Chadwick scanned the giant room and saw someone waving, further down the rings of white marble benches and slightly across from him. It was Tajana.

Chadwick smiled and waved back.

Thea got up to leave, but Chadwick grabbed her arm. 'Let's catch up with Tajana.' He pointed across the room.

Just as he pointed, Tajana created a cloud and proceeded to levitate across the room. She came toward the two Chemists, kneeling on her cloud with a grim expression on her honey-coloured face.

Chadwick was surprised to see her wearing a bright blue smock over her white tunic and slacks. The smock was covered in hand-stitched pockets of all colours. He'd never seen her in that ugly thing before, and he couldn't help but wonder if Tajana had asked for a replacement waistcoat yet.

But the bright blue colour did make her pearly blonde hair look especially beautiful as it cascaded over her shoulder. Even though her brown eyes were cloudy with worry and her pink lips were turned down in a frown, she was still the most beautiful girl in all the halls, at least as far as Chadwick was concerned.

Tajana landed beside them and promptly swatted Chadwick in the shoulder. 'I thought you were going to say something entirely stupid in front of everyone,' she said, her tone filled with accusation. 'But it turns out you only said something somewhat stupid.'

Chadwick scoffed playfully. 'Blame the Magister for that! The Keeper always knew better than to open up the room for questions.'

Tajana had nothing more to say about that, apparently, because she turned to Thea and pulled her into a hug. 'How are you doing, Thea?' she asked as she buried her face in Thea's curly brown hair.

Thea put her head against Tajana's shoulder and sighed. With a pang of jealousy, Chadwick watched his Mentor hug his Protégé. A hug like that sure would feel great right about now!

'Is your Kundalini still flaring up?' Tajana whispered so softly Chadwick almost didn't hear.

Thea nodded. 'It comes and goes. C.C. helps, but it's bad.'

'Let's go find you a Guru,' Tajana said, pulling away. She turned to lead the way out of the Chamber of Trials.

'I don't suppose we could go make my Chimaera first?' Chadwick asked.

'Don't be ridiculous,' Tajana said. 'Taking care of Thea is far more important.' She grabbed Thea by the arm, and the two girls joined the throng of Chemists heading toward the door.

Chadwick spun after them, holding his arms out in indignation. 'Don't be putting words in my mouth!' he shouted over the bustle of all the Chemists leaving the Chamber. 'I'm not saying she's unimportant, but ... we're talking about something I've been looking forward to for years, is all.'

'Are you all out of patience, then?' Tajana asked, looking back over her shoulder at him. Thea turned to look back at Chadwick too. Both girls had morose looks on their faces, and it was enough to finally remind him that it wasn't always all about him. Thea looked positively miserable, and he wanted to cheer her up, somehow.

Chadwick pushed his lips into a fine line. 'Nearly, but I'll wait,' he said finally, and he went after them. 'But first, where's my hug?'

Tajana half turned to look back at Chadwick with a scoff. 'Don't be jealous, Chadwick,' she said.

Thea snorted and covered her mouth.

Chadwick smirked at Tajana. She looked at Thea and tilted her head with an open-mouthed smile at how they had managed to lighten the mood.

'Not you,' he joked, waving his hand as if to dismiss Tajana. 'Al, come on,' Chadwick said as he held his arms up.

Althea turned to give Chadwick a scathing look. She obviously hated to be called Al. Tajana giggled quietly. 'No offence, Chad, but when you ask like that, I'd really rather not,' Thea said.

Tajana openly laughed at that comment.

Chadwick grabbed Thea in a giant bear hug. The girl's long curly hair tickled his neck. 'The name's Chadwick,' he retorted.

'Let me go, Chad,' Thea said with a laugh, and Chadwick grinned. It was only proper for her to call him Chad, when he knew that it drove her absolutely batty when he called her Al, but he did it anyway. Thea tried to wiggle out of the hug.

He winced as she put pressure on the bruises covering his chest. The pain gave him mental flashbacks of last night; the three Spectrums had managed to escape the Shadow Mansion for a brief moment, but the Shadow Alchemists had recaptured Chadwick and Tajana. The Shadows hadn't been very friendly to him then. The bruises on his ribs would be a painful reminder for weeks to come.

Chadwick let her go just like that. Thea was surprised to be free so suddenly. She stumbled and hit her knee on a stone bench. 'Ouch,' she said under her breath.

'Sorry, Al,' Chadwick said, mentally kicking himself. He had almost managed to cheer his Protégé up, but he had taken it too far and injured her instead.

Together the three of them made a quiet procession surrounded by the loud chatter of all the Chemists who were rushing off for breakfast or to play games in the Roots.

Chadwick pondered what it would have been like to be Thea last night. Sure, they'd all had one heck of a rough night, but Thea had seen the worst of it. Thea had managed to escape the Shadow mansion and brought back help. The Keeper had been forced to make a trade: Tajana and Chadwick for the freedom of the Code Breaker.

And once the Code Breaker was free, all hell had broken loose. Ruis Pethboc had apprehended Tajana's Chimaera. When Thea saw that Pethboc was hurting Tajana, the brave young Chemist had rushed in to try and get Dušan back. The result had been a disaster. The Code Breaker and Pethboc had overtaken Thea and disappeared into the mansion with her.

Chadwick shuddered at the reminder. Whatever had happened to Thea inside that mansion, it was between her and those Shadows. Chadwick didn't know, and he honestly didn't want to know what they had done to her. It had taken nearly ten minutes for the Keeper's Alchemists to finally rescue Thea. And she had somehow managed to get Tajana's Chimaera back. But in the end, things still turned out wrong when Thea's father was trapped in an Eternity Prison. This was obviously weighing heavily on the young Chemist's heart. Chadwick felt for her, he really did.

'MacNamara!' The voice knocked Chadwick out of his thoughts, and he turned to see Charlie float down from the crowds that were taking an aerial route out of the Chamber of Trials. Charlie waved and smiled like a loon as he pushed through a small crowd to reach them.

'Oi, Charlie!' Chadwick raised his hand and grinned.

Charlie wore a long indigo waistcoat; he was tall and lanky, with a shock of dark hair which contrasted with his pale face. His nose was sprinkled with freckles, his arms were covered in Conversion Circle tattoos, and his ears, lip, and eyebrow were decked out in piercings. He even wore tunics with the sleeves torn off. Charlie looked and acted rather like a punk, Chadwick always thought, but that was one reason why they got on so well.

He always would remember the first words out of his mother's mouth when she first met Charlie. She'd taken one look at him and said, Looks like you brought home a long lost brother. Where'd you find him? They'd been like blood ever since.

'Can you believe this bollocks?' Charlie said, waving his hand in the Magisters' direction.

'I know!' Chadwick said. 'It's absolute rubbish!'

'Enough about that. You're a Chandler now?!' Charlie exclaimed with a wide-mouthed grin. 'How's that, then?'

'It's a long story, sorry to say. It'll have to wait.' Chadwick pointed at Charlie. 'Not to worry, though. I'll regale you with my fascinating exploits soon enough!'

Charlie cocked his head. 'Is this the story of how you got nabbed by that Shadow yesterday?'

'I suppose I could throw that whole thing in as well,' Chadwick said with a grin.

'Then you've got yourself a deal!' He jostled Chadwick in a headlock, the way Chadwick had done to Thea a bit ago.

The physical contact to his ribs made him wince. Charlie's roughhousing seriously hurt his battered body. 'Lay off!' Chadwick said with a stifled groan.

'Only if you insist!' Charlie said as he let Chadwick go and shoved him into Tajana. Chadwick tried not to bump her, but he ended up practically hugging her as they bumped bodies, and Tajana glared at Chadwick, as if the physical contact had been his fault. 'I'm off to breakfast! Care to join me?' Charlie said.

Chadwick looked at Thea and Tajana. 'Not today,' he said. 'But we'll catch up later!' he assured Charlie as his friend pulled a Component from a pocket, mumbled a Word, and funnelled his Kundalini into twin Insignias engraved into silver bracelets on his wrists. He literally floated himself up and over the crowd, and just like that, he was gone. Charlie had always been a natural at the Manipulation Conversion; that was one of his favourite tricks. 'Show off,' Chadwick muttered under his breath.

The three of them reached the double doors and finally exited the crowded Chamber of Trials. They milled about the crowd in the large antechamber, aiming for the Great Hall, but the hallway was jammed with Chemists.

There, on the Keeper's massive door, was the mark of the Trinitas; the mark was crossed out with a big dripping red X. Underneath, someone had posted a long list of names-people who worked for the Trinitas. There was a separate column for the Keeper of the Code, the Code Giver, and the Code Breaker. With a jolt, Chadwick realised that it was the list his father had spoken of. The list that falsely incriminated Thea's father, and Chadwick's too.

An uproar spread down the hall. Chadwick reached and grabbed Tajana andThea by the hand. 'Let's get out of here,' he whispered urgently, pulling them in the other direction.

Thanks so much for reading. See you soon for the next chapter! Please vote and leave me a comment if you would like. I'd love it if you could share this book with your friends, family, and followers. Thanks!

~A.C.