Half-and-Half

[Gwathdraug]

Percy could only see Riley's nod from how her eyes bobbed in the space around them. The stage magician gave the alchemist a quick squeeze on his shoulder. "It is only going to take five steps - you'll walk a lot longer but only five of the steps matter, remember that." His sister's fingers pulled away reluctantly and then there was a sudden rush of movement as Riley captured Percival in an embrace. "See you on the other side."

As soon as the words were spoken the stage magician was simply gone. All around Percy was only darkness with the tell-tale white and grey glows of the other mages he had just been with completely unaccounted for.

Taking his first step Percy could feel the discomfort in his stomach bloom again, but as he pushed on another feeling started to take over - he was feeling confident. Part of him was sure, absolutely sure, that he knew where he was going and this feeling was so clear the alchemist could feel an urge to smile despite his surroundings bud inside him.

Then, with one of his legs frozen mid-step, Percival was sudden not engulfed in the dark at all. Around him were the rolling green fields of his inner world. A light breeze played through his hair and on either side of him two familiar trees rustled gently in the wind.

Percy felt good. There was something in him at the moment that felt more of strength than he had ever been possessed of before. In his hand was an over-sized sword formed of a mish-mash of both Fury and Wrath and it should have been an ugly thing but with its hard angles and heavy beaten surface it only seemed to be beautiful at the moment.

His gripped tightening on the monstrious blade the alchemist suddenly knew there was something he needed to do. It tickled at the back of his conscious like something just forgotten.

Despite this, he smiled, and turned on his heel to find himself face-to-face with Miyuki.

"Don't worry dearest." Percy could feel his lips twist as the icy magical girl looked at him with the utmost trust. "I only can cause emotional scars."

With a deftness part of him knew he lacked Percival casually swung the large blade through the air and continued to smile as it surgically cut away Miyuki's arm.

A wash of conflict rose in his chest, between the feelings he now felt against that which he was made to. He knew that if he gave into anything else, he would forget what he had to do next. Instead of focusing on the slaughter, the strange painting of one of his worst moments, he brought his mind to his feet.

The only scars...

Percival was already regretting the statement. The very nature of it threatened to pull his mind into where this place meant it to be.

... I cause are...

As the stroke made its terminal finish, he focused on the footwork, the step forward. The only one that mattered. Don't look at the blood. Don't look at her eyes. Don't look at the arm.

... emotional!

The sickness blossomed again, like he was on sort of ship in a storm. He tried not to think of that either. The swing, the footwork. The feet. The shoe. The step.

Old magic. Percy. The words of his father played in his mind as he forced his actual body to step forward, trying to shunt what he just saw. What he just felt.

Percy's body finished the motion it had been frozen in and the world around him broke and shattered with a clang as the darkness rushed back in to surround him.

Far off in the distance once again was the unnaturally contrasting white smile - the only thing to mar the empy expanse.

Easier than it looked was it not? I am pleased to see you work so quickly my boy - your mother never was much for quitting either.

The words once again felt like nails scratching at an itch from the subdermal layer of his skin.

Take your time. The dark will always be here to comfort you in between, but do feel free to take another step.

The Alchemist's feet felt frozen in place. He was withered, sickly individual with little consitution or fortitude naturally. His mind, while deep and filled with will was shackled by a coward's body. His hands were shaking as he tried to process what he just went through. A thumping heart charged his nerves, and the animal inside already wanted to go home.

"You know my mother," Percival forced the words out, not looking at anything.

There was amusment in the way the gash through the world twitched when Percival responded to it.

All Elementalists know me my dear boy. If they didn't they wouldn't be worth the weight of the title.

There was a pause and suddenly the dark about Percy felt warm and comforting - giving him energy to go on despite what he had just been through. The heat seemed to embrace him. To want to see what he could continue to do here in this place.

But to be less obtuse to the child of an old friend - Elizabeth spent some time as a pupil of mine when she decided that her fire was meant for more than just warming a hearth.

"Thank you," came Percival's words. He felt his heart slacken as his chilled body came to warm up. His mind felt full, realizing what he had put himself into.

He raised his foot, and forced it forward.

And here I thought I would need to scold you out of dwaddling. But I see you do not forget what is important so easily.

As the words rolled across him Percy felt the world shift again. There was a fire in front of him and it was filling the space around him thick with smoke.

Part of Percy knew beyond need for explanation that he was 22 again and in the cave that would become his home for years, but right now at this moment he had made no claim to it other than a rough bed in one corner and a grease stains where he burnt charcoal to stay alive.

He had been here for months and had made no effort to do anything. He was supposed to be looking within, using his own reflection to find a solution to his problem.

Most days he didn't think of anything. Didn't eat anything. Just sat and watched the day stretch into shadow and then fall into night. When the strain on his eyes got too much he slept.

Why should anything else happen? He had worked hard, tried every day for so long, and the world and magic both had never done anything for him.

He couldn't fly, he couldn't cast, he couldn't even try to be free - so what reason was there to stand up and step out from the haze around him?

Why bother? Why even try?

Because there was so much on the line.

What? What line? There's nothing.

I don't want to die.

It doesn't matter if you die.

Percival's body felt as though it was holding something off the edge of a deep chasm. The ocean of will he had abused throughout his life hung by the other end, staring up at him, begging him to drop it. Every day was like that. Even when he made a break through, the darkness would come back, and he would argue with it. An abusive friend.

There was no movement to focus upon, his body was already sapped of any desire to continue. Rationalizing it would not convince his legs to step forward. If he closed his eyes, he could just let it end.

Then, he felt his hand move. He pulled his mind out of the equation, and fed the beast: the animal that wanted to run. Coaxing his fear, his body shifted, kicking the leg with enough sensation to bring his foot forward.

And he took another step.

The scene broke once more, but this time the shadows that returned encompassed everything. No one was waiting for Percy to congratulate him on this latest step. There was only the cold and the black to provide any contact.

Percival fell to his knees in that moment, his breathing starting to hike. He grabbed the empty stump where his arm was supposed to be. Blinking, he steadied himself.

"This isn't about you," he assured himself, fighting off some errant thoughts. He grit his teeth, and stood, the animal his mind had just relied on begging him not to.

With clenched teeth, he forced the next foot forward.

Percy was fourteen and his heart was beating fourteen million times a second. He was running as fast as he could - the dig site around him a barely registered blur - and refused to slow down as Austin attempted to wave him over to the other boy.

Cassandra and William were in danger!

There wasn't time for him to think about his restored arm, to think about the feeling of youth supplanting the weariness he had felt so long. Turning a corner as fast as he could Percival didn't even care that he was kicking dust all about himself as he skidded across the ground.

He didn't know what he could do - he didn't have the staff but he could grab it first and this time things could end right! For once he'd get to be proactive about a fight instead of reactive.

When he got to the hill - just as he remembered it - Percy had just a moment to put his hands to his knees and gather his breath before crawling into the space beneath.

Nobody was shouting, nobody was screaming. The whole space was as quiet as he could hope.

Suddenly, the young alchemist heard a simple giggle and the complete oddity of it almost stopped his heart. Slowing down and now entirely unsure Percival peaked around the next corner as carefully as he could.

William and Cassandra where there, but that was all - no staff, no giant construct whirling to life. Just two teenagers, his old best mates, kissing and holding each other for all their teenage energy was worth.

There wasn't a response of jealousy or anger from the alchemist but of disappointment. It hurt to feel and left him bewildered - he should be happy, but part of him insisted that the two had to be in danger, that he needed to get to help them!

Pulling himself back behind the wall and falling into a slump with his knees against his chest Percy had no idea what to do with himself.

Should he say something? That's what he should do. It's not safe down here.

Why though? Percival's youngest mind
was difficult to combat, the further away it was from his current self, the harder it was to reason. It was easier, he thought, to just sit there and feel sorry for himself. To wallow.

Of course, thought Percival, I'm just a mundie.

He leaned his head back, and closed his eyes. The boy stood up, resisting the inherent danger that worked up his spine. The imminent trouble that he knew would have come. He leaned a little too far, though, and his beret fell off his head.

The little, green article was much fresher and cleaner than memory had offered. A shield on the front proudly displayed CLASS-C ALCHEMIST.

Alchemy. It was the pillar. Where his life as a font failed him, there was always Alchemy. A twinge of hope burned in his chest, and he held on to it tightly. It was enough to remind himself that the steps he needed to take were not as the boy, but as the man.

And he took another step forward.

Weclome back my boy! Wondeful, wonderful to see you. Take a seat, give yourself over to a little breather. Life does not have to be hard afterall.

The gash was closer now, but Percy also felt like he had run for kilometre after kilometre with no break and his stomach protested - clenching violently - as the feeling of the words pulled at him.

How are you feeling?

The answer was a sudden sputter of laughter, like a spout with a broken top. Percival was back on his knees again as three painful memories played in his mind now, burning him relentlessly. The guffawing was like an exhaust to a backfiring car, a way for his body to process the physicl aspect of the mental pain.

When the episode of laughter subsided, he brought up a sleeve to wipe his mouth, his voice threatening to break out again.

"Magical."

The Alchemist ripped his knee up fromt he ground, putting him another step forward.

He was scared. Percy was scared. He was scared, and he was 12, and his parents had trusted him so much. He didn't know why he had done it. He knew why he had done it, but he loved his alchemy - loved his little lab his parents had trusted him with.

Now he was hurt and they would never forget.

They didn't understand though. The whole house was magical. Everything they owned was magical. The plates, the walls, HIS bed was magical.

And then there was him and his little lab. It was something, but it was something that HURT sometimes in a way they just didn't understand.

And now he was afraid they would even take that away.

He had just been angry. He didn't get angry often - he was a good boy and he was trusted. He should be able to get angry just once and it not be an issue!

Clutching his deeply cut, bloody arm to his chest admidst the ruins of his shattered alchemical equipment Percival Caxton was very sure his parents would not acquiesce to his take on the situation.

Why, why, why, did he just decide to start breaking everything? He loved his alchemy.

He loved it more than anyone had claim to.

It was the only magic his little body had right to, he was so far removed from the idea of a Font that it didn't register in his mind. This was his own little magic, but unfortunately he was also still human.

The anger had just come out, spilling over. Something hadn't gone right. He had tried something and it just didn't work, and all of that anger and frustration festered forth in an ugly way. Instead of fighting to find a way through, Percival began to rummage through the broken glass, trying to protect the only claim to an identity he had. There were so many more fears sitting in the mind of the young boy than what a child his age could worry of.

He looked over at the blood still seeping from the open wound. It was his left hand. Knowing that gave him an edge. The adult thought of something that the child would know. An anchor it could understand. He was imprisoned to it. His father would be through the shut door in a moment, the man wouldn't be appealed to.

But his Mother...

If she were on his side, there was a chance. Below everything, his mother always supported him. Loved him. Cared for him. Cherished him. She would understand. She always understood.

The boy stood, determined to find her first, to make his appeal. To apologize.

As the boy took his first step, so too did the man, his foot striking onto the shadowed dust.

The blood dripping from the wound turned black and whipped out with the vigour of a living thing. Percy's young body was wrapped and wrapped in shadow as everything went back to the simplicity of the abyss. The ground beneath his feet was firm and lacked any of the detritus of the room before.

He was still alone here and now the shadows almost seemed sharp. His skin not harmed, but ever so slightly tender to its touch.

It was only five steps and he'd already taken four.

Though, a heady cocktail of emotions swirled in his mind. These things he faced struck him at his weakest, and he had only barely managed to come through on each one. He was now on his hand and knees, looking out into the dark. He fought back other painful memories, as his body roiled.

He vomitted, the sickness finally stretching his constitution too thin. After wretching, he came back up to full on his knees, his mouth burning.

"It's not... about you..." chanted Percival in a slurry, before leaning back his head and coming to a full stance. His feet didn't want to move forward, but a whipped determination refused stand there.

With a lean, he threw his foot ahead.

Percy was 10. He was supposed to be in bed. He was supposed to be in bed. He was supposed to be in bed. He was supposed to be in bed. It was late and he was supposed to be in bed.

And in absolute surety he now knew why he was supposed to be in bed.

His mother had been crying. She was still crying. It wasn't anything like when people cried on the tele. It wasn't anything like when he cried when he fell and skinned his knees.

She was crying and it was a physical, ripping, snarling thing that existed in his chest now and it wanted out-out-out-out-out.

It wasn't his cry, he wasn't supposed to know about it, it wasn't for him and it wanted out of him. It wanted to reach out from his throat but it was a sound too big, too small, too horrible, too choking to be able to escape from his chest.

He knew this sound now and it knew him. His mother and father had been talking about him - talking in a way he wasn't meant to hear - and that is why his mother was crying. They said he never was going to have a sibling. They said they never wanted the life he was going to live to be for him. They said they both had always wanted more, but in a way he couldn't understand they agreed he was enough.

His mother was crying and a part of him knew without looking that his father's tears were a quiet, solemn accompaniment to her cries. They existed in this moment for each other, but they existed because of him.

He hadn't wanted this. He had never wanted this and it would now live with him for the rest of his life - snarled in his chest.

It was his fault. Percival knew deep down that his parents had always wanted a big family, and because he was their first child, that would never be. He wanted to go in there, tell them that it would be okay. He would do his best. He would always be a good son. He would never break the rules. He would never get angry. He would never break his toys. He would never abandon a friend. He would never run away.

He would promise never to hurt someone he loved.

The boy's fear in being found out was pressed heavily by this sea of guilt and shame. His young mind couldn't comprehend it, but he wanted it to stop. If he went in there, he could stop it. As his foot took a step forward, he stopped and tears filled his eyes. His whole body began to shake, as the binding script on his body glowed, and then faded.

"It's not about you," said the child in a hushed whisper. "This isn't about you."

The boy pushed himself off of the floor as a small fire bore into his chest. "This was never about you. It wasn't about what made you. Mum's crying because she feels she's responsible, not because she blames you. You weren't meant for magic. You weren't meant for miracles. You weren't meant for heroics. But you were meant to be a Caxton."

Percival shivered as he tried to move his still legs.

"A son."

He forced a foot forward, away from the door. To somewhere else.

"A brother."

When his foot touched the ground, his mind returned into a daze in that dark place. He was in a cold sweat from head to toe, every nerve ending feeling like it was burning. The knees that he had forced forward every painful step gave out beneath him, and he came down hard on his hand.

As it had before the cheshire grin was waiting for Percy's arrival. Drained as he was the alchemist couldn't feel a thing radiating out from the abnormality in space despite it being closer than it had ever appeared before. The white gash was unmoving for once - not pulsing or twitching with expression or emotion - seeming as if it was nothing more than part of the endless world of darkness.

As if it had parted the darkness as easy as pushing through a curtain a hand appeared from behind the grin. Fingers plucked and pulled at the distorted space and suddenly the gash bloomed into perspective as it folded down into itself - now nothing more than a carefully folded cotton handkerchief in a man's weather beaten hand.

"You look worse than I could have hoped for my dear boy." Alexis Valsted's voice had a power to it that seemed out of place next to the comfortable trainers and casual slacks that first entered Percy's lowered point of view. "When you next have the opportunity I think you will find that the realm of Shadows is now and forever a short walk away." Alexis's laugh was good natured, it warmed the spirit as it rolled out in a short burst, and Percy's eyes were drawn upwards towards the man's face. The man himself had his hair cut close - the hairline only gently receding - and there was still more black than grey in his colouration. His beard was more heavily striped with even faint streaks of white, but was well trimmed. And above all that, his eyes crackled with neatly contained blue lightning and each breath he took sent shimmering motes of golden light out into the darkness that still blocked anything but Lord Alexis Valsted from Percy's view. "It seems harsh now - and it may have hurt - but it was nothing more than what you were owed Percival. What you do with this place - with the fact that it will welcome you now-" Alexis shook his head slightly and shrugged. "-that is not my place but neither was it to see the nephew and brother of Lords denied it."

[Kokuten]

Percival Caxton was battered, rended, and beaten. It was not an unusual feeling, these assaults on the mind were more common against him than any physical attack. The only pain he felt was what wounds his nerves had caused him. His muscles were stiff, his skin slick with sweat.

"I have heard the death scream of trillions," said Percival, his breaths beating wafts of dirt from his lips before he pushed himself up. "I thought something like that would prepare me for an ordeal like this... It did not. Still, making friends in the neighbor realms never hurts."

The Alchemist came back to his feet, his eyes still watered from the experience. He wiped his face with his sleeve, and took a couple of steadying breaths as his now hoarse voice rumbled out response, a hand to his chest with a respectful bow. The sort of bow his mother had instructed him in, one that the old society thought courtly. "Lord Magus Alexis Valsted. I am Percival Bredon Caxton, Ascendant of the Elementalia Magicus. It is a pleasure to meet you in-person finally. To what do I owe the honor of a private audience?"

[Gwathdraug]

Alexis smiled. "No need for such formality." The other Elementalist waved his hand in a dismissive gesture and Percy could feel as a strong wind kicked up and wrapped around him with a gentleness that belayed how much of a gust had truly been conjured. When the wind passed the alchemist still could not see his body but could feel that the grit and bile that had clung to him had been whipped away. "After all my dear boy it was you that petitioned me first."

The lightning behind the older man's eyes twinkled as his smile grew. "You can't blame an old researcher for wondering what was done with the dossier he collected himself can you?" Alexis crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Did you get the meeting you wanted out of her?" The sole visible man in the surrounding darkness closed his eyes and shook his head. "I never could."

[Kokuten]

The sudden was of air was a welcome relief, it helped put him a bit more at ease. Be wasn't sure if Alexis could see his face, this place being more his than Percy's, so he kept a neutral expression.

"A great deal of what I learned has been clarified by our meeting, Lord Magus," answered Percival, a good little squire, even when told not to be. "In truth, I could not have asked for a more fruitful day. I have uncovered a great deal that was not recorded prior, but unfortunately I haven't learned what I set out for this morning."

He looked intently at the shadowed figure, "Why did you put a contract out on Riley Erin Alstad?"

[Gwathdraug]

Alexis's smile didn't budge at all as Percy found his footing. "Did she show you her trick?" Reaching into his coat the Lord Magus pulled out a piece of folded but sturdy parchment. "I did it because it is just a simple piece of paper my dear boy. It doesn't have a single drop of magic in it at all, but-" The older man's smiled hooked to one side as lines around his eyes crinkled with sudden mirth. "-what magic it accomplished! I think you could appreciate that so-"

A single stride closed the distance between the two men and Alexis's hands encircled Percy's own as he put the paper into the alchemist's hand. "-you came all this way so I think it is fair that that is yours going forward. Now, Percival, I think we have been gone together just long enough for your sister."

Stepping back Alexis clapped his hands together once and the darkness shattered. Percy, Riley, Erin, and Alexis now all stood in a small, worn out kitchen with no windows. At the table an older man sat stooped - his head covered in bandages and his hands showing the splotched scars of old burns - despite his lack of sight the mummified man was working diligently on the complex puppet laid out before him.

With his back to Percy finally Alexis turned his attention first towards Erin and Riley - the pair still featurelessly shrouded in stubborn shadowy remnants with identical soft grey glowing eyes - and then to the man sitting at the table.

"Josef! If only you could see how your girl has grown." The Lord Elementalist smiled kindly at the two Rileys. "You have taken your medicine since I left haven't you brother?"

The older man, rolling up his sleeves as he put his tools aside, ignored his younger brother and instead turned his head towards where Riley, Erin, and Percy stood. "Make some noise for me Riles."

"Sure da." Both Rileys echoed after each other as the shadows slipped away and neither moved to conjure a mask across their face.

The old man paused at the sound of two voices but then nodded to himself. "Your studies are going well then. That's a thing to be proud for. I didn't think you'd be back here."

The two women looked down at the ground. "What's this about you being sick?"

Joseph waved away the question, but his hand and fingers trembled alongside the gesture. "Nothing for you to worry yourself over."

[Kokuten]

The empty sickness of a vacuumed stomach was almost worse than sickness with a full stomach. While Alexis had washed away all of Percy's unseemly uncleanliness from his trials. Having come to a new place, the Alchemist could only focus on the parchment in his hands. Eyes narrowed, he looked about the room, seeing his sisters still enveloped and the man who could only be the man of the hour. Of everything he had heard, he had never met Riley's father. His parents had spoken to him over the phone, but he had never been a part of those discussions himself.

Percival chest settled into place, as his feelings of queasiness subsided.

"Mr. Alstad," Percival introduced himself, stuffing the parchment into his vest pocket, "It's a pleasure to meet ya, sir. I'm Percival, Elizabeth and Alistair's son. Riley's brother. I don't think we've ever formally met. Dad's said a lot of you. Riley as well."

[Gwathdraug]

Alexis's left hand rested lightly against Percy's right shoulder - harmless sparks gently flaking about from the contact between the two - as a gleam of sunlight played across the teeth his smile revealed. "And he's almost as well accomplished as my old student by his own merit - though far less in the traditional sense than his mother's successes." The Lord Elementalist's fingers trailed down Percy's shoulder as he pulled the hand back to stroke his chin. "His oddity could explain the ease in which your daughter and him struck up their partnerships though."

As soon as his brother had opened his mouth Joseph had begun to work on his puppet again, screw driver firmly in hand and guided with an expert sense of knowing despite his lack of sight.When the room was quiet once more he slapped his tool down against the table with enough force to send a tremour throughout the wood. "He's not an idiot, this lad, then is he Riles?" The older man's attention had returned to only focusing on where the two Riley's stood. "I'll hear it from the lion's mouth or not at all."

The two identical figures shifted uncomfortably as they were addressed. One crossing their arms while continuing to look down while the other set her jaw in a hard line. "Da this is naw what this is abou-" The speaking stage magician began angrily.

"-then he hasn't upset you?" Joseph's interjection made both Rileys flinch, stopping them dead where they stood. The bandaged man shook his head slowly before tapping the butt of his screwdriver against the table. "I won't have siblings fester out their relationship under my roof. Both of you sit."

From the way the old man finally turned his gauze blocked attention upon Percy it was clear that his use of "both" included the alchemist and the paired stage magicians who had already begun to seat themselves with some measure of reluctance.

[Kokuten]

One of Percy's eyes strained as Alexis' hand touched his shoulder, and he looked over at the Rileys before taking a cautious breath. The contact took him back to twenty seconds ago much sooner than he was ready for, and the old magic put him on edge a bit. The incredulity was absolute. To think he and Riley could be cowed by these two old men, a small grouping of young mages who made their idle time righting wrongs on the level of planar proportions. That someone of his power could be coaxed at this stage of his growth and ascendance.

But magic was a strange thing, and it showed the young Caxton he was not above the Lord of Shadows nor...

TOK. The screwdriver struck like a gavel.

The Alchemist shuddered, his frail, human form also reminded that it was not above it's material limitations. As far as his mind sored, he was still Percival, and he seemed more like his old self as he showed some mild sense of discontent at being labeled an idiot, no matter how loosely. His mouth moved to speak, and quickly dispel this, before Riley did a greater service by speaking first. The tension in his sister was palpable, as Joseph kept up this scene.

Wait a minute, am I in trouble? Percival's face strained in thought as he reflected on the meaning of the man's words, and if they meant he had already sensed the disagreement the two had prior to the Five Trials.

Already he was lagging behind as Riley had begun to sit down, and the Alchemist became aware that he was not following suite. As was natural, he reached into his purple vest to pull out a vial, and his fingers came up empty.

"Right," vocalized Percival finally, realizing that his Chair-in-a-Jars were back in Riley's hotel room. "If I could interject, Mr. Alstad."

The man eased himself down to sit, a careful image of poise and eloquence, "Riley started it."

[Gwathdraug]

"An assertation as useless as they come." The bandaged puppeteer leaned back into his chair as he crossed his arms in front of him. "Either you're a dullard with less emotional capacity than a thimble-"

One of the Riley's smacked their palm against the table. "You don't need ta insult him!"

Joseph allowed the interruption to stop him. The old man simply turned his attention back to his child silently. The two just existed with the silence between them - Riley standing and her father sitting - until the stage magician retook her seat. There was an air of judgement, patience, and old frustrations to the entire interaction.

"-or-" Joseph turned back towards Percival as if the interruption had not occurred at all. "-you also have something you are upset about." Burn scarred fingers beat out a sudden drumbeat against the table. "Actions can be forgiven, forgotten, or any combination of the two, but if you can't figure out what it is you want and discuss why it isn't being received then the deathstroke has already been drawn between you two." The old man picked back up his screwdriver and shifted aside some pieces of his puppet. "The decision only exists for each of you - separate choices that only mean anything if you both care for the same path."

"You are far too dramatic brother." Alexis snorted derisively. The Lord Elementalist spared Percy a smile once more. "My boy - you are young and these things happen in youth - it is better to not dwell on the forswearing of a decaying hermit. Look-" Pointing across the table Alexis blew a bit of wind towards the two Rileys who were sitting with their own arms crossed in front of their chests and refusing to look anywhere near the charismatic Elementalist. "-he can't even spare an ounce of sympathy towards his own flesh and blood."

[Kokuten]

So this is where she gets it, thought Percival, that frustrating sense of perception.

The incredulity he reflected upon only became greater and greater as he played out the moment in his mind. As he weathered the insults, he thought of where he was compared to where the morning started, where the pieces of this chessboard were standing when it began. How silly it was they were where they were in the first place. It was then he remembered Lyra's place in all of this, and a small pang of guilt rose in his chest as he thought how he left her there with an empty chair.

Looking at his watch would have not only provided no good news, but would have been incredibly insulting. Joseph was intent on bringing Percival forward, but he rambled to an extent that was dramatic even for Riley's theatrics. Had the Alchemist any time for a man who had no time for his own daughter's concern of his life?

"You are far too dramatic brother." Alexis snorted derisively. The Lord Elementalist spared Percy a smile once more. "My boy - you are young and these things happen in youth - it is better to not dwell on the forswearing of a decaying hermit. Look-" Pointing across the table Alexis blew a bit of wind towards the two Rileys who were sitting with their own arms crossed in front of their chests and refusing to look anywhere near the charismatic Elementalist. "-he can't even spare an ounce of sympathy towards his own flesh and blood."

Those words, spoken as if they had been breathed from his own mind made him feel sick. Percival grabbed his chin tightly, feigning a thoughtful expression as his anxiety filled throat. Again he tried to deflect.

"I may be a..."

The word dullard died in his throat. In the moment, he seemed frazzled, his earlier words coming back to creep in his nerves. Percy looked at his sister, before appearing to get a bit frustrated.

"No. No no no," the Alchemist shook his head, trying to ignore Alexis, "perhaps I've been a bit of a dullard, but I'll not be accused of having no emotional capacity. You'll have to excuse me, Mr. Alstad, I've been on an extended sabbatical, so I've lost the soft edge of my politics. I may have said some thoughtless, stupid things to my sister, and then to my other sister, but now is not the time to fume it through an alembic. I'm dealing with a lot of hurt right now, but this isn't about me."

The haggard man pushed himself to standing, despite the weakness of his body, his face was filled with acute stubbornness, "Riley asked you a question, sir."