A/N: Okay, I'm sorry for leaving all my former readers from before hanging. I have plenty of excuses, but I don't like having to use them. However, I was unhappy with the actual story before, so I'm rewriting it and changing names, but the basic plots stays the same. Hopefully this will be more worth reading, though.
Also, you might have noticed the story has yet been given a title. I put a poll up which I want you guys to decide where the story should go from here and determine the title. Please, I want your input. Peace out.
"No! Randy! What did I do?" She slammed her fists onto the stone floor where she lied, but the echo of her sobbing was the only answer. She looked up and took in the dark room. There were only a few candles lit, but there wasn't anything to see except for paper and books spread throughout.
But there was the body in the center of a circle full of designs and runes. It twitched. The movement was so small she thought it had been her imagination. It lifted its arm. She gave wide grin as sweat rolled down the side of her face.
She forgot about Randy. He wasn't there, but before her was George, her brother—alive! "George," she managed a whisper. Her heart was caught in her throat. He was alive! She had done what no other alchemist had successfully done before. She crawled to him weekly. "George, it's me!"
But as she got closer she could hear him wheezing. It didn't sound right. His arm fell back down to his side with a thump. She stopped and held back, her eyes widening. It was dark, but she knew something had gone wrong.
"Brother?" she didn't sound as certain as before. "I'm sorry for running away. I'm so sorry for everything. Please forgive me."
She saw his mouth begin to move. She almost jumped forward to him. "I'm here, George. Please—" she screamed, cutting her words short.
His body had been as gray as before, his eyes sunken, and his lips thin. He was still decaying. It moved again and she crawled with her elbows, kicking towards the body. "No! Stay away!" She swung her arms wildly in front of him as the body struggled to drag itself towards her. Its eyes were glowing red.
"You aren't my brother! Get away!" she put her hands on the ground, intending to stand and run, but the blue ray that was her alchemy ran through the floor and ahead of her as the ground shifted into spikes, running through the body and crashing against the roof.
She looked up in horror, her eyes wide, but no sound. She killed him, was all that she could think. He died once, he had been sick; there was little she could've done, but now she had simply killed. She killed her brother.
"No!" She set her hands back to the ground and it began to quake. Her throat became hoarse from the screaming, but from something else, too. Smoke. The candles had fallen and the flames gave her a clearer view of her crime. She looked to the stairs and then looked down at where she kneeled and only covered her face.
She coughed and her vision blared, but she didn't move. She killed her brother. And Randy. He wasn't there. He killed him too and didn't even have his body to cry over. She killed her brother and her only friend.
But despite everything, she decided to stand. She had killed them, and the guilt gripped and choked her heart, but looking up at the body being consumed in the flames, she realized she didn't want to end up the same. She wanted to live. She still had Lizzy waiting at home.
The stone spikes crumbled, the body falling down with it. She jumped back and stood, but it only made her feel light headed and dizzy. She made it to the stairs, but blackness blurred the edges of her vision and a cough overtook her. She fell midway on the stairs.
For a while she thought of the heat, of the flames taking over her body. She was going to die. And then nothing. She couldn't feel the heat and no thoughts worried her. She fainted.
"Ugh, my head!" she said putting a hand to her forehead. There was bandaging there. Why would there…
"Randy!" she sat up in an instant. She had wished more than believed it had all been a nightmare. She was in a hospital room. An empty bed was beside her, and a chair had been dragged against her own bed. No one was there.
"He's dead," Lizzy came in through the door. She had tied her copper hair back in a black ribbon, two strands falling on each of her green eyes. "They found his body under the rubble," she looked down at her feet. Her eyes were red and puffy, and light showed a streak that ran down her face. She had been crying.
"Body? How could—"
"They got to it before it turned to ashes," she was curt. She wanted no conversation.
"And George?"
Lizzy's head snapped back at this, her eyes wide in confusion. "Have you lost it? He died months ago. What does he have to do with anything?" They hadn't found any evidence of the transmutation. They thought the burned corpse was Randy's. She didn't know whether to be happy or morning.
"Jane?" Lizzy asked. "How did the fire start?"
Her heart fell to her stomach. She couldn't tell Lizzy what she'd done. Her sister already hated her enough. If she told her, she'd never see her again. She might as well have died. "I don't know," she lifted a hand to her head. It was the easiest lie. "I can't remember."
"Yeah, I bet," Lizzy said. Jane looked up at her and saw her sister glaring daggers at her. She glared back. She wished she hadn't. Her sister took it as a challenge. "Randy's dead because of you! First mom, then George, now him; you suck the life out of everyone!" Jane didn't bother to deny it. She only looked down at the fists that had formed on lap. "Just leave; run away. You seem to be pretty good at that! Why don't you jus—" a cough caught her short. She doubled over, covering her mouth with her small hand.
Jane ran out of bed and to her side, but Lizzy slapped her hand away. Instead, she leaned against the wall until the coughing ceased.
"I'm going to find a way to make you feel better," Jane said, looking away. She hated the way Lizzy looked at her. There wasn't pity or hurt in her eyes, just the certainty that Jane had failed and would fail. "Liz, I'm sorry. I won't be running away again. You need me to take care of you. I'll work, earn money, we'll keep living." She also wished she could go back to the small apartment and everything would be fine again.
No, she thought. Nothing was ever 'fine'. But it was certainly better than now. She had killed her brother and friend. How could she expect herself to have a happy life? She didn't deserve to go back and continue as if Randy had just died in some fire.
There was a knock at the door, but they didn't wait for a response. They opened the door slowly and Lizzy allowed Jane to help her up. Jane looked up at the black haired, blue uniformed official. Her stomach churned and her throat went dry.
"Good afternoon, ladies," he said. "I have a few questions for a Miss Jane Hart." Jane stared at Lizzy and she walked out. The man extended his hand and she shook it. "I'm Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist," he said.
"A State Alchemist?" she must have sounded stupid, but all she could think was that he had come to take her away. "What does the military want with me?"
"The investigation of the fire has been transferred to the military. I'm in charge of finding out what happened," he said with a pleasant, understanding smile, but she felt he was mocking her; patronizing her.
"I can't remember anything," she said curtly. "Sorry, but I can't tell you much."
"Well, that's okay. Just tell us what you do know," he waited expectantly. She said nothing. Her hands had begun to tremble and she couldn't trust her own voice. "Very well, let's start with what we do know. My team found evidence of an attack, but no resistance. The body we found had a stone spike in his chest." Her face paled, but he seemed not to have noticed. "But we also found that the body had already been long discomposing," his pleasant smile became none existent.
Jane bowed her head, defeated. "So are you going to arrest me now?"
"No," he said. Her eyes were wide and shining with hope, but her mind was clouded with confusion. "Others have lost their lives trying to do what you did. I know these two boys who lost more than you can imagine, and yet…I spoke with your doctor, and despite your injuries and burns, you're completely healthy. You performed the greatest taboo and came out unscathed," his voice was full of awe. What did he want, she wondered. Why was he telling her all this. "However, the body has been identified as Reynard Jones and the cause of death, immolation. I overheard your talk with your sister, and I can offer you a solution: Join the military; become a State Alchemist."
Her mouth hung open. She had not only committed a crime but performed a taboo against nature, and this man wanted her to join the military? He was even willing to cover everything up. "Is this blackmail?" she asked. Her voice cracked.
He shook his head. "No, your choice is entirely your own. Becoming a State Alchemist you'll have money to pay good doctors for your sister, or research medical alchemy. It's up to you; I won't force you into anything."
"Okay," she didn't need any more convincing. "Just tell me what I have to do," she said.
"Just stay in the City long enough and I'll let you know when the State Alchemists' exam is."