Sinned

It started with frantic small knocks on his door in the middle of the night. In a drowsy haze when he opened the door he wasn't expecting seeing Camella's twins crying hysterically with their words flying out faster than he could keep up. However, through their sobbing and frantic childlike explanations, Glen got the gist that something was wrong in their house and it involved Camella.

Quickly he ushered the children inside his house, kneeling down he pats the two of them on their heads, "I'll go check up on what's happening, don't worry just stay put. She'd have my hide if anything happened to the two of you." As much as he wanted to make sure the twins were okay, he knew he had to make sure Camella was safe as well. The twins wouldn't be putting up this much of a frenzy if she was.

He quickly grabbed his coat and strapped on his boots, caring not that he was still in pajamas, and rushed out into the night to their secluded cottage. Arriving at their home in the woods, nothing seemed amiss other than the open front door - which could simply be from the boys rushing out of the house. But Glen wasn't going to take any chances, risking his alter ego he put on his gloves, and as he walked into the house he grabbed a nearby garden hoe from outside and transformed it into a lance.

Now armed he made a sweep of the entrance, both the sun-room and the kitchen were not disturbed. As far as he could see, the rooms on the landing that overlooked the entrance were fine as well. He tensed and gripped his weapon harder, if the house was this calm and nothing seemed out of place then what could have caused her sons to run to him instead of her? It wasn't long till the reason made itself apparent. A loud crash accompanied by a flash of light from Camella's personal office on the ground floor made Glen rush over.

Exasperatedly trying to open the door, he found it locked. "Camella!" he yelled, desperate for her to respond, "Camella! Please!" With no response and a sudden charred smell permeating from behind the door Glen's adrenaline overclocked. Seeing no other choice he took his lance and began destroying the door handle and the lock. Once free from its restraints Glen kicked the door in. The locked door suddenly swung open with a crash, the force of the impact knocking some of the reagents and books on the desk nearby off onto the ground.

"Camella! Are you-,"

A pause, one long enough for Glen to look upon the transgressions against alchemy that Camella committed. A large chalk drawn circle spread out across the floor of her office, the floor charred with the after effects of alchemy being used, and her, with her back turned to him raggedly breathing over another figure.

"What…" his eyes widened. Glen was in disbelief he couldn't contain his flying emotions and harshly yelled at her, "Camella, what did you DO!?"

She had done the unspeakable, something not even he thought she would ever end up committing; she was too confident and headstrong to stoop to such levels. But he knew that circle, it was banned by the government decades ago on top of it being unnatural to alchemy, yet a State Alchemist had sinned and attempted human transmutation.

A coughed out sentence pulled him back out of his thoughts, "I-I did it, he's back," was all she said before passing out onto the floor.

Dropping his lance he rushed over to her, doing a quick medical check to make sure she was breathing and her heart was still beating before gathering her into his arms to transport her to the clinic in town. As he picked her up a round red stone fell from her grasp and rolled across the floor to the body she had created. He hadn't spared so much as a glance at it until now, but looking a bit closer to it's facial features and hair color he looked very similar to the twins. A wave of chills washed over him the longer he stared at it, so he pulled his eyes away and hurried out of the house with Camella in his arms. Whether that thing in her office was alive or not wasn't his problem, frankly he hoped it wasn't alive at all.