The Alchemists

"The only way to counter the Medusa poison is to weaken the poison in the body of a physically strong Alchemist. Ordinary humans do not have the adequate endurance and capability to do this. After I give Medusa to Aleksis, I will also take the poison and my body will automatically neutralize it. My blood vessels will take the poison to my heart where it will be neutralized. My blood will then contain the Medusa antidote, which can be given to Aleksis. Our blood type is a match. I could die if my heart is not able to neutralize the poison fast enough, but even if I die… you can still give my blood to her as the antidote."

Lauriel's face stayed flat when he was explaining the process to Caspar, while the latter looked shocked.

Caspar had expected something bad, but not THIS bad.

"You've done so much for Aleksis and Finland. I can't let you sacrifice that much... You can give me Medusa, and I will neutralize it. Aleksis is my daughter and our blood types also match..." Caspar said without hesitation.

He was willing to die for his child, even though his heart was broken at the thought of leaving Finland and Aleksis alone in this world. But even if he had to die, he was sure that Lauriel would look after them after his death.

Lauriel looked at him deeply. He was fascinated by Caspar's seriousness. This selfish womanizer had really changed, he thought.

Lauriel smiled and shook his head.

"Do you think Aleksis will be happy to know that her father died to save her? No. It would be better for me to sacrifice if all our other attempts fail. Aleksis is still so young. When she grows up, she will not remember me and will not be sad if I'm gone. But if she loses her father, can you imagine what her future would be, growing up without her father?"

Caspar was stunned. He did not believe in his own hearing.

"You... don't you love Aleksis? Don't you want to live for Aleksis?"

"I love Aleksis, and that's why her happiness is my priority. I think she would be happier to see her father alive to protect her and her mother. I have lived on this earth for a very long time, Caspar, and I am done with life. If I hadn't met Aleksis 2 years ago, I would have taken Death anyway. I am now living on borrowed time. Maybe this is my destiny, the reason why I survived after Luna and our child died..." Lauriel shrugged nonchalantly.

Caspar was increasingly surprised to hear Lauriel's statement. He did not know Lauriel and Luna had a child together.

"You had a child with Luna? Why don't I know this?" he asked Lauriel, confused.

"Hmm..." Lauriel closed his eyes, seemingly trying to erase the bitter memories from his mind, but he was willing to answer the question, even though his voice sounded bitter. "Luna was pregnant at the time, and that was why she decided to return to Germany to live with her sister while I finished my business in Asia. I should have been there with her... She died with our child, and I never had the chance to be a father. Fate then brought me together with Finland in San Francisco. When I saw her in San Francisco, she was heavily pregnant with Aleksis and was having such a difficult time. I felt that I was given the opportunity to help. If only someone helped Luna back then, maybe now I would not be alone..."

Caspar immediately felt Lauriel's sadness. If he experienced what Lauriel experienced, of course his sadness would not end and maybe he would hate humans and went to seclusion too.

"I'm really sorry, Lauriel. I didn't know..." Caspar approached Lauriel and hugged him. "I'm grateful for your kindness, but we'd better find another way... I also don't want Aleksis to lose her godfather..."

Lauriel seemed to be a little relieved after revealing the secret he had kept to himself for decades. His love for Aleksis was not solely because he saved Finland and accompanied her during childbirth. He felt that Aleksis filled a place in his heart where his own child should have been. That was why he was willing to do anything for the little girl.

"Nobody knows this..." Lauriel said after Caspar released his arms, "I hope you don't tell anyone..."

"Of course..." Caspar nodded.

He was still shocked by Lauriel's story. They had been friends for most of his life and he had always admired Lauriel. He felt grateful because all this time Lauriel had taken care of his wife and daughter, and Caspar really hoped that one day he could repay his kindness, but now he felt that Lauriel's sadness was too great that even he would not be able to do anything.

With that in mind, he decided to take the oldest bottle of wine he had along with two glasses. They needed to drink to ease this pain they are having, Lauriel for losing his child and Caspar for the situation Aleksis was in.

"Marion and Neo said Katia would stop by before Karl's show tomorrow night, before she leaves for Scotland. Would you like to meet Katia there?" Caspar asked as he handed Lauriel a glass of red wine.

The man nodded. "I will go tonight."

"I want to come with you. I changed my mind about Katia. I will beg her to give Aleksis the antidote. Maybe if she sees my sincerity she would soften... After all we were together for decades. I know that she is basically not an evil person. Maybe she only wanted revenge, and I'll give her the chance to punish me however she wants..." Caspar said firmly. "I want to try everything, and that includes begging..."

Caspar had really changed, Lauriel thought. He never expected that this man, an Alchemist aristocrate, who was highly respected and could get whatever he wanted, now was willing to humble himself in such a way as to save his child.

Maybe being a father did change a man into a better human being...

Lauriel thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

"All right. But what about Finland and Aleksis? Are you going to leave them here?"

"They will be safer if they don't come. I will ask Jean to come here and they can leave together to Scotland. We will meet in Glasgow before Ned and Portia's wedding. Jadeith and all my bodyguards will accompany them. I don't need a bodyguard when I am with you."

"All right. Then we leave tonight..."

Just then Finland and Aleksis entered and called the two for dinner. Caspar and Lauriel finished their wine and followed them into the dining room. When they were eating, Caspar expressed his intention to follow Lauriel to London. He did not tell the details of their plans, but he asked Finland to believe in him and waited for Jean to arrive at the castle to leave together to Scotland.

"I understand. You do what you need to do..." Finland responded. She was not worried when she learned that Caspar was leaving with Lauriel.

"After dinner, Daddy will go with Uncle Lauriel, don't be naughty at home..." Caspar said to Aleksis, who in Lauriel's presence no longer played with her food and acted like a cute little angel.

"All right, Daddy..." Aleksis answered while smiling sweetly.

"Jean will arrive here tomorrow afternoon. You will leave for Scotland together the day after tomorrow. Ben will take care of everything from London. I will leave Jadeith and all my bodyguards here to look after you." Caspar said to Finland.

"I understand."

After dinner, Caspar immediately packed his bag and prepared to leave. There was only two days left. Two more days, and all this would be over... he thought.

Finland and Aleksis escorted them to the front door. Caspar embraced Finland for a long time and kissed Aleksis before getting into the car. Lauriel hugged Aleksis and chatted with her briefly and nodded to Finland, before following Caspar into the car. A moment later the car left for the airport and disappeared from their sight.

On the way to the airport, both Caspar and Lauriel did not talk to each other. They had been experiencing mental exhaustion for almost two weeks and they only hoped that this problem could be resolved as soon as possible. Tomorrow they would be able to meet Katia.

***

Finland could not sleep that night. She knew that they were racing against time and she could not help feeling worried at the thought of losing Aleksis, who was now sleeping soundly beside Finland.

What if they fail?

She could not imagine losing the little angel who had filled her life these past two years.

The next day she felt very tired and had no appetite. Aleksis, who saw her mother sad, seemed to understand something was wrong and did not fuss at all.

Finland spent their time preparing their needs to leave for Scotland. She was comforted to learn that Caspar asked Jean to come to their place and accompany them to Scotland in Caspar's absence. This showed that Caspar was no longer jealous of Jean at all and that he could accept his friendship with Finland. This made the girl feel very relieved.

[I just landed in Stuttgart. I'll see you in an hour. Want me to bring some glow wine from the road?] Asked Jean that afternoon via text.

[Oh, you've arrived. Yes, in this weather it would be good to drink glow wine...] Finland said. [Buy it in the nearby village, so it will still be warm when you arrive here. Jadeith knows the place.]

[Okay.]

Finland had finished packing when Jean arrived at the castle. The man also looked tired, just like everyone around Finland today, because they were thinking about the fate of Aleksis. Jean still tried to smile and comfort Finland because he didn't want her to be depressed.

"Hey... Jean, I'm glad you came. How's your work?" Finland welcomed Jean's arrival by hugging him warmly.

"We just finished shooting for the movie. Now we are waiting for the editing and post-production. I want to take time off work for the next 6 months, and I will not take on a new project," Jean replied.

"Well, you've been working really hard for the past two years... It's best to rest for a while," Finland said. "After all, you've gotten what you wanted long ago. Now you're very famous. Isn't that what you always wanted?"

"Right. It turns out that being famous is not always good. Just now, at the airport, I had to put on so much effort to disguise myself so that I won't be followed by paparazzi..." Jean complained. "It's becoming very difficult to protect my privacy. Next month I will have to move to another house again because my address has been leaked..."

"You can follow Daniel Radcliffe's strategy. He wore the same clothes for 3 months to prank the paparazzi. They couldn't sell their photos because it seemed like they were all taken on the same day..." Finland said with a smile. She remembered that Jean always wanted to be famous, but now he was complaining about his popularity.

"Haha... maybe I will." Jean looked around and was amazed at not seeing Aleksis. "Where is Aleksis?"

"She is drawing in the library. I will call her," said Finland. She walked to the library to call her daughter, while Jean took two glasses from the cupboard to pour the glow wine he brought.

Finland's scream a few minutes later shocked Jean and he accidentally dropped the glass of glow wine from his hand. Broken glass and glow wine spilled on his clothes as he hurriedly ran towards the library.

Jean arrived at the library and saw a panicked Finland who was holding a seemingly unconscious Aleksis.

"He said we had two weeks... It's only been 11 days..." Finland was devastated. She panicked when she entered the library and found Aleksis lying motionless. She subconsciously screamed and tears started flowing down her cheeks.

Jean hurriedly took out his cellphone and called Caspar.

"Bad news, Aleksis is unconscious. Do you have a family doctor?"

"Oh my God..." Caspar sounded very surprised and worried. "I'll send a doctor now."

Less than 10 minutes later, a helicopter landed on the helipad behind the castle and several healthcare professionals immediately descended carrying their medical equipment. Aleksis was laid in her room and various equipment was immediately prepared and installed as the doctor checked on her condition.

"Her heart is pumping very slowly..." the doctor said, shaking his head. "This is not enough to wake her up. We must install a pacemaker."

Caspar called Finland and tried to calm her down. The girl kept crying and she almost fainted when the doctor mentioned his diagnosis.

"Honey, give the phone to the doctor, I want to talk to him," Caspar said.

With trembling hands Finland handed her cellphone to Doctor Fredrikson. Caspar, who was also a doctor talked with Doctor Fredrikson and discussed the best treatment that did not involve surgery.

Aleksis was still very small and he knew that her condition was caused by poison and not by heart-related problems. After consulting for some time, the doctor finally agreed to let Aleksis be and monitor her condition for 24 hours.

The air in the Schneider family castle that day was very suffocating.