Sorry it's been so long. I can't seem to get ahold of my beta reader, so my wonderful backup beta went over this for me. Thank Daricio! She's incredible. :D
Chapter 4
Selim really did not want to be where he was. The darkness seemed to close around him, and it took every ounce of will to keep breathing and running. The horrible stench had a good deal to do with that as well.
Mandy's explosion must have ruined the electric system, as they passed no lights. To make it worse, he almost felt like the darkness had a consciousness that whispered to him. It felt...weak, for some reason, like an echo, but that didn't stop him from wanting to duck away or hide from it. Problem was, he couldn't hide from something that completely surrounded him.
The moment they saw the lights leading to an off-shoot, he took it. Any light was better than none, but the whispering of the shadows seemed to only grow louder.
It took every ounce of self-control Selim had to not 'totally freak out' as Johan would say. He constantly tried to keep his friend in mind, remembering how the other boy could always calm him down. That, of course, brought his mother to mind, and her own gentle hand that would soothingly rock him after a nightmare of being trapped in the darkness when he was young. He'd always hated those nightmares in particular.
Mandy seemed to sense his distress, because she hadn't teased him once. Instead, she'd started up a random conversation.
"I thought you said you weren't an alchemist," she said.
"I'm not," Selim replied.
"Then what was that back there?" she asked. "Seemed pretty close to transmutation without a circle to me."
"Yeah. Something like that," Selim responded, not really wanting to get into that particular can of worms at the moment.
He could almost feel Mandy grin in the darkness. "Could you teach me how to transmute without a circle? Some of my favorite alchemists in history could do that! I know that Major General Roy Mustang can, although he doesn't like to."
"Uh, I don't know," Selim replied, trying to focus on continuing to breathe as he turned down a tunnel. Behind them, he could swear he heard faint footsteps and pushed himself to run faster, despite his protesting butt muscles and the fear that still gripped at his heart. Mandy eeped in surprise, but kept up.
Figuring she had a good idea—keeping his mind off of the situation by talking—he began to ask questions of his own.
"How did you know about these sewage tunnels?" He spared a glance at the thick water next to them and had to fight a gag. The smell continued to be horrific, especially to him.
"Read about this criminal," she replied, slightly winded. He wouldn't let her stop though, and she probably sensed this because she continued to talk anyway. "Kept getting away from the military," she paused, taking a deep breath, "because he would stop at the second stage of alchemy."
"Deconstruction?" Selim asked.
"Yeah," she replied after a moment. Selim turned down another tunnel, and noticed it was narrow enough to jump over to a walk way on the other side. Even though the dim lights at seemingly random intervals cast eerie shadows all over the walls, he blessed them. They wouldn't have been able to go nearly as fast without being able to see.
"Jump," he said, surprised at how calm he sounded. He almost seemed to be watching himself from a distance, like someone else had taken over partially. His mind felt calmer too, although a cold edge seemed to lace his thoughts.
"What?" she asked tensely. He didn't give her a chance to protest. Instead, he leapt over the canal. He heard her gasp sharply behind him before they landed, but she didn't lose her footing although that could be do to the fact that he still had ahold of her arm from when they'd been running through the darkness. Immediately, he turned down yet another side tunnel.
After a few moments, he looked back over his shoulder. "Anyway, the criminal?"
"How can you...keep up this...pace?" she gasped. He looked over his shoulder at her, contemplating. Then he slowed down to a walk, letting go of her arm. She put her hands on her knees, breathing heavily.
"I've always been a good athlete," he muttered. "My mom never wanted me to try out for the school teams, though. She wanted me to focus more on learning and schoolwork than things like sports."
"So you...don't constantly...work out?" she asked.
He shrugged. "Yeah, I do. I walk to and from school every day; make sure stay in shape at home. You know."
She shook her head. "That's incredible."
"Come on," he said, rubbing the hand that had held hers absently, as if to cleanse his skin of something disgusting as he looked around at the dimly lit tunnel. "We should keep going. Anyway, the criminal?"
"Right," she said, falling into step behind him. "So he would deconstruct everything they threw at him, and when they had him surrounded, he'd just break through the streets, walls, whatever happened to be in his way. I thought it was a good idea when I read about it."
Selim nodded, almost impressed (vaguely, he wondered why he wasn't more impressed; he should be, shouldn't he?). Most people wouldn't think to stop at decomposition. He most certainly hadn't.
"So how did you get it to stop? Incomplete circle?"
She nodded. "Sort of. The circle still has to be connected, obviously, but if you leave off most of the symbols and don't complete a few of the other shapes, it usually works really well."
"I can see that," he said. "I think you may have just saved my life back there...again." Was it just him or had he sounded almost begrudging? Of someone saving his life? Apparently she hadn't caught the tone because she snickered.
"Just double my reward and we'll call it even."
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Whatever."
xXx
"Look, there's a way out," Mandy said after almost an hour of wandering. Selim followed her line of sight and saw several rungs leading up to a covered manhole. For a moment, he wanted to thank every single deity out there. He'd never been particularly religious, but he felt so grateful at the moment, that he didn't care.
Rushing forward, he was at the top of the ladder before he even realized it.
"You really don't like the dark, do you," Mandy commented from somewhere below.
"Claustrophobia and achluophobia. Not a good combination. Had them ever since I can remember," he replied quickly, pushing up as hard as he could on the rough metal. As soon as the light touched him, he seemed to regain himself. It hadn't been much of a change, but he'd almost felt like a different person in the darkness. Moments later, he almost launched himself out of the manhole and onto the dirty pavement, breathing a sigh of relief at the sky and open air that greeted him. Mandy wasn't far behind him.
"Glad to leave that smell behind," she muttered, looking back down into the hole and brushing herself off. The street they'd come onto was basically deserted, with only a few stragglers closing up shops or getting in last minute shopping before all of the markets closed. "Achluophobia?"
He nodded, closing his eyes and concentrating on breathing in. For the first time since they'd entered the sewers, he felt like himself. "Fear of darkness."
"I've never seen anyone that afraid of the dark."
"I don't even know why," he muttered. "For years I've had these nightmares…horrible nightmares." He watched her for a second, but she didn't laugh or giggle. It was kind of strange to tell someone he'd only met less than a day before about some of his deepest fears. It also felt strange when she continued to look at him with a serious expression. He'd expected her to laugh and tease him.
Finally, she just shrugged. "Help me out here," she said and bent down to push the iron circle back into place. Nodding, he joined her and they scooted the heavy object back onto the hole an let it clank loudly back into place.
"Let's get out of here," she said. "Just in case they're still looking for us and heard that."
"Yeah," Selim responded with a nod of his head. They walked down the street in silence, both thankful that they'd been able to get out of that mess.
"We need to get out of the city," Selim said. "They'll be expecting us at the train station."
Mandy glanced over at him, looking impressed. "We should probably leave town by a road away from the train station."
"I'm sure there are few roads heading west or south," Selim replied. "We should probably pick up a map."
Mandy sighed. "No shower tonight, huh."
Seilm grimaced. He doubted she had his acute senses. It would be doubly worse for him. "Probably not."
"I mean, we could stay here in town…"
"I don't want to be anywhere near them," he responded poisonously.
"Right," she nodded with a sigh. "We should at least get some food and supplies before we go."
"Yeah."
They walked in silence for a few minutes, the last of the adrenalin in Selim's system finally wearing off, leaving him exhausted. What he wouldn't give to be home at the moment, in his bed, near his friends and family.
Then she spoke quietly, but it effectively broke the silence. "What were they saying about you being a monster?"
Selim swallowed. He'd known that one was coming. "I-I don't know. I think a former brigadier general knew my father and wants to kill me for it. He's convinced my father was a monster, so he simply concluded that I am, too."
"Oh? Who was your father?" she glanced over at him.
If he'd had the energy, he would have cringed. "I don't know that either. I'm adopted."
"Oh," she responded and they fell into silence again as the sun finally sank over the horizon. Unwittingly, his mind went back to all of the questions his research had left unanswered. He would have to ask his mother once he got back to town, he realized. That was what he'd been about to do when the bounty hunters had decided to spirit him ungracefully but effectively away.
He was not looking forward to it, as much as he did want to be back with her. If only he could find those answers on his own.
Then his mind suddenly flashed to the other possibilities. Clemin, of course, was out of the question, but what about the Elrics? After doing a little research he'd discovered that the authors of that book were indeed the Elric Brothers that had fought in the coup. He knew they were supposedly incredible alchemists and were also (at least in part) the reason the people of Central had made it through as unscathed as they had, but he knew little more than that.
Other than the fact that they were born and raised in Risembool, which was in the east, not too far from Optain City, and that they still lived there to this day…
"Hey, Mandy," he said slowly. It felt weird calling a girl by her first name. At school they were told to address women by 'Miss' and their last name. That would feel even stranger to him, though. "What would you say if I requested a detour?"
"Detour?"
"I...am looking for some answers, and I think that some people here may help."
She eyed him suspiciously. "Answers?"
"They're really top-notch alchemists, and probably the only ones who can answer the questions my research has uncovered," he replied.
Her suspicious expression didn't leave. "Who are they?"
"The Elric brothers."
For the second time that day, he felt a shot of pride in shocking her to an extreme. She just stared at him with an open mouth for several moments.
"The Elric brothers," she confirmed after finally finding her voice. He nodded. "As in the Elric brothers, the best alchemists this world has ever seen? Who saved this country during the coup 15 years ago?" Again, he nodded, satisfied smile firmly in place.
"That's not fair," she growled.
"What?" he asked, his smile fading.
"A little boy as adorable as you is not supposed be able to blackmail me after you just met me."
He found himself grinning again despite himself. "I take it that means 'yes'."
She grinned. "I'll follow you until you get home. How else will I get my reward, after all? But...if you happen to go the long way..."
He couldn't help but laugh as he walked down the street. Who would have thought that when she wasn't being an annoying pain in the butt, Mandy Parkins was actually a decent person?
xXx
Selim didn't know how he managed to continue walking. After buying a map, some supplies and a back pack, they planned a route and walked out of town. It turned out there was a road straight to East City, which would take them almost directly toward their destination. From East City, they could catch a train directly to Risembool. At most it would be a three day journey there, and if they could catch a train ride back, a total of five days round trip. He could be back home within the week.
His excitement didn't last too long as the exhaustion of running all day (and he suspected the use of the shadows) on top of a rather poor, forced night's sleep caught up with him. Fortunately, they didn't run into many people and no one stopped them. The worst part was the cold, but it didn't feel as biting here as it did in Central.
Sometime just before dawn, Selim lost consciousness completely. He didn't even remember most of the last hour before he collapsed by the side of the road, curling up inside of his thick coat. The cold was still there, but he'd gone past caring.
This time the dream was different. It had the same feeling though. This time, he was himself: Selim Baker. And he faced himself. Literally. Across from him stood (floated? He couldn't really tell) his exact mirror in almost every way, except two. The boy had his face, but instead of Selim's big, brown eyes, his were a stark violet, almost purple, and he had no mark on his forehead. He also appeared to be about three years younger.
As they watched each other, Selim gulped. He had never seen an expression that cruel on any face, except maybe the dark-haired man from the other dreams. There was a slight difference there too. The dark haired man's expression had just been one of pure, cruel delight. The look on the other Selim's face seemed almost condescending, and highly disapproving. The idea that his features could hold such an expression frightened him far more deeply than darkness or enclosed spaces ever could.
"You're weak," the other Selim said in a multiple, many faceted voice. Around them, the vortex that he hadn't even noticed before reacted. A ripple of pain and fear ran through it. "Pathetic. You don't deserve to be—"
The other Selim's voice suddenly cut off as he began to fade away. The cruel look transfigured to something absolutely murderous and as Selim watched (he couldn't seem to bring himself to turn away), the other him began to yell and struggle. His efforts didn't do much to keep him from slowly vanishing none the less. After a few moments, he must have realized his efforts were in vain as he stopped and looked directly at Selim.
"I'm still here," he mouthed, and while no words reached Selim's ears, he did not lose the meaning.
"No!" Selim yelled. He wasn't sure why, but the very idea of that being existing both filled him with utter dread and an intense excitement. "Yes?" he amended cautiously. Was the other him still existing a good thing? He couldn't decide.
The other Selim vanished, but his arm stretched out just as he faded completely. Hesitantly, Selim reached forward to grab the hand, both grateful and disappointed when there was nothing there for his hand to touch.
Then the world around him began to fade too. He let it, suddenly feeling tired and resigned. When it swam into view again, he recognized his surroundings instantly.
"What?" he asked. It was Central, but not the Central he knew. People were running, hiding away from the military forces swarming through the streets. Something had happened—was happening—something important…something…
But again, as he reached out to talk to a passing patrol of men, it all began to fade to black.
"Son?" Someone called out.
Selim turned around, looking frantically around the fading city. "Father?"
"Son?"
"Son?" Selim opened his eyes blearily, wincing away from the harsh sunlight that felt so warm on his back. Why was he lying on the ground? Rather harsh, lumpy ground with stiff, dead crab grass and weeds popping up around him, sticking into his cheeks and exposed legs where his pants had ridden up. Opening his eyes warily again, he tried to ignore the light, instead focusing on the blue sky above him, and then on an older man's face that obscured most of it. Couldn't he do Selim a favor and kneel on the other side to block the light?
"Huh?" Selim managed to ask as he reached a hand up to rub his eyes.
The old man looked relieved. "Oh good, you are alive."
"Wha?" his mouth didn't seem to want to work. "Who're you?" he slurred. Honestly, he sounded drunk.
"Granpa!" a high-pitched voice drew the two men's attention to two very young children standing near each other, fascinated with Mandy, who was struggling to sit up not too far away. She looked about as dead as Selim felt. "She's 'live too," the older of the two girls pointed out. Selim found himself smiling at her obvious statement.
"Well that's good," he called over to them. Then he turned his attention back to Selim. "Thought fer sure you two were dead, lyin' here on the side a' the road like that. Tha's dangerous, ya know?"
Ignoring his sore, aching body, Selim sat up, trying rubbing the sleep from his eyes without much success. "Yeah." he muttered.
"Why're you two out here?"
Selim looked up at the man. "We're in…a bit of a hurry," he finally said, deciding to err on the side of discretion. "We decided not to stop for the night before. Guess it caught up with us."
"Where're two young things like ya headed?"
"East City," Mandy croaked from off to the side. The two girls giggled and Selim glanced over again just in time to see her scowl and run a hand through her rather wild-looking hair. It stood out like a black cloud of frizz standing on end around her head.
"Callie, Bailey, come on over here," the older man said. Still giggling, the two girls ran over to their grandfather.
He shot them a stern look before turning back to Selim. "So why're ya headin' ta East City on foot?"
"Don't have enough money for the train," Mandy muttered, standing up and brushing herself off. The gesture didn't help with the wrinkles in her long jacket, the shorts or the fairly worn-looking t-shirt she sported. "Wanted to get there," her sentence was broken by a rather large yawn before she finished and she raised her not busy hand to cover it, "as soon as possible."
The man glanced between them again. "What's gotcha youngsters in such a hurry?"
Mandy and Selim exchanged glances. "I...have to meet my mother," Selim finally said with what he hoped was a disarming smile. It was the truth after all, just not the full truth.
"An' she's in East City?"
"Well, we're actually heading down to Risembool," Mandy cut in. Selim almost scowled at her.
The old man looked between them, not noticing how his granddaughters followed his movements. From Mandy's expression, she found it incredibly adorable. Selim had to admit to himself, it was kind of cute...in a girly kind of way.
"And you plan on walkin' there too?" the man asked after a moment.
Again, Selim and Mandy glanced at each other before turning back and nodding in unison.
It was fairly obvious the man knew they were hiding something, but he didn't call them on it. "Right then," he said. "Why don't you two hop on in back?"
He gestured to something behind them. Turning around, they saw a pair of older horses hooked up to a fairly unstable looking, uncovered wagon. Selim eyed it warily. Mandy, on the other hand, couldn't seem happier.
"You're offering us a free ride?" she asked. "Thank you so—"
The man held up a hand cutting her off. "Never said anythin' 'bout free. You two help unload the cart when we get there, and we'll call it even. You'll get a ride, and I'll get to rest my back. We both win." With that he grinned and stuck his hand out at Selim, who blinked at the appendage. Then, with a smile, he took it and shook it vigorously.
"It's a deal, Mr...?"
"Corrins," the old man grinned at them, stretching so more than a few obviously well-cared for silver teeth could be seen. Selim wondered at that for a moment, and for the first time really took a good look at the man. He seemed to have a mildly scarred face hidden by his light gray, neatly-trimmed beard. He wore overalls over a plaid shirt, and had a rather ratty-looking straw hat. All in all, he looked like a typical farmer, but something about the ensemble bothered Selim. He couldn't place his finger on what.
While he was busy scrutinizing their new host of sorts, the man gestured down to the little girls. "This is Callie," he pointed to the older girl who had short, brown hair and wore a very large shirt over shorts and two dusty socks that matched equally dusty sneakers. "And this is Bailey," he pointed to the younger girl, who had her light, slightly longer hair pulled up into pig-tails on the top of her head.
"Girls," the man said gently to the two, "say hi to..."
"Selim," Selim said with a smile, squatting down in front of the girls. Shyly, they hid back behind their grandfather's legs.
"And I'm Mandy," the girl said walking forward and holding out her hand for the older man, who shook it vigorously.
"It will be a pleasure to have such a pretty girl along," the man said with a twinkle in his eye.
Mandy giggled good naturedly. Then made a show of looking up and down the road. "Are you heading all the way to East City?" she asked.
The man shook his head. "I have a farm just outside of the City." He began to lead the group back to the large wagon.
"You came all the way here for supplies?" Mandy asked. "Why didn't you just pick them up at East City? Why come all the way to New Optain?" She smiled as the girls struggled to keep up with the adults in the tall grass. Selim noticed that all three of them had slowed down just a tad.
"Well, it has to do with their father," Mr. Corrins said. Was it just Selim, or did he sense the slightest tension in the old man's words? "He's enlisted in the Army, and doesn't often get a chance to visit. We came to spend a few days with him, and I decided to pick up the supplies before we went back home."
"I see," Mandy said. From her tone of voice, she'd also caught the hints the man had eluded to. There was some history there, but like Selim, had concluded that it was none of their business.
"Besides," the man turned his glinting grin on them. "The prices tend to be better here, closer to Central."
Selim tried not to flinch. He really was going awfully far out of his way to get these answers. He hoped his mother would understand.
Once they got to the large, wooden wagon, Selim began to realize just how dilapidated it really was. It seemed to be a miracle the thing was holding together at all. Their parents couldn't be a high-ranking officers if his family was riding around in this. Selim suspected that the two girls' grandfather had enlisted in the army to pay for what they couldn't work for on the farm anymore. He wondered briefly where their mother was, but decided not to ask. It really wasn't his place.
As Mr. Corrins hefted himself onto the front seat with some effort, Selim helped Mandy lift the girls into the back. Several barrels and more than a few sacks had been stacked against the much taller front seat, and the girls quickly took a seat down beside (or in Bailey's case, on top) of them. Mandy and Selim managed to get in just as the older man called back to hang on, and they started off with a lurch. Selim stumbled, and cursed as he felt several sharp points in his fingers. Slivers. Fabulous. And he'd have to wait for a break or for them to stop to even try and get them out.
He looked anyway. Surprisingly, he was able to get out several just gently brushing his other hand along the fingers gently in the direction that would pull the small pieces of wood out of his skin. By the time he was done, he only had two or three of them left. Deciding not to push his luck, Selim looked around, and saw that the girls had produced a charcoal or chalk piece from somewhere and were proceeding to decorate the old wood. Mandy was watching them thoughtfully.
Turning to the front, Selim hefted himself onto the seat besides Mr. Corrins.
"Hey," he said loudly, trying to be heard over the rattling of the wagon and clopping of the horse's hooves. "I wanted to say thanks again for waking us up and letting us come along."
"Well," the man grinned, but never took his eyes off of the road in front of them, "I have to admit, my intentions weren't wholly innocent."
Selim couldn't' help but stiffen just a little. "What do you mean?"
"Well, we were lucky enough to get here all safe," Mr. Corrins explained. "But there's been talk of robberies. The more people we have, the less likely we are to get robbed."
"Oh," Selim relaxed. It was a fairly sound strategy, if one conceded that the two strangers weren't somehow part of the group that would ambush them later. He felt rather silly for the thought, and turned his attention back to the man beside him, studying him. It was something about the way the he moved. Nothing too obvious, but something told Selim this old man wouldn't just give up a fight and that he had his share of experience in fighting.
"Well, if something happens," Selim assured him, "We'll definitely help."
Mr. Corrins shot a look at Selim, a thankful smile on his lips. "Thank yeh, Selim."
"So, what about you, have you ever been in the military?" he asked, leaning forward and resting his hands on his knees as the man was. His back hurt, and sitting up straight on that jittery ride didn't appeal to him at all.
"Where didja get that ideer?" Mr. Corrins asked, glancing out of the side of his eye with a raised eyebrow. Selim took that as a 'yes, how did you know?'
He shrugged. "You've been trained before, I can tell."
"You 'round soldiers much?" Mr. Corrins sounded both wary and impressed.
"Yes. I go to a school where most of the students are born to the elite soldiers or the very wealthy. In Central, that's usually synonymous." He shook his head.
"Yer parents soldiers?" Selim raised one of his own eyebrows at the man, not missing how he'd expertly steered away from the original topic.
"My mother used to work for Fuhrer Bradley."
That got a surprised reaction from the man. "No kiddin'?"
"And she's related to Madam Bradley."
"Well, that explains a lot."
Selim felt a slight frown come to his face. "Why do you say that?"
"How else wouldja know I'd been in the army? Fought in the Ishbalan war an' fer East City in the coup just 'afore I retired." A sad, wistful tone had crept into the man's voice and Selim felt his heart go out to the man. War wasn't pretty.
Selim blinked, sitting up for a few moments and ignoring his protesting back. Where did that thought come from? He wondered. It wasn't the idea in general, but the expression behind it...like he'd experienced it. But that was ridiculous. Of course he hadn't fought in any war. He couldn't have. There hadn't been any serious wars declared since his birth year. He was way too young...
But somehow, everything about that general idea felt...off.
"That you lived is a testament to your skill, your ingenuity or both," Selim muttered, forcing his mind away from that rather disturbing line of thought.
"Eh," the man dismissed that with a wave of one of his hands as he dropped that side of the reins for just a moment before reaching down to pick it up again. "A testament to m' luck is what it is."
Selim scoffed. "I wish I had that kind of luck."
Mr. Corrins didn't say anything for a while, but just as Selim turned to slide back down beside the others a few minutes later, he finally said something so quietly that the teenager almost missed it. "I hope yeh never get ta find out if yeh do."
A mirthless smile found its way onto Selim's face. "You and me both," he muttered, slipping down into the back. The younger girls seemed to be entertaining themselves in one corner with some cloth dolls. Meanwhile, Mandy seemed to have confiscated the chalk and was drawing something on her own that Selim couldn't see.
With a grin promising retribution, he approached her. "And you accuse me of being young? While you draw in chalk on wagons?"
She glanced up at him, annoyed before turning back to the drawing in front of her. "I'm wondering which circle I could use to fix the wagon," she whispered harshly.
Selim's face slackened in surprise and he leaned over to see what she'd come up with so far. "Why?" he asked, tone matching hers as he took a seat on a nearby sack of grain, still studying the circle.
"To repay them for helping us," she said with a shrug. "Equivalent exchange."
He nodded, conceding the point, ignoring the slight de ja vous at the expression. Those words and the way she'd spoken them just sounded awfully familiar, but he couldn't place where. "You really like your four-point circles, don't you," he said, not taking his eyes off of her drawing.
She shrugged. "They're stable."
Selim nodded. Four point circles were often used with an earth element as it was considered both stable and powerful but it was difficult to do anything intricate with them. Problem was, with five or more points, the interactions started to get difficult to control. Six points bordered on extremely unstable and he didn't even want to know what anyone would do with a seven point circle. Most complex alchemic accomplishments and concepts could be achieved with a five point circle. Six or more and they became quite literally explosive. It was like combining two separate circles with two separate energies together. The resulting explosion could take out...well, quite a lot according to the books Selim had read.
That technique also seemed familiar to him. He'd heard of it, or seen it used somewhere, he thought, but couldn't remember where. Something about having one circle engraved onto each palm?
Shaking the thought from his head, he focused more on the circle she'd been working on. "Why did you use the Bickette symbol here? It's just a simple fix-job," he asked, pointing to one spot on the splintering plank. The symbol was known for adding power to intricate spells without disrupting the energy flow that many other symbols did. It wasn't known for stability but flexibility.
"I was going for the whole cart in one circle. I could take a more simplified circle to the different sections, the axles, the wheels, and the attachments and such, but it would be much more effective, efficient and much faster to do it all in one go."
"That's rather advanced alchemy," Selim said skeptically.
"I know," she muttered. "I'm working on complex problems right now. I'd like to try it and then fix anything that's wrong afterwards."
"Why not use a five point circle?"
She paused, but didn't look up. Then she shrugged. "This isn't going to be that difficult. I'm sure I can do it with this."
Selim couldn't help but be impressed. "How long have you been studying Alchemy?"
She shrugged again, suddenly seeming evasive. "A few years. Since before secondary-school."
Selim continued to study the circle. Then a thought (and an accompanying picture), occurred to him.
"May I?" he asked.
She studied him skeptically for a few moments before shrugging as if to say 'why not?' and handed the piece of chalk over. Selim knelt on the rough wood and began drawing in a third circle inside the other two, accompanied by a set of fairly obscure runes he must have come across while studying (why else would he know them, although he couldn't remember exactly what book he'd gotten it from). Once he'd finished, he sat back for her to inspect.
"I've never seen those runes before," she said. "And what's the third circle for?"
"Efficiency," Selim said with a smile. "The third, uninterrupted circle ensures a continuation of the energy flow, while these runes will make it so that as little energy as possible is lost. With this circle, you can get the maximum result with the least effort. It requires a little more thought as to where you put your energies in, so I would recommend putting your thumbs here...and here," he said, pointing out the areas. "And your fingers spreading out from here and here," he said, pointing to two other areas. "It's a stretch and requires a little more concentration, but added to stable circles such as this, it should help out a lot."
Her eyes had continued to grow larger as his explanation went on, and when he finally got to the end, she could only gape at him.
"You should show me," she said, sounding a little awed.
He frowned at her. "I told you, I'm not an alchemist."
"But...the walls and floor, in the sewer..." she said, sounding almost pleading, and had more than a little whine in her voice.
"I don't even know how I did that," he responded. "It just happens sometimes."
She blinked. "Natural alchemic talent? But it's a skill. How can you activate alchemy and control it so well without knowing?"
"I don't know what it is," Selim snapped. "But it' is not alchemy, and I don't know how to control it."
"Oh," she said, not bothering to hide her disappointment.
Selim tried not to feel guilty, he really did...without any success at all.
"I'm sorry I snapped," he said finally. "That...ability is one of the reasons I want to get some answers."
She regarded him for a moment, then shrugged as if it weren't anything. "What do you mean, you can't control it?"
Sighing, Selim sat back, elbows resting on the wobbly side board behind him. "It just seems to react only when I'm particularly upset, worried or scared."
"Oh," she said again. Selim shot her an annoyed look. He could tell she didn't really believe him yet and that it still had something to do with alchemy. It couldn't be that though. Selim had never been able to perform alchemy, and he'd tried more than once. He just didn't have a talent for that particular science. Besides, those shadows never glowed like Alchemy did. And they felt far less whole than what he'd imagined Alchemy felt like. Like they were trying to make up for something he should otherwise have.
"Whatcha doin?" a small voice drew them both away from their conversation and the looked over to see Callie and Bailey standing there (surprisingly easily with the jostling of the wagon).
"We're drawing this," Mandy said with a smile, sitting back to show the girls.
Both pairs of matching gray eyes widened. "That's magic!"
"No it's not," the dark-haired woman said with a frown. "It's science."
"It goes all glowy!" Callie insisted. "Mommy used to show us."
"Mommy?" Selim asked at the same time that Mandy opened her mouth.
"Your mother was an alchemist?"
"Alright, time for a break!" The sudden voice of Mr. Corrins came back to them, just as the wagon rolled to a halt. Mandy and Selim braced themselves against the sudden stop, but the two younger girls couldn't and both pitched forward with a cry. Selim caught them easily before he shot a look back at Mr. Corrins. He'd already hopped down and was walking towards the horses.
Had he interrupted them on purpose? They'd just stopped off to the side of the road under a cluster of trees. There wasn't really a rest area or clearing more than anywhere else on the road. Selim watched the man suspiciously, but he didn't look back at them. Nor did he really act suspicious. To Selim, though, it seemed just a little too coincidental.
"He's good," Mandy muttered after seeing where his attention was. Selim nodded, a little surprised that the woman had caught on herself. There was something there that Mr. Corrins did not want them to discuss, and it had something to do with alchemy.
"Maybe we shouldn't attempt the transmutation," Selim responded.
Mandy nodded in agreement. "He must have overheard us talking," she whispered.
"Of course he did," the dark-haired boy muttered.
"Should we apologize?"
Selim frowned. It had been something he'd been practically drilled in since he could remember. If you did something that hurt or offended someone else, you swallowed your pride and apologized. But in this case, they hadn't been at fault. It wasn't like they had known.
"Why are you asking me?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Because I'm not good at apologizing."
Well, he appreciated her honesty, but he didn't answer. He'd gotten to a point where he could admit he was wrong, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Especially when he didn't mean to do anything offensive.
"We didn't do anything wrong," he said finally.
She nodded, then glanced over at the small group that had sat in a circle in the tall grass growing beneath the cluster of trees. "Then maybe we should tell him that."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You mean, just inform him?"
"Exactly."
"I can live with that," he nodded thoughtfully.
"Good. You can do it." Before Selim could protest, she'd already spun away, bounding towards the small family.
Selim glowered, suddenly remembering why he tended to avoid people. Especially those of the female gender.