Here's your Valentine, from me to you. Love ya all!
Chapter 2: Awake My Soul
Riza had been right.
Regardless of the two pillows they had placed between them before they went to bed, Roy was still tangled around her, trapping her in his arms until she could wake him up.
If she yelled loud enough she could probably get him up, but he needed to sleep off the alcohol still in his system. And Riza had never really dealt with a drunken Roy before—this was sort of a first.
Roy moans and rolls over—right on top of her. She lets out an undignified squeak before she can stop herself. "Roy!" She gasps. "Get off!"
He grumbles something and cracks an eye open blearily.
"No."
Riza shoves him away as hard as she can from her weird and awkward angle and Roy rolls away, and falls to the floor with a thud. He moans and doesn't get up.
He starts snoring once more.
Riza lets out a frustrated sigh, and thanks god they don't have work today.
Because there's no way she's going to be able to get up.
(*FMA*)
They are in Xing. Of that much Skye is certain.
But just from the tiny glimpses of the open sky she can't really discern which part of Xing, which could be crucial in case they were to make an escape.
And from the way things were going now she was determined to get away, even if that means taking any chance.
Skye hadn't seen Edward for two days, and that worried her immensely. They had originally shared a cell, but had been separated not to soon after they…well, confessed.
She yanks almost without thinking at the chains keeping her uncomfortably on the floor. Skye would've been able to stand had she not earned a particularly nasty cut on her thigh, making her left leg unable to be her weight. The chains gave her a circle with a radius of about three feet, but she was almost too tired to move. She wouldn't be able to reach the doorway or the tiny window anyways, so why bother.
She would wait.
And she would earn her chance of escape, eventually. But not in the way she anticipated.
Rough arms drag her to her feet and she gasps awake, not even realizing she had been sleeping. The chains on her ankles and wrists are released, but she doesn't allow her palms to come together to do a transmutation. She needs to find Ed before she can make her first move.
They, being two burly bald men, don't allow her to walk—they just drag her along like she weighs that of a feather and say nothing. They ignore her completely.
Skye doesn't like the light. So long she's been in the darkness, so long she's been unable to see anything but black…the first thing she saw after this long time of sightlessness as Edward Elric, and he shined so bright she almost felt blinded again, just by seeing his pure gold eyes.
She misses those eyes.
As they pull her through the dank gray and black stone hallways, she sees no one else, and wonders if Ed was still even down her—she certainly couldn't hear him, and from her slightly muffled chi, she couldn't really sense him either.
"Got a big job for ye today," Says the one man holding her. She glances up at him in surprise, then looks to the other, wondering if he would say something. The other bald man on her left stays silent, still looking ahead blankly.
"What kind of job?" She asks, grimacing at her rough voice.
The man winks. "You get te go up te the surface, girlly."
Skye's eyes widen, dark orbs sparkling. "The…surface?" She whispers.
The man nods. "As does the other boy you are with…"
"But why?" Skye questions, pursing her lips. Townsend wouldn't send them somewhere where they could potentially escape. So what was he planning on doing.
"You'll have to let him explain, I've already said a bit to much," He admits. He lifts her up and allows her to stand on her own feet, and then opens the door in front of them for her like she were an honored guest instead of a prisoner.
(*FMA*)
Ed wasn't sure what to think—the clothing they had given him was much different then what he normally wore.
He assumed it was traditional Xing styled tailoring, but wasn't sure. The fabric itself was a dark black, embroidered with gold and red thread to create the image of two dragons entwined together, circling over his shoulder and most of his back. The pants were of the same black, a similar design trailing up one leg. The slipper like shoes that went with it were comfortable, and he didn't mind those. A bright gold sash was tied around his waist. At first he thought the long piece of gold cloth might have been a scarf, but remembered the heat and realized that a scarf would be a rather pointless thing to own in the desert-surrounded country, that was beyond hot as hell.
"Ah," says Townsend, smirking. "You look as if you are really from Xing, Edo-chan,"
"Isn't it disrespectful to call someone by their first name when you don't know them?" Ed snarls. He knew a little of Xing and it's cultures, but he had been smart enough to study it for a while before they set off here, and knew that it was indeed disrespectful. And he didn't like the fact that he was using Skye's nickname for him either.
"Oh, I hardly think it matters," Townsend takes a seat on the floor, setting a steaming mug of tea on the low set table beside him. "See, here we are. You, under my captivity, unable to control your own destiny. I'd assume you've tried to use your alchemy?"
Ed scowls and doesn't answer—of course he had. But it kept slipping away from him, like a granite orb coated in slick oil that he just couldn't hold on to. Every time he tried to access that feeling of power it ran just out of his reach. He wasn't sure what they had given him to take away his ability, and he assumes grimly that Skye was the same way—powerless and confused.
"So Edward, I have a very important question for you."
Ed stays silent.
"Why are you not dead?"
A knock at the door saves Edward from answering, and it opens, revealing a tattered but relatively unharmed Skye Mustang.
"Ah, Miss Skye, wonderful of you to join us!"
"What do you want with us?" Skye growls lowly, obviously not in a very good mood. She steps closer to Edward almost unintentionally, brushing against him gently as if to make sure he is really there.
"Well, I'm holding a formal event for the Emperor and his sons—I have many connections and one of them happens to be the ruler of Xing himself- and I need someone to supply the music."
Edward glances to Skye, eyes flickering with concern.
"What do you want me to play?" She asks stiffly, avoiding her captors' eyes.
Townsend smiles, knowing she would have no choice but cooperate. "I have many instruments. You may pick any of them, or all if you like. I need you to provide the music for the entire event, and if you do so with no attempt of escape I might allow you to have a piece of information pertaining to your friend." He bows his head toward Edward.
"What kind of information are you referring to?" Skye asks slowly.
"One of paramount importance." Cade smiles evilly. "Information on the stone.
"The Philosopher's Stone."
(*FMA*)
Ahhhh, I apologize million times over for my long hiatus—consider yourselves lucky—usually when I go on a hiatus for a month the story I ignored never gets finished XD
Well, information for this chapter—
#1 in the fma universe, many influential countries are represented. Xing is china, Amestris is germany, Drachma is Russia, so on so forth. So the way I write about Xing will be heavily influenced by Chinese and Japanese tradition.
#2 Skye is no longer blind. Just reminding ya!
#3 The reason I was gone so long—two animes—D. Gray-Man (I luv you Lavi!) and La Corda d'oro (Hihara is awesome!) In fact La Corda d'oro ( its a lot of classical music in it, so if you like classics, watch it, its great) was so great, it inspired me to take up a new instrument. That's right. I love Kazuki Hihara so much I'm going to learn trumpet.
#4 No one guessed my favorite band, so I'll give you another week to figure it out! The hint is the title of the chapter!
#5 I started a D. Gray-Man fic. If you like Lavi and Kanda (not as a yaoi pair) go check it out! :D
I will continue to update this, though I might not do so as often as before my hiatus. Since I'm learning a new instrument, its gonna take up a lot of my time
But I will not give up on this story!
So REVIEW!
Love,
Gilraenstar
