the second chapter here, it is mostly from Selena's point of view, so you guys know what kind of character she is. fun fact, Selena is actually a rather old OC of mine, I used her once to a former FMA story but when I realized that story didn't work, I changed a few things and put her in here. think this new role suits her better.
and I do apologize if I got something wrong about her condition, I can only read about it since I don't know any people with albinism.
enjoy the story
Alphonse and his friends have now been living with Shade for about a month and have become quite good friends with the amnesiac Ishvalan. Shade is a friendly and brilliant person, always willing to help Alphonse understand the study of the dragon pulse if Mei has trouble explaining it correctly.
Selena often studies alongside with them, mostly because she doesn't have any friends in the village thanks to her albinism. "Many people of the Wang clan call me a ghost." She explains after Alphonse and Mei had asked to tell a bit more about herself when it became apparent that she isn't biology related to Shade or Li Wang. She doesn't have a drop of Xingese blood in her like Shade's youngest daughter. Selena is pure Ishvalan, which came as a great surprise to the Amestrians.
The pale-skinned girl shoots an irritated stare towards her younger sister. Once again, their father is checking on her. "That name suits me... I often feel like one from how much time daddy has to spend on Harika... doubt he even will notice if I'll disappear..."
"Of course, he will notice," Mei retorts lightly. She and the others have all seen how much Shade cares for both of his two daughters. "He loves you."
"Then why does he spend more time with her than me?" Selena asks grumpily and leaves the table. "Bet it's because she's his real daughter..."
"Poor Selena," Alphonse says, watching the pale-skinned girl hide inside her room. It is admittedly quite a surprise hearing that Selena isn't Shade's biology daughter, but that doesn't matter; the man still loves her as if she is. But sadly, with Harika sick all the time from the stress of the constant assassination threats, Al doesn't think it will be fair to ask Shade stop being around the youngest all of the time. The younger girl needs his care and the comfort his appearance gives her.
About ten minutes later, Shade returns and true to what Mei said, right away notices who is missing from the scene. "Where's Selena?"
"In her room," Mei replies and Alphonse explains her reason for being there.
Shade lets out a deep tired sigh. "Should've known this has been affecting her as well— excuse me." And he heads into Selena's room.
About five minutes later, he returns outside with a tearful, but trying very hard to hide it, Selena. Father and daughter take a seat at the table with Shade doing his best to give his oldest daughter some much-needed attention by teaching both her and Alphonse about the dragon pulse.
Alphonse must admit that Shade makes a good teacher; he knows exactly how he should explain stuff so even Zampano and Jerso, who have little to no knowledge about alchemy, can get an understanding of what Shade is trying to teach them. Alphonse is glad to have met Shade, but there will probably be some time before he can sense this Chi flow that many people of Xing can read. Shade did say that getting that ability requires a lot of meditation since that would help sharpen his focus. Now Alphonse understands what Mei tried to tell him (but utterly failed) back when he still was stuck in that armor.
The lecture gets interrupted when Harika suddenly screams, sending Shade into action and storming to her room, but stops when the girl herself comes running out. "The black people are back!" She cries, terrified, seeking cover behind her dad and the chimeras, somewhat to their surprise.
Alphonse and Mei are on their feet in seconds, ready to defend the family against the assassins, but it proves not to be necessary. The people Harika mistook for assassins are her new bodyguards.
The oldest of them tries to calm the girl by explaining that they are here to protect her. "Young mistress, we're not here to harm you." He stepped over to her, which made Harika more scared. "We're your—"
"Back off!" Shade snaps at the bodyguard; his glare makes them both take a step back. Alphonse, on the other hand, recognizes that protective look, one his older brother Edward wore when he protected Winry from Scar, which in turn made the killer freeze up. He wonders if Scar would recognize this man if they ever met.
"Can't you see you're scaring her?" Shade asks them angrily, nodding to his daughter hiding behind the quite taken aback chimeras, seeing them as a way better protection than her protectors.
Both bodyguards can see that, and that is a huge problem since it is their duty to protect her. They have to stay out from sight until she gets used to them and they leave, guarding the house outside by sitting on the roof.
Harika did calm down slightly with them gone, but the recent attacks have gotten to her. She refuses to leave her father's or her self-proclaimed protectors' side, crying and scanning the house all the time for danger.
Jerso puts a hand on the young girl's head, assuring her, "Don't worry; no harm will come to you, little one." She nods slowly and dries away her tears, believing the chimera's words.
Later that evening, Selena watches her sister sleeping with their father sitting on the edge of the bed, working as a guard but does makes him unable to do his things, such as teaching their guests alkahestry. She feels angry— well more worried over her family's predicament. She is feeling quite useless that she cannot do anything to make things a little bit easier. Li did though, but she's dead... this place hasn't been the same ever since her second mother died.
"Dad, we should leave," Selena tells her father seriously.
Shade doesn't answer her. He quietly puts a wet cloth on Harika's forehead. The young girl has once again come down with a fever from the constant stress she is dealing with.
Selena fists her hand; this isn't the first time they have had this discussion, so she knows his reasoning. "If we stay, Harika will die!" She doesn't want to lose any more loved ones! She is sick and tired of watching people die around her, and she cannot do anything to stop it! She wants to cry out but restrains herself.
"She doesn't look so good," Jerso remarks, watching the sick girl trying but having considerable trouble falling asleep, she is so scared of who might come and attack her.
Shade sighs; he returns the bowl of water to one of the servants, asking them to leave before he turns to the chimera. "Harika has been like this ever since her mother..." He lowers his head for a moment, deciding to get to the point why he hasn't left this village and the constant threat of assassination. "But even if we did leave, where could we possibly go? The other clans are those after her, and I can't keep them alive out in the wilderness—that will be unfair for both of them." Looking way older than he is, Shade takes off his glasses, revealing how frustrated he is about this whole situation. "Not to mention that the chief won't allow Harika's leaving. She is a great source of his power; whoever marries her is most likely to become the next chief of the Wang clan. And Tai Wang would prefer that this future chief is loyal to him."
"So if she gets assassinated before marriage, then the clan will lose a great deal of its power?" Zampano asks to get this straight.
Shade nods in a sad manner. "Trust me. I would've left a long time ago. But with no idea where to go and the chief won't allow a source of power leaving... well, as you can see: I am pretty limited with my options."
"It's not fair..." Selena grumbles angrily. "I am allowed to leave, but dad and my sister are trapped in the middle of this stupid political power struggle."
Shade puts his metal hand gently on her shoulder, assuring her softly, "It will get better. Harika is properly protected now, so she shouldn't be under threat anymore."
"True, but your kid fears her bodyguards," Jerso remarks, with Zampano pointedly flicking his gaze to the finally asleep girl. Her rest is not a calm one though, as it looks like she's dealing with bad dreams. "She prefers two chimeras over them." This statement causes the Ishvalan to let out a tired sigh.
Mei glances to the sleeping Harika, realizing that she maybe have gotten a relatively carefree childhood since no one from the other clans have tried to kill her. Her clan has only been struggling in keeping what little power they had, but that's not really a problem anymore now that Ling has become Xing's new ruler. Too bad old habits about how to get rid of potential opponents from other clans die hard. And especially since young Harika here is the daughter of one of the most powerful princesses of the former emperor. The Wang clan is as powerful as the Yao clan, maybe even more so. So getting rid of Harika by killing her will aid other, lower-ranked clans to rise, her own included, but Mei can't make herself even consider that option. Shade has been so kind to them and even though Mei hasn't interacted with Harika personally, thanks to the girl's shyness and paranoia, Mei has seen how open and loving Harika is when she interacts with Zampano and Jerso, not one bit bothered by them being chimeras. In fact, Mei has a feeling this red-eyed girl finds their animal forms quite fascinating.
But Mei has figured there are other ways of getting rid of an opponent, and she thinks Shade will not put up much of a struggle with that second option. But she can't say it now; the bodyguards of Harika are most likely listening, and they will tell the chief if they realize another princess is scheming to remove the Wang clan's primary source of power.
That night, Mei sneaks out from her room and into Shade's study, all the time making sure Harika's bodyguards won't spot her. Peeking inside the study, she finds Shade working on something, but he looks too exhausted to work on it correctly. Mei has a feeling that the man cannot sleep either, so she is practically doing him a favor. She walks inside, making sure the Ishvalan spots her, but before he can ask what she's doing here this late, she makes the sign to be quiet. He blinks but keeps his mouth shut. Mei hands him her idea, written on paper. He takes it and frowns of her suggestion; he hesitates for a long time, and then grabs himself another piece of paper, writing his answer.
Mei feared this would happen, but she also figured that the Wang clan wouldn't let their future chief's wife go this smoothly, so she reluctantly has to agree on his terms. With the agreement, she leaves the room and sneaks to the others, telling them about what is soon going to happen.
Alphonse frowns deeply, not liking one bit what Shade has to do. But he also knows that if any of them tries to help, the plan will fail.
They build on this plan throughout the week, pretending to be studying but in reality, preparing for this plan of Mei and Shade's.
The day arrives, and Alphonse returns the scrolls to the library and tells his goodbye to Shade. "I wish we didn't have to leave this way," he tells the man sadly, wishing that they could do more to help Shade, but the Ishvalan's mind is already made up, and Alphonse has to respect that.
Shade gives the four a simple smile, before turning with a sad look to his oldest daughter, handing her a turquoise green scarf. "This once belonged to Li, and she wanted you to have it on the day you would become a woman. She always said it brought her courage."
Selena takes it but doesn't put in on, merely staring at her adoptive father with tears in her eyes. "Why can't you go with us?" she asks, confused about why her second father won't leave with them. She doesn't want to lose him too.
He gives her a weak smile but doesn't answer; instead, he hugs her tightly, whispering something into her ears and with that, he returns to the house where Harika is sleeping.
Selena tries to follow, but Mei stops her. Reluctantly Selena leaves along with the group, more than once looking back to the house where her sister's bodyguards are watching them from the roof.
She struggles not to burst into tears; confusion and fear of why her father is doing this threatens to make her break. But she can't, not when she promised him to be strong.
Shade stands at the window, watching the spot where the group left even though it was over two days ago now. His chest hurts for what had to be done, but he knows this will at least give them a better chance for life.
"The lord is asking for his great-granddaughter's appearance," the youngest of the bodyguards tells him, waiting at the door.
Shade nods slowly and heads into Harika's room. He picks up the child and heads over to the palace. The bodyguards keep their safe distance all the time, knowing they will scare the child if getting too close. At the palatial mansion, they do get in closer, mostly to show the chief that they are doing their job.
Shade walks inside the meeting hall, and like always, reluctantly hands over his daughter to her great-grandfather. With a smile, the chief uncovers the sheet covering his sickly great-granddaughter, but it quickly fades when he realizes what the former husband to his granddaughter has done. "Seize him!" he commands, dropping the dummy onto the floor.
Harika's bodyguards freeze for a second in shock that Harika is no longer in the village and they, in turn, have failed to keep her safe. They quickly recover though and like three other guards, charge at the traitorous father of their mistress.
Shade smirks, as he in some sense won, then he slams his left hand onto the ground, making the whole room bend to his alchemy and will.
even Shade can be a badass when it is needed.
I am unsure how much alchemy he can pull off, but I guess he can do a lot since Scar could do a lot of damage and he only allowed himself study the basic about his deconstruction arm. so try and imagine what someone who has a great understanding of alchemy can do with it.
maybe it's a good thing Shade is not a fighter.
comments and such will be a great, as it will tell me if you guys like this story or I should simply keep it to myself.