I open my eyes a little, and am greeted by sunlight flooding into them, making them hurt for a few minutes. Once my eyes got used to the light, I sit up in the bed and look around at my surroundings. I'm in a rustic feeling room that had two beds in it and a window along the side, as well as a couch against the wall. I'm obviously in an inn room, but I have no idea how I got here.
"You fell asleep on the boat on our way back." I look over and see Alphonse sitting on the other bed, looking at me.
I guess that explains a few things. Alphonse probably carried me over to the inn that he mentioned while we were on the boat. I move to a sitting position on the side of the bed, and I ponder on what had happened last night.
That cave, the relics, and moon, the floating bubbles, the water. It seemed like they were all related to each other in some way, but it didn't seem to make sense how, no matter how I thought about it. Especially once I add in how I felt after the whole bubble thing, like how I felt while I was swimming through that tunnel. Nothing added up with each other, and it all seemed so confusing.
"Are you ok?" Alphonse asks with concern, breaking my thoughts.
I decide that it's probably time for me to get up. "Yea, I'm fine. I'm just going to go have a shower before we leave for that lead." I tell him, and he nods.
I walk towards the bathroom, my head still slightly spinning from what happened last night. I walk in close the door, and decide to switch my thought process away from what happened for a moment. But I first get my clothes off, turn on the shower and step into it. The water feels amazing against my skin, and I find myself more able to think.
The lead. That sounded like a good thing to think about. To be fair, I think that we've already stayed here way too long, along with missing that early morning train, and me kind of getting lost and into that whole situation that still didn't make any sense. I very quickly have a hard time keeping my thoughts on the lead, as they keep going back to what happened last night one way or another. I'm probably just in a small state of shock.
Suddenly, I feel the same energy as I did last night flow through my body, but this time at a stronger force. Golden bubbles start levitating around me, and suddenly I see my entire body turn into a softly glowing blue water. My entire body goes numb, and I have zero idea of what's going on. All the feelings suddenly disappear, and I find myself just standing there, under the shower, feeling incredibly strange. Almost not human, but human at the same time.
I start wobbling around back and forth, losing my balance as I suddenly fall over, almost crashing face first into the floor. I try to get back up, but my legs don't respond the way that I want them to what so ever. I can't split them apart; I can't move then the way I want to move them. I use my arms to get my chest off of the ground. I wonder what the hell is going on. I make an attempt at rolling over onto my back, and once I actually manage to, I look down at my legs and stare in shock.
Or, what should be my legs. Instead of legs, was a tail. A fish tail. Scales and fin included. The tail is an orange like gold colour, and it is definitely longer than my legs were. The fin at the bottom pressed against the wall, to throw that there. The upper half of my body was completely normal. Well, as far as I knew at least.
I hear a knock at the door. "Brother, are you ok in there?"
Oh shit. I can't exactly let him see me like this, he'll probably think I'm a chimera. I mean, I might be one, but I don't think Chimeras randomly turn into stuff like this.
"I'm fine." I say, and I hear the metal footsteps as Alphonse walks away.
Reaching up as far as I can, I turn off the shower, and I lay there, not knowing what to do. Quickly becoming bored, I randomly decide to grab a towel and start drying myself off. I'm not too sure what it would do though, considering that I'm suddenly part fish….
Drying myself off for a few minutes, I suddenly see myself turn into the same glowing blue water again, and I notice that I'm completely normal. And oddly enough completely dry. I quickly get up, and throw my clothes on, my mind even more cluttered and swirling with thoughts. I have absolutely no idea about what's going on, let alone what's happened to me. Was that a onetime thing? Or is that going to keep happening? What's going on?
I exit the bathroom, so lost in thought that I almost crash into Alphonse. "Sorry Al." I mutter, only half of me really paying attention to the situation.
"Are you ok? You seem out of it." He sounds concerned.
I look at him. "I'm fine, just thinking about something."
Alphonse doesn't seem to question it, but still seems concerned as he reaches for a grocery bag nearby, and pulls out a sandwich. "You should at least eat something, maybe that will help." He passes me the sandwich.
I gratefully take the sandwich and start eating it. It does help soothe my hunger, and I am thinking a bit more clearly than I was before. I ponder on what had happened to me in the bathroom, which honestly just made everything that much more confusing. Alphonse breaks my thoughts again.
"Oh yea, I almost forgot to tell you. Apparently, something happened at the station last night, and they're not letting anyone get on or off of the train until it's fixed or something." He explains.
I frown. "How long until we can go?"
Alphonse ponders on my question for a moment. "I don't think until at least tomorrow."
I let out a sigh in annoyance, if only I hadn't gotten lost and fallen down that hole, we would've already been on our way to that lead, and not stuck here, not being able to do anything towards getting our bodies back. But instead, we're probably going to end up just lounging around in this damn inn room, doing nothing but worrying that our lead will disappear.
Alphonse turns towards the door. "I'm going out to grab some stuff we might need. You wanna come?"
I look over at Alphonse. "Nah, I'll stay here. I'm still tired from last night." I say as I sit on one of the beds.
Alphonse nods in acknowledgment and leaves the room, leaving me alone, with pretty much nothing to do but think about what's going on. The cavern with the artifacts, the pool of water that seemed to react to the moonlight, me being perfectly fine swimming through that tunnel and to the boat that Alphonse was on (I'm surprised he hasn't asked me about it yet), and now me gaining a fish tail instead of legs in the shower. Nothing added up or made sense, but it all seemed to be connected somehow. Although I couldn't see anyway it could all be connected. Maybe, I was hallucinating? Maybe something was in the water that made me hallucinate? It probably wouldn't explain the swimming through the tunnel, but maybe the bubbling in the pool and the tail. I guess there's only one way to find out.
I walk over to the bathroom, pick up a glass that sat on the counter, and filled it with water. Taking a deep breath, I poured the water onto my arm, almost accidentally pouring it all, the water getting spilled all over my legs and feet as well. I stand there for about 10 seconds, and nothing seems to happen. So, I guess it was just a hallucination. I sigh in relief and walk out of the bathroom, going to grab dry clothes before drying the bathroom floor.
Everything seems to happen really fast, and I suddenly feel the energy again, and I turn into the glowing water, and then I fall onto my back, the impact knocking the air out of me. Sitting up, I stare at my lower half; the tail is back. As I stare at it in shock, I start to really notice what everything feels like. It doesn't feel like my legs have been fused together, which would probably be what I would've expected it to feel like. It just feels like my legs are nonexistent, and that I just have a long limb coming off from my lower half instead. The weirdest part of it all would probably be the bottom fin, as I can completely feel it; its every movement against the floor, even the coolness of the floor against it. The upper half of my body feels completely normal, other that I may or may not feel like I'm stronger somehow. My hair is also down from its usual braid, falling along my back, and onto my shoulders.
I cautiously reach out my left hand, and touch the tail. It feels smooth for the most part, I can feel the edges of the scales, but the scales themselves are smooth, and debatably slightly slimy. The scales feel cool against my skin, and my hand running against my tail feels oddly pleasant, and maybe a bit more natural then I would prefer. My hand goes up to my head as I ruffle my hair in thought, but I find myself left with another surprise. My hair in incredibly soft, and not knotted at all. I can't help but fiddle and play with it for a few minutes.
I take a look at the bottom fin again, wondering what that would feel like. How I would get the fin over to where I could reach it is the other question. Could I move it? Most animals move their tails. So... could I move mine? I focus and make an attempt to move my tail, but nothing seems to happen, and I just kind of sit there for a moment, quickly giving up.
I start freaking out. Although I'm probably hallucinating, It's still really creepy. As far as I know, I can't get up, and if I am hallucinating, I have no idea how I would explain this to Alphonse. In an attempt to calm myself down, I start looking around the room, reminding myself of my surroundings.
2 beds, 1 dresser, 2 windows, 4 places to sit, 4 photos...
Wait. I've read books about hallucination, and I'm pretty sure it said that counting things is a lot harder when your hallucinating. My gut is telling me that everything I'm seeing is completely real, and I have no idea why. In my panic, I quicks grab a book that was for some reason thrown on the floor and open it, hoping that the pages aren't in order. But they are.
Oh shit.
I start breathing heavily, and the world starts to spin around me. What is going on? I begin to feel weaker, and it's not long before I can't hold myself up anymore. Why is this happening to me? Black dots begin to cover my vision, and I'm freaking out, not wanting to pass out, scared that Alphonse would see me like this.
The entire world suddenly goes dark.
"Brother... Brother please, wake up..." I hear Alphonse almost cry from beside me, sounding scared.
I hear someone put their hand on Alphonse's shoulder. "Calm down Alphonse. I'm sure he'll be fine." Oh great. When did that bastard get here? And why is he here?
I'm surprisingly more comfortable then I thought I would be, at least to the point where I'm pretty sure I'm off of the floor. My head hurts, like I hit it off of something. The air smells vaguely of medication, and I have a feeling that I'm no longer in the inn room, but in a hospital. I slowly open my eyes, and judging by the look of the room, my suspicions of being in a hospital room have been confirmed.
I look over at Alphonse. "I'm fine." I just manage to say this. It feels like my voice of stuck in my throat and it comes out kind of scratchy.
Alphonse look up and at me, and I can tell he's happy, and relieved. Colonel Sarcasm Bastard also looks at me, but he's a little more stern.
"What the hell were you doing last night? I rush over because Alphonse told me that you were bleeding and passed out on the floor, and then he tells me that you got lost on that island!" He's annoyed but he sounds concerned at the same time.
I try to think back to what I last remember, except it's kind of fuzzy, and I can't help but still wonder and think that it was all a hallucination. But why was I bleeding? I move my left arm to try and sit up, and a gash catches my eye. I take a closer look, and see a shallow gash in my arm, and I can't figure out when I got it. I go back to trying to sit up, and pain shoots through my left arm, and I look at it and see that the gash has been reopened, blood seeping out. I let out a sigh in annoyance.
Mustang for some reason reaches over, and grabs my arm, and pulls it towards him, and looks closely at the gash, the look on his face becoming more and more surprised by the second. He looks completely shocked.
"Fullmetal..." He trails off, as if he doesn't know what to say. "When did your blood get sparkly?" The minute he says this, Alphonse leans over, looking at my arm in surprise as well.
I pull my arm away from them. "What the hell are you talking abou..." I trail off as I look at my arm and I realize that they're right. The blood seeping out from the gash is sparkly, looking like it's been mixed in with a tub of glitter. "How...?" I mutter half to myself.
"Are you sure you just got lost and fell?" Alphonse says, seeming to be trying to figure out what's going on.
I nod in reply, trying to wrap my head around everything myself. I really don't think any of this is a hallucination anymore, but I have no idea how it could happen. I don't even thing a chemical reaction could result into something like this. And now Mustang and Alphonse seeing it as well, almost confirms this whole thing as a reality, and not just some hallucination or something.
Mustang sighs. "I would get someone to take a look at you to find out what's wrong, but there's the chance that you might be sent to a lab." A shiver runs down my spine at that thought. Not something I'd like to get even close to happening.
"We can try to figure it out!" Alphonse says enthusiastically.
Mustang gets up from his spot. "I should head back to Central and report that everything is ok." He then looks at me. "No need to report on the relics if you haven't found them. Don't bother continuing to look. Get your rest, and come straight to me at my office, I'll help you with your lead from there." He pauses for a moment, but then continues. "Edward... If you discover anything, tell us ok?" He doesn't wait for my response, as he turns around and walks out of the room.
"He actually convinced them to let him come here by the train once I told him you were hurt." Alphonse says quietly one the Colonel was out of the room.
I look at him. "Did you have to tell him?" I ask. "We could've figured this all out on our own."
Alphonse pauses for a moment, seeming tense. "I called him because the doctors told me that you might not live..." I hear his armor shake a little. "I thought you were attacked.."
I put my hand on his shoulder. "I don't think I was attacked. And come on Al. You know I wouldn't die that easily!" I tell him reassuringly.
He looks at me. "I know, but you never know when a doctor says it, you know?"
I know where he's coming from, but I can't really think of anything to say other then, "I'm sorry..."
We stay silent for a while, but before I know it, a doctor comes in and puts a bandage on my arm, and I'm discharged from the hospital. We both head back to the inn, not saying anything to each other, Alphonse breaking the silence when we get back to the room. "So, how did you get that gash on your arm?"
I stop in my tracks. How did I get that gash? It wasn't there before I passed out, and I don't think I was doing anything, or near anything I would cause that sort of thing. I respond, my voice kind of shaky. "I don't know..." I feel tense.
"You don't know?" I can tell that Alphonse is surprised.
I shake I head. "All I remember is passing out." With a fish tail... Did he see it? Or did I turn back by the time he walked into the room? Was the fishtail thing even real? Or was it fake? Something created by my imagination? A hallucination? A dream? No, the book proved the dream wrong, and how easily I could count stuff in the room suggested that I wasn't hallucinating... And with the sparkly blood... is that connected to the tail? That's probably not a hallucination, both Alphonse and Mustang saw it in the hospital room. My head starts to get fuzzy again, and my vision begins to spin. I begin to lose my balance, and just as I start to fall over, I feel myself getting caught by someone.
I look up and see Alphonse holding me on an angle, looking down at me. "You should rest Brother." I hear him say as I feel myself get lifted off of the ground. I watch, my eyes half open as he takes me over to a bed, and places me on it. I feel sort of weak, or I at least can't seem to bring myself to move too much. I lay there, my eyes half open, staring at the ceiling as it seemingly spun in endless circles. Every time I thought about what was going on, it seemed to get worse, but I can't seem to help myself. Everything seemed way too confusing, illogical, fantasy, but in its own way it made me curious and wanting to know more.
But maybe just trying to figure out more about the situation is the thing to do. Get over all of the shock, prove to myself that it's real, and then figure out what to do from there. Yes, it sounds kinda silly, but more crazy and maybe even stupid, but I'm sure too sure what else to do at this point. The 2 times I touched water today were the 2 times that the tail appeared. Although I only have 2 cases in a row to go by, it sounds crazy, but maybe I'll become this way every time I touch water? No way, that couldn't be right. It only happened twice, who's to say that it would happen again? It might not, but even still, it might.
I at least know that I need fresh air. I get up off of my bed, and slowly walk towards the door. Looking over at Alphonse, who is currently sitting on the couch reading a book, I slowly open the door, and make my leave, quietly closing it, and walking down the hall. I start a light jog, making my way to the lake, to figure out for myself just how real this whole thing really is.