Thank you so much for reading this! I can't express how happy I was when I read every one of the reviews. And to FairySinGirl: Yes, Ed is still a pipsqueak in this, unfortunately (laugh). I started this out of fun and I'm glad you guys like it. I am still struggling how to write all of the imaginations in my head out nicely though. So sorry for the long wait, here is the next chapter:)
CHAPTER TWO
To say Ed has traveled a lot is probably an understatement, practically he has been in constant traveling since the day he decided to take the State Alchemist Exam. He's used to it by now. But for now and then, he still thinks of his very first trip back when he was a kid.
Resemboo is a small town in the countryside, not too far from any major cities, but far enough that he'd never gone out of his town when he was young. Sheep and wool, that's all they had. Everything was preciously innocent and pleasant. The first time, was their trip to Duplin with teacher. He and his brother, stared in awe at the passing scenery on the train, while Teacher sat across their seats with her eyes closed. Wind gently stroke he and his brother's skins, brushed their blond hair, touched the hem of his neck under the sunset in far horizon. With the rhythmic sounds of wheels and the occasional whistle ahead. He was mesmerized. For just a moment, he forgot everything. For one instance, he believed he's got his future in his hands.
It was such a long time ago.
"So," Fai tilts his head and asks. "You are heading back to this Resemboo town of yours?"
"Em," Ed jerks his mind back to the present, he has zoned out in the middle of a conversation. "I used to travel a lot," - and haven't been back for God knows how long - "But yeah. It's a nice little village. With sheep and all."
"That's cool." Fai grins, who sits beside him on the floor sipping his tea "Celes is a small country. Not as large as Amestris I think, from the way you tell me."
Ed tips his head back to look at the sky above. He's still wrapping his head around the idea of endless universes. It's interesting, how different places can be. And speaking of that —
"Actually," Ed turns to Fai. "Do all of you guys speak Japanese or is there a translation spell or something?"
"Japanese?" Kurogane speaks up the first time through the whole conversation. The ninja is sitting on the rooftop, hands grabbing hammer and woods, apparently attempting to fix the large hole on the ceiling that is showing the sky. He is looking down at Ed with a confused frown.
"You can speak Japanese?"
Blinking confusedly, So they didn't know what language I was speaking? Before he scrambles to answer the question.
"Fluent, I guess? I was stuck in Japan for a while before I found the witch." Ed explains, suppressing a grimace. The last two years was — well, ripped away from everything he knew and had to make a living for himself from scratch was not easy. His own life belief and masterwork was nothing but a fairytale dead science. He didn't know how long it'd take him to find a way back, if ever. And not knowing if the reason of all this mess — if his brother is even alive — surely did not help. But anyway, he had picked up the language along the way.
That lead to the conversation about Mokona translation ability, which to be honest, is quite fascinating from Ed's point of view. Will they hear differently if he speaks Amestrian? Probably not. That talking rabbit is certainly a weird creature. How can someone create a living thing with such abilities? Magic maybe. He really hopes nothing sinister is behind the making.
Then they talk about how everyone arrived at the witch shop. Fai, who surprisingly arrive there by himself, is seeking to avoid his own world. Kurogane, on the other hand, is banished from a different Japan and determined to go back.
Just, how many weird people are out there like himself?
Ed keeps his own version as simple as possible: torn from his world and got stuck, that's all. If they know he was being deliberately vague, they didn't comment on it. They all were, being vague that is.
"So," Kurogane says, followed by a loud clang from the hammer. "How long are we staying here?"
"Well, that depends on how is Mokona doing," Fai replies in a cheerful tone and passes a wood board up the roof. "If they can find any clues of Sakura's feathers in this world."
Brows furrowed as he hammering down another nail on the wood, Kurogane asks, "Should the princess be allowed to go out at all? She looks like she's dozing off half the time."
"That's probably caused by her lost memories?" What Kurogane said is true. The girl still looks too weak and barely able to stay awake. But she has Syaoran by her side, who is no doubt determined to protect her.
Fai seems to think over his next words. "Sakura-chan has only got two feathers back. It won't be a surprise if she is a shadow of her past self right now, I think that's why she didn't even question anything about the traveling," he pauses before continues with a more quiet tone. "And even if she found all her feathers, those memories between Syaoran and her are lost forever."
Ed looks down at his tea, letting his golden bangs to cover his eyes. That's the price to save someone who's the dearest to you.
Dark clouds are gathering in the sky outside. It had been sunny when they arrived in this world. Mokona had dropped them in the middle of a bustling market full of people. And damn, that kick of Syaoran's was cool. When that governor's son — who is a total bastard from what Chunyan had told them and what happened to the poor girl's broken rooftop — appeared out of nowhere and yanked on Sakura's hand. Right, a bastard no doubt. Then there's that weird strong wind that destroyed half the roof, which Ed suspects had a touch of unnatural force, be it magic or alchemy. This is not going to be a easy trip, is it?
"Even so, " Fai plops back down next to Ed. "Syaoran-kun is still going to find them all, no matter how far Sakura-chan's feathers were scattered. No matter how hard it is going to be."
"And right now," Fai picks up his tea and takes a sip, " — all that we can do, is to fix the roof and wait for them to come back," letting out a small smile.
The ninja, still sitting on the roof, bristles.
"Then why are you two just sitting there while I am fixing the roof?" Kurogane barks, nearly yelling the last part.
"Hm?" The mage tilts his head.
"I said STOP slacking!" Yup, definitely yelling now. Ed wisely keeps his mouth shut and drink his tea.
"Oh!" A perfect innocent look from the wizard. "I just want to watch the way Kuropipi works from here."
Veins popped out on Kurogane's head. He's going to throw that hammer down the roof now. Kurogane narrows his eyes - and oops - changing his target from Fai to Ed.
"What, you kid there. Got anything to say?"
Well, it's Ed's turn to lose his cool.
"Who are you calling sh—?" Ed chokes back the 's' word. Take a deep breath. Don't hit him. Not worth it. It wasn't a crack at his height. The man is old (older than him). And he has grown (a bit). Right, a deep breath.
"Give me the wood," Ed huffs and gets to his feet.
He looks up to the damaged part of the roof and observes. He has never lived in this kind of houses before but he has seen some similar ones in Japan. The witch's shop for one looks a bit like Chunyan house, more refined and styled differently, but similar.
"And hold these." He picks up some small rocks from the garden and passed them to an onlooking Kurogane, before climbing up to roof himself. Fai is watching them with clear amusement but he ignores him. Examining the damage up close, he can see the roof tiles are made of clays. It was blasted off which shows the woodblocks and wooden beams below. Well, they don't have much here, rocks will have to do. Putting the ingredients down, he claps his hands.
The resounding clap echoes the house. Blue sparks dance around as the wood board lost its shape and gradually morphs into the broken beams and woodblocks. Small rocks shaped into tiles, covering them in place.
It's exhilarating, being able to use alchemy again. Even after two years, it still feels as natural as breathing, embracing a lost part of himself. He's glad he didn't lose his touch as he dust his hands off.
Then Ed looks up and sees the corner of the ninja's mouth twitching, and the next moment he is breathing fire from his mouth.
"Why—the—hell you couldn't do that from the start!?"
"I was drinking tea, you giant!" Ed yelled back.
"Stop that bullshit, midget — urmph." Someone fell off the roof.
And Fai laughed.
"We have tried to overthrow the government but that place is isolated and protected by strong spells," Chunyan says quietly, dipping her head. Surrounding the table, sit the five dimension travelers and the little girl who took them in.
When Syaoran was back with his new clothes with dirt and tears on it, the three stayed home companions were instantly alarmed. He doesn't look to be in any serious injuries but the worry glance Sakura keeps giving Syaoran is a telltale sign of what happened during that scouting around the street. The governor and his son strikes again. Using those Jutsu —the magic this world seems to have — that caught them earlier that day. It looks like it's getting more vicious. And Chunyan will be in great trouble if they don't do something soon.
That leads to them sitting around the table making attack plans.
"But why are they keep targeting us?" Ed asked, drumming his gloved fingers on the table.
"Possibly the same reason as me, they mistook you as the inspectors from Central to report their crimes." Chunyan takes a good look at them. "You guys do look foreign enough."
"We come from very far away," Fai says with a slight smile.
Chunyan gives them a slightly suspicious look before continuing. "That two monsters, they just came out of nowhere one day," she gritted out. "With very strong Jutsu they took the throne and changed the laws, and we have been suffering ever since."
"Sudden strong power," Fai speaks with a contemplated look. "It can be due to the acquisition of something powerful, something that enhances their abilities, right?"
Sakura's feather?
"But the time doesn't add up. We just started the journey like, a week ago?" Syaoran points out.
"Time flows differently in different worlds, remember?" The wizard lets out a wicked smile.
The travelers share a look.
"We are going to that place," Syaoran concludes, with a determined gaze despite Sakura's worried look.
So they settle to strike the bastard's palace tomorrow.
Edward splashes water on his face and stares at his own reflection in the mirror. He looks tired. Hair drooping around his shoulder and bags under his eyes but that's hardly surprising. He is always tired these days. His bangs are growing a bit too long as well, nearly covering his eyes. He eyes tracked down from his metal shoulder blade to his chest. There, that ugly twisting scar, sitting like a monster right above his heart. He knows if he turns around he would see the same shape crawling at the same place at his back. Gingerly, he raises his left hand to touch it but feels nothing, despite the large amount of pain he remembers he'd suffered at the time when he received that fatal wound. He still has no idea how has he survived that. Too many questions and not enough answers.
Shaking his head, he transmutes his right arm to a blade and starts to trims his golden strands. No use thinking about it.
When he is satisfied with his hair, he ties back his ponytail and turns to look at the outfit Syaoran had handed to him. They used the money they got from the lottery — which Sakura won three times straight — to buy clothes for all of them. His was a white long garment with buttons, and a brown sleeveless robe coupled with a long piece of dark brown fabrics that tie the whole thing close to his waist.
To be honest, the attire doesn't exactly match with gloves.
Then he guesses that either wearing gloves or removing them will get weird looks all the same anyway. It'd be hard to keep his automails hidden from his travel companions, he knows, with their sleeping arrangement and all. Just maybe — later, he's not sure he wants to deal with any explanations now. Not that he has to give them any, but well, he doesn't want to lie if he can help it. And unlike the good old times, he needs to be extra careful about his automails. He's lacking a mechanic here, he will be crippled if anything happens to them. So yeah, he is leaving his gloves on for now.
He gets changed and heads out to their room. While Chunyan and Sakura share one, all the others are sharing another. Before sliding the door open though, he pauses, and decides to head out to the garden instead. Grabbing the edge of the roof, he heaves himself up onto the roof in one swift motion. No moon today but there are stars.
He is about to sit when he sees someone, hand resting on his pop up knee, sitting on the other side of the rooftop. Kurogane turns his head to look at him.
"Sorry," Ed says, glancing back, not sure if he should go back down or not. "I didn't see you."
"No, it's fine." Kurogane waves his hand, stopping Ed's retreat and look back to the night before him. The man has also changed, from his armor to this country's attire. Must be hard to sleep in those full gear, Ed thinks. Unlike Ed's deep brown layers. Kurogane's appear to be dark blue or black, he can't be sure in the dark.
Glancing around, Ed settles on the other side of the roof, the hole they fixed that morning between them. For a moment, he contemplates to strike a conversation but decides against it. He wonders what is the ninja doing up here and what is on his mind. He watches those flickering soft lights from the houses down the village. And the stars in the sky twinkling. Far in the middle of the town sat the citadel, surrounded by moat and walls.
That's the place. They are going to barge in there tomorrow.
He let out a quiet sigh and close his eyes against the night breeze, sinking in the comfortable silence.