Prologue

The rain lashed down from the sky, covering the world in its sorrow filled droplets. Sigmalla stared up through her clear umbrella and watched as the raindrops hit her outreached hand. The drops curled underneath her long sleeved shirt and slid around her arms, similar to the chains that curled around her forearm and upper arm. She stared for a while and then walked on, the chains attached to her left arm tinkling like wind chimes.

The table beneath her was cold, freezing like the blocks of ice that her father cut from the pond in winter. There was little light, but just enough came through the observation windows which were above for Sigma to see that she was within the "medical" room. It was more of an occult operating room and alchemic circle combined. Her arms were bound and she was not sure that she could feel her legs. Sigma looked from side to side, searching in desperation for her sister, Adrianna. There was no one present, at least at first.

There, in the corner of the room, stood a man if that is what you wanted to call a monster in human flesh. He was masked by the shadows, but she could feel his presence and knew instinctively that he was the man that had set this whole thing up, the kidnapping, the imprisonment, and the experiments. There was no other reason that he would be in the room but to gloat and tell her his villainous plans, ones which had gotten persistently worse. From the feedback she was picking up from him through her "senses" he was planning something truly horrible this time.

She watched as he stepped out of his cover of darkness and she was startled. He usually wore a mask that covered the bottom half of his face and curled up at the sides to only expose his eyes and his forehead. Today, he was wearing his human face, the one that he no doubt had been born with. His deep blue eyes were accented by sweeping eyelashes and a rugged face, one that she recognized too well.

"So how are you today, Sig? I hope that you are feeling up to par because today is a big day," he stated walking over to her and placing his hand on her left arm. "Today you will become more than just a twin, though you be gifted as one, you will become a splendid creature, forged by my genius as well as alkahesty and alchemy. You will be a twin in body, mind and soul through the twin efforts of alkahestry and alchemy. Be glad."

"What is there to be glad about?" she screamed, straining at the chains that bound her. "You have taken my sister and have ripped us from our family! We have been her for months and yet you have yet to kill us. Why not end it all now? Give us our ends mercifully or I swear when I get free of these chains I will kill you for all that you have done!"

"Now, now, none of that, dear Sigma. You are getting your wish, at least in part," he responded, moving away from her. She screamed louder, sobs mixing in with the hatred at this man. "You will get to have your sister back, at least in part." He smiled, the expression enough to hint at his nefarious meaning.

"What have you done to her, you monster? Where is she? What have you done with Adria?" she screamed so loud that her vocal chords gave out. Sobs replaced the words that would have called out her outrage and fear. Instead, he creep closer and whispered, "You two shall be one again, just like you were in the womb. You will be joined in one body but still retain two souls. That is the beauty that I have discovered. The two of you will be complete again, as you have always wanted to be in the past, am I not right?"

Horror overcame Sigma's face. She was looking into a blue that would engulf her whole world and make her into a monster, just like the one standing here. There was no escape and there was no going back, for her or her sister. Their lives would never be the same.

She was snapped from her reverie, her thoughts abruptly being shifted, muddled, and confused. She felt the feelings that had engulfed her that day, soon after the conversation with the insane medical alchemist that had escaped the aftermath of the Fuhrer's death and the destruction of his regime. There was only one explanation for what she was feeling. Adria was rising.