The Alchemists

Chapter 10

RECAP:

I opened the door and saw Ryder and an Asian boy sitting on the couch, laughing and yelling. They had noticed me enter and looked over at me. He was the guy who was dozing in the common room earlier in the day. I glanced over at Ryder and he gave me a sneer. I was a little surprised but it was not unexpected.

Axel spoke up from behind me, “Parth; Joshua’s right hand man, Seat of Aquarius and Ryder’s best friend. That’s who we missed today.”

I looked up at Parth and saw a glint of mischief flit through his eye.

“Hello Sam, nice to finally meet you. Ryder has been telling me a lot about you,” he said with a sly smirk.

I looked over at Ryder who refused to meet my eye, exploding out, “HE HAS!?”

-*-

I looked at Parth and saw a snide smirk on his face. Ryder had gone pale and was glaring daggers at his friend. I could hear Axel coughing loudly behind me, trying to control his laughter.

I gulped before saying, “I…if he h-has, tell me what he t-told you!” I was shaking in fear and a bit of anticipation before I felt my cheeks go warm. I immediately broke eye-contact and looked down at my feet. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Parth grin like a Cheshire cat.

“Well…..he was telling me about last n-OUCH! What was that for?” he asked, turning to Ryder, who had just punched him on his back.

“Shut up, you idiot!” Ryder shouted, punching his arm again. Parth winced as Ryder’s fist collided with his arm with a sickening force.

“That’s it! You are gonna pay for that!” Parth said, jumping on Ryder and punching every square inch of skin he could find while Ryder attempted to throw him off, all memory of the interrupted conversation forgotten. I face-palmed and grabbed Axel’s warm hand (insert blush here) and dragged him to my room.

“Those two fight like little kids,” I complained to Axel, who just let out an unmanly snort of laughter.

“That may be true; but they are best friends. They trust each other with everything and would probably die for each other too. They share a brotherly bond and a few people are envious of their friendship,” he replied.

“Are you sure they aren’t gay?” I asked, sarcastically.

Axel laughed again, “Hmm… now that I think about it Parth might be gay. I have not seen him with a girl ever whenever he is here. He always stays next to Ryder. Ryder on the other hand, definitely not gay, ask any girl who has been here for more than two years and they’ll tell you. Which reminds me, as a part of the Zodiac circle, you will now have different classes, those which are slightly more difficult than the regular average ones,” he said, taking on a more serious expression towards the end.

I groaned. “When are we supposed to be leaving for the mission?” I asked Axel, who was looking out my window, into the forest beyond the academy grounds.

“A couple of days, seeing as it’s night already,” he said, pointing out to the darkening sky. I fell onto my bed, the recent conversation on my mind. What did Axel mean by ‘ask any girl’? I felt my stomach clench a little when I mulled over it.

Axel looked over at me and asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“Oh! Nothing. Just wondering about the Zodiac circle. I’m such a misfit. All of you guys are so strong and all, and I am way too weak. If we were attacked or something, I would neither be able to inflict substantial damage, nor be able to defend myself completely….” I trailed off.

But before I could continue, I felt Axel’s muscly arm wrap around me and pull me towards him, hugging me, his chin resting on top of my head. It took a minute to realize what he was doing, and when I did, I wrapped my arm around him as well, breathing in his warm, chocolaty scent and leaning into him, feeling safe, comfortable and loved.

“No such thing is gonna happen, Sam. You are strong, even if you do not acknowledge it. You did not beat Reyna by fluke, so chill. Everything will be alright. Now how about we go down to the hall and have some dinner. It’s been forever since you went there. Eating in your room will just make you feel lonelier and you need to socialize. So let’s go?” Axel said, trailing off as he left me and opened the door.

My dorm room was ravaged. There were burn marks and shards of ice everywhere. The sofa was sliced in two clean halves and a part of the ceiling looked like it was about to cave in. In the centre of the room, Parth and Ryder were still at it.