Guardian

Carbon... Nitrogen... Phosphorus... Oxygen... Hydrogen... Sodium... Magnesium... Gio Made sure he had everything he needed to create a human body. A Human body is mostly comprised of 5 materials, with 7 other materials only making a single percent of the human body. He made sure he had all 12 materials in surplus, so it could not have been the fact that he didn't have enough material to create the body. He checked his notes on the human body once again, He was completely sure he wasn't forgetting even a single organ, a single cell. He started doubting his mathematical calculations, Redoing all of them as accurate as he possible could, double checking after every equation. Without a doubt, everything he needed was there. He had enough materials to make a female body that weighed 60 kilos and was 170 centimetres. He kept trying and trying to activate the circle, But he never had enough materials to finish the creation of the body itself.

Alchemy was the art of breaking matter down into their simplest components, then mixing those components into either different shapes or different forms. Gio spent his entire life studying and mastering the art of Alchemy. He didn't think he had mastered the art itself, Or that he was the best Alchemist in the world. Those titles belonged to his old master. But, He never was the type of person to stop trying to improve. If something was worth doing, it was worth doing well. To him, what he did wasn't compliment worthy. It was the bare minimum that he had to strive for as an Alchemist. But, He could easily see how no one had managed to create a human body before. It felt like it was impossible, an equation that did not amount to the sum of all its parts.

Feelings of Doubt filled his mind, as he kept on checking the circle, The materials and his calculations, Convincing himself nothing was going wrong.

"Why. Don't. You. WORK?!"

He yelled out in Frustration, slamming his fist into the Table beside him. He could feel Anger slowly grasping his mind, Blocking out the shame he felt for failing to achieve his goal. He took a big breath while taking a step back, making sure his clothes and his small hair bun weren't untidy. He looked around for anything to take his attention away and spotted his canteen filled with chilled water, Drinking it to cool himself down.

Gio always had violent tendencies, Though he never once let himself get out of control. To other people he was kind, calm, dutiful and generous. And especially, He always tried to treat his Sister Crystal better than every other person.

Their mother and father were still alive, But they were as good as dead to Gio. Their family never cared about raising their children, Mostly caring about each other and their job as travelling merchants. So, They left the role of Bringing up Gio to his Mentor, A true expert in Alchemy. But Gio his mentor was not a kind man, Quick to anger and a perfectionist. But, Gio had nothing but respect for his mentor. He looked up to him all his childhood, striving for perfection just like his mentor did. But even though he respected his mentor more than any other living person, when his Sister Crystal was born he took the job of raising her upon himself. He was only 8 at the time, just barely being able to carry Crystal in his arms. But to him that didn't matter, His mentor would have not cared about Crystal, Maybe even hurt her with his rough parenting and uncaring attitude.

Since he spent most his life taking care of Crystal Gio didn't have much of a social circle, Not that he cared of course. Friends were mostly useless unless they were of use for something. Have that be Idle chit chat, Help when things get rough, maybe even some affection. However, all of those things were useless to him. He never let himself rely on anybody else, Because Crystal was already relying on him. He felt as if the second he choose to rely on someone else, He would lose the respect of his sister.

As he was trying to calm himself and was trying to stop his urge to Kick something, A gentle knock on his door snapped him out of his episode.

"Gio..? Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?"

Crystal asked with worry in her voice. Gio immideatly panicked, Starting to Clean up the floor of his Room.

"Uh.. Yeah, Just got really frustrated by something not working as it should. Sorry for waking you up early morning, I'll cook breakfast in a bit to apologise." He sounded out, Which made Crystal sigh relieved. "There is no need. I'll brew tea to help you calm a bit." She said with a small smile on her face, starting to slowly climb up the stairs from the basement to the kitchen.

Gio sighed relieved also, If She came in he would have a lot of explaining to do. He put away all of the materials to work on later, changing his clothes to wear something more fitting. It was rather windy outside, So he decided to take his Robes too. Gio never wore fancy bright colours, always wearing either black or white depending on the season. The only times when he wore different colours were the times when Crystal wanted matching outfits for special occasions, mostly forcing him to wear pink and Purple.

Gio opened the door to his basement room and felt the dreadful atmosphere wash away with the smell of fresh herbal tea, Almost dancing around him as he walked upstairs. After he got to the kitchen he saw Crystal reaching into the bottom of the Cauldron with a Ladelful of what seemed to be batter, Ladeling it into the bottom of the Cauldron. She was wearing a simple shirt with a jacket over it, Along with some Leggings for comfort and warmth. She turned to him as soon as he entered, Smiling brightly.

"Oh, Thank you for actually coming. I was starting to lose hope that you'd ever leave your room again." She joked as she stood up, Dusting herself off. "Now! Go sit at the table. I want you to try something." She told Gio as she grabbed onto his arm, Pulling him towards and pushing him towards the dining chair. "Okay, okay! I'm coming! Be more patient, You get too excited about things sometimes." He mumbled with an awkward smile, Sighing while sitting down.

Crystal reached down to the bottom of the Cauldron, Picking up something that looked fluffy like cake, but had blue Berries almost melted inside of it. It smelled almost like cookies or stuff from a bakery, Making Gio quite surprised yet happy to see that Crystal made it herself. Crystal saw Gio his face, Giggling with excitement.

"I knew you'd like the smell too! I actually got this recipe from a trader in a merchant caravan! She thought this up when she was drunk. it's just a mix of flour and eggs with a little milk and sugar cooked at the bottom of the Cauldron with butter. I call it... Batter cake." She explained with a grin, Which took away Gio his excitement. Though, He made sure to keep his smile on his face. 'Oh god, a Drunk Recipe... I can't say no to this, She is so excited about it! But I also don't want to eat something a drunkard made! Is there... a way to mess up batter really bad? Is it toxic? What happens after I eat this? What kind of Berries are those? They look normal, but so do poisonous Berries... Is there a way to mess up so bad you can have a foods PH be above 7?' He started thinking to himself while getting more and more worried by the second, Looking at the plate of Batter cake Crystal brought him. "Enjoy!" She said very happily, Sitting down to watch him eat it.

Gio saw that he had no way out, and took a small breath to calm himself a little. It didn't look or smell bad, So what was the worst that could happen? He cut a piece of the batter cake slowly and put it on his mouth, Which pleasently surprised him. It was fluffy and soft, Yet the blueberries had a nice bite. It tasted sweet but not overwhelming at all. You could even put Orange jam on this, Which was Gio his favorite food item. "Oh my, This is actually really really good. My compliments to the chef." Gio joked, which made Crystal smile even more. Crystal quickly poured her brother a cup of tea, sitting down beside him.

"So, Do you plan on going somewhere today?" She asked him, to which Gio replied with a nod. "I'm going to pay a visit to the forest, Look for Fuzzy capped Forest mushrooms." He explained as he relaxed more with the soothing feeling of tea, Resting back. Secretly, he just wanted a walk in the woods alone. His constant inability to create a human body had taken an immense toll on him and his sanity, Starting to make him really snappy at things. Flaring up at even the smallest things, then quickly flaring back down. His more sadistic, Prideful side was starting to show. He started thinking about the time where his master made him swear he would never try human transmutation. But, he had broken that promise nearly am entire year ago when he first tried making a body. As he was thinking about his old master, he felt a sudden warmth covering his chest, the warmness of a hug.

"Gio, You're worrying about something again, aren't you? You have that scary face again." She mumbled sadly, which Snapped Gio back into reality. Crystal his embrace made Gio remember why he was striving for perfection, Why he was so obsessed with his own accomplishments. All he truly wanted was to become a brother Crystal could look up to, a brother Crystal could fully rely on.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about my route to the forest. You know, there have been some wolves there recently, I don't want to run into them." He tried to play it off, Slowly getting up. "Thank you for the breakfast, It was really good." He reminded Crystal with a slight smile, Hoping that would make her happier. He grabbed a small foraging knife before starting to slowly walk towards the door, Making sure he had all the things he needed. Crystal slowly got up to see him out, Waving softly as she watched him starting to leave the house. "Be careful okay? If you see any wolves, Slowly back away." She mumbled as quietly as she could. Secretly, She hated the fact that Gio always went into the woods alone. It was so dangerous for him, only a matter of time before he got hurt. She would love to accompany him, But she also didn't want to bother her brother as he was doing his job. Gio turned around with a small smile decorating his face, Waving back. "Of course. I'll be back soon!" He sounded out, Starting to walk on his path into the woods.