Chapter Ten – Concerning Fighting, Kimei, and Sleepiness
"Go screw a palm tree, Envy," Ed growled, and I could see his muscles tighten.
"So rude, pipsqueak," Envy said with an evil chuckle. "Didn't that mother of yours teach you any manners?" Ed snarled and jumped to his feet in an instant, glaring at Envy with clenched fists. My breathing quickened, and I tried to think of what I could do to stop them. Ed fighting to the death with a homunculus didn't seem to usually end very prettily for either of them.
I figured I could try granting Envy the wish he seemed so upset about, but I didn't know what it was, so I'd have to ask him. And once I asked him, he'd expect me to do it, but maybe I wouldn't be able to. And then he'd probably get angry and lash out, most likely at Ed or me. And what if his wish involved killing people? I couldn't help him with something horrible like that.
"Just don't hurt Rebecca, she's innocent," Ed said, snapping me out of my thoughts as he glanced quickly at me.
"Oo, that almost makes me want to hurt her just because you told me not to," Envy smirked. "Good thing she's such a wonderful prize that I wouldn't dream of destroying her. Then again… she doesn't need her arms to grant wishes, does she?"
"Bastard!" Ed shouted and lunged towards Envy with his bare hands. My mind raced, knowing I only had seconds until they were fighting.
"IwishEnvywereboundinducttape!" I yelled in one panicked breath. Ed stopped running just as Envy fell to the floor, bound and gagged in silver duct tape. I breathed a sigh of relief. Duct tape had saved the day yet again.
"What the hell…?" Ed said slowly, looking at Envy curiously. Envy scowled and struggled in his bonds, but was unable to manage more than an annoyed grumble. Ed half-laughed and reached out his foot to lightly roll Envy onto his back.
"Can we get out of here now?" I sighed, relieved that Envy was no longer a threat and all the damage Ed had sustained was still from his fight with the Xingese girl. I stood up, and realized from an odd weight hanging around my shoulders that I was still wearing Ed's red coat from before. I had completely disregarded it during all the commotion.
"Alright, let's get out of here," Ed sighed in agreement before grabbing my wrist and running out of the room, pulling me along with him yet again.
"So, how much do you think I can do with all of this?" I asked as we ran. Ed glanced over at me with an expression like he was thinking the question over.
"Well, Envy mentioned that you might have enough power to even bring dead back to life, so I'd bet you could do just about anything," he said slowly. "Hell, I bet you could wish for wings if you wanted to." He paused for a minute and a glint shone in his eyes as he grinned at me. "I bet that you could even… oh, I don't know, make someone taller if you wanted to."
"Nice try, Ed," I laughed. He huffed and made a face at me, obviously displeased with my answer.
"It's not like you'd have to make me a freaking giant or anything," he grumbled. I opened my mouth to retort, but was cut off by Ed rounding a corner and coming face-to-face with three bulky men.
"Ray, go sit—" he started, but I shook my head.
"Not this time," I said determinedly. "If I can help you, I will. I've always wished I had fighting skills as good as you anyway." Ed sighed and rolled his eyes, while I grinned at him and found myself easily taking up the same fighting stance as him.
"Just don't push yourself too much," Ed grumbled. "I don't want you passing out on me again. Even if you can fight like me, you can still die from asthma." I bit my lip, considering if I could change that as well, but didn't have enough time to think about it seriously before Ed clapped his hands and formed his automail into his trademark blade once again.
Before I knew what was happening, I was running forward with Ed. One of the men grinned a toothless smile at me that showed he was obviously more brawn than brain. I winced, but also knew it would make taking him down a lot easier.
He punched towards my face, and I instinctively ducked and swept his feet out from underneath him. The bulky man fell to the ground, and I grinned in surprise at my achievement. It was a great leap in skill compared to how I used to only know three moves my brothers had taught me from their karate class.
It surprised me how easily the information necessary to fight came to me. It almost felt as if I were listening to a lecture in class and doodling at the same time. I was completely aware of what I was doing, but it was not a conscious action. I was merely doing it, not making the choice to do it. It was as if I had been consumed by instinct, and all I could do was stand by until the very organized, very controlled seizure would pass.
I could still remember how beautiful I had thought Ed's fighting to be, and I wondered briefly if I looked the same as the man pulled himself to his feet and began fighting with me.
I managed to take the man down, being careful not to exert myself so I wouldn't trigger another asthma attack. But even with only one man to fight compared to Ed fighting the other two, I still found him staring at me and leaning casually against a wall. The two men he had fought were lying on the ground and moaning in pain.
"Wow," Ed said softly as I took a moment to catch my breath. "You know, there was some part of me that always wondered what I would look like if I were fighting with boobs and hips. Be careful wearing that jacket, or people will start thinking I went and turned Al into a girl and now have a sister instead."
"No way," I laughed, looking up at him and breathing slowly. "Our faces don't look that alike."
"No, you have a point there," Ed mused, stroking his chin. "What's more likely is that I'll have to deal with Mustang telling me 'it's about fucking time you showed a normal balance with all those super little hormones stored inside your body, and if you hadn't get a girlfriend sooner, I would have started worrying that you're either a sick person unworthy of the human race that will never want sex, or that you would have turned out to be gay, blahdy blah blah, but don't go too far because you're still teenagers and all and so on and so on, and you shouldn't look up to me so much that you become a complete womanizer at your age, though it would probably do you some good anyway. Har har har.'"
Ed sighed heavily and leaned against the wall, while I just stared at him in silence. I then bit my lip and before I knew it, I was cracking up, bending over and clutching at my sides, though Ed sure didn't find it that funny.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," he muttered. "But when we get to Central, I call dibs on the 'I told you so' moment. Now, we'd better get going before we start setting off too many alarms." I nodded, still laughing in amusement. Ed's actual impersonation of Mustang was way funnier than the one I had seen in the anime.
I took a deep breath and sobered up, then glanced back at Ed, who was waiting somewhat patiently. What surprised me most was that he had an amused grin on his face as well. He pushed himself out of his leaning position and walked over to me, and I found myself wishing that just once he would actually take my hand instead of dragging me along by the wrist.
…Wait, I didn't mean that—!
I caught myself in the same instant Ed's left hand slipped into mine. We both jumped away from each other simultaneously and looked at each other with wide eyes.
"Sorry!" We said it in unison. I would have laughed if I didn't feel like I had turned to stone.
"I'm sorry, Ray! I don't know what came over me, I just—"
"No, it's my fault," I interrupted quickly. "I really didn't mean to, Ed, I'm so sorry. I accidentally wished you would hold my hand before I had a chance to change it."
"You… wished it?" Ed looked at me with wide eyes, then looked down at his hand, slowly flexing it again. When he looked back up at me, he looked different. Almost as if he was relieved about something. "We're getting distracted again. We really should get going before people start coming after us."
I sighed and nodded in agreement. Ed started down the hall, and I ran to catch up with him, matching my pace with his so we were side by side. Ed glanced at me, grinned, and then slipped his left hand into mine a second time. My jaw dropped open in surprise.
"Ed, I thought that—You—It's okay if you don't hold my hand, I was just—" My tongue seemed to trip over the words. The fact that Edward Elric, of all things, was holding my hand didn't seem to be helping matters either.
"Ray?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up," Ed said, still looking straight ahead. I bit my lip and frowned, worried what he was so upset about from the angry tone to his voice. Then he turned to me and grinned, and I could feel myself relax slightly. I thought I could feel him squeeze my hand reassuringly as he looked away again, but then I frowned and figured I must have imagined it.
We came to another corner and turned it quickly, but then I heard a loud clang. I could feel Ed grunt and fall to the ground beside me, dragging me down with him. I twisted in my fall and fell headfirst against Ed, grateful for the softer landing.
"Brother?! Are you alright?"
I grinned at the familiar voice. At least we knew where Al was.
"Jeez, Al, you nearly killed me," Ed protested weakly. My eyes widened as I realized I could feel the reverberations of his voice and that my cheek was actually resting on his chest. I could feel a hand carefully wrap around my shoulders, and then Ed slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. I felt grateful for the fact that at least I wasn't straddling him.
"You alright, Ray?" he asked, pulling me away from him and letting go of my shoulders.
Yeah, but… aren't you going to jump to your feet, start blushing and apologizing and that sort of thing?" I asked, remembering how these fanfics usually ended up going.
"Why would I do that??" Ed asked, frowning at me. I licked my lips and shrugged.
"I—Well—I don't know, I just… How'd you get here anyway, Al?" I asked, slipping on the words. Al chuckled from high above me.
"Well, first I was causing too much trouble when they put me in a room with a bunch of other people, so I was placed in a separate room," Al explained, and Ed snorted. "Then I escaped out of there too. I thought you'd probably show p sooner or later, Brother. Oh! And did you know that Envy's here as well?"
"Yeah, we already met up with him," Ed shrugged simply, standing up and brushing himself off. "I don't think he's going to be giving us any trouble." Ed then glanced down at me, grinned, and held out his hand. I took it gratefully and let him pull me to my feet.
"So, now what?" I asked, glancing between the two brothers.
"Now's the most fun part." Ed grinned. I looked at him curiously. "Now's the part where we run like hell and act like we know what we're doing!" I laughed and nodded in agreement. Ed held out his hand as if we were nobles going out for an afternoon stroll. I laughed again and slipped my hand into his, surprised a how easy it was. His gloved fingers squeezed mine tightly, and we were off again, this time with Al following behind us.
"So what did I miss that made you two start seeing sense?" Al asked over the loud clanking that came from him running.
"Huh?" Ed frowned and looked back at Al.
"Well, I figured that since you two are… never mind," Al laughed.
"We're going to have to fill you in on a lot once this whole mess is over," Ed said. I winced, not looking forward to rehashing the entire ordeal a second time. "Plus I have some questions to ask Ray, but now's not really the best time to—"
He stopped abruptly as we rounded another corner and into another group of men. But instead of three men, like the last time, there were seven of them, six of them the huge and brawny type we had run into before, and one who was smaller, had combed hair and was wearing a neatly pressed military uniform.
Ed sighed dramatically, then let go and lunged forward, his right arm still formed into a blade from the last fight. I grinned at Al, and then the two of us followed behind the ever-eager blond.
"Don't hurt them any more than necessary!" the man in the uniform barked out orders while making sure he stayed far enough away from the fight himself. "Just leave enough bruises on them so that they don't consider leaving again!"
"Good luck accomplishing that with us," I chuckled before punching one of the brawns in the face. He growled and tried to sweep my feet, but I easily leaped above his foot and kicked him in the gut with one swift movement. The man fell to the ground with a moan.
I glanced up at the brothers while I fought, and nearly got hit in the face from the distraction. Ed and Al were fighting three brawns together. It seemed like they could communicate without talking to each other, or even sometimes looking at one another. Whenever one of them made a move, the other would play right off it to gain the upper hand on one of their opponents. I had thought that Ed fighting was beautiful enough, but it looked even more amazing when he and Al were working together.
And of course, there was no denying the way Ed's muscles rippled when he moved, almost as if he were water instead of human. But even water was too common, too ordinary to compare to him.
Another brawn took a swing at my head, and I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and flowed back into the easy rhythm of fighting. I felt like I had to be blushing from the way I had been thinking about Ed. It was all right for me to have a crush on him, I just had to keep reminding myself that it would always be one-sided. Otherwise I knew my heart would get broken.
"Wow, Rebecca," Al said as I knocked my twelfth brawn of the day to the ground. I grinned up at him and clapping my hands together as if I was merely slapping off some pesky dust. "I didn't notice before how similar your fighting style is to Brother's. Did you learn that from Teacher while you were staying with her?"
"Not really," I laughed, looking over at Ed, who rolled his eyes and sighed. Al seemed to notice the exchange and looked between the two of us curiously, then shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
"So, how many does that make that we've taken down? Ed asked, nudging one of the brawns with his foot. The large man barely moved at the contact, clearly unconscious.
"I've handled twelve," I grinned, and was pleased to see Ed's eyes widen slightly before he composed himself and looked over to Al.
"I think we may have taken down around eighteen or twenty," Al said slowly. "I lost track of the exact number a while ago."
"So that makes it about thirty," Ed sighed, leaning against the wall behind him. He then reached into his pocket, pulled out the infamous pocket watch and snapped it open, shielding it from view with his hand. I winced, wondering how he would feel about the fact that I even knew that little secret of his. "We've been wandering around these stupid halls for about four hours now, taken down thirty big and stupids, and there hasn't even been a window yet? How freaking big is this place?!"
He snapped his watch shut again and jammed it back into his pocket with a huff. I took a breath, knowing that it would be easy for me to get us out of the situation.
"I wish that—"
"Ray, no," Ed said sternly before I had a chance to get any farther. "We're doing this the old-fashioned way. I need to find out who's behind this and why they think it's alright to kidnap an entire room of people." I bit my lip, but nodded in agreement, knowing he was right. Though it was also what I expected Ed to do after watching the entire series. It was just what Ed did, like he couldn't even help himself from solving problems.
"What are you two talking about?" Al asked, glancing quickly between us. Ed sighed and closed his eyes.
"Nothing important, Al. Just forget about it."
"Don't you lie to me like that, it is something important, I can see it in your eyes!" Al snapped back, making me jump. "It's something very important!"
"I'll tell you later, alright, Al?!" Ed snapped back just as quickly. "Just shut up!" I bit my lip, wishing for peace between the brothers before it escalated into a real fight. I then winced, realizing just how I had phrased it in my head. The two brothers relaxed instantly, Ed getting an almost serene expression on his face. He then frowned slightly and looked at me.
"Ray?" He said it as if it were a cross between questioning me and scolding me.
"Sorry," I muttered. Ed sighed and shook his head, but I could tell that my wish-induced calm still had a tight grip on him.
"Just… Try not to do that until we've sorted all this out, alright? Unless it's some sort of emergency," Ed said gently. I nodded quickly, even though most of the times I had slipped just from unconscious habit of using the word "wish" when I wanted something.
"I really wish you would tell me what's going on," Al said, his voice was dripping with the calm that I knew was my fault.
"I will," Ed said, and then he grinned. "As long as it stays so that you're the one saying the wishes and not Rebecca." I snorted and put a hand over my mouth to prevent myself from laughing more.
"So, now—" Ed started, but was suddenly cut off.
"Hey, you!" a voice shouted down the hall. We all turned simultaneously to see who it was. "Are you the ones who have taken down so many of our men?
"So what if we are?" Ed yelled back towards them. There were three men running down the hall towards us, all dressed in military uniforms. They were smaller men than we had been used to seeing, more like the one that had been commanding six brawns earlier before. They had to be the brains, but obviously not the brain, the one who was in charge of everything.
"The boss wants to meet you," one of the men said calmly. "She gives her word that none of you will be hurt, she only wants to talk face-to-face with the three who've been causing so many disruptions."
"How are we supposed to be sure this boss of yours will stick to that agreement?" Ed said, his lips pulling backwards a bit as he spoke. He almost looked like a dog growling at someone who was threatening its territory, especially with the way he was standing in front of Al and me, arms extended out to either side as if to protect us. Or maybe as if he were saying, "Mine. Not yours. Mine."
I sighed. Of course he wouldn't want anything to happen to Al or me. If Al really died, he wouldn't be able to get him back to normal, and if I died, then there would be no chance of me even trying to restore them to normal.
Now anything I do, any act of kindness I show towards you, you're probably going to wonder if I really mean it, or if I'm only manipulating you to try and get our bodies back.
I frowned, but didn't have much time to think back to the one line Ed had murmured to me hours ago.
"Why else would our boss send out three guys like us without even giving us weapons?" the man in front said, freezing in place and not approaching Ed, deciding he'd rather play it safe. "You've taken out thirty-three of our men. Believe me kid, we don't have much of anyone left to attack you with."
Ed glared between the three men, obviously trying to figure out what to do. He glanced back over his shoulder, and I nodded, trying to encourage him to go with the men. If he wanted to figure out what was going on, following the men would be one of the easiest ways to do it.
'Did you do this?' he mouthed to me silently, nodding his head in the direction of the soldiers. I shook my head quickly, knowing that I certainly hadn't wished for an easy way out of things just after Ed had told me not to. Ed visibly relaxed and turned back to look at the three men.
"Alright, fine. Lead the way," he said with a bitter edge to his voice. The man in front nodded, then turned on his heel and went back the way he had come. Ed turned around and looked straight at me.
"How are you doing, Rebecca?" he asked me quietly. "You look… exhausted." I frowned in surprise. I didn't feel exhausted. I knew I had a few scrapes from all the fighting, but I hadn't thought they'd made me look that bad.
"I feel… fine," I said with a grin. Ed frowned as if he didn't believe me.
"You took out twelve guys on your own," he pressed. "Al and I took out twenty-one, but that's ten and a half a piece, and we were working with one another. Not to mention that we've done this loads of times before."
"Brother has a point," Al said, and I looked up at him, feeling slightly irritated. "You probably feel fine because of the adrenaline in your body. You should take it easy for a bit. We don't want you passing out from exhaustion on us."
"Or asthma," Ed added, his eyes icy.
"Wouldn't that count as an emergency and therefore I'd be able to do something?" I countered, remembering back to what Ed had told me. He frowned, still staring at me.
"Don't push yourself that far anyway," he muttered. "Now let's catch up to those… guys and find out what's going on here."
We followed quickly behind the three men, Ed shooting glances at me every five minutes or so. I sighed; it was getting more annoying every time he did it. But it didn't seem like we'd be meeting this "boss" quickly anyway, considering how the mansion seemed to stretch on forever. After Ed had pointed it out, I noticed that he was right, there really were no windows in the hallways we were going through. So either the mansion was huge, or someone had been allergic to sunlight and not put in any windows at all.
We walked briskly through the hallways for what felt like hours, each passing minute begging to feel more and more like we were only being led to the center of a labyrinth where the monster was waiting. And for all I knew, there was a monster waiting, I had seen some of the terrible things alchemy could do.
Finally we reached a set of huge double doors that looked as if they were made of mahogany. The men stopped in front of it as if waiting for something.
I took the extra time to inspect the door. It had beautiful carvings covering all of the wood so fully that I hadn't noticed it at first. The carvings had almost looked like the actual grain of the wood itself with the way they flowed easily down the length of the door. But as I stared closer, I could pick out twisting bodies of naked women, with expressions on their faces that looked like a cross between horror and adoration. I followed the gaze of the wooden women to the top of the door and saw what they were looking at.
It looked like a man… at first. At first sight, he looked amazingly beautiful, smiling down at the women lovingly. But then I looked closer, and his face seemed to distort, becoming more fearsome, the angles of his face suddenly looking sharper, and when I looked at the eyes again, he didn't look loving at all, just hungry. Like he hadn't eaten at all in months.
I shuddered and looked away. Who would want such a door in their home?
"Come in," a throaty voice said, and I realized it was what the three uniformed men had been waiting for, though I didn't know how the voice inside had known we were there. No one had knocked. The three uniformed men took a step forward, and the huge wooden doors swung inwards at a frustratingly slow pace.
We stepped inside the room once the doors were open enough to let us pass, me shuddering a bit as I passed through, feeling like the man in the carving was looking down at me hungrily. I waited for the uniformed men to follow us through, but instead they nodded and let the doors swing shut.
The room behind the doors was just as big and ornate. Finally we could see the outside world through the first windows in the mansion. The windows took up the entire wall opposite the huge doors. The last I could remember of outside, it had been pitch black, but through the windows it showed that the sun was just beginning to rise. It felt like it should have been much later in the day after all we had gone through.
In front of the windows was a large desk made from the same wood as the doors. I could even see similar carvings running up the sides of the desk, but I shivered and decided not to look any closer, remembering just how much I hadn't liked the carvings of the door.
But no one sat behind the desk. Instead she stood to the side of the desk, her arms crossed as she looked us over. It was the same Xingese girl that had been at the festival in town, and in the street late at night. The same girl who had beat up Ed.
I clenched my jaw, trying to stop myself from wishing she would disappear. Ed would definitely know that was my fault. But would making her write on the floor in pain do to stop him from questioning her later?
I frowned and shook my head. That thought seemed much too similar to Envy's way of thinking. 'She doesn't need her arms to grant wishes, does she?' I shuddered and took a breath, trying to still my anger.
Though Ed seemed to be having more trouble with the same problem. He looked ready to explode.
"I thought it'd be one of you two," the girl grinned, looking between Ed and Al. "You both seemed ready to fight me every step of the way. I'm glad to see you've both seemed to introduce yourself." She then stopped, ignoring Ed's glare as she looked at me.
"But her… What is she, your pet?" she asked, glancing back at Ed. It only seemed to infuriate him more. "She follows you everywhere, but she's so easy to take down. Such a weak little girl. Perhaps a lover?"
Ed yelled wordlessly before lunging at the girl. Al reached out and held him back with practiced ease while the girl circled around me. I wondered why he wasn't letting Ed simply attack the girl, she did seem to be our enemy, after all.
I also wondered why Ed wasn't keeping a cooler head. I had seen him fight plenty of climatic battles in the anime before, but he always stayed calm, almost like a cat playing with his prey at times. He only lost it at the beginning, when there was less at stake. I'd even seen him deal with Envy calling him pipsqueak multiple times—just a few hours ago—but Ed had still kept a cool face in order to get the information he'd wanted. So what was bothering him so much?
"What's so special about you, little girl?" the Xingese girl murmured as she walked around me, appraising me. She looked like she was only my age, and yet she was calling me the little girl. "Why does he keep you around? I'm sure he could find much prettier pets if he wanted to… What d you have that other girls don't?"
Ed growled from his spot in Al's arms and I bit my lip. I had to distract the girl from my uniqueness in some way, but I wasn't sure how.
"Why'd you kidnap everyone?" I asked, feeling like my throat had decided to die. It was the best question I could come up with from the little information I knew. The girl laughed and looked back to Ed.
"So she's smart," she said, while Ed stopped his struggling for a minute to catch his breath. I bit my lip again and motioned for Ed to keep still for a bit. It wouldn't do good to have him completely depleted of energy when he really did have to fight the girl. He seemed to notice my movement and nodded, albeit a little reluctantly.
"It still wouldn't explain why you'd keep her around though," the girl murmured, turning her attention back to me. "Wouldn't she just drag someone like you down? She looks like any other ordinary girl…"
I nearly laughed in triumph. Ed had succeeded in what he had tried to do by fixing my hair and all the other little details. Not even a girl trying to find something strange about me could tell I was foreign.
"But why—"
"Yes, yes, I know, why'd I kidnap everyone?" the girl sighed, cutting me off. "Why does anyone in this world do anything important? I did it for power." I frowned, confused by her answer. I had figured it'd be for power somehow, but I wasn't sure what exactly she meant.
Then my mind flicked back to memories of sitting at home, curled up with my Fullmetal Alchemist manga and I could feel my jaw drop. Xing was a country with numerous clans, each vying for power. The emperor would go to a woman from each clan and end up making her pregnant so that each clan had an heir to the throne.
But the emperor had also been getting closer and closer to death, so each of the heirs to the throne had been trying desperately to find some way to buy favor with the emperor so they could move higher up the chain of heirs.
"How do you expect to help your clan through kidnapping innocent Amestrians?" I said, feeling the words rasp uncomfortably in my throat. I heard a smack over to the side, and looked to see that Ed had slapped his palm to his forehead. He looked up at me, grinned and gave me a thumbs up sign.
"At first I wasn't planning to go that direction," the girl said slowly, looking me over. "My mother… she's very sick, she needs hospital treatment badly. But she can't afford it. So I came to Amestris planning to find a rich man to marry and use his money to help mother."
"Which would be the owner of this mansion," I pressed. All I wanted to do was keep her talking to make sure she wouldn't figure out anything about me. I knew all too well that many people in the world of FMA wanted that kind of power badly, and some would go to any means to get it.
"Yes," she answered, her eyes flicking downwards. "To my surprise, I actually fell in love with him, not his money.
"At first, everything was fine. I lived happily in the mansion, though I didn't get to see Harry too often. His butlers told me that he was trying to help this town and that he was always in his office, working on some sort of alchemy mumbo-jumbo. I used my spare time to explore around this house, drawing myself maps to help find my way.
"Then one day, I discovered his secret. How many women really come to the mansion, why his house is so large. How many of these disappear and never talk to their families again. I don't want to think about how many children he's fathered.
"I knew then that I couldn't count on Harry to support my mother. I had to find a way to both help her and escape from… this. And then I realized that I could become empress and help not only my own family, and my own problems, but the entire clan. So I tried to find a way to buy favor with the emperor.
"And then these trains started getting rerouted," she grinned over at Ed and Al. "I was curious; I listened to rumors of the servants. They kept saying that a god had come to Amestris, that this was only the beginning and that this god of theirs would save the country from its dark hour. At first I thought it was pointless superstition, but the deeper I dug, the more I found that there was some possibility of an enormous power."
I glanced over at Ed and Al. Of course I couldn't read any emotions on Al's face, as usual, but Ed was completely limp in Al's arms, staring straight at me. I flinched and looked back to the Xingese girl.
"And then, one day, a rerouted train, one of these supposed chariots of this god, lands right on my doorstep," she smiled at me. "I pulled some strings, used connections, and I found everyone from the train and brought them here. I figured that all I had to do was wait for a hero. Surely a god wouldn't let innocent people suffer. And it worked. Your two friends came running, leaving the doors wide open for everyone else to escape through. They couldn't help themselves from helping everyone else. So what does that make you, the god's pet, his entertainment? What makes you so special to a god?"
"You've got it all wrong," Ed spat, slipping out easily from Al's grasp.
"You," the girl smiled at Ed as he approached her. "Of course it's you, who could deny that a god would come in a beautiful form? And what's the other one then, your demon?"
Ed punched her in the gut.
"Al is not a demon," he growled, grabbing her by the collar. "And Rebecca is not some pet. And you have no right to chase her until she passes out. I thought that—that—she—"
"So, a lover then," the Xingese girl smiled. Ed growled and punched her in the jaw.
"You want to fight again, runt?" The girl said, frowning at him and rubbing her jaw.
"Hell yeah," Ed said in reply. Before I could register what was going on, Ed swung his automail foot up and kicked her hard in the side. The girl slid to the other side of the room and glared at Ed.
I took a step forward, then glanced over at Al and noticed that he wasn't making any move to help Ed. I hesitated, wondering why he wouldn't try to help Ed.
"Aren't you going to help him?"
"Only if he gets into trouble," Al said with a laugh. "Otherwise he'll accuse me of meddling afterwards."
"Oh." I sighed and shifted my weight to the opposite foot.
Ed was definitely angrier than the last time I had seen him fight the Xingese girl. His moves were more rapid than the last time; he wasn't letting her have a single chance to attack him. It was like his muscles had become tornados and he was merely letting out the energy within. So it wasn't much of a surprise when the Xingese girl fell to the ground with a cry, Ed glaring at her from above. He then clapped his hands together and a bright blue light shone around them both, making me turn my eyes away. When I looked back, the floor had warped and rippled to wrap around the girl from the chest down.
"I send someone to get you out of here and make sure this Harry guy is taken away," Ed said icily. "You'll be taken back to Xing." Ed then turned for the door, glancing at both Al and me. Al shook his head and headed towards the door as well. I bit my lip and hesitated before going over to the Xingese girl.
"What's your name?" I asked, crouching down in front of her.
"Kimei."
"My name's Rebecca," I said, glancing back up at the doorway. Ed and Al both stood there, silently watching me. "Do you really wish your mother would get better?"
Kimei looked at me with wide eyes and nodded, letting out a half-strangled sob. I bit my lip as I looked at her. She didn't seem like a bad person, she had just gotten into a bad set of circumstances and felt trapped. It wasn't like I couldn't relate with that feeling. It just didn't seem fair to leave her with nothing.
"I really wish she would get better too, Kimei," I said, glancing back up at Ed. He had his arms crossed, simply staring at me steadily. I couldn't tell whether he approved or not. I looked back to Kimei and whispered, "Good luck." At least she would have a well mother waiting her when she got home. I then stood up and walked over to Ed and Al.
I mostly looked at Ed, wondering if he would rebuke me for the wish. He didn't say anything before he turned and led the way out of the huge manor.
--
"Let her sleep Al, she's had a long day."
"I thought you might be uncomfortable."
"I'm fine."
I exhaled slowly and readjusted myself. I felt like I hadn't slept in years, and the pillow I was on was so comfy. I wasn't sure who had managed to snag me a pillow on a train, but I was extremely grateful for it. I wanted to stay there forever and just listen to Ed talk.
"What happens if we reach Central and she's still asleep?" Al sounded like he was amused with something. "Are you going to wake her up then, or carry her off the train?"
"She's not going to sleep that long."
"Okay, okay."
I snuggled against my pillow, stuck between waiting for Ed to talk again and enjoying the silence. My thoughts flickered back to the idea of facing Mustang, but somehow, knowing that I had so much power at my disposal—even if it scared me a little—made the thought of facing Mustang a whole lot easier.
"I've been wondering about that mansion," Al said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, me too. Remember how that Kimei girl mentioned that guy was always doing alchemic 'mumbo-jumbo'?"
"And all those girls who suddenly would disappear… Do you think they really ran off to hide their pregnancy?"
"You're sounding a little dark now, Al," Ed laughed.
"You were thinking it too, admit it!"
"Yeah, I was," Ed sighed. "The only windows in that place were in the guy's official office. It's like he was trying to hide himself from the world."
"You really think he was trying to create a Philosopher's Stone? There were all sorts of soldiers around that place!"
"Al, for all we know, he might have been trying to create a stone for the military. And if that was really the case, I wouldn't be able to do much more than beat him up. He'd be protected from arrest, even if it were Mustang's men."
Both brothers sighed and fell silent again.
"So Brother, now that you're awake, are you ready to tell me what the deal with Rebecca is?"
Ed sighed heavily a second time.
"Well, I—maybe. I'd kinda prefer to have her awake for some of that, you know?"
"Then tell me what you can."
"Well," Ed said the word slowly, as if he were considering it. I could feel my muscles clench as I wondered what Al's response would be.
"She's… She's really… Have you felt that funny feeling when you're around her?"
"What funny feeling?" Al sounded like he was about to start cracking up. I didn't even know how he could manage to sound like that.
"I dunno, like… like a feeling of power. Like alchemy, but different… Like when you touch metal and get a static shock."
"I don't know about the static shock part, but yeah, I've felt that. What about it?"
"She's powerful," Ed said in a low whisper. "And I don't just mean powerful, she's really powerful. She doesn't use Equivalent Exchange or anything. She can even manipulate people. I've never seen anything like it."
"What do you mean 'she can manipulate people'?"
"Remember when we were close to fighting? And then there was this weird wave of calmness?"
"That was Rebecca?"
"Yeah. The closest comparison it has it alchemy, but even that doesn't cover it. She can get anything she wants. When I've seen her do it aloud, she always says 'I wish,' but sometimes she does it without saying anything."
"So, what, she says, 'I wish money were falling from the sky' and money would fall from the sky?"
"As far as I know, yeah."
"How far can she push that power? How much could she do?"
"I… I'm not really sure. Envy said that she could even… wish someone back to life."
"And it'd work? Wow. You think that—"
"Maybe. I don't want to ask her right away though. The whole experience kinda… traumatized her, I think. I think she's scared of her power. She was worried she wasn't even human at first."
"Understandable. "But you know, Brother, I think that—"
"Now arriving in Central station." I winced internally at the sound of the crackly intercom. The nice thought about it was that I didn't have to listen to Ed and Al talk about my wishing anymore. I didn't really want to get up either, though.
"Crap, already? I thought we had another half hour, at least!" Al chuckled at Ed's upset tone, and I snuggled into my pillow again. I just needed another minute, then I would be able to get up easily, I knew it.
"Aw, come on, Ray," Ed sighed, and I felt my pillow shift. I groaned and nuzzled into it again. I didn't want Ed pulling it out from under me.
"It's okay," he said slowly, the pillow shifting again. "We're just going to get off the train, okay? Everything's fine, just keep sleeping." I could feel an arm wrap gently around my shoulders and pull me into a sitting position. I moaned at the loss of the pillow.
"It's fine, it's fine, we'll get you someplace comfy in a minute, just bear with me," Ed kept talking in the same even tone, and I couldn't help but relax at the sound. I could feel something slip under my legs and my shoulders, and then found that another pillow had been placed against one cheek. I grinned to myself and cuddled against it.
"Jeez. Someone's sleepy."
"You know, I could carry her, Brother."
"Nah, that'd be too uncomfortable. One metal arm's got to be better than two."
"Alright, if you insist."
The world jostled around me, and I wondered why for a brief second before it suddenly dawned on me. Something solid under my legs. Something solid under my shoulders. And something solid and warm against my cheek.
Ed was carrying me. And bridal style, no less! My eyes snapped open and I looked up at him in surprise.
"Well, look who's not dead!" He laughed and looked me in the eye. "Just a sec, okay, Rebecca?"He readjusted me and then carefully sat me down on something hard and solid. The train station bench. I blinked and looked back up at Ed, wondering if I was still dreaming.
"Don't worry, we'll get you someplace comfy soon," he reassured me. I nodded, still feeling caught in a blur.
I could barely remember managing to trudge up what felt like a million streets before I finally saw a bed in front of me and collapsed on it immediately, not caring about the rest of my surroundings.
Lesson of the Day—Sort of random trivia:
Because I like Lesson of the Day. It'd make me sad to not have it.
Anyway, I was originally planning for the Harry dude to be rumored to be a vampire, or an incubus, or something like that. That was why I started with the door where he looked ready to eat poor innocent women.
But then I realized that I just finished the fourth Twilight book, and that decision might have been slightly biased. So I left out the vampire rumors and just made him a womanizer. Yeah, randomness.
So sue me.
Author's Note:
-jaw drops to floor- Lookit how fast I updated this one! Do you guys love me or what now? I just wanted to finish up all the loose ends and finally get those three out of stinkin' Bakenhaert. This wasn't originally how I was planning things to be when they got to Central, but oh well, go with the flow. I like it a lot better, really.
Anywho, IMPORTANT NEWS CONCERNING ED/RAY… STUFF!
Yes, I know I promsed I wouldn't have any Ed/OC in this story. I'm aware. And I also know this has taken more of a turn towards the Ed/OC sort of story. If I posted this the way I normally would with a fanfic, it would be about 29 chapters long, so I feel pretty justified In saying that their relationships would have grown and changed in that amount of time. Heck, the longest I've done before is 25 chapters, and that had Ed/OC before the end of those 25.
So anyway, I was originally planning on no Ed/Ray at all. Then I changed and figured it'd be in the sequel. Right now… my muse is trying to push me into Ed/OC in this story, and I've been fighting him every step of the way so far, though I've had to compromise and put in some sweet moments anyway.
So, I want to know what you guys think. I've been debating the issue back and forth between myself, and I'm curious to know what other people think. Of course, my word is still the final say, but I want to know what people besides me think would actually benefit the storyline and still keep it believable.
Don't go telling me you want Ed/Ray just because you have the burning desire to see them kiss next chapter. I knooow it's hard to read all the sweet scenes if you like Ed/OC stuff, but you'll have to bear with those frustrating moments even if I decide to have that in this story.
Anyway, that's it, thanks a lot to all of you guys in advance! :D
…And jeez, that all sounded so serious. Sorry about that. –dies in corner-
Review Replies (thanks so much everyone!):
Lulu4ever:Lol, so true, so true. Ed likes his danger too much.
agent000:Lol, that's so awesome! I could remember giving your Ed a few spoilers a ways back, so I figured that you'd remember that and be totally prepared for this coming. –laughs- it's pretty awesome to get you so surprised and excited like that, I don't manage responses like this from you too often. ;)
Yeah, and if anyone else cares enough to read this, they'll be scratching their head and going "Huh? What does she mean 'your Ed'? What Ed is she talking about?"
Lol, and the way you say Ray needs to use her power wisely makes it sound like she's Spiderman or something now. Hey, she could be if she wanted to, but I don't think that's really going to happen, haha.
SpandexTree:Yeah, I noticed that a while back. Sorry, I know I promised back at the beginning there'd be no Ed/Ray stuff. I'm going to try my best so that they're only friends. That line usually is pretty obvious, you're right, though in real life people ask that and it doesn't always lead to something. Sometimes they're just friends. And yeah, no offense taken, I felt pretty bad about that when I noticed it myself a few chapters back. D:
anime.storm: Lol, so glad I could oblige. And why's it my fault you're not doing your homework? Go do your homework before your parents yell at me!
XD Kidding. Here's the update, I'd prefer not to be hunted and sporked. Please?
vampgirl16: Lol, thanks so much, here's some more for you.
Xantanen: -laughs and falls over- Wow, thanks so much. Not the most creative review, maybe, but definitely makes a person feel good. Thanks a lot, I'm really glad you like it so much. I hope your brain manages to resurrct itself too, I don't want you going brainless because of lil' ol' me. XD
And yes, I have started a HPFMA fic. I haven't gotten past the first chapter yet, since I have so many unfinished stories and I kinda want to take care of that. It's called Alphonse Elric and the Red Tattoo if you're interested in it. Hopefully I'll get around to it soon enough, its fanbase seems to have grown since I posted that first chapter.
Colonel Bastard: Yep, classic. Of course, Ed had to force it on her. I've had some guys offer, and I end up saying "No, I'm fine" until they shrug and keep the jacket on, lol.
-snickers- I never even thought that one line would be so awesome to someone. I even debated putting it in for a bit, but then I figured, to hell with it, Sheska's cute enough, and if people don't like that one line, then tough. XD
Lol, and that does sound like a hilarious picture. And you say you actually drew it? I'd seriously love to see that so much. I've never had any fanart for Wish Granted, so it'd be really awesome to see that. Really really really awesome.
And don't worry about the way you review, the longer you make a review, the more I spazz when I first see it. I luv zee long reviews. Even if they're incredibly silly. Probably moreso, really.
Zilo Sugarpill: Lol, all is forgiven, don't worry about it. XD And yeah, Rebecca's got powers! It's so much fun! Wheeee! –spins in circles-
Ed: I think she's tired from not having a nap in order to finish this.
I dun wanna nap!
Ed: I knew you needed one… Psycho.
Freako. Anyway! –wishes Risty May a chocolate bar- There ya go! And yeah, no kiss. It's so sad. Though it'd probably freak poor Rebecca out and she could end up slapping Ed. Even if it IS someone you have a crush on, having a guy suddenly lean in towards you for a kiss when you're not even dating is pretty scary!
Ed: You're scared of weird things.
Yeah, well… You should have kissed her anyway!
Ed: Jeez, I give and give, and it's never enough. And don't go writing Envy/Ray scenes that will scar anyone under thirteen.
I think it would scar you even though you're over thirteen.
Ed: …Yes. Don't do it.
And –snickers you're welcome to steal the Omake. I'm just sad I couldn't make something like that into a complete scene. So now here's the next chapter for you, have fun!
Draconian Master: Lol, thanks! :) Here's the update for ya!
White Alchemist Taya:Haha, thanks, glad to hear it.