AM: I'm soooooooo sorry for the huge delay! I
was suffering from a severe case of writers block. (I couldn't
write anything, trust me…) But I'm back, and better than ever! (I
hope…) And Tori-kun has returned!
TK: Announcing that you can't write without
me only boost my ego, and gives me ways to torture you…
AM: -blink- you're a muse, Tori, you're
supposed to inspire me…. –sound of clinking metal and a clicking
sound is heard- There! Holds up left hand, that is now handcuffed to
Tori's wrist-
TK: WTF!
AM: Now I can never lose you again! XD
TK: Dammit…
Thanks: Kara (Neo Diji)
Oh, and 'VD for VANDitta' I've gots a question for you, if you're actually reading this… When you said they were both guys, I assume you were referring to Roy and Edward, correct? If you really want to say anything on my choice of pairings, I would have preferred that you did so when I actually got to the pairing… call me crazy I s'pose… (No wait, I am crazy…) Ahem, I really don't mean to sound mean or anything… And I don't really see the problem with two guys being paired together anyways… love is love, ne? No matter what gender or age you may be… -shrugs- sorry you feel that way, su. (Anyway, sorry for wasting everyone else's time… you could have just skipped over this, you know…)
Disclaimer: ……………………………………………………………………………………….
TK: That means what do you think?
AM: Exactly! XD Oh, right… and I you can take
it as OOCness or not… I don't take it as such… but whatever…
Trisha may or may not be OOC depending on how you decide to interpret
it… and this is probably gonna be my longest chapter, since I wanna
get past all this stuff and start new stuff in the next chapter. XD
Chapter IV: Transmutation Part III
Trisha had a feeling that they were back behind
the Gate, though she wasn't sure what she was doing back there. She
could hear muffled voices though. One belonged to Truth, that she
could tell right away, and the other belonged to her eldest son. Soon
enough, the Gates opened, and Trisha could see the golden haired boy
being pulled through the gate by those horrible black arms. He was
screaming loudly, and Truth scoffed.
"Be quiet," He
commanded, then asked, "isn't this what you wanted?" Edward
continued to scream, which nearly tore Trisha's heart to pieces,
"I'll show you 'True Knowledge'" she heard Truth say.
To Trisha, there was nothing new there, for she had seen the 'True Knowledge' when she died, and Jordan had told her that everyone that died did, but she could tell that Edward was seeing bits of that 'True Knowledge' reserved only for the dead.
"This isn't right!" Emiko yelled.
Soon enough, she could hear her son's
thoughts.
Stop! My head is gonna explode! I'm gonna be
mutilated! NO! Please stop! She could tell he was close by how
loud his thoughts were, and soon she could see him. "Mom..."
he said as he reached for her.
Trisha reached back, all she wanted to do right now was hold him tightly and try to make his pain go away.
"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Emiko screamed, grabbing
Trisha and pulling her back. Trisha was couldn't understand why
Emiko wouldn't want her to touch her son, but before she could ask,
Edward vanished, and soon after, she found herself lying on her
stomach in front of the Gate.
"Have a nice trip?" Truth
asked; his voice drenched in spite.
She heard Emiko cough behind her, "What. The.
Hell?" the dishwater blonde demanded.
Truth only grinned, but
refused to answer her.
"Where's the younger brother?"
Emiko demanded, standing up.
Truth's grin widened, and Emiko's
eyes narrowed, "WHERE IS HE!" she demanded. Truth's grin
never wavered as he pointed somewhere behind him.
Trisha's eyes followed his finger to her son, Alphonse, sitting on the ground quite a ways behind him, looking absolutely terrified. She walked over to him, and crouched down in front of him, in order to get eye-level. She said nothing, but reached her hand out to him. His eyes widened in surprise, "Mom…" he said quietly, and took her hand, clinging to it so tightly, that Trisha thought her hand might break. Her poor boy probably went through the same things Edward did, or worse. She was glaring at Truth now, just as Emiko was.
"Take us home." The shorter woman demanded.
Truth's grin, soon turned into a sneer, "You're
not in the position to demand things like that," he said. Emiko
stood there staring at him, "When the kid went through the gate,
I got his leg in payment, but if I let you leave, and with the kid,
what will I get? I don't know if you've ever heard of the concept
'Equivalent Exchange' but I happen to live by it." He said.
Trisha had a feeling that he had never been planning to let them
go. What could either of them possibly give him in return for the
freedom of three people?
Truth's grin suddenly came back full force, as he held out his right arm, "Back for more, are we?" he asked, as a human arm began to materialize. It was then that Trisha looked down at his left leg, which was also flesh. What was going on here? Alphonse's grip loosened on her hand, and he fell toward the floor. Luckily, Trisha caught him before he could hit is head, and when she looked up she saw Emiko behind Truth, kneeled on the floor, writing something. The dishwater blonde stood and motioned toward herself, which Trisha took as a 'come here'. So, quickly, while Truth seemed preoccupied, she gathered the small boy in her arms and rushed over to the shorter woman who immediately slammed her hands on the ground when Trisha came close to her.
The brunette woman stopped in her tracks as an elaborate array lit up on the floor around Emiko and herself. Immediately she could identify the intricate assemblage of symbols as a transmutation circle, but the insides was more elaborate than even the human transmutation circle on her living room floor. A rather odd sensation rippled through her body, and the next thing she saw was the pair of large golden gates at the front of the Crossroads. She closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be out of that place at last.
"I'm sure your son could do that better than I…" she heard Emiko mutter from beside her, "That is… depending on what he saw…"
Trisha looked over at the shorter woman to see her brushing the dust off of her white dress. When she straightened herself, Trisha heard her curse softly. The brunette followed Emiko's gaze to the gates where Jordan and Kameko stood, both looking equally unhappy. However, when Kameko noticed the child in Trisha's arms, she rushed over and immediately checked his pulse.
"Follow me." She ordered, and turned on her heels. She rushed quickly down the marble walkway and into the building.
Trisha did as was requested of her, and noticed that Emiko and Jordan were also following closely behind herself.
When they reached a small room on the 3rd floor, Kameko held to door open for Trisha, who noted that the room looked similar to one you would find in a hospital. She also noted that Kameko began preparing the bed somewhat similar to the way a practiced nurse would. In a matter of moments she was taking Alphonse from Trisha's arms, and placing him on the small hospital like bed. When the blonde seemed satisfied that her 'patient' was comfortable, she turned around and smiled, "I practiced for seven years as a nurse in Japan… when I was alive, that is…"
At Trisha's confused look, Jordan elaborated, "Japan is a country another dimension… Rather similar to your Areugo (1)" Trisha nodded in silent understanding.
Kameko had soon returned to attending to Alphonse, and Emiko had left the room. Kameko had probably ordered the dishwater blonde to fetch something for her.
After a long gap of silence, the petite platinum blonde spoke, "Here's what I know… As far as I can tell, this boy is similar to a comatose patient. I don't know how long he'll be like this, or if he'll ever even wake up at all… In my world alchemy is a bogus science… but it seems as though in the world he's from, it's real…" she paused and regarded the boy with a saddened stare, "If you wanna know the specifics, ask Emiko, she's the one who studied alchemy." She sighed and turned around, "I'll do what I can to take care of him, but in a place like this, with no sufficient medical equipment, it's rather difficult, especially because he's a living being, and we're not…" Before she could continue, Emiko returned with a glass of water, in her hands.
"So what's the deal on this kid, Emiko?" Jordan asked bluntly.
Emiko set the glass on a nearby nightstand and wrung her hands together rather guiltily; she could have prevented this, after all. Quickly, she gave them another one of her grins to cover up the guilt on her face, "Well, I'm no expert on soul transmutation, but it seems to me as though your eldest son bound this one's…" she motioned to Alphonse, "… to something in the living world. I'm not entirely sure what's with him…" again, she gestured to the young boy on the bed, "But hopefully, this will all work out for the best." She forced her grin to widen, and now it was painfully obvious she was faking it.
"Excuse me," A small voice called out from the doorway.
The four conscious occupants in the room, turned to look in the direction of the voice to see a small mousy looking girl with odd sky blue hair, and eyes of the same color. She wore a pair of large square framed glasses, and flinched slightly under the women's gazes. Trisha noted that the band on her arm was also the same sky blue as her hair, meaning she was a messenger or a bookkeeper, probably a messenger. "Shii-sama requests the presence of Emiko, Kameko, and Jordan." She said timidly, then bowed and hurried away.
Jordan sighed and ran a hand through her short brown hair. She closed her olive green eyes and muttered something about 'dead, or death', which, honestly could be just about anything in this world. She opened her eyes, straightened out her posture, and marched out the door. Emiko plastered an annoyed look on her face, and followed.
Kameko merely smiled at Trisha, "There are no visiting hours." She said, before walking out the door after the two women.
Trisha interpreted what Kameko said as 'feel free to stay as long as you like' and sat down in a chair, continently positioned beside the bed her son ways lying on. At first, her expression held a motherly smile, as she brushed her fingertips across her son's cheek. As soon as she moved her hand, however, she pressed her lips into a fine line, and a frown graced her brow, "What were you thinking?" she asked, knowing that she wouldn't receive an answer, "Even I knew that human transmutation is not only forbidden alchemy, and the breaking of a taboo, but a serious crime." She sighed in agitation. Even though she knew Alphonse couldn't hear her, talking helped her let the frustration out, "Did you really think you could pull it off? You could go against the laws of nature? That you could play God?" her voice raised a little with each question, "How arrogant…" she muttered, resting her forehead in one of her hands, "To think that two children could accomplish what men much older and wiser couldn't, to believe they could tread on God's forbidden territory and not think about paying a price." Her frown deepened, "And what would happen if you had succeeded?" she asked, "Did you think that I'd be proud of you for doing such a thing?" she asked the silence incredulously, "Did you really think things could go back to the way they were before I died?" she laughed bitterly, "I'm a fool…" she berated herself, "Somehow this is my fault… I went wrong somewhere when raising you… But… I really never thought you would do something so… stupid!" she said, for lack of a better word. "I thought you had more sense than that." She said, much quieter, clenching her other hand into a fist in her lap, as a teardrop fell, "How could this have happened?" she wondered aloud, "Edward and you… what are you going through now?" she sniffed quietly "Pain, I'm sure… and depression, anger…" she squeezed her eyes shut as more tears fell, "How could this have happened?" she asked again.
The brunette woman's emerald eyes flew open when she felt a hand gently and hesitantly touch the one fisted in her lap. When she looked up she gasped again, and covered her mouth with her other hand. There, touching her hand was her son, Alphonse. Well, it looked like Alphonse; his eyes were clouded by something, and filled with confusion, and maybe a little pain. This person was her son, but then again… he wasn't. It was as if not all of him was there, and what Trisha was seeing was just a fragment of him. Regardless, she gave him a pained smile, and embraced him, as new tears came to take the place of the old ones.
oOo
In the conference room Emiko had burst into, no more than an hour before, the three highly ranked workers stood at the far end of the long wooden table, facing the same figure that was still cloaked in shadow. The figure regarded them for a moment and then turned it's back on them to look out the window behind it. "You are dismissed." The figure said in her melodic, yet painful voice. The three bowed to the figure, even though their back was turned, and Jordan and Kameko shot the dishwater blonde heated glares, while Emiko's expression remained irritated as it usually was.
oOo
"This is all your fault." Kameko muttered, wringing out a rag, and glaring at Emiko.
The dishwater blonde only shrugged in response and continued scrubbing the marble floor of the hallway in small circles, a small smile playing on her face.
Jordan only sighed in agitation from the ladder she was standing on, "I don't know why Kameko and I got punished as well…" she muttered wiping some dust from the large crystal chandelier that hung in the lobby.
Emiko smirked, "Jordan, you did nothing to stop me when I tried to leave, Kameko didn't distract Trisha like she should have, and both of you aided in bringing a live human, into the crossroads." She said, smiling knowingly.
Jordan rolled her eyes in exasperation, "If it's human, it's most likely alive…" she muttered.
"Oh shut up." Emiko replied, dipping her rag in a nearby bucket, and wringing out the water.
"This is all your fault." Kameko repeated, glaring daggers at Emiko.
"I know, Kameko." Emiko said, shifting her weight to her knees and grinning at the shortest of the three, "But we're getting what we deserve." She said. She was thoroughly enjoying her friends' misery, even if she had to bear it too.
Kameko's eyes narrowed, and she grabbed the handle of the bucket. In the next moment, there was a bucket full of soapy, and perhaps dirty water flying at the dishwater blonde. The base of the metal container hit her in the forehead with enough force to knock her backward, and the water splashed everywhere because of the power of the impact.
Kameko smirked triumphantly at the dishwater blonde who was also smirking, despite the blood gushing from the wound on her forehead and rolling down her face. "Now you gotta go get more water." She said, grinning and teetering slightly when she sat up, due to a massive amount of blood loss.
Jordan only sighed in irritation.
(1) I have a feeling this is incorrect, all I really did was look at the arrangement of the letters of the different country names, and picked out the only one that seemed most like a Japanese word… -sweatdrop-
AM: So… what do you think? Was Trisha OOC or not? And was my
depressing attempt at comedy at the end even in the least bit funny?
Or should I never write comedy again?
TK: How does Emiko lose blood? She doesn't have blood
to lose!
AM: I know that! That was for comedy's sake! (is still handcuffed to Tori-kun, by the way)
TK: T.T You're an idiot…
AM:
But I know you love me, right, Tori-kun?
TK:
No…
AM:
-scoffs- fine! You meanie head! –Walks off to angst corner, and
angsts-
TK:
That's not angsting, that's pouting! Get it right, idiot!
AM:
-hurt glare-
TK:
-raises eyebrows- well then… that's all for now!
AM:
-glomps Tori-
TK:
WTF?
AM:
Seriously, though, I really need some encouragement right now. Even
if it's just one word. Just a simple "interesting" or "update
soon" will suffice! I really need to know if people like this
story! (Is feeling really insecure) PLEASE! I especially need the
encouragement now… I've got a lot of stuff going on that makes me
want to give up on it… so, please review. –Gets on knees- PLEASE!
-Ai (love)
Minako-baka
