Hey guys! A couple of things. One, sorry for being so slow to post. I've not been having the best time recently, and it's been hard to write. Second, this chapter is a little...strange, but again, I'm having some issues and for the first time in a while I managed to write something without it being a huge effort, so I hope you'll forgive this not fitting in as naturally with the other chapters as it normally would. We're getting close to the end, and I'm a little better, so hopefully the updates will speed up again. Thanks for the patience!

Their first excursion from the river was a little town situated on its banks, humble and yet noisy with the hustle and bustle of its citizens walking around, shouting jovially to each other. Everyone else who had been on the boat had wandered off to the market area to buy some trinkets, but Ed, ever the adventurer, had found a much more interesting place to go exploring.

A fortune teller.

He and Roy stood outside the building, a small wooden construction that looked like every other house in the town, except for the bright red and gold sign on the side, neatly labeling it as the residence of a physic and welcoming people in. Now, Edward was just as much a skeptic of anything like this as Roy, but even so, he was always curious about these types of people and whether he could debunk them.

"Please, can we go in?" he practically begged, tilting his head to the side as he looked up at Roy. "It'll be fun. I've never met a legit psychic in Amestris, but it'll be interesting to see how they are in Xing."

Roy sighed, raising his eyebrow. "I don't know why you want to bother. You know they're just con artists, Ed. They use body language and stuff like that to clue them in on general facts about you, they can't actually have a sixth sense. It's just not logical."

"So it'll be fun to prove them wrong." Edward shrugged. "What's the harm? It's just for kicks, I know it isn't real."

"If you insist."

"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport—it gives off a bad energy," Ed teased, giggling. Roy snorted as well, and allowed Edward to pull him through the doorway.

Inside the building, it was dimly lit and the air was heavy with perfume, a fine smoke from incense curling around the room. From the back, a light suddenly appeared, a quiet yellow glow that lit up the face of a wrinkled woman. "Skeptics," she sighed. "Well, that's fine, it's just that you always take so much more effort. Disbelief hinders me, you know."

Edward started, but Roy waved her off even as he walked forward. "Most people are skeptics these days, aren't they? It's not exactly uncommon. Don't expect me to be impressed just because you got that one."

The woman laughed, a deep, hearty sound that shocked Ed as he sat down on one of the chairs in front of the woman, who was seated at a table illuminated by what they could now see was a lantern lit with fire. "You've got me there, but that's fine. I'll prove myself easily enough." Digging into her belt, the woman grabbed three royal blue stones, handing one each to Roy and Edward and keeping one for herself. "Lapis lazuli," she remarked. "Brings unity to minds and souls, amplifies thoughts and the spread of knowledge, and encourages truthfulness. It helps me bond to you to get more specific information about you."

Fingering his stone, Ed felt an engraving and looked down to see the faint outline of a dragon etched into the rock. He watched as the woman closed her eyes in concentration. "Well, isn't that sweet. You've just gotten married, congratulations to the both of you. You're from Amestris, the Central portion, and are in the military. That's rather brave of you, though I personally don't support violence. Let's see if I can't get your names…if you don't mind, try to focus on them. I'm still trying to get a hold on your energies, and it's not like you thinking would tip me off to anything unless I'm for real," she requested, a smirk tugging at the edges of her thin lips. Edward laughed quietly at that, and obliged, just for kicks. He had to admit, he was pretty impressed thus far, although the woman very well could have guessed everything she knew. It's easy to tell they were Amestrian, and if she knew anything about the country, it wouldn't be hard to guess that two muscular men were in the military. Plus, their body language could have tipped her off to the marriage thing.

The woman sighed, shaking her head and opening her eyes to glare at Roy. "Very funny, but I know you're lying. Your name isn't James, it's…Roy. And Ed."

Edward blinked, surprised. There was almost no hesitation there, none of the letter guessing he'd seen with other fortune tellers. Interesting. He glanced to Roy, though the man didn't show any sign that he was impressed. "You could have the names from someone," his husband replied calmly.

"You're a tough one," the woman remarked, seemingly unbothered by his comment. "I'll just keep going then, shall I? It's easy, now that I've got the names. A connection's been established. Ed, your parents are gone, but you've got a brother waiting for you back home, and a lovely group of friends, as well as someone you call Granny. Roy, you're also parentless, orphaned long ago, but you have an aunt who took you in and who you're still in contact with."

At this point, Edward was no longer enjoying himself. He was…frightened. How did this woman know all that? His hand searched for Roy's under the table, panicked thoughts automatically filling his brain. Was this a trap of some sort? Were they in danger? No exits but the front door, it would be hard to get out…

"Please calm down, Ed, no one's going to hurt you," she said softly. "I'm not trying to frighten you, I'm just trying to get you two to believe I'm the real thing so we can get to the good stuff."

Ed jumped up at that, knocking his chair backwards. "You're reading my mind," he whispered, somewhat alarmed. "That's not possible, but you're doing it."

"Yes," the woman agreed. "I am. It's not impossible though, just difficult. It's all about energy. Each person is unique and their history and future are encoded in that energy, so once I connect with it, it's just a matter of reading what's written."

"I'm not so sure," Roy argued. "Our friends can be pranksters. How am I supposed to know they didn't contact you and set us up?"

Rolling her eyes, the woman crossed her arms in irritation as she responded, "You really are a tough nut to crack, aren't you? Fine, then. What if I tell you something your friends didn't know?"

Roy considered that for a moment, while Ed, still wary, sat back down. "I'll have to see what you pick, but I'm not unreasonable. If there's a more logical explanation as to how you know this information, I'm not going to buy what you're selling. But if you can tell me something that, beyond a doubt, is something no one else knows, I suppose I have to believe you."

Chortling, the woman closed her eyes once more, gripping her lapis lazuli hard. Finally, she whispered, "'Volo autem amo, non ponitur.'" Roy's reaction was immediate and dramatic. Ed watched in shock as his husband paled, his hands clenching spasmodically.

"Not even Ed knows that yet," he whispered. "You're…actually real."

"Knows what?" Edward asked, looking back and forth between Roy and the woman.

Visibly shaken still, his husband shook his head and chuckled. "Remember when I got our rings engraved? You never did check to see what the engraving was."

"Oh," Ed gasped softly. He slid his wedding band off his finger, squinting to make out the tiny letters in the faint lighting. He could see enough to know they were exactly what the woman had said. "'I choose to love, I will never cease loving," he translated, eyes misting over. "Roy…"

Leaning over and smiling, Roy pressed a kiss to his cheek as Ed stared at his ring. "Love you."

The woman, forgotten for a brief moment, clapped her hands together as she grinned. "Very sweet. Now, I trust you aren't going to doubt me anymore?" Together, Roy and Edward shook their heads. "Good!" she cried. "What do you want to know? Be forewarned, the future is a lot less certain. I can give you specifics based on the path you're heading down now, but they could change with certain sources."

Drawing a blank, Ed glanced at Roy. "Umm…to be honest, we didn't really think about what to ask you. We didn't think you were actually gifted…"

"I should have guessed," the woman replied, pulling her hair back into a bun as she spoke, revealing a dragon tattoo running around her neck and plunging beneath the line of her clothing, out of sight. What was it with this lady and dragons?"Well, you're going to be together until the end, of course. I'm sure you were planning on that, though. Hmm…you want to know the positives, or the negatives?" When they were unable to answer, the woman sighed again, beginning to rattle off random facts. "Ed, you're going to break your leg pretty soon—and it's going to be your own fault, but it'll heal just fine. Roy, you're going to rise in rank pretty continuously, but Ed is going to retire from the military early on to be a stay at home father—"

If Edward had been drinking anything, he would have spit it out. "What?" he spluttered. "Kids!?"

"Oh, yes," she said matter-of-factly. "You're going to adopt a pair of twins down the road."

Ed was…flabbergasted. He was still just a kid himself, and Roy hardly acted any better. Children seemed ridiculous. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as I am that you're sitting here. That one's etched in strongly, it might be delayed by your choices, but it will happen. Don't worry, you've got several years to mature."

Roy leaned back in his chair, contemplating the ceiling. "I think we could do kids. We'd be fun parents."

Fantastic. Psychics were real and he was going to be a dad. Edward had a headache.

"Think you can handle anything else?" the woman asked playfully.

"How does it end?" Roy asked, his quiet voice suddenly serious. The room was silent for a moment. Frowning, Ed shook his head—he didn't want to know. He didn't want to contemplate death. Although, perhaps it was more important to Roy than it was to Edward, considering that he was much older. Still, though, it would be horrible to know…

"I don't answer that question," the woman finally stated. "It's not something I think anyone should know. Knowing when and how you will die, it only makes you depressed. It's better to not worry about it. You two will have a long life together, though. Isn't that enough?"

Roy nodded, though Edward could tell he was still curious. "It is. Thank you. It's been…interesting, to say the least, but I think it's time we got going." He stood, and Ed followed suit.

"Thank you boys. It's always nice to see lives like yours, you know, especially in my old age. Youth is a marvelous thing."

Ed bowed forward slightly, following Xingese custom, and Roy did so as well before smiling and walking towards the door. However, his husband stopped, turning back to ask, "Where do you get this incense? It's interesting."

"Oh, thank you, but you can't get it anywhere. I make it myself," the woman replied, smiling toothily. And just for an instant, Edward thought maybe, just maybe, her eyes glowed bright yellow in the light and her teeth seemed unusually long. But no.

Roy nodded in understanding, and they exited. Almost as soon as they were out of the building, though, he turned around again, pulling out his wallet. "I can't believe she didn't mention it—I got so caught up in what she was saying, I forgot to pay her." Together they reentered the building…but the lantern had been doused, the room was dark again, and when Roy called for her, the woman was nowhere to be found.

"I wonder where she got off to," Ed murmured, frowning. In his experience, a quick getaway was pretty suspicious, but she had seemed so kind…

"I don't want to know," Roy groaned. "I have had more than enough mysteries for today."

Considering their encounter, Edward had to agree. The woman had been strange enough...in this case, curiosity wasn't enough to make him investigate any further.