'Bollocks!' Chadwick swore as they ran down the main corridor and ducked into the first branching hallway, the White Wards, where the Animarum's domiciles were located and the floors were tiled in white triangles.

'Chad!' Tajana scolded. She only called him that when she was cross with him.

'Sorry, but this is bad, Tajana,' Chadwick said as he came to a halt, hung his head, and leaned against the wall. 'This is really, really bad. Whoever put up that list is barmy!'

'The Chemists are going to tear each other apart over that list,' Tajana said. 'With all the Keeper's Animarum gone, and all the Alchemists still in their meeting, it'll be chaos in the Antechamber.'

'You haven't even heard the worst of it,' Chadwick said. 'Our dads are both on the Breaker's list.'

'But that's not true,' Tajana said as Thea's mouth popped open.

'My dad's in an Eternity Prison because of the Breaker!' Thea nearly shouted.

'It's a clanger, trust me, I know,' Chadwick said. He saw the confusion on Thea's face and added, 'It might be a mistake, but plenty of daft Chemists are going to believe it.' He turned back to Tajana. 'What do we do?'

'We need to go back to the Chamber of Trials and tell the Alchemists what's happened,' Tajana said, already turning to head back.

'We can't do that!' Chadwick said, grabbing Tajana's arm. 'We'd never make it by everyone.'

'But someone needs to tell them about that list.' Tajana tried to pull her arm free, but Chadwick grabbed her other arm too. They stumbled around as he tried to hold her still. 'Get off me, Chad!'

He clenched his jaw. 'Would you just listen for a moment!?'

'Stop it, you two!' Thea said suddenly. 'Don't get in a fight right now.'

'Stay out of this,' Chadwick said. 'Tajana is my Mentor and I'm not going to let her run off and-' He was cut off as Tajana elbowed him in the chest. Normally, something like that wouldn't stagger him, but his ribs were bruised up right now. He immediately let her go and leaned forward on his knees, biting back a curse. 'Tajana!' he managed to choke out as he rubbed his ribs.

'Just look at you three,' came an unfamiliar female voice from just over Chadwick's shoulder. 'Fighting like siblings. Do I need to discipline you while your mothers are away?'

Chadwick whirled around to see an Alchemist in a yellow dress with a white apron covered in pockets. Her long, wavy hair was as blonde as the petals of a flaxen orchid, and she had eyes like green emeralds. She stood there rippling from the Vision Conversion that she had just cancelled.

'Momma!' Thea exclaimed. 'Were you following me the whole time?' she asked with a cute little smile.

'Of course,' the lady said with a nod. 'Now I think it's time to scurry, don't you? Come, let's head back to our place.'

'Brill, lead the way,' Chadwick said with a nod; he glanced at Tajana and bounced his eyebrows. She pretended not to notice as she followed. The group silently headed down the hallway at a quick clip. It wasn't long before they stopped at a door. Thea's mum waved her hand, and the door opened. She pushed Thea in first and followed right behind. Tajana went next. Chadwick glanced down the nearly empty hallway and followed them in.

Thea's mum quickly shut the door behind them and slid three locks into place. She mumbled a Word, and the door rippled with a red Protection Conversion.

Chadwick backed up and blinked his eyes against mental flashes of the library at the Code Breaker's Shadow Mansion. The Shadows had used that red Conversion to keep them locked up. When Thea's Kundalini Syndrome had worsened to the point that they were worried she would die, Chadwick had attacked the shield with a wooden shelf, and a blinding pain had sliced through his head and he'd blacked out for just a moment. Seeing the red ripples again cut his breath short from the memory.

Tajana steadied Chadwick with a gentle hand on his back.

'Momma, this is Tajana, and my Mentor Chad.'

'You have a new Mentor already?' Thea's mum said, turning to Chadwick.

'Yeah, I'm Chadwick MacNamara. Last night the Keeper Paired us together,' he said.

'Your father helped get Thea home last night,' Thea's mum said.

'Well, Al-thea's dad helped us too,' Chadwick said, deciding it was best not to call his Protégé Al in front of her mother. 'And her aunt and uncle as well. We're all free because o' them.'

The lady nodded. 'My name is Fiona. Welcome to our home.' She ushered them into a small sitting area, and Chadwick sank down into an armchair. Fiona and Thea sat on the couch together, and Tajana took the other chair. 'Someone posted the list.' She put her hands on Thea's shoulders. 'What will people think about you with your father's name on that list?'

Thea looked at Chadwick and hung her head.

'My dad's on the Breaker's list too,' Chadwick said. 'It's absolute rubbish.'

'We should leave,' Tajana said. 'All of us. We shouldn't stay here when the Keeper isn't here to protect us.'

'Hang on,' Chadwick said. 'Running away won't clear my father's name. Besides, we need to finish our schooling.'

'You've barely started, Chadwick,' Tajana said. 'Don't talk like you can finish in a couple weeks and then go join the Keeper's Animarum.'

'Well what are you planning to do? Hide in a cave? How is that safer than staying here? At least we have Alchemists to protect us here.'

'It's got to be safer to stay here,' Thea added. 'The Magisters said they took over the school to keep it safe. And the Constables are here now too.'

'It's never that simple,' Tajana argued. 'There could always be tutors and Constables who're working for the Breaker. Remember Ainsworth and Pethboc? Anyone could be a Code Breaker's Shadow.'

'My parents left me here, and they'll expect me to stay here with my godfather,' Chadwick said, surprising himself. 'I can't leave, even if I wanted to.'

'I'm sure if your parents actually knew what was happening, they'd change their minds,' Tajana snapped.

'My parents do know what's happening! You have no idea what they would do, so shut it,' he bit back.

'Just listen to you three,' Fiona said suddenly, and the three Chemists all went quiet. 'Bickering like siblings. I ought to ground all of you.'

'Momma, what do you think we should do?' Thea asked.

Fiona looked into each Chemist's eyes, her face unwavering. She opened her mouth to say something, but Tajana suddenly grasped her chest and hissed in pain. She swayed out of her chair and tumbled to the floor with a grunt.

'Tajana!' Chadwick dropped to his knees beside her. 'What's wrong?'

Tajana gritted her teeth and inhaled with a hiss.

Fiona knelt beside Tajana. 'Tactus!' she said. The Sensation Conversion relieved her of the pain, but her eyes fluttered and she wavered on the edge of consciousness.

'What's wrong?' Thea jumped down to the floor.

'I'm not sure,' Fiona said.

'Is it because of what happened to her Chimaera last night?' Chadwick asked. He gently brushed a strand of blonde hair out of Tajana's eyes. He took her hand and tried to rouse her, but she was about to pass out.

'What happened?' Fiona asked in alarm.

'Pethboc nearly killed Splenda,' Chadwick explained in a rush. 'He held a Fire Conversion up to him, and Tajana could feel him dying. It made her go catatonic, and they both nearly died, but Al saved the day,' Chadwick said, and he rubbed Tajana's shoulder to comfort her. Thinking of how his Mentor had nearly died like that made Chadwick's throat go tight.

'That wouldn't have any after-effects now,' Fiona said with a frown. 'Chadwick, you said that you were Paired together with my daughter last night?'

'What's that got to do with anything?' Chadwick asked, annoyed that she was talking about Thea right now with Tajana swooning on the floor.

'Answer the question!' Fiona insisted.

'Yeah, the Keeper made our escape from the mansion into our Joint Trial, so that I could be Thea's Mentor, because ... well because of what happened to Todd.'

Fiona nodded. 'Did you make a Chimaera?' she asked.

Tajana's hand was twitching in Chadwick's grasp. Chadwick felt tears prick at his eyes. 'What?' he said with exasperation. 'No-'

'I know what's wrong!' Fiona said in a rush. She fumbled for a Component and reached out to Tajana. 'Praesidium!'

Tajana inhaled, and her eyes fluttered open.

'Tajana! You alright now?' Chadwick asked.

She shook her head. 'We need ... to make-' Her eyes fluttered closed, and she stopped talking.

'Tajana!' Chadwick shook her, but she didn't respond.

'Tajana hasn't fulfilled her Joint Trial Oath,' Fiona said. 'Every Chemist makes the Oath. When Tajana completed her Joint Trial with her Mentor, she created her Chimaera and swore an Oath to repeat the ritual with her own Protégé. That's you, Chadwick. Tajana promised to help you make a Chimaera during your Trial, but she never got the chance to do it. Now the Oath is causing her Kundalini to tear her body apart from the inside out.'

Chadwick jumped to his feet. 'We have to save her! What do we do?'

'You need to make a Chimaera, right now,' Fiona said with a grim frown. Then she waved her hand in a grand gesture to quickly make a Teleportation Conversion Circle on the floor in a flurry of diamond dust. Chadwick gaped at her, thoroughly impressed with her ability to create such a complex Circle so quickly.

Fiona stood and held her hands out in a flourish. 'Spatium!' she called out, and the Conversion Circle went pure white, and a column of light appeared. 'Come on, let's go.'

Chadwick was the first to join hands in preparation of stepping into the Crystal Portal. He grabbed Thea's hand and knelt to take Tajana's. Fiona held Chadwick's hand and took Tajana by the hand. 'Hold on, dear. Praecantatio!' Fiona's Conversion roused Tajana. She lifted her head and blinked tears out of her eyes.

'Thank you,' Tajana said, though she slurred her words a bit; Chadwick clenched his jaw. Why was Tajana always the one who got hurt? Last night, she'd nearly died when Pethboc held her Chimaera at ransom. She had been severely wounded in the mansion library when the Protection Conversion exploded and killed Todd, and she had only just barely managed to heal herself. Now her Kundalini was trying to burn her up from the inside out because she was violating an Oath that she never had the chance to fulfil. It was so unfair!

Fiona touched Tajana's shoulder and said 'Kinesis!' Then with a simplegesture, Tajana floated up from the floor. Fiona quickly completed the circleby holding Thea's and Tajana's hands. 'One, two, three,' she counted, and thefour of them walked through the portal into the Crystal Dimension.

Thank you so much for reading.  See you soon for Part II of Chapter Three! Remember to vote and leave me a comment if you would like.
~A. C.