Truth

I awoke to the sound of brisk knocking on my door. Immediately upon waking, my entire body screamed at me in rage. Ah, right. I danced a lot last night and my body was not used to that kind of exertion.

The knocking came again, louder. “Go away and let me die in peace,” I groaned, covering my face with my pillow. “What time is it?”

“It is half a mark after sunup,” came Arnya’s brisk voice through the door. “At the ball last night, you insinuated you would reveal the truth to me about the alchemy book.”

There was something in her voice... “are you mad at me?”

“I’m deciding. Let’s just say last night was...emotionally draining. Processing those multiple mixed feelings shal be a lengthy process.” She paused and added “although the speed in which you keep your promises may influence my decision.”

I guess I deserved it. “Give me a moment to get dressed,” I mumbled, rolling out of bed.

Kyn and I slept in chambers next to the lab but not connected to it. I felt bad waking him, but he hadn’t been at the ball. He was already rousing, so I ordered him to dress.

Twenty minutes later, both I and Kyn dressed and more-or-less awake, I opened the door. Standing right behind it was Arnya, Gaz, Gwyn, and Carina. Of course, none of them looked the least bit tired despite the last night.

“Have you been waiting here this whole time?” I asked Arnya. Then I pointed at the other two. “And what are they doing here?”

Arnya said “I am not hungry. And I can do my thinking before your door just as well as anywhere else, so I saw no reason to leave.” She paused. “Also! I have decided I am not angry with you. I think.”

Gwyn bowed, flashing a smile full of perfect teeth. How did anyone keep such good dental hygiene here without toothpaste? “And as you recall from last night, as of now I am princess Arnya’s bodyguard, so I must naturally travel with her. Although,” he added, speaking to Gaz, “I now see the princess has been in fine hands this entire time. I am relieved.” Gaz woofed something in return.

Carina interjected “and I’m here to ask a favor of you, actually. I dabble in alchemy, so the opportunity to learn from such a famous alchemist was too fine to ignore.” She offered a half-curtsey like a motion I had seen from Arnya in the past, accompanied with a winning smile.

Ah. That was going to be a bit awkward. I turned to Kyn for help, but he was hiding behind me. Right, these were a pair of complete strangers who had shown up in front of his door this morning. Any kid would be a bit intimidated.

“Right, Gaz, Arnya, you two deserve the truth. You too,” I said, patting Kyn on the head. “But frankly, I only met Gwyn and Carina yesterday. Why should I trust them?”

Arnya met my gaze steadily. Just hours ago, her expression had been full of pleasure and joy as we danced. But now, the gaze was steel determination. “I trust Gwyn with my life,” she said.

Gwyn added “and naturally, I trust my wife with my life. Worry not, Court Alchemist! Unless it is of a great danger to the realm, your secret is safe with us.”

“All right.” I took a deep breath. “The truth is: I am not the Court Alchemist.” I got puzzled looks in return. “Let me explain. My name is Rei, but I am not the Rei you know. I’m from another world.” More silence. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that this was hard to believe. “Kyn. Do you remember the alchemical experiment where I would try to contact another world for information?”

“Yes. It was a failure, right? That’s what you said.”

I looked to Arnya. “This was the night you walked into the lab with me on the floor amid shattered glass. A few days before we, er, ended our engagement. In my world, I was conducting a similar experiment. Not with alchemy but with experimental multiversal physics—wait, that detail doesn’t matter. The point is, something went wrong, and I ended up possessing the body of the Rei from this world. The real Court Alchemist.” I spread my hands. “Alchemy doesn’t exist in my world. That’s why I haven’t helped you lately, Kyn. I’m sorry about that, by the way. That’s why my personality changed so rapidly. I am a different person from the Rei you know.”

Kyn was wide-eyed, this information too much to handle. Gaz, Gwyn, and Carina still looked uncertain. Arnya, however, ran her fingers through her green hair in a thinking posture. “I believe it,” she said finally. “At least, I want to believe it. As you said, Rei, you did change drastically and suddenly. I thought you had come to a sort of epiphany, but knowing the nature of the alchemist Rei... well! I suppose I no longer need feel conflicted about befriending a man I spent so long rebuffing.”

Kyn said “so, master, you’re not really my master? Where is he?”

“I have a theory about that.” I described the visions of returning to my world with my body acting outside of my control. “From what I gather, the other me, the real court alchemist, is devoted to research. I think he’s stuck in my world, replicating my process, trying to switch us back. Maybe if I can also reproduce what he did, we can reverse the process.”

Gaz woofed something. The others looked at me as if waiting for a reply, but I shrugged. “I’m sorry, Gaz. In my world there are no dogmen. This whole time I haven’t been able to understand your language.” Arnya explained that Gaz had asked about the potion that kept the king strong and healthy. “I put Kyn on reproducing the Potion of Youth,” I explained.

The boy looked horrified. “Then, master, it wasn’t a test?”

“Erm…I guess it still was. Call it a practical test.”

Arnya cut in “Rei, you always said you were the only one in the world who could create that potion. Wait, not you. Rei did. The other Rei.” She stamped her foot. “Ugh, this is confusing!”

“Let’s hope he was wrong. But we have to assume he wasn’t, which makes it even more important to switch us back.”

“But stranger-who-looks-like-master,” Kyn piped up, “the preparations to recreate the other world alchemy will take at least 25 days! And we only have enough of the real Potion of Youth to last 5!”

“Will you be ready with your reverse-engineered brew by then?”

“Yes, not-master. But I still don’t know which of the two possibilities is correct!”

Ah. There was that little detail I had forgotten. Before I could think further Gwyn laid his hand on my shoulder. His grip was gentle but firm; I wasn’t going anywhere. “I am afraid, Sir Rei, this is of grave import to the realm. We must report this to the king immediately.”

Carina made a move as if to restrain her husband but I said “he’s right. We’ll go to the king.”

The six of us walked to the throne room. The doors were shut and we heard the sounds of arguing from inside. I wanted to go in but the dogman explained the king had a very important guest, so we waited.

After about ten minutes, the doors slammed open. Lord Farsight stormed out, bags under his eyes and still dressed as he had been the previous night. “You cannot continue to disrespect the Council like this!” he shouted over his shoulder. “I will get my vote of no confidence if you do not learn to be flexible!”

The king responded in a voice as frosty as Arnya could be. “I will not ‘be flexible’ on allowing murder in my kingdom. That is final. Enjoy your trip home, Lord Farsight.” The opulent lord noticed us on his way out but did not acknowledge us.

When the king let us in, Arnya wasted no time explaining the entire situation. With every word, he seemed to sink further into his chair. “Blood and bones, I can only keep Farsight in check with the threat of an alchemically enhanced army,” he muttered. “And you have no way of knowing which potion is the true and which is false?”

Kyn trembled. “I am sorry Your Majesty. They look, smell, taste, and react to Infusion the same. And if you cease drinking regularly…well, my master wasn’t clear, but I think all your old age will suddenly catch up to you. Kaboom!”

The king took a deep breath. “Then I stake it all on a coinflip.” He suddenly laughed. “Well, I’ve taken worse odds before. Young Kyn, false Alchemist. You shall attempt to bring back the true alchemist. Sir Gwyn, you must also act as a bodyguard for the pair. Miss Carina, I have heard rumors of your studies; assist in the alchemy as best you can. And granddaughter: should the worst happen, you must take control of the political situation.” We all nodded. The king continued “I am sure you all know not to breathe a word of this outside this room. In fact, do not speak of this even in private. Farsight has eyes and ears in many places.”

Every face was grim except for the king, who wore a thrilled look. “Blood and bones,” he whispered again, “I suppose my adventurous days are not over yet.”

In the stories the hero from another world would use some clever tactic or overwhelming magical force to turn the tides. But this wasn’t the stories. I could do nothing more than an ordinary college student. And this knot of dread terror was a mark of a real fantasy world.