The 8th Sin
-'Leave Me Alone'-
Huah... I've been on a roll... Just so you all know, I typed this chapter down when I just uploaded chapter 3. In other words, I finished this chap and chapter 4 in one day. : P
Oh and by the way, I'm mixing in some scenes from both the manga and the anime so anyone who has both of these will know where I got so-and-so scenes. :3
I really hope everyone is enjoying this story so far. I know Freesia sounds kind of pathetic right now, but she'll get over it soon. I assure you that. As for Melody's short appearance, it's got significance. The pieces will fit soon enough. Just stay tuned, people!
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Edward didn't catch the last phrase she mentioned and was going to question her further when she attempted to run away again. This time, Rin wasn't taking any chances. He quickly drew an alchemic circle on the dirt road and activated it, causing the pressure around Freesia to increase until her body dropped to the ground, as heavy as lead. She struggled against the invisible force, but she knew she was beaten.
Rin approached her and hauled her up, "...You're coming with me."
"Where are you taking her?" Edward asked. He found her to be extremely intriguing as he had just seen someone recover from a broken backbone, which normally causes a 100 percent instant death on a human being, in less than 30 seconds!
The winged alchemist turned to face the smaller young man and said, "To Central. King Bradley will have a say as to what to do with her. I can't guarantee if she lives or otherwise," Freesia tried struggling again, but it was no use; her body wouldn't move. Shu barked loudly at Rin's feet, in spite of his small size and was going to bite his ankles when Rin spread his wings and got airborne.
"I don't intend to take the train, so if I may take my leave now, I'll send a replacement for myself once I reach HQ. Till then, I don't expect the two of you to go running amok," he said coldly, obviously in a foul mood as he flew off, the newly-revived young woman slung over his shoulder.
He was a surprisingly fast flier and before they knew it, they had reached Central, and it only took an hour. What was he, a miracle worker or something? Oh yeah that's right... he's an alchemist. Besides, in these days, ANYTHING can happen.
The first person Rin met as soon as he reached HQ was a red-haired woman, no taller than Edward Elric himself and she carried a stack of files with her, a small, goblin-like creature following close behind her as the files she was carrying threatened to fall over on top of her,
"Hi there, Rin! Who do you have –whoa! - There? Colonel Mustang isn't... –yikes! - Here, if you're looking for him. Aah!" she cried out as someone bumped into her from the opposite direction and sent her and her files sprawled out on the floor.
Rin rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming. Placing Freesia down, still with the force of gravity on her, he helped the red-head pick up her numerous files, "Melody, what the heck are these for? You do realize that you could have just asked for Sheska's help."
"I know... But the poor girl's busy. I won't want to disturb her. Marcus! Don't eat that!" she suddenly cried, snatching a piece of paper out of the small chimera's grip. It pouted and crossed its arms over its chest. She took the documents out of Rin's hands and stood up, getting Marcus to help her bring some of the other files when she saw Freesia leaning against the wall, immobilized.
"I do know that you can control parts of gravity, but that's plain sickening... She's a girl, probably no older than me. What did she do anyway?" she whispered, forcing the taller alchemist to bend over to hear her.
"She's not just a girl. You can see for yourself once you see the Ourobos' tattoo on her right shoulder," he replied shortly, also in the same tone. Melody decided not to take her chances. If the bluish-black-haired girl really was a homunculus, God knows what she's capable of doing.
"Just so you know, I heard that the Grand President has gone to Dublith. You may have to keep her with you for a while, if your initial plan was to 'pass judgment' onto her, as you'd call it," she said with a smile and walked off towards her office. Rin was going to protest when Melody's door shut with a gentle 'click'. She must be experimenting with more chimeras because he heard various sounds coming out of her room shortly after that.
He sighed and looked at the homunculus sitting on the floor behind him, totally helpless. He had no other choice...
-Later...-
He found himself back at his house (he decided to take the rest of the day off) later, and he was just drying his wings out. It was his least favorite thing to do because he couldn't reach some parts. He hadn't released Freesia of her bonds yet and she was lying on his bed, staring off into space while he just stood at his doorway with a towel over his head, his wings leaving a trail of water behind him and clad only in a pair of white trousers.
"Would you behave and listen to what I say if I let you go?" he asked suddenly, approaching his 'prisoner'. Her eyes now focused on him, a mixture of feelings obviously shown in the depths of her eyes. She had refused to talk and he'd gotten frustrated but now, he received a response,
"Would you take me back home if I do behave?"
Now Rin had to think. If he let her go, she may pose as a threat once she has gained control over her abilities. Her ability to regenerate was already enough for Rin to brand her as dangerous and if she showed signs of being able to do more than just that, then he wouldn't let her out of his sight.
But for now, all he could do was just trust her, no matter how much he didn't want to, "I can't promise that, but if I think you're good enough, I will send you back myself."
For the first time, Freesia smiled at him. It was a genuine smile and for some unknown reason, it made his heart skip a beat and made him kick himself mentally, 'You're not supposed to LIKE her you dolt! That will never happen, at least not if I can help it! Now focus. She's just going to be a temporary helper...'
He managed to convince himself that he wasn't falling for her and released her of her bonds. She sprang up to her feet and stretched, relieved to gain her freedom of mobility again.
Standing up, Freesia got a good look of the room. It was small, but roomy and the walls were decorated by hand-drawn artworks of varying themes. There were mythical creatures, a scene in a war, a lone wolf overlooking a cliff, an angel descending from heaven, they were merely exquisite. All that, done only on one of the four sides of the wall. The numerous brushes scattered on the floor, the palette and the countless tubes of paint were enough to say that he was far from done. Rin noticed her staring at his handiwork and asked, "Do you like arts and crafts?"
Freesia smiled again, making his cheeks take on a light shade of pink this time, "I do. They fascinate me. Father wasn't a very good painter, but he would describe the picture he had in mind and I would admire them. But this..." she said mistily, walking towards the painted wall, running a delicately pale finger over the smooth spread of paint, tracing the figure of the wolf that stood before her as she rested her forehead on the wall, "To be able to express how you feel in this way... It reminds me of something that I can't even remember."
Rin watched her. For a second there, seeing her lean there against his work almost looked like she was part of it. He half-wished she never was a homunculus for he felt that he really was captivated by Freesia's beauty. She interrupted his fantasies when she looked at one end of the wall, where there was an incomplete painting of a black-winged angel, fallen on the ground and writhing in pain, reaching out for the sky and looking as if he was pleading for mercy.
"This is...?" she asked, facing her companion for an explanation.
Rin placed an empty easel in front of it and draped a cloth over it, almost ashamed to allow her to see the picture, "I did that when I was frustrated. I'm planning on painting something else in its place."
Freesia wasn't listening; she moved the easel out of the way and traced the angel's face, twisted in silent agony, "You weren't frustrated, were you? It looks more like you were hurt. Deeply," she said in the same misty tone, a distant look in her eyes as she continued to look at the wall, almost as if she was watching the whole world from there. As if the painting was the whole world itself.
She tore her eyes away from the paintings after a while, "You're a very lonely person, aren't you Rin?" she asked suddenly, trying to relax in his presence.
Rin merely shrugged, "Not that much. Even if I do feel lonely, I vent it out by painting or reading a book."
Freesia giggled, "That just comes to show that I'm right. You ARE lonely. Don't you have any friends?"
"Only one I trust enough. He's more of a rival than a friend though. His name's Jonathan Winrain."
"Is he an alchemist like you?"
Rin nodded, "A pretty powerful one at that... He's called the Storm Front Alchemist. He can sort of alter the weather and mainly uses electricity as his main weapon. But I don't think that matters to you anyway."
"I think it will," his female companion countered quickly, smiling at him wryly. He rolled his eyes skywards. Her stubbornness in whatever she believed was annoying him, but he enjoyed her company nonetheless.
"Hey, do you think you can do me a favor?" he asked suddenly. Freesia searched his eyes for any clue, but found nothing,
"With what?" The curious look on her face was simply adorable. Rin had to refrain himself from getting down and dirty with her right then and there and handed her his towel,
"I need you to help me dry my wings. I can't fly if they're wet..." he mumbled, knowing for one thing that his request was a silly one.
Freesia stared at him for a moment. Her lips curved up into a smile and in a matter of seconds, her laughter rang around the room like a chime. Sweet and melodic, "You could have just asked earlier!" she cried, grabbing the towel and beckoning him to sit on the floor while she sat on the bed and started drying out his wings. She liked the feel of his feathers; soft and smooth. She thought they were rough and coarse the first time she saw him, but obviously she was wrong.
During the few times Freesia's fingers flitted over his bare back, his body tensed, 'You can't fall in love with her, you shouldn't fall in love with her, and you MUSTN'T fall in love with her! Stop responding to her, damn it!' he screamed to himself mentally, trying to block out these strange sensations he felt whenever she touched him.
Freesia sighed when she was done, "Okay, that's just about it, right?" she asked, feeling through the black feathers quickly just to make sure they were dry.
Rin snapped out of his trance and stood up, taking the towel from her hands, "Yeah, thanks a lot."
"Don't mention it," she said with a smile. God, how he wished she'd stop that... He walked over to his closet and pulled a tight dark green shirt over his head. It surprised Freesia how he could even wear anything without having his clothes ripped beforehand.
Rin enlightened her, "My clothes are all custom-made. They've got holes in the back so my wings can fit through."
She smiled again at him and nodded, "You know Rin, I never thought you'd be such a nice person."
The purple-haired alchemist looked at her quizzically, "Why? I have noticed that you seem to have a phobia over military people," he said flatly, pulling a chair up in front of the incomplete painting and picking up his palette, squeezing various colors onto it before continuing to paint.
Freesia shrugged, "About the military thing, I don't know what happened to me, but your kind of people scare me. And yet, even when I know you're in the military, you remind me of a man I've long forgotten."
Rin didn't reply. He merely continued to add in various touches to the incomplete picture and in a sense, waited for Freesia to continue talking.
"Rin, what is 'love'?" her innocent question made Rin accidentally smear white paint on the tree that he just painted.
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(Gasp!) What would Rin say? And it's surprising how Freesia can instantaneously change Rin's mind about 'passing judgment' on her... :P
I'm enjoying every minute of detail on this one, I hope everyone else does too. Oh and just to peak your interests, if you think my work is good, try reading some stuff written by lightningsrxu and Rin-neechan. They rock:)
So, that's all for chapter 5. Chapter 6 will be done soon, I assure you. :-)