"See ya, Chrystahl!"
"Bye, Raelyn. Also, I hate you right now." Raelyn just laughed at my dismay.
"Well, it's your own fault for being interested in the types of shows I watch. Fullmetal Alchemist is a plague you brought down on yourself, girl. And it's about damn time, too." I flushed at Raelyn's crude language and glared at her reprimandingly, but she only grinned at me in response.
I growled at her lightly and her grin widened.
"It's true though! By them time I was your age, I'd been into anime for like, four years! I mean, you're going into eighth grade, girl! It's about time you discover the beauty that is anime." I shrugged and slumped my shoulders. I knew what I'll be doing tonight. And likely tomorrow.
And the next week, apparently.
I finally finished the series about five days after starting it at around four in the morning. I was up all night the previous night reading the manga as well.
I passed out as soon as I close my laptop and get comfortable on my big ass bed- perks of having rich folks!
I opened my eyes to an endless white landscape, and twirl around, searching for someone, anyone. Who I find is honestly not who I expected. A fully human Alphonse watched me in similar confusion, though he didn't seem to know of me like I do him, he just seemed confused about why he is there.
I'd also finished the manga, much to my pleasure, so I wasn't not sure if this Alphonse remembered his adventures with Edward.
Alphonse turned to me and smiled, his somewhat gaunt face slightly off putting, but I adored him, so I didn't mind so much. "Ah, hello! I'm Alphonse, but I get the feeling you knew that." I smile at him and nod.
"I do. But… This feels much too real to be a dream…" I trailed off and Al perked up slightly.
"It's a dream for you too? Did you use some sort of Alchemy to bind our dreams?" I shook my head sadly and shrugged helplessly.
"I have no more idea how we're here than you do, Al." I told him, and he nodded with as much sadness as I felt.
"I thought maybe you could connect me to my brother." He mumbled and I grimaced, then smiled at the young alchemist before sitting down and patting the spot of blank nothingness beside me, looking up at him invitingly. Alphonse hesitantly sat beside me, and over the course of the next week, we together watched the entirety of the original FMA series from my memories while outside my dreams I binge watched the newly discovered FMA Brotherhood.
Alphonse was grateful to know what had happened and smirked when I told him what had happened in the alternate reality between Ed and Winry- the 'peeping' scene and the confession scene that was awkward to them and hilarious as all hell to Al and I both. As thanks for keeping Al company and being his friend, the young boy, only slightly older than myself, taught me alchemy- real alchemy that when tried in my world, worked! It was EPIC!
Six weeks after my first meeting with Alphonse, I had a dream in which brotherhood Ed and Al met original series Al. They exchanged stories with me, and I was ecstatic- Al was happy-both of them- and I knew Alchemy! Then, I stopped dreaming of Al.
Instead, I began dreaming of a young girl named Sakura- from Card Captor Sakura, a series I had recently discovered and read through to the end. It only took a couple hours as it was a short series and I dreamed
immediately of the main character. I quickly found the girl was from after the canon ended- she was fifteen and in her first year of high school with Syaoran. The two of us got along well after an initial fright where she tried to attack me, thinking I was actually another wizard there for her cards, but I quickly told her otherwise and she checked me by casting Truth on me- a card she had created- and saw I spoke the truth and had no ill intentions.
"I'm sorry." She bowed and I grinned at her.
"It's fine. No harm done. But… if you want to make it up to me, I need two favors." Sakura, same old person she was, agreed easily, not even asking what the favors were. "Can you teach me magic? And can you use dream to connect me back to the dreams of my other friends?" Again, she smiled at me and agreed. She pulled out dream and asked me the names of those I wanted to contact. "Alphonse Elric original, and Edward and Alphonse Elric brotherhood. They are from different worlds." I informed her before adding on one more name- Mae Tenans. When the four came through, a soundly sleeping boy was wrapped around my best friend- her brother, Allen.
Dream turned to us, and as my friends noticed me, they ran up as Dream mentioned that Mae, Allen and I had great magical potential, which made me grin. "Thanks, Dream!" The Sakura Card smiled at me and nodded then returned to her card form. That night, I introduced my best friend and an unintended tag along to three other good friends, a new friend, and three new anime to watch. About two weeks passed, but we made minimal progress, and came to a conclusion- we needed a staff to channel our magic.
The next night, I didn't see Sakura. Instead, my two friends and I- our dreams had been bound by Dream and Tie (another new Sakura card) so that if any one of us was dreaming of a person from another universe, we all would be- met Welf Crozzo, who made us some staffs to use in magic training. He handed each of us a small training knife and Bell joined us, teaching my friends and I the basics of knife and dagger fighting. The night after, my two real world friends and I trained more with Bell until Aiz appeared and after introductions and a swift explanation, she began training us in simple sword play with a knight's sword. A week later, Welf gave us each a sword, two daggers, and a staff. Apparently each item was made of monster drops in his world, and we were immensely grateful.
Then, the Dungeon Ni Deai characters all disappeared. I their place was Sakura and a most likely dream bound Syaoran and Tomoyo. When I saw my first ever tsundere(ish) character- Syaoran- I screamed and jumped on him gleefully.
"Can I have your autograph Li- Kun?!" I breathed, hanging on the older boy, who looked down at me in a mix of amusement and irritation as well as a good dose of confusion while Tomoyo and Sakura grinned at each other and Tomoyo pulled out a camera and shot a picture of Li and I, then handed it to me, causing me to collapse for the rest of the night. For a month after that initial meeting, Sakura and Li taught my friends and I magic until I was able to use magic like Sakura could- Only I drew upon the cards' magic while they stayed in Sakura's possession, as well as used the small papers Li did. Mae and Allen learned more specialized magic- fire and water. Then, we had to say goodbye to the regular meetings Tomoyo sat in on to take pictures and tease us. After the second night, Kero and Yue began joining us, and they taught me separate from the others for an extra week until I could use each of their powers without even using my staff- though they were much weaker without said staff. It was convenient when I overslept into the school year and could wipe the memories of my teachers and my parents. Was I abusing my power? Yes. Did I care? No.
~5 months have now passed.
When my training with the guardians of the Clow- now Sakura- cards, there was a week before any dreams started up. When they did, it was the twelve affected Sohma members in the zodiac, as well as Saki, Kazuma, Tohru, and Arisa. Arisa taught us street fighting and Saki taught Mae and I how to use the waves like she did- apparently men couldn't use the skill. Kyo, Yuki, Hatsuharu, and Kagura taught us martial arts. Tohru taught Mae and I how to mend clothes and cook, then Ritsu taught us, timidly, various things we would need to blend in
within high society. Ayame swept in and taught us to make clothes from scratch and how to make delicious tea. Kisa and Hiro taught us how to calm and care for children, which was adorable. Just by being there, Momiji boosted everyone's spirits and cheered us up when training wasn't going well. Hatori taught Mae medical skills, but only taught me the basics because I couldn't sit still or concentrate long enough to actually learn it all. While Mae was learning that, Allen and I played around with the mindscape that, for nearly a year and a half now had been purely white, unchanging in its glare of nothingness. We tried to change it to different things, and I knew I could because I did it with Alphonse. Allen and I changed it and it was amusing how similar the things we chose were. Mine would be a summer field on a bright sunny day, and his would be a fall field on a cool, sunny day. We'd glare at each other then move to whatever we wanted- usually something similar to the other person's, but always just different enough to incite conflict that usually ended in the two of us wrestling on the ground, Allen easily pinning me more often than not into unwilling submission while I glared and struggled against the hand covering my mouth.
My birthday as well as Mae's quickly passed, and Allen's was coming up soon. We took a break for a few days between our April birthdays and Allen's June birthday. I was able to use my previously learned magic to pull both Al's and Ed as well as Sakura, Li, Tomoyo, Yue, and Kero. We all had a large party together in our sleep- weird, I know- and had cake and punch. Keroberos was in his happy place even as Kyo was rude to him. Through most of the party, Momiji with his older, more mature appearance got along swimmingly with Ed and Al, strangely enough, and they were sad to part. I promised Momiji I'd let him meet up with his brotherhood friends, and he was appeased.
I hunched over hands on my knees, panting. I looked up at Kazuma and glared lightly before standing back up and settling back into my stance. I turned to my opponent- Hatsuharu- who, luckily for me, hadn't turned into Black Haru. I would have been so fucked, it wouldn't even have been funny. We rushed at each other, and while I was unable to land a hit, he landed several. After many spars with him, and many threats from me, I got him to stop holding back- even as he pummeled me into the ground.
I grunted as I got another fist to my face and I fell to the floor, but I quickly pushed to my feet and jumped back just in time to avoid a foot slammed into the ground where my head had been. A bad feeling crept over me and I looked up and grimaced at Haru's crazed grin.
Well, fuck. Here's Black Haru. Just what I didn't need.
I jumped back away from the dangerous martial artist and he smirked at me, then lunged forward towards me and my eyes widened before I slid sideways, stumbling slightly in my haste over my own feet.
"Hey, Rys." I jerked my head up and glared. "Ooh~ I see, only your boyfriend can call you that?" My eyes blurred slightly and I growled- I didn't even know I could do that! - Harshly at the Ox. "Have I ever mentioned to you that I am bisexual? I mean, that guy of yours is pretty cute. Maybe I'll steal him. Allen, was it?" My growl intensifies as I leapt into the air and twisted my body slamming a foot down on Hatsuharu's cranium then landed on the ground in a crouch as Haru pulled himself back to his feet, holding his head and glaring at me before smirking.
"Did I make the princess angry? Why are you struggling? You are weak. You'll never defeat me, you can only watch as I steal him away from you." Hatsuharu smirked darkly and I glower at him then rush at him quickly, landing a solid blow to his abdomen and sending him to the ground. I smirked at him.
"Weak, am I?" I questioned him quietly. He jerked his head up at me and I grinned as he charged me, his anger blinding him so that with an outstretched foot on my part, he hit the ground, but rolled back onto his feet. He rushed me again and I use the same tactic, only I trip him up then slam my knee into his face before grabbing him by the hair and smiling at his pained expression as I slammed his face into the ground and pulled him back
up to repeat the action when Yuki grabs my wrist and gazes into my eyes, reflecting their strange red hue over my irises back at me. Yuki's eyes widen at, presumably, the change in eye color before they soften in understanding. He goaded me, and went too far. I snapped, and my eyes turned red- like they always do.
I stalked over to where the others were waiting so Mae could spar with Kagura. I sat down next to Tohru and sighed.
"What'd he bother ya 'bout?" Kyo asked in a, surprisingly, calming tone of voice. I glanced at him and buried my face in my knees.
"He called me a name I didn't like and told me something I didn't want to hear." Kyo raised an eyebrow at me. Seems dating Tohru has mellowed him some. Some, however doesn't mean he's stopped disliking Yuki entirely.
"Wow, vague much? What'd he call ya ta make ya so mad?"
I glared at Kyo and stiffened as Allen sat beside me. I shot an angry glare at a now conscious and White (GOD that sounds SO racist but I swear on my fanfictions it isn't!... or at least, it isn't in this context…) again. I then looked possessively at Allen and saw Saki whisper something to Arisa, who looked between Allen and I until I glared angrily at her.
"Ahhh~, I see now." Kyo said off handedly, watching Allen and I. Allen turned to me as I shot a peeved glare at Kyo.
"See what? What ya talkin' 'bout Rys?" I looked at Allen, then at Kyo, than back at Allen's innocent questioning face and I groaned, flopping back onto the floor and rolling over and burying my face in my arms and groaning louder as Kyo snickers at me.
"I wanna Snickers, damnit!" I whined.
"A what, Rys?" Hatsuharu asked, approaching me.
In a moment, I'm on my feet and at Haru, my knife from Welf in hand and held aloft. "A Snickers. It's a type of candy bar in my world. And don't call me that!" I hissed at the boy angrily before Momiji, Hiro and Kisa pulled me away from the teen who stands, hands held aloft in a placating manner.
The three youngest Sohmas know they are my weakness and often use it to their advantage.
Off to one side, Rin and Kagura watch in relative amusement as I chase a casually running Haru down, failing miserably even though I had torn loose from the hold of the two preteens and teen.
~14 months have now passed
Over all, my 9 months training with the Fruits Basket characters with enjoyable. After the first week or so, Mae, Allen and I would watch Anime together over Skype so we would always know whoever we were meeting with on that day- uh, night. Anyway, together we watched Food Wars, Attack on Titan, Magi, One Piece, Naruto, and Hunter X Hunter, not to mention World's Strongest Disciple Kenichi and Fairy Tail. We hadn't yet finished the three longer series, but hey, can you blame us? Fairy Tail, One Piece, and Naruto are long.
Upon finishing Hunter X Hunter, Mae and I secluded ourselves in our rooms and wouldn't leave for almost a week. Again, can you blame us? The ending! As soon as training with the Sohma family ended, training with Ryozanpaku began instead, Kennichi and Miu training us in flexibility, stamina, and strength. Unfortunately, little of our flexibility and strength transferred to our real bodies. Only about half of what we learn while asleep do our bodies receive. And that amount is only thanks to a spell I cast. I'm relatively young, so even with strong magic for my age,(by which I mean any magic) I still can't keep such a strong spell in place at its full potential- especially while I'm casting three at once.
After a six months or so of training with the two teens and their masters, my magic was strong enough that our bodies retained about 80 percent of what we did at night, and we had trained while we were awake as well, so we were pretty fast and strong now.
~twenty months have now passed
My two friends and I have finished up to date in Fairy Tail and finished Naruto and are through the first five hundred fifty or so episodes of One Piece. We started watching bleach, but didn't like it so much. We watched Soul Eater and Rosario and Vampire, as well as Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho. We watched Skip Beat, Lovely Complex and Seven Deadly Sins. Meliodas trained us for two weeks before we were handed over to the Hunter X Hunter cast for about three months where we learned Nen and met Hisoka, oddly enough. That was fun. After that, we were introduced slowly to the entirety of Fairy Tail. First Makarov, who told the guild of his meeting with other worldly beings and that they would be training us at night in our dreams.
In quick succession we met Team Natsu, Team Shadowgear, the Raijinshu, Reedus, Vijeeter, Romeo, Cana, Laxus, Mira, and a few others before we were introduced the entirety of the guild.
From Lucy, I learned summoning magic and from Natsu, I learned fire. Laki taught Mae and I wood, and Allen learned lightning from Laxus, fire from Natsu, and Freed's magic. All three of us learned beast, Satan, and animal souls, and Mae and I learned Wendy's magic.
~31 Months Have Now Passed
On Allen's 17th birthday, when I was 16 and Mae was 15, we received a warning from Cana.
Three, called from theirs to another- a watery world to right the wrong, and fix the broken.. A fire gone out, a pipe rusted, a boy broken, crew scattered. Summit's end wrong, a need to be righted. Fate herself decreed her mistake, but only her chosen two- and tagalong- can right the wrongs and save this world. Be prepared, it will be difficult.
It took five seconds and a three way glance to know where we were headed- One Piece. Sweet.
Mae, Allen and I grinned at each other and woke up.
It took a moment for my brain to register my job- I needed to get everything I would want in One Piece in a bag and keep it on me at all times. I grabbed my phone charger, my solar powered portable charger, my laptop charger, my tablet charger, my PSP charger and games, and my IPod charger. I then grabbed all of the items and downloaded on each one all or most of an anime as well as some manga and fanfiction.
I grabbed my three sketchpads, my six fanfiction notebooks, my favorite Killua plushy, my ancient stuffed dog from child hood, two small thin blankets, various books (It's an enchanted backpack- holds as much as I want. Pretty convenient. As long as I can get it through the bag's opening, it goes in the bag!) and manga, my black butler hat and Soul Eater head band, my Fairy Tail sweater, pillow, poster, hat, and pictures I've drawn. I also tossed in a bunch of types of gum and things I like to snack on. I grabbed my makeup, my brush, my Inuyasha pillow, my water bottle, headbands, my weapons from Welf, hair ties, shampoo and conditioner, feminine hygiene products, some chocolate, and other little things I wanted to bring with me, including many pairs of clothing.
I decide that until I'm in One Piece, I'll wear loose clothes with drawstrings. In many SIs, the OC ends up in a younger form of themselves and if that happens, I'll be prepared. I toss a knife and some scissors over my shoulder into the bag so that if I am shrunk, I can cut the legs off my pants until I get new clothes. And my family says I don't think ahead. Humph.
Suddenly I hear a quiet shriek behind me and I slowly turn to see my younger sister Melody standing at my door and staring at the knife quivering in the door near her head. I subconsciously heard her enter and had aimed the weapon as a warning. I grin sheepishly at her.
It's the end of my eleventh grade year, and I'm waiting to be sent to save Ace- Sama rather impatiently. I know Mae and Allen feel the same. I step on the bus and stalk to my seat at the back and pulling my phone out of the enchanted bag that now also holds my school stuff. I angrily text my best pals about the bullies in my school, and they respond about how in their school, people aren't bullied. They are attacked and sometimes killed. I grimace unhappily at the thought. Suddenly, I feel a strange tingling I recognize as magical and I shoot a text off to Mae and Allen.
Guys?!- Chrys
Us too, Rys!- Allen
FINALLY- Mae
I know!
I stop messaging them and reach into my bag, channeling my thoughts to it. School books and folders. After a moment, the items are in my hands and I set them next to me on the bus before shooting another message off, see ya soon! And sticking my phone in my bag and putting it into a subspace pocket beside me with magic, grateful I'm in the back of the bus where no one can see me or my blatant displays of magic.
The tingles intensify until I find myself jittery and hyper. My vision gradually fades to black.