Second Story Bookstore

Rei closed her book and stretched in her chair. She looked lazily around the room and wondered what the chances were of there being food in her refrigerator. She mentally cataloged what had been there earlier in the day and quickly came to the conclusion that she needed to go shopping. She looked at her watch and decided to close early and go shopping.

Closing took no time at all since all and she grabbed her keys off the counter and made her way down the metal staircase. She reached the bottom and pulled up short and stared in shock a moment at the young boy in front of her.

"Hey, been a while," she said, smiling and leaning against the counter.

Will was surprised she had conviently come down the moment he needed to speak to her.

"It has. And I have a apology to make. My actions yesterday were inexcusable. That book held deadly water alchemy.... the same I was almost forced to-"

He cut himself off

"N-never mind. By the way..... I would like to purchase that book on farming some time"

Rei raised an eyebrow but did not ask about his unfinished sentence. "If you want you can buy it right now," she said, pointing up the stairs with her thumb. "And don't worry about yesterday. I expect as much from little kids." She playfully ruffled his hair and started up the stairs.

Will puffed up his cheeks, but quickly released the air. He was thankful she was understanding about the situation, and headed up to find the book. He quickly found it, and brought it to the register.

"13$, am I correct?"

Rei took the book and inspected it to make sure the book was in good condition. Satisfied she began to hand it back then changed her mind, her curiosity overwhelming.

"Don't suppose you're willing to let me in on your secret? You know a good amount about water alchemy and I want to know what's so special about my book." She leaned against the windowsill and crossed her arms, book tucked held firmly in her hand.

Will bit his lip

"If I tell you, you must tell no one. Not Ace, the military, or anyone."

Will looked away

"I don't want that nightmare happening again"

Rei nodded and directed his attention to the back of the store with a tilted of her head. "Let's take this upstairs, then. We're guaranteed to have privacy up there. 'Sides, there's food up there."

She led the way to the back, farming book forgotten in her hand as she unlocked the door leading upstairs. She half turned and winked at him as she began the ascent. "This time you have my permission to come up."

Once in the narrow hallway upstairs, she opened the nearest door and led him into the kitchen. She grabbed a glass from the counter and a bottle of milk from the refrigerator, both of which she set on the table. "Feel free to tell the story at your leisure. I have time," she said, leaning back in a chair at the table, patting the other chair, inviting him to sit.

Will swallowed, nervous. He then began telling the story.

"When I was young, I was gifted with the ability of water alchemy. It helped our farm out alot, so everything grew perfectly, even in droughts or heavy rainfall. However, a gang turned their attention to me when they read a book on water alchemy. They wanted me to use the alchemy to flood the town to weaken its forces so they could take over. I refused to use it, and ran away. They then went and burned the farm.... my dad was out, so my mom was killed. Me and him arrived to the fiery mess"

Will began to tear up.

"I was miserable without my mom, so I tried using alchemy to bring her back from a book from a different library......... My father tried to stop me, but ended up sacrificing himself to save me. However..... I didn't get my mom back........ it was some..... messed up freak....... I lost her and my dad........ from there on, I used fake circles to keep me from being scouted....... I even changed my name........ but......."

Will was literally in tears.

"I lost both of them.... because of things I did..............."

Will slammed his fist into the ground

Rei silently knelt beside the young boy on the floor in her kitchen and placed her right hand on his shoulder. She was at a loss for words. She never expected to run across somebody who had attempted human transmutation, much less one as young as this boy.

She took a steadying breath and asked, "So how does that make my water alchemy book evil?"

[[ By the way, that's one of those things you should include in your character profile. ^_~ ]]

[[Right, sorry ^^; History change, here I come]]


"That book holds the same alchemy they tried to make me use. It brought back those memories, and I over reacted. I kinda put the blame on the book........."

[ S'all good~ ]

"Ah, memories can be burdensome at times, can't they?" Rei asked, a small chuckled escaping. She led the boy to a chair. She knelt in front of him and looked him in the eye. "I won't tell anybody; don't worry. I'm skilled at keeping secrets."

She rose and pointed at the bottle of milk on the table. "Want some? Or maybe some juice or something?" She smirked. "Water?"

"Milk please."

Will was shaking from remembering the trauma of his past.

"My real name is Will. Zergio is my persona, so no one gets whiff of me"

Rei poured Will a glass of milk and handed it to him. "Isn't Will what that Ace kid was calling you yesterday, though? A persona does little good if you don't use it," she laughed.

"He just gave me that as a nickname. He has no idea my name is Will. It was coincidental."

Will looked at Rei, beginning to trust her a lil.

"Do you have any books on water alchemy? I wanna study harmless alchemy for the farm."

He drank some of the milk he was given

Rei sat in the chair across from Will, elbow on the table and chin in her hand. "There aren't many people studying non-combat alchemy any more," she mused. "I'm sure I have something, on that downstairs. It'll be an older book, but that should be what you're looking for."

She leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath. Exhaling she smiled at Will. "So where are you living right now? Family in Central I assume?"

Will looked her in the eyes.

"I live in a forest on a farm I made. I keep it secret so no one bothers me. Other then you now, no one knows about it. I sell my product to survive"

Rei raised her eyebrow, something that was quickly becoming habit around this boy. "There are forests around here? It must be more of a small patch of trees than a forest. Central is far too built up for much more than that."

"I live in the eastern area. I guess it would be a small bundle of trees, but its enough to hide my farm. And thats good enough for me. I don't wanna lose another farm"

He finished his glass of milk, then went to find the book

Rei stared open-mouthed as she watched the boy move to leave. She blinked rapidly to snap herself out of her shock and grabbed the boy's shoulder to stop him.

"That's too far for a simple day's commute. Where are you staying while you're in Central?" she questioned, trying to remain calm. Something about this boy made her lose her composure surprisingly easily.

"I stay in a stable. I don't like staying in fancy places, because I need money to buy needed seeds. Plus, I need it to buy other necessity's. Plus, if I sleep in the cart, no one can steal anything. I usually stay in it for about half a month, till I sell off most of my product. Lucky im limber."

He lightly shrugged off her hand and turned around to look at her.

"What exactly is your interest in me?"

Rei was amazed at how easily she lost her composure because of this boy. She supposed it was because of his age and his history. A hard life for a young boy. "Too hard," she muttered to herself.

"This is a big city for such a young boy. I could," she looked around as though expecting something to leap out at her. "I could let you stay here when you're in Central. No rent or anything. Maybe help me clean up in the evenings or something?"

She stared at the boy looking up at her. What she had just said dawned on her and she turned around and busied herself with the empty glass on the table. "I'm sorry, that was stupid. It's not my place to butt into thing that are none of my business."

"Thank you for the offer. I will think on it. But it is kinda odd your offering me all this. Do you pity me?"

Will walked closer to her

"I don't pity people," she said, her face a careful mask void of expression. "I just figured that a normal bed would be preferable to sleeping in a stable. Feel free to take me up on the offer or not."

She turned to put the milk away only to find Will had moved, causing her to start. She grabbed the milk and shoved it roughly in the refrigerator. "What's wrong with you, Rei? You're getting spooked by a kid."

"I was just asking is all, because no one pity's me. They all see I can handle things by myself, so they leave it at that. and sorry if im weirding you out."

Will headed down the stairs to go find the book

Tosh wanders into the place, smelling something sweet from a distance away, drolling at the sweet aroma. She looks around looking for the goods. "Where's the food?" she looks around the room.