Alright. Instead of working on my management paper, I've finished episode 10. I've also corrected a name misspelling in episode 9.
Disclaimer: same as always.
10 Thief Siren
The train sped steadily away from Youswell back to Central City. Ed clamped a bamboo skewer between his teeth and frowned in concentration, his eyes narrowed.
He reached forward and swiped two cards from the deck. He placed them in his hand and eyed the fan of cards with disgust. The fading sunlight from the window danced over the nine of hearts, deuce of clubs, seven of diamonds, five of spades, and jack of diamonds. A completely useless hand almost mocking him. He peered over his hand at his brother who sat calmly across of him.
The two brothers sat face-to-face in the train seats, Ed's worn suitcase balanced on their knees between them. Serving as a makeshift table, on it sat three piles of cards and the remains of Ed's lunch. After three years of traveling, the brothers had come up with many ways to pass the time on the long train rides back and forth to Central City.
"Hurry up and go," Ed ordered with characteristic impatience.
Obligingly, Al reached for the deck and drew two cards. Ed was hunched over, evaluating his hopeless hand and missed the flash of triumph in Al's eyes. "Niisan, do you wanna double the bet?"
Ed didn't look up. "Do as you like."
Al struggled to keep the smugness out of his voice. "Sorry then." He spread his hand on the table. "Full house."
Ed didn't even glance at the three queens and two tens on the suitcase. "Sorry," he echoed his brother and dropped his hand. "Royal straight flush."
Al gaped at the royal family of spades in disbelief. "No way! I lose again?" With determined swipes of his hands, he raked in the cards. "I'll win next time," he promised.
Closing his eyes, Ed lazily leaned back into the seat and crossed his white-gloved hands behind his head. "Let's quit. It's getting boring."
"What's wrong, Niisan? You've been winning." It was true. Al had yet to win a single game against his naturally competitive brother. But he was getting closer each time. Next time for sure… but still… "Is it getting boring since you're winning too much?"
Ed fought keep the condescending and bored expression on his face. Really, his younger brother was much too compassionate. Mom must've given Al his share. "It's not the cards," he finally said. "It's Colonel Mustang." He flipped over the nearest card. The joker laughed back at him. The perks of being a State Alchemist were many, but he hated being a dog of the military. Especially a dog that answered to one Colonel Roy Mustang.
"You don't want to see him?"
"Of course not," Ed snapped. "The Philosopher's Stone in Lior was a fake, and he won't like it. Just imagine if I report that to him. This is Colonel Mustang we're talking about."
Ed could just picture the smirk on the older man's face. "I wonder what sarcastic things he'll say to me." He picked up a skewer of teriyaki balls and slid one into his mouth. "Just imagining it gives me a bad feeling," he sulked around a mouthful of food.
"Is it really all right for us to get off the train before our destination, Niisan?" Al shifted uncomfortably as the train sped off the platform.
Up above, a large red sign hung above the small station platform. Welcome to Aquroya. Below it were several smaller bright-colored advertisements for hotels, restaurants and tours.
"It's fine," Ed replied, waving his pork skewer dismissively. "We don't know where we'll get information on the Philosopher's Stone and Aquroya is a tourist spot. It can't hurt to take a look."
"It feels like we're cheating and skipping school," Al smiled.
The skewer flew out of Ed's hand. "Who are you calling a cheater?" he yelled, spinning around to face Al, arms bent belligerently at his sides. A waterfall of cards spilled out of the left arm sleeve of Ed's signature red jacket.
Al hunkered down and stared at the damning cards. A trio of ace of spades stared back up at him. "Niisan, did you…?"
Ed was already running off the platform and into the station. "Wait, Niisan!" Al called after his brother angrily. He grabbed Ed's suitcase and thundered across the station, heedless of the strange glances being thrown his way. "You cheated! You cheated. Niisan, you cheater!"
It sliced through the night air and landed square in the officer's face, throwing him back down the short flight of stairs. He landed with a grunt next to his two comrades. Puzzled, he pulled the rectangular object from his nose.
It was a playing card.
He gaped at the card, stupefied. How did a simple playing card do that?
A thin figure clad from neck to toe in black vaulted over the wall, nimbly landing on its feet. Short brown hair was covered by a cat-like hat, tawny eyes emphasized by a large light gray eye mask.
"After her! Don't let her get away!" A man ran down the street, gray trench coat flapping. He brandished a pair of handcuffs high in the air, a unit of soldiers close on his heels.
"We'll definitely catch Siren today!"
The dark figure continued sprinting down the pier, slowing as she came to its end. She stopped and turned to face the oncoming brigade. The form-fitting suit hugged her voluptuous figure, the pale skin left bare above her black gloves a shining beacon in the moonlight.
"Okay, this is it for you, Siren," the man said, advancing toward her incapable of concealing his glee. "There's no other way out."
Her thin, red lips curved faintly. From seemingly nowhere, she produced a deck of cards and held them up with three fingers. Completely unaffected by the twenty-odd men that pressed in on her, she tossed the deck into the dark water.
The cards landed with a splash and a reddish pink glow spread into an intricate design across the water's surface. It gleamed for a second, rivaling the full moon's glow, then contracted to a dot that shot across the bay leaving in its wake a waterless path.
The inspector's eyes widened at the Moses-like miracle before him, too startled to stop the thief from making her escape.
He snapped out of his stunned stupor. "Stop!" His yell served as a battle cry, urging him and the troop after the escaping female, only to be meet with six-foot deep water.
Siren easily hoisted herself up onto the bridge at the other end of the bay, amusement lurking in her eyes as she watched the police struggle with their now water-laden uniforms. She smiled down at the clear red jewel balanced lightly in her palm.
Sunlight reflected off the blue waters of the city's street canals and sparkled on the clean, white buildings of Aquroya. Al marveled at the passing gondolas, well-dressed residents and camera-happy tourists.
"This is a beautiful city, Niisan."
"Isn't it?" Ed replied with a smile, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere. He could almost feel the warm sun loosening the knots of tension that he blamed solely on a certain Colonel Mustang. And maybe a little on the hard train seats. "Aquroya, the water city, is a famous tourist spot." He popped another snack into his mouth. "This is better than looking at the Colonel's cynical face in that dusky East City."
No sooner had those words left Ed's mouth than a horse-drawn carriage sped past, spraying muddy water and drenching the short alchemist from head to toe. Including his newly purchased snacks.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Ed's jovial mood evaporated in a split second as he glared at the back of the already disappearing carriage.
"I see why it's called the water city," Al offered unhelpfully.
Irritated at being dirty and now food-less, Ed clapped his hands and briskly transmuted the filth coating him, ignoring the strange looks he was drawing. The transmutation reaction light dissipated and Ed heard a distinct click. Since when did his reactions click?
With growing agitation, he eyed the handcuff now encircling his right hand. He turned his glower on the man whose wrist he was now connected to. Ed's sharp eyes took in the gray trench coat and hat, quickly summing him up as some sort of investigator. This vacation was rapidly deteriorating on his fun scale.
"What is it, old man?"
At the boy's insolence, the man yanked his hand above his head, bringing Ed's along with him. As it was his auto-mail hand, the jerk of the handcuff didn't hurt Ed at all, but now he dangled from that wrist, the tips of his boots barely brushing the ground. "Come to the station with me," he ordered, ignoring the boy's growing discomfort and animosity. "I want to ask you a few questions."
Ed didn't have the slightest clue why the Aquroya police would want him. Sure, Mustang would probably love to have Fullmetal handcuffed for questioning, but that was in East City. He hadn't done anything wrong in this city that he knew of.
Even the Aquroya police station was clean and modernized. Unfortunately, in the small, dark questioning room, lit only by a single desk light that Ed was confined to, he was unable to enjoy the novel experience.
Ed frowned at the investigator across of him. His elbows were propped on the table, a skeptical brow raised beneath the brow of his hat. "Oh, so you're a State Alchemist, huh? The famous Fullmetal one?"
At least Ed was getting one good thing out of this unscheduled deterrent. Lunch. In rapid succession that would put any assembly-line machine to shame, he shoveled the bowl's contents into his mouth with a pair of chopsticks. Beside him, Al sat cowed, his bowl untouched.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Ed's irritated response came from behind the bowl and around a mouthful of rice. "This thing is proof that I am." He didn't pause in his mission to devour the consolation food to as much as glance at his silver pocket-watch that lay on the table between them.
"If it's real, then yes," the man conceded, his tone clearly suggesting it wasn't. "How can a midget like you –"
Oh, no, he said it. Al shrank in on himself as much as a metal suit of armor could and braced for the explosion.
Ed's reaction time was as usual frighteningly prompt. "Who are you calling a super midget that makes you want to step on him?" he screamed, bouncing out of his chair, bowl and hands extended waving wildly above his head.
"Niisan, he didn't go that far," Al hissed.
"Now, now, don't get so upset."
Ed's outburst ended as abruptly as it had begun, the young boy once again assuming an air of not so much indifference as annoyance.
"Right now, there's a thief named Siren in this city who appears frequently," the man said, offering the first hint of an explanation as to why they were there.
"Siren?"
Ed ignored his brother's question and the investigator's speech and resumed his seat in the hard, wooden chair. He frowned into his empty bowl.
"We only have one clue about her," the man continued. "She uses alchemy."
His sulking expression never faltering, Ed reached for his brother's bowl and proceeded to devour it in the same fashion he had his own. The sound of his voracious chewing echoed in the tiny room.
The investigator tactfully ignored it. "You're an alchemist, right? That's why I wanted to hear your thoughts."
The only knowledge the young alchemist decided to impart to the investigator was the startling record time of consumption of rice.
Ed stalked out of the police station back into the sunlight, his hands stuffed belligerently into the pockets of his black pants. "Dammit, that old man," he swore grouchily. "He kept repeating the same question over and over for three hours." He stomped down the streets, his face fixed into a scowl. "What was he thinking?"
"But Niisan, doesn't an alchemist thief upset you a little?" Al calmly strode alongside his temperamental brother. He didn't notice as Ed sank to ground. He did, however, hear Ed's pitiful groan. "Niisan, what's wrong?"
Ed squatted on the steps, his arms wrapped around his stomach. His face was a strange shade of blue – it didn't go very well with his blonde hair or red coat. "My stomach…"
A spry, elderly doctor spun in his chair. "You have a light case of food poisoning," he cheerfully informed the two boys.
"So it wasn't because you overate then."
"Shuttup," Ed grumpily silenced his younger brother. He knew nothing good would come out of that stupid questioning.
The doctor smiled much too happily for the next five words that came out of his mouth. "Let's give you a shot. Clara," he called over the nurse.
"A shot?" they echoed.
"Yes, a shot."
The room at the end of the wing erupted in yells and clangs of falling objects. "No way! Never!" The short blonde boy was already out of the room and down the hallway when a large suit of armor caught up to him, grabbing him under the arms.
"Niisan, don't move around!" Al commanded, dragging a kicking and sputtering Ed back into the room. "You're not a child. Come on, take off your jacket."
"Stop it, Al. Are you going to betray your brother!"
"You're making me mad, Niisan!" Al retorted.
"No! I hate shots!" Ed's next holler was abruptly shocked into silence by a slim finger. A slim, attractive nurse stood before him, smiling. She wore the light green uniform of the hospital and a small white cap perched atop her short, light brown hair.
"There, I'm done with the shot. It didn't hurt did it?"
Ed gaped at the smiling woman. She was fast. He hadn't even noticed.
A smile still lingering on her lips, Clara put away the syringe with little fuss. She turned back to the belligerent boy and the stunned suit of armor. "Oh, and hurry up and be more mature," she teased.
Mature? This tiny slip of a woman, Ed couldn't pin her any older than early twenties, had the nerve to tell him, the Fullmetal Alchemist, to be more mature? Then again, he could have been a little more adult about the whole shot thing. Chastised, Ed scowled. "That's none of your business."
"She was a beautiful nurse, wasn't she?" Al sat next to Ed on a bench in the small shaded grove on the side of the hospital. "I stared at her for a while," he admitted.
The afternoon sun glinted off Al's armor and Ed closed his eyes against the glare and laced his fingers behind his head, reflexively cautious as to not snag his hair in the auto-mail.
"You don't have good taste, do you?" The warmth of the sun carried him to a pleasant state of peace and drowsiness. "What's so good about that woman?"
A light voice drifted across the pavilion. "That's not good, Grandma," the voice gently reprimanded. "You have this much left over again."
Ed and Al looked over in the direction the voice was coming from. A frail, elderly woman sat in her wheelchair under a neighboring tree. In front of her kneeled the subject of their conversation.
"I'm sorry," the woman apologized to the young nurse before her. She looked away from the twinkling eyes and down at the almost untouched tray in her lap. "But they just won't pass through my throat."
"That's okay," the younger woman agreed with an understanding smile. Clara reached into the brown cart behind her. "Shall I peel some fruit for you again?" she offered, holding up an apple.
Al's breath hitched when he saw the apple, a faint memory tugging at his mind.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," a ten-year old Edward insisted. He pulled the apple closer to his chest, away from his younger brother's outstretched hand. With firm concentration, he placed the knife against the red skin.
"You're not doing it right. I'll do it, so give it to me, Niisan."
"Just let me do it!"
With the ease of years of practice, or maybe it was just a mother's ingrained ability, Trisha plucked the apple and knife from her son's hands and began deftly peeling the apple. In a smooth, continuous motion, she spiraled around the fruit, leaving the skin in one piece. Al gaped at his mother. Ed couldn't have done it like that, no matter how hard he tried. His mom was the most amazing woman in the whole world.
She handed her two sons the plate, the now skinless apples neatly cut into an even number of slices. "The two of you eat it," she ordered with a soft smile.
"What are you thinking?" Ed's disgruntled voice broke Al's reverie. Al shook his head and turned toward his brother with a soft clank of metal.
"Miss Clara's not just beautiful," he said, "she's also nice. She might be a little like Mom."
"Idiot. No way. She's totally different."
A clatter resounded in the garden. The plate of apples now lay in shattered pieces on the ground.
"I'm sorry," the elderly woman apologized.
"It's okay, Grandma," Clara reassured the older woman with a smile. "Don't worry about it." She reached down to pick up the pieces, only to find that someone had beaten her to it.
Al knelt next to the young nurse and sketched a few circles and lines into the soft ground around the fallen pieces. He placed his fingers on the rim of the circle and the apple was transmuted back to its original form in a quick flash of light. Clara's turquoise eyes widened.
"Here you go." Al offered the fruit back to her.
Her eyes narrowed slightly on the two figures crouched down in the dirt. "You kids are alchemists?"
"Elric! Mr. Elric!" The inspector dashed through the garden, his trench coat once again flapping in his own frenzied wind. He skidded to a halt in front of a once again irritated teenage alchemist.
"You're persistent, aren't you?" Ed glared at the huffing and puffing man. "I'm not a thief," he repeated for what had to be the fifth time of the day.
"I know, I know," he panted. "Actually, there's a favor I wish to ask of you."
A favor? Well that was a nice change. In a moment of extreme graciousness, Ed decided he could spare a few moments to hear the man out.
Over twenty police officers stood at attention on either side of a long table. The table itself was a four by fifteen mass sea of oyakodonburi bowls. At the head sat one very satisfied Edward Elric and a rather embarrassed Alphonse.
"Salute to State Alchemist Edward Elric!" The officers lining the walls all snapped a smart salute to the blonde alchemist.
For his part, Ed didn't see any of it. All he could see was the bottom of the bowl currently held to his mouth.
The inspector leaned toward the young alchemist, his hands rubbing together in a plea for forgiveness. "As you suggested, I contacted Colonel Mustang of East Headquarters. Then I found out that you are a State Alchemist. I completely misunderstood."
"That's what I said, wasn't it?" Ed grumbled. This man's blatant obsequiousness was ruining his very, very good meal. Ed had to admit that a bowl or ten of oyakodonburi went a long way in winning his forgiveness. He was feeling much more benevolent now, well, relatively.
"Yes," he quickly agreed at the boy's accusation. "Actually, I have a favor to ask of you –" He stopped mid-sentence.
Ed thrust the now empty bowl at him. "Seconds, please."
"Have as much as you want," he invited, motioning at the remaining fifty-nine bowls.
Oh yes, Ed was feeling much more benevolent.
"Now that you're on our side, we're safe. Today is Siren's end."
Both brothers examined the ceiling-to-floor plexi-glass cylinder that protected a pedestal holding an ornate, jewel-encrusted vase. It was rather ugly in Ed's opinion, but who was he to judge.
"Yeah, I'll give it a try." Ed turned his attention out the window to the huge crowds pressing in on the closed walls encircling the mansion. A huge throng of people anxiously awaited Siren's next strike with cheers and large posters proclaiming their love for her. "Still, there are a lot of people out there," he observed.
"Yeah. I don't know what Siren is thinking. She sends out her crime intentions to all the newspaper publishers, so reporters, spectators and Siren fans gather."
"She must be pretty popular," Al observed with quiet admiration.
"That popularity is going to end today," the inspector resolved. After months of frustration, he was finally going to catch the cocky, elusive thief. "I'm counting on you, Sensei. I'm going to go see how security it doing."
Al watched the inspector take his leave. "Niisan, I'm surprised you accepted this job."
"I was interested." Al turned at his brother's simple reply. "In this alchemist thief," Ed finished.
Over a dozen police stood guard around the perimeter of their rooms, their eyes trained on the area surrounding the treasured vase.
A faint blue light trailed a line across the ceiling a meter away from the protective cylinder. In its wake, it left a clear liquid that beaded and dropped to the floor. Midway there, it burst, obscuring the room in thick smoke.
Ed covered his eyes with his right arm and blinked furiously to clear them. "Shit." He peered through the smoke and made out a black-clad figure standing in front of the vase.
"Hold it right there," he yelled, sprinting towards the cylinder. A flash of red caught his eye as it flew past his cheek. Puzzled, he stopped and turned to see what it was.
Al was plastered to the wall, with what appeared to be cards pinning his torso, arms and head.
Ed spun back around to the vase just as a round piece of glass clattered to the floor. The thief glanced back at the blonde teenager, a single card held carelessly between slim fingers. With her other hand, she reached into the hole she had carved and grabbed the slim vase. Beneath the cover of smoke, she ran out the only door, her heeled boots muffled against the carpeted floor, Ed following close on the thief's heels.
Siren ran past a series of buildings, enjoying the feel of the cool night air against her skin. She no longer heard the heavy footsteps of the blonde kid. She must've lost him.
She slowed to a stop at the cement bridge ahead and gasped. In the center of the bridge stood the kid, his red cloak and long hair motionless in the still wind.
He leveled piercing golden eyes at her. "Alchemy has a variety of uses," he said. "But I won't allow you to use it for stealing." Ed could almost taste the bitterness in his mouth. It was people like this guy that got him thrown out of houses and locked up in jail cells. "And I was treated like a thief because of you!" He clenched a fist and shook it in front of him. "You better apologize," Ed snapped.
An almost apologetic look entered the thief's blue eyes as she looked down at the deck of cards held in her hand. In a brief flash, the cards shot upwards end-to-end into the sky.
Ed quickly recovered from the shock at witnessing the thief's unusual alchemy technique and threw himself to the side just as the sword of cards sliced by. Enraged, he twisted his body in midair and turned to land a punch. Siren stood akimbo, the length of cards held at ready like a katana. Ed's fist connected with the cards and the momentum carried both of them to the ground. The sword of cards scattered, fluttering to the water beneath the overpass.
Ed straddled the black figure, pinning the thief down. "Caught ya."
Suddenly, he became painfully aware of a soft substance beneath his hand. He gave it a tentative squeeze. It was a … She was a … With a strangled yelp, Ed leaped off Siren, his face as red as his coat.
"A…a woman," he managed to sputter, pointing an accusing, albeit shaking, finger at the thief on the ground.
Siren sat up with a soft chuckle. Ed winced, how could he have not noticed? Well, it was dark, he defended himself.
"Too bad I can't show you my face," she crooned. The fifteen year-old's gaze was riveted on her right hand as it grasped the zipper at the throat of her costume. She drew it down slowly. "I'm really beautiful." The black material parted to reveal an intricate tattoo on her chest and another deck of cards nestled above her breasts.
Recognition dawned when Ed saw the transmutation tattoo, but too late. The tattoo flashed red and Ed was hurled backwards onto the cement. He swore at the cards pinning him to the cold ground. "Dammit, what did you do?" he yelled at the woman.
"Kids need to go to sleep soon," she replied with a smile, zipping up her suit. "Little midget." She blew him a kiss and dashed off into the night.
Ed remained motionless on the bridge, unable to chase after the infuriating woman. His muscles bunched as he struggled against the cards. "Who'd you call an ultra hyper midget!" His enraged yell bounced off the cement walls and would probably lead Al to him later.
"Al." Ed's voice rang down the halls of the Aquroya hospital once again. "Al!"
He fiddled with the sleeves of his coat. He had fixed the holes that damn thief's cards had left the night before. First mud water, then cards. His poor coat. "Where did he go, dammit?"
He paused in front of a partially open door. The lights in the room were off, but sunlight filtered in through the shuttered blinds. The room was sparse, just a table and four potted plants on top of it.
A slim nurse stood at the table, clad in her hospital whites. It was the same nurse that had given Ed the shot the day before. Clara. Ed watched silently as she stripped off her coat and unbuttoned the top buttons of her blouse. His eyes narrowed on the alchemic tattoo she exposed on her chest. The black lines glowed red, and the plant in front of her disintegrated.
Ed stepped into the room. Clara's head jerked up at the slight creak of the floor under his heavy boots. "You."
"I'm shocked." Ed rested his gloved hands on his hips. "The kind, good-hearted nurse is actually Thief Siren."
Clara dropped her eyes demurely. "What are you talking about? I just came to pick up medicine." The soft tones of her voice were distinctly different from the low, husky tones of Siren's. But she couldn't hide the wispy brown hair or the still-exposed tattoo.
"Yeah, the medicine you transmuted with alchemy, you liar."
The nurse's eyes hardened. The bright turquoise darkened to a dark shade of brown. "'Liar' was a bit unexpected." She pulled off the hospital cap and tilted her head to the side, now more resembling the cocky thief she was. "I'm very beautiful like I said, aren't I?"
Ed marched up to her, oblivious to her charms. "That's not the problem," he said angrily, glaring up at her.
"Niisan!" Al's voice drifted into the room, preceding the suit of armor. "Niisan, emergency!" He fell silent. "Is something wrong?" Ed was still glaring at Nurse Clara and hadn't even acknowledged Al's entrance.
"Yes, something's wrong." Ed pointed at the tiny white pill atop the green stem where the purple flower had once been. "She's Siren. Look. That transmutation circle on her chest is proof."
Al looked to the kind nurse for an explanation.
"Life is complicated," she murmured.
Ed cocked a skeptical eyebrow at his brother. Al was such a sucker for sob stories.
"You kids might not understand."
"What!" Ed whirled back around, his braid flying behind him, eyes ablaze with indignation. This girl had no right to tell them what they understood or didn't.
"We do."
Ed spun back around again to face his brother. "Huh?"
"I just heard that this hospital is going to be demolished," Al told his brother quietly. He lifted his eyes to the nurse-thief. "Clara, you steal stuff to save the hospital, even though you don't want to, right?" The woman looked up, startled at the boy's compassion. "Isn't that right, Miss Clara?"
"Yes." She closed her eyes and looked away. "Yes, I don't want to be a thief, but I had to be the one to save the patients." A lone tear glistened on her cheek.
"Just as I thought. What a kind person."
Ed lowered his gaze to the floor. An alchemist thief who stole to save hospital patients.
Hollers were heard from outside. "Sensei! Sensei!" The police inspector burst into the dark room. "We've received another statement from Siren –"
"Is something wrong, Sensei?"
Ed regarded the man silently, ignoring the woman behind him. The thief who stole for the good of the people.
"It seems like there's less security this time," Ed observed.
Ed and Al appraised the new target hidden from sight in a grove of trees across the street. A torii graced the front steps to a flashy shrine-like architecture. Gold and purple glinted from the rooftops, a stark contrast to the drabber, surrounding buildings.
"Yes, the man in this mansion is a very cautious man. He has a little trap set up inside."
"A trap?" Ed repeated.
"You'll find out if you watch. This will truly be Siren's end." The inspector's lips curled in anticipation. "But there's always a small chance that something will go wrong. I'm counting on you if that happens." With that parting comment, he tiptoed out of the shelter of trees.
Al stared at the mansion. "What are you going to do, Niisan?"
Al was too soft. But was he being soft, too? Or was Siren really just created to save those people?
A clear liquid seeped under the thick double doors of the dark room. Congealing slightly, it rose up and with hand-like motions opened the lock.
Siren approached the lit pedestal in the middle of the bare room. The large ruby set in the middle of the jeweled pocket watch winked back at her. This was almost too easy. She closed her fingers over her prize.
A soft grating diverted her attention upwards. A panel slid open in the ceiling above and cage bars slammed to the floor. Siren spun around, her eyes frantically searching for a nonexistent escape.
A hissing noise filtered through her panic. As the floor beneath her shook and began to crack, jostling the iron bars, Siren's red lips turned up into a smile. Really, this was too easy.
She stopped running when she saw the blonde teenager. Ed waited a few blocks away from the mansion, right at the water's edge. She started again, passing him, then stopped.
"Why did you save me?" She didn't turn around and neither did he.
"I didn't save you," he replied plainly, his shoulders hunched over. "There are times when one must do evil. That's what I think. If doing evil will save the hospital."
The woman giggled.
Ed's unease with his actions gave way to anger. "What's so funny?" he demanded to her back.
Clara turned back to face the young boy. "You talk as if you're a grown-up," she smiled.
"I am a grown-up!"
"That's true." She put a slender finger to her lips as if considering something. "Then I'll have to return the favor as a grown-up woman." Siren walked over to the young alchemist and bent down. "Is there anything you want me to do for you?"
"Tell me just one thing." Ed couldn't bring himself to look the woman thief in the eye. He kept his gaze trained on a tiny spot near his foot. "If you're an alchemist, you know about the Philosopher's Stone, right? Give me any information you have on it." He finally raised his chin. "I need to get a hold of that stone no matter what."
Siren's robin-blue eyes clouded. "Sorry, I don't think I can help you there." Ed's disappointment was thick in his throat. "But, instead, tell me when you find out where that stone is and I'll steal it for you," she offered. She straightened and walked away.
"Hey," Ed called her back. "I'm glad you're able to save the hospital," he said grudgingly.
She smiled. "Thanks to you."
An explosion rocked Aquroya bright and early the next morning.
Ed and Al stood agape at the pile of rubble before them. Atop the heap of demolished cement and wires lay a white sign with the hospital red cross. In front of the mess was posted a sign: For Sale.
"What's with this? Don't tell me we were tricked."
"That can't be! Miss Clara wouldn't do such a thing," Al defended vehemently. "Maybe there's been a mistake somewhere."
Ed turned on his naïve brother. "The mistake is in your head! You went coo coo over Clara!"
"That's mean, Niisan!"
"You mustn't fight." A sharp voice cut through their argument just as it began to heat up. "It goes against God's will."
Ed and Al turned to face the new voice. They stared disbelievingly at the sight before them. Clara stood garbed in head to toe in a nun's outfit, a rosary clasped between her hands.
"Miss Clara."
Ed's greeting wasn't quite so friendly. He hated being tricked. "You…"
She escorted them back to the tiny chapel ensconced between a small grove of trees along the edge of the city on the water.
"I'm mortified over the incident with the hospital," she confessed to the two boys. She lifted pleading eyes upwards at the cross. "I tried to save it, but I couldn't make it in time. It was so mortifying, I became a nun."
"Miss Clara!" Al clasped his hands, moved by her words.
Ed rolled his eyes heavenwards. In the house of God was probably the best time to ask Him to grant him patience. "Uh-huh."
"It's true," she insisted fervently. "Those who believe are saved. And there are many other things that need saving." Clara turned her face up to the light streaming in through the chapel windows. "Like this monastery! It's going to be demolished soon too." She dissolved into sobs, burying her face in her hands.
Al moved to her side. "Just as I thought. Yes, please try to save this place this time," he beseeched her. "We'll be rooting for you."
Ed didn't move from his spot next to the pews, arms crossed in front of his chest. Really, his brother was much too soft.
Al burst into their hotel room in Hotel Aquroya. "Niisan, it's an emergency!"
Ed looked up from the bed he was reclined on. He was stripped down to his tank top and boxers. "What?" Ed managed to infuse an entire sentence worth of irritation into that one syllable.
"The city is in an uproar because Siren appeared again! That monastery is surely saved now!"
Another explosion rocked Aquroya the next bright and sunny morning.
Once again, the brothers stood shell-shocked in front of yet another "For Sale" sign and pile of rubble. Only this time, a shiny gold cross lay haphazardly atop the debris.
"Maybe there's been a mistake somewhere," Al repeated. "Right, Niisan?"
"Are you an idiot?" Ed snapped at his brother. "Quit believing in people so easily. She's a swindler! She's playing us and is probably laughing at us right now!"
"You don't have to say it like that, Niisan!" Al yelled back.
"You mustn't fight. Stop, boys." A brisk, authoritative voice sliced through their quarrel.
The brothers turned to face the voice and Ed let escape a muffled yelp. Clara stood before them once more, now clad in a dusk rose-colored suit. Her light brown hair was caught up in a ponytail, her eyes behind pert-rimmed glasses.
"You! What are you supposed to be with that outfit?"
Al looked at the young children holding her hand, clustered around her. "I get it. You became a schoolteacher, didn't you? You're working hard for a school that's going to get demolished soon." Al took a few clanking steps forward, eager to put his faith in her innocence. "That's right, isn't it, Miss Clara?"
Clara eyed the anxious suit of armor almost begging in front of her. "Yes," she hedged. "Right. Nicely done."
Ed had enough. "Stop fooling around," he bit out. "What are you? Are you just a criminal, a thief who steals and uses alchemy for her own good?" Ed was so fed up. Fed up with his naïve brother and even more so, fed up with this woman who tricked him not once, but twice.
"I don't know about that," she said. "You're an adult, right? Think with your head."
The two brothers trudged through the streets side by side as tourists streamed around them on either side.
"Extra! Extra!" A newspaper boy waved the newest print high in the air. A group quickly congregated around him, eager for the latest word. "It's another statement from Siren!" The crowd gathered, and soon the boy had sold all his papers. The publishers just had a field day with Siren's announcements.
Ed and Al approached one of the residents of the city. He leaned against the fountain, smiling as he read the day's paper. "Why are you guys so happy about it?" Ed asked. "Siren's just a criminal, isn't she?"
The man peered at the boy over the leaves of paper. "What are you talking about? Siren's the patron who saved Aquroya City. She's a star of hope."
"A star of hope?"
"This city of water, Aquroya, sinks down into the ocean a little every year," he explained. "The entire city is going to disappear into the lake in five years. Because of that, everyone has run away from the city. It was sad before Siren appeared. But thanks to Siren, the city has become filled with life again." He glanced around the bustling town.
"Reporters have come here from around the country and more tourists have come to catch a glimpse of Siren. Aquroya has been given a chance to live once again before it disappears into the lake."
Ed and Al thanked the man. Steeped in thought, they wandered wordlessly to the outskirts of town.
"What do you think this means, Niisan?" Al surveyed the vast body of water, its crystal surface reflecting the sun's rays. "Is Miss Clara trying to save the city by being a thief?"
"I don't know," Ed admitted. He sat on the edge of what might have once been a pillar of a building that had succumbed and sunk into Mother Nature. "But there's one thing I'm sure of," he continued in a low voice. "She tricked me. Me, the Fullmetal Alchemist. For that, I'm going to get some payback." He lifted his face to the sun, closing his golden eyes.
Siren silently paddled along the water's surface. "I thought you would come, little boy," she called.
Ed stood in a gondola about twenty feet in front of her. The full moon hung large and bright overhead, casting a bluish-white glow on the lake.
"This is romantic. A date on top of the water," she teased.
"Shut up, thief woman."
"Oh?" Siren's voice was laced with faked surprise and innocence. "But you're the same as me. You want the Philosopher's Stone right?" She stripped off her mask. There was no longer any need for pretenses. "The feeling of wanting something. We're the same."
"Maybe," the younger alchemist answered brusquely. "But we have our differences. How important alchemy is to us and what we carry."
She closed her eyes. "Let's begin, little boy," she invited. Siren grasped the zipper of her suit and pulled. Immediately red light crackled and encircled her boat. Twin water dragons surged out of the lake and slammed into an unprepared Ed's boat.
The boat splintered and the force of the impact sent the State Alchemist hurling through the air then into the water.
"I did it." Clara's eyes were trained on the spot where the boy had disappeared.
No sooner than the words had left her mouth, blue electricity enveloped the area around her. Ed kneeled at the floor of the man-made lake, his hand pressed against the cement bottom. An enormous hand lifted the thief's boat out of the water, sending gallons of water cascading down.
Siren's eyes widened at the marvel of alchemy wrapped around her. She had lost. She closed her eyes as the hand fisted shut around her.
Ed grinned triumphantly, but the sense of victory was short-lived. A burning sensation in his lungs reminded him that he was still underwater. He madly pushed upwards, clamoring for the surface, the weight of his clothes hindering each flailing movement. He really needed to get new clothes.
Siren accepted the silver manacles with grace. "You were wonderful, little boy," she complimented the dripping, gasping Ed. "You'll become a good man. When that time comes, let's battle again. But next time, as man and woman."
Dozens of policemen stood in lines, just in case Siren decided to elude them once more. The inspector hovered at her elbow, unwilling to let such a catch slip out of his grasp.
"Miss Clara."
Ed could only heave large pants of air. Siren leaned down to the boy. "Let me tell you something nice about the Philosopher's Stone."
At the mention of the stone, Ed's head snapped up and his eyes sharpened. "Head to the city of Xenotime. I heard there's some research going on there on the Philosopher's Stone."
Gold met blue. "Xenotime."
The afternoon took on a yellow glow as the sun set on Aquroya as the train pulled out of the city. Ed held yet another bowl of food, picking at it with his chopsticks.
"Are you still mad?" He addressed his younger brother. Al sat on the seat across of him, knees drawn up, eyes trained out the window at the passing scenery. "I had to do it, you know. She was just a criminal." Ed stared at the contents of his bowl.
"No, you're wrong," Al finally burst out. "She wasn't just a criminal." He didn't turn to face his brother. "You even said that there are times when one must do evil. Miss Clara is a kind person. I know you felt the same way, Niisan." Al leveled his gaze at a disheartened Ed.
Ed made uttered a noncommittal sound. The donburi in his hand was barely touched. "I'm not sure of that." Did he really do the right thing? Was what she had done really that wrong?
The armored carriage rolled through Aquroya carrying the infamous Siren.
Clara leaned forward to get the attention of the inspector and guards who accompanied her. "I'm a little hot," she said sweetly. "Could you lower the zipper on my chest?"
Yelps echoed throughout the city followed by an explosion. It wasn't even morning yet this time.
A black-clad figure sprinted down the streets, the clack of her boot steps echoed off the darkened buildings. The city was waiting for Siren's next strike.
A/N: After watching the episode over and over, I still haven't determined Clara's eye color. I swear that in some scenes it's blue and other times it's brown. So I decided that it can be both. If anyone knows for sure otherwise, please let me know. Thanks.
Arigatoo much for the great reviews. It was probably your guys' encouragement that drove me to finish this episode as well as 12, not just procrastination.