On the train ride to Dublith, Alex decided to tend to my wounds when I told her to leave it alone, hence me being immortal. Of course, she take anything lightly, making me wince every time she touched me. "This is what you get for getting into fights before deportation. You did the same thing when we were leaving the Underworld."
"I thought Hercules was dead." I winced again, hinting that she pained me on purpose.
"Wait, you met Hercules?" I knew Ed was getting humored.
"Yeah, I met a lot of people you don't know of." I winced even harder. "Now you're just doing that on purpose!"
"I wouldn't kill you to let me teach you Magic."
"That's what you said when you burned my arms." Actually, she's right. I do know Magic, but I can't perform it without my Keyblade.
"So," began Ed. "What World's have you been to?"
"Don't get me started. I nearly keeled over in most of them."
"Do you have a favorite?"
"A favorite? I hope you mean if I have a hated one. It was supposed to be a simple little test to see how advanced we could get at the Keyblade, but it turned out to be a hoax."
"What happened?"
"Well . . . let's just say the Darkness was involved."
I spent the next few hours discussing about the worlds Alex and I have been to, and which I hate the most. He took it like a joke, and I can understand why.
The train stopped and Winry ran off in a hurry. We followed behind, me noticing the sign that read Rush Valley. "What are me doing here?"
"You know Winry. Always looking for better automail parts." The heat was already getting to me. I wasn't hot, but it was irritating my wounds, so I took of my jacket so that I was only wearing my low-back tank. At this point, I didn't care if my scars were showing.
"Jeez, Xena," Alex began. "After a battle, even with Misaki, I'm surprised that you were able to keep your automail in one piece."
"Well, I've gotten so used to it, you know." I began to hear my chip beeping meaning that I was getting a call. It was probably Leon calling to get an update. I stepped aside to allow myself a private call.
EDWARD P.O.V
Xena looked like she was on an important call, so Alex and I tried to locate Winry who was fangirling out on all of the latest automail parts and tools. Meanwhile, I was getting eyed down by some engineers. Pretty soon . . . I was getting mobbed by them.
ALEX P.O.V
After finding Winry, we came back to see Edward . . . shirtless, with automail engineers pestering him. They left as he buttoned his shirt back on, then felt his pockets. "Ed?"
"I'm so dead!"
"What happened? Did you lose something?"
"The only thing that proves I'm a State Alchemist!"
"Edward, you idiot!" Winry began scolding him, while Xena began to walk back.
"What I miss?"
"Ed lost his State Pocket Watch while getting mobbed by automail crazed freaks."
"Ed, check your pockets again." Again? What could she possibly . . . oh, now I understand.
XENA P.O.V
Edward checked his pockets, his face going pale. "You lost my Unit too, didn't you?"
"You trusted your Unit with Ed?!"
"It's a long story. I'm not going into details." Then two men got our attention and brought up the fact that our items were stolen. A girl named Paninya. They pointed the direction she was heading, which was at the bottom of the mountain.
EDWARD P.O.V
On the way down the mountain, Xena kept quiet. For the time I've known her, I knew that wasn't like her. "Should I be worried, scared, or all of the above?"
"I wouldn't worry about it. If I know my sister, this is her way of cooling off. But just as a warning, you haven't seen her at her peak."
"What's her peak?" asked Winry and Al.
"We were in Hallow Bastion. I've never seen her so . . . so taken by darkness, so she says. I don't think she understands that if she was obscured in darkness, we wouldn't be here right now."
XENA P.O.V
In case they weren't wondering, I can hear their conversation.
Up ahead, I saw a bridge that led to another small shopping district. But also, I saw Paninya, Pocket Watches in hand. "Found her. Winry, Al, Alex, go ahead. Ed and I will take our own scenic route." The girl was in the middle of the bridge, so I knew Alex would use the spare Starshard.
Ed followed me to the front of the bridge. I unsheathed my claws and cut the rope. "Hang on!" I grabbed onto both of the ropes endings, as the bridge fell, Ed hanging onto my shoulders. That damn girl can run fast.
"Are you out of your mind!"
"Shut up. I know what I'm doing." I heard footsteps retreading back and I climbed behind the collapsed bridge. As they disappeared, I climbed up. "You need to learn how to put some more trust into me." I clicked on my chip to connect with Alex's. "Al, what's up?"
"Well, she's a little occupied with Winry. Apparently she has 2 automail legs. She led us to her mechanic when she was on the run, but Winry is trying to gain apprentice."
"Figures. We're on our way." I clicked off, and Ed and I made our way, my necklace being our guide.
As we were walking, Ed brought up a question that I haven't thought of the whole time I've been in his world. "What are you going to do after you find the Oathkeeper?"
"You remember that promise I made to you the day we met?"
"Yes."
"Well, even if I find the Oathkeeper, and you and Alphonse are still in this state, I'm not leaving until you get your bodies back. I tend to help you find the Philosopher's Stone."
"What about that title you were telling me about? The Keyblade Master?"
"To be honest, I really don't care about a measly title. I don't even care about my promotion to Fuhrer." From the corner of my eye, I see a black figure. I stop to see, on a rooftop, a hooded Nobody.
"Ed, call Alex, meet up with her!" Hopefully he took orders because I went after the Nobody, Keyblade in hand. As I gained up on it, I swung, successfully striking its head, sending it to the grounds below.
I jumped off the rooftops and marched over to the hooded figure. I grasped it by the neck and unhooded. I was in total shock. It was a girl with black hair, blue eyes like mine. She looked just like me, but with shorter and black hair. All I could whisper was, "Who are you?" She pushed my arm away and fled the scene through a Dark Portal. And I let her. So many thoughts were flying through my head like, Did I just meet my Nobody?
My necklace led me to an automail repair center. I found Winry sitting on a bench, her face flush. "Things got a little too crazy." She explained to me that Winry and Paninya gave birth to the shops owners' daughter in-law.
"She's an automail engineer. She acts like she hasn't seen blood before. Anyway, did Paninya give up the watches?"
"Ed has them." Before I could take a step, Ed grabbed me by my wrists, looked me straight in my eyes, and asked, "Why the hell does your watch have the same date as in mine?!" Crap. How the hell am I going to explain this? You'd think he'd have the courtesy of minding his own business. I mean, curiosity killed the cat.
I tell him to sit down to explain the burden that's always haunting me. "Remember that 'test' I told you about when Alex and were 12? Well, it wasn't a so-called test. Were in Hallow Bastion, in a serious battle with Xenort; the practical God of Nobodies. Both of us were low on stamina, and Xenort shot a bolt of Darkness at me. I held my Keyblade in front of me, hoping that it would block the blast, but Alex jumped in front of me and took the shot, thus killing her."
"If it killed her . . . you didn't . . ."
"I preformed Human Transmutation on her . . . and it was successful."
"If your arm was burned off, and I know your leg was crushed in Laboratory 5 . . ."
"Successful, or not, something has to be taken from you. I gave up my heart. After the Transmutation, I became who I am now. Over-protective, a kill-joy. I don't want to risk something like that again. That's why the Nobodies are after me. Because of how powerful I am, they want me to be Number 1. They're trying to go against the current Number 1, but to do that, they need Kingdom Hearts to be completed, hence why they're after you. I'm sorry I kept this from you. I was planning on telling you, but I didn't know how, or when."
"What about your memories?"
"I guess they were taken, as well. My whole childhood is unrecognizable."
"wow. . . I guess we aren't so different after all."