Part two is here! Hopefully, you all enjoy it!
"VOODOO?!"
Ed cringed at Winry's tone.
"YOU'RE TELLING ME I GOT MIXED UP IN THIS MESS BECAUSE YOU WENT MESSING AROUND WITH KIMBLEE AND PRIDE?!"
"In my defense, he was very charismatic!" Ed snapped. "And who the hell is Pride?!"
"The stupid shadow that follows Kimblee around! Ugh! The only reason you probably got tricked was because you're a tourist! Locals avoid him like the plague!"
"Says the girl who was willing to talk to the stars and kiss a frog to make a wish!" Winry's face fell.
"This is what I get for wishing on stars," she sighed. "The only way to get what you want in this world is through hard work."
"Why would a princess have to work?" Ed asked.
"I'm not a princess. I'm a waitress and an automail mechanic."
"What the—you lied to me!"
"No! I never said I was a princess!"
"No wonder the kiss didn't work! You—you were wearing a crown!"
"It was a costume party! You little brat!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING LITTLE?!"
"I'M NOT THE ONE WHO GOT US INTO THIS MESS!"
"WELL, THE JOKE'S ON YOU! I'M BROKE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"WHAT?!"
Suddenly, the balloons hit a tree branch and popped, sending the two frogs into the water below. Ed sat up to see Winry with swamp grass on her head and let out a scream.
"You said you were wealthy!" Winry growled, throwing the grass at him. He dodged it.
"No, my parents are wealthy. They cut me off for being a—" He cut himself off when he saw a leech on his elbow. "LEECH! LEECH!"
"You're broke, and you had the balls to call me a liar?!" Winry pulled off the leech and tossed it away, where it was eaten by a fish much larger than them.
"Where are we, anyway?"
"The swamp, idiot."
"Well, excuse me, Miss Waitress-Automail-Mechanic."
"That's not my name!"
"What is it, then?"
"Winry Rockbell."
"Well, Winry, looks like we're stuck!"
"We'd better get moving."
"What? Where are we going?"
"To find a way to reverse the spell." She groaned as she looked at the waters ahead. "God, I wish I had my tools." She glanced back at Ed. "I have one but it's useless."
"HEY! WHAT THE HELL'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!"
"Just that you're a useless little man who can't do anything!"
"Oh, yeah? Watch this!"
Ed grabbed a sharp stone and carved a circle into a log. He then put his front flippers on it and there was blue lightning. Suddenly, the log turned into a raft.
"Wait, you're an alchemist?!"
"Of course! Xerxes is the birthplace of alchemy! Me and my brother are two of the best!"
"No, it's funny. My best friend is an alkahestrist, and it wasn't even you that met her."
"You mean the girl with the black hair who was screaming at us at the party?"
"She's really sweet. You're lucky to be marrying her."
"Whatever. She's not my type."
"So you're only in it for the money? Typical. I wish she could find a real prince." Winry grabbed a small stick that she could use to steer and hopped on the raft. Ed grabbed one, too, and started paddling.
"I am a real prince!"
"I mean a gentleman who isn't just with her for the money."
"If she wanted a gentleman, she should've gone for my brother, Alphonse. He's the gentleman."
"I doubt it. With a sarcastic little smartass like you for a brother, how could he be?"
"I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I'M FIVE FOOT TEN!"
"Damn. Napoleon complex, much?"
"Let's just get going." As they paddled, the only sound they could hear was the water and the sounds of the swamp.
"What's it like to have a lot of money?" Winry asked Ed.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, me and my grandma have to work for all our money, and that's slow going. It must be nice to have a lot of it."
"Yeah, it's nice. I like traveling and food, so having money helps me have plenty of both."
"And what about women? You must have a whole flock of fangirls."
"I do, but I'm not really interested in romance at the moment."
"Then what about Mei?"
"Okay, I was in it for the money, but that's just because I need it for alchemy research!" He narrowed his eyes at her. "So why were you so desperate for money that you were willing to kiss a guy who'd been turned into a frog?"
"That's none of your business. I was having a really bad day. I doubt even Northern automail would've cheered me up."
"It must suck to be such a gearhead."
"Well, who uses a ton of money to do alchemy research?! Alchemy Freak!"
"SCREW YOU!"
"GET OFF THE RAFT AND SWIM IF YOU'RE GONNA BE RUDE!"
"I'M THE ONE WHO TRANSMUTED IT, GREASY GEARHEAD!"
"PIPSQUEAK ALCHEMY-OBSESSED MORON!"
Suddenly, the raft shifted as a gator rose from the depths. Both frogs yelped and fell over.
"GATOR!" screamed Ed.
"OH, DAMMIT!" Winry wailed. "WE'RE GONNA DIE!" She clung to Ed and he gripped her tightly.
"I COULDN'T HELP BUT OVERHEAR YOUR ARGUMENT!" the gator said, standing on his hind legs. "SUCH A SHAME TO HEAR LOVERS DISAGREE LIKE THAT!"
"WE'RE NOT LOVERS!" Winry and Ed yelled in unison.
"You're not?" the gator asked. "Then why are you traveling together? And in such a tender embrace?"
"We're just stuck in the same boat!" Winry sighed. She glanced down and realized she and Ed were still hugging each other. She shoved him off her and noticed his left hind leg was a silvery gray, while the rest of him was green.
I'll ask about that later.
"You are? What are your names?"
"What's yours?" Ed inquired.
"My name is Alex Louis Armstrong!"
"Well, Alex, I'm Edward Elric and this is Winry Rockbell."
"So what did you mean by in the same boat?"
"We're human," Winry replied. "Long story short, Alchemy Genius here got turned into a frog by a voodoo witch doctor and now—"
"Alchemy and voodoo?!" Alex gasped. "You mean like Madame Curtis does?!"
"Madame Curtis?"
"Izumi. She's a master of both alchemy and voodoo, deep within the swamp. She does transmutation and spells alike, as if they were the same thing."
"Could you take us to her?" Ed asked hopefully.
"But of course… provided the hunters aren't out!"
"You're afraid of hunters?" Winry wondered aloud.
"ANY RATIONAL CREATURE WOULD BE! THEY GUN US DOWN LIKE RATS!"
"And rats aren't rational because…?"
"The ones in this swamp steal food."
"Okay, that makes sense. Let's go."
Alex smiled (as only a gator can) and lowered his body back into the water.
"You can ride on my back," he offered. "It's bound to be safer than your raft."
"Yes, please!" Winry hopped onto Alex's back, Ed right behind her.
"Let's hope Madame Curtis can turn us back," Ed murmured.
"Yeah. Then I can go back to work and keep saving… for the rest of my life."
Ed gave her a look.
Rest of her life…?
Back in Resembool, Winry's absence hadn't gone unnoticed. When her granddaughter hadn't returned home after the costume ball, Pinako had immediately called Ling, who questioned Mei about her friend. Mei had freaked out and the police were called. Everybody who had attended the party that night was questioned, with Mei confessing she'd been the last to see Winry. Envy noticed Mei's dampened mood.
"What's wrong, Princess?" he asked.
"My best friend's gone missing!" Mei replied. "I was the last one to see her, and nobody saw her leave my house… and her costume and wrench were on my floor! She'd never willingly leave her wrench behind!"
"Calm down, please! I'm sure your friend is fine!"
"Yeah." Mei wiped tears from her eyes. "Winry can take care of herself. As long as she's still standing, nobody can hurt her."
Suddenly, Envy's ear grew larger. Mei gave him an odd look.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Your ear…"
"Oh!" He covered it. "Pesky mosquitoes! I need to go… for a minute!"
Envy ran off and found Kimblee, who was busily mixing a potion.
"We have a problem!"
"What is it now?"
"My ear!"
"What?!" Kimblee grabbed the talisman. "Lucky I thought to take a bit of the prince's blood beforehand. Otherwise, we'd be in deep shit."
"What do we do when that runs out?!"
"Don't worry about it. Focus on seducing Miss Chang, so we can get her money."
"Got it." Kimblee poured the blood into the talisman, and Envy once again looked exactly like Edward. "See ya, Kimblee!"
After Envy left, Kimblee had a grave expression.
"Pride," he declared. The shadow behind him solidified and turned into what appeared to be a little boy.
"Yes, Kimblee?" the boy, Pride, asked.
"We have a problem. The prince has gone missing, and our plan won't work if we can't keep up our charade."
"And why should I care? This is stupid human nonsense."
"Because I still owe you, and if you help me, I can pay back my debt: souls. Every soul in Resembool. If Envy continues masquerading as the prince, he'll marry Miss Chang. Once he marries her, I'll dispose of Mayor Yao and Miss Chang, and then I'll be running this town. You can have all the souls you want, and we won't work together anymore."
"Hmm… all right. What do you need me to do?"
"Go find the prince and bring him back here."
"I'll do that." He smirked and transformed back into shadows, disappearing into the night.
"Okay," Ed sighed. "I'm hungry. What is there to eat?"
"If you wish, I can stop so we can find food!" Alex suggested.
"Yeah, that's a great idea!"
Winry rolled her eyes and hopped onto a sandbank. Alex headed in one direction while Winry sat down to contemplate the fresh hell that was her life. Ed went off to search, too, feeling a little bad that he'd dragged an innocent girl into this even though he'd argued with her for more than half their little adventure so far. He spotted a firefly on top of a dandelion and the frog side of his instincts took over. He began creeping towards it.
Winry also spotted the firefly and her stomach grumbled.
"Oh, hell no. I am not kissing a frog and eating a bug on the same day!"
The frog side of her won out, though, as she and Ed both extended their tongues at the same time. The firefly flew up and their tongues got tangled as they knocked into each other.
"Wow!" the firefly laughed, lighting up as he flew down. "Looks like you and your boyfriend got a little heated, missy!"
"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Winry yelled, her voice inhibited by the fact that their tongues were tangled.
"I'M NOT WITH AN INSANE GEARHEAD!" Ed agreed, his voice also lisping from the tongue-tangle.
"Hold on. Let me help you."
The firefly managed to grab Ed's tongue and pulled on it hard enough to detangle them, both Winry and Ed falling backwards. Winry rubbed her tongue and made a sound of disgust before turning to the firefly.
"Sorry about that," she sighed sheepishly. "My name's Winry Rockbell. That's Edward Elric."
"Maes Hughes. It's a pleasure to meet you. What brings you to the swamp?"
"We're on our way to see Madame Curtis to see if she can turn us human again."
"Madame Curtis?"
"Yeah. What of it?" Ed asked.
"You're going the wrong way."
Ed and Winry stared at each other and groaned.
"Everybody knows Madame Curtis lives the other way! What knucklehead told you it was this way?"
"I found some food!" Alex announced, emerging from the bushes.
"Alex…" Winry growled. "Maes here says we're going the wrong way."
Alex got a nervous look on his face. He began stammering out an explanation, which Winry ignored and looked at Maes.
"First rule of the swamp: never take directions from a gator. I know exactly where Madame Curtis lives; she's an old friend of my grandfather, Grumman. I'm glad to help you out."
"Thank you, Mr. Hughes!" Winry gushed.
"Yeah, thanks!" Ed added.
The four set off into the swamp. Maes ended up telling them about the love of his life—the brightest firefly of all, named Gracia. According to him, he saw her almost every night, and he'd fallen in love with her over time.
"That's really sweet," Winry sighed. "My parents were like that."
"They must've been good people," Alex observed.
"They were. They always encouraged me to follow my dreams, no matter how out there they were. It's because of them that I wanted to open my own automail shop, and they'd help me run the place!"
"So what happened?" Ed asked.
"They were doctors, and they went away to help in the Ishvalan Civil War about seven years ago. They lost their lives taking care of the injured, whether they were Amestrian or Ishvalan. I hope I can be like them."
Ed had no idea what to say. He had two living, breathing parents and a younger brother, as well as his friends. From the sound of it, Winry had next to nobody.
"I'm sorry."
"It's been years. I miss them every day, but I'm going to keep trying to achieve my dream and make them proud."
Not long after, they stopped to eat, thanks to them not getting the food earlier, and a hunter captured Ed. Winry hopped away, with Maes going to try and save Ed while Alex was off getting the food. Ed used his alchemy to get out of the box he was trapped in, while one of the other hunters caught Winry. Ed celebrated until he realized they had her.
"Dammit!" he muttered. He distracted the hunters any way he could until one of them dropped the net holding the female frog.
"That's better," she sighed as the boat sped away. "Thanks, Ed."
"Don't mention it."
Winry started making some stew, with Ed sitting off to the side and watching her.
"Why does a mechanic know how to cook?" he asked.
"My granny taught me when I was little. She said it would help me save money and be more independent."
"Huh… well, is it gonna be done soon, because I'm really hungry."
"You can help me. That would make it go faster."
"Okay. What do you need me to do?"
"Chop up that mushroom."
Ed made a face but still did as he was asked. Winry then finished up the stew and all four of them ate some of it. She glanced at Ed's silvery-gray leg again.
"Hey, Ed, how come one of your legs is silvery-gray like that?" she asked.
"Oh." He shifted in his spot. "I guess that's the good thing about being a frog—I have all my limbs. As a human, I have an automail leg."
"What happened?"
"Lost it in an accident when I was about eleven. Luckily, we had a great automail mechanic named Neil Flint."
"Well, I'm sure once you marry Mei, he'll come here to keep your leg in check." Ed gave her a look.
"Nah, I think I'll have to find a new mechanic."
"I might be busy, what with trying to earn money to open my own shop."
"Is that why you were so desperate for money?"
"…yeah. That day, I'd almost bought my ideal location—the one I've been saving up for since I was a kid. Then, right before I met you, I found out somebody was bidding higher than I was for the property. I wanted money so I could try and get it back, but…"
"Instead, I tricked you and you turned into a frog."
"Exactly."
"Gracia!" Maes gasped, ruining the moment.
"She's here?!" Winry yelped.
"Yeah!" He pointed upwards. Winry and Ed both looked up to see… the Evening Star?
"…oh… she's really pretty!" Winry said quickly.
"What?! That's just a—" Ed began, before Winry elbowed him in the gut. "Oh, uh, yeah! She's really pretty!"
"We'll be together one day. Hopefully soon."
Pride narrowed his eyes as he traveled through the swamp. He needed to find the prince, and fast. He finally came across Edward, who was asleep on a bed of moss, cuddling a female frog in his sleep. The female was clinging to him for warmth, it seemed, but Pride honestly didn't care. He grabbed Ed's left leg and yanked him away.
"AH! SHIT!" Ed yelled, waking up Winry and the others, who quickly began pursuing Pride. They managed to catch up, but huge spikes erupted from the ground and went directly through the shadowy beast. Pride let out a howl of pain and dropped Ed, returning to the shadows.
"What the hell just happened?!" Winry asked Ed.
"Not bad for a simple housewife," a woman's voice said. A woman wearing a white button-up dress with black hair came out of the shadows, holding a lantern. "Now, which one of you idiots has been messing around with Kimblee and his Homunculus?!"
Ed grinned sheepishly as Winry, Maes, and Alex all pointed at him.
Chapter two is done!
Please leave a review!
So long and thanks for all the fish!