Chiui and Ling saw another ice wave coming, but it was now towards them. Unfortunately, it broke the door, and froze some parts of the wooden floor.
"Whoa!" Chiui tried to catch her breath. "...That was close."
"I'd say." Ling replied. "If we hadn't dodged that, we would've already been dead!"
He and Chiui carefully stepped outside, dodging another one of Bai's ice attacks just in time. The two teens then came face to face with the rogue Xingese alchemist himself.
Bai Lei had dark hair like Ling's, but his was bob-cut. He had piercing, green eyes that sent shivers down the Xingese Prince and Flame Alchemist's spines. He had a scar going down the right side of his lips, and a painful-looking crescent scar on his forehead.
He was wearing black and red, similar to Ling's first outfit—which was yellow and white with flame patterns—but didn't show his torso, and was sleeveless. But the leather boots he was wearing were obviously Amestrian.
When the 29-year old man spotted the redhead and Xingese Prince, a cold smirk came across his lips. "Well, well," he added a laugh to his expression, "I didn't expect to see the female Flame Alchemist and her Xingese Prince here."
Chiui and Ling gasped in shock. Ling walked forward, sticking his hand out to protect Chiui. "How do you know who we are?" he asked, his tone raised.
"Glad you asked." Bai rested his fingers lightly on his chest to show his narcissistic personality. "I've been doing research on Amestrian, not to mention Xingese alchemists, and I so happened to come across you," he paused, pointing to Chiui, "and you, the 15th son of the Emperor of Xing."
"How?" Ling wanted to know. "How did you come across us in the research?!"
"Well, the military keeps tracks of the missions alchemists and their companions have been on, am I right?" Bai's question received no shock from Ling, but shock from Chiui. She didn't know that, and she's been in the military for a year now. "Well, Bradley, or should I say, Wrath, keeps tracks of everyone's missions...and so do his partners. He's been keeping a watchful eye on you two ever since the redhead here became a state alchemist. He's also been keeping a watchful eye on...y'know...the rebelled Homunculus."
What?! Ling heard Greed say in his mind. How does that brat know that?
He might probably have connections with the Homunculi, or just finds a clever way to get research for his plans. Ling replied back. He's trying to threaten both of us, including Chiui here.
Well, that's crossing the line, isn't it? Greed questioned. You should know not to threaten women, because they can show you what they're made of. I've learned my lesson when I was fighting a female alchemist at Dragon's Nest, who happens to be that runt's teacher...or should I say happened to.
If Edward was here, and Greed was in control of Ling's body, he would've given Greed a series of punches in rage. But thankfully for Greed, the Fullmetal alchemist wasn't here.
So what are we going to do now? Greed questioned Ling when Ling saw that Bai was getting ready to attack, and wasn't in the mood for any more talking. Bai is known as the Arctic Alchemist. If you have a sword with you, or try to block one of his attacks with your martial arts skills, you will most likely have your weapon broken or a part of your body frozen. It'll take a long time to break the ice from the frozen part of your body.
Ling thought on that for a moment. Well, Greed, don't you have a power that breaks even rare metal that Bradley's swords are made of? The Homunculus nodded in response. Then it might be a good choice for you to fight this battle with that power.
Greed liked the idea, and the Xingese Prince take over him. Greed then activated his powers, and got ready to fight at Chiui's side.
Bai saw their determination, and grinned wickedly. He positioned his arm like an X, so that both of the arms crossed. He then waited for Chiui and Greed to charge at him, and he then sent the ice attacks at them. Greed saw it coming, and stood in front of the attacks. He blocked them with his arms, which reflected it back at the rogue Xingese alchemist.
Bai didn't see it coming, and got hit right in the chest by his own attacks. He was thrown back a bit, and fell to the ground.
"Whoa..." Chiui didn't know what to say when she witnessed what happened. "So he's vulnerable to his own attacks?"
"Seems so." Greed seemed a tad surprised by this. "It isn't really common, but if I keep on blocking his attacks, and the metal-like power I have keeps on reflecting them, he might as well be weak enough for us to defeat him."
"True." Chiui nodded. "But can't fire melt his attacks?"
"Yes, it can." Greed replied. "...But Bai's attacks are quick and fast. So you'll have to match the speed of his attacks, if you can do that."
The redhead seemed nervous, but knew that Roy taught her how to change the speed of her attacks when fighting enemies. It has helped Roy do that when he was fighting.
"...I can do that." Chiui gave Greed a reassuring smile, though she felt herself hesitate at first. That reassuring smile showed to Greed that the 16-year old trusted him, even though, last year, she was told to trust Greed off and on. She really didn't trust him, and was feeling weird right now for trusting him now.
"Okay." Greed broke her train of thoughts with a grin. He then turned his attention towards Bai, and so did Chiui. "Let's do this!"
The rogue alchemist could see them charging, and got ready to fight.
The fight turned out to be a blood-boiling melee. Greed was able to reflect most of the bob-cut man's attacks, but some managed to slice him on the face, causing cuts to bleed out. As the wounds automatically healed themselves, Chiui was trying her best to match Bai's speedy attacks to hers. It seemed to be working, and the redhead managed to get it a few hits, wounding Bai, who was distracted by the injuries.
Chiui saw this as an opportunity to finish him off, but she noticed that Bai was moving his hand—which wasn't the one covering the wound on his torso—in a circular motion. He then thrusted his arm out in a punching motion, and before Chiui could block it, or Greed could take the blow, Chiui was sent flying back far, and blood expelled from her mouth, and from her stomach, which was where the attack hit her directly at.
When she landed, she landed onto her side, and rolled a couple of feet. As the dust subsided, Greed could see that Chiui was badly injured, and was bleeding from her forehead. Her head had rubbed up against the hard, concrete ground. Her stomach was badly injured, and by the sound, it sounded like she broke a couple ribs.
"CHIUI!" Greed and Ling both called out. Bai then saw that the Homunculus was distracted now, and went to attack him, but Greed saw it just in time. This time, he swung his arm, and Bai's attack reflected right back at his chest.
Greed watched as the ice stabbed Bai right through the heart, and Bai choked. Blood started dripping down from his mouth, which was filling up with it as Bai fell down to his knees. The Xingese man started coughing up the same crimson liquid as he felt his life almost done draining out of him. And when it was done with its process, his head landed right onto the blood that he coughed up.
The rebelled Homunculus muttered an "Oops." before Ling took over him.
Ling saw Bai's body on the ground, and the dead Xingese alchemist's eyes still wide open. The pupils were enlarged, showing that he was gone for good.
Ling was distraught, since Greed accidentally killed him. But then, as he thought about it, Bai did deserve it for what he did. Bai didn't really show any acts of kindness.
He then focused his attention on Chiui, who was motionless, but not dead.
The Xingese Prince felt tears emerge in his eyes as he carefully picked up Chiui and carried her bridal style. He looked at her face as he started walking out of the village. Some of the villagers, including Roger and his family that Chiui and Ling met before, had witnessed what happened, and offered to help.
Roger informed Ling that he used to work as a doctor in Ishval for the wounded, healing the Ishvalans. He remembered seeing Winry's parents killed before his eyes. Ling accepted his offer, and Roger offered them a guest room in their house.
Once Chiui was rested on the bed, and band aids were put on her wounds, Roger gave Ling a chair to sit in so he could be next to her.
"If you need anything else, tell me." The dark-haired man informed the dark-haired teen, who nodded in response to his question. Roger nodded back as well, then waved to the two before closing the door behind him.
After a few minutes of silence had passed, Ling heard a faint groan. He looked and saw that Chiui had come to, and was taking a while to open her eyes. Once her eyes fully opened, and she could see Ling in the chair next to her bed. She looked around, making sure not turn her neck too far, since that would cause pressure on her injuries.
"...Ling, where are we?" she questioned him. "...And how long have I been unconscious?"
"We're in Roger's house. And you've been out for a couple hours." Ling estimated that answer, since it was close to two hours.
The redhead exhaled. "...Ah, I see." she then noticed that Ling took a hold of Chiui's hand, which was hanging over the bed. He squeezed it softly, and smiled reassuringly towards his girlfriend.
"But don't worry." he said. "You'll be alright."
Chiui smiled. "Thanks, Ling." she then exhaled again, and closed her eyes to get some rest. Besides her injuries, she was tired from fighting Bai Lei.
As Ling saw Chiui fall asleep, his mind went aside from the situation, thinking about Lan Fan.
I wonder how Lan Fan is doing. It's been about a day since her injuries occurred. For an accurate update, she must be halfway done healing. he then thought about what happened Bradley badly injured Lan Fan's arm, and Lan Fan had to cut it off, spending a few days with until she got an automail arm to replace the arm that used to be there.
It only took her a while for her to heal and get an automail arm. Ling continued. So possibly by tomorrow or the day after that, she'll be fine. he then looked at Chiui. ...But I can't leave Chiui here. Lan Fan puts a lot of faith in her, and trusts Chiui to make sure that nothing bad happens to me. Also...if Chiui happens to die from her injuries, I won't be able to face Lan Fan and tell her the bad news.
Ling then caught himself thinking those negative thoughts, and punched the side of his head, hard. ...Wait. What am I saying?! Chiui...Chiui will be fine, and will make it out alright. Lan Fan will be alright, and will be relieved when Chiui and I make it back. ...Because Lan Fan must be worried sick about us.
He noticed that his hand was still on Chiui's outstretched hand, and squeezed it softly once more to reassure his positive mood, so nothing opposite of that will emerge into his mind.
The clicking of the door opening broke Ling's train of thoughts, and he saw that it was Roger's wife, Patricia. She had Maxwell and Robin, one of her daughters, with her.
"Hewwo, mistah." Robin spoke up, and Ling smiled. He thought it was cute how Robin said that.
"Hello." He then looked at Patricia. " , are you here to see how Chiui's doing?"
"Yes." Patricia nodded, parting her orange hair away from her honey-colored eyes. "But there is something that I discovered that might help this young lady heal faster."
"What is it...?" Ling's voice trailed off as his crimson eyes—due to Greed possessing him—locked on the bowl in Patricia's hands. He swore he saw a red light coming from the bowl, and once Patricia stepped closer, with her kids following her, Ling gasped.
It was the Philosopher's Stone!
Ling stood up immediately, releasing his hold on Chiui's hand. His sudden movement caused Patricia to step back a bit. "...W-Where in the world did you get that?" he asked, with his shaky hand pointing to the stone. "...And how?"
Patricia seemed confused. "I found this where the rogue alchemist's corpse was. It appeared that he had coughed up something that was giving him that ice power of his."
Just like Kimblee did...he always kept the Philosopher's stone inside his body... Ling thought, since he remembered Ed mentioning him before. Ling felt himself hesitate, since he knew what the Philosopher's Stone could do. He had to feel the pain of his body being destructed, then resurrected, by the stone. And he didn't want Chiui to feel the same pain.
But Chiui is badly injured, and it will take her about a few weeks to fully heal. Ling hated battling with himself. But I told Roger that we will stay here for only a few days, and make our leave. And I want to keep that promise, since I don't want to anger the mayor by extending the stay. Roger has told me what the mayor is like. He then swallowed down a lump that appeared in his throat, and looked at Patricia and her children. He then looked at Chiui.
"Alright." Ling went with it. "I'll let Chiui take it for her to heal quicker."
Patricia seemed satisfied by the Prince's choice, and offered for her to give Chiui the stone. Patricia put the stone to Chiui's lips, then carefully put it in there. The stone quickly slipped into Chiui's throat, and went down.
Patricia, Maxwell, Robin, and Ling waited patiently, not to mention with hope, that the results will come out alright.
They jumped when they saw Chiui's body start twitching around, then stop. They walked closer to her to see if the stone had worked, or it had downright killed her. But when they heard a loud cough, followed by a series of coughs, they saw that it had worked.
It seemed that the affect of the stone had tickled Chiui's throat a bit. But as she sat up in the bed, she looked at her body. The wound on her stomach was gone, and when she patted it, she noticed that her ribs were no longer broken. She then rubbed her forehead, and didn't see any blood on her hands when she looked at them.
"Whoa..." was all she could say at first. "What happened?"
Patricia couldn't help but speak out first. "Well, I found an amazing remedy that will help you heal faster!"
"It was the Phiwosopher's Stone, Mommy!" Maxwell and Robin told her, and Patricia had forgotten that in her excitement of the stone working.
Chiui almost felt sick to her stomach when the kids mentioned that. She couldn't believe it.
"How in the world did you find one?!" she was taken aback, not angry.
When Patricia explained it, Chiui understood. She knew that Kimblee had a similar technique like Bai did, which was what Ling thought as well.
She didn't want to show her hatred towards the stone, since she knew what Ling had told her when the Philosopher's Stone was put into his body, and what the stone is capable of doing. So she smiled warmly, and thanked the family.
Ling helped her from the bed carefully, even though Chiui's legs were a bit shaky. Patricia, Maxwell, and Robin walked with her to the living room, which was downstairs.
Roger saw the group appear as he was drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper. He almost dropped his coffee when he saw that Chiui was up and healed.
"What happened?" he asked his wife. "Why is she up already?"
"Oh." Patricia didn't expect that response from him. "...Well, I had found a Philosopher's Stone from the rogue alchemist's corpse, and proved to be a helpful remedy for the young lady."
Roger's eyes widened in horror, and then they relaxed. He looked at his kids, then his wife, and then at the two teens. The teens saw that it was time for them to leave, so they thanked the family for helping them.
Once Chiui and Ling left, they saw Roger asking his wife about the Philosopher's Stone. He sounded worried and confused of why, and Patricia tried her best to explain.
"Well, I think it might be time for us to leave, Chiui. "Ling told Chiui, who seemed shocked by his answer.
"Why? We haven't been here for a full day yet!" Chiui told him. "The mayor will be wondering why we're leaving."
Ling stopped in his tracks, causing Chiui to do the same as well. He hadn't considered that.
He told Chiui to wait a minute, and got Roger. The two then went to the mayor's house. Once they did so, Roger said his goodbyes to Ling, and Ling did the same. Roger didn't look angry at all, but seemed worried. It must be about what Mrs. Holmes did...Chiui thought.
She then saw Ling walking towards her. "The mayor seemed suspicious about Roger and I telling him that I had decided to have us leave now instead of staying here for a couple of days. But once we explained it again, he dismissed us."
"I see." Chiui replied, and the two made their way out of the village, and came face-to-face with the cliff they stumbled down on earlier that day.
"...So how are we going to get back up to the path we were on?" The redhead went to ask Ling, but gasped when he wrapped his arm around her waist carefully, and held onto her as he ran up the cliff. Once he jumped and landed onto the path, he put Chiui down.
Chiui was shaking, because she was looking down the whole time as Ling was taking them back to the path. Ling could see that, rested both of his hands on her shoulders. He shook her a bit to see if she would be alright, saying, "Hello? You okay?"
"I'm fine." Chiui grumbled, feeling more dizzy than she did before. "But that didn't really help."
Ling grinned apologetically, and the two started walking down the boulevard. Chiui yawned, and Ling noticed.
"Want to find a place to rest at?" Ling questioned, and Chiui nodded, smiling sleepily. Ling then chuckled. "I thought you had a lot of rest, though, when you were bedridden at Roger's house."
"Well, I didn't." Chiui told him. "But that Philosopher's Stone...why did Patricia put it in my mouth while I was asleep?"
Ling thought on that. "Well, she didn't want to wake you up when we were doing that. But I could see you barely open one of your eyes during the process. But...at least you're healed now."
The redhead noticed her boyfriend hold back for a moment. He looked perturbed when he was talking about the stone. Chiui could tell why, and with a reassuring smile, wrapped her arms around Ling's waist, resting her head against his arm. Ling felt a slight blush appear on his cheeks, and he smiled. He hugged Chiui back.
The two then decided on a place to go, and noticed that it would take a while to get out of the forest and back to Central. Ling and Chiui thought on what to use to make a little tent, and thankfully, they found some big leaves lying somewhere and some wood.
So Ling and Chiui got to work on the tent, and were finished in no time. They were now sitting in the tent. Chiui had her knees bent, and she had her arms wrapped around them, pulling them in towards her. Ling had his legs crossed, and was leaning back a bit. Him and his redheaded girlfriend were staring into the night sky.
"It sure is beautiful outside." Chiui exhaled dreamily. The Xingese Prince noticed the tone of her sigh, and smirked.
"It sure is." Ling scooted towards her a bit, which Chiui could see him doing out of the corner of her eye. "It is also romantic, don't you think?"
Chiui looked away for a moment, focusing her golden eyes on the ground. She smiled warmly, and a rosy pigment appeared on her cheeks. She went to say that she agreed, but she caught sight of Ling's arms behind his back. It seemed that he was unwrapping something.
She didn't realize that it was his ponytail before she saw his full hair fly out. Chiui's breath was taken away. She didn't expect him to have such long, silky, dark hair, which met at the middle part of his back.
Chiui noticed that she was going into her fangirl stage, which she only does when she's talking to Lan Fan about Ling. Thankfully, the stage was broken when Ling locked his crimson eyes on Chiui's golden eyes.
Ling smirked handsomely, causing Chiui's face to flush. "What? You haven't seen my hair down before?"
"I..." Chiui's voice almost cracked when she stammered, "I...I don't think so. But you look quite...how should I say this...? ...Hot. Eep!" she couldn't believe that she said that last word out loud, and she covered her face with her hands.
The Xingese Prince just laughed, and wrapped his arms around Chiui's waist, pulling her in towards him. She still had her face covered by her hands.
"It's alright." Ling smiled, and Chiui moved her hands away from her face, only for Ling to kiss her on the lips softly. Chiui blinked, and closed her eyes as well, putting her arms on his back. The two were like that for a few minutes before pulling back.
The two then gazed into each other's eyes before giving each other one quick kiss before going to sleep.