Onward to the next part! Oh, before that, lest I forget, thank you so much for the reviews! Okay, now let us go! And never look back!
Winry felt like her lungs were going to explode! Never in her life did she feel so miserable, so afraid for her own life as now. Then it was like being born again as Winry broke the surface and gulped down lungful after precious lungful of wonderfully cool morning air. She coughed a few times and fainted.
"What happened to her?" Al asked as they pulled Winry to shore next to a huge rock. It was shallow and Al finally got a full glimpse of Winry, legs and all.
"She made a deal with Dante the sea witch! She must've given something up in exchange for being changed into a human, and knowing Dante there's a time limit and awful, awful consequences for Winry if she doesn't keep her end of the deal!" Brosh said, the tears streaming down his face yet again. "Why me?"
"Well, what are the conditions of the contract?" Al asked.
Brosh pulled himself together and said, "Obviously she wanted to turn into a human to be with that guy she saw on the boat. She must have to get him to fall in love with her."
"Okay, she can do that." Al said. "Now, how much time does she have?"
"Dante likes doesn't like to give a lot of time for this kind of thing, so it'll be short." Brosh said thinking. "Anywhere from one to six days, at most I'd say."
Before they could discuss any further Winry woke up and shook her head. Instantly Brosh went to her and said, "How long did Dante give you?"
Winry looked confused at first, but she quickly gained her bearings and held up three fingers.
"Why isn't she saying anything?" Al asked.
"She must've given her voice to Dante!" Brosh whispered back.
"This is going to be harder than I thought…" Al said.
Meanwhile, Winry was trying to get used to her new legs. Unfortunately, as soon as she stood up she splashed back down, her legs bending outward. Once again unfortunately, her bra was swept away in the tide. Winry quickly covered her chest looking chastised. Before Brosh or Al could find anything to cover her with, however, Fuery came flying in carrying a sail.
"Hey guys! I was passing by picking this thing up from a shipwreck when I saw you and thought I'd say hi!" he said cheerfully.
"Give me that!" Brosh said grabbing the sail and giving it to Winry. She quickly tied it around herself and stood up again, this time grabbing onto the rock for support.
"Wow, what happened to her?" Fuery asked, surprised to see Winry's legs.
"She made a deal with the sea witch!" Brosh said.
"Really? Why would she do something like that?"
"She fell in love with a human and gave Dante her voice so she could become a human! And now she only has three days to get him to kiss her or she'll lose her soul to Dante!"
Winry wasn't listening to any of this. She removed her hands from the rock and tried taking a few steps. But it was no good. No matter how hard she tried, her legs still wanted to move together like a fin! She was about to get frustrated when she saw Ed walking down the beach, looking out towards the horizon. She froze as she him, her heart fluttering. Brosh saw her looking and said, "Go on! Talk to him!" and pushed her forward. Unfortunately, Winry lost her balance and splashed into the water. Ed, hearing the noise, looked over to where she was lying and quickly came over. He helped her out of the water and said, "What happened to you? Were you in a shipwreck?"
Thinking fast, Winry quickly nodded, grabbing onto Ed for support. Ed smiled and said, "You can't walk very well can you? Were you hurt?"
Winry shook her head and Ed smiled. "That's good."
They stared at each other for a few minutes then Ed said, "You know, you look really familiar. Do I know you?"
Winry nodded emphatically. Here it was! The moment of truth! She'd kiss Ed and be with him forever! Ed was starting to look excited too as he pulled the memory to the front of his mind. "You saved me when my ship was wrecked! I remember you! What's your name?"
Alas, no matter how Winry tried she couldn't speak her name. Her face fell and she rubbed her throat absently. Ed looked disappointed as well as he said, "You can't talk? Then you can't be her. I heard her singing in the most beautiful voice."
He sighed and looked out toward the ocean. Winry got a look of determination on her face and pulled on Ed's sleeves. He quickly looked back at her and said, "Well, I can't leave you out here by yourself. I'll take you back up to the palace, get you some real clothes and you can spend the night. How does that sound?"
Winry smiled happily and nodded. Even though Ed knew this wasn't his dream girl, he still felt a connection with her and couldn't help but smile back. He grabbed her arms and helped her to walk to the palace.
"There she goes…" Al said, sounding slightly sad.
"But without her voice will he ever fall in love with her?" Fuery asked.
"If it's true love, he'll love her no matter what!" Brosh said confidently.
"Really?" Fuery said. "And how many relationships have you been in?"
"Well…none…" Brosh said, sounding depressed again.
Al broke up the little fight and said, "Come on! We have to follow her!"
Fuery took to the sky, ready to help in any way he could. Al and Brosh quickly began looking for a way to get nearer to the palace. It was getting close to lunch again and Ed showed Winry to the guest room. Winry was amazed by the richness of it from the huge canopy bed to the wall length window.
"There's a shower through that door over there." Ed said, pointing out the door. "We'll be eating in about twenty minutes to don't be too long."
Winry shook her head and opened the bathroom door as Ed closed the bedroom door. Winry was delighted by the sparkling white walls, the deep tub, and marble sink. She was slightly confused by a porcelain chair of some sort with water in it, but she supposed she'd figure that out eventually. She turned one of handles on the tub and was slightly surprised when cold water came gushing out. She quickly turned it off and turned the other handle. She was ready this time for the jet of water but it was hot instead of cold! She turned them both at the same time and the tub started to fill. Once it was about three quarters full she turned them both off and felt the water. It was pleasantly warm with steam wafting off of it. She quickly took of her sail and tossed it behind her, right into the hands of a maid.
"I'll just take this for you then alright?" the maid said.
Winry jumped, not knowing anyone had been behind her. She tried to cover herself but the maid laughed and said, "There's nothing there I haven't seen before, you don't need to be so modest."
The maid folded the sail and said, "My name is Pinako by the way. I've been working here for nearly fifty years and I know my way around this place, so if you have any questions don't be afraid to ask."
Winry smiled and nodded.
"Don't talk much do you dear?" Pinako asked.
Winry shook her head and grabbed her throat.
"Oh, you can't talk can you? Well that's alright too. No one here should have any trouble talking to you. Now hurry up and take your bath while I throw this old thing out. I'll see if we have any dresses for you to where."
Pinako took the crusty, salty sail and left Winry to take her bath. Winry was ecstatic about it. Even though she'd lived her entire life in the ocean, she had never done anything like this! The tub was full of hot scented water, bubbles were floating along the top; it was all so relaxing! As Winry was enjoying her bath, Brosh and Al had managed to get close to the palace through a canal. Al couldn't go any further so Brosh made his way into the castle garden. Moving fast to avoid detection he saw an open window and began to climb the ivy covered wall. He quickly made his way into the open window and tumbled down onto a wooden table.
"Okay, now to find…oh dear Lord!!!!!"
All around him was fish with their heads cut off, pots of boiling water, and stuffed crabs! He nearly fainted as he saw all of this. Before he could move he heard a door open and voices came wafting through.
"Hey Barry! Are you in here?" Pinako asked.
A knife came flying through the air and embedded itself in the door just beside Pinako's head.
"Dammit woman! What have I told you about coming in here?"
Pinkao picked up the knife and threw it back at Barry screaming, "I've told you a thousand times I've got every right to be in here as you do you psycho!"
"What?!? Psycho?!?! No one calls Barry the Chopper a psycho!"
Pinako slammed the door as ten more knives came flying at her.
Out in the dining room, Havoc had, of course, heard about the woman staying with them and was needling Ed once again.
"I mean, you can't keep searching for someone who doesn't even exist!" He said.
"I know she exists!" Ed said angrily. "And I'll prove it once I find her! Where ever she is…"
"All I'm saying is you've got a perfect girl here already. It doesn't do anyone any good to keep fawning over a girl who doesn't even exist. Believe me, I've been down that road before…"
Before Ed could say anything in reply, Pinako's voice came from outside the dining room.
"Oh for heavens sake, don't be nervous."
Havoc and Ed both looked as Winry walked in wearing a beautiful pink dress, her hair pulled back with a bow of the same color. Winry had never been a fan of pink, but it was the only dress in her size that the castle had. She walked over to the table and Havoc elbowed Ed to make him stand up and pull out her chair. They were all quiet for awhile before Havoc decided to take matters into his own hands and said, "So, where are you from?"
When she didn't say anything he smiled and said, "You don't have to be shy, cutie, no one's going to hurt you!"
"She can't talk lover boy." Ed said. "Are you trying to set me up with her or go out with her yourself?"
Havoc glared at Ed and said, "I was just being nice! You could try a little harder!"
While they argued, Winry had spotted her fork and grabbed it excitedly. She hadn't been able to brush her hair as well as she would've liked so she quickly began running it through her hair. Ed and Havoc both stopped arguing and looked at Winry like she was crazy. She saw their looks, stopped, and quickly set the fork down, looking embarrassed. Havoc leaned in towards Ed and said, "Is she alright?"
Ed leaned towards Havoc and said, "Maybe she hit her head during the shipwreck and is confused.
As they puzzled over Winry, Brosh and been searching frantically for a way to escape from the hellish kitchen he was trapped in, but all the doors were closed and he was constantly in danger of being spotted by Barry as he went about the kitchen making lunch. He sighed as he chopped off a fish's head and said, "I really do love to cause harm to living things." He tossed the fish's head into the garbage and tossed the rest of it into a pot. While he was distracted, Brosh quickly crossed the table and hid behind a pot as Barry's attention was turned back to the fish. And horrors of all horrors, Barry began to sing.
"Les poissons, les poissons, how I love les poissons! Love to chop and to serve little fish. First I cut off their heads and then I rip out their bones!"
Brosh looked on as Barry did exactly as he sang. Feeling nauseous, Brosh scurried across the table, hoping to escape.
"With my cleaver I hack them in two, I pull out what's inside and I serve it up fried! God, I love little fishes don't you? Here's something tempting for the palate, prepared in the classic technique, first you pound the fish flat with a mallet, then you slash through the skin, give the belly a slice, then you rub some salt in because that makes it taste nice!"
Brosh, feeling even sicker now, practically fainted, falling out in the open. Barry saw the sick crab and grabbed it. "How could I possibly have missed one? This puts me behind!"
He angrily pulled out a bowl of sauce and tossed Brosh in, still singing, "Here we go in the sauce, now some flour I think, just a dab, and I'll stuff you with bread, unfortunately it doesn't hurt, because you're dead! Just count yourself lucky you are, because it's going to get hot inside my big silver pot, good-bye and farewell, au revoir!"
Barry tossed Brosh over his shoulder and into the boiling pot. Luckily, Brosh grabbed the edge of the pot and flung himself back out onto the table. Barry grabbed a meat fork and skewered it into the table, trapping Brosh between the tongs. He brought the crab to his face to see if it was still alive and Brosh reached out and clamped his nose. Barry yelped in pain and dropped Brosh onto the floor. He grabbed a huge meat cleaver and shouted, "I'll get you for that you little bastard!"
And so a chase ensued involving Barry chasing Brosh all over the kitchen, throwing all manner of cutlery until Brosh dived under a table and Barry ran headlong into the table causing a clatter of pots and pans.
Back in the dining room, Pinako was serving tea and nearly splattered it all over Ed as she was pouring when the clatter of pots and pans was heard from the kitchen. They all looked towards the kitchen with trepidation until Pinako said, "I'll go see what Barry's up to."
When she opened the door to the kitchen it was to find Barry tossing pots, pans, and knives over his shoulder as he screamed, "Where are you?!?!? Why don't you come out and fight like a man?!?!?!?!?"
"Barry!" Pinako shouted at him.
He quickly turned towards her and she said, "What the hell are you doing?"
He stood up and said, "Nothing."
Pinako picked up the tray of food and left, shaking her head. As she was setting the covered plates down in front of Havoc, Winry, and Ed, Havoc said, "I just got a great idea. Ed, why don't you take Winry out tomorrow and show her around the kingdom?"
Ed, who had been watching Winry, looked at Havoc and said, "What? Oh, right. Only if she wants too though."
Winry was ignoring them both. While they had been talking, Pinako had lifted the cover off of Havoc's plate and revealed Brosh hiding. Winry quickly motioned for him to run to her plate and Brosh did so. She lifted the cover for him and slammed it shut just as Ed said, "So would you like that? Would you like a tour of the kingdom?"
Winry nodded emphatically and Havoc, with a look of triumph said, "Now that, that's settled, let's eat!"
He dug his fork into what he expected to be crab and what he got was a whole lot of nothing.
"Lust?" a voice suddenly said from the doorway.
All the homunculi turned to see Gluttony standing in the doorway, his finger in his mouth.
"Gluttony, I thought I put you to bed. What's the matter?" Lust asked.
"I heard a scary noise! Something in the walls!"
"That would be Envy." Sloth said. "He ran headlong into the wall in an attempt to tackle Pride."
"Come on." Lust said, standing up. "I'll put you back to bed."
"No, no. I can't sleep anymore." Gluttony said.
"Then stay and listen to the story." Sloth said.
Gluttony looked excited and said, "Story, story!" before jumping into the room and landing next to Lust, nearly squashing Envy.
"Hey! Watch where you're going you fat tub of lard!" Envy yelled, shoving Gluttony over.
"Be nice now Envy." Pride said before nodding at Sloth. "Go on with the story."
And that's all for now! I don't know when the next part will be ready, but it shouldn't be more than a few days.