She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. Elizabeth could only watch as the Fuhrer slid his sword into Alphonse's armor and ended Martel's life. Blood splattered everywhere-on Alphonse, on the Fuhrer, on the floor...on her.
There was so much blood.
She felt someone pick her up, pulling her onto her feet and dragging her away. Alphonse suddenly become unresponsive, his suit of armor crumpling to the ground. Military men ran in and picked him up, somehow managing to not tear him apart.
Elizabeth hardly registered them leaving the sewers, reentering the devil's nest. She watched blankly as they opened up Alphonse's chest plate, pulling out Martel's dismembered body.
Blood was everywhere still.
Elizabeth's lips curled back as she stumbled backwards, tears welling up into her eyes. Darkness was dancing in her vision, her breathing becoming labored.
It was all too much. She remembered watching Nina and Alexander becoming transmuted, how Tucker had beat her and locked her in a cage. How he promised to take good care of her and that she would become his next "masterpiece". She remembered what it was like, waking up without any hands, missing a foot, just bleeding there to death. If Garfield hadn't found her she'd be...
No. No, no, no. No...
She remembered watching the blood pool out of Hughes' body, trying uselessly to stop the bleeding. He had thought she was Isabella. He had thought she was her sister. Mustang called an ambulance and they barely managed to get there in time. Hughes barely escaped death, but was stuck in limbo for who knows how long.
Martel... She failed to save her. Elizabeth only came to the Devil's Nest because she was trying to save Martel. She knew everyone elses deaths were inevitable, but Martel could have been...
She failed. She failed. Elizabeth had failed so badly and now...now...
She was shaking. Elizabeth heard multiple voices crying out to her. She could hear Edward saying her name. He was gripping her shoulders, shaking her. He looked panicked. People were in the process of cleaning Martel's body out of Alphonse, wrapping the woman up and setting her on the floor ontop of a stretcher, throwing a blanket on her to cover her body.
Why...Why does she keep failing? Why does... why doesn't anything ever go the way she wants it to? Always. It always goes wrong. Every single time, even back in her dimension, when she tried to help someone she did more harm than good. Elizabeth was a nuisance. Unneeded. She couldn't save anybody. Nina died, Hughes is practically dead already, and Martel just went off the chart. Elizabeth couldn't even stop her half-sister from O.D'ing. Her death was on her hands.
All Alyssa had asked Elizabeth was to hand her the stupid bottle. She said she was in pain, her head and stomach both hurt really badly, and that her heart was being torn to shreds. Her boyfriend had just dumped her. Elizabeth thought she was being helpful in giving her the bottle, so she got her a glass of water to wash it down and Elizabeth walked out of the room. She thought it was just going to be a single little pill. Five hundred milligrams, enough for a migraine and a stomach ache, right? Wrong. Alyssa downed half the bottle.
She didn't survive. Her mother blamed her, told her about her real dad and the debt their family owed, and sent her off to a stupid boarding school. Elizabeth never asked about anything, her mother told her straight-up in a fit of rage and despair. Elizabeth couldn't save anyone.
A-And now Martel's dead... because of her helplessness. If she couldn't save someone like Hughes... if she couldn't save a little girl how could she be expected to save anyone else? Are their fates... that unchangeable?
Elizabeth's hearing kept fading in and out, her vision darkening as her breathing grew more and more shallow by the second.
"Is...alright?"
"She...don't know."
Everyone who spoke sounded like static, their sentences choppy and hardly understandable.
She barely registered Isabella moving over and pushing Edward away, the dark-dressed teen grabbing Elizabeth at the shoulders and asking something with a worried look in her normally apathetic eyes, but everything soon went black for the alchemist and she found herself dreaming about her mistakes.
"Did you happen to trade any manner of information with him?" The Fuhrer questioned the two teens. Edward shook his head while Isabella remained silent, holding up an unconscious Elizabeth.
"Not at all," Edward told him with a frown, "The Military wasn't even mentioned-not once."
Bradley clasped his hands behind his back, saying, "That isn't my concern; let me be more specific... If you arranged a deal or shared any knowledge with him, then I'll execute not only you Elric brothers, but Miss Hughes and her friend as well, right here and now." His single eye stared at them intently, refusing to relent until they coughed up whatever knowledge they were possibly hiding. "I'll ask you again... did you share any knowledge that might affect the Military?"
Isabella finally spoke, sending a blank look towards the Fuhrer, "For the last time, no. We didn't tell them anything or share information; he kidnapped Alphonse so we came to get him back. There wasn't time for conversation. Can we leave now?" Her voice was clinical as usual and complete detached from the world. She sounded almost bored, and looked like she wanted to hit him upside the head for taking the "fun" out of everything with her half-lidded eyes.
Bradley turned his gaze onto her, the two locking eyes and having an intense staring contest. "I am curious about Miss Elizabeth's missing limbs, Isabella Hughes. I'm even more curious about Mr. Edward Elric's own missing limbs, and how his brother's body seems to missing while his soul is attached to a suit of armor. There wouldn't happen to be any connection between them, would there?"
Edward and Alphonse gasped, both looking at the Fuhrer in shock before looking at the clinical brunette in worry.
She merely said, neither facial expression or tone of voice changing, "Elizabeth lost her limbs in a little skirmish during the War... as for Edward and Alphonse... well, you'll have to ask them." Edward stared at Bradley in alarm as his gaze moved to him, and after a few moments of silence, that of which Major Armstrong looked at them nervously, Bradley smiled and chuckled.
"You really are an honest kid." He turned around and started to walk away, saying, "Alright men, pull out. And you make sure to take good care of your younger brother, Edward. And Miss Hughes," he paused and turned his head to look at the girl sitting a ways behind him holding up Elizabeth. He smiled, "Watch over them boys for me, alright? They're quite a hassle. I'm sorry about your father... He was good man." He continued to walk away. Isabella's eyes widened and in anger she ground her teeth together, tightening her grip on Elizabeth. She glared at the ground, wishing for someone or something to punch. Edward's eyes widened and Alphonse gasped, the two snapping their heads over to look at her.
"What did he mean by that?" Edward demanded, voice sounding a little shaky. Isabella brushed him off, saying,
"Nothing. He's just getting on my nerves. Hughes obviously told him about how my real dad died." Her real dad... is there any difference between the two? They're both her fathers. They both took care of her. Raised her as best as they could. Granted her birth dad had three more years on Hughes but still... he... he... Her lip started to tremble, but before the waterworks could start she gained control of herself, placing on the mask she uses so well. "He died when I was little."
"But you're..." Edward trailed off, not sure whether or not to believe her. After a moment of silence, of which Armstrong cast Isabella a sad, sympathetic gaze before he walked off.
After some debate on if Fuhrer Bradley was hiding anything from them and how suspicious it was to kill the chimeras without interrogating them first, they made their way to Rush Valley on train to visit Winry so Edward could get his automail patched up. Winry, of course, beat him up with the wrench like usual and fixed the height of Isabella's automail for her, informing Edward that she would have to go somewhere and buy the necessary parts to completely fix his arm.
There was news about Paninya quitting being a pickpocket and instead doing odd jobs around the town, and they informed Winry of how they were making slow progress with the Philosopher's Stone. Winry told them to go and wander about town to kill some time, and they split up faster than one could blink. Alphonse went with Edward, and Elizabeth and Isabella went on their own ways.
But only after Isabella mooched some money off of Edward so she could buy some things. She needed new clothes (She could only wear the same pair of jeans and tanktop for so long) and wanted a snack. There was some argumentation (Alphonse having to cool Edward down and hold him back) before the blonde finally relented and Isabella walked off as bored as ever, buying herself a few new shirts and jeans, and a couple boxes of pocky.
So she was currently dressed in a long-sleeve black shirt, her jacket tied around her waist, with a pair of green camouflage capris on. She had tied her hair up after she gotten changed in a store bathroom, and was now currently walking along the street as she tried to remember where Garfield's automail shop was.
"Fooood..." She paused in her step, blinking. The voice was hauntingly familiar and yet she couldn't remember why. "Fooood..." Shuffling backwards with her hands in her pockets, she leaned back and peeked her head into an alleyway, staring blankly at the form of a man in fancy clothing lying across the ground eagle-spread.
"Pfft..." She held back a life, finding the sight rather comical, before walking over and kneeling beside the stranger. She kept her face in it's bored, apathetic state and asked, "Hey... you alive?"
"Fooood..." It replied. I'll take that as a "barely". He sounded like Elizabeth when her stomach was empty after five minutes of eating. It's a miracle that girl was so skinny. Isabella sighed, before setting one of the bags she was carrying down besides, rolling the male onto his back and reaching into her bag and pulling out a Pocky box.
"You're pathetic. Even more pathetic than blondie; at least he doesn't fall over from hunger." The man didn't look like a homeless, she noted as she took in his appearance. He appeared to be older than her, maybe around eighteen years old, with long black hair and side bangs. He wore a yellow jacket and baggy white pants. "Whattya know, it's Natsu." She opened the box and ripped the bag inside open with her teeth, before carefully pulling out a pocky stick. "Say, "ah"."
He groaned in response, but as he did so his mouth opened so she took that opportunity to shove the pocky stick inside. He made a weird noise, before chewing on the pocky stick and eating the whole thing in one fell swoop.
Isabella stared. Only to freeze as the stranger's arms wrapped around her waist, the male pulling himself onto her lap as he pleaded for more food. "G-Get off of me!" Her face started to turn a shade of red, her bored expression turning into that of an angry flustered one. "J-Just eat the whole box, damn it! Let go!" She shoved the box in his face, and he bit into half of the pocky sticks that began to fall out.
"Isabel?" Her head turned, her eyes wide at the sight of her savior.
"A-Alphonse! Get him off of me!" The suit of armor tilted his helmet slightly in confusion, before moving over and picking the male up by the back of his jacket.
"Kind stranger~!" He cried, stretching his hands out towards the girl who quickly took a step back, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Weird things always seemed to happen to her in this town. "You saved me!" He seemed not to care that he was lifted three feet in the air.
"Al?" Edward's voice came from a bit of a distance behind Alphonse, and the suit of armor turned his head to look at the blonde, Isabella lifting her head up at the sound of his voice.
"Brother..."
"What now? Did you find a stray cat or something?" His footsteps were heard.
"Ah... well, no." Alphonse turned around all the way and showed the stranger to Edward, causing the blonde to spit out of his drink. Isabella turned her head trying not to laugh.
The male lifted his head up groggily, apparently going back to his starved state despite looking completely healthy, and greeted weakly, "Hi..."
Edward turned his head away with an irritable look, his annoyance brought on by all the people in the town who kept attacking him for his automail. "Put him back where you found him."
Alphonse sounded horrified as Isabella nodded in agreement with Edward. "That's inhuman!"
Somehow they found themselves sitting at a table by a restaurant, watching the male devour everything and anything the waiters and waitresses brought to their table. After about half an hour of watching the man devour food, rarely stopping to breathe, he finally got full and laughed. "I feel sooo much better! You guys are life savers; thanks a lot! Your treat, right!?"
Isabella yawned in response, watching the seen tiredly. Edward look a little peeved and questioned, "When did I say I was paying?" A few of the bystanders that had stopped to watch the man eat had dropped their jaws, while a few others decided to walk away.
The stranger waved his hand at Edward with a huge grin on his face, saying, "Let's not quibble over something so small!"
"Who're you callin' small!?" Edward screamed, ready to pounce the man. The stranger merely laughed loudly, before turning his head and crying,
"How lucky am I to have such hospitality so far from home." He wiped at his eye with a panda handkerchief. Isabella deadpanned,
"Drama Queen."
Alphonse was the nice guy and asked, "Far from home? You mean you're not from here?"
"That's right!" The man exclaimed cheerfully once again, looking at them with a bright smile. "I came from Xing." Edward and Isabella blinked.
"Oh, Xing..." Edward began, trying to place on the map in his head where it was, "That's... the country to the East of the desert!?" The apathetic brunette turned her head and asked,
"Is it really that far?" She had thought it closer than that.
"Yeah," The man told her, sending her a smile. "And crossing that desert was rough, let me tell you!"
"Why in the world would you take that route?" Alphonse asked.
"I wanted to visit the ruins of Xerxes," He replied, "that route goes by them." Isabella remembered the ruins, she just couldn't figure out why they were so important. It was just a feeling she had, but she knew they had something big to do with the Elric family.
"I heard there's next to nothin' out there," Edward told him, amused.
"I wanted to see for myself," The man said, his smile never falter. "Anyway, I was headed here to do some Alkahestry research."
Isabella blinked. "Alkahestry?"
"Yes! I believe it's what you here in this country call Alchemy." The two teens and the suit of armor looked at each other before back at the stranger in front of them. He explained, "In Xing, it's called Alkahestry. It's mainly used in the Medical Professions."
"Huh... Different countries, different customs, I guess." Edward commented. "Here in Amestris it's mainly used to Military purposes... it's not hard to see why." He laced his fingers together in front of his face, his elbows propped up on the table as a serious look formed on his face. "Even now, we still have skirmishes at the border of Aerego to the South and Creta to the West... North of us is the huge country, Drachma. We have a tentative nonagression pact with them, and Briggs Mountain stands between us, making invasion difficult... but our relationship is still dicey at best."
Isabella had a flashback of when Hughes explained all this to her after she read some of the old newspapers. Her fists clenched and her jaw tightened a little.
A waitress moved over and picked up all the used dishes, carrying them away.
The stranger, with crossed arms, commented with a frown, "Sounds like you guys got your hands full alright..."
"Things began to move to the more militaristic when the current Fuhrer, King Bradley, came into power." The stranger appeared to listen intently. His head turned to Alphonse when the suit commented,
"I have to say, I'm curious about Alkahestry. A branch of alchemy that's medically specialized?" Isabella paused, thinking about his words. If Alkahestry is medically specialized, could it help...? Would it be able to help wake Hughes up?
Edward grinned at his brother, "I'm curious too!"
The man before them looked thoughtful, before asking, "Are the two of you guys... by any chance alchemists?" Edward chuckled and grinned.
"Oh, yeah, actually. We are. I'm Edward Elric, a State Alchemist."
"And I'm his younger brother, Alphonse Elric. It's nice to meet you."
Isabella raised a hand up, saying in a monotone voice, "For your information, I'm not really an alchemist. And just so I don't feel left out on the introductions, my name is Isabella Hughes."
The male stood up and held out his hand, introducing himself with a grin. "My name's Ling Yao; it's a pleasure." He, Edward, and Alphonse all shook hands. Isabella stayed seated, and when the Elric brothers released him the male named Ling turned to her with his hand outstretched. "It's nice to meet you too, kind stranger!"
She eyed his hand for a moment, before sighing and standing. She leaned over the table and grabbed his hand, shaking it. He looked a bit surprised, probably not expecting her to shake his hand as normal customs here is to just hold it for a few moments. "It's not too much of a pleasure to meet you," She said dryly, causing him to make a noise of confusion before she abruptly released him.
Edward apologized for her, "Sorry about her. She's a bit rough-around-the-edges."
"He grabbed me when I found him in the alley! Don't go apologizing for me, damn it!" She made to hit Edward upside the head, but the blonde quickly reached up and grabbed her wrist, smirking at her.
"Too slow. You're lacking in your training."
"That's your fault for never teaching me!" She growled, narrowing her eyes darkly in a glare. Edward released her wrist and shook his head at her.
"It's not my fault that you haven't been reminding me."
"Why you little-!"
"So, Ling, what else can you tell us about Alkahestry?" Edward asked, completely ignoring the fuming brunette besides him. "We'd love to learn more!"
Ling smiled at him with his arms crossed in front of his chest, finally sitting back down, and said, "Nothing. Yeah, sorry, but I'm not actually an Alkahestrist." Isabella hid a smirk at that, turning her head as Edward and Alphonse fell over.
Edward quickly got back up and glared angrily at Ling, hissing, "If you don't practice Alkahestry, why come all the way over here to research it!?"
"Well, see, I'm looking for something. It's possible you have heard of it before..." He leaned his head against his hand, the smile on his face gone. His eyes opened, narrowed. "The Philosopher's Stone."
All three of them went quiet, staring at Ling. The teen sounded almost sinister.
"I'm very eager to find it. Do you know anything about it?" A smirk spread across his face. After a moment Edward stood, saying,
"No. We don't know anything about it."
To help play with the act, Isabella stared blankly at Ling and asked, "Philosopher's Stone? The hell is that; some kind of rock?" Ling turned his gaze towards her, but she held her ground.
"You two wouldn't happen to be lying to me, would you?" He snapped his fingers, and a sword was suddenly placed at the gap underneath Alphonse's arm. Kunais were pressed against Edward's neck. He kept his gaze on Isabella, saying, "Now do you have something to tell me?"
She turned her slowly to look at the Elric brothers before looking back at Ling. "Am I supposed to be scared?" The Slicer brothers were scarier than them.
"Maybe just a little," Ling responded with a slight grin. Edward spoke up, eerily calm.
"Why the interest in the Philosopher's Stone?"
Ling's grin widened, and as he spoke Isabella calmly pressed the palms of her hands together, waiting for the right moment. "I want to achieve... immortality." Ling stood, "Out with it, what do you know? Tell me or your friends become nothing more but a pile of bodies."
"You know, you're really rude," Isabella began with a frown, slowly standing. The two body guards tensed, but Ling assured them she was defenseless. She started to make her way towards him, "First you make us pity you and you mooch money off of Ed for a bunch of food that he didn't even get a bite out of," She jabbed a thumb towards the blonde, who glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. "And then you go and threaten us to tell you about something we don't have a single clue about," She used her hands as she talked, careful not to touch anything. "And now..." Her eyes narrowed and she lunged, blue electricity crackling as a blade formed from the palm of her hand, an arm wrapped around Ling's throat in a choke-hold with the blade pressed against the middle of his back, "You're threatening me and calling me weak!"
Edward wasted no time in delivering a punch to the bodyguard's face, taking Isabella's actions as a cue to start fighting. The bodyguard dodged and jumped in the air, flipping and kicking Edward in the chest and knocking him back.
"Brother!"
"My Lord!" The bodyguard charged, but Ling quickly called out to her and told her to focus on the others.
"I got this one, Lan Fan." Isabella felt confused, but Ling suddenly grabbed the arm that was wrapped around his neck and pulled it off with surprising strength, twisting it around the girl's back and causing her to let out a cry of pain. "You lied to me. You said you weren't an Alchemist."
"I'm not!" She retorted angrily, kicking him in the foreleg. He winced a little but didn't release her, and every time she struggled more pain hit her in her right shoulder. "I'm not an Alchemist; I'm a very pissed off teenager!" Ling raised an eyebrow at that.
Alphonse had managed to get the sword dislodged from the inside of his arm, but the second bodyguard jumped back before delivering a multitude of hits, all so fast Alphonse could barely react as he was sent stumbling backwards. "Hey, wait! H-Hold on!" He didn't want to fight, but the attacker quickly sent a kick to Alphonse and the suit of armor was sent flying, landing against his annoyed brother.
"Jeez... is that guy an acrobat?"
"Must be a Xingese fighting style..." Alphonse said, lying on his back. "Could be tough to beat." He and Edward pushed themselves up, and Alphonse quickly called, "You alright, Isabel?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. This guy won't be if he doesn't let me go!"
"But you'll attack me if I release you!" Ling protested, receiving a glare in response.
"I'll attack you either way! Hasn't your mother ever told you to not hit a girl!?"
Ling shrugged in response.
Edward suddenly grinned, commenting, "Even if these guys are tough to beat... they're still not as strong..."
"As teacher!" That was when all chaos ensued, the bodyguards and the Elric brothers taking off and practically destroying the town. Ling laughed.
"Hahaha! There they go!" Isabella sent him a glare out of the corner of her eye, scowling. He looked at her with a closed-eye smile. "Hm?"
"Just so you know.. I really hate you."
"Hate's just another way of saying "Like". You gonna behave like a good Amestrian if I let you go or am I going to have to resort to force?" She scoffed and turned her head away, brutally dismembering him inside her head. Ling grinned, "I'll take that as a "yes"!" He released her, sending her stumbling forward as she tripped over a chair leg and crashed into the ground. "Oh... sorry. Hey, pops, can you add some dessert to my tab? Oh, hey, Isabella, right? You want anything?"
She pushed herself up and gave him another glare, before faking a smile and asking in a hopeful and overly sweet voice, "Your head on a platter?"
Ling stared for a moment, then turned his head and called out, "Get this girl some chicken!" She faltered, stunned. Isabella then stood up and cried out,
"The hell is wrong with you!? Are you bi-polar of something!?" He went from friendly to completely sinister to-to-whatever the hell this is! She pointed at him obnoxiously, demanding, "A-Are you insane!?"
Ling took the cake the Waitress gave him and dug into it with a fork, shoving half of it in his mouth and exclaiming with chipmunk cheeks and a cheesy grin, "I like to call it being a "Good sport"!"
The poor girl couldn't tell if he was an idiot or what. She settled with, "Dumbass," and took a seat at the table, waiting for Edward and Alphonse to get back. She knew they could handle the bodyguards, and if she tried to help she'd only get herself killed because of her lack of fighting skills. Turning her automail back to normal, she pondered on why she even bothered going with them for the first place when she remembered. Hughes... Damn it. She glared at the plate that was placed in front of her, her elbow propped up with a hand on her forehead. Her bangs were covering her face.
Ling stared, trying to figure out why the girl looked so familiar. He asked, "Were you in a town called Dublith a few days ago?" The girl tensed, but didn't look at him nor answer. That told him enough. "I thought so... why were you crying?" He half-expected the glare she gave him at that, shadows darkening her face.
"The reason for that is none of your damn business. I don't know anything about the stupid stone and neither do Ed or Al, so go away and leave us alone."
Ling swallowed the cake he was chewing before placing his hand against his cheek, commenting, "You know... for a girl so cold, you sure were nice to me in that alley."
"I wasn't being nice." She responded, looking away from him and all the flashing lights of alchemy that were being spread throughout the town. There were rocks walls everywhere. "You looked so pathetic I couldn't help but to stop and see if you were dead!" She raised her arms up in a shrug, acting completely rude. "And just so I wouldn't have a body on my hands, I sacrificed a precious box of Pocky that you ate half of! It just so happened that Alphonse was there to save me!"
"Save you?"
"Well of course. I don't know about you, but I don't like being clung to by a stranger." Will Ed and Al hurry it up?
"Isabella!" The girl tensed at her name being called and saw Elizabeth running over, panting. "What's happened? Did-" She cut herself off, seeing Ling staring at her curiously. "Okay, never mind. It did happen. Why are you so calm right now!?"
"Because I'm trying to scare the dumbass into running away." Elizabeth blinked.
"Dumbass?"
"Yeah; Mr. China over there." How was he still able to eat; does he have a black hole for a stomach? "Blondie and Alphonse are currently fighting his lackies as we speak."
"Oh... Hey, is that chicken?"
"No, it's turkey."
"...Can I eat it?" Isabella sighed at the question and pushed the plate towards her, the girl eagerly sitting down at the table and digging in. She then paused and looked up at the girl, asking, "How come you're not fighting?"
"Because I'm holding Ling hostage."
Ling's mouth was full of food when he he heard her say that, and he turned his head to look at her. "Huh? Buh ahm holfin thu hostash." Isabella sighed and leaned over, burying her face in her arms as she yawned.
"No...you're my hostage. Get your facts straight."