Page 188 of Alchemised

T HE RIVER FERRY CHURNED UP THE WINDING river, reaching the final bend and revealing Paladia to those aboard. The audible gasps gave away those who had never seen the famous city before.

It gleamed like a giant crown laid in the river, framed by towering mountains.

At the front of the ship, a young woman with large silver-grey eyes watched the city draw near, barely able to tear her eyes away as the ferry made port and passengers began to disembark.

She paused at the top of the gangplank, searching the crowd for a familiar face.

“Enid!” called a voice.

Several people turned to see former paladin Lila Bayard running towards the ship, her son Apollo behind her, and a few guards all trying to keep up.

Lila reached Enid first and crushed her into a hug before stepping back.

“Look at you. It’s been too long.” Lila dropped her voice down. “I was afraid I wouldn’t recognise you, but you look so much like your mum.”

Enid smiled. “Yes,” she said in a faint Etrasian accent. “Father always says that.”

Lila shook her head. “I can’t believe they finally let you come. I thought they’d want you to keep studying in Khem, but I’m so excited that we’re going to have you in the program.”

Enid gave a sly smile. “Well, they knew I always wanted to study at the Institute. The apprenticeships in Khem are done differently—it’s primarily metallurgical there.”

Lila reached back and dragged Pol, who’d been awkwardly hanging behind, into the conversation. Enid’s and Pol’s eyes met for only an instant before darting away.

“Well, I wish they’d let you come sooner.” Lila sighed. “Your academic qualities would have been extremely helpful here. Pol has unfortunately inherited the poor study habits of his father and me, and that’s why he had to take a pyromancy certification exam twice. ”

Pol turned bright red. “That was only on the written portion and that was years ago,” he muttered. “I passed it.”

“You’re supposed to run the Alchemy Institute someday. How is anyone going to take you seriously with transcripts like yours?” Lila said. “We’re lucky to have Enid here now. She’ll give us some proper academic legitimacy.”

Lila looked over to one of the guards. “Send her bags to Solis Splendour. We’re going to take the scenic route back to the Institute.”

A motorcar wound through the city, spiralling slowly up from the ports into the upper levels, headed north. It stopped at a plaza with a large open area. There were several tall columns encircling a statue.

Lila hesitated a moment and then began to open the door. “You should see this,” she said, stepping out. “It’s new, only finished a few weeks ago.”

There was a small crowd present, and most people drew back for the approaching party as Lila led the way to the centre.

The statue was of a Resistance soldier in combat armour and rappelling harness. At his feet were the words GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN .

The columns were smooth marble, filled with names. APOLLO HOLDFAST, LUCIEN HOLDFAST, SOREN BAYARD, SEBASTIAN BAYARD, EDDARD ALTHORNE, JAN CROWTHER, TITUS BAYARD … they went on and on.

Lila stood looking around them. “This was where the nullium bomb went off. One of the last places rebuilt, because it was so difficult to protect from the contamination. I wanted a memorial for everyone who died during the war, and this is where they put it. I think I like it, but … maybe nothing ever feels like it’s enough. What do you think?”

Enid shrugged, but her sharp eyes were rapidly scanning the columns. “I’ve never seen a war memorial before. I don’t know exactly how they’re supposed to make you feel.”

Lila inhaled. “I don’t know, either, I just hoped it would be more—”

Before Lila could finish her thought, a woman grasped hold of Enid’s arm, pulling her towards her. “Helena?”

Enid turned to stare at the stranger, a woman with long scars sliced across her face.

The woman cut herself off, snatching her hand back. There was a small puncture straight through her wrist. “No. No, of course not. I’m sorry. I thought you were someone I knew.”

Lila turned, and her lips trembled briefly before she spoke. “Penny, this is Enid Romano; she’s come here to join the undergraduate vivimancy program. Pol and I were giving her a tour.”

Penny stared at Enid for a moment longer, her eyebrows knitting together. “Oh.” Her voice was strained. “I’m sorry, I probably scared you, grabbing you like that. From behind you looked just like someone I knew. Lila, doesn’t she look like Helena?”

Enid’s expression was blank, and she glanced questioningly at Lila.

Lila squinted as if trying to see what Penny was referring to. “It’s the hair, I think.” Lila looked at Enid. “Helena Marino, she was part of the Resistance, but she died before the Liberation.”

Enid looked back at Penny. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Penny stood staring at Enid as if she were a ghost for another moment before she turned away.

They were scarcely alone for a moment before another voice interrupted.

“Lila, there you are, I haven’t seen you here since the memorial opened.”

A grimace flashed across Lila’s face before she forced a smile and turned. “Mrs. Forrester, what an unexpected pleasure.”

The woman was middle-aged and breathing heavily. “What’s this I hear about the Holdfasts being back at their old antics of importing foreign students?”

The smile on Lila’s face vanished. She straightened, taking full advantage of her height.

“Enid was a celebrated student in Khem, and she’s submitted a promising proposal on the use of vivimancy arrays for treating lung damage.

The Institute invited her here to support her research because several of the illnesses associated with the nullium bombing still lack effective treatment. ”

Mrs. Forrester’s face turned red, and she coughed several times, pressing a handkerchief over her mouth. “Oh, lung treatment, you say? That is interesting.”

Enid stepped away, leaving Lila to accept the weak apology. She went over to the columns, scanning the names, but there were so many, crammed together, name after name.

Within minutes, Lila and Pol both had crowds gathering around them. The Principate might be no more, but the allure of the Holdfasts endured.

Across the plaza, one of the buildings had a row of shops. Enid walked towards them, casting a look back and meeting Pol’s woebegone eyes before disappearing into a bookstore.

Just inside there was a large display of thick books.

A Comprehensive History of the Paladian Necromancy War by William Dover

Enid paused, staring at the books for a moment before picking up a copy.

“Just released this week,” said a clerk, standing nearby and eyeing the book in her hands.

“I didn’t recognise the title, so I figured it must have been,” Enid said, flipping the book open to peruse the chapter index, finger pausing briefly along the way.

“Well, if you’re wanting to understand Paladia and the war, this is definitively the best one there is. I mean, your dialect seems pretty good, but if you really want to know all the details and explanations for everything that went on—this is it.”

Enid arched an eyebrow. The clerk seemed to take it as a sign of encouragement and stepped closer.

“Dover spent more than ten years on it. Got special permission from the Assembly and the Liberation Front to access all the records, even trial transcripts that weren’t public yet.

It’s shocking stuff. Some chapters—I don’t recommend reading if your stomach isn’t strong.

But if you want to know what happened, this is the book that’ll tell you.

It’s all there. Everything people should know. ”

“Do you?” Enid asked.

The clerk looked uncertain.

“Know everything that people should know about the war?” Enid clarified.

The clerk cleared his throat. “Well—for me it’s hard not to. I was one of the ones born in the Tower. If you know what that means. There were trials. We kept getting moved around while they were arguing about what to do with us.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He cleared his throat. “Anyway. Reading that—helped put it all in perspective for me.”

Enid looked down at the cover again. “I’ll have to check it out, then. I’m from Etras, but even there, people still talk about the Paladian War.”

Still holding the book, Enid stepped past the clerk, wandering farther into the shop. Once she found an empty aisle, she quickly flipped the book open to its index and ran her finger through until she found the chapter title she wanted.

She flicked to the page.

Kaine Ferron, known to the world as the High Reeve, is the most infamous mass murderer in history.

By all estimates, he was the youngest to join Morrough’s Undying, only sixteen when he assassinated Principate Apollo Holdfast, plunging the city-state of Paladia into one of the most devastating wars in history.

Ferron devoted himself to climbing rank among the Undying.

Not only was he the youngest to “ascend,” but he went on to become the youngest individual to achieve the rank of general during the war.

Ferron’s proficiency as an alchemist and a vivimancer was widely regarded as unnatural and the result of the horrific human experimentation that came to define the Undying’s regime, but unlike most of Artemon Bennet’s subjects, Ferron’s participation was voluntary.

Many of the Undying retired from service post-war.

However, Ferron’s ascent was only beginning.

He led the efforts to capture and interrogate all remaining Resistance members, killing them for use in the lumithium mines.

His predilection for slaughter was key in achieving his status as High Reeve and his eventual acknowledgement as Morrough’s successor.

It is the belief of many that if the Ferron family had not been murdered by Ivy Purnell, the Undying regime could have lasted decades longer. Morrough’s condition was so deteriorated that many believe he would have handed control of Paladia to Ferron before the year’s end.