Braiding the Noose with Indian Rope
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own… anything… except a computer, which I used to write this thing… And I don't do magic tricks (and you probably don't really know what I'm talking about now… but you will… 8D), I barely know how they work, but I have done many nights of research, so I think I figured out most of it… if not feel free to make fun, but I would appreciate it if someone who knows how to do it would correct me, that would be very nice :)
Ed and Winry: 20
Alphonse: 19
Full Summary: After many bizarre murders around Central, the only explanations the police can come up with are alchemy or… stranger yet, magic. Not believing in magic and disgusted at the idea of an alchemist killer, Ed decides to take the case. When he vanishes, it's up to the only people he can trust to try to crack the mystery. Too bad for Ed, but a magician never reveals his secrets…
Mangaverse
Note: (I don't know if these are spoilers or not…) Homunculus are all dead, stone found, Al's body back
Rated for the three M's: Murder, Mutilation, and general Mayhem…. And one L: Language.
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Chapter 1: Of Squabbling and Severing
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November 20, 1919--3:40 AM, Marblin Street
The girl was lying on her back. Brown hair, blue eyes, and covered in blood. Her long curls of chestnut hair spiraled across the frigid ground, stopping only to brush against her pale cheeks. Her vacant gaze was fixed upward, staring at a heaven the officers surrounding her no longer believed in.
"Damn! He got another one," cursed Chief Dan Wilcore. He bent down on his hands and knees, hunching his tall figure in the process, to examine the familiar bouquet resting on the girl's chest of strange white flowers and odd green leaves, both flecked with the victim's blood. "And why does he keep leaving these flowers with 'em?" He questioned, running a powerful hand through his wild black hair.
"Maybe the bastard found out 'is wife was cheatin' on 'im, then he killed 'er and felt sorry… So he bought 'er somethin' pretty to make it all better," snickered an aging policeman, making the crows feet near the edge of his dull brown eyes crinkle in mirth. He turned to the young chief and stated, "Tha's what I do with my wife all the time… The buyin', not the killin', I mean," he quickly corrected, then continued "… although sometimes I jus' wanna…" Dan tuned out the rest of the man's rant and sighed.
The towering captain popped the collar of his coat up to keep the frigid wind whistling through the street from reaching his sensitive neck. He knew that the officers had to distance themselves from the situation to keep from going insane, but this was too much.
Another girl was dead and all the Central Police Force could do was run around like chickens with their heads chopped off (He looked down at the girl and cringed, noticing that his analogy wasn't the best choice, considering the pretty brunette sprawled on the cold dirt had her head almost completely severed).
A frail officer, the third in the company, chirped in, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses up the bridge of his beak-like nose. "Judging by the impossible conditions… I mean, a man couldn't just cut a girl up and bind her with fabric," he picked up one of the flimsy scarves clinging to the victim's body and tossed it away in disgust, then continued on his observation, "By the size of her muscular anatomy, she should have been able to rip away the binds… It's only been a day since she's been missing and she's already ripped apart…and by scarves! Then the ass hole would have had to throw her from a ledge. And in that short amount of time! We have patrols going around almost every twenty minutes in this area since the other killings and this kidnapping… The guys say they didn't even hear a scream or anything. The only explanation is-"
"Magic," the salt-and-pepper haired cop interrupted wiggling his fingers menacingly, then let out a guffaw, which ended up as a wheezing cough, his breath coming out in bursts, fusing with the unforgiving night.
"No! An alchemist, you idiot!" The small, red-faced man fired back, lowering his head in his thick wool coat defensively and puffing out his chest like an offended rooster.
Dan tiredly rubbed his green eyes. "Then it's out of our hands guys. We have to turn this one over to the state. Let them investigate if it really is an alchemist," He let his exhausted olive eyes wander to the balding man. "Tommy, go call 'em up and get 'em over here, so we can go home…"
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November 20, 1919--9:20AM, Central Vantish Apartment Buildings
"No one's answering…" The phone rang again, calling out to anyone on the other side of the line to end the impatience of the two people in the apartment and save them from the contraptions annoying shriek.
"No, someone has to be there, she's expecting us!"
"We're not the only one's that want her brother. She does have a lot of customers," a bronze-haired man chided, rolling his eyes at the antics of his sibling.
"Well, I hope she's not so busy that we have to start paying for her time like her other customers…" One of the two occupants in the room, a golden-eyed man trailed off, his bright eyes widening. Slowly, he turned to see the shocked and embarrassed expression passing over the round curve of his silver-eyed brother's face (one that he thought would mirror the one painted on his own angular features).
"Brother!" Squeaked Al. "I can't believe we just made her sound like some kind of… scarlet woman," he trailed off meekly.
"Who's a prostitute?" A feminine voice on the other side of the line asked innocently. Both occupants in the room screeched, their minds instantly focusing on the thought of impending pain if the woman on the telephone ever discovered whom they were talking about.
"Oh crap! You know brother; I'm really late for class. I'd better get going if I don't want to be… uh… late," spluttered a red-faced Alphonse, quickly thrusting the telephone into Edward's hands. Ed covered the receiver with a large palm, holding the phone away from his burning cheek.
"Al, you can't just leave me with this," Edward snarled as quietly as he could.
"No time, brother. I really have to go," Al answered, relieved. He turned his back on the furious glare of his only family and ran down the long hallway to the armchair his bags were resting in, and then darted out the door of their apartment slamming it loudly. He knew he would get a serious reprimand later, but couldn't help a small smirk from coming to his face at the thought of his clueless brother trying to pacify the crazed mechanic.
"So, who's a prostitute?" Inquired Winry again, thoroughly enjoying the panic seeping into Ed's voice as he explained.
"Well, you see…" Ed's voice got more and more shrill as he continued "…Al's-having-a-little-trouble-with-the-girls-and-he's-so-shy-and-there's-this-girl-on-the-corner-next-to-our-apartment-all-the-time-and-we've-always-been-wondering-if-she's-a-prostitute-and-we-weren't-talking-about-you-at-all…" He ended with a lame squeak, gasping for air after using one panicked breath for the whole sentence.
"Oh, I see, so you were just gonna go up to some girl and, not even absolutely positive that she was really a…" Ed heard Winry pause, which he assumed was to make air quotes "'street walker' and ask her to sleep with Al?" Winry asked calmly.
"Yes! I mean, No! I mean-"
"You know, Ed, this girl wouldn't happen to have sun-kissed golden hair, beautiful blue eyes, and a dazzling smile that can brighten any room, would she?" interrupted an unperturbed Winry.
The girl with the dazzling smile that was holding a telephone receiver in Rush Valley heard the blond boy on the phone in Central sigh in defeat. "How did you know? I mean, not about the dazzling smile, not that you don't have a nice smile, I mean, I like it a lot, but-"
"Relax Ed," Winry said as she gave a short exasperated laugh, and accepted his compliment with a blush.
"So you're not mad?" He questioned, still tense.
"No, I heard the whole thing. I just wanted to mess with you a little." Aggravated, Ed frowned. I can just picture that innocent little pout on her face now. I just want to kiss it off… wait, what- His thoughts were interrupted and he shook his head to clear them.
"Ed, I've gotta say," Winry plowed on, oblivious to the feelings that she was stirring in the blond man, "I'm surprised Al hasn't picked up your… colorful vocabulary since he's spent so much time with you. The only bad thing I've heard him say is 'crap', or 'damn'." An extremely relieved Edward grabbed onto the opportunity to steer the conversation away from the dangerous territory they were in.
"Yeah, after he moved in I was a bit surprised he wasn't talkin' like a sailor… He's even kept up his studies, and with me bothering him all the time." Ed smiled faintly, remembering the time after they had retrieved Al's body from the gate, and seeing the excitement in Al's eyes when he was accepted in to Central's Cavlin University.
He had figured Al would have wanted to start up a separate life from his screw up of a brother, but was overjoyed when Al had suggested they split an apartment, the one that they were living in now.
Ed started pacing in a small circle around the little table the telephone was situated on, still lost in thought. His smile turned to a smirk when he recalled seeing the gawk on Mustang's normally passive face after he told the bastard he would stay in the military.
He had to admit though, Mustang made a decent Fuhrer; the smirking bastard actually cared about the people and tried to help them whenever he could.
Be Thou for the People, Ed never would have thought that the saying would actually be taken seriously. Mustang managed to change the reputation of the State Alchemist from one of hatred to one of honor. That was one of the reasons Ed wanted to stay… well, that and the excellent funding that allowed him to try and make advances in alchemy.
"Ed!" He heard Winry scream, breaking his train of thought. "Are you listening!"?
"Oh, sorry Win, I just thinking…"
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November 20, 1919--9:30 AM, Rockbell Automail
Winry scoffed, "Ed you're always thinking. It seems like you're lost in your own head most of the time… you're so distant sometimes." Her mind traveled back to the hospital room, to the time when Ed had just gotten Al's body back. Al was so thin and sickly, the doctors where afraid that he wouldn't wake up at all.
She remembered how distraught Ed was. How he closed himself off from everyone… even her. He was so depressed that he wouldn't talk, wouldn't eat. But then Al finally woke up and Ed-
She heard a thud.
"Ed?" She asked tentatively and was relieved when she heard a bark of laughter.
"Ow! Fuck! Sorry…" Ed snickered, "I'm such an idiot sometimes. I was walking around the phone and the chord wrapped around my legs…. So I fell." Winry giggled, joining him in the hilarity.
Winry let out a final titter as he mind focused on her earlier train of thought. When Al finally woke up, Ed was so grateful. His ominous mood dissipated once he got to wrap his arms around the slight Alphonse and see the look of delight the boy wore when he ate (although it was disgusting hospital food, not that Al really cared) real food for the first time in five years.
"Win, I need to tell…. Though…. You should bring someone…. Killer…" She tried to decipher Ed's broken speech.
"Ed, I think you pulled the chord out when you fell, I can't tell what you're saying."
"You…. Bring someone cause… killer on the loose!" Ed practically shouted.
"Oh! Alright… uh… I'll bring Paninya and Garfiel. I'm sure we can take down some psycho if they try kill us." Winry stated, slightly alarmed at the news of some depraved creep stalking the streets.
"No! Not Garfiel! He's…." Ed screamed, panicked.
"Calm down Ed. I'm sure Garfiel's gotten over his crush on you!… Actually, I think you're right… Me and Pan should be able to take him!"
"… Panin… sounds good… should get… Work... Late."
"Okay Ed! Remember to pick me up at the station!" With that, Winry hung up the phone and gave a happy shriek at the thought of seeing her two favorite people again.
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November 20, 1919--9:50 AM, Central Vantish Apartment Buildings
Ed heard the click on the other line as Winry hung up the telephone. He sighed and reached near his head for where his own phone had fallen when he crashed. He hung up, and still lying on the cold floor, he sighed. I can't let my thoughts wander away like I did earlier! Winry'll find out how I feel… he took a deep breath. Would that really be so bad if I told her how I felt about her? What if she feels the same way? I'm finally done with the stone, I should be able to have something that I want… But then there was that nagging question, always ready at the back of his mind, What if she doesn't feel the same way? Then our friendship'll be ruined, and it'll be my fault…
He pushed his thoughts aside and began untangling the bindings around his legs. He would think more about it later, right now he had to get to work so the bastard wouldn't scream at him for being late… again…
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Sorry I made Ed so awkward, but that's how I would picture him talking to or about ANY girl… he he…
I really don't know what happened, all of the spacers between scenes got deleted, so I fixed them… I hope, at least : )
I wrote up till Chapter 3 already, so I should have it out soon, but I need to pace myself so you don't have to wait like 3 months between Chapter 3 and 4, ya know? (Well, that is if you liked this one and keep reading…)
Uh, if you guys would review it would inspire me to post the other chapters' sooner… k?