It had begun with L. he was sure of that. But What was his first wife's name? he rubbed his eyes, he still couldn't remember. What about his second wife's? No he knew this one. He rubbed his eyes hard until he saw white spot. How could he forget the name of the only other immortal. It began with – Perenelle. Yes, Perenelle. And his son's? Noah, he knew Noah's. He had a helper some time ago, he had wanted to find his graveyard. What was his name? Nicholas rolled over digging his head into the ground. How could he forget? Well time would do that. Time had destroyed this room, the once pristine stone walls had crumbled around him, the writing he had once put upon them completely demolished. A draft whistled through the cracked walls, making noises, fooling Nicholas into thinking he wasn't alone. No wait, someone was knocking. He turned back over to look up expecting to see a homeless man or a mortgager. It was Perenelle. There was no door left to knock on so she has resigned to knocking on the closest wall,
"Perenelle?"
"I didn't expect you to still be here." She said stiffly, avoiding looking Nicholas in the eye, although that could be because years of wear and tear that left him wearing mere rags.
"I didn't expect you to come back."
She tried to step into the room but when the floor boards creaked ominously under her foot she took a step back.
"Well I'd be back eventually."
"Yes but after the first sixty years…" he trailed off and got up. She stepped backwards as he came out of the room.
"Lose your clothes but you're still holding on to that," he looked down at the stone still in his hand,
"Of course. What are you doing here?"
"I wished to talk to you."
"Ah I see. Well I would offer you somewhere to sit but uhh…" he gestured to the ancient ruins of their house. Perenelle draw her wand and cast it over him. He wondered if he had had at point the ability to pluck clothes chairs and drinks from the air.
"Sit," she said as she sat in the chair opposite him. He watched her as she made a cup of tea from him.
"How long has it been?" he asked,
"Around ninety years," she passed him his drink,
"And what have you been doing?"
"I've been married twice." She looked down at her tea.
"I see."
Perenelle seemed to ignore him as she continued to speak to her cup, "and I've had five more children…and I've watched them all die."
"I see."
"That's all you ever do isn't it?" she snapped angrily, "all you do is watch."
"Why are you still angry at me?"
"You killed my son."
"Do you remember what he looked like?" The question hit a nerve with her, slamming the tea cup down on the table. He didn't flinch.
"It's alright, I don't either," before she could slap him, he quickly added, "nor my first son or my first wife." He paid no attention to her searching stare as he sipped his tea, it had gone cold. "I loved for more than I ever loved you."
"Then why did you make me immortal and not her?"
"You were too foolish to see what you would become."
"I want to see the world,"
"And what happens when you see it all?"
"I have…mostly, but now, I'm remarried and I can't let him die."
Nicholas frowned, swirling the liquid in the cup, "I don't think you truly understand yet what it seems to be immortal. We live FOREVER, when the apocalypse wipes everyone from this earth, we will still be here. When the earth cracks neither heaven nor hell will have us. We will float forever in the abyss."
"Stop it." She whispered covering her ears.
"And you want to do that to your husband,"
"I said stop it!"
He slowly sipped more of his ice cold tea.
"Haven't you ever... tried to end it?"
"Of course. None of it ever worked."
"What about…if you destroyed it?"
He squeezed the stone. "No. you can't."
"But if it could end it all?"
"no." she throwing her cup into the air which vanished mid-flight.
"Are you afraid if dying?"
"Not really. I suppose I'm just too used to living now."
Perenelle stared at him for a moment before getting up, "I knew this would be a waste of time." The chairs disappeared, making Nicholas fall to the ground as well as his cup, yet Perenelle had allowed the clothes to stay.
"I'll see you again one day Nicholas. I'll see myself out."
She was gone before he could say anything. He rose and head back to his room to wait until that one day.
There was another knock at his wall. it was definitely sooner than the last one had been but whether it had been ten minutes or ten years he didn't know. He looked up facing a tall tanned man with a stiff smile on his face.
"Are you Nicholas Flamel?"
Nicholas stood up, "who are you?"
"I'm the minister of magic. I'd like to talk to you to talk to you about the philosopher stone."
They wouldn't stop putting needles in his forearms. They may be saying it was for his own good but it still hurt.
"Nicholas, glad to see you have pushed anyone out of any windows yet."
"Food to see you too Perenelle. I trust you were the one who told them."
Perenelle sighed and sat down beside him,
"My husband's dead," she said quietly, "I can't do this only anyway."
Before Nicholas could ask her what she meant, the minister stormed in followed by a wave of yelling reporters.
"So…" the Minister started over the yelling reporters, who were being pushed back away from Nicholas. They wanted to question him about his creations. He ignored the minister telling him the exact same thing the Italian alchemist had told him and looked at the furious crowd. He was finally appreciated.