Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Simply, Alchemy ❯ Chapter 1

A/N:

And here we are. The first real chapter. I went through this a couple of times after writing it, and kept changing bits each time, so I know I'll look at it again soon and want to change something else. But I thought I should just get it up. If a miracle occurs and it becomes a wicked cool story, I might go back and fix things, we'll see.

Still my own, nothing has been “yoinked” from anywhere else yet, and I don't ever plan to.

… So enjoy? Hopefully. If anyone takes the time to read it. Please do.

 

Simply, Alchemy: Chapter 01

 

He gazed intently at the photo, needing to memorize the face quickly, as flipped over the image and looked at the words scribbled messily on the back.

“Alchemy, age 15-”

He couldn't exactly make out the rest. The print was smudgy and had begun to fade; he had had it in his possession for a long time. He really should have memorized it by now, but of course he hadn't. All he could see was that the place he had to go was an all girl's school. There was a scribbly map underneath the name. He pulled his shoulders back, stretching and breathing deeply. Now how to go about this? He clambered back into his car and started the engine, glancing at the time on the clock. 2:47PM. School would be out soon. He should probably hurry if he was to keep to schedule. The boy pulled up outside the front of the school and hopped out of the car. No one knew his face; he had no reason to hide himself. He tapped his leg idly, while waiting patiently. Only five more minutes and they would be dismissed for the weekend.

 

A ringing noise that was most likely the school bell sounded, as girls rushed out left, right and centre, eager to get out of school, call their boyfriends, get their hair done, among other things. He whipped his head around in all directions. He had to make sure to find the right person. This was pretty much his only chance at it. He glanced to his right as his eyes locked onto her.

 

The girl, Alchemy, waved goodbye to a small group of people and began to walk to the front gate of the school, fidgeting incessantly with her hair. It was bizarrely cut. Short, blonde. While long on the left, it was relatively short on the right, and everywhere else just seemed to spike out. Instead of having her fringe fall down, it was swung across to the left on top of her head so her whole forehead was visible, with a single bobby pin on the right. She rubbed at her left eye for quite a while, obviously bothered by it in some way. When she finally removed her hand, the boy noticed her eyes were different colors, the left blue, while the right was a deep green. Why hadn't he hadn't noticed this in the picture? He put it down to poor quality and watched her still while she continued to approach him unintentionally. Her soft lips curved upwards into a small smile, making her round face appear to be glowing as she waved to yet another girl. Popular? Maybe?

 

She had reached within a metre of him. His chance had come! As she took another step, the boy casually leaned out in front and halted her. She looked him up and down and stifled a laugh. There wasn't anything particularly funny about him or his outfit, but she seemed to think so. The boy wasn't fazed by it. He had something he'd come to do, so he would finish doing so. Like always, he wouldn't let anything stand in the way of him completing a task.

 

“I have a favour to ask you,” he spoke in a dull, monotone voice, as he shifted his weight from his left leg to his right, and adjusted the position of his hand in his jeans pocket. With his free hand, he ruffled his copper hair that always stuck out more on the left side, but fell flat most other places.

 

“Depends on what,” the blonde girl said, a lot deeper than one would expect for her looks. She scrunched her face up like someone was poking her nose, as her hands reached down and straightened her short, grey, pleated skirt. One she was satisfied with it, she moved on to fiddle with her grey vest that covered the white blouse at certain times throughout the year.

 

“I'd appreciate it if you'd come with me now,” he stated, watching her fixedly.

 

Alchemy laughed, not holding back this time. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head playfully. She was about to turn and walk away when the copper-haired kid caught her arm and held her back.

 

“Perhaps I should rephrase? It's more an, I need you to come with me now,” he said lowering his voice, increasing the grip on her arm.

 

The glow in Alchemy's face disappeared altogether. Persistence, persistence. Frankly, she was sick of it. Guys these days were always trying to pick up any girl they see. You could say they were desperate. Of course it didn't help that Alchemy was as cute and innocent-looking as she was either. But she wasn't weak. No, they wouldn't have their way with her, not in this life anyway. She wasn't even a- well you know.

 

“Sorry, but I'm really not interested. Look buddy, there are plenty of other girls here that would probably be 100% willing to go along with you and your little games. So do me a favour and find one of them instead? Personally, I'd just like to get home and sleep,” She frowned. That was just it, the fact that girls were also raring to go, made the guys even more like animals. What was happening to the world? Didn't anyone have a sense of decency anymore?

 

It was the boy's turn to laugh at her, as he scratched at the four-pointed, black star tattoo under his left eye. How long had that been there now? A year or two? He'd got it as a sign that he could do what he wanted, almost like rebelling against … who knows. But for whatever reason, he felt like he had to get it. Almost regretted it too; one of the most painful experiences in his life so far. But he was quite fond of it now that the pain had died down. It had taken some time. Who gets a tattoo on their face anyway, is it even legal? Who knows. But one thing's for sure, it is stupid.

 

“Oh, maybe I should have put the emphasis on the “you”, not “need”. I don't think you realise, it has to be you.”

 

Hmm? Nice pick-up line, Alchemy mused. Oh but wait, if that was a pick-up line, it was at least the fourth attempt. Oh well, forget it then. Alchemy growled at him (since when did she growl anyway?) and once again turned to walk away, realising he had released her now-reddened arm. This time he grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back into his chest, and clasped a hand over her mouth. Whatever it was he had in his hand had apparently worked, because the time she awoke, she was in a car and driving out in the middle of nowhere. She was still dazed and not really in the mood for intelligent thinking, so she sat wondering how old he was. Finally she asked. Straight out. As in, “How old are you?”

 

The boy looked at her like she was stupid. Well, not that she should know already or anything, it just seemed an odd thing to ask. Nevertheless, he answered. He was only 17.

 

Alchemy mumbled about him being young, earning herself another funny look, and laid back into the chair. And then it hit her. What was she doing in his car? Wow, she was just a tad slow.

 

“Oi! Stop the damn car!” She screamed, trying to move. What the-? Tied up as well? (Maybe a lot slow). The lengths people went to these days just for fun was ridiculous. Assuming, that's what it was for - fun. Ah well, he'd get his share of surprises later.

 

The boy smiled and shook his head, patting her on the shoulder. “Sorry babe, strict orders.”

 

This surprised Alchemy. She furrowed her brow. Orders from who? Why? But instead of asking, assuming she wouldn't get a decent reply anyway, she decided to ask a different question instead. “What's your name?”

 

He glanced over at her briefly, before returning his gaze to the road ahead. Should he say? Ah, wouldn't hurt would it. “Echo.” Before she even got a chance to respond, he continued, “Yeah I know, weird. I don't know what my parents were thinking.”

 

Ah, parents. Alchemy frowned, but soon turned it into a smile. Well, at least they actually had something in common. “Yeah, my name's not all that normal itself.”

 

Echo nodded lightly, muttering something that resembled “Well that's true.” His eyes scanned over the sight of the girl in the passenger seat. He was kind of proud of himself. He wasn't an expert in the `tying up people' field, but he'd done a passable job of it.

 

Alchemy shook her head at herself when she realised what she was doing. No, she would not talk civilly with this guy. This was a kidnapping. A kidnapping. People don't necessarily even come out of these things alive. Who knows what things he had planned for her. She squeezed her eyes shut as she fiddled with the ropes binding her hands behind her back. Ah! One bit loose. She bathed in the refreshing feeling of movement for a moment, and then continued to struggle to free her left hand. Echo looked over at her and instantly pulled the car to a screeching stop. Lucky for them they were in such a desolate area, or they would surely have had someone run straight up the back of them.

 

“What the fuck are you doing?!” He screamed as he gripped her arm yet again. Alchemy cringed. Pain shot up her arm to her shoulder, and down again into her chest. She tried to open the car door with her feet. Of course it was useless. Echo slammed her back into the seat.

 

“You're not gonna try and get away from me! I have to get you to him!” He yelled, and then whispered something intended for his ears only.

 

Alchemy was scared, but she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit sorry for him. For whatever reason, she felt like this wasn't the real Echo, that there was something deep and binding behind this. Or maybe not, she could be wrong. Echo hit her across the back of the head, knocking her out cold. Peace and quiet. Now he didn't have to deal with her until they stopped. The journey back was a long way. After all, it had taken him two months just to get to the girl in the first place.

 

Before he knew it, the day had moved on. He gazed over at Alchemy as he drove through the black night, and began to argue with his thoughts. Why did the boss want her? He never got details on any of his tasks. He always wondered, but never dared to ask. He shrugged his shoulders and looked back at the road, too exhausted to think. And this was only the beginning.

 

Suddenly, the brakes screeched, as he tried to stop before hitting the ... creature? What the hell was it? He looked at it closely trying to see if maybe his eyes were tricking him in the dark. Its round head with cat-like ears looked much too large for its small, brown, scaly body, and its long, sharp claws were too big for its hands which sat on short stubby arms. Its legs were not dissimilar to its arms, and it had two giant grey eyes with two smaller ones on the outer sides of each, but no visible nose. It opened its mouth which almost spanned the entire width of its face, baring large, sharp, white teeth. Did it even have a jawbone? It certainly didn't appear to. Either that or it could unhinge its jaw so it opened wider, like it had a flip-top head. Even though it looked a bit silly with all its disproportionate body parts, it was still intimidating, its height easily exceeding that of the car. It wobbled from side to side as it walked, dragging its claws along the road, creating an ear splitting scratching noise.

 

Echo turned the car off and gripped his head. The sound echoed through his brain, threatening to tear his head off. His arms shook. He seized up, pulling his legs to his chest, trying to find some form of comfort while covering his ears. Noise! Away! He let himself fall to the side, his head hitting the window. He slid down the inside of the door and dug his head into the seat as the creature continued it's slow, painful approach towards the car. Alchemy woke up and looked at the creature. She spread her arms, snapping the ropes within an instant. Upon seeing Echo huddled up like a baby she laughed.

 

“Weak.”

 

She kicked the door open, and out of instinct, flung herself at the pathetic creature, paying no attention to the noise the claws continued to make, and sent her foot flying into the space between its two bigger eyes. Rebounding off it, she flipped around backwards and landed on her feet, crouching close to the ground for balance. From nowhere, she drew out a long silver sword, the blade covered from tip to tang in intricate markings that resembled vines. The grip was black and harboured a design that appeared to be the same style as the blade, but with slightly less detail. Grasping the sword firmly, her hands placed slightly apart, and further from the tip to give her more range in her attacks, she waited patiently for the creature to accept her request. It raised its hands, finally halting the noise of its claws as they lifted up off the ground, its own way of saying, “Bring it on.”

 

Echo twitched slightly, and upon noticing the sound had disappeared, sat up.

 

Clang.

 

Oh, Alchemy had a sword. But wait, that wasn't normal. Echo's eyes widened at the realisation. Since when did Alchemy have a sword? He was sure he hadn't seen her take it in the car with her. He moved closer to the window to get a better look, not daring to step out of the vehicle, still uneasy about the foreign creature going up against the 15 year old. Alchemy swung like it was second nature to her, at the slow creature, which used its strong metal-looking claws to block. She ducked as it swung its left arm around in attempt to hit her. As she was standing back up, it swung back the opposite way, catching her off-guard and knocking the wind out of her, one of its claws catching her face. She stumbled back, but never fell. Looking at the ground clasping her stomach, she snickered.

 

Suddenly her head shot up. The look on her face was scary to say the least. A small line of blood trickled from the left side of her mouth, and that very same liquid flowed slowly from the even cut just below her left eye. Maybe it would leave a pretty scar? “Hah…” she breathed and raised the sword back up to fighting position from where she had been leaning on it to keep balance. Alchemy bent her knees and sprung off her feet as the creature swung again, but this time, landing on its claws briefly, to spring up higher. The creature's six eyes all moved upwards to look at her, before the next strike hit. Spinning in the air, she brought her sword down and sliced straight down the centre of its body. Instantly, it turned into a translucent purple liquid somewhat resembling blood, and spilled out all over the road, running away to fall comfortably in cracks and dents made from general road wear and tear.

Alchemy returned her sword and collapsed to the ground, as what was left of the liquid wrapped around her small frame, threatening to stane her clothes a purple hue.

 

Echo hesitated. The creature had died right? He reached for the door handle, hand still shaking like crazy, the noise continuing to ring in his head, even though it had long since stopped. He walked over cautiously and poked at the person, still adorned in school uniform. With a very short skirt.

 

Echo gulped. Unless females had evolved since he last checked, this person was not a girl.

 

A/N:
No, no, don't be weirded out by the last sentence. It's okay, I'm not trying to make it creepy and perverted or anything (-.-). There's a reason for everything. Just wait, just wait. Oh and mind you I SUCK at describing fighting and whatnot. A little help maybe? Because I know that was crappy. But I'll get better the more I write, right? Because my writing is currently failing pathetically (Wait, can you even say that? o.O). I have plenty of ideas, but I lack the talent to put them in words. At least words that make sense, or do the story any justice anyway. Does anyone even read author's notes? o.O

Give me pretty reviews anyway? Make me want to write more? No? Oh well, never mind.

Jika~