Return to the Underworld

Chapter 9

Edward stared in disbelief. The book in his hands suddenly felt heavier, and the air around him became thicker. Breathing became difficult. Church studied Edward carefully, noticing how quiet the young man had suddenly become.

"Find Edward Elric," Ed sighed, his hands smoothing over each word carefully, checking if what he is seeing is real. "That's... no, it can't be."

"I think it very well could," Church suggested. "Perhaps he was trying to find you. The Fullmetal Alchemist is searching for you, and I think we found him. We found you, Edward."

It took a while before Edward could find his voice again. It felt so awkward to speak. "I think you got it all wrong," Ed's voice was shaking. "The Fullmetal Alchemist is my alias. That's my other name. A name that only people back home would know."

Ed looked up, a pleading look was in his eyes, and he looked at Church for some answers. Church sighed at Edward's sudden distress. "Your other home," the old man rasped. "Edward, do you wish to go back to the other world?"

Edward closed the book and placed it on the desk. He nodded.

"I think I can help you," he continued. "I am also searching for a way to go there, to open the door to this other world. Tell me something Edward, what do you call your home?"

It didn't sound like a question, but more or less an order, an instruction for Edward to provide an answer for. Ed shifted in his seat awkwardly, not knowing whether or not Church was a legitimate man. Edward pondered over the question, and his mind whirled with many conflicting suggestions. Church might be able to be a key link for Edward, a link to get him home, so he wanted to give as much information to him. But on the other hand, why would someone from this world want to go to his?

What were his intentions?

"I can't remember," Ed whispered, settling on the bluff card. "I suffer from a little bit of amnesia when I was transported here. It was a rough ride."

"A rough ride?" Church repeated. "How did you travel here? And why? Were you on a voyage into the unknown?"

Again, Ed pondered over the question, trying to figure out an answer that would be satisfactory, yet not too revealing in nature. "No, I wasn't in a voyage." He started. "I was trying to save my brother's life using alchemy, but I had to sacrifice my whole body to do so. I was unconscious for a while, and then I woke up in the middle of nowhere."

"Sacrifice?" he questioned. "Or suicide?"

Edward's voice had never felt so thick before, and his eyes faltered slightly. "It was for my brother." He muttered. "I never intended to come here."

The old man sighed, shifting the knot in his tie to the middle as he observed Edward. "Well, intentional or unintentional, here you are." Church wheezed and gave Ed a wizened smile. "Become my assistant, and we can both combine our knowledge of alchemy. And together we can go to the other world. Intentionally, of course."

- - -

"Did you get in?" Charice pounced as soon as Edward entered the house. He nodded wordlessly before he disappeared upstairs. "E-Ed? Where are you going?"

He stopped at the top of the stairs; a tired expression was on his face. "Charice, can you arrange another meeting with your teacher?"

"U-uh, which one?" she stammered, clutching her mobile phone uncomfortably. "Do you want it tomorrow after school?"

"Tomorrow after school with Mr. Van Hopkins. I'll wait for you in the lobby." He replied curtly before he hurriedly went into his room. He closed the door, clearly not wanting Charice to bother him anymore. Charice clutched her phone, feeling disheartened at his sudden attitude. She sighed as she dialled a number into her phone, walking into the garden where it was quiet and sunny.

- - -

The lobby was cluttered with different art work done by the students. Some were colourful and pleasing to the eye, but some of them looked like some child has vomited a load of paint onto a canvas and decided to call it art. Edward sat in one of the lumpy guest chairs, reading one of the newspapers that were piled onto the small table in the middle of the room. The school receptionist was busily filing her nails behind her desk, oblivious to her surrounding as she listened to her headphones.

Edward came in early, so he still had a while to wait for Charice to meet him. Occasional students would wait in the lobby for their friends. A couple of girls were on the arm chairs next to him, and they gossiped merrily about some of the most mundane things in life. But Edward eavesdropped anyway, since he has nothing else to do to occupy his mind.

"Oh yeah, I think I remember now," a small black girl said to the blonde girl in front of her. "Yeah, that was well out of order to call you a cow."

"I know, right," the blonde girl replied, crossing her arms in an exaggerated manner. "They are no good, them lot. I mean, haven't they got anything else better to do other than be bitches themselves?"

A dark skinned girl was also with them, but she looked like she was having a hard time to follow the conversation. "Wait," she said, holding up her hand. "What bitchy group are you talking about?"

The black girl raised a brow, as if what they were talking about was referring to the most obvious people possible. "You know," she hissed under her breath. "Kelly, Lauren and Charice."

"Oh," the dark girl exclaimed in realisation. "Those girls... yeah, I don't like them. They are just stuck up and selfish. Kelly lost her virginity when she was fourteen!"

The other two gasped. "Really?" the blonde girl whispered. "How did you find out?"

She giggled. "Lauren has a big mouth," she blurted. "She can't keep a secret either. Tell her anything, and she'll spread it."

The black girl tried to hold back her laughter. "Kelly and Lauren are always like that anyway, they can't live without a boyfriend," she sighed, waving a dismissive hand at the thought. Her eyes then widened in realisation. "Oh my gosh, did you hear about Charice though?"

"What?" the other two said in unison. The black girl put her hand over her mouth to refrain from laughing too much.

"She fancies this thirty year old from the library!" she snorted. They all guffawed in laughter. Edward raised a brow at this, smirking slightly. "His name is Roy, and oh my gosh she cannot stop talking about him. It's all Roy this, Roy that, Roy here, Roy there, blah blah blah. She only likes to talk about boys and herself."

"That is too funny," the blonde girl cried. "Are you serious? After all of that fuss over her taking the mick out of the smart girls, here she is liking a geek. She acts dumb as well so she gets attention. Charice is just shallow."

"Way shallow." The black girl added. "She's two faced, that's why. When she is with Kelly and Lauren she's nasty, but when she's on her own she's really nice apparently."

"Key word is apparently." The other girl commented. "I don't get why she's like that though, I think she's too scared to stand up for herself, that's why she acts nice."

"Do you think it could be the other way round?" the dark skinned girl wondered. "Do you think she's too scared to stand up to Kelly and Lauren, that's why she acts nasty? Because Kelly and Lauren keep talking about her behind her back as well-"

"Shush! Here she comes!"

The three girls instantaneously changed subjects, and started talking about diets instead. Edward gave them a sideways glance before he tilted up his head to see Charice skittering towards him. She gave him a friendly smile, and Edward returned a half hearted wave. The three other girls shifted in their seats so their backs were turned on her.

"Hey Ed," Charice piped. "Have you been waiting long?"

"No," he lied. "Where's Mr. Hopkins's office?"

"Oh, yeah, about that..." Charice stalled as she adjusted her bag higher up her shoulder. "Mr. Hopkins has apparently gone on holiday in Mexico, so we won't be seeing him for over two weeks. Sorry Edward."

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, and he sighed in annoyance. Charice watched him warily, unsure of what to do. Eventually he stood up straighter, giving her a quick smile before he sauntered off, Charice in tow.

The walk home was slightly awkward for Charice. She didn't know what to do, while Edward didn't know what to think. He didn't take Charice to be mean or nasty, but he knew that she was definitely self centred enough to only think about herself.

"Charice," he started. She looked over to him, happier that at least he has started talking. "Do you have a hard time at school?"

She changed her mind about being happy with Ed speaking. Her shoulders slumped slightly. "Yeah, it's fine." She said nonchalantly. Her hand played with her bag strap absentmindedly. "Kind of..."

He raised a brow at this. "Kind of?" he repeated. Charice nodded, and she looked away from him.

"Those girls next to you in the lobby," she explained. "I knew they were talking about me. A lot of people talk about us these days. What did you hear?"

Ed was a little surprised at how quickly she had caught on, but he was also slightly disturbed when he could hear a little bit of absolution in her voice. "I heard about someone called Kelly and Lauren," he sighed. "These girls give you a hard time?"

She snorted sadistically as she quickened her pace. "Yeah, but I deserved it. I haven't exactly been nice to them either-"

"I meant Kelly and Lauren, not the girls in the lobby."

She kept silent; instead she looked down and watched the patio, careful that she wouldn't step on any cracks or gaps of the pavement. "Kelly and Lauren are my friends," she muttered. "Always have been since primary school."

"Are they nice?" he asked. Charice only shrugged.

"They are as nice as me," she scoffed. "In other words, no."

Ed could only laugh at the comment. He cleared his throat to disguise his laughter, but Charice noticed anyway. He shook his head, sighing through his nose as they walked. "You know, if those girls were as nice as you, then you wouldn't be unhappy at the moment," he mused. "Because, as far as I'm concerned, you've been pretty kind and thoughtful towards me."

Charice mulled over his words as she fiddled with her bag strap. She kicked a stone that was on the floor, scuffing the heel of her shoe as she did so. "But that's you," she kicked another stone. "At school it's different."

"That's not an excuse," Edward said, his tone low and serious. "Charice, friends don't influence you or scare you. If you can't act like yourself with them, then that just means you're not comfortable around them. Personally, I don't think I want to be associated with anyone who turns me into someone I don't want to be."

He heard her sniff, and he glanced over worriedly to check if she was crying. She wasn't. Instead, Charice looked slightly bitter, her brows furrowed together in frustration, and she had a slight frown. She shook her head, for reasons Edward couldn't figure out, and simply walked on ahead without him.

- - -

Charice was thinking over what Ed said the day before. She pondered over it so much that she gave up and went to bed. But when she woke up in the morning she made up her mind. Charice came to a final conclusion of what she had to do. She didn't want to be talked about in a bad way, and she didn't really want to be harsh to anyone anymore.

So Charice came to a definite decision. She wants to be herself, and that meant cutting the ties that changes her into someone she does not want to be.

"You alright Charice?" A tall girl with chestnut brown asked. She was pretty, and she knew it as she walked with a slight strut. Her school skirt was higher up than usual, like Charice's, accessorized with a very large waist belt. "You've been really quiet. You thinking of Roy again?"

Charice sighed, pursing her lips slightly. "No Kelly," she said. An Indian girl, equally as tall and pretty, perked up slightly as they walked through the school grounds. "Kelly, Lauren, I have to talk to you."

Kelly bent down slightly, wondering what Charice has to say. Lauren ignored them as she stared at another direction. She sniggered as she spotted someone, averting the attention to her instead. "Oh my gosh," Lauren giggled. "Little Poppy is on her own, over there, let's go talk to her. She looks all lonely."

Kelly and Lauren walked off, Charice dragged along by her wrist. Poppy was a small girl sitting on the school benches outside. She had a few revision cards out in front of her, and she was busily listening to her music player as she sorted them out. Lauren and Kelly sat on either side of her, startling Poppy. Charice stood awkwardly at the side, clearly wanting to not do this.

"Hi?" Poppy greeted with uncertainty at Kelly. Lauren took a headphone from Poppy's ear and placed it in her own, grimacing slightly at what she's hearing.

"Is that emo music? Sound like he's dying," she commented. "Are you an emo now?"

Poppy shifted in her seat slightly, and she stuttered incomprehensively.

"You are an emo, aren't you?" Kelly added. "Why are you on your own?"

"Yeah, why are you on your own?" Lauren jeered. "Do you cut yourself? Are you giving yourself paper cuts or something?"

"I'm just trying to revise," Poppy said, completely overwhelmed. Kelly giggled with Lauren.

"Is that why you cut yourself?" Lauren tittered, giving back the headphone. "It's pretty pathetic to cut yourself because you have a test coming up. Are you trying to get attention or something?"

Charice clenched her jaw as she saw Poppy growing increasingly angry. "Can you just piss off?" Poppy snapped, annoyed at the three of them. However, Poppy's outburst seemed to only add fuel to the fire, and Kelly and Lauren cackled in hysteria.

"Are you trying to be hard now?" Kelly guffawed. "Is the emo geek trying to be hard?"

Lauren and Kelly carried on laughing at Poppy, who seemed near enough to tears now. Kelly nudged Poppy's arm in amusement. "Ah shit, she's about to cry. Careful, don't start slitting your wrists now. Suicide is not the way, my friend."

Lauren hooted as she clutched her sides, as if what Kelly had said was the funniest thing she has ever heard. Poppy shot distasteful glances to each of them, including Charice. It hurt Charice slightly, that she also shared the hated reputation just because she was associated with them. She watched Kelly and Lauren give each other high fives with glee. Kelly stood up; extending her palm out so Charice could do the same.

Charice gave a quick glance to Poppy, seeing that the tears has finally spilled, and then returned her gaze to Kelly. Charice then gave Kelly a huge grin.

"That was hilarious," Charice giggled. She returned the high five and then walked up closer to Kelly. "Funniest fucking thing I have ever seen."

Charice then suddenly slapped Kelly across her face, her expression suddenly deadpan. Lauren ceased laughing and only stared at Charice in shock. Poppy's eyes had practically popped out of her head, and she seemed to have completely forgotten about crying.

Kelly stroked her jaw as she glared at Charice. Charice only stood there, her hands clenched tightly together, and she gave both Kelly and Lauren a harsh stare. "I'm fucking sick of you two," Charice yelled, pointing a finger at each of them. "I can't stand you two. You've both been little shits, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one that thinks that."

Lauren suddenly sneered. "Aw, look, Charice is trying to play hard as well," she chortled. "In case you haven't noticed, you ain't exactly been a saint either."

Charice pointed a finger at Lauren's chest. "Shut up," she threatened. "Or next time I'll use my fist."

Kelly and Lauren became quiet, and lost for words they both sauntered off, muttering insults as they walked past. Charice took in a deep breath. Spotting some of Poppy's revision cards on the floor, she picked them up and handed it to Poppy. Poppy accepted them, giving Charice a slightly wary look.

"You okay?" Charice asked, giving her a friendly smile. Poppy only stared at her incredulously.

"I thought you were best friends with them?" Poppy replied as she placed the cards into her bag. Charice gave her a smirk, pulling down her skirt so it wasn't so obscenely short.

"Yeah, well," Charice mumbled as she sat next to Poppy. "I've wanted a change. I'm kinda tired of being one of them. They're not exactly the best kind of people to hang around with, if you know what I mean."

Poppy only smiled, her trust rising for the half Spaniard next to her. "I see what you mean," she laughed. "Thank you."

- - -

Isn't Ed such a good guy?

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