Chapter 1
"So, explain to me again what happened to your creepy shapeshifting boyfriend?"
Winter sunlight shone in through the tinted rear windows of the taxi cab, glinting off the stud in Rachel's eyebrow and adding a certain amount of intimidation to her otherwise normal stare of pointed suspicion. The cold, thin lighting brought out the gold in her hazel-brown eyes, and after the extended periods of resting her head on the window and/or running her hands through her hair, said-blonde-bobcut was actually starting to look disheveled.
Sitting next to her, Amara sighed in exasperation. "Rachel. I already told you, he's not my boyfriend."
Rachel braced her elbow on the door's interior and resting her chin in her hand. "Whatever. Where did he go?"
Amara wrinkled her freckled nose. "Back to his own dimension.
"...Right."
"Look, we've already gone over this twice now. Can't you leave it be?" Amara raked a hand through her coppery hair, her increasing frustration barely tamed behind the words.
The two of them sat in the back of a taxi cab heading across the city to her dad's house. Apprehension of what they would find when they got there ate at Amara, a persistent distraction from Rachel's cynical presence.
While she'd been babysitting a certain green homunculus, her overworked and ever-distracted father had been placed on double duty. D*** that Truth… A week with Edward Elric would have been a challenge all on its own. But Pride too? She half expected to find the neighborhood utterly destroyed with corpses littering the streets... Granted, if something like that had happened she would have heard about it by now… wouldn't she?
"Amara, I just watched an androgynous creature magically change into the man you claimed used to be your high school friend. No, I'm not going to leave this be." Rachel's reply jolted Amara right back into the real world.
Amara huffed softly. "Remember that anime I was watching a little while back?"
Rachel cocked an eyebrow. "The one with talking suits of armor, alchemy and other weird s***?"
"Yeah." Amara smirked a little.
"Okay, what's that got to do with anything?"
"Envy is one of the villains from that show."
The blonde stared at her for a moment with a blank expression.
"Amara," she began, her tone hesitant, "Don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure you don't need some help? Maybe we should go to the hospital or something…"
"D*****, Rachel! He shapeshifted right in front of you! You admitted to seeing that. If I'm nuts and need medical help then you need it just as much as I do," the coppertop snapped, glaring up a storm while Rachel just sighed once more.
"All right, cool it, matchstick," she muttered, "I see your point. But you sound friggin' nuts. Just so you're aware."
"I know…" Amara deflated. "But listen, I'm not kidding. I'm amazed I survived a week with Envy, but my dad's been stuck with Edward and Pride." Worry filled her, and she glanced toward her friend in hopes Rachel could see the gravity of the situation.
"Wait, who now?" Rachel frowned, frivolously ponderous, resting a fingertip against her lower lip.
Amara rolled her eyes. "Ed's the main character."
Rachel's eyes brightened with recognition. "Oh right! The little angry kid!"
Amara couldn't help but wince at the choice of words. "Yeah, but maybe don't call him that… And Pride is…well…I guess you could say he's Envy's brother…in a weird…not very friendly way…"
"Is he a shapeshifter too?" Rachel squinted at her.
"No. He's... creepier," Amara shuddered slightly. Something about the prideful sin's shadows had always disturbed her. Maybe because she felt like she'd already spent lots of time up close and personal with them while depression slowly smothered her…
"Uh, we're here." The taxi driver looked over the back of his seat at them, after bringing the vehicle to a stop by the curb. He glanced between the two of them with something akin to concern.
"Oh. Thanks." Amara quickly fished out enough cash to cover the cost plus a fairly large tip. The poor guy probably figured he was driving a couple of nut cases. At least he'd taken them to their destination instead of the nearest mental hospital.
"Are you ladies… in some kind of trouble?" he asked warily.
"Nah, we just found ourselves in some kind of middle school self-insert fanfiction bull," Rachel quipped without missing a beat. She rapped a hand on the back of the driver's seat. "Nothing to worry your pretty bald head about. But it's confidential, so no more questions. You never saw us."
On that note, the two girls stepped out into the crisp air. The taxi idled on the curb two seconds after they closed the doors, before abruptly pulling away.
They'd emerged in a rather high-end residential neighborhood. The houses were all fairly large, with elegant exteriors and immaculate yards. The snow piled up several feet deep on the lawns, but the sidewalks and driveways had all been shoveled.
Concerned realization slowly dawned on Amara's face.
"What is it?" Rachel asked, noting the change in expression.
"My dad's car isn't here,"
Rachel arched an eyebrow. "Well…isn't he at work?"
Amara felt the blood rush from her face.
"Go to work and leave mom alone with those two boys?"
He wouldn't really be that thoughtless…would he?
Amara whirled and dashed up the walkway towards her parents' grand doorstep with Rachel close behind. Bounding up the small staircase to the ivory front door, Amara raised a hand to knock, and then hesitated. Her heart pounded rapidly against her ribs, her breath came short and harried. So many things could have happened over the course of the last week… It turned her stomach just thinking about it. She wasn't particularly worried about Edward. Pride, though… he was another story entirely.
The door swung inward abruptly, and Amara jerked back in surprise. A glance down at the person's face send a stab of panic through her.
A young, purple-eyed boy stared back at her.
Her eyes widened and she froze in place, hand still hovering in place. The boy eyed her for a moment longer, taking in her slightly horrified expression before glancing past at her blonde friend. Rachel gave Amara a puzzled look, as if trying to puzzle through the latter's reaction to this child.
The boy broke abruptly into a beaming smile that could've melted the ice caps.
"Hi! Can I help you guys?"he chirped.
Rachel blinked in surprise, glancing at the boy. She smirked, and then laughed, turning an amused look to the frozen Amara. "What's up with you?"
Then she nudged Amara aside and bent over, resting her hands on her knees. "Hey kiddo, what's your name?"
"My name's Selim," he replied, then drew back a little, seeming to grow shy. "I'm not really supposed to talk to strangers…do you guys need something?"
Amara's eyes abruptly narrowed and she gave the door a shove, sending it bursting the rest of the way open and making the child stumble slightly.
"Where is my mother?" she hissed, glaring fiercely at the small boy.
"Geez, Amara, take it easy," Rachel sounded slightly taken aback.
The boy looked startled, taking a step back. He met Amara's gaze again and slowly, his childlike demeanor shifted. A cold and somewhat sinister aura surrounded him as his expression grew thoughtful.
"So you're Amara?" his tone was neutral.
"Answer my question," she growled.
"She's upstairs with Edward teaching him how to vacuum," the boy's tone was unconcerned.
Amara blinked, utterly taken off guard. "Wait…teaching him how to vacuum?"
Pride nodded.
"Then is my dad at work?" she asked uncertainly.
"As far as I know." His expression grew unimpressed. "This doesn't concern you. You should leave."
Rachel's arched eyebrows rose to an all-time high.
"Ha! Not likely," Amara retorted. "I didn't spend the last week putting up with your envious brother just to be ordered around by you."
"You spent the week with Envy?" Pride blinked once. "You have my condolences."
"Whoa, wait, who spent a week with Envy?" With uneven steps, a frighteningly familiar teenager with hair like gold came thundering down the stairway at the end of the hall.
"Ian's daughter. Edward, tell her to go away. She isn't listening," Pride shot an irritated glance at the boy.
"And you're still in one piece?" Ed ignored the younger boy as he approached with raised eyebrows.
"More or less," Amara muttered.
"Edward," Pride snapped.
The alchemist smirked. "Why don't you just use your big bad shadows to scare her off?"
Pride growled, shooting the boy a lethal glare. Amara cringed inwardly, half waiting for the shadows around them to start attacking them. To her surprise however, the smaller boy turned and stormed away into the living room which branched off the left side of the hall.
She stared after him in bewilderment. "What's with him?"
"He can't use his powers," Ed replied, slipping his hands into his pockets as he stared innocently at the pair of them.
Amara frowned. "But…Envy's powers worked just fine…"
"Well, more accurately he can't use his powers when Ian isn't around. Neither can I," Edward explained with a casual shrug.
The coppertop blinked. That was convenient. Had the same rule applied to Envy? Had she given her subjugation powers away without really needing to?
What an irritating thought...
"Okay then…umm…Pride said my mom was teaching you how to vacuum…?" She eyed him skeptically.
Edward wilted. "Uh…yeah… Well she sent me down to see who the crazy person was at the door. Maybe you should come up and let her know it was you.".
"Umm…right…"
Amara shuffled into the porch, followed by Rachel. The two girls tugged off their winter boots and coats, setting them against the wall and hanging them on the rack respectively before following after the small alchemist.
The house was a fairly large one-much larger than necessary for a family of three. And since her mother refused to hire a housekeeper, there was always plenty of housework to be done. When it came right down to it, maybe it wasn't all that surprising that her mother had roped Edward into vacuuming. It did sound like something she would do…
Upstairs, they found her mother in the main sitting area of the second floor. She'd pull her silver-streaked brown hair into a messy bun, and was dressed in her usual house cleaning clothes: sweatpants and an old T-shirt, hanging loosely over her narrow frame. At the moment, she crouched by the vacuum, fiddling with the settings. She glanced up at them as they entered; her blue eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.
"Amara!" She straightened, a smile rising to her lips. "You should have said you were coming by!"
"Umm, yeah... Well, I was in the neighborhood so I just thought I'd drop by and check on you. I know it gets lonely with dad being at work and all…" Amara glanced at Edward, hoping he could see her suspicion.
There was no way her mother could know about the true nature of the two boys. She wouldn't accept the truth in a million years. What exactly had they told her…?
"Actually, we've had company staying for the last week. This is Edward," she motioned to the golden haired alchemist, "Ed, this is my daughter Amara."
Rachel nudged around Amara into view.
"Oh! And her friend Rachel! I didn't see you standing there." The older woman offered the aforementioned blonde an apologetic smile. "It's good to see you again, sweetie."
"Hey Lori! Haven't seen you in ages." Rachel raised a hand in a light wave.
"So…What are Ed and Selim doing here…?" Amara demanded..
"Oh you've met Selim already? He's such a sweetheart. The two of them are sons of one of your father's co-workers. Their parents are both on a business trip and your father offered to look after them for a bit."
Amara's eyebrows shot up. "Seriously…?"
"I couldn't believe it either," Lori said with a small shake of her head. "But it's been quite a treat actually. He's even taken off work and been coming home early to spend time with them."
Amara stared at her blankly at her mother. The fact that her dad had insisted on still going to work despite two fictional characters from another dimension crashing into his life wasn't the least bit surprising. The fact that he'd actually taken time off proved the whole situation had been challenging for him.
"They've been a wonderful help with cleaning up the house. It's certainly in need of it. They're also great company." Lori beamed at the alchemist in their midst.
Edward scratched the back of his head a little sheepishly. The glint of metal under his glove drew Amara's attention to his automail arm.
Now that must have been interesting to try explaining.
Then again, her father had texted her about metal prosthetics a couple of days back…
"Well, it's the least we can do for you letting us stay here." Edward's smile was uneasy as he glanced at Amara.
Lori clapped her hands together, and for a minute, Amara half expected a transmutation to occur. But the older woman simply beamed at Rachel and Amara and said, "You girls make yourselves at home. I'll make some tea. And then, Amara, you have to tell me all about how things have been going. Have you taken that exam yet?"
Well shit.
"Umm…yeah…"
"Oh dear, I know that face..." her mother offered a grimly amused smile, and patted her arm as she passed. "That's your 'bad news' face. You'll have to tell me everything once I have the tea ready. I'll be right back. Why don't you two get to know Ed a bit while I'm gone?"
With that, she slipped past them and headed down the stairs, humming as she went.
-A/N-
Hello everyone! Kasani here. Just letting you know that because I'm co-writing this with Penelope Jadewing, some of my profanity will be starred-out, because she edited it. It's just a personal preference thing. I figure most of my fans are used to it since I have been cursing in my fanfictions for a long time, but Penelope's fan's aren't because she habitually doesn't.
Thankfully a lovely middle ground is available to all of us. If you would prefer not to see profanity in the writing you read, you can turn on the profanity filter in your user settings. If you don't care, then you don't care. And we are all set.
And someday I will have time to edit more of this and post it. Hopefully next week. Until then, take care of yourselves!
Kasani