Black and White Ch. 02

"So you are eh?"

Aiden picked up on Will's humor and decided to play along. "So should I charge you with embezzlement of retirement home funds?"

"Well actually, this car was given to me as a present on my 21st birthday by my grandfather."

"No fair! How come I never get things like that on my birthdays?" Aiden harrumphed and folded his arms across his chest. "And to think that I turned 21 just this year!"

"But I do need to ask you one thing." Aiden added.

"Shoot."

"How come you walked with me everywhere before? If I owned this baby, I certainly would never walk to go anyplace in my life. Even if the distance is only a 100 feet."

"But if I would not have walked yesterday, I would not have met you, would I?"

Aiden blushed at Will's reply. It would take some time before he understood Will's fascination with him.

10 minutes of car journey later, in which Aiden perused all of Will's CD's and tested the potent music system of the car, Will slowed down in a huge compound, in front of a 2 floor storey wide structure.

"Yup. Here we are!" Will stated braking to a complete stop in front of the entrance of the edifice.

"So this is the Joe Black retirement home?" Aiden asked, reading the golden letters above the foyer. He noticed the muted pastels of mauve and green that the building was painted in, giving the whole structure a serene and peaceful look.

"Yup. Joe Black was my grandfather," Will stated as he switched off the engine and the doors on either side slowly swung up. The two exited the car and walked up to the foyer.

"C'mon, let me take you on the grand tour."

Aiden followed Will as he pushed open the glass doors and was immediately greeted by podgy receptionist with red cheeks.

"Good evening Mr. Black. We have a guest?"

"Good Evening Doris. Yes, this is Mr. Writer, who's interested in taking a look around the retirement home. I shall personally escort him."

"Very well, and should I arrange for something to eat perhaps?"

"No that will not be necessary; Mr. Writer and I have plans for later." Will was smiling and looked at Aiden who smiled back. Aiden loved the fact that Will always seemed happy and smiled perpetually. He knew for a fact that he always had a dorky grin on his face whenever he was around Will.

Will led him through a door at towards the right leading to a narrow corridor painted in white. "Well, let us start with the indoor recreation rooms." Aiden followed Will as the passage opened into a set of large rooms filled and bustling with people. There were cubicles one after the other that catered to different activities. "Wow!" he breathed.

"This was constructed by my grandfather 5 years back," Will stated as he waved to a blonde girl. "It's the recreation place for elder people to spend some relaxation time in and indulge in their hobbies." "We even have a home theatre system towards that side." Will pointed to a large TV screen with equally tall speakers on either side. No one was watching anything at the time.

Aiden looked around, taking in the sights of the rooms. Towards his left a room filled with stands on which white papers attached to clip boards rested. Two elder men were busy painting portraits of what appeared to be each other, while another elderly lady was giving shape to some wet clay. They turned around on hearing Will's voice greeting him good evening and smiled at Aiden. Aiden smiled back. On the other side was a larger room filled with more than a dozen tables on which were carom boards, chess and other board games. This section was rife with people playing games who all nodded to Will in acknowledgement. "Sunday evening is the ideal time for gamers," Will explained.

They strolled past a number of other rooms, Will casually telling Aiden about all the activities that went on around here. There was a smaller room in which soft music played as an elderly couple swayed gently to the music. The lady winked at Will as he passed by. There was a reading section with shelves full of books. A few elderly people, some with thick glasses sat in easy chairs as they read them.

"And here we have Mr. Kimberley's piano," Will pointed towards the large object. "Mr. Kimberley would not enter our retirement home unless we guaranteed that his piano would come too. He is however banned from playing during the evenings when the most crowd gathers here. Our senior members complain that at their age, they have lost enough hearing and would greatly appreciate losing no more." Aiden chuckled as he sauntered beside Will.

A blonde girl about Aiden's age, who Will had initially waved to, suddenly appeared. "Mr. Black," she said, "How's your day going?"

"Perfect Rachael." Will introduced the girl to Aiden. "This is Rachael here. She spends her evenings here helping us in our tasks."

Aiden and Rachael said hi to each other and Aiden immediately felt that he would also like to spend some time with the people here. Everyday was hardly a possibility, but maybe once or twice a week he could come here. Everything had such a clean and salubrious feel. It would be awesome to spend an evening or two a week here. Black did not at all like this line of thought.

"And here we have our gardens." Will stated as he led Aiden through an exit to an open space where there were lawns with a few tables and chairs arranged around. "Our elder people spend a lot of time gardening here and they are solely responsible for the number of prizes we have won for their gardening efforts." Aiden noticed three old ladies who were sitting at table playing cards under a lighted umbrella for it was dark. "Ah, that's Mrs. Montgomery and her card playing troupe. They never give it a rest." Black called out to them and asked them to go indoors and play. "After this game dear." The old lady replied. Aiden noticed the wooden u-shaped hoops and pegs that were sticking out of the ground for playing croquet.

Will then led Aiden to the Medical premises showing introducing him to the head doctor and his nurses. "We have the latest medical technology and appliances." Will stated. "We better have, for the price many of the people's children pay for their parents to stay here.

"This place is huge." Aiden said, after visiting the yoga hall and the sauna rooms. "It never looked this huge from the outside!"

"We currently house 283 elderly people here. It has to be huge for that kind of a number."

"Hey, can you wait a second?" Aiden questioned. "I need to visit the restroom."

"Sure, the restroom's that way," Will stated pointing to a long corridor. He had been wondering when the boy would ask him of the pressing problem that he had been getting signs of from his mind for quite long. "Towards the outside garden, there are a couple of doors to the right. I'll wait right here."

Aiden headed of to attend to nature's call. He hurriedly finished off his business not wanting to keep 'his hunk' waiting. He opened the door of the toilet and bumped into a small Japanese lady.

"Oh Sorry!" Aiden looked down and noticed how small the lady was.

The lady gaped at Aiden and suddenly shrieked, "It's you! It's you! I found you!"

"Who me?" Aiden asked bewildered. He noticed that the lady's complexion was as white as milk.

"Yes, I've been trying to track you since so long!" she said, completely dropping of the phony Japanese accent she would assume for her customers, it gave them an oriental feel when she did that.

"Uhh... I..."

"No, you don't know me but..." the lady stopped as footsteps were heard along the corridor.

"Listen!" she said, "There's no time! Just listen to me. The devil - he's with you and he's after you!"

"After me? What devil?"

The footsteps were getting closer, their soft thudding indicating someone just around the corner.

"Yes, he wants to use you, he wants to..."

Just then Will appeared around the corner. It took a fraction of a second for Black to read both the people's minds and understand what had transpired.

"What's going on here?" he boomed in a loud voice. Aiden noticed for the first time an angry expression on Will's face. The Japanese lady got a horrified expression on her face as she looked at Will. This was the devil of her vision.

"I don't know... this lady..."

Suddenly the Japanese lady burst out into a string of Japanese, bending again and again as if apologizing. She got close to Aiden and discreetly slipped a card into the back pocket of his jeans. "Call me," she whispered. Aiden caught a glimpse of the card before she slid it behind him. A vibrant display of black and red colors that read something like 'Horoscope'.

But stealth was not something that could have fooled Black. He had already read the lady's intention and knew about the card she placed in Aiden's pocket.

Then as abruptly as she had entered the scene the lady bobbed off, away from the two. Aiden was still gawking in her direction, befuddled while Black looked at her retreating form with his face as black as thunder. Abruptly his face broke into a smile.

"Senile old people!" he stated, "C'mon, We've just been roaming around, let's involve ourselves with the patrons a bit." Aiden noticed Will had a large box tucked under his arm. He shrugged and followed Will, dismissing the incident as the doting effects of an elderly person.

Will led Aiden to the residential quarters and knocked on a door with a label stating Mrs. Anderson.

"Come in." a mellow voice answered.

The two entered a neat room where Mrs. Anderson sat on a chair at the side and another old lady sat on the bed. Both were knitting some kind of woolen wear. And judging by the number of balls of wool lying on the bed, Aiden surmised they must be pretty good at it.

"Dear child! Good to see you!" Mrs. Anderson called out with a twinkle in her eye. Black walked towards her, bend over and hugged her. He hugged the other lady as well.

"This is Aiden here," he stated introducing Aiden to the two ladies who mentioned what a fine man he was. "And we've come so I can oust you and Aiden in a game of Pictionary." Said Will as he placed the box he was carrying on the bed. Aiden looked at the box and smiled. He was very good at the game.

Aiden was teamed up with Mrs. Anderson and Will with Mrs. Green, the other lady. 5 minutes into the game, Aiden realized that both the elder players were really good at the game. In fact, compared to them he sucked at it! However Mrs. Anderson was good enough to compensate for his flaws. She soon led herself and Aiden to victory.

~~~

A boisterous pair stormed out of Pizza Inn. Aiden was laughing hard leaning against Will's shoulder who was himself howling with laughter, his eyes tearing.

"Well what else could she have done?" Aiden asked between laughs. "The sand was running out and I was not being able to guess the word."

"You dolt! How could you not come up with that word? It was one of the easier ones."

Will was referring to their Pictionary game when Mrs. Aiden had to draw 'PISTOL' to advance to the next block. Mrs. Aiden was relieved thinking she had an easy one. She drew a gun shape with a trigger and Aiden started guessing. "Revolver, gun, Policeman, robber, thief!" Aiden had cried out. Mrs. Anderson shook her head fervently and Aiden guessed further on; "Holster, err....trigger, bullet...um rifle, carbine!" Mrs. Anderson had stared at Aiden exasperatedly. The minute glass indicated their time was running out. Finally the old lady sketched a penis, with a pair of testicles hanging and drew a steam of droplets gushing out of the tip. Aiden looked upto the old lady's face not believing what she had drawn... "Piss??" and then realization dawned upon him. "Pistol!!" he cried out, a second before the last grains of sand trickled down. Mrs. Anderson had leaped into the air, an extraordinary feat for a woman her age, and hugged Aiden. An embarrassed Aiden smacked his head wondering how he had not come up with such a simple word.

And Will was laughing at the same incident now.

"Get over yourself," Aiden stated with a mock frown on his face as he playfully swatted at Will's butt. And then burst into peals of laughter himself.

Black was furious inside. He had been laughing along all this time and playing this game. This day had completely drained the Perpetual. With all the arrangements his mistress had to make to create an illusory retirement home and all the troglodyte Empaths she had appointed to stay in as elder people. Each one of those Empaths could read any humans mind and were all commanded by the Empress of Vand to carry out the extended charade.

"So what now?" asked Black, not knowing what the alchemist was going to think of for their next move.

"Ice Cream!" yelled Aiden as he dragged Will towards a small Ice cream outlet which read 'Frozen Palace'.

~~~

White was close. He could sense it. The white laser-like light he was following was leading to a structure of some sort. 'Frozen Palace', it read. Would he meet the alchemist there? White was nervous. For centuries the Kingdom of Light had awaited the arrival of the Alchemist. And soon White would convene with him. What would the Alchemist say? Would he agree to help out a distressed Seraph? He could refuse at once, after all the Alchemist's powers were his to use.

White made his way across the crowded grounds as people stared at him passing by. It was his external beauty, he knew that. He would know it without even glancing into their minds. The humans were cretins in this matter. Judging things greatly by just their outside appearances. They had a lot to learn yet. He walked past a trio of girls that were openly ogling him. One of them whistled as his imposing form crossed them, nearing 'Frozen Palace'.

~~~

Back In the Kingdom of the Dark, the Empress of Vand was anxious. And that in itself was a rare thing. She had seen in the seven vision stone, the one she used to watch her Guardian Black and the Alchmest in, that her greatest enemy was in the vicinity of the former two. She had no inkling how her 'blessed' rival had found the Alchemist. But one thing was certain; he could in no manner be allowed to intervene right now.

The small girl sat between the 6 crystals she had assembled. She closed her eyes and started murmuring under her breath, her voice getting louder with every word. All of a sudden, the 6 crystals shone brightly, and a six-pointed star was etched on the ground, effulgent in black flames. The voice of the little girl was deafening now, reverberating across for miles. And as she approached the crescendo of her chanting, she abruptly stopped her incantations, opening her eyes. She had succeeded in her task.

"Pi, you will procure us some time." The pet chimera received her message telepathically.

"Yes, your excellency."

"You will engage White and prevent him from intervening."

The Chimera descended, as if bowing with respect as his eyes glowed icy silver. The fanciful creature then shimmered and disappeared onto the material plane.

"White cannot encounter the Alchemist or Black at this moment," the little lass stated to a nonexistent gathering.

~~~

White cautiously made his was towards the Ice cream parlor following the white light of 'Quarry Seek'. When he neared the structure, he realized that the laser light passed through the structure and went beyond it. Had he not sensed that the alchemist was near here somewhere? The light of Quarry Seek seemed to say otherwise. He shrugged his shoulders and walked past the glowing letters which stated 'Frozen Palace', following the light as it led him astray.

White walked on still wondering what powers the Alchemist possessed. Legends had it that the Alchemist would arrive and the battle between the Kingdom of Light and Dark would be over. Legend also stated that the Alchemist possessed powers beyond contemplation. He wondered what these legendary abilities of the Alchemist could be.

White realized that following the light spell he had been led astray from the crowd. He had been striding for more than 15 minutes and now he walked in an open stretch of land where not a single person was visible. Where was the light taking him to?

Abruptly a chill ran in the atmosphere. White instantly realized that something was wrong. Soft notes of music wafted in the air, steadily getting louder. White looked around rapidly, trying to understand what was happening. The melody resounding in the atmosphere, where was it originating from? It was the sound of a flute. In the next instant came a crashing wave at a high speed, a sonic ice breaker that unexpectedly boomed from behind White and collided with the high Seraph, ramming into him at a high speed and thrusting him along before it impaled him into an iron fence.

White reeled under the blow of the impact and got up unsteadily. The deleterious wave had knocked him face forward into the iron fence. The fence now lay on the ground, mangled pieces of iron twisted beyond recognition, but white had suffered greatly from the blow too. His torso throbbed with the force of the impact and blood dripped from above his right eye brow, blurring his vision before it trickled to the ground. Any pain or pleasure experienced by the corporeal shell that encased him would impair his spirit directly. The attack had caught him completely off guard.

White raised his arm, wiping the blood from his eyes with the back of his palm so he could see clearly. Directly ahead at a distance of about a 100 yards he could make out a hazy shape flitting about, slowly approaching him.

"Who are you?" his voice boomed. White had no clue as to what force could lunge at him with such an inexorable capacity.

"Who am I?" The voice questioned back with mirth in the voice. The shadowy shape slowly evolved into a human form. "Don't disrespect me by failing to recognize me White!"

White stared dumbfounded at the small 10 year old boy standing 50 yards ahead of him. A boy with white hair standing vertically upright, adorned in a black robe. It was Pi, the pet chimera of his sworn enemy, the Empress of Vand. Only this time he possessed his true form, the one of a 10 year old child with an evil smirk on his face. He held a 2-feet long glass flute in his hand, the 'Flute of Frost', White recognized the device responsible for the icy sonic wave that crashed him earlier.

"You!" cried out White.

"Yes me," the child replied as he lifted the glassy flute to his lips and blew into the grooves, his fingers dancing proficiently up and down the transparent instrument. White tuned his senses to make out the presence of a spiritual cordon that had been placed around, encompassing a circular area with a 1 mile radius. Even the subjects of the dark understood the importance of remaining unknown to the humans. The spiritual cordon would isolate the circular region so anything taking place inside the caulked area would remain unseen from the material plane. So Pi, intended to fight him here? White wondered if the cordoned area would be large enough to withstand the mayhem that was about to take place.

Shrapnels of ice surrounded White's adversary Pi, as he completed a melody and gathered energy in the form of an icy orb levitating in front of his torso. White stretched out both his hands and placing one palm over the other he aimed towards the child to spout a spell.

"Ability of the Light 21, Flaming Shot." A red fiery sphere materialized perpendicular to his palms.

White grimaced and fired the flaming ball towards the kid. Pi let out a battle cry as he swung his flute in an arc, hurling his iced sphere towards his opponent. The iced sphere hurtled towards White at an astonishing pace, burgeoning into the profile of an enormous icy wave that screeched an ear-piercing sound as it advanced. It collided with the fiery ball fired by White, causing an explosion leaving behind flames and fumes of boiling water which slowly dissipated.