Elixir part 5 – A new generation of Melancholists

Elixir part 5 – A new generation of Melancholists
29 January 2023

Courtesy pinterest.com

The Supreme Guard of the Melancholists reached out to Amelia in the early hours of the next night saying they would escort her from her home to Melancholy, ensuring that she would not be bothered by General Stein or his men. Although this seemed like a great solution for her safety, she also realized it would mean her giving up the secret of her second home to the Supreme Guard and she would then be either under surveillance or easily taken out of her home with no possibility to react in time as they would have the knowledge of exactly where she lived.

She phoned them back saying she would meet them in front of the second exit of Melancholy to the back with all the vials she had made. In the end, they had to accept her conditions as she was the one who held the solution to the chronic problem of dying teenagers in Melancholy. Amelia took all the vials of Elixir and put them in a couple of plastic bags which she placed carefully in her sling bag. She headed out of her apartment from the window of the 1st floor which gave directly on a straight ledge and slowly lowered herself to the ground from the pipe that was tapered to the wall leading down from the ledge. She looked around but could see neither the General nor his men. It was true that she had only rented this home a fortnight ago so nobody would know about her whereabouts yet.

As soon as her feet had taken the first step outside of the security of her home, she quickened her pace almost breaking into a run. She walked hurriedly along the early risers in her town who were mostly farmers bringing in their crops from far away, bakers hurrying towards the making of the daily bread and beggars eager to catch a loaf of free bread or some groceries which were left over from the night or brought in by farmers. At the end of the street, she could see some people who looked like neither of these usual early risers; they looked like trained mercenaries. While it was mainly General Stein and his men who pursued her for the Elixir, she realized that there could be others who wanted to just steal some vials from her and sell them on the black market.

She rushed on, heading to Melancholy that stretched beyond, shining dazzling gold and green, sometimes rainbow colour as it shone on. She could now see the backs of General Stein’s men. She stomped on the Earth, trying to make as little noise as possible while she sunk into it. She counted several hundred meters before she emerged again, all the while alerting the Supreme Guard that she was penetrating the grounds of Melancholy. She always had to notify them that she would be stomping through as she would otherwise be electrocuted by the energy field they surrounded Melancholy with in the air and within the ground. They did not want anyone to sneak into Melancholy without them knowing it. As she emerged, she could see the Supreme Guard on one side and on the other side the Melancholists both young and old. She realized that these were only the Elders of Melancholy and their young teenagers.

Amelia rounded up the Melancholists present and told them to stay around her in a circle within the grounds of commemoration where a slab indicated yearly the sacrifices of the Melancholists. She asked them to open up their noses and mouths and to also press on their sides, concentrating on their hearts. She mentioned that it was necessary to do all of this at the same time to maximise the effect of the Elixir. She arranged the Elders to one side in a semi-circle and the teenagers to the other also in a semi-circle. They all silently did as they were told and waited around her with abated breath. 

She took out of her bag three vials of the compounded Elixir and put them on a slab of stone in front of her. She prayed slowly the prayer of cosmic healing and broke the first vial. She could feel the Melancholists take in a sharp breath of the Elixir. She broke the second vial and could feel all the Melancholists chests dilate while their minds seemed to break into a humming of contentedness. She prayed again and broke the third vial of Elixir and could feel a pulse heave through the Melancholists before a wave of energy shot through the crowd of Melancholists and seemed to implode into their ranks then breaking through their ranks lending all their bodies a shiver. She looked around her at the Melancholists and all she could see was youth and beauty everywhere. She smiled and the Melancholists smiled back at her. This was now a new generation of Melancholists. Her potion was much more potent than she ever thought it could be…

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