Welcome back to The Water Alchemist. I don't own any of the intellectual property of Fullmetal Alchemist.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Unlikely Ally
"I know who you are, Ling Yao, Elias," the woman at the wheel said as she tore through Central, the tires screeching, piercing Elias's ears. She glanced back at them through the rearview. "Don't worry. We're on our way to a secure safe house."
Elias had been hesitant to join them but having to sit next to the very monster that had tried to eat him not a few hours ago was too much. He didn't want to be so involved, and yet, here he was, headed to an undisclosed location with a flurry of strangers, each seeming formidable in their own right. He had felt a sense of indebtment to the two who had saved him from certain death, but things were quickly getting out of hand. He tried to scoot away from the bound monster as much as he could, but with each sharp turn, he was either flung into it or vice versa. An unpleasant ride indeed.
"No, we have to go get Marina!" the young man who had captured the monster, presumably Ling, spoke up.
"What?" the woman asked, seeming surprised. Elias blinked at him awhile, just as confused. He had assumed she had ended up somewhere safe, at the very least.
"She's hurt, badly. We have to get her!" he cried.
"Make it quick," the woman grimaced, shifting gears and turning the wheel so sharply that everyone in the car slid to the right, and Elias bumped into the monster. After the turn, he righted himself, scooting as far as he could in the cramped space. They eventually came up on an alley, Ling giving the woman orders on where to turn, and she let the car idle as he jumped from the cab and, to Elias's surprise, into the sewers. Elias stood, looking out over the edge of the car.
"What the hell?" the woman at the wheel said, puzzled.
"She's down there," the young woman with the arm injury said from the front seat. He turned to her questioningly. "I can sense her." There was a rattling as Elias turned back around, and sure enough, he emerged with Marina unconscious in his arms.
"Marina!" Elias yelled as they approached the vehicle. Elias could have sworn he heard that monster stir at the mention of her name, mumbling something incoherent, but he didn't have time to dwell on it.
"She's breathing," Ling said as he hopped in and handed her off to Elias, who sat her carefully upright.
They both were nearly rocked from their feet when they took off again, and after he found his bearings, Elias studied Marina's face. Her skin was cold to the touch, and blood dribbled from her mouth. He scanned over her until he noticed the tear in her top and the glint of fading sunlight reflecting from something beneath. He tentatively lifted the edge of the shirt, revealing a bloody mess of what looked like ice fused to skin. His hand hovered over it, shaking.
"What the hell happened to you?" Elias asked in a whisper. The girl didn't respond, but Ling did.
"She was stabbed. You said you have medical experience, right?" he said, glancing around the vehicle. Elias looked up in shock.
"I'm not a doctor!" he yelled, tugging the shirt back over the unsightly gash. "The most I can do is basic stitches. This is serious! She needs actual medical attention; she needs a hospital." Ling frowned, turning forward.
"We can't go to a hospital with this thing," the woman grunted, tilting her chin to the mass of monster. Elias grit his teeth.
"A doctor, at least," Elias said. The woman nodded.
"I can arrange that," the woman at the wheel said. She looked to Elias in the rearview. "Can you keep her alive until then?" Elias clenched his fists.
"I don't think I have a choice."
"Ling, I need warm water, alcohol, as many rags as you can find, and needle and thread," Elias ordered, setting Marina down on the bed. Her breathing was shallow as Elias checked her pulse. Her heart was still beating, but it was a faint murmur.
"Right," Ling said, disappearing from the room. It was nearing sunset outside, and what light the lanterns Hawkeye lit emitted was all they had to work with.
"Uh, Miss Hawkeye?" Elias asked.
"Already on it," she said before disappearing around the corner. He nodded, looking back to his patients, his eyes falling to the conscious one.
"Sit tight a minute, okay?" he said to Lan Fan, who sat on the stool in response as he turned to Marina.
He got to work, removing the jacket Marina had used as a sling first. He moved on to cut her from her shirt with the knife at her hip, grateful for them both that she was wearing a grey bandeau underneath. He had been scared enough as it was— he didn't need another. He looked at the wound a moment, turning her over to inspect both ends, not sure how to tackle it. The most pressing thing would be to melt the ice and raise her body temperature. There wasn't much else he could do for her. He wasn't sure how she had managed to get a block of ice through her or how long it had been there, and her companions didn't seem so sure either. The skin at the site was already a worrying shade of white and a bit waxy, and with how shallow she was breathing, he was worried about her falling into a hypothermic-induced coma. He shimmied the blankets over her, scrounging around for as many as he could find to warm her up. Ling came in with most of what Elias required.
"I couldn't find any alcohol," he said, a little out of breath, setting the items down on a small side table in the dimly lit room.
"Look again," Elias growled.
"Fine," Ling grumbled but left to check again. Elias sighed and turned to the girl who sat on the stool.
"Lan Fan, right?" he asked. She nodded. "Let me take a look at your arm."
She moved her hand to undo the makeshift wrapping, and the garment slunk to the floor, revealing a decently deep gash in her shoulder. Upon initial inspection, Elias couldn't tell if any major damage was dealt. There was too much blood and clotting in the way to see clearly.
"Is it…" she trailed off, seeming afraid to ask. She took a deep breath. "How is it?"
"I'm not sure yet," Elias said, preparing a rag.
"Hey! I found some!" Ling said triumphantly upon his return with a glass bottle with a clear liquid inside. He looked between them, seeming to realize what was happening as he approached Elias. "How is it?"
"You people are impatient. I don't know yet," Elias griped, hating to have to repeat himself. Ling crossed his arms with a frown.
"Well, I'm not too keen on you, either," he said. Elias whipped his head around.
"Do you want my help or not?" he asked exasperatedly. He was starting to regret having left the house that morning. Ling just huffed, and Elias turned to his far more agreeable patient. "I'm going to clean it up, and then I can tell you what I know."
"Alright," she said, turning her shoulder to him, her eyes focused on the back wall of the room. Elias wiped the blood from the surrounding area of the wound, inching his way up the gash. She was quite resilient as he glided over the worst of it, barely making a sound. At some point, Elias noticed the young man had taken her hand in his, but he didn't comment.
"I've called for a doctor. They should be here soon," Hawkeye said, poking her head in.
"That's good," Elias said, glancing at Marina. "Could you check to see if there are any more blankets?"
"Sure," she said, leaving again. She came back as he nearly finished cleaning. "I found some more."
"Alright, set them over her," Elias instructed. Hawkeye nodded.
"What's the plan here?" she asked, placing another layer over the girl.
"For now, we're just trying to warm her up and hopefully melt the ice at the wound site," Elias said as he refocused on his task.
"Is there any way we can melt it faster? Maybe with hot water?" Hawkeye asked, lifting the covers to check the gash. Elias shook his head.
"Anything more extreme than this could send her body into shock. I wouldn't know how to stop that from happening," he said, nearly finished cleaning up the arm. Hawkeye just nodded, doing what Elias had instructed of her. He could finally see the wound on Lan Fan's arm for what it was, but he wanted to be sure. "Wiggle your fingers for me." She did, though she was only able to curl in her ring and pinkie finger.
"It hurts," she winced, uncurling them. Elias sighed.
"Your tendon is partially torn," he said. She looked up to Ling, a panicked expression gracing her face.
"My Lord, I—"
"Can you help her?" he asked, cutting the girl off. Elias nodded.
"I can stitch it up, but you may want to wait on the doctor," he said, looking at the needle and thread at the small table beside him. "With no anesthesia or numbing at our disposal, it's going to hurt like hell, and I'm not exactly the most experienced."
"No, we don't have time to wait, not for me," she said, looking up at Elias. "If you can do it, do it." He blinked a few times, looking to Ling, who just clenched his fists.
"Don't say I didn't warn you," he said, taking a rag and dousing it with alcohol. He did his best to disinfect himself and his tools as Ling gave her a towel to clamp down on. Hawkeye assisted by holding a lantern over them so Elias could see clearly.
"Do it," Lan Fan said through the rag clenched between her teeth, her eyes flashing over Elias.
He nodded, taking a deep breath before plunging the needle through her skin. She cried out, and Ling looked away. Elias kept his hand as steady as he could, working through each shudder of pain that ripped through her. He couldn't imagine how Ivey did it, day in and day out. He'd surely crack under the pressure. He'd much rather guard the door or break up a fight. Most people would take one look at Lan Fan's arm or the hole in Marina's abdomen and shrink away. There was probably a time where he would have, too. He was silently grateful for all those nights Nessa used to drag him to the ward. Basic life-skills training, she had called it. When you lived in a refugee camp, your chances of losing an arm or a leg or having a hole torn through you skyrocketed. Even when they were kids, during the worst of the raids, she'd read him medical books she'd swipe from her parents. She wanted him to be able to survive on his own. Eventually, he managed to close the wound.
"That should do it," Elias said, finishing the wrapping. Lan Fan touched it gingerly, trying again to curl her fingers. She hissed when she did it, and Elias frowned. "Look, you're going to have to take it easy. If you don't let it properly heal, it won't be of any use to you at all."
"Right," she said softly, tracing down her shoulder. She glanced at Elias. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet," he sighed, rising. "Thank me when you can move it again. And have the doctor check it."
"Even still, we're grateful," the young man spoke up from the door, having set himself against it, unable to watch Elias do what needed to be done.
"Yeah, well, consider us even, then," Elias said, moving to the bed.
Marina was still breathing laboredly, but her base temperature was rising, slowly but steadily. She didn't feel so like a dead body anymore, and her cheeks were just a touch pinker than before. He lifted the covers. In the time it took him to stitch up Lan Fan's arm, the ice on Marina's abdomen had melted quite a bit. He shuffled the sheets back over her, swallowing hard. It wouldn't be long before the shallow film of it was gone. He hoped the doctor would show up before that happened.
"Colonel?" Ed asked , exiting the train station. He and Al had just seen Winry off and walked outside as a car rolled up in front of them.
"Get in the car," he said a little urgently, leaning out the window. Ed and Al exchanged a look but did so anyway.
"What's up, Colonel?" Ed asked as they sped off, a little faster than what Ed was used to the Colonel doing. He had a strange far-off look in his eye that put Ed on edge.
"They're at the safe house. We're going to meet them," he said evenly, though his jaw tightened just a bit. "We have to make a stop first." Ed furrowed his brow.
"Where at? For what?"
"Doctor," Mustang said simply, leaving it at that.
Ed thought a moment. Lan Fans' arm did seem in pretty bad shape, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was really wrong as they pulled up to said doctor's house. He and Mustang talked a moment before the man disappeared into the house, returning shortly with a kit, and the two men clamored into the car. Mustang re-introduced them to Dr. Knox, but Ed had recognized him from Ross's autopsy. Ed looked between the gentlemen who shared the front of the car, deducing they must have some sort of agreement. The rest of the ride to the safe house was quiet after that. Eventually, they rounded on a wooded area on the outskirts of Central, and a little shack stood alone in the middle of a clearing. Night had just fallen, and the sounds of nature were all around them as they exited the car. Ed couldn't escape the sinking feeling that had settled in the pit of his stomach as they entered the house. Mustang led the way, followed by Knox, then he and Al. They walked along a cold and quiet corridor before Hawkeye emerged from the only room in the house that light spilled out of.
"Sir," she said as she saluted the Colonel, who returned the gesture.
"What's the situation?" he asked.
"She's still unresponsive," she said, motioning for them to follow her. Ed frowned. Lan Fan had been awake earlier. Was her wound bad enough to render her unconscious? "It's a clean stab wound, through her abdomen. It seems she used alchemy to seal it. Ice, to be exact." Ed froze, the floorboards creaking deafeningly beneath him.
"What did you say, Lieutenant?" he asked, swaying a little. She stopped, glancing to the Colonel.
"You didn't tell them?" she asked Mustang, who grimaced.
"I didn't need him going ballistic," he said through grit teeth.
Ed looked to Al frantically, who seemed to come to the same realization. Lan Fan hadn't been stabbed. At least, not that either of them could tell. And she certainly wasn't an alchemist who specialized in water alchemy. No, that was…
"Colonel, are you talking about—"
Before Al could finish, Ed rushed the hall, passing both Ling and Lan Fan, cries of people yelling at him to stop echoing all around him. He skid to a stop at the opening of the room, and his eyes scanned around frantically, barely registering the room's other occupant before they found her. She was pale, paler than Ed had ever seen her before, laying silently. He stumbled into the room, to her bedside, lifting a trembling hand to her cheek, alarmed at how cold she was. Her breathing was rushed and shallow, and Ed sucked in a breath as his eyes trailed over the covers, right about where her injury was. He lifted the covers from her in a swift flourish before he could rationalize to stop himself. The gash in her stomach glared at him, and as much as Ed desperately wanted to, he couldn't take his eyes off it. There was a thin veil of ice over it, though he could see right through it, could see right through her.
"No," he whispered, barely hearing himself, his ears ringing. He reached out, hovered over the wound before gritting his teeth and instead clasping her hand in his. Her arm was limp, and her fingers were abnormally cold as Ed held onto her for dear life. Something tapped against his arm, and he looked down at the charm still wrapped around her wrist, his face twisting in anguish. "This wasn't supposed to happen. You weren't supposed to get hurt, you— damnit!" His brother came up beside him.
"Marina?" Al whispered, his voice faint.
"It looks worse than it is," an unwelcome voice noted, causing Ed to place her arm down gently before turning to Elias, his nostrils flaring.
"What the hell did you do?" Ed asked lowly, his fists clenched.
"Nothing, she was like this before I even—"
He groaned as Ed rushed him, the objects of the side table falling to the ground noisily as Elias stumbled back into the wall, Ed's forearm locking him against the grainy wood.
"First, you tell me you can't send her back, and now this?" Ed yelled, glaring up at the young Ishvalen.
"I'm telling you; she came in like that! I had nothing to do with it!" Elias spat.
Ed didn't hear him— more like, wasn't willing to, instead rearing his arm back. He could only see red, could only place blame, warranted or not. Ed was ripped from the young man before any harm could be done, and he struggled against whoever was holding him back.
"Fullmetal, settle down!" the Colonel instructed, doing his best to contain Ed's fury. Ed snapped his head back at the sound of the Colonel's voice.
"You didn't say anything!" he yelled out, twisting, and turning, trying to get an angle on his superior. He was filled with a rage unbridled by anything he had ever felt in his life. He could barely think straight, could only try to release the pressure building in his chest and the ache of his heart.
"Get ahold of yourself, Edward!" Mustang snapped.
"Shut up! Let me go!" Ed growled. The outburst was hot in his chest like someone was forging his heart into steel.
"Quiet down, you brat!" Dr. Knox commanded, landing a swift hit to the top of Ed's head. Ed blinked, his shoulders slumping a bit as he picked his head up, looking at the doctor with surprise. Dr. Knox slammed his bag of instruments down next to the lantern, giving Ed a stern look as he opened the bag and dug through it. "Why the hell do you think I'm here? Just for show?"
Ed's mouth hung open, but he had nothing to say, and he eventually clamped it shut as the doctor threw a stethoscope over his shoulders and approached the bed. Ed's rage subsided just enough to be replaced with a hollowness as he realized Al was now kneeling at her bedside silently. He looked back to Ed as the Colonel cautiously began to release him.
"Al…" Ed trailed off as the suit of armor stood. Al turned to Dr. Knox.
"Please," he said, his voice wavering. "Please, help her. She's our friend." The doctor shook his head with a sigh.
"I can't promise you anything," he said, looking to her frail form. "Whether she makes it is up to her." Ed's heart clenched, and his shoulders shook as his gaze fell to the floor, his face hidden by his hair. None of this should have happened.
"Let's leave the doctor to his work," Mustang said, placing a hand on Ed's shoulder, and Ed stiffened. "In the meantime, you can explain to me what you meant by 'send her back'."
Ed nodded dully, defeatedly. None of this was supposed to happen. She was supposed to be safe. They exited the room, and he heard Dr. Knox order Elias to assist along with Hawkeye before the door closed behind them.
It took some time before Ed was able to talk, so he let Al do most of the explaining of Marina's situation, of being from the other side. The Colonel was surprised, to say the least. Ling and Lan Fan just sat quietly, curious bystanders in all of this.
"Well, that's certainly not what I was expecting. Evidence of another world," Mustang said, running a hand through his hair. "But it does explain some things."
"You mean, you believe it?" Alphonse asked. The Colonel sighed.
"I don't have a reason not to, farfetched as it is. Stranger things have happened. Besides, I knew Carter. Interdimensional travel was something he had mentioned an interest in before, but I didn't think he'd pull it off. He nor that boy," he said, his gaze set on the door at the end of the hall.
"Well, he did, and now he can't send her back," Ed spoke up for the first time through grit teeth, earning a small gasp from Al.
"What? Are you sure?" Al asked, worry laced in his voice.
"He told me himself he can't. I still don't even know how he managed it in the first place," Ed said, his jaw tight. But I'll find out, he thought.
"Oh," Al said, and the hall fell silent.
Ed was lost in his turmoil, her usually vibrant face replaced in his mind with the lifeless one just beyond the door. He knew it was a bad idea. He knew it, and he let her come anyway; he let this happen. Her voice erupted through the small hall, cries of agony that sent a shock down his spine. He eventually rested his head in his hands, pulling at his hair, covering his ears, trying to distract from the sounds echoing in his chest. After a few moments, the strangled outcries lessened to whimpers, but the damage was done— the sound etched into his very being. He knew she had just wanted to help, but her help wasn't worth hearing those awful sounds. It wasn't worth her life. Ed's eyes barely focused on the door as he realized he could lose her. It was a stark and chilling realization, one that unsettled him more than he could bear to admit. Ed lifted his head, staring at the cracked and splitting beams of the ceiling. He didn't believe in God. He put his faith in science and the things he could prove to be true.
Please, he begged anyway, despite it all. Please don't take her.
Some time passed in strained silence, her voice cutting through it every so often. Eventually, the doctor and Elias emerged from the room, their hands covered in blood. Ed and Al stood at their arrival with expectant looks on their faces.
"Well?" Ed asked frantically, almost too afraid to know the answer.
"She's gonna live," the doctor sighed, a hand on his hip. Ed let out a heavy breath and let relief wash over him, nearly collapsing to the floor. She was going to live.
"Is she awake? Can we see her?" Al asked, clasping his hands together hopefully.
"She's still down, but I don't care what you do," the doctor said before looking to Elias. "I'm going to wash up first." With that, he passed the small cluster of people gathered in the hall. Elias leaned against the wall as Ed stared him down.
"Did you tell her?"
"No, I was kind of busy saving her life," Elias said, shooting a glare of his own. "Besides, she was unconscious half the time."
"Are you going to?"
"Of course I am. You think I would have stayed if I weren't?" Elias griped, and Ed just narrowed his eyes. "What about you? Are you ready to apologize?" Ed frowned.
"Apologize? For what?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe for nearly taking my head off earlier," Elias scoffed. "I'm sure your little friends have told you I wasn't responsible by now." Ed, Al, and Elias looked to Ling.
"Didn't come up," Ling shrugged a little smugly. Elias blinked at Ling a moment before sighing.
"Well, I'd sure like to know what the hell happened," he said, taking a seat on the bench. "It was a pretty clean stab wound; didn't hit any major organs, either." The air turned suddenly serious as Ling spoke.
"It was your Fuhrer, King Bradley," he said, eliciting a shock response from everyone present. "He's a Homunculus."
When I came to, I heard a blend of voices I couldn't place. A bit of panic rose in my chest. Had I been captured? I couldn't remember what had happened to me, and I couldn't tell what company I kept. I blinked my eyes open a few times with a groan, moving to sit up. A pain ripped at my side, and I let out a strangled outcry, falling back to the bed. I groaned as my shoulder hit against the pillow and noticed my arm was in a proper sling. My shirt was missing too, but I wasn't indecent. I was in a light blue button-down, a little baggy, though it seemed whoever put it on me was hesitant to button around my chest.
"Hey, take it easy," a voice coaxed, and my head shot up to the source. There was Ed, banged up and bruised, his face drawn in a mix of relief and irritation. I could feel tears sting at the corners of my eyes as I reached up and rested my hand against the bandage at his cheek.
"Ed?" I asked, my voice a little raspy as I traced my thumb over the wrappings.
"Yeah," he breathed. I let my shoulders relax just a bit, a tear sliding down my cheek.
"I made it back."
"You did," he said, his hand grazing over mine, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"You're hurt," I noted quietly. "I'm sorry. I had hoped to avoid that." He grasped my hand tightly in his, his smile quickly replaced with a frown.
"I'm hurt? Are you kidding me right now?" he sighed. He moved to wipe away the streak of water over my face, and I managed a smile, sniffling.
"Marina!" Al cried, rushing over. He pushed his brother aside and enveloped me in a hug, nearly lifting me from the bed. The cold steel of his armor pressed against my wound, but I couldn't even care. I was just so relieved to see him. "Oh gosh, Marina, don't do that to me!" He squeezed me tighter, and I winced a bit involuntarily, and he eased up.
"Careful, don't rip her stitches," Elias called, and Al released me, sitting me upright, and I was able to take stock of the room.
Hawkeye and even the Colonel had gathered, and Elias stood next to the doctor from Ross's case. They all looked at me with relieved expressions, and I placed myself in the small room as Ed set himself against the wall in brooding fashion. I noticed we were in a house I'd never seen before.
"Where are we?" I asked hoarsely.
"We're at a safe house, a little outside of Central," Hawkeye provided. Mustang whispered something to Hawkeye, and she left.
"We found you in pretty bad shape, but Dr. Knox here stitched you up," Elias said, motioning to the doctor. My arm traced down to my side, and I grazed over my stomach with gentle fingertips lifting the edge of the shirt, noting the wrapping all around me. I looked up to the doctor.
"Thank you," I whispered, the events that brought me here rushing back to me. It was nothing short of a miracle that I was alive.
"He's the one who sustained you until I got here. You should be thanking him," he said, jerking his thumb to Elias. I rose a skeptical eyebrow, and Elias crossed his arms.
"What? Is that so unbelievable?"
"Coming from someone who had once tried to kill me, maybe just a little," I said with a slight chuckle, and he grimaced. "But thank you. Really." He rolled his eyes.
"You can thank Nessa and her sick need to torture me with her nursing studies. I don't desire your thanks."
"There's the Elias I know," I said.
"How are you feeling?" Dr. Knox asked, moving to the other side of my bed. He brought a stethoscope to my chest and inspected the wrapping as I spoke.
"Pretty alright, considering," I mused. My shoulder was mildly numb, and I noticed the cold sweat at the back of my neck, but otherwise, the only thing that bothered me was my wound. Maybe I was just jazzed that I had survived, but even the sting at my side was significantly less painful than I remembered it being.
"You're probably still numb," Dr. Knox said, moving the scope over my back. "Icing yourself as you did has probably giving you a false impression of the severity of your injuries. So don't get carried away."
"Right," I said, nodding. Then something whacked me on the head. "Ow!"
"That's for stumbling around the sewers with an open wound and using alchemy to plug it!" Dr. Knox scolded, a wrapped-up newspaper in his grasp. Where had that come from? There was another hit to my head, this time from a different source.
"Yeah, just what the heck were you thinking!" Al cried, his balled fist knocking against my head repeatedly, but softly. I grumbled but just steeled myself for the inevitable. To my surprise, his fist went slack and fell back to his side as I rubbed the growing knot on my head. "We were so worried. When we came in, you were unconscious and pale. You were so pale. We thought you were…" He trailed off, and with the weight of the unsaid, the room's energy shifted.
"I'm sorry, Alphonse. I didn't mean to frighten you," I said, grasping his hand. He squeezed down on it. "It's gonna take more than that to do me in."
"Alright," he said, sniffling a little as I released his hand. I could feel myself choking up, but I managed to suppress the lump in my throat. He bonked my head one last time. "Don't think you're getting off easy, either."
"I know," I said, looking to Ed, who averted his gaze. I clenched the covers, knowing I was in for it for sure. I was honestly surprised I hadn't been chewed out as soon as I came to.
"Well, I think we should leave you to rest," Mustang piped up, headed for the door. "Glad you're alright, Wayde."
"Thanks, Colonel," I managed, noticing that Ed was unmoving as the rest of the room's occupants filtered out.
We locked eyes, and my breath hitched in my chest at the intense look he gave me. I looked to the edge of my bed and Al pat my shoulder once, alerting me that he was leaving. I stared at the white sheets for a good long while as Al closed the door behind him, leaving us alone. I chanced a look back at Ed after a few moments had passed but his gaze had dropped to the floor. I fidgeted a bit worriedly, twisting the charm of the elastic around my wrist in my fingers, preparing myself for the lecture I was about to receive, deservedly. He stalked toward me slowly, his steps heavy against the floorboards, and I tensed. He caught me by the side of my button-up, clenching down on the fabric. His eyes were hidden as I looked up at him, but I could feel the tense air between us, could see it in the vein of his arm throbbing.
"You idiot!" he yelled, tugging on my shirt. I winced a little at the suddenness of the movement, and he loosened his grip just a bit as his eyes trailed down to the visible bandaging poking through my shirt. He stared for a long, quiet moment before dropping my collar altogether. He finally met my gaze, and I was taken aback by the look in his eyes as he did. There was such a jumbled mix of emotions captured in those golden irises, things it seemed he struggled to say. He exhaled exasperatedly and sat at the edge of the bed, his back to me, and spoke softly as he raked a hand through his hair. "I thought I lost you."
"It was risky," I admitted.
"Risky? Try reckless," he said, his jaw tightened, and I grasped at the charm on my wrist.
"I know. I know," I said after a moment, removing the elastic around my wrist. I held it a moment, twirling it around, watching as it caught the flickering lamplight. "I just wanted to find a solution where no one got hurt. We, uh, see how well that went."
"Yeah, seriously," he snorted. A moment of quiet passed, and I could hear the subtle creaks of the house as the wind blew.
"You know, I thought I'd die down there. I had resigned myself to it," I confessed, and a small look of surprise graced his face. I took hold of his hand and placed the little trinket in his palm, and closed his fingers around it. "But I remembered that I promised I'd give this back. Not only that but I— I wanted to see you again." He looked at the hair tie a moment before pocketing it, turning to face me.
"I told you not to make me regret it," he said quietly, and I sucked in a breath. He stared me down before grabbing my collar and jerking me to him. I let out a gasp, but I looked up into his eyes, our foreheads nearly touching, our faces a breath apart. "I swear, if you even so much as think about dying on me again, I'll never forgive you. Never."
"I won't," I said, my words barely a whisper. My heart was hammering out of my chest as Ed stared into my eyes with such fiery intensity. I was a little dizzy, thinking about how close we were, and then he rested his forehead against mine, and I felt my cheeks flush.
"Good," he said, his words muffled in my ears, his hand trailing up to rest against my cheek. His touch sent a shiver down my spine as we gazed into one another's eyes. I had seen that look before, for a moment alone in the wagon back from Xerces, but it somehow seemed more assured. My mind went blank, and I swallowed hard as the air between us charged with electricity, its pulse moving us closer and closer until there was a knock at the door. Ed jerked back, blinking rapidly, and we both straightened up, a little flushed. I chanced a look at him, pressing my hand to my lips. I wondered if he was thinking what I was. We didn't, I knew, but I was still humming with the possibility. "Uh, yeah?" His words came out a little strained, and he cleared his throat and tried again. He looked a little on edge as a voice answered.
"Do you mind if I talk to Marina?" Lan Fan asked, opening the door. Ed looked to me with a sigh before standing.
"Yeah, that's fine," he said. He glanced at me. "That alright?"
"Of course," I said, my voice shakier than I had meant it to be. My heart was still pounding in my ears. He nodded.
"We can talk more later," he said, turning on his heel.
"Sure," I said after him. He left, and I took a breath and realigned myself, gesturing for Lan Fan to come closer. I was glad to see her up and about. Other than the bandage over her arm, she looked well. "How's your arm?"
"Good," she said, grasping gently over the bandages. She bowed, and I blinked at her, taken aback. "My apologies for my earlier behavior. I spoke rudely to you, but if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have an arm— maybe even my life."
"Oh, no, please," I said, waving her off. "There's no need to apologize. I was meddling, and you had your heart set. I just… wanted to give you a minute to think outside of the moment, you know?" She lifted her head, her eyes falling over my abdomen.
"I am in your debt," she said, bowing again.
"Please, I promise I didn't do anything special. I just happened to be there, and I happen to be stubborn. Sit, would you?" I asked, and she obliged my request. "I still haven't thanked you for all you did to help my friend and me. I can't bow, but you have my gratitude." She smiled just slightly.
"It was actually your friend who looked after my arm," she said, looking to the door. I tilted my head.
"You mean Elias did that?" I said, pointing to her wrappings. She nodded.
"The doctor checked his stitching but said he had done everything that could be done," she said.
"No kidding," I said, looking to the door.
Elias was just full of surprises. I think what surprised me most was that he was still here. Then I remembered there was something he had wanted to tell me; something about going home. Recalling the look on his face, the worry and fear painted there— I felt something stir in the pit of my stomach that wasn't a sword. There was a sudden crash that blew the lamplight out, and Lan Fan and I braced ourselves as the house shook and a scream like a banshee reverberated around us. When the shaking ceased, we looked at one another worriedly. We were left in total darkness as pieces of the roof collapsed around us. The door swung open, and two dark figures entered the room frantically.
"Come on! We're getting out of here!" Ling said as Elias moved to pull the sheets from me. Lan Fan stood, looking around.
"What is it? What's happening?" she asked. Ling's face was barely visible, but his voice was grave in its delivery.
"The Homunculus," he said. "He had another monster hidden inside his belly. He's swallowing up everything in sight." I tensed at Ling's words. That sounded like Gluttony. I reached for Elias's sleeve, and he looked down at me.
"Is everyone alright?" I asked, just before there was a sudden increase in temperature and another awful crash.
More of the house fell around us as he helped me to my feet. There was a little difficulty on my part, but I managed to walk with Elias as my crutch, Ling and Lan Fan on his left. There was a sudden cool breeze as we entered the dark hall, and we eventually passed a gaping hole torn through the front of the building. We stopped to gawk at it a moment.
"I still can't believe I let you people drag me into this," Elias said, a little too dryly for the current situation.
"We should get outside," Ling said more helpfully.
We stumbled out into the moonlight; our eyes trained on the crater before scanning the rest of the grounds. Dr. Knox sat in the driver's seat of an idling car. We headed to it, but I was looking around, desperately searching for everyone else who was supposed to be there. Ling and Lan Fan suddenly stopped, and I noticed them look to the bushes, but they snapped out of it as Dr. Knox yelled.
"Come on! We haven't got all night. We need to get moving!"
"But Ed, and the others—"
"No way!" he yelled back at Ling. "I'm a civilian, not military. I'm not about to die in the middle of a battle with some crazed monster."
"I second that," Elias said, nearly opening the car door. I slammed it shut.
"No," I said sternly. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Marina," Elias warned. "Get in the car."
"You can go, Elias, but I won't leave them!" I said.
Without so much as a second thought, I tore off into the forest as fast as I could in my current state, snubbing the sting in my side. I heard Elias calling after me as I stumbled into the thicket, but I ignored him, instead following the sounds of the angry Homunculus. Wherever he was, Ed and the others were sure to be.
Alright! I'm back! Thank you all for your kind words and your patience with me. I've been getting through the curve's life has been throwing at me as best I can, and I'm happy to report that I'm doing about as good as I could be. Enough about me, this chapter! Oh, this chapter. I had a whole plan in my head, and I had it all written, and then I woke up one morning, and I was like 'scrap the whole thing, new direction,' and this is the result. The chapter was also going to leave off somewhere different (originally something like 8,000 words) but I kept adding and subtracting stuff, and I realized it was getting too out of hand for one chapter. I try to keep chapters around 6,000 to 7,000 if I can, though they've been a bit lengthier lately as we get into more crazy shenanigans. I structure them to begin and end at a certain point, but sometimes the in-between that gets us from point A to point B turns out to be more than I had originally bargained to write, which isn't always a bad thing. It means this story has a solid 20-30 more chapters to go, it seems, at the rate of info being delivered and with what I have planned. We've just barely reached the end of the second of five parts in the anime after all, and a good chunk will be dedicated to Briggs and after. So uh, prepare yourselves for that, I guess. Anyway, you wouldn't believe how difficult it is to research a very specific injury and how one should deal with such an injury. I hope everything made sense, and if not, it's fictional (lol). I did enjoy writing her and Ed's exchange in this, so simple and sweet and just brimming with possibility. Maybe one day they won't be interrupted while doing very important work staring into each other's eyes. Maybe.
I also wanted to announce that from here forward I'll be updating on Wednesdays rather than Tuesdays. Just works better for me schedule-wise. Alrighty, folks, enjoy your week, and I'll see you Wednesday!