A Thief's Treasure Read Free

still clothed in my uniform from the event I was just at.  
     
    “Okay….that doesn’t really answer anything though.   I still don’t understand why I’m even here.   I mean I know I’m important to you but why’s that?” I asked.
     
    It was now Tony’s turn to talk.   He cleared his throat and looked at me, his expression as solid as his body.   “We’re a family of alchemists and seers.   We’ve been practicing for over 1300 years and we have been residing here since I was ten.   We are a family business and my son Darren will take over the business once I decide to retire.   Until then, he’s my errand boy and he’s done a great job at it too.   We are protectors of the city and if we don’t then it’ll get destroyed,” he explained.
     
    “How?   I don’t understand the dang—“
     
    “That’s because the danger is beyond the human realm,” he said sharply.   After a moment he calmed down and his stern disposition took over again.   “Sorry it’s just a very sore subject for me when people talk about the crime being a small thing.   The danger in this town is in the realm of alchemy.   You don’t hear about it because we try to cover our tracks.   It’s for the best and that’s why you haven’t even heard about us until now.   We take magical artifacts and protect them from being used in the wrong hands.   It’s for the protection of the alchemic world; the alchemy council has their utmost respect for us, so it’s almost an honour to be brought here.   You’re treated nice, we have a strong clan despite there being only four including you, and you’ll learn from me about your innate power that dwells deep inside you.   You may not realize it yet, but you’re very strong and are a valuable factor to the success of this clan and not only our protection but yours as well,” he stated.
     
    I had no idea what he meant; how in the world could I have done for twenty years without knowing about all of this?   How did I not know I was an alchemist?   I mean for Pete’s sake it should’ve been obvious from the get-go.
     
    “How didn’t I know about any of this?   I mean shouldn’t my parents possibly think there’s something wrong and try to haul me off to some shrink?   I mean that seems like the normal thing a parent would do, try to get some help for their kid if they’re a freak.   Also, what do you mean by ‘magical artifacts ’?   I have never heard of them before,” I replied.
     
    “Well—“ Eliza started.
     
    “It’s final Eliza.   I’ll tell her; after all I am her dad’s best friend.   Why don’t you and Darren get the vase ready for the protection spell?” he instructed.  
     
    He said it calmly but powerfully and Eliza and Darren got up and left the room, leaving Anthony and me alone in the nearly-silent room.
     
    “Well now that they’re gone we can get started.   This is pretty powerful news and I don’t want to scare you without explaining why first,” he stated.   He walked up and grabbed a small tobacco pipe off the bookshelf and put in it a little bit of tobacco, smoking it nonchalantly.   I could tell he was a little nervous, after all not only was he smoking to calm down he was pacing too.   After a minute though he got his resolve and sat back down in the chair.
     
    “So what’s so special about my parents?   They’ve taken care of me since I was a baby and even though my birth parents died in a fire I was still raised by two amazing people.   If you want them to win parents of the year be my guests, I would totally vote for them,” I stated.
     
    “Well I’m not from a magazine nor do I have connections to them besides to clear my tracks, so I don’t think I’ll be doing that.   But if I ever meet anyone I’ll definitely put in a good word about yours to them.   How about we have some tea first though?” he replied.   Before I could reply he drew a small symbol on the old tea set on the table.