The Alchemists

Terry arrived the next morning and hurriedly knocked on Jean's door to make sure that his father was all right. He had switched off his social media platforms and finally his cellphone after returning from the concert yesterday because he was tired of answering all the questions people had about his relationship with Jean and Billie which was revealed at the concert.

Terry only learned what had happened when he woke up the next morning and saw the breaking news in various media. The shooting incident was reported on a large scale but there was no clarity about how many victims there were and who was behind the shooting.

As per Marion's order, Max and the police succeeded in concealing the identities of Takeshi and Rosalien. None of their images were captured by the media. And few journalists who managed to obtain their pictures had been arrested by the police, and the images and footages had been deleted.

Marion wanted to take care of the two assassins herself and she waited for Lauriel to arrive before taking action. Max took Takeshi and Rosalien to a hidden place and made sure that the two could not contact each other.

"Hey ... what's up?" Jean asked as he left his room. He looked haggard from having so many things on his mind. Terry, seeing that his father was fine, suddenly rushed over and hugged Jean with a combination of relief and fear at the same time.

He was really afraid that Jean became a victim in the shooting and he would lose his parent a second time. The death of a parent would leave a deep mark on their child's heart; to this day Terry still often missed his father and mother. He could not imagine that he had to go through that ordeal one more time.

On the way to the penthouse, Terry's chest was pounding hard. He regretted that he had not openly showed his affection for Jean and Finland, mainly because they became a family when he was already 15 years old and so there was a natural distance between them.

His relationship with his biological parents were different compared to the relationship Aleksis and her younger siblings had with Finland as they had been together since infancy. They had an extraordinary closeness and it was very easy for them to express their feelings of love to each other and their parents.

Last night's event made Terry change his priorities. He came to realize that human life was very fragile, and even though they were immortals, death could still come at any time.

"Dad ... I was really worried, my cellphone was dead, I couldn't contact you earlier," whispered Terry, tightening his arms, "I'm so glad you're okay."

Jean patted his son's shoulders affectionately, "Ah, about that... Sorry, there's a lot going on here and I forgot to charge the battery. But everything's fine."

"Who is the victim? Has the culprit been arrested?" Terry asked after releasing his arms.

At that moment Marion's door opened and the girl just stared at the emotional scene between father and son with a flat expression. She understood how it felt, as her father and mother had also died.

"Neo got a few shots, but he will be fine," Marion said. "Lauriel is coming this way. The perpetrators have also been arrested and we will take care of them soon."

Jean looked at Marion. He was about to say something but she just looked away, not wanting to give him a chance to explain why he hadn't picked up his phone for the dozen of times Marion called him.

This morning Marion woke up feeling embarrassed because she remembered that she acted like a 'desperate' girl last night by constantly trying to call Jean.

She found her jealousy very disturbing. That was why Marion decided to get rid of all personal matters in order to focus on her task. She had decided to ignore Jean and act as if nothing had happened between them.

She made a simple breakfast with a nonchalant attitude and invited the father and son to sit and eat pancakes and drink coffee. Jean could do nothing about Marion who was treating him like he was a stranger.

After they finished breakfast, Marion announced that she would pick up Lauriel at the airport and they could not leave the penthouse without contacting Max or Endo.

"I don't want you to be in danger," she said firmly. After taking her black glasses and car keys, she left the penthouse.

Jean just looked at her departure while sighing softly.

Couldn't Lauriel come here alone? Why did Marion have to pick him up at the airport? Secretly Jean felt rather annoyed.

***

Alaric impatiently waited for the driver and his staff to pick him up at the VIP waiting room. He then decided to walk outside and ordered the driver to take the car to the regular passenger terminal pickup. It was faster and more practical, he thought.

Even though he could not sleep at all last night because he was too eager to, hopefully, be able to look for Aleksis, Alaric's appearance still attracted the attention of many women who passed by him at the airport.

His very handsome face with fine lines and a cold attitude radiated a mysterious impression; plus, his platinum-colored hair made him look very attractive. His clothes were neat and he looked very rich from head to toe. Many people looked at him almost in worship and Alaric realized it all.

These humans were very sickening, he thought.

He did not like crowded places and wanted to disappear from there as soon as possible.

Because he was in a hurry, he didn't realize that a man who was also rushing like him walked towards him from his right. Their bodies almost collided when at the last second Alaric stopped in his tracks and then dodged.

Reflexively he could feel when there was another human body that would touch him so that he could avoid it on time.

When he looked to the right, he saw a man with slightly larger built than him who had almost touched him. The man squinted his pair of blue-green eyes and murmured, "Sorry, I'm in a hurry."

"Hmm ..." Alaric suddenly remembered Aleksis' pair of blue-green eyes that he had been missing so much. He closed his eyes and sighed, then moved away.

He did not remember that 18 years ago he had met this man with blue and green eyes. Eighteen years was indeed a very long time, and at that time the light on the night train they were riding was quite dim, so he couldn't pay closer attention to the color of Uncle Rory's eyes.

Lauriel looked at the impressive-looking young man and walked away. He felt as if he had seen him somewhere before. His face looked very familiar.

He tried to remember, but nobody came to mind.

If Lauriel had kept a photo of Princess Luna, his girlfriend, and remembered her face well, maybe at that moment he would have known where he had seen that face before. The young man who left him coldly toward the terminal exit looked exactly like the only woman he had ever loved.

"Hey ...! What are you thinking about?" Marion's pat on Lauriel's shoulder moved the man from his reverie.

"Hmm ... everything is fine. Let's go." Lauriel tried to focus on Neo's condition and what they had to do with the two assassins captured by Marion.