*disclaimer: I don't own FMA, or FMAB. Just sayin'.
Special a/n: So, my story begins around episode 9 in FMAB. WILL contain SPOILERS for people who have not completed the series, in the future. So...ENJOY! ^^
Let Me Steal Your Pain
By: xXEmiShaeXx
Chapter One:
Let The Games Begin
**(This is something that will, probably, appear before the actual beginning of every chapter. A small preface, if you will...)**
It started out as a joke.
…I say that and some may laugh. But, I'm serious. A joke. And now? Well, now I'm not even sure if I know who I am anymore. Not that I would be able to tell anyone even if I did...
This is probably confusing to you. Let's…Just start with the beginning.
"Aw, crap!" I said as I dropped the plate of freshly baked cookies to the ground. The clattering sound echoed for a moment and then there was silence. I breathed out in a sigh and closed my eyes.
"DANIELLE? WHAT DID YOU SCREW UP THIS TIME?" I heard my best friend yell at me. I twitched.
"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS ASSUME I SCREWED SOMETHING UP?" I yelled back. Being able to yell at someone in another room, was a great thing.
"…Because that's usually what happens." She said as she walked into her kitchen. She looked at the plate of fallen cookies, then at me and then gave me an I-told-you-so-expression.
"Not a word."
"Fine. We don't need gooey chocolate chip cookies, I suppose. Just pick 'em up and then come back to the living room!" She ordered and walked away. After cleaning up the cookies I skipped to her living room. "I'll put the disk in!" She said excitedly as she raced to the DVD player.
"Cool. Let's watch the episode when Olivier is introduced." I suggested.
"Ooooh. That one sounds good." She agreed as she slid the disk in.
Okay, perhaps an explanation is in order, yeah?
My best friend and I, we're Fullmetal Alchemist/ FMA: Brotherhood, freaks. Yes, we love both of the series. A lot. There's just something about two brothers who lost so much, moving on and trying to gain it back. It was really very noble and admirable. But, also terribly sad. Even my mother, who realllly hates anime, agrees with me.
I plopped down on her flower-patterned couch and watched her as she messed with the DVD player. My best friend (whose name is Delia) had long blond hair in varying shades; there was wheat, white-blond, gold and it was all natural. Today she wore it down. Her heart shaped face held her eyes; a piercing azure color that were framed by thick brown lashes, along with her nose which was perfectly symmetrical and her lips which were also cupid's bow-like. She stood at about 5`4, with golden tanned skin and a medium build with fat in all the right places. Today, she wore a quarter sleeve, button up, purple shirt, and dark blue skinny jeans, accompanied by her bare feet. Over all, she was one of those bomb-shell blonds who usually only exist in movies or books. Her best feature, which isn't always noticed right away were her hands. They were slender and delicate looking; her fingers were long and thin, her nails all the same length, with
only oone freckle on her left pinky finger, the only imperfection. She had piano fingers, and played the instrument lovely.
Having a friend like her is like taking a hit to my self-esteem every time she walks into the room. Seriously. I'm her opposite, really.
I have curly red hair that barely brushes my shoulders (they're loose curls which usually look silky and pretty. Personally it's my favorite part about myself.) a small face speckled with freckles, blueish-gray eyes, a straight nose, rose-bud lips and no eyebrows. (Yes; no eyebrows. You can't see my arm, leg and eyelash hairs either. Too light.) I stand at about 5`5 (only one inch taller than Delia, but nonetheless I held it over her head every time I could. She used to be taller than me all through out our childhood...) I was the shrimpy type of kid, always the smallest in the class with super white, seemingly transulecent skin (must be my Irish blood),which burned way too easily, and big hips. Really. Super big. Huge. That would be the Spanish blood. Well, I am Danielle Valdivia. People are always surprised when they find out I'm half Spainard.
As the opening for the episode came on, I adjusted my precious red Vampire Knight T-shirt, that depicted Zero Kiryuu with his gun The Bloody Rose in his right hand, looking like he wanted to shoot a vampire at that moment. (But, that wasn't even the best part about the shirt. Also, in the top right shoulder, it was signed by Vic Mignogna. THAT is what made it priceless...To me, anyway.) Then, I started to pick cat hair off of my light blue skinny jeans, as I stuck my stockinged foot out for Delia's cat, Frank, to rub up against. He did so, and purred contentedly. I looked at him, sitting there rubbing up against my foot, happy with just having my foot. Cats have it simple, huh? They're content with whatever's given to them. Heh. Now, was I envying a cat? Geez.
"Danielle, shut Frank up. His purr is getting on my nerves." She said without taking her eyes away from the T.V.
"Don't be so mean to your own cat." I said and then paused, "Hey Delia?" I said as a smile tugged up at my lips.
"What?" She asked, eyes still glued to the T.V. screen.
"Wouldn't it be great if we could be a part of FMAB?" I asked her. She rolled her eyes.
"Get real. You have problems with this world; what would happen if you had to adjust to a new one?" She looked me in the eye.
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Uh, I think you misunderstood. What I meant was-" I cut myself off as, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the T.V. flicker and then go black. Delia had seen it, too, because she had bounced up and ran over to the television. "What happened?" I asked curiously as I came to stand beside her.
She shook her head, "I dunno." She frowned, "C'mon, don't be broken, please!" She said as she started to pet the T.V.'s side. Yeah. She's weird. It's just how she is.
"Delia...I hope you don't ever do that in public." I sighed as I rubbed my head.
She glared at me, "That doesn't matter. My dad's gonna kill me." She groaned as she stared at the television, as if her very gaze could magically fix it.
It was at that moment that I saw it.
At first, I had no idea what it was. I nudged Delia, "Look at that." I said as I pointed to the screen of the
T.V. She raised her head, squinted and then glared at me again.
"How could you be worrying about a white speck when your best friend will most likely be dead by tomorrow morning?" She said dramatically. Another thing about Delia, her parents and I call her D.Q. sometimes. (That's short for Drama Queen, just in case you didn't know...)
I rolled my eyes at her. "Look at it closer. Don't you see?" I asked her as I gestured to the speck again. She squinted again and leaned closer. After a few seconds her eyes widened, she straightened up, and she turned towards me.
"Tell me I'm seeing things."
"...I'd be lying."
"We're both crazy then?"
"Seems so."
I'll explain, you see, the "white speck" seemed to be getting bigger, almost as if it were walking towards us. Which was insane, on many different levels. But, I digress. I took Delia's arm and tugged her back a few steps away from the T.V. screen.
"Hello, kiddies." It said. I froze. What the...?
"It's...talking...Oh my...I'm going crazy..." Delia muttered under her breath.
"Yes, of course I talk. I am a superior being." It responded with a wide Cheshire-like grin at Delia. I saw It...But I didn't want to believe what It was. I didn't want to admit it. So I asked the question. More out of shock than thing else.
"What are you...Who are you...?"
It grinned again, "I may be what you call, "god", or Truth. But you already knew that didn't you, Danielle Valdivia?" It cooed at me. My heart started to pick up speed as I stumbled backwards. It laughed in grim mirth, "Fear not child. I can not harm you."
Delia leaned towards me, "That...Can't be real...When It laughed just now...I felt like all hope in the world died." She whispered in a serious tone, which was odd, since she was rarely ever serious.
"That is something I haven't heard before. You amuse me Delia Teichman." It grinned at us. I saw Delia's eye twitch.
I haven't described it, huh? Well, it was a white being that held the form of a human, but had no eyes or nose, only a mouth with the biggest, creppiest smile ever.
"How...Why...?" I was still too shocked to even form complete sentences.
"Everything isn't as it seems. Your rules, society, laws, everything you've been taught up until now...Doesn't apply in my world. You silly humans have much to learn." It said as It switched into a sitting position.
"We...Have much to learn...?" Delia repeated. She seemed to be on situation overload.
"Indeed. If I told you anything further, you wouldn't accept it, let alone comprehend it. As for why I am here...That was you're wish, right Danielle?" It turned to me, and my back muscles tensed as It adressed me.
"Wait...So...You're saying that...Because of Danielle's wish...You've come here...To grant it?" Delia asked as she took a few steps toward the T.V. My stomach twisted. I didn't like her getting any closer to the T.V.
"Correct. I am here to grant her wish." It said with...Something I couldn't describe in the tone of Its voice. Condeceion? Amusement? Maybe a combination?
Delia seemed to perk up almost automatically and seeming to forget that she had been freaked out mere seconds before, rushed forwad. She was now mere inches from the T.V. My stomach turned again and I swallowed. "Really? That's great! We could be in FMA!" She turned slightly towards me, "Isn't that great, Danielle?" She smiled at me. I frowned as I tentatively walked up to her side and took her by her forearm.
"Yeahhhh...Great. But, I didn't make a wish like that, so..." I trailed off with a nervous apologetic smile to It. Its smile widened even more-if that's even possible.
"Oh, but you did. And your word is binding." There was something about the smile and tone of Its voice that made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I started to pull Delia away, but never got any further than tugging on her arm.
Because before I could even count to three, several tiny black hands shot out of the T.V. screen and coiled themselves around both Delia's and my torsos like snakes.
"Hugnh!" Delia let out a squeak of surprise. I tried to fight against them, but the second I ripped one off two more appeared in the previous one's place. Like a Hydra. Fan-frickin'-tastic.
"I told you-I never made a wish like that! Let us go!" I protested as hands started to drag us forward.
The being smirked in sadistic bemusement, "I will definitely grant your wish." It said, ignoring my protests, "However...How does the saying go in your world? 'There's no such thing as a free lunch.' That's it. There's always a price children. And the toll to transport you isn't cheap." It smiled again.
"You can't do thi-" Delia started to say before one of the black hands wrapped itself around her mouth. I heard her muffled cries, but my eyes were focused solely on the Being before me.
It laughed again in Its...Dark way.
I heard It say, "Welcome to my game, kiddies." Before Delia and I were yanked into a familiar, yet, totally unknown world to us.
Third person switch:
Truth smirked to itself as it watched the greedy litttle black hands forcefully take the two girls. It hovered in its space-white was all you could see for a while, until you came to the door.
Truth was issuing a test. One that many before the two girls it had ensnared, had failed. It was a cycle that hadn't been broken for quite a long time.
"They don't seem any different than the others..." The voice came from beside the door.
Truth grinned, "Perhaps not...It's true I have failed to find a conquerer."
The form near the door stayed perfectly still, "No human would be able to conquer this." It was stated as a fact.
Truth laughed, "Well, it was made to be unbeatable. It's not as if they could interfere with what I have already set in motion. This has been preordained."
The form sustained silence.
Truth continued to grin, "For these two girls in their teens. What will be their prices? Ah...Yes. That would work perfectly as a transportation fee." Truth chuckled again.
"Let the games begin."
A/n: So, a bit of backstory for you to get to know the characters, and the girls meet, Truth. I've always found it infinitely creepy, by the way. Anyways, you'll get to find out what their prices are, in the next chapter, as well as the girls meeting several of the FMA characters. So...REVIEW! YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!
~ XOXO EmiShae
