Hazzah! Hazzah! Hazzah! Number 2 is out & I'm revving at full throttle...And not because I took a full throttle either!...Okay...Maybe I did...But it was good! Real good! By the way, this chapter has been rewritten from the first time. Sorry, I reread what I wrote last night, & it all came out too weird lol. hey, I do these stories throughout the day & after having so many stories to keep up with...I guess my brain went- bye bye! So here it is! Again! Number 2! Remastered! Yay!
Disclaimer: I don't not own Greed/Ling or Edward, or Alphonse, or...uh, what's her name? Oh, yeah Winry! LOL j/k anyways, you know what I mean, I don't own anything that's from the anime creator of...FMA! And Brotherhood!~ La. Blah, blah, blah, blaaah...
Chapter II : It Be That Of An Angel, Or Not
Edward had just come back from Resembol, his aching feet & cluttered mind made him all the more excited to tell his brother the good news that he had discovered, & as he reached the top of the stairs to see his room number, he couldn't help but stopped just outside his door with this odd feeling smothering his atmosphere…
He couldn't very much explain it, why he was feeling the way he did, but he believed it to be his own anxieties for knowing more about the truth behind truths, & that he was exhausted from the trip, but…Some how, he feared his assumption was wrong.
It felt like the first night they created that thing…The feel of the atmosphere changing & swirling around him as the portal opened itself beneath them…That eye of truth…
Yeah…That's definitely what it feels like…I must be loosing my mind? That-, Or I'm just really tired!
That mere sense of knowing something was wrong was starting to get way too familiar with Ed, & with a shake of his head in denial of the odd feeling, he turned the knob to his room & walked in with the hopes of seeing his brother to cheer him up.
But what he saw was not what he was expecting...
"Al, I'm home…" Edward's voice trailed off, when he came face to face with his brother half shredded up & falling to pieces with Winry sitting next to him, with Ling & his subordinate Lan Fan were chowing down on some ramen noodles & fried tempura with 10 to 15 plates stacked on top of one another right next to them.
"WHAT THE HEEEEELL!" Edward looked over his brother frantically rubbing his head profusely with frustration.
"Sorry Brother…There was a fight against the Homunculi &…Well…" Alphonse trailed off a little ashamed at the mess he was in after the winning against the Homunculi, Lust, who he had currently fought along with Roy & Lt. Riza who were currently hospitalized for the time being because of it.
Out of all of them, Alphonse knew Jean Havoc was the worst off out of them all…He had been paralyzed from the waist down.
"Uh-, What-, how did this happen?" Angrier by the second, Edward suddenly turned his bulging eyes towards the moronic prince stuffing his face, "And you! What is it that you think you're doing?" He pointed at Ling with a guilty finger, but Ling just stared back at him with a mouth full of the delicious noodles he took a mouthful of.
"Eating a delicious meal." He was all he could reply simply.
"GET OUT OF HERE!" With a lift of Ed's super strength & the wide opening of the door, Edward threw the free loader & his subordinate out of their room, & then turned back to his brother to fix him properly.
"Damn it, I'll have to extend your armor for the time being…" With a clap of the older brother's hands, he touched his brother's armor with ease & with a large electric spark, he transmuted the armor as best as he could, before suddenly that feeling back altogether…
You know, that feeling he had earlier before he entered the room? Yeah, that one, but it was getting stronger…Closer…
"Thank you brother."
"Huh? Oh, right, no problem, now tell me, What happened to you?"
During the time that Alphonse & Edward were discussing & exchanging their information to one another, Ling Yao & Lan Fan were sitting out in the hallway in silence, trying to ponder on if where to stay outside for the night or find some where to sleep, but before any of those concerns would really hit the two, there was a sudden intuition ticking at the two.
They were starting to sense a strange Chi surrounding the air; by the way it was swirling around them, Ling could sense it was coming from above them.
Strange…
"Do you feel that my Lord?" Lan Fan questioned quietly still in her current sitting position.
"Yes…That's a strange Chi. I can't even tell whether it's human or not. It's too far away to tell…And yet, I'm not sensing any danger from it…"
Just as the prince said that the sudden Chi felt like it had consumed their own aura's causing them to freeze in place with sudden shocked expressions.
Suddenly, another sound of clashed lightening came from the room next to them…
The Elric's room.
"My Lord!"
"The hell…?"
A flash of lightening flickering within the door began to seep through under the door causing the prince to stumble a little as he stood to his feet to watch the light show suddenly disappear under the door again. The first voice to be heard in a panic was Winry's calling to Edward as he groaned in pain.
Ling on the other hand was curious to see what had happen, & with a look to his Lan Fan, he told her to stay out in the hall for a moment. She didn't argue & nodded her head as the prince cautiously walked up to the door, hearing the voices of the brother's & their friend yelling at each other…
But they weren't yelling in anger…
Maybe I should listen in before just entering… He put his hands up to the door & rested his ear against it hoping to hear the commotion…
And it worked!
"Edward!"
"Owe…What the hell fell on me…? Eh… Alphonse?"
"No! It wasn't me Brother… I swear! Are you alright?"
"I don't know, I think so...Who the hell is this?"
By the way the conversation was sounding, Ling was already confused by what they were discussing, so with curiosity perking his interest, he opened the door to see what all the commotion was about, & what the hell that lightening was coming from.
"What's going on in here?" The prince asked looking around to find his sights glued upon Edward who had been laid out flat on the floor with an unconscious girl laying on top him.
The girl looked about their age, 15 or 17 at most, & from what she was wearing she had been sleeping previously to be dressed in a silky night wear. But there was something else the prince had notice…
The girl was undoubtedly cute.
Yes, yes, it was stupid of him to think like that at a time like this, but he couldn't deny that she was, & within the depths of her long messy light, golden brown hair, Ling could make out her sweetened features were somewhat pale.
"Ling...! Give us a hand, will ya?" The blonde grunted trying to sit up after his back had been nearly crush by the impact of the mysterious woman & her enormous bag of stuff! Her bag was an unusual mix match of colors that didn't even look anything like a suitcase to traveling with.
"This girl...She just transmuted out of the ceiling!"
"What..." Ling's surprised gaze shifted to the girl who was now cradling in Alphonse's arms, but upon further observation, the prince seemed to notice her Chi…
It was the same Chi him & Lan Fan had been feeling for a while now…
It was her? She was the one with the strange Chi? At this discovery, Ling came forward & assisted in helping the girl off of his alchemist friend, & moved her to the bed.
"Owe…My back, what the hell was she carrying in that thing? Books? …Bricks?" Edward rubbed his head only to get a scowl from Winry who was examining the sickly looking girl.
"Ed! Now's the not the time, look at her." With concern Ed walked over to the others who were hovering over the girl who popped in out of nowhere…
At first there was silence between all of them, then Ling seemed to notice something odd on the girl. There was a strange red bumped just on the side of her head like she had been hit with something.
"Hmm…That's strange, did she get hit with something when she transmuted from the roof?"
"I don't know. One minute we were talking the next thing we knew…." The brother's looked at one another seriously, almost too uncomfortable to say what it was that they saw…
But Ling persisted, "What? What was it? And don't lie to me either! I saw the lightening from outside when it happened!"
There was a short pause of silence again, but Edward only lowered his gaze to the sleeping girl, & began to think of what reoccurred the night they tried to bring their mother back to life.
"It's just…" Edward trailed off, but found the nerve to continued, "Well, not to go into any great detail about it, but when me & Alphonse tried transmuting our mother, the air in the atmosphere became…Suffocating, the room turned a dark purple almost blood red sometimes when the portal opened up to us. The whole entire atmosphere changed around us…" When Edward was finally done explaining the description of the events, he took a moment to pause before looking to the prince, "That's exactly what happened when she transmuted out of the ceiling…"
The prince was shocked to hear this news, he didn't mean to bring any disrespect to Edward & Alphonse's past, but to hear that the same events reoccurred similar to their human transmutation, left him baffled.
Suddenly his attention turned to her bag, noticing an odd cord sticking out from underneath it. Curiosity wanted to wonder over to find out what it was, so with a few steps Ling lifted her bag up & picked up the two pronged cord that seemed to connected to a black box of some sort. It only had to four buttons on the front of it, ones that were only in symbols, but the only one that seemed to have any wording was the word 'open'.
"Ling, what're you doing?" Edward noticed the noisy prince fiddling & examining the little flat contraption, & also became curious to what it was…
"I found this under her bag…" Ling muttered to him as if to keep it down, but that really wasn't the case, was just so astounded by the weird box with the cord sticking out of it.
"So, it came with her from the other side of the gate…?"
Edward was more than surprised, he didn't know what to make of it. Where could this girl have come from to be able to bring objects over from the other side…He had to admit though, that six sense he was getting earlier, seemed to have disappeared finally as well…
Was it possible that she was the reason for that odd sensation when he first arrived in Central? And if so, how could she have made it over without loosing anything.
It occurred to him then, & there that the girl still had her body intact.
None of her limps were missing, & her soul still seemed to be there if she was still breathing…
So, what could she have given up in exchange to come through the portal of truth?
Many questions were raising to the Alchemist's cluttered mind, but just as those questions began to look for an explanation, the mysterious girl yawned heavily in her sleep & slowly leaned her head towards the side of the pillow that faced the others.
"Brother…" Alphonse's voice turned back to his brother & Ling who turned themselves to the boy in armor; they noticed the girl was slightly swaying her head back & forth now as if she was struggling in her sleep, but while all this was happening the girl began mutter non sense under her breath as she slept…
They all crowded around her once again hoping to hear what it was that she was mumbling, but the only thing the manage to hear was…
"Mmm…Tempura…" She sighed drowsy turning on her side to nuzzle & cuddle her pillow which made the others chuckle quietly before the girl's face began to distort as if she was trying to open her eyes, & from the way she struggled to open them it wasn't easy.
"She's waking up…!" Ed, Al, Winry, & Ling all sighed quietly in relief, knowing that the girl was going to be alright…
Her head felt like it was still spinning when she awoke out of conscious. God, she felt nauseous
Well, sleep she assumed.
She felt like she just fell out of dream, remembering bits & pieces what happened before everything went blurry…Well, as blurry as it was, she slowly began to remember taking a shower, getting out & trying to turn off her DVD player before heading to bed…
So….What happened to her, heading to bed?
"Maybe she can tell us what happened to her…" She heard a voice speak…It was soft, almost high pitch for a boy…Like…Vic Mignona's voice…
Did she leave Full Metal Alchemist on last night?
No…As she searched her brain she slow remembered something else…The electric box…
She was electrocuted somehow when she went to go turn off her DVD player, then she poofed into thin air…And…
The more she began to think, the more she attempted to open her eyes, but they felt weak & heavy like she was still in a dream. With all her might, no matter how hard she tried it felt like it was nearly impossible to open them.
"Hey…You alright there lady? Can you hear me?" It sounded like Edward.
Yeah, that was it! She must've left the DVD player on last night without realizing it, because she was so damn tired!
It sounded logical enough, but upon further discovery, Janelle seemed to notice the questions he were peculiar…And they didn't sound like lines from the show itself.
She should know, she watched the episodes like a hundred times when there was nothing else to watch! Well, the storyline was just that good what could she say?
Finally, the dark brunette attempted with all her might to open her animated, doughy golden coppered eyes.
With the force Janelle was starting to use to raised her lids, she was able to do so within a few seconds, but when she tried to clear her vision, Janelle only came to find out that her was completely blurred over.
She couldn't see much of anything but a bunch meshed colors in her sights around her; yet, from what she could tell so far was the people in bright colors swarming around her…
"Is she mute?" Alphonse asked.
Wait, Alphonse…? Thee Alphonse? Last name Elric, Alphonse?
And just from the black & yellow blur she could just make out the Full Metal Alchemist himself! Oh god, she had to be dreaming!
She was seeing the Elric Brothers!
"I don't know…Hey! Can you hear me!" Edward didn't really mean to do what he did, but when he exclaimed the question in Janelle's ears it caused her to fall back to close her once golden brown iris's.
"Ai-ya…! Don't yell into my ears Ed, it hurts!" She whined & whimpered at the pulsing headache she was getting while the others, had froze in astonishment. Even Edward who seemed speechless…
"You…Know my name?"
"Mm…Sort of-, Yeah…Owe…Uh…My head feels like I put it through a wall again…Jeez…" Janelle nursed her head with her fingers tips softly, rubbing them back & forth over her temples before she ran her fingers along a bump on the side of her head. "Owe…!What the hell…If this is dream, why do I feel pain? She muttered to herself still groggy as ever as she sat up a little, letting her feet dangle over the side of the bed.
"Oh yeah! Bandages! Bandages! She still has that concussion!"
"Concussion? How'd I get a concussion?" She was utterly confused as she rubbed the spot gently…
It came to Janelle's attention that she had never had dreams that hurt as much as this one.
Usually her dreams were filled with the fantasy of her having a half decent man! She mentally laughed to remembering a reoccurring dream she had been having the pass few weeks of Ling/Greed, or just one or the other… They would always pull her into an embrace, who ever it being at the time, & passionately kiss her…As if easing her heart's aching pain she would already feel when she was awake.
As much as it did ease some pain though, it was a stupid dream that wouldn't leave her alone apparently!
She hated it because it wasn't real… He wasn't real. It was silly to have a dream about a make believe person.
"Well, you transmuted out of the ceiling…" Edward stated carefully as he pulled the desk chair up to the bed to take a seat across from the delirious looking girl.
"What's your name?" A new voice asked…Yet new, it was very familiar.
…Is that-, is that Ling Yao? For a split second her throat closed up & her heart froze deep in the pit of her stomach creating a tight knot of anxiousness.
"J-Janelle…" She breathed for a moment before looking for the voice by reaching out her head to it.
"Y-You're not real…Right?" The question was so abrupt & odd it left the others looking at one another while Janelle decided to grip onto the prince's yellow sleeve.
"What'd you mean?" He asked tilting his head to the side. What did she mean?
"Um, Ling…Ling Yao, right?" This raised an eye & a brow for the prince. He had never met this woman before, & yet she knew the names of him & Edward right off the bat.
Sure, some knew his last name, or his title, but no one ever addressed him by his first name at a first meeting. But as Winry started to treat Jane's head, Ling finally gave an answer with a smile to hide his wonders.
Yes…As a matter of fact, I am! Please to meet you. But, have we met? I'm sure I would remember a pretty face like yours if we were to bump into one another." He gave a welcoming grin as he took her hand & extended out his hand to her, letting her slowly take it in her own and give a gentle hand shake.
Although, all the while they gave their first introductions, deep down Ling wanted to ask about her strange Chi, & knowing already she wasn't from here. Even if she may have fallen through the ceiling, her Chi gave off an odd color to him. One he couldn't distinctly call a color…
But he was tempted…There had to be a way to talk to her & ask her about it…
No! He refused to bombard her with questions just yet.
Unfortunately, just before Janelle could ever answer Ling, it seemed that Edward's forwardness was already going to beat the prince to the punch of questioning.
"Wow, you sure know a lot for a girl that just fell out of the sky." The Alchemist joked with some seriousness to his tone, getting Janelle to look at him confliction.
"I guess that's what happens when you dream." Winry was done by the time Janelle said this finally, and by this time getting the brown eyed girl's vision began to clear even as she stared down at her hands.
"What the transmuting?"
"Huh? What? N-No, I'm dreaming right now…I have to be."
"Wait, wait, hold on a second, you came crashing down from the ceiling with a large bag & a black box that gave you that concussion on your head that nearly killed me…" Edward's gloved finger pointed at her head as he exaggerated the situation a tad, "And you think this is all a dream? Man, that concussion really did a number you." He snickered only getting the girl to shrug before Edward asked another question.
"What makes you think this is a dream? If you don't mind me asking."
Maybe Ling would find out a little bit about her after all…
"Well, how do I explain a dream when I'm in one…? Um-,…Okay, you guys are characters on a T.V. show I watch…The fact that Ling is in this dream proves I'm completely dreaming…"
"Huh? What makes you think…Just because squinty eyes is here doesn't make it any more of a dream!" Edward was frustrated now. He couldn't wrap his head around the girl's ridiculous conclusion.
But Janelle, being as stubborn as she was, gave Edward a challenging glare, feeling as if she was being mocked by him…
She laughed mentally…Knowing him, he thought it was bogus… But to her, she couldn't tell from reality & fantasy at this point, & with a bubble of her own frustrations, Janelle felt she had to prove him & most of all, herself, wrong.
"Well, then, let's have a test…" She sat up the best she could, propping herself up on her knees, still all the while holding Ling's cuff as she scooted over to him more with her vision still a little blurry, but little by little she could tell it was getting better…Maybe because she was waking up…?
She wasn't sure, she never remembered her dreams being as clear as they were…
"Well, if this wasn't a dream, I wouldn't be able to do this..." With out thinking, & believing that this world was a figment of her imagination, Jenny took her free hand laying on her lap & brought it up to gripped onto Ling's shirt collar as she quickly crashed her lips against his, hearing a soft gasp hitch in the young prince's throat…
The action was so unexpected it left everyone in utter awe…
Including Ling….
He didn't know what to do. He certainly didn't want to pull away…Well, he did, but he didn't because he wasn't even sure if it registered what she just did to him…
And what started as an innocent kiss, morphed into an amorous one.
Janelle slithered her minted tongue into the prince's mouth with force, fitting their lips into a perfect fit until their was nothing left to do but close the gap.
For Ling, this was all too much, his head was swimming, racing a mile a minute to the girl's kiss. His eyes even opened slightly as he took in the girl's lips into his own, running his hands around her waist for a short moment before Janelle finally pulled back with a last peck of his lips before she looked to the others to await for her to wake up…
Unfortunately, slumber was taking it's sweet ass time to wake her up, but little by little, Jenny came to the realization the kiss she just shared with Ling…Was real.
And not like some romantic crap like 'there was real emotion behind the kiss.' no, no ,no, no, no, the fact that her lips were still wet & her eyes had finally cleared completely to see the room & people before her, and she still hadn't waken up from her so called dream yet, was startig to raise many quesrtions in the conflicted girl head…
A blank look suddenly fell upon her face, & so did a pink blush when she turned to look back up at the Prince who was just grinning down at her, gleefully.
"Oh god…I should be waking up right about now.." She looked back at Ed & Al flabbergasted…
Edward fell back in his chair with disbelief, & a bloody nose. His youngest, Alphonse just looked plain…What's the word…Speechless?
Janelle was starting to realize she wasn't asleep the more her mind began to race with all the events that happened probably not even 20 minutes ago.
The shower….The DVD player…The Electrical storm that somehow got into her DVD player from the outside electrical box…
Yep, this wasn't a dream.
Janelle was in Full Metal Alchemist…The Series…!
And she just kissed…No, not just kissed, passionately kissed Ling Yao, The Prince of Xing!
With that being imbedded into her mind, Janelle's once peach colored cheeks turned a bright crayola crayon brick red as she slowly released the prince, & laid back against the wall with her hands over her face in embarrassment…
"Oh my fucking god! I'm not dreaming! I'm so sorry! I'm so, so, so, so sorry! I shouldn't have done that! But, I-I, oh fuck I thought I was seriously dreaming!"
Ling was the first to start busting up laughing at the whole situation which only left the girl even more embarrassed as she peek through the cracks of her hands, showing the others her Golden brown puppy dog eyes again.
The boys could tell she was about to cry, but Winry was the first to say something with a comforting smile.
"There, there, it's okay. It was an honest mistake."
"Oh…It's still embarrassing…I just kissed the prince of Xing! In front of the Elric brothers!" It was all muffled in her hands, but the others got the gist of what she said, only laughing softly to help ease the shyness a little.
"Hey, don't sweat it, after being hit in the head with a box like that, I'd be feeling pretty disoriented myself." Edward laughed grinning, getting Janelle to raise her head up a little from her hiding place, letting her shoulders relax bit by bit.
Then Janelle slightly felt a small fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach when he smiled at her. Like she felt safe enough that she could trust him.
Of course, it was Edward!
"Thanks Ed. That makes me feel a little better about my dilemma…" At Janelle's gratitude the alchemist could only smile, but then wondered once again…
"Say, Janelle, right? That's your name?"
"Mm-Hmm." She nodded only getting Ed's eyes to strength with the question that stirred in his mind.
"Janelle…Do you mind if I ask you how you knew Ling's name? I mean, you knew both of our names off the bat. It's one thing if you knew I was the full metal alchemist, but only a few people besides soldiers in the military really know my name."
Oh…Great. How was she going to explain this?
Yeah, I was taking a shower in the real world when my electrical box outside decided to shock me & my DVD player to the FMA world…Yeah that sounds real believable. Considering they know nothing of the fact that they're made up characters in a manga & on a show, yeah…That sounds really convincing, right? Heh, heh, wrong! The more she tried to figure out how to explain her predicament, the more her thoughts were starting to sound absurd…
This whole thing was absurd! How the hell did she even get here is what she was screaming in her head.
"Janelle? You okay?"
"Huh?" Feeling another jolt of anxiety hit her hard, Jane looked up at the three boys & Winry to only come up with nothing…She looked disappointed, & confused, which the others could plainly see as the girl lowered her head & gripped onto her pillow next to her with frustration…
That's when Ling intervened, "Hey, it's alright, Miss. Take your time, I'm sure this isn't easy on you." He laughed, only seeing a small smile indent into the brunette's lip, making her blush once again as she looked away from him.
Damn it, this was going to be ten times as harder to avoid blushing. Unlike in her reality, she could look at a picture of Ling at not feel like a giddy school girl.
But now that he was, now, technically real, she felt like she couldn't even look at him. And even though he would never say it, he could tell this with ease just by look at her wavering Chi.
"Guys…" Janelle suddenly started getting everyone's attention. Her brown doughy eyes searched the side of the room, as if her answer was stuck behind the potted plant in the room, but the answer she looked for was only within her…
"Um, I want to tell you where I came from, but I'm afraid you won't believe me if I even told you it…" She paused looking at all of them with a serious stare in her eyes that she only ever really used unless she was angry or need her friend to keep a secret…In this case, it was more than a secret…
"I need you all to promise me…Promise me you won't think I'm crazy until after I've proven myself to be telling the truth." Edward looked at Alphonse & the brother looked to their friends who only looked at the girl with sincerity.
Wow, this was new. Sincerity, to her? She never even got that at home.
"Alright." Alphonse finally replied.
"Yeah, that sounds like a fair exchange." Edward added putting one of his hands to his chin as he looked up at the ceiling, just as Ling chuckled & flatten his palm towards Janelle.
"So, why don't you just start from the beginning & take it slow, alright, no need to rush yourself" The prince was so gentle & caring with his words when he said that, & Janelle smiled at him before bringing her knees up to her chest to start her story, no matter how crazy it sounded…
Okay…Here goes nothing…
"Well…I-It's like this…"
So she told them…She wasn't sure if she should've at first, thinking that if she would've said something, the world around them would've exploded or something from telling them the kind of information she was spilling.
She started with how she lived in parallel far different from the one they lived in, where they were based on characters in a manga named after the Full Metal Alchemist himself.
She continued on to tell them how she was merely at home about to go to bed when suddenly the electrical storm outside her home hit the house's box & caused a static charge that imploded her & her DVD into the portal of truth…
And that was that…
After she was done she looked to all four of them only to see their eyes as big as dinner plates.
"I told you, you wouldn't believe me." She stated simply, only getting Ed, Al, & Ling to shake their heads violently to get out of their dream like state of the story she just revealed.
"This is insane! Y-You're insane!" Edward outburst without thinking before feeling Winry slug him in the back of the head with her over sized wrench.
"Edward!"
"Brother!"
It seemed like his friends were at least on her side, even Ling seemed to scoff at the elder brother's comment.
"That's just rude, Ed. This poor girl is lost. Whether from another home world or just from home, she is lost!"
"Are you actually believing this, you guys? She's saying that we are made up characters in a book!"
"In my world! You seem to be missing that part of what I said." Janelle retorted in a huff only to have Edward leaned forward with a playful grin…
"Is that so! Well then, how about a little questionnaire eh?"
"U-Um, okay." For being a little younger than herself, Edward sure had some effect when it came to a staring contest.
"Alright, now, it has to be questions only we know…Like…What's our mother's name?" He cocked a brow looking down at her caressing his chin.
"Trisha Elric…When you guys were born your parents decided to give you the last name of your mother."
Question one: correct!~
"Wow. Okay, how about…."
"You hate Milk…You have an auto mail arm & leg, Al's a suit of armor, because when you two tried transmuting your mom to bring her back it failed, little did you just recently find out…Wait, did you go to Resembol recently?"
That stomped Edward right there….These questions were baffling him to no end.
"Why do you ask?" His pupils shrank to the size of pins as he gritted his teeth.
Janelle could already see & sense his uneasiness, & felt her face tingle as the life drained from it.
"U-Um…Edward…."
"Say it!" He demanded, "What do you know…"
Well, it was too late…She couldn't hide the fact that she knew about his discovery, & with a sigh of defeat she closed her eyes tight.
"You just found out that you can't bring the dead back to life…That Al's body could be reached on the other side of the gate. The question is now, how to pull out…" And that was that, Edward hitched his breath in his lungs & nearly lunged at the girl to grab her up by her collar.
"Eep!" Jenny squeaked screwing her eyes shut as she awaited a punch of some sort, but instead he just grabbed her right arm with that suspicious, vicious glare in his eyes. Oh God, for a second she felt the color drain from her face when she saw that look.
Yeah, if looks could kill…That would definitely describe him at this moment.
"Ed!"
"Brother! Put her down!"
"She knows too much! How could she have known about my visit to Resembol? It sounds way to fishy…Did you follow me? Or is it…" He tilted his head to the side with another expression. Like he had figured something out… "Are you working for them!"
"Them? Them…What? You mean the Homunculi? If you give me…A chance to explain-,"
"Edward, That's enough!" Ling's voice bellowed a warning at this point seeing how irritant he was getting with a mere stranger. To a girl with a concussion, no less, but the little alchemist refused to let up, wanting answers for her ridiculous story.
"Tell me everything you know! You hear me? I can't trust you until you prove to me you haven't been following us." Suddenly out of nowhere, a black blur came forcing Edward off guard, to send him tumbling towards the wall underneath the window, all the while, Janelle was in awe when she came to find Ling stepping in front of the littler alchemist.
He just stared down at him, glaring at his Golden eye friend who seemed completely dazed & shocked by the suddenly hit against his face, "You bastard! What the hell did you do that for?" Edward exclaimed wiping his cheek of the bruise.
"You are an idiot!" Ling finally just blurted, shocking everyone, including Ed & Janelle.
"How dare you act like that towards a lady! She hasn't done anything but told us her story…Far fetched as it sounds…" He trailed off turning back to open an intent blue eye to the girl who was starting to blush shyly once again & turned away back to Ed, "I believe her story. It's too much to be a lie…I mean…Have you see that box? Her bag? Why would she make it up?"
Ling…You're standing up for me? Why…? You don't even know me… Was all Janelle could think of while she listen to him explain his theory; even if it was logically correct that she did come out of the ceiling with her stuff…
Did he even know if he could trust her?
"But, what about-,"
"Edward, listen to me…When you came home, did you feel a strange presents in the room?
The alchemist's face went blank, confused, "Hmm? Yeah…"
Ling continued rubbing his chin, "Good, then it wasn't just me & Lan Fan. We too had sense her presence a couple of minutes before she even arrived…You're a very skilled alchemist Edward, I'm surprised that you or if even Alphonse could sense it, because…Well, it was alchemy that she used. Am I right?"
For a moment, Ling looked back at the girl as if she could answer, but as she thought about it, she slowly shrugged…
"To tell you all the truth, I have no idea what the hell happened. All I know is that I reached for my DVD player to turn it off for the night-,"
"DVD?"
"Huh?" Janelle looked over at Al who was the one to ask the question before she gave a little sweat drop of embarrassment, "Oh, right, DVD stands for 'Digital Versatile Disc' but that's not important, basically that box that hit me in the head plays movies, & music when you put an audio disc in it. And not like a record player either…Well, actually I take that back; it is like that, except in my time & reality, we've progressed over the years to create new type of player. I mean, we've made all types of technology that play video & music. Even both if you wanted!"
That got Winry's attention right away.
"Really? What about auto mail?"
"Uh, well...Sort of, we…Don't really have auto mail like the ones here. The ones here seem more...Advance the ones we've made. But, we make something close to it. Not as good though." Jenny sighed disappointed, "It's sad really, we're smart enough to make home entertainment on Television, but we weren't smart enough to make cool auto mail like you guys have here. I mean come on, I'm sure we could if people would just put in the time & effort, & not make everything so damn expensive! Can you believe-,"
"Uh, Janelle, not to interrupt you, but I think you're getting a little off topic here." Ling's nervous wavered with chuckles.
"Oh, sorry, Anyways…" Jenny trailed off for a split second to grab the box nicely from Alphonse as she looked for a free outlet in the wall, "Do you guys you two prong for the sockets?"
"Uh, yeah, why?"
"Cool, then, it'll make it easier to explain what this box does." When she finally found a socket, Janelle smiled happily & plugged it into the wall before pushing play, but as she waited for thing to turn on, nothing came.
"What the-What's wrong with it? It was working fine before when I was at home!" This wasn't good, out of all the times for her to prove that she was from another parallel universe & the damn contraption doesn't want to turn on.
"Do you think it's shot? I mean, you did say it was you & that thing that got electrocuted right?" Al pointed hovered over trying to help the trouble girl.
"Yes. Why?"
The brothers looked at one another before turning their looks back to Jenny, "Well, do you think the reason it's not working is because the toll you paid was the DVD players energy?"
"Uh? Really? Hmm…That could be it, then again you know guys know more about Alchemy than I do, & more about truth as well."
Just then, Janelle gasped so loud it caused everyone in the room's hearts to stop, "What? What is it?" The brothers exclaimed in a panic hoping to get a bloody answer for her moral outburst, but they just watched as the girl span around & ran up to a mirror to look at her reflection.
She nearly wanted to scream, but she couldn't, all she could exclaimed was, "Holy hell! I'm all animated!"
"You're what now?"
Janelle stared at her eyes first. She use to have just regular brown eyes that when they stared into the sun would realize a tint of a lighter color within them…But in this world her eyes were a light golden brown, that lightened at the bottom of her iris's. it was truly a unique color to behold for her…
And her hair, was still the dark brown it use to be, but for some reason, in this world her hair seemed much smooth, & more tamed than what she remembered it to be, & let the creeping smile tug at her lips as she studied the rest of her features. Everything from her normal cheek bones, to her dark eye brows that gave her features one of innocence.
Not that she was, I mean come on! She knew she wasn't, but from what this world gave her, she thought she looked hot!
Out of nowhere she suddenly grabbed her 38D's studying them in the mirror next, apparently forgetting about the three boys in the room that suddenly fell back with heart attacks & embarrassment.
"You would stop doing that?" Edward screamed with a bloody nose & all.
"Huh? Oh! Sorry! I'm so…wow…I'm mean wow, look at me! This is so cool! Confusing & frightening but cool!"
"Yeah, cool…Right...I guess…" God, Edward & the others were so confused…They were all rubbing the back of their heads in defeat at this point.
This girl was certainly strange yes indeed-y...
It had been a long evening…
Really, it had!
Janelle was on the brink of shutting down from being bombarded with so many questions; if it was one thing she was sure of when she would day dream about this world, it was what kind of questions would they ask about this time & place?
Well, she regretfully got her answer, & after getting properly dressed in a dark green spaghetti strap, & pair of jeans, Janelle told the group she needed to get some fresh air; although Edward was a little weary of it, the girl reassured him she would return & wouldn't run off; besides where the hell was she going to run off to?
"I just need a second to collect my thoughts….That's all." How could Ed say no to that?
So, here she was, alone on the back balcony downstairs where it seemed like it was more of a smoke spot than anything, but none the less, Janelle was content looking up at the amazingly brighten stars in her view. Never had she seen stars like this before, not even when she looked over the horizon in the mountains; there was just something about this place that left her with so much wonder…
How the hell was she suppose to get home now? Was she going to have to wait until…The promise day to go back home like in the show? That means she would be stuck in this world for God knew how long, luckily she had her MP3 player & her homework to keep her busy. She snorted at the thought of homework & turned to open her binder she had brought downstairs with her. Even if she really wasn't going to homework, she needed something to keep her occupied.
As she looked at her math & science, she decided to close it again out of absentmindedness & began to study the photo's in the front…They were all animated too…These people beneathe the folder's plastic…
Wait…Who…were they again? Nothing came to mind. Jenny looked over the faces of people she was embracing, or the little boys she was holding in a portrait made photo…But still her mind drew a blank…
It was like she couldn't recognize any them…
"The stars are a wonder, aren't they?" Just when she thought she had her time to think, she suddenly felt her entire world spin in slow motion
When she heard that voice, she knew her heart had stopped in the middle of her chest to stop her from responding, but instead she kept looking towards the crescent moon she was already admiring.
From behind her she could hear Ling taking a seat behind her as he too began to stare up at the same moon, smiling happily as always. His hand cupped under his chin, as he suddenly looked at the girl from the corner of his eyes.
She must've notice for the mere fact that he could see she was blushing like made as she looked up at the sky, & with this in mind, Ling could only chuckle slightly, & lean over towards the girl, "Are you still embarrassed about earlier? When you kissed me?"
Janelle's face just got redder, "No." She squeaked, making Ling laugh even more.
"Ha Ha! Yes you are! It's alright really. If it makes you feel any better, you're a really good kisser." He tried to praise to make her feel better, but it only made her blushing worse.
"Shut up Ling!" There was another chuckle from before they fell completely silence; Janelle covered her face within her hands to hide herself from the one person that kept poking fun of her shyness, but just as the silence consumed the chilled air, Jenny decided to peak out of her hands to see, Ling observing her.
"What?" She asked, muffling the word with her hands.
"Heh, nothing. Sorry. I just. I'm so amazed. You came from the other side of the Gate…From a different world. A parallel universe…That's truly something Janelle. I've never heard of such a thing."
"You sound like you want something from me, Mister Yao."
"Hey…Come on now! Don't call me that! I'm only 15!" He whined placing his hands on his hips with a pout.
"Yeah, I know. I remember you talking to that guard about how old you were…Ha Ha! He didn't believe you when you told him your age." She giggled remembering him being locked up after the Military had found out he was an illegal immigrant from Xing, but when Janelle realized the look of astonishment on the prince's face, an even lighter pink blush began to stained the young girl's cheeks as she shrugged her shoulders to him & began to fiddle with her fingers.
"S-Sorry…I might've said too much…"
"No, no, it's alright. I promise, I'm not like Ed…I won't cause you any trouble."
"Thanks. But…I know he didn't mean it. That's just Ed. As weird as that sounds, I feel like I should've saw that coming when I started spilling my guts out about what I know. Maybe I should've just kept my mouth shut! What was I thinking telling him his business like that! I should've acted like I didn't know anything! That way I didn't cause this much trouble…!"
"Don't say that…I have yet, to hear from anyone that you've been trouble. If anything…" He looked over his shoulder & curved his finger to her to lure her towards him, "And don't tell Edward I told you this…But I think Winry & Alphonse are going to talk him into helping you get home."
"Huh? N-No! No, I don't want to do that! I'm not even suppose to be here!"
Ling laughed, "Well, you are here." Wow, she wasn't expecting that, but smiled none the less with a humming chuckle.
"I guess so…It is pretty cool being in another parallel universe." There was a short silence between the two before one of Ling's index fingers suddenly began to swirl around on the bench in a timid manner.
"So…" He trailed off looking up at the stars for a minute to get Janelle to look over at him with her copper colored eyes.
"Uh-Huh? I'm listening." She said politely awaited for him to answer, but when he did he had an odd look in his face…
"Um…That kiss…?"
Oh dear God! Again with that?
"You were hoping to wake up from your dream right?"
"Yeah…" She tried with all her might to keep herself calm, mature…But deep down she was spangling all over the place!
"Well, I was wondering, what made you think kissing me would've woken you up?"
"Uh-, I-, Oh…Hmm…" Janelle's brow furrowed & she button her lips as she pondered what to tell him…
Nothing came to mind.
"Um, to be honest I have no explanation for that. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to!" Already she could feel her face heating up again before Ling just chuckled & leaned back with his hands behind his head, his eyes lured up towards the sky with a soft calmness to his persona.
"Well, I wish you would've meant to."
"Shut up! You don't mean that!" She laughed only to see the Prince frown sadly.
"And why wouldn't I? Being kissed by a girl is pretty amazing…" Janelle's heart nearly
"Jesus Ling! Stop it!"
"Okay, okay Jeez…Touchy aren't you?"
"Not touchy, but misunderstood. I want you to know that I'm not some chick that goes around kissing guys like that. My-,…My vision from earlier was really blurry so I couldn't see you guys . You all just looked like one big Picasso painting."
"A what?"
"Never mind."
The prince suddenly hummed what sounded like another chuckle, before he turned it into laughter. Was explaining herself…Making him laugh?
Janelle stare back at him in worried for a moment, "Why are you laughing at me?" She whined wailing her arms like a mad man.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. The look on your face when you found out that it wasn't a dream, was priceless." He chuckled holding his side from the fit of laughter he was having. Even Janelle stopped for a minute to think about it before stifling a soft laugh her own.
"Okay, so maybe it was a little funny.." She admitted.
"Ah, so you do have a sense of humor."
"I would hope so. I'm not just some grumpy old prune you know? It just…Takes me a minute to kind of…Open up a little."
"Well, there's no need to rush…" He inclined leaning back as he stretched out his arms out to the sky.
There was a short silence between the two before Ling seemed to notice the girl's picture ridden binder laying closed behind her back on the table.
At the moment, he thought nothing of it as he focused in on the pictures & realized they were of people. Probably people she knew.
"What's that?" He asked curiously. Well, he was curious about the binder if anything.
"My binder…" She sighed with a soft smile as her hands took the cardboard plastic three ring folder in her hand, only to run her fingers of the photos again.
"Oh wow! Are these family and friends of yours? You all look so happy!" Ling was admiring the photos when he said this, not really seeing the strange look come across the brown eyed girls face. Well, until he looked up at her when he didn't get answer; instead when he noticed her dilemma his face fell strange too, & with confusion he tilted his head to the side, "Hey, you alright? What's wrong?"
Janelle's face was starting to put two & two together now…
She attempted to look at every face, every smile & every place that seemed to look familiar in the photo…But damn it for the life of her she couldn't come up with names to the faces. She couldn't think of who they were or what they were like…Whether she liked them or loved or even hated them!
She couldn't remember them!
"I…I don't know…" Her voice finally broke with fear & distress.
"What do you mean you don't know? Is that your folder? And you in the pictures?" She knew he was stating the obvious, but that wasn't helping her at the moment.
"I know! That's the problem! I remember being from a parallel universe, I know that this place doesn't exist in my world…I know about my home world inside & out…" She trailed off feeling the sudden mist of tears stinging the corner of her eyes, "But for the fucking life of me…I can't remember any of these people in these pictures…None of them…I mean, yeah these two look like brothers, but they could be my cousins for all I know!" She pointed to the two boys smiling in that portrait photo she spotted earlier. Beneath her feet was the oldest & the youngest was in her arms holding her like a little brother would to his big sister.
She was utterly scared now. Had truth really taken her memories of the people she knew away from her as payment?
I thought he was suppose to take limps & eyes & people's kids for crying out loud! But memories? Is that possible even…Oh, I forgot. Like the old Greed says, Anything is possible…
"Anything is possible…" Janelle hardly noticed she had said that out loud and looked over at Ling to see the look of worried & confusion in his eyes.
"What? What is it?"
Janelle wondered if he would even understand what she had found out. He wasn't an alchemist, & he barely knew anything about truth or alchemy in general…How could she explain it to him?
"I…I think I might need to talk to Edward." She exhaled
"Awe, I'm hurt…"
"Oh stop, it's nothing against you, I just don't know how to explain it to you without confusing you. It's like this…When I passed through the portal of truth, & the gate opened up to me…
-.-.-
"W-Wait! I haven't told you what I wanted to give you!" She panicked trying to hopefully be able to pick what the truth could take in exchange, but the shadow sitting before her, still grinned happily, laughing at her.
"But dear alchemist…You have already given me something…" Janelle was confused, & at the same time scared, knowing that when she would reach the other side of whatever hell hole she would come out of, she would be missing something.
-.-.-
"I…I can't remember anyone in these photos now. Not even this girl here…" She pointed to a red headed girl with green eyes sitting next to her at a train station it looked like, but upon further analyzing, Janelle realized it wasn't a train station but a roller coaster ride called the 'Ghost Rider' they were sitting in front of.
She found it weird that she could remember going to Knott's Berry Farm, but still no recollection of being with the girl at all.
She felt like she wanted to cry. She would've given up anything else other than her memories of people she now knew nothing about.
They were all strangers now…
Ghosts even…
In her mind, they meant nothing to her...Everyone she knew meant nothing...
"I'm so scared Ling…I don't know anyone here, & I can't remember anyone from my home world? What if they weren't nice people? Even if these are happy memories in front of me…" She stopped trying to stop the lump in her throat…
Ling could see this wasn't getting any easier for her & frowned with sympathy.
"What if I go back & it's all just a lie…" Her heart broke suddenly. She didn't even know why she broke down, but the tears showed clearly as they fell down her face, "What if everyone I knew back home was a fake…?" The more she talked the more she had to hide herself from the person next to her. She couldn't let Ling see her cry like this; not while she was nearly broken inside. She didn't know why she cried the way she did, but something told her in her heart that she was right on the money.
Why else would she be crying? It would be different it she was assuming, she wouldn't have cried over an assumption. That would've been silly, right?
"Oh, Janelle…There, there…I'm sure that isn't the case..." Ling didn't know what to do expect rub her back with a tender hand, hoping that the mere comfort of his touch would ease her; and it did, somewhat. Little by little she sniffled away her crying & wiped away her tears to let some escape onto her binder below her.
"I'm sure Ed & Al will have an idea on what to do. Don't you worry, It's all going to be alright, you'll see." Janelle couldn't really deny his positive reinforcement; instead she welcomed it as she looked up at his confident smile, & the hand that now laid on her shoulder.
"If you want, I'll help you, too!" Ling finally said confidently before pulling back his hand to fold them both into his arms.
"What? N-No, don't, please?" He almost seemed to be taken back by her refusal; Janelle, being the smart girl that she pretended not to be noticed the look on his face & blushed with shame, "N-Not like I wouldn't appreciate it…But, I just know you have your own goal to worry about…"
Ling tilted his head to the side when she suddenly gave the young prince an odd look, "The Philosopher stone?" She answered finally getting his attention to open his right eye at her.
He was mind boggled; as much as she knew about the brothers & Ling himself, he was even more surprised to learn that she even knew about his search for Immortality.
"So, you know about that too, huh?" He didn't act surprised, he merely acted casual & leaned his elbows back behind him.
"Well, yeah. I guess..."
"So, how much do you know about the philosopher stone itself then?" His eyes kept a close on her, watching as she opened her mouth to say something, but when nothing came out, she closed it shut again to look away, "Uh, enough to know that you'll come across it eventually…So don't ask me anymore question about it."
"Why not?"
"Because okay? If I tell you anymore, I don't know what could happen!" Okay, now Ling was confused. She just told him that she knew something about the Philosopher stone, but yet she refused to tell him anymore than that. What was her angle in mentioning it then?
Well, he didn't want to push the subject; if she said he'd come across it, then he believed her.
So, with a shrug of his shoulders he stood up with another stretch of his arms & a yawned expelling from his lungs, "Well, then I guess we better go talk to Edward then, right?"
"Wow, that was so random, Ling." Janelle laughed, noticing the subject turned a complete 180 faster than she could blink.
"Well, you said I'd come across it eventually…" His face turned to the side to catch a glimpse of her staring back at him blankly, causing a small smile to grace his lips, "So, in the mean time…" The prince turned himself to her once last time & leaned forward to extend his open palm to her. "We'll figure this whole ugly mess out...With time."
Janelle didn't know what to do, or what to say…
She knew Ling wasn't a bad guy, but then again, she did say something about the stone, so she began to look away with a suspicious sour look on her face, "Why?"
"Hmm? Why what?"
"Why are you helping me?"
"That's a silly question coming from a girl who's lost..." He retorted only to have Janelle scoff at him in disbelief, "Well, it's true. He whined making the frown on the girl's face wiggle with another smile, but before she could show it, she shook her head to wipe it away just before looking back up at the prince suspiciously.
"You have no other motive behind helping me? Not even for the information of the Philosopher stone?" She purposely taunted him, to see if he'd tell her anything, but the boy just chuckled with a bow of his head.
"Mm...Not really." He replied simply looking back at her.
As much as she wanted to sock him in the face for that answer, she didn't. She should've known he'd say that, even though she already told him before she wasn't going to say anymore about the stone, but eh, what're you gonna do?
"In other words yes." She finally had to grumble before slapping his hand away again.
"Don't be like that. How about this...I'll help you. You don't have to tell me anything about the stone; but when the time comes...Could you let me know when I'm...at closer to obtaining it?" Oh man, what was Jenny suppose to say to that? It felt kind of fucked up how he said it, but then again...It wasn't like she was revealing anything more to him if she accepted it, & he wasn't pressuring her into knowing more about the stone, so why should she refuse? Right?
The brunette ran her fingers through her hair, letting the long delicate strands gracefully spill over her shoulders as she finally made up her mind, "Damn it, you better not be tricking me...Or lying to me! Because I'll find out! I hate liars..."
"I never lie..." That only made Janelle sigh with a small smile as she crossed her arms over her chest before her eyes looked back up at the smiling Xingese prince to see nothing but sincerity in his presence.
She gave contemplating look to him & sighed in defeat closing her eyes & reopen them as she took Ling's hand finally, letting the boy lift her up off the bench. "We'll see about that." She mumbled finally.
"Hey, wait for me!" Ling attempted to keep up with the girl in her fast pace towards the building's back entrance.
Although, while walking back Jenny could sense Ling doing something silly behind her, and with curiosity getting the best of her she looked to see the silly prince following right behind her with his arms extended out like an airplane. She couldn't help but giggle at him, before turning back to the stairs jumbling up the steps with the many thoughts that raced through her mind.
How would she survive in the world of Alchemy when she didn't know alchemy herself?
I mean sure their was alchemy in her own world, but come on! Not like this kind of alchemy!
Without a word to each other, the two acquaintances walked side by side in the comfort of the others company... Yet, while they were perfectly content in their world of silence, Janelle couldn't help but feeling wierd about something...Was it because of Ling?
Why did she feel like she had to be suspicious of him still? Wasn't he just trying to help her?
Hmm…
Maybe it wasn't suspicion she was feeling, but a sense of the unexpected that was to come in her future…
Assuming she was stuck in a new world that wasn't her own, she was afraid of her presence altering the history in this one…
God I hope not…I doubt that would happen…But I don't know yet... I don't even know where to start when it comes to getting my memories back...I just hope this universe doesn't explode from the predicament that I'm in! If that happens then I'll never get home…
Janelle turned from her pondering mind and looked up at the prince one last time. He too seemed to be in thought before he noticed her wondering eyes on him & gave a grinning smile to make the brunette hum a giggle.
Maybe she didn't have anything to worry about…
She seemed to be in good hands…
Next- Chapter 3: Training Day
She tries so hard to fit in.
Surely enough, with time she can do just about anything in this world...
Maybe even Alchemy...If she had the right training...
How else will she be able to survive this journey without getting herself killed?
Okay everybody I'm sure some of you wanted me to keep that second kiss in, but I decided it needed to be changed...Alot of it needed to be change neh? LOL anyways, I hope this is a little better & until next time! *Squeaks like Tardy* (If no one's seen Greg the Bunny, then you don't know who Tardy the Turtle is LOL I recommend it! I already have the show on DVD Ha Ha!)
