your eyes and take the stone,” instructed Edison.
“And that’s it?” asked Auren.
“That’s it.”
“And how long will this take?”
“The longest in the history books was just over three days.”
“Three days!” exclaimed Auren loudly.
“Just don’t peek at the basin and there shouldn’t be a problem,” replied Edison.
“Yeah, no problem … just have to sit here for a few days, that’s all,” muttered Auren under his breath. He adjusted his alchemy jacket and looked down at the clasps that remained open. He grasped the stone in his hand, sat in front of the basin, placed the stone inside, and closed his eyes.
Edison joined the group on the stone balcony and discussed the steps necessary to perform the test. They were close enough to see Auren from the balcony, but not close enough to where their voices would carry and disturb his meditation. Several hours passed and the sun started to set. Ethan was lying on the cold floor of the balcony watching for stars. Stanley and Availia were next to him, leaning against the outer wall of the alchemy school. Edison, on the other hand, had been standing the entire time, watching the progress of the meditation.
“How long has he been at it now?” asked Ethan, sitting up.
“About six hours now,” answered Edison.
“Do you think he’s getting close?” asked Availia.
“It’s … rather difficult to tell.”
Availia looked over to Stanley. “How long did it take you to pass the test, Stanley?”
“Ngggh, ngghh … dunno, mmmm, mmm … maybe two, nggggh, ngggh … hours,” answered Stanley as he shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s different for everyone. Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that it’s not just the quality of meditation. There are, of course, several known and unknown factors. For example, what type of elements the stone contains, minerals, etcetera…. The unknown factors could be many things. Where does the water come from? Do you produce it with your own energy or does it come from the basin itself? Or what about the person, just how ready are they to be an alchemist? These are questions that alchemists of the stone city have asked for years,” said Edison.
Ethan got up and stood next to Edison. He leaned over the railing of the balcony to watch Auren, now sitting in the dark.
“Can I ask you, Ethan, why did you pass up the first stone for this one?”
Ethan was a bit surprised by the question. “I dunno. What I mean is … I’m not sure how to describe it really. The first stone was fine, but the second one was more like me. Almost like … I’m missing something, like this stone is missing part of it. I’m sure it sounds silly, but it felt right when I held it.”
“It’s not silly at all, Ethan. There are parts to individuals that make them whole, like family perhaps,” answered Edison quietly. Ethan nodded.
Just then a brilliant flash of light came from the courtyard, followed by a loud shout of personal victory.
“Yeah!” yelled Auren as he ran through the dark across the courtyard and headed up to the balcony. The three ran down the stairs as Auren was running up. He looked a little stiff from sitting on the marble tile for six hours. “That was intense!” exclaimed Auren.
“What happened? What was it like?” asked Ethan and Availia enthusiastically.
“Well, it was sort of like … I mean … have you ever had a weird dream that was really weird but … you liked it? But it wasn’t really like that either — it’s hard to explain really,” rambled Auren with a huge grin.
“Availia, you are next.”
“What, now? It’s dark out though,” argued Availia.
“Of course it is — but we came here as a group to overcome this challenge. We’re not done until we’re all successful — no breaks until it’s finished. When you have completed the test, you will find us here waiting,” said Edison as he motioned her down the stairs.
Availia looked disappointed, as she was already exhausted from waiting for Auren to complete his test. But she quickly took the stone out of her pocket and headed down the marble walkway to the basin. Edison followed Availia down. He lit a small torch near the basin, gave her some instructions, and headed back up to the balcony.
“I don’t mind waiting up at all,” boasted Auren. “I have loads of energy; I bet I could stay up all night.”
Two hours later, the meditation continued. Ethan thought it was fairly obvious that Auren was sleeping, judging by the snoring that was emanating from his mouth. Just then, a flash shot through the sky, accompanied by a quick BANG. The noise woke Auren up rather quickly, and he joined the others who were leaning against the balcony watching the event.
“That was pretty quick,” said Ethan.
“Yeah, good thing I’m here to stand watch, right?” yawned Auren as he stretched from side to side.
“Yes, Auren, we are indeed lucky,” smirked Edison. “Walk with me, Ethan….”
Ethan followed Edison down the stairs, meeting Availia at the bottom. She put her hand on his shoulder and smiled. “I am glad we did this, instead of the Guard,” said Availia.
“Let’s go, Ethan,” said Edison.
Ethan nodded and followed Edison down the dark walkway. The basin was poorly lit, but Ethan could still see wear marks in the marble from previous students that had taken the same test. He pulled the stone from his pocket and clenched it in his hand.
“Remember Ethan, you need three things to get a reaction. Be one of those things — understand?”
“Yeah, I think so,” replied Ethan.
Edison turned and headed back to the balcony while Ethan
sat down on the ground. He felt nervous as he reached forward and placed the stone in the basin. He was surprised that it was empty, since Availia had to fill it with water to complete the test. Light flickered on the bottom of the basin, where he could make out the obvious chunk missing from his stone. He took a deep breath, sat upright, and closed his eyes. He felt as if it were the deepest breath he had ever taken in his life. His heart slowed. It was so quiet that he could hear the echoes from his eyelids closing.
Nervousness had subsided. Ethan’s mind drifted over past dreams and his family. He could almost touch the future. The stone loomed large as light seeped through the cracks onto the surface of the basin. Droplets of water pushed their way through the bottom of the basin as if it were sweat forming on the skin of a living creature. It filled until the stone was submerged. Ethan felt as if he were watching events unfold in front of him, although his eyes were resting shut. The basin was now entirely full of water.
Ethan leaned forward and reached his hand into the water; it was very cold. He thought of what Edison had told him — he needed to make a reaction. The water grew warmer until it was so hot it should have burned, yet it caused him no pain. Ethan realized it was part of the vision he was having — he focused on controlling it. He concentrated on making the water even hotter, until it started to boil. He leaned forward and touched the stone with the tip of his finger.
Ethan was blinded by light that erupted in a quick burst, and suddenly dimmed. The water in the basin exploded and droplets were flung through the air all around him. They seemed motionless as they slowly drifted past his field of view. It was as if time had stopped to observe this one moment in Ethan’s life. He poked several of the droplets with his finger, making them change direction and crash into one another. The basin was now empty except for several water droplets that stuck to the side, and the stone with the crack in it.
As Ethan observed the stone, a small mark carved itself into the shape of a circle. Beams of light emanated from the etching as it was carved, followed by the mark disappearing altogether. Ethan instinctively reached forward and picked up the stone. He opened his eyes.