Toku left the King's Corridor feeling confused and frightened. His master was arrested. He had to find some way to talk to the king. There was something going on with Master Gin. And surrounding everything was the Philosopher's Stone—a topic of both great interest and great fear for any alchemist.

After the very brief moment Toku had had with his master, the soldiers had taken him to a higher level to be questions. The questions they asked meant very little to Toku's shocked mind at the time. More than anything he wanted his own question answered—why had they arrested Aleric? He asked the soldiers many times, but they always responded the same way: “He is being held pending a royal investigation. That is all we can say at this time.” Polite and professional, but hardly informative.

Toku, on the other hand, had tried to answer the soldiers questions as truthfully as possible.

“Have you ever seen anyone else meeting with Aleric in the lab?”
“No, never.”
“Has Aleric ever gone on extended trips away?”
“No, we have classes every day.”
“Has he ever missed a class.”
“No. I've been sick a few times, but Master Aleric has never missed a class.”
“Have you ever seen Aleric perform any strange experiments that you couldn't explain?”
“Well, of course! I'm only an apprentice, you know...and Aleric is the best alchemist in the lower kingdom!”
“You might want to check that opinion, son. I don't need to remind you that Master Gin is the King's Alchemist.”
“Yes, of course.”

During the interrogation, one of the soldiers had asked about the strange ball Toku had found that morning before everything had started. Toku had answered truthfully, if not fully, telling them that it was just a nice rock he had found while walking through the tunnels. The soldiers had accepted the explanation without any further questions, and the captain who had taken it from him was true to his word and returned it to Toku at the end of the questioning.

As Toku exited the massive doors of the King's Corridor, he felt overwhelmed. Taking a deep breath to clear his head, he first set off for the lab. It was clear to him that he had to first learn all he could about the Philosopher's Stone if he was going to be any help to his master.

The lab was in shambles. The ancient, wooden door still lay broken upon the ground. Inside was no better. Broken glassware and puddles of fuming chemicals littered the work area. Dodging around these obstacles, Toku opened the door he had only been allowed to enter a few times—the door to Aleric's office. Once inside, Toku found that the office looked little better than the lab area. The mess in the office was not due to any fight, however. The floor was littered with open books and old parchment. Aleric's large, impressive desk was equally covered with books and writings. Clearly Toku's master had been in the middle of serious research before the arrest had occurred. Once again, Toku took a deep breath.

“Nothing to do but to just start reading,” Toku said to himself, as he picked up one of the books on the desk and settled into Aleric's red leather reading chair.

After several hours of reading, Toku's eyes were beginning to ache. He had flipped through what seemed like a thousand different books and a million different pages. Unfortunately, many of Aleric's books were in strange languages Toku could not understand. There were a few that proved useful, though. Deciding that it was time for a break (his stomach was growling rather loudly), he took one of the more interesting books under his arm and set off for the Skie Pub to get something to eat. The book was an old looking leather tome with simple, gilded lettering spelling out the straightforward title, The Philosopher's Stone.

Toku sat at a small, round table in the back of the Skie. The plate of mushrooms and tofu he had ordered was now empty, and he was stooped over his book with a mug of water in his hand. The book was interesting, but it had not helped explain the day's events much further to Toku. After skipping several chapters of introductory history about the author (most of the famous alchemists were not known for their humility), Toku came to the more useful sections on the history of the Philosopher's Stone and the alchemical theory surrounding it.

From what he could gather, the Philosopher's Stone was first theorized by the great alchemical mathematician, Alhiezar, long before the Great War. Alhiezar had theorized the mathematical necessity for the existence of the Philosopher's Stone due to a particularly complicated equation that explained a very rare transmutation that involved changing matter into antimatter. Toku had never even heard of the reaction before (the book called it an anihilo transmutation), an he was sure Master Aleric had never mentioned it. Skipping past the complicated mathematical equations, Toku came to a paragraph that explained the reaction a little more simply.

"Anihilo transmutation has been attempted many times during the course of our great alchemical history. Twice the legendary Roberto Grosseteste performed the ritual, the last attempt taking his life. Grosseteste followed a formula scavenged from the annals of Abelurb, who is also believed to have attempted anihilo unsuccessfully. The only alchemist known to have ever accomplished this feat of concentration and connectivity is Hermes Tismegistus, the father of Alchemy. Tismegistus, however, attributed his success to his own master, who history has chosen to call The Philosopher. For this reason, Alhiezar chose to call his theoretical discovery “The Philosopher's Stone.”

The fundamental property of Alhiezar's theorized “stone” is absolute connectivity to the surrounding environs. The mathematics surrounding the anihilo transmutation reaction require an alchemical connectivity that approaches infinity. The user of the stone can therefore not only create anihilo transmutation, but exnihilo transmutation as well—the transmuting of matter out of antimatter."

There was much of the theory that Toku could not understand at all. But one thing was clear to him—the Philosopher's Stone was theorized to be every bit as powerful as the legends he had long heard, growing up around alchemists. It was no wonder why many alchemists had given their lives trying to discover the secret of the Philosopher's Stone. Was Master Gin becoming another spoke in the mythical history of the stone?

Toku looked up from his reading. The Skie had become crowded with miners and other workers coming off of their shift. There were even a few royal alchemists drinking fruit juice at a table not far from his.

An absolute conscious connection to the subatomic world, Toku thought to himself. The power to see and change—without equipment, without amplification fluids. It would be almost as if the whole world was a part of your body. Amazing.

“What are you staring at, boy?”

Toku was, in fact, staring. He had been lost in thought, but his eyes had lingered far too long on the table of royal alchemists and their fruit juice. The alchemist sitting across from Toku had tired of the attention. He was a thin, mousy little man with dark, greasy hair and a thin, pink nose. Clearly he had been doing work in the mines with the miners as their clothes were caked in dust and mud. It was also clear that he was not in a good mood from his time in the tunneling pits.

Toku shook his head and tried to smile in a very non-confrontational sort of way. “Oh, sorry. I was just impressed to see a royal alchemist. I'm training to be an alchemist, too!”

“Oh, training to be an alchemist, are you? Well, why don't I give you a lesson, boy? How about it, fellas? Should we give the boy a lesson?”

“Knock it off, Baruno. The kid didn't mean anything by it,” said an alchemist sitting to the left of the alchemist apparently named Baruno.

“Stay out of it, Haruza! You haven't been in the pits all day working with a bunch of mud-faced miners with Master Gin breathing down your neck. I'm tired, I'm cranky, and this kid picked a bad day to make a friend.”

As Baruno stopped speaking, he stood up and walked over to Toku's table. Towering over the frightened boy, Baruno leaned in closely. “Here's your lesson, Mister I-want-to-be-an-alchemist. Listen carefully, I'm only going to teach you once. First of all, alchemy is all about concentration. Take a look at this mug of water you have here. Concentrate on the mug. Look hard.”

Toku had no choice but to do as he was told. He looked into his half-drunk mug of water. Slowly, he saw the water start to swirl and bubble. It was as if someone was stirring the water rapidly.

“Now, once you have concentration down, there's only one other thing to know about alchemy. Don't mess with your superiors!” As Baruno yelled this, the water flew out of the mug. It sprayed all over Toku's face and his book. The water startled Toku so much that he jumped back, knocking over his chair and causing him to fall on the ground. As he did, the round stone he had found earlier that morning rolled out of his pocket and landed next to Baruno's foot.

“Well, what's this, now? Collecting rocks, are we?” said Baruno, mockingly. As he stooped to pick up the stone, it suddenly started to glow. “What the...”

Toku wasted no time. Wet and angry as he was, he had sense enough to quickly get up, grab his book off of the table, and scoop up the stone right from under Baruno's hand.

“Hey! Come back here, boy! What is that thing?”

Toku shoved his way through the pub and ran out of sight through the crowds in the Crossroads.

Toku finally got home around the fourth bell. The day had started off so well. When he finally flopped down on his bed, he felt as if his whole world had somehow caved in upon itself. He had so many questions that he still wanted answered. He was especially curious about this rock, and he was kicking himself for not asking Aleric about it when he had the chance. To try to calm his nerves, Toku settled in bed and tried to read some more of The Philosopher's Stone. As unsettled and shaken as he was from the days events, he was also very tired, and he quickly fell asleep, drooling all over a particularly boring detailing the author's many achievements in the field of alchemical lore and myth experimentation.

Toku was aroused by shouting outside his door. He thought he heard something about the king's soldiers wanting to see him. But that could not be right. He must have just been imagining it. However, just as he was about to turn over and go back to sleep, the door to his room flew open and several heavily armed soldiers spilled in. Toku's mother and father were being led at the front of the pack, with worried looks on their faces. A particularly mean-looking soldier crossed the room and stood menacingly above Toku's bed.

"Where is it, boy?" The soldier demanded, nodding to his companions to search the room.

"What are you talking about? W-w-what's going on? Mom, Dad…" Toku stammered.

"We're here for the stone, boy. We know you have it. Flashing it around at the Skie, were you? Just because those bungling soldiers from this morning don't know what to do with bratty kids like you doesn't mean you can fool around with us. Where did you put it? Did the old man give it to you while you were yakking away with him? Where did you stash it, boy?"

During this speech, Toku finally began putting two and two together. Although he still did not know exactly why, he at least had enough information to know that the ball he had found must be what these ruffians were looking for. He also knew he could not let them have it. Could it be that this stone had something to do with Master Gin's plan to find the Philosopher's Stone? What if his rock was the Philosopher's Stone? If there is anything Aleric had made him understand it was that Master Gin could not get the Philosopher's Stone!

Without a second thought, Toku grabbed the ball and the book, which were both still safely under his sheets, and he darted from his bed and out the door, which the soldiers had foolishly left wide open in their haste to search the room. He saw the look of surprise on his mother's face as he shot past her. I'm sorry, Mom. This is something I have to do, Toku thought. He heard both his parents and the soldiers yell for him to stop, but he didn't waste any time listening to their commands.

Darting out of his home, he stormed down the residential shaft as quickly as his legs would carry him. He stopped dead in his tracks, however, when he saw more soldiers blocking his way to the Crossroads. Thinking fast, he turned around and ducked into Sakura's door just as some very angry and embarrassed armed men rushed out into the corridor from his door.

Inside Sakura's home, Toku was greeted with the shocked face of his friend, apparently having just settled down over a hot bowl of mushroom soup. Wasting no time, Toku grabbed Sakura and dragged her into her room at the very back of the cavern.

"Toku! What're you doing?"

"Listen, the King's soldiers are after me, you have to hide me somewhere!"

"What? What are you talking about? Why would the King's soldiers be after you?" Sakura gave Toku a skeptical look, her arms crossed in front of her and her eyes cocked sideways in a way that Toku normally would have found very attractive.

"Look, there's no time for this. Just trust me. Master Aleric already got arrested. They're after me now…they could be here any minute! Is there anywhere I can hide?"

Toku's frightened and disheveled look broke through Sakura's skepticism. Quickly and quietly she took him into her mother's room and buried him behind several robes and other assorted garments in the closet. It certainly was not the best hiding place, but it was all they had.

Almost as soon as Sakura shut the door of the closet, her front door burst open. Soldiers stormed into her home and began a thorough search. Trying to act casual, Sakura calmly walked out into the main chamber.

"What's going on here?"

"We are looking for an escaped prisoner. Has anyone entered your home asking for a place to hide?" asked the soldier in the lead, eying Sakura suspiciously.

"No, nothing like that has happened, and I would appreciate it if you would be more considerate in making your searches. You nearly scared me to death barging through the door like that—and stop disorganizing my tools!" This last remark was not an act at all, as one of the more destructive soldiers had begun emptying out all the shelves of Sakura's work bench. If there was anything Sakura could not stand, it was a disorganized work bench.

"We are very sorry, Miss, but right now your safety is our first priority. You won't mind if we check the rest of your home, right?"

Sakura froze, but only for a moment.

"Uh—Of course I would not mind you checking…but I hardly see why that would be necessary. I've already told you that no one has come in, other than a bunch of very rude, and very noisy soldiers!"

"Well, that may be the case, Miss, but we still need to check things out. Please excuse us."

Sakura casually let the soldiers pass her into her mother's bedroom. Silently she lifted up her head in a silent prayer that they would miraculously not check in the closet.

At that same moment, Toku was making a similar prayer. Huddled in the back of the closet, with the book on the Philosopher's Stone in one hand and what he thought might actually be the Philosopher's Stone in the other, he could hear everything that was going on outside of his own little prison. He heard the soldiers rummaging around the room outside, checking under the bed and behind some of the larger furniture. Then the inevitable happened. He heard the clunk of a soldier's heavy boots heading steadily towards the iron door of the closet. Toku's silent prayer became more and more urgent. He clutched the dull-metallic ball hard in his hand, and backed against the wall as hard as he could, hoping against all hope that he would somehow escape being seen. Suddenly, just as the door began to open, the sphere began to glow again, taking on the brilliant colors Toku remembered from his dream. The ball shone brighter and brighter, the light still not falling on anything around it. The bright sphere filled up Toku's vision, and suddenly with one last radiant flash of light, everything turned dark.

He could not see. His sensitive eyes had been blinded by the beautiful light. He screamed at this revelation, knowing that at any moment large hands would grab him and take him to the same horrible dungeon to which they had dragged Master Aleric. Turning around, he scrapped at the back wall, frantically running his hands all over, desperately looking for an exit. He almost did not realize it when his hand closed around a doorknob, and twisting it, he fell through a door and onto soft ground. He heard the door slam shut behind him.