Felt turned his head and smiled as soon as Viese opened the door. "Well, how'd it go?" he asked. "How's having made a pact with your first mana?"
"Not all that different," Chaos said, slipping in behind Viese. "I expected...more."
"Well, Wood Mana are pretty easy-going," Viese said, laying the materials they'd gathered on the way back on the workshop table. Dour was playing with Iris in the corner - he'd come directly since he already knew where Viese's workshop was. "They're not hard to make a pact with at all. Now...we were going to try a Heal Herb for your first synthesis. You'll need a recipe...I guess you can borrow mine..."
"It's Plant and Water, isn't it?" Chaos stood straight-backed as a soldier at the table, and Viese couldn't read a thing in his expression. "It's a flexible recipe that accepts almost anything, but the base form is Magi Grass and Pure Water."
"Ah...yeah, that's right..." Viese agreed, already feeling flustered. Chaos was word-perfect on alchemic theory, asking questions she wasn't sure even Kreuz could answer, but he had zero practical experience; she'd had to coach him through every line of the pact. Most of the residents of Alha had a decent grasp on the basics but misremembered or forgot things, like you'd expect for something that hadn't been a part of daily life for 400 years. Chaos had it all down cold.
"So? What do you do with the Plant and Water?" Chaos prompted, and Viese realised they'd just been standing there staring at each other.
"Heal Herb is just chopping up the Plant and adding it to the Water, right?" Felt said from the anvil in the corner where he was sitting.
"How do I chop it?"
"Er, make it small, like you're chopping green onions...wait, do you know how-"
"I know how to chop onions," Chaos said, and without another word he picked up the knife and started slicing the Magi Grass with quick, sharp strokes.
"Wow...you're good at that." Viese was impressed. She'd never gotten her Magi Grass that neat and even in her life.
"It must come with being a swordsman," Felt laughed.
"Then why can't you do it?!" Viese turned on him with an irritated glare, getting her an awkward chuckle in return.
"Not at all." Chaos didn't look up. He never took his eyes off the flashing blade, but in a soft voice like something from the distant past he added: "We were all alone, so we cooked together."
Neither Viese nor Felt knew what to say to that. Fortunately Chaos finished fast, so Viese could cover up the silence by calling Dour over to the cauldron while Chaos added the materials. "Water first, then scrape in the Magi Grass," Viese directed, feeling a bit strange letting someone else use her cauldron - but it wasn't like Chaos had one of his own. "Then call on Dour to help while swirling the materials together. You'll want to stir it fairly quickly to get a good mixture. All right Dour, you ready?"
"Leave it to me!" the Wood Mana chirruped, and Viese stepped back a little to let them work. It was nice watching someone learn alchemy - she hadn't known what to think yesterday, when Chaos had knocked on the workshop door and asked if he could learn to synthesize, but she was glad she'd agreed to teach him. Dour's smile, Chaos' look of concentration, the slow build of strength from the natural power of wood...it made her feel warm in her heart, like seeing Iris mixing her own materials. It wasn't for grand ideals that she'd set off on her journey to Belkhyde, but for moments like these: making people happy, with her family beside her.
The power rose, like sap in spring, compressed, and overflowed in a familiar warm rush. When the scent of sun and leaves faded, Chaos reached into the cauldron and pulled out the finished Heal Herb.
"Congratulations!" Viese said while Felt and Iris clapped and Dour cheered. Chaos stood like a statue, his face a blank mask. Viese stepped up, giggling a little nervously. He could've smiled, at least... She said: "Well, now you register the item-"
"For Mana Synthesis, correct?"
"Right. Draw the circle in the air, like this," Viese demonstrated and Chaos followed obediently, registering the Heal Herb in his own personal set of items. She'd already walked him through elemental extraction on the way to the Wood Mana Holy Ground, so there shouldn't be any problem with the actual Mana Synthesis. Even Felt had mastered it and he never studied at all. "And there you have it! That's the basics of synthesis. Do you want to try making something else, like an alchemy item or an accessory? They're both a bit more complicated, but I don't think you'll have any problems."
Instead of replying, Chaos walked back to the table and set the Heal Herb down. He picked up the knife he'd been using to chop Magi Grass and before Viese could figure out what he was doing, he'd stabbed it clean through his other hand.
Iris squeaked, a tiny, helpless sound. Viese might've made a noise too, a frightened, cut-off yelp, but it was so sudden and so shocking she couldn't even tell if it had been her or not. The knife - her knife, her familiar little knife with the black handle that she used every day - was smeared bright red. Dark little drops ran down the blade and fell noiselessly on her workshop table, staining it a terrible new color. Nothing else moved in the workshop.
Without changing expression, Chaos pulled the knife from his hand. Felt had recovered and was stepping towards him, to do heaven-knew-what, when Chaos calmly picked up his Heal Herb and poured it over his hand. The awful, self-inflicted wound sealed itself up and vanished, leaving only a ragged tear in his white gloves.
Chaos stared at his hand, clenching and unclenching, moving his fingers back and forth. "It doesn't even hurt anymore," he murmured.
"W-what the hell was that about?!" Felt shouted.
Somewhere behind them, Iris started to cry. Viese shook herself out of her stupor and ran to her, grathering Iris into her arms and pressing her close. "Iris, ssh, it's all right, he's not hurt anymore..." Viese soothed without thinking, still seeing Chaos with a knife through his hand in her mind's eye. She pushed Iris towards the stairs, unable to think of anything but getting the little girl away from...from whatever had happened. "Listen, Iris, just go upstairs and rest for a bit, okay? Your big brother and sister will take care of things here. Everything will be all right, just...just go rest. All right?"
Iris sniffled a little against Viese's chest, but she nodded. Without another word she scampered upstairs, only looking behind her once. Viese pasted a big, reassuring smile on her face until Iris vanished and she could go back to feeling hollow and scared. Dour had vanished completely and she'd have an awful time getting him back; mana were sensitive like that.
When she turned around, Felt was still glaring at Chaos, who looked perfectly composed. "How else was I supposed to test it?" Chaos asked, like they were the ones out of line.
"You scared Iris!" Viese snapped.
Chaos did look mildly ashamed at that, but he still didn't apologize. He just looked at his hand again, turning it over and over. "It really does work," was the only thing he said.
"Of course it works!" Felt had pulled up his fists and Viese could understand the feeling. She wanted to smack Chaos herself. "What, are you going to stab yourself through the stomach to test an Elixir?!"
A shadow passed over Chaos' face and it was Felt's turn to look ashamed. Both of them looked away from each other as Viese came up behind Felt and stood there, not knowing what to do either. Silence fell over the workshop.
"We knew about alchemy and what it could do," Chaos started, sounding surprisingly hesitant. "But it was completely out of reach. We knew that too. Most people learned it by rote and forgot about it because there wasn't any point in doing otherwise.
"My mother, though...she wanted to do alchemy. Real alchemy. And she couldn't. She used to play alchemy with us...pretending we were synthesizing while making dinner or that she'd put healing items on our scrapes. It was all just a game. Then our father fell while repairing the roof and broke his neck. He didn't die right away...it took hours. And there was nothing anyone could do. If we'd had any sort of alchemy..." Chaos trailed off.
The hollow feeling in Viese's stomach curdled. She'd always taken it for granted that almost any injury could be healed. It might be difficult, it might cost a lot of money, but dying young was almost unheard of in Eden. Both Felt and her losing their parents at nearly the same time had been the worst tragedy in 200 years, and they'd both been the pets of Noir for ages because of it. It had made her feel guilty with how everyone had been so kind to them when she couldn't even remember her parents...but anything had to be better than watching someone you loved die.
Chaos grimaced and went on, sounding like he'd rather be doing anything else but unable to stop himself from continuing. "So he died. And she tried to take care of us, but it was too much for her. She worked herself to death. We were all alone. And then Rie..."
Ever since leaving Eden and feeling the utter lack of Mana around her, she'd quietly wondered what she would've done if she'd been on Belkhyde when Iris got sick. She didn't think she'd be able to bear it. How much worse to know there was something that could save Iris - and that it was forever out of reach?
"So I wanted to make sure it was real. That's all." Chaos finished softly and finally dropped his hand to the table. The green of the heal herb had stained his gloves too, incongruous against the dulling red. Then he seemed to come back to himself, and whatever shadow of the brother Rie had known vanished as he glared at Viese and Felt. "Don't tell anyone else about this. I only told you because you already knew about Rie."
Felt stepped back, hand awkwardly behind his head. "I understand, but... couldn't you just cut your finger?"
"Those heal on their own." Chaos turned his attention to Viese's recipe book, flipping through it like he was looking for something - thankfully, with his right hand. "It looks like the next recipes need a Water Mana. Where do we find those?"
"Huh?" Viese was more than a little disorientated at how quickly the conversation had turned, but honestly, she didn't want to think about the horrors of Belkhyde anymore than Chaos did. "Er, they're usually in the forest near the Wood Mana - they're very closely related. Um, Stone and Metal Mana are also easy to make pacts with, so after that do you want to go by the temple?"
Chaos silently flipped through her book some more, and Viese resisted the temptation to tell him to get his own recipes. It was fine for alchemists to borrow from each other...but the casual way he did it after the stunt he'd pulled - in her workshop - was a little much. "I don't see any useful recipes from Stone or Metal Mana," he said at last. "Wood, Water, and Life are sufficient for my needs."
"Ah...Life Mana won't even talk to you until you make a pact with every other mana first," Viese told him. "They're kind of...traditional." She wasn't going to say 'stuck up' where Ailon could overhear her.
Chaos got that dangerous flat expression on his face again, but the only thing he said was "...irritating."
Viese tried a different tack. "Wood, Water, and Life are a limited set, too. There are lots more useful items you can make-"
"I'm the best swordsman in the world. The only reason Felt ever came close to beating me one-on-one was the Azure Azoth." The dangerous look was gone, replaced by the annoying smug look. "What do I need bombs for?"
"I don't like how you said that, but I can't really argue." Viese glared at Felt for that, but she couldn't argue either. Chaos really was that good of a swordsman, even after losing the Crimson Azoth. Felt had struggled in their duels after the Azoths had died, though Viese took pride in how he'd eked out a victory using her items - a victory Chaos had promptly dismissed as 'outside help'.
"So you really only want to make healing items?" Viese asked.
"Yes." He'd stopped flipping through her book, but he hadn't raised his head to look at either of them. He eyes were on his stained hand, but his gaze were far away. "The world doesn't need anyone else seeking to raise the dead."
Viese stepped forward and cautiously laid her hand on Chaos' elbow, then wasn't sure what to do when he didn't immediately jerk away. "I...I think that's a good thing. I've always been told that alchemy is an art for helping people, and even after Paracelsus...I still think that's true. That's what Iris - Lilith wants us to use it for." She trailed off, unsure of what to say. "So...um, thank you?"
"Paracelsus, he..." Chaos frowned and looked like he was about to say something, and Viese immediately felt bad for even mentioning the name. Then his expression flattened out to nothing again. "...let's go find a Water Mana."
"R-right!"
He woke up, vaguely noticed he wasn't cold or in pain, curled up to not lose any warmth and went back to sleep.
The next time, he noticed that he was sleeping on something soft and giving, not the stone he was sure he'd passed out on. There was a gentle weight on top of him too. And he was still warm. He cautiously raised his head, tensing to fight or flee at a moment's notice.
He was in a bed, lying under a pile of soft, finely-woven blankets. It was narrow, barely large enough for a full-grown man, but he felt drowned in it. The room around him was small and crammed with more things than he'd ever seen in his life. There was a huge cauldron sitting in a fireplace across from him that felt like the focus of the entire room, and everything else had settled around it. A large, metal-bound chest was shoved into a convenient corner, while the rest of walls were stuffed with books jammed in every which-way, standing upright and lying on their sides, with papers sticking out of them at all angles. Where there weren't books, there were bottles, jewels, feathers, piles of fluff, strange plants, bits of wood, a glimmering eye, and even stranger things. A sword hung carelessly over the fireplace, and a long staff leaned next to it. And sitting in a comfortable armchair, between him and the cauldron, was a tall, blue-haired man reading a book.
There was a door, but it was on the wall facing the bed, meaning he'd have to get past the man to escape. Slowly, carefully, he began to edge his legs to the side of the bed. There was no other way. He'd run and trust to the heavens - not that they'd ever helped him before.
He'd just gotten one foot out from under the blankets when the man closed his book with a snap and looked directly at him. "Well hello there. How long have you been awake?"
He froze. Run? He'd never make it. Fight? He didn't stand a chance. Play dead? He'd never be believed. He pressed himself back against the wall by instinct, unable to do anything else.
The man placed the book on a table by the chair, stood up, and walked to the bed. They stared at each other, unmoving, until the man crossed his arms and sighed. "I wouldn't have dragged you in and put you to bed if I was planning to hurt you, you know," he said. "Stop looking at me like I'm going to eat you and tell me your name."
"...E...Erasmus," he muttered, still pressed against the wall.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Paracelsus. Now, do you want to tell me how you ended up passed out by my front door?"
"...punis." It was humiliating to admit. Sure, he was too small and skinny to be a very good fighter, but even he could knock out a puni or two. Then he'd met these weird, helmet-wearing punis and they'd battered him into the ground. Erasmus was sure they'd only stopped because they thought he was dead. After that he'd barely dragged himself to a little nook that was apparently this Paracelsus' front door.
Paracelsus didn't look contemptuous at the boy that couldn't even fight off a puni, though, just thoughtful. "Ah, yes...the ones around here are much stronger than usual," he said. "Normally that's a good thing, since I don't like visitors, but this time it didn't work out very well. But why were you here in the first place? Where are your parents?"
Erasmus hunched in on himself even more. Did this guy just like humiliating people? "...don't have any."
"...I see." Mercifully, Paracelsus let it go at that. He stepped back and spread his arms wide instead. "Welcome to my workshop, Erasmus."
Erasmus blinked. He'd seen carpenter's and potter's workshops, but this looked like neither, nor any other workshop he'd ever heard of. But if Paracelsus didn't seem like he was going to get angry, so... "Workshop?" he dared to ask.
Paracelsus nodded with evident pride. "Indeed, my workshop. Tell me, do you know about alchemy?"
"I've...heard of it." And if there was one thing he'd learned from the rumours, it was never to anger an alchemist. He chose his next words carefully. "It's a magical art that can do anything, right?"
"Not quite 'anything'," Paracelsus said with a wry smile. "There are limits even to alchemy. But it can do amazing things." He laughed. "Like heal up all your bumps and bruises while you slept!"
Erasmus started and checked himself over. He'd been so nervous he'd forgotten...but yes, there wasn't a mark on him anymore. Not just the battering from the punis, but the cuts on his legs and the broken blisters on his feet. He'd never been completely uninjured, even before his parents had died.
He was still staring at his unbroken skin when Paracelsus cleared his throat. "Now that you're awake and feeling better, are you hungry? Nothing fancy, since it's just me here, but filling."
Before Erasmus could reply, his stomach gave a loud grumble. He turned red to the tips of his ears, but Paracelsus laughed again and ladled up a bowl of stew from the cauldron. It was nothing alchemic, Paracelsus assured him, just regular cooking. He added some more about someday making some sort of andro-whatsit to cook for him, but Erasmus was too busy staring at the huge chunks of meat and vegetables to pay attention. A part of him was aware that if he wasn't careful, he'd drool all over Paracelsus' bedspread.
Paracelsus pushed the table over to the bed, and Erasmus was going at the stew as soon as the spoon was in his hand. "Slow down a bit, you don't want to choke," Paracelsus said, but it was too delicious to slow down. It was the best thing Erasmus had ever tasted, and he tried to say that in between bites.
"They say hunger is the best seasoning, and you look hungry enough. But it will all go to waste if you make yourself sick, you know," Paracelsus said, dragging his chair over as well.
He made a slightly larger effort to chew properly after that, but it was hard. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had this much food all at once.
Paracelsus watched him for a bit, then leaned forward on his elbows. "So, Erasmus," he said, "what will you do now? Have you any other family?"
There was a warning pain from his stomach, and Erasmus reluctantly put the spoon down for a bit. The stew sat warm, solid, and heavy as a millstone in his gut. If he put anything more in there he'd regret it - he was already regretting a lot. He shrugged, hoping to look indifferent, but aware he just looked sullen. "Dunno. Don't have any family left."
"Mmm," Paracelsus hummed, but said nothing more. Just sat in his fancy chair and stared at a place somewhere beyond the workshop wall.
Erasmus stirred at the remaining stew, but didn't dare take another bite. He looked at Paracelsus carefully, from under his eyelashes. He'd been friendly so far... Erasmus summoned up his courage and asked, "Paracelsus?"
Paracelsus' gaze came back from its wandering and focused on Erasmus like a sated monster seeing tomorrow's dinner. "Yes?"
There was no escaping that gaze. Erasmus squirmed, then "Can you...tell me more about alchemy?" came out in a rush.
"Ah." Paracelsus sat up and stretched with a smile that showed an awful lot of teeth. "Interested, are you? But I warn you..." Erasmus gulped, remembering all the terrible stories he'd heard of alchemists as Paracelsus leaned in close and said: "Once I get started, I'm hard to stop."
He laughed at the look on Erasmus' face. "I love alchemy," he said, like a confession. "It's the most fascinating and useful art in the entire world. With it, you can do almost anything. Break apart mountains, cure near-deadly wounds, find hidden treasures, transport yourself from the woods to a town...it's a miraculous power. ...but like I said, there are limits to what we have discovered so far." A shadow crossed over his face. "We cannot create or return life."
"...oh." There wasn't much else to say.
Paracelsus' large hand covered Erasmus' small one. "I'm sorry," Paracelsus said. "Alchemy is an art for helping people, all alchemists know that. And we do try, no matter what strange ideas people get in their heads. I've watched so many people be brought back from the brink because of it. But we can't go beyond that moment. We can't do what people want the most.
"It's because of mana...mana is the source, the father of power and the mother of life. Alchemists make pacts with mana to use their powers and create miracles. There are thirteen mana we can contact in this world...and one more. Lilith, the Mana of Creation. Mother of all." His voice was soft, reverent, and longing. "She hides from us, her children. But if we could find her...if we could use her power...then we would have the power of creation and destruction. Then we could return the dead to life, to create /new/ life from our own hands...we would be as gods. And there would be no more sorrow, no more fear, no more pain."
Erasmus stared at the hand covering his own. It was warm and soft, and he clasped it without thinking. "If...if we looked for Lilith together...I'd have to stay here, wouldn't I?"
"Do you want to?" Paracelsus asked gently.
Erasmus swallowed hard and nodded.
A/N:
I refuse to put up with Palaxius and Elusmus. Goddamnit NISA, Wikipedia existed in 2005. You have no excuse.
The weird thing is, I didn't even like AI2 all that much. I mostly thought it was dull and cliched. But after I beat it, I got the idea of Chaos becoming a wandering doctor/swordsman, because that seemed to fit. And I did want a better look at Paracelsus and Erasmus (honestly, I would rather the game be about them, because their story sounded much more interesting than the one we got). So here we are.
I couldn't fit it into the story, but I like the idea that Chaos and Rie were originally much closer in age. They just look far apart because Rie died and Chaos kept growing. But I wouldn't expect Gust to have much that much thought into it.
Title is roughly rephrased from Longfellow's translation of The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Canto 26, line 120. "Consider ye the seed from which ye sprang;/Ye were not made to live like unto brutes,/But for pursuit of virtue and of knowledge." It's what Ulysses says to his compatriots right before driving them all to their deaths and dooming him to the circle of givers of bad advice. Lesson: don't listen to the guy known all over Greece for being a liar.