The Multiblood Alchemist

The Beginning

The ancient art of Alchemy goes back thousands of years, and it is not an all powerful art. As a child, my brother and I studied alchemy with my mother. While other children in the village played with toys, we stayed inside drawing transmutation circles, and reciting the law of equivalent exchange. Our story of challenges begins in a small village called Kanama, fifteen years ago.

---------------------------------------------------------------

The woman screamed in the agonizing pain of childbirth. The doctor in the "village" suspected that she would have twins. He was later banished from the village for giving false diagnoses, convincing the woman that he was lying. Instead of a doctor helping her through the pain, her sister was at her side coaxing her softly to push. Her sisters husband was at her legs, monitoring the baby. With one last large push, she heard wailing. Her first child was born.

"Narissa, it's a boy," her sisters husband, Xavier said, wrapping a towel around her son.

"What will you name him?" Xavier asked.

"Mason. Mason Logan," Narissa groaned through grit teeth. The pain of the second child kicked in almost immediately after she had named Mason.

The second child felt like nothing, since her whole body was numb. About a half hour later, Xavier announced that it was a girl. He then asked what she wanted to name her.

"Cassandra Serene," Narissa moaned over the wailing of the two infants. Little did she know as she was lovingly cuddling her children, that only fifteen years from August 14th, that one of the children would be dead, and the other permanently paralyzed from their left shoulder to their left hand.

------------------------------------------------------------

"Recite the Law of Equivalent Exchange," my mother said as we sat on the dusty ground of our small slum.

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost," Mason and I repeat in unison.

"Good, now Cassandra, define alchemy," my mother says, trying to challenge me. I flick my eyebrows, and give her my answer.

"Alchemy is a science where one understands the structure of matter, breaks it down, then rebuilds it. However, it is not an all-powerful technique, as one cannot create something out of nothing. If one wishes to gain something, one must present something of equal value. This is the concept of equivalent exchange, the fundamental basis of alchemy. However, there is a taboo in alchemy. Human transmutation. ONE MUST NOT COMMIT THIS ACT." I answer, emphasizing the last sentence.

"Very good Cassandra. I can see you becoming a great alchemist if you commit towards it. Mason, draw an transmutation circle that an Earth Alchemist would use," my mother says.

"Yes , Mother," Mason says and gets a piece of chalk and draws the circle. It consisted of the common circle with a square in the circle, and a diamond inside of that.

"Good. Now use it," my mother says.

"What? But Mother, we're not that advanced yet!" Mason exclaims.

"Yes, you're right. Your lesson is dismissed, you can do as you wish, but be back by supper," my Mother says.

_______________________________________

"My mom says you're a possessed witch!!" one of the teens yells to Mason and I, as we step out of our hut to go talk with the village teenagers.

"We are not!" I yell at him. I think back to our lessons, and consider how we may appear to others. I guess it is strange that we keep our windows blocked, and stay inside for hours at a time. The boy approaches me and shoves me to the ground. I land with a thud, and feel a sting go up my arm. I shout as blood leaks down my arm. Mason sees this and runs towards me.

"What did you do to my sister!?!" Mason shrieks at the boy. Without waiting for a response, he punches the kid across the cheek. His jaw cracks at the blow, and he hits back, causing Mason's nose to bleed. Mason then exhaled sharply and walks towards me.

"Let's go home," he says softly.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"What on earth happened?!" Mother yells when we shuffle through the opening of our hut. Mason explains what happened in full detail, and she sighs.

"I can't even let you go out in public, and you get beaten," she scolds as she leans against the wooden counter.

"Mason, fetch some water and a rag, I'll clean you up," she says.

The cold, wet rag stings when it touches my arm. I gasp at the pain, and Mason comes to my side. I give him a weak smile as my mother dresses my scrapes with a herb paste. We were thirteen at the time, and our mother would soon disappear.