Young Writers Society

Darc's time-frame for the semester was Alchemy first period, Mechanics second, lunch, Combat third and International Intelligence fourth. Zel ended up missing whatever his second class was because of his "accident" in the Alchemy lad. He had to stay in the infirmary for an hour.

Darc was waiting for Zel in the cafeteria, he might have been sent to the infirmary this morning, but that wouldn't get him out of paying for lunch.

Zel entered the cafeteria and came to Darc's table. "So what's the deal?" Darc asked, referring to his trip to the infirmary.

"Nothin was wrong with me, but the paperwork takes forever for 'em to fill out. Anyway," he continued with a sigh, "what do you want for lunch?"

Darc smiled and leaned back in his chair, his arms resting behind his head. "I want three hot dogs, two Cokes and eight boxed lunches."

Zel's eyes widened. "I thought I was buyin you lunch, not a whole buffet!"

"Hey, you didn't put any guidelines to how much you would buy for me."

"I'll remember this, Darc," Zel grunted and walked away to get his food.

Darc replied, "I bet you will," but Zel was too far to hear him. Since he was getting lunch for free he might as well make the best of it and get as much food as he could get away with. He closed his eyes and waited for Zel to return with his food.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here?" Darc opened his eyes and saw Riley standing in front of his table.

"Not at all."

She smiled wearily and said, "thanks." She took a seat on the opposite side of the small circular table. She looked worried about something.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"I'm not fitting in very well here."

"How so?"

She let out a sigh; "I have an advanced Alchemy class just after my first one. Out of the whole class I'm the only person who even knows what she's doing, and all throughout the class people kept calling me a now-it-all loser."

Darc knew how she must feel. He had the same problem when he first came to this academy, only it was worse because all the other students were around ten or twelve years old and the fact that he stood out didn't sit too well with them. It's different now, though.

Zel came back with a full platter of food. He placed it on the table and asked, "There anythin else you desire, your majesty?"

Darc opened one of the Cokes and took a sip. "Not at the moment." He grabbed the other can and handed it to Riley, "Here."

"Oh, thanks," she took the soft drink from him and opened it. Zel took a seat and let his arm hang over the back of the chair.

"I know how you feel, I wasn't exactly part of the 'cool cult' when I first came here."

Riley stared at him with wide eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah, the other kids always used to pick on me because of the color of my hair and eyes. They used to call me all sorts of names, the most popular one I think was Alien Kid."

Zel leaned over and wrapped his arm around Darc's neck. "And that's when he met me. I've been watchin his back ever since."

Darc let out a slight chuckle and gently pushed him back. "More like I've been watching your back, you remember that kid in year nine?"

"Hey, he got what was comin to him. It was a two man job that's all."

"Sure it was," Darc said, fueling Zel's claims of denial.

"So, when did people start respecting you?" Riley asked.

"Hey, you mean us." Zel interrupted.

"People still don't respect you, Zel." He turned back to Riley; "The other students didn't stop picking on me until I was fourteen. I accidentally cut off my left thumb in my melee weapons class." It's a class that teaches the basics of handling bladed and blunted weapons. Darc held out his left hand and pointed at a red line on the bottom of his thumb. "You can still see where they put the stitches."

"Wow, that must have hurt." Of course it hurt, he didn't get a paper cut he severed his own thumb! But, Darc didn't want to say that out loud. "And they stopped calling you names?"

"Yeah, I was the most popular kid in year seven until my thumb healed. Everyone wanted to see my stitches."

"I still don't see why everyone thought your injury was so damn interestin. I've cut off my thumb about three times... and my ring finger, and my index, my big toe, a few other toes..."

The list would go on for a while so Darc interrupted him before he could finish. "That's because you severed them by being stupid, I cut off my thumb during a fight."

Riley looked down at her lap. "A fight, hu? I don't like fighting."

Both Darc and Zel looked at her with surprised looks. "You don't like fightn'?" Zel asked, "Then what are you doin in this academy in the first place?"

"Zel has a point, basically all mercenary work involves violence," Darc pointed out, "This isn't the best place for a pacifist to enroll."

"It's a long story."

Darc looked up at the cafeteria's clock. Classes wouldn't start up again for about half an hour. "We've got time. You can tell us if you want."

Riley took in a deep breath before she spoke. "My father was an Alchemist. He always used his Alchemy to help people any way he could."

"Was? You mean he's..." Darc didn't want to finish his sentence, worried that it might upset Riley.

She nodded, "Dead. He was a surgeon in World War III in 2226; he was killed when the enemy overran the base he was stationed at. I want to become an Alchemist so I can help people like he did."

"Hold on!" Zel interrupted, "If your father was a surgeon, does that mean he used his Alchemy on people?"

"Yes, he did."

Zel crossed his arms. "I thought human transmutation was forbidden."

"You've got your facts mixed up, Zel." Darc stated, "Human transmutation can be used to heal small wounds like severed fingers or cuts, it's forbidden to used it to create limbs or bring people back to life." The reason for this is because it defies the laws of equivalent exchange. Everyone who's ever used Alchemy to bring something to life were killed in the process. And their end results? A large pile of deformed organs and bones that in no way resembled a human being. Darc turned back to Riley, "So, you want to follow in your father's footsteps?"

She nodded. "The only way I can do that is if I graduate as a mercenary. Alchemy is only taught in these academies." She shook her head and tried to change the subject. "So, you said you cut off your thumb during a fight. Who was it against?"

Darc looked around the cafeteria. He saw Adrian sitting alone at one of the tables by the wall. He was staring out the window. Darc pointed at him, "Him, Adrian Draga."

"He doesn't look very nice." Riley pointed out.

"That's an understatement. Unless you want a broken arm you should stay away from him."

"I'll keep that in mind..." she trailed off.

Darc shifted back in his seat. "Hey, Riley. If anyone ever gives you a hard time let us know."

Zel smacked his knuckles together. "Yeah, we've got you back."

Riley smiled, "Thank you, guys."

Good job once again Dynamo you 're story is very good. However as usual I have some comments. You never told us what people think of Darc at this point in time. Sure he's older than then Riley but she could still probably learn from where he's at. Also there were a few typos that can be easily fixed. Good job besides that Dynamo though and remember the more you write the better you will get.