Chapter Fifteen:
Chapter Fifteen:
Forsaken
By the time that Izumi had finished interrogating them, Ed and Al were both shaking in their seats as they stared fearfully at their teacher. It had taken a while, but slowly the brothers had told her the entire story, from their first meeting with Annora while she had been running from Envy, the strange book in her backpack with details about their lives, bringing to her to Central HQ and getting information about her life and family out of her, bringing her home with them after she was attacked by Envy in the prison block, finding out that none of the information she had given them could be verified, to how she kept insisting that she was from a city called Flagstaff located in the unknown and previously unheard of country of the United States.
Izumi stared intently at the two boys as she drummed her fingers meaningfully on the kitchen table, where the three of them were seated. Sig was busy working in the butcher shop sharpening some dull knives, and Mason was upstairs keeping an eye on Annora.
"So, Annora claims to come from another world, and has on several occasions has attempted to prove this by showing you her… laptop computer and cell-phone, I believe you called them," Izumi stated calmly as she tapped the black covering of Annora's laptop thoughtfully, her dark eyes narrowed slightly as she stared meaningfully at the two brothers. "And you, Edward, continually insist that there is no such place."
"Yes ma'am," Ed said weakly, quailing underneath his teacher's fierce stare. Al had just opted to stay quiet, mostly because he knew that Izumi was more than a little disappointed with them and all it would take to set her off was a single stupidly made comment from either one of the brothers.
"Out of curiosity, was the argument that you and Annora had a few days ago about this particular subject?" the female alchemist queried, and Al looked over at Ed incredulously with wide red eyes.
"Argument? Brother, what argument?"
Ed turned a very interesting shade of red that was previously unknown to the color spectrum as he sunk down in his chair and muttered something incomprehensible under his breath.
"Edward, we can't hear you," Izumi said sternly as she fixed the boy with a steely look. "Please speak up and repeat what you just said."
"Nothing," the boy said sullenly, only to gulp nervously at the fierce glare that his teacher leveled at him.
"Edward, tell me, now."
"I said that Annora got in a huff over the fact that I told her that she was too old to believe in fairytale-type stuff like other worlds," the State Alchemist grumbled reluctantly before he looked up at Izumi. "Teacher, there's no way that what she claims is true. Any skilled alchemist could have made her 'computer', and her cell-phone is probably just an advancement in handheld radio technology."
"One that even the military doesn't know about?" Izumi asked sarcastically as she fixed Ed with a disbelieving look. "Somehow I doubt that, seeing as how desperate they are when it comes to hiring and maintaining weapons contracts. If these devices are capable of half the things you say they are, their potential to be used in warfare is immense."
Edward frowned as he straightened up in his seat, golden eyes flashing and his automail hand digging mercilessly into the wood on the armrest.
"But Teacher-" he protested, only to be cut off by the older woman with a wave of her hand.
"No buts Ed. Besides, this machine wasn't created by alchemy," Izumi stated calmly as she placed her hands on the top of Annora's closed laptop, a flurry of electric blue sparks running across the surface momentarily before they disappeared without a trace. "It was made by human hands, probably by a skilled engineer who specializes solely in the manufacture of this one product much like your friend Winry does with automail. From what I can tell, the main components are several different types of plastics, silicone, copper, and a few other metals, as well as some substances that I don't even recognize."
Ed's jaw dropped in astonishment as he gently picked up the laptop and looked over the outside covering, as well as the power cord outlet, jump drive port, and headphones jack in the back.
"You're kidding me, right?" he asked softly, and his teacher fixed him with a 'how can you possibly be that stupid?' look.
"No, I'm not," she sighed as she reached up and began to massage her forehead. "Edward, is there anything else that you haven't been telling me about this girl that might happen to be important?"
"Not really, at least not that I can think of," Ed grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest. Izumi sighed as she cast a glance over at the possessed suit of armor sitting next to him and arched an eyebrow meaningfully.
"Alphonse?"
"Well… almost two weeks ago Annora had a nightmare where she started screaming in her sleep," Al offered hesitantly, despite the poisonous glare that he received from his older brother in response to his statement. Izumi arched an eyebrow at this piece of information.
"And why is this important, Alphonse?" she asked calmly as she reached over and swatted Ed upside the head when he opened his mouth to interrupt. Al hesitated for a few moments before he finally answered.
"Because she was dreaming about the Gate."
Ed swore silently under his breath as he banged his forehead once against the table and let it rest there, both of his hands clenching and unclenching into fists as he fought the urge to strangle Al. That was the one thing that he didn't want his younger brother to say on the subject.
Izumi stared at the two Elrics for several long moments before she sighed and stood up, a barely hidden expression of worry on her face.
"You do realize that if she's dreaming about the Gate, there are only two possibilities for what might have happened," she said coolly, and Ed looked up at his teacher with narrowed golden eyes.
"What?"
"Either your friend Annora attempted human transmutation, or she's a homunculus."
--
"Okay, it is now an official fact. I absolutely hate, loathe, and DESPISE this place!!" Annora snarled angrily as she ran down the shadowy corridor with the unknown presence hot on her heels once again. "I want to get out of here! Anywhere is better than this God-forsaken hellhole!!"
As if answering the teenager's frustrated rant, her right hand, which had been pressed up against the wall as she ran, connected with a door handle. Annora's eyes widened in shock and relief as she spun around and wrapped both of her hands around the metallic knob, just as the shadowy presence caught up with her.
"You haven't paid your toll yet for discovering the Truth, Annora Thomas," a whispery voice hissed sibilantly, and the teen felt her skin crawl as a clammy appendage brushed her up against her legs. "There must be Equivalent Exchange."
Chocolate eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as horror washed over the girl. This thing was the creature from inside the Gate!
"Let go of me!!" Annora spat as she frantically started kicking at the tentacles that were trying to immobilize her legs. "Just leave me alone, you stupid, slimy… thing!!"
The Gate creature only tightened its hold on her, and Annora immediately started kicking frenziedly at anything and everything that she could reach as she struggled to open the door behind her.
"You must pay for your passage, girl," the Gate creature hissed as it wrapped several of its tentacles around Annora's legs, and a few around her arms and wrists as she struggled with the doorknob. A loud snapping noise was heard as a well of helpless fury swelled up within the teenager, and the will to live kicked into overdrive.
"GET! THE! HELL! OFF! OF! ME!!" the sixteen-year old snarled, punctuating each word with a fierce kick as she violently twisted the metal doorknob and was rewarded with the faint 'click' of the latch opening. Immediately, Annora yanked open the door and bolted inside, forcefully slamming it shut on the writhing tentacles still clinging to her.
The Gate creature let out an unearthly screech as it jerked the dark appendages back out of the doorway, and the door latched shut before it vanished without a trace, leaving behind nothing more than a smooth expanse of stone wall.
"Oh thank heaven," Annora sighed as she turned around and collapsed against the wall before she slid down into a sitting position on the cool stone floor. It took a few moments for the teenager to notice that she was shaking, and she gave a wry laugh as she held her trembling hands up in the air for inspection.
"Well, I definitely can't say that this whole lovely experience hasn't been interesting," she muttered dryly as she lowered her hands and allowed her eyes to slowly slide shut, the adrenalin that had flooded her system earlier fading. "Who wouldn't like fighting a shadowy octopus from hell with way too many eyes?"
As she slowly calmed down, Annora became aware of the distinctive sound of someone writing something down while using chalk. For several minutes the sounds continued, and the teenager guessed that the person using the chalk was drawing a transmutation circle, probably a pretty good-sized one from the sounds of things.
'Damn, I really don't want to open my eyes, but I know I have to,' Annora reasoned silently as she sat up and looked at the scene before her. The little Ed and Al were both sitting by a large transmutation circle as Ed added the final touches to the runes inside of it.
"There, it's finished," Ed announced as he looked over at his younger brother. "You ready?"
"Uh-huh."
"Don't be scared, Al," the older Elric said reassuringly as he faced the transmutation circle, and Annora felt the blood drain from her face at these words. She was pretty sure that she knew what was about to happen next.
"Oh… shit."
It was at this moment that the teenager cursed the fact that she was little more than a ghost at the moment, because even if she tried to say or do something, there was nothing in this world that would enable her to stop her friends from doing something incredibly stupid.
"Damn."
--
"Brother…"
"Don't say anything, Al," Ed growled as he paced around the room that he and his younger brother were sharing, golden eyes narrowed intently as he tried to glare a hole through the wooden floor. The animated suit of armor stared at him, his red eyes wide in concern.
"Ed, Teacher does have a point," he pointed out hesitantly, only to have his older brother whirl around and glare at him.
"I know, dammit!! That's the problem!" the teenage alchemist ranted as he threw his arms up into the air in frustration. "But the thing is, none of the possible answers that we've come up with can explain what the hell's going on with Annora!! She just appeared out of nowhere, has no records and claims to be from some other town we can't find in a country that doesn't exist! How in the hell does that work?! She can perform alchemy, and doesn't have the Ouroboros, so she can't be a homunculus."
"But what about her brother, Ethan?" Al ventured nervously. "Do you think that maybe he… died, and she used human transmutation to try to bring him back?"
Ed froze in his seat before he looked over at the fifteen-year old, his entire body rigid.
"She did mention that she would do the same thing for her brother that we tried to do for Mom," he said quietly before he shook his head violently in an attempt to force the idea from his mind. "But she can't transmute without a circle like Teacher and I can, so that means that she hasn't seen the Gate in the way we have."
"Then how do you explain the dreams that Annora was having?"
"… I don't know, Al," the teenager admitted reluctantly as he reached up and began to massage the bridge of his nose in obvious aggravation. "This… none of this makes any sense. I mean, I don't know where Annora's been coming from, and I sure as hell don't know what's with her brother."
"Well… Annora always said that he was a soldier," Alphonse suggested. "When we saw him on her computer he looked like he was either stationed somewhere, or on tour."
"You heard Mustang that time, Al!! There is no Ethan Thomas registered in the Amestris military!" Ed snapped. "Hell, the bastard colonel even pulled in birth records from every small town between the borders of Xing to Drachma, and he never found any evidence of someone named Ethan or Annora Thomas being born within the past thirty years!! How do you explain that?!"
"Then maybe Annora was telling the truth," the younger Elric said quietly as he fixed his older brother with a piercing look. "Maybe there is something else out there, another world of some kind."
The Fullmetal Alchemist scowled as he fixed his younger brother with a disgusted look and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Don't tell me that you actually believe that crap," he hissed. "There's no way to prove it!! It's probably one of the most unscientific things to say!"
"Well Annora seems to believe it!"
"Annora thinks that alchemy is a dead science and is friends with some insane stalker chick!! How the hell would she know anything about what she's talking about?!"
Al fell silent for a few tense seconds before he finally spoke, and when he did it was with a hard edge that Ed had rarely ever heard him use before.
"Brother, how would you like it if someone refused to believe what you're saying when you know that it's true?" the usually calm Elric asked coldly. "The night before Annora and I were kidnapped by Greed, I heard her come inside and close her door hard. I went to go see what was wrong, and I heard her crying in there. She kept saying 'I want to go home' and asking why she was here. Does that sound to you like she doesn't know what she's talking about?"
Ed's eyes widened slightly as he looked at his brother in shock. He had made Annora, the girl who had no qualms about kicking guys in the nuts if she felt that they deserved it and had mouth even fouler than his, cry?
Almost immediately after this thought ran through his mind, the usual stubbornness that the teenager showed flared up, and he gave Al a withering look in response.
"Maybe she doesn't want to admit that I actually know what the hell I'm talking about," the alchemist growled. Al stared at him in shock for several seconds before he immediately punched his older brother in the face before he turned around and stormed out of the room and downstairs.
Ed sat there stunned for a moment before he reached up and gingerly rubbed at his cheek, wincing as he did so.
"Damn it Al, you didn't have to hit me so hard," he groused quietly, golden eyes focusing on the window by his bed.
For some strange reason, what Al said to him just didn't sit right. It was almost as though his brother had unintentionally said something that might be important to them in the future.
--
I recall going madly in love with you
And I remember this
How could I forget?
Blood.
In all her life, Annora had never seen so much blood at once.
It was everywhere, filling the air with its oppressive coppery sent, making the sixteen-year old want to gag. To keep herself from losing it, Annora found that she had to keep a hand over her mouth in a futile effort to block out the sickening smell that permeated the entire room.
Regret is a needle
In my neck
It's slowly filling me
With poison
Spreading to my chest
She didn't know what the hell had happened, only that Ed and Al's transmutation had been going fine until the golden light and electric-blue sparks coming from within the massive transmutation circle had suddenly changed into black and deep purple. It had been about right then that she heard the screams, and everything went straight to Hell in a hand basket. Light bulbs had exploded, and a violent wind had whipped up from out of nowhere, accompanied by purple lightning.
"This is just absolutely insane," the sixteen-year old whispered as she stood up and looked around her, the hair along the back of her neck standing straight up.
Thick clouds of smoke, or a mist of some kind, filled the room, making it practically impossible for her to see anything. Finally, the teenager decided to throw caution into the wind, and look for her friends.
Take my pain and numb me from this
"Ed, Al?" she called out, momentarily forgetting the fact that no one could hear her. A harsh choking sound met her ears, and a cold chill ran down her spine as she spun around in an attempt to locate the source of the noise.
"Guys?" she asked nervously, and flinched at the obvious tremor in her voice. She sounded like she was scared out of her mind.
Oh wait, she was.
"Al?" a voice called out, and Annora immediately recognized it as Ed's. "Al? ALPHONSE! No, damn it, no! It wasn't supposed to be like this…"
Why do I have to beg
When all that's left
Is a memory
Forsaken
Annora frowned as she headed towards where Ed's voice was coming from. What had happened? Did something happen to Al? Just when she thought that she was close to where Ed might be, she heard the strange choking noise again. And it was right next to her.
The sixteen-year old looked down next to where her left foot was, and screamed.
There was a body there. Annora's knees gave way as her legs collapsed and she forced herself as far away from the creature as she could possibly go, her chocolate eyes wide in horror as she stared at the being in front of her. It looked like a human, only with its entire body except for the head turned inside-out. Organs pulsed visibly, pumping blood to living tissue that should not be surviving as the misshapen thing stared accusingly at the girl with glowing violet eyes.
Why do I have to beg
When all that's left
Is a memory
Forsaken
"Oh god… oh my god…" Annora whispered hoarsely as she stared at the creature, feeling the harsh sting of bile rising up in her throat. "What... is this?"
The creature issued another chilling choking noise as it glared at her, and the sixteen-year old shuddered as she fought the almost overwhelming urge to start screaming once again. She had never been one to scream, and she knew that if she started again she would never be able to stop.
"Mom?"
I recall pledging my sole devotion to you
It reminds me how
Now I'm on my knees
Annora looked over in the direction that Ed's voice was coming from, and a chill settled over her as she looked at the misshapen being in front of her. This… thing was their mother?
"Shit," she hissed as she forced herself to her feet and made her way towards where her friend's voice was coming from. She needed to find Ed before he saw what he and Al had created. The teenager waved away the slowly clearing smoke as she looked around frantically for the familiar thatch of golden hair, only to be stopped in her tracks by a single sentence.
"Mom, is that you?"
My guilt consumes
Lost the will in me
Wasting away before you
Hold me closer please
Slowly, Annora turned around to see Ed sitting behind her, both of his hands wrapped around the bleeding remnants of his lower leg as he looked up at her with wide golden eyes. The teenager frowned when she remembered that she was nothing more than a ghost to people here, so she couldn't keep the boy from seeing what he and his brother had created.
"Bugger all," she growled in annoyance as she ran a hand through her bangs, only to be interrupted by Ed talking again.
"Hey, you're not our mom!" he accused suddenly, and Annora's eyes widened as she stared at him in surprise.
Take my pain and numb me from this
"You… you can see… me?" she asked hesitantly, and the sixteen-year old suddenly found herself on the receiving end of a familiar golden-eyed glare.
"Yeah I can see you!" Ed retorted hotly, a scowl on his face. "You're standing right in front of me!"
Stunned, the girl crouched down in front of the younger Elric, her gaze immediately drawn to the blood that was leaking from the stump of his leg. Ed noticed where she was staring and glowered, moving the remnants of his limb closer to him.
Why do I have to beg
When all that's left
Is a memory
Forsaken
"I can take care of myself!" he growled, reminding Annora strongly of a wounded fox that she had once found when she was younger.
The animal had snarled at her, even though it had been badly mauled by a dog and was probably going to die from its injuries. After finding a box to put it in, she had scooped the injured animal into it and ran back home to find Ethan, who had helped her patch it up a bit along with the aid of some very thick leather gloves, before he had taken her, and it to the vet.
Why do I have to beg
When all that's left
Is a memory
Forsaken
"Look, I just want to help," the sixteen-year old said firmly as she started looking around for something to stem the blood flow. "No need to bite my head off."
"I don't need your help!" Ed snapped, and Annora glared at him.
Yeah, yeah, yeah
You break me
"Somehow, I seriously doubt that," she retorted as she spotted a rag that she could use. The teenager tried to grab it, only to have her hand phase through it. Annora stared at the hapless piece of fabric, and then at her hand, before she swore angrily.
"Damn it!! Of course it couldn't be that easy, of course!"
Forsake
You break me
Ed arched an eyebrow at this, his expression on of bewilderment.
"What's up with you?" he asked as he reached forward and tried to grab the older girl by the shoulder, only to have his hand go through her deceptively solid-looking shoulder. The eleven-year old gasped, and Annora flinched at the horrified look on his face.
Forsake
You break me
"Now do you know why I was surprised that you could see me?" she asked softly as she looked away, unconsciously clenching her hands in frustration.
"You're a ghost?" the boy asked. Annora made a face at this as she gave a noncommittal shrug in response.
You're breaking me
"I'm pretty sure I'm not dead… but hey, I may be wrong too…" the teenager rolled her eyes upwards as she gave a frustrated sigh. "Then again, I might just be in hell."
"Hell is only the beginning, brats," a sibilant voice whispered behind the two kids, and Annora and Ed both spun around to see the Gate right behind them, its massive doors slowly creaking open. The two stared in sheer and utter terror at the inky black tentacles that slithered towards them, both of them too scared to even move.
I recall going madly in love with you
And I remember this... Tell me
"Oh shit…" Annora muttered hoarsely, her eyes wide as all the blood drained from her face. "We are in so much trouble."
"That's the understatement of the year," Ed muttered dryly as he fixed the older girl with a withering look before his golden eyes widened in horror as he stared at something behind her. "Look out!!"
Why do I have to beg
When all that's left
Is a memory
Forsaken
The teenager barely even had time to turn around before she was seized by the Gate, the deceptively weak-looking appendages trapping her in an unyielding grip. Annora swore angrily as she struggled against her bonds, using words that would make even a sailor blush in shame.
"You… there is now way in HELL that I'm gonna let you win!!" the sixteen-year old raged as she stubbornly dug her heels into the ground. "Now let go of me, you filthy freak!!"
Why do I have to beg
When all that's left
Is a memory
Forsaken
The Gate made a low noise of irritation before it jerked on the teenager, causing her to lose any grip that she had on the ground as it pulled her forcefully into its interior. It was then that Annora broke her promise not to scream, reaching desperately for anything that she could grab on to so she wouldn't be sucked within the inky confines of the Gate.
"Noooo, let go of me!!"
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Forsaken
The last thing that she saw before the darkness inside claimed her completely was Ed staring at her in bewilderment, just as the stone doors slammed shut in front of her ominously, completely cutting her off from the world of light that she knew.
As the teen struggled against her bonds, a thin stream of light pierced the darkness and hesitated for a moment before it connected with the girl's forehead. Annora screamed wordlessly as a stream of images was poured into her head, all of them flying by too fast for her to possibly comprehend. All of them that is, except for one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Tell me why
Why
Why
Why
"ETHAN!!"
--
"ETHAN!!"
Ed jumped in his seat down at the dinner table, slopping soup all down his front as he jerked around to stare up the stairs, his golden eyes wide. Everyone else was frozen in their seats as they too looked up at the stairs where the panicked cry had come from.
"Was that…?" Mason began hesitantly as Ed leaped out of his seat and bolted up the stairs, with Al hot on his heels. The three adults looked at each other before they immediately went up after the Elrics.
The teenage alchemist skidded on the polished wooden floor as he ran for Annora's room and flung open the door just in time to see the girl hastily snap her laptop open and turn it on, terror evident on her pale face.
"Annora, you're awake!" Ed exclaimed before his expression turned into one of confusion. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I'll tell you in a minute," the sixteen-year old said shakily as she immediately logged on to her Web Cam before typing in her brother's military username, completely unaware of the fact that she was currently clad in a long white nightgown. "I just have a really bad feeling about something, and I want to make sure that it's not true."
It was at that moment that Izumi, Sig, and Mason all came up behind the two brothers, who were staring at their friend like she had lost her mind.
"What in the world…?" Izumi began, just as the opposite link to the Web Cam flickered to life, causing Annora to come face-to-face with a stern-faced, grimy man who looked like he had been caught in a fight of some kind.
"Who is this?" he demanded tersely as he glared at the teenager, who now looked like she had seen a ghost. "How in the blazes did you get onto this link?! This is a military link for God's sake!!"
"Uhhh…" Annora said as she recoiled slightly from the older man's verbal assault.
"I swear, if this is a damn prank by one of you punk kids, I'll send the feds out after your punk ass and have them haul you out here so I can deal with you personally!! Now give me your full name, right now."
"A-Annora Thomas, sir," the teen said, slightly unnerved by the man's harsh manner. She didn't notice Izumi come up behind her and glower at the screen, her hand clenching the back of the chair tightly. The soldier's attitude immediately became a little bit more accepting at the sight of the formidable-looking woman sending him a death glare from behind the shaken girl.
"How did you get this address?"
"My… my older brother… he's a private… he gave me this username," Annora stammered as she stared white-faced and shaking at the man who was currently giving her a disbelieving glare. "I… I… something didn't feel right… so I wanted to make sure that he was okay."
The man scowled, but his expression softened a bit as he called something out over his shoulder and vacated the seat in front of the computer. Moments later, a Hispanic man roughly around Ethan's age came over and sat down in front of the computer, and his jaw dropped when he caught sight of Izumi glaring at him.
"What in the hell?" he said hoarsely before he rubbed his eyes. "Okay, it's official; I definitely need some more sleep. I'm seeing shit that ain't there."
"Excuse me?" Izumi growled as she leaned over Annora and placed both of her hands on the wooden desk, glaring at the other man. Ben Morado actually shrank back as he stared back at the female alchemist, now completely unnerved.
"Umm… I was told that one of you wanted to talk to Ethan?" he ventured finally. Izumi frowned, but drew back, allowing Annora to look at the man in front of her.
"Yeah, I do. I'm his sister," Annora volunteered as she straightened up in her seat. "What's going on over there?"
Ben hesitated before he finally responded, worry evident of his tanned face. "Our camp just got hit by an IED about twenty minutes ago. We're still trying to figure out what the hell happened, and how much damage has been done."
The teenager froze in her seat, horror evident on her face as she stared unseeingly at her laptop. Immediately, Izumi took action as she placed a hand on Annora's shoulder.
"IED?" the female alchemist asked sternly, her dark eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Morado, who gulped nervously.
"It stands for Improvised Explosive Device," the Private explained.
Ed watched as Annora went dead white as she stared at her computer screen, her hands shaking as she placed them down on the desk in front of her.
"Ethan… he's okay, right?" she asked nervously as her entire body trembled. "He's okay, isn't he?"
Ben hesitated as a sympathetic look flashed through his eyes, and understanding flooded through the sixteen-year old as she rocked back in her chair with a soft cry.
"No, oh please, God, no," she moaned as tears started to well up in her eyes. "He's okay, he has to be… he… he promised! He promised that he'd come back home after his tour ended!! He's not dead, he can't be!!"
"I'm sorry kid, but… he was standing right next to where the IED went off," Ben said as he looked away, not able to bear the sight of his friend's little sister go to pieces at the news. "We haven't found his body yet, but then again… there might not be much left."
"No… no, you're wrong, you have to be…" Annora said haltingly as she grabbed the front of her nightgown, clenching at something desperately beneath the fabric as though it would anchor her to her rapidly dissolving reality. Izumi frowned as she pulled the distraught teenager close to her, and that was all it took for Annora to lose it. The sixteen-year old burst into tears as she buried her face in her hands and started to sob as her entire world literally crashed down around her.
Her brother was gone. She'd never see him again, never tell him how much he meant to her, never have fights with him and then make up with him after a day or so.
"No, please… no," she moaned desperately between sobs, as though denying what she had just been told would make it go away. Izumi immediately assessed the situation as she looked over at Ben, who looked downright ashamed at being the one to tell Annora what had happened.
"I think that you need to go," the female alchemist stated softly as she wrapped a comforting arm around the girl's shoulders, the expression in her dark eyes unreadable. "If you have any more information on this subject later, we would appreciate it if you would be kind enough to contact us. Right now though, I think that Annora has had enough for today."
"Yes ma'am," Ben said as he cast a pitying look in the teen's direction before he reached forward, obviously to shut off his computer. "I'll do that."
Annora looked up at the now-black computer screen in front of her before she unintentionally let out a whimper; her breath coming in short gasps as she tried to contain all of the hurt that was swelling up inside her. She wanted to scream that it all was a lie, that there was no way that Ethan could possibly be dead. Instead all she could do was sit there, numb.
If this wasn't Hell, it definitely came close to it.
Ed stared incredulously at the girl as she shakily clenched at the unknown object beneath her nightdress. It was hard to believe that this girl was the same person that he had met in an alleyway over two months ago. The Annora Thomas that he had known and argued with was defiant, full of life, and stubborn as hell to boot. This girl… she was broken, sitting there in the chair with dead chocolate eyes… tears sliding down her cheeks in twin never-ending streams.
Izumi looked over at the sixteen-year old, an understanding expression on her face, before she reached out and turned off Annora's computer, gently closing the lid before she motioned for Ed to take the laptop away. The teenage alchemist picked up the portable computer and looked at the black rectangle in his hands reflectively before he returned his attention to his teacher.
"Teacher?" he asked hesitantly, only to have the older woman point at the door.
"Out, all of you," she said sternly, her tone indicating that she would book no nonsense from any of the assembled men.
"But-"
"I said out, now."
"C'mon kid, lets get out of here," Mason said gruffly as he seized the back of Edward's shirt and dragged him out of the room, with Sig shutting the door behind them. Surprisingly, the Fullmetal Alchemist didn't resist as he stood out in the hallway, his golden eyes thoughtful as he looked at the door to Annora's room. Al noticed his stare as Mason and Sig headed back downstairs to finish their dinner, and walked up behind him.
"Brother?" the fifteen-year old asked softly.
"Sorry, I was just thinking," Ed muttered as he shook his head, snapping himself out of his daze. "It's so weird… to know that we were just talking to Annora's brother a few hours ago, and that he was alive and worried about his sister."
Al nodded and stared at the door for a few seconds before he turned around and headed for the stairs.
"We should probably leave them alone for now, Ed," he said softly. The teenage alchemist looked up at him and sighed before he followed his younger brother down the stairs back to the dining room.
--
Izumi watched as Annora stumbled towards her bed, concern evident on her face. As the teenager flopped down and reached numbly for her pillow, obviously intending on bawling her eyes out, the female alchemist sat down next to her and pulled the girl close. Annora stiffened up for a moment in her grasp before the dam broke completely and she wrapped her arms around Izumi, crying relentlessly as she moaned her pain and anguish into the older woman's shoulder.
"Shhhh… it'll be alright," Izumi whispered soothingly as she gently rubbed the teen's back.
"No it won't," Annora sobbed, her response muffled slightly. "I want to go home… I want to wake up and find out that this is all just a damn dream… I don't want this to be real!! He's my only brother!!"
The female alchemist didn't say anything as she held the teen securely in her arms, listening to Annora's moaned denials as she kept repeating "He can't be dead" and "I don't want him to be gone!!" like some perverse mantra.
"Annora… death is a part of life," Izumi finally said as she gently ran a hand over the girl's head.
"But… but he wasn't supposed to die… not like… like that," the sixteen-year old blubbered. "He was supposed to come home… and be safe… and die in his sleep as an old man… not blown into bits by an Iraqi insurgant!!"
"I know… and I understand that…" Izumi said reassuringly. "It's okay to cry…"
Annora didn't respond, and the two females sat there for several long minutes as the sixteen-year old tried to cry out all of the pain that was currently threatening to rip her apart from the inside out.
--
(AN: I'm warning you right now, this part is going to have a lot of profanity and one racist remark in it. I'm not trying to be crude or insulting or anything, that's just the kind of person that Ethan is. When he's frustrated, he usually expresses his opinions verbally. And most soldiers that I know talk like this.)
"God fucking bless America and all the fucking ships at sea," Ethan Thomas snarled as he sat up, hazel eyes clenched shut as he held his head in pain. "When I get my hands on the sons of bitches that launched that explosive at us, I'll make them rue the day that their parents wanted kids!!"
The young man groaned and shook his head as he tried to dispel the nausea that washed over him, somewhat disoriented.
"Where the hell am I anyway?" he grumbled as he opened his eyes, and blinked few times in shock. He was in some sort of dimly-lit file room, practically overflowing with papers.
"Okaaaaaaaay… this is more than a little unusual," the Private muttered uneasily as he forced himself to his feet, looking around him cautiously. "Since when did the towel heads start storing prisoners in file rooms?"
Ethan gave an irritated sigh as he spotted the door out of the room and walked towards it cautiously, his hand grasping the knob and turning it experimentally, and to his surprise found it unlocked. Sandy blonde eyebrows arched upwards in blatant astonishment, and the twenty-year old silently cracked the door open just a bit so he could see what lay outside the room.
The soldier almost keeled over in shock when he caught sight of two men wearing what looked like blue military uniforms of some sort, chatting amiably as they strode down the hall with folders tucked underneath their arms.
"Holy shit!!" Ethan hissed as he snapped the door shut quickly and took a step back, his eyes wide. Whatever he had been expecting, this had definitely not been it.
The twenty-year old frowned reflectively as he stared at the door in front of him for several moments before he scanned the metal filing cabinets and cardboard boxes around him, searching for a clue as to where he was. Ethan's eyes landed upon a paper sticking up innocently out of the top of one of the filing boxes, and he quickly snatched it up.
Before he could read it however, he heard the unmistakable sound of boots clacking on the polished tile floor come to a stop in front of the door to the room that he was in. Cursing wildly underneath his breath, Ethan immediately stuffed the document into his vest pocket and scooted over towards the door in the hopes that he could hide behind it as the metal handle slowly turned.
"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, Colonel Mustang wants to speak with you!!" a woman's voice called out suddenly, and the handle snapped back into its original position as the person on the other side let go.
"Alright then, if Roy needs to talk to me, it must be important," the man said as he left.
Ethan waited for several moments to make sure that the man and the woman were gone before he cautiously poked his head out of the room, and was greeted to the sight of an empty hallway. The twenty-year old wasted no time in going out into the hallway and hurrying down it in search of a better hiding place. He didn't need anyone to tell him that he stood out like a sore thumb in his dusty desert fatigues and tan army boots.
"That was way too close," the Private muttered as he cast a backwards glance at the room that he had just left, noting the sign that said 'Records' emblazoned above it. Right next to it was the men's bathroom, and Ethan had to arch an eyebrow at that particular arrangement. Who in their right mind put a bathroom right next to the records room?
Ethan wandered aimlessly through several different hallways before he finally found the room that he had been looking for, with a sign above it saying 'Uniforms', and immediately ducked inside. The young man checked the entire storeroom thoroughly just to make certain that no one was inside before he finally felt safe enough to look at the document that he had snatched earlier.
Right up at the top of the paper in bold lettering were the words 'Amestris Military Enlistment Form', and Ethan's eyes widened slightly in astonishment. There was no such country as Amestris, was there?
"Oh no, this isn't weird," the soldier muttered sarcastically as he reached up and ran a hand through his short sandy-colored hair. "I feel like I fell into the freaking Twilight Zone right now."
The young man muttered a few choice words under his breath as he slowly read all that was listed on the paper, and frowned thoughtfully. He then looked up at all of the folded-up uniforms stacked up on the shelves around him, as well as the polished black boots in a bin by his feet, and slowly an idea began to form.
Ethan smirked as he looked down at the enlistment form that he held in his hand. He was going to figure out what the hell was going on here, or he was going to die trying.
--
It's really quite amazing what no one notices when they're too absorbed in their work.
For instance, on one even batted an eye at the young dirty-blonde haired man wearing the usual male Amestranian military uniform that stepped out of the uniform storage room with a rucksack slung over his shoulder, a piece of paper in hand. No one noticed him casually slip the sheet of paper into the bottom of the enlistment in-box on an unsuspecting secretary's desk, or when he quietly slipped out of the building and into the city.
However, later that day, Roy Mustang did notice that a greenhorn soldier had been added onto his staff, via a notice that he had to sign. The Colonel grumbled a few words under his breath that definitely would have gotten him shot if Hawkeye had been able to discern them, and scrawled his signature onto the paper.
He hoped that this 'Eric Thomas' was up to some old-fashioned harassment when he came in tomorrow, because the mere fact that he had to sign something in order for the brat to work with his other subordinates immediately put him on Mustang's shit list.
--
Wow, I've been writing this story for over a year now, and look how far its come!! Not to mention the 201 reviews that I've gotten.
Thank you everyone all so much for your support!!
Yeah, I'm not going to do review replies this time because I'm a bum, and I'm tired.
Oh, by the way, I have a new one-shot on how I was originally going to introduce Ethan to the FMA world, but decided to omit from the story because it no longer fit in with the plotline. Please check it out and tell me what you think.
