The Alchemists

Alaric was accustomed to waking up early in the morning. His biological clock never failed.  That morning he woke up at 6 a.m. but as he had been having nightmares again he felt more tired than usual.

As he got out of bed, a message on his cell phone immediately caught his attention. Alaric knew that no one would dare to disturb him during the night and would wait until morning to contact him.

[There is interesting news in the St Mary University group chats in Splitz. Maybe Master would want to check it.]

He recognized Takeshi's writing style and immediately looked for the news.

For five long minutes Alaric was glued to his cell phone and scanned the news items and gossips exchange on Aleksis' arrival at the St. Mary University.

He even saw some photos of the girl there!

His forehead twitched and for a moment as he became confused ... what exactly was happening? Wasn't Aleksis declared dead by the doctors in Stamford hospital? How could she now show up in Singapore? Who had lied to Alaric and what were their reasons ??

He dialed Takeshi's number and contacted his foster son.

"I'm listening," Alaric said curtly.

Takeshi cleared his throat and began his report. "It's a coincidence, Sir. Today the news on Miss Aleksis' return filled the university's Splitz group chats. It appears she had suddenly returned to Singapore. It so happened that Rosalind and I were in Singapore on our way to Japan, so we immediately checked out the rumours."

"And … ?"

"It really is Miss Aleksis. She is suffering temporary memory loss due to a coma of several weeks after the accident. To my knowledge, it sometimes happens to people with severe head trauma ..." Takeshi turned to Rosalind who gave him a slightly annoyed look while shaking her head, "Miss Aleksis recognized my name, but other than that she did not remember anything. She also did not recognize your home."

"Is she there?" Alaric asked in a trembling voice. He couldn't resist the urge to see Aleksis.

Takeshi sent a picture of Marion sitting on the marble steps of the back porch admiring Alaric's bonsai garden.

The girl in the photo looked exactly like Aleksis and for a moment Alaric was speechless. He had really missed the girl. For a month he had been struggling with feelings of sadness and anger for losing track of Aleksis.

But he must not let his guard down.

"You didn't investigate why she suddenly appeared on campus today?" Alaric asked in a flat voice. His eyes stared at the photo on his cell phone. "Doesn't this look suspicious? As far as I know, Aleksis really likes her privacy and won't just appear like that, especially after the incident."

Takeshi was silent. He knew Alaric was right and he had also thought about this, too.

"Master is right. Therefore, we are not in a hurry to take action but decided to wait for your instructions," Takeshi replied. He did not want to snitch and left out the fact that Rosalind had suggested to get rid of Aleksis so that the secrets about their group would not be exposed to outsiders.

Alaric remembered that eight years ago Aleksis had also experienced a temporary memory loss after she fell from a speeding car. Gradually her memory had returned and she could remember the names of her younger brother, Uncle Rory, and her mother and father. Maybe now she would too. After all, she had remembered Takeshi's name. Maybe she just needed time.

If the girl really was Aleksis, and she really had lost her memory, Alaric knew he should better stand back and give her time to recover, until Aleksis could remember him and came looking for him. Until then he should be careful not to force his way back into the girl's life and so he would look out for her from afar.

Alaric took a deep breath and made a decision.

"Send her home and watch over her from afar. Make sure she stays safe ... Maybe she returned to campus because she wanted to regain her memory."

Alaric had one way to prove whether the girl was truly Aleksis or not.

Takeshi hung up and exchanged glances with Rosalind. He then walked out and approached the fake Aleksis.

"Thank you, Miss, for waiting. I will now take you home."

Marion was surprised. She didn't expect that Takeshi would just let her go home that easily. What had happened? Had he contacted Alaric? What had they decided? Why didn't Takeshi tell her anything?

"Uhm ... I don't understand why I was brought here. My question hasn't been answered," Marion said in a slightly annoyed tone. "What secrets are you hiding from me? Who are you? Who owns this house, and why was I brought here?"

Takeshi remained friendly and respectful and answered to her question.

"I brought you here to trigger your memory. Maybe we aren't successful today but that's okay. I don't want to tire you out. We'll try again later. And as I said earlier, this is your home. Hopefully you will remember it soon."

The way he put it, Marion couldn't argue anymore. She shouldn't be too pushy and arouse Takeshi's suspicion, she thought.

"Alright, please take me home ..." she finally nodded.

Takeshi signalled for Marion to follow him and then they left the house. The taxi's android driver, which had been non-active, now suddenly started functioning and opened the door for Marion. After closing the door, Takeshi went behind the car and pressed a few buttons on his cell phone. Immediately the car slid smoothly through the gate.

Five minutes later the vehicle was at a safe distance from the mansion and Marion could breathe with relief. She was not afraid of danger, but now she was in a situation where she was truly alone and unable to contact anyone and she felt terrible.

What if the Rhionen Assassins turned out to be Aleksis' enemy? They could have killed Marion disguising as Aleksis without leaving a trace and the Wolf Pack would never know what had happened to her.

And then she thought about Jean who might also be confused about her absence because she had left the penthouse without leaving a message.

Ugh, why am I thinking about Jean? He and I do not have anything to do with each other. Why should he worry about me ...? I also don't have to ask for his permission to do this mission and keep him updated, Marion scolded herself.

She admitted that since Jean kissed her last month in Switzerland, she had often thought about the man. Especially since yesterday they had … kissed again

Ugh ...

Focus, Marion! Your job is not finished, she told herself.

Marion again counted the right and left turns and made a rough map in her mind so that later when she arrived at the penthouse she could estimate the location of the mansion she had just left.

Ten minutes later she arrived at the Continental Building. The car stopped smoothly in front of the courtyard and the doors opened automatically. 

Very sophisticated, she thought.

Marion hurriedly jumped out of the car and immediately went up to the 100th floor. She had to give a report to her friends.

Although for now she did not have any important information, they must be able to identify the girl who was with Takeshi and also the owner of the mansion she had visited. They also had to think of ways to plant a tracker on Marion's body, so that if Marion was captured again, she could always be found.