Chadwick felt that unnerving sensation of falling into space, and he had to inhale and swallow so that he wouldn't throw up. It was worse than normal this time; only yesterday he'd woken up in the Crystal Dimension because a Shadow had just kidnapped him. The fourth dimension was decidedly one of Chadwick's least favourite places now, perhaps only second to that bloody Shadow Mansion. If he ever had to go back to that place, it would be too soon.

The Crystal world became a blur as Fiona led the Chemists to a destination. They stopped long enough for the Alchemist to make a portal that would take them back to the third dimension, and then they walked into the black sphere together.

Chadwick stumbled as he looked around and realised they were in a zoo; a nearby sign said Bioparco di Roma.

'Separo!' Fiona said with her hand full of centella, and the Recreants who had stopped to stare at them all made blissful faces as they forgot what they had just witnessed. 'Think fast Chad,' she ordered. 'What two animals do you want to use to make your Chimaera?'

'I want a volucerta; part flame skimmer dragonfly and part sungazer lizard,' he said without hesitation.

'Wow, that's rather specific,' Fiona said.

'At least I'm prepared,' Chadwick countered.

'Chadwick!' Tajana said as the group started walking. 'You can't ... make a volucerta.' She gasped for air.

'Yes I can,' Chadwick retorted. 'The metazoan Affinity will be easy for me to protect, plus the fire Affinity can protect you and Splenda. Trust me Tajana, I thought this through.'

Tajana shook her head as Fiona and Chadwick walked her down the sidewalk beside the polar bear exhibit. They had to support her so she could walk, but she seemed to be recovering slightly, now that her Chakras were shielded from her surging Kundalini Energy.

'Separo,' Fiona said again, because they made an odd group-the two Chemists in all white, Tajana in her handmade garment covered in many-coloured pockets, unable to walk on her own, and Fiona with her frilly yellow dress and white apron covered in pockets. The Recreants couldn't help but stare at them.

'I thought ... you always wanted ... a feline bird Chimaera? The wind Affinity could ... protect you and ... then the Chimaera could fly?' Tajana sucked air in through her teeth.

'I changed my mind,' Chadwick said simply. He didn't want his Chimaera to die, the way that the vulpardus had died last night. A dead Chimaera almost always meant death for the Alchemist too, so it was vital that the Chimaera be strong enough to defend itself, but also that the Alchemist could protect it. Flight was essential, but even more than that, it needed to have the metazoan Affinity, so that Chadwick could protect it with his earth Affinity. Plus, he liked the idea of protecting his Mentor and her Chimaera too. 'Besides, I have you to protect me, Tajana.'

'You might have to settle for a different lizard or insect,' Fiona warned him. 'Don't be too disappointed, alright? The lizard is probably not a problem, but we'll see. Any lizard and insect will have those affinities.'

Chadwick set his jaw and didn't say anything. The truth was he had made his final decision because his mate Charlie had a volucerta, and it was the most magnificent Chimaera Chadwick had ever seen; fashioned in the image of Dragon himself, Drake was by far and away the coolest Chimaera Chadwick knew. Charlie had used a lime green dragonfly and an iguana, and as a result, his Chimaera was a dull green colour.

Chadwick wanted his Chimaera to be positively beautiful, and he knew that the sungazer and the flame skimmer would have a good chance of combining to make an orange Chimaera, which was his favourite colour. But was it okay to admit that he cared about what his Chimaera looked like? When Tajana was suffering like this, the answer was most definitely no.

The group entered a building with a sign that said Exotic Insects. Tajana stayed with Thea while Fiona and Chadwick searched the exhibits. Finally, they walked by a wall of large windows. On the other side, he saw a room with insects all out in the open, like a huge butterfly pavilion, and he shouted, 'In here!' before heading to the entrance.

Chadwick pushed his way through two layers of plastic strips hanging in the doorway. The room opened up into a brilliant dome with tropical plants and tons of insects fluttering about. Best yet, along the walls, real preserved specimens of insect species had been mounted, starting with the smallest in the world and ending around the curve of the path with what Chadwick hoped to be the largest. He hurried down the path until he reached the larger insects, and then he slowed down and studied the specimens.

Chadwick realised that all the specimens were butterflies or moths, and he frowned. What if they didn't have any dragonflies? This was a butterfly pavilion, after all. He hung his head in thought. Tajana couldn't wait for him to search this whole building for a dragonfly that maybe wasn't here.

Suddenly he spotted a yellow moth with elaborate trailing wings, and he smiled at the display case. The sign said it was a comet moth, and it was beautiful. What if he made a pacerta instead of a volucerta? It would have the same elemental affinities, but he'd use a moth instead of a dragonfly. He smiled at the idea.

Just yesterday, Chadwick had drawn an Extraction Conversion Circle on his wrist; he had used the Conversion to extract the glass from the window of their prison in the Shadow Mansion. He checked to make sure that the Circle was still there. Then he glanced around for any zookeepers, but the only people nearby were tourists. He knelt to scoop up a pile of sand from beside the path. With a smirk, he touched his wrist to the glass display case and said, 'Separo.'

Chadwick's Kundalini stirred at the base of his spine. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing as the Energy travelled up through each Chakra to the crown of his head. Finally, as his Kundalini left his body with a rush of bliss, Chadwick focused on the Insignia on his wrist, and the power channelled into the Circle. The glass in the display case slowly turned into white sand and fell to the floor. Chadwick deftly plucked the specimen from the case and slipped it into a pocket.

At that moment, Fiona caught up with him. 'I found a specimen,' Chadwick said. 'I'm going to try to call a moth to me; see what happens.'

'A moth? I thought you wanted a dragonfly?' Fiona made a face at him.

'I'm improvising, because there aren't any dragonflies in here.'

Fiona nodded. 'Please be subtle. The last thing we need is for all the moths in the place to land on you.'

'Got a pen?' he asked.

Fiona handed him a quill pen, and Chadwick hastily penned the Beast Insignia right on the wrist of his left hand. Then he closed his eyes. 'Belua,' he whispered. He felt his Kundalini channel up his spine a second time, more quickly. It passed through his Chakras until it finally left his body through his Crown Chakra. His Energy funnelled into the Insignia on his wrist, and then the power reached out to all corners of the room, searching for not just any moth, but the exact living copy of the moth specimen in his hand.

Chadwick opened his eyes and saw a large, yellow moth fluttering in his direction. He couldn't help but smile with relief. He stood very still, and the insect took its sweet time to approach, almost like it was being shy. Finally, it perched on the Insignia on his sleeve and put its wings back so that they merged together to make what looked like a single thick wing down the centre of its back. Chadwick turned to hand the pen back to Fiona.

'Let's keep moving,' she insisted, and he put his hand above the large moth, which was big enough that you could just barely see it around the edges of his hand. It was almost hidden, but not quite. He worried someone would catch him trying to steal the moth from the exhibit. 'Can you shrink her down?' he asked as he hurried to catch up with Fiona.

Fiona fumbled in a pocket and pulled out a rock. She reached to cup her hand over the top of the moth on Chadwick's arm. 'Minuo,' she said. The moth shrank down to the size of his fingernail, which was probably small enough that no one would notice her. He let the moth stay on his wrist.

The two returned to the building entrance where they found Thea and Tajana sitting on a bench just inside the door. Tajana was holding Thea's arm and rocking back and forth on the bench. Thea's free hand caressed Tajana's shoulder. Chadwick watched from across the entranceway, his stomach roiling. He jogged to reach them, leaving Fiona behind. 'I've got the insect,' he said quickly. 'Now let's head to the lizard exhibit.'

Fiona came up behind him. 'Praesidium,' she said with her hand on Tajana and some mysterious Component in her other hand. She renewed the shielding Conversion while Recreants looked on with curiosity.

'Um... might want to...' Chadwick said, pointing at the onlookers.

Fiona took out a green Component. 'Separo!' Around them, all the watching Recreants made blissful blank stares.

Tajana struggled to find her feet, and Chadwick pulled her up into his strong embrace. 'How you holding up, love?'

'It's better now, but I can still feel my Kundalini roiling up and down my spine. Still, it's much better than the rapid incineration from earlier.'

Chadwick winced. 'Is she going to have any lasting damage from this?' he asked, turning to look at Fiona.

She shook her head and clenched her teeth together in a grimace. 'It's possible, if we don't act quickly enough. Oaths are not to be trifled with. This is such a shame.'

'It's not a shame!' Chadwick retorted, surprising himself as well as all the nearby Recreants and Tajana too. 'It's utter negligence. This is the Keeper's fault. Why didn't he have us make a Chimaera yesterday? Or at least warn us that we'd need to do this as soon as possible? We could have taken care of it before it even started to hurt her.'

'That might be true Chad, but it's not going to change our current situation,' Fiona scolded. Chadwick clenched his jaw. He wanted to like Thea's mum, but she treated him like a little kid and kept calling him Chad instead of Chadwick, and he had to bite his tongue to keep from correcting her. She might be helping his Mentor, but that didn't mean he had to like her.

'Where are the lizards?' Thea asked, blissfully changing the subject and getting the group back on task.

'I don't know,' Chadwick said as he headed for the door. 'Let's look for a map.' They exited the building into the warm Italian summer breeze and looked about for a kiosk. Finally, Thea started off toward what looked like an information centre, and Chadwick followed, holding Tajana's hand and letting her lean on him. Fiona took up the rear, keeping her eye on Tajana. She didn't seem to be worsening at all, but the way she was walking had them all concerned.

Finally, Fiona pulled Tajana to a halt and said, 'Confervo,' with her hand on Tajana's back and a hidden Component in her hand.

'Thank you!' Tajana said with a sigh of relief.

'You're welcome, dear,' Fiona replied with a smile.

It only took a moment for Thea to locate the reptile exhibit on the kiosk, and then the group was off.

Thanks for reading. Vote and comment please! See you soon for the next chapter.

~A.C.