Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist or Bright Eyes, but boy if I did I would buy a big house, where we both could live
Hello all! I usually write FFVII fics, but I couldn't resist writing a little bit on FMA. This is my first story with an OC as a main character. I never thought I ould write one before, but I woke up one morning with this story in my head and it wouldn't leave until I wrote it.
I'll make sure she doesn't turn into a Mary Sue, but sorry if she seems like one in some moments. I'll try my best not to make this another trite fic!
P.S. I have edited this chapter a bit, since the dream sequence didn't seem right. At this moment in the story, I'm trying to convey a more light hearted feeling.
Well...Read on!
Is it true what I heard about the Son of God?
Did he come to save?Did he come at all?
And if I dried his feet, with my dirty hair,
would he make me clean again?
--Don't Know When But a Day is Gonna Come; Bright Eyes
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Blood was everywhere. It was dripping from her every pore, swirling gushing, a vicious torrent threatening to consume her. She couldn't move. Sluggishly, her arms struggled against the surging stream of death, but she was weakening. In the distance she glimpsed a small child, just out of the reach of the flood. Saucer eyes glared at her, and the child pointed to a hole in his chest where his young heart should have been. ' You did this to me' He waded into the sea of blood. His skin was teeming with maggots, and she could smell rotting flesh. He swam towards her with surprising agility, as she thrashed about violently. 'You, you, you, it was you. It was you. It was you. You, and only you. It was you and it will always be you and you don't deserve the life that was given to you.' Frantically, she floundered and sputtered, trying to escape as the boy came closer and closer.
His putrid stench burned her nostrils, and she gagged only to inhale the liquid that was slowly rising.
It was rising.
He was five feet away now.
Her eyes writhed in their sockets ,desperately seeking a way out.
There was no way out.
He was an arm's length away now.
Small, decaying fingers clasped around her neck, and gently pushed her under.
She could see a million shadows, laughing and mocking with flashing eyes and long white coats.
A door towered overhead; it's hinges cracked against the pressure that was pushing at it.
Between the splintering panels, a wisp of smoke billowed out and seeped into her mouth.
Her life, her death.
She was drowning, oh, what a horrible end… to drown was to live, to live was to drown.
'I'm sinking, I'm falling, I'm lost. Please, there has to be, there must be a way out…'
And the knowing reply,
' Only fools challenge fate…there's no way out.'
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It was midnight in the slums of Central, and a few stray cats were picking through a garbage can when a blood-curdling scream pierced the night air. Startled, they whipped their crooked tails and made a hasty retreat into the safety of a crumbling alleyway.
The source of the shriek sat straight up in her bed, striving to escape from the sheets that were suffocating her.
After a few minutes she finally untangled herself, and hunched over the edge of her mattress, gasping for breath.
It had been the third nightmare this week.
Throughout her whole life she had suffered night terrors sporadically, but never so many times in a row. The dream was always the same, and she was becoming more and more afraid to go to sleep at night.
She didn't want to see that sad, little face ever again.
Glancing around the room, she grimaced at how dismal her surroundings were. Business hadn't been going that well of late, and just a few nights ago she had been unceremoniously dumped by her landlord, having failed to pay rent for the past eight months.
This dingy hotel room was only a temporary dwelling, but the cramped quarters made her claustrophobic and she wasn't one who enjoyed cockroaches merrily making their way about her feet every morning.
It was hard to make enough money to earn a living, especially when you were only sixteen years old. Not quite born, but certainly raised in the poorest area of Central, the girl had been on her own since the tender age of thirteen and as a result was wise in the ways of survival. Any other person's heart would have turned cold at the ugly, terrible things she had endured, but somehow she hadn't lost her optimism, her overall lust for life.
Well, she may call it optimism, but in fact most saw her as obnoxious. Sure, she could be what some may call "overbearing" at times, but that was only a direct result of one of her greatest joys in life.
The joy of annoying others. Yes, strange but true, this girl took immense satisfaction in bugging the crap out of those she met. Luckily, her chosen profession perfectly suited her love of annoying others.
She was a thief.
No, it wasn't a particularly exalted path, but when it comes to survival, the downtrodden will use any means necessary in order to survive.
She was Terra Eclipse, self-proclaimed "Greatest Thief/Alchemist Worldwide", and was more than ready to challenge anyone who said otherwise.
Though, truth be told, she probably could only beat that disbelieving individual at alchemy, since despite her cockiness she wasn't that good of a thief. She could steal a man's tie from right under his oblivious nose, but always fumbled in the escape attempt.Lady Luck never seemed to be on her side, and that, in addition to a tendency to act without thinking, was what ultimately lead to Terra being broke.
Terra sighed again, and pulled the threadbare sheets around herself, making a comfortable cocoon. Snuggling deeper into the welcoming warmth she smiled at the thought of morning.
Then, she would finally be safe. She would eat three square meals everyday for the first time in her life. Every night she would be warm and satisfied.
She was going to become a State Alchemist.
No, not just for the high pay involved, she also had a few ulterior motives.
But mostly it was for the paycheck.
Besides, there were all together too many stiffs in the military, who were in desperate need of some aggravation, courtesy of Terra Eclipse.
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"Shit I'm late!"
Terra sprinted from her tenant, nearly bowling over the old landlady as she plummeted out the door.
"Sorry Mrs. Jenkins!" She gasped without looking back, throwing a hand up in farewell.
The old woman smiled, waving back even though the girl was halfway down the street already.
"Poor, sweet child." She whispered, and humming a little tune headed upstairs to threaten a man into paying his rent.
Terra was about two blocks from her destination when hunger took control.Once it was impossible to ignore the pangs any longer, she slowed to a stop and checked her wallet. Examining the contents she groaned at the realization that all she had for breakfast was one copper.
"I never should have bought all those drinks to celebrate last night." She whispered thoughtfully, and placed the sad, empty thing back in her pocket.
'Guess I'll have to pull off a little job before the test. Better to be late then starving my ass off before the written and physical exam.'
The teen scouted the crowd for a likely target, and her eyes fell upon a boy in a red cloak. His braided, blond hair fell back between his shoulder blades, and he was embarrassingly short in stature. Next to him stood a very large figure wearing aratheruncomfortable lookingsuit of armor.
'Why would someone be decked out like that in the middle of the summer? Who wears a full set of armor like that anyways?' she mused, but putting that thought aside redirected her attention to the blond teen.
He was currently storming about in a huff, and was growling about something or other. The taller one had a pleading look on his face, somehow conveyed even while wearing that strange helmet, but the latter paid no attention.
'He's so distracted,' She grinned, 'An easy mark.'
Stealthily the thief began to creep closer and closer to the pair, concealed by the troves of people that were busy with their morning routines. As Terra approached, she began to distinguish what the blond was saying.
"Al, it's stupid I don't see why we have to go there. He just wants to torture us, I know it! He thinks it's funny to make us wake up at eight in the morning on our break!"
The suit of armor jangled, as the statuesque man shook his head.
"Brother, he wouldn't do that. Be happy! It means that he values our opinions, he trusts us."
The blond scowled and kicked a bottle, sending shards skittering down the sidewalk, still grumbling and ignoring his brother's rationalizations.
Terra was so close she could practically taste her future meal. She saw her chance when the blond slipped over a piece of glass and fell flat on his back. Elated,Terra darted forward in a blur and lifted a satisfyingly heavy coin purse from his side.
Terra was just about to make a clean escape, when she tripped clumsily over the very same piece of glass and fell straight into something very hard and very shiny.
Fearfully, her gaze shot upwards. She had fallen straight into one of the men she was trying to rob.
The helmeted head peered quizzically down at her, as she smiled nervously and coughed. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the blond stirring and Terra knew she had to think up something quick.
Opening her large eyes wide, so they looked even bigger, Terra's lower lip trembled. She threw her arms into the air dramatically and cried, "What did I ever do to you? Oh, my poor face! How could you run into a poor, poor defenseless girl?"
She pulled her face into what she believed to be heartbreaking puppy dog eyes but, sadly, the mediocre actress looked more like a Chihuahua on crack.
The man gave her a sympathetic, yet slightly confused look, and he said in a childlike voice, "Excuse me?"
Terra raising a trembling handthen fell, only to be swiftly caught by the man.She loudlywailed, " Oh, oh, my poor fragile and delicate bones. How could you brutish men be so cruel?"
"I'm… sorry..?"
Terra nearly giggled. The poor guy had absolutely no idea what was going on. Then, she sensed that the other was rising to his feet and slipped under thelatter's grip squealing, perkily, "Well, no harm done! To forget is heavenly but to forgive is human, or something of that sort! I'm sure my face isn't too marred, and won't effect my modeling career, I'm sure."
With a large smile she blathered on,hands gesturing wildlywhilst she slowly backed away.
The blond stood up, blazing with anger and Terra's face fell.
'Too late, he's found me out!'
Tensing her muscles, Terrastretched out her fingers-- knuckles crackling with alchemic power.
"You!" The blond said angrily, storming toward her, " Why did you blame Al! It was obviously YOUR fault that you ran into him!"
Terra was dumbfounded.
She giggled in relief, only to be interrupted by the blond, who angrily said, "It'sNOT funny!"
She tried her best to stop laughing, she really did, but the situation was hilarious. Here she was, making off with his coin purse and he was getting angry at her for running into his brother!
'This guy must be having a bad day.'
She thought gleefully, between badly concealed chuckles.
"Brother, it's no big deal." said the taller one "I mean, even if she did run into me it's not like I'm the one who would get hurt."
"It's the principle of the thing!" The other huffed, his lips pulled into what suspiciously looked like a bratty kid pout.
"The short one's are always hot-tempered…" She reflected aloud.
The blond's flushed purple. He pushed himself up on his toes, so his eyes were almost level with Terra's
and screamed, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SOTINY THAT HE COULD SLEEP IN A WALNUT SHELL?"
Terra could have sworn she saw steam billowing from his flared nostrils.
She had no idea how to respond to his strange question. She sat a few moments, her hair billowing with each of the boy's breaths.
By chance Terra glanced at the clock tower, whilst trying to avoid the boy's gaze, and realized what time it was.
"Shit I'm LATE!" she screeched and bowled both the men over, sliding quickly around the corner and out of sight.
"What a strange girl." Said Alphonse, glancing at his brother for confirmation.
His brother stood there, anger having nearly dissipated. He moodily shoved his hands in his pockets.
Suddenly, the boy's face turned white. His hands rummaged around the pockets, the search becoming more and more frantic by the second.
"Ed, what's wrong?"
Ed looked up, his tawny eye's glowing with rage. He closed them and threw his head up toward the sky, yelling,
"She stole my wallet!"
Halfway across town, an individual completely oblivious to the danger she was in, sat in a small waiting room eating a croissant ravenously. She had just polished off the last crumbs when a voice called out,
"Eclipse, Terra."
"Yessss?"
"It's time for your written exam."
Did you like it? I know, not that different from any other fic so far, but I promise the plot will be like nothing you have EVER SEEN! lol. Read and Revew, don't hesitate to point out any mistakes because god knows I need the help.