Discovery
Disclaimer: I do not own Shadow of Destiny or any of its characters
The day I went to the town of Lebensbaum was indeed an unusual day; I wasn't expecting to be received by a thunderstorm, people told me that could be a bad omen but back then I didn't believe this fact to be a foreboding of my future ill fate. The weather here is usually uneventful and I had bad luck that day, I thought so. If only I l knew what destiny had been storing for me…
Three weeks later
I do understand now that Lebensbaum has a good and bad side about it; well the town isn't huge like my hometown New York but it really has a certain beauty to it. The number of citizens or the lack of them doesn't bother me, what irks myself is the fact that I, Clarice Spencer, am bound to stay here for the sake of my research on alchemy. Is it really worth to waste a part of my youth in this place? Yes, it is. I have such reverence for the subject of alchemy and after I graduated from college I hadn't anything in my mind except that I wanted to pursue a research, a difficult one involving the history of alchemy. An uncommon path for a 21 year old woman, my former master said. But simply, I have never been normal my whole life. My early interests in the legend of the philosopher's stone astounded my parents and my appearance of pale skin, black hair and blue eyes didn't help with children my age back then. I got teased a lot because of my chalk white skin; kids in school said I was a vampire trying to suck their blood. I had never cared about people talking behind my back and I preferred the company of adults whose conversations were much more entertaining to my precocious brain.
My fascination for the philosopher's stone grew to an almost obsession and when I came to know doctor Wolfgang Wagner's story I knew I had a way clearly defined. This is the reason why I chose to stay in the "world's end"(it is my "affectionate nickname" for this lovely town).
"My thoughts make me wander sometimes; I haven't noticed the coffee shop till now." Now is a good time for a pause because my stomach has been complaining for the last ten minutes.
I realized there was a vacant seat next to the window. Well, look closely Clarice. You don't want to seat next to a creepy like last time. Looks like it's unoccupied.
" May I take your order, miss ", prompted a brunette girl.
"Is it you Margarete?"
" Oh, Clarice ! I haven't noticed you. I'm sorry".
"It's nothing. How is the work?"
"I like here so much! I even tried a new recipe for a sweet and the customers loved it. My boss said if I keep going like this he'll increase my income", she said excited.
"That's great news, Margarete."
"I have something to ask you, Clarice…"
"What is it?", I looked into her eyes and she tried to avert my gaze. "Does it have to do with my research?"
"Yes and… no. I don't think it's a good subject to study, you know", she told almost whispering.
"I'm always under the impression you are hiding something of me, Margarete. Are you?"
"No, it is nothing like that", she beamed nervously, "I'm your friend Clarice."
"So, you would tell me if you knew anything about the stone", I pried.
"S-s-sure thing" said Margarete anxiously.
"Margareteeeeeeeeee!" roared someone from kitchen."The dishes aren't going to made themselves!"
"Ops, I forgot. I'm already going, Mr. Dodge!" she cried and went running to the kitchen. Then, Margarete paused mid step and asked to me "What was your order, again?"
"Bring a piece of strawberry cake and a cup of green tea, please"I continued looking to my scattered annotations on the table. I readed once more and scrutinized the paper. Did Wagner really disappear on that explosion? Why nobody bothered to fix his house after the incident? Everything in this story in undeniably odd; I think I must visit Mr. Eckart library again this afternoon.
"Can I sit here and make some company to you?", a male voice interrupted my thoughts. I averted my gaze from the papers and I looked. Shit. Not this creepy, please. There goes a good day.
"Fancy seeing you here Clarice", he continued cheerfully. "Are you already studying so early in the morning?"
"Yes, I have loads of work to do", I faked a smile. This is not happening, calm down. To say Eike Kusch is a moron is an understatement. He's been annoying me since I arrived in Lebensbaum; Doesn't he know the meaning of the word NO? Eike have flirted with me incessantly until now and even asked me to a date at the bar Zum-Ei once. This guy is starting to irritate me…
"So, do you have plans for tonight? We could have dinner, perhaps?", asked him excited.
"No. I have tons of work in the lab", I answered without looking.
"You still reading about alchemy…", he paused uncomfortable. "I don't think it's interesting. Besides, it's a bunch of myths."
"It's important to the history of alchemy itself!", I responded a bit louder, "And do you honestly think I believe the philosopher's stone exists? I'm doing a research about Wagner's history and the stone is a part of it. Maybe he found something useful or not. It doesn't matter. The art of alchemy is a notable page in humankind history."
"I'm sorry about that. So are you free tonight?" , he grinned.
Breath, Clarice. Count to ten… One more and he'll see firsthand why I'm a blackbelt in karate.
"Your order, miss", interrupted icily Margarete while glaring at him.
"Thank you, but I forgot I'm late. I have a appointment right now!Keep the change ,please", I got up and hurried to the exit. When I was outside I saw grey clouds roaming the sky. "Don't tell me it's going to rain", I shouted," At least now I know Eike really brings bad luck", I kept walking and I noticed the strange statue in the middle of the square. "Someone has bad tastes to make statues", I approached it and sit beside. I think I'm going insane or this thing looks like Eike? Wait , what's that rock doing at the statues foot? There was a beautiful red stone lying forlorn in the statues toes. Had someone forgotten something apparently so precious? I picked the gem and studied it against the sun light. "This is very ironic, especially when I was thinking about the philosopher's stone. Perhaps it is not even a precious stone", I pondered , "But maybe… I'll bring it to the lab, just in case."
It seemed the grey sky was having a turn for the worse. The clouds were completely black at the moment. I'm not going to stay to see the rain; since I moved to town it's raining more, I thought. Great, keep thinking like that and you'll be a superstitious fool Clarice. Too much Eike for a day. One of these days I must buy a charm anti-Eike Kusch.
I had rented a nice, cozy apartment for my stay in the town. It wasn't big like the one in the Big Apple but it was very comfortable. I have arranged one of the rooms and transformed it into a lab. A lab well equipped for my tastes but not much like my former one.
I went to the couch at living room and picked the gem from my pocket. A weird rock this is. I can't see very well inside it. It doesn't look like a ruby, either. Should I put it to the tests now?
Why not? I got no important task at the moment and I feel like I reached an impasse on my research. A little bit of fun won't hurt.
I walked toward the lab, turned the lights on and took my electronic microscope. "Let's see what are you made of." I putted the stone under and looked at it through the device. Nothing. No carbon structures. "I'm sure the microscope isn't broken", I peered again at the strange stone. "What the hell is this thing?"
Perhaps if I heat this gem I could observe a change at its structures. I'm going to give it a try. I wonder if this is the … Don't say its name or are you officially going insane. I went to the stove and put the red stone in the boiling water…Nothing happened. What did you expect? To create something like a elixir of life? Or gold? I think I have a headache right now.
"I should take a painkiller and sleep. This town is really messing up my head."
All happened so suddenly that I didn't have time to react properly. A small explosion erupted from where the stone was and the anti-fire alarm activated soaking myself. I was kind of dizzy when I turned the alarm off. I wasn't prepared for what came next. There was someone sitting on the balcony at the window. Am I dreaming? The next sound I heard was the voice of the mysterious character who was now staring at me.
"It's been a while. What is it that you wish, master?"
Then, everything went dark.