Chapter 1
Misha and Alchemy
In order for a human being to gain something, he or she must give something in equal value; otherwise, nothing will be attained.
Upon the hall of the British Library, books filled with scientific theories abide and there you will find philosophers, inventors, scientists and historians blabbering about their mechanism. Their silent whispers heard but not disturbed, for what they speak interests all who walks pass them. They were finely dressed gentlemen and their accent British and stern, they discussed political debuts and made distinctive opinions on what could solve the monetary financial problem of the world. Anyone who hears them or if ever they shall understand them, will agree in their ideals and in their solutions, they spoke as if they have prepared their own discussions and they relinquish every sentence with such voluminous confidence that whatever shall they provide a solution to a problem is a fact and the truth. If ever you have spotted them in a place in the British Library where the tall, auburn shelves can cover you so that you can eavesdrop in their mathematical discussions. If you ever did listen carefully and deductively to their ingenious words, it is more than enough to write an impressive essay regarding business, physics and worldly gestures.
There, behind the block of books and shelves, a girl with dark brown hair and eyes wearing a school uniform composing of a white blouse and a knee length skirt and calf length socks, hears them everyday, writing and learning whatever her sharp ears can decipher within their silent mouths. She comes three hours a day in the British Library after school and learn from the experts. Fortunately, no one ever discovered her behind those humongous shelves and she was able to gain wonderful knowledge (for free) from the paramount of the best for almost 4 years now. So that what she continues to do, until now. The raven head girl was a bit, let's say, clumsy today.
Her old Nokia 360 rang and Mozart's Emperor's Chase played as her ring tone and she panicked while dropping her phone on the carpet. It rang louder and the vibrant, vigorous sound of her ring tone echoed throughout the library and she felt even more embarrassed, she answered the phone and whispered "I'll call you back"
She then brought a few books with her and her writing book. She tiptoed, walking away from the book shelf she hid herself from, slowly making her way to the counter to sign out.
"Never do that again, sweetheart, people here are either clever or serious in increasing their knowledge but since I see you everyday, I think you're part of the clever ones but rather you're a bit forgetful, today, Mobile phones are forbidden inside the hall of the great British Library, remember the 5th rule, electronics that cause distraction within this facility shall be stopped from entering this library for a month" the librarian glared at the raven head girl as she passed the girl's library books through a scanner, she didn't have the normal British accent but rather, she was American. She spoke fast though but was clear. "So am I hindered from this library for a month?" The girl asked the question in a very polite tone even though she wanted to burst her anger at the four eyed librarian.
"Yes!" She dropped the girl's books in front of the counter while making her glasses slightly drop near her pale mouth.
The girl grabbed her books and tossed them inside her black billabong bag while leaving the library disappointed and at haste.
She then made her way to the train station where she sat on a bench near a vending machine. She took her phone and dialled a number.
"Sharday, I told you not to call me from 3:00 to 6:00…" the raven head girl spoke to her friend in the kindest of ways; she tried to control the resentment she was now experiencing and wanted no contradiction within their friendship.
"How come Mish?" asked her friend confused.
"I'm in the library everyday from 3 to 6, remember?" Mish responded, struggling to control the tone of her voice.
"Oh my gosh! Did you put your phone in silent?" Sharday suddenly yelled and Mish quickly removed her right ear from the phone whilst still hearing Sharday's infuriating shout.
Mish brought the phone back on her ear and sighed and spoke "No, why did you call me anyway?"
"I need help with physics and biology test next week and the maths test too! P-L-E-A-S-E H-E-L-P M-E" said Sharday who spelled the last two words of her begging sentence.
"I told you I'll help you study at school during lunch time and you can come to my house at 10:00 AM every Saturdays" said Mish who was having a difficult time to apply calmness in her voice.
"Oh……"
"Ohhhhhhhhh………Yes?" Mish gripped her phone tightly and her voice crackling.
"Did they suspend you at the library?"
It was silent and Sharday waited for a reply. "Hello?"
"You better do something with my library record, Sharday!!" Mish shouted and Sharday hanged up with a pleasant "sorry" at the end. Mish sighed and waited for a train going to Bloomsbury.
She read her notes and made a reasonable judgement on which discovery is considered to be with utmost importance. She never thinks on what she hears but just writes them neatly and quickly on paper, so apparently, she never actually knew what she wrote and forgets what she hears the first time. She read the long paragraphs that were exquisitely detailed and metamorphosed and only one single word wondered her mind.
"Alchemy" She read the word out loud and laughed. She then read the whole sentence "Alchemy is science and its substances is well understood and can be disassembled and reconstructed in any form."
The word came through her heart and its meaning replayed in her brain. She knew alchemy was magic, and its composition was hard to imagine and can only remain fiction. But why in God's name would a professional being with high understanding of science ever mention the word alchemy, that is believed to be a reverie for all time?
"Bloomsbury Train will be arriving in five minutes, we are sorry for the delay"
Mish stood near the train tracks and the train came like a rush of wind. She went in and the train was almost empty. "Alchemy, alchemy, alchemy, why alchemy?" The same word made her mind curious until her train made it safely to Bloomsbury station.
She left the station and made her way to Chinatown where she found Asians rejoicing and speaking in foreign languages that she could understand if ever there was ever a chance it was Japanese.
She made her way to an old shop which had thousands of Japanese novels inside.
"Konnichiwa" she said to the owner with a fine Japanese pronunciation
"Ah…Konbanwa. Mish-san… I haven't seen you for over a month, now" said the old man kindly.
"Hai, I was busy in the British Library for quite some time, gomene"
"Daijoubu, just ask me if you ever find it hard to look for books because of the dust at this place." The kind old man chuckled and Mish made her way inside.
The store was very messy and the books were not found on shelves but instead, they were piled by stacks on the wooden floor. Misha closed her eyes and randomly picked five books from the pile. She smiled as she grabbed each of the books and sat down on the floor when she was finished.
She looked at the first book but she read it before and so is the next one, the one after it, the next one but the last book was in English and it was entitled "The Path of Germany"
She flipped the pages of the book and read the Prologue.
"According to history, on November 8th , 1923, The Munich Putsch (Munich Insurrection) attempted by the Nazi Party led by Hitler, failed. Hitler is physically restrained and sentenced for five years of imprisonment, but nationalists see him as a hero, soon after in Landsburg Prison, Hitler writes Mein Kampf. Rudolph Hoss, one of his aides, took it down as a dictation. After he was released from prison, Hitler was able to seize power during the parliamentary elections and in one fell stroke, the Nazis pushed the nation towards war. That become World War II and was the beginning of scientific weapons causing unprecedented massacres." (author marimelb:this paragraph does not belong to me)
Mish hated Germans for they killed millions of Jews and made all of them suffer. But the book made her excited, she wanted to know what road did the Germany took after the cold war. She read the entire book within two hours and bought it for ten pounds. She left the shop, not forgetting to thank the owner for such hospitality, Mish felt like she was in the British Library although messier, of course.
Mish started walking on the street heading back to her apartment while still finding the book amazing and indeed, criticizing.
She wondered if the author won the Book of the Year award but when she turned the book on its cover, the author is not included just the title; the publishing company was not indicated in any of the pages. What is going on?
She dropped the book accidentally and a piece of paper flew from it.
She took the book and the paper that fell from it and there she saw a transmutation circle drawn perfectly on it, it was a correct complimentary circle.
"Alchemy?" Mish knew transmutation circles were used to enable to reconstruct the compositions of alchemy because of the fantasy books she read when she was younger.
She stared at the transmutation circle and a lot of people tried their best to avoid bumping at her.
The perfect circle then glowed and Misha fell on her feet and the ground rumbled causing an earthquake to occur. People screamed and they started to run.
Misha could not move she couldn't stand up and walk and flee for her life. She was trapped. The transmutation circle glowed brighter and same circle surrounded Misha's body and a huge hole was formed and Misha fell somewhere. Somewhere……
I would like to give my deepest appreciation to all who read my first chapter and how I wish if you could review it for me, please understand that this story could last up to ten chapters and I hope you like my first chapter. I'm adding up the chapters' everyday or every hour I do not know. Please bear with me.