CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Al wasn't quite sure how it happened, but the next morning Maggie was missing from his lap. He jumped to his feet, the blanket and pillows falling into a heap at his toes. Rushing down stairs he stumbled into Rose who was shocked to find him so distraught.

"Have you seen Maggie?" He asked quickly, trying to calm himself down but it wasn't working.

Rose set down the shirt she folding and stared up at the suit of armor. "She asked for a bucket of water about an hour ago. Why?"

Al didn't answer, instead darting off towards the door. He was afraid she'd run away again and if that had happened, she was too weak to protect herself. After her strange behavior the night before, he was afraid to leave her alone until he was sure she was alright.

But there she was, crouching over a bucket of water, arms hugging her legs to her chest and chin resting on her knees. Al paused, quietly observing her. It didn't seem like she was breathing or moving and she wasn't blinking. With slow movements, she raised her fist and dropped a pebble into the water, watching the ripples within the bucket.

A minute passed. Then two. Then three. After five minutes of staring into the water, Maggie suddenly frowned and snarled angrily. Grabbing the bucket by the handle, she stood and threw it against the wall beside her. Al rushed over to her, terrified at the sight of the girl he deeply cared about howling and clawing at her face and throat.

"Maggie! Maggie, stop it!" He shouted, grabbing her tiny wrists to stop her from tearing at her own flesh.

She growled and hissed and twisted in his grasp like a wild animal. It sounded like she was speaking in tongues because no mortal language sounded so broken and garbled. He continued to beg her stop but she didn't seem to understand what he was saying.

"Al! Al, what's going on?" Winry stepped out of the house with Rose and Van in tow. She gasped and covered her mouth in horror when she spotted Maggie contorting her body around Al's metal grip.

Van narrowed his eyes. "Alphonse, what happened?"

Al glanced over his shoulder towards his father, worry clear in his voice. "I don't know. I found her looking into a bucket of water and then she just snapped!"

Maggie screamed, her chest heaving as a dribble of blood oozed from her lips. Van stepped closer and stood in front of the feral child. Gold eyes swept over her thin body, noticing how her green eye seemed vacant and hollow.

Van looked up at his son. "Did she put anything into the water?"

"A pebble, I think."

"I see." Van pinched the spot where her neck met the junction of her shoulder, scooping her up into his arms when she collapsed.

"What's wrong with her? Is she going to be okay?" Winry fretted behind Al as they followed him into the bed room.

Van laid Maggie on the bed and gently flipped her over so the tattoo on the back of her neck was visible. He frowned at the sight of it and ran a finger down the red ink.

"She said she created this by herself, right?" He asked, turning back to the group behind him. Winry nodded grimly.

"I've seen this once before, in an old text book." He pinched the bridge of his nose, bushing his glasses up as he closed his eyes in thought. "Legend has it that an old woman who was believed to hold the ability of clairvoyance created a circle similar to this in order to wield all of the abilities associated with fortune telling. However, she never accounted for equivalent estrange and each time she used her abilities, part of her soul was taken as payment."

Al shivered at the thought of losing Maggie. At the thought of bits of her soul being sucked into the same void that held his body and his brother's arm and leg.

"What happened to her?" Rose asked timidly, wringing her hands.

"She disappeared." Van turned his back to them and examined the tattoo again.

He noticed strange writing around the edge of the circle so small it must have been written with an extremely thin needle. It was in a language that he'd never seen before, making it impossible to decider. Then he saw it. At the bottom of the loop of gibberish was Tabula Rasa; "blank slate".

"She's paying with her sanity." He said softly, bowing his head.

X*X*X*X

Maggie groaned and rolled over onto her belly. Something damp slipped off her forehead and fell off the bed. Her muscles felt like they had turned into stone and her mouth was as dry as a desert. A candle flickered on the nightstand beside her but her vision was too blurry to make out much else.

"Ah, good, you're awake."

Van was seated on a chair next to her, wringing out a washcloth to place back on her head. He smiled weakly, his glasses reflecting the dim candle light.

"Wha... What happened?" Her voice was hoarse and cracked, reminding her of an old woman. She winced at the pain talking caused her.

Van dabbed her cheeks with the wet cloth. "I wouldn't talk so much, you need to heal up for a bit."

She was breathing heavily, but she noticed that it seemed easier to do so now. Her mouth was opened, letting out tiny wheezes, and her large green eyes stared up at the odd man who had always given her a strange feeling.

"I hope you don't mind, but I fixed up the area where your lung used to be." He bent back over the bowl of cold water and dipped the cloth back in. "The doctors didn't close the left bronchus well enough. So I fixed that. Were you aware that your lungs are poorly grown? I'm sorry I can't fix that, but I wish I could."

Wringing out the wash cloth, he folded it and placed it on her forehead. "I also fixed your transmutation circle. You know it's dangerous to sell your sanity for someone else's fortune? Now all you'll be giving up is bad memories or something less dangerous."

Maggie closed her eyes and silently thanked him.

X*X*X*X

It seemed like she was looking into a mirror- except, it wasn't her own reflection staring back at her. It was a boy, one who seemed oddly familiar. His soft bronze eyes gazed at her with warmth and hope and his beautiful lips curved into a kind smile. There was a screen of glass separating them, and he pressed his hand against it.

Maggie reached out, touching her finger tips against his through the glass barrier. The boy grinned, his hand melting through the glass and he grab her, pulling her through. He held her close, like they were dancing among the twinkling stars of the sky. He spun her around, then pulled her close against his chest, her lips brushing against his like a static shock.

"One day. One day. One day. One day." The boy hummed, gazing at her lovingly. "One day soon."

Then he let her go and she plummeted back to earth.

Maggie woke with a start, groaning at the pain moving caused her. It felt like an elephant had sat on her chest.

"Maggie, are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" Al asked from the chair that once held Van. He held his hands out, ready to help her if needed.

She stared at him, her eyes narrowing. His voice... Why did it sound so familiar?

"It... It was a..." She struggled to speak and Al was quick to retrieve the glass of water on the nightstand and help her drink.

Maggie lay back against the pillows, her skin pale under the dim candle light. Her eyes were half lidded and Al was sure she'd slip back into a deep slumber within seconds.

"It was a nice dream with you..." She mumbled, a smile dancing on her cracked lips.

A/N: Back to back posting! I still need to finish the anime, so it might take a while after this. I guess this chapter is just filling. I hope I kept everyone in character, especially Van. He's a hard character to do.

It was hard to explain the thing with her lungs and the circle. For the lungs, she was born early and as a developing fetus, the lungs are the last organ to develop. For the circle... Hmm... I guess he could have used his blood or something... I don't really know.

For anyone who doesn't know; clairvoyance is a spiritual vision or inner sight. Basically, you can get information from an object or person without using your six senses.

The bucket of water is hydromamcy- which is using water to see things. There are five different methods that can be used, but I picked the one that seemed like it fit.

Please review! If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all. Thanks!