Holy poop! I wasn't expecting a review at all! I woke up this morning with thirteen emails blinking on my phone! Thank you! Hmm… you have a concern over the eye? Give it a few chapters.
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I DO NOT OWN FMA
CHAPTER TEN:
Before the train left for Central, Pinako advised Ed to look out for Maggie.
"She doesn't know when to quit, that girl. Even if her body tells her to stop, she won't." she muttered, chewing on her pipe. "Watch her."
Ed had carried her from the house down to the train station, even though she protested. She had fallen asleep a few minutes into the ride. Her legs were curled against her chest, her real arm wrapped around her knees, and her fake arm cradling her head against the window.
On the way to the station she'd explained to him that the body had been buried in the basement of her old house. She would stay there until she was ready to go back to Granny Pinako. After all, it was cheaper than a hotel she couldn't pay for. He'd asked if the house had been sold while she was gone and she explained that the house belonged to her, since she was the remaining family member.
He still didn't like the idea of having her follow him to Central. Sure Winry was there and Al would jump at the chance to see her again, but it was dangerous and her health wasn't that great to begin with. If she couldn't walk into town without coughing up blood, then how could she dig up a grave?
When they reached Central, Maggie suggested that they part ways. She said that if someone was after him, then it would be even more dangerous to be seen with him. He opened his mouth, ready to protest, but she punched him in the arm with her automail fist.
"I'll be fine." She hissed, stifling a cough.
Ed sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Sure, but maybe I should send Winry or Al to help you…"
"No," Maggie bit out. "I'm fine on my own. I'll call your hotel when I find anything."
With that she spun on her heel and headed off in the direction of her childhood home. It wasn't as pretty as Ed's house was in the pictures at the Rockbell home, or as large. It had a basement that was nothing but concrete walls and a dirt floor. The first floor had a small living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms. There were two rooms upstairs, a bedroom and a bathroom with only a toilet and bathtub.
The outside was made of crumbling red brick and oak stained black. The roof was tin and the sun glinted off of it harshly in the afternoon light. The sight of the house made Maggie sigh in comfort. Everything inside had been coated in a layer of dust and cobwebs hung on the corners of the ceiling. It seemed still and dead.
Shrugging off her backpack, Maggie entered the living room. The creaky oak floor had been stained with her own blood and the blood of the monster she brought back to life. The chalk on the floor had turned pink and faded over.
She remembered telling the soldiers that found her to bury the body in the basement. She didn't know why she told them to do that, but it could have been because of the fact that the house held so many happy memories for Sophira. If there was a place she'd rather be buried, it would be the house she grew up in.
The stairs leading down to the basement groaned under the light weight of her footsteps. The single light bulb flickered sadly in the middle of the plain room. Sitting gently on the bottom step, she waited a second to catch her breath. Preforming alchemy took a lot of energy out of her.
When she found the body and unearthed it, she had to use the wall to support her body as she crossed the earth floor. The bones she peered down at jotted out in odd angles and the skull was only partly formed. Bits of blond hair sprouted out of what was left of the crown on the skull. Her sister had auburn hair, not blond.
Her stomach lurched and she vomited. A pint of blood and bile poured out her lips. She wasn't sure if it was the discovery of the body she had attempted to bring to life or the energy she had wasted digging it up that caused her to vomit. She weakly managed to climb the stairs and switch off the light.
Grabbing the phone, she slid down the wall and sat on the floor. She was wheezing and there wasn't a doubt that he could hear it through the phone.
"Ed?" she whispered weakly.
"Maggie? You sound awful, are you okay?" he sounded panicked, and if that was the sound of his coat she was going to kill him. "I can be there in-"
"It wasn't her." She choked out. "It wasn't my sister! I gave half of my life to bring back someone that wasn't my sister!"
Maggie broke down in sobs, unable to hold them back any longer. The other end remained silent for a moment before another voice came over the line.
"Maggie, please don't cry." It was Al, his soothing voice was laced with worry. "Please."
She tried her best, but the tears just kept flowing. She released the phone and let it swing against the wall. Ed and Al's voices echoed softly but she ignored them. Curling into a ball, she sobbed until she fell asleep.