Truth's Messenger
A boy with a metal arm and leg. A soul tied to a suit of armor. A girl branded with the mark of 'Truth'. Together, will they be able to stop the Homunculi?
Chapter 1- Awakening
?'s POV
I woke to a pounding headache, and to what could only be described as a large gate. A sea of white spread out beyond that, where it stopped, I couldn't see. That is, if it stopped at all. Ahead of me sat a child, no, that wouldn't be accurate. A humanoid, child-like figure that blended in with the surrounding area if you didn't look closely enough.
"Where am I?" I blurted out, "Who are you? Who am I?" The 'child' chuckled.
"Desperate for some answers aren't we?" He (or what I assumed as a he) grinned, "You are in the gate that exists in everyone. I assume you can't remember anything. That was the toll for seeing True Knowledge."
"Great help true knowledge is when I can't remember anything." I muttered, causing the white being to burst into laughter.
"Humans are so amusing." He grinned, flashing me a painfully bright smile.
"You still haven't answered my questions." I replied flatly. "Who are you? Who am I? Why the hell am I still here?"
"I am what you humans refer to as the world, the universe, God, Truth, True Knowledge, one, or all. I am also-" He paused dramatically before pointing a finger at me. "You."
"Great." I said. "Next question."
"You are quite an impatient child."
"Glad we got that over with." I grumbled. My head ached like hell. I wasn't exactly in the best of moods. "Now please answer the question."
"Your name is Katsumi." Truth stated simply. "And you are my new messenger." I stared at him for a few seconds, trying to process this.
"Woah… what did you just say?"
"Your name is Katsumi, and you-"
"It was a rhetorical question." I snapped. "God must hate me."
"I am right here." Truth stated. "But I do not hate you."
"Sure seems like it." I muttered, standing up. "Do I have to stay here forever?" I asked, scowling at the far too bright dimension.
"What good is a messenger that never leaves their master's side?"
"True." I said thoughtfully, scratching the back of my head. "But what makes you think I'll agree?"
That smile was back. The you're-not-going-to-like-what-I'm-going-to-say-because-it's-going-to-fuck-up-your-life smile. I've only seen it twice, but I've already decided that I've seen it twice too many.
"I hold everything." Truth said coolly, as the atmosphere dropping a few degrees. "I hold your family, your friends, your home, and your memories. Would you leave that behind?"
I bit my lip and averted my gaze. What did I value more, my family, or my freedom? I know it would've been an obvious choice, but…
"Is there even a choice?" I asked bitterly.
"No." Truth grinned. "You will be my messenger whether you like it or not." He reached out his hand towards me, and before I fainted, a burning pain seared through my back.
OoOoOo
I woke to the smell of coal. It wasn't exactly a wonderful aroma, but it felt like… home. Not only that, but my back felt like I was being burned with hot metal. I shifted uncomfortably, and opened my eyes with much pain.
"Hey dad!" A voice yelled. "She's awake!"
"Oh really?" Crashes came echoing through the hallway. A few seconds later, curious faces appeared above me.
"Woah, look at her eyes dad!" The boy whispered in awe. "The're like rubies."
"You okay kid?" The blonde man asked." We found you in one of the caves. Your back was practically spilling blood."
"Where am I?" I managed to rasp out, and I absently told myself that I'd been asking that way too often. "What happened to me?"
"You're in Youswell Coal Mine!" The boy chirped. "My name is Khayal, nice to meet 'cha!" I smiled at the child's bright nature, and sat up gingerly. Careful not to agitate my back any more.
"Strange." I muttered. "I've never heard of that before." At least, I can't remember. I added grimly in my head. The boy opened his mouth to speak, but his father started dragging him out of the room.
"We'll let you get dressed." He called. "Come on Khayal, we've got work to do." The clicked close behind them, and my eyes began wandering the room. There wasn't much, but I was glad for it nonetheless. A drawer stood next to the bed, and on the far side of the room, there was a table, a mirror, and a closet. A black bag lay on the drawer, and a stack of clothes sat next to it. I slowly dragged my aching body out of the bed, and began pulling the sweater over my head. As I was getting dressed, I looked into the mirror. A short, girl with long rugged black hair and ruby eyes stared back.
"I look like crap." I said out loud, pulling at the tangles in my hair. A woven sweater that was obviously too big for me hung past my hands. Black baggy pants covered my legs, and a pair of black combat boots adorned my feet. I pried open the bag (which I assumed it was to find mine. If it wasn't, they left it out anyway) to find a leather bound notebook, a wallet, an ID of sorts, and a change of clothes that looked exactly like mine. I took out the notebook, hoping it might have some answers.
"Property of Katsumi, age 15." I began to read. "Delivery 1: Give Message to Izumi Curtis." I flipped a page, and a letter addressed to said woman fell out. I furrowed my brow.
"How the hell am I supposed to find her? I don't know jack-shit about this place!" A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.
"Ya?"
"May I come in?" A soft feminine voice asked.
"Sure." I replied, putting the letter and the notebook back into the bag. A pretty blonde lady stepped in, holding a tray with a steaming bowl of soup and a glass of water. Against my own will, my stomach betrayed me, and let out a low growl. I smiled sheepishly at the lady, and she laughed- a tinkling laugh that sounded like bells.
"Here you go." She smiled kindly. "You must be hungry." I nodded vigorously, and began digging in. No longer caring if I looked like a ravenous animal. I felt as if I hadn't eaten in days.
As I finished the soup, the woman practically dragged me out of the room, and brought me to a bathroom.
"Please wash up." She said kindly, as if careful not to offend me. "When you're done, please come downstairs and help me with the pub. We're a bit busy, and we're in need of helping hands s-" I cut her off abruptly with a timid smile.
"That's fine." I said. "I'd be glad to help." As I closed the door to the small room, I saw the woman smile once more.
OoOoOo
As I stepped out of the shower stall, the steam curling around me, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. I felt so much better, all the sore muscles were gone now. My back also felt much better. Although the pain wasn't completely gone, it was almost… bearable. I turned my back towards the mirror to get a better look at my injuries, and what met my eyes shocked me.
There weren't any damn injuries, there was just a large carving on my back that said 'TRUTH'S MESSENGER'. I began shaking in fury, and very nearly slammed my fist into the nearest object. My vision began bleeding red, and I quickly reminded myself that there were better things to do than to curse at 'Truth', and I began drying myself and pulling on my clothes. After a while, I became tired of trying to untangle my hair, and I just put it in a ponytail. I never realized, but my hair was… long.
I walked out of the bathroom, leaving the door open just a crack. As I walked downstairs, I heard… chaos. I peeked my head around the corner to see lots of tough looking men sitting around tables, as the kind woman from earlier dashed around from table to table, trying to get orders. I took a deep, shaky breath before stepping out into the room.
OoOoOoO
Ed's POV
As we rode on the train towards Youswell Coal Mine, Al and I couldn't help but look around.
"No one's on board…" Al whispered, as he leaned against the seat.
"I heard rumors." I replied. "But I didn't think it would be this bad. That's mainly because there's nothing to see here." I flipped open the map I held in my hand and pointed towards a little dot on the very edge of the map.
"The town at the end of the East." I muttered. "The Youswell Coal Mine."
As we stepped out, I examined my surroundings. It seemed like a regular coal mine, but something was… off.
"This is a little…" I trailed off. "I thought a Coal Mine would be a little bit livelier, but…"
"Everybody seems really tired." Al said, as he watched people walk back and forth, some carrying steel beams, some pushing carts filled with coal. Suddenly, something hard hit me in the back of my head. I fell to the ground, dropping my suitcase.
"THAT HURT YOU LITTLE-"
"Oh!" The young boy that hit me said, brightening up. "What- tourist? Where'd you come from? Want food? Decided where you're staying?" It was all I could do to keep up with his voice.
"Ah… No… Hold on…" I said, trying to stop him.
"Dad! Customers!" The boy turned, causing me to duck the long beam he held once again.
"LISTEN TO WHAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE SAYING!" I snapped, my vein twitching. A tall burly blond man carrying coils of rope turned around.
"What is it Khayal?" He asked, brushing some of the soot off of his face.
"A customer revenue!" The boy (which I now knew as Khayal) called back. I felt another vein twitch.
"What do you mean by revenue?" I asked angrily, now turning my body so I could yell at the boy better. Little brat. I added silently in my head. Completely ignored by him, the blonde man smiled at us, and dragged us towards a building.
"Sorry if it's a little bit dusty." The man said sheepishly, leading us to a table. "The salary for coal miners is low, so I'm working at this store at the same time." I felt a tiny flash of guilt run through me. These people were working all day just to get by, while I could just waltz around with more money than I'll ever need. I quickly brushed it off, as Al was staring at me weirdly.
"What're you saying, boss?" Another miner from a separate table called. "You're the one that's taking cash away from guys with money problems!"
"The wife should cry!" Another added his two cents, causing me to snicker a bit.
"Shaddup!" The child's father shouted back at them. "If you've got any complaints, pay your beer tab!" A blonde woman walked by our table, rousing me from my thoughts.
"One night, and two meals for two, right?" She asked kindly, holding her tray to her chest.
"How much?" Al and I asked in unison.
"It's expensive!" The man reminded me, a sparkle appearing next to him. I blinked at it, before answering.
"Fear not! I have a lot on me." I smirked. I was a state alchemist after all, the prices here couldn't be that unreason-
"200000!" The man smiled, putting two of his fingers up. I promptly fell off of my chair.
"There's nothing good about a rip-off like that!" I snapped, my hair standing on end.
"That's why I said it was 'expensive'." The man deadpanned. "We have to get cash from the rare tourist."
"Don't joke around!" I scoffed. "Al and I will go somewhere else." A large hand clamped down on my head, and I felt a black aura seeping out from behind me.
"Trying to get away, revenue?" The man asked, a creepy glint in his eye.
"You'd better give up, bro." Khayal smiled sheepishly. "It's the same price everywhere else." I pulled out my wallet and began shuffling through the bills.
"Not enough…" I said nervously, as I crouched in a corner with Al. "In this situation, I could always change this rock to gold through alchemy!"
"God transmutation is illegal by State Alchemist law, isn't it?" Al whispered to me, and I could see the imaginary sweat drops rolling down his armored face.
"If nobody finds out." I chuckled evilly, "We're fine!" A shifting noise next to me caught my attention, and I whirled around to find none other than Khayal.
"DAD!" He shouted. "This guy's an alchemist!"
They dragged me once more towards a table. Except this time, there was a broken pickaxe lying on it. Determined to show off a bit, I clapped my hands together, and a crackling blue light flashed throughout the room.
OoOoOoO
Katsumi's POV
I headed once more into the back room to get someone a refill of beer. Honestly. I huffed. What is their alcohol to blood ratio? I'm surprised half of them aren't knocked out. I heard the door open again. Maybe Khayal's dad was back…?
I peeked my head around the corner to see a… short, (well, around my height) blonde teen and a person in a suit of armor. I stayed behind the wall, fine with just observing for now. Halling was nagging the shorter one about fines. From what I could tell, the shorter one was loud, brash, and arrogant. The taller one was quieter, calmer, and collected.
A bright flash of light caught my eye, and the broken pickaxe that lay broken on the table was now completely fixed. My jaw dropped open in awe. How did they do that?
"Katsumi!" I heard a voice yell, causing me to snap out of my thoughts. "You got our refills yet?"
"Yes old man!" I hollered back, stepping out into the open and heading towards the man that had called. "How are you not passed out on the floor by now?" He merely chuckled, and took another swig of his beer.
"Doesn't matter!" He said, slamming the glass down onto the wooden table. "Just refill the glass!" I smirked, pouring the beer into the jug until it very nearly overflowed.
"That's fine, drink!" Halling roared with laughter. "More money for us!" As they began joking around, Halling's wife called me over.
"Katsumi." She smiled. "Could you perhaps bring a meal over for those two gentlemen over there? I'm busy with these folks as of right now." I nodded as I caught sight of the two I was supposed to serve, and I disappeared into the back room once more.
OoOoOoO
Ed's POV
Al and I sat at the table, occasionally drumming our fingers against the knotted wood, or humming a small tune. A loud yell came from the table next to us.
"Katsumi!" A man who was obviously drunk roared. "You got our refills yet?"
"Yes old man!" 'Katsumi' responded, as I watched her step out from the back room. The rest of their conversation was lost to me, as I examined her closer.
You could tell she was a foreigner right away. The dark black hair that nobody else here had, the feeble frame that even the Halling's wife lacked, and even the way she spoke. I was almost tempted to say she was Xingese… but that's when I saw her eyes.
Blood.
That's the only thing that could describe what I saw. Painful memories began flashing through my mind, Mother's death, losing Al, and losing my limbs. I instantly buried my face into my arms, biting down hard on my lip as to not screech.
"Brother, what's wrong?" Al asked gently.
"That girl." I muttered. "Her eyes bring back so many… memories." I heard shifting, and I assumed Al had looked towards her.
"It looks like… blood." Al whispered, as he looked down at his hands. "Oh gods, you're right." I squeezed my eyes, blinking away the painful memories. I'm sorry, okaa-san…
After a while, I heard dishes clanking against the table, and I assumed the dishes had arrived. I looked up- to stare into piercing ruby eyes.
DONE~ You have no idea how long it took me to write this. If you have time, please Review?