Her knees ached as she pushed herself up, brushing her hands free of the chalk dust. She walked around the circle, checking each line with a critical eye. When she was finished, she walked around again. And again. Time passed as she retraced the circle in the air above it. Finally, she stepped back and nodded. It was perfect.
She crossed the room to her workbench, carefully adjusting the scale. She had to be precise, exact. The large pan that she had specially made wouldn't fit on the table and so she set it in the center of the circle, careful not to smudge any lines. The strain of her perfect work and her exhaustion were working together to create a dull ache in her shoulders. She couldn't stop now, though. Not when she was so close.
"Water, thirty-five liters," she whispered aloud as she carefully poured the liquid into a tall container. She knelt so that she was eye level. The water was too high and so she poured the excess water onto the floor where the ground immediately soaked it up. She added container after container to the pan until she had exactly thirty-five liters.
"Carbon, twenty kilograms." The same careful measurement was taken and she added the element to the pan where it mixed with the water.
She paused for the first time that night to stare up at the window. She had blocked it with a board the night before so that no one could spy on her. What she was doing was wrong, but she would succeed. She would bring a human back from the dead.
Her brother liked looking at the stars. He always told her that he would look at the stars in Ishbal and think of her. She smiled as she thought of them together again, him pointing out the constellations to her and her falling asleep to the sound of his voice.
"Ammonia, four liters. Lime, one and a half kilograms."
It wouldn't be long now. She was determined to succeed. Once they saw that it was possible, it wouldn't be taboo any longer. People could once again be reunited with their loved ones.
She had to hurry, though. The dogs weren't stupid. She was close to her brother; those at his funeral saw how devastated she was. Several might realize what she would attempt. Even one stopping her was no good. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, keeping her alert and awake. Once, she stepped on a line and fearfully lifted her barefoot to check it. Breathing a sigh of relief, she saw that it was undamaged. She didn't have to start over.
"Traces of fifteen other elements," she whispered, laughing in triumph as she grabbed the phial. They had been gathered first and had sat on her desk as a constant reminder as to what she was going to attempt. No, what she was going to accomplish. She crossed the circle and unscrewed the lid, pouring them into the pan.
Someone began pounding on the door upstairs, causing her to jump. No! It was too soon! She hoped the extra fortifications she added would hold them off for a few more minutes. Throwing the phial across the room where it shattered on the stairs, she knelt at the edge of the circle. Her heart pounded in her chest, trying to escape from her ribs.
She activated the circle. It was working! She watched as the elements in the pan seemed to rise on their own and she grinned. The grin was quickly replaced by confusion as the world around her disappeared and she was surrounded by a soft, white glow. She looked over her shoulder and turned with a gasp. Stretching farther than she could see was a giant doorway. She touched it and it shuddered slightly. With a start, she realized it wasn't resting on the floor.
"Hello?" she called.
You must want him back badly to do something like this.
She spun around and saw a ghostly shape leaning against a wall. Only, there wasn't a wall for it to lean against. "Where am? Who are you?"
She got the image that it smiled. Don't you recognize me?
"My brother!" she exclaimed hopefully.
It scoffed. Don't be so stupid. I'm you.
"What?"
I'm everything you could be, everything you will be and everything you want to be. Do you have the traveling fee?
"Traveling fee?"
The door behind her seemed to swing open. She turned back to it expectantly. Wailing and screaming assaulted her ears and she immediately covered them with her hands. The smell of burnt flesh and sulfur made bile rise in her throat.
"What…what is that?"
Knowledge. For all knowledge you must be willing to pay a price. Look.
She forced her eyes open against the horrors her mind refused to comprehend and saw him standing above the others, reaching for her.
"Brother!" she sobbed. The door closed. "No! Give me my brother back!"
What are you willing to pay?
"Anything! I just want my brother back!"
She was at the edge of the circle once more. Her hands were throbbing. Confused, she lifted her arms. Her hands were bleeding from their nails. She opened her mouth to scream and more blood poured from it. She screamed as pain erupted from one of her eyes as she simultaneously lost its sight. She choked and spat blood, gobs splattering everywhere. She clutched her abdomen. The pain was excruciating and she saw tears of blood leaking from her eyes and landing on the floor.
No! This is wrong! She tried to shout it, but was once again choked by her own blood. She leaned over and coughed until blood and thicker things were lying on the floor. She fell forward, her face meeting the cool floor.
It was finally over and she lay on the floor, convulsing. Behind her, she heard the door splinter, but her remaining eye was on the body in the pan. A body! She wanted to laugh. She had succeeded! She began pulling herself across the circle, smudging chalk and smearing dirt and blood on her clothing. Every breath hurt and she couldn't feel her feet anymore. It took her most of her remaining strength to reach up and clutch her brother's hand and she felt skin so fine she was afraid her fingers would go right through it. It twitched under her fingers and her last breath escaped in a chuckle.