Haunted Tears of Crystal
Chapter One: The Injury Unable to Heal
Well here it is, folks, the sequel to "The Island of Narid". ( Finally . . .) This chapter is kind of slow, so I apologize for that—but it's the beginning chapter so I decided not to have TOO much involvement right away.
OOoohs, by the way, I do NOT OWN FMA.
"Hey, Rose, take a look at this!" Winry breathed through her excited smile. The girl bounced on her heels, eyeing a shopkeeper's handmade automail arm. With Edward and Alphonse busy at the military base in Central, the two girls had nothing else to do but explore the shops nearby.
Rose joined Winry at the counter. Gazing at the item of Winry's adoration, Rose only saw a metal arm alike to Ed's. She failed to comprehend the wonder. "The arm?"
Winry managed to tear her eyes away from the machine for a small moment to shock Rose with an amazed look. "Of course! Have you looked at its design?! It's so lean, but by the way it's put together—it certainly would be hard to bust! And it's so shiny, what kind of polish did they use?"
"You like? It's my most prized creation." The young shopkeeper boasted, leaning against the counter. "Of course, that only means it'll be more expensive."
"Oh, I wouldn't buy it! I'm an automail mechanic myself; I'm just admiring your work."
"Admire all you want, Blondie. But if its tips you want though, that'll cost you." He cocked his head flirtatiously.
"Oh?"
"How 'bout you, too?" He nodded in Rose's direction, "You want to share in on some secrets?"
Rose backed away, shaking her head sternly. The boy's manner insulted her. She left the store, knowing Winry would be too preoccupied with the automail to care about her leave. She wouldn't wander far—she and Winry were too good of friends for her to abandon Winry; she would just take a look at some little things that caught her own interest for a while.
The day was later in its hours—in truth, there wasn't much time till the sun was near its setting. Outside the many stores, lights had already begun to kindle, drawing attention. With the low sun glaring sharply in her eyes, Rose took shade in a nearby shop.
The store was small, but very welcoming, with a middle-aged woman bearing a kind smile seated in the back, reading a novel behind the counter. The multitudinous shelves that lined each wall of the inside were stuffed with ornamental potteries and glasses. Some were painted, some bejeweled. Rose wandered to a wall ornamented with colored glass designs—their sides were faceted so the light caught on them, danced on their surfaces.
"Anything I can help you with?" The woman inquired politely.
"No thanks, ma'am, I'm only looking." She glanced back at the glassware, "These are extraordinary, did you make them yourself?"
"No, they're my daughter's work. She's a gifted alchemist and spends her time perfecting her artistic talent and pondering up new designs. If you stay a few moments longer here she'll be showing people how she does it."
"I'll do it now, Mother." The door next to the seller's counter opened, revealing a girl, surprisingly young, walk out with a handful of empty glass bottles. She set them on the ground then pushed aside her long red bangs. Her green eyes flickered to Rose for a moment before she pulled from her pocket a long piece of chalk. "Just a moment longer."
The girl etched a large circle upon the smooth stone of the shop. The pattern of it wasn't familiar to Rose—it was nothing like Alphonse's transmutation circles, so she found herself intrigued. She bent closer.
"Here we go," the redhead mumbled, placing the pieces of broken glass and bottles inside the web of chalk lines. "You ready?"
At Rose's nod, the young alchemist grinned and placed her fingertips upon the transmutation circle.
At once, Rose felt a sudden pain in her right arm—felt it pulse and quiver. The hurt was so sudden and extreme that Rose doubled over and lurched back. She hit the shelves behind and a few creations jumped off their seat, crashing to the hard floor. They shattered.
"Hey now, what'd you do that for?!" The red-haired child yelled crossly, leaving her art half-finished. "Hey—" She stopped speaking abruptly when she saw the curled-up form of Rose. "It's not that scary . . . "
Rose squirmed, crying out, for the pain refused to subside. Through a squint she saw the cloth covering her arm was seared away. Her scarred blue arm was visible. Shrieking, Rose leapt to her feet and scrambled out the door of the shop, avoiding the keepers' yells and accidentally knocking loose a few more works in her haste.
Clutching her arm, Rose sped through the streets; her violet eyes were wide, seeking for the automail shop. Upon finding it she ran over and banged on the large window, crying out her friend's name. Winry was still inside, leaning over the counter.
The blonde girl whirled around, seeing the troubled expression on Rose's face. She quickly said a farewell to the shop youth and exited.
"What's wrong?"
Rose swiftly loosed hold on her wrist, showing Winry the blue-grey torn flesh.
"Let's get you out of here." Winry tore off her bandana and wrapped it around Rose's wrist.
"How did it happen this time?" Maria Ross gently asked, tenderly tapping Rose's raw arm.
"I was in an art shop," Rose murmured, slightly wincing, "and a young girl was doing alchemy."
"Just like that? The infection started up again?"
"Yes."
Maria leaned back in her chair, releasing her light hold on Rose. Since the girl came back from the island, her arm was seared and the skin was dyed a peculiar shade of blue. Both she and Edward refused to tell why, though Mustang had angrily prodded them. The hurt caused Rose no pain normally, but at certain times her skin flared up, peeling as if burning. Then it was to be covered and bandaged with cool aloe salve till the pain subsided.
This had happened only thrice since they returned. There was still no reason of why or how her arm reacted. All three instances did have their share of similarities, however. The first time her arm re-opened, she had been walking outside in a storm. A harmless string of lightning far away flashed in the sky. That exact moment, Rose began screaming and holding her arm, wailing. The second time it had been alchemy. Alphonse was fixing a broken trinket of Winry's when Rose's injury reacted. It seemed electricity sparked off her infection; though the cause for that was beyond anyone's current comprehension.
What Rose did know, was how she got that horrible mark. It was where the cerulean liquid from Bloch touched her, ate away her flesh and replacing it with the pasty skin she wore now. Only Edward shared that secret.
"You'll have to tell me what happened for us to help, Rose." Maria met the girl's eyes.
Rose shook her head, "I cannot."
"If this is because Ed told you not to—"
"Are you okay, Rose?" The door to the small office room of Maria's opened to reveal Alphonse.
"Yeah," Rose said, relieved for a distraction, "it only stings now."
"Where's Ed?" Winry questioned, seated by Rose's side.
"He's coming."
Rose stood up suddenly. "This isn't a big deal—I'm fine. Please don't worry about me."
"Are you scared of the tests?"
Rose shuddered. Mustang had said the military possessed a sharp interest in running her through different tests to see how her injury reacted. There was no doubt that they would closely be watching her and her curse.
"I don't want tests." She was aware how painfully childish she sounded."
"Once the military gets a case like this, they won't let it go easily. We work jointly with the medical service, you know. They'll want to help and find a cure in case someone else happens to—"
"It won't happen to anyone else."
"There's always automail." Winry softly suggested, knowing well Rose's answer.
"No. I'll live with it."
"Rose, the tests will be harmless, I assure you. If your situation gets worse, there won't be a choice—the military will take you."
The door clicked open again; the newcomer's presence was expected.
"Hello, Edward," Maria greeted solemnly.
"What caused it this time?" He seemed to be too deep in thought to be polite.
Rose sighed, betraying mild exasperation. "Only alchemy. I'm fine—it'll pass like all the other times before. Everyone can stop fussing. Please."
Edward walked over to her, seemingly ignoring her words. He reached out and brushed his fingertips by her wrist. Rose flinched at the touch.
"It's still hot," he muttered, "you'll have to put some salve on it before anything." His face remained emotionless as he turned around, putting one hand to his chin.
"I should've known you'd run off to have a party." The languid voice of Mustang remarked as he stood in the open doorway.
Ed spoke without turning to him, "I should've known you'd follow me."
"I wasn't done speaking with you, Fullmetal."
"You're never done."
Roy turned, catching sight of Rose. She was softly wrapping a bandage around her charred wrist. "Rose, we'll have a look at you tomorrow. That's what's been decided."
Both Edward and Rose turned to him, alarmed.
"No—it's fine! It's just—on the island, when I was taken . . ." The whole room fell silent. Ed shot her a subtle warning glance. "When I was taken, they were t . . . running experiments on me as well. They had some sort of poison—used alchemy to run it through my hand—" She knew she was rushing; she hoped that it wasn't as noticeable as she perceived it was.
"They could do alchemy?"
"Y-yes."
"Well I guess that helps the situation. You'll still come with me in the morning, Rose, we now have an idea of what to look for. And we don't want this poison to spread."
Rose was silent for a moment. Her posture slumped. "Yes."
"Fullmetal." Mustang beckoned to the boy with a wave. Ed followed him out the door after fixing Rose with a bemused stare.
Lying silently in the darkness of the spare room provided for her, Rose closed her eyes. Her bluff to Mustang may have been a greater folly than would be admitting the truth. But at least none of the military now would find the problem with her, for Ed had told her that no one could know what occurred in Bloch. The details, anyway. Alphonse didn't even know, and Rose knew how close the two brothers were.
Rolling to her side, Rose buried her thoughts in sleep.
'Are you sure?'
'Yes.'
'What if we can't? What will happen?' The shadowy silhouette of a woman's figure clutched at the other.
'I don't know. But I'm going to try.'
'Let me help you, I can—'
'No. I'm going to bring him back myself. Our son . . .'
For a moment a great void of white covered Rose's vision. Then her sight returned and she was standing in the corner of some small room. Beneath her feet was drawn a tremendous circle—the largest and most ornate her eyes had ever beheld. A man's shadow stood in the middle, cradling a large heap of blankets. By its shape Rose understood it was a person's corpse, maybe in early youth. Rose swayed, tried to back away but her feet rooted to the ground.
'My son . . . I'll have you back.'
The man laid the body in the middle, then walked to the outskirts of the transmutation circle. He took a large breath before laying out his ands.
The next Rose saw was a swirl of color—gold, black, purple. Her head swam as her body spun wildly. Something grabbed her ankle, her face, her breast. Screaming, she flailed, as mist kissed her eyelids and plagued her sight in ghastly horror. She writhed in its grasp. Far off she heard a grown man's heart-felt and mournful cries; he was weeping.
Whatever held Rose turned her body over and held her eyes open. Her right arm and neck throbbed painfully. Her eyes beheld two enormous doors, partly open. On its sides statues of humans reached, groped for a small babe above them. From the gate thousands of tendrils lashed out as violet eyes, alike to her own, paralyzed her with their stare.
The small forms from the gate stretched, floundered for something beyond Rose's sight. The man's cry tore through her heart, suddenly. Tears washed over her cheeks bitterly. Subitaneously, Rose felt all of that man's grief, all of his sorrows and laments. Her chest compressed and her body caved in upon itself as she echoed the man's mournful weeping.
This is what it meant . . .
. . . What it truly meant . . .
. . . To suffer.
Whoos and hoos. Sorry it took so long, peoples—by chastity! I hadn't meant to keep you all waiting like this. ;
---Neddie. (and Yinn)