In one of Behemoth's corners, time stopped for a second while the place was full of people; no birds were tweeting in the trees, not even a single creature could live here, well except humans. The movement in the street got back to normal; a cold slum hunter was at his maximum stage of anger still, Kosie didn't care about all of this.

"Beware the reflections." He had spent three years trying to find a meaning to the words engraved on the small room's wall.

"It's...it's fate!" Kosie thinks as tears fall from his tired face; he couldn't stop himself and yelled.

"Sir, wait a second! Please," Kosie begged.

Merny turned to the boy.

"Wait! Wait, you think I have time to waste on you again?" Merny thinks as he looks at Kosie. Merny murmured,

"How dare he call me like he calls anyone else in the street!" The young gentleman took off his silver hat, then raised his cold black eyes to catch a glimpse of the poor child.

"Yes!" Merny said, although the way he said it suggested he was almost throwing threats and not just giving a simple answer to Kosie's yelling.

"This isn't good," John thinks; he knew what Sir Merny was up to.

"He'll take him to Mulysa."

John wondered for a second just before a sound interrupted him.

"What do the words written on your clock mean?" Kosie asked.

As much as it could resonate in people's minds in ITEFE city, this was probably the first time that someone considered and asked a question to a member of the royal family, and it so happened that this courageous and perhaps foolish person who did it was Kosie.

"What!" Merny wondered, and for a moment just a moment, the confident young gentleman almost took a step back.

"I'm...impossible!" Merny thinks. A sweat runs down the gentleman's forehead, a slight vibration caught Merny's scapula and...

"He can see the writing on the clock," Merny thinks, then took a better look at the wounded kid in front of him.

The famous street of Behemoth was getting less crowded now, and with a nobleman in the place, you could tell that nobody wanted to be hanged this evening for a stupid mistake he or she might make next to Merny; they feared him to death, perhaps even more than death itself. Everyone in ITEFE city knew that the punishment of the royal family would not only fall on them, no! It would befall the whole city. After all, everything is connected somehow in this strange place. Still, a man with such authority was afraid of a small child who happened to read the lines on his wealthy, expensive clock!

"And what did the words on my clock say?" Merny starved for an answer as he threw those words.

"Never mind, sir, I'll take care of him," John interrupted while he pushed Kosie a bit.

"Move before things get worse," John murmured.

"Get worse?" Kosie said as he looked at John, who carried on.

"Listen to me, kid, I might be a brat who sells kids for slums, but I tell you what: the last thing we want to do is to piss off this man. Choose your words wisely, boy, when you're around him."

"What!" Kosie thinks while he looks again at Merny.

"You two, beat it," Merny yelled, then pointed a finger at Bob and John.

"Of course, sir. Have a nice day," John said, then looked down and turned around. He gave Kosie a few looks as he left with Bob, who whispered,

"You're lucky, kid. If I see you again, slums would be your last problems."

The kid took a breath, and all the stress he had moments earlier started to go away.

"Wait a minute," Kosie thinks. His body shakes a bit.

A few seconds passed before he realized he was face to face with the man who caused him to spend a whole year in the slums.

A member of the royal family!

. . .

Into the past again...

"Tréla deíxte ton eaftó sas," the woman said with a smirk on her face, and the next thing that happened shocked Kosie. The tongues of the dead bodies emerged from their disgusting mouths, and twisted, horizontally black vapor of air escaped from the dead bodies as they moved a bit. A scene that would shock anyone to death, but Kosie had seen his father perform miracles before, so he was a little familiar with what was happening right now.

"Come out, tiny little rat," the woman laughed, then raised her hand in the air as if she were performing a play of some sort. "What's your secret?" the woman yelled. Unwillingly, Kosie's mouth moved by itself, saying, "I'm an alchemist."

The woman stopped laughing for a second as her confident stance changed. "Why did I say that?" Kosie thought, putting both hands over his mouth. That being said, Kosie knew he was in trouble; from the moment he got out of his father's safe house, he always kept the fact of being a son of an alchemist to himself. He knew the risks of such information. The royal family or anyone with sense would immediately take advantage of an alchemist; whether it was for a philosopher's stone or to have a rare artifact that could even stop time, an alchemist could and would be a valuable resource for having almost anything. And just like that, Kosie confessed such a dangerous truth.

"An alchemist, huh..." the strange woman said, then in a second, the honebird flew and sat on her shoulder. "The last time we met one, we killed him, right Odigos?"

"What?" Kosie thought to himself. "Is she talking about my father? It can't be; I left him in the safe house with Mark."

"What was his name again?" she said, then touched her forehead. "Graham, that was his name, right Odigos?"

The blood stopped in his veins as he heard the alchemist's name; a cold, shocked look spread through his eyes. "Father?" Kosie said.

"So he was your father then," the woman said with a chuckle. "It can't be! These clothes, her bird, and the eerie vomit in those bodies-no doubt she's infected with the diamond of hope."

"Allow me to introduce myself: I'm Alethia Richmond, a truth extractor," the woman said, then patted the bird for a few seconds.

"Truth extractor... I heard about this before; it's said that a person infected with the diamond of hope gains abilities," Kosie thought. "So that's why I confess my secret out loud."

"Don't be a child; I just cut his arm, that's it," Alethia said. Kosie looked lost for a moment before the woman added,

"The alchemist, you idiot! I'm talking about Graham; God, common minds are so slow!"

"She cut his... that means Dad did follow me after I escaped." Kosie smiled; a warm feeling extinguished in him, knowing that Mr. Graham did love him like a son.

"Hi, kid! What's the smiley face for?" Alethia said, pointing at the dead bodies around her. Kosie's smile was the only bright spot in the whole room. The company they had was only human remains filled with black vapor; a warm smile would be grim here, even for a cold person like Alethia.

She snapped her fingers, and the dead bodies fell apart, motionless, as if they were in the past. Kosie's mouth relaxed and returned to normal. Slowly, the kid got hold of himself again as he whispered, "What do you want?"

"Smart kid, straight to the point," she said. "I see that I'm not the only one special here," Alethia said, then took off her hat. A nest of birds was on the top of her head, and to make the scene even weirder, there were five small blue birds tweeting in a ceremony.

"You see, kid, a bird once told me that there was a clock, a special clock that shows you unimaginable things, and this clock was in the possession of an alchemist. Unfortunately, he lost it by the time I met him, so now I'll ask you once," Alethia said, then grabbed her hat tightly; a cold expression followed by a look almost like roaring showed up on her face. "Do you happen to know where this clock is?"

Kosie's face was pale for a second; he knew exactly what Alethia was talking about. "The clock of departing, the one that freezes time at a certain level. No wonder she's looking for it," Kosie thought, then answered with a gentle voice, "The last time I saw it, it was with Father, but since you said he lost it, I guess that leaves you empty-handed, am I right?"

Alethia bit her lips, then put her hat back on with a bitter tone before she announced, "I guess you're no use to me then."

She turned around and opened the door of the room, leaving, but...

"Wait!" Kosie cried. "I might have something that would interest you."

"Really? I doubt it," Alethia laughed while ideas ran through our boy's mind. "She was just leaving just like that; apparently, she's not with the guards, and from her clothes, I could tell she's a royal member, and her strange nickname, truth extractor-it all fits."

"Do you happen to know a man named Frederick?" Kosie asked.

The woman blushed, then answered, "Maybe, who's asking?"

"If she has a clue about Frederick, I might be able to find the cure for Mark," Kosie thought.

"How about we make a deal? You see, I have this nail," Kosie said, then showed the nail he had used earlier on Horras and himself.

"A nail, huh? Silly kid, why would I need such a thing?" Alethia laughed.

"I'm an alchemist, remember?" Kosie said while he played with the nail in his hand.

"You mean it's an artifact. It can't be!"

"Only one way to find out, so are you interested or not?"

Both the woman and child kept silence as they looked at each other, waiting for the other to speak, but nothing. "It's a huge sacrifice, but it's worth it," Kosie thought.

"What do you say, Odigos? Should we take this young man's word, or should we just leave?" Alethia spoke to the bird on her shoulder, and the bird moved its head in agreement.

"Huh, strange," Kosie thought.

"Very well, kid. You've made your point; now talk," she said in a low tone.

"First of all, show me the way out of this place," Kosie said in disbelief. He never thought the woman would take the bait, but she did.

"Fine, what else?" she responded.

"Second thing: tell me the location of the man called Frederick. After that, this nail is all yours," Kosie said as he watched the small lake of blood ahead of him. An idea came to his mind.

"Interesting, but how about I just take it by force?" Alethia said, then tightened her fist.

"I'll make sure you don't get it then," Kosie smiled as he observed the small lake of blood.

"You see, this nail reacts with blood; if a single drop of blood touches it, it vanishes."

"You wouldn't," Alethia rushed towards Kosie, who kneeled down with the nail nearly touching the blood on the floor.

"Wait!" she yelled, then added, "As you wish, young man."

The woman stood still while Kosie stood up. "An alchemist's artifact; I can't risk losing such an opportunity," Alethia thought.

"Deal," she mumbled.

A small wave of relief flowed through Kosie as he watched his plan working; he was lucky as hell.

The woman whistled a few times to her bird, which was following her like a parrot. Then she opened the door of the room and looked at Kosie.

"Odigos will lead you out of here; make sure to follow him. As for the priest..."

"The last time I saw him, he was at the city of Cainam, west of here. That's all, young man," Alethia said, then reached her hand, demanding the nail.

"Is that so? And how will I know you're not making this up?" Kosie asked.

"I guess you'll have to take my word for it, kid," the woman smiled, then added, "the nail now please."

Although his idea of just sinking the nail in blood was tempting since he had the intel he wished for, Kosie knew that going out of here was a matter of trusting a stupid honebird to guide him. Only a nonsensical head would do it, but...

"What other option do I have?" Kosie thought. "This place is tremendously big, and getting caught is just a matter of time."

Kosie threw the nail to Alethia's hand, hoping it's the right decision.

"Smart child. Now why should my bird help you get out?" Alethia smiled.

"Because your name is Alethia Richmond, a truth extractor, a woman of her word," Kosie replied.

Both of them looked at each other before the woman whistled one more time at the bird and then sent it to Kosie's side.

"You're a smart kid. Hope we meet again," Alethia said, leaving the room with her honeybird next to Kosie.

After that, Kosie relaxed, falling to the ground; his nerves were worn out after his encounter with Alethia, and while the bird was turning in circles, a sound emerged from the remains.

"Who is it?" Kosie said.

"It's me, you nuthead," Horras said, cleaning his face.

"You! I forgot you were even here with me," Kosie said, then added, "Why were you silent all this time?"

Horras moved to the door, then said, "You know the answer to that, my son."

"My son? What's going on?" Kosie said.

"Nothing. Now let's leave this place," Horras said while he opened the door of the room, and the second he did, Odigos flew through the door.

"The bird, for God's sake, wait!" Kosie rushed through the door, following his ticket out of the slums, leaving the small lantern behind him.
. . .

.......................................................................

{...chapter five ends...}