Hey Guys! Long time no see! It's been busy here in Cali, and my fingers are killing me! There's probably a few errors in this but I'll be looking back on it to see if I need to fix anything (Most likely). In any case, the L& L is still being worked on but a couple more days of pondering I'm sure I'll be done! Hoping...I've been into the other Greed's stories to care :D Grimmjow story is almost done, and I think that's about it for the update. BACK TO WORLD OF WARCRAFT!
Enjoy Part 5! I hope it's not too corny :*(
Disclaimer: We already know it...We all know...
Chapter V: Hero
Everything felt like it stopped while Jenny continued to fall in such slow motion. All she could see was Wrath's ocean green eye gleaming their bright red eerie shine that kept her heart from bursting open just yet.
She was frozen by it. Her whole body felt like a force had a hold on her, and then, her whole world began to spiral, faster, and faster…
Faster…
Until she finally hit the ground like a rag doll, with her limbs flailing in every direction as she spun, again into the air, and then skidded across the concrete.
She could barely comprehend what had happened, and her eyes were still wide open.
"I apologize for being so abrupt, but I can only wonder how you knew what I am…Are you working with the visitors?" The man stepped forward with his face shadowed by the sun shining from behind him.
Janelle couldn't answer, she was so scared, and shaking so hard that when she tried to move, the wound only hurt more, "Are you going to answer my question, girl?" He was demanding it now, and glaring down at her to the point that it stunned her. She couldn't tell them.
She wouldn't.
"Very well, if you won't speak…Then I'll just have to take care of you…Gluttony!" Janelle's eyes widen in utter fear. She tried hard to push herself up off the ground but she only gasped back and grunted in pain.
"Yay! I get to eat the girl!" Gluttony was leaping faster and faster, he ran at her with tongue waving behind him. Now she was trying to roll herself over, but when she laid on her back and rolled herself on her stomach again, Jan yelled out in shear pain.
The cut was deep, and their was blood all around her. All over her neck, jaw, and her clothes…It was everywhere. She could feel herself becoming lightheaded, and she was trying with all her might not to hyperventilate Damn it…I can't die here! I can't!
"I get to eat! I get to eat!" With each step that blob took he was only getting faster now.
There was no way this was happening. Not to Janelle at least, she couldn't believe this, she was about to be swallowed by Gluttony, and it was all her fault. The only thing that she couldn't regret was her own actions.
She didn't regret trying to save anybody, and that was only thing she could live with if she died.
Everything was beginning to become even more hazy from the loss of blood. It was finally catching up to her, and with little strength to move herself anymore, she felt that dying here was the right thing to do.
So, laying her head back to the pool of her own blood, Jan await for her end, hoping it was quick and painless, but knowing it was Gluttony she only tensed at the thought and felt her eyes begin to mist.
She closed her eyes tight and felt her throat swell with the need to scream, but with energy left in her how could she?…Then she realized…
Her doom never came…
All she was a pair of footsteps stop at her side and a loud boom hit the ground from the side of her.
Janelle had opened her eyes again to see what it was, and only saw Ling at her side, calling her name heard her name with his sword already stained with what she assumed was Gluttony's blood, "Janelle, answer me! Are you alright!" Ling was almost yelling at her to respond since he could plainly see her eyes were looking at him, but with her being slightly delirious from the attack all she could do was stare back at him, "It's okay, I'll get you out of here…" He muttered as she felt him pick her up over his shoulder now.
She groaned in pain, but bared it the best she could. The only thing she felt was nauseated from her head dangling off his back, but what could she do? She could barely move, "Don't…I'll sl-slow you down…" She strained to say, "Leave me." Was all she could reply to feel the prince grip her legs tighter.
"Are you daft! I'm not leaving you!" Just as Ling had replied that, Wrath had come in for an attack to try and take another swipe at the prince, but Ling blocked the blade with his own, and Lan Fan jumped in to take the next swipe at him, only to miss.
The man was fast, but with Ling and Lan Fan catching his blind side, The homunculus was only getting more intrigued by the second as the two clash of their swords, "You think you can escape my eye?" The homunculus said with amusement before clashing his sword between the two skilled fighters.
Wrath could tell with each clash of his blade the two had done this before, more than once he would think, "Ho, I see that you're no stranger to the sword…" He complimented.
This time the man put more into his thrust, but still it seemed the Xingese Prince was just leaping around him and away from his good eye.
But of course, Wrath knew exactly what he was doing, and with a call on Gluttony, who had quickly regenerated himself, the big blob homunculus brought his hands together and used both of his burly fist to throw both Ling and Janelle into a building.
"My Lord!" Lan Fan cried out about to go after them, but Gluttony only turned around to her with a hungry grin, "If I can't eat the girl…I'll just have to eat this one." He asked Wrath innocently poking a finger in his mouth, "Make it quick." With that said, Wrath jumped across the roof to meet with the young man and the mysterious girl he had encountered.
Especially the girl, if she was even remotely alive, than there were still many questions she could answer for him…It either that or kill her, he couldn't let her escape.
On the other side of the story, Ling could barely see through the dust and rubble, his grip on Janelle still growing tighter as he attempted to look for a way out. Damn this dust!
It was too late, the homunculus had already found him on his way over to the other side, and stood before the prince with a emotionless firm expression on his face, "It's time you answered my questions boy…" Ling glared back at Wrath, "Who are you people, how did you know what was inside Gluttony? And that girl…She knew about my eye. How is that so?"
There was no way Ling would answer of those questions, and noticed a door way just to his right. He began to ponder on how he could escape, but with Wrath a step ahead of him, he noticed the boy's wondering eyes, "Still trying to find a way to escape even now?" He asked humored by this somehow, "You could probably get away on your own, but with that girl dragging you down she's only excess baggage."
"Baggage? You're the highest ranking person in your land, right? Furher King Bradley…A King is suppose to be for his people, a King would be nothing without them." Even though Jan could barely comprehend what was happening, she softly smiled at his words, hearing his quote with such passion, and even though she wasn't even a part of his country, Ling had still considered her a part of his people' to protect. He was protecting her, Ling…What're you doing?
And even though his words were strong, it still did little to no affect to Bradley, "Naïve fool! There are no real King's in this world!" Suddenly, a small smoke bomb rolled onto the floor, and exploded between the two before anything could break out. Ling could already Lan Fan near by and when she whistled to him, he looked to the door way to see her, "You rely too much on your eyesight."
He attempted to run for it but before he could pass the exit, Wrath had stopped him with just a throw of his sword, "Well now…" Wrath got his attention and Ling turned around to find that his right eye had the sign of the Oroborous tattoo, "These eyes do work after all…" Wrath finished.
Ling couldn't believe it, Janelle had come to warn him about this…She knew it would happen, and it clicked in his head instantly; and he ran for his life, along side him Lan Fan who was in no hurried to followed quickly behind.
"Is she alright?" She asked knowing the damage, but only hoping she was still alive, "I don't know, but she's loosing blood fast. Janelle, if can you hear me, answer me." When there was no reply it only made the others look at one another worriedly, "What should we do?"
"I…I don't know, we need to find somewhere safe to hide her for now. Damn it Janelle, why didn't you go with Ed like you were suppose to! What could've possessed you do something like that!" Suddenly, Ling and Lan Fan sensed it when they came to a fork in the road.
Gluttony, the hungry homunculus was on their tail, staring them both down with a smile on his face, "He's relentless…"
"No kidding. Come on, we got to loose him."
"Right." They ran.
And ran…
And ran…Every corner they came across they only found another to turn into, until they finally came to a dead end, "Damn."
"Are we pinned in?" They could sense it, both of the homunculi were getting closer, especially the one they called Bradley. Somewhere along the way Gluttony's chi began to disappear, as if he wondered off towards the Elric's fight, but Wrath was still right on their trail with every drop of blood the girl lost, "My lord, the blood is going to lead them right to us!" Lan Fan whispered harshly when she noticed it.
"Crap. Wait, there's a gap in between the wall! Come on, follow me." They both crept between the wall, and made their way through the other streets, but it was only going to buy them some time until Bradley would catch them.
"Maybe I can distract him for you young lord. If we don't do something about this, we'll all end up dying here."
"But how? What're we going to do." It didn't take long before Lan Fan came up with one idea and quickly pulled out her small dagger to stab herself in the side causing her to grunt in pain. She made sure not to hit any vital organs in the process but in doing so she began to bleed out, hoping that in doing this she hoped it would confuse the enemy.
"Lan fan! What're you-,"
"Keep going, I'll meet up with you once this bastard's off our trail." Ling didn't argue, as much as he wanted to the damage had already been done, and while he grit his teeth, he gripped onto Janelle harder, "You just better not die on me! Do you hear me!"
"Yes Lord." Lan Fan had her chance, she took a sharp turn down a alley way and sprinted off until she was out of sight, praying that this plan would work, If not that woman owes me for medical expenses…
They kept running in their different directions, sensing Wrath in their area, still walking towards them until it suddenly stopped. It was obvious the homunculus had seen the diversion and unfortunately for him, it had worked. He had no idea which way to go, and in feeling the defeat…
Wrath sighed and glared at the ground, "Clever…Very, very clever…" His voice was cold and heated with a steady rage that he refused to show, but his eyes had revealed all…He was pissed for being so poorly trick by a couple of 'commoners', but there was nothing much else he could do, either way he would find one of them, and kill'em, but in doing so one would've still gotten away…Mostly likely that Xingese boy with the wounded girl, those two intrigued him more than anything…
Hmm, maybe it's a good thing I let them live then…I could probably learn more about this from Pride…If anything…
When Ling felt like it was safe enough to take a breather, he put down Janelle on some boxes, and ripped off what remained of the girl's shirt and began to wrap her deep gash with a little gauze he had. It wasn't much but it was enough to cover the open wound from getting infected, "Janelle, I know you can't hear me….But just hang in there, okay? I'm going to get you out of here…I promise…" He really wish he would've known why she would put herself in such terrible danger like that. It bugged the hell of him, but all he could think about hoping Janelle would live.
He didn't want her to die, not after she saved his and his subordinates life like that. She didn't have to, but somehow she knew about his eye, and attempted to warn the two without really knowing them, "You're a very daring girl I'll give you that much…An idiot…But daring…Heh, and certainly brave…" Without realizing, the prince had brush some of her bangs from her dampened brows, his eyes looking at every delicate detail of her face. He was becoming very use to this girl already way too soon, and in him repaying the favor of her selfless act, he slowly picked her up in his arms, hearing a small sound release from her throat when he adjusted her to his chest.
Ling scanned around, and spotted some stairs leading up to the roofs, but knew that would only attract more attention. He then looked around the ground and spotted the sewers with an idea.
There was no choice, it was either this or get caught, so with kick of his foot he spun the top around fast enough he could jump through it to land on solid ground. He was grateful there were other lightening from the outside surface, and once the topped stopped spinning, the prince began to sense out Lan Fan to make sure she was alright. Her chi was calm and yet unsettled by worry in finding him. He was glad to know she was alive, and ran towards her until he literally ran into her when she came around the corner with her wound still bleeding.
She was starting to look a little withered too. In a quick response, Ling turned around, "Here, take my jacket, use it to keep the wound closed."
"Are you sure?"
"Take it! Hurry! I need to get to Ed!" She was startled but did as she was told, and took his jacket, using her belt as a strap to keep it in place, "I need you both to stay down here a little longer, but I promise I'll come back for you alright?"
"Yes sir." He smiled to his companion and than he looked back to Janelle, I promise…
He was gone in the blink of an eye, and quickly looked around for the closest opening to everyone's Chi. His face was as crinkled with desire, and an expression as cold as ice…
Not only did they have Scar to deal with but now the homunculus Gluttony was attempting to eat Scar in the mix of the mini battle. It was crazy, and now they had to help the last person they would want to do that in taking down a hungry homunculus. But, this was there chance to catch one, but with two enemy's to take down now, the Elric's were going to need twice the more help to take down these two.
Just in the knick of time, Ling flew out of the sewer hole below them. His sword was clenched between his teeth, and with a swift move of his hands he pulled out two tiny smoke bombs, and stuffed them into Gluttony's mouth when he landed on his shoulders, "GET BACK!" He jumped off though just right afterwards, and waited for the moment….
KABOOM!
Gluttony exploded from the waist up, just as Ling had predicted, the blob began to regenerate slowly before everyone's eyes even Scar who was completely baffled by the scene. He just couldn't believe it, "That's…A homunculus?"
Ling wasn't finished, he knew Gluttony would be whole again soon and just as the other pieces of the homunculus turned to ash, Ling reached back to Ed, "Get me a sturdy wire."
"R-Right." Edward ran to the railroad next to him and clapped his hands over the metal to create the wire Ling asked for. The moment their hands made contact, the prince jumped back on top of the homunculus and wrapped the wire around Gluttony until his body attempted to expand to his fullest extent causing the hungry blob's down fall.
"You're regenerative power is working against you! You're mine now, homunculus!" Once Gluttony was officially captured, everything had calmed down for a split second before a mysterious blonde woman appeared in a car, and shot at the absentminded Ishvalan in the leg.
She stopped in front the Elric brothers, and looked to the Xingese boy, "Put him in! Now, hurry!" There was no time to explain, but as Edward was about to ask who she was, she put her finger up to her lips, leaving the boy to put two and two together on who this woman was…
Than subtracting the glass and flow-y blonde hair, they came to realize the great shooter was none other than Hawkeye. By this time the realization hit, Ling had already put the monster in the back of the car and the two drove off before the Military could get near him.
"Wait, we need to turn around, my friend's are in trouble!"
"The Elrics?"
"No, didn't Ed tell you that girl that's not from here, she ran off and found us and now she's hurt! If you don't help her now she'll die!"
"And you want me to turn around! Are you nuts?"
"Please I made a promise to them both that I'd come back from them! Please!" Hawkeye could say know, she couldn't let two people die on her watch, and considering it was the girl that Edward said disappeared, she had to, "Damn it!" With a sharp turn of the steering wheel, Riza turned the car completely around, and headed back in the other direction, "You better make it quick!"
"I will…Thank you…I owe you one."
"You can thank me later, let's just get those friends and go."
"Right."
Back in the tunnels, Lan Fan attempted to awaken the girl a few more times, but in all honesty nothing worked, not even slapping the girl awake would make that happened, but as the body guard of Ling looked down at Janelle, she noticed the girl's hand twitch a little.
At first she thought it was just her imagination, but when the girl whimpered and threw her head to the side, Lan Fan gasp and moved Jan in her arms to sit her up, "Janelle! Can you hear me?"
"Mm…."
"Don't worry, the young lord went to get help."
"Ling…?" Janelle barely had any energy to talk, the more she did the more she seemed to feel an immense amount of pain over her shoulder and chest. She also seemed to have another case of memory loss. More than usual, "Where am I?"
"You were attack by Bradley and you're hurt. Now don't speak, he'll be here soon."
"I feel numb…" Janelle slurred as she attempted to move but it only caused her to groan in pain, "Stop moving, you'll make it worse." Just than a bright light from above blinded the two, "Lan Fan!"
"We're here! Janelle's awake."
"Oh good. I was wondering when she'd decide to join us!"
"D-Don't…It hurts to laugh." Jan tried hard not to smile but it was just too hard not to feel relieved that she was, indeed alive.
When she opened her eyes again Ling was already at her side with the held of Lan Fan to guide her body up from the floor, "Can you stand at all?"
"I'll try." She strained attempting to use any other part of her muscles than her shoulders to get herself up off the floor, and in when she grabbed onto the ladder, she felt of she Lan Fan's hands at her side, and she smiled in relief.
"Here let me go first, I'll pull you up. Use your good arm."
"Okay…" Lan Fan began to climb, and reached down to grab Janelle's good hand in pulling her up, making sure not to rush it as they made it up the ladder; until finally they both finally made it out in one peace.
"Hurry in the car." Janelle could barely keep her eyes open from the pain, but she nodded none the less, now feeling two people helping her into the front seat, while the other two climbed in the back, and like the wind, they disappeared driving off into the sun set.
"So, this is the strange girl Edward talked about?"
"Strange? Is that how he put it?" Ling laughed.
"More or less."
"Heh, well, then yes, it is her. Her names Janelle. She doesn't remember anything about her family so I have no last name for you. In any case, she certainly knows a lot about her world."
"What world? What does that even mean?"
"I-It's complicated, I'll explain later."
"Probably for the best."
"Say, where are heading anyways?" Lan Fan asked out of context.
"We're heading to a safe house out on the countryside. It's just until we meet up with the Elric's again, but until we need somewhere to hide this girl. Did you ever find out why she left? Why she didn't wait for the Elric's?"
"Not exactly…But I think she's was warning us about Bradley."
"What about him?"
"Um, also- explain later."
"Ugh…" Well, she couldn't very well disagree, she was right in the middle of driving and if anything, she wanted Roy to hear it first. Suddenly, Janelle sat up a little bit and sighed as the wind blew against her face, "Heh, that feels nice."
"Sit back, please, you'll only strain yourself."
"Th-The winds helping though…." Riza's eyes softened and she continued to gaze at the road.
Janelle on the other hand was concentrating on staying awake, then she looked back to Lan Fan again, and looked at her arms. She knew she felt both of her hands on her before but she wanted to see it again just to make sure it wasn't a dream.
She had really stopped Wrath from taking her arm, and in doing so a big overwhelming sensation took over the girl's swelling heart, I did it…I stopped it…And nothing happened…So, it is okay to change a few things… Than she noticed the wound that seemed to be covered up by Ling yellow jacket. And she gasped.
Her face even went a littler paler than she already did. Lan Fan noticed the change in the girl and looked down at her wound to only give a small smile, "It's nothing. I've dealt with a lot worse than a stab wound."
"But it was my fault that happened…I wanted…I was trying to stop you from getting hurt, but I only managed to nearly get us all kill."
"Wait? You were trying to stop me from getting hurt?"
"…It's a long story, but I knew about Wrath's ability as a homunculus…In fact, I know a lot more about the homunculi than I lead on." She could feel herself begin to choke up, overwhelmed since she believed, in a way, she had betrayed them, "And I knew…I knew what was going to happen with you…I hadn't have come."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Th-That wound you have…if I hadn't-," Janelle suddenly stopped when she felt light headedness take over, and a familiar pain took her shoulder where the gash laid.
She couldn't help it, she winced to the feeling. The pain was almost unbearable, and as Jan put her hand close to it in an attempt to lessen the throbbing, she only pulled her hand away afterwards to find the gauze she wore had soak through, "…Guys, the bandages…It's not enough…" She closed her eyes slightly panting from the sight.
"We're almost there. Just stay calm, and don't rile yourself."
"Right."
And Riza couldn't have been more right, even if it was only 10 minutes away, it seemed like forever when they had arrived at the familiar cabin out in the woods.
Janelle had recognized it off the bat, and sighed hopeful for the mean time, and let the others bring her into a small room with a bed she could rest in. As she laid down, she remembered Lan Fan would've been the one laying in here herself if she had taken the blow, and the reminder only sent chills up the brunette's spine. Even thinking of the screams and the pools of blood was queasy enough for Janelle to fall pale.
It actually made her sick, "Here you go." Than the sound of Ling's voice brought her out of the mess in head when he handed her a glass of water.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it." He was awefully calm, and seemed to be in a world of his own as well when he began to fluff the back of her pillows as she drank the water half way.
When he had finished elevating her, he went to grab a chair from the side mirror dresser, and sat down next to her. He also put down the lantern he had been holding in his hand, "Ms. Hawkeye's already called for some help, and she says the Elric's are on their way. He'll be coming with the Elric's…So everything's okay for now."
"Thank you. You didn't have to do this."
"What? Make sure you didn't get killed? Of course I didn't. But I did, didn't I?"
"No, I mean you didn't have to fluff my pillows." She giggled, but only hissed when her body shook, "Owie. Maybe laughing's not the best medicine." When she pulled her hand away from it, and looked down to find blood on her hands, "Shit. Is there anything I can use here to stop this bleeding?"
"No, but there were some sheets in the hall closet…" In adding that, Ling began to strip the linen down until it all looked similar to her already blood stained gauzes. Ling removed the old ones and replaced them with the new; it may have not been much, but it definitely helped with stopping the blood, "That's cut so deep…" He suddenly mentioned as he continued to wrap it up.
"I know…I can still feel my arm, but a few nerves have been cut, so I can't really feel some of the endings."
"Well, it's incredible that he didn't just take the entire thing…"
"I know…" She sighed, "That's what I was trying to prevent." She mentioned it so casually that it made Ling stop for a moment before finishing up the bandages.
"So…Would you mind telling me something?"
"Hmm?" Slightly drowsy from the amount of blood loss, the girl laid her head back against the pillows as she looked at Ling. But her face brightened when he leaned his face in close to her with his elbows propped up on the bed with a very seriously expression now.
Janelle gulped, and Ling watched as her throat moved up and down to it, than he concentrated on the girl's eyes for the answers he looked for, "I wish to know why you did what did. Why didn't you go with Edward like you were suppose to?" Janelle watched his mouth moved but it was as if the question came out slow.
She wasn't sure if she should tell him at first, since she felt guilty enough that she got Lan Fan hurt in the process of it. But she couldn't lie to him either. She turned her head away from his gaze, and looked down at her hands as she spoke, "I was trying to stop Wrath…"
"From what? You knew we were fighting, and you came to warn us about his eye. I'm a little surprised you decided to do it at that point in time, but none the less there was something more than just his ultimate eye, or the fact that he's a homunculus, but what were trying to prevent?" Janelle looked back him, and switched between his slightly opened eyes to see their dark blue color, they were almost black but when the lantern's light reflected in them, how could she resist to look away…
Her heart began to beat sporadically, and her face softened more when she found the strength to give the answer. She didn't know why she was finding it so hard to tell him, but than she realized what that feeling was…It was guilt again. She was afraid of what he would think he she hadn't have come to tell him about Wrath, or what would've happened if she just left it be.
Ling could see her struggle, and his expression softened even more with hers before he grabbed her hand with a comforting grip, it was almost earnestly, "Tell me Jan. Tell me what happened." Stupid voice of his! Why did he have to have such a tender and caring voice! It made her want to give in, and without resistance she did.
She sighed and rolled her eyes to the other side of the room not wanting to see him when she told him, "I knew what was going to happen…I knew that if I didn't stop Wrath-,"
"Wrath? You mean…So he is…" Jenny nodded and continued, "He would've gone after Lan Fan and she would've been the one you were carrying on your back. Lan Fan sacrifices her arm in order to make sure you both escaped. She risks her own arm to save you, and didn't want you to blame for not warning you ahead of time!" After she was done she was almost yelling and panicking all at once.
Ling wasn't sure whether to find it shocking or frightening but none the less he was baffled. He wasn't expecting that answer, and when he had regain himself, he asked carefully, "You knew she would loose her arm because of Bradley...So, you decided to sacrifice yourself in order to save her?"
"I guess…I didn't know what I was thinking…All I could think was I didn't want to be the reason I couldn't have prevented it. I was afraid that if I didn't warn you…that…You wouldn't have forgiven me for it…Well, I also couldn't just sit there and let it happen…Could I?" Getting that off her chest felt relieving, a little, but for some other reason or another, her tears consumed the corners of her eyes, and the muscles in her throat tightened from the thought of her betraying someone.
Why hadn't she warned them before all this? Or why didn't she just tell Ed and Al when they arrived? Some how she could've warned everyone, but she didn't. Why? This was all running through her head, swarming her guilt to only build on to her anguish.
And now as she raised her eyes to meet Ling's, it only confirmed to her that she had some how betrayed the other's trust. How could they forgive her for not preventing all of this from happening.
When she finally felt she couldn't control herself, she smiled at him to hide it all. All of it except her tears, she just couldn't stop those even if she tried, "I didn't know what to do Ling, I just figured that if I had change the course of the timeline something would go wrong, but the only thing I did was prove that I was the one who was wrong. I didn't want anything bad to happen to anyone. I believed I could change the events if I really wanted to and in the end I ended up saving a life. I saved a life!" She was sobbing softly at this point, not even and covered her face with her hands to hide away from the prince, who she didn't seemed to notice was just listening, and watching her with every tear that fell.
He frowned, but it wasn't out of hating her, or out of dislike, no. He was frowning because he hated to see a girl, "Janelle…"
"I know…I'm sorry…" She sniffled back and wiped her tears from her face, embarrassed by her sudden outburst of trivial emotions, at least she thought so, "I'm such a cry baby." She looked down at her hands and stared at them for a moment before she turned to the prince. He stared back with a similar feature of sadness, frowning and puzzled by everything that's happened. He was probably pondering the same thing. What now?
But before she could say the next not so best thing to say, Ling leaned over from his seat, and wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulder to pull her into him. He knew he couldn't hug her properly because of an injury, but being able to lean her into his shoulder was his own way of giving Jan his gratitude for her selfless act. It was obvious that she was torn apart by her actions, and it only made the girl feel as if she had no choice but the help them. She felt that she wasn't being truly valiant, even though she really had already.
Silly thing was, she had made her choice the moment her conscience had spoken to heart and told her to do the right thing. She may have left Ed and Al behind, and she may have felt that she had to do it, but in acting on impulse she saved the life of his comrade, and that filled his own heart with "Thank you…" He finally whispered to her, never letting go even when he heard Janelle hitch at the semi-hug.
He could feel how stiff she was just by his touch, but instead of pulling away he held her a little tighter before he pulled away, smiling down at her when he sat back in his seat, and cupping her hands with his, "I believe that may be in your debt now for this. Because not only did you attempt to rescue someone you barely knew, you felt that it was important enough to kill yourself over it. It was a stupid plan, but you were brave for doing so. And I'm very grateful to you, Janelle." He laughed before suddenly heard a car from outside.
They both looked to the window, now distracted from their recent conversation to the rumbling car turning off just outside the door, "Who is it?"
"I…I think it's Ed and Al." Ling was already at the window, and looking down to see the two brother, and made with dark hair and a trench coat, and another older looking gentleman with a box in hand. He could only assume that one of those men were the doctor and sighed briefly, "That's good. They're finally here." Ling's face was full of relief when he saw them come up to the house, and then he turned to Janelle who was just watching him with curiosity, and worry, "Wait here alright? let me try talking to them."
"O-Okay. Where am I going to go?" What could he say he laughed and smiled softly to her, both of them coming to a stare down before he left her.
She couldn't believe it, but she as she laid back in the bed with time to herself, she felt her heart skip a beat when she thought back to the hug My body must be pretty out of it…I'm feel anxious for no reason She teased herself mentally before she heard a yell and a footsteps coming down the hall, towards her.
Then, the person stood in the door way. It was Edward, of course, and everyone one else excluding the girls came into the room just after the blonde; some seeming worried as they came to her side, "What happened to you!" His voice raised in a painc, making the girl flinch a little, "Where are the girls?" She suddenly asked absentmindedly. Also, trying to get off subject, but it was useless.
"Never mind about them, what happened?" Edward questioned mostly out of worry than anger she assumed. His voice had calmed a little, but he still had that cold firm grip in his tone that made her heart flutter with unsettled nerves, "Um, I-I…I kind of-,"
"She came to warn Lan Fan and I about one of the homunculus' abilities." Ling interrupted, making everyone look to him now in question."
"Yeah? Who? Gluttony?" Al asked.
"No. Apparently your Furher. King Bradley."
"What! That's crazy!" Roy who was in the room gasped surprised before looking to the girl, "And you warned him about this?"
"More or less…Yes sir." Was all she could reply blushing. Yep, she hadn't realized who was in the room really until Mustang had actually acknowledged her, and in doing so, he made her face flare up bashfully.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"Janelle…Um-, you know. I can't really remember my last name, but you can call me Jan, Jenny, or just Janelle either one works." She smiled and held out her hand, "By the way, it's a pleasure to finally meet you Mr. Flame Alchemist. Roy Mustang, right?"
"Yes. Are you a fan of my work?" He asked curious as he put out his hand. It was just out of response, but Janelle grabbed his hand and shook, but it only caused her body to shake, and wince, "Owe, crap wrong hand." She whined as she pulled back a little and sat back to rest her body.
"Oh, I'm so sorry-,"
"No, no, that was my fault I shouldn't have use that arm, but I did. Out of reflex. But, to your question before Roy…" She stopped and gave a nervous laugh, "You could say yes, maybe I am a bit of a fan for your work. But, I know more than just that…You could say I know a lot about you.
"Hmm?" Roy blinked as he looked to Ed, then back at Janelle who was rubbing her head, looked up at the ceiling, and she told them about her little adventures over to this universe, and her first couple of days here as much as she could, with little detail and without trying to confuse anyone, "So, does-, everything make sense?" She could only see the question marks bubbling over both the Doc's and the Flame Alchemist's head as they stared at the girl like she was crazy, and then at each other to make sure they both heard right.
Yep, it was official. They thought she was off her rocker, which only made her laugh and smile at them, "Sorry, but it's all kind of true. Wish I was insane in the membrane, but I don't know how it happened, and I still have no way of getting home. Not only that…" Slowly enough, her face turned calm again, and guilt ridden her face as she reached over her wound softly, "I'm useless. I want to help all of you in any way I can, but it'll be rough doing it with an injury like this. And for that I'm sorry."
"Ugh, stupid kid. Trying to get herself killed…I swear you young kids today are constantly getting yourselves into trouble." Of course, Doctor Knox blew it off as if he didn't hear anything and began to examine the girl's wound with a rough touch to make her hiss, "It's deep, but she'll be able to keep her arm. Count that as a blessing he didn't just take the whole thing off!"
"Mm-hmm." Was all she could say really to his harsh words. She knew he was no good at talking to people since the war, but in knowing that he cared enough to help her out, she was very thankful for that.
"Alright! I need all of you out of here! I can't work under these conditions!" He grumbled as he searched through his bag of supplies.
"Wait, is it alright if I have just one person in here? Um-, please?" She knew how this man was, so in asking politely, the Doctor couldn't really say much and grunted as he rolled his eyes and wipe a hand over his head, "Ugh, fine. But just one!"
"Mm-hmm. Thank you." Suddenly, an anonymous hand grabbed onto hers, and in response, Jan looked to see Lan Fan sitting beside her. The girl was a little surprised by the abrupt move, but seeing the woman grip her hand so tightly, and the comforting smile brought the girl to ease, "I'll help you. If you let me…" How could Jan say no? She felt a warmth wash over her and she smiled back with a nod of her head. Her smile grew even brighter when she gripped her hand back, "Sure."
Once everyone else had left the room, Ed who wore a grim expression had come up to her with his hands already deep in his pockets like his thoughts, and than he spoke as he looked everywhere else but the girl, "I know what you did was a stupid move to some people…But I can't really say that I wouldn't have done the same. So, on behalf of me at least, I'm glad you're alright…" With that he turned around and walked out of the room, "And thanks for leaving a john dear letter." At first, Janelle didn't understand what he meant, until a gleam of knowing filled her eyes, and she laughed a light chuckle to keep herself from hurting, "You're welcome, by the way."
Finally, everyone had left, including Ling, Roy and Al who were all talking just outside the doorway while the doctor began the couple hours of stitching, "I don't have an anesthetics, so you'll just have to bare the pain. Here, you can bite on this."
Oh great…
"Mm-hm." Agreeing, she took the cotton gauze between her teeth, and with a short frightened look to Lan Fan, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath as Knox began to apply the disinfectant.
Then he pulled out a thick needle and some black thread, "I'm starting now." He warned.
Her hand grasped Lan Fan's tighter than ever when he finally shoved the needle through her skin, and pushed it through the other side. She gasped before a scream rumbled through her throat, "I'm use to dead corpses so please excuse my roughness." Grunting to the pinching feeling, Janelle only nodded and bit down on the fabric harder in her mouth when he pushed it in again, this time a little harder to make her actually hold back this one and press her head into the bed board behind her.
From outside the door, it only made the others cringe and listen in to her cries, and whimpers. After she would grunt or scream they could hear the gasping pants of exhaustion slipping between the cotton, and they all could feel her pain.
Ling, and Lan Fan especially with their ability of sensing Chi. Ling being on the other side of the door though was painful, he could sense everything coming from the girl, and with each breath she took it only made Ling frown more, "Janelle…"
"Ling. It's alright, this wasn't your-,"
"No. It might've not been my fault but I sure as hell wish I could've prevented this, like she did for me." He replied only to be silent again and stiffen his body when his fist balled tightly. He only wish he could do something to help her. Anything…
Than a hand suddenly reached out in front of him, "I never got a chance to thank you, Ling Yao. I've heard about you helping out with the Maria Ross case; I'm glad you and your people were there to help us when they did."
"Oh yes, not a problem at all. It's a pleasure. I'm just glad you were able to provide that doctor for us. I'm sure she's grateful to you." He replied shaking the man's hand before Ling pulled back and bowed to the Flame Alchemist, "Allow me to introduce myself properly, since it's only fair. Ling Yao, twelfth son of the Emperor of Xing."
"Wow, what a day huh? New girl in town, the homunculi, and a prince from Xing, it's seems the day just keeps getting better and better." Just then, Roy turned his lantern to Gluttony, "Also, thanks for this one as well. I'm sure it wasn't easy getting him the way you did."
"Heh, don't mention it." Ling smiled to Roy and heard the Elrics, Lan Fan, and Doctor Knox all pile out of the room to see what they had been looking at, "Is she alright?" Ling asked crossing his arms.
"Yeah. She's resting now….What the hell is that?" Knox asked curious to the confined blob in the empty living room.
"A homunculus named Gluttony." Roy answered, "Apparently, these guys have connections to a portion of the military senior staff." The doctor was shocked but it only got worse as the prince looked to Roy.
"Far from it." Ling looked to the others and the others looked back at him before Edward made a face of acknowledgement, "That's right….King Bradley."
"Yeah. He's slightly different from Gluttony, he doesn't have the same inhuman presence as him, which means a part of him is still human." Ling added looking to Ed and Al.
"Wait, if the Furher is a homunculus, how does he have a son? We read that homunculi have no reproductive organs!" Al intervened only to have Knox explain that easily, "No, he's not blood related. Selim Bradley was actually adopted."
Everyone could only imagine if the boy knew or not, but while the other's minds pondered elsewhere, Roy had other plans, "Monster or human either way, this'll make it a lot easier to pull that Bradley out of his seat. First, we should attempt to get some information out this one in the mean time, and take his philosopher stone too. It could be useful for treating one of my men." Ling didn't like the sound of that.
His men might've needed help, but Janelle was to come first for even giving them the chance to capture the homunculus, and prevent Lan Fan from loosing her arm. This girl went through so much already, and doing that would be just careless, "No way, I can't let you do that just yet. Not after Jan nearly lost her life because of it. Because of all this. He's coming back to Xing with us!"
"Hey wait a minute!" Edward now interject, "We've been trying to get our original bodies back for years! There's no way I'm letting you take him!"
"That's right Ling! You're an illegal alien, don't you think it'd be dangerous to be roaming around the country with him!"
"No! I don't!" He retorted.
It all just got worse from there everyone was arguing, and pushing and pulling at each other, even Dr. Knox had finally had enough and sighed loudly, "Alright I can't keep up with all this crap anymore! You're on your own Mustang! I'm going home!" While the others were arguing they hadn't seemed to notice Gluttony's change of behavior to the sound of Roy's last name.
Over and over again he repeated it, and from the back of the room where Janelle laid, she suddenly began to hear it herself, and shot her eyes open, sitting from the bed so abruptly the sound of the sheets had gotten Lan Fan's attention from the door way.
She looked back to the girl to see Jenny's face turn a ghostly white as she began to look around the room, almost in a panic, "Janelle? Are you-,"
"RUN!" She exclaimed frantically jumping out of the bed and too riled up to feel her own shoulder throbbing from the movements she made.
"What?"
"Run! Out the windows now!" Everyone else looked towards the room, but quickly changed their attention to Gluttony once again when he began to start a riot.
He tightened his muscles, and slowly began to stretch the wire tying him up, until his expanded skin lifted him up off the ground and aimed his belly at the others. Everyone froze, and watched Gluttony's belly opened into a large widen eye ball…
It glowed brightly, and the only sound being heard was Jan's voice yelling for everyone to still run…
She almost felt like they were muted from the overwhelming fright, and the quick feel of something pulling her out the shut bedroom window.
She heard glass break, and the impale of her body hitting the ground but she herself felt numbed to the bone as she looked around with her eyes. Through blurred vision she could see bits of the house fall like pieces of confetti around her, and through her clogged ears, she could faintly hear someone calling out her name as they picked up her limb body from the grass.
"Janelle!" There was no answer from her, but from what Ling could tell she was still alive just very out of it as he carried her against his body tightly to see the cabin that once stood nearly fall into rubble when Gluttony shot another attack, this time at Hawkeye when she tried to run through the hole in the house and see what the commotion was all about.
But it was plainly obvious was what happening, "He's swallowing everything up around him…He truly is a monster."
When Gluttony stood from his spot, he was no longer tied up, but free of his restraints. Hawkeye attempted to take out a caliber, but before she could Roy, Knox and Al had popped out from some fall rubble in time to stop her from shooting, "Don't do it Liutenant, don't provoke him! He's only after me!" Gluttony quickly turned in the Flame Alchemist's direction, and shot yet another blow of nothingness at the man, and his friends to make another new hole in the area as the others sat by and watched the new horrors before them.
Even Edward himself was more appalled than anything staring at Gluttony with his opened belly staring at back.
"We'll have no choice but to bring him down." Roy quickly changed out a pair of gloves he had hidden in his back pockets.
"But we already went through a lot of trouble to capture him!" Al retorted.
"Our first priority is to survive, besides he knows our names and faces. There's no reason for us to take him back alive now!" With a snap of the Flame's fingers, Roy attack with one of his famous blows, but when it had come near the blob, Gluttony merely ate his flames leaving the others flabbergasted on what they just witnessed.
"He ate…The flames…?"
"You're useless!" Ed exclaimed before another one of Gluttony's attacks got to them. The three, Roy, Ed, and Al went running off into the forest quickly to loose the homunculus as best as they could, hoping that what ever they could do was have Gluttony loose their scent in all the chaos.
Back at the cabin, Ling had sat Janelle in the back of Dr. Knox's car to let her regain a little of her strength as she drank from one of Knox's water bottles.
Hey, she was dehydrated what're you going to do?
Just then, Ling had lifted his head, to the sky, and froze when he looked to the far off bushes at something. "Are you okay?" Janelle asked softly to get the prince attention, and not even a moment longer the feeling was gone like that.
It left him heavy minded, but Ling remembered to keep his guard up as he gave the girl a reassuring smile, "He asked worriedly only to have her nod, "Yes, don't worry about me. Just worry about yourself."
"Okay. I'll try…" Ling could see that Jan was discouraged by something, and while he had the time, he jumped into the back with her and scooted close to her, "Still a little shakin up?" He asked.
"No…I just saw the look on your face…You felt it didn't you?" She asked back knowing that from before he had sense another homunculus near by. She saw this part play out in her head a million times and now that it was happening it was just that much more frightening to know that Envy of all people were going to notice her.
What could he say though, Janelle was right and he looked back outside of the car to see if he had sensed anything like before, but it felt as if it had vanished off into the forest.
Again Ling looked to Jenny, and focused his eyes on her, "How did you know…"
"I've read it." She said simply and smiled as much as she could before she gave the prince a more seriously look, "When you leave…I'm coming with you."
"What! No you're not! Not like this." He mumbled under his breath before attempting to fix the side of her bandages, but she stopped him, "I need to, to make sure nothing happens. I told myself that if it were you guys in this position you would do anything to make sure I was okay. So what makes you think I won't do the same?"
"That's not the point Janelle, you're hurt and with Gluttony on a rampage-,"
"I know what happens if he catches me, he'll swallow me, so what? I know where it leads."
"What?"
"Mm-hmm. He was a failed portal, so it leads to some sort of limbo between reality and truth. I'm not sure what that all means completely, but Ed would have a better idea."
"Wow…you really blow my mind sometimes. You haven't even study the stuff and already you're a pro." He laughed softly.
"What? No, I just know from what I've read and seen. It's kind of interesting." She gave a small nervous smile and adjusted herself up against the seat with a soft easy exhale. Ling could only assume it was from the obvious state she was in. And for some reason, even though he didn't know Janelle as well as he felt he should, he wondered why he had these intendancies to stare…
Then his thoughts were shut off by Doctor Knox's looking back and the prince with irritated look, "Are you coming are what!"
"No, I have to stay behind."
"Damn it, how the hell did I get dragged into a battle like this! Dying doesn't sound all that good to me…" The gruff comment could only make Ling laugh a little. He was right about one thing. Dying didn't sound all that great, but he wasn't on planning to.
He had to stay focus on the situation at hand. So, he looked to Jan, and gripped her hand with a soft, yet tight squeeze, "You get well…You hear me? Don't do anymore stunts like that while I'm gone..." His voice was stern but it spoke with a tenderness, like his words that were merely sincere, and true to get Jenny to smile back with her cheeks heated from the sight of him.
His face was filled with an emotion that Janelle hadn't seen in a long, long time.
None in her world had shown it to her, at least of what she could remember, and it was not a distant memory to her. It came back to her in a flash back, and she could only squeeze his hand more as she felt the tingling of sorrow flowing through her soul. The sudden smile she had disappeared, and a more softer one was in its place.
One of the same sincerity that Ling had shown her farther than anyone else in her life time had shown her. Maybe that's why she felt so miserable, why she felt so distant in heart and soul. Before she came here, she felt that no one cared for her.
Everyone she had known was in some sort of betrayal to her, but then she came here, found people that did truly care. About everyone, not just their own. And not just out for themselves. Something all of them, Ed, Al, Winry, Ling, and even Lan Fan had shown her that she was never alone.
They showed her a friendship, unlike any she had seen.
For that, she was truly grateful to all of them.
Somewhere along the lines, her heart fluttered and jumped when she squeezed his back, and nodded, "I will. Thank you, Ling. You really are a good man-, you know-, for saving me." Janelle tried to say the right thing, but for some reason it didn't matter to Ling, his smile only widen as his eyes softly opened to Jan.
"Hm, Anytime." He replied.
His dark, dark blue eyes had shown to be almost black to her as she stated into them, but she felt is she gazed any longer, her cheeks would surely give her away.
But luckily, before that could happen the others had finally made it back to the car, "You're okay!" Janelle exclaimed happily.
"Yeah, but our decoy will only hold off Gluttony for long." Ed replied, when suddnely a loud scream came from the brush of the forest, far off in the distance that only made Jan fall pale, "Looks like he found the dummy." She said nervously.
"He doesn't sound too happy about it either." Al added to get his eldest brother to agree with him. It was time.
"Alright, Janelle, you'll be heading out with Doctor Knox, Lan Fan you go with her to make sure she gets there safely."
"Right."
Then Ling moved out of the way, and Roy was put in his place when he slumped into the seat next to Janelle, with an already active wound from a previous battle with Lust, "Are you saying I should just run away from this fight!"
"You'll get in the way!" Ed screamed.
"Yeah, leave!" Al announced. Now that Roy was out numbered, he felt even more useless as he sat back with blue streaks covering his face. It made Janelle giggle a little, and lift up her hand as much as she could to pat the Colonel's back, "Don't worry Roy, I feel useless too."
"Just do your job, Colonel! With a homunculus running the country we can't just brush that aside now can we?" Yes, Mustang had completely forgotten about that. And Hawkeye had little time to hear about it before the doctor had had enough of this, and turned on the car.
"We can discuss the rest of this later! Right now we need to get out of here! I take it the rest of you are staying?" He asked only to get the three boys to nod at one another.
"Yeah, we still have some unfinished business with Gluttony, besides, we're the ones that came up with this plan. We have to see it to the bitter end." With that Ed smirked as he looked to Roy, "Thanks for lending us a hand. You too Janelle, but from now on you get better! Right?"
"Right…" She grumbled in the back laying her head back against the seat now.
"Edward…" A click was heard when the blonde turned his head to Riza, and found that she held a gun in her hand to him, handle out, "Take this, you know how to use it, right?" He had turned pale from the sight of it, almost unsure on whether or not to take it, but Riza insisted, "It's to protect your lives with…Nothing more." She assured.
Another hesitating look overwhelmed the strong blonde, Janelle could see that he was conflicting over what had happened with Winry, and she smiled knowingly before he took a firm grasp of the gun's handle and placed it between his back and his belt, before two loud sounds of Gluttony's belly engulfing imploded in the forest.
"Take care of the girl's for me." Was the last thing Ling had said to the others before he, and the Elric's took off in the direction of Gluttony, disappearing into the forest.
"W-Wait, Ling!" Janelle tried to call to him, but it was already too late, the boy's were fast, and by the time she had called his name again, they were gone. …Be careful…All of you…
She had no choice she sat back in her seat knowing it would be impossible to scream after them, and she was in no position to yell anymore than she had to. "Damn those brats! It's the type like that, that end up dead!" Knox adjusted the stick, and with a press of his foot they were all out of there. No words were spoken for a good portion of the ride, considering it had been a long day, everyone was just tired, and ready to call it a day.
But, there was still more that Roy hadn't gotten to know about this mysterious girl Janelle. As he stared at his old wound, and back at Janelle's solemn expression staring out the window, he sat up in his seat, and sighed to attempt a conversation with the girl, "So, Janelle. Do you have anyone around here you know?"
"No. Just the boys, Lan Fan, and Ling for now. I know a few others, but none of them know me."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I get to say I'm the first girl to ever jump into a parallel universe, I guess. It's been a pretty eventful day, considering."
"Yeah, you got that right." He laughed lightly, "How old are you?"
"15. I'll be 16 next month."
"Oh, well then happy birthday." He chimed.
"Thanks." She smiled back. Than suddenly stopped when a pondering look overtook her features.
"What is it?"
"I don't know, I have a feeling that I'm forgetting something. Like…I feel baron." She trailed off as she shoved her hands in her pant pockets the best way she could without hurting herself. But she struggled, grunting when she finally grabbed…Nothing.
Janelle sighed sadly, and abruptly gasped out of realization, startling everyone in the car, "Jeez! Could you not do that! Nearly gave me a heart attack!" The doctor nearly skidded off the road from the jump, but steadied the car as they hit pavement and entered into the city. "S-sorry, but Ling had my bag! He hid it somewhere so I didn't have to lug it around with me!"
"That's right. The young lord told me he had hid it behind a trash bid in an alley near the inn." Lan Fan said.
"Do you think you could get it! That bag has the only memories I had from my world! I can't remember much of any of it and helps me remember! And my clothes! I have no clothes!" The girl was beginning to panic thinking about all the things she had in there. Everything! Nearly everything she needed and owned was in that bag, and she needed to get it back some how.
"Okay, okay calm down, we'll find it. I'm sure it close by. Knox, do you think we could-,"
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! We're going! We're going! Damn it, I just want to go home…" With a sharp turn into the city, the others began to look around for the inn, until they came to a familiar looking building.
It wasn't the inn, but it was a couple blocks from where Lan Fan had pointed it out, and with in no time the alley way was found, "There!" The bodyguard cried out pointing to the garbage cans piled on one another.
Riza jumped out to help in the search and with little effort the two girls had found the bag, and threw it into the back as fast as they could before Knox sped of again down the street, "Thanks guys, you really didn't have to do this…But you did, and I'm glad."
"Well, like you said you have no clothes." The girls laughed, and once again the car fell silent.
Roy chuckled along with them, but seemed to reach into his pocket to find that device he had found with the Elric's back in that alley the girl was suppose to be waiting for them.
It was hers, "Here." Without thinking, he handed it to Janelle.
At first she seemed to wonder what it was, but as she grabbed it she smiled brightly, "So, you found my message?"
"How else were we able to find you?"
"Good point. Thanks for keeping it." She opened it with a flick of her thumb and opened it to find the screen had been crushed, "Crap…It's busted now. How am I going to explain that to my mom?" She laughed trying not to think about the fact she couldn't remember her own mother's face. She shook her head, and flip the phone closed to place it into the back her pocket.
"What is that?" Hawkeye asked to everyone's curiosity.
"Hmm? It's a phone."
"You're kidding? That little thing?"
"Heh, yep. In my world, our phones when from telephone poles, to big bulky phones, to these things. We still have phones for homes, but these are portable."
"Wow, so your world is like the future?"
"Ha! Sort of, I'm sure it'll be different here but in another decade or so, I wouldn't be surprised. Our worlds are not so different, just in different time periods."
"Huh. I can see why the boys were so fond you now…You're just full of surprises aren't you?"
"Yep!" She grinned brightly.
By dark, Janelle had almost fallen asleep in the car, they had all come to a complete stop. Just from where they were they could see the Doctor's house, and with little help, Janelle was placed safely into a bed, with her bag just off to the side so she could reach it.
"I have some rooms my wife and kids use to sleep in, but if I have on too many lights the neighbors will get suspicious, so you'll have to sleep in my bed."
"Oh, you didn't have to do that, I could've just slept in the dark, I'm pretty tired as it is."
"Yeah well, I need to change your bandages don't I. Being in the sewers, nearly bleeding to death! What were you thinking!"
"Helping?" She cringed only to feel him softly pull the old bandages off to replace them with appropriate ones. And since they were at his own home, Knox was able to give the girl something to numb the pain.
"Well you ain't helping anybody by hurting yourself. You should be more careful, especially in all this mess…There, now, don't move too much for the next couple of days, and don't forget to keep it clean when shower. Keep doing that and you should be able to function better within a couple weeks."
"Okay. Thank you so much Doctor. I really do appreciate. Really, I do." She smiled up at the doctor, seeing he was more than uncomfortable with her sincerity, then again he wasn't use to situations dealing with live people, and Janelle understood that when he turned around to leave.
"Now that I'm done I'll leave you to yourself."
"Sure. No problem." He closed the door behind him.
What could she say, Janelle was relieved to have a minute to herself and sighed as she laid back against the bed to stare up at the ceiling.
She really didn't know what to make of anything right now, all she knew was she was injured and needed to rest. She could feel her body beginning to shut down on her by the second, and with little to no resistance, the girl's eyes grew heavier and heavier until her head slumped to the side and her breathing became so soft it was unheard. All she could do was sleep…And dream…Of people…
People from her world. Ones of different faces, but the same blood red and black shadows hanging over them as they began to consume Janelle into a nightmare of pain…
A woman with flowing dark brown hair, and eyes of a pale green looked away from Janelle as she began to walk forward into a slit of darkness before her. She barely got a look at the face, but recognized the voice as if she had known it all her life, "Mom…?" She called out quietly, almost as if she couldn't speak.
The woman didn't turn, but kept walking forward. Jan tried to towards her, but like all her dreams, she was always too slow to catch up. She never caught the people she ran after, and each time it brought a new person walking into the darkness, until she had forgot them altogether, "Please! Don't leave…Don't leave me! Wait! Here! Turn around! Hello!" She tried harder and harder to scream, but she knew it was already too late. The woman disappeared into the darkness, leaving the girl behind to fall to her knees, "MOM!" She began to cry for no reason, feeling overwhelmed with confusion and loss.
She felt abandoned by her own mother. Why? Her mother wouldn't leave her like that would she?
Before anything could make sense, another voice called out to her…
It was man's voice, and it was familiar as he began to talk. It was all in whispers, but she could tell it was someone she knew. Someone she cared deeply for. It was a relief off her chest, but she could only wonder why it was coming from the darkness her 'mother' had walked right into.
Was this the other side? Was her world calling back to her?
Or was it…Death?
She could be sure, she was conflicted and scared and didn't know what to do.
Then, she took a step forward…
And then another.
The darkness came closer with every step until finally she stood just off the edge staring deep into the hole…
Suddenly, she felt hands push her from behind, and she began to fall deep into the darkness with her scream filling her lungs as she pummeled down into the nothingness…
Then…She woke up in fright, falling to the floor with a thud and extreme pain burning through her body, "NNNGHHAHH!" Her body cringed until her frame curled into the fetal position and shook violently from the blow to the hardwood floor.
From outside the door, everyone had heard the noise, and rushed in alert to see the girl on the floor panting and gritting her teeth. She could barely move more than ever now, not from that fall, "Janelle!"
"Acrimony!" Knox, and Lan Fan both helped Janelle back into the bed the best way they could, watching as she attempted to breath, "What happened!"
"Dream…Bad dream…It…I…" She didn't even know what to say, she curled up more and covered her face to hide it from the rest, "I can't stand it!"
"It's okay, just take easy. Luckily your wound didn't reopen, but I'm sure the pain is immense."
"Mm-hmm." Janelle nodded, trying hard to keep a strong face, but it was obvious from where Lan Fan was sitting the girl was on the verge of breaking, "Do you want me to stay in here with you?"
"Please…I don't-, I can't be alone." There was nothing left to say, Lan Fan stayed where she was, and pressed her hand into the girl's leg to show some sign of comfort to her. It seemed like an eternity for her to fall back to sleep in peace, but by the time she did, Lan Fan had moved into a chair staring down the girl with a skeptical look on her face.
"How's she doing?" The doctor had come back from making dinner for them.
"She asleep."
"Finally. I think this whole mess has got us all worked up." Lan Fan agreed, but didn't say anything. She was too busy wondering what the girl had dreamt that made her fall out of bed like that, but for now while the girl slept it only became a mystery.
"Here. It's not much but it'll hold ya through the night." The doctor placed a bowl of chicken and dumplings in the girl's line of sight, and the other bowl on the night stand for Jan when she would awaken again.
"Thank you, sir. You didn't have to do this."
"Well…I have no choice in the matter now do I? Once she can move around on her own though you guys need to go before anyone notices."
"Yes, of course." Lan Fan was already aware, and as she dipped into the soup, she began to wonder how her Lord was doing. She could only hope he was still alive. My Lord I wish I could've gone with you, but I know you're alive. I can sense you…So, it's safe to say you don't need me at the moment. I just wish I could help… Suddenly, she looked to the girl slumbering soundlessly now, and figured that in her own little way, she was helping him.
Lan Fan had noticed the first time Ling had met Janelle, he had an infatuation with her, not just by her knowledge of her world, but one that showed some signs of liking the girl. She wasn't sure if that was good or not. Who was she to judge?
In any case, she was doing her part helping his friend. Then she knew…in a way, Janelle and her had too become friends, all the same. That made her decision rest, and her lips curl into a small smile before she began to finish off the rest of the soup.
It was delicious soup at that. Better now that she was sharing it with a friend…
Even if her friend was unconscious at the moment, she sure did enjoy the company.
Next- Chapter VI: Patience is a Virtue
During the night, Janelle finds herself dreaming of Ed and Ling passing through the gate.
When she comes to the reality of what she had just dreamt about, she jumps out the window into the night to fall right in the homunculi's hands.
Okay, I know what you're thinking...That ended horribly, but I have alot of ideas that I need to get off my chest before I forget about them again, this was just mostly filler to get through the next part. Next, Janelle has her first encounters! YAY! Bye Bye! :D
