Moxxie: Gosh guys I'm on a roll! eyyyy
Alphonse: Another chapter already?
Moxxie: Yep! I'm so proud of thsi story that i just want to get to teh meat and potatoes of itttt. i have so much in store for you! *Laughs maniacally*
Edward: I need an adult.
Moxxie: I am an adult.
Edward: You're a psychopath!
Moxxie: I know. muahaha.
Alphonse: The writer acknowledges that Fullmetal Alchemist, it's characters and storylines are creative properties of Hiromu Arakawa, Square Enix and it's subsidiaries. All OC's and original storylines are, however, creative properties of Moxxie Russo. No Stealing!
The next day was the same as before and come nightfall, Johanna was tired. Edward had her building bigger things, walls, staircases; he even tried to get her to transmute a miniature dog house. Now they were working on moving the earth in different directions. This was tiring and took a lot of energy and concentration to get right. Johanna was finding she was out of shape for alchemy and after the fifth column Edward had made her transmute, she fell back to the earth, exhausted.
"You didn't move the earth far enough though. Try again." Edward said from across the driveway. Johanna looked up at him in disbelief.
"Ed, I'm tired, can we please take a break?" Johanna asked him from the ground. Edward groaned at her, hand on hip.
"If we keep taking breaks you'll never learn anything!"
"And if we don't take a break my hands will fall off! I'm not used to this yet! I'm tired okay?" Johanna reasoned with him, her voice snappy. Al sat quietly in his box, hoping they wouldn't start fighting. Johanna was coming so far in her crash course, she was doing so well, the least brother could do was let her have a break.
"We don't have time to give you a break. Things are dangerous out there and we don't have time to keep you safe!" Edward snapped at Johanna. Johanna sat up quietly where she laid, getting to her knees.
How dare he? I am NOT some damsel! I didn't ask for this! Johanna thought quietly to herself, glaring at the ground. He's been working me to the bone all week, five minutes isn't too much to ask. Edward grinned as Johanna began to draw a circle, feeling like he'd won. Seeing the look on his face made Johanna even angrier and she growled as she finished her circle, pressing her hands to the dirt. From the ground sprang a large column, which headed straight in Edward's direction. Edward's eyes went wide with shock as the rock hurtled towards him, and without his arm he was completely defenseless. Edward tried to jump, but the rock collided with his side. If it had been a stronger transmutation it could have done some serious damage, but the rocks were weak and they fell to pieces on contact. The effect, however was the same, and the pillar sent Edward sprawling across the driveway, rolling a few times before coming to a complete stop. Johanna clapped the dirt from her hands smugly, standing up and glaring at Edward's heap. Edward rolled, coughing once before pushing himself off the ground.
"Are you crazy! You could've killed me you jerk!" Edward growled at Johanna. Al sighed in his box, helplessly watching the pair scream at each other. He knew this would happen eventually, yesterday went far too well.
"I'm the jerk?! I'M THE JERK?!" Johanna stomped up to him, towering over him. "I'VE SPENT THE PAST DAY AND A HALF DESPERATELY TRYING TO LEARN WHAT YOU TWO HAD YEARS TO PRACTICE AND WHEN I WANNA TAKE A FIVE MINUTE BREAK I'M THE JERK." Johanna growled, raising her first in frustration. "You are SO SELFISH sometimes!"
"Me?! You just hit me in the face with a pillar of rocks!" Edward argued with her. Johanna's eyes darkened and she gritted her teeth.
"Great aim too, considering how small you are!" She shot back without thinking.
"I am NOT SMALL!" Edward bellowed practically jumping to his feet. "I'm taller than you and not nearly as incompetent!" Edward's words echoed off the house and out into the fields. Al felt his heart sink as Johanna's shoulders dropped. Her once fiery eyes dulled out and she heaved a heavy sigh. Edward's words hit Johanna hard and any wind she had in her sails was gone in an instant. She sighed, narrowing her eyes and looking down at the ground. She didn't want to look at Edward anymore; she didn't want him to look at her anymore. Johanna was going to cry and she felt like if he saw her do that, he would win.
"You're right." Johanna said finally, taking off for the front porch and heading into the house. Edward watched her go, sighing as he pushed himself to his knees.
"Brother." Al said quietly. Edward glared over at him, giving Al his best bitch face. Al growled under his breath. "You don't have to be so mean! She's been working so hard since yesterday morning!"
"Yeah, well you and I both know half-assed walls and barely functional chairs aren't going to cut it, Al." Edward said bitterly. Edward had been disillusioned a while ago and he felt like it was that cynicism that saved him time and time again.
"You big jerk! Go apologize to her right now!"
"What?! I'm not apologizing to her! SHE HIT ME WITH A MOUNTAIN ALPHONSE! She-" over the air Edward heard a faint sound, silencing him completely. Are those sobs? Edward and Al both glanced up, noticing the window to Johanna's room was open.
"You hurt her feelings. Go apologize to her, brother." Al told him again. Edward sighed, looking over at him. He silently got to his feet, walking over to the porch.
"I'll send The Major out for you." Edward told Alphonse, grabbing his jacket off of the banister.
"It's fine, I want to sit out a bit longer anyways." The younger Elric said, Edward gave Al a weak smile, turning to the door and opening it. Major Armstrong and Pinako were both inside and when he came in. They both gave him disappointed looks, which only left him feeling even worse. "I'm going, I'm going." Edward said, throwing on his jacket.
"Edward, I understand how frustrating it is teaching someone new things, but you have to remember how frustrating it was learning something new." Pinako told him quietly. Edward stopped on the steps, his eyes never leaving the top of the flight.
Slowly Edward journeyed up the stairs, one step at a time. He heard Winry working diligently in her room, something he was thankful for because he knew shed be waiting for him with a wrench if he heard the way he'd made Johanna cry.
Johanna sat quietly on her bed, her face buried in her pillow. Her eyes already hurt from crying, and she hated herself for letting him get to her like that. It's true though. She thought to herself. You are useless. What're you gonna do if you get in another fight with Scar? Cry him into submission? Johanna shuddered at the thought. There was a slight knocking at her door, causing Johanna's head to snap to attention.
"Hey, it's me. Can I come in?" Edward's voice asked from the other side of the door. Johanna glared at the wood.
"No." She sniffed angrily. Edward sighed looking at his feet. He shoved his arm into the pocket of his jacket, feeling a piece of paper buried in it. Slowly he pulled it out, looking at it quietly. It was the picture of Johanna and her father that Edward took from Doctor Albrecht's notebook. Edward said nothing, instead he bent over, slowly slipping the paper under the door to her room.
Johanna waited for his response, but Edward remained quiet. Movement under her door caught her attention and Johanna looked at the ground. A piece of paper was being slipped into her room through the crack under her door. Footsteps trailed down the hall and it wasn't until she heard them on the stairs that Johanna moved to pick up the paper. She debated on ripping it to shreds, not wanting to accept his apology, but it was heavier than typical writing paper. Slowly Johanna flipped it around.
She was greeted with two smiling faces, the first of which she noticed was her dad. He was younger in this picture, as it was taken a few years prior, evidenced by how young Johanna was in it. They both seemed so happy, which was the polar opposite of what she'd known the past couple days.
Slowly Johanna sat back on the floor in the middle of the room. Her hands shook as she studied the picture. Feeling tears welling in her eyes, Johanna clutched the picture to her chest, rocking back and forth. She missed her dad so much, all she wanted was to see him again, something that she was certain would never happen again.
Johanna found herself feeling more determined now than ever. She wanted to be better at alchemy, she wanted to make her dad proud. If Johanna could it, she felt it would bring her closer to her father, which is where Johanna wanted to be.
Johanna woke up earlier the next morning, the sun was bare crested over the horizon by the time she'd made it outside. She applauded herself for not waking anyone on her way out, except Den, who refused to stay behind.
"If you're coming you can't get in the way, okay?" She told the dog once they were outside. He yipped excitedly and Johanna laughed, putting a finger to her lips. Johanna patted Den's head, running off behind the house. The field back there was massive, plenty of room to practice. On her way out she picked up a long, sharp, stick, the sight of which caused Den to bounce around excitedly. Johanna chuckled at him shaking her head. "Its not for you, silly. I need it to draw my circles!" She told him. Den sighed sadly, sniffing at the ground.
Once they were far enough out into the field. Johanna stopped, taking a good look around. The grass was kind of long, but it was short enough to where she could still etch her circle. Slowly but surely Johanna being to carve the array that Edward had shown her into the field. This should be a decent target.
Johanna stepped back a few feet, etching another circle into the ground with her long stick. She debated on dropping it, but then she saw how hungrily Den eyed it. Slowly she stuck it in her belt loop, grinning mischievously at the dog.
"You can have the stick when I'm done, Den, I promise." Johanna rubbed her hands together, staring at the circle on the ground. It was daunting, but she knew what she was trying to do. She was going to hit one of those pillars with this dirt. Johanna knelt next to the circle, throwing her hands on top of it. Blue sparks crackled under her hands and the ground shot up. The pillar stretched out in front of her and Johanna watched in amazement as it spiraled towards the rock tower she'd built for a target. The pillar missed to the left, by about five feet, and Johanna frowned. "Dammit." Johanna hissed as the pillar crackled and fell to the ground, littering the field with rocks and debris. Again, a few feet away, she drew another circle, clapping it to life. Another pillar jumped forward, this time going wide right before breaking apart. Johanna growled, frustrated with herself.
Johanna quickly fished out the picture of her father, staring at it a long while. Taking a deep breath, she placed the picture on the ground next to the site of her latest circle. I'm going to do this. She thought as she stood, staring down at the picture. Johanna, feeling determination flow through her, slammed her hands down onto the array. Around Johanna the air filled with bursts of blue electricity. It popped to life in a bigger display than Johanna had seen since the start of her Alchemy lessons. She could feel the earth shifting violently under her, it wanted to move, she could feel it.
"GO!" Johanna yelled, mentally directly the dirt away from her and towards the first pillar she created. The dirt obeyed and in an instant it shot out of the ground, hurtling towards the first pillar. Johanna winced as a loud crack filled the air, breaking the early dawn silence. The stone tower cracked in half from the force of the hit, and the top of the tower fell to the ground with a solid thud. "I did it…" Johanna whispered in shock. She jumped into the air, her fist high, and she bent over to pick up the picture of her and her father. "I DID IT!" She yelled to his image, hugging it tightly to her chest. Johanna carried on for a few more seconds, whooping and hollering with excitement when voices rang out from the house.
"Johanna!" A loud, boisterous voice came from up the hill. Johanna turned to see Major Armstrong, Al in tow, and Edward barreling down the hill for her, all still in their pajamas. Johanna kissed the picture, pocketing it happily.
"We heard a loud crack! What the hell happened? Are you okay?" Edward asked, running up to her and looking around. The field behind her was a wreck, debris and dirt everywhere. Johanna grinned at him excitedly pointing behind her at the smashed pillars.
"I. Did. It." She told him happily. Edward stared at her in shock.
"And they stayed in one piece?" Edward stammered, flabbergasted, recalling being hit with a pillar very similar to this one. Except different. This pillar was powerful, transmuted perfectly and still completely intact unlike the one that hit him yesterday. Edward, finally over his initial shock, grinned widely at her. "Do it again." He said finally.
Johanna was happy to oblige him, and she hopped to it, unsheathing her stick and drawing out another array. Once she was finished she threw the stick to the side, glancing back at Edward to make sure that he was watching. Edward gave her a big thumbs up and Johanna returned to her array, slamming her palms down onto it. It produced the same result, a massive shockwave of energy, preceded by a giant pillar, jutting out to strike the other. The two rock formations clashed loudly, the newest pillar breaking the first as they collided.
Edward stared wide-eyed at what just happened. That transmutation was perfect, it looked like a transmutation of someone who had been practicing alchemy for years. Johanna looked at him for reassurance, and slowly he took a few steps forward.
"That… was… incredible." Edward sputtered out, glancing up at Al. Alphonse shook his head, and if he'd been able to he would have shrugged. She was doing well on her lessons, but compare today to yesterday he never would have guessed that that was Johanna's transmutation.
"That was beautiful Johanna!" Major Armstrong blubbered, dropping Al and grabbing her up in his arms. Johanna squirmed as he squeezed her, turning his sights on Edward and Al. "Oh, Elric Brothers! You're amazing teachers! Your zeal and determination are rivaled only by your knowledge of alchemy!" Major Armstrong scooped Edward up into his other arm, now holding both of them to his bare chest. "To think, Johanna, a mere novice, is already capable of such transmutation! You must be so proud!"
"GAHHHH MAJOR NO!" Edward yelled, pushing himself away from him.
"Major please! I can't breath!" Johanna pleaded with him.
"For the first time since I've been in here, I'm finally glad I'm in a box." Alphonse said happily watching as both his brother and Johanna wrestled against the strong man.
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Stay Beautiful!
