Farewells to the East
Envy did a cautious sweep of the area, a loading platform just outside the reach of normal human citizens. As they suspected, there was a distinct lack of people patrolling about; the only humans around were the military police and transportation workers, who were few and far between. Only two were at the end of this particular platform, engaged in a casual conversation while one loaded luggage onto a car. The officer wore the standard Amestrian military uniform, hued in darker colors as per the norm of the police and combined with a yellow band on the arm of the coat that had the initials MP branded on it. Envy didn't care much for the human's face; there was absolutely nothing memorable about it, just another face in the swelling crowds of their species. The transportation worker wasn't that much different, the only thing memorable about him being the ugly baby blue jumpsuit that he wore. Envy was sure that it wouldn't be long before they forgot that as well.
Despite how boring they found the pair to be, Envy needed the two to be gone if they were to get their...companions safely onboard without notice. Ergo, they were forced to keep their attention on the humans in order to spot an opportunity. The homunculus briefly considered gutting the humans outright and hiding their bodies; a gleeful grin spread itself on their face at the thought, but they decided against it. As easy and quick as it would be, it was far from subtle and was sure to cause a problem down the line, though it would certainly be entertaining. They would have to go with the boring alternative. It wouldn't be any more difficult, of course; the right disguise and a careful choice of words from a homunculus like them would fool those stupid humans any day.
Envy glanced down at his current form. They had switched to one of their backup forms not long after they left the two Pokémon, Aster and Boro, behind. It wasn't a particular favorite of theirs, but rather a form that did a consistent job of fooling people whenever they used it. The disguise consisted of the standard blue uniform and coat of the Amestrian military, currently containing the blue and yellow shoulder straps of a corporal, combined with the soft face of a young man with vibrant green eyes and short, spiky blond hair. Unlike most of their default forms, this one was not pulled from a previously existing human; it was actually a combination of two humans whose corpses they'd seen in Ishval and thought would look neat if their features were smashed together. As they were looking themselves over, Envy decided that they would need to make a change to their disguise in order to fool the police officer. Quickly, when the homunculus was confident that no one was watching, they adjusted the hue of their uniform from the bright blue of the military to the darker navy hues of the military police with a quick, telltale flash of red lightning from their philosopher's stone.
Envy's trademark smile, which was somewhere between a confident grin and a condescending sneer, spread itself across their face as a plan formed itself in their mind. It was simple and effective: a quick bit of misdirection and some false information that would make the humans move somewhere else. If they were feeling creative, they could try an appeal to emotion; nothing quite moved humans to do what they wanted like a good old fashioned sob story. It certainly worked on Amestrians, at least. It was a simple plan, but an effective one that was tried and true. While that would require that they talk to the humans, it wasn't anything they couldn't tolerate; that was the job their Father needed them for, after all. With confidence and the words they knew they needed to say, Envy walked forward towards them with their hands in the pockets of their newly formed coat.
The homunculus was barely a few steps towards the humans in question when something caught the corner of their eye, nearly tripping them when they stopped to get a better look. Focusing their eyes, Envy saw more clearly the two figures further down the platform in the public area, standing near a bench amongst a small crowd. The homunculus raised a brow at the sight of the familiar two; what were they doing here?
Mera liked to think she was tough; there weren't any other Pichu that were like her, after all. She liked to think that she could handle whatever life decided to throw at her. After all, she did stare down a Luxray and escaped imprisonment by a deranged madman without any repercussions. Then there was the whole Zangoose situation and the fact that she was in another world, both of which she was taking in stride.
Okay, so the Luxray was already beaten up by her amazing trainer when they talked at the abandoned building, and the cage she escaped from wasn't made for Pokémon with opposable digits, but that was besides the point. Of course her trainer handled most of the Zangoose (and the Mismagius…), and she couldn't really do anything about the different world situation, but once again, that was besides the point. Mera was proud to say that she had gotten this far without faltering.
That was until she discovered the motion that could be produced by human machines. Much to her chagrin, they seemed to be the one thing she couldn't handle. It was no small shame for the Pichu, as riding in them was one of the many things she was looking forward to when she set out to find her trainer. And yet, as she discovered with her experience with the "car", Mera found she was not as prepared as she'd like to be. The short ride was already long past for her, and yet she could still feel the sickness that threatened to upchuck her breakfast into her trainer's coat. She was sure that the word for that was "nausea"; she had heard her parents say something similar... It didn't matter though, as she was able to tough out the challenge all the same.
Even if she was on the verge of throwing up the entire time…
Now her trainer and the others were planning yet another nauseating experience for the yellow electric mouse, so the "fun" was not over, so to speak. Instead of the "car" thing, it would be a "train" thing. It didn't matter what it was called, Mera thought grimly; she saw the wheels, and she knew what that would entail. If she had it her way, they would walk and run and strictly keep it at only those two. Her trainer, however, apparently needed to to take this way, so she resigned herself to grinning and bearing it. Though perhaps she might complain, she amended. Or perhaps she might complain a lot.
Again she wondered why humans couldn't just walk.
Edward chose that moment to shift into a more comfortable position, breaking the Pichu out of her internal grumbling as she was shifted into an uncomfortable position. Her trainer was leaning against the corner where the booth seat and the wall of their box room met, crushing Mera between his left shoulder and the hard polished wood. To save herself, the yellow mouse squeezed her way out and quickly jumped away. She landed on the table in the middle of the room with a stumble; in her opinion, graceful. She was safe all the same, if quite disgruntled.
Ed gave her a side glance. Mera gave him a pouty glare. The young teen rolled his eyes and gave the Pichu a weak, half-minded apology. Her glare became less pouty. His expression became indignant.
"What!? I said I was sorry!"
Still Mera glared at him, before shortly looking to the side and muttering a derogatory comment about her trainer's size.
It was Ed's turn to glare then. "Did she just call me short?" He asked pointedly, while pointing a gloved finger at her and looking at the faces of the other other occupants of the small room, the large man and the other trainer. "She called me short didn't she!"
The other two merely stared at him and shrugged. Mera stuck her tongue out at him.
Daryn, the other trainer, chose this moment to interrupt before blows could be exchanged. "I don't think your Pichu really wants to be here, on the train, Ed."
Oh thank Arceus, she thought to herself. It was about time someone understood her predicament. She hoped that now they would leave this awful human machine thing before the worst came to happen. Mera smiled at the other human and puffed her arms out to her side, as if to motion that he was correct. Neither Daryn nor Edward noticed.
"What? That's absurd. Why would a Pokémon not like trains?" Her trainer asked dismissively; Mera cast a sideways glance at him. "I doubt she's even seen a train before in the first place, let alone ridden in one." Mera glared at him again, not appreciating the backtracking on her progress to getting off. Ed didn't appear to notice.
"Well," Daryn continued, interrupting a glaring session once more before it could begin. "She seemed pretty motion sick when we were in the car earlier. When we were meeting Mustang earlier today?" The young teen cast a glance her way, and she coolly looked away in a manner that wasn't guilty at all. "She, uh, actually seemed kind of green after that."
Mera winced at the mention of that particular detail. That was exactly why she was green; the experience was so bad.
"Oh. Well alllriiiight then," Ed started, in a particular kind of voice that the Pichu almost found herself flinching at. "Why don't I just go and refund the tickets that I bought and we can all just walk the rest of the way there. Because we can't have a chimera get motion sick, after all. That would be a tragedy."
When Edward finished with his rant, it seemed that he finally noticed the expression on Mera's face, as well as the expression on Daryn's. Struck by the unexpected verbal venom, both human and Pokémon could only stare back in stunned silence. Edward, upon seeing their faces, and the stern and disapproving look from the Armstrong man, muttered something that was between a growl and a sigh. Then he said something Mera never would have expected him to say.
"Look, I'm…" Her trainer made a gagging motion; Mera raised a brow. "I'm sorry, alright?" If Mera hadn't flinched before, she certainly did at that moment. "It's just that we need to get to that Isorfold bastard as fast as possible, as soon as possible. That means taking this train, right now. That means we don't have time to worry about things like getting motion sick."
She found herself frowning Mera would not deny she was taken aback by the apology, the way it was delivered still left much to be desired. She wouldn't deny that catching the human who brought her here was important, but she didn't think it was fair to dismiss the…motion sickness, as her trainer called it.
"Ed, we're not denying that, but it's not a good idea to ignore your Pokémon and how they're feeling," Daryn said, evidently catching the lack of sincerity as Mera did; she nodded in agreement, still keeping the decidedly-not-pouting frown on her face as she did so. "They're just as caught up in this as you are, and we need their help to end this. That means we all need to be in top form. And while motion sickness is pretty minor-" -Mera whipped her head in the boy's direction with an accusing glare- "-it's still something that we shouldn't take lightly and ignore."
"Yeah, but motion sickness?" Edward said, an incredulous expression plastered on his face.
"Hey, that's no joke!" Mera cried. "I almost threw up my entire breakfast!" Naturally, the words were lost on the humans, but that didn't stop the Pichu. This was a matter of principle! Or something like that anyway, she thought.
"See? She agrees with me!" Daryn exclaimed excitedly. Mera waved her paw in a so-so fashion; it was much less agreement on her part and more of a clarification for her trainer. She chose to ignore the fact that Ed wouldn't have understood her once more.
"Wha- what do you mean she agrees with you! You don't even know what she just said!"
"Well, it was their body language..." Came the other trainer's curt reply. There was a waiver to his voice that made Mera question whether he was certain on that.
"And what exactly do you mean by body language, Daryn?" Her trainer seemed to question the boy's certainty as well, if the raised brow on his already incredulous expression was any indication.
"Well, I-" Daryn started to stammer out, "I, um, can't really explain it, it's just the way she reacted and moved that, uh, kinda gave it away?"
"Either that or you're just guessing," Edward said, Mera giving him disapproving looks for his deadpan tone.
"No, no. Young Daryn has a point, Edward Elric." Armstrong said, the Pichu nearly jumping out in surprise as he finally chimed his voice in. She shared in the wide-eyed stares that the other humans were giving him. "It is quite clear from the way she moved and reacted that she agreed with him, or was at least disagreeing with you. When you can't understand what someone is saying, you must look at how their body moves to get a clear idea as to what they are saying."
"Wha-Major how can you tell how she's acting!?" Her trainer asked, practically yelling. Mera had to admit, she herself was curious, if still wary of the man. "Last I checked you haven't even seen a Pokémon until today!"
"Why it was quite easy to tell, young Edward!" The much larger human replied, striking a small thinking pose as he did so. Mera was quickly figuring out that this person liked to do that-striking poses. She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about it, though perturbed was a close approximation. "All I had to do was apply my knowledge of the body language reading techniques passed down my family-"
"-for generations, I should have known..." Edward interrupted, evidently finishing his sentence.
"Well now you're just being rude on top of being inconsiderate, young Edward," Armstrong scolded, not unlike a parent to a rowdy child. Crossing his arms over his barrel of a chest, the man continued. "Understanding how one's pet is feeling is a complete necessity in caring for their well being!"
"I'm not his pet!" Mera yelled, completely forgetting, again, that neither could understand her. It didn't matter so long as they got the spirit of her message, which, between her stomping foot and gesticulating arms, she hoped she made clear. Of course, repetition always helped get the message clear. "He's my trainer! But I'm not his pet!"
At about the exact same time she made her exclamations was when said trainer exclaimed in response: "Oh really? And what exactly have you done with the Pokémon, huh?"
The chiseled visage staring back at the teen with a twinkling expression only served to unnerve Mera. From the way Edward slinked back even further into the booth seat, the Pichu surmised that he felt the same. "Well, since you asked…"
They clustered close together in a herd; it was a veritable sea of cotton, uncomfortably warm and itchy. As a whole they bayed and bleated, and the as individuals the would still bay and bleat, going in and out of sync. In addition to the light clipping and clacking of their hooves, it was next to impossible to hear anything from outside the enclosed room and was completely impossible to hear oneself think. Just as they were a collective group, they also had a collective smell that even the toughest of noses would turn away at, which was quite unfortunate for those stuck sharing the same space. They were sheep, but to the guest occupants they were an absurdity that was only barely similar to some species of their home world, and as such they lacked the knowledge to identify them.
All that Fang knew, however, was that she was going to kill her trainer once she was free again.
Deep in her frustrated grumbling and barely held self-restraint, the Zangoose failed to notice-or perhaps lost the ability to care about-the black and white bird Pokémon on her head. Had she the faculties to spare, she might have noticed Arrow glancing nervously to and fro between her and the animals. That would have been a distraction from her current task of figuring out the proper way to dole out retribution. However, Fang was currently deciding between disembowelment or beheading; either of the two was equally satisfying, really.
"It seemed unnecessarily cruel to leave them alone without any form of company," Armstrong said, eyes closed and chin held between his thumb and index finger.
Edward knew he shouldn't have been smiling at that, considering it was practically the same treatment his brother got last time they travelled with the Major, but he couldn't deny the amusing mental image. Hence the smirk that held fast on his face as he mirrored the large man's expression. "Eh, not bad Major. Even if you did do the exact same thing last time."
On the seat next to him was Chimera, currently rolling around to and fro on the cushion on the seat. If he hazarded a guess, the young alchemist would say that she was laughing like there was no tomorrow. It was a stark contrast to the expression of Daryn across the booth table from him, who was holding his head in both his hands and muttering something quietly to himself. If Ed strained his ears, he might have heard mutterings of self-proclaimed doom.
It was only when the crate hit the floor of the train that Lust was finally able to let out a sigh of relief, if mixed with no small amount of annoyance. It had been a frustrating prospect getting into the restricted area of the train station, especially so close to the departing time, but ultimately she had managed. It was good thing humans were easy to manipulate, and that she was well-equipped to do the manipulating, Lust thought. That wasn't the main source of frustration, however; Gluttony handled the crate with a paradoxical amount of care and interest. Ultimately it was not unlike a child carrying a wrapped gift, eager to know what was inside but afraid to break its contents. Had the contents contained anything else Lust might've not cared and let Gluttony eat it after leaving Father's abode, but the fact that it contained a beast that raised questions its summoner probably didn't have the answers to only complicated matters. Luckily this part of the errand was over, now that they were finally at the cargo cars of the train. She could take her brother away before what little self restraint he had finally withered away and his voracious appetite got the better of him…again.
"Do be careful Gluttony, the beast…I mean, that Pokémon still has some use for us, remember? Father would find it quite unfortunate if it were to end up damaged." Lust scolded, albeit with a soft tone and a faint smile on her beautiful face, still amused at the antics of her brother.
Whereas Lust had the ideal body of a perfect woman, with a tight waist and plump curves, Gluttony was practically the exact opposite. Indeed, it wouldn't be inaccurate to describe him as something deformed, bearing features more similar to an ape than a normal human. His arms were long enough to reach his feet at his standing height and powerfully built, but also thick with fat that covered the rest of his body. Part of it was also due to the stature of his legs, chubby and disproportionately small in comparison to the rest of his body. His stomach encompassed the bulk of his torso and extended outwards almost like a massive balloon, nearly completely obscuring the pecs of his top half. His head stuck out on top of the form, seemingly neck-less and almost as ball-shaped as his torso were it not for the fat nose sticking out like a mushroom. On that head were a set of small, beady eyes that, from a distance, could be confused for being completely pupil-less. Gluttony was sucking on a fat finger before he responded back to her.
"I'm sorry, Lust. But I'm just so hungry. Are you sure I can't eat it? It smells so good, and I've never eaten a Pokémon before! Oh please can I?" He begged, turning those beady eyes onto her in a puppy dog look.
A difficult look to fight against, Lust found. There was something adorable about the way he pouted that made her feel bad about denying him a meal. But this was not the first time he had turned that look on her, and she was well-experienced in resisting it when they were on the job. "No, Gluttony, you may not. Tell you what though, I'll find you something to eat when we arrive at North Station. How does that sound?"
"Excuse me, ma'am, but this is a restricted area you're trespassing in. I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."
Lust nearly jumped at the voice, flinching at being discovered, but was quick to recover as she turned around to meet the unfortunate fool who dared to get involved in their business. Her fingers quickly hardened and lengthened to the size of bayonets, the tips becoming sharp enough to puncture steel. When she saw the addressor, however, she froze in place before quickly regaining her composure, her wide, predatory eyes turning into something softer and more presentable. Calming down, Lust put on a sly smile.
"Come now, Envy, is that really your best disguise?" She said, voice practically dripping with the sneer that she wore internally.
The human figure before them, wearing a navy blue military overcoat and uniform, eyes blue and hair a short blonde, replied with an outward sneer. Shortly thereafter their face changed to one with purple eyes and dark hair in a pineapple style. "Fooled you well enough, didn't it?"
"I'll admit, I didn't recognize the voice at first, but the rest of the disguise was a dead give away. Fooled though? Hardly," Lust brushed aside some of her silky hair before she continued, putting on a disinterested tone. "How are things on your end?"
"Lousy." Came the disgruntled response, though she couldn't tell whether it was from her reaction to his stunt or his own situation. Still wearing the rest of their disguise, Envy leaned against the parked train beside them. "I've only found two of Isorfold's delinquent little pets, and of the two I think one of them is smart enough to be suspicious of me. Tch, always hated trying to blend in with animals." The homunculus threw a glance at Lust and her brother, eyebrows raised. "And what exactly brings you two here?"
The smile on Lust's face grew wider at the question. "Oh nothing much, just a bit of a delivery errand. Perhaps you're familiar with the package? Long feline body, black and blue fur, has a fondness for shocking people?"
The homunculi's eyes widened as she described the Pokémon, and they did a quick double take between the train beside them and his siblings. "Wait a minute, are you talking about that Luxray that calls itself Sirene? I haven't seen hide nor hair of it in the last couple of days. How'd you find'em?"
And just like that, the amused smile on Lust's face from her brother's reaction dissolved. "You could say it dropped in on us." She said, her tone serious. "Literally, I might add. Gluttony and I were taking a shortcut between safehouses through the underground tunnels when the ceiling collapsed in on us, dropping your little pal on our laps. I would say it was a pleasant surprise, had it not also dropped Scar on us as well."
"But I still didn't get to eat him…" Gluttony interjected, whining like a child that lost their toy. Not an inaccurate metaphor, Lust supposed.
Envy's reaction was immediate, spitting and cursing as they kicked the ground. "Damnit! Just when I thought we free of him. Doesn't he know when to stay dead? Great, well that just complicates things more than they needed to be." The homunculus turned to look back at Lust once more, briefly tearing themselves from their outburst. "Don't tell me you let him get away."
At once, Lust's glare was immediate. Incompetence wasn't a quality she allowed herself to have, and refused to tolerate in others; she did not appreciate the insinuation that she would lose the troublesome man for lacking the ability to catch him. Her tone reflected that when she replied back. "It's not my fault that he's good at running away. He collapsed a wall to escape Gluttony and I when we had him cornered, but not before he took a few lives from our dear brother. He's been targeting state alchemists, remember? Humans though they may be, that isn't something so easy to accomplish."
"Tch, If I didn't know better, Lust, I'd say that sounded like respect." Envy turned away to kick at the train beside them, leaving a dent in its side, and inadvertently sparing themselves the now murderous glare coming from the female homunculus. "Fine. Great. So Scar is still alive then. The next thing you're going to tell me is that he's going after Isorfold on top of the brats already tracking him down."
At that Lust's expression softened and she let out a sigh, rubbing the temples of her head with two of her fingers. "I can't say for certain on that one. Didn't exactly get a chance to have a conversation during the confrontation. There's honestly no way to tell. Isorfold doesn't fit his modus operandi, not being a state alchemist and all, but given that it looked like he was in the middle of a fight with your little Pokémon friend and his reaction to Shou Tucker, we can't rule it out."
Envy's frown intensified at that before his eyes began shifting between the train and herself. Lust was about to comment when her sibling spoke up, unknowingly preempting her. "Speaking of, since you brought it here I take it that Sirene managed to survive?"
"If you call the state it was in when it was proverbially dropped on our laps surviving, then yes it did." The voluptuous homunculi looked at the cargo car of the train, the crate that contained said Pokémon still visible from the open door. "Scar did a number on it; it was practically on death's door when we found it. Father found some value in it and decided to heal it."
Lust was sure the unspoken message was clear, and based on her sibling's once again wide-eyed expression of realization, she was right. "Wait a minute. You don't think these Pokémon could be potential sacrifices, do you?"
At that the female homunculus could only shrug. The idea had crossed her mind more than once since bringing the beast on a mission to return it to Isorfold, but without any way to tell if it could perform alchemy all she had was speculation. "It's a possibility, considering Isorfold's field of alchemy and the fact that these…Pokémon are supposedly from an entirely different world than ours." She huffed and smiled as she continued her next set of words. "And to think he was only supposed to be a promising candidate, but now he's given us so much more than we could have ever hoped for."
"Which could also be a problem for us as well. He is trying to assemble an army for himself, remember?" Envy commented in response, scowling. Lust watched as they quickly cast a glance at a nearby clock on the wall and cursed again. "I hate to cut this conversation short and all, but I do have a schedule to keep. I take it you're going north too?"
Lust smiled and nodded. Envy spat at the ground again, throwing their arms in the air. "Why is it I have to ride at the back while you get the luxury class?"
The female homunculus chuckled and started walking towards the passenger loading platform of the station, beckoning Gluttony to follow her as she strode away. "See you in the North, Envy. Hope you packed a jacket," She said, waving back without turning once she was some distance away.
Lust only heard Envy curse back in response.
Footsteps marched past, obscured by a tough material that only served to emphasize the impact of each sole hitting the ground and moving forward, and were paired by the clicking of what could only be claws following in perfect sync. The sound reverberated and was amplified in the small, dark, and cramped space that currently served as our hiding place. The large of suit of armor that was Alphonse only made the space ever more cramped, and despite my small stature, I found it difficult to keep myself compacted within. I held my breath and kept my limbs close to my body, tucking my tail underneath my legs and hunkering down as close to the solid floor as possible. The cold metal of Al's shin rubbed against my back and I had to fight hard in order to not leap away shivering; the armored alchemist had lowered himself to an almost kneeling position in order to keep the top of his helmet from scraping against the top of the room. Hitched breathing reached my ears and I sucked my own breath in further before I stole a glance at Elina and winced at what I saw. The poor girl had flattened herself completely up against the wall on Al's other side, where his armor dug completely into her, and her face was completely scrunched up as she held her position. I didn't have to guess that it was painful.
The steps paused before the closed door of the cramped room we hid ourselves in, and I felt the urge to start breathing creep up again as my lungs grew thirsty for air. It was an agonizing few seconds of waiting, each of which was punctuated by the rising and falling decibels of the voices outside, one human and another Pokémon, but too muffled by the closed metal door to actually make out. For a moment I was confused again that I recognized the word to identify the intensity of sound that I heard - decibels. I decided not to dwell on it long; a memory of earlier this afternoon with Ari, doing exactly what we were doing here, flashed across my mind and I had to stop myself from groaning. How many times was I going to have to hide and hold my breath because somebody was next to the door?
Footsteps continuing again brought me back to the present moment, and once they were some distance away I finally began breathing again, taking in hungry and eager breaths. It was still cramped, so I couldn't relax completely, but the tenseness that had been all but encompassing before had finally eased up and left my body. From the slow sound of metal plates shifting on each other, as well as more intakes of breath and the rubbing of fabric against the wall, Alphonse and Elina caught on to my relief.
"What's up Tasha? Did you hear them leave too?" Alphonse asked quietly, a moderately surprising feat considering how his voice often reverberated throughout his body. I didn't hear anything else from him, not even the shifting of his armor. He had gone as still as a statue again.
The large ears on my head perked up, and I did my best to direct them in the direction I heard the footsteps go, straining them to pick up anything. It was very faint, but I did hear them continuing on their path, long away from our current hiding spot. Just to be sure, I also shifted to listen in the opposite direction, but again heard nothing. "I think so. I don't hear anything, Al," I finally said.
"Good to hear. Give it a minute or two and I think we can get going again," The armored alchemist replied back, still managing a whisper through his helmet. I pouted at hearing that. Maybe it was a safe decision to do so, but I couldn't say I was pleased with the idea of staying in the cramped room any longer. Especially as dust and dirt from the floor started creeping up my nostrils, threatening a sneeze.
I was fortunate that Elina shared my opinion. "I'd like to get out now actually. Your everything is digging into my back!" The girl whispered through gritted teeth.
"Oh! Uh, sorry," Alphonse sheepishly replied back. The sound of metal plates shifting against each other again reached my ears, and I suddenly had a bad feeling. I was preemptively interrupted from voicing my concerns when I heard the distinct clang of metal impacting against a hard surface, followed by the distinct click of a door unlocking. "There we go-"
Almost immediately we all spilled out of the room into one massive heap on the ground, Alphonse's massive form carrying us all out the instant he lost his balance and swept us along the tidal wave of his crash. The armored alchemist landed sprawled on top of us, while Elina and I found ourselves under both of his arms, on our backs and groaning. It was a solid few seconds of gasping and waiting for the ceiling above to stop spinning before I was able to speak again. "Al, could you at least warn us next time?" I complained, my spine aching from the fall.
"Sorry," He began scratching the back of his helmet in a show of sheepishness. "Well, at the least the coast is clear." He continued, pushing himself off the hard concrete floor and back on his feet.
I moved to do the same, and nearly yelped when Al instead, and quite literally, scooped me off my feet and into the the large palm of his hand. For a moment I almost thought I did actually let out a yelp, until I realized it had actually come from Elina, whom the armored teen had also picked up and was now carrying her in between the spikes on his shoulder blades and the helmet that was his head. I might have found the sight amusing had Alphonse not started running soon after. While I was sure he was doing his best to keep himself from jerking his arm too much from the motion, I still felt each of his armored feet slamming into the ground with each hurried step, jerking my head back and forth.
"Alphonse, what are you doing!? Put me down!" Elina shouted from her uncomfortable position on Al's shoulder, banging her fist on his head as she did so.
Al didn't turn his head to look at her, and he didn't stop running down what I recognized was a hallway, through which hallway we were going down I didn't know. I wanted to trust what he was doing, but there was a nagging thought in the back of my head that didn't. "Trust me, Elina," Al shouted as he ran. "This is faster!"
Unfortunately, it seemed Al wasn't quite paying attention when he addressed the young girl; there was a corner fast approaching, and it didn't look like the armored teen was slowing his pace at all. I shouted to get his attention. "Alphonse! Look out!"
The warning ultimately turned out to be unnecessary. Alphonse, instead of slowing down to turn around, first came to a skidding stop, then slammed a foot down to balance himself, before bolting down the turn in the hallway. I was beyond grateful that Al was keeping me in his palm instead of putting me in his armor; I nearly vomited the last time I had been inside him while he was running, and I don't think I would have been able to do the same if that was the case here. The brief stop did give me time to notice some writing on the wall however. In crimson letters, with a large arrow in the same color underneath that was pointing down the hallway, was the word "ELEVATOR". I briefly wondered what it meant when my mind supplied a vision of people, human people, moving into a small, boxed room with doors that closed on their before moving up and down on their own. I frowned at the snippet of knowledge that I knew I shouldn't have.
"Told you this was faster!" Alphonse said, unintentionally snapping me out of my thoughts once more.
"Why are we going to an Elevator?" I asked him, looking up at him. I felt small in his hand, even if it was a very large one as a result of being in the armor.
Al turned his head to give me a look, but what it meant I was unsure of; the steel face on the metal plate remaining ever unmoving. Even the orbs that lit up behind his helmet, like miniature pilot lights, gave little away. It was only in how long the look was held that I guessed he recognized my use of the word 'elevator'. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, though I wondered if he had any ideas as to why. It certainly didn't make sense to me.
Before Al could say anything on the matter, or respond to my question, there was movement up ahead further in the hallway. From around a corner stepped another of the black-dressed humans with the emblazoned red "R" on their chests. My fur stood on end and I felt electricity building up inside me, ready to strike at a moment's notice to defend myself. The human whipped his head in our direction, and to my alarm, Alphonse didn't yield in his barreling path forward. I opened my mouth to shout at him to stop about the same time the human started moving his own to yell something at us, but it was too late to stop Alphonse from springing into action. What followed required me to grip onto his palm tightly, to keep my balance as I watched the spectacle unfold from my front view.
Without missing a beat, in one smooth motion, the suit of armor that was Alphonse leapt. He transformed his running sprint into a leap of faith, extending his metal legs outward to their full expanse. If only briefly, we soared in the air, Al's right foot perfectly aimed at the grunt's face. It was a direct hit, and the human toppled to the floor, carried quickly downward by the weight and impact of the kick, the poor sap landing with a thud against the polished floor.
I didn't have time to react. It was already over before I completely registered it, and Alphonse had already moved on, having launched himself off the human's face and back on the hallway floor. He continued on as if completely unperturbed.
"Sorry!" He shouted back, not even turning back to look at the human.
"Al, what in the world was that!?" I heard Elina yell, somewhat muffled from her position on his shoulder. I shared the sentiment.
"Roadbump!" Was the only reply that he gave. I almost let out a guffaw at the curtness of it.
Suddenly, Alphonse came to a halt and I was almost thrown out of his hand by previous momentum. I dug my claws in deep into the cloth, but he didn't react to the nails that pierced his palm. In fact, he tightened his grip around me, ensuring that I remained rooted. Elina would have also gone flying too, had Al not braced his arm against her back, keeping her in place over his shoulder. While grateful, I shuddered at how uncomfortable that must have been. I didn't get to linger on that wonder long before Alphonse started running again, and I was forced back to clinging for dear life to his arm.
"Alphonse! Slow down! I'm going to be sick!" I heard Elina yell. Or perhaps I yelled it. I was certainly getting jostled around enough to be.
"Can't! We're almost there!" Came his curt reply.
Indeed, after another quick stop and sudden turn down the next hallway junction, we came across a long hallway with a set of metal doors at the end of it. As we neared, I noticed that the doors seemed to lack any sort of handle entirely, and on the wall close by to it was a strange rectangle with two red circles on it. For a second I speculated what it might be when images once again flashed across my mind, and, to my own confusion yet again, I instantly knew what they were. Those doors were sliding doors, as crazy as the idea was, and the rectangle with the circles next to it was actually a panel with buttons on it, which controlled both the door and the room beyond. On the other side would be a small room that would travel up and down the building we were in: it was the elevator. We had arrived.
Alphonse stopped running and (thankfully) came to a gentle stop just before the metal doors, after which he finally let us both down. I was first, as the armored alchemist lowered his hand to the ground until it was practically touching, and I wasted no time jumping off onto the hard ground. There was a strong temptation to start kissing it, but I refrained to avoid the potential embarrassment. I still ended up feeling sheepish, however, after I noticed deep gouges in the fabric of Al's hand as he brought it back up. It was a small relief that he couldn't feel them, and thus didn't react.
Elina was next after me; Alphonse carefully lowered her down off his shoulder and gently placed her, feet first, on the ground directly across from me. She wobbled at first, and had to brace herself against the wall behind her to keep from falling over. I grimaced when I saw her face; an expression that was near green and accompanied by bugged out eyes. She took a moment, breathing in long breaths of air, before she was finally settled. She leveled a glare and a pointed finger at Al.
"Do not do that again. Please."
Alphonse scratched at the back of his helmet. "Right, sorry. I can't imagine that was a smooth ride exactly…"
"I'll say," I said in agreement. "Next time we have to go anywhere in a hurry, can we run by ourselves instead, Al?" Hopefully there wouldn't be a next time, of course.
"You guys wouldn't have been able to keep up with me if we did that though," Alphonse replied back, looking over his shoulder at me before turning his attention back to the metal doors of the elevator. "Besides, we got here without running into….well, without being stopped by anyone else, and from here on out it's a straight shot outside."
"So that's why you ran us here," I said, nodding my head. If there were more levels to this place, then it would make sense that there would be an elevator to get to them. Just as well, if the way outside was on a different level then it would also make sense that we'd need it in order to find it. Although…
"Wait, how do you know that we need an elevator to get to them at all?" I asked Al with furrowed brows, tail swishing.
It was brief, but there was a pause before he responded. "The two of you weren't awake for it, but this is actually the elevator that took us down here. The way out, and our escape, is through these doors."
With that, Alphonse pressed one of his large fingers onto the top button of the panel beside the door. I watched in awe as the metal doors slid smoothly apart into the walls on either side, disappearing completely from sight, and revealing a second room just beyond. The room beyond was sparsely decorated, just like the hallways and rooms that we had seen and passed by. All the same, my eyes were wide and my mouth was left open at the sight. Knowing of an elevator, even if the knowledge itself raised questions, didn't compare to the reality. I prodded closer to the edges and pawed at the slots that the metal doors had slid into. Did they completely fall behind the walls, I wondered? Or had they gone somewhere else?
"After the two of you," Al spoke, tearing me away from my inspection of the elevator doors to look back at him. His arms were outstretched and gesturing for us to go inside, and he was doing a mock bow. Elina seemed to hesitate a bit, but ultimately went inside, and I followed soon after, trailing behind her. Once I was inside, I turned around to look back at Al expectantly, yet strangely he remained still in the hallway. I furrowed my brow at him, mouth forming into a small frown. Inside I worried; something was wrong, or was bugging the armored alchemist.
"Before we go any further," Al started to say, looking at me with those glowing orbs of his helmet. My unease grew further. "Can I ask you to promise me something, Tasha?"
I tilted my head in confusion, but nevertheless answered anyway. "Um sure, Al, but what do you need me to promise? And what for?"
"It should be a straight shot out and to the forest we found ourselves in earlier, but I wouldn't put it past these guys to have guards waiting out there. I'm confident we can take them together, but we might get separated again, and it'll be difficult to get back to each other." Al shifted his armor, standing straighter as he looked down at me. It was difficult to tell, but I could have sworn that he looked more resolved, somehow. "If that happens, I want you to promise me that you'll protect Elina and run for the nearest escape you can find, okay?"
"Hey! I can protect...myself…" Elina started to yell, before speaking more timidly as she trailed off. "Well, okay maybe it is a little dangerous here," She continued, sounding not at all confident as she turned her head to look at a corner.
I looked at the young girl and then looked back at Alphonse, then looked down at the ground. Could I really protect her? I shook my head from the doubting worries. If Al trusted me to protect Elina, I would do my best. That's what I thought to myself until I remembered the Floatzel from when we were ambushed and I became nervous. If faced with something like that again…well, I would just have to take Elina and run.
"I'll...try my best, Al." I responded slowly at first, but finished with resolve, staring straight into the glowing orbs inside his helmet. Straight into his soul.
"I know you can understand her, Al, but - Al! The doors!" Elina started to tepidly say, before immediately becoming alarmed, interrupting herself as she did so. With good reason too; the doors of the elevator began to slide back out of the wall and close in on each other, threatening to separate us from Alphonse.
While an intriguing sight to see, my own alarm outweighed it as well. While partly from the doors closing us off from the armored teen, it was more from his own lack of reaction. Alphonse didn't try to rush through the doors before they could close. Instead, he simply stood there and nodded at something, perhaps at himself before he did something that almost made me double back in shock.
Alphonse Elric clapped his hands together and pressed them against the closing metal doors.
"Alphonse, stop!" I cried in protest, but it was already too late. In a brilliant display of alchemy, the doors fused shut and became a solid wall of steel, leaving no trace of the entryway that was there before.
"Al, w-what? Why!?" Elina gasped out, appearing as equally stunned as I was.
It was somewhat muffled coming through the newly formed wall, but I was still able to hear the armored Elric brother respond back to us. There was a shakiness to his voice and an undeniable tone of remorse. "I hate having to do this, but it's exactly what you said, Elina. I can't just leave them behind."
There was a tremor in the room, and suddenly I felt the unique sensation of gravity pressing down harder on me. The room was rising; the elevator was going up.
"Tasha! Take Elina and get out of here!" Alphonse shouted again, becoming ever more muffled as the elevator rose higher and higher, leaving him harder and harder to hear. I strained my ears to catch everything he said, even pressing them against the floor. I barely caught the his last, parting words. "Take care of..."
"Alphonse!" Elina and I both yelled simultaneously. All the same, it was too late; the armored Elric brother was too far away to hear us now. The elevator was well on its way to taking us to the top floor and leaving Alphonse deeper below, down with the human monsters that had tried to kidnap us.
Alphonse, what were you thinking?
One flies north, in pursuit of the lost who calls forth beasts to guide him. One flies south, shedding their allies to face monsters alone in the belly of the beast. But the obstacles that will be put in their way will require aid nonetheless. Will they make it through unscathed?
Next time
Battle Torrent
Steel your mind, lest you fall for the taunt of the enemy.
AN: Once again, big thanks to my beta reader, Rockium, for helping me make these new chapters presentable.