Chapter 8: Creeping In My Soul
"Lenalee! Your brother is on the phone." Dave called out as he held out the phone in his left hand and took a bite of his sandwich in his right. Lenalee looked up from her conversation with the others and walked to the phone with a smile.
"Nee-san?"
"Lenalee-chan! Is everything alright where you are? Are you safe? Is Elric-san alright?" Komui bombarded his little sister through the phone. She gave out a little sigh and calmed her brother down.
"Nee-san, I'm alright along with the others; there have been a few Akuma attacks, mostly Level 1's and one or two Level 2's and Alphonse-kun is safe too... why do you ask that?" Lenalee asked; Alphonse over heard his name and stood up to stand next to Lenalee confused.
"Lenalee... you all have to come back to the order as soon as possible and watch over Elric-san, understood?"
"Wait, what's going on? Why must we return so soon and is Alphonse in danger?!" Lenalee panicked as her gaze flashed to the confused alchemist who stood beside her; the others then stood up and crowded the phone booth.
"Allen and the others were attacked by Rhode, they believe that she was after Edward and seriously injured him..." Lenalee gasped. "Oh no!"
"Lenalee? Lenalee what's wrong?" Lavi asked; his cheerful demeanour replaced with serious concern.
"Edward-kun is hurt."
"What?!" Alphonse yelled snatching the phone from her frozen hands. "What happened? How bad is he? Tell me!"
"Calm down Alphonse, he's safe back here in the Order; we need you back here just in case they come after you too." Alphonse calmed down a bit and took a deep breath.
"Yes, sorry about that." Komui said it was fine and gave the order one last time before hanging up.
"Al?" Lavi spoke as Alphonse placed the phone down. He looked at the others in a serious expression.
"Let's go back."
-
Allen continued to stare at the door. He had been standing there for two minutes when it felt like five hours. He raised his black hand to grasp the door knob but backed down again wondering why he couldn't just open the simple piece of wood that separated him and the object, or in this case person, that he wanted to see.
This is ridiculous! I've faced Akuma, Noah and the Earl! Why can't I open this stupid freaking door! Allen was too absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice his hand move on its own a slam the door open shocking the occupant inside the room.
"Geez! Allen the least you could have done was knocked or maybe even open the door slowly." Allen blushed deeply when he heard the blonde's comment making him laugh. "So... what's up?"
Allen closed the door and sat next to the bed Edward was occupying. "I just wanted to see how you were." He spoke looking down at the floor in embarrassment. Edward also blushed, but for a different reason.
"I've been through worse," Allen looked up to see Edward grin at him; he smiled too. Edward turned towards the window watching the rain hit the glass suddenly remembering something of the night he was attacked. "Allen, there's something I need to ask you..."
"What is it?"
"... What happened to you?" Allen cocked his head to the side.
"What do you mean?" Edward faced him; his eyes locked onto Allen's grey ones.
"You weren't yourself... and you said I looked like my father when he was younger..." Allen's eyes widen in surprise and then realisation crossed his face.
"The 14th..."
"Who?"
"... Inside me is the 14th Noah or the Musician, he once worked with the Earl but betrayed him for some reason we don't know, that night he took control of my body which I believe was to help you... he must have met your father when he came to this world." Edward nodded; it all made sense, except the part of one of those gray skinned people inside of Allen and why they were after him.
"Why is it that strange things always happen to me?" Allen gave a light laugh to Edward's comment and they both sat in silence.
"Say, Edward... tell me about where you came from." Allen spoke up, shifting in his seat. Edward looked at him for a second and then to his right hand.
"There's not really much to say other than that Al and I were born in a small town far from the city. Our father left us and our mother when we were young and I hated him very much for that... anyway after our mother died we left our town to train with an alchemist to improve our skills and the rest you already know." Allen looked down as he remembered what Edward said on the train.
"Do miss anyone from your home?"
"Yeah... I miss Winry, Grandma Pinako, Rose, Teacher, Armstrong, Hawkeye... hell I even miss Mustang the jerk," Ed laughed; Allen gave a small smile as he watched the blonde think back on those who he left behind but he couldn't help but feel sad for him too. "I wonder if Winry's business has become well known now..."
"Winry?"
"A childhood friend... she's a mechanic, the best I know though scary with her temper and wrench." Ed laughed while rubbing his fore head remembering the times he returned with his automail broken and she threw the gift he gave her to his head. Ed glanced at Allen to see his eyes cast down wards in confusion.
"Allen?" Allen quickly looked up and gave a small grin.
"Sorry, I was just thinking... you should rest a bit more, I'll just get some food, want any?" Allen said quickly and he walked towards the door. Edward frowned lightly and then shook his head saying he was fine.
"Alright, I'll come see you later, bye!" The exorcist spoke opening the door.
"Uh... yeah-" The door gave a tiny click to signify that it was shut to the silent room, "... bye."
-
Allen slowly walked through the hallway away from Ed's door with a very confused expression. After a while of walking he began to pick up his pace into run, nearly knocking over a few finders. Allen kept his head down as he ran, blushing a bright red. What's wrong with ME?!
"Allen Walker, get back here!" A voice called out behind him; Allen lifted his head up in surprise and slowed down to turn and see a raging blonde down the hall chasing after him.
"Link? What are you doing here?" Allen asked as the blonde caught up to him and tried to catch his breath.
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be doing work in the library!" Link bellowed as his face became red with anger; Allen jumped back a little turning pale white that nearly matched his hair.
"S-s-sorry, I f-forgot!" He squeaked before being dragged through the halls by his collar.
"I'm gonna show you that you should never forget doing your work!"
-
"Ne, Earl-sama." Rhode spoke up lifting her head up to look at the large man as he was writing her homework.
"What is it Rhode?" He asked not looking up at her as she shifted uncomfortably; she was unsure how he would respond to her news.
"That night when I went to see Edward-kun... Allen-kun appeared but... it wasn't Allen-kun..." In the corner of her eyes she saw the Earl freeze.
"Really?..."
"Yeah... it was the 14th..." Rhode turned her head and saw the Earl wasn't making a single movement, that wasn't a good sign. "Earl-sama?"
"..."
"... What... What are we gonna do?" The Earl finally began to move as he lifted his head to gaze at the clock on the other side of the room and then to Rhode.
"We'll continue with our plan, truthfully I shouldn't be surprised that he came out but we should be able to succeed with no other problems besides the exorcists." He leaned his head down and continued writing quickly. Rhode nodded; glad the Earl didn't go on a rampage but could tell he was not pleased.
-
"Nii-san I told you to be careful! Just because you heard that song from your dreams doesn't mean you should rush out to the enemy by yourself!" Alphonse cried out with tears in his eyes as Ed lay on the bed trying to push himself into the mattress to hide from his younger brother's wrath. "I told you I would never forgive you if you died!"
"I know Al, I know... I'm sorry but you should know me by now." Ed chuckled as he tried to lighten the mood; Al frowned at him but calmed down and sat on the bed. "I'm glad they didn't go after you though."
"I don't get it... they came after you but not me, why did they come after you anyway?"
"I don't know Al, we all don't... Rhode said the Earl was interested in me but for what we don't know." ((A lot of 'don'ts' and 'knows' huh?))
"I'm worried nii-san..." Al said as he looked at Ed's bandaged hand and grasped it; Ed tightened his hand around the younger Elric's while giving a small smile.
"Everything will be alright so don't worry, why don't you get something to eat? You probably haven't eaten anything yet." Al gave a tiny grin as he got up saying farewell before leaving through the door. Ed sighed and slumped against the pillows looking up at the ceiling.
Man... just when I thought everything will finally turn out normal for us we get sucked up into more trouble... I bet we'll never settle down until we die or something. Ed groaned placing his hands behind his head and turning to look at the door, his thoughts wandering towards a certain silver haired boy. I wonder why Allen suddenly left like that; I could tell he was lying about the food... did I say something wrong? I can't think of anything wrong I said...Why am I getting so worried about him? I barely know him, yet... Ed felt his face soften at the thought of the younger boy. His white hair giving off a light glow, his pale skin that seemed so smooth and his grey eyes that shine with kindness and strength.
Ed sat up silently placing a hand on his mouth as a dark red blush rose upon his face. Holy- I really am in love with him!
Behind his hand, Ed felt his mouth twitch into a soft smile.
-
In the library, the exorcist in Ed's mind was clouded with confusion in his.
"Walker," Allen jumped at the intruding voice only to realise it was Link. "Is something troubling you?" Link asked as he picked up the pile of papers Allen had finished writing.
"Wha? N-no, nothing's wrong..." Allen stuttered as he looked down on his report that he had stopped writing for ten minutes. He lifted his gaze again to see Link still stare at him with an eyebrow raised. "W-what?"
"You're lying; I bet an idiot can tell you're lying too." Allen gave a light chuckle as Link sat down again picking up a book to read. Allen then sighed and looked at his black arm.
"Link... what is the feeling you get when someone talks about somebody else in an affectionate way and you feel a punch to your stomach when you hear them?" Link looked up to see the boy's expression to see a sad smile on it. Link looked down back to his book.
"That's called jealousy." Allen snapped his head up to Link in shock.
"Jealousy?!"
"Well... what else can it be? Do you feel really close to this person?"
"Uh..."
"I'll take that as a yes; anyway, you're feeling envious of the person who is taking all the attention of the one you care about." Allen looked down again feeling a strong blush bloom on his cheeks. I'm jealous? Because Ed cares about someone else? Haha... It's funny how as I think of this my chest hurts.
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*gets slapped* WAH! I'm sorry! I'm only 15, I have a lot of stuff going on in my life *gets slapped again* I'm sorry I said I have no life before! I was kidding! *gets slapped again* I DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL HIM! *gets sla-wha?!* O.o
*cough* Anyway, gomen for the long update (it's been what? 4 months?) It's just I'm not good with writing romances.
Anyway, thanks for those you have been reviewing, faving AND waiting; you are the ones who torment me about updating =D
Title Song: Creeping In My Soul – Christina Lorentzen
~ L.o.v.e.l.e.s.s – H.e.a.r.t.l.e.s.s
