I apologize for the large break in chapters. I had finals in October, and started college shortly after. I plan to keep this and hopefully some new work updated at least once a month from now on.
Side note- Some people are wondering why i am changing between the names "allen" and "red". The reason for this is because Red's name is still Red, and that is how he sees himself in the story, for now. I apologize if it's a bit confusing, but it is because Allen is the name of Mana's dog, and he only used it as a way of hiding his identity, not changing it. I may have him eventually reveal his real name is Red, and i may have him just forget his name was Red with time and go to Allen. If anyone would like to way in on this suggestion, or give any ideas i am completely open to listen. I already have a good idea where this story is going but i have a decent amount of wiggle room with some of the content.
Red was easily taken in by the strange scenery and orderly chaos that was his new guardian's house. Things seemed stacked and balanced everywhere, bits of metal and electronic left to dangle over papers and books much taller than Red, never endingly stretching toward the high vaulted ceiling. It created the effect of a man made forest as he followed quickly behind, a hand latched onto one of the older man's coat tails. The larger areas they passed by, such as the living room, kitchen, and a couple of recreational areas however where meticulously clean, as if they had never been lived in at all. It was a huge contrast to the rest of the house.
Red could see why he thought his house could be dangerous; simply turning wrong could lead to electrocution, or being crushed to death.
Earlier that evening Red had been told that they needed to go to Adam's house instead in order to work on his arm and after a quick breakfast were off. Red had assumed they would walk or drive. He had been quiet wrong as a swirling portal at their feet had brought them to the entrance of his labyrinth-like home. They had been wandering for about a half an hour, and reached a wooden door towards the side of a corridor. It looked more worn than most objects in the house, so Red assumed it was a place he often visited. Adam looked back down at Red.
"This is my basement, eventually you will live in my house when you are older, and there are a lot of dangerous things here, but beyond all else you must never go down here without my permission, and only to the places I tell you. I won't lie to you, snooping around here would very likely end your life in a quick and incredibly painful manner, so watch your step and touch nothing. Do you understand, Allen?"
Red nodded nervously, but behind that his curiosity was peaked. He could feel the urge to explore whatever might be hidden bellow.
As he opened the old worn door, it creaked in showing its age and like expected lead to a very long, very dark stair case. It looked more like the entrance to a haunted house than a basement. Adam began walking down the stairs, and Red quickly followed down the metal steps.
Red followed for a bit, but eventually looked to the side to reveal they were indeed suspended, and there were no walls, nor rails, to either side. He looked off into the dark for a moment, only to realize he was falling behind. He quickly tried to catch up with Adam, only to trip rather spastically on the smooth steps.
"Oh shit-" he panicked as he slid down the stairs, eventually barreling off to the side, ready to fall into the blackness. He closed his eyes in fear.
"Oh no you don't-" Adam grabbed onto the back of his collar heavy handedly, letting him dangle for a moment. He glared down at Red. "Can't you travel 5 feet without nearly killing yourself Allen?"
Red glared right back as he was brought back onto the stairs "I would have caught myself, I didn't need your help!" he tried to cross his single arm awkwardly. "Besides, why don't you have any railing here!? This is a death trap!"
"That's the point." Adam responded "I don't exactly like people coming down here, so I make it as difficult as possible. If they die it's their own fault for being incompetent." He looked off lost in memory "You're not the first member of my family to fall off the edge, but they were a tad more deserving."
"I wouldn't have though…." Red pouted "Now put me down."
Adam smiled "I don't think so. I don't trust you on the stairs anymore." He slung Red over his shoulder nonchalantly.
Red immediately went into protest, but like the night before it was ineffective. Eventually, after what felt like an hour, they reached the bottom of the stairs. Adam flicked his hand into the air and mumbled something in another language, and the dark room they had entered immediately flickered into a flame cast light, though no torches or candles could be seen. He looked back at Red nonchalantly.
"Do you think you can manage yourself now, or do I need to hold your hand?" he said mockingly, though with a hint of caution.
"No." Red sneered, squirming onto the floor. "I was fine before." He scanned the room.
This area seemed more dangerous than the upstairs. In the flickering cascade of light many glints of metal and glass came from the walls and floor. The area seemed more like a nest of a brooding dragon than anything else. Though the ceiling and walls where visible now, on inspection the stairs case had vanished behind them.
"where did….?" Red stammered.
"Come on. You don't want to be left behind." Adam stepped forward into the room, Red quickly spinning around to catch up, this time careful not to trip or do anything else that would bring him further embarrassment.
Though he wouldn't show it, Red was genuinely nervous in the place he now found himself. Unlike the upstairs which seemed more confusing than anything, this place had a more sinister feel. He could clearly make out things on the walls that appeared to be weapons, maybe even torture implements. Things from centuries ago that would be considered sickeningly cruel today. There even where things he could swear appeared to be parts of human skeletons scattered about areas of the floor.
Red gulped nervously "What exactly do you….do down here?"
"oh nothing much anymore." He slowed his pace a bit, allowing Red to catch up. "I used to do a lot of experimenting and alchemic work down here, along with some designing for certain projects. It's mostly just cluttered with old memories now." He said looking at the messy space around them.
Red caught another glimpse of what appeared to be human remains, and walked quickly towards it, attempting to pick up a skull with his only hand.
"and why are these….-" he reached out, only to be pulled back with incredible force, nearly choking him in the process.
"What was that for!?" he looked up, only to see a look of twisted panic and fear written on Adam's face.
"Never, NEVER touch those." He said coldly, his eyes sharpening. "I told you, you WILL DIE if you touch my things."
Red shrunk back into a ball, too nervous to contradict him. He knew what was coming next. He was used to it. He would be beaten for doing wrong. Red closed his eyes, preparing for the worst.
All was silent for a while. Eventually Adam spoke up.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"You're not going to hit me?" Red replied, a bit shocked.
"Why would I hit you?" Adam looked at him perplexed. "You did something stupid that I told you not to do, not murder my pet."
Red looked up "But….I thought you were mad….".
"Yes. That doesn't mean I intend to beat you. If I where that mad I would have just let you touch it." He said as if it were obvious, picking up the skull delicately in his hands like it would shatter, looking at it with sympathetic eyes.
"But I thought you said it would kill you." Red looked at Adam shocked.
Adam looked up almost surprised "I said it would kill YOU. It can't affect me, I made it." He said.
"you made it?" Red said in disbelief. "but you can't make a skeleton. There part of people."
"You're right, Allen. They are. But if you would look closer you would realize this isn't a human skeleton." He faced the skull towards Red, letting it glint in the light.
It suddenly occurred to Red why it had appeared so obvious to him. "It's metal…." He looked into the empty eye sockets, a chill rolling down his spine.
"Not quiet, but close." Adam replied, standing up and breaking Red's eye contact with the skull. "Again, I said I used to experiment. This is something I worked on for a long time."
"But why would you want to make a metal skeleton?" Red queried. "What would you do with it?"
"Many things…." He looked off nervously. "It has the potential to create life…." He looked at Red coldly "It also has the potential to take it away." He placed the skull on a nearby desk. "Even in this state, if you touched it your body would collapses into dust. There are things down here that are not meant to entertain mortal eyes. I know your curious, Allen, but some things are best left a secret until there time comes to be revealed."
Red looked down mournfully. He had so many questions. Half of what Adam said to him made no sense, and the other half creeped the hell out of him. As if sensing this disdain, Adam smiled lightly, and coaxed Red forward.
"Not that we need to worry about things as heavy as that today. We came here to get your arm back, didn't we?" He continued to bring me forward, turning him around a few more corners.
Red stammered "Well, yeah but how do you plan on doing that?"
"Oh easily, limbs are one of the easiest things to make." He said somewhat whimsically, turning to a door on their left. Adam turned the knob and walked inside.
"This is where I keep most of my alchemic ingredients." He said, gesturing to the walls filled with viles and other strange materials, though this room seemed much more organized than most of the basement.
"So?" Red sighed, releasing Adam's hand. "Are you planning to grow me a new arm or something?"
"Not quiet." Adam replied, grabbing a few objects and things from the walls around them and placing them at the table in the middle. "I took the liberty of starting this project before you awoke, I hope you don't mind. 3"
Despite how odd the conversation was, the man seemed genuinely enthusiastic about sharing his magical prowess with Red, who more than noticed his sudden shift in attitude, even if he didn't really get what the big deal was. The man continued however, and once he was done with retrieving, turned back to Red and gestured to a nearby chair.
"Sit, Allen." He smiled. "I can't start if you aren't still."
Allen sighed once more and sat down, unsure whether to believe this would really work. Somehow, Red maintained his doubts.
"So how exactly does this work?" Red asked, concerned as memories of him being a lab rat resurfaced, forcing him to swallow hard.
"Nothing that will hurt." He stated. "I was just going to heal you, but it seems your genetics lack the code for a left arm, otherwise you would have awoken with one." He sighed. "I cannot fathom why you can't genetically grow that arm like any normal person, but whatever the reason I had to be a bit clever with the solution."
Red looked confused "My genetics? Is that even a real thing, or is this more magic stuff?"
"Science stuff I'm afraid, so it's not exactly my specialty. Tell me Allen, do you believe in souls?" he queered.
"Well they do exist don't they?" he looked worried. Frankly it was one of the few things Red felt he still believed in.
"Yes of course they do, I think I'd be out of a job otherwise." He sneered somewhat bitterly, dark humor crossing his features. "But that's not the point. The point is that a human soul usually uses a human body right?"
"Right? What's your point?" Red glared.
"Don't get an attitude I'm getting to the point." Adam stated flatly. "Anyway, despite your body having no memory, your soul has a connection point to control another limb there, in fact many more with the right adjustments. If I add a false limb, and a medium that can allow the souls energy into that limb, it will function just fine." He turns to a box he had placed on the table earlier along with the other materials and pulls out a strange artificial limb, cast of an almost glowing metal with thick wires running through its joints, intricate mechanisms scattered through it that appeared they could spring to life any second. Red seemed almost drawn to the unusual sight before him.
"I know it's a bit crude and unfinished, but I wasn't sure what you wanted it to look like. I can make it appear like almost anything. I can even return it to looking like an ordinary human limb, but that's easier to do with a skin tone to work with. 3" Adam laughed a bit.
"It's….fasinating." Red's eyes shown with intrigue. "How does it work?"
"Well it doesn't, as of yet." Adam sighed, and Red felt his heart plummet. "But that's because it isn't connected to a power source yet. "I need to test it out before I modify it's appearance. This is something I wanted to ask you about first, however."
"What is it?" Red looked forward intently.
"The only way it will function is if I allow your soul to control it directly right? Well the medium required to do this is quiet, well, volatile." He looked down at the arm then back to Red, who seemed to be listening. "It's a substance known as dark matter."
"Dark matter?" Red said a bit confused "So? Why is it any more dangerous than anything else here?"
"Well it's more about risk, and about it's response to you." He explained. "I'm only using a small amount, but if you don't readily try to accept it when I add it, it may kill you." He said his tone dropping. "It is something only I and those close to me can use, so there is no easier way to return your arm. Soul mediums and the like are hard to come by in any form, let alone a usable one." Adam looked off, neglecting to tell him that the cost would inevitably connect himself to the boy, using what was essentially part of his soul to fix him. "It's a risk, but are you willing to take it?"
Red hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I don't plan on living my life with one arm. It's not very likely I'll die, right?"
Adam used all of his strength to look confidently at the boy "Of course it's not, almost no chance at all" He deceived. Adam didn't really know what the exact chances where, as it depended on the soul at hand, but seeing the determination in Red's eyes he knew he would make it. Probably.
"Then let's do it." Red smiled truthfully, for what felt like the first time in ages.
Adam nodded then produced a dark purple substance from what seemed to be out of thin air. Red couldn't tell if it was a liquid or a gas, or something else all together. He swallowed hard as nerves prickled down his spine.
"Don't worry Allen, it will only sting a little." Adam cooed.
"I thought you said it wouldn't hurt!" Red exclaimed.
"The arm won't," he said as he slid it with ease into Red's arm, locking it in place. "This might, trying not to panic ok? It's won't help anything."
He then placed the dark matter towards the place where the arm and Red's body met, the substance immediately entering the arm and into Red. Red winced slightly at the intrusion, feeling a slight burning sensation in his stump that quickly spread to his chest. He bit his lip.
Adam closed his eyes as if concentrating, stroking Allen's hair like a parent would do to a child getting stitches. In his mind the earl still had some leeway over the dark matter inside Allen, coxing it only to add a bridge to the arm and nothing more. Eventually it complied, and just as Red seemed to feel genuine pain rather than merely discomfort, the dark matter pulled most of the way out and into the arm, leaving only a small trace of itself within, dragging some of the souls energy with it. In the clear glass at the arm's base the energy of both dark matter and Red's soul glowed brightly before entering the arm completely.
Before Red could think, the arm could move.
"Wow…." Red stared wide eyed, the colors flowing brightly through the once dull arm. He raised it upward, realizing it moved even better than his old one, which frankly and been partially parlayed most of the time. Adam smiled and moved into Red's line of sight, examining Red's new found part, touching at its fingers. Red jolted back.
"It can feel things to?" He looked genuinely shocked. "its made of metal how is that even possible?"
"Never underestimate the power of sorcery." He smirked, honestly relieved it had worked out as well as it had. "It should take a day or two to get used to, but I can give it its new appearance now."
"No, I like it how it is" Red smiled looking at his new left arm. "I don't want you to change it."
Adam felt very moved by his statement, feeling quiet overjoyed and emotional over Allen appreciating his work like he was, seemingly almost admiring. He teared up a little.
Red stood up suddenly, slapping Adam's face half heartedly "Hey no crying! I just said I like it how it is it's nothing to get emotional about!" He stated bluntly.
Adam whipped away his tears quickly. "You're right, you're right, but at least let me coat it with a clear substance so the parts don't get damaged."
Red nodded stubbornly, quiet pleased he could now cross his arms properly.
In about ten minutes his arm was finished, and they both where heading back upstairs.
"So now what?" Red asked.
"I'm taking you back to the main house, as I have work. We'll talk about what after that when I see you next."
Allen pouted slightly at the vague answer, still unsure what his job actually was. On the way back however, there was one other door that interested Red. It was the only door that he had seen with a lock in the entire house.
"At least tell me what's in there." He pointed, an ominous air falling over the room.
Suddenly Adam stopped walking, and the cheery air he had been displaying for most of the day had disappeared, replaced by a stagnant darkness that seemed to dull all light and color around him.
"It's….nothing. Just a room that isn't used anymore." He continued to walk, the air around him still painfully empty.
Red opened his mouth to bring further questioning, but the sheer magnitude of his sudden lifelessness shut his mouth tight. For the first time since he got there, Allen felt like it was something he didn't want to know.