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Description
18th May.
Nathan looked up as the rain hit off his pale skin and he pushed his sandy blonde hair from his face, making the front of his hairline stick up at awkward angels as he walked. Forgetting to pack a coat before he left for Fyre City, Nathan was feeling the bite of the howling wind nip at his arms as he shook the water droplets from his eyes and looked back to the ground, smiling slightly at the one little drop that hung lazily from the end of his nose.
“You did all you can, Nathan,” he whispered to himself. “And you found where your brother is.” Nathan sighed as he rubbed his arm to try and create heat. “Yet why don’t I feel fulfilled?”
He puffed his cheeks out and freed his breath slowly, the silver trail that flowed from between his mouth quickly disappearing and dispersing into the midnight sky that surrounded him.
“Oi, Alchemist!” The voice made Nathan stop suddenly. “Where you going at a time like this?”
“Home,” Nathan replied, readjusting the bag on his shoulder and starting to walk forward again. He heard the second pair of footsteps coincide with his and tried to hasten his own but it seemed that the second pair was easily able to match his pace with little trouble.
The owner of the voice let out a low chuckle. “A little late to be out on a stroll, isn’t it?”
“If you’re here to rob me, I’m afraid to say that I have little of value on me.” He looked to the left where he was gloomily greeted by a dark mass of bogy wasteland, made darker by the canopy of leaves that hung over the dark trucks of the trees that feed them. He heard the other pair of footsteps step on a pile of leaves and listened to the satisfying crunch that followed. Nathan shrugged lazily and carried on walking, the muffled movements of his shadowed counterpart hinting that they were heading away from him.
He froze again as he herd the single crack of a breaking twig and looked back over his shoulder to the gap in the trees that he had just passed. Nathan was about to turn back and carry on his journey when he was knocked sidewards into the dirt track he had been following, his cheek impacting hard against the hardened ground.
Another hit against his knees caused him to fold his legs up tight against his body and wrap his arms over his head protectively.
Thump. Thump. Thump. THUMP.
It wasn’t long before Nathan could feel the blood trickle and roll down his skin, his eye swelling and limiting his vision but he felt every hit. The most valuable thing that he travelled with was his life. But surely this wasn’t just a random attack otherwise the attacker that stood over him wouldn’t have conversed with him only moments before.
They knew who he was, but Nathan didn’t know who they were.
Nathan groaned with pain as he felt a small line of blood stream from his nose and onto his cracked lips and he could feel his attacker’s dark grin looking down on him and what he was doing. Another hit. And another. He chocked and spat as a whirlwind of dusty from the road was kicked into his face. Catching a glimpse of the dark army boot his attacker was wearing, Nathan suck his arm out in an attempt to grab onto their ankle and pull them down onto the road besides him.
“Aren’t you a clever one, Nathan Cambell?” The dark, hollow voice chuckling, trying to taunt Nathan who replied with a low growl from the back of his throat. “Let me guess, you were in Fyre City to see your poor, ill-fated big brother?”
Nathan froze. Hayden. They knew Hayden and of what had happened to him. He tried to roll over onto his back but whoever stood over him pressed the heel of his boot into the back of his head, pinning his face to the ground beneath him.
The icy voice spoke to him again, his mouth so close to Nathan’s ear that he could feel flecks of spit land on the side of his face. “Listen to me, Cambell, you’ve made enemies that you didn’t even know you’d made. You’ve meddled in business that you didn’t belong in by bringing your crazy potion stuff into the mix too,” He chuckled darkly. “Well, let’s just say that that made things a little bit more interesting.” Nathan whimpered as he felt his attacker wrap his hands around his wrists and pull him to his feet. He held both of his hands behind his back and used his free hand to rummage through Nathan’s satchel but was only able to find a few odd ingredients and the shards of broken glass from when Nathan had fallen against the road.
“No extra potions with you?” Nathan shook his head quickly in reply. “No? Well then, looks like Oasis will be having some fresh ones made by the alchemist himself. Walk, now.”
Nathan’s voice was croaky as he slammed his heels in the dirt to stop himself from moving. “If I go anywhere with you, you will tell me your name.”
They sucked their teeth and sighed. “Reece. And that is all you shall know. For now.”
* * * * *
Nathan awoke in a surprisingly clean room; something he had expected to receive after the beating he had received during the night. His face was sore and he was assured that Reece had broken his nose and he could still feel where he was pinned down on the back of his head due to a large bruise that had been left behind.
He was lying on his front which was seemingly unusual to him as he pushed himself up using his arms and glanced around the room in which the bed was in the centre of, the top of it pushed against the wall adjacent to the door. The bed was only a single and was draped with a plain grey cover as was the pillowcase even though it had been stained with dark red patches due to wear Nathan’s injuries had bled during the night.
On either side of the bed was two plain white bedside tables; one was clear except for a glass tumbler and the other had a dark grey lamp on it with a glasses case placed directly underneath it. Nathan carefully readjusted his position so he was sitting with his back against the headboard before he reached over for the glasses case and bounced it in his hands. The weightlessness of it got Nathan to assume that it was empty meaning that the original occupier of the room had already collected what he needed before Nathan had arrived in the night. He did, however, make sure that he returned it to the exact same position in which he found it.
Nathan started to look around again before his eyes were drawn to the wall that was linked to the door. Above the metal desk, the entire wall above it was covered in yellowing pieces of scrap paper that were pinned to the wall using masking tape, some with blue-tack. Nathan swung his legs out of the blanket and pushed it to the base against the metal frame before standing and walking over to the wall slowly.
Each individual piece of paper was illustrated with detailed drawings of human anatomy and others of robotics and mechanics, information that Nathan couldn’t decipher. But whoever it was intrigued Nathan immensely; the two of them having something in common in Nathan’s eyes.
He was pulled out of his trance he had been pulled into by the illustrations by the sound of the door handle moving in its place. Nathan looked down quickly, shocked to see himself wearing only the jeans he had left Fyre City in and nothing else.
The door was pushed open and the back of it hit against the edge of the desk, rattling the papers and drawing materials that were neatly placed on top.
Nathan looked down awkwardly to his exposed chest although it didn’t seem to faze the person who had joined him. He wrapped his arms self-consciously around his body and looked up to the girl in the doorway. He was met by dirty brown eyes surrounded by light curly black hair and a small smirk across pale lips.
She arched an eyebrow at Nathan’s failing attempt to cover his body and chuckled. “A boy like you afraid to show a little flesh?” She laughed but Nathan just glared back at her, cutting her humour short. “Anyway, come with me. Oasis wants you and I’m here to escort you, that’s all.”
It was Nathan’s turn to raise his eyebrow as the girl simply turned on her heels and beckoned for him to follow. “Wait up,” he called after her. “Where have my clothes gone?” The girl rolled her eyes before turning back to face him and striding back into the room and heading over to the other side of the bedside table that sat the lamp and pointed down to the floor. Nathan altered his gaze to where she was pointing and let out a sigh of relief when he saw the messy bundle of dark fabrics on the floor.
He waited until she left the room again before picking his plain black t-shirt from the pile and quickly swatting the dust off it before sliding it over his head and pulling it down his torso. He quickly pulled his socks and shoes onto his feet, using the wall to balance him, and joined the girl in the hall again as he zipped his jacket up quickly, despite it being covered with a mix of dirt, mud and blood.
She led him without uttering a word, moving her hair off her shoulder quickly before she came to a holt outside another room and knocked on the door quickly. There was a mumble from the gap in the door from whoever was inside and the girl stuck her head into the room quickly.
“It’s the alchemist, sir.” She said quickly before stepping aside and holding the door open for him and quickly leaving him alone again in the room with yet another stranger. This must have been the infamous Oasis that Reece and the girl had mentioned to him prior to this time.
Oasis looked up from the leather-bound book on his desk and motioned for Nathan to take a seat… which he did reluctantly. “Nathan Cambell, if I am not mistaken?” He said, the formal tone to his voice catching Nathan slightly off-guard considering how young the man before him looked. Nathan hastened a reply by nodding his head. “Youngest son of Eliza Cambell and brother to Hayden? Am I right?”
“How do you know that?” Nathan asked quickly.
“How I know that information is irrelevant but your reaction tells me it is correct. Regardless, the situation at hand… Do you I have requested you here?”
Nathan shrugged his head. “Though I do wish I hadn’t been attacked and walked here by your hit man, a letter would have sufficed.”
Oasis chuckled and shook his head. “I needed you and Reece has his own methods to fulfil my requests. I am not one to get on the wrong side of.” Nathan rolled his eyes and sat back in the chair. “Anyway, it has come to my knowledge that you make healing potions… Extremely effective healing potions.”
“Yeah.” Nathan agreed, not trying to alter his ego to match or beat Oasis but to keep it at a manageable level for himself. He never considered himself gifted or special in any other way; just talented and heightened by his love for what he did.
Oasis leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk in front of him. “How fast can you make them? Nathan shrugged, suggesting maybe two to three days once he had a reasonable supply of ingredients. “Make me a little shopping list then please, Nathan, enough for ten of those potions and payment will follow upon completion of the order… And you can also expect to gain some good publicity from me if they work.”
Nathan nodded and took the paper and pen Oasis offered to him and shuffled his chair closer to the desk and began to write down all the ingredients he could remember he had included in the potion he had made for Hayden. Most of this stuff he had stored away in his apartment room but something in the back of his mind was telling him that he wouldn’t be able to go and get those.
Something was telling him that he wouldn’t be allowed to leave wherever he was until the order was complete.

Description
18th May.
Nathan looked up as the rain hit off his pale skin and he pushed his sandy blonde hair from his face, making the front of his hairline stick up at awkward angels as he walked. Forgetting to pack a coat before he left for Fyre City, Nathan was feeling the bite of the howling wind nip at his arms as he shook the water droplets from his eyes and looked back to the ground, smiling slightly at the one little drop that hung lazily from the end of his nose.
“You did all you can, Nathan,” he whispered to himself. “And you found where your brother is.” Nathan sighed as he rubbed his arm to try and create heat. “Yet why don’t I feel fulfilled?”
He puffed his cheeks out and freed his breath slowly, the silver trail that flowed from between his mouth quickly disappearing and dispersing into the midnight sky that surrounded him.
“Oi, Alchemist!” The voice made Nathan stop suddenly. “Where you going at a time like this?”
“Home,” Nathan replied, readjusting the bag on his shoulder and starting to walk forward again. He heard the second pair of footsteps coincide with his and tried to hasten his own but it seemed that the second pair was easily able to match his pace with little trouble.
The owner of the voice let out a low chuckle. “A little late to be out on a stroll, isn’t it?”
“If you’re here to rob me, I’m afraid to say that I have little of value on me.” He looked to the left where he was gloomily greeted by a dark mass of bogy wasteland, made darker by the canopy of leaves that hung over the dark trucks of the trees that feed them. He heard the other pair of footsteps step on a pile of leaves and listened to the satisfying crunch that followed. Nathan shrugged lazily and carried on walking, the muffled movements of his shadowed counterpart hinting that they were heading away from him.
He froze again as he herd the single crack of a breaking twig and looked back over his shoulder to the gap in the trees that he had just passed. Nathan was about to turn back and carry on his journey when he was knocked sidewards into the dirt track he had been following, his cheek impacting hard against the hardened ground.
Another hit against his knees caused him to fold his legs up tight against his body and wrap his arms over his head protectively.
Thump. Thump. Thump. THUMP.
It wasn’t long before Nathan could feel the blood trickle and roll down his skin, his eye swelling and limiting his vision but he felt every hit. The most valuable thing that he travelled with was his life. But surely this wasn’t just a random attack otherwise the attacker that stood over him wouldn’t have conversed with him only moments before.
They knew who he was, but Nathan didn’t know who they were.
Nathan groaned with pain as he felt a small line of blood stream from his nose and onto his cracked lips and he could feel his attacker’s dark grin looking down on him and what he was doing. Another hit. And another. He chocked and spat as a whirlwind of dusty from the road was kicked into his face. Catching a glimpse of the dark army boot his attacker was wearing, Nathan suck his arm out in an attempt to grab onto their ankle and pull them down onto the road besides him.
“Aren’t you a clever one, Nathan Cambell?” The dark, hollow voice chuckling, trying to taunt Nathan who replied with a low growl from the back of his throat. “Let me guess, you were in Fyre City to see your poor, ill-fated big brother?”
Nathan froze. Hayden. They knew Hayden and of what had happened to him. He tried to roll over onto his back but whoever stood over him pressed the heel of his boot into the back of his head, pinning his face to the ground beneath him.
The icy voice spoke to him again, his mouth so close to Nathan’s ear that he could feel flecks of spit land on the side of his face. “Listen to me, Cambell, you’ve made enemies that you didn’t even know you’d made. You’ve meddled in business that you didn’t belong in by bringing your crazy potion stuff into the mix too,” He chuckled darkly. “Well, let’s just say that that made things a little bit more interesting.” Nathan whimpered as he felt his attacker wrap his hands around his wrists and pull him to his feet. He held both of his hands behind his back and used his free hand to rummage through Nathan’s satchel but was only able to find a few odd ingredients and the shards of broken glass from when Nathan had fallen against the road.
“No extra potions with you?” Nathan shook his head quickly in reply. “No? Well then, looks like Oasis will be having some fresh ones made by the alchemist himself. Walk, now.”
Nathan’s voice was croaky as he slammed his heels in the dirt to stop himself from moving. “If I go anywhere with you, you will tell me your name.”
They sucked their teeth and sighed. “Reece. And that is all you shall know. For now.”
* * * * *
Nathan awoke in a surprisingly clean room; something he had expected to receive after the beating he had received during the night. His face was sore and he was assured that Reece had broken his nose and he could still feel where he was pinned down on the back of his head due to a large bruise that had been left behind.
He was lying on his front which was seemingly unusual to him as he pushed himself up using his arms and glanced around the room in which the bed was in the centre of, the top of it pushed against the wall adjacent to the door. The bed was only a single and was draped with a plain grey cover as was the pillowcase even though it had been stained with dark red patches due to wear Nathan’s injuries had bled during the night.
On either side of the bed was two plain white bedside tables; one was clear except for a glass tumbler and the other had a dark grey lamp on it with a glasses case placed directly underneath it. Nathan carefully readjusted his position so he was sitting with his back against the headboard before he reached over for the glasses case and bounced it in his hands. The weightlessness of it got Nathan to assume that it was empty meaning that the original occupier of the room had already collected what he needed before Nathan had arrived in the night. He did, however, make sure that he returned it to the exact same position in which he found it.
Nathan started to look around again before his eyes were drawn to the wall that was linked to the door. Above the metal desk, the entire wall above it was covered in yellowing pieces of scrap paper that were pinned to the wall using masking tape, some with blue-tack. Nathan swung his legs out of the blanket and pushed it to the base against the metal frame before standing and walking over to the wall slowly.
Each individual piece of paper was illustrated with detailed drawings of human anatomy and others of robotics and mechanics, information that Nathan couldn’t decipher. But whoever it was intrigued Nathan immensely; the two of them having something in common in Nathan’s eyes.
He was pulled out of his trance he had been pulled into by the illustrations by the sound of the door handle moving in its place. Nathan looked down quickly, shocked to see himself wearing only the jeans he had left Fyre City in and nothing else.
The door was pushed open and the back of it hit against the edge of the desk, rattling the papers and drawing materials that were neatly placed on top.
Nathan looked down awkwardly to his exposed chest although it didn’t seem to faze the person who had joined him. He wrapped his arms self-consciously around his body and looked up to the girl in the doorway. He was met by dirty brown eyes surrounded by light curly black hair and a small smirk across pale lips.
She arched an eyebrow at Nathan’s failing attempt to cover his body and chuckled. “A boy like you afraid to show a little flesh?” She laughed but Nathan just glared back at her, cutting her humour short. “Anyway, come with me. Oasis wants you and I’m here to escort you, that’s all.”
It was Nathan’s turn to raise his eyebrow as the girl simply turned on her heels and beckoned for him to follow. “Wait up,” he called after her. “Where have my clothes gone?” The girl rolled her eyes before turning back to face him and striding back into the room and heading over to the other side of the bedside table that sat the lamp and pointed down to the floor. Nathan altered his gaze to where she was pointing and let out a sigh of relief when he saw the messy bundle of dark fabrics on the floor.
He waited until she left the room again before picking his plain black t-shirt from the pile and quickly swatting the dust off it before sliding it over his head and pulling it down his torso. He quickly pulled his socks and shoes onto his feet, using the wall to balance him, and joined the girl in the hall again as he zipped his jacket up quickly, despite it being covered with a mix of dirt, mud and blood.
She led him without uttering a word, moving her hair off her shoulder quickly before she came to a holt outside another room and knocked on the door quickly. There was a mumble from the gap in the door from whoever was inside and the girl stuck her head into the room quickly.
“It’s the alchemist, sir.” She said quickly before stepping aside and holding the door open for him and quickly leaving him alone again in the room with yet another stranger. This must have been the infamous Oasis that Reece and the girl had mentioned to him prior to this time.
Oasis looked up from the leather-bound book on his desk and motioned for Nathan to take a seat… which he did reluctantly. “Nathan Cambell, if I am not mistaken?” He said, the formal tone to his voice catching Nathan slightly off-guard considering how young the man before him looked. Nathan hastened a reply by nodding his head. “Youngest son of Eliza Cambell and brother to Hayden? Am I right?”
“How do you know that?” Nathan asked quickly.
“How I know that information is irrelevant but your reaction tells me it is correct. Regardless, the situation at hand… Do you I have requested you here?”
Nathan shrugged his head. “Though I do wish I hadn’t been attacked and walked here by your hit man, a letter would have sufficed.”
Oasis chuckled and shook his head. “I needed you and Reece has his own methods to fulfil my requests. I am not one to get on the wrong side of.” Nathan rolled his eyes and sat back in the chair. “Anyway, it has come to my knowledge that you make healing potions… Extremely effective healing potions.”
“Yeah.” Nathan agreed, not trying to alter his ego to match or beat Oasis but to keep it at a manageable level for himself. He never considered himself gifted or special in any other way; just talented and heightened by his love for what he did.
Oasis leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk in front of him. “How fast can you make them? Nathan shrugged, suggesting maybe two to three days once he had a reasonable supply of ingredients. “Make me a little shopping list then please, Nathan, enough for ten of those potions and payment will follow upon completion of the order… And you can also expect to gain some good publicity from me if they work.”
Nathan nodded and took the paper and pen Oasis offered to him and shuffled his chair closer to the desk and began to write down all the ingredients he could remember he had included in the potion he had made for Hayden. Most of this stuff he had stored away in his apartment room but something in the back of his mind was telling him that he wouldn’t be able to go and get those.
Something was telling him that he wouldn’t be allowed to leave wherever he was until the order was complete.