Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Bloodlines or Fullmetal Alchemist
I didn't know what to do at this point, still standing next to a dumbstruck Adrian who was watching his father with wide eyes. Adrian's father glanced at me, narrowing his eyes for a few moments before focusing on his son once more. "I thought things were bad enough before with the last girl. Now I find you all the way out here, with someone like her? Somehow, I'm not surprised, but I thought you would have learned after your last entanglement ended up with your mother in jail and nearly put you in the same place," he said carelessly, making anger rise within me.
I stepped away from Adrian, grabbing the box that I had set down before. The lid was closed once more, so Adrian's father couldn't see within, but I still turned to glare over at him. "Don't you dare throw any of that back in his face. Everyone makes mistakes. You can't expect him to be perfect," I argued, watching as Adrian turned towards me with a look of surprise on his face, along with a pained look.
"Sage, don't bother. Dad has never been one to listen to reason," Adrian tried, but I was not going to stand by while Adrian's father tore him apart. I had gotten similar treatment from the man that claimed to be my father, and I did not want to see Adrian go through the same thing.
"You don't even have the slightest idea of the issue we are discussing. If you wish to assist us, I would suggest leaving me to have a word alone with my son," he stated, while I continued glaring up at him, still not ready to walk off.
"No, I'm not leaving you alone with him, not after what I just heard. I suggest you get used to having me tag along with this little reunion. After all, you owe me for giving your son a ride here," I told him, watching him stare at me in shock. Adrian actually laughed behind me, patting a hand on my back as he followed me outside.
"Nice work, Sage. Never thought I'd see the day my Dad was guilted in to caving into someone," he stated, while I grinned back over at him. Unable to argue any further, Nathan followed along with us. Eventually, he took the lead, bringing us towards a restaurant inside a dim and windowless building. I would have preferred the sun, but I knew that it was uncomfortable for moroi, leaving me to have to be content with this place.
I wasn't all that surprised when Adrian ordered a martini right off the bat. He was going to need it, if his father kept up with his attitude for the rest of the meal. "It's barely noon," Nathan complained, clearly uncomfortable with continuing to debate my relationship with Adrian while I was here. Luckily, my decision to hide my knowledge of their world gave us some kind of benefit. Nathan couldn't speak about the real issue he had with me, not without revealing the greatest secret they all kept.
"I know. I'm surprised I held out that long too," Adrian replied to his father's earlier comment. Nathan seemed to be trying to ignore it too, his gaze focusing on me, sitting next to Adrian.
"So, just how well do you know my son?" Nathan asked, sounding a bit irritated with me already.
I shrugged, not really sure of what to say. I hadn't thought this far ahead when I invited myself along, only planning on being here to support Adrian. "I know him better than I know anyone else, though I suppose that isn't saying all that much," I replied, watching Adrian give me a small smile from my side.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Nathan asked, finally intrigued about something I had said.
Adrian had received his drink at this point, and he was starting to drink some of it when he decided to join in. "She's got amnesia, Dad. Can't remember a thing about her life, though I'm always happy to help a damsel in distress." Adrian had been helping me far more than the others, listening to my problems and even doing his best to understand magic and alchemy with me.
"Amnesia? Adrian, why can't anything ever be simple with you?" Nathan complained, looking stressed already. "I'm not here to come cleaning up after your messes. I know that you will never change, but honestly, this is low even for you," he commented, once again turning on his own son.
I glared at him, anger still simmering within me. "How can you even say that, when I'm sitting right here? You claim to be looking out for your son, but beyond learning that I lost my memories, you haven't even bothered to learn who I am," I began, but Nathan was cutting me off already.
"I don't need to learn more. When you have my vast wealth of knowledge to assist in making decisions, you get a feeling about people when you meet them. I simply knew that my son was not good enough for you," he argued, trying to turn it into a complement of my character.
Adrian looked a bit stunned at his harsh words, but I was getting up, not accepting this at all. "Oh, really? That seems rather odd, considering you raised him. What makes you think that he is so bad?" I argued, watching Nathan look a bit upset.
"I'm sorry to shatter any illusions that my son has built up to you, but it seems that you have been fooled by his fast-talking ways. I can assure you, he has never done anything that didn't serve his own interests first," he began, but that was when I began to feel something strange, yet familiar. I was growing tired, feeling like my energy was fading away slowly. My gaze turned towards the box, closed still, but I knew that it was responsible for what was happening.
"He has no initiative, no ambition, no follow-through. From a very early age—" Nathan was saying, continuing to berate his son as Adrian looked like he was being slapped by Nathan's words. Neither of them seemed to feel it, but then again, I was the closest to the stone.
I interrupted Nathan, not caring about revealing what I was. Right now, our safety was my concern, as well as the safety of everyone else here. "Adrian, we need to evacuate this place, now," I said, urgency in my voice. He turned towards me, still a bit dazed from Nathan's words. He seemed confused at my comment, until my gaze flickered to the box, then back to his.
"How…I thought you had to be…" he began, his gaze turning back towards his father. He knew he couldn't say much about it with Nathan here, and I felt a bit stressed with that limiting our conversation.
"It doesn't matter, I don't know how far it can reach. At the moment, I think it is only affecting me," I told them, watching Adrian nod.
"I'd agree with that one. I don't feel a thing," Adrian told me, glancing over at his father. "You aren't feeling strange, are you?"
Nathan simply looked lost, confused about what we were discussing. "I'm sorry, but could one of you explain what this childishness is about? It is rather foolish to try and evacuate a building because you are feeling unwell."
"As much as I hate to admit it, Dad has a point. We don't have a way of getting others out of here," Adrian stated, but I shook my head, having ideas of my own.
"What about an earthquake? I believe that would create enough of a panic, and it would be quite believable considering the area we are in." I suggested, watching Adrian glance over at his father again, looking unsure. I didn't have much of another choice, even if I didn't want to show this to anyone else. "I know, but we don't have another option. It's getting worse, if I don't do something soon, I will likely pass out again," I told Adrian, watching alarm fall across his features.
"Damn it, Sage, if that's the case give me the stupid rock. At least then you will get a break from this." I shoved the box over to him, not bothering to argue. Adrian knew the risks and if he wanted to take them on, I wasn't going to tell him to stop. After all, I had done the same thing myself.
"Rock? Why does a rock create a problem here?" Nathan asked, still looking lost.
I smirked up at him, glad that I finally could show him that I wasn't quite as normal as I seemed. "Oh, is your vast knowledge and experience not helping you out with this one? Allow me to illuminate things for you, because in my experience, few of your kind actually understand what it is I can do." I stated, watching him suck in a sharp breath. I didn't give him the chance to make any comments on my words though, clapping my hands together and slamming them into the ground.
Blue sparks formed on the floor beneath me, as I focused on making the ground itself vibrate underneath my hands. Making it spread was the hard part, but it wasn't entirely impossible. For those that didn't believe it was serious, I added in a bit of an extra flare, deconstructing the matter of some of the walls and letting pieces crumble off into the air. With people now seeing the threat of the building about to collapse, they began running for the exit, screaming and panicking as they raced passed each other to get outside.
"Brilliant work, Sage, now what the heck are we doing with this thing?" Adrian asked, looking a bit uncomfortable as he held the box. I could see that it had begun to drain on him as well, now that it was closer to him.
"I don't have a choice. I have to ask them about it." I told him, holding out my hand. He looked a bit hesitant, clearly aware of what had happened last time I had a grip on the stone when they were out of control. I understood more about it now, but that did not mean I was immune to its effects.
When he still didn't offer it to me, I began to get a brief idea to help. They were draining energy, because of what the spell had caused. It was designed to take away the magical energy of others, so it had more of an effect on those that could utilize it. Based on the lessons I had with Ms. Terwilliger, and my continued conversation with her the other day, I understood that humans who dabbled in magic had forced a connection to it by wresting it from the world. It supposedly left a permanent mark on them somehow, though I had yet to sense it myself in anyone.
The stone was tapping into that, though, draining away my magical energy. It did the same thing to Adrian, and based on what I had seen, it had no affect on Keith the other day. "Magic." I stated, glaring over at it and earning myself a confused glance from the others. "The stone, it is designed to absorb magic. I can't exactly explain more at the moment. I don't have enough time," I told them, watching Adrian nod, while Nathan just looked too stunned to speak. "I hate to ask you to do this, but can you try using it on them? Maybe if they absorb enough energy, this will stop," I told him, watching Adrian nod, shaking his head slightly.
"Man, I've gotta say, this is the strangest thing I've done. I never expected that I'd be trying to heal a rock one day," he said, making me grin as he pulled the stone out. It seemed to take more from him when he touched it, based on the way Adrian stumbled a bit when he pulled it out. I couldn't see the magic working, but I could tell that Adrian was focused as he stared at the rock.
He dropped down to the floor, his legs giving out after a few moments. The stone slipped from his grip, landing next to my feet. Hesitantly, I picked it up. The drain was still present, but not nearly as severe as before. Sydney…how did you figure that out? We've been trapped like this for years, and even we couldn't figure it out. Al asked, his voice echoing around in my mind.
"Not now, I've got to explain a few things to him first," I stated, glancing over at Adrian's father. Nathan nodded, seeming to stare at us with an uncertain look on his face. "My name is Sydney Sage, and I am an Alchemist. I would appreciate it if you kept your knowledge of my presence here a secret. I am investigating something…concerning, that the Alchemists would much rather I left alone," I told him, watching Nathan nod, his gaze locked on the rock in my hand.
"What is that thing?" he demanded, sounding a bit frightened by the sight of it.
I gave him a sad look, putting it back into the box for now. "That is the reason strigoi exist, though they had little say in the matter. A creation of an art long forgotten, this is what is known as a philosopher's stone, a vampiric one since it drains away the energy of those around it. However, I have recently discovered that it is not simply energy it drains, rather, the magic of others that it takes away," I told him, watching Adrian seem to grow confused at this.
"How the hell does that work out? I've never heard of anyone losing their magic, and you shouldn't be affected if that's the case."
"Adrian, clearly she is unusual for a human. Did you not just witness her display before? She is just as skilled as any earth user of our kind," Nathan corrected, while he smirked, wrapping an arm loosely around my shoulders.
"Nah, Sage says that isn't magic. Follows some weird laws of nature or something, I don't really get it all that much," Adrian stated, while I sighed, shaking my head at him.
"The Law of Equivalent Exchange, and that is not my focus right now. Humans are actually capable of using magic, though it isn't quite the same as yours. I've been looking into it, since it relates to what we've been looking into," I told Adrian watching him nod, frowning slightly. "Seems like I've got a natural talent for that as well as alchemy." I added, a bit of apprehension slipping in at that realization. That meant that I was the ideal person to restore Ed and his family, when we came up with an actual plan to do so. If it required both alchemy and magic, I was the only one here who knew both.
"This is insanity. How is something like that not magic?" Nathan demanded, clearly not believing Adrian's words. I stared at him, shaking my head and rubbing a hand against my forehead. This was going to be irritating, dealing with him and explaining this.
"It is quite similar, though not the same. I am simply deconstructing and reconstructing the matter around me. It can have effects that mimc magic, but it is a different art. Alchemy is not limited to any particular element, nor is it based on an internal connection to the elements," I explained, watching Nathan frown.
"How about I demonstrate? Adrian, do you still have that gold on you?" I asked, while Adrian nodded, pulling it out and handing it over to me. Clapping my hands together, I pressed the hand holding the gold against my cheek, once again imbuing it into the mixture of my tattoo. It stung just like before, if not a little bit more, as the gold penetrated partially into my skin. "I don't believe even your earth users could do something like that," I told him once it was compete, certain that my lily was back to its old golden color.
Nathan just looked stunned, while Adrian smirked. "Gonna tell me she isn't good enough for me now, old man? Oh wait, I'm sorry, you said the other way around was the truth. Guess I haven't really done much to improve my image, so of course that's still true," Adrian said, bitterness painting his tone. I glanced over at him, wanting to help him out somehow, but there was little to be done.
"Adrian, that is hardly the matter to focus on right now—" Nathan began, but Adrian wanted his chance to speak now, and he wasn't going to let Nathan get another word in.
"Well, I think it is. You walk in here, acting like you know everything and trying to boss people around like usual. You don't even know Sydney, and yet you see it fit to judge her based on one single statement! Hell, you even assume that it makes her better than me somehow, convinced that I can't even do anything with my life. I came all this way to see you…to try and find out about my mother, and this is what I get?" I felt a pang in my heart at those words, knowing he wanted so badly to know what happened to his mother, and his father seemed to refuse to help.
"Adrian, let's just get out of here. He isn't worth our time. I've got ways of finding out where your mother is, without him," I told Adrian, making a mental note to look it up within the Alchemists' database. They kept records of even moroi criminals. Certainly there would be something on her in there.
Adrian nodded, moving with me to walk out when my phone rang. "Hello?" I answered, picking it up with a bit of surprise. Few people had this number, and those that did, knew I was not going to be in Palm Springs today.
"Sydney? Are you okay? I heard there was an earthquake in San Diego, a pretty massive one from what I understand. It even created issues with the electrical system in buildings. I heard reports of sparks being seen as the walls crumbled down," Zoe stated, sounding worried. I grimaced slightly, upset that I had forgotten about that part of transmutation. At least others had come up with a flimsy excuse for me, though it made no sense for the sparks to be on the ground instead of near the actual sources of electricity.
"Zoe, I'm fine. We…weren't near the building that was affected the most." I stated, hating how much I had to lie to her. She was my sister, and because of this stupid job we both shared, I couldn't tell her the truth about anything. Adrian snorted, already figuring out what the conversation was about.
Zoe sounded relieved when she replied. "Good, are you having any luck in your search?" she asked, while I glanced over at Adrian and his father, who was still looking stunned from what he had learned.
"Not really, we haven't found much yet." I told her, knowing that I wouldn't be able to fake enough details to give her the impression of success. She sighed on the other end, clearly hoping that my trip would have been over already.
Just as she was about to reply, someone else walked inside the restaurant. I found it strange, considering how it had just evacuated. The man had brown eyes and was clearly a moroi, but something looked unhinged about him. He seemed lost, and a bit dazed as he glanced around the room, his eyes finally landing on me and seeming to come into focus at the last second. "Sage, I think you're gonna have to retract that statement," Adrian commented, looking a bit tense as he stared at this man.
I understood what that meant immediately, realizing that this was another spirit user like Adrian. "You….I know you. Girl with her, with the one that took him from me. Why didn't you save him? Why weren't you there?" he demanded, sounding a bit angrier as he continued on. I glanced at Adrian, wondering what this was all about. "Victor would still be alive if you were there! You were meant to save him, yet you were not there when he needed you!" he continued, sounding a bit crazy at this point.
"Calm down, Robert, everything is fine. Sydney didn't know about Victor, and she was not his guardian. There was nothing she could have done for him," Adrian stated, trying to reason with the man who seemed to be ready to attack. Regardless, Robert did not seem to want to listen. Suddenly, plants began to grow from the ground, breaking through the floor of the restaurant and filling the room. They were under his control, the control of a mad spirit user.
I moved back, knowing he was going to attack me somehow with them. "You will pay for this! I will not let Victor go unavenged, not until I have destroyed every last person involved in his murder!" Robert claimed, the plants now moving quickly towards me.
I acted quickly, dropping my phone and clapping my hands together before pressing them against the silverware on a nearby table. It was crude and rather short, but I did manage to make a small blade from the metal sitting there. I used it to slash out at the plants, cutting them down before they could reach me. "Adrian, Sydney, this way! We must get out of here!" Nathan was yelling, trying to wave us over to him.
I was surprised that Nathan was going out of his way to help us, considering how self-serving he had seemed before. Adrian looked surprised as well, but he did move to go towards his father. "No! I was not allowed to save him, therefore no one is allowed to save them!" Robert declared, the plants now rushing towards Nathan.
I saw what was happening and I really did my best to stop it. I ran forward, my hands clapped together and prepared for a transmutation. I didn't even have to make anything, I just had to destroy the massive vine rushing towards Nathan. I managed to press my palm into its base, and watched as the destruction trailed along the length of the plant. However, it was too late. It had impaled Nathan Ivashkov, who was now breathing heavily on the ground, blood pooling underneath him. "No!" Adrian yelled, seeing his father on the ground.
I turned towards Adrian, not knowing how he would take this. The look of rage on his face told me it wasn't well, and it was followed by a strange attack. Anything available in the room was lifted off of the floors and tables, from objects as small as napkins to the vases and flowers that were decorating them. It was an array of silverware and dining sets, that Adrian sent flying towards Robert in anger. They seemed to slow down, the other spirit user using his own magic to delay them.
With Robert now focused on Adrian, I moved to help Nathan as quickly as possible. "Sydney…tell Adrian…I'm sorry," he whispered, and from what I could see, he didn't have much time left. I tried pressing my hands into the wound to keep pressure on it, but there was simply too much blood being lost. I could barely slow it down, and I knew without a doubt that it was too late for him.
"I know I wasn't….the greatest father for him. I just…wanted him to succeed in life. Let him know….I'm glad he's found happiness. Take…care of him for me," he stated, making my eyes grow wide. I never expected him to accept me, not when I was human. He placed his hand on top of mine, a small smile on his face. "It is good….that he found someone…like you. He needs your….strength to keep himself motivated. Help him….find his path in life."
I nodded, feeling tears begin to fall. I had hardly known this moroi, and he had been awful to me every second I had been around him, but he was Adrian's father and he still had the precious gift of life. I never wanted to watch someone die in front of me, and now, I realized that it hurt far more than I ever imagined it would.
I was angry too, angry at the spirit user who had caused all of this. "I'll take care of him, sir. Don't worry about that." I told Nathan, watching him seem to look relieved at my words. I stood up, a determined look on my face as I moved to grab the stone inside the box. The stone wanted magic, and that was exactly what I was going to give it. "Alright guys, looks like you're gonna have to give me a hand here. Let's just hope this works," I commented, sensing their confusion and anger as well. Apparently, Ed was a big proponent of never killing anyone, not even his own opponents.
Holding it in my hand, just before I threw it, a sudden realization tore through me. The stone was trying to absorb magic…but for what purpose? Perhaps it was the key to restoring them, to bringing them back. The only thing I had to do was add in a little alchemy, along with the magic present here, and it should theoretically be enough to at least attempt to return them to normal. The only problem was the Gate. I'd need something to pay the toll, since I still did not understand how to block off the entry to it.
Glancing down at Nathan, I grimaced as I got a rather dark idea. Nathan seemed to realize that, and he nodded at me, looking serious. "If there is anything…I can do to help….please, just do it. I want my death….to have some meaning, if possible," he stated, while I nodded, touching his hand as I knelt by his side.
"I'm sorry, I never wanted it to be like this," I told him, watching him smile and lean his head back against the wall. "Ed, are you aware of a way to restore the souls of a normal philosopher's stone?" I asked, glancing down at the stone.
Yeah, why do you care about that though? We've got a bigger problem right behind us, you idiot! He complained, still worried about the magic fight going on around us. Adrian had it under control for now, but I knew he would need help eventually.
"Show it to me. That problem is about to become our solution." I told him, sensing confusion from within the stone. Still, Ed did as I asked and I smile softly, beginning to draw the reverse transmutation circle. Al tried to explain to me how it worked, that it had been derived from someone who had studied alkahestry and alchemy, and created this circle as a combination of both arts.
Somehow, it seemed poetic to have a circle of that nature. I was combining multiple forms of the same concept, creating one single action as a result. Grabbing a marker out of my purse, I got to work. It would be crude, drawing it on the ground like this, but it would work so long as the circle remained unbroken by the destruction being caused. It finished after a few moments, and I was left frowning at my work. There was something missing, the element of human magic that needed to be added somehow.
Glancing at the circle and focusing on what I knew, I tried to remember anything that would help. I understood the concepts of human magic, and the basics of just a few spells, but I knew nothing intricate. Closing my eyes, images seemed to dance behind them with this focus in mind, images from within the Gate. My eyes snapped back open, realizing the truth rather suddenly. The magic hadn't been added for their first attempts, it had been added in after one of them saw the Truth.
With that in mind, I began writing almost instinctively around the border of my circle, knowing just what needed to be present for this to work. Along with the latin words for magic, it needed an element of human transmutation to ensure that Ed, Al, and Winry would actually end up with bodies, rather than simply releasing their souls. I added in a few alchemical symbols centered around that focus, and after a few more moments, my project was complete. "Sage, this isn't the time for an art project!" Adrian called out, looking irritated that I had stopped to draw this.
His words pulled Robert's attention back towards me, and I knew I had to move quickly. "Nathan, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to move you now." I told him, watching him nod weakly. I pulled him over to the circle, setting him down on the edge as I moved to the center to place the stone on the ground.
This isn't right, we can't just sacrifice others to get our bodies back! Stop this! Ed yelled at me, but I glared over at him, shaking my head.
"There isn't another way, and he's dying anyway. At least let his sacrifice mean something," I told him, sensing their sadness at the necessary death of this man. They accepted it, and knew it was going to happen, they just couldn't bring themselves to use it to their advantage. In the end, it didn't matter, because I was the one doing the transmutation in the first place.
I stepped back to the edge of the circle, glancing up to see Robert's next attack focused on me. That was exactly what I wanted, a source of magic to fuel the spell. I sensed the drain coming from the stone already, and I could see it affecting Robert's attack, slowing down the movement of his plants and making them wilt away into nothingness, just as they had been before he brought them to life.
Locking eyes with Robert, I pressed my hands against the edge of the circle. "I may not know what I've done to you in the past, but I am not going to let you harm my friends. You have taken enough away from us, and I am not going to let his death be for nothing," I told him, watching Adrian's eyes grow wide, noticing just now that his father was sitting within my circle. "I'm sorry, Adrian," I whispered, and somehow, I could tell that he had heard me. His gaze seemed sad and angry, lost in grief as he tried to keep focusing on holding off Robert for me.
The circle activated, however, giving us all a brilliant distraction. Robert stopped in his attack, staring at it in shock as sparks danced along the lines of the circle. I could feel the pull of the Gate, the knowledge already beginning to press into my head. It was different than before, where I had been dragged in and was seeing the knowledge. This time, it was just a general feel for the knowledge within, and I used it to my advantage. Almost without realizing it, I had begun to chant in latin, magic enhancing the circle I had already created.
Still, my circle had not been built with blocking the Gate in mind. While it had opened gradually at first, simply due to the fact that this was not an ordinary human transmutation, it was now beginning to act like my previous attempt at human transmutation. I remembered very little of it, beyond what was within that realm, but all of this was beginning to feel vaguely familiar. Black shadowy hands were growing from the ground, stretching out towards myself, Nathan, and the stone. While they seemed unable to reach the stone, they wrapped themselves around both myself and Adrian's father, pulling us away.
"Sydney, no! Dammit, I can't lose you too!" I heard, recognizing Adrian's voice at the last second. I glanced up at him, shaking my head slightly to try and tell him to stay away. The circle was active and doing its job, even if I would not be present. It would finish, and when I returned, I would be able to see if my idea had worked. I just hoped I had gotten enough to pay the toll for this, because if I didn't, I had no idea how much more I could withstand losing.