Book II: Central City
Jin walks about two blocks and finds a hotel. He enters and approaches the front desk. A mustached employee was there.
"Can I help you sir?"
"I need a room."
The employee gave him a shrug and said,
"I'm sorry sir. We have no more rooms available."
Jin doesn't give up and he asked,
"Do you know anywhere else I can get a room at?"
The employee thought about the question for a moment and replied,
"Yes, although most of the hotels are booked due to tourist season, I know a small bed & breakfast in the suburbs. If you don't mind a little traditional setting, then I can refer you."
"That would be fine."
The employee takes out a piece of paper and scribbles down some street instructions of how to get to the bed and breakfast. After he is done, he hands the paper to Jin. Jin thanked him and left the hotel. Jin followed the instructions to a quieter side of town. All of the sudden, the silent night was broken with a loud female scream. Jin follows the voice to the source and sees three men harassing a black-haired teenage girl. He hides behind some bushes to watch.
"What do you want?" asked the girl.
None of the men responded. One of the men reached for the girl's opened collars, while another held the girl from behind. Jin then understood what was going on. He wants to help, but he doesn't want to interfere with other people's businesses, especially with criminals. Jin doesn't want to expose himself and get in trouble with the police again. He knew that if his arrival was discovered by the men working for the Grand Bishop, then his family would be arrested and executed. But it seems as luck was on the side of the girl. An owl flew by the bushes that Jin was hiding behind, and one of the men sees Jin's shadow. One man approaches with a knife in hand walking straight for the bushes, while one other men approached from the other side. Jin didn't have anywhere to hide.
"Come out!", ordered by the man holding the knife.
Out of no where, a pair of hair-thin needles plucked themselves onto each of the men's bodies. Then Jin rushed at the man holding the knife. The man wanted to move his legs to avoid the attack, but found his legs to be rooted to the ground. He then wanted to put his arms up to defend himself, but found his arms to be frozen. Jin reaches to where the man was standing at and knocks him out with a blow to the neck. The second man tried to scream, but a third needle was inserted into his collarbone. His lips became numb. Jin kicks the man horizontally on the neck to knock him out.
"Two down, one more.", thought Jin.
The last man was pointing something at Jin and then pointing it at the girl. Jin realizes that the man was holding a pistol. Jin throws a needle right into the barrel of the gun. However, the needle thrown this time had a small slip of paper attached to it. Jin exposes his left arm and presses his right hand on a tattooed circle. As soon as the circle began to glow, the small circle on the slip of paper attached to the needle glowed as well. Suddenly, a stream of electricity is passed through the gun and onto the man's hands, electrocuting him. The metallic barrel of the pistol had acted like a conductor of electricity. Jin covers his left arm and began to walk away.
"Thank you."
Jin realizes the girl was thanking him for saving her. He stops and turns around and sees the girl smiling at him. He remembered something that Lang used to say.
~Flashback~
Lang: Come on Jin, if you are always so uptight and unfriendly, you will never find a girlfriend.
Jin: Well, it's better than becoming a playboy like you.
Lang: Well, at least I can become a playboy. Listen Jin, when girls smile and act nice towards you, try to be nice to them in return. Trust me.
~End of Flashback~
Jin doesn't know why he decided to follow Lang's advice now, but his lips moved faster than his brain worked. He smiled back and replied,
"Are you ok?"
The girl jogs towards Jin and puts out her hand.
" My name is Liza, what's your name?"
Jin wondered which mystical force was making him to act this courteous.
"Jin."
"That's a unique name, are you from abroad?"
They were walking down the path. Jin had finally gotten a good look at the girl. Liza had brown eyes, black-haired and seemed to be aged around 16 or 17.
"Yes, I'm from Xing."
"How old are you?", asked by the girl.
Jin looked at Liza again and thought that no girl in Xing would ever act the same as she would. Xing girls were brought up learning that it is un-lady like to ask a man so many questions. Jin then realizes that he was in Amestris, and this must be one of Amestris' customs. So he answered,
"I'm 18."
As they continued walking, Jin realizes that they are walking exactly by the instructions given by the employee. Soon, they reach a house with a small sign saying: R&R Bed&Breakfast
Jin wondered why the girl had brought him here, so he asked,
"What is this place?"
The girl opens the door and says,
"Come in, this is my house."
Jin follows the girl in and finds a large entrance hall with several antique looking pieces of furniture. A tall and skinny middle-aged man approaches them. Liza gives the man a hug and introduces Jin.
"Daddy! This is Jin. He saved me from those gangsters from the South Side of town. He's not from around here, so I wondered if we can give him a room to stay in."
The man smiled and responded,
"Of course my dear. Any friend of Liza is a friend of the whole family."
Liza then turned around to Jin and said, "Come on, I'll take you to your room."
Liza leads Jin upstairs and onto the second floor. She introduced the house for Jin.
" The house has three floors. The first floor is the dining room and recreation room. The second floor is the guest rooms. My family lives on the third floor."
Liza opens a door for Jin and leads him in. It was an old room. It had an individual washroom. The bed was like one of those wooden antique beds with over 5 sheets and 10 pillows.
"Make yourself at home. I know you're tired, so I'll bring up some food to you later."
As soon as she has left the room, Jin decides to take a shower. A warm bath would help him clear up his head and help him focus on the task before him. After taking his shower, he lied on the bed thinking about his homeland, Xing. The great and mystical land of the Orients. Xing's boundaries expanded from the West desert to the East Sea. Just as he was daydreaming off about the forests of Xing, the door opened. Liza entered with a tray of food. Jin looks at the food and recognizes some of it, but some didn't come to his head.
Liza saw Jin's confused looks and said,
"It is just some home-styled food, pasta, sautéed fish, seasoned mashed potatoes, and marble cake. I hope you are used to this food."
Jin picks up his fork and stabs it into a piece of fish and responded,
"Smells great, I'm sure it tastes great as well."
Jin was wrong. Although the food looked and smelled normal, the taste was definitely not normal. It tasted like months-old cheese with mothballs. Jin kept his manners and forced himself to swallow the first bite.
Liza smiled at him and said,
"How was it? I made it for you. My dad is usually the chef, but I told him that you saved my life, and I think the only way to pay you back, is to cook for you personally."
Jin forced a smile and put down the plate. His left sleeve is brushed up by the tray and parts of his tattoo are exposed. Liza saw this and asked,
"Is that what you used to save me? That's an alchemy transmutation circle right?"
"No, it is different. Although Xing alchemy and Amestris alchemy shares the same concepts, it is very different."
"What do you mean?" said Liza with a puzzled look.
"Well, remember how I threw that needle with the alchemy circle on it into the barrel of the gun?, Well, the needle were made out of steel, and I decomposed the steel to separate all the carbon atoms from the metallic atoms. This caused a friction effect, allowing tiny bolts of electricity to be made. Then I enlarged the effect and shocked the man."
"Isn't that the same concept as Amestris alchemy?"
Jin responded,
"Yes, but the difference is, I take the energy from conducting my alchemy from tectonic movements, while your alchemy takes it from some other source of energy."
Suddenly, Jin thought of something, so he asked,
"Liza, do you know the source of alchemic energy in Amestris?"
Liza thought about the question and responded,
"None of the alchemists I knew ever wondered about the source of the energy they use to conduct alchemy. But I'm sure that the 1st Library in Central City will have some books on it."
Jin and Liza talked for another hour. However, they drew their conversation away from alchemy and towards Xing. Liza asked many questions about Xing, and to his own surprise, Jin answered all her questions. After Liza had left, Jin made his plans for the next day in his notebook: Travel to Central City.
End of Book II