• Lucy's footsteps came slowly closer, her high heel shoes clicking loudly on the hardwood floor. "Oh Ronnie!" She said, mockingly sweet. "Why don't you come on out? Olly-olly-oxen-free! The game's over!" Veronica gasped as Lucy's voice sounded closer than it was less than a second ago. "Ve-e-ero-o-o-o-oni-ica-a-a-a-a!" Lucy yelled down the empty hallway. Even closer now.

    Ronnie knew she had one shot to run, and it was now or never. Ever so slowly, she started to crawl toward the exit. Her tattered jeans made quiet scuffing sounds as she crawled, and she stopped, not daring to breath. Lucy's senses were unparalleled, and if Ronnie made the slightest noise, she would find her. looking around, she found a small piece of metal the same size and weight as the key around her neck. She threw it as far as she could to the other side of the ballroom. It made a loud clatter. Ronnie could hear Lucy running towards it. Ronnie imagined the metal rising up and flying high over her head and landing on a different side of the room. Again, she heard Lucy running towards it. She chuckled inwardly. Lucy may have lived decades after her time, but she still wasn't very smart. Ronnie kept imagining the metal rising up and clattering somewhere else, to give herself a better chance to run and not be heard, with the key.

    "Tsk, tsk, Ronnie, dear. I thought you were smarter than that" Ronnie froze, thinking Lucy had found her. "You really need to take better care of that key. It is, after all, the past, present, and future of alchemy, of the whole world! If you break it, you'll not only make me and my fellow alchemists angry, you'll make the whole world angry. Can you live with all that on your shoulders? I mean, really......" While Lucy was ranting, Veronica breathed a huge sigh, unfroze, and managed to sneak out the back door unnoticed... by Lucy. Bain, however, was standing on the other side of the door, waiting for her.

    "Ronnie!" he said in his deep, rough voice. "I thought you'd never make it!" he opened up his arms, to hug me. Ronnnie ran towards him and flung herself onto him, nearly knocking him down

    "Bain! I thought you were dead! Listen, there's so much I need to tell you! I-"

    "All in good time, sweetie. All in good time." He pats her back. She could feel a peculiar sting on her back, and before she knew it, She was hanging in his strong arms, completely passed out.

    ~-~-~


    Ronnie wakes up in her own room, still in a dreamish state. What the hell just happened? she thought, massaging her throbbing temples. She fumbled for the key around her neck, seeking its comforting weight, but it wasn't there. Was that a dream? It was so vivid, it couldn't have been. Could it? And WHY do i have such a headache? she looked around, seeing the passed out forms of her friends. The stench of cheap beer and vodka filled the air. Oh, that's why. Slowly, she got up and started waking her friends up, ignoring the little voice in the back of her head telling her something's wrong.

    Once she said bye to the last friend, she started cleaning the house up, but that voice would not quit bugging her. What am I forgetting?

    ~-~-~


    Bain held the key up to the sky. Thousands cheered for his success in bringing them their future. "Friends," he said, quickly silencing them. "Today is a great day! I have in my hands the key to our entire life's work." His voice echoed through the empty forest. "For some, I am afraid it's too late." He nodded towards the Elders, and they nodded their wrinkled faces back sadly."But for others, it is the beggining of a new era. The era of new sciences! The era of progression! The era of Alchemy!" the cheers filled the forest, startling birds off their posts in the trees. They flew in circles, giving Bain a more dramatic backdrop. He raised his arms in the air, the key lying flat in his open hand.

    Lucy went up to Bain, helping the oldest elder, Issac, up onto the makeshift stage. Bain looked over, hands still in the air. "Brother Bain," he said, voice sounding extremely weak. "Perhaps you have not heard. We Have found a way to save the other Elders from death. Of course, it is very dangerous, but it will work."

    Bain's disgust was very obvious on his face. He could not stand the Elders. With them gone, he would be the one with the most power. If the Elders could live forever, He would be under their power for eternity. "Issac, you know how happy that would make me, but you and the other Elders need rest. It's quite obvious."

    "Yes, Brother, you may be right. I shall discuss with the others."

    Too easy. Bain thought, chuckling. "And now," He yelled into the forest, silencing the mumurs once again. "We shall see the secret to living forever!. they all cheered some more, as Bain turned and insterted the key into the silver cyllinder. He turned it slightly to the left. Nothing happened. He turned it to the right. Still, nothing happened. Rage coursed through him. "Veronica." He whispered angrily. "Lucy." He summoned. Lucy nearly tripped over herself to get to him. "Veronica has decieved us. Find her, get the key and kill her." Lucy nodded and ran into the forest until she was fast enough to rise into the air. "Freinds, we have been decieved." he waited until the yells of anger and disgust quited. "Until we find the girl who took away our future, nothing more can be done. We will call once we have word." The crowd dispersed, some flying, some walking. Ronnie, what have you done?