Yup. You got it right folks, chapter ten. The big 10! I made it, no, we made it.
Enough with the emotional parts on reaching chapter ten, let's review.
Ed kissed Medusa.
AWWWW YEH! But, all is not perfect in paradise, for it is a forbidden fruit to both of them, one will never age, while the other will age, just takes a bit longer. But perhaps your dearly beloved author might have a trick up his sleeve?
But, that is for another time, for this is now, and you, the reader, prepare yourself;
FOR THE 10K CHAPTER!
No, I'm kidding, that would involve a shit tonne of plot line and I like to spread it out like butter, not glop it on like whipped cream.
Anywho, I like the reviews, and yes to Metabolica. When I envisioned Ed in what looked like his twenties, that is what I saw. Now, for this chapter, I'm not going to say what's going to happen. Perhaps a bit of distancing between the two love birds?
Or will they rush headfirst into pure love, risking everything for their happiness? No, that's not it. Some distancing, followed by emotional releases, ideals and feelings brought out into the light, the glorious light! Some insight onto my reference two chapters ago, where magic and alchemy were not always separate. Well, that might be later in the story.
For now, all I ask is for you to read the story and review it. Enjoy.
Oh yes, I got a review about how this all takes place, canon for FMA, plus Truth. In Soul Eater, Mabaa is evil bad guy while Medusa is not. Crona is not Medusa's child, just the subject for black blood.
On with the story.
Over the past week both Edward and Medusa had been working on figuring out what exactly he could do with his magic.
Much to his enjoyment, and displeasure, he could create fire out of thin air, manipulate it, shape it, heat it to such incredible degrees that the concrete began to smoke, make a heatless flame that was bright enough to burn shadows into the ground, and a few other things.
The way this worked was in part of the tattoos on Edwards arm. While they did have a small bit of alchemy in their design, they were largely magic based. And magic was mainly a willpower art, perfected with intent of mind.
In order to keep their cover, they played the story that they thought there might be a Kishin egg in the city, so they would stay here and Ed would take care of it.
Sadly, except for the regular magical training sessions, Edward and Medusa rarely met.
He would be off in the library, learning about different fire related spells. They did exist, but there weren't a lot. And even then, these were more of the parlour trick type.
Medusa meanwhile, was investigating something on her own.
You see, the presence of Russian Spetnaz troopers was a bit curious, especially in such large numbers. So, she began to do some digging on what exactly was going on. Apparently, there was some big operation going on that would 'further the Russian Government to a point where they could invade America and take over, eliminating the DWMA through various political and military defeats. The problem was, she was completely unable to find out what this was. The only people that knew about it in the enclave were Mabaa, Eurka and, much to her surprise, Free.
While his explanation was a 30 words or less statement, she got a pretty good idea. Mabaa, with every ounce of self control being spent, broke Free out of jail for a job. That was as far as she got.
Ed, on the other hand, was pondering how he might be able to spend life with Medusa. It was mostly futile on his part, short of a miracle he would be stuck alone for a long time.
He'd have to go visit the gate and get the large majority of souls removed from his soul.
Problem is, how would he regulate that? He couldn't just go to Truth and say 'Hey Truthy, how's about you take some souls away so I can be happy?'
That would not play out so well.
But seeing the Gate was possibly the only feasible way of living with Medusa. Either that or... hold on, could it work?
No, that's a bad idea, very horrible.
But... it might be the only chance...
But it's barbaric, completely immoral, he wasn't sure if he could live with himself if it went wrong.
But sometimes benefits outweigh the consequences.
But when it comes to her, he would accept no consequences.
Sighing, he tried to distract himself with a couple fireballs, juggling them in the air. It made for an impressive sight, three flaming orbs being juggled in flesh hands.
The idea he had, it was brilliant, yet only an idea. Research would have to be done, lots of research to see if it was safe.
But that could wait, for he now had another mission.
Finally, after much pestering by the other witches and to an extent, Medusa, he had decided to pick out a set of clothes to wear.
He had required some help from an older witch, mostly for the mask.
It was white, having a rough outline of his face to give it a bit of a simple look. There were three black streaks, two being eyes and the third being a mouth. It looked like a sort of simple, cheap clown mask, the mouth constantly in a demonic smile. While only composed of two colors and could easily be done by a five year old.
(If you need help picturing it, think of Darker than Black. The masks from that anime are a close resemblance.)
It was attached to his head with a strap, keeping it snug on his face. The reason that he needed help was this witch was able to cast a spell that made it completely see through from the back. That way he could see perfectly fine without anyone seeing even his eyes.
He wore a pair of black combat boots that went up to below his knee. The pants were black cad pad combats. He had a black turtleneck on, covering his upper body. A black jacket covered him, hiding the gold hair that he was so identifiable from. It was covered in small black metal plates, obviously relating to his dragon theme. There was a hood on the back, big enough to cover his hair from view. On his hands were a pair of black combat gloves. He had discovered that if he didn't want it, the flame wouldn't hurt his clothing. The gloves had rubber palms and fingers, while the back was a tough fabric mesh.
All in all, he was intimidating. But for purposes inside the enclave he kept the mask in a pocket on the inside of his coat.
Oh yes, don't forget the short sword on his side. It was etched with a few alchemical arrays designed to deconstruct matter that they touched, but not explosively.
Once he had picked up his mask, it haven taken a while to make, plus the obvious spare he would need in the future, and a quick guide on how to make more, he headed to find Medusa.
He figured that by now they could say that they killed the Kishin and Ed disposed of it, Skully would believe that.
Of course, he had to find Medusa.
If he knew her she would probably be hunting around, digging up info on the presence of Russians on the base.
Although, it was around lunch, so maybe she would be in the mess hall.
When he got her, he saw her bronze hair at a table, enjoying some noodles. He got himself a sandwich and sat down across from her.
Since the... incident... they had both grown a bit colder to each other. While Ed may tell a joke, she would have laughed, but now Ed wouldn't even think of telling a joke. It was an unconscious move on both parts to distance them, that way when Ed had to leave or Medusa died, they both wouldn't be broken.
Oh how wrong they both were.
"...So, I decided that we should head back today, let Skully know we 'killed' the Kishin egg. I've learned enough from the library here, it's fairly useless as far as fire related magic go. Besides, I'm bored of the concrete and grey metal."
Medusa nodded, finishing her noodles.
"Sounds like a good idea. I haven't gotten any more information on what is going on here, all I know is somehow Free is... working... with Mabaa to do something, possibly collaborate with magic or something. I'm not sure." Ed nodded, munching on the bread and ham.
The situation was very confusing.
After a period of about 10 minutes, when Medusa had finished and Ed had as well, they both got up and headed for the lift that would bring them to the surface.
2 days later
Ed and Medusa stepped into the halls of the DWMA. The color of the school was a welcome contrast to the blank grey color scheme used in the enclave.
"Good to be home, " commented Ed, observing the halls. Medusa nodded, not really in the mood for conversation. Her mind was still on the events at the enclave.
Particularly the... incident...
Ed, seeing as she was not going to be particularly responsive for a while, turned left and headed for the library, intent on grabbing all the information on souls that he could, particularly how they reacted in this world.
Medusa headed for the clinic, intent on resuming duties.
The staff however, knew something was up with Edward and Medusa and were very inclined to intervene, seeing as they saw the blooming romance and placed various sums of money on the date that it would become public.
In Edward's case, he had rarely left his room, instead leaving only to grab a plate of food and more coffee. He had been doing something that caused him to lose all sense of hygiene. This was attributed to the fact that he was wearing the same clothes, a pair of brown slacks, brown shoes and white shirt, well, grey was a more appropriate term now.
His hair was more and more messy and to top it off, he smelled.
On Medusa's side of the playing field, some of the staff had tried to get her to go to Edward and work out their differences.
This ended with some counselling, soul searching, and planning, and a variety of other things that made her realize one key thing.
The one key truth in her life.
The one thing that on her life, without a doubt, in the fullest confidence, she could say.
"I love Edward Elric."
So, this is how she found herself, searching through Edward's room for anything that would help her on her quest.
She came across a small black battered notebook, one that looked like it was collecting dust. She flipped through the pages for a bit, before finding something.
Some crosschecking with stuff she knew she realized that this held the ability to give her what she wanted.
Snapping a picture, she closed the book and put it back on the shelf, running out the door towards her own room.
Meanwhile, Edward was walking back from getting dinner when he passed a mirror. He paused, looking at himself.
Honestly, he looked homeless. A quick sniff check revealed he was just as bad on the nose side of the argument.
"I need a bath," he muttered, heading back to his room, oblivious to the soft click of Medusa's door. When he walked in, he took notice of the clothes he wore at the enclave, seeing how well kept they were. The mask sat on top, a soft glow noticeable from beneath, no doubt the magic at work to display stuff above the eyes.
He realized it looked truly demonic with only two colors and three paint streaks.
Turning on the hot water, he stripped and jumped into the steaming water, washing three weeks of filth from himself.
It was at that point, when the hot water, so familiar in temperature to the fire that now represented him, that he came to a conclusion.
Despite all his trying, all the years of inner speeches, every single moment that he told himself he couldn't for the best of both himself and the other party, it had happened.
Edward Elric was in love.
Meanwhile, Medusa was examining the picture she took.
She was honestly having second thoughts about this whole plan. While yes, if it worked, would mean that they could spend their lives with each other. If it went wrong, it go very bad, possibly resulting in the likely hood of her death.
Perhaps, perhaps she would put it off for a while, just until she was absolutely sure it was what she wanted. Maybe Edward might have a plan. Or something.
So, being her, she drew the picture in her notebook, making sure it was just as the image was depicted. Then she deleted the picture on the camera, making sure there was only the one copy in her possession.
Sighing with defeat of her resolve, she decided she would go say hi to the blond alchemist, see what he had been doing for the past few weeks.
She had found her life to be very lonely these past few weeks without regular interaction with him.
Apparently the staff saw this too and were desperately trying to get the two of them back together.
It was subtle little things, like forged love notes from Edward, professing his love for her. During the few moments they had talked, it was apparent that there were forgeries from herself professing her 'undying commitment to his life,' and something about 'passionate love underneath the moon.'
Yes, the moon that looked like a porno photographer. Lovely.
She walked down the hall towards his room, knocking. There was some shuffling, followed by the door opening.
Edward stood there, a white bath towel wrapped around his waist, water dripping down his blond hair which was draped across his shoulders. Steam rolled off his well toned chest, seeming to suck the breath from her body.
From Ed's perspective, he had his breath snatched away too.
Medusa was wearing a black pleated skirt with a black long sleeved shirt. Over top was her white nurse coat, her hair tied in the usual style in front. By far it was the most normal look she had, but to him, after having come to his conclusion, realized that it was probably one of the most beautiful sights he had ever laid eyes upon.
"Umm, hi Medusa, what can I do for you?" he asked, only half paying attention.
"Uhh..." Her mind was failing to work at the sight. It took a minute, but she managed to gain her senses back and focus on her objective.
"I was wondering what you had been doing these past few weeks." Alright, not bad, considering the sight.
"Just... just some research. If it pays off, then that would be nice." Silence hung in the air like smoke.
"May I see?" Ed coughed on said 'silence smoke.'
"Wha?" he asked, confused.
Medusa knew it had to do with the two of them, so she decided to be very blunt.
"I know that since we got back from Russia you have not left your room except for the most basic of neccecities. You have failed, except for now, to take care of yourself physically and I know it has to do with what happened. Now, may I see what your trying to do?"
Dead silence. Complete and utter silence.
"...Your right, it has to do with you and myself. The problem is though, I don't want to say anything yet. I'm leaving it at that."
"Ok, but I was wondering, did you want to go get something to eat? It's been fairly lonely what with you stuck in your room."
Edward paused, still aware that he was only dressed in a towel, his hair plastered to his shoulders. He knew that that kiss had probably been the biggest screw up in a while.
"Listen, you have to understand that things can't work between us with the current situation. If I you and I went ahead with a relationship, then in my eyes I would be no better than my father."
The two of them were silent, not caring at this point about Ed's state of dress.
"That bastard abandoned me and my brother when we were young. She died of grief years later. I don't want that to happen with you, where I'm forced to leave because I can't bear to see you grow old and die while I remain young. I can't let that happen and that's why I've tried to distance myself from people my whole life."
Medusa absorbed the information. It made sense, how a childhood event would change his perspective of life like that.
"...Listen, I know how that must have felt, I never knew either of my parents except as people who didn't want me, it was just my sister and I. Of course then I betrayed her to Lord Death, but that's another story. The point is, I know what it's like to have runners for parents. You have your idea behind why it's wrong." Ed seemed satisfied with this answer.
"But I have my reasons why it's right."
And before he could register the sentence, he found her warm lips ensnaring his, her arms wrapping around his neck in an effort to keep a hold on him.
It took a few seconds for his mind to register, but in the end, his arms wrapped around her, both oblivious to the fact that all he was wearing was a towel.
[A.N.] Well, chapter ten, and I posted 2 reviews early. Pretty good if I do say so myself. Now, I do have a small request, in the reviews could you please tell me how I should proceed with this story. I have decided on two ways.
One, I will kick off with the Kishin revival in the next chapter.
Second, should I develop the romance a bit more?
Three, submit a review on what you think will happen with the Russian involvement with witches? Just drop a review on what you think will happen and who knows, you might be right.
As always, read and review, it's much appreciated.