> “Of course you're not, you never will be. You don’t have to be that kid... You just need to be you.”

His breath is still rugged as he panted, he took a long deep breath.

He stood beneath the dim lights of the gas lamps, his breath still heavy from the adrenaline of the brawl.

He looked down at the wand in his hand, a mixture of disbelief and relief flooding through him. The smooth, slender stick of wood had pulled him out of yet another mess—a mess that could’ve ended with him face down in the wooden floorboards.

He chuckled to himself, the sound almost incredulous. Alchemy, he thought, had just saved his skin.

“God damn it,” he muttered under his breath, “I could never fucking escape using you, huh.” grinning to himself.

“Nice feeling, isn’t it?”

A voice called out, cutting through Eddie’s reverie. He spun around, his heart giving an unexpected lurch. Standing in the shadows, her figure framed by the lamplight,

Catherine stood in the alleyway. Her lips curled into a teasing smile as she stepped forward, illuminated by the gas lamps, her eyes gleaming with amusement.

“You know, the Alamirian Merchants are right about one thing. Eavesdropping isn’t exactly the most polite thing, Edward.” she said, her voice light and playful, her tone teasing.

Eddie blinked. Of course, he thought. She was always a step ahead.

“Come,” she said, stepping closer. “Let’s get away from this mess.”

Eddie glanced back at the ruckus now spilling out of the pub door. The sounds of shouting and scuffling still echoed through the streets.

He let out a long breath and pocketed Torrie’s school-issued wand into his pants pocket.

“Sure,” he replied with a reluctant sigh. “I could use a walk.”

With a graceful turn, Catherine began walking down the street.

Eddie followed.

-o-

As they walked, the streets seemed quieter now. Save for the distant clink of metal and breaking wood from the pub’s brawl muffled behind them.

Catherine, however, seemed to be deep in thought. After a while, she broke the quiet.

“Do you remember that day at the dining table when I first arrived?”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Vaguely,” he replied.

“You said you were working on something."

"Yeah."

"You are working for your advanced magical education in the Universities,” she continued.

"Yeah, I am," Eddie lied.

“And when I asked if you were considering applying for the Sage’s Institute Scholarship, you said yes.”

"Yeah, I am." Eddie continued his lie.

“But you’re not, are you, Edward?” She continued,

Eddie stopped his track, the wind continues to howl, there is no point in hiding it anymore

"Yeah," Eddie said, admitting the truth

“Why lie?" Catherine stopped, looked back towards Eddie, her voice soft, "I know you have so much ambition for Alchemy, but now you act like it’s something to run from.”

Eddie froze, his jaw tightened. He couldn’t do this—not with Catherine, not now. She was pressing on a wound he wasn’t ready to open.

But Catherine wasn’t about to let it go. She had always been the type to ask the hard questions, to dig until she found the truth, unlike him, she is an Alchemist, a real Alchemist, and like an Alchemist she will dig the truth.

“I might not be around by the time you enrolled in Aella Academy,” Catherine said, her voice gentle but insistent. “But I was around when you’re so passionate about your first transmutation, when you’re going to ruins and dungeons retracing the steps of famous Alchemists, when you said you wanted to go to Edenfield University to become an Alchemist.”

“You used to be so passionate about Alchemy. What happened?” Her eyes searched his face, hoping to understand the change she couldn’t quite place.

He couldn’t tell her. He couldn’t tell anyone.

“Fifteen years, Eddie.” Catherine’s voice broke through his spiralling thoughts, “Fifteen years is nothing for someone like me. But for you... for you, I know it must have felt like a lifetime. Something happened to you during those years I was gone, something that changes you.”

He kept his gaze forward, avoiding Catherine's eyes; the words swirling in his mind but not forming on his tongue. How could he explain the loss, the guilt, the fear? How could he explain the day he had ruined his life—and someone else’s—forever?

He still couldn’t tell her. He still couldn’t tell anyone.

Finally, she sighed. “Look, I’m not going to pretend I understand what happened to you, because I certainly don’t. But I do know that you’ve changed.”

“And not in a good way.” Catherine continued, “You’re not the person I knew, you’re not the person Torrie knew. You’ve built up walls around yourself, and from what I’ve seen, it’s tearing you apart.”

“Then what do you want me to do?” Eddie asked, chuckling sarcastically, his voice low, his eyes finally meeting hers. “Do you want me just to get back to it? Pick it up again like nothing happened?”

Catherine stood there for a moment,

“I wish, but i know it’s not that simple, is it?” Her gaze steady, and then she gave him a small, determined smile. “So I’m offering you something different.”

Catherine stood there, the wind blows her short apple-red hair, her red coat flutters in the cold evening breeze like a flag of declaration, the silhouette of her sharp elven ear made the whole scene felt like a fairy tale. She then looked at Eddie's eyes, raised her hand, and pointed it straight at his face.

“I’m offering you an adventure,”

Eddie blinked, chuckled slightly in confusion. “What? What are you talking about?"

"I'm offering you an Adventure for you to be a part of." Catherine said, her voice steady and firm. “There’s an Artefact hidden deep within the illusory forest of The Deep Glaive. I could use a fellow Alchemist like you." She smiled, "It'll be like the old days, isn't it?”

“A fellow, is a hard stretch don’t you think?” Eddie chuckled, his face sombre, “It can't be like the old days, you know? I’m not that kid anymore, Catherine,” he said quietly. “I can’t be that kid.”

“Of course you're not, you'll never will be. You don’t have to be that kid.” Catherine’s light blue eyes stared at his with piercing gaze.

“You just need to be you.”

Eddie looked into her eyes, seeing the earnestness in her gaze. An invitation, a chance to leave behind his regrets and step back into something larger than himself.

He didn’t have an answer right away. But in the silence that followed, he knew one thing:

Catherine wasn’t going to let him walk away from this, not that easily. Not when she knew something about him.