The news of Alexander Artagnan's death was not merely spread locally. Something of such great importance spread across the country of Gemity instantaneously and it was only a matter of days, before everyone heard the tragic words for themselves. It was unfortunate that the science that mankind revolved around, brought forth the untimely death of one of the world's greatest Alchemyst. Within hours, military personnel, alchemysts, doctors and even politicians began to stream forth to investigate the remains of the late alchemyst.
It was widely known that Alexander Artagnan had been researching the origins of Alchemy, yet what was the true mystery now was what caused his death? Not a hair had been found out of place on the lifeless body and as far as the doctors could tell, Dr. Artagnan had been in perfect physical condition. It was a phenomenon beyond explanation, yet the fact that only one man died seemed to be enough to clarify that the study was indeed worth looking into. The only precaution worth being taken was to gradually expand one's usage of preliminary steps, yet at a pace that would allow that alchemist to thoroughly describe the steps taken, for as fate would have it, Alexander had left no material upon the work he had been conducting.
Yet all things considered, studying after Dr. Artagnan was easier said than done. There was a great drop in the morale of alchemists everywhere; losing their lives was a great fear for many alchemysts, whose dreams were to pursue eternal life. If they chased blindly after an alchemist who left no trace of his work so to explain where he might have gone wrong, what was to stop them from being next?
The death placed a great strain on the people of Samaria as well; it was the home of the late alchemyst and losing such a man was no easy loss to get over. Such a kind hearted and gentle elder was Alexander that many loved him. To think that he could actually be gone after all he had ever done for them was nothing easy to accept. However the funeral came and went and within Samaria, talk of the alchemist died down. Either the people had actually forgotten, or they just did not dwell on the misery of the past.
However, there was one soul that still grieved for the old man. Not a man, but a boy and out of the billions of people around Gemity, he was the only one suffering from the great change in losing the man. Dominic Artagnan was the son of the late alchemyst and in Samaria; he was quite the prodigal alchemyst himself. A recent resident of Samaria for his father and he had only just come a little over a year ago, the small town was quite lively, and beautiful, yet it held with it a tranquility and peace that no other town or city within Gemity could compare. The beauty of Samaria was always best seen throughout the winter where it very much seemed like a winter wonderland; at that particular time, winter was slowly passing by as season changed to spring.
The snow was in retreat and the grass and flowers were sprouting from underneath the inches of snow as it longed for strength and warmth that came from the sun. Dominic found himself lying on a fresh patch of grass near a small river that was slowly flowing onwards towards a lake not too far off south from his current direction. Dominic was not alone either, for a small group of five other individuals sat around him, staring off into the river or the sky above. Dominic himself was staring at the clouds up above, though he could hear the conversation progressing around him; to be honest he was not all that interested in what they were saying at all, though it was solely based upon him in the first place.
He seemed to blink as his eyes took sight of the cloud that almost looked as if it was shaped in the form of a star. Almost immediately, he sat himself upwards, startling the group around him. They stared at him momentarily as he yawned and in turn looked them all over individually, before finally speaking.
"Cloud watching is really fun, huh guys?" he asked simply.
"What in the world are you talking about Dominic? Haven't you been listening to our conversation?" said one, a boy who seemed shocked and angered at the attention span of Dominic.
Dominic simply stared at the boy for a moment or two, before his eyes switched and fell upon the river affront him. However at once the girl on his opposite side seemed to be waiting for Dominic to not answer, "come now, you know Dominic only comes out here to stare at the clouds. His mind is never with us when he's out here," said the girl named Renee who did not lower her gaze from the boy across her. "Why do we even bother coming out here if Dominic will only space out?"
Dominic smiled and nodded at the question. "It's true, I would have thought you guys would have learned by now, but alas, we cannot all be gifted with the right intellect to guide us on the path to brilliance."
"Ouch, what an insult," exclaimed another boy, who was dragging his finger through the remains of snow.
"He's right though, we should have just stayed in the town where we could have kept his attention," said Renee. "If we're going to try and talk to him, then we really should try and think these things through a bit more. The fact that we continue to give into Dominic's pleas to come here all the time only makes us susceptible to his will each time we call on him."
It was apparent that the others were annoyed, after all being the only girl among them, Renee seemed to always have a way of making a mockery of the other boys. Dominic looked around and contained the need to laugh; this was how it always was and yet four boys couldn't bring their heads together and understand what was continuously occurring each and every day they came out to the river. Dominic however grew quite tired of repeatedly seeing the same results; expecting the impossible was something he could not do forever. "You guys seem annoyed, yet it's not the first time Renee has brought this up and yet, you four always seem to become blunt on the matter. Are you angry that a girl could be so precise in telling you how idiotic your being? Perhaps you're angry that Renee doesn't share your stupidity, but instead she shows the intellect to observe the situation?"
"Unbelievable how you join her side," said a sullen boy.
Dominic smiled and shrugged. "I don't take sides, I state the truth Noah."
Noah didn't seem to want to accept that answer. "That's not true, all you do is fuel the flame by allowing the same conflict to emanate each and every time. Why don't you consider stopping it for once, and just joining in a conversation for once in your life?"
Dominic rolled his eyes casually, before standing up. "To join the conversation would be disrupting the process in which you guys seem to enjoy living. Anyways Noah, you've always been quite capable of disrupting this repeated occurrence and yet you've done nothing." He waved and began walking off towards Samaria, the heated argument between the five others beginning. It was obviously clear that there was not just idiocy between the groups, as Noah and Renee so clearly showed, yet to enter their conversations was beyond Dominic's reasoning. Besides, all they ever asked was whether Dominic was still grieving over the loss of his father. It grew annoying for they already knew the answer, but perhaps it was best to hear it heard from Dominic himself. Perhaps they wanted to somehow grow closer to Dominic, yet he had never opened up to any of them. It was by mere coincidence that Dominic had run into the gang weeks ago and since then, they had taken to hanging around Dominic.
Now, walking along the pathway towards the town, the chill air blowing across his face, and his black hair swaying slightly, Dominic thought about nothing except his father and about the great tragedy that had befallen him. How could his father have been so careless not to explain the events that took place during his studies? Dominic had questioned the events ever since learning about what was being studied under his father's roof. What was more, Dominic had come across a note left by the late alchemyst; perhaps it was made especially for him for it had been lying within his father's eyeglass case. Dominic pulled out the note and stared at it aimlessly as he continued walking; it read 'Look past what the human eyes can see.'
"Why leave me something like this?" he asked himself.
"Maybe it's supposed to take you somewhere?"
Dominic stopped but didn't bother turning around. It was Renee. Of course she would have rather followed him than continue on with a pointless argument; the weird part was that he had not seen this coming or perhaps he had not thought too much about it.
"Maybe you shouldn't be so nosy," he replied back as he stopped and looked back towards her.
"I'm just trying to do some good to the world, that's all."
"And what makes you think that helping me would be even remotely beneficial to this world?" Dominic didn't bother waiting for an answer as he took up his brisk walk, leaving Renee staring off at his back.
Renee was persistent; she grabbed hold of Dominic's arm. "Where are you going?"
"I figured that would be obvious, I'm going home."
"Stop messing with me and tell the truth for once."
"I'm seriously going home Renee, if you'd let me go."
"Are you going to find out what happened to your father?"
"Why would I do that?"
"What are you talking about? He was your father for one and you being an alchemyst yourself, I figured you would at least have the curiosity if not the motive to continue his research."
Dominic turned and looked at her momentarily before giving a slight smile. "You figured wrong then; I became an alchemyst because my father wanted it, nothing more. He died, it's a natural part of human life and it would have come sooner or later." He pulled his arm out of her grip and began walking again, "maybe its best that he died doing something he loved."
"I know you'll continue his work, you can't lie to me Dominic!"
Dominic didn't bother to look back, but could feel her eyes lingering on him as he walked. He couldn't help but feel a dreaded feeling within him as he did so too, had she touched a nerve within him? Did she know more about what Dominic wanted than he himself? That couldn't be true, he had never expressed much concern or interest in alchemy; just merely cooperated with his father to make him proud. It was unusual how Renee could make Dominic think these thoughts…had he really ever connected with anyone here in Samaria? It had only been a year and most of the time was spent inside reading, he had only met Renee a week ago and now she was seeing deep inside Dominic.
The idea of connecting with anyone appalled Dominic. He could bear no ties; they would eventually become broken just like everything else around Dominic. All Dominic really had was…"Alchemy." No, he would not subject himself to falling towards Renee's options. What point would he have for following after his father's mistakes, trying to find the origin of the great science as they proclaimed it?
Maybe I do love it, said Dominic silently. He had been brought into the entangled science known as alchemy when he was only nine years old…seven years had actually passed since he had taken up the art…there had been ample time to tell his father he was not interested, yet he never had. Was there really a love for alchemy within him? Dominic really did not have to think hard as he stared up at the sky. He had known all along that it would come to this. All that had stood before him was fear, but there was nothing to fear in striving to reach a goal that would place him at the top of what he loved to do.
The fact that it had taken someone else to tell him this, still bothered Dominic; he didn't want anyone to be so close. Everyone close ended up hurt, and thus he just wanted to remain a book that was never opened. It wasn't so hard to understand, yet so many tried. He sighed and glanced down at a flower in front of local shop. He knelt down beside it and held out his bare hand towards the ground, before closing his eyes. "Decompose the earth; flow the water."
Almost immediately, his hand began to glow a faint blue as a seemingly holographic seal appeared around the area below his hand. A crevice opened in the ground and almost immediately a wave of water emanated and drained into the soil near it. It seemed almost instantly that the flower showed some signs of life, and that was enough for Dominic to be content. He stood and continued on his way; in the hands of this boy, alchemy was a gift to behold.
Dominic's home was nothing to grow in awe of however. It lay outside the gates of Samaria, on a small hill, a quarter mile away. It was a tedious walk, but always enjoyable for Dominic. The house was not too big, three rooms was all that the Artagnan's needed; a living room, a study where most study of alchemy occurred, and of course the bedroom, Dominic and his father previously shared.
Dominic stepped into his bedroom; it was hot and bright, with the sunlight streaming in through the open window. The sun was temporarily blinding, yet Dominic did not need to see to be able to tell that he was not alone in the room. The elderly voice of the town elder spoke up from the corner of the room. "It's so nice to see you again Dominic."
Dominic did not bother turning to acknowledge the elder citizen, but merely threw himself atop his bed, where he lay staring up at the ceiling, as if a care in the world. The warmth of the sun had warmed his bed, to a soothing effect on his back; it caused Dominic to continue to lie there; his mind thinking of matters that he would take, before leaving.
"Obviously, you are deep in thought, but I must ask for your attention for a few moments," said the old man.
Dominic glanced in the direction of the man for a moment or two, before staring back up at the ceiling. "I've already made my decision, so save your breath please."
At this, the old man chuckled a bit, though on the contrary, it sounded like he was choking. He regained his composure, before his eyes gazed from Dominic to the wooden floors beneath his feet. "I understand that you have suffered a great loss, but risking your own life doing God knows what will not bring your father back." His voice had become stern and hardened a miraculous feat for someone who seemed to be living on their last string.
Dominic was annoyed at those words. "Don't speak as if you know what my plans are, Nicolai."
Again the man known as Nicolai chuckled, though Dominic did not find one bit of this conversation humorous. "Such an overwhelming disrespect, yet don't consider the people of Samaria so foolish, that we do not suspect your plans."
Dominic shook his head and turned his gaze towards the window. "Apparently you all know more than I do. I've only just decided to leave, so since when were you all predictors of the future?"
Nicolai ignored these comments and stood up, "we are only trying to save you, Dominic."
"From what exactly?"
Nicolai frowned, "you know exactly what. We, the people of this village, have come to be your family and we want you to be safe."
Dominic smiled and sat upwards. "My family is dead. For the sake of my father, I will continue his research until I successfully show the world the Origins of Alchemy."
"Please don't speak that way Dominic. You know that we of Samaria only have your well being at heart."
"I never asked you to bother worrying about me. You did that by your own choice." Dominic's eyes glanced over towards Nicolai; there was something different about the old man, but Dominic could not tell what.
Nicolai was not stirred by Dominic's words, but on the contrary, he walked limply towards Dominic, before roughly grabbing him at the collar. "You have no idea, the pain you will be putting these people through if you go. What about Sophia? Do you plan on leaving her here too, just too foolishly pursue this dream?"
Dominic felt his anger build a bit, but didn't bother to let it show on his face. So it had come to mentioning Sophia? His childhood friend and the one person Dominic trusted completely in this world? She had even bothered to move to Samaria with Dominic and his father and now he would be leaving her. "Sophia…will understand why I'm leaving," said Dominic hesitantly. "She understood my father's dream and she'll understand when I have to follow after him."
Nicolai sighed, but said nothing else. Instead he released his hold on Dominic and walked from the room and from the house as well. Dominic sat there, staring as his sheets for a moment, before deciding that it was probably best that he left before anymore of the citizens of Samaria made attempts in stopping him.
Dominic hesitantly stood up and looked around the room. Was there anything he could really afford to take with him? He sighed and left the room, taking nothing, but soon found himself heading towards the study. The room was big, bigger than any other room in the house and it was clearly noticeable by the number of books lying around on the floor. It would be hard pressed to even find the floor under the mass of books and paper sprawled out everywhere. Dominic's eyes glanced over everything before him; chances were there was nothing of use here.
Dominic stepped over the books and paper before coming to the desk situated in the corner. His eyes were not fixed on the papers left sprawled out on the desk, but rather the picture frame standing at the edge of the desk. Dominic picked it up and stared at it momentarily, before a faint smile came over his face. He was looking at himself only six years younger and his father, holding on to his hand. It was one of those happy
memories; something that was gone now. He opened the back of the frame and removed the picture, before leaving the room and the house completely.
Where would he go first though? He honestly had no leads to follow on, yet perhaps things would come to him later on. Firstly however, Dominic needed to disown himself from Samaria. The longer he stayed around this town, the more danger he was in of being caught and confined. He decided then that he would head towards the train station.
Dominic halted for a moment and closed his eyes. Was he really prepared to do this? Being only sixteen years old and off doing something that could very well kill him as the end result? It seemed odd to question him like this? Had he not already decided that he would continue after his father? Maybe this is all wrong, he thought to himself. Not only would he be leaving home, but he would end up leaving Sophia as well. Would she really accept it as he told Nicolai? No…he couldn't just go back on his word after having said everything he had.
"There can't be any turning back from this dream. I either complete my father's work or I die in the attempt just like he did."
It was as simple as that, and with this new reassurance, Dominic took one last look at his home, before he set off towards the train station.
--
She was sitting there, merely staring off at the sky, her thin petite nature and the silkiness of her hair gave off such a beautiful demeanor, and yet such a worried look overcame Sophia's face. It was a constant nuisance that had plagued her ever since the death of Dr. Artagnan, for in her heart she could feel the events coming, but would she be able to cope with them? So much grief and heartache on a fifteen year old, and the cause was one mere individual.
"Dominic…" It was all she could say as her hands grabbed at her chest. She wondered when he would come; would he bother to listen to what she had to say or would he irrationally force his way off after his father. After accepting Dr. Artagnan's invitation to come stay with them in Samaria, the mere fact of losing both of the people closest to her was much like a heart attack to the fragile girl. Sophia herself was an orphan who happened to be taken in by the Artagnans a year or two after her birth. They had traveled constantly, yet at the age of thirteen, Sophia was left in the care of a tender-loving family, while Dominic and his father went off to find some alchemic entity.
Having returned a year later, Dominic's father had asked Sophia to accompany them to Samaria where they would then live. Of course Sophia accepted the offer; how could she not after spending the better portion of her life traveling with the boy she now came to love even more than a brother. She of course could not tell Dominic this, yet just being around him was enough to enlighten Sophia's spirits and mood.
There was a crunching sound that snapped Sophia out of her recollection of memories, before she saw Dominic standing before him. She had suspected right, Dominic would intend to leave today, but perhaps things would turn out in her favor after all.
"Hey, Soph, "said Dominic.
"Hey, Dom." She had been the only ever to give Dominic a nickname, without him casting that individual a furtive glance. She smiled contently as Dominic stared at her for a moment, before he again lowered his gaze. Sophia in turn stared at the ground as well, before she let out a gentle sigh.
"You know, no one likes seeing such a sad face Sophia. You should try to brighten up a little."
She smiled. "This is coming from the boy who mopes around all day and stares at the clouds?"
They laughed for a moment, and without really knowing, Sophia realized that Dominic would not be asking her to go along with him. He had nothing with him; no bags or anything of the sort. Was there nothing worth taking or was it because there was nothing he valued to take along with him. Was she then only here because she knew he would want to say goodbye to her? Tears unendingly began to flow from her eyes as she felt the true impact of everything that was happening around her. She had already lost the man that was like a father and now she would lose the only other person that meant something to him. She could feel the warm embrace he gave her, yet it felt awkward and not the same as it should.
"I didn't think you would be leaving so soon," she said closely to his ear. "I really didn't think you would leave at all for a moment."
"It's something only I can do and I have to do it."
"I'm a decent Alchemyst too; I can help you along the way."
"Samaria will need a decent Alchemyst to maintain the order here. This is where you belong and two children gallivanting across Gemity would seem a bit out of order." She had guessed right, Dominic wouldn't take her along and this more than anything made her embrace him all the tighter.
"Where are you heading to first?"
Dominic paused for a moment before saying quietly, "West Central."
So it would be there of all places? The branch where Dominic's father had worked previous to his honorable discharge five years ago? "You're insane to go there. They'll only interrogate you and keep you under their eye. You'll be lucky to even leave that horrid place."
"Maybe, but if anything, I have to see if any of my father's research is in the library they have."
"Do you really think you can do the world any good by discovering the Origins?"
"Would my father have been studying them, if they couldn't benefit the world?"
"You're right as always. Will you come back after you have discovered it all for the world to see?"
Dominic smiled and let go of her, "so much faith in me, huh? Who knows how long this will take me. By the time I return, you could be married with kids and all, though honestly, I can't imagine you as a mother."
Sophia smiled and pushed him away, before wiping the remnants of her tears away. "You're your father's son. If anyone could do it, it's you; and on the subject of being a mother, I doubt that I'll find someone more perfect for me to be married to even if ten years have passed."
Dominic glanced at Sophia oddly for a moment; her words striking him as odd, but did not press the matter. Instead he smiled, and walked past her. He paid for his ticket and stopped before the gates to look back towards the girl, who was now watching him so intently. "Try not to forget about me."
She smiled and waved. "You do the same."
With that being said, Dominic walked through the gates and stepped on the train. Five minutes would go by and he would be on his way.