Part 3: Deception

"There's another way other than human transmutation?"

"Yes."

Dante had been coming over frequently ever since that day. She had been teaching me things that Hoenhiem never even mentioned to me. She could transmutate objects without a transmutation array too. Now she says I can bring back Elizabeth without using forbidden alchemy.

We had sat down to talk at a small table in the library with books piled high on alchemy that she had brought over. I had to admit, she was beautiful. She had long raven hair that curled around her face and down her back and pale skin and dark violet eyes that contrasted oddly with her fair complexion, but it didn't take away from her beauty. The thing I like most about her was her scent, she always had a strong perfume on that lingered in the house long after she left. It made the house feel more complete. With just me living here, and considering how big of a house it is, everything seemed so empty. And everything reminded me of Elizabeth.

I brought in a cup of tea for her and she took a long drink from it, obviously contemplating whether or not she should divulged the secret. She took in a breath to speak and I felt a wave of hope rush over me.

"…Have you ever heard of the 'Philosopher's Stone'?" with that I felt the hope vanish from me like the wave was pulling back.

"Don't tease me like that, there's no such thing as the philosopher's stone! It's a myth!"

"Hmm? A myth you say? No, it is real, and I have seen its power. With it, you could resurrect your sister."

I still didn't believe her, but if there was any chance at all… "If you've seen it, then you must still have. Well? Where is it?"

She took another long swig from her cup. "Unfortunately, all of that stone's power has been used up. I can teach you how to make a new one though." She looked up at me from her glass and gave me a smile.

"Well then, teach me!" I said slamming my fist on the table. She started to laugh quietly to herself.

"You're so impatient, young one." She said in a sly voice. She leaned over the table and brushed a loose strand of hair from my face. Then flashed that smiled of hers that boarded between being seductive and wicked.

Her face got closer to mine until we were eye to eye, the scent of her perfume growing stronger. She brushed her fingers over my lips and then as suddenly as she came onto me, she pulled back.

"You'll need certain ingredients to make it. Some of them can be found in your village, others … will be a bit more, tricky to get your hands on."

I blinked, not exactly sure if what happened actually happened. I thought she was in love with Hoenhiem. As enticing as she was, I couldn't betray my teacher … could I?

"We'll work our way up to the philosopher's stone by practicing on smaller things with the same method. Go down to your village market and pick up the following items." She scrawled down a list that looked more like a shopping list than things I could use to make the 'Philosopher's Stone'. I complied with her though.

I gathered some money, put on my sunglasses, and headed down to the market. I took my time. I had a lot of things to think about.

After many practice sections, I was getting used to the transmutation method new to me. I wished that I could have showed Hoenhiem my progress but I hadn't seen him for a few months now, and I had no idea where he lived. So for those months it was just me and Dante. She helped to fill the emptiness in my life and gave me hope that my little sis would come back. It wasn't until I lost her that I realized just how much she meant to me. Too little, too late I suppose…

It was confirmed that the wolf had caused her death but I never found out whether it had rabies of not. They took the beasts body into check on it but it mysteriously vanished afterwards.

Ever since that day I had kept a round, golden locket around my neck with a picture of us together. The locket itself was dangling on a long gold chain. It was my most precious possession, that and my sunglasses.

When I was down in the village, I started hearing rumours about people from prisons escaping or elderly and sickly being taken away to institutes. I didn't pay much mind to them though. After all it didn't concern me.

Many months after that, Dante said that we were coming close to achieving our goal. I drew the complicated transmutation array on the floor of the library with Dante watching over me like a hawk. Her usually warm violet eyes turned cold in anticipation. I stood back to admire my work and realized something. Dante said she'd bring in the ingredients, but she hadn't brought anything with her.

"Dante?" I asked giving her a quizzical look. "Where are the ingredients for the stone?"

She smiled down on me. "They're her, don't you worry. Now, continue like we practiced."

Now it was getting confusing. I thought that in order to have a reaction, the components had to be within the transmutation circle. And what did she mean by 'they're here'? I didn't question her though.

I slowly put my hands down on the edges of the circle and it started glowing red beneath me. But not just beneath me, above me too. I looked up and saw the exact same array on the ceiling. 'What's going on! This isn't part of the plan!'

"Come on, hurry up you maggots!" Envy was yelling at the mass of people to go within the transmutation circle. All of the sick, elderly and prisoners who had 'escaped' from jail were gathered there.

Once all of the people were gathered in there, Envy smirked to himself. 'Heh! Like lambs to the slaughter. I can't wait to see Hoenhiem's disciple's face when he finds out about what really happened.'