The soft breeze carried the sweet fragrant smell of flowers in bloom. It was too cold to be spring just yet, but it was quite near. In this time of year in that particular land, it was most beautiful. The sun was not harsh as it would be in the summer to come, but it would kindly hug anyone who stood out in the sunlight, warming the soul. The dangerous creatures that played in the night stayed hidden, even at the nighttime this time of year which created a very carefree environment.

Not everyone, although, took advantage of the perfect weather. The farmers still cultivated the land and the teachers still educated inside the cold concrete walls. Basically the workers still worked.

Nene, the alchemist�s daughter, was not working but enjoying the wonderful day. Her father had not allowed her to work and had never sent her off to school for reasons unknown. Oddly enough, she was quite brilliant at her age. Living far from the town, high in the cool mountains, Nene was pulled from any social living. She didn�t really care; the few trips she took into town on her father�s errands were enough for her. She much enjoyed the valley before the base of the mountain more than the town itself.

Not wanting to disturb her father�s studies, she laid in the cool grass, gazing at the blue, blue sky. Her mind surfed through all her memories, picking out bits of pieces of each until one full memory entertained her thoughts. The one she had particularly chose this day was one of her mother. It was a blurred and scratched memory and she had strained her mind to see it any clearer. It was not known to her what had happened to her mother when she was eight years old, nine years ago. Her father would never talk about it except in mumbles and words that led to no where, causing Nene to assume her mother had died. She knew, though, that it couldn�t be true. Her mother dying or simply disappearing just didn�t make sense and fixed the broken memory. As the record played over and over, not finishing the song inside of her mind she instead chose another thought, leaving her mother behind.

The day slowly turned to night and hunger clawed at Nene�s stomach. She returned home just before nightfall, walking slowly through the forest that stretched out from the mountain side. She entered her home, a comfortable cabin-like structure with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a study, a kitchen and living room with a fireplace: a perfect home, almost too perfect. The wooden door creaked and the wooden floor boards squeaked as she entered and walked out into the middle of the living room, feeling the slowly increasing warmth of the fireplace, to look into the study at her left. Her father sat at the large wooden table, which was covered by books and papers, candles and bottles. His back was bent over and his head rested onto a large opened book on the table. She thought him sleeping, since he was facing away from her so she walked into the kitchen and fixed a simple dinner. She reheated the stew that they hadn�t finished the night before and once it had reached a slow simmer she spooned some into a bowl and walked into the study where her father remained in the same position. Nene set the bowl down onto the table, placing a spoon that she held in her other hand next to the bowl. Looking at her father she sighed, wishing he didn�t work so hard.

She exited the room, and placed everything into the sink realizing there was only enough for one last bowl. She washed everything up and Nene went to bed, not feeling hungry anymore.

Nene awoke to a knocking at the front door. She stood, half asleep and walked to her bedroom door and reached out to open it when she heard her father answer the front door before she did. Nene leaned towards the door, trying to listen to the murmured voices but made out nothing. Once everything had become quiet again and she heard the door shut, she slowly opened her bedroom door and stepped out into the living room. Looking around she saw no one and walked out far enough to see if her father was in the study again but again saw no one. She did notice however, the bowl of stew, still full to the brim, remained on the table. She sighed and simply glanced to her father�s bedroom, which she noticed he was not in there either. Assuming he had stepped outside she walked to the front door and reached with her right hand to the handle. She gripped the warm, wooden handle, ready to pull the door open when the door was pushed open against her. She jumped back, softy gasping only to look upon her father, nearly as surprised as she was, although he did not express it. A silence grew between them and she spoke, �Father, who was at the door?�

�Someone who needed a bit of valerian root,� he replied, complete monotone.

�Oh�� she nodded, knowing that valerian root was needed when someone couldn�t have enough sleep, so it made sense for someone to visit in the middle of the night. However, could it have been so bad that they chose to walk out so far to their home in the middle of the night?

�Nene,� her father suddenly said, �You need your rest, go back to bed. We�re going to go visit the Oracle tomorrow.�

Nene winced, hating the news of visiting the Oracle. �Yes father�� She nodded and returned to her bedroom. She planned on questioning him of their trip in the morning, when her mind wasn�t so clouded by sleep.

Introduction | Chapter 2