The Alchemists

"Ah, Ven, good. You're home."

Single-mindedly, he traipsed to the table, folding himself fluidly into a chair beside his roommate. He put his messenger bag on the table and removed his laptop carefully.

"Would you mind taking a look at something for me? Some Latin phrases. You would do better at deciphering them than I would."

"Sure! The Old Tongue should be a nice refresher, seeing as I can't get a decent Latin translation of this anywhere," he said, placing a scrap of paper in his book to mark his spot and putting it aside.

Andreas glanced at the title briefly. "No, you wouldn't, but I made acquaintance with a recent Trinity scholar that has a copy of a few Latin translations of Dostoyevsky and Hawthorne, if you're interested." Blinking as if to clear his thoughts, he pulled up the file, turning the screen to Ven. "Here it is. There are only these three phrases. They were written on an Alchemist textbook apparently, but not one I've ever seen."

Halcyon came up and casually leaned on her brother's shoulder, glancing at the phrases. She thought she recognized a few words, but she would simply be guessing.

A smile began to form on Ophira's face as she clutched a rather large book in her hands. The library was rather empty on that Sunday morning. Even though she originally hadn't wanted to get up at 4 in the morning to head over to the library, she was very glad that she had. There weren't as many prying eyes as there had been the first time she had visited to begin her research. The only person in her particular row was a rather disheveled-looking young man around her age. But he was far too engrossed in the book he was currently reading to notice her pull that rather large book from the shelf.

The binding of the book was broken, and the pages inside were in no better shape. They were yellow, and some were torn at the edges. The pictures inside that were probably once painted in vibrate hues were now dull and lifeless. Ophira was surprised that it hadn't been thrown out.

But she was beyond glad that it wasn't.

The book had similar symbols that the other book, the one Caldwell had, but thankfully this one was in English. Gingerly she began turning the pages, but then the corners of her mouth dropped. Unlike Caldwell's book, this one was more about the myths and legends of Alchemy, and not about the inner workings of the Society. In fact, it didn't even mention the Society. Her shoulders slouched. She had already read plenty of books and articles online about Nicholas Flamel.

Ophira glanced up from her book for just a moment, only to see that the disheveled-looking man was staring right at her.

--------------

She saw me! Neil Hamby's eyes grew wide, and he quickly shifted them back to his book. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck start to stand up. She was obviously staring at him now. Why is she looking at me? But why is she looking at that book?

He glanced at her again, memorizing her features. He had seen her picture once in the newspaper about six years earlier. Hadn't her parents died in a fire? So that's Ophira Alves. He thought to himself, pretending to read his book. Wasn't she friends with Professor Caldwell? The disappearance had been no secret on campus, but since Neil Hamby was an Alchemist, he at least knew it was the Society that had taken him. Caldwell wouldn't have told her...would he have? No, no, no, that would be unlike him. Right? Her reading a book on Alchemy must just be a coincidence. Maybe a hobby. Oh no, she's still staring. She probably knows I'm an Alchemist. Just stay calm and keep reading. It's probably all in your head.

"You must introduce me, of course I can't resist that," Ven began, and picked up the paper, nodding and then slightly frowning as he read and re-read the scrawled phrases. "The first two are simple enough, but the third seems... odd. The first, in modern speech, essentially means 'What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.' The second appears to be a reference to a Biblical passage, but if it is, it's slightly off. 'He who knocks shall recieve.' However, it's certainly logical enough. And the final roughly says 'Those who consort with the birds are the only path.' Any ideas?" He set the paper down, and looked up at Andreas.

Andreas made an internal note of it, then paid full attention to Ven's translations. "Ah," he muttered, with his roommate's help recollecting that 'necat' meant something like "destroy", and confirmat "strengthen". That phrase was usually used for one of two reasons: as motivation, for one or many, or for consolation. The second he mulled over for a moment but then cast to the back of his mind to re-examine its possible indications later.

"Those who consort with the birds..." Andreas echoed Ven, pondering the words for a moment. "Birds... often in lore are thought to be connections between the natural and supernatural world. Some even believe each are a departed spirit." He paused, merely expelling all information he knew, whether it was relevant or not he did not know as of yet. "Only path. Could indicate fanaticism or righteousness...'path' maybe refers to some method or process even, perhaps some Alchemical manner of procedure."

As much as he hated to ask...
"Dearest sister, you ought to know about the most recent Alchemical developments." He didn't mean it to come out as nasty as it did.

Halcyon regarded him with assiduous eyes; they were purple today. Perhaps it was the light, and perhaps it was colored contacts. For goodness sake... he didn't even know his own sister's eye color anymore.

"No," she finally answered. "There are no new methods being developed in the labs. None that are beyond experimental, and nothing that seems to fit this phrase exactly." She would do some more investigating on her own however, to make sure. And she would have to talk to Andreas soon. He'd figured it out. Of course he had.

"Well, I suppose we'll simply have to continue searching for clues," Andreas replied stiffly. "Up for some research, Ven?"

"Lucescit sequentis scientiae," Ven smiled. "However, I don't believe I've yet been informed of why, exactly these phrases are a mystery?" Certainly interesting, however, hardly anything to go on, the last phrase the only real signal of enigma so far.

"These phrases may or may not be related to the kidnapping of an Alchemist," Andreas muttered, hesitating to reveal Caldwell's name. First, it could get Ven in trouble if this all came crashing down. And second, trust was a difficult thing. He barely trusted his own flesh and blood anymore.

"Ah," sighed Ven, nodding at Andreas and guessing at his reasons for the continuing vagueness. Of course, if he wasn't sharing, it wasn't vital, and he probably didn't need to know. He wasn't fond of people knowing things they didn't need to, and hadn't even shared with Andreas why he came to England. Hadn't shared with anyone here, actually. Of course, Andreas knew about his dad, but not the real reasons he hated him so much. Or why he spoke most often in Latin, not Italian, and referred to it as his 'native tongue.' He sighed internally, deeply. He needed someone he could talk to about all this, but replacements aren't easily found, no matter what land you're in.

"Why don't we get some sleep for tonight and do the scouring of Alchemical references later?" Halcyon suggested, noting the time. It had gotten late while they were talking.
"Fine," Andreas said shortly, packing up his things. "Ven, why don't you and I go down to the Alchemical Emporium this weekend to see what we can find?" The Emporium was more than just a black market for Alchemy, it was an underground metropolis full of fair and underhanded dealings alike, with massive stores of knowledge base in expansive libraries and labs. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he made to stalk out of the room, but paused. "Halcyon, I trust you have your own methods of procuring information."
He said no more.
"Andreas!" Halcyon called, feeling as if he'd quite literally punched her in the face, but her brother shut his door behind him.
Silence fell.

"Goodnight," Ven murmured to Halcyon and went into his own room, quietly shutting his own door behind him. He had the next few days off to prep for his meeting summary, so he didn't bother setting an alarm and after rummaging through his suitcase for his to-go bag, got ready for bed. Hypnosis-induced sleep became almost pleasant after long enough.

Halcyon sighed heavily, twirling her necklace: three stars settled at the base of her neck. She gathered her things and tried to fall asleep on the couch, but her back ached and she was dying for a cigarette.
It was around three in the morning when she finally gave up, throwing on a pair of jeans, a shirt, and shrugging on a long black trench coat. Stowing her bag underneath the coach, she left the apartment. She bummed a cigarette off a guy standing outside an all-night bar, who was too drunk to notice that the number she gave him had the wrong amount of digits.
It was seven-o-clock when she returned to the apartment, a tad wet from a brief drizzling of rain. She had brought home some food from the grocery store, so her hands were full and she shut the door precariously with her elbow.
"No, this Sunday won't work," she muttered into the disposable cell that she was balancing on her shoulder. "Two on Wednesday is fine. Yes. Okay. Bye." She hung up, and plopped her haul down on the counter. Without further ado, she put the groceries away and began making breakfast.

Ven rolled over, and yawned. Mornings always seemed better, groggier. He squinted at his clock and vaguely made out seven-thirty. He almost rolled back over to try and get some more sleep, but then his nostrils appeared to wake up. Fire? No, not that violent. Not a chemical smell either, more like food. He dragged himself out of bed and to the bathroom, got ready and quickly picked out sweatpants and a shirt, and somewhat cautiously opened his door. When he realized that it was just Halcyon at the stove he walked over to the kitchen and turned on the coffeepot. "Morning," he said, sitting down at the table.

"Are you feeling okay?" Ophira asked quietly, shutting the book and tucking it under her arm. Her eyebrows came together in an expression of worry. After staring at her for a number of seconds, the unknown man had suddenly went pale. She was no doctor, but she knew that it was never a good sign.

The man looked up at her. "What?" His voice wavered. With a shaking hand his pushed his large glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Yes, I mean, I'm fine." He glanced back down at his book.

Ophira felt her jaw clench ever-so-slightly. "Good." She said with just a touch of anger. All she was trying to do was help. So much for a 'thank you.'

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Why is she talking to me? Neil thought, beginning to panic. He slid his gaze away from his book to glance over at the woman in question. She had returned to reading her book. Neil let out a silent sigh of relief. See? You got yourself all worked up over nothing.

Neil returned his attention back to his book. Flipping through the pages, he paused at each one just long enough for him to flick his eyes over each word, memorizing them.

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Ophira found herself distracted from her reading. There was something strangely off about that man. Why would he be so nervous around her? She didn't find herself particularly threatening.

She found herself looking at him again. He appeared to be flipping through his book too quickly to be actually reading anything.

Ophira began to think back to when she was a student at Oxford. She had never met the man before, nor had she ever seen him around campus. She didn't think she did anything wrong in the short amount of time that she did know him to cause him to become so nervous, either. Her suspicions were steadily rising, and she was prepared to get to the bottom of this.

"Good Morning," Halcyon replied cheerfully. "I hope you like pancakes...orrr waffles!" Balancing two plates on one arm and syrup in another hand, she began delegating the simple table with a feast. The delicious smell of chocolate wafted through the kitchen, from the chocolate-chip pancakes, her brother's favorite.
"Sleep well?" she asked conversationally, but not really expecting much from her brother's closed-off roommate. Then again, who was she to talk? She smiled amiably, sipping tea from a mug as she took a seat across from him.

Ven was in shock at the sudden dramatic personality change, muttering out a thank you, and indicated his like of waffles. "Actually I've been sleeping well lately, new methods. It seems you're an early riser," he said, inhaling the delicious smells floating through the kitchen. "A very early riser," he added, noticing the grocery bags.

"So how long have you been a student at Oxford?" Ophira asked, trying to sound casual. She was going to find out exactly what was off about this man.

The man pushed his comically large glasses up again. "This is my second year." He sounded almost reluctant to answer.

Ophira gave him a fake smile. "Oh, I hope you're enjoying it." He was obviously hiding something, as if he were trying to keep her from finding something out about him. She suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu, but she wasn't sure from where.

"How about you?" He asked, sounding almost as suspicious as Ophira felt.

"Oh, I graduated last year." Again, she smiled.

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Why is she asking all of these questions? Neil thought to himself. He clutched his book so tightly that he was surprised the hard cover wasn't bending in his hands. It wouldn't shock him if she asked what his major was next. It was obvious that she knew he was an Alchemist, and he knew that she wasn't an Alchemist. It had to be Caldwell. He had to know that they were coming for him, so he told her to go after us. He felt his heart rate go up a bit. But why me? I had nothing to do with it!

None of that mattered, though. His almost-normal life was over. He had been found out.

"So what's your major?" She asked him.

Neil felt as if his heart froze in his chest.

"Sometimes," she responded with a shrug, not alluding to her early morning escapades. "Besides, I thought you should have a good meal before you go all Mystery Inc." She grinned easily, eyes shining, but she was dreading her own search. She grabbed three plates, and gestured for Ven to help himself to the food. Andreas ventured out a little while later, his blue eyes wide.
"Do I smell...?"
"Yes, you do," Halcyon grinned. "Dig in!"
Andreas sat down, and reluctantly began shoveling pancakes onto his plate. But he couldn't keep up the pretense once he'd had a bite, eagerly devouring three in record time. He gave his sister an appreciative smile, but she could read the message loud and clear in his eyes: This doesn't change anything.

"Well, thank you very much for the meal," Ven nodded. He sensed the heavy remainders of last night's tension at Andreas extreme reluctance to accept the peace offering, but after a while things seemed to ease up a bit and he smiled to himself at the nice sibling moment, wondering a bit what it would be like to have one himself. Very complicated, however he guessed this relationship had much more complexity than most.

"It was no trouble at all," Halcyon said, her estimation of her brother's roommate rising. In her line of business, so many men shirked please and thank you.
"We should be going," Andreas said. "The Emporium closes early tonight, and all the head honchos are early risers."
"Alright, well you two have fun. I'll be looking elsewhere for clues." Grabbing a few items she'd placed in a disposable grocery bag, she bid them both a good search and meandered out the door. Once she was outside, she hailed a cab and slid into the cool leather interior. The driver was a rough-shaven Indian man who was listening to a sports game on his headset.
She began stripping, exchanging her jeans and t-shirt for a sleek blue frock and white stilettos.
"Eyes on the road," she muttered to the driver, who grinned in the rear view mirror and swerved around a slow buggy.
Pulling on a long black wig, she artfully applied makeup, cursing when the taxi driver made his wild turns and abrupt stops.
"Thanks," she replied sarcastically when he finally pulled up at the Oxford Library, a tall imposing building with a domed top.
"Keep it," he told her when she offered him a few bills, and she scoffed and tossed them in his lap anyway as he gave her a creepy once over.
It wasn't sunny, but she took the sunglasses out of her bag and pushed them imperiously up her nose, throwing the bag away in the nearest trash can and loping through the open gates.
"This better be worth my time, Hamby," she muttered.

Slowly, Neil placed his book back in its proper place on the shelf. It was obvious he wasn't getting anything done today, not that it mattered anymore. "My major?" Neil repeated and cleared his throat. "It's nothing extremely interesting."

The woman copied his movements of returning her book to the shelf. She chuckled lightly. "It has to be at least somewhat interesting. Why else would you study it?"

----------

Ophira watched as the man became more and more flustered. He dragged a hand through his hair. Vaguely she heard him mutter something under his breath. "Pardon?" She asked quietly.

The man crossed his arms over his chest as a sign of defense. "I'm studying Experimental Physics, okay? Now please, just enough with these games!"

Ophira raised an eyebrow. She was definitely not expecting an outburst like that.

With much-practiced grace, Halcyon loped up the walk and rushed into the library and out of the rain. She entered with her usual flourish, scarlet lips smirking. She hadn't seen the Hamberg in months, but she knew he'd be here, as usual surrounded by books and dust mites.
It really was quite a beautiful library, full of dark amber wood and with balustrades overlooking the main floor and articulate frescoes on the ceiling.
When she caught sight of Hamby, she was surprised to see him with a woman. After all, he wasn't your typical charmer. But, as he appeared flustered and somewhat agitated, she figured she wasn't interrupting anything too important and strode over purposefully, hoping to catch his eye and grinning at the thought.

"Games?" Ophira asked. What was the man talking about?

"Yes, games," He said with a huff. "We both know what you know, and we both know what I am." He combed a shaking hand through his hair, making it stand up. "And I'm sorry about everything and all, but you have the wrong guy here. I really had nothing to do with it!"

Ophira suddenly realized what was off about this strange man. Everything was suddenly clear! Why hadn't she noticed it sooner?

He obviously had Paranoid Personality Disorder.

----------

An odd feeling of relief washed over Neil Hamby once he had gotten his anxiety out. For a split second he looked away from the odd woman and his anxiety rose once again.

She might've looked differently from the last time he had seen her, but it was impossible for him to mistake her for someone else. It was Halcyon Kostopoulos.

"Wonderful..." Neil said to himself quietly, with a touch of sarcasm.

Halcyon knew when he'd seen her, and she smiled wide, blowing him a kiss. She strode right up to them, gracefully perching on the table beside Hamby and tossing her arm around his shoulders.
"Sorry to interrupt," she said brightly, not at all apologetic. "It's been so long since I've seen my good friend, Hamby here. How long has it been, darling? Three months?" She gave the woman a winning smile. "I'm Liana Torrek, by the way."

"One sec," Ven said, ducking into his room and grabbing his satchel, which held his small sack of gold coins. Not much besides gold and knowledge was useful in the Market, and you never entered without a decent store of both. When he reentered the main room Halcyon had already disappeared, off on her own quest for information. "Ready?" he asked, sitting lightly on the couch armrest.