The next day, after I'd taken a shower and washed my clothes, (it had taken a long time, the entirety of my morning wrapped up in a fluffy bathrobe which I hoped I could keep) , I met up with Ed and Al in Roy's office to discuss how to get me back to my world. Roy refused to let us in unless we promised to leave the couch cushions alone, but I'm pretty sure Ed had his fingers crossed behind his back, too. After that, we got straight to business, negotiating how long I was to stay in their world and what I would do during that time. Honestly, I wanted to go around and meet everyone, but I knew it was out of question if my sightseeing got in the way.
"Well, I'd like to meet and greet all the familiar characters from the anime," I murmured, sighing dramatically with my chin propped up in my hand. "But I know that not everyone is exactly on speaking terms. Although…there is one person I'd like to avoid."
"Oh, yeah?" Ed asked, sarcastic. I think my being Envy's fangirl kind've got to him, even after I'd explained that though I don't usually like main characters, he was pretty freaking awesome. "Who would that be? Armstrong?"
I snorted, thinking of Armstrong and his manly sparkles. Of Manliness. "Are you kidding? I love that guy to death. No, I mean Selim. Can we just try to stay away from him at all and any costs?"
The three guys all stared at me disbelievingly. I knew what was going through their heads, since they were hardly past the piece of the storyline where Hughes died. They wouldn't even know about the Fuhrer, much less his so-called 'son'.
"Selim." Roy repeated flatly, one eyebrow raised. "Selim Bradley, the adorable little son of Fuhrer King Bradley? That Selim? I'd have thought that since you're a girl, you'd like him since he's cute."
"Yeah. I did. When I still thought he was a little kid who adored Ed and not a creepy-ass homunculus." I muttered. "That 'eyes and teeth in the darkness' thing weirds me out beyond belief, and his disjointed, whispery, horror-movie voice gives me nightmares." I shuddered at the thought of meeting him face-to-face. NOT if I can help it, I thought firmly. And if I can't, I'm running like the hounds of hell were at my heels.
"What? Selim's one of them?" Al exclaimed. "Are you sure?"
"Never been more sure of anything," I replied. "Selim is Pride, the first of the homunculi, and he's the creepiest little mofo I've ever had the displeasure of seeing, in ANY anime, in ANY manga, OR in real life. And he's creepier, even, because I thought he was so adorable and I wanted to huggle and cuddle him because he was all 'I wanna be like the Fullmetal Alchemist!' and then he's like, 'I'm watching you from the shadows'." I pitched my voice up and lowered it dramatically, wiggling my fingers and rolling my eyes for effect. It was true that the parts where Selim made an appearance were my least favorite parts, simply because he freaked me out. Which was kind of odd, considering that Envy was my favorite, but at least he doesn't give me nightmares.
"Alright. I'll believe that," Roy said dismissively. "Anything else?"
"I don't think so. Actually, yeah. Can we go looking around?" I asked. "Have you guys found Ling yet?"
"The Xing prince? Yeah."
"I want to see him, too!" I smiled excitedly. "I want to see Havoc, and Riza, and I want to pet Black Hayate, and-"
"Alright, alright. So it's settled, then. Peyton, you'll stay here for a couple of weeks and we'll see if things turn out the way you say, although I have to admit that you're pretty convincing already. In the meantime, you can go around and see the sights that you want to. I want you to report back here every evening at 7:00 sharp, to write down key elements of what should happen in the future. You can help the Elrics with their philosopher stone and at the end, you can help them transport you back to your world. Sound good?" Roy asked, looking at the three younger people sitting on the couch in front of his desk.
"Sounds great!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah." Edward grinned and nodded.
"Cool!" Alphonse agreed.
~"~
Quite a few hours later, I caught myself humming and grinning ear-to-ear; something I don't usually make a habit of. I'd hate to look as idiotic as I sometimes feel, but this time there was just no containing it. Al, Ed, and I had rushed out of Roy's office, hitting the city hard and running around to make stops to meet just about everyone. I'd chatted with Riza and played a little fetch with Black Hayate, since we'd caught them just as she'd been taking him for a walk. We went to see Armstrong and I got the true experience of being in front of him when he does the speech. It was really something, I have to admit, an art form that began with him ripping his shirt off and declaring that [insert anything in the world] had been passed down the Armstrong family for generations, a generous application of sparkles, and posing. I think I was slightly blind for a few minutes afterwards.
We stopped by a small shop and brought Havoc a pack of cigarettes, which he accepted with a smile, and Ling even popped up once. He reminded us that we were hungry, and at the expense of Ed's wallet, we went out to eat at a restaurant on the outskirts of town that had the most delicious steak I think I've ever eaten. I was utterly dismayed when I realized that the sun had begun dipping down underneath the horizon.
"What time is it?" I asked idly, glaring at the sun. Why couldn't it have stayed up a little longer? As soon as the thought had formulated itself, I felt the urge to laugh bubble up in my throat. Not too long ago, in fact, just this morning, I'd hated the sun for coming up. And now I was mad at it for going down. How much can one place change you in such a short time? I mused to myself, watching the last light go out on what may have been the best day of my life.
"Dunno," Ed replied, reminding me that I actually existed and not just floating around inside my head. "But that clock tower says '6:55'." He added, pointing towards it.
6:55? A twinge of apprehension activated itself in my brain and I squinted at the clock face as if I could coerce it into telling me what it was about. Didn't that mean I was late for something? Or was going to be? Man, I hate to be late. I should get myself a watch. A pocketwatch, while I'm here. Pocketwatch. Military…OH SHIT, ROY!
"Roy! I'm gonna be late!" I shouted, grasping at my hair. Jeez, he was going to kill me! I turned to the Elric brothers. "I've gotta go, like, now!" I exclaimed. "I'll see you guys tomorrow!" I spun around on my heel and started running as fast as I could, towards the Central main building.
"Hey, wait-!" Al called after me, reaching forward as if he was about to stop me.
"Peyton! You can't just wander around by yourself!" Ed yelled, "It's too dangerous! Hey! We're talking to you!"
"Thanks guys!" I shot backwards, hoping they could hear, but not sparing the time to look back to make sure. "I'll be fine!"
I rounded a corner, their voices fading behind me. I don't think they were following me yet, but I'd be okay if I just went straight to Central Command. I mean, it wasn't like I'd be stopping to eyeball and agitate every homeless person in the city, was it? With that kind of logic, unless Central had a huge problem with a rodents of unusual size* overpopulation, I'd get there in one piece, maybe even just a minute or two over 7.
Central doesn't have rats; it has something much bigger and more dangerous, my conscience whispered inside my head. Before I could muse over what I could have meant by that, (sometimes, I am a mystery to myself) , I turned into another street, accidentally bumping into someone as I did so. My face and hands collided with rock-hard abs and I had to stumble backwards to look up at the person.
"Oh, so-" I began to apologize, squinting at the figure. It was officially dark now, and I could only make out a faint outline of them, but I got the feeling that they didn't have the same problem.
"Enjoying yourself?" they hissed, anger and amusement mingling together in a terrifying way. In the middle of their face, I saw the unmistakable glimmer of faint light shining off of teeth; either from grinning maliciously or grimacing mockingly. It took me a minute to process their voice, but before I could even begin to react, they'd reached forward, grabbed my neck and flung me against the wall.
My head snapped sharply against the hard brick, and as I slid down, I could feel it throbbing from the impact. Had he broken my skull? I wondered dully, as my vision began to fade again. Before it blacked out completely, I could register Envy moving towards me, my view restricted to the shadowy forms of his legs until he grasped me by my hair and dragged me upwards to face me eye-to-eye, my back against the wall.
"We need to talk, Peyton," he sneered. I mused drowsily about how I should be able to feel the pain in my head from his fingernails digging into my scalp, but everything was numb.
At that moment, I lost my last grip on consciousness and fell into my own black oblivion.
A/N: I know, I'm lazy. I'm sorry this didn't get put up sooner; I was having a hard time coming up with what to do next. This really should be three separate chapters, but knowing me, they'd be boring and rushed, since what I really wanted to do was some more brutal scenes featuring ENVY THE JEALOUS. And a little bit of PLOT DEVELOPMENT. Why is that in caps? I DON'T KNOW.
Anyways, so woot! Double digits! Less people are going to read this simply because of its length! Yay. Honestly didn't think it would get this far, ever.
Uhhmm…let me just apologize in advance for the ultimate otaku who'd like to point out some errors in the timeline. I honestly don't remember when exactly in the plot they A. found Hughes dead, B. found Ling, B. discovered Wrath & Pride. Forgive me, won't you?
If you'd like to see the full cover, just private message me your e-mail, since Fanfiction doesn't allow links.
*"Rodents of unusual size" is a quote from the Princess Bride.
Wesley3 "Rodents of unusual size?" *shakes head* "I don't believe they exist." *said rodent jumps him from nowhere*
Live Long and Comment.