Through the void

The blonde stretched as she looked down on her clothing. They would be heading for some information today. Hopefully, Rhoynar would not be a disappointment for once in her life and they would actually find some information she did not have yet. On a note she held some names, writers she had come across. Either mentioned in her current books, or writers of said current books who might have something else of value. A journal, a second book, whatever. She was a smart girl, knew what to look for. Popular alchemists were of no value. What they had brought out, was known to the world by now. Their books were no secret. It was the ones that no one had ever heard of, the ones that were ridiculed in their time. Those who once had a goal, but got blinded by the darkness their goal brought them. They often went insane, or got killed for being a witch.

Not only that. She needed a day off. A day away from Kaz, who hurt her so much just by being the way he was at the moment. She often wondered if it was worth it, if he was still in there. But, she had promised to be there for him and she refused to give up until he would tell her to. Until he would tell her that he no longer cared. Only then would she finally give up. For now, she had invited his brother to join her. The poor vampire had dealt with incredible abuse the past week. She had been rough on him, but Kaz… Kaz had taken things to the next level. Taking a day to talk with him, while both staying away from the negativity… seemed like a well enough plan.

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She loved Kaz. Absolutely. The doubt that she might not, was one she had lost a long time ago. It had probably been at night in Falkreath, where he was the one thing getting her out of her nightmares, where she had realized just what kind of importance the man held to her. Or maybe it had been even before that. Back when the nightmares had started, back when she had ruined everything she had for him. Back when she had decided that he was worth more than her future, her past. And now here they were. Unloved, broken. The longer she sat in this damned house, the more she worried that the feelings of the past were nothing but memories, doomed to fade as time went on.

‘Ready to go?’ Mort’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts and the blonde smiled. “Yeah,” she answered. A part of her wanted to ask if it was truly okay to leave Kaz alone, but she couldn’t. For once, she could ask to be selfish again. Because if she didn’t, she would end up broken, in tears. And that would help no one. Without saying much more, she opened the door and walked through it, wanting to get away from this house as quickly as she could.

About halfway to their destination, she held the paper she had towards Mort. “These names are what we’ll be looking for,” she told him. It was better if he could memorize them before they arrived. At least like that, the search might be as short as possible. “Their books will be old. At least a century. So no need to look through anything that looks newer than that.”

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Sometimes, the blonde wondered if she would end up like the writers of her books. A name unknown, unimportant to the eye of the commoner. Where they would say her recipes were of no value. Held no use. A little sigh left her mouth. Somehow, she doubted it. Only if she would die before reaching anything, could that happen. Perhaps she should find a student, someone who could help her in her purpose. Someone who knew their way around potions and, more importantly, cures. Someone who saw the progress she made and could work from there, rather than looking at the failures alone. After all, the woman was sure her work would not be for nothing. She had put too much effort into it for all of it to go to waste.

Saying she was surprised to hear that Mort knew a name on the list, was an understatement. “And I doubt your sire would be willing to give that one up?” she asked with a smile. Alchemists often had multiple books, but many only made one edition of everything. If they did remake one, it was because of progress. In this case, it was very important to have both the old and the new version. What did they change? Why did they change it? If she could understand the thought process of an Alchemist, the road to perfection would be a lot shorter.

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“I told you about my organisation. About how our plan was to eradicate the supernatural,” Allison started. She had never had the chance to explain further, so this would be the perfect time to do so. “My boss was convinced all was bad and I agree. Living off another person’s energy? Turning into a beast every full moon? Clearly, these curses are not for the good of mankind,” she explained simply. Her voice soft so no one else would hear, but Mort would be able to catch it without problem.

“I killed my boss to protect Kaz.” For a moment she fell quiet, grabbed her own arm to stop the shiver that went across her spine. “So let’s just say I’m doing some research before I decide how to move on.”

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Perhaps, if she mentioned her change of mind, she could get more out of the man. If she told him about how she had been busy finding a cure. How she wanted to fix the mistake he had made with Kaz. Give him the option to turn back time. To keep Kaz alive. Actually alive. Beating heart included. But, Allison had two reasons not two.
The first being that she trusted no-one. Mort had proven his love for Kaz, but he had also shown his selfish side. He clearly did not mind being a vampire as much. It was a part of his existence. Would he want a cure? If no… Would he want Kaz to take it? Because it would mean that he would spend eternity alone, after all.
The second reason was simple insecurity. Once you told people, they got expectations. There were already too many people who expected something from her. Asher had his interests in the werewolf cure. He would not be pleased to hear how that went down. The King clearly had an interest in the cure for vampires. Ambrosia wanted a cure. She could handle disappointing all of them. But Kaz? No…

“I could always send someone to copy its valuable parts. There is a good amount of people who owe me,” she told Mort with a little smile. “I appreciate the gesture. For now, however, there’s a good amount of names in this list. I’ll pray that luck will be with us for once.” Imagine that. She? Lucky? Probably not. She hadn’t accomplished anything in life through luck and she doubted that it would ever happen.

---

Allison found herself in a chat with the first employee she found. Smarter than to mention any names she needed, she asked the man very simple questions. Who was the best Alchemist he knew of? What were the oldest books he had? Just the general questions you would ask once you entered a place like this. Nothing gave away what she was after, yet she learned something. The man pointed her towards the bookcase that held most of the ancient books. Written by mad men, he told her. ‘Their potions are said to cause madness,’ he went on. Idiot.

Allison eventually looked at Mort, gesturing that he should follow her to the bookcase in the back, where most of the untouched books were found. In the world of Alchemists, it was well known that the older the recipe, the riskier it was. People grew more careful over time, traded strength for security. Traditional Alchemy was no longer popular, got its own part in places like this. Where only the mad men dared to open them.

“So,” she decided to start. “Why did you decide to come with?” A book got pulled off the shelf and she opened it, focusing her attention on the recipes inside as she waited for a response. She hadn’t been too nice to the vampire, after all. He would have had enough reason to say no. Though staying with Kaz might have been worse.

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The book she had found seemed to actually be written by a mad man, so she put it back into the shelf and let her finger slide past the names of authors, as she listened to the response Mort gave her. His first comment caused a slight smile on her face. When he said that a library reminded him of better days, she nodded. “Books are a great outlet,” she spoke. “I spent all my time in my room as a child, reading every single book my parents had to offer. From fairytales to ancient recipes.” A pleasant memory, even though her childhood was not that great. Still a lot better than his had been, obviously.

“Do you have any idea what I am looking for?” she then asked, throwing him a quick gaze, before turning back to the books. “What if you’re helping me find the one thing I need to eradicate your kind?” She raised an eyebrow in interest, as she picked a book from an author that sounded familiar. She opened it up and started going through the pages quickly, looking for certain keywords. There was no time to read all books in full, after all.

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Mort’s words put a little smile on her face. So somewhere, along the way, she actually had something in common with the guy. Besides their mutual fondness of his brother, that was. “That must have been nice,” she spoke. “My parents told me that alchemists were witches and their magicks were not allowed under their roof.” The blonde chuckled as she shook her head. “So I took my stuff and left.” At age fourteen, she had been with her boyfriend, stealing on the streets and learning her alchemy on the side. It had been an exciting life for sure.

As curious a person as she was, she started asking questions. Mort’s answer caused her to nod, even though she didn’t think he would see. “I would never do anything to harm him,” she told him. No. Even if the King himself asked her to eradicate all vampires, she would only do it under the condition that Kaz would walk free. And, perhaps, she’d make the same offer for Mort. Not for him, however. That would be for Kaz. Because somewhere, deep inside, he loved his brother. “I’m not looking for a way to eradicate you,” she admitted. “I am looking for a way to fix it.”

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