The Heart Of Alchemy

One of the Same

Varian ran and stumbled through the castle's hallway. He ran a hand through his raven hair as he felt a pulsing pain throughout his head, his vision switching from the royal walls and floor to the crimson darkness he was before. A slight bump into the doorway and he realized he was at the entrance. Varian opened the door with no hesitation, shook his head to attempt to clear his vision, and ran down to the castle basement.

Heavy smoke and heated water was filling the room. Yells from below surged through Varian's ears as he stumbled down the last few steps. The smoke was becoming so thick Varian could barely see. Apparently there were more people down there as Varian felt the shoves of other people hitting against him, sending the ravenette crashing to the ground. The water boiled and burned like the blazing sun itself.

" It's going to blow in mere minutes, Quirin! " A voice filled with annoyance and anger yelled to his father. " There's no point in trying to fix it without Xavier here to help! "

Before he could call out and say he could help, Varian felt an agonizing pain hit his back as he bit back a whimper. A flash of his dream suddenly entered his mind- the symbol of Saporia and a cracked test tube.

With a slam of the door above him, Varian got up in a daze and quickly made his way over where the explosion had occurred. ' Why didn't I think of this earlier, ' he thought as he slid his goggles over his face. They did not help with the smoke.

A sudden yelp escaped his lips as he accidently touched one of the water heaters that began to leak water. Well- at least he knew where to start. Scrounging around the floor with his foot, Varian luckily found a welding torch and began to patch up the hole with a piece of metal he also found on the ground.

~

As Hugo, Nuru, and Yong ran through the castle walls, their worriness only grew more, especially for Hugo. The blond was so focused on finding his lover that he ran into a man, who was running in the opposite direction.

" Are you okay, kid? " The man quickly asked as he held a hand out towards him. Hugo nodded as he took the man's hand and was lifted up from the ground.

" Why are you guys running? " Yong asked as he pointed to where smoke was coming from.

" There was a loose pipe for the heating water system and it broke, which led to hot water flooding the workshop. The whole boiler is going to explode and flood the place any minute now, " the man explained.

Eugene and Lance had finally caught up to the kids, panting slightly when they stopped. Once the man explained the situation, he and Eugene were trying to think of how to best solve this problem.

Curiosity got the best of Hugo as he saw a slight indent on the royal rug that laid against the floor. A few other prints, which were spaced out greatly, were the same and led to the room where the boilers were.

" Hey, where's- " Lance was cut off by the sudden step of Hugo, causing everyone else to turn their attention to him.

" He wouldn't. . . " Hugo snapped his gaze back to the smoke when he heard a yell. Before Nuru could yell at him, he had dashed towards the smoke. The yells of the man, Eugene, and Nuru fading as he ripped the door open.

~

Varian really regretted doing stupid things in life, especially if one of two things can happen. One: if he gets injured. Two: if Hugo, Nuru, and/or Yong yells at him for doing such stupid things. But in this case both things would happen due to his stupidity. . . again.

Not only did he have a headache, but his lungs were most likely congested with the smoke his machine produced, and the red skin he got from the boiling water wasn't helping. His scream from before was from a piece of metal falling off of the pipe and tearing his glove, making a deep cut in the process. So, in summary, Varian was not okay.

The water level had reached up to his chest by now and the smoke never dimmed down. The hole in the pipe was much bigger than he thought it was. It was also worth noting that the Royal Engineer couldn't go under water to search for more scrap metal due to the- oh, I don't know, the scalding hot water making the hole bigger, so he has to keep one hand on the steaming pipe?!

Varian could feel his skin becoming raw from the boiling liquid, especially with the newly made and bleeding cut on his dominant hand. He whimpered as the pain refused to end. His goggles were doing more harm than good when he was beyond the point of being able to see. The welding torch he had tried its best to patch up the whole, yet it failed at every try.

Gasps for clean air could be heard from the ravenette. His hands shook with every difficult breath he took. His sight was just inky mist, difficult to rid of, yet present through and through as the water level grew higher by the second.

Before Varian could comprehend what happened, another hole in the pipe appeared, sending water down onto his head. The force of the water was too great for the boy. His entire body plummeting deeper into the void of water before him. His entire body felt as if it was burning like a shooting star as his vision grew deeper with the darkness.

A sudden jerk from his arm and Varian saw another image from his dream:

" Ya' know, Goggles. If ya' just wanted to go for a swim, I probably could've found a lake for you to enjoy. "

Varian couldn't help but laugh as he began to cough up water. The smoke still caused a problem with his vision, but he knew that sweet and annoying voice anywhere.

" Two for two, huh Glasses? "

Hugo smirked as he handed the boy back the welding torch he'd dropped. " Well, you are my partner in science and life. " Hugo grabbed Varian's chin and gazed into the younger alchemist's eyes, the other doing the same. They could feel each other's breath the closer they got towards each other- their faces near millimeters apart from each other.

Another burst of a pipe and the two quickly separated. Both of them being a blushing mess.

" We should. . . "

" Y-yeah. . . "

As Varian went back to trying to patch up the holes in the water pipes, Hugo slipped his own goggles over his face and dove into the water, hissing as the boiling water touched his own skin. It didn't take long for him to find extra scrap metal among the water. Copper and aluminum pieces would be the best they could do for now.

As he swam to Varian, Hugo noted how the water had risen to the boy's collar bone. ' He must be swimming by now, ' he thought as the water reached under his chin when he stood.

Upon reaching Varian, Hugo quickly grabbed one of the copper pieces of metal and held it against one of the holes. Varian welding the two materials together as fast as possible. The hole finally being patched and the water coming to a stop. Varian grinned at his boyfriend as they continued to repeat the process until all of the holes were patched.

When done, they both held on to one another as they made their way to the door. Trudging through the water while doing so, Varian had to even walk on his tippy toes and Hugo would never let him down. The water had grown cold by then, their bodies freezing to the bone.

By the time both boys made it to the door, Hugo was shivering slightly as Varian seemed unbothered by the cold water. It was then that Hugo noticed the raw cut on the boy's hand. He tried to grab it, but Varian just pulled away, averting his eyes to the door before them.

' Later, ' he mouthed to the blond before wiping his hand, which was still somehow bleeding, against his pants. With a deep breath, Varian opened the door, the blurs of people swarming his vision as Hugo held a gentle grip on his shoulder.

I know I'm not done with this story yet, not even close, but when it does get completed, would you want a sequel or a series of One-Shots to go with it? I still have a lot planned for this story but have realized that all of my ideas won't make it into the book.

Have a wonderific day/night to you all! 😊

~ Brooklyn