Chapter 20
The Sister's Secret and the Teacher's Trail
The Elric Sisters had first met Izumi in 1908, four years after their mother's death. It was during a week of near-constant heavy rainfall in and Rizenbul, as Edwina remembered. One night during this week, she and Alphonsa were awaked from another sleep in their father's study by the hammer of rainfall on the roof and commotion outside. Pulling on their raincoats, the two children made their way outside, and towards the chaos - the Rain River. They were drenched in minutes.
What seemed the vast majority of the village's men were gathered on the bank, and the sisters, watching from the stone bridge, saw the normally pleasantly water was throwing up angry waves, and was threatening to burst its banks at any moment.
"This has got to be the heaviest rainfall in sixty years!" one of the men cried.
"Get the sand bags here, hurry!" the one in change, a middle-aged man, ordered.
The men quickly began piling the sand bags along the bank, but it was no good.
"It's still overflowing!" one of the workers yelled in defeat.
"Let's get out of here!" another added, clearly frightened.
"Get to higher ground now!" the de facto leader bellowed. "The bank's about to burst!"
Everyone quickly cleared the area. One of the younger members of the group ran across the bridge and spotted the sisters on his way.
"What are you kids doing here?" he asked, halting.
"Um…" Edwina said, not knowing what to say.
"Oh, never mind! Just get outta here!"
"Nee-san…?" Alphonsa said questioningly, seeing that the girl was not focusing on her or the man. Her attention was focused on a new, female arrival to the riverbank. She was a woman with black, micro-braid dreadlocks, wearing, ironically, a sundress and jacket. She also bore a determined, focused expression. Alphonsa and the man looked at her too.
Noticing the newcomer, the leader called to her, "Hey, madam—"
"It's dangerous here, you better leave," Izumi Curtis said calmly.
"That's my line!" the leader cried.
Izumi ignored him and clapped her hands together and placed them on the ground. Alphonsa gasped as both sisters recognised the resulting reaction as alchemy. Everyone else's eye widened as their jaws dropped.
The reaction caused the ground to rise up around the riverbank, forming into a sturdy wall.
"This should hold for a while," Izumi said coolly.
The Elrics then spot another newcomer, making his way over to Izumi. Though, it was not like he was hard to spot, being so tall.
"You guys better re-enforce that wall," Sid told the village men as he held an umbrella over his wife's head.
"Um…yes!" the leader said. The others did so.
"Sorry for making the ground sink," Izumi said.
"It's OK. But, I don't get it…in a matter of seconds…who are you?"
Izumi smiled. "I'm all you see: a normal housewife." Suddenly, the woman leaned forwards and threw up blood. The sisters jumped.
"Izumi!" Sid cried, and took his wife by the shoulders. "Someone get a doctor, please!"
The sisters looked at each other, and began formulating an idea.
Half an hour later, Izumi was sitting in a bed in the village doctor's house, her husband and several residents (including the Elrics, Winter and Pinako, but not before Pinako had dried the girls), along with the doctor himself, gathered around her. After the doctor had checked her over and gave the all clear, she began to explain herself and answer the influx of questions.
"Tourists from the east, eh?" one man said after the woman had answered his question. "That's quite a bit away."
"We just happened to pass by, and by chance helped you," Izumi replied.
"Now we're in your debt!"
"You've got incredible alchemy, Mrs. Curtis," a ponytailed young labourer commented.
"Oh, are you a State Alchemist?" asked a middle-aged male.
"I'm just a butcher's wife, a simple housewife," Izumi replied, and gestured to Sid. "And this is my husband!" Sid shifted uncomfortably.
"So, what part of the west are you from?" asked a young woman.
"Dublith," Izumi replied.
"Ah, I had a hunch it was that."
After hearing this, Edwina turned to Alphonsa and leaned in close so the Rockbells would not hear, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Al?"
"Yeah!" Alphonsa hissed back.
The two made their way to the front of the group, their faces full of determination.
"Hey, old lady!" Edwina shouted, catching Izumi's attention.
"Please accept us as your apprentices!" the girls shouted in unison.
Izumi responded by leaping out of the bed, and with an amazing feat of strength, pushed the bed into the two girls, causing them both to be slammed against the wall. The group stood there, speechless. Pinako was angry, but confused at why the Elrics had asked such a thing in the first place.
"Who are you calling 'old lady'?" Izumi yelled at the two.
"Izumi, I'm sure they didn't mean any offence." Sid said, even though he knew, that, when it can to being called 'old', his wife did not care who the person was, child or not, offensive or not.
The girls recovered, and again approached the woman, undeterred.
"Ma'am!" The older Elric began.
"Please accept us as your apprentices!" the younger finished.
"Hey! Pinako interjected, walking up to Edwina and Alphonsa. "Why the sudden interest, girls?"
"We know a bit of alchemy," Alphonsa told Izumi, ignoring Pinako, and trying to pull the 'big puppy eyes', thinking her often-noted-as-cute-or-sweet-appearance would help persuade the woman.
"We want to learn more, and you looked pretty skilled," Edwina added.
Izumi seemed seeming to consider the girls, giving them hope – hope which she dashed only an instant later.
"No way!" the black-haired female responded, turning away.
"Why?" the girls cried in unison.
"I don't accept apprentices, and I'm returning to Dublith soon.
"Bring up back with you!" the older blonde cried. The girls leapt at the woman, Alphonsa wrapping her arms around one of her legs and using the 'puppy-dog' eyes once again, and Edwina grabbing her arm. The older alchemist immediately tried to shake both of them off.
"Hey, let go!"
"Plea-ea-ea-se accept us!" the girls said once again.
Izumi managed to shake them off, making them land on their bottoms. She jabbed a finger at them as they stood up. "Why do you two want to learn alchemy so much?"
"Ah..." the younger said nervously and fiddled her fingers.
"Because we want to make life better for people," the older girl quickly lied.
Nee-san is so much better under pressure... Alphonsa thought to herself. Maybe if Mrs. Curtis accepts us, I could get better at that...
The woman thought for a good while before asking, "Do your parents approve?
Both sisters looked at the floor, their expression sad (or, in Edwina's case, sad and hidden anger).
"Mrs. Curtis." Pinako stepped forward again. "I'm these girls guardian. Their father disappeared when they were very young and their mother died not long after."
"Oh..." Izumi said. Maybe it was her own loss which now gave the woman the overwhelming desire to accept the children's pleas. She glanced at the girls and their determined expressions cemented her decision.
With a sigh, she said, "I guess I have no choice."
"Yes!" Edwina cheered with a grin.
"Yay!" Alphonsa cheered with a huge smile as she jumped up and down, causing her bunches to wave up and down.
"However," the alchemist said, stopping the children's celebration. She crouched down at the sisters' level and placed a hand on one of their shoulders. "I need to give you one month trial. Then I'll decide whether to take you on or not." The sisters exchanged a concerned glance. "You girls have to show me that I can teach you alchemy, as well as your skills out with it. Your intelligence too."
"And if we can't make it?" the older blonde asked.
"You'll come back here immediately!"
"And if we make it?" the young blonde asked.
"Then I will officially train both of you. Got that?" Izumi added.
Behind Pinako, Winter, who had been asking and listening to just what had taken place at the river, only now noticed his best friends and grandmother talking with Izumi. He moved close to hear, curious.
"Aunty," Edwina said, and both Elrics turned, to her with a smile. "We won't be back in a month.
"I knew you were going to say that," Pinako replied, unimpressed.
"Wha?" Winter piped up. "What's going on? Where are you guys going?"
"If you weren't listening, we're not going to tell you," Edwina replied bluntly.
Alphonsa placed one hand behind her back and tapped the bridge of her nose with the other, her smile now one of a secret-holder. "Sorry, it's a secret for you. Right, Aunty?"
Pinako looked between the girls and her grandson. "If they don't want to tell you, they're entitled to."
"Aw, man!" Winter exclaimed in frustration.
One day later, having all packed, Izumi, Sid, Edwina and Alphonsa were on a train in Rizenbul Station. The sun shone on a lovely morning. The Rockbells of course, had come to see them off. The sisters waved until the train took them out of their sight. They did not know that Winter was partially pretending, his attention mostly focusing on how he could get his friends to tell him what they were going to train in.
"Off we go!" Alphonsa chirped as the locomotive picked up chugging speed. "Off to training!"
"Training!" Edwina joined.
"Shut up!" Izumi snapped. The girls of course did not.
"I bet Mrs. Curtis has a laboratory!" Edwina said excitedly.
"And lots of book we haven't seen!" Alphonsa added.
"I said shut up!" Izumi repeated. "And I don't have any of that. I'm a housewife!"
The girls finally became quiet as evening fell, having fallen asleep. Izumi sighed, glad for finally having some peace, even finding the image of the children sleeping to be endearing.
"I thought you said you never wanted apprentices," Sid commented, now feeling he could with the two sisters asleep.
"…Even at this age, I'm still touched by these children," the woman replied, taking off her jacket. "Their eyes were so serious when they begged me to teach them alchemy." She gently draped the jacket over the girls. "Their determination to learn was so strong. A teacher is just what they need to guide them on the correct path, right?"
"I suppose so," Sid replied. "We're going to have to prepare beds for the kids. Home's sure gonna get noisy."
"They don't really need to sleep on beds. Not right away anyway. They need to pass their test first."
"Oh," Sid said.
Izumi suddenly gave a laugh that indicated she knew something her husband did not. "To train them…I am going to need to make a call at the station!"
Once they had reached the station in Dublith around the midday of the following day, they woke up the Elrics and took them outside. They instantly wilted into the heat.
"It's so hot…" the older blonde began.
"In the south," the younger finished in a whine. "I wish I could take a bath…"
"Me too," Edwina agreed.
"Ok, let's!" Izumi told them, having returned from her phone call. "I'll take you girls to my house and get you washed up.
"Really?" Edwina asked.
"That's great!" Alphonsa cheered.
After they had cleaned up, Izumi decided to take the girls on a 'special' boat ride.
"This is Lake Kauroy," the alchemist explained as she led the sisters to the dock next to the pristine water.
"Wow!" the older blonde said, her eyes wide. The two ran over to the water's edge, put down their suitcases, and removed their socks and shoes before cooling their feet in the water.
"It's huge!" Alphonsa observed her eyes as wide.
"Oh, you're here, Izumi!" Mason said, looking up at his employer's wife as he sat next to a rowboat. "I've got the boat ready."
"Sorry for all the trouble." She turned to the sisters. "Edwina! Alphonsa! We're taking you for a boat ride on the lake! Come on!"
"Sensei Izumi is so nice," Alphonsa said as they walked back out of the water and tried to shake their feet dry. It did not work. They just walked in their bare feet, their shoes and socks in one hand and their cases in the other. As Mason rowed four of them across the water, Sid, who had remained on the dock, began to feel pity for the girls, as he now caught on to what his wife was planning. However, he kept up appearances, took the children's luggage to look after, and waved the others off. The children themselves were still completely oblivious, now moving their hands in the water, looking for fish.
"Why didn't your husband come, Master Izumi?" Edwina asked upon realising the man was not present.
"It's because it isn't easy for him to get into the boat," Izumi explained. "And don't call me 'master'. Until I'm your sensei, you can call me 'Izumi' or 'Mrs. Curtis'."
"Won't he be upset to miss the tour, Mrs. Curtis?" Alphonsa asked, going for the more polite address, as was expected of her.
"'Tour'?" The dark-haired female repeated.
"Yeah," Alphonsa replied. "Where's the boat going anyway?"
Izumi again gave that knowing smile. "To the middle of the lake. Look." She pointed. The girl's eyes widened in awe they saw the silhouette of an island in the very centre of the lake. "It's York Island." The boat docked and Izumi led the girls onto the shore.
"Wah…" the older Elric marvelled at the forest and sand covered isle.
"A wild kingdom…" the younger commented.
"Here, take this," Izumi said, and tossed a sheathed knife to Edwina.
"A knife? What for?" the girl asked, unsheathing the weapon a little to look at it.
"This is a no man's island," Izumi began, ignoring her. "There's no electricity, no gas, no wells and no houses. There are wild beasts here too." The now-confused girls wondered why she was telling them this. It certainly did not sound like something that should be on a tour. Then Izumi delivered the line the shocked the girls. "You have to stay alive on this island…for a month!" the most unnerved part of this was that the woman was smiling the whole way through. The girls were frozen in shock. "Ah, and you're not allowed to use alchemy within this period of time."
The sisters found their voices. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"
The dark-haired alchemist walked back to the boat before waving and saying, "I'll pick up you girls in a month."
"Hey, wait!" Edwina tried to say, but was cut off.
"All is One, One is All," Izumi told them as Mason began to row the boat away.
"Huh?" the girl said in confusion.
"If you can't find that answer to that in a month, I'll send you girls home. Bye!"
"I can't believe someone would be allowed to do this…" Alphonsa said. "It's cruel! There should be some kind of organization to prevent things like this!"
"Well, I guess we're just going to have to deal with it," Edwina replied.
"I know," Alphonsa responded. "I'm just surprised."
"Well, at the very least, let's get somewhere to sleep," Edwina said.
Going inland, the blondes made their way through the forest (jumping at almost every noise as they did so) until they found a clearing. They then took large leaves and placed them on the ground in a primitive, bed-like pile. By the time they had finished and lay down, it was dark, the moon being the only thing producing light. After a while just lying there, looking up at the sky, a load groaning noise filled the quiet air – the older blonde's stomach.
"I'm hungry…" she groaned.
"I want to sleep on a feather mattress," Alphonsa moaned.
The older alchemist's mind drifted to Izumi's 'One is All, All is One' riddle. She clenched her teeth in frustration and anger. "That woman, how could she give up such a difficult riddle?"
"I've got no idea what it could mean…" Alphonsa said after taking a minute to rack her brain. "If we can't find the answering a month, it means we fail our training." Suddenly, Edwina jumped to her feet, giving the younger female a fright.
"This can't be training for alchemy! That evil old hag!" Edwina exclaimed with her hands clenched in fists.
"Nee-san…" Alphonsa said in a hissing tone. "Go to sleep!"
The older alchemist jumped at the sharpness of the tone, instantly silent. It was not the first time Alphonsa had spoken in such a way, and her sister had begun to think that she was one of those girls who were sweet most of the time, but could turn tough when the situation called for it.
"We'll explore and think in the morning," Alphonsa told her as she lay down next to her.
"Ok," Edwina replied.
A strange, scratching and breathing noise awoke Edwina early the next morning. She sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Al? Are you going to the bathroom…?" she asked groggily.
But Alphonsa was asleep on her side next to her. She turned her head around and her eyes widened in fear. Standing before her was a thing. It was definitely not some wolf or fox. In fact a wolf or a fox seemed a good alternative. Its body was humanoid, but its head had a bear-like snout, round, blank eyes and sharp, grinning teeth. Strange for a monster, it wore a black trousers a veil-like cloth falling from the back of its head to its shoulders. Its bare chest also showed it was male. Finally, most intimidating of all, it held a wooden club in one hand.
For a moment, Edwina was frozen, then the creature raised its club. With a yelp, the ponytailed girl grabbed her still-sleeping sister by the collar and dragged her away, narrowing avoiding the club, which thudded onto the ground.
"Wha…wha…what?" the older blonde cried.
"Go to the bathroom yourself…" Alphonsa murmured.
"Wake up!" Edwina screamed.
The younger blonde opened her eyes, and was instantly fully aware upon seeing the creature. "What is that?"
The two yelped and leapt backwards as the monster brought his club down again. The found themselves in-between a large tree and the monster, which bore down upon them, casting them in shadow.
"This is my island!" the monster growled. "I kill all intruders!"
There was one thing the Elrics did not know about their time on York Island, and Izumi paused the retelling until she had explained it.
Back at her home that very morning after sending them to the island, Izumi's mind drifted to the Elric sisters. She was helping her husband chop meat, as Mason was unable to come into work for a while (of course, everyone knew why now).
"I wonder if those kids are alright…" she thought aloud as she prepared a side of beef. "People say that knowledge acquired from experience teaches one the most. Training the mind and body is the best method for a good foundation in alchemy." She raised the carving knife and spun it into her hand. "If they don't learn anything from this, then it means they only have so much talent. I'll properly just reject them as apprentices. The older kid is SO desperate. She'll properly pass a test of this level. Here, I'm done cutting." Sid, who had been quietly listening the whole time, jumped as the woman threw the blade at him, but skilful caught it between two fingers nonetheless. He wondered why he had not become used to how quietly his wife's moods could sometimes change.
"I'm more worried about their lives," he told her.
Izumi walked over to him and continued. "At the time I was being trained, I was left in Mount Blix for a month." Inside her head, she saw her eighteen-year-old self, a hunting knife gripped in one hand and an icy blizzard blowing around her as she faced a rearing bear. "And even then, it turned out to be for the wrong man. Still, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have learned the meaning behind 'One is All, All is One'. And I think I trained myself pretty well,"
"Don't compare yourself to normal people," Sid reminded her.
"Compared to that, their training is easy," the dark-haired woman still went on, raining a hand.
"Still, they're too young…"
"Don't worry! They won't die! They won't freeze to death, and there's plenty of food. Plus, there's no creatures or monsters that could kill them."
The Elric sisters had just avoided another blow from the monster's club by jumping in opposite directions with another cry of fear. The monster turned on Alphonsa, grabbed her by one of her bunches and threw her against a tree, causing her to yelp in pain as she slid onto the ground, stunned.
"Hey!" Edwina, and stuck a fighting pose. "No-one hurts my little sister!" Doing a flip, she kicked out, aiming for the creature's face.
"Ow, that hurt!" the monster said in a clearly sarcastic tone after it was struck. Before Edwina could take away her foot, the creature grabbed it and use it to fling her onto the ground. She barely had time to get up before the club was swinging towards her again.
He's not going to give up until we really are dead! She franticly thought as she backed away. Why do monsters always have a taste for kids, especially when—
She was cut off as the ground disappeared beneath her and she landed painfully on her head.
"Ow!" the older Elric cried, momentarily disorientated. Once she had shaken the stars from in front of her eyes, she realised she had fallen into a small crater.
Painful or not, it saved me from another blow… she thought to herself. She heard a noise behind her and realised the creature was trying to sneak an attack on her. She leapt out of the crater and began running as the club slammed down again. Maybe, she could find a place to hide, after she had found Alphonsa of course.
"Al!" Edwina called out as she ran. "Where are you? Please be ok!" She continued running, but there was no sign of the younger girl.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the darkness in-between the trees and grabbed her. She was about to yell "Please don't eat me!" and struggle when a voice said, "Nee-san, it's me! Sh!"
"Al? Are you alright?" the older alchemist said upon seeing her. She looked fine.
"I said 'sh!'" the younger snapped.
They both heard the monster this time. They clamped their hands over each other's mouths, worried the other would give them away as they sat behind a large tree. For what felt like an hour (but in reality was only about twenty minutes) the monster search for them, and girls had to move from hiding space to hiding space. Eventually, the island creature gave up for the day, deciding to look for his prey another day. When the girls realised it was gone, they returned to the camp for a short rest before beginning exploration of the island. Edwina brought the knife for protection. Judging from the position of the sun, it was almost midday.
"I thought Sensei Izumi said there were no monsters here," Alphonsa commented as they walked.
"She lied," Edwina replied. "You were right. She really is cruel, and there should be an organisation against this. That's why we have to get through this, and figure out that riddle. I've made up my mind. What about you?"
"Let's do this!" the younger Elric said with an air of determination and resolve.
"We won't accomplish anything if we're hungry. Let's see what we can get."
After climbing up a small cliff, Edwina spotted a tree with a vine around it and formulated a food-catching idea.
"We could use this to make a trap," she said. "Help me tie this in a loop."
"A lasso trap?" Alphonsa asked as she assisted.
"I don't know the real name for it, but yeah, it's that kind of one."
Alphonsa completed the loop, and Edwina tossed it over the tree branch and onto the ground. She then took the other end of the vine and the duo hid in the nearby bushes. After a long wait, an unknowing rabbit hopped into the vine loop and Edwina yanked it, snagging the creature's hind leg and raising it into the air.
"Yay!" Alphonsa cheered as she picked up the caught rabbit.
"Yeah!" Edwina joined added in joy. She took the rabbit and tied its legs together and placed it on the ground.
"We're going to have to kill it," Edwina said, her tone no longer happy.
"Yeah, I hate this bit," Alphonsa said. "You're supposed to make it quick, so it doesn't suffer, so do it."
Edwina stood over it with the knife in both hands and Alphonsa by her side. But she could not bring herself to bring the blade down. The girls made the mistake of looking at the animal's face, something one should never do when trying to kill it. She looked at its eyes; it's scared, almost begging eyes. The older girl's eyes moved to its shaking body. She could not do it.
"Uh, here Al, you do it!" she said, pressing the knife into her sister's hands.
"No way!" the pig-tailed girl snapped. "You're older, you do it!"
"But I've never killed an animal before!" Edwina snapped.
"Neither have I!" Alphonsa yelled back.
"You're always making me do annoying jobs!"
"No I don't!"
The argument was cut short by a sharp crunch. The children looked back at the trap. A fox stood there, the now-dead rabbit in its jaws. It sprung away.
"Heeey! Wait! That's ours!" the girls cried in unison and persuaded the animal.
They were determined to retrieve their rabbit, until they saw the foxes den.
"It has babies," Alphonsa said. "We can't take food from a mother, can we?"
Edwina had a mental image of someone snatching their mother's food basket, despite her telling them she had children to feed.
"No, it wouldn't be fair," Edwina concluded. "Well, since we can't kill them, let's see if we can catch some fish instead of bunny-meat."
They made some simple fishing rods from sticks made from tree branches and strings made from vines. They then returned to the beach they had been first placed and tossed the vines into the lake, with worms tied on as bait. A few hours later, as the sky began to darken, with not even a single bite, an agitated and hungry Edwina's mind returned to thinking about meat.
"Can foxes be edible…?" she wondered aloud.
"Calm down," Alphonsa said and placed a hand on the older alchemist's shoulder. "We'll get a bite, I know it. Fishing just takes time, remember?"
"At least the other times we hadn't gone almost a day and half without eating."
"It takes three weeks to starve!" the younger girl replied in sharp annoyance.
"I know, but still…"
Suddenly, there was a sharp tuck on the older Elric's line. "A bite!"
Alphonsa joined her in yanking the catch out of the water.
The two cheered once again.
"Finally!" Edwina cried.
The two rushed back to their camp, collecting twits along the way. Once they returned, with their determination they managed to start a fire. Edwina used the hunting knife to gut the fish and cleaned it out. Alphonsa used another twig to skewer it and stand it up in the flames. The sisters smiled as the smell of smoked fish filled the air, it alone lessening their hunger.
However, their joy was once again short-lived. This time, it was because of a loud crash behind them. The girls whirled around. The island's resident monster was back. Again the girls had to jump out of the way of another powerful club-swing.
They looked back as they ran to a safe distance – to see the monster grab the stick-pierced fish in-between its toes, and opened his mouth wide. The creature slowly raised the fish to its mouth, deliberating teasing the girls.
"NOOO!" Edwina yelped, and again stuck a fighting pose. But instead of charged in again without any she began to looked
Alphonsa, on the other hand, decided to fight club with club. With all her (not so heavy) weight and yanking, she managed to rip off a short branch. She then charged at the monster (Edwina was still thinking), and repeated smacked the monster's chest. It did little damage, but did succeed in making the monster drop the fish.
"Go, Al!" Edwina happily goaded as she watched. She had to admit to herself that she liked it when her sister when from sweet little girl to tough little girl. It was once of the reasons she sparred with her. However, Edwina again charged in without thinking when the creature made its next move.
The monster responded to the pigtailed girl's onslaught by chopping the club in half and kicking her in the stomach, winding her and sending her backwards a few yards onto the ground. She lay there, trying to get air back into her lungs.
"What did I tell you about hurting my little sister?" Edwina cried. As she rushed forward, she aimed another kick, this time at the monster's groin. But this time, she was not even able to land the blow. The monster reached out and clamped a hand around her neck and raised her into the air.
"This is MY island!" the monster roared right into her face. "GET OUT!"
For a moment the ponytailed girl was unnerved but then she felt that surge of bravery she always tapped into in such situations.
"If we leave this island…" she hissed, and grabbed the creature's wrists to stop herself being strangled. "We fail our training!"
The monster responded by slamming her onto the ground and tightening its grasp.
Crap…Crap! Crap! Edwina thought, screwing her eyes shut. I'm going to die…
Suddenly, everything stopped. Edwina lay there for a moment before opening her eyes and sitting up. The monster was leaving.
"Huh?" she said in confusion.
"Next time…" the monster growled without looking back.
After they both recovered, the girls stripped down and cleaned themselves off in the lake water.
"That monster is a real bastard!" Edwina suddenly piped up.
"Yeah!" Alphonsa agreed as she poured water over her hair. "But I won't give up!"
"That's the spirit! It's only twenty-eight more days!" Edwina replied. "But we're going to need to a plan."
And so over the next ten or so days, the determined sisters set about a daily routine. They constructed a lean-to on the first night and every morning checked it for damage and repaired it necessary. They constructed a primitive bucket out of wood, and after checking the lean-to, they used bring water to the camp while they caught their breakfast fish and quickly ate it raw. They then would fill the next few hours with exploration of the island. At about midday, they would catch more fish for lunch, re-light the fire, cook and eat the fish, giving enough time to let it settle, as it was round about this time the monster made its first twice-daily attack. Once they had done their best to fend it off, they returned to exploration. They then caught their final batch of fish, re-lit the fire, again cooked and ate, and again fended off the monster afterwards. As the moon rose high in the sky, they would retire to the lean to and try to figure out the meaning behind the 'All is One, One is All' riddle.
On day eight, they found and tried tree sap, hoping for something to flavour the plain fish, but it was a big, bitter-tasting mistake. They hoped to find berries, but did not.
However, as the days went on, the same food every day and the lack of progress with the riddle began to wear them down.
On day thirteen, as they lay under a bright moon, bruised from their latest encounter with the monster, and with fish bones and ash scattered they began to think to question their motivation.
"Hey, what did we come here for again?" Edwina asked in a miserable tone.
"I don't know…" Alphonsa replied, equally as gloomy.
Suddenly, the heavens opened and the girls retreated to the flimsy lean-to. Even just looking at the rain caused the girls to feel
"I wonder…if we died out here…what would happen?" Edwina asked. She noticed Alphonsa was making her way outside, on her hands and knees heading towards a mouse nibbling on a discarded fish. She slammed her hand down, but the whippy animal dodged and fled.
"I don't want us to die," Alphonsa replied. "If we did, Winry and Auntie would be sad." The girl clenched her hands in fists, and, in an echo of her sister, shouted. "All of this…What does it have to do with alchemy?"
"I can't this anymore!" Edwina shouted. "I want to go home!"
The next day, the girls did not even have the motivation to fight the monster. After only ten minutes, Edwina was laying on the ground, badly bruised. Alphonsa was equality as bruised, and was being held up by the back of her shirt.
"Fight!" the monster growled, standing over the older Elric and shaking the younger in his grasp. "If you can't fight, then get out!"
Edwina found a surge of energy. Letting out a scream, she stood up and pulled out the knife from its sheath under her t-shirt. She pointed it at the monster, her face full of anger and determination. The monster made a surprising response. It dropped Alphonsa and slowly left. Edwina's energy fizzled out and she slumped onto the ground.
A few hours later, the blondes managed to recover enough strength to find and eat a merger portion of food. Immediately after which, they collapsed onto their leafy bed. The next morning, Edwina was woken by a scuttling noise. She moved her head to the side, and jumped slightly. Right next to her, an army of ants was pulling apart and devouring a moth. However, this horrific fact of nature became the least of her worried when she began to hear a familiar scratching and breathing sound. She rolled into her stomach and looked up. The monster stood over her once again. She did not try to move away this time, from a combination of lack of strength and lack of caring.
"Stand up!" the creature demanded.
"Shut up!" Edwina snapped back.
"Fight me," the monster demanded.
"If you want to kill us then do it," Edwina replied, then glanced at her sister who was asleep on her side again. "Just make it quick."
The creature tilled his head to the side like a curious dog. "You want to die?"
"I don't want to die…it just seems like a better opinion at the moment, since we're starving and can't go home."
The monster turned away and walked away. To Edwina's surprise, instead of leaving as usual, it walked towards the fire and lit it. Edwina followed him with his gaze. The monster placed two objects into the ground above the flames. The girl raised her head, but was unable to see past the monster's large back. The greatest surprise came fifteen or so minutes later. Upon seeing it, Edwina shook her sister with a cry of "Al! Wake up!"
"Wha…?" the bunches-wearing girl began, but stopped and tensed when she saw the monster. "Nee-san! It's back— huh?"
The monster was holding out two fish-on-sticks. The girls were understandably suspicious, and simply looked at the fish.
"It's not poisoned or anything," the monster said, senses the girl's emotions. "You've got my word."
A few more minutes of silent scrutiny passed before Edwina exclaimed, "Oh screw it!", snatched the fish and handed one to her sister. They ripped into the fish fierce and wolfed down large chunks. The creature sat back to watch them. After they had finished, the monster left without swinging a single blow. The girls remaining on alert for about half an hour more, in case the creature was using the food as a way to lower their guard. It did not return. Figuring this, the girls spend another morning exploring before heading to the lake water to wash, being carefully to clean their wounds and bruises so they did not becoming infected.
"You know, I just thought of something," Alphonsa said suddenly. "If we did die, Winter and Aunty Pinako certainly be sad, but only them, and maybe the village too, judging by mum's funeral. But that's the thing. Only they would be sad. To general society, us dying wouldn't affect them at all…life would continue from them as if nothing happened."
"What's your point?" the older blonde asked curiously, washing her arms.
"We're so small and insignificant."
"DON'T SAY SMALL!" Edwina screamed, missing the point due to that certain word.
"I meant in the metaphorical sense!" Alphonsa quickly replied before the older female could get violent.
"Oh, right, sorry. Well, if such…small…existences like such died…" she spotted a fish lazily swimming by her and grabbed a sharp stick which was floating in the water a few metres away. "We would leave behind only our bodies. Water, carbon, ammonia, lime, phosphorus, nitrogen…" She again stopped, and stabbed at the fish. She missed the first time, but tried several times. She broke in a shout as she did so. "Sulphur! Fluorine! Iron! Magnesium! Aluminium! Silicon!" she felt the stick finally pierce the fish."That's right! Our bodies are composed of those and a hundred or so other compounds!" She raised her prize into the air in joy and showed Alphonsa, showed her find in return. The younger Elric had been searching the trees for edible berries or fruit, but had found some mushrooms instead. After having checked them for poison by appearance and smell, and when she certain they were safe, she had gathered some into her arms. "It's eventually going to be broken down by bacteria and become nutrients for plants." With most of her attention on talking, Edwina almost picked a poisonous mushroom, but was stopped by Alphonsa. "Those plants will be eaten by vegetarian animals." The girls started to make their way back to camp, happy for some variety in their island meals. "Meat eating animals will eat those animals in turn. "It's going to be calculated to places we don't even know. I think there's a name for this…"
"The food chain," Alphonsa said. "And I think we humans are at the top of it, too."
"We would be."
Over the next few days, the girls returned to their routine, their hope renewed. On day twenty-two, they even captured another rabbit (though Edwina felt the need to apologise before she was able to bring herself to kill it). They spit-roasted it, the best way to cook one, they were told one day by Pinako. As they ate it, the fox club they had seen a few days ago approached daringly. Alphonsa, spotting them, came to the conclusion their mother was not having luck finding them food. She tossed them the rabbit haunch she about to eat (she could spare one), and the two girls chuckled as the two fought over it. However, they had forgotten one crucial thing – the island monster. At this moment, right when they were completely disabled, it attacked, thinking its plan had worked. It attacked by slamming its club down, but Edwina managed to backflip out of the way. She quickly stuffed what remained of her rabbit's leg into her mouth. This seemed to annoy the creature more, and it kicked out at Alphonsa, but she also evaded him with a jump. Seeing this, Edwina aimed a kick of her own at the creature's groin, but it jumped out of the way, swung around, and kicked the skewered rabbit meat out of her hand.
"Not again!" Edwina shouted.
"I got it!" the younger Elric cried, and tracked the meat with her hands outstretched, as it flew in a large arc. She jumped up, her hands going to close around the food – when a blur of orange and white fur snatched it away. Alphonsa landed painfully on her stomach as the mother fox flitted away.
"I already fed your babies!" she exclaimed in sadness.
After a hopeless chase, which included the monster, the girls returned to the came and the creature to the forest. They lay down, head-to-head and stared up at the sky. The stars were out this night.
"A flow of life…too large to be seen by eyes…" Alphonsa said, dreamily as they looked up.
"I'm not sure whether that refers to the world or the universe…" Edwina responded. She felt a sensation on her hand, and moved her head to the side to see an ant was crawling on it. "Al, you and I are both small parts of the flow of life. This ant too. The entire universe is formed from all of the parts coming together. We are living according to countless universal 'rules'. Destroying and rebuilding objects according to these rules is what we call alchemy."
"'All is One, One is All'…I get it now! We get it now!" Alphonsa responded joyfully. "We'll be able to train with Sensei Izumi!"
Day thirty had finally come. It was over. Izumi had travelled over to the lake with a new rower (Mason was unavailable). The Elrics stood in front of her, Edwina gripping the knife, while the woman had her arms folded.
"Tell me what 'All is One, One is All' means," Izumi asked bluntly.
"'All' is the world!" the younger Elric began, equality blunt.
"'One' is me," the older sister finished. "We are all connected in an endless cycle of life and death."
There was a moment of anticipation. Then Izumi give a titter, which grow into a full-grown laugh.
The girls looked at each other with understandable confusion.
After a few more laughs, Izumi looked back down at the baffled children. A small smile was on her face even though her arms were still folded. "Very well. You are now officially my apprentices. We'll begin training in a few days."
"ALRIGHT!" the girls cried in unison, and raised and clasped their hands in the air. They danced around in a circle of joy.
"Get onto the boat. Warm food and beds will be prepared for you," Izumi told them, pointing behind her with her thump.
"Oh, Nee-san, living is so wonderful!" Alphonsa exclaimed and the sisters changed their dance to an embrace. They were so happy they could almost cry. After a good, long hug, they jumped into the boat and set off. However, as they made their way across the lake, the monster appeared. It jumped onto the boat.
"No!" Alphonsa cried.
"What do you want this time!" Edwina demanded. "We're leaving! That's what you wanted, right?"
"Yo, good work," Izumi congratulated the creature.
"…What?" the blondes questioned in unison.
"He's the employee at our store."
"Eh?" the girls queried further.
The monster laughed – and removed its head. The dark-haired man beneath laughed.
"What? It was just a costume?" Edwina cried.
Fury rose within the children. However, before they could act violently on it, the man, seemingly obvious, placed the mask down on the boat and grabbed one of the Elric's hands in each of his own and shook them vigorously.
"I'm Mason! Pleased to meet you both. Well, properly anyway," He happily greeted, his speaking fast. How was my acting? Was it good? I think it was."
The girls remained in shocked silence.
Mason went on. "I found it hard to fight you guys, since you're children. On the other hand, I found it hard to control myself when I had to go easy on you. But, boy, was it scary when you both almost died. Lucky I had those fish, eh?"
"He was there to make sure you two didn't die," Izumi explained.
Alphonsa turned around and grabbed the woman's collar. "Then why did you have him attack us?"
"Fool. That way you could learn more in a month!" the teacher replied, easily prying the pigtailed girl off her. "To train your mind and spirit you have to start with training the body. You got to train physically, spiritually, mentally, and perhaps emotionally all in just one month. Wasn't it worst it?" the older Elric sighed. Izumi again gave that small smile. "Remember, I'm going to teach you like a proper teacher now. Be prepared for some disciplines."
"Heh! Piece of cake!" Edwina cried in that determined, brave tone. "We overcame death on that island! There's nothing we're scared of!"
Izumi knocked the older blonde into the water. "Don't be cocky. And speak to your teacher with respect."
It was but a small part of the intense training the Elrics Sisters had to go through.
Author's Note: Just like the first two chapter this was another long one (though the long ones are more an average chapter length in most books). Flashback chapters always seem to be the longest.
Sorry it took so long to finish…again. I bet you are getting really pissed at that, are you not, readers?
Again, there will be mistakes as I just wanted to get this uploaded before some of you started questioning me.
Did you get the "organisation against children being marooned on an island" reference? If you do write a review, then would you mind saying what you think it is if you do?
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, anyway, dear readers.
Thank you ^_^.