Philosopher's Stone

01

*City N*

"Remember everyone there's going to be a huge storm later today, so please don't forget to stay indoors and wait it out." The cheerful voice over the radio sang, disrupting the humming of the truck driver, who had on a black baseball cap.

Not that his humming had a rhythm, to begin with.

The young man with black hair and brown eyes diverted his attention from the car to the sky over his head, pulling his cap over his sheltered eyes.

"A storm huh? Wonder if I can make it in time and take out the trash." He spewed out, waiting for the red light to transition into a green one.

Leo Greyman. An ordinary beer deliveryman with ordinary problems such as avoiding a storm to take out his long overdue trash. He pinched his temples, suddenly remembering the can of beer he forgot to put in the fridge.

"Aish, you can't play games without a cold beer." Leo lamented, shaking his head from side to side.

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed the red light turn yellow, he slumped his shoulders and redirected his gaze to the road, checking his side view mirrors.

On his right, there was a blonde man in a black convertible, effortlessly balancing his cigar with his index and middle finger. Sitting at the back, were two busty women, wearing off-shouldered tight fitted sparkly dresses.

Leo can't help but think how nice it would be to be able to not worry about rent so late into the summer, and have a beauty or two by your side.

The owner who sat in the middle looked above and locked eyes with a scowling Leo.

He pulled his lips back into a smirk and then raised his middle finger to the young man no less than twenty-five. The traffic light turned green, and the driver in front drove off at high speed, reminding Leo of his lower-middle-class life.

"Ah well, I still have..." He tried to comfort himself but ultimately knew he has nothing that could compete with such an already fulfilled guy.

Not even a cold can of beer.

He let out a defeated sigh and stepped on the gas, "this is the last delivery." He said in realization, stealing glances at the sticky note tapped on the rearview mirror.

"I might just make it in time for..."

His words were cut short when his gaze landed on a red-haired kid, chasing after a puppy on the busy main road.

On a normal day, Leo could have stepped on his brakes and stopped the truck right before it got to the point of collision.

However, "what's this? The brakes aren't working!" Leo frantically panicked, forcefully stepping on the brakes with all the strength a weekly wage earner should have.

"Hey kid, get out of the way!" He honked his horn, signaling the scared kid to move out of the way.

"Damn it!" Leo cursed,, he tried to turn the steering wheel, moving to another lane, but it was like the truck had a mind of its own.

In a struggle between man and machine, a young delivery man, paying off a butt load of taxes, stood no chance against the bright silver and red truck.

*Swoosh*

At the last dying moment, Leo managed to navigate the speeding truck to the right side of the road, nearly missing the boy and his puppy by a hair.

"Fuck shit! Fuck shit!"

From his side mirror, an older black truck appeared from nowhere and collided with Leo's canned beer delivery truck, landing a fatal blow!

The spiraling truck came to a halt, and the last thing Leo could smell was the sound of a leakage. Both his kneecaps are broken and he's dislocated his left arm, not to mention his bleeding forehead.

"Oliver!" A woman in her thirties cried out, rushing to the boy who sat in the middle of the road, hugging his dog.

Onlookers immediately turned their attention to the frantic mother causing a scene, whereas Leo was still stuck in his truck, his face buried in the airbag.

"Can't...breathe..."

It's funny, Leo thought to himself, as he could no longer hear the distorted sound of spectators calling for an ambulance.

In the game he was playing, his character just met with a fortune teller, that predicted something unfortunate would befall him.

And as the airbag continued to suffocate his flaccid body, Leo bit hard on his lower lip, something other than blood ran down his chin and fell onto his palms.

Tears.

'Once more, just one more chance...' he wails in his head, his shoulders jerking up and down, sobbing into the inflated white cloth.

'I want to start over.'

As fast as smoke to a fire, the truck went up in flames, burning the truck and Leo whole. The flames were so tough, that they sent other cars back, causing an even greater roadblock.

"Somebody help!"

"There's someone inside!"

Spectators cried out from a safe distance, pointing at the flames, holding their phones to their ears, all calling for help at once.

As though karma was playing favorites, grey storm clouds hovered over the scene, inviting a strong wind which fuelled the flames, making it even hotter.

"Get back it's dangerous!" The firemen who had just arrived yelled at the top of their lungs, trying to tame the panicked crowd.

But even while they gave it their all, and earnestly tried to put out the fire, they knew in their hearts that even the bones of the victim wouldn't make it home.

The delivery man was already far gone.

**********

The sickening smell of rotten fish coupled with the sound of waves forced the long black-haired young man to get up from the stacks of crates he was laying face-up on.

Jumping off the brown crates he struggled to gain his footing, at the back of his mind he knew his kneecaps were busted.

Yet,

"What's this? I can stand again." He mumbled under his breath, shielding his eyes from the heavy gush of wind that caressed his face and pushed his long locks of hair back.

"It's really windy today." He remarked, struggling to even stand, "the weather report did say something about a storm." He added, taking heavy steps forward, his boots creaking against the wooden deck.

The more he stepped forward, walking towards harsh sunlight, the more he recognized the sound of disordered footsteps and frantic shouts to hoist sail.

He used his free hand to scratch the back of his head, hopelessly confused over what all the racket was about.

It wasn't rent collection day, was it?

But as he advanced, the wind only grew stronger, to the point that he had to use both hands to shield his face.

"Get a healer here! Man down!"

"All resident healers are busy trying to treat themselves!"

"We've taken a massive hit captain, the ship won't be able to dock if this goes on!"

"Shoot some more fireballs at the thing! We'll need all attack magic users on deck!" A baritone voice declared, taking charge of the crisis the young man had no clue about.

"Fireballs...don't you mean Canons?" He mindlessly asked, unable to hear his own voice over the panic and raucous sound of... flapping wings?

A frantic crew mate trying to escape collided with the young man, forcefully pushing his shoulder back.

"Run! We're gonna die!"

The fear in his voice along with the stilling of the wind forced the young man to lower his hands, taking in the view of a large ship, with wounded men sprawled across the deck!

"What the..." He placed his hand on his chest, he can feel his heart almost leap out of his chest, as he takes in the shock of bloodied men, trying to crawl their way to safety.

"It's coming!" The voice of a hefty man with a braided brown beard cried out, stealing everyone's attention, as to what exactly was coming.

As if on cue, the whole ship started to cradle from side to side, tossing some bodies overboard!

"Ugh!" He planted his right foot firmly on the deck and covered his eyes, the strong wind returned, only this time it was accompanied by an ear-deafening screech.

The youngster immediately pressed both palms against his ears to protect his eardrums, when what he should have been protecting was his eyes!

Because, as soon as he flickered his eyelids open, staring right at him, was a clear white Iris, peering into his soul!

Frozen in place, with his lower lip quivering, the youngster took in the breath taking sight of a massive bird flying right over the ship, flapping its massive red feathered wings, distorting the waves.

In place of feathers on its back, it had silvery scales and gills at the side of its beak.

The creature suddenly dived into the water, and the youngster's frightened eyes followed its silhouette over the surface of the water, a sickening sensation sat in his stomach.

"Kraa!"

The creature wailed out, rising from the sea with a mighty quake, and salty crystal-like drops of water spray over the crew. As the majestic creature, flew directly over the crew, casting its dark shadow on the ship.