Fragments of Alchemy: The Code Keeper
Part III

A Meeting In The Roots

At an Alchimaera table in the bowels of the Roots, there sat two Alchemists playing a friendly game of cards. To a random passerby, they would seem unremarkable, unless someone stopped to watch. Then perhaps it would be noticed that the two Alchemists merely took turns discarding cards from their hands while their illusionary Chimaeras sat idle on the table. They seemed to be waiting.

Then, out of nowhere, an Alchemist in black appeared standing over the table. “Our chance has come. The Spectrums are going to meet at Formosus’s statue at two o’clock,” he said.

“How do you know?” asked the first Alchemist at the table, who had a high female’s voice.

“I’ve been following the newest Spectrum Scholar all day. She met up with MacNamara and I followed them to the Crowning Chamber. Presten made MacNamara swear an Oath to keep Pomoći’s hidden passageway a secret.”

“Is that the secret passage you showed her?” the second Alchemist at the table asked.

“One and the same,” the Alchemist in black said.

“How are you planning to get the Spectrums to come quietly?” the female Alchemist asked. “You know MacNamara is going to fight you tooth and nail.”

“You’re right,” the Alchemist in black said. “He’s one of your Chemists. What would you suggest?”

“Knock him out right away,” the female Alchemist said. “Maybe a Transmission Conversion, or Manipulation? Once he’s unconscious, Pomoći will be easy to subdue.”

“I disagree,” the second Alchemist said. “She will only grow more feisty if MacNamara is knocked out.”

“What if I had a hostage?” the Alchemist in black asked.

“Like who?” the female Alchemist asked.

“That kid, the Malus boy,” the Alchemist in black explained. “He’s Presten’s cousin. I should be able to locate him and easily overtake him, since everyone else is meditating.”

“Excellent idea,” said the female Alchemist. “I’ll leave at once to prepare the library for them.”

“I’ll go wait by the Keeper’s side,” said the third Alchemist.

“And I’ll go to apprehend the Spectrums myself,” the Alchemist in black said.

And then the three Alchemists all went their separate ways.

The Alchemist in black quickly left the Alchimaera Cavern the way he had entered, through a Dimension Gate. Once in the fourth dimension, he could take his time locating Presten’s cousin, the Malus boy.

First, he went to the Crowning Chamber where the hidden passageway was located. After standing in the Cavern for a while, he managed to pinpoint his own Infinimage, which was holding the Malus boy. He slowly followed himself as he walked backwards with the boy in his arms, out of the Crowning Chamber and down the main hallway all the way to the White Ward.

He followed the image of himself into a flat where the boy must live. He watched as the image of himself set the boy down in reverse and disappeared. The Alchemist in black smirked as he saw that the boy was alone and could be captured without a fight.

He began to draw the Teleportation Conversion Circle that would bring him back to the third dimension inside the young boy’s room. As he drew the Circle, he couldn’t help but smile. He put his stick of clay away and said, “Spatium,” and then he walked into the black sphere.