Infusion

By Claviculae

A/N: Well, I finally figured out why the formatting in this fic is getting messed up. I guess doesn't let you put URLs or various other characters in fics anymore. Kinda sucks, but there's not much I can do about it. The address for my fanfiction site is now in my profile.

Ivan slowly opened his eyes and looked around. The room was rapidly spinning around, with everything blurred beyond recognition. Ivan shut his eyes again and groaned, trying not to throw up. After a few minutes, the dizziness began to subside.
He slowly opened his eyes and found his nausea controllable. As his eyes slowly began to focus, he looked around the room and found Sheba strapped down about six feet away. Her breathing was shallow and her skin was white.

"Sheba! Wake up!"
She began to stir. Finally, she opened her eyes. She gagged, coughed, and spewed out a small bit of vomit. She was obviously trying to hold the rest down.
Ivan watched all this in fear. "Are you all right? Did they hurt you?"
She slowly opened her eyes and looked to her left. "Ivan? Is that you?"
"Yes. Are you all right?"
Sheba squinted. "Yeah, I think so. How'd you get here?"
"I came to rescue you! You didn't think I would leave you here, did you?"
"No. Actually, I haven't had much time to think about anything. I've only been conscious for an hour or two. I think they've kept me drugged."
"What did they do to you?"
"Well, I heard a lot of talk about 'enhancing' me, and then they injected me with something. I think they where trying to make me smarter, but something went wrong. I broke loose and started fighting. After I killed my guard and another guy got away, I started to feel weird. It was like the worst fever I ever had. I passed out from it and woke up surrounded. I tried to cast a Shine Plasma, but it came out super-powerful. After that, they dropped me with a Sleep Psynergy. I think I might have woken up once more, but I'm not sure. How did they capture you?"

Ivan was about to answer when the door opened. Sheba recognized the man who walked in as the one who had escaped after she had broken free. Now she was able to get a better look at him. He was in his mid-twenties and dressed in a white lab coat. He had the same long black hair with gray streaks as the two who had captured Sheba.
"Well well, are we both awake now?"
Sheba scowled and nodded. Ivan just glared and growled.
"Good. I suppose your both wondering just what in the world is going on here. Am I right?"
Sheba nodded. Ivan just kept glaring.
"Good. Allow me to enlighten you. First off, my name is Douglass. I'm the director of this facility. And you two are?"
"I'm Sheba and this is Ivan."
Ivan snarled at the man and yelled. "You had better tell us just what the heck is going on and let us go!"
Douglass smiled. "Settle down. First, let me tell you just what this facility is for. About three years ago, a few of my fellow scientists wanted to know what gave Adepts their power. I was an Adept at the time, so I offered to be a research subject. Six months of testing revealed an abnormal liquid present in the blood of Adepts. We named it 'Tricillium' and continued researching its properties. It turns out that it is a very volatile chemical with that produces large amounts of energy when broken down."

"Further research led us to conclude that an Adept's Psynergetic power is fueled by the tricillium in his or her bloodstream, which is broken down as a part of normal metabolism. That explains why Adepts must wait so long for their Psynergy to recharge, and why Psynergy is affected by things like being sick or tired. Unlike normal digestion and metabolism, the tricillium doesn't produce heat when broken down; it produces another type of energy that we don't know much about, other than it is what is actually expended when Psynergy is used."

As Ivan started to slowly work his hands out of the bindings, he decided to goad this guy along and keep him busy, not to mention he was curious. "But where do Adepts get this 'tricillium?' Is it something in the food we eat that only occurs in a few places?"
"That was our assumption at first. However, we took over two thousand food samples from all over Weyard and couldn't find any tricillium in any of them. We did, however, find incredibly small amounts ON the samples. A brief investigation revealed that the air in Weyard is literally filled with tiny, microscopic bits of tricillium dust. It's just that only Adepts are able to absorb it."

Ivan could feel the rope starting to give a little. "Why is it only Adepts that can absorb it?"
"As far as we can tell, it has something to do with their cell structure. We weren't able to identify exactly WHAT in their cells allowed them to absorb it, so we turned our attention to another matter: trying to change the cell structure in a creature so that it could absorb the tricillium. We thought that if we could replicate it artificially, it would help us to understand why it occurs naturally."

"Our first task was to obtain a more substantial amount of tricillium. Trying to screen it out of the air didn't work because the particles are no larger than average dust. It was obvious that we needed a source that readily occurs in nature. We found one. I'm sure you are both familiar with 'Psynergy stones' like the one in Vale?"
They both nodded. "Good. Well, it turns out that those stones can be found in nature. They are rare, but they can be found. We located them in Airs, Magma, Aqua, and Gaia Rock. While the first three were excellent sources of tricillium, Gaia Rock is just phenomenal. Izumo's bedrock is about four percent tricillium, and Gaia Rock has veins of tricillium amounting to sixteen percent of its total size. Large deposits of tricillium were just waiting to be harvested. Because of this, we moved our entire operation here."

Ivan nodded as he started to twist his wrists around.
"We eventually managed to purify the tricillium and get it into a form the body can accept. We first tried injecting animals, but we couldn't tell if it worked or not because they didn't have the instincts to use any Psynergy. So we got two volunteers and injected them. Their names were Christopher and Jen. Right after they were injected, there was a bandit raid. They both had to fight for their lives. Jen fought hand-to-hand and Christopher used a new technique he learned called 'Chi.' As soon as the bandits were fought off, they both collapsed. After an hour, they woke up and were fine. It was then that we noticed a change. Jen had become incredibly fast and Christopher's Chi attack could blast things apart."

Ivan got his wrists twisted around and started loosening the knot. "Were they the two that attacked us?"
Douglass nodded. "Yes, we eventually decided that we needed to try injecting an Adept. Christopher saw you two camping nearby. He observed you and noticed you were Adepts. After a little discussion, we decided to kidnap Sheba for the experiment. It would have gone well if she hadn't used Psynergy right after she was injected." Douglass frowned disapprovingly at her.

Ivan had been seething before, but now he was furious. "Of course she did! You kidnapped her! What was she supposed to do? Let you experiment on her like an animal! I swear, if you touch her again, I'll tear your arms off!" Ivan threw himself against the ropes holding him down, but they held fast. Sheba looked shocked.
"Settle down or I'll have you sedated! Anyway, the tricillium bonds with the first cells that become overactive. That's why Christopher's Chi became so powerful and why Jen became so fast and strong. The cells behind their respective strengths became very overactive during the bandit attack. Of course, when Sheba cast Shine Plasma, she not only killed one of our scientists, but she also super-energized her Psynergetic capabilities. When she regained consciousness and tried to cast another Plasma Psynergy, she blew up a large part of the building she was in. Fortunately, we managed to subdue her and strap her to a bed with a Psynergy-inhibitor attached to it. Shortly thereafter, we found Ivan playing around with some of our experimental weapons. My security chief nailed him with what he thought what was anesthetic. Unfortunately, it was infusible tricillium. Ivan's muscles soon underwent the same change as Jen's. I showed up just in time and disabled him and now here we are."

Ivan almost managed to get his left hand out of the knot. "Why didn't you just try infusing yourself? You said you're an Adept."
"Because we had already tried it with an earlier form of the tricillium and it didn't work. All I got out of it was the black and gray hair. By the way, the hair was because Christopher, Jen and I all had our heads shaved as part of a preparation process. The black and gray hair was a side effect of that. Anyway, the infusion didn't work on me, so we decided to get a fresh, 'clean' Adept that hadn't undergone any experiments."

Ivan got his hands out of the rope and quickly began to silently burn through the ropes holding him to the bed. "So what are you going to do with us now?"
"Well, we still have a lot of experiments to run. We plan to keep you hear and use you as a sacrifice for science."
He smiled at them. "After all, you make such a nice pair of experiments."

Ivan yelled and jumped off the table, landing in a crouch. He pounced on Douglass and began to slap him repeatedly across the face. "Going to use Sheba for an experiment, huh? Over my dead body! Or maybe even yours!"
Douglass screamed and tried to break free, but Ivan held him down and kept slapping him.
Sheba looked over to the door and yelled, "Ivan, watch out!"
Ivan did a quick backflip just in time to avoid a powerful Chi attack from Christopher. The attack hit Douglass and he laid still.

"So, you're free again little punk?" He unleashed another Chi. Ivan flipped to the side and dodged it.
"So you want to dodge, eh? Good, because I could use the target practice!"
He kept blasting away and Ivan kept dodging every one.
After a minute of this, Ivan rushed over to the corner where his possessions were and retrieved his Masamune. As Christopher threw another Chi, Ivan held up his sword and curved it around in a graceful arc, sending the attack back at the attacker. Christopher snarled and pointed his hand at Sheba, who was struggling to get free. Ivan yelped and jumped in the way, taking the blast in the chest. He stood up and shook his head, slightly dazed. Before Christopher could see what was happening, Ivan had thrown his sword across the room and it had lodged firmly in Christopher's chest. He stumbled backwards, coughed up some blood, and fell on his back, dead.

Sheba screamed as Christopher breathed his last. It was the first time she had seen a human stabbed to death in battle. All the other times, they had just disabled them.
Ivan ran over and retrieved his sword. As he ran over to cut her free, he was dropped to his knees by a blow from behind.

He jumped forward and flipped, spinning around to face Jen. "You bastard! You killed him!" "He tried to kill me and her! I did it in self-defense."
Jen didn't answer, but just snarled at Ivan and rushed at him again. Ivan swung as she ran by, but she rolled under and his blade met air. He dropped it on the floor, knowing that it would be useless against her.
As she dashed again, he jumped and swung down. She rolled to the side and jumped up. As Ivan landed, she swung and connected with the side of Ivan's head. He picked himself up and ducked backwards, barely avoiding another swing. "So, you want to play fast? Zephyr! Go!" There was a glow as Ivan unleashed the djinn, something his captors knew nothing about. Ivan became a blur as he circled her again and again, hitting her each time. She kept trying to block, but the attacks came from everywhere.
A moment later, Ivan reappeared as Zephyr's effects wore off. "Jen! This is your last chance to run. Leave now or I'll have to fight to kill. You can't win!"
Jen just snorted and dashed again.
"Haze! Go!"
There was another glow and a puff of smoke as Ivan disappeared into thin air. Jen turned this way and that, trying to find her opponent. Behind her, Ivan's masamune disappeared. Sheba saw Jen turn once again, still trying to locate Ivan. "Jen! Run now, before it's too late!" Sheba yelled.
But Jen ignored her. She made one final spin before she screamed and dropped. Ivan reappeared behind her, his blade reluctantly planted between her shoulder blades. Ivan drew it out, a strange, sad look covering his features. He ran over and cut Sheba loose from her restraints. She jumped up and ran over to the corner, retrieving her possessions. She held out the Teleport Lapis. "Okay Ivan, let's go."

They were about to teleport when a dozen guards appeared in the door. Douglass picked himself up off the floor, almost unable to stand. He pointed at them. "Ki-kill them!" Sheba tossed Ivan the Lapis and then extended her hand forward, palm up. Bolts of lightning shot out and bodies went flying.
A large lightning ball flew out the door and down the hallway. Douglass saw it fly. "Oh no! The tricillium storehouse!" He turned to Ivan and Sheba but they were already gone.

Ivan and Sheba arrived in the town of Izumo. As Sheba slowly opened her eyes, there was a thunderous explosion to the east. They both ducked under some trees, hoping to avoid any rubble.
As Ivan set his pack down, he suddenly found himself being clutched by a sobbing Sheba. He slowly closed his arms around her and let her cry.
"sob We-we killed so sob many!" She cried for several minutes before Ivan could think of a reply.
"Yes, but they chose to fight. I know that killing is horrible, but sometimes it just has to be done."
"Bu-but they were so sob yo-young."
For the next hour, Sheba mourned and Ivan comforted her. After she stopped crying, she realized how exhausted she was and was content to fall asleep in Ivan's arms.

For the next week, Ivan and Sheba recuperated in the forest, just resting and talking. Finally, eight days after the incident, Sheba asked the question that had been nagging on her mind for days. "Ivan, thy did you come after me yourself instead of getting help first?"
Ivan looked up from the bush he was inspecting. "I didn't want to take the chance." "But why not?"
Ivan pulled at something, then stood up. "Because I love you. I have for a long time now. I just couldn't let anything happen to you before I got a chance to tell you."
There were tears in Sheba's eyes. "Oh Ivan..."
He bent down to the bush again, picked a bright, red flower out of it and, smiling, handed it to her. "Here. It's a rose bush."
She took it and stared at it in awe. After a moment of silence, she pinned it on her shirt. Looking up at Ivan, she smiled at him. "I love you too."
Ivan smiled, not sure what to do now. Sheba took care of that. She tackled him to the ground and kissed him deeply. After a few seconds, she broke off and smiled at him. "I love you more than anything, Ivan."
He turned his head and realized they had landed in a patch of violets. He picked one and held it up to her light-purple eyes and grinned. "You're beautiful."
She smiled back and kissed him again.

THE END

A/N: Well, what'd ya think? Sorry that I wrapped it up so soon, but my life is probably going to get even busier soon and I wanted to make sure I got this finished. I've also been having trouble with my wrists between computer, piano, and violin.
Anyway, if I can, I want to write a retelling of a George MacDonald story. Well, we'll see where it goes.
And yeah, I tried to get some decent windshipping in, but you can be the judge of that. So please review and let me know!

Claviculae
Homepage: see profile

7.8.05
10:28 PM
5 pages
276 lines
2872 words