Chapter 10 "Unexpected Visitor"
Disclaimer: I do not own anything involving Full Metal Alchemist (Do I have to tell you who Ode belongs to? It's pretty obvious)
To those who reviewed, or just enjoy reading this story, you guys are FANTASTIC! I'm excited that it has finally reached double digits in chapters! :)
Enjoy the read!
For a long time Ode kneeled in the putrid murky waters, as she waited for the echoes of the slaughter fest to no longer bounce around the walls. When she was sure those agonizing screams had vanished, she raised her freezing body from the water, and stepped on solid ground.
She was miserable. Her whole body shook violently from the near icy chilled water, soaking her to the bone. The filthy water wasn't even kind enough to rinse off most of the dripping blood, still pouring slowly from the side of her head, and down her dark crimson neck. She wasn't too sure which part of her was drenched in dirty water or blood, all she knew was she felt horribly disgusted by the ghastly combination.
Even more so, the searing pain in her torn up ear had not ceased once, while she waited in the dark tunnel. It took much restraint to not clutch on the bleeding mess of flesh, knowing well it wasn't wise to place her dirty hand on the wound. The last thing she wanted was to add to the intense sting. Ode still couldn't hear well out of her ear; only able to listen to the annoying ringing sound. If only it would stop, then perhaps her pounding headache would end…or maybe it was due to the loss of blood?
With much effort, Ode managed to take her first step on the cement, and slowly started to walk away. She could feel her energy seep out as her black shoes tapped against the floor, a woozy wave whipping around her head and down to her stomach.
"Where are you off to, Jane Doe?"
Ode halted clumsily to a stop, slightly tilting her head upward and slanted her eyes to the left. "My name is Ode."
"You're a fool if you think you can just walk out of the pub, looking so hideous," the black bird chirped, as it flew in place, "You would attract attention."
For awhile Ode let her blood covered lips stay closed, staring at the onyx creature. "I want to ask you something—"
Her brown eyes shifted upward to glance at the ceiling, looking away from the birds calm red ones, "—how was your day?"
The rapid flapping of black wings faded out, as the animal carefully landed right by Ode's feet. Another moment of silent trudged passed them, before the bird replied to the young teen.
"…Are you really that stupid? Who would ask such a ridiculous thing?" the bird squawked icily. If the bird could sneer, it would have when Ode didn't respond. "I suppose, it was terrible yet, exciting. I was able to watch a massacre…although it was spent with you."
Once again, the cinnamon-eyed girl started to travel painfully down the sewers, never turning around to glance at the bird.
"Did you hear what I just said earlier?" it squawked from behind.
"Yes, but I don't like you," Ode retorted, "And I don't want to stay here any longer, so I'm going. Goodbye black bird."
The black bird watched as she vanished into the darkness, its frightful red eyes narrowed darkly. In an instant the creature melted into the shadows, where it would stay and wait. Wait for the right time to return.
-x-x-x-
The welcoming light of the warm sun enthralled Ode, as she reached the top of the stairs. Her cold quivering form felt some small comfort from the beams. She guessed it was near dusk, when she carefully walked further away from the Devil's Nest…never to return again.
There were no signs of any military officers standing around the area, nor were there any signs that the military even arrived to the secluded pub. It was like everything was normal, like no one was killed that gruesome day.
It was disturbing.
Too many emotions Ode experienced in the outside world clashed harshly upon each other. She didn't know what to feel right then, while she quietly wandered through familiar back ways. Was she meant to cry for the loss of her fallen friends? Be frightened that she is alone, or that the military may come to finish her off? Or maybe be worried for her leader, Greed? Confused? Remain calm? What? What was she suppose to feel?
Ode snapped her eyes shut as her vision became hazy in her state of panic. She was lightheaded and quickly lost her balance, falling backwards against the hard brick wall. All the pain she was enduring brutally increased inside her head, causing Ode to groan loudly.
"Stop hurting, please!" Ode whined, gripping at her two-coloured hair, and smearing wet blood all over the blonde part. She tossed and turned out of her sitting pose, and fell to the ground, rolling in every direction to help cope with the severe sensory.
"…..de..."
Listening with her good ear, she could have sworn she heard a boyish toned voice call out from the alley. Ode clenched her teeth shut, fighting back a pathetic whimper wanting to break free. "...ld on…..ther…O…"
Scattered words managed to register in her mind, confirming someone was talking. Ode flipped her body to the side and angled her undamaged ear to the sky, hoping to understand the person.
"Ode, can you hear me? What's wrong?" She knew that voice! The brown-eyed girl slid her gaze upward, seeing a double vision figure hovering above her. Her blurred sight was coming back as the awful pain began to dull. Kneeling beside her was a rather tall guy with a pair of small red eyes, a scribbled sharp mouth, and was made of metal.
"Alphonse, you're not dead," Ode muttered weakly.
The metal armour shook his head, "No I'm not. But, look at you! You're covered in blood!" Alphonse flexed both of his bulky arms towards Ode, and gently wrapped them around her lying body, pulling her up to a sitting position.
It was then that Alphonse's older brother rounded the corner with a plain medium sized bucket clutched in his metal hand, and a few folded up white towels in the other. At first, Ed only noticed his brother kneeling in the middle of the back way, but soon suspected Al was not by himself.
"Al, that better not be another stray cat," Ed called in a low tone, before setting the bucket of water, and soft cloths down, "Al?"
Alphonse turned part way to the blonde, showing him an alarming sight of the hurt teen that sat behind him, instead of a random cat he normally would find in a deserted alley.
The alchemist's golden eyes widened in terror and instantly hurried over to his younger brother. As he approached the two, he caught a glimpse at the unusual hair colour of the petite figure. It didn't take him long to put two and two together.
"What the hell? Was this the military's doing?" Ed whispered urgently, his voice filled with disbelief, along with a great deal of anger.
He had mixed feelings about the strange teen who randomly entered his life at the wrong moments. The alchemist wasn't fond of her in the slightest, and since she played a part in the kidnapping of his brother, she couldn't be trusted. But, no matter how much the brat angered him, he knew that she didn't deserve this.
"Brother, Ode needs to be taken to a doctor, fast!" Al said.
"Right, let's go Al!"
-x-x-x-
Ode lightly traced her finger tips over the large square bandage on her ear. The doctor told her that the remaining part of her ear would heal without trouble; the only problem is that she may never hear out of that ear again.
'It's not the worst thing that has happened today.' Ode thought to herself, letting her hand drop from the bandage and land on the white coloured bed.
"Ode?" Alphonse called, while entering the small room, his brother following after him. The brown-eyed girl glanced over at the Elric brothers, merely giving them half a smile.
"How are you feeling?" the blonde asked halfheartedly.
"I feel…nothing," Ode stated plainly, "That is normal, right?"
The two brothers turned to each other, and back at Ode with sullen expressions. Her eyes returned to her sheets, understanding that it was not a good thing to be in this condition. The foul odor of sewage water and drying blood had been washed from her light olive skin, yet she felt no relief when the clean water dripped down her body. The doctor's miracle pill that removed that horrid pain, did not effected her emotions in the slightest either. Such a kind tablet would normally make her gawk in awe at its magic...but her clean face remained blank.
"It's just a form of coping with grief, Ode," Al spoke, as he moved towards the bed to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"What grief? I told you, I feel nothing,"she responded in a monotone voice, "There's no water; not even a sting in my eyes."
"Crying isn't the only way—"
"I saw their bodies lie in a puddle of blood, and all I wanted to do was run away. I didn't care that they died."
Except for a few.
"It's human nature to want to survive," Edward muttered in a matter-of-fact tone. He was still bitter towards Ode, but there were some things, such as wanting to live, that could be justified.
"Is it human nature to kill someone? What about wanting others to survive? Shouldn't that be in our nature, too? Why do humans place themselves first?" Ode's hands grabbed at her hair, messing it up, while her emotions surfaced from their numb cage. Then, his smug grin flashed over her eyes, "Why did he care for his possessions? He always came first, didn't he?"
Didn't he?
Ode must have confused the two brothers near the end of her rant, as a long pause lingered on in the patient's small room. The metal brother broke the silence with the first syllable of his sentence, but was cut off by a louder, much older sounding voice speaking from the doorway.
"My, my, what a popular little lady."
All three heads turned to the entrance to see a fairly tall man, wearing a blue military uniform. He had well kept black hair and a matching mustache on his wrinkling face. His most distinguished feature however, was his bright turquoise eye, accompanied by a black eye patch on the opposite side. Oh, how intimidating he looked just standing there.
"Führer King Bradley," the blonde murmured, staring suspiciously at the leader of Amestris.
"What are you doing here, sir?" the younger brother questioned politely.
Bradley peered darkly at the adolescent's huddled before him. Although it was subtle, there was a threatening gleam in his eye Ode happened to notice. It barely lasted long, as he closed his single eye, and gave a friendly smile.
"I was informed that one of my men had accidentally shot a poor girl, while attempting to seek out a gang of dangerous men," the Führer replied, casually stepping further in the white room, his arms crossed neatly behind his back, "And I'm here to personally apologize for such a mistake."
When he stopped near the bed his eye snapped open, resting intently on the two-colour haired girl. The older man was still smiling down at her, but his warm gesture failed to bring Ode any ease.
He seemed like a predator.
"That's kind of you, Führer" Alphonse said.
Bradley nodded his head in acknowledgment to the metal boy, before leaning somewhat forward, to capture Ode's full attention. "It's a pleasure to meet you, miss."
Ode kept a blank expression, as she cautiously raised her cinnamon eyes up to meet his gaze. She could tell he was surprised to find her emotions were displayed so openly in her eyes, betraying the poker face she had. In an unspoken conversation she expressed a deep curiosity for the military man, though a twinge of fear glazed the irises, like a thick fog.
'Why can't I speak to him?' she pondered,unable to break the contact.
Another pause tainted the air with an awkwardness, refusing to die away by itself. Losing a bit of his patience, King Bradley opened his mouth to speak again, "You're name is Ode, correct?"
"Yes." Ode muttered, sparing them both from another uncomfortable silence.
"That's such a unique name. You wouldn't know where the origins of that name come from, do you?"
"No, I made it up."
"Uhhhhh—What she means is, she made up the nickname!" Ed sprang forward, as he power walked across the room, waving his hands in a frantic window-washing movement, "Her real name is Ode...tte, you see!"
'Odette's my real name?' she blinked a few times. Behind the most important man in the country, stood Edward, signaling Ode with wide eyes to shut up.
"...I see, very well."Bradley responded as he tipped his head down, shrouding the upper part of his aging face in darkness.
Ode couldn't explain why the man suddenly brought her on edge. This man had done nothing wrong to her, so why did she sense a barrier of resentment separating him from her? She felt like a beast was attempting to hunt her down, loathing how she was out his reach, but so close. It was unsettling to believe a man who spoke warmly to her, caused her to feel unsafe.
"I sincerely apologize for causing you trouble, and the loss of your ear and hearing," The Führer said, resting one of his arms over his heart, then used his other arm to point at his eye patch, "I too, know what it's like to lose half of your senses." Bradley straightened his posture, and turned his back to the young girl, making his way out of the room. His gloved hand grasped the door frame, then pivoted his body sideways, "I hope you have a fast recovery, young lady. Take care."
As the military leader departed out the door, Ode was left wondering about the older man with the eye patch. If his men were responsible for her ear being shot off in the Devil's Nest, then that meant it was under his order that all the chimera's be killed. He was the reason for her loss, her pain, and her home. A fire grew to a wild blaze in her heart. She had no clue what this new emotion was, though it shook her to the core, throwing her on another emotional ride. Ode glared at the wooden floor as her right hand formed a tight fist.
'How could he?...'
-x-x-x-
Führer King Bradley leisurely strolled to the back of the train, as it traveled through the night to reach Central. When he was sure that no one was following him, he quietly slid the storage compartment door open, and slipped inside. Like Bradley predicted, out from the shadows of the dark storage area wobbled a short overweight creature with white orbs for eyes. His large grin stretched out his face, realizing who appeared by the door.
"Did Wrath kill the girl?" the plump monster questioned.
"Unfortunately, the girl was being watched by the Elric brothers." Wrath admitted, to the other homunculus, "Had I tried to kill her, those boys would surely have intervened to try and save her. And I can't risk fighting two of our sacrifices."
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" a raspy voice chuckled, "With all the luck she has, you won't be able to touch her."
Narrowing his eye, Wrath unsheathed his sword and walked over to the chained up homunculus, lying on his back. Glowering down at the fallen monster, the Führer was so tempted to stab his sword straight into his cocky smirk. "I easily slayed your precious pets with one swing of my sword. What makes you think a pathetic human, could escape me even with luck, when those chimera's could not?"
"You don't think I let any human become one of my favourite possessions, do you? I want the best, and for anyone to make the cut, they have to be the best of their kind." Greed enthused, despite being in such a weak state.
"I fail to see how any human could be the best. However, that brat may be lucky," in a swift motion, Wrath raised his sword, then thrust the weapon with great force deep into the ultimate shields chest, "But her luck will eventually run out. And once it does, I'll be there to watch her take her last breath."
Greed released a gurgled groan, while he choked on his own blood, spewing out from his mouth. His face was twisted in pain from the sword, along with Wrath's cruel words, "Damn...you." Because of Wrath's constant killing, it took much longer for the greedy homunculus to heal his wounds, as well as to hold consciousness. To his despair the world around him started to fade as he blacked out under, Wrath's vengeful eye.
"Gluttony, make sure to keep an eye on him." The human-like homunculus ordered, not bothering to remove the sword out from Greed, "Envy should come to assist you, once the train has arrived in Central."
"Okay! Will Wrath go and kill the girl, soon?" Gluttony childishly wondered.
"No, it would be a useless thing to do. I only said it to make him suffer. The only humans Father deems important are the candidates to become sacrifices, not a failed experiment that decided to tag along with Greed." And with that, Wrath left the storage area to return to his private compartment.
-x-x-x-
Sorry this is a little short compared to the others! :( Though to make up for it, the next one should be coming out next week. I had full intention of placing Ling in this chapter, but it didn't seem to want to fit in just yet, so he will be showing up in the next chapter. Hope you liked it, and stay cool you lovely people!