The Fake Heart (Time Alchemist Series) (8 page)

“You have to,” she said matter-of-factly, “It’s the only way to figure out how to control your powers and to find the solution to getting your time back.”

“The ‘solution’?
What solution?”

“We need to find the Elixir of Life,” Dove said with a straight face.
A complete, one hundred percent absolute, straight face.
She was serious.
Dead serious.
“That is the only way to save your life and continue your own time once again.”

“No way,” I said. For some reason I wanted to laugh, but given the situation, that probably wasn’t a good idea. Sure, Dove said she didn’t have her “alchemy” powers anymore but that didn’t mean she wasn’t dangerous. (How did she even get into my room in the first place? No
way
did I have that window opened this morning!) “You mean like in
Harry Potter
?”

She tilted her head again, like a puppy that was being scolded on making a mess on the carpet…confused and a little upset as to why someone was being upset at her. “I don’t know anyone by that name so I can’t answer that.”

“But you’re
serious,” I said, completely
blown
over. I couldn’t tell if she was just toying with me of she was
honestly
serious
about everything, “There really is such a thing as an Elixir of Life?”

“Days, no, hours ago you wouldn’t have believed in alchemy,” she retorted, “and the fact that it saved your life.”

She had me there. As utterly bizarre as it sounds, I knew this was all real. Confusing? Yes. But it was real. The fact that Dove was the girl I had seen in the woods was here, living and breathing in person should have been proof enough.

“So this Elixir can save my life,” I exclaimed. “And I need to hel
p you find it by becoming an
alchemist.”

Dove nodded, “Pretty much. We’ve got quite a lot of explaining and catching up to do. You might as well make yourself comfortable.”

I had a feeling this was going to be a long night. No, scratch that.
A long school semester.

A really, really,
really
long semester.

CHAPTER 7

I sat on the edge of the rumpled bed, my back against the wall and holding one of the plush pillows to my chest. I really should have changed out of my uniform (I could already imagine how early I’d have to get up to make sure my shirt was wrinkle-free as well as the pleated skirt. Not to mention cleaning my shoes that probably had bits of dirt and grass stuck to the bottom).

Dove was on the other end, playing with frayed ends of blankets. She left her opened drink untouched on the window sill, and I made a mental note to buy bottled water instead of caffeinated drinks instead. That was a huge waste of money for the little allowance that was sent to me every two weeks.

“So…” I began, uncertain.

“Where do I even begin?”

“From the beginning—no, wait, how did you even
find
my room? And how did you even know this was my room in the first place?”

Wordlessly, she reached into the pocket of her denim shorts, pulling out a piece of paper folded into a perfect, if slightly rumpled square. I took it tentatively, my fingers trembling slightly as I unfolded it—revealing my class schedule. And at the very top:

St. Mary’s Academy

Emery Delaine Miller—Sophomore Student—Resident of Moore Hall

“How?”

“I found it sticking out of your bag when you…fell,” Dove said, “It wasn’t too hard to find where Moore Hall was. This was the only room empty, so I simply assumed this was were you were staying. Forgive me; I did a little…double checking to make sure this was really you’re room. And I’ve been waiting here, ever since this morning for you.”

I smoothed my crumpled class schedule over my leg, running my hand slowly over the crisp page. “Let’s push that bit of creepiness to the side. I…want to know who you are.”

Dove crossed her bare legs, and turned a little to face me. I couldn’t help but notice how really long and slender they were, but they also looked
toned
, like she was a runner. Then again, judging by how well she was fighting this morning, maybe she was just that kind of person who
was incredibly fit and strong.
“Well, I already told you my name. Dove
Raysburg
. Again, I’m eighteen years old, and I practiced the act of Blood Alchemy—a very rare type of alchemy but…alchemy none the less.”

“Is that how you saved my life?”

“Yes.”

I crossed one ankle over the other. “Okay, Dove. What are you doing here…why?”

“Should I start from the beginning?” she asked.

I eyed her wearily, “How far from the beginning? Oh you know what, never mind. Just…wherever you want to start, I guess.”

“It’s quite a long story…”

A yawn escaped my lips, but I was far from tucking in for bed now, even if my body disagreed. “I’ve got time—uh, I mean, tonight I have time, you know…”

Dove nodded, and then settled back against the wall. Something told me to get comfortable also, so I stretched my legs out so that my feet were dangling off the edge of the bed.

“I’ll start as far as I can. I know…we’ll begin with the Elixir.” She began.
“The
Elixir of Life has been known by many names over the years: The
Philosopher’s Stone; the Elixir of Immortality…the list goes on. But basically it is just called the ‘Elixir’ by most alchemists. It’s a potent substance used in alchemy to increase ones power tenfold. It’s incredibly powerful—but at the same time it’s incredibly dangerous, especially if it falls into the wrong hands.”

“Dangerous?” I repeated. How could something that could cure diseases or grant immortality by dangerous?

“I’m getting to that.” In other words: Shut up, Emery. “Centuries ago, an alchemist named Nicolas
Flamel
was rumored to have created the Elixir of Life. It could cure any disease, turn any metal into priceless gold, and grant the user a body free of illness and age. In other words: an eternal body. There were even rumors that
Flamel
himself had used the Elixir to become immortal, but nobody really knows for sure. Either way,
Flamel
didn’t want to leave such a powerful matter in the hands of greed after his ‘death’, so he had assigned one of his most trustworthy apprentices to take possession of the Elixir.”

“Why not just destroy the Elixir if it was so dangerous?” I said without thinking. Dove gave me a quick smile that pretty much said,
You
really think if it were that easy we would be here?

“If that was the case, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” she said, “It’s a matter that can’t be destroyed—it can only be used, or simply locked away in hopes that mankind will forget about its existence.”

Right.
Of course.
I nodded sheepishly, eager for her to continue.

“As I was saying,
Flamel
had two apprentices under his wing—Ivan Novak and Guinevere de Blanc. After
Flamel’s
‘death’, he had left all of his research notes and his
dying will to Guinevere
, his favorite pupil as well as his most trusted. That action in itself had caused a rift between
the two apprentices. Ivan
wanted the notes to become immortal out of greed. Guinevere was the opposite—and it’s something that
Flamel
had taken notice of.

“But something had happened between the two of them, and there was some horrible accident that had killed Ivan and nearly killed Guinevere herself. She had done the most forbidden act to fulfill her master’s last wish: she took a taste of the Elixir.”

My eyes widened like eating
plates, “She became…immortal
?”

“Yes,” Dove said solemnly, “Guinevere spent her life traveling around the world and hiding bits and pieces of the Elixir so no other person could obtain them and suffer. She was an amazing person.
Very gifted in her skill.”

“It sounds as if,” I paused, “You know her.”

A small smile graced Dove’s lips. “She is my Mentor. Guinevere took me in when I was a child.”

“Okay,” I said, “So
if Guinevere hid away the pieces of the Elixir, why are you trying to find them now?
Where is
your teacher anyway?
Why isn’t she here with you right now?”

Dove’s gentle looking face turned a shade pale; her mouth set in a grim line. “She…she’s gone. She disappeared, after a fight with a rogue alchemist. I haven’t seen…or heard from her for over two months now.”

Any light Dove had in her eyes vanished when she said that sentence. The bright blue eyes seemed to sink in despair as she cast them downwards onto the bedspread. I noticed her clutching folds of the bed between white knuckled fists.
Trembling fists.

“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to swallow the lump in my throat. This situation felt oddly familiar, but seeing her trembling like a child in front of me…it made my heart hurt. I knew first hand what it was like to have someone just vanish from your life all of a sudden.
But in Dove’s case…
“If this is too painful—”

“No!” she blurted so suddenly it sent my heart skipping, “I mean, no, it’s fine. This needs to be said.
All you really need to know is that she’s just…vanished. I believe that whoever she encountered beforehand is after the Elixir. And I know that she would want me to locate the shard nearest here and move it far away from the hands of a dangerous alchemist.”

“But what makes you think a shard of the Elixir—if it even
exists
…” For some reason, my brain couldn’t wrap around the fact of some amazing, magical substance that had been broken into pieces could be scattered all over the world—and even here, in Savannah. “What makes you think there’s a shard here at all?”

Dove lifted a shoulder. “A year or so ago, Guinevere all of a sudden decided to recollect all the shards and move them to completely different locations. She wouldn’t say why, but I suspected that there were some alchemists she had become acquainted with were hot on the trail of discovering them. Better to be safe than sorry, correct? She had told us the general locations of all the shards here in the country—and Savannah was the closest one to where she disappeared…”

I blinked as she trailed off, her voice getting softer.
“Us?
There were more apprentices of Guinevere?”

Dove’s already white-knuckled grip on my comforter tightened, so much so I thought she would rip the sheets just with her iron grip.

“You don’t need to explain this if it’s hard,” I finally mustered after a long period of awkward silence.

Dove shook her head furiously, as if she was mad at herself for being weak. But even if she is—was—an alchemist, she’
s
still human…right? “No. I need to explain, because—”

I filled in the gap for her, “Because its compensation for what happened to me this morning isn’t it?” I stretched my limbs before climbing off the bed. “Look, I’m still pretty confused at what happened, but I know it’s real. You don’t need to explain things that are too hard or personal for you just because I was nearly killed. And newsflash: you didn’t really kill me, did you? Really, you saved me, so there’s no need to spill your guts out, okay?
I’m
the one
who owes you for saving me.
Even if I have to go out and find this mystical, probably non-existent Elixir, right?
”

I flashed
her a
quick grin, even though on the inside I didn’t feel so confident in my little speech, before retrieving both drinks and placing them back in the fridge. My fingers itched to do more so I busied myself reorganizing my already organized desks and drawers, hanging up my school jacket and rearranging my bag. Dove simply sat on the bed, wrapped in a heavy cloak of silence.

Only the rummaging of papers and books, and the occasional clicks of a closed drawer passed between us until I really couldn’t take it anymore, “Look, it’s getting late, and I do appreciate you wanting to answer all of my questions—and believe me, I have tons of them—but why don’t we call it a night?” I glanced at the digital clock as I spoke. Bright neon colors glowed 12: 13 am. Had we really stayed up so long talking?

Dove nodded hesitantly, “Yes,” she said, “Alright, we’ll talk more…tomorrow. No, I need to do something tomorrow, I—”

I waved a hand at her again, “Tomorrow wouldn’t work anyway. It’s the first day of school, and
fake heart
or not, I’m going, so why don’t we just, uh, figure out a time and place to…continue our talk or, uh, to start my ‘training’?”

“We’ll start it tomorrow night,” she stated, “The sooner, the better. We’ll practice every night in the woods near the Old Chapel to harness your powers.”