Regret – A Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Fic
A/N: This fic is written at the request of WillShakespeare-ImmortalBard, and awesome writer and reviewer! I got the idea for the first sentence from the title of your story "The World's Greatest Playwright". Enjoy! Happy New Year, everyone.
Disclaimer: I do not own Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.
To the world, he is known as the greatest playwright who has ever lived. To those who know him, he is known as a loyal friend or a treacherous traitor. To himself, he is unforgivable. The mistake he made several hundred years ago has always haunted him, and will haunt him forever.
It was a day in the year of our lord 1582. He had recently acquired an apprenticeship with Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel, the legendary alchemyst and his wife. And he was thoroughly miserable. Instead of being taught the secrets of the universe, he was running errands and cleaning the bookshop. Needless to say, when the famous Dr. John Dee, the Queen's most trusted advisor, showed up and offered to show him the world, he accepted. It was the biggest mistake he has ever made. As a result, Perenelle was shot.
However, Shakespeare did not realize his mistake until much later. Although he felt guilty, he soon put the incident at the back of his mind. Life with the English magician was exciting. It fulfilled his wildest dreams, taught him about all he wanted to know. But then, he fell in love and had children. Twins. And Dee killed his son, his innocent, beautiful son. By then, when he had finally recognized his mistake, it was too late. He had already suffered the consequences, and all he could do was to wallow in self-pity and remorse. Alone, hated by Flamel and betrayed by Dee, Shakespeare turned to writing. With pen and paper, he got away from reality and his own troubles, and let his imagination take him on adventures and fantasies, to a life less miserable than his own. But for some reason, his stories almost always ended in tragedy. Perhaps writing about people less fortunate than himself made him feel that his own story was not so horrible.
He met Palamades some years after he discovered the secrets of immortality and "died". They formed an unlikely bond, reached a certain understanding. Palamades, too, had had a hard life. Together, the friends survived centuries, and became inseparable.
Now, with a siege at the door and the fate of the Alchemyst, the Saracen Knight, the twins, and the world in his hands, Shakespeare made a decision. It was time to atone for his mistakes and repay a friend. His aura cackled to life around him, enveloping him in a yellow cocoon, filling the air with the scent of lemons, crisp and clean.
"You go. I'll hold him off."
A/N: Tell me what you think in a review. Please?