Oh wow I'm a roll day, la da idi da da di da!
gain those who actually enjoyed this story thank you for not letting me delete it. At first I got bad reviews but now, I can safely say that we've gotten to chapter 4 with a few bumps. It's aaaall good though :3 We're here and that's what matters lol
Alright, I don't own anything but the characters that are made up...Which is right now the main character...Until then enjoy :3
Chapter IX: New Resources
"Full Metal, I didn't expect to see you here so soon."
"Enough with the foreplay Mustang, just tell me what happened." Seeing Roy on the other side of the fence (aka injured and on bed rest) was definitely interesting to Ed. Usually it was him being in the hospital getting visits from the Colonel, but in this case, the roll was on the other foot.
"In a hurry to know are you?" Roy asked smirking, "Yeah, something like that, listen I got this…Friend that's visiting-,"
"You mean Winry?"
"N-no, another friend. She came all the way here to find her way home, but I need for someone to watch her in the mean time while the homunculi are out and about." Roy raised his brows and narrowed them, "Who is she?"
Ed didn't want to give the whole explanation, not to mention that it was even hard for him to believe in the beginning of what Jan had told him; so, he rephrased it for the mean time, knowing that even Roy wouldn't have believed him, "Her names Janelle, and that's all I can really say for now. So can you do it? I'm sure she'd like to meet you."
"What makes you think I could keep her anymore protected from the homunculi than you can Ed?" The Colonel was stern, surprised in the beginning that the blonde boy would ask just an odd question, when he already knew the situation him and the rest of the Military were in.
Yet, now feeling that something was going on though, Roy couldn't exactly make sense of the Alchemist's expression he was making at him. It was as if Ed was avoiding the question, but for what reason? "Is she in trouble?" He questioned calmly, this time getting at least an answer, "Yeah, something like that. She's lost, and has no home here in Central, so I wanted to see if I could keep her somewhere safe for the time being."
"How long?"
"Just a day or two."
"Hmm. Well, even if I could, I don't think any place is safe at the moment."
"Yeah well…I have to at least try, right?" He grumbled out of the fact that the Colonel was right. Even if they could hide Janelle under the Military's nose, it would surely get the homunculi's attention to have her hanging around Roy as his niece, especially with what has been occurring.
There has to be another a way to make her inconspicuous…
"So, this friend of yours, Janelle. She wouldn't happen to be a girlfriend of yours would she?" Edward was actually surprised to hear it from Hawkeye, but blushed immensely none the less to the point that his face began to flare up in dark red flames, "NO SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"
"Is she at least cute?" Roy asked after, making him fluster even worse till he was screaming with embarrassment, "YOU DID NOT JUST ASK ME THAT! HOW SHOULD I KNOW! I DON'T LIKE HER THAT WAY! JEEZ I'VE ONLY KNOW HER FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS GUYS!"
"Okay, okay settle down Ed, can't you take a joke?" Roy just shook his head with shame, but Edward assumed he was just trying to get on his nerves. Well…It was kind of both.
"Not when it's you telling it." The small alchemist retorted pouting, before Mustang sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as he laid back against the hospital bed, "I'll see what I can do. For now, have her stay with you. By tomorrow, we should know for certain if I have anywhere safe to keep her until you can come up with another plan. But expect this to go through Full Metal. I have a lot on my back as it is. Alright?" Hearing that made Ed calm down tremendously, and as he stared at the Colonel blankly, he began smirked with gratification.
"Sounds good. Keep me posted will ya?"
"Just remember you owe me one." Roy smirked back to match Edward's grin, both of the men happy with the small negotiation, "Yeah, whatever. In any case, you guys alright?"
"Everyone, except for Havoc…He was a little unfortunate." At first, Ed thought the worse, until Roy smiled softly at him, "Don't worry, he's alright…Sort of." For a second the Colonel's features darkened as he crossed his arms, "He's paralyzed from the waist down. Lust made sure of that."
"Those bastards…" Edward could only grit his teeth at the news.
Roy knew there was no time for grieving, especially with the small break down Havoc had at the news of being a paraplegic, the Flame alchemist only sighed and threw up his hands to help him and Edward look at the bright side of the whole mess, "Well, she's dead now, so we're one down, and with five more on our hands."
There was a small pause after that, and when the blonde looked to the windows outside he walked over to see Alphonse and Winry talking below, "Winry's going back to Rush Valley tomorrow."
"Did you say something Full Metal?"
"Hmm? N-Nothing, just want to make sure that Winry's going to be able to make it back to Rush Valley in one piece. After all this, I don't want her getting involved in my mess." He was starting to remind himself of the Ishvalans he met back in Xerxes.
He remembered the old elderly woman of the tribe had mentioned about Winry's parents being killed by an Ishvalan monk with a Scar on his face…Indeed this whole this was a 'mess' that Edward desperately wanted to clean before thinking of anything else.
"What about the other girl? Janelle?"
The blonde nodded slightly, stilly gazing outside as he agreed to Roy's question, "Her too. I'm still trying to think of where I can send her if this doesn't pan out."
"Don't stress about it too much. Everything will be fine. I hope."
"Heh, yeah, me too."
"Although I do have one condition for all this crap you're pulling me into." Roy's voice became teasing, but forward, getting Edward's to turn his full attention back to the Colonel, making his eyes narrow and his brows knit as they stared each other down for a moment, "Yeah? And what would that be?"
"You have to tell me why you're trying to hide this girl? I mean, you haven't told anything about her really. Who is she?"
"W-Well, it's-, complicated."
"Complicated how?" Hawkeye was now interested in what Edward was trying to hide, but he couldn't bring himself tell them anything yet. Not until they could see for themselves.
But then the alchemist wondered if they would believe him? Al was in a suit of armor what was so different about Janelle's crazy story, right?
"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Trust me Mustang you're just better off not knowing yet until you actually meet her with your own eyes."
This made Roy give an intrigued look, "Why is that?"
"Well…" Edward's eyes rolled to the side of the ceiling as he cringed and shrugged trying explain to still explain this outrageous girl that fell in from his hotel ceiling.
~Meanwhile~
Janelle patted her burning cheeks with the back of her hands after the hard training Ling had put her through.
She had seem the guy fight, but training with him was something Janelle did not expect. He was actually doing really good on showing her how to defend herself, the only thing she really on help now, was trying to keep up with him. She was still a little slow when it came to timing.
"Oh my god that feels so good…" She moaned in bliss at her cold hands calming her face finally, but the heat around the rest of her body was just overwhelming. She felt like she was going to die of a heat stroke, "Damn it, I don't know how you guys do it! You're like Speedy Gonzalez!"
"Who?" Ling laughed, getting Janelle to titter too and shake her head of the thought, "Sorry, I meant you're really freaking fast. Huh, There's no way I'll make it out of here alive in the shape I'm in. Is there like some kind of boulders around I could use as a weight?"
"Heh, I don't think so. But you're doing a lot better than before. It just take time, you'll get it down eventually, and I'll make sure to help along the way, remember I might be looking for the stone, but I can still assist while I'm on my search."
"Hmm, thanks Ling. I really appreciate it." Jan smiled back at him hearing his kinds words and sensing the friendly atmosphere, made her happy in knowing that they were enjoying one another's company, "Don't mention it."
When the two fell into a tranquil silence, Janelle made a soft noise when she leaned back and the felt the coolness of the grass hitting her back. She then closed her eyes and rest them for a moment before Ling went from gazing to the orange painted sky, to her again, his eyes filling with admiration as he observed the way she was crossing her leg over the other, and crossed her arms over face as she slowly started to hum, "So, you know so much about me, but I still know so little about you."
Jan laid her elbows down on the grass now to prop herself up as she begin to think about it. In situations like this, she never did know really what she liked, it was usually a hit and miss sort of thing, "Well…From what I can remember, I like making beaded glass bottles, I'm a collector of things that has a dragon in it…I like cartoons-,"
"What are-, cartoons?"
"Animated drawings."
"Ah, you have animated art in your world?"
"Mm-hmm. Kind like I said you guys are in my world?" She reminded him to have him now blush a little.
How could have he forgotten? In realizing this, he chuckling hitting his forehead, "Oh right, forgive me. I don't know why it slipped my mind."
"It's okay. I do it all the time. But they show these cartoons on the television, and compared to the other thousands of shows, I like cartoons better. Sometimes I feel like the shows are like drugs because you can just zone everything out. It's a gift and a curse. Then again I do have ADD so it might not even be the TV at all!"
"What's ADD?" Again, Ling was the lost to the girl's ways of her world, and crossed his legs as he leaned forward, but still looking in Janelle's direction.
"Oh that's right you guys haven't discovered that yet…" She looked up thoughtfully before explaining the symptoms of somebody having such a thing as ADD, and after a minute of it sinking into the prince's head, Ling hummed as if agreeing, "Mm-hmm…"
"Mm-hmm what?"
"Heh, well, I think I've already witnessed that from you already. You're such a day dreamer."
"True, so true." It was kind of funny, all the while there was a short pause, it seemed like it never happened as they continued to talk to one another, "So, what else is there to like in your world?"
She could hear the sounds of much curiosity in his voice, Janelle shifted her eyes away from his as she thought of something else. Of course, feeling a bit on the spot, Jan could only come up with one thing, "Eh, I don't know. Uh…Pocky's I guess?"
"Ah? And what are those?"
"It's like a cookie stick with a little frosting on it. They got strawberry, honey, chocolate, almond, you name it! Oh! And then there's these chocolate filled panda cookies too…And so much, much more. Of course that's just starting with the sweets. Apparently I have a sweet tooth." She noted to herself just before hearing Ling gasp and watched as he bounced closer to Janelle until he was sitting next to her, shoulder to shoulder, "What kind of foods do they have in your world?"
"Good food." She said simply smiling, "There's so many types of culture all over our world that there's all kinds of places to try new things. Even ones that are such rare delicacies that taste awful. By the way I would never recommend eating the rare ones unless you're on mere survival skills."
"Why's that?" He tilted his head to the side in curiosity, "Because unless you think drinking coagulated ox blood is soul food?"
"OH DEAR!" His face went blue.
"Yeah, I thought so."
"Why would anyone do that?"
"Like I said-, survival, when you have nothing to eat, some people can only eat and drink what they get. They don't get to choose." It was pretty deep. It actually caused Ling to open an eye surprised by her response, before agreeing by nodding his head, "Do you have meat buns in your world?" But now, it was time to change the subject.
God this prince is more random than I thought Jan mentally laughed to herself as a wide smile came to her face, "Hecks yeah." She gleamed thinking about it, but then blushed when she heard her belly growl just in the pit of it.
Apparently, just the mere mention of it made her want to eat when she suddenly remembered the money that Ed had given her earlier that morning, "Speaking of food, I'm hungry. You hungry?"
The look on Ling's face…Priceless!
"Yes." He replied carefully, mouth already watering from just day dreaming about food, "Oh what I wouldn't give for a bowl of meat and rice, and meat, and pot stickers, and meat-," He almost sounded like he was about to have an orgasm, so Janelle waved her hands up in defeat and nearly busted up laughing from hearing him, "Alright, alright, yeesh my stomachs killing me, lets go get some grub before I kill over."
"Oh wait! Isn't that Ed's money though?"
"Yeah, but he didn't just say for me to get food did he? If he gets mad about it, I'll say I misunderstood him and he didn't tell me you could have any. Besides, what kind of person would I be eating in front of you?"
"Heh, so you'll lie for me just to feed me?" Janelle didn't really think about it like that, but she could only shrug not being able to deny that she would be lying to Ed, "Trust me, my guilt will follow later when he starts yelling at me, just you wait and see. Even when doing something bad in the line of good, sometimes you have to take a bullet for it."
"Ha, ha, so you have this all figured out do you?" When Jenny stood up from the grassy knoll, She bent her aching legs, and stretched out her arms as far as her body would let her, until she swiftly sent herself flying backwards to reach the ground with her hands.
Ling nearly dropped his jaw at the sight of her flexibility, and it widen even more when she came back up with a flawlessly motion, without straining herself.
"Wow…" Was all he could say, getting Janelle to look to him from the meadow with a small smile, "Hee, gymnastics. Gotta love it."
"Gymnastics?" Jan looked back at Ling when he repeated her quizzically, and smiled softly as she yawned and began to stretch out her side, "Yeah, I don't remember how I got to learn it, but I remember something about my mom telling me she couldn't afford it, so I looked it up on our computer and learned it by mimicking other people."
"The mind is a powerful thing." Ling replied cheerfully before standing up with her, and inhaled the refreshing, evening air, "Yeah."
With that, the silence between became slightly uncomfortable for Janelle. She hated it when things would fall silent like this, and she slowly began to shake with shyness, not sure on whether she need to break the not so sure of awkward silence, or just enjoy the view for a couple more moments before she'd go get that food they were mentioning earlier.
In fact, that's what she was going to do now, "Hey, where are you going?"
"Food, remember? Come on, I'll buy you ONE thing. If we get anything more, I'll end up getting kicked out for spending all his money." Ling was saddened by this. He couldn't just have one thing, he was a man for goodness sake he needed to run on a full stomach.
"What if I give you secret techniques of the Xingese fighting styles that have been passed down my family for generations, in exchange for a bigger meal?"
"LORD!" Lan Fan nearly flipped a wig, causing Jenny to sweat drop, until she noticed that Ling only seemed hopeful. In response Jan could only snort and restrain from laughing out loud as she began to walk ahead of the three, "Oh my god you sound just like Major Armstrong, the way you talk about your family like that."
"Huh, Armstrong? Is he a friend of yours?"
"Oh no, Ed's, actually. He's in the military. But he's…Uh. Listen, just run away if he tries to hug you with his shirt off he gets really passionate about things sometimes, and well…It doesn't go too well. But it's funny as hell to watch him put someone in a choke hold." Thinking about it now made her give a tiny chuckle, shaking her head of the thought of it.
"So…Do we have a trade?"
"Uh, no."
"Awe…Please?"
"God will this ever end?" She prayed being sarcastic, only to get Ling to laugh and jump in front of her, now walking backwards as he leaned in with his hands tied behind his back, "I'll stop if you at least buy me desert." That didn't seem too bad, so she shrugged and nodded pouting out her lip, "Yeah, I guess. Only if you share it though."
"Deal." He then put out his hand getting Janelle to shake it before the prince leaped back to his spot next to her, "What should I do about Lan Fan?" She asked curiously realizing that she had offered Ling food but never his bodyguards only to turn around to see that they weren't even behind them…
Well, they weren't visible to her, "Well, if you don't mind feeding her as well…" He trailed off, whistling, "It's like I said before, I don't feel comfortable eating in front of you guys if you're hungry too. Not my style."
"If you're willing to do that for a complete criminal." He added looking to her now with his hands crossed in his sleeves.
"You might be a dolt sometimes, and you do get into a lot of trouble, but you are not a real criminal… Just in the laws eyes. And you might eat like a lion, but-, yah!" Out of nowhere, Janelle randomly got a trick ankle, and collapsed and fall to the ground, rolling down the hill at a progressively fast pace, "DAMN IT!" She cursed out loud as she attempted to stop herself, but in doing so she ended up skidding forward, and flew up into the air.
Janelle nearly saw her life flashing before her eyes when she saw how high she was, and closed her eyes to await impact.
But the ground never came.
Instead she felt herself being caught by someone, and landed into their arms in the fetal position. They were flung back a few feet, but when the persons' feet grounded into the dirt, it left a small trail of how far they were truly pushed back.
She had to admit if it wasn't for the savior of hers, she would've been seriously injured. That hill was pretty steep and for how high she flew, she could've broken a leg, "Janelle! Are you alright!" A little frantic about the girl balled in his arms shaking, and panting, he kneeled down to the ground to make sure she was okay.
She seemed fine enough, but when she blankly stared off at him, all she could say was, "Wow, I was wrong. You are Speedy Gonzalez." This made Ling stare blinking surprised from her sudden reaction, but then shook his head laughing silently to himself, "Yes. I believe I am. I still have no idea who you're talking about…But I'll agree none the less."
Another silence took the two before the busted up laughing at one another. God knows why, but they were. They just laughed and laughed until Janelle could only hide her face in her hands to tried and hide her giggle fit.
But she only leaned forward and came back up, spreading her fingers out to reveal a small smile brightening her face, "That was fun." She admitted nodding her head unnoticeably, "I don't believe I've ever flown that far. Not even on my over size trampoline." She laughed.
"Yeah? Well, I hope it wasn't too scary." He asked hoping she was if anything, alright.
"No. Just startled, heh. I think I'm alri-,owe son of a-," Before she could stand on her Janelle immediately fell to the ground again, hissing in pain as she held her hands around her right ankle, "Crap. I guess I really did hurt myself. I-,…I twisted something." She cringed when she pressed against it with just her fingers, and winced feeling slightly tear-y eyed from the throbbing pain, "Owie. This sucks. I haven't done something this asinine since I tried to kick a tiny rock and missed…I twisted my ankle then too." She laughed shaking her head.
"Are you alright?" Ling's tone immediately went from goofy to caring almost instantly as he attempted to help Jan back up to her feet, holding a hand of hers around his shoulder, "Y-yeah. But there goes my training now. What a waste."
"Now, now don't be too discouraged, a sprained ankle can be cured with the right kind of nurture and care."
"Oh yeah? You gonna heal it Mr. I-know-nothing-of-Alche-history?" Janelle was more of playing with him, but when he looked to her with a cocked brow she rolled her eyes at him, "I'm only kidding."
"You know just because I don't know anything about Alche-history doesn't mean I don't have a few tricks up my sleeve." Ling began walking them both down the hill again, slowly but surely until he swoop the girl onto his back and carried her down to make the trip faster, "Whoa, give me some warning next time before you swoop me around like that!" She laughing frantically, hugging her arms and legs around him tightly like a koala.
"Heh, only if you loosen your grip so I don't drop you." He retorted laughing some what nervously before feeling her loosen herself around his neck, "Oh sorry." She replied sincerely, putting her hands onto his shoulders more so he could walk them back to the city without passing out by her bear strength.
When they got down to the hill and back on the trail to Central, it came to the girl's attention that they had had a previous conversation before she fell, and began to look up at the color clouded sky with an admirable, yet blank stare, "You know, I totally forgot what we were talking about before…"
Ling realized it then too, and laughed as he adjusted his arms securely around Jan's thighs, "Heh, me too. I was too busy thinking about what had caused you to fall back."
"An epic fail?"
"Hmm?" He didn't quite catch what she said, but in the end she merely shook her head and waved it off.
"Eh, I've always had this trick ankle ever since I was little. Sometimes I'll be walking normal and them my ankle with give out. One of the reasons I took the class to help my ankle." It was then, that Janelle had come to the realization that she hadn't forgotten all her memories, but after looking deeper into her head, all the rest of her life time was fuzzy.
This is the time I would really like some internet so I could look at my face book She thought bitterly joking to herself before she suddenly leaned her head against the prince's back and sighing tiredly as she began to ponder new ideas in her head.
And not about her memories…About food, "Maybe we should go and see if Ed's back."
"Huh? You're not hungry now?" He asked a little absentminded, apparently thinking to himself as well as he jumped to the top of a few buildings to make Jenny gasped and grip onto him tighter, "It's not that, I just figured maybe he'd be back at the room by now. Then we can all eat together!"
"No, he'll be gone for a little while longer. If I know Ed he's got a few things to take care of before coming back. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll come looking for us when he's ready." Jan shrugged, "If you say-, SO!" She gasped again when he landed in the middle of the street getting three or four peoples attention when he came down from a really tall building, "I hate when you do that!"
"Sorry! I got carried away!-, Oh look food!" Apparently Ling had something else on the mind when he landed, and pointed to a soup place that looked within Jenny's price range, "Oi… Alright, shall we take a look?"
"Yes ma'am." He assured smiling back at her.
"Maybe I can get a pack of ice too." The idea made the prince chuckle, "Ha ha, you're right. That ankles going to need it."
As they stood there scanning the menu, Ling was still holding Janelle on his back. She drifted off once she found what she wanted, and suddenly realized that she had never properly thanked the prince for one, saving her from her accident earlier, and two, for carrying her down the hill.
"Ling?" She spoke softly, feeling her throat swell a little when he looked back to her out of the corner of his eye.
"Hmm?" Being drawn to the girl's gentle tone, Ling looked back at her again seeing her bashful feature she was giving him, something he was a little surprised by when she slightly hugged him, "Thanks for carrying me." Her voice had suddenly turned whiney, and Janelle hid her face shyly into his back away from him as she thanked him.
Hearing her thank him made him smile gently, seeing that her chi was more than embarrassed, there were slight fear in her aura to make him chuckle and pat her back the best he could, "I don't mind, really. Here." When they got to the seats he snuggled her into a booth, asking his helper Lan Fan to bring an extra chair for Jan's foot.
It was nice of him to aid her, but she felt like an idiot being waited on by a prince…A prince!
"Better?" She was so wrapped up in day dreaming she had to shake her head out of her thoughts before looking to Ling with a blank stare, "Huh? Oh yeah, thank you. Sorry. I was-,"
"Thinking. I know." He laughed as he continued to keep her foot elevated, "I'm starting to get your facial expressions already. It's pretty easy to read when you're in or out in reality."
"My Lord I got her the ice you asked for." And apparently she was so far gone she didn't even hear Ling ask for the ice at one point or another, "Ah, thank you Lan Fan. Now where does it hurt more?" Not being able to say exactly where it was more painful, Janelle could only push her hands against the soreness and wince at where it hurt the most, "Here." She replied only to hiss softly when he pressed the ice pack to bruised lump on her ankle.
While she watched him, she noticed he was so concentrated into her wound. He was trying hard to be careful, and just helped in keeping her leg elevated and the ice perfectly still to make sure the ankle could properly heal.
Then, he took her hand making her jump a little startled by his movements to make him stop for a moment, and give a reassuring smile, "Sorry. Didn't mean to do that."
"It's okay." She barely replied above a whisper, trying hard not to blush at her own embarrassing reaction, "Here. You want to hold it like this. Okay?" Helping her hold the ice to her small injury, Janelle smiled and nodded her head in acknowledgement, before looking back at her foot, and began to rub her leg as the pain had now turned into deep throbbing pain.
Then…Her stomach growled, making her nose turn a light pink blush before she covered her eyes with her free hand, "Sorry."
"Should I order the food?" Ling knew it was that time, and decided he would do another favor for the momentarily disabled girl, "If you don't mind." She cringed with pleading eyes, feeling bad for asking, "I'd do it myself but-,"
"Don't be silly, I couldn't have you bouncing around on one foot. We'd still be coming down the hill if that were the case, and Ed would kill me if I left you behind. Plus, I'd feel pretty guilty myself about leaving a pretty girl behind too."
"Does that mean you still don't want anything from me?"
"Mean besides food?" The moment that flew out of his mouth, Janelle let her lips spread into a smile as she stifled her giggles and looked around the streets, enjoying the homely atmosphere the town Central had around it.
Well, besides of what was happening underground with the Homunculi and all. She was still fretting about that, and clenched her fist so hard she didn't realize she had gripped the ice against her ankle and hissed and winced, "Owe. You know what, m-maybe we should go soon. Let's just get the food to go."
"Hmm? Why the rush? Did I say something to offend you?"
"No, but I just have a strange feeling I'm not safe out here. Being at the inn will be the safest place until tomorrow. Plus, I'm anxious to know when Ed's getting back."
"Why?" Lan Fan suddenly asked making Jan shift her eyes at her for a moment, "Because I just do." She retorted, trying to keep the unknown to herself for the mean time.
Then she looked back to Ling and felt that she could trust him to understand, "Please, there's just some things I can't reveal. Think of it as if I'm an oracle." She used her fingers as quotations.
"A what! That's ridiculous!" Lan Fan almost sounded appalled by the idea, but Janelle again just rolled her eyes and sighed, frustrated, "Not a real one!" She retorted harshly, "Look! I know things about you guys that haven't even happened yet! Don't make me reveal the future or else it could have negative outcomes instead." She stopped for a moment, and stood up to put the ice on the table, "Now, I'm going back to the inn. Come if you'd like, or don't. I don't want to be found out yet."
"By the homunculi." Janelle turned around when she heard Ling answer with his eyes narrowed, "I know." He said even lighter than the first time.
"Good then you understand why I should go back. Come on I'm wounded now, I can't learn anything wounded. Alchemy maybe but I can't train my body this way."
"Sure you could. With a little rest, your ankle should be good as new with a couple of days."
"That's just it! I don't have a couple of days, Ed's going to get a letter stating that-, look I want to go back! Go get the food I'll meet you there-,"
"Oh Janelle…" Sighing and shaking his head at the young girl's hasty temper, Ling picked up the girl by her hips and began to walk over to Lan Fan who just watching the young prince carry this woman over his shoulder like nothing, "Hey! My leg you butthead! And what're you doing? Put me down! I can wa-, I mean limp back you know!"
"Yes but we'll get back faster this way. Lan Fan could you please take this and pay the waiter?"
"Hey when did you take my money!"
"Ancient Xingese secret." He hushed her with his finger to his wide smiling face, "My ass it's an ancient secret you just pickpocket me!"
"Ho, ho, and that's another skill you could learn. It's called stealth."
"I think I've played enough video games in my day to know what 'stealth' is." She retorted confusing for a moment before he shook and laughed as he moved his bangs away from his eyes, "Oh so your world has it too?"
"Only…A lot."
"I see. So, have you ever pickpocket someone?"
"Yeah when I was 13. I got caught and my mom paid for the citation I got. I was also grounded for two months!"
"Punishments can be harsh." Ling sighed remembering the trouble he had been running into lately as well, knowing the feeling., "But, you're right, we should head back. I don't feel like going to prison tonight."
"Oh that's right…You're considered an illegal alien here." She laughed making sure not to say too loudly as they made their way to the hotel. Janelle softly placed her chin against his shoulder, and attempted to make herself more comfortable against the prince's back again.
It was kind of nice, feeling some kind of contentment being so close to somebody. From what she could remember, Jan couldn't tell how long it had been since someone had actually helped her like this, or even tried to be genuinely kind to help her out.
Okay, so the guy took her money, and probably wanted to know about her to see if she could help his cause in some way, but she didn't feel like he was trying to impress her.
He truly fought for a purpose. She couldn't remember the last time she had fought for something. She felt lost, and hopeless all day every day if something wasn't occupying her thoughts already. Like her life was stripped from her, and now there was nothing to live for.
It felt scattered in body mind and soul, and even though you would think the training today would've helped with some of that, but it seemed to go out the moment a sudden overwhelming knot twisted inside the girl's chest.
It could've been described as if it was a knife being stabbed from the back and the front of her torso. The worse it got too, the more Janelle began to hide her face and hold Ling as if she was trying to fine comfort.
He didn't seem to notice though, he was too busy looking for shorter routes to get to the inn, all the while, Janelle tightly closed her eyes, and secretly nuzzled herself to Ling's back. She didn't even realize she was doing it, all she could feel was this sense of anguish.
It was always anguish!
It was like a rain of fire falling from the sky, and explosions blooming and invading her very soul, as if someone had torn her very being to shreds like she was thin paper.
Her throat began to tighten and her eyes watered until they flooded her bright hazel orbs with tears, completely blinding her vision.
She wanted to cry, but why?
She sighed tiredly, and shook her head in denial of this incoming sensation of depression and fear. She felt despair and she hated the feeling the more than she hated jumping from buildings. Why…? Why am I feeling like this?
"Home sweet home!" Ling's voice suddenly chirped looking up at the building before leaping up into the open window. When he jumped to the floor of their room, he helped Jenny on the bed, and stretched out his arms and back, "Whew! That was fun! Lan Fan should be coming any second now." He turned to the girl seeing her face was hidden looking down at the ground for some reason, which made him frown, concerned, "Hey, you okay? Oh! I didn't warn you when I was going to jump did I? I'm sorry. I should've-,"
"No…" She whispered, shaking her head, "It's not you. I-, uh, I need to go take that a shower." She tried to turn away but the prince attempted to hold her wrist, "Wait, did I-,"
"Here, use my music too. I'm not going to need it." She was trying to stay calm, but her throat just kept getting tighter and tighter, and the feeling of cry was coming in waves, almost like the tears that were already glimmering in the ceiling light.
Yes, and Ling noticed, "Janelle what's wrong?"
"I just need a minute." Her attitude was so random it left Ling wondering what it could be. He wanted to at least try to help her, he hated to see a woman a upset on his account, and he reached her just in time before Jan had walked into the bathroom, "Please, if there's anything I can do-,"
"I'm fine, really, please-, just-, let me be alone. I need to clear my head. I can't-, I can't-, think-, right…" She couldn't even finished the more she talked to him, and quickly paced into the bathroom, closing the door and leaned against it.
She looked at herself in the mirror, worriedly. The sound of her heart was pounding in her ears, and her head began to ache with pain. It hurt so much it began to feel like a migraine, "Aspirin…" She mumbled to herself, feeling her head start to feel dizzy now as her heart nearly hit the brink of feeling as if it was about to explode in her chest, "L-Ling…!" Just as she called his name…Her mind began to feel like a game of silent hill…The dry wall began to melt off like liquid, and tunnel vision slowly settled in before complete darkness swarmed her.
She felt like she had hit the floor like a floating feather…
But in reality she had stumbled back into the door and slammed her head against the small sink in front of her causing her to break skin and bleed from the side of her head.
Of course Ling had heard everything standing on the other side of the door, and ran into the bathroom to see Janelle unconscious and bleeding onto the floor, "Jan!" He struggled passed the door, and pulled her limp body into his lap.
And he could only flinch and hiss back at the ugly mark she had left for herself, "Oh no…"
"My Lord? Are you here yet?" Hearing Lan Fan make her back in time for the devastating travesty, Ling could only be relieved that she had come, "In here! Please! I need help!"
"Where the hell are those brats! I told them we'd meet them here!" Edward huffed blowing some of his hair out of his face, now walking back down the hill with Al and Winry on either side of him, "Maybe they got hungry brother."
"Yeah." He agreed putting his hands in his pockets, "It's pretty late too, they might already be back at the inn. Screw it, let's check around real quick and then head home. I'm not going to waste time looking for them anymore than I'll have to. Besides, Ling should be able to take care of her for a little bit right? Considering the bastard owes me for the hell he's putting me through already. That guy's nuttier than a squirrel I tell ya."
"I'm sure they're fine. So…" Starting on another subject that had been bothering the younger sibling, Al stopped in front of a huge structured fountain, and looked to it, admiring the water flowing around the artistic statue, "How did it go when you went to Lab 3?"
"Oh yeah, Heh, I was so caught up in finding Janelle I forgot to tell you. Well, since I was a state Alchemist, they let me right in with no problem." Ed pulled out a small piece of paper showing what he found.
"And the entrance to the basement?" Regarding to the ones found by the Colonel and his troops when they attempted to go after the homunculi themselves and apparently running into Lust on the way…
"It wasn't there." He replied plainly making Al look back at him a little shocked. It had to have been there he thought, "But I did find traces of it being closed up by Alchemy."
"So, I guess seeing the homunculi won't be possible then."
"No, it's still possible. They said we were a precious sacrifice." He reminded knitting his brows with his hands in his pocket.
"Yeah, I remember. I could be a sacrifice to open the doorway."
"I guess sacrifice means Alchemists that have the ability to make it back out the portal of truth. The question is why they want us to open it…And I'm gonna pry it out of them-,"
"MR. ELRIC!" Stuck in their conversation, Ed and Al both heard their names being called, and turned to see Breda running towards them with a letter in his hand. When he reached them he doubled over with his hand to a knee as he handed them the piece of paper, "What is it? Brother?" Al asked looking down at Edward who was scanning his eyes over the fine print, and widened his eyes at what he read.
"No way…"
"What! Tell me!"
"It's…Scar. He's in Central." His eyes looked to Alphonse, both of them got the same feeling, "We should hurry up and find Janelle. Let's go."
"Yeah."
"Janelle?" Ling was still trying to get Janelle to wake up even after the fact that Fu had patched up her head, it was quite intriguing for the older gentleman to see in his prince, worry for a strange girl from a different time and space.
Lan Fan still couldn't believe it was true, but then again, there world was full of strange things too. The homunculi, the philosopher stone, all of it was just scrambling her head, but she never would show it to her Lord. Never, "Lord, let her rest, after giving her that medicine, I'm sure her temperature will be better by tomorrow." She thought he could maybe ease her Lord's distress.
But it only made the prince sigh, not refusing to show his upset features, "No. This is because of me. I pushed her into trying to tell me if I upset her. Now she's hurt."
"It was just an accident I'm sure. It happened in the bathroom after all." Lan Fan wanted to help Ling feel better, but still he felt the same, although he did give a small smile to his helper anyways.
"Thank you, but I'll be alright." Suddenly he paused thinking over what she said, "Actually, I won't know about that until Edward gets back. He's going to kill me." He laughed softly.
"Well then tell him what happened." Lan Fan retorted simply.
"Heh, I will…." Then there was another pause, "BUT THEN HE'S GONNA WHACK ME SOMETHING FIERCE I JUST KNOW IT!"
"Ooh my prince…"She could only chuckle, shaking her head as she crossed her arms at the wailing prince rubbing his hair and face in a panic.
And it was almost if right on queue, Edward, and Alphonse came walking through the door with the blonde giving everyone a solemn look before he glared at Ling. It wasn't exactly the face he wanted to see right now, but hey, he was helping him out…For once.
Then he saw Janelle, out cold, her head bandage over with an over size square bandage, "Boy you did a number on her didn't you?" He joked only to see Ling's face grow serious as the prince stood up from the couch.
"What? You act as if she died."
"Janelle had an accident." It was so abrupt that Edward could only flinch his head back and blink.
"What happened? Is she okay?" Al asked concerned, both of the brothers getting closer to examine the girl further, "I don't know. She hasn't woken up in over an hour."
"Damn it Squinty-eyes! I asked you to do one thing for me, one thing! And ya screw it up by putting Jan in a coma!" Edward exclaimed, "The Lord tried to save her! It's not like he hit the woman!" Lan Fan boomed before Ling put up his hand to stop her.
"Please let me explain." The prince gestured.
"Oh this should be good." Ed was already getting irritated but let the steam from his ears rest as he sat back on the couch, never taking his eye of the dark haired boy, "I…I don't know. It all happened so fast-,"
"That's it, I'm done." Edward threw his hands up in the air about ready to sock the moronic prince, but Al looked to his brother with a stern tone, "Brother let him explain!"
"Huh, fine."
So, Ling continued, "We were on our way back from the soup shop coming into the city from that hill we were at. I put her down, and…She said she needed a minute. I thought it was something I said, so I tried to apologize. But she left into the bathroom before I could…Then…She called me…." His face gloomed with sadness, as his attention to the unconscious girl laying silently, "And then there was a loud thunk. She hit her head against the sink on the way down apparently. The mess is still fresh if you'd like to inspect the crime scene."
By the tone in Ling's voice, Ed didn't have to retort anything back, he knew it was the truth, and sighed as he laid his head back to rub his eyes, "Oh man, what a day. Is there anything else I haven't heard?"
"Well…She also sprained her ankle on the way home." Lan Fan added remembering the first injury that was caused, "What! You've gotta be kidding me! See!" He pointed to Ling about to accuse, but the prince waved his arms at the blonde, "No, no, no, she did that one all on her own, I swear!"
"She fell?" Al asked, "Yes, she said she had a trick ankle. I never meant for her to get hurt." The prince trailed off becoming less than perky again and mellowed down till his eyes softly opened, "I feel terrible. I was suppose to be watching her."
"It happens, she tripped and hurt herself, and her head? Well, let's face it she's a klutz." Edward trying to sound like an ass, but in real terms, he was telling Ling not to beat himself up over it, "Don't worry, she'll come to. We'll ask her what happen when she wakes up. I'm sure there's a reason for all this."
Stuck in the white void again, Janelle recognized the area to know she was at the gate. She slowly turned around to see the door standing behind, and turned around again to see Truth in front of her, grinning as always, "Why am I not surprised to see you?" She retorted placing her hands on her hips, "Awe, so you're not happy to see me?" He asked 'sadly.'
"Who is?" She laughed nervously, seeing that the smirk from his face never left. It was the only thing she could stare at since he had no eyes…He was a ghost without a face.
"So true, so true. But hey, what can I say, you're the third to ever have their minds stuck between worlds." He laughed.
Janelle nodded, "Of course. Not only from a different world, you specifically pulled me into this one to get my life all scrambled like an omelet, and I can't even tell which way is up." She then pointed a finger at truth before and placed the other at her hip, "You know you remind me of an old tale of Alice in Wonderland. Good book, but you totally remind me of the fucking cat. Demented, and continuously trying to find something to piss someone off…It suits you, really."
Everything she had just said made truth freeze before putting out a hand out to her, "Ugh, look, do you want my help or not?"
"Why should I believe you want to help me? You put me here, remember?"
"Good point." He admitted, "But you were the one who asked for this, yeah?"
"Huh? No." She replied, making him grin at her chuckling in a way that made her frown. Like knew something she didn't.
Oh, how right she was, "No? You sure it wasn't your voice I heard calling to me…Yearning…Wanting to explore new worlds other than your own, wanting to…Die? This is all what you had desired…To forget." That stopped her and made her very curious of what he meant.
"Die? Forget? Are you mad?"
"Yes I am, but that's not the point. That's what you wished for, and I happened to be the one who was able to give you that choice. Aren't I nice?"
"No." She put simply, both of her hands now crossed, "Because I have no idea what your talking about. On another note, how is that even possible? You're a character in a show!" She pointed out, but truth just slapped his forehead with glee wanting to bust up laughing at her naivety, but he restrained from doing so, "That's the thing…What you think is reality…Really isn't…And what isn't, is now."
"What the f-, speak English asshole, dumb it down for me!" She spat being sarcastic even though she was so annoyed that he was dancing around the 'is' 'isn't' speech like it was some Mary Poppin's BS. Or Alice, like she had mentioned before.
"This is the point you nitwit, don't you get it yet? This isn't some show…This is real…I am what I am. I am the world…I am one…I am god…And I am you…In other words, whatever you thought was fake, is now real. This is your world now, but your soul refuses to let go of the past, it yearns to know your past life, and doesn't want to look into the present! Before any of this happened, you specifically asked me to force you to forget, and now this is the consequences for your answered prayer. Sure, in the beginning it was more of finding another pawn to move on the chest board for me, another way to pass the time I suppose, but instead I heard you. Your mind playing like a broken record, on an on in a screaming tangent from a child."
As he pointed an accused finger in her direction he frowned for a split second, making Janelle stiffen in fear.
And that, made him smile again, "Yes, that pitiful scream of want. You were just out of reach my dear… Until that electrical storm." He held back a high pitch chuckle, "Boy, who knew weather could be such a useful resource to other worlds…" Janelle didn't want to believe it.
Was it true that he was a real god, and reaching out other universes? It didn't make sense to her since it was her reality against the one current. Was she really like Alice and going insane in her own world? Or was she…
She couldn't even think of the word, she had to think she was just crazy, and go with that for now.
And in trying to enlighten this deity before her, she gave a firm stare, and sighed softly.
"Alright truth-," She started, "I'll bite. So how do I get back home?"
The faceless boy just sat there grinning like the chasseur cat he was. It actually caused her to shiver when he didn't say anything at first, but when he did, he said it with such a cool tone that it nearly made her want to run, "Heh, I think…What you mean is-, Do you want to go back home?" But before anything else happened, the white void disappeared as she was suddenly dragged through the portal door to have everything turn black around her…
Except for strains of memories beginning to swarm around her like daggers stabbing and turning into her brain, making her head feel like mush after what felt like an eternity of hell, "Okay! Okay! Stop! Stop I get it! I GET IT!" Then, she could hear her own voice screaming at her, and a big flash of light blinded her to reveal a quick image of people.
She couldn't even make out the faces, it was too quick, like the memory was still wiped away.
She could feel her pain overwhelm in her chest once again, the same burning sensation like before, when finally dark clouds poured over her…It felt like it was dousing her body in boiling hot water, "STOP IT!"
With her last, loud desperate cry to stop what little taste of 'reality' truth had shown her everything decided to go black. All the noises and stream of information had stopped and Janelle's mind wondered into an abyss of nothingness.
Janelle wasn't sure on what she saw or what it was she felt, but the heavy hot seeping pain in her chest hurt with a burning sensation as she sat up holding her chest like she was having a heart attack.
The others, Al, Ed, Ling, and his assistance had all turned their attention to the girl, and immediately ran to the side of the bed that she had found herself in, covered by only a thin layer of a white sheet, "Janelle! What's wrong!" Edward was the first to asked as the girl cringed in pain at the feel of her soul sizzling inside her, "Jan? Can you hear me?" Since she never answered he had to make sure.
"Ed…?" Her eyes turned to the blonde beside her as she grabbed his warm hand with her hot ones, "You're on fire. Get an ice pack." While someone had apparent left for a moment to get it, all Janelle could start with was, "Truth…He-,he…" Then she stopped. She gulped back and let a sob escape to breath, letting go of his hand to ball up in the fetal position.
"It's okay Janelle. Just breath, don't think of anything else, okay? Stay calm." Alphonse nursed coming up behind her to rest a hand on her shoulder. Whatever it was she was feeling, it was certainly painful enough that she couldn't speak, where she didn't want to look any one because of the ultimate shame she was feeling over all.
What ever this was, it terrified Jenny to know what it was she got of glimpse of. All she could remember was hearing short lived screaming, yelling, and crying, echoing in her head. Pounding to make the side her face away between her legs. Silently she sobbed to herself, sensing the feeling of heart ache and loneliness. No protection, and with no home at all.
She felt so out of place, she was lost, "Why? He could've left me where I was. Sure I know life's scary. Hell, whatever I heard or saw scared the living crap out of me…But for the life of me, I may have not wanted to remember what happened to me, but it's worse…Ten times worse. Now, I don't want to go back. Everyone wants to forget something, but why me? What the hell is really happening to me?"
By this time, Janelle was staring down at her hands before bawling them into fists and brought them up to her face to cringe in an attempt to hold back a sob.
"What was it that he showed you?" Edward asked cautiously, making sure not to clutter her with such trivial questions, but she answered it lifting her head to breath from her hiding spot, "That's the thing! I can't explain it. He gave a string of memories to see, but it was going so fast I could barely see it. They're all tangled together not making sense. It was like the faces were blurred too of the people I saw, I think. They're there one second and gone the next! It made my head feel like it was on crack!"
"Crack?" They all looked puzzled, "Never mind, just know it's a bad, horrible, disgusting drug and should never be tested." The moment her voice began to go from hyper her head began to pound and she flinched falling back against the pillow behind her, groaning, "Oh, I shouldn't have done that. Sorry, I'm such a bother."
"Nah, we all have our faults and our troubles, but we're going to help you Jenny, don't think otherwise. Just, keep a strong head on your shoulders and everything will be better before you know it."
"How do I know that it will get be better?" She asked worriedly not even bothering to look at the others. She was looking up at the ceiling for a moment, thinking to herself before she sighed and covered her eyes with her hands, "Oh how I wish, I wish I would be dreaming right now and everything would be back to normal." She whined, her voice slightly throaty.
But Ling's voice interjected with a soft chuckle, "I'm afraid that isn't the case though."
"I know." Then she realized what she said, and hearing the tone in Ling's voice made her look up wiping the mist in her eyes to smile at them reassuringly, "Oh, I'm sorry. When I meant I wanted everything to go back to normal? I didn't mean I regret meeting you guys. I'm stoke I got to meet all of you, really. I just think it would be best that way, at least unless something changes my mind to stay here, heh." She laughed making it obvious she was just half joking, but it still made Ling frown.
He just got to know her and now she wanted to leave? After all, they were becoming such good friends.
Well, that and he still couldn't get that kiss off his mind. From time to time it would replay in his head, but he restrained from remembering it as he smiled softly and then sat on the edge of the bed to cup the girls hand, "Whatever you decide…The choice will always be yours."
"Thanks." She smiled back just as soft and then looked to her bag only to ask a random question.
In all honesty, she just wanted to change the subject for now, "So, what's the plan now? Any word from Roy, Ed?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, he'll be happy to help as long as I told him who you were."
"Heh, really." That must've been interesting, "What did you tell him? And most importantly, did he believe you?" She was smiling giggling softly to wonder what Mustang could have thought of her.
Edward rubbed the back of his head and smiled back, nervously, "Well, I didn't exactly tell him where you came from if that's what you mean. In fact, I didn't tell him much of anything." He admitted shyly as Jane became confused a little, until he explained, "I didn't know how to, so I told him he'll have to wait and meet you tomorrow."
"Huh? Tomorrow? What's tomorrow?" When she asked this, it only made Edward look to Alphonse, Ling, and Lan Fan.
Alphonse knew what it was and made a sound that made Janelle look around, "What?"
"Well, I don't know how good your going to be fighting, but…Al and I were planning on trying to draw out the Homunculi."
"Oh. I see. Shoot." Janelle attempted to move the blanket down off pass her knees and carefully moved her swollen ankle from underneath the heat, "Owe." She winced when she sat it down, and began to sooth the throbbing by massaging her leg out the best she could, "I guess I'm useless now."
"Mm, well, Roy's going to take you with him for a bit until we can get everything situated."
"Oh no don't do that. Don't put me on Roy like that. He has a lot coming to him too. If anything, I'll stay here tomorrow."
"You can't. Al and I are still on the move of our investigation, and Ling's doing his thing-," He added the last part turning, and gave the prince a thumb in his general direction, "It just won't be safe here. In order to draw out the homunculi you need to be out of sight."
"I know…But…Things are gonna happen." She added pleading only to see Ed chuckle a little and pat the girl's back, "Yeah, they are. And that's why Roy's taking you to a safe house outside of Central. You'll be safe there until we can meet up with you."
She knew exactly what place he was talking about, and gulp at the next chapter to come after. She shook it from her mind, and sighed smiling the best she could to hide her worries.
It wasn't like she could help them for very long. Could she? She wanted to stay out of the way, but at the same time she wanted to give them a heads up of what was to come…What if it changes things though, and something worse happens…Someone could die on account of me saying something or not say something. If I don't say anything, everything should play out like in the book. Right? But then there's that little factor that this is reality now, so me being here could've already changed everything…Damn it, crap, crap, damn it what am I going to do?
"Hey, Janelle you still with us?"
"I think she's staring off into space again." Ling's voice chuckled crossing his arms against his chest, while Edward began to wave his hand in front of Jenny's face until she swat it away whining, "Don't. What? What you do want?"
"For you to be here not in your head. Talk. What's on your mind?" He asked noticing she started to stare back at him, thinking it over and over and over again until she sighed, and shrugged, "It's complicated. I have a lot on my plate right now, and I guess I'm just trying not to boil over, and go crazy over it."
"Well then don't think about it right now. In other news, there's some more things I need to do for tomorrow."
"Yeah, about that-," Ling intervened, changing the subject for the moment as the prince crossed his legs under him, and brought a crooked finger and thumb to his chin, smirking, "For the homunculi, its going to happen tomorrow, yes?"
"Yeah, that's right. I take it you want some part in this?" Edward asked curiously to know what Ling was up to, but the boy just smiled and nodded, "Yep! I think these homunculi are just what we're looking for. Don't worry, I'm not interested in the military's entanglements, but if the homunculi are immortal, that's another story." As he said this, he looked to Janelle with a wink of his eye from the side so it was only noticeable to her, making the girl tilt her head confused at what he had done that for.
Was it an inside joke she wasn't aware of?
Well, in the midst of trying to figure it out, she seemed to miss what the boys were talking about, until she realized she was having a déjà vu of their conversation…
Ling was looking at Ed's puzzled face; oh, no wait. He was suspicious. Shoot, who wouldn't be, even Janelle was weary of Ling at first glance, "Huh? You doubt me somehow?" He asked.
"I'm grateful for you helping with Lt. Ross. But still-," He started trailing, thinking, as he put his hands on his knees still eyeing the prince. Only to have Ling say, "The more friends you have, the better right?"
That stopped Ed, "I'm being serious too. The fate of my clan is at stake here."
That's right…He was really looking for the stone for his clan. Boy, men in my time are nothing even close to this…Some, but they're hiding
Trying not to go off in her head again, the brunette watched the two boys stare one another down for a good minute, both of their serious expressions showing where they stood, which left Janelle feeling slightly awkward in it all until Edward smirked to finally letting his wall down about an inch for the prince, "Alright, fine then. Just don't go running off with the Homunculi."
"I promise. I owe you for a meal, after all." Not only did Ed look confused, so did Al and Janelle, who only thought the worse, "What meal?"
"Yeah, what meal?" Now, Jenny was hoping it wasn't the meal she bought for him, but then she realized that it was a bill from the hotel, and sighed in relief to herself, when suddenly she heard Edward scream.
"YA DAMN RIGHT YOU OWE ME!" He wanted to kick Ling, but before that could happen, Winry came screaming in through the room for them to be quiet, "HEY! DO YOU MIND GUYS! IT'S LATE AND I NEED MY SLEEP!"
"Oh yeah, sorry Winry, I forgot you're heading to Rush Valley tomorrow-," Then Ed's voice stopped and trailed off apparently to change his mind, "Actually…Why don't you stay here just a little while longer?"
"Huh? What? Why?" Winry didn't sound angry now, but she did want to know why, but Ed seem to give this face as her that made the blonde girl suspicious as he rubbed his head in shame, his eyes squinted as if she was going to strike him, "Well it-, may be-, because I might dent my auto mail.." His voice was getting quieter the more fright became of the blonde girl's wrath, "Or possibly…Destroy it?"
WAM! She took a strike to the back of Edward's head, "Are you PLANNING on destroying?" She yelled angrily.
"I got your soul brother!" Alphonse was the only one going to Ed's side since everyone else was afraid of what would happen next if they came to help him.
But instead, Winry sighed and nodded, "Yeah…I guess…Just-, stay out of trouble." The brothers were confused blinking at her and then at one another before hearing her yawn loudly, and turn to the door, "Well, I'm heading to bed again. Don't wake me please?"
"Heh, Scary…I-, I mean right! Sorry good night Winry!" Edward thought she was about to come back but apparently she as so tired she didn't hear him, and the boys sighed in relief when the door closed.
The first thing that was heard, was the sound of Janelle trying to stifle her giggles, but they were still pretty apparent.
"What's so funny!" Ed boomed, "N-Nothing, nothing. Nothing at all Ed." She giggled even harder not being able to stop now that Edward's face had turned into a goofy sour look.
Unfortunately as she began to laugh, another jolt of pain shimmied up her leg causing her to cringe and double over, "Owie, owie, owe…I guess I shouldn't laugh." She was still giggling when she rubbed her ankle, but it was no use the pain was still there and she winced down trying to ease it.
The others started to laugh too a little while all getting comfortable again from the short fiasco, "Alright, now that we have a plan for tomorrow, I can rest tonight with an easy conscious." Was all Edward could say before he looked at Janelle.
She expected him to say something important, but instead, he rubbed his head chuckling, "Eh, I know I won't be able to sleep in the bed tonight, so-, Janelle?" He paused.
Janelle blinked, "Yes?"
"D-Do you mind if I use your sleeping bag?" He seemed nervous to ask, but she could see why, she was taking up his bed after, and Janelle also grasped began to grasp the concept, "Oh no, no you can have your bed, I-, well I kind of woke up in it. Sorry. I'm still sleeping on the floor tonight."
"Ha, the hell you are, you're using the bed tonight. I don't mind sleeping on the floor, it's just one night, and besides you can't sleep on the floor with an ankle like that. In fact…." The blonde trailed off and began to pull extra pillows out of the closet, only to walk back over to the end of the bed, and slowly lift Janelle foot up.
"Eep! Careful!" She was panicking. But for what? Nothing. She just didn't know what Edward was doing until he placed her foot down on the pillows, "You're foot needs to be elevated, better blood, and it'll keep it in place during night if you toss and turn."
Janelle was a little stunned by his kindness. Most guys trying to be nice would usually want to get in your pants, but it was Ed. He was truly being…Nice. Just to be nice.
It felt warming to the heart, and Jan smiled at him, bowing her head to him, "Thank you Ed. Heh, sorry I didn't know what you were doing." She laughed softly, and Edward smirked, "Yeah, I know. And you are using the bed tonight." He instructed.
How could she protest, it seemed like everyone was agreeing with Ed, so she nodded, rolling her eyes with a smile, "Fine. I can't fight all of you." She retorted murmuring to make sure the others heard, "She's got a point." Ling chirped making Janelle smile more.
By midnight, everyone was asleep again. Another night where it was totally silent, and the moonlight shined just near Edward's face, which in response to the slight light, he fumbled underneath his blankets and turned over away from the annoyance.
Janelle was starting to think she should've slept on the floor, just for the fact that she was still up! She couldn't sleep.
She was thinking too much, and tomorrow was going to be an eventful day. She knew that the homunculi were going to be out and about, but what made it worse, was that she knew Pride would end up telling father she was here.
Heck, he could have already told the others about her, or he could be in the shadows now. That was another thing, how was she stop the bad from happening, and help the Elric's and Ling without getting them hurt. Then, she thought of her foot throbbing.
God this ankle was killing her! It was just suppose to be a sprained ankle right?
She was still conflicted about that. Her head was just too busy juggling one idea after another until eventually the girl sat up abruptly and sighed frustrated, and then winced in pain, hissing, "Damn it." She then looked around.
And Lan Fan was laying down near the door, suddenly turning to Janelle when she stared in her direction, "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" She asked curiously, "You need your rest."
"I should be sleeping, but I can't. My ankle hurts too much. Plus, my mind keeps going in all different directions. I just don't know what to do with myself. I can't even listen to music. You guys have any methods to fall b-Ah!," The back of her hand was rubbing her left eye, looking away to itch at it before she turned and jumped at Ling's face suddenly being just inches away from her nose, "FOR THE-," She stopped herself clamping her hands over her mouth when she looked to see Ed hadn't woken up, she shifted her gaze at the Prince glaring daggers.
"What the fuck!" She whispered harshly, blushing a little at how close his nose was to hers, "You trying to give me a freaking heart attack!"
He didn't answer, instead he continued to stare at her.
Janelle's cheeks began to burn over time, and in a way, she was kind of glad it was darker on her side of the room than it was his, because if it wasn't, the light from the moon would've shown how timid she looked under his stare.
Then she came to figure that the light was projecting a lot better from his side, and felt her throat tighten with the flutter in her stomach, "L-Ling, stop that." She tried to softly laugh it off.
"Doing what?"
"You know darn well what." She retorted.
"I haven't a clue." He was trying to play stupid, she knew it.
"Stop staring at me." She pleaded only to suddenly feel him back away a bit and place a gentle warm hand close to her slightly bruised ankle.
She quietly squeaked at the contact, and grabbed the hand in response, "What're you doing?"
Just as she was about to say more, the hand started to rub her sore area. From her ankle to her foot, he was literally massaging the foot out of nowhere, and only making Janelle blush even more.
This wasn't like Ling. It wasn't like him at all, was it? They never really showed Ling touching a woman in the show, so this was new to her.
Just then, Ling sat on the edge of the bed, where he sat before, and softly caressed the tender parts of her leg, "Oh wow. I didn't expect that." She laughed gently laying back on her pillow to let him do what he was doing.
Hey, she wasn't going to argue, it felt good, and it was easing the pain as well as her heavy mind, "My mother did this to me once when I was a kid, after she told me to stop running through the palace halls. I wasn't listening and hurt my ankle; I fell a little differently than you-," He laughed, "-but none the less, she began to massage my leg like this. I figured I'd give it a try. See if it helps." He shrugged after that and the pair became silent while he help the girl relax.
It was definitely helping, Janelle felt like she could lay back down against the pillows with ease while he worked on her.
But then, Janelle blinked up at the ceiling and looked back at Ling's concentrated feature, seeing he was oddly very into what he was doing, "Why are you up? You just came out of nowhere, like batman."
Ling could only laugh, "Just like you, I couldn't sleep…" By the tone in his voice, he wasn't just concentrating on her foot though. Something else was on his mind too, "You getting bothered by thoughts too, huh?" She asked half joking but apparently it was only true when his lips frowned.
"Sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Janelle was slightly embarrassed and looked back up at the ceiling as if she had never asked. Ling noticed this and shook his head blinking. He hadn't realized he made a face, and soften his features now to help make Janelle feel less awkward, "Oh, no. It's alright…"
He paused to look away, lowering his gaze to her foot again, "If anything. I'm the one who should be sorry."
"Why?" She was confused now, what did he have to be sorry for?
Then Ling smiled up at her, stopping his motions for a short moment as he gave her that reassuring chuckle, "Well, I kept pushing you to tell me what was wrong when we got back here at the inn. Now, I feel a little responsible for your head injury." He pointed at her forehead, making her slightly touch it in remembrance that it was still there. That what happened to her was still truly real.
But Janelle felt it was stupid for him to take fault for her own stupidity. She was the one standing near the sink when she went out cold, "Don't do that. You didn't anything. I was being silly. I felt like I was having a panic attack without anything really going on around me."
When she stopped talking she noticed Ling was trying to make eye contact with her every now again, but it was bothering Janelle to know he felt responsible for her actions, and as she let out a sigh, she softly grabbed Ling's hands to stop him in mid rub, "Would you stop that! Look at me."
He did. He was a little surprised by her hands touching his and they were both looking at one another for a good minute until Janelle could get her point across, "It's not your fault. I fell. It happens. It's gonna happen." She assured, getting Ling to sit there and stir on it for a moment.
This girl is certainly something…
Then, he smiled again, his face glowing with a smile that Jan could see clearly this time in the dark, "Are you admitting that you're clumsy?" He asked chuckled almost above a whisper to get Jan to do the same, leaning in his direction, "Yes. Very much so."
Somehow, everything fell into silence after that. The only the were left doing was staring at one another, either waiting for the other to say something, or just waiting for the night to pass, but either way Janelle wanted to say something.
She was feeling tension, but as she try to think of something, nothing came. She felt her face heat up just by the distant look that she noticed Ling giving her when her eyes had slightly adjust to the dark lightening.
She felt her heart beat stir, humming in her ears now, and her throat dried over the period of silence between them.
She knew why that was. By the way Ling was still smiling in the shadow, Janelle began to blush all over again and tried to stop his hand from slowly making its way over to hers; because not to mention, Lan Fan and Alphonse were still awake as well.
Oh my freaking goodness gracious how many times am I going to forget about Alphonse! Heh, I'm not use to this yet, that's for sure
"Um, so I don't know about you? But I'm beat. I should get some sleep." She finally said smiling softly as to not scare him off, but to show she was actually getting tired,
In return, the prince's smile widen, "Definitely." He didn't say much after that, and patted the top of her hand as he bowed his head to her, "Good night Janelle."
"Night Ling. Night Lan Fan."
"Good night Miss."
"Alphonse?" Janelle smiled looking over to Alphonse who was just startled that she had even mentioned him, "Good night." She giggled.
"Oh! Uh! Good Night!"
Giggling again to Al's answer, Jan finally turned her back to everyone and nuzzled her face into her pillow…Smiling widening on her face, as her heart soared lightly to the people around her.
Maybe the adventure would be good for her. She might be in a bad spot, but where else would she rather be in any given situation?
~The Next Afternoon~
"What time is it?" Janelle was looking at her Invader Zim watch on her wrist before she looked at both directions for the boys to show up.
It was the day that Ed and Al would attempt to fight the homunculi only to run in an attempt to get away from them in the mean time. Winry had asked if Jan wanted to go with her to Gracia's in the mean time, but knowing what was to come? Janelle rather not be there for that.
It was going to be sad realization for her once she met the man who killed her parents. A tinge of guilt distilled itself just enough for Janelle to stay clear for the moment in time, but she only wondered if Ed was going to ask about it later.
Wondering if she had already an idea of what was to come…
Then, she thought of Lan Fan as well…She was going to loose her arm…And Janelle knew!
Could she let that happen? Having the paranoia of knowing that Ling would probably get mad and never forgive Janelle for not giving warning that she was going to loose her arm…For him.
Janelle sighed sitting on the far side of the building, staring down the empty street in front of her, already seeing the image of Scar standing in front of Ed, Al, Roy, and Hawkeye, and her as the fight between the Elric's started…
But it had yet to happen. She blinked her eyes and shook her head, still burdened by these emotions of guilt and anger. She wasn't sure if she wanted to just let Lan Fan loose her arm.
If she had a chance to change something, wouldn't she? And not only that, seeing the look on Ling's face when he would soon learn of this information would certainly make him blame her for everything that's happened…
She didn't want to get in trouble, and even more, she didn't want to be the blame of the tragedies that were to come. If she knew what was to come, she might be able to change the story…Without actually harming any of the worlds.
But how? I've already changed a lot. Jeez, What a mess. What should I do?
Again, Janelle looked back and forth, and then in front of her again, slowly taking at her cell phone from her pocket for the third time. Time was going back slowly, and her decisions on what to do were growing thin as she looked at the time.
And there were still no bars. Yeah, she was gone alright, and no way to contact home…She began to wonder if anyone back home was missing her, or even noticed she was gone. She had been in Amestris for four days already, and by now her mother or father or someone must've noticed she was gone. Right?
Then she began to think was in her bag again. She couldn't much take the whole thing with her, so in attempt to keep it somewhere hidden for now, she had Ling take it with him and place it somewhere safe where it wouldn't be damaged.
Well, she trust him enough to do so, she only hoped he didn't get side track and start rummaging through her bag again. That boy is so nosy… Thinking of Ling as she searched through her images made her blush, and she had yet to realize she was rummaging through the pictures which she realized were all deleted from her inventory, and gasped in disbelief she came back to reality, "WHAT THE FU-, WHERE ARE ALL MY PICTURES!"
She couldn't believe it! Every single one of them, including the ones she downloaded as backgrounds were gone! The only one left was the one she already had on her phone. Janelle leaned back again the wall banging her head a little harder than she meant to considering she had yet to remember she still had a tender injury on it and winced at the hard contact, "Shit. Such a dumb ass."
She gave up fighting on the erased pictures, they were gone for good now, and the only thing that the brunette could to was rub her eyes of the frustration that was building. So, she decided to think of something else, like what she was going to do!
She still had the wounded ankle, although she could walk, just not run, and she only had so much time before Lan Fan was going to get hurt….
Okay…Then let me think of it this way…What would they do? If they had a chance like mine, and they were in my position wanting to help? What would they do?
"Damn it! I told her to stay right here!" Apparently after making that decision Janelle thought long and hard for, Edward and Alphonse now looked around the area hoping to see the girl, but to no avail.
She was gone, "So, the mysterious girl disappears eh? Are you sure you're not just pulling my leg Full Metal?" Roy asked this as he put his hands in his pockets leaning against the car and sighed, of course he did all his while looking at the blonde, "Shut up! I told her to stay here, where the hell could've she have gone!"
"Maybe she saw Scar or the homunculi and went to go hide."
"No. I'm going to give that girl a piece of my mind when I find her! I swear!"
"What is this?" Roy seemed to have noticed a device with a note attached to it. He flipped open the object to watch the screen light up with the time and date being the first thing he saw. But the dates were off…
It was in big bold lettering, and the date said 2011. It didn't make sense to Roy, and all he could do was make a confused sour face. But then he looked at the note in his hand, and read it to himself before giving it to Ed, "It's for you."
"Oh." Ed looked at the note as he read it, and then looked at the device again, "It's Janelle's." He began to read the letter now, only to see his eyes widen with worry, "Oh idiot! She doesn't even know what she's getting herself into!"
"What is it?" Alphonse asked only to have him read the note as well, "She's planning on warning Ling about something, but he's waiting for the homunculi so he can trap them for us! He can't do that if she's in the way! They'll kill her! Or worse, take her to their lair. She's in no condition to be running off like that in the first place, I tell ya! When I get a hold of her I'll-, well, I don't know what I'm gonna do, but it's definitely gonna be something!" Edward was shaking his fist in a wild manner just wishing for the opportunity chew her ass out.
Roy just chuckled looking off into the distance as he thought out loud, "Heh, well, she's not the only one gone missing. Dr. Marcoh's gone too."
The boys froze and looked to the Flame alchemist, "Dr. Marco's missing?"
He nodded, "They probably abducted him." When this came out into the open Edward made a motion almost as if saying 'damn' to himself before Roy decided to change the conversation quickly, "Well, let's just focus on Scar for right now, no use in trying to find Janelle since she ran off, and considering your behavior with this whole thing?" He added eyeing the littler alchemist further, "What's with you wanting him to find you?"
"Yeah, I want him to find me. I have to fight him one last time…"
"Don't be ridiculous! Have you forgotten what happened in East City?" Roy just had to remind him, but it was for his own good.
"Awe…Are you afraid of Scar?" Or not…Instead Edward began to make fun of the Flame Alchemist reminding him of how useless was the last time with Scar, when it was raining.
They both started a tiff, until Hawkeye pulled out her gun and looked towards the alley in front of them.
Everyone stopped, and looked to see none other than Scar looking in their direction with that familiar frown griming his face, "Great…now what?" Roy chimed sweating from his forehead at the sight of the Ishvalan.
Scar started to take steps towards them, his heels clicking with every movement he took towards, "So, the Elric brothers…" His put out his hands, of course ready to take the Alchemists down with a spark of his hand.
"Well, this is what we wanted…" Just then Ed noticed Hawkeye still aiming her gun at the Ishvalan man, and immediately stepped in her way to push the gun out of the line of fire, "Wait Lieutenant! Don't shoot!"
"What are you talking about?" Hawkeye might have been slightly confused at what the term meant by have Scar come to them, but the blonde boy just grinned mumbling under his breath loud enough for her, Roy, and Al to hear him, "Like the Colonel always says, I'm gonna try my hand at a little fishing." In moments, the battle had begun between the Elric brothers, and the Ishvalan Scar.
Well, for Edward at least, he was the only one fighting Scar, while Alphonse protected the Colonel and the Lieutenant from the two Alchemists' attacks from behind his own alchemic wall, "Brother is using himself as bait to lure out the Homunculi. After all, he is a sacrifice to them, one they can't afford to kill."
"What! That's crazy!" The Colonel exclaimed over the sound of booming and clashing, but Alphonse changed the subject quick knowing they didn't have much time, "We don't want anyone else to get hurt. Using brother or myself as bait was the only thing we could do!"
Okay, in this case, Roy really couldn't say much, the boys were right on this one, but before had to ask, "But what if Scar get shot by MP's before the homunculi arrive!"
"Colonel, you can make sure that doesn't happen right?"
"Heh, now you're giving me orders? You've got nerve…Alright, but when this is over, I want my cut!" That was all Alphonse needed to hear to take off to help his brother, "Got it!"
Alphonse jumped out from behind the wall just in the nick of time to assist his brother in sending the ground up at Scar, only to have it avoid it.
From the side lines, Roy was calling his Lieutenant to follow behind him, "Fuery's townhouse is nearby, let's go!"
"Right."
Janelle was hurting all over. Her legs ached as she pumped them as much as she possibly could with a sore foot, her heart burned like the inside of a boiler, and her lungs were so dry she was literally rasping as she ran.
She kept thinking she was getting lost, but as she tried to remember the layout of the city, she stopped between two street corners to remember where the big clock laid. She knew it was near where she was suppose to wait for the brothers, but she couldn't remember where Gluttony was suppose to show.
She tried to catch her breath doubling over and wincing at her foot throbbing, "Maybe…Maybe running…Not so good…" She took in a few deep breaths before she suddenly heard whooshing over head.
She was looking down at the ground when she saw the shadow jump across the two building between her. Jan gasped and looked up, noticing a ladder leading up to where the shadow jumped over her.
She knew who it was, and knew her time was limited now that she realized she was going in the wrong direction, "Fuck! Just my luck!" Jan didn't waste time to literally sprint herself the best she could, trying to eye where Gluttony could have gone, and then noticed a car passing by her.
At first she only look to the automobile because it was in her peripherals, but being that she had to double take when she saw who was in the back of the car, her face immediately went pale seeing the profile of the man she-, really wasn't sure if she was seeing or not!
Wrath
"Oh shit…Oh shit… Come on Janelle, run! Run!" She was pushing herself faster and faster until she was gasping, and her cheeks were burning red as she pumped her pistons as fast as she humanly could, Please-,…Please…Just let me get there in time! Just let me get there in time!
The car parked close to where the fight was going on, and as the Furher exit from his car as he listened to the last bit of chaos coming from his Military radio. It died began to down as he walked further and deeper into the alley he had asked his driver to stop in front of, and waited till he was clear from the sights to anyone to call out to his homunculus brother hiding and waiting for Wrath to finally arrive, "Gluttony."
The bigger homunculus smiled hungrily, poking his head out from his place in the shadows, "I smell him! I smell the Ishvalan!"
Ling, from his perch he tensed at the sense of the many chi's coming from only two people. This chi was so unusual it could of only meant one thing for the prince, "That's a very strange presence. Do you feel that Lan Fan?"
"Yes." They both were looking at one another dumb founded, it was unlike anything they had ever felt. An it was so interesting.
Now, this was there chance, "Alright Let's go!"
Both of the Xingese leaped towards the homunculi's direction. In the distance the two could see a quick black blob jumping from building to building like they were, heading into the Elric's direction, "There you are…" Ling could hear the thing ranting out loud about smelling 'him', just before Lan Fan came around the side of it and kicked the enormous homunculus in the face flinging him back into the roof he had leaped from.
The homunculus was up in seconds from the rubble of the room he was thrown through, and looked around to see what had kicked him so hard, "What was that?" He didn't see anything until Ling and Lan Fan appeared in his line of sight.
The prince was curiously smiling at the monster, almost unlike himself, it was almost as if he was smirking, "Well hi! Hello there! You're pretty unusual from the inside, huh? How many people do you think you have inside you?"
The homunculus just looked between the two, confused, almost scared, "Who are you?"
Then Lan Fan spoke, "It's no use trying to run, you have a unique chi. I can follow you anywhere."
Then, the blob smiled, "Follow me?" It tilted its head in an eerie manner, "Then I'll just have to eat you." The moment the thing opened its mouth the tattoo showed to the both of them.
It's no mistake…He's a homunculus
Suddenly another voice came to the two's attention, "Oh, so you can sense his presence can you?"
Ling and Lan Fan looked down to the man in Military uniform, unsheathing a long sword from his hilt, readying his hands for an apparent attack, "That's a pesky ability…" He replied with venom, "I'll just have to eliminate that." Before anything could take place in the high ranking man's threat, a sudden raspy yell came from a small figure running in their direction.
"J-Janelle!" Ling was utterly shocked.
The girl was suppose to be with Edward's friend, and yet here she was.
He could only wonder what she would be doing over here, and running in her condition when suddenly he could hear Janelle yelling at them to watch out.
Unfortunately half of it was from a distance so he could quite catch what she was trying to say, "What…" She tried to scream it again, but she was still too far away to have them hear what she was trying to warn them about.
"HIS EYE!" She cried, "WATCH OUT FOR HIS EYE!"
Ling heard some of what she was saying, and he looked to the dark haired man on the street, who was also looking in Jan's general direction.
Janelle hadn't seem to notice that Wrath was looking at her apparently. She was too busy trying to warn Ling, and Lan Fan, "LAN FAN GET OUT OF HERE!" She screamed a different mantra this time, remembering Ling had tried to warn her the same way.
She thought it would help, and it did to some extent, because when she had gotten slightly closer, Jan had yet to realize that Wrath was looking at right her.
When Ling saw the higher rank staring the girl down like prey, it was already too late for him to warn her, "JANELLE! WATCH OUT!" The homunculus was already in front of her.
It was already too late, Again, Jan's face went pale, and the heat that had consumed her body went cold. Her heart stopped in the middle of her chest feeling stunned by the suddenly upward slash to chest.
It felt numb, like she was never even hit, but she could see her own blood fly into the air.
Her eyes widened, and her breath hitched in her throat…
Was this really it, was this really the end for her? What the hell was I thinking…
" NO JANELLE!"
"Janelle!"
Chapter V: Hero
Yeah, I didn't writ any previews in this one, I figured the chapter spoke for itself, and I hope you're all hyped for the next one. Sorry this chapter took so long to come out...Well, for all my chapter actually, but I guess the wait is always worth it! Sometimes...
Anyways, See ya!
