The Alchemist

An alchemist's greatest responsibility is to maintain control.

-Alchemic Scrolls, Section IV

Sparks flew in every direction as hit after hit was placed upon the shiny black sword. The young fire elemental commanding the hammer made careful sure that while each strike was powerful, it was also placed in the right spot. His most recent client was picky, especially with their weapons.

Just keep yourself calm, it's an art form, it takes time.

With a final clank of metal on metal, the young man examined his work then walked over to an isolated barrel in the corner of the forge room. Dipping the blade inside released a heavy cloud of steam.

3, 2, 1, now.

He lifted the sword from the container of pure water and quickly moved to his work table. Placing the black weapon on a holder, he jumped over to a set of shelves on the wall. After a swift search, he found what he was looking for and grabbed a bottle. Returning to the blade, the elemental uncorked the glass and carefully tipped it until a drop of mysterious liquid was hanging off the lip of the bottle.

Come on, come on.

He gave a microscopic shake and the drop finally released its hold, splashing onto the sharp edge of the sword. It instantly absorbed the foreign substance and began turning a dark purple. The fiery being watched patiently until the metal appeared to liquefy. With great speed and skill, he formed two small fire torches on his hands and began crafting an intricate design into the weapon.

After a few minutes, he finished the work and placed his palm against the blade. With a deep breath, the heat from the sword was instantly sucked into his hand. For a moment, the man seemed to struggle with the heat within him, too strong even for his species. Eventually though, he managed to swing his other open hand toward a calm fire within the forge and shot a blast of fire into it.

The hearth readily accepted the redirected energy and spiked a light orange before returning to its natural red. With the order complete, the man picked up the sword by its handle and did a final examination. It appeared solid, light, and stunning in its decoration. The young man smiled, satisfied he had accomplished his goal.

Before he could proceed further, the long curtain covering the entrance to the forge was swung aside, revealing a fairly middle-aged fire elemental. The man grinned with pride as he approached the work table, studying the item the younger fire being had crafted. He held out his hand, asking for the finished product, which the blacksmith gave him with an anxious look. The man gave the black sword a few practice swings before pulling a scabbard out his cloak and sliding the elegant blade inside.

"It's difficult to work with obsidian, well done Ferrum."

The younger elemental smiled as he began cleaning the nearby anvil.

"Thanks dad."

The father chuckled as he slowly made his way around the table to where his son was wiping off the impurities from the forging tool's surface.

"I'm sure the general will be quite satisfied with your performance."

Ferrum smirked.

"You know I already finished my apprenticeship. You don't have to keep talking to me like that."

The young man's father gave a return smirk and gave the boy a pat on the back.

"I know, but you never really stop learning you know, especially from your parents."

The son rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Listen dad…"

Ferrum looked at the clock.

"…I've got a few errands to run. Could you deliver that for me?"

He pointed to the sheathed sword. Ferrum's old man gave a nod.

"Of course. It's not like I do anything else useful these days," he chuckled.

A sigh from the young blacksmith.

"Well, I'll see you later then."

As the fire elemental began to step through the curtain, his father put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look back at the man.

"Almost forgot."

He grinned again as he reached into a pouch hanging from his belt and produced a degraded looking scroll. He held the fireproof paper out to his son, who accepted it with curiosity.

"Happy eighteenth birthday."

Ferrum smacked his forehead with his palm.

"Dang. This is the third year in a row I've forgotten this day."

His father laughed.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. You've been overworking and over-studying yourself to death my boy."

Ferrum's face was serious now.

"It's necessary. Being a smith will keep the shop going, and alchemy will bring in greater opportunities."

His dad pointed to the scroll.

"Well then, perhaps you should take care to read through that."

With a final thanks, Ferrum walked through the curtain, leaving his old man to smile proudly after his son.

As the young fire elemental strolled through the markets, he was eagerly reading the latest transmutation his father had given him. He always received an interesting one for his birthday. Luckily, anticipation was low since, well, he never paid attention to that date. This always made it a great pleasure to suddenly have it be presented to him at some random moment.

Hm. The ultimate negation. Sounds useful, but also situational.

Lost in his studying, Ferrum didn't notice he had walked into an alleyway. His concentration was only broken by the sound of a female shout. Springing his head up from the scroll, the young blacksmith darted his vision around. He began hearing sinister laughing and followed its source around several corners.

As he shot around another, he instantly halted and threw himself back around the wall. Leaning over, he spotted a gang of four fire elementals cornering a young girl against a building. She looked both terrified and angered. The leader of the group, by the looks of it, had his arm supporting his weight while he leaned his face toward the girl's.

"Come on babe you really shouldn't walk around on your own. There are plenty of guys walking around that are pretty nasty. Of course, not as good as my own boys."

He motioned to the grinning thugs behind him.

"But even so some protection would do you good."

The trapped female's expression of anger overrode the one of fear.

"Shut up Kalium, you're pathetic excuse to date me isn't going to work!"

The thug leader's charming smile faded into a look of irritation.

"Well maybe this isn't a request, maybe it's a command."

He gripped the girl's throat, causing her to desperately claw at the hoodlum's strong hand, with no effect.

"There's no one here to stop me after all."

Before he could forcibly press his mouth to the struggling elemental, a sudden object blurred between their faces. Kalium moved his head back in shock, before turning to see what had been thrown. It was a jet black throwing knife. All four hoods looked toward the source of the throw, only to see Ferrum defiantly standing a few yards away.

"I wouldn't say that Kalium," he said darkly.

The fearful fiery girl stared at him with eyes that were pleading for help. The thug leader however, just grinned and let the female go, who sunk to the floor grasping her neck.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Ferrum. Come to offer a repair on one of my blades smithy?"

The gang gave a vile laugh. All the young blacksmith did was step forward. Unfortunately, he knew Kalium and his group were infamous for creating vicious weapons with their fire powers, something he couldn't hope to match with his own weapons, that is, if he had any more on him. Not unfortunate, was the perfect timing of the gift from his father.

Taking another step forward, Ferrum pointed to his foes.

"Actually I'm here to beat you idiots until you leave the poor girl alone."

Another wild laugh emerged from the four fire thugs.

"Ha! You've got some nerve Ferrum. Just for that, I think I'll give you a nice shave."

With that, Kalium generated a wicked lava ax from his arm. He began slowly walking toward the blacksmith, grinding the weapon along the ground as the rest of the gang prepared to watch the fun. The female elemental held her look of horror. Ferrum just smirked.

Before the hood could get too close, he held his open palm downwards to the ground and unleashed a thin blast of fire, which quickly touched the ground and began rapidly etching a transmutation circle into the ground. While Kalium and his gang were reluctant to notice, the girl followed the burning runes with mixed curiosity.

With the circle complete, Ferrum took a knee and pressed his open hand to the ground. Kalium laughed again.

"Accepting your fate so easily? You really are a coward smithy."

In that moment, orange bolts of electricity arced from Ferrum's palm, instantly lighting up the ashy transmutation circle the fires had burned into the ground. Kalium froze, completely bewildered. With a final flash, the reaction ended and the leader's lava axe instantly fell apart.

"What!? What is this?"

The punk frustratingly attempted to reform his weapon, with no success. He looked back at Ferrum, who had risen to his feet again and was cracking his knuckles.

"Sorry, but I just used Embargo. All magic and abilities have been negated."

The gang's eyes widened as they too unsuccessfully tried to form various weaponry on their limbs.

"You-you're an alchemist…"

Kalium had fear now in both his voice and his face. He slowly began backing away.

"That's right genius. And one that knows very well how to fight without any armaments."

With that declaration, Ferrum ran up and gave the hoodlum one swift uppercut to the jaw, sending him crashing to the ground. Recovering, Kalium woozily stood up and shouted for his cronies to jump the young man. They hesitantly followed the order. However, it took mere seconds before they were all on the same spot of ground their leader had tasted a few moments ago.

Not willing to continue, the three underlings ran for it. Kalium shouted after them.

"You cowards! Get back here morons!"

His sentence was followed by a painful strike to his crotch. As the man turned to see his assailant, the girl stood there wearing a vengeful glare.

"Maybe you should get protection."

In great pain, the thug leader had no choice but to retreat from the two elementals. He joined his gang down the alley and out of site. Ferrum, meanwhile, walked up to the girl and gave a friendly smile.

"You alright?"

After brushing off some soot on her dress, the young lady returned the smile.

"Yes, thank you. I owe you one. Ferrum is it?"

She offered her hand, which the alchemist shook.

"Yeah. And you are?"

The fiery girl threw aside some locks of her flaming hair. Ferrum caught himself staring and shook it off discreetly.

"Flara. Um, you can let go of my hand now."

The blacksmith blushed as he realized the girl was trying to pull her hand away from his grip. He quickly released the hold and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry. So are you hurt or anything?"

Flara giggled a bit and shook her head.

"No I'm fine. Pretty impressive stuff you showed back there."

Ferrum gave a nervous chuckle, becoming more embarrassed every second.

"Haha, yeah well, hope you don't mind not being able to conjure fire for a few hours."

He gave a silly grin, which just made Flara giggle again.

"Doesn't seem like that spell stops you from conjuring hearts tough guy."

The alchemist turned a deeper shade of red, unable to halt the oncoming teases. Luckily, the girl decided to let him off the hook.

"Well, I hope to see you around Ferrum. I'll bet Kalium will think twice about bothering me if I tell him you're close by."

They both laughed, then stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Flara leaned in to peck him on the cheek and turned to leave, giving a final wave.

"Bye."

Ferrum waved back, a little stunned.

"Bye."

As she turned the corner, the blacksmith just stood there for a minute, holding a hand to the side of his face.

(3 months later)

Adding another dab of polish to the armor, Ferrum began to rub the solution into the protective plates, determined to get the burn marks out. He swore, some of his customers were so high maintenance. I mean really, who doesn't want battle scars? Sighing, the man continued his task as the hearth burned peacefully.

Suddenly, a knock was heard near the entrance to the forge. Ferrum turned to see a female fire elemental smiling at him, leaning against the doorway.

"Flara! Hi. I uh, wasn't expecting you."

The girl giggled and went over to sit down on a bench near where the blacksmith was working.

"Well I didn't have anything else to do today so I decided to drop by. Is that ok?"

Ferrum couldn't help but smile back.

"You're welcome here anytime."

Flara's flames increased slightly.

"That's nice to know."

Ferrum's own flames also increased, making the girl laugh again. He desperately patted himself, trying to wave away the extra fire. All he accomplished was making Flara laugh harder. Finally, he gave up.

"Ok yeah, you got me. I'm embarrassed."

He held up his hands as he finished polishing and walked the armor to the other side of the forge to hang it on a hook. Flara got up and strolled over to the hearth, gazing at the red ribbons within. After making sure the chains could support the chest plate, Ferrum walked over to join the fiery girl.

"Beautiful isn't it? It's been passed down in my family for as long as we can remember. An enchanted fire."

Flara's eyes widened slightly, which attracted the blacksmith's attention. It wasn't until she turned to look at him that he realized what he was doing and looked into the fire himself, blushing. The female elemental took a few steps toward him and gave a curious look.

"What can it do differently than a normal fire?"

Glad that the staring had seemingly been unnoticed, he happily turned back to look at Flara.

"Well, a trained blacksmith can merge with it to make forging more efficient. And it's said it can read people's emotions."

At the second fact the fiery girl was hooked.

"Can we try that?" she asked excitedly.

Ferrum gave a smile, unable to resist her shiny black eyes. They reminded him of obsidian, which he considered the most elegant of all minerals.

"Sure, come on."

He held out his hand, which she accepted. He liked the feel of her skin, of course never admitting that. After leading her closer to the hearth, he motioned for the girl to place her hand into the crimson flames, as he did. She hesitated, but trusted the man enough to do as he asked. Flara plunged her hand into the fire and instantly felt its pleasant warmth fill her body.

Ferrum nudged her a bit in the shoulder. She turned and saw him holding up his hand.

"May I?"

The girl smiled and nodded. The blacksmith gently placed his hand over her heart and closed his eyes. The fire acted immediately, projecting various feelings through his own heart. He felt a sense of joy, directed at an older individual. He opened his eyes an looked at Flara.

"You love to spend time with your mom, don't you?"

The girl smiled and nodded. Ferrum closed his eyes and looked deeper. A sense of annoyance, at a particularly young person. He laughed as he opened his sight again.

"I take it you don't get along with your brother that well?"

Flara joined him in chuckling.

"Haha, nope."

He went in one more time. The furthest he could go. He felt a little guilty of digging this far into personal thoughts, but he believed Flara trusted him. This time however, he encountered the feeling of love. It was not family love, or abstract love, it was the type that indicated a sense of bonding to an outsider who gradually grew closer over time. He was shocked when he discovered it was him that the feeling was directed at.

He couldn't help but gasp. Flara looked at him, confused, before her eyes went wide and her face turned red.

"Oh jeez! I'm sorry Flara! I didn't mean to go that far, I really hope I didn-"

The fiery girl tried to turn and leave but Ferrum grabbed her hand.

"Wait, Flara!"

She looked at him with a bit of fear. He slowly moved her hand and guided it to his chest. The girl hesitantly closed her eyes as Ferrum allowed his own emotions to freely wander. After a moment, the female elemental opened her eyes and stared deep into Ferrum's. They remained in that state for who knows how long before motion was finally seen.

Ever so slowly, the two leaned closer to each other, not daring to move their sights from each other. Eventually, they leaned their heads in opposite directions and gently closed their eyes. A second later, their lips made contact and both of their flames grew exponentially, fusing together to create one swirling force of bright orange ribbons.

The flame within the hearth simply continued its peaceful glow.

(a year later)

Ferrum narrowed his eyes heavily as he read the dozen or so scrolls and books in front of him. His alchemy studies were beginning to take their toll on the man, he had barely slept for the past week. Rubbing his eyes, he decided to try one more lesson before heading to bed. Getting up, Ferrum grabbed one of the books and strolled out the door to the back end of the shop.

It was twilight outside, with the ash clouds of the Fire Kingdom concealing what was left of the sun. Basically no different than nighttime. He touched a nearby torch, which instantly ignited and sprang to the rest of the ring of attached light sources the elemental had set up. He opened the book to once more look over the procedure before beginning.

While he read, he didn't notice a figure sneaking up behind him. As he went deep into thought about the complexity of the reaction, he was startled as the figure jumped onto him and wrapped its arms around his neck.

"Boo!"

Ferrum shouted and began frantically moving around before he realized who it was.

"Glob Flara, do you have to do that every time?"

The girl just giggled.

"Yep."

Sighing, Ferrum carefully lifted her off his back and set her down, giving her a smile and then leaning in to kiss her. She returned the gesture and beamed into his eyes. As the blacksmith returned to reading, Flara curiously looked at the writing.

"What are you doing this time?"

Ferrum talked as he read.

"Big leagues. Finally getting into the Catalyst series, the most powerful transmutations in alchemy."

Flara frowned. The man noticed and looked at her with a sincere smile.

"I know, you don't like when people have too much power."

The girl rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Just look at jerks like Kalium and his gang, or even the Flame King. They're all overwhelmed by how much power they wield and can't control what they do with it."

Ferrum grew a look of concern and placed his free arm around Flara's back.

"True. But responsibility is also questionable in those guys. As long as that's in place, control is a no brainer."

He grinned at his girlfriend but she was unconvinced. It was then that he noticed a small cut on her cheek. His expression changed to a frown.

"What happened here?" he asked, gently brushed the injury.

Flara sighed.

"Oh, just got careless and tripped a little."

Ferrum got an idea.

"Come here for a second."

He took the girl's hand and led her to the nearby lava river. He then had them kneel down next to the molten rock.

"Good can always be brought out from something, you just have to find it."

With that, he placed one hand on Flara's cut and the other he placed directly into the lava. He took a deep breath then began the reaction.

"Harmonic Catalyst."

A gentle arc of orange electricity zapped the female elemental's cheek. While this occurred, the lava Ferrum was touching began to cool and harden as the injury on his companion's face began to fade. As the reaction finished, he returned both his hands to his side and smiled at Flara.

The fiery girl felt her newly healed cheek and then looked at the alchemist. After a moment, she smiled back.

"I guess you're right. And I trust you."

She leaned forward and gave him a kiss. Repositioning herself, she then lay against his shoulder, staring out into the lava.

"I love you Flara."

"I love you too Ferrum."

The next day went much like any other. The young blacksmith checked his orders, cleaned up the ash-riddled floors, then set out into town to buy some new metals. As he finished his to-do list, the man decided to stop by Flara's for a visit. Walking toward her house, he passed the time by rehearsing various Catalyst reactions in his head.

Remember Ferrum, speak clearly. The transmutation is too powerful to perform non-verbally. One mistake and you blow a crater into the ground.

Reaching his girlfriend's home, he was shocked by what he saw. The front door had been busted down and scorch marks were present on the walls. Rushing inside, he discovered that the majority of the furniture had been either broken or thrown around. It took him a minute to discover a message burned into the floor.

Top of the lava dam. Come and get her, alchemist. –K

Ferrum's flames burned with rage as he vaporized the writing with a blast of fire. He then ran out the front entrance and down the street, determined to find Kalium and make him pay.

The trip to the lava dam was short. The structure was housed quite near, overlooking the marketplace from an active volcano. Ferrum sprinted toward the path leading to the main entrance and pushed several workers out of the way to get to the elevator. Running inside, he slammed the button for the top floor and the gears within the contraption began to grind, pulling the platform up to the top of the wall.

The moment the doors opened, the man resumed his sprint. After seeing a group of fire elemental's near the edge of the dam, he increased his speed and narrowed his eyes. One of them noticed his approach and grinned evilly. It was Kalium. Ferrum managed to stop himself a few yards away from the hood.

"Welcome Ferrum! Nice to see you after all this time."

The blacksmith glared at his enemy.

"The feeling's not mutual. Where's Flara you bastard?"

Kalium gave a fake expression of offense.

"My word such language, as if we'd done something to her. But don't worry, we haven't…"

He smiled viciously.

"…yet."

Ferrum broke loose. He slammed his hand into the ground and swiftly burned a transmutation circle into the ground. Electricity crackled as he prepared to blast Kalium off the dam. The twisted elemental only grinned more. He suddenly held up his hand and drew his own circle in midair. The blacksmith's eyes widened as his reaction suddenly halted, the energy dispersed into the air.

Kalium let out a vile laugh.

"Hahaha! I did a bit of studying myself. All I needed though was to learn cancel."

He took a step toward Ferrum and formed a lava axe on his hand.

"And that's all it would take to cripple you."

He motioned for one of his thugs to bring someone forward. That someone was Flara, hands tied behind her back by fireproof bindings. Ferrum's eyes widened.

"Flara!"

The girl looked at the alchemist with a hopeless expression.

"Ferrum! Help, please!"

The blacksmith attempted to cast embargo, but Kalium canceled it out. He drew three simultaneous circles and tried to create a detonation to disorient his opponent. All three were canceled. Growing frustrated, he took several steps toward the gang. Kalium grabbed Flara and brought his axe to her throat.

"Uh, uh, uh smithy, any closer and this sweetheart gets a little messy."

His voice disgusted Ferrum as much as his act. Growing angrier every second, he felt a boiling energy within him. Kalium was laughing hysterically as he placed his hand on Flara's abdomen. The girl tried to struggle free but he increased the pressure on her neck.

"Get your hands off of her you son of a bitch!"

The hoodlum didn't stop, he moved his hand up toward the girl's chest. Ferrum's flames exploded out of his body.

"I'll kill you, you groddamned pig!"

The gang members just laughed as their boss continued to move his hand up. Suddenly, he stopped, his attention directed to an incredible sight. Massive streams of energy were being funneled into the alchemist's body. Their source: the enormous energy turbines housed atop the dam. They were slowly drained of every ounce of power contained within them, all of it combining inside Ferrum's elemental matrix.

Kalium performed another cancel, but there was no effect. He was suddenly scared, releasing his hold on Flara, who fell to her knees. She looked up to see an enraged Ferrum, appearing as if he were about to burst. The man's eyes burned with hatred. It was frightening to the girl.

Finally, the energy was fully absorbed, leaving a highly unstable Ferrum. He began walking forward, closing in on the gang. They in turn, began scampering away, fearful of the power he was holding in. Eventually, he passed by Flara, who was still on her knees. She watched in fear as the man paid no attention and continued to prey upon the hoodlums.

Let's see them dare to go near Flara once they experience this transmutation.

Ferrum raised his hand and aimed at the cowering gang, who had run out of wall, cornered against the mountainside. In one great burst, he unleashed a reaction that shattered the very wall the men were standing upon. They fell screaming as the dam's infrastructure was blown to bits, releasing the lava reservoir behind it.

Ferrum snapped out of his fury as he witnessed the molten rock speed toward the rest of the city. Turning around in a panic, he found Flara frozen in fear on the ground. He ran over to her and kneeled by her side offering his arms to comfort her. He was shocked when she slapped them away.

"Get away from me!"

The blacksmith was astonished. What had happened? The terrified girl answered him.

"Look what you've done! Consumed by rage and unable to control yourself. Now the entire marketplace will be buried in lava, all because of your unstable power. More power than any man should ever possess."

She began crying.

"You lied to me!"

Ferrum backed off, struck hard by her words. The dam continued to crumble around them. Flara weakly got up and began moving as quickly as he could toward the elevator. As the alchemist watched her disappear down to the bottom floor, he glimpsed the last expression on her lava soaked face: hurt and betrayal.

He hung his head, not caring how close the part of the wall he stood on was to falling apart. It was only when the ground collapsed that he reacted, using his agility to hop over several jagged pieces of rock to reach the elevator. It had returned to the top.

At least…she's safe.

Broken hearted and ashamed, Ferrum rode the elevator down as the entire facility shook from the destruction of the dam.

Two towering fire guards escorted a restrained Ferrum through the fire palace, leading him into the throne room. It had been a while since he had seen this place. The last time was when Flame King requested that his father come so that he may update him on his sons' progress. They were doing just fine after his dad's Stasis Catalyst wore off.

This time however, something was different. He finally noticed the change. The large yellow lantern above the throne was empty, once containing the king's only daughter. Ferrum recalled that a prince apparently came to court her, only to upset her and have her chase him out of the kingdom. Oddly enough, there was a giant misunderstanding and somehow, the princess ended up in a happy relationship with some human or other.

I'm happy for her, at least she can now be free.

The nice thought was interrupted as Ferrum was halted by the guards. Flame King sat before him, a stoic look upon his face. He finally stood up and approached the alchemist, holding his hands behind his back.

"Ferrum the alchemist. You have caused much damage to the land and are responsible for the deaths of several fire elementals."

The young man lowered his head in shame. The king however, smiled.

"Personally, I think it's an excellent display of chaos and evil. Which I believe this kingdom is lacking in lately."

He gave an accusatory stare at the people in the throne room. They all looked nervous. Flame King's expression then turned to a serious note.

"Although, it was a major setback at the loss of the dam, so I'm afraid I'll have to turn you over to the courts for a verdict."

Ferrum was led to one side of the throne room, where an apparent assembly of judges was gathered. The foreman of the group stood up, holding a paper.

"Ferrum, son of Argent, you are charged with performing a non-verbal Violent Catalyst transmutation. Your act not only siphoned all the energy from the most productive dam in the kingdom but also caused the destruction of nearly six city blocks."

The judge glared down at the alchemist.

"For your irresponsible actions, you are hereby forbidden from performing any alchemic procedures, unless such acts are in direct response to defending the Fire Kingdom or its assets."

Each word hit Ferrum in his very heart.

"Finally, you are sentenced to two years in the Fire Kingdom military, where hopefully you will learn some control and discipline."

The man put down the paper and slammed his gavel on the table. At this sound, Ferrum was shoved back down the hall to the entrance to the palace. He continued to hang his head in disgust at his own actions.

When he and the guards emerged outside, a crowd was gathered. None of them shouted or yelled at the man, but they all either had a look of anger or sadness upon their faces. Ferrum spotted a familiar face among them. His father. The elder had neither anger nor sadness, only disappointment.

The young man turned away, unable to face his parent and mentor. As he was let to a coach and told to get in, his bindings were removed and he sat down on one of the benches on either side of the wagon. The driver whipped the fire steep pulling the vehicle and the beast began to move forward.

As Ferrum managed one last look at the crowd growing smaller by the second, he found Flara standing among them, still crying. The young alchemist also began to tear up. Flara turned away, walking into the sea of fire elementals and disappearing behind them

At that very moment, Ferrum closed his wet eyes, reaching to grip a locket that hung from his neck. It was shaped like a heart and forged of pure platinum. He had made it himself. Its twin was around the neck of the girl he loved. Or at least…it used to be.

Flara. I'm sorry.

Hoped you enjoyed and please review.

next entry: The guardian