Fragments of Alchemy: The Code Keeper

The Secret and The Miracle

Thea woke from her nap with a pounding headache. Her room felt cold, and she shivered when she sat up and pushed her blanket away. It had been about twenty-four hours now since Thea had seen the light of the sun, and she knew that a big part of the coldness that she felt in her heart had nothing to do with the actual temperature in her room. Thea missed the ranch. She wanted to go outside into the sunlight. She nearly pulled the blanket back up, but she recognized her hunger pains and knew she needed to get up.

Thea whistled. C.C. answered her with a high shrill call that sounded like the whistle of an owl and the whinny of a horse all at once. Thea looked over toward her bookcase to see the tiny Chimaera standing on her dresser near the vest hanging from the hook on the side of the shelf. C.C. watched the vest slowly change from red to orange to yellow, staring as if mesmerized, and Thea smiled at the thought that her noctos might be proud of her.

“Pretty neat, huh?” Thea said as she got out of bed. On the floor in several paper bags, sat her uniforms. Along with her new vest, Thea had a large collection of simple white tunics and slacks to wear under her vest every day. No wonder she had left most of her clothes back at home.

Thea reached for her new set of clothes. The tunics and slacks were made of fine linen and felt soft to the touch. An embroidery of leaves and vines decorated the cuffs and neckline of the tunic. The same embroidery decorated the pockets of the slacks, which were tapered at the ankle so that they would fit comfortably underneath her knee-high boots. She changed quickly and pulled her new vest on.

Thea gently stuffed C.C. into the largest pocket on her vest, where she fit rather nicely. She quickly pulled on her new knee-high boots and slipped out of her room. She stepped out into an empty hallway, but she could see her father in his office looking at a purple roll of parchment. He noticed her right away and stood up from his desk chair. “Allie! Did you sleep okay?” He rolled the parchment up and tucked it away in a pocket.

“Yeah, but I’m starving,” she replied.

“Me too. Let’s go get some lunch. Fiona,” he called, and Thea’s mother responded from their bedroom.

“Is Thea awake?” Then she left her room and joined them in the hallway. “Ah, feeling refreshed?”

“Yes, but I’m really hungry,” Thea said.

“Well, let’s be off then.” Thea’s mother led them through the door and they walked down the White Wards toward the Keeper’s Antechamber. Her parents walked on either side of Thea. She couldn’t help but notice that they seemed to be escorting her. Did she really need protection when they were simply walking in the hallway?

Thea watched all the people as they made their way to the Great Hall. She didn’t know what a Shadow Alchemist would look like, but most of the people they walked by seemed nice enough. There were a few people who hurried by with eyebrows furrowed or frowns on their faces. But that hardly seemed like enough reason not to trust them.

Even still, having her parents escort her to the Great Hall gave her an uneasy feeling of being watched. Her father had said there were Shadow Alchemists here, trying to steal the Keeper’s secrets. And they would be very interested in her natural abilities. So she would simply act normal and hope they didn’t notice her. A nagging thought at the back of her mind insisted that she stood out just because she wore a Spectrum Scholar vest.

She tried to focus on the positive. Kids like her simply filled the hall. Thea noticed that many Chemists wore the shorter Initium and Chandler vests, while only a few Chemists wore long robes, with many variations of length in between. She would soon be joining all these Chemists as a scholar of Alchemy. What an invigorating thought!

Soon enough, they approached the Great Hall. Alchemists and Chemists exited the Hall in large numbers, heading straight out of the Keeper’s Antechamber and up the main hallway. Thea and her parents had to maneuver their way through the crowds, and Thea’s parents ended up grabbing her elbows and pulling her by the people. It made her heart thud, but then they entered the Great Hall and she felt safe again in the half-empty grand hall, as everyone seemed to be going down the hallways, maybe back to their lessons.

They had a short wait in line. After breakfast, Thea decided to play it safe with another bowl of spaghetti, which didn’t taste quite so magical this time around, but at least it was edible. Thea began to eat her lunch, her eyes trained up on the ceiling of stars, while her parents also enjoyed their cauldrons of stroganoff for her father and dumpling stew for her mother.

“So, what is there to do for fun here?” Thea asked.

Her parents exchanged glances. “Lots of Chemists your age enjoy going to the Roots,” her father said.

“Roots?” Thea asked as she continued to eat.

“Yes, it’s the recreational area where Alchemists and Chemists can unwind a bit and have fun,” her mother explained. “There are all sorts of things to do. We’ll take you there some time, but not today. Today we are going to have a birthday party for you.”

“A party? For my birthday?” Thea smiled at the thought.

“Yes, at Aunt Fanella’s flat. It will be in an hour or so, so we had best eat quickly so we can make it to meditation after lunch.”

“Who is coming to my party?” Thea asked, unable to focus on her food. “Will Todd be there?”

“Allie, just eat for now. We are getting pressed for time here.”

She smiled and continued eating her lunch. By the time they all stood to leave, nearly everyone had left the Great Hall already. They took care of their dishes and turned to leave. Thea turned to follow her parents out of the Great Hall, but a girl in a red vest nearly ran into her. Thea dodged out of the way and almost kept walking.

But a strange feeling washed over Thea, similar to when she had met Aunt Fanella for the first time. Though her aunt had been a stranger, Thea had felt like she already knew her. That same feeling hit her again now, but on a much deeper level. She knew she didn’t know this girl, but even knowing that, a spark of rumination and nostalgia swept over her. The impression she’d had when she met her aunt felt like a cheap imitation of the real feeling that overcame her now. Thea couldn’t help but turn to stare at the mysterious girl who felt like a long-lost sister.

The girl looked back at Thea, and her light brown eyes went wide. She stopped dead in her tracks, and Thea felt a slight tug, as if something pulled them together. The girl had long flaxen hair, high rosy cheekbones, and a delicate nose. Her lovely honey-colored skin shone with beauty.

In the moment the two stared at each other, their vests both changed color from red to orange.

“You’re a Spectrum Scholar!” Thea said.

At the same time, the girl said, “Is that a Spectrum Vest?”

Thea couldn’t help it. She reached out, and the girl reached out as well, and suddenly they were holding both hands as they stared at each other.

“I feel like–” Thea began.

“–Do I know you?” the girl interrupted.

“We’ve never met, but I feel like somehow… Well…” Thea let go of the preposterous idea that she somehow knew this complete stranger, and instead she just introduced herself. “I’m Thea Presten.”

“My name’s Tajana Pomići,” the girl said. “I must have met you somewhere before. Where are you from?”

Thea shook her head. “Nowhere really. Just my parents’ ranch in the middle of the United States.”

Tajana frowned, which actually made her delicate face even prettier. “Well, maybe I’m mistaken then,” she said. But she seemed to not like that idea at all. And Thea knew they must both feel exactly the same way. No matter how impossible it seemed, they knew each other somehow.

Thea’s eyes caught on the Chimaera at Tajana’s feet, which measured the size of a baby goat—a kid—with one ribbed horn protruding from his forehead. He had pure white hair as short as a horse, but with long curly hair near the cloven hooves, the tail, and the mane. He even had the whisperings of a beard on his chin. Thea could think of nothing else to call him but a unicorn.

“Thea,” her mother said suddenly, and she turned to see her parents watching the two of them curiously.

She immediately let go of Tajana’s hands with a jump.

“Come along, Thea, we need to be on our way now.”

“Now? Do we have to?” Thea asked, with a hint of a whine in her voice.

“It’s time to meditate,” her mother explained. “We’ll be late if we don’t get a move on.”

“I’m going to meditate now too,” Tajana offered hesitantly. “Shall we go together?”

“Oh, can we?” Thea asked, looking at Tajana and then back at her parents. “Please!” She put her hands together at heart center.

Her parents exchanged a meaningful gaze. Her father nodded and said, “Why don’t you two go on ahead. We’ll catch up with you later.”

Thea’s mother shook her head hotly. “No! You need to stay with us,” she said, talking over Thea’s father. But he grabbed her hands and gently held her in a calming manner. He patted her hands in between his and nodded at her. “Oh, alright then.” She slipped out of his grasp and came over. She grabbed Thea’s shoulders gently. “Go. Have fun … and be safe.” She tried to smile at Thea, but there were tears glistening in her eyes.

“I will! Thanks!” Thea said, and she turned back to Tajana, who smiled at her. “Let’s go!”

“Hang on, I need to grab some things quickly!” Tajana said. Thea stood and watched as Tajana walked toward the buffet line. She grabbed a loaf of bread and then went further down to the pasta. She picked up the container of rice and poured the entire thing into the brown leather bag hanging over her shoulder. Then she came back and said, “Alright I’m ready. Let’s go!”

The two girls turned toward the exit and hurried out of the Great Hall together. Thea wanted to hold Tajana’s hand again, but she fought the urge. She didn’t know this girl that well yet, she told herself. But something about it felt so magical that Thea knew she had met another Spectrum Scholar who would become a close friend.

They went across the large antechamber and joined the crowd of Alchemists and Chemists heading up the wide hallway. Thea thought about how her parents had let her go on without them. She wondered if she should feel scared to be separated from them. But something made her feel perfectly safe with Tajana.

The girls continued on down the hallway all the way past the different halls all tiled in the colors of the rainbow. First the red hall and the orange hall, then the yellow and green, and then Todd’s blue hall. They continued on to where Thea had never ventured before. They passed a dark blue hallway and a purple-colored hallway and walked for a little longer and then they reached the end of the hallway, and the ceiling opened up to another large chamber. “Wow!” Thea exclaimed as she took in the sights of the vast room.

The hallway floor had become a sort of walkway down the center of the humongous room. Several wide sweeping staircases descended either side of the walkway into the vast room shaped like a hemisphere. Thea followed Tajana across the upper walkway. A magical wind blew through the gargantuan room, sending clothes, hair and parchment aquiver. The giant crowd of Alchemists filled the air with chatter. Thea wouldn’t be surprised if every single Alchemist and Chemist had come to this vast chamber.

On the left, Thea saw what looked like a library. Shelves of books covered the curved walls from floor to ceiling; several levels ascended up the curved wall where people could find more shelves of books, each tier with a railing and a ladder leading up.

Instead of marble tiles, polished wood covered the floor of the library. Large chandeliers of colorful lights hung from the library’s high ceiling.

Water trickled down polished stone fountains on either side of each staircase. The tall fountains gave off a calming ambiance throughout the vast room. On the right, Thea saw a spacious arena with three raised platforms. Tatami reed mats covered the floor. Wide rectangular skylights of cloudy white glass covered the very top of the ceiling, allowing a calming white light to come in and brighten up the room.

“Wow!” Thea exclaimed. “This room is huge!”

“It’s the Crowning Chamber,” Tajana said. “I love this room the best!”

“I already love it too!” Thea said.

Tajana chose a staircase and descended into the library on the left side of the chamber. Thea quickly followed, dodging around several Alchemists and Chemists as Tajana chose a room under the walkway, and disappeared. “Tajana?” Thea asked as she hesitantly entered the room.

“Right here, Thea,” Tajana answered, and Thea turned to find her in a deserted enclosed room. It seemed to be an unused private room. “Listen… I’ve been thinking, and …” Tajana hesitated.

“What is it?”

“Well, it’s almost time to meditate, and you can do that if you want, but I always go somewhere else during meditation.”

“Really? Where do you go?”

Tajana hesitated again. “Listen. I feel like I’ve known you my whole life, and I trust you.”

“I trust you too!” Thea took a few steps closer and grabbed Tajana’s hands again. She held onto Thea’s hands eagerly.

“I’m going into the city, and you should come with me.”

“What?” Thea asked.

“Come with me into the city, Thea Presten.” Tajana smiled and pointed up at the ceiling.

“You mean, into Bergen?” Thea asked, recalling the name of the city situated above the halls of Blackthorn and Burtree. Tajana nodded. “How do you get out?”

“That’s the thing. It’s a secret, and I…”

“You can trust me. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Alright! I believe you. Let’s go.” And Tajana reached out with one hand and with her other hand she pulled out a vial of water. “Visui!” she said, and an odd feeling went over Thea as the world around her became glossy like looking out from the inside of a bubble.

“Wow! What did you do?”

“I made us invisible.” Tajana held her hand and tugged her out of the tiny private room and back into the crowded Crowning Chamber. “Shh, stay with me,” Tajana whispered.

Thea clung to her hand and they stepped back up the stairs to the walkway. They hurried all the way down the walkway, to where a spiraling staircase led up to the ceiling. Above them, another walkway spanned the same distance as the walkway below, about one hundred feet up in the air.

They reached the top of the steps and walked back across the Crowning Chamber. Ahead of them, Thea could see a second upper hallway that seemed to mirror the first floor underneath. Tajana suddenly stopped walking near a statue of a man in robes, leaning on a cane, and Thea came to a halt. Tajana knelt and pushed on the statue’s cane. A secret tunnel opened in the wall behind the marble sculpture, and Tajana quickly crawled in.

Thea crawled into the secret passage after Tajana. Quickly, she scrambled down the dark tunnel until the ceiling opened up, and she stood and started to walk while she trailed her hands along the sides of the pitch-black narrow passageway. Suddenly, a line of light appeared, and Thea closed her eyes against the brightness.

“This way, Thea,” Tajana said, and she stepped out into the light.

Thea stood for a moment to let her eyes adjust, and then she walked up and stepped out of the tunnel and into a bright sunlit alleyway. She inhaled deeply and turned her face up toward the sun.

Tajana knelt and traced a Conversion Circle in the dirt. Her unicorn stepped onto the Circle. “Minuo,” she said with a vial of liquid in her hand.

The unicorn shrank down with a flash of orange light, until he could fit into the palm of her hand. She lifted the little Chimaera and hid him in her vest pocket, then she mumbled another word, and her white tunic and slacks and her color-shifting vest slowly transformed into a tan tank top, brown slacks, and a white vest. “Here, Thea,” she said, reaching out. She said the same word, “Visui,” with her other hand on her own clothes, and with a flash of green light, Thea looked down to see her clothes were now identical to Tajana’s. “This way, Thea,” she said, and she took off at a brisk walk.

Thea scrambled after Tajana out of the alley and onto a crowded street. She followed closely, slipping her hand into her pocket to hold C.C. The Chimaera wrapped her wings around Thea’s hand in a feathery hug. “Why are you going into the city?”

“To feed the starving orphans,” Tajana replied over her shoulder as she started to run.

“Why are we running?” Thea asked as she chased after her.

“Because I only have an hour until my next lesson.”

Right, as a Spectrum Scholar, lessons filled her long days, and soon enough, Thea’s days would resemble Tajana’s.

They turned down a dingy street and ran past some shady looking buildings, and Thea started to wonder if they were safe. Tajana stopped running, and then they turned another corner into the dirtiest alley Thea had ever seen. There were children sitting on broken crates, barrels, and even in the street. And they started whispering Tajana’s name.

“You come here a lot, don’t you?” Thea said under her breath as she followed Tajana into the alley. The kids swarmed around them and pushed to hug Tajana. A few children gave Thea nervous looks and spoke to each other in hushed voices.

Tajana smiled at Thea and said something in the children’s strange language.

“What are you talking about?” Thea asked.

“They want to know who this strange girl I brought with me is,” Tajana said with a smile. “They asked if you’re my sister.”

Thea laughed. “We don’t really look alike.” They both had dark sun-bronzed skin, though Tajana’s blonde straight hair contrasted with Thea’s brown curly hair. But something about the idea of being sisters intrigued Thea. She had this absurd feeling that she knew Tajana, though they had never met before.

“I told them you’re a new friend. You are a friend, aren’t you?” Tajana turned to give Thea a quizzical look.

“I’d like that very much,” Thea admitted with a smile. She had made her first new friend. The thought filled her with a rush of giddiness.

Tajana smiled back as she sat down on a barrel and put her hand into her bag. She mumbled a word and pulled out a small loaf of bread, which she handed to the closest child. As quickly as she could, she reached back into her bag, mumbled the same word again, and pulled out another loaf of bread.

Thea estimated that there had to be at least fifty children in the alley. How in the world did Tajana have enough bread in her bag for that many kids? It must be some kind of Alchemy, Thea thought.

Miraculously, Tajana continued to reach into her bag and pull out more bread, until almost every child in the alley had a little loaf.

An older girl, maybe close to Tajana’s age, walked up. “Hello Anja. Is anyone sick?” Tajana asked.

“Mikael, the small boy in the gutter there,” the girl, Anja, answered.

Tajana mumbled the word and pulled a loaf of bread from her bag. She handed it to Anja, then stood up, and every child in the alley whispered, “Takk for maten!”

Thea hadn’t realized that they all waited to eat until everyone had been handed a loaf of bread. Now they all finally devoured the bread like it was their only meal of the day.

Tajana knelt by the tiny boy in the gutter, who hadn’t stood up to get his bread. She felt his forehead and put her other hand on his chest. Then she smiled and whispered something to him, and Thea saw a tattoo on Tajana’s arm glow darkly.

The boy sat up and smiled, and Tajana reached into her bag and handed him a loaf of bread. She stood up and waved to everyone.

Everyone waved back, strangely quiet as they ate their bread, and then Tajana slowly turned and walked out of the alley. Thea followed closely, noticing that Tajana seemed drained of energy.

“How did you fit all that bread in your bag?” Thea asked.

“Are you sure you’re a Chemist?” Tajana asked with a weak laugh.

“I’m really new at this. What did you really do?”

Tajana flashed a very pretty smile. “I gave them rice.”

Then Thea remembered that Tajana had poured rice into her bag.

“Each grain of rice was disguised to look, feel, and taste like a loaf of bread,” Tajana explained. “It still has just as much nutritional value as a single grain of rice, but it fills the body up.”

“Do you come here every day?”

Tajana nodded. Thea noticed how red her cheeks were, like she just ran a mile.

“Why?”

Tajana stopped walking to look directly into Thea’s eyes. “Because the children need someone to bring them a miracle.”

Thea and Tajana returned to the alleyway with the hidden passage, and Tajana walked up to the wall. She touched one of the hundreds of stones in the design of the wall and with a tiny crystal in her other hand, she said, “Visui,” and the door to the passageway appeared. Then she waved her hands in a dismissive gesture, and their clothes returned to normal.

Thea moved to follow her into the tunnel when she noticed something strange about the Reduction Conversion Circle Tajana had traced in the dirt to shrink her Chimaera. The Insignia had been trampled by someone wearing boots. She frowned, but didn’t say anything, and only hurried to follow Tajana into the dark passageway and back into Blackthorn and Burtree. Thea automatically felt chilled to the bone.

They reached the sloping ceiling and dropped to their hands and knees to crawl to the end of the passageway. Tajana stopped abruptly, and Thea ran into her. “Sorry.”

“Shh!” Tajana said. She waited a while and then pushed the passageway open and crawled out. Thea followed her, and the tunnel closed by itself behind them. An empty hallway greeted them.

“How did you know the hallway was empty?” Thea asked, already planning to use this secret passageway again soon.

“Dušan told me,” Tajana said, and she pulled her miniature unicorn out of her pocket. She smiled softly at Thea. “You know. It’s not safe to use the passageway without a Chimaera to tell you when the coast is clear. You’ll get caught for sure, and they’ll seal the tunnel, and then I won’t be able to get out either.”

Thea sighed heavily and decided to keep C.C. a secret from this girl that she didn’t really know. “I won’t go by myself. Can I meet you here?”

“One o’clock every day. I’ve got to go!” Tajana turned and jogged into the hallway, which had green orbs of light and leafy tiles. “Bye, Thea!”

“Bye, Tajana,” Thea whispered with a smile. Then she turned and went back to the raised walkway suspended over the vast Crowning Chamber. Below, loud chatter filled the Chamber. Meditation must be over. Her parents would be waiting for her. She took off down the steps at a quick pace.