Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fullmetal Alchemist or Bloodlines
I had no clue who this alchemist was, so the effect of his dramatic statement was lost on me. The stone in my hand, however, did something else. It was giving off quite a bit of warmth, especially with how small it was. "How does something this small manage to heat my entire hand?" I asked, inspecting it closely. That was when the stranger thing happened, the proof that Keith hadn't been lying when he claimed that there was life in this stone.
Who are you calling small, you anorexic blondie! An irritated voice called out, echoing within my mind. I flinched slightly at its presence, knowing that it came from within my mind and not outside.
Calm down, Ed, she didn't know we were in here. Another male voice stated, sounding a bit more calm and reasonable than the first.
This was bad already with two voices, it didn't help me feel any better when a third joined in. Sorry about him, Ed's kind of an idiot. My name is Winry, and these two are Edward and Alphonse Elric. A third voice stated.
"A-Adrian! You said you only saw one aura!" I complained, rubbing my head at the noise coming from the stone. Keith gave me a smirk, looking amused already.
"I should have warned you. Ed hates being called short, small, pipsqueak, or anything relating to size really." Keith commented, while I began to hear more yelling from Ed about Keith's words.
I grimaced, half-tempted to drop the rock and just leave them like this. They were annoying, yet Keith did say it was his life's work. "Hold on a sec, are you telling me that the rock actually talks? How many people are in that thing?" Adrian asked, stepping closer to me to inspect the rock as well.
Of course we're in here! We're trying to get our real bodies back….again. Al called out, sounding wistful as he did so. My mind caught on that one word though, on how this had happened before to them.
"Wait, you were turned into a rock before?" I asked them, but I was given silence for a moment. There must be some kind of debate between the brothers, because it ended up being Ed who replied.
Sorry, there's no way I'm trusting some bulimic princess with our life story. he replied. What was with all these comments about eating disorders? Glancing down at myself, I realized they had some merit. I was far too skinny for a normal human, yet it unnerved me to think that I had tried to starve myself, or forced myself to throw up all my food to get to this point.
Adrian was still waiting for me to answer him, frowning as he stared at me. "Sage, you've got a strange look on your face. Are the voices getting to you already?" he teased, making me roll me eyes.
"Ha ha, very funny. They're too busy trying to think of more eating disorders to give me to bother explaining anything, Keith." I told them, ignoring Adrian's laughter at my comment.
"That proves it, you do need to gain a few pounds! Even a rock agrees with me, Sage, you've gotta take my advice seriously now." he insisted, while I shrugged.
"I never claimed to have an issue with it, at least I don't remember doing so. Oh, and there are three people in this rock, by the way. Edward, Alphonse, and Winry." I explained, introducing all three of them. Keith nodded, smiling slightly as he looked at the rock.
"Yep, those are my ancestors in your hand right there. My family is descended directly from Ed and Winry, though listening to them, you'd never guess they were an actual couple." he commented, making me glance down. Keith had a point, the girl's introduction of everyone had included an insult to Ed.
This was huge, monumental in my mind. There was life, hidden within an innate object in this world. Look, I get that you want to help and I appreciate the offer, but we don't want to involve others in our problems. Ed stated in a bit of a calmer voice after a few moments. I glanced down, a small smile on my face as I realized I had my own fair share of problems without adding theirs. They didn't like being like this, something that I had no doubt about. It must be so constricting, living life simply within your own mind, with no one to talk to unless someone touched this stone.
"Sorry, but I came to you for help with my own problems, actually." I told them, getting a bit of stunned silence from their minds.
Al was the first to recover and speak. We can't really be all that helpful from within here…even if you planned on using the vampiric philosopher's stone, you would risk destroying us. I frowned at that comment, wondering how this rock got a name like that. Did it feed off of others in some form? As I thought about it and focused on myself, I began to notice that very fact. I was growing tired as I held onto the rock, my energy very slowly being drained away.
Using this rock had not been my intention at all, but it did make me wonder how it could be used. It seemed to store the energy it stole from me, making it a powerful resource when powering alchemical transmutations. "No, that was not my intent. I came for information, specifically on how you recovered your bodies I believe. You see, I've lost my memories. I want to get them back, and I know your story will tell me what I need to know to do so." I explained.
"Sage, you do realize that it looks like you're talking to yourself right now." Adrian commented, making me glance up and sigh. This was true, but I didn't exactly know how to fix the situation. "Also, that clearly does not have a body, so I don't quite see how they recovered them if they are a rock." he added, pointing to the object in my hand.
Keith shrugged, looking far more comfortable with Adrian than he had been before. "Yeah, they kind of have some bad luck with that bit. They started off normal, then lost their bodies, then recovered them, and now they've lost them again. I'd say this is even worse than the first time, but they might disagree." he stated, glancing over at the rock. Part of me wondered how someone could lose their entire body multiple times, but I knew that it had to do with Alchemy. If the Truth could take away my memories as a toll, it could just as easily take away something physical like a body.
What makes you think our story will help you? We can't help amnesiacs, our story doesn't quite fix your problem. Sounds like you need a doctor, not an alchemist. Ed commented, clearly not interested at this point.
Ed, at least give her a chance. She seems nice, don't just push her away because she said our new form was small. It's not like she called you in particular short. Winry commented, trying to sooth Ed. That guy seemed to have a bit of a temper issue, though there was little I could do to control it at the moment.
Keith glanced over at me, shaking his head. "They're a bit hard to reason with, but they are still good people inside. Believe it or not, they actually saved an entire country once from becoming something similar to what they are now." Ketih told me, walking closer. "What are they arguing over this time?" he asked, glancing at the rock.
He must have quite a bit of experience with them, if he was expecting that much already. "They don't think I need their help. Ed is under the impression that an amnesiac won't get any benefit from hearing his story, and that I need a doctor not an alchemist to help." I explained, watching Keith nod.
"Ed, her memory was the toll for the Gate." he stated, and based on the silence that occurred after his words, I knew that Ed, Al, and Winry had heard.
Someone's been messing with human transmutation again? Hasn't anyone learned yet? It isn't possible, just stop trying to find ways to avoid death! Ed was yelling, sounding very angry with whatever had been done.
"Yelling at me is rather pointless, considering I don't even remember why I attempted it in the first place." I argued back, not liking his tone. It reminded me somewhat of my father, criticizing my actions when I couldn't even remember enough to know I'd done something wrong.
Al was a bit more sympathetic, and I had already decided I liked him and Winry far better than Ed. We'll figure it out together. If we help you, you can help us get our bodies back, just like Keith! He stated, sounding excited for more help.
Yeah right, she's probably not even smart enough to understand the most basic concepts of a philosopher's stone, let alone a vampiric one. Ed corrected, seeming doubtful of my abilities.
"Great, that didn't seem to help at all." I commented, grimacing once more. Adrian seemed interested as well, moving his hand over mine to touch the rock.
"Okay, I'm done being out of the loop. Sorry, Sage, you're gonna have to deal with having a scary vampire touching you for a moment." he commented, making me roll my eyes at him.
Vampire? One of their kind is here? Winry asked, seeming interested. From within, images flashed in my head. I could see both variations of vampires, and she seemed afraid of learning which kind was here.
Part of me wondered how they knew of vampires. After all, the Alchemists were very skilled at hiding their existence from what I had noticed. Few humans even suspected Jill was a vampire, seeing her as a harmless high school student at Amberwood. Even Adrian seemed surprised, his jaw dropping open slightly as he heard the girl's voice from within the stone. "Man, you weren't kidding, Sage, this is creepy as hell." he commented, before realizing how offensive that could be. "Oh, and I mean that in the nicest of ways, creepy can be good….sometimes." he said awkwardly.
His attempt at making his comment better didn't seem to do him any good. Who are you calling creepy, you vampire freak? Ed yelled, though it wasn't quite as passionate as his complaint towards me for calling him small. Apparently, being creepy was better than being short to him, yet I could not fathom why that was. Appearances were not the most important part of a person, so in my opinion, it would be better to be called short instead of creepy.
"Wow, you've got quite a temper, don't you? Doesn't surprise me too much, now that I can tell that there are three auras here, I imagine that yours looks a lot like a dhampir I know." he commented, giving us both a sense of relief from the stone. Apparently, that term was enough to calm them down and make them realize that Adrian was one of the less harmful vampires. "Speaking of which, why don't you two start explaining that now. That dark ring around your aura, Sage, it is present around that rock's aura as well. Actually, it's a bit stronger around the rock than it is around you. Don't know if that's good or bad at the moment, but based on my past experience, I would lean towards bad." he stated, leaving everyone outside of the two of us feeling lost.
"What are you talking about? I'm not all that into moroi magic, considering it isn't all that helpful to my research on alchemy." Keith argued, making me realize he had missed something vital. Keith didn't see the link between magic and alchemy, so he treated them differently. He needed to look at them as one and the same, only then would he begin to make progress on his goal.
Adrian didn't seem to mind the question, though he did raise an eyebrow at me for a moment. "Really? Sage didn't seem to agree with you, but I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Spirit magic allows me to see auras around people, rings of color that give me a bit of an insight into their personalities and mood. Both Sydney and that rock have darkness in their aura, a black cloud that resembles what I'd expect to find in someone who was shadow-kissed." he explained.
I could feel a bit more of my energy fading into the stone, making me wonder if it would eventually stop or if I would be limited in how long I could speak with them. Shadow-kissed? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Ed demanded, sounding irritated at his lack of knowledge. Apparently, they weren't up to date on what was going on with the moroi today.
Yeah, also what is spirit magic? I've never even heard of such a thing, I thought that moroi could only specialize in using one of the four main elements. Al added, sounding intrigued as well. Adrian sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.
"Adrian…I think we match because we share something in common with those that are shadow-kissed. The Gate….I wouldn't be surprised if it holds the souls of the dead somewhere within it, at least for a brief moment in time. Those that have passed into that world and returned are forever marked by it, at least, that's what I believe is the case." I told him, remembering the shadowy hands that had grabbed at me. Perhaps that was what became of us after we died, slaves to the Truth and trapped in that realm just like he was.
Souls of the dead? Stop with this crap again, I told you, human transmutation isn't possible! Once a soul has left this world, there is nothing left for you to manipulate. You can't create something from nothing, idiot. Ed criticized, picking up on at least that one term in my explanation.
Please, listen to my brother! You can't bring the dead back to life…no matter how much you might want to do so. Al added, sounding sad and longing. I realized suddenly that this was what had driven them to human transmutation, the reason they went through the Gate. They had lost someone close to them and in a desperate attempt to bring them back, they only lost far more than they already had.
"Hate to break it to you, but that's not quite true. You've got a bit of a window of time to bring someone back, and with the right skill set, it can happen." Adrian commented carelessly, making me glare over at him.
I didn't understand how he could be so insensitive about this, yet somehow he was. Maybe he just didn't realize what these two boys were going through. "Adrian! Now is not the time to explain that to them, besides, it still comes with a price." I argued, glancing down at the rock with a sigh. "I'm not trying to bring the dead back to life, but what we are discussing does involve that concept. Spirit is a recently discovered element that very few moroi specialize in. It gives them great healing abilities, among other things, at the price of their own sanity. If they wish to, they can bring the dead back to life, but the toll is far greater than anything else a spirit user can do. Those that are brought back are labeled as shadow-kissed, because the have been kissed by the shadows of death and returned to this world." I explained, glad that even without my memories for once I could be useful with my knowledge.
"Stop talking about it like that. Magic and alchemy are two different things, Sydney, just get that through your head." Keith argued, sounding irritated at my explanation. Still, I could feel interest from within the stone. Ed and Al were thinking far faster than I could comprehend, trying to decipher the possible uses of spirit magic and how it could benefit all of us.
I glared over at Keith, not liking his attitude. "Perhaps they are, but they still both follow the Law of Equivalent Exchange. If you can't open your eyes enough to see that, then you are far more hopeless than I originally thought." I told him, watching Keith snort in response, still looking doubtful.
Brother, she's right! All magic follows the same rules as Alchemy, only they can bypass the need of a transmutation circle. Al stated, sounding eager at this revelation. Ed seemed to be in agreement, already trying to think of what it meant for them.
Winry seemed to be a bit lost in their circle of thought, trying to help but not quite keeping up with the alchemical terms they used. Well, looks like I'm not going to get their attention again anytime soon. She complained, but it wasn't all that angry of a tone. It was more amused, like she adored both of them and loved watching them work. Sorry about them, when they get involved in a research project, they don't stop until it is done. I remember them going days without eating or sleeping before, just so they could learn a bit more about the philosopher's stone. She explained, her attention turning back towards us.
I nodded, understanding what she was saying, but that was when the drain on my energy grew far too strong. My vision grew blurry, and I was unable to see the room in front of me. I heard Adrian shout my name as I dropped the stone, my body collapsing as my strength left in one sudden burst. It was as if the rock had decided to take everything from me at once, and from the brief sense of horror within, I knew I was right. The more they fought to be conscious of themselves, to interact with others, the greater the toll on the world around them. My mind slowly faded away into darkness, leaving me on the floor wondering if I was actually going to wake up again after this.
I've got another update...and, we finally have Ed and Al present in the story. Don't worry, I have an explanation planned out soon - both for what happened to them, and for what this altered philosopher's stone does. Feel free to review and let me know what you think!