Nicholas Flamel 2 - The Magician sotinf-2 Page 9

  clothing.

  You sound like a ninja, Sophie laughed. Listening to the Warrior talk,

  images from the Witch s memories flickered through her head, and she knew

  that Scatty was telling the truth.

  I tried teaching ninjas, but they were never that good, believe me. I became

  the Daemon Slayer when I killed Raktabija. And I was called the King Maker

  when I helped put Arthur on the throne, she added, her voice turning grim.

  She shook her head quickly. That was a mistake. And not my first either.

  She laughed, but it came out shaky and sounding forced. I ve made a lot of

  mistakes.

  My dad says you can learn from your mistakes.

  Scatty barked a laugh. Not me. She was unable to keep the note of

  bitterness from her voice.

  It sounds like you've had a tough life, Sophie said quietly.

  It s been tough, the Warrior admitted.

  Has there ever been a Sophie paused, hunting for the word. Have you ever

  had a a boyfriend?

  Scathach looked at her sharply, then turned her face away to stare into a

  shop window. For a moment Sophie thought she was examining the display of

  shoes, but then she realized that the Warrior was looking at her own

  reflection in the glass. The girl wondered what she saw.

  No, Scatty finally admitted. There s never been anyone close, anyone

  special. She smiled tightly. The Elders fear and avoid me. And I try not to

  get too close to humani. It s too hard watching them age and die. That is the

  curse of immortality: to watch the world change, to see everything you know

  wither. Remember that, Sophie, if someone offers you the gift of

  immortality. She made the last word sound like a profanity.

  It sounds so lonely, Sophie said carefully. She never thought about what it

  must be like to be immortal before to live on while everything familiar

  changed and everyone you knew left you. They walked a dozen steps in silence

  before Scatty spoke again.

  Yes, it s been lonely, she admitted, very lonely.

  I know about lonely, Sophie said thoughtfully. With Mom and Dad away so

  much or moving us from city to city, it s hard to make friends. It s almost

  impossible to keep them. I suppose that s why Josh and I have always been so

  close; we ve had no one else. My best friend, Elle, is in New York. We talk

  on the phone all the time, and e-mail and chat on IM, but I haven t seen her

  since Christmas. She sends me photos off her cell every time she changes her

  hair color, so I know what she looks like, she added with a smile. Josh

  doesn t even try to make friends, though.

  Friends are important, Scathach agreed, squeezing Sophie s arm lightly.

  But while friends come and go, you will always have family.

  What about your family? The Witch of Endor mentioned your mother and

  brother. Even as she was speaking, images from the Witch s memories popped

  into her mind: a sharp-faced older woman with bloodred eyes and an

  ashen-skinned young man with blazing red hair.

  The Warrior shrugged uncomfortably. We don't talk much these days. My

  parents were Elders, born and raised on the isle of Danu Talis. When my

  grandmother Dora left the island to teach the first humani, they never

  forgave her. Like many Elders, they considered the humani to be little better

  than beasts. Curiosities, my father called them. A flicker of disgust

  crossed her face. Prejudice has always been with us. My mother and father

  were even more shocked when I announced that I too was going to work with the

  humani, to fight for them, to protect them when I could.

  Why? Sophie asked.

  Scatty s voice grew soft. It was obvious to me, even then, that the humani

  were the future and that the days of the Elder Races were drawing to a

  close. She glanced sidelong at Sophie, who was surprised to find Scathach s

  eyes bright and glittering, almost as if there were tears in them. My

  parents warned me that if I left home, I would bring shame on the family name

  and they would disown me. Scatty s voice trailed into silence.

  But you still left, Sophie guessed.

  The Warrior nodded. I left. We didn't speak for a millennium until they were

  in trouble and needed my help, she added with a grim smile. We talk

  occasionally now, but I m afraid they still consider me an embarrassment.

  Sophie squeezed her hand gently. She felt uncomfortable with what the Warrior

  had just told her, but she also realized that Scatty had shared something

  incredibly personal, something that Sophie doubted the ancient warrior had

  ever shared with anyone else. I m sorry. I didn't mean to upset you.

  Scathach squeezed back. You didn't upset me. They upset me more than two

  thousand years ago, in fact and I can still remember it as if it were

  yesterday. It s been a long time since anyone took the trouble to ask about

  my life. And believe me, it s not been all bad. I ve had some wonderful

  adventures, she said brightly. Did I tell you about the time I was the lead

  singer in an all-girl band? Sort of goth-punk Spice Girls, but we only did

  Tori Amos covers. We were very big in Germany. She lowered her voice. The

  problem was, we were all vampires .

  Nicholas and Josh turned onto the Rue de Dunkerque and discovered there were

  police everywhere. Keep walking, Nicholas said urgently as Josh slowed.

  And act natural.

  Natural, Josh muttered. I don't even know what that means anymore.

  Walk quickly, but don't run, Nicholas said patiently. You re completely

  innocent, a student on the way to class or heading to a summer job. Look at

  the police, but don't stare. And if one looks at you, don't turn away

  quickly, just let your eyes drift on to the next character. That s what an

  ordinary citizen would do. If we re stopped, I ll do the talking. We ll be

  fine. He saw the skeptical look on the boy s face and his smile widened.

  Trust me, I've been doing this for a very long time. The trick is to move as

  if you have every right in the world to be here. The police are trained to

  look for people who look and act suspicious.

  don't you think we fall into both categories? Josh asked.

  We look like we belong and that makes us invisible.

  A group of three policemen didn't even look in their direction as they walked

  past. Josh noticed that each was wearing a different type of uniform, and the

  men seemed to be arguing.

  Good, Nicholas said when they were out of earshot.

  What s good?

  Nicholas inclined his head in the direction they had just come. You saw the

  different uniforms?

  The boy nodded.

  France has a complicated police system; Paris even more so. There is the

  Police Nationale, the Gendarmerie Nationale and the Pr fecture de Police.

  Machiavelli has obviously pulled out all the stops to find us, but his great

  failing has always been that he assumes that other people are as coldly

  logical as he is. He obviously thinks that if he puts all these police

  resources on the streets, they will do nothing but search for us. But there

  is a great deal of rivalry between the various units, and no doubt everyone

  wants the credit for capturing the dangerous criminals.

  Is that what you've made
us into now? Josh asked, unable to disguise the

  sudden bitterness in his voice. Two days ago, Sophie and I were happy,

  normal people. And now look at us: I barely know my own sister. We ve been

  hunted, attacked by monsters and now we re on a police most-wanted list.

  you've made us criminals, Mr. Flamel. But this isn't the first time you've

  been a criminal, is it? he snapped. He shoved his hands deep into his

  pockets and closed them into fists to prevent them from shaking. He was

  scared and angry, and the fear was making him reckless. He d never talked to

  an adult like that before.

  No, Nicholas said mildly, his pale eyes starting to glitter dangerously.

  I've been called a criminal. But only by my enemies. It seems to me, he

  added after a long pause, that you've been talking to Dr. Dee. And the only

  place you could have encountered him was in Ojai, since that was the only

  time you were out of my sight.

  Josh didn't even think about denying it. I met Dee when the three of you

  were busy with the Witch, he admitted defiantly. He told me a lot about

  you.

  I m quite sure he did, Flamel murmured. He waited by the curb as a dozen

  students on bicycles and mopeds sped past; then he strolled across the

  street. Josh hurried after him.

  He said that you never tell anyone everything.

  True, Flamel agreed. If you tell people everything, you take away their

  opportunity to learn.

  He said you stole the Book of Abraham from the Louvre.

  Nicholas walked for half a dozen steps before nodding. Well, I suppose that

  is true too, he said, though it s not quite so straightforward as he would

  like to paint it. Certainly, in the seventeenth century, the book briefly

  fell into the hands of Cardinal Richelieu.

  Josh shook his head. Who s that?

  Have you never read The Three Musketeers? Flamel asked in astonishment.

  Nope. Didn't even see the movie.

  Flamel shook his head. I ve got a copy in the shop , he began, and then

  stopped. When he d walked away from the bookshop on Thursday, it had been a

  trashed ruin. Richelieu appears in the books and the movies, too. He was a

  real person and was known as the l Eminence Rouge the Red Eminence so named

  after his cardinal s red robes, he explained. He was King Louis XIII s

  chief minister, but in reality he ruled the country. In 1632, Dee managed to

  trap Perenelle and me in a part of the old city. His inhuman agents had

  surrounded us; there were ghouls in the earth beneath our feet, Dire-Crows in

  the air, and Baobhan Sith were tracking us through the streets. Nicholas

  shrugged uncomfortably at the memory and looked up and around, almost as if

  he expected to see the creatures appear again. I was beginning to think that

  I was going to have to destroy the Codex rather than see it fall into Dee s

  hands. Then Perenelle suggested one last option: we could hide the book in

  plain sight. It was simple and brilliant!

  What did you do? Josh asked, curious now.

  Flamel s teeth flashed in a quick smile. I sought an audience with Cardinal

  Richelieu and presented him with the book.

  You gave it to him? Did he know what it was?

  Of course he did. The Book of Abraham is famous, Josh or maybe infamous

  might be a better word. Next time you go online, look it up.

  Did the cardinal know who you were? he asked. Listening to Flamel talk, it

  was easy so easy to believe everything he said. And then he remembered how

  believable Dee had been back in Ojai.

  Flamel smiled, remembering. Cardinal Richelieu believed I was one of the

  descendants of Nicholas Flamel. So we presented him with the Book of Abraham

  and he put it in his library. Nicholas laughed softly as he shook his head.

  The safest place in all of France.

  Josh frowned. But surely when he looked at it, he saw that the text moved?

  Perenelle put a glamour over the book. It s a particular type of

  spell astonishingly simple, apparently, though I could never master it so

  when the cardinal looked at the book, he saw what he expected to see: pages

  of ornate Greek and Aramaic writing.

  Did Dee catch you?

  Almost. We escaped down the Seine on a barge. Dee himself stood on the Pont

  Neuf with a dozen musketeers and fired scores of shots at us. They all

  missed; despite the musketeers reputation, they were terrible shots, he

  added. And then, a couple of weeks later, Perenelle and I returned to Paris,

  broke into the library and stole our book back. So I suppose you could say

  that Dee is right, he concluded. I am a thief.

  Josh walked on in silence; he had no idea what to believe. He wanted to

  believe Flamel; working in the bookshop alongside the man, he d grown to like

  and respect him. He wanted to trust him and yet he could never forgive him

  for putting Sophie in danger.

  Flamel glanced up and down the street; then, putting his hand on Josh s

  shoulder, he guided him through the stalled traffic and across the Rue de

  Dunkerque. Just in case we re being followed, he said softly, his lips

  barely moving as they darted through the early-morning traffic.

  Once they were across the road, Josh shrugged off Nicholas s hand. What Dee

  said made a lot of sense, he continued.

  I m sure it did, Flamel said with a laugh. Dr. John Dee has been many

  things in his long and colorful life, a magus and a mathematician, an

  alchemist and spy. But let me tell you, Josh, he was often a rogue and always

  a liar. He is a master of lies and half-truths, and he practiced and

  perfected his craft in that most dangerous of times, the Elizabethan Age. He

  knows that the best lie is one that is wrapped around a core of truth. He

  paused, his eyes flickering over the crowd streaming past them. What else

  did he tell you?

  Josh hesitated for a moment before replying. He was tempted not to reveal all

  of his conversation with Dee but then realized that he d probably said too

  much already. Dee said that you only used the spells in the Codex for your

  own good.

  Nicholas nodded. It s a fair point. I use the immortality spell to keep

  Perenelle and myself alive, that is true. And I use the philosopher s stone

  formulation to turn ordinary metal into gold and coal into diamonds. There s

  no money in bookselling, let me tell you. But we only make as much wealth as

  we need we re not greedy.

  Josh hurried ahead of Flamel, then turned around to face him. This isn't

  about the money, he snapped. There is so much else you could be doing with

  what s in that book. Dee said it could be used to turn this world into a

  paradise, that it could cure all disease, even repair the environment. He

  found it incomprehensible that someone would not want to do that.

  Flamel stopped in front of Josh. His eyes were almost on a level with the

  boy's. Yes, there are spells in the Book which would do all that and much,

  much more, he said seriously. I've glimpsed spells in the Book that could

  reduce this world to a cinder, others that would make the deserts bloom. But

  Josh, even if I could work those spells which I cannot the material in the

  Book is not mine to use. Flamel's pale eyes bored into Josh s, and Josh h
ad

  no doubt now that the Alchemyst was telling the truth. Perenelle and I are

  only the Guardians of the Book. We are simply holding it in trust until we

  can pass it on to its rightful owners. They will know how to use it.

  But who are the rightful owners? Where are they?

  Nicholas Flamel put both hands on Josh s shoulders and stared into his bright

  blue eyes. Well, I was hoping, he said very softly, that it might be you

  and Sophie. In fact, I m gambling everything my life, Perenelle's life, the

  survival of the entire human race that you are.

  Standing on the Rue de Dunkerque, looking into the Alchemyst's eyes, reading

  the truth in them, Josh felt the people fade away until it was as if they

  were standing alone on the street. He swallowed hard. And you believe that?

  With all my heart, Flamel said simply. And everything I have done, I ve

  done to protect you and Sophie and to prepare you for what is to come. You

  have to believe me, Josh. You must. I know you re angry because of what has

  happened with Sophie, but I would never let her come to harm.

  She could have died or fallen into a coma, Josh muttered.

  Flamel shook his head. If she were an ordinary human, then yes, that could

  have happened. But I know she isn't ordinary. Nor are you, he added.

  Because of our auras? Josh asked, digging for as much information as he

  could get.

  Because you are the twins of legend.

  And if you re wrong? Have you thought about that: what happens if you re

  wrong?

  Then the Dark Elders return.

  Would that be so bad? Josh wondered aloud.

  Nicholas opened his mouth to reply and quickly pressed his lips tightly

  together, biting back whatever he had been about to say, but not before Josh

  saw the quick flash of anger that darted across his face. Finally, Nicholas

  forced his lips into a smile. Gently, he turned Josh around so that he was

  facing the street. What do you see? he asked.

  Josh shook his head and shrugged. Nothing just a bunch of people heading off

  to work. And the police looking for us, he added.

  Nicholas caught Josh s shoulder and urged him down the street. don't think

  of them as a bunch of people, Flamel admonished sharply. That s how Dee and

  his kind see humankind: what they call the humani. I see individuals, with

  worries and cares, with family and loved ones, with friends and colleagues. I