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Annoying Me, Chapter Four
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"See you in a month, Mr. Peter!" called Edward, Elysse, and Al.
They waved back at the old man who had been so hospitable to the trio for the past two weeks. Peter had encouraged them to stay longer because he considered them his grandchildren that he never had. But Edward decided that they had troubled him enough, and decided to move on in their journey. Mr. Peter, now being their adopted grandfather, ordered them to come back in one month. "
You can just call me Grandpa!" Peter cheerily yelled back.
He would sincerely miss those children. They had brought so much joy and life to his mansion. Once they turned the corner on the end of the street, Elysse commented, "I'm going to miss Grandpa and our new home...oh well at least we can travel wherever and whenever we want now" The three Elric's disappeared into the sunrise.
They were back on traveling once again. Four hours passed by and they had done nothing but walk. Elysse bit her lip trying to control herself from saying the two words she wanted to blurt out: 'Im hungry'. Edward couldn't control his mouth. He turned to Al and Elysse, and saw that Elysse wanted to say something. So he let her talk instead.
"Umm, El?" asked Edward. "You look like you wanna say something"
"Yea," she looked straight up at Edward and continued, "Are you hungry?" Her twin nodded, but started ranting and waving his arms soon after.
"Well duh! We've been walking for four hours!"
"Youre wrong there! I...I am hungry...and tired...Al and I stayed up all night writing something..." Elysse muttered.
Ed turned to his younger brother to verify Elysses words.
"Yup. It's true, Brother." Al replied.
He glanced a shifty look at Elysse. Edward raised an eyebrow at them. "OK, what are you two up to?"
"Oh, umm...it's nothing, Al and I threw it away cause it was horrible" Elysse quickly said.
"Couldn't you wait for me to see it first!" asked Edward.
"Well, you wouldn't have that much interest in it anyway so I threw it away..." replied Elysse, but knowing fully that her brother WOULD have been interested in their theory of the Gate. But she and Al had ended up drawing transmutation circles for fun, and combining them with others to check out the effect. "
Oh, Im sure of that...Of COURSE I wouldnt be interested in that mini explosion in your room yesterday, El!" Edward crossly and sarcastically replied, stopping and crossing his arms at Elysse.
"Oh that" Elysse sweatdropped.
"Heh heh Never OK OK! I confess brother!" Al butted in, anime tears streaming from his face. "Elysse and I were drawing..." and Edward only listened and sweatdropped at his brothers dramatic armor motions.
"Right so you combined transmutation circles together instead of working on the by passing Equivalent Exchange, and made that explosion?"
"Yea" Elysse faintly said. "We combined Colonel Roy Mustang's circle, yours, and Als!"
Edward sighed at his siblings curiosity. Shaking his head, he turned, and gasped.
"Its...Its..."
"A castle..." Al finished for Edward. All three of them just glanced at the huge palace, and were amazed by its beautiful design. Beautiful granite turrets adorned the exterior, while real marble shaped the steps up to the main door. However, it started to rain and the three of them ran for cover. The twins, except Alphonse, failed to notice a slight aura of blue alchemical energy before the deluge.
"I'm not stepping in those gates! Im not gonna get thrown six feet again!" Elysse complained, as Edward grabbed her hand, and raced past the gate and into the castle. Al closed the door behind them and followed his older siblings.
"This is so odd" Al muttered. The Amestrian weather forecast is NEVER wrongunless that force of energy had anything to do with this.
"Hello? Anyone home?" asked Edward, his voice pervading the empty area. Al saw a figure pass by and became frightened.
"Brother...I think we should go...I saw something pass by..."
"Your minds just playing tricks on you, Al" said Edward folding his arms.
He then saw the figure pass by again. He unfolded his arms and too became frightened. Ed glanced at Elysse. She too was turning pale. It was the exact same shape of the figure in Mr. Peters house. Edward looked around for a few more moments. Then, turning to Al and Elysse, he said, "Hey-"
He paused, for his brother and sister weren't there. He frantically searched and finally spotted them going up a flight of purple velvet stairs.
"Can't you at least warn me?" he shouted.
Al and Elysse ignored him and ran up the stairs; Edward rolled his eyes and ran after them. As they reached the top of the stairs they saw something strange, something moving in the darkness. Elysse alchemized a flashlight out of the floor, and shined it on the figure. They all saw a woman picking up paper off the floor. They all sighed with sheer relief. The woman stood up and turned to them to face them. She had black hair and was wearing a red lady's suit.
"Oh, I'm sorry" Elysse apologized.
In the back of her mind, she was thinking, "Why the heck would she be picking things up in the darkness?"
"It's alright. Sorry I couldn't come to greet you. My servants are all working so hard that they get carried away, umm... do I know you?" asked the woman, whisking away a stray lock of wavy hair that had fallen into her face. All three of the Elrics just stared at her for a moment.
Edward broke the silence, "No, I'm Edward and this is Al and Elysse" he said pointing to his brother and sister.
"I'm his sister..." Elysse said in case the woman was thinking of something else. She did not want a whole other Peter incident again.
"Oh!" the woman seemed surprised.
Al caught a brief look on the ladys faceit was as if she didnt even NEED them to introduce themselvesit was as if she already knew theme specially Elysse. The woman then randomly asked, "Would you like to come to my royal ball?" The three Elrics glanced at each other, knowing the answer.
They only needed shelter until the rain passed and not a royal ball.
"Oh...umm we really don't have-" Elysse began to eerily and started to walk off.
"I didn't even finish my sentence yet..." whispered Elysse to Edward and Al.
"I'm telling you theres something about that woman..." Edward whispered back, just as the woman turned to look back at them.
"Oops! My mistake! I didnt even introduce myself! I'm Sarah, the owner of this place. Let me show you to your rooms" With that, Sarah held Al and Elysses hand, with Ed holding on to Elysses hand.
The woman marched at a fast pace towards the end of the corridor, where it seemed even darker. Elysse was wincing in pain over the ladys iron grip on her hand.
"Heres your room dear..." Sarah stopped at a room, and pushed Elysse in.
As quickly as she had stopped, she marched Ed and Al further down the hall, and around the corner. Elysse took one look at the room, checked to see if Sarah was long gone out of earshot, and wailed, "I HATE PINK!" With Edward and Alphonse, Sarah abruptly stopped at another room, way way way far away from Elysse's room.
"Why-" Edward started, but was interrupted.
"Come now, you two are sleeping here" Sarah briskly said, and pushed them in their room.
Sarah walked out of the room and down the corridor. Glancing back to see if anyone was looking, her body changed into a tall, slender blonde fifteen-year-old with a few freckles on her nose.
"The fools..." she muttered under her breath.
Patricia was her true self.
"They don't even know who their dealing with..." Placing a hand on a wall, it swung open, and Patricia disappeared after entering the secret panel.
"Something's fishy about that Sarah" whispered Edward, flipping open his pocket watch again and again. "Why would she be looking for something in the dark?"
"I agree, Brother Don't you think we should tell Elysse?" replied Al.
"I'm way ahead of ya'! " exclaimed Edward, as he marched out of the door to Elysse's room.
He knocked. There was no answer, and Al tried this time. No answer. Ed and Al pounded on the door, and screamed, "Elysse! El! El!"
"Ed? Al? What are you doing?" questioned Elysse from behind, carrying a plate of assorted cookies in one hand, a glass of milk in the other, and another glass of milk on top of her head. Edward jumped and turned around, making Elysse giggle.
"El, scare-" he paused and took the glass of milk off her head. "Never mind...but I'm not drinking the milk!"
He grabbed Elysses hand, nearly spilling the cookies, and dragged her his and Als room. He closed the door behind them, making sure that no one was avesdropping. Elysse settled the plate of cookies and the glass of milk on the table; she sat down and faced her brothers.
"Isn't this place big!" she asked, munching on a double fudge cookie. The servants are nice too!"
Edward set the glass of milk on the table, pushing it as far away as possible from him.
"Not now El! Al and I need to tell you something..." complained Edward, now annoyed that Elysse was shoving the glass of milk back towards him.
"Drink it. I didn' make that trip all the way downstairs just so I could see you turn your nose up at it. What is it?" asked Elysse, finishing her cookie, and now eating a chocolate chip cookie.
"Haven't you noticed anything about that Sarah?" asked Al, staring longingly at the cookies.
Elysse paused, her cookie mid way to her mouth. She set the food down.
"Hmm...yeah, she acts strange...why the heck in the world will she be searching for something in the dark? And why FORCE us to go to a stupid ball? And why put me in a room that has pink? And why grab my hand like its--" Elysse rambled on.
"Of course! She's rude!" said Elysse.
"Exactly!" said Edward.
"Did you two notice alchemical energy before you ran into the castle?" Al asked.
"I could've sworn that alchemy made the rainstorm because the forecasters are NEVER wrong in Amestris!"
"Nope. Zip. Nada. Didnt see a thing!" Edward answered.
"By the way, I also feel like Im being watched in my room..." Elysse added on. "And I hate pink. Can I sleep here?"
"Fine! But...but youre sleepin' on the floor!" Edward commanded.
"Wow, that's a nice way to treat your twin..." She walked out the room and came back draggin the entire mattress; she began to setup her bed beside Edward's.
Hours passed by and it was now 12 o'clock. Edward and Elysse werestill awake. Edward was reading a book he picked off the shelf provided in the room, and Elysse was writing yet another letter. Patricia didn't seem to have gotten the last one. Edward suddenly threw the book away.
"That book is non-sense! I'm going to sleep..." He turned off the lamp, which was the only light that was left.
"Edward! I'm still doing something!" Elysse shouted and turned the light back on.
Edward groaned, and turned it off. Elysse flipped the switch back on. Then they began to fight over the lamp. Alphonse just sat to the side, and sighed. Meanwhile, Patricia was in the secret annex in the wall, listening in to their conversation. Suddenly, the connection cut off again.
"Damn, the brothers must have put a spell on that room that keeps on cutting off the connection. And Miss Elric is in there too! She'll pay" Patricia became fed up with her original self, and changed into the figure of Sarah.
Long ago back then, when the knife had pierced through her hand, Patricia began to the have the fun of sticking knives in her hands. At age twelve, she got curious at what would happen if she stuck a knife through her heart. Evidently, she killed herself. The homunculus Envy had convinced her parents into performing human transmutation, and Equivalent Exchange took them away into the Gate. Envy fed red stones into the grotesque form of Patricia, and she became a homunculus named Revenge. She wandered around Amestris for three years, occasionally going back to her dusty house. Then, on one trip, she received the letter from Elysse, and instantly knew where to find her. Patricia built a castle with alchemy, and had been patiently awaiting for Elysse to arrive. It was still unknown how she was able to change shapes like Envy, age at the same time, AND surprisingly do alchemy, even though she was not like her little brother Wrath, who had that boy Edward's limbs. But all Revenge knew was that she was not like her other brother and sister homunculi, following orders under their master. She was independent, strong willed, and determined to find revenge on Elysse Elric.
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Wow! Another exciting adventure of Yumizuki, correcting the chapter! Nice work! Please review!
