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CHAPTER 8
Something was wrong.
Vince didn't know what. But deep in his gut, there was this sinking feeling that something just wasn't right. Stretching slowly, the boy weakly pulled himself up in bed and observed his surroundings.
He was completely alone in his room. It was too dark to read the clock, but the stars out his window told him that it was the middle of the night. Perhaps one or two in the morning.
And holy hell, did he have to go to the bathroom. Swinging his legs off of the bed, Vince was met with quite the surprise when they gave out on him and he collapsed on the floor. "What?" the boy questioned softly with a startled blink. His muscles ached, sore from the lack of use. Still, he needed to go, so Vincent grabbed the side of the bed and slowly worked his way up to a standing position, and using the walls in his room and in the hallway, he made his way to the bathroom.
He pushed the bathroom door open and was surprised to see Amelia there before him.
She was leaning hard against the mirror, cupping the left half of her face in her hand. The part of her face that wasn't concealed was streaked in dried tears.
She turned to him and stared, not moving her hand.
Then, she grabbed him in a hug and sobbed. "You're awake, you're awake, you're finally awake."
"Uh, yeah." He looked at the girl fearfully. But nature was persistent. "And I have to pee. Really bad."
"Right." Mia darted out of the bathroom and closed the door. Vince stared at where she'd been standing a few moments ago and then slowly shook his head. He needed answers. But he needed a toilet more.
Amelia exhaled heavily and pressed her back tiredly to the wall beside the bathroom door. Her knees gave way and she sank to the floor slowly, laughter starting to bubble up. He was awake!
After the transmutation, she'd tried everything to wake her brother up, but he would not budge. She'd thought that she had failed for sure, ensuring her brother's death. And when she'd started to cry, her left eye had begun to burn unbearably. By the light of the candle, she could see blood mixed with her tears. Fearful, she had quietly darted to the bathroom so she could examine the damage of her failure.
The iris and pupil in her left eye were gone, and in their place, instead of sparkling gold and deep black, all that remained was a hollow gray mass. The white of her eye remained mostly undamaged, but was bloodshot near the tear-ducts. When Mia had closed her right eye, she'd discovered that the other one, the grey one, was blind.
She had thought it was a rebound- that her transmutation had failed so severely that she had lost her eye. Certainly not the worst possible outcome, but…. she had been her brother's last chance. And she had failed.
But, now that she could see that she had not failed, she began to re-evaluate her lost eye. If this was not a rebound, then what was it?
Equivalent exchange? That didn't seem right. Was a soul really worth so little as an eye?
It didn't matter. She had her brother back.
The bathroom door swing open. "Alright. What's going on here?" Vince was frowning down at his sister, an irritated twitch on her face.
When his sister laughed again, Vince was sure he was going crazy. "What? What's so funny? What happened?"
Amelia stood and whispered, "It's a long story. I'll explain in your room." So, once they were both in Vince's room, sitting on his bed, she explained the story of the injured man and the faulty automail, and how he had been unconscious for more than a week. She ended by explaining about the transmutation, and by showing him her blind eye.
Vince leaned back in his bed and closed his eyes. He fought back a laugh- it's not that he found the situation funny, it was just that it was so surreal. Had he really been asleep for a week? He hadn't noticed the time pass at all. Trying to keep his attitude light, he opened an eye and jokingly asked, "So, what are Mom and Dad gonna think of my new tattoo?"
His sister snorted, and Vince opened his eyes fully. The girl frowned and replied, "We can't tell them."
"What? Why not?"
Amelia scoffed. "Human transmutation is illegal. Really illegal. So illegal that the state will execute people for trying it. We can't tell Mom and Dad. We can't tell anyone."
"Mia, Mom and Dad aren't going to turn us into the state."
"Exactly," Mia agreed. When her brother scowled in confusion, she continued. "Not turning me in is illegal too. So the less people who know, the less people we get into trouble, and the better off we all are."
"So why'd you tell me?" Vince raised an eyebrow.
With a frustrated scowl, Mia cried, "Because the tattoo is on you, duh, you idiot." The alchemist's face grew soft. "Plus, it's not like I have a lot of knowledge on human transmutation, Vince. What if I messed up? There could be something very wrong with you, and you have a right to know why."
"Like what? What might be wrong?" Vincent tried to hide the worry from his tone, but he did a poor job of it.
Amelia shrugged. "I dunno. We'll have to wait and find out."
The brother sighed tiredly, but let the conversation dwindled into a comfortable silence. Then, Vince huffed out a sigh and pushed himself deeper into his bed. "So," he said, "now what?"
"Oh," Amelia murmured. Then, with a devious grin on her face, she stood. Messily pulling her hair in front of the left half of her face, she glanced in the mirror to make sure her eye wasn't visible. Then, she turned towards the door.
"What are you doing?" Vince questioned as the girl made her way out of the room. "Where are you going?"
Ignoring her brother, Amelia crept down the hall towards her parents' room. Then she knocked softly on the door. From the other side of the door, she heard her father call groggily for her to come in.
"Mom? Dad?" Her voice was soft, but there was a grin slowly stretching across her face.
"What is it, Sweetheart?" Winry asked. She sounded exhausted, and Amelia knew it was because she hadn't been sleeping much. But she was about to change that.
"Vince is awake."
