Fragments of Alchemy: The Code Keeper
Chapter Nineteen

The Roots

Thea walked up to Todd’s dorm room and knocked on the door.

“Coming!” he called from behind the door. Then the door opened, and Todd looked back at Thea. His pale face washed over with shock when he saw Thea wearing her Spectrum Scholar vest. “Thea! You decided to be a Spectrum Scholar?”

Thea nodded as she stepped up to come through the door, and Todd moved back to let her in. That’s when she noticed a man sitting at Todd’s table.

“Thea, this is my dad,” Todd explained, motioning to the man; he had the same blond hair as Todd, the same blue eyes, and the same fair skin.

“Nice to meet you, Thea. I’m Magister Alder,” the man said with an accent just like Todd’s. He stood up to approach.

She nodded politely. “Nice to meet you, too.”

“Ah, so you’ve chosen the path of the Spectrum, have you?” he said, sounding very intrigued.

Thea nodded wordlessly. Her father’s words of warning echoed in her head, and she swallowed and tried to act brave.

“Well, I wish you all the best! Now, I must be off. I have important business to take care of. Son, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye dad,” Todd said, and Magister Alder left the dorm room.

Thea stood awkwardly.

“Is something wrong?” Todd asked. On his shoulder, Emerald, his vesperta Chimaera, sat, and they both watched her curiously.

“Something happened,” Thea mumbled finally. “My parents, well, we had a fight. And I…”

“Ah, say no more,” Todd said with a wave of his hand. “I’ve had a row with my parents every now and then too. I know how you feel.”

He had no idea, Thea thought with a forced smile.

“Well, should we go hang out? It was your birthday recently, after all. We should go celebrate!” Todd motioned for the door.

“Celebrate?” Thea asked, following Todd out of his room.

“Yeah. I know a place we can go. We can meet up with some of my friends. Come on!” He led Thea down the Azure hall and back to the main hall, heading toward the Keeper’s Antechamber. “Hey, congrats on unlocking all seven Fragments,” he said.

“Thanks!” Thea smiled, letting the happiness wash away all the anger she had been feeling. “You really helped me out with that example about freezing and melting water.”

“Well, I did what I could considering I couldn’t explain the Trial to you.” Todd tilted his head. “But you had to figure out most of it yourself.”

“Thanks for telling me to experiment and solve the Alchemy like it was a puzzle.”

“Don’t mention it. That Trial is simply brilliant, isn’t it?” Todd said.

“Yeah, it was really clever.” Thea paused and wondered what she could say about the Trial given that she had sworn an Oath to conceal the Alchemical secrets she had witnessed. Finally she just said, “I unlocked all seven Fragments, just like you!”

“Well, you didn’t choose a Focus though,” he said, painfully stating the obvious. He gestured to Thea’s vest as they continued walking. “Why did you decide to become a Spectrum Scholar, if you don’t mind my asking?”

Thea looked straight ahead awkwardly as they walked. Thinking about it brought up her mixed feelings about what had happened with the purple scroll. She couldn’t tell him that the Keeper had wanted her to become a Spectrum Scholar, so instead she said, “The Keeper mentioned I could study all seven Fragments if I didn’t want to choose a Focus Fragment, and it sounded just perfect to me.”

“You realize you’re going to be too busy to hang out with me now, right?”

Thea felt her ears burn. She shook her head silently and focused her eyes on all the people walking down the hallway.

“Well, you can always decide to choose a Focus Fragment, can’t you? So, if you want to change your mind later, you can.”

“I don’t think I’ll change my mind,” Thea said, making Todd’s eyes go wide with her snippy response. “Sorry, but I think I’m meant to be a Spectrum Scholar.” She cleared her throat.

“You do what’s best for you then,” he said.

They entered the Keeper’s Antechamber with its washed-out colorful tiles in the wonderous tessellating pattern. Thea curiously watched the Keeper’s door as they approached, and she saw that the white-robed Alchemists still stood guard along the hallway, and the Bookkeeper sat at his post in front of the grand door. They walked past the Bookkeeper’s high desk, and Thea tried not to look at him. They passed the large double doors of the Chamber of Trials and continued walking.

“So where are we going?” Thea asked finally.

“The Roots,” he answered, pointing ahead of them to the far side of the Keeper’s Antechamber.

She remembered her parents mentioning the Roots during lunch. “What are the Roots?” Thea asked as they walked down the hallway.

“Where Chemists hang out in Blackthorn and Burtree,” Todd said. “Just wait’ll you see. Come on.”

Thea nodded as they neared the end of the hallway where Thea and her parents and Aunt Fanella had entered Blackthorn and Burtree yesterday.

Todd led Thea straight into a large corridor leading to a series of dark winding hallways. It felt more like tunnels, with a gritty look to the passageways. They seemed unfinished without the typical tiles that covered the floors, walls, and ceilings of Blackthorn and Burtree. Floating lanterns filled the passageways with eerie purple and dark blue light.

Thea knew for sure she would have gotten lost without Todd, who never hesitated every time they came to a fork in the tunnels. It was quite a walk, and as they went, Todd talked about the vendors that lined the tunnels. The arms vendors sold all sorts of weapons and armor; and the Component Cultivators set up booths to sell their wares, which varied from rocks and minerals and gemstones, to plants and animal parts, and even Alchemical Contraptions, like the Divination Globes Thea got for her birthday. Then the food vendors prepared the best food you could imagine. Some of the best vendors even let you prepare your own food, making it into a game, Todd explained.

They reached the end of the tunnel and it opened up into a cavernous room filled with circular tables and lounge chairs. The floating lanterns stayed close to the floor, and Thea couldn’t see the ceiling through the darkness. She felt like it was the middle of the night.

Again, that ache to get out and see the sun hit her. She couldn’t wait until after lunch tomorrow when she could see Tajana again and confide in her about all that had happened. With a heavy breath, she walked quickly to keep up with her Mentor.

Todd led Thea to the back of the room where a group of young Chemists sat lounging in leather armchairs around a coffee table. They all wore their vests of many colors with so many pockets. The sight put a smile on her face. She felt like she belonged there, and she felt instantly excited that she had come out with Todd. She had a chance to make friends with Chemists her own age.

“Hey guys, this is my Protégé Thea. Thea, this is Desmond and his Protégé Demi, and Hulan and his Protégé Hideki.” Todd gestured to the four Chemists at the table: a fair skinned tall boy and an African girl, an Indian boy who was probably the oldest of the group and an Asian boy.

Thea thought about all the National Geographic magazines her father always had her read. All those photographs might have taught her about the different cultures and races of the world, but nothing could compare to finally having the chance to meet the people from all over the world.

Thea waved as their eyes fell on her, and their expressions changed slightly as they all realized she wore a Spectrum Vest. Thea wondered what people thought when they saw her. “What are you all up to?” she asked, genuinely interested. The Chemists had decks of cards, strange dice, and tiny glowing figures on the table.

“Alchimaera,” Hideki said. “It’s fun and easy. You should play a little with us.” Thea heard Hideki’s voice speaking in another language, perhaps Japanese, but she somehow understood what he said. Then she realized that her Intuition Amulet automatically translated for her, and she smiled in wonder and nodded.

“Just watch us finish this game. I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it,” Hulan said, and then he played a card. The second the card hit the table, there came a flash of light and one of the tiny figures faded away. Thea realized the figures resembled different Chimaeras. Hideki groaned, and Desmond laughed and quickly made the next move, playing a fire Insignia card. A red glow momentarily engulfed the table, and two more Chimaeras faded away. Both Hulan and Hideki tossed their cards down.

“I win,” Desmond said with a smile.

“Alright, let’s try a team game with all six of us. I have cards you can borrow,” Todd said to Thea as he sat down.

“You can borrow my extra dice,” Demi said, and she handed Thea a many-sided die.

“Thanks,” Thea said as she sat down in the last open chair at the table.

Todd held out two decks of cards. “Pick one,” he said.

Thea hesitated. “Which one would you rather use?” she asked.

Todd shrugged. “They’re both good.” Then he paused and smiled slightly. “But I think you’d like this one,” he said, and he nudged one of the decks into Thea’s hand.

The players all shuffled their decks and rolled their thirty-sided dice to see who would go first. Thea rolled a three and snorted at her bad luck. Then she noticed the glow surrounding the table. Todd put his cards down, and the table gave off a faint green hue just in front of him.

The other Chemists laid down their decks of cards, and the table glowed orange, yellow, red, and blue around the edges of the circular table just in front of each player. Thea set her cards down in a stack and smiled when the edge of the table in front of her turned purple in response.

They took turns drawing a card from their deck. Thea drew a lightning bolt card.

“You can have seven cards in your hand at a time,” Todd explained. “Your first move needs to be a Chimaera.”

So the players took turns drawing more cards. Finally, after going around four times, Thea found a Chimaera: a falquos, half horse, half falcon – like a hippogriff. The card said the falquos could use lightning and wind attacks and had a weakness to plant life. Thea almost played the card, but she stopped. No one else had played a Chimaera card yet. Thea decided to wait and watch what everyone else did.

They all took two more turns, and Thea drew another Chimaera card. She couldn’t help but smile at the brilliant illustration of a noctos on the card. Hideki quickly took his turn and laid down a card before Thea could decide if she wanted to play her Chimaera card. The table responded to the card again, and suddenly a miniature Chimaera appeared on the table in front of Hideki. It looked like a griffon to Thea, and she realized she knew the name of the Chimaera: aquileo.

Hideki’s turn seemed to spur the game into action. Hulan played a Chinese-style dragon Chimaera that differed enough from Todd’s vasperta that Thea figured it must go by another name.

Desmond summoned a fish-like Chimaera with a lion head, and Demi played a card that looked like a phoenix. The Chimaeras all glowed softly on the table, waiting for the next turn when the players would give their orders.

Todd played a card and summoned a serpent-like Chimaera. It reminded Thea of a Naga. Finally Thea’s turn came again, and she drew a card and then played the noctos Chimaera card. Todd gave her a subtle wink. The miniature holographic Chimaera reared up on hind legs and spread its wings.

On the next turn, Hideki’s aquileo attacked Todd’s Naga Chimaera with a miniature tornado. The sight transfixed Thea, and she almost forgot to be upset that Hideki had attacked her partner. Hulan’s dragon clawed and bit Desmond’s lion-fish, and the Chimaera curled into a heap on the table and refused to move.

“Hit my weakness,” Desmond said with a curse. He drew a card, but he couldn’t do anything, so Demi took her turn. She sent her Chimaera to attack Todd’s Naga again.

“Jeez, you lot are picking on me,” Todd said as he drew a card. Then he ordered his Chimaera to summon a ball of flames down on itself, and that’s when Thea noticed the dice on the table all kept track of the Chimaeras’ health. Todd’s die jumped on the table and returned to the number thirty. Todd had healed himself with the fire.

“How’d you do that?” Thea said with a smile.

“The coluballa can absorb fire, so it’s like a healing spell for me,” Todd explained.

Thea nodded. She looked at her cards and saw that she had a thunderstorm card. She played the card and laughed out loud when a tiny cloud appeared and expanded until it hovered over the entire table. Lightning bolts struck each Chimaera on the table, knocking three of them off their feet. Most surprisingly, Thea’s noctos flew over Todd’s coluballa and shielded him from the lightning, reflecting a lightning bolt to the dragon-like Chimaera, the sole Chimaera left standing.

“Nice move!” Todd exclaimed.

Hideki lost his turn again because of his Chimaera’s weakness to Thea’s lightning attack, so Hulan’s Chimaera came after the noctos and engulfed it with flames. Thea watched her thirty-sided die tumble down to twenty-four.

Desmond and Demi both lost their turns, and suddenly, Todd’s coluballa went after Hulan’s dragon-Chimaera with its tiny teeth and claws. Thea couldn’t see Hulan’s thirty-sided die, but she thought the Chimaera’s health might be getting low.

Thea drew another storm card called Reign of Thunder. She played it instantly, and lightning flared off her tiny Chimaera’s wings and hit the aquileo, the dragon, the fish-lion, and the phoenix.

“Man, when will I get my turn?” Hideki complained.

Hulan tossed a card down, and his dragon attacked the fish-lion, which flashed and disappeared from the table. Desmond tossed his cards down on the table. “I didn’t get a single turn, man! Remind me not to ever make a leoscis.”

Everyone laughed.

Demi’s phoenix Chimaera still lay prone on the table, so Todd took his turn and finished off Hulan’s dragon.

“Man, that lightning was brutal,” Hulan said. “You two make a great team.”

“Yeah, we do,” Todd said, and Thea smiled brightly.

Thea had one lightning bolt left, and a bunch of wind spells, plus the falquos. She chose a small wind spell that would replenish her health, since the noctos absorbs wind attacks. She set the card down, and her little Chimaera glowed with blue light.

Hideki finally got his turn. “Yes!” He put down a card with a wind symbol on it, which healed his Chimaera.

Demi played a wind card that sent her phoenix to attack Todd’s Chimaera. Todd quickly attacked her back with another card that flared with red fire.

Thea drew her next card: Thor, Thunder God. She almost laughed as she set the card down on the table. She allowed herself to smile sheepishly. Her tiny Chimaera danced around the table and electrocuted all the Chimaera until they all faded from the table.

“Ouch,” Hideki said.

“Nice card,” Desmond said. “That deck is deadly.”

“Yeah,” Todd said with an odd tone to his voice. “I got beat by my own deck by my own teammate.”

All the players burst out laughing. That’s when Thea noticed that all the other Chimaeras had disappeared, including Todd’s coluballa. “Oh no, I’m sorry,” she apologized to Todd.

“Just promise to be more careful in real combat and I’ll forgive you,” Todd said with a grin.

“Is this very realistic?” Thea asked.

“Somewhat,” Hulan said. “The elemental affinities match up with real Chimaeras, and the weaknesses too. The attacks are probably exaggerated. I bet the only cards that are really accurate are the physical attacks.”

“The most unrealistic part is the health,” Demi said as she took back the die she had let Thea borrow. “Real Chimaeras don’t drop this easily, unless the Alchemist only has one Chakra opened, or something.”

“Let’s go get dinner, guys,” Desmond said suddenly, and they all agreed.

The group of Chemists found a vendor in the Roots to order food for dinner: a small food stall just outside the Alchimaera Cavern with a bowl of noodles on the side of the wooden cart. This seemed perfect to Thea, as she realized she wouldn’t need to avoid her parents in the Great Hall this way. She grinded her teeth as she thought about how her parents had allowed her to be manipulated by the Keeper.

Everyone ordered food, but as the Chemists all started handing the food vendor their coins, Thea realized she didn’t have any money. “Oh no! I can’t pay for the food.” Thea put her hands over her mouth.

“I’ll cover you,” Todd said without any hesitation.

“Thank you! I’ll pay you back somehow,” Thea promised. That made her wonder how these Chemists all had money. Maybe their parents gave it to them. If she wasn’t on speaking terms with her parents, then how would she ever pay Todd back? The thought reminded her about that stupid purple scroll, and she raised her chin and grinded her teeth as she rolled her eyes at the gritty black ceiling.

The Chemists took their steaming bowls of noodles back to the Alchimaera Cavern to eat. Todd offered to get a drink for Thea too, and he went off to the high counter in the center of the cavern, where an Alchemist served up drinks. He came back a moment later with two glasses that had foggy clouds hovering over them.

“What’s that?” Thea asked as Todd handed her one. She stared at the frosty drink. The cloud seemed too magical to drink.

“Mistea,” Todd said with a smile. “It’s delicious! Try it.”

Thea tried the drink. The mistea tickled her nose and tasted like savory tea with a mellow sweet aftertaste. “Wow, yum! Thank you,” Thea said.

They ate their food while Todd talked with all his friends about their lessons and their plans for the weekend. Thea’s noodles tasted great, and she enjoyed the food and mistea immensely. Soon enough, everyone finished eating and Hideki invited Demi to go shopping with him. Hulan said he needed to go meditate, and Desmond said he needed to study for a Conversion Circle Examination.

Todd turned to Thea. “I need to go study too. I’ll help you replace your way out of here, alright?”

Thea nodded. “I’m really glad I came out with you. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Of course!” Todd said. “Let’s do this again soon.”

Todd dropped Thea off at her green hallway. “Bye, Todd!” she said as he continued walking up to the blue hallway.

“See you tomorrow, Thea!” He disappeared in the crowd of Chemists and Alchemists walking up and down the main hall.

Thea smiled as she walked down her green hall to her room. She took out her key, but a thought struck her. All her things were still tiny after moving them to her room. She put her forehead against her door and groaned loudly.

“Hey, are you alright?”

Thea turned toward the voice and saw a young man with wild black hair. He watched her with an odd look on his face, and in that moment, Thea watched his vest change color from purple to red.

“You’re the new Spectrum Scholar!” the boy said in a thick accent, just like Todd’s. But other than the accent, the two boys differed in every other aspect. The boy had thick black hair, roughed up in a messy punk hairstyle. His eyes looked green at first, but when his vest changed colors, his eyes seemed to do the same. He had a medium toned complexion that almost perfectly matched Thea’s.

“You’re a Spectrum Scholar too?” she asked. What luck, Thea thought, to meet both of the Spectrum Scholars in one day! It seemed too convenient though, and Thea immediately thought of that purple scroll. Could it be that the Keeper had manipulated her again? She shivered at the thought.

“So it’s true! There was talk of a new Spectrum, but I had to see it to believe it, and here you are!”

Thea felt her heart flutter at the idea that people had been talking about her. She bit her lip to keep from frowning, and instead she simply nodded her head.

“You’re either bloody brilliant or barking mad,” he said with a playful grin.

Thea couldn’t tell if he wanted to scare her or make friends. She forced herself to smile back. “I guess so. Which are you?”

“I’m sorry?” He raised his eyebrow at her.

“Brilliant or mad?” she asked, feeling ridiculous for needing to explain her joke.

He laughed. “Both I guess. I’m Chadwick, by the way.” He stepped up and reached out to shake hands.

“Althea,” she said as they shook hands. His hand felt nice and warm, and she found herself wanting to hold on tight. She waited for that feeling to come over her, like she had felt when she met Tajana, but nothing happened. No feeling of nostalgia like she had already known Chadwick her whole life. She pursed her lips in disappointment.

“Wow, cold hands.” He pulled his hand away.

“Sorry. I guess it’s really cold down here. I miss the sun.”

“Well, you’ll not be seeing the sun any time soon,” he said quickly in his thick accent that made him hard to understand.

“Wow, that’s quite the accent you have there,” Thea couldn’t help but say.

“Oh. Thanks I guess. I’m from the U.K. British through and through. Where are you from?”

“The middle of nowhere.” Thea blushed.

“Well, fancy meeting you here, then. What was wrong?” He gestured to Thea’s door, where she had thumped her head in exasperation moments before.

“Oh, I have a situation.” Thea waved away his concern, but then an idea struck her. “Actually! I bet you can help me. All my things are tiny, and I haven’t learned how to enlarge them to their regular size yet.”

“Ah, I see. Well, sure I can help you out, but it better be quick. I have a tutor coming for a private lesson any minute now.”

Thea quickly unlocked her door and lead Chadwick into her room.

“Wow, you’ve just moved in, then?” he said, eyeing her bare bed and empty shelves.

“Just today. I had my Trial of Entry this morning.”

“Wow, news of you sure did travel fast. I get to brag to everyone that I’ve met you now.” He grinned at her, and she felt her face go hot.

“Please, just…” She motioned to her things, and he jumped to work.

He grabbed her present bag and pulled everything out onto the tabletop. Her pen and notebook hadn’t been reduced in size, but everything else needed to be enlarged. “Wow, you’ve got some really nice new things,” he said. “So, with the Reduction Conversion, you can actually just undo the Conversion rather than Convert an Augmentation Conversion.”

He sat down and held out his hand to the contraption from the Keeper. With a stern look on his face, he made a grab at something, tugged at the air, and then waved his hand. The contraption enlarged itself to its original size.

“Wow! That was neat. Can you teach me?” Thea reached out to pick up the gift from the Keeper. The magnificent time dial reminded her that the Keeper had trapped her on the ranch her whole life. She set the contraption down with a clunk.

“You’re not my Protégé so I can’t actually,” he said, rather apologetically. “But you can try it for yourself.”

“Okay. The rest of my stuff is in my bag there,” Thea said, pointing to her rucksack on her bed. Then she sat down at her table and chose the Divination Globes to try and enlarge first, while Chadwick went to her bed.

She reached out to the box with the first globe, like she had seen Chadwick do, but when she felt nothing, she started to doubt herself. But then suddenly, a faint sensation fluttered over her fingers for a moment. She scrambled to take hold of it, and it pulled against her hand slightly, like a strong invisible strand of spider silk encircling the box. She waved her hand the way Chadwick had, and the invisible strand seemed to break. The box began to grow. Thea clapped her hands at herself. Then she reached out to do it again with the other Divination globe box.

After a few minutes, she finished undoing the Reduction Conversions on her new Divination Globes and Component cupboard. She turned to see that Chadwick had undone the Reduction Conversion on her blanket and uniforms.

“I can finish that for you,” she said, swiping away her bag as she realized that her underwear was still in there. Her face went warm again.

“Wow, you’re a Spectrum Scholar for a reason, I suppose. Well done.” He gestured to the table and her things that she had enlarged.

“Thanks. You explained it really well.”

“I didn’t actually.” Chadwick stood up and studied her face. “Alright then. I best be off, though I’d much rather skip my lesson and hang out with you.”

“You can’t skip your lesson!” Thea scoffed at him.

He laughed and hung his head to look at his black leather boots as he tapped his toe on the stone floor. In the silence, their Spectrum Scholar vests turned from green to blue.

“Well, I hope I see you around. It was nice to meet you…” he said, then he turned and went for the door. Thea followed him over and from her doorway, she watched him go across the hall and down one door. A tutor stood by the door, waiting impatiently. Chadwick entered his room behind the tutor, giving her a small wave as he disappeared behind the door.

“It was nice to meet you too!” she said, though he was already gone. She closed her door, covered her warm cheeks with her hands, and went back to her bed to finish enlarging her things.