Chapter Three: Petunia

Petunia stands for "Your presence soothes me". However, it can also stand for resentment and anger.

"Once someone enters the realm of the fairies and ate or drank something from there, they will be trapped in there forever with no way out. And we all need to eat and drink. At least one person went missing in one week, and much time has passed. How long do you think it has been since the first victim was taken?"

Edward felt chill climbing up his spine. How long had it been? Despite not believing that fairies were really the culprit, he had to admit that he probably didn't have much chance of retrieving the missing people, considering the amount of time that has passed.

"Let's not think about that first," he finally said. "Let's just find a clue or something."

Ives nodded somberly. "Come then," he said, "I want you to meet someone." He walked ahead without waiting for Edward and Alphonse's response, leaving them with no choice but to follow. His steps were calm and sure, though the path was ridden with rocks, grass and bushes. Many times he had to stop to wait for Edward and Alphonse to catch up. It was obvious that he was used to the path.

He led them to a small clearing with a large tree at the edge of it – not very tall, but large, its bushy leaves blocking much of the sunshine the clearing had the opportunity to enjoy. The tree was blossoming with white flowers. Its wood was gnarly and clearly old, with green healthy leaves nodding along the breeze. Briefly, Edward wondered what tree it was, observing how the twigs bowed down so low that they seemingly swept the ground, covering whatever was beyond away from view, almost like a cave made out of leaves, twigs, and blossoms. Edward couldn't even see the tree's trunk, at least not from this side.

"The old Elder tree," Ives sighed. "My sister probably has thought of this as her secondary house. She likes hanging about in here." He took a deep breath. "Moss, I know you're there! Get out! If you don't I'm going to smash your dolls back home to smithereens!"

"Do that and you'll have no dinner for three years!" a girl pushed away the bowing twigs carefully to made a way out, coming out from beyond the leaves. Her long dark brown hair was tangled and her face looked somewhat flushed. "I like those dolls! They're from Ma!" Her gaze fell upon Edward and Alphonse. "Oh. Hello." She squinted her grey eyes at Edward. "Aren't you the one the others' been calling a faeling?"

"I am not a faeling," Edward growled in annoyance, his patience dropping to a dangerous level. Alphonse put his hand on his shoulder, and Edward felt the simmering rage slowly died down.

"I can see how they can take you for one," the girl said, looking at him with pity in her eyes. She reached out her hand. "Mimosa Fennel. I'm Ives' sister."

"Edward Elric," Edward shook the girl's hand. "And this is my brother, Alphonse."

"Pleased to meet you," Alphonse exclaimed as he shook Mimosa's hand.

"Pleasure's all mine," she nodded jovially. "I'd like to chat more but I don't think this is the best place to talk. Would you like to have some tea at our house?"

"Oh, we don't want to intrude…"

"Nonsense! We'll be happy to have guests," Mimosa disregarded Alphonse's worry as soon as it came. "Come now, we have lots of food back home. We can chat over biscuits and scones."

It appeared that once you became so used to receiving hostility, seeing people treat you nicely made you feel odd.

"Why are you staring at the scones strangely like that?" Mimosa stared at Edward in confusion.

"These aren't poisoned, are they?" Edward asked back, pointing at the food in suspicion. Mimosa's face became like a blank canvas as she plucked a scone randomly and stuffed it in her mouth as Ives laughed and patted Edward's back.

"Of course not," he said between his chortles, "Killing a State Alchemist is like a one way ticket to jail."

"Killing you would be a stupid move," Mimosa added with a full mouth. She gulped and sipped her tea. "I'd rather keep a cute boy like you as a pet."

Edward, who had picked a scone curiously, dropped it into the plate right back.

It was Mimosa's turn to laugh. "Silly you, I'm not going to actually do that," she waved her hand, dismissing the idea. "You're way too young anyway."

Edward picked the scone back, more warily this time. He glanced at Alphonse nervously. He couldn't tell if the Fennels were simply joking or were truly serious. Apparently Alphonse was the same, as he stared back at him, looking completely lost in a way only an armor could.

"So…" Alphonse looked around the room awkwardly, "This is a nice house!"

"Thank you," Mimosa smiled at him. "We decorate it ourselves."

Edward bit into the scone. The taste was good, and it didn't seem like it was poisoned. While he chewed, he looked around the room. "You did a pretty good job," he commented as he bit the scone again, still a bit more careful than necessary.

"We did, didn't we?" Ives sighed as he looked around fondly.

The house was painted pastel green. The walls were riddled with portraits, and small decorations took space atop of the fireplace, displaying the wooden dolls Ives and Mimosa had talked about before. They stood in a line, biggest to smallest, and Edward recognized them as nesting dolls from abroad, though he couldn't remember from where exactly. Along with the portraits on the walls were framed drawings of perfect circles, triangles, and rectangles. There were also some of flowers, books, and other mundane objects, but overall the drawer seemed to like to play around with shapes and angles.

Mimosa caught Edward's stare at the drawings and grinned. "I drew them," she declared proudly. "They're really fun to work with. Do any of you draw too?"

"Not exactly," Alphonse mumbled thoughtfully, answering the question for both himself and Edward. They drew transmutation circles but they never really drew anything other than that, not often anyway. "But I guess we can draw angular shapes like that pretty well, too."

"Is that so?" Mimosa's smile brightened even more. "Do you draw it a lot?"

"Well…"

While Alphonse talked with Mimosa, Edward's eyes roamed the photographs. Most of them were of Ives and Mimosa. The photos were mostly from their early adulthood, if he were to judge, and he didn't see any that showed their childhood. Only one photograph showed the whole family together, and Edward could see easily that it was an old photo, not only from the color but also from how the siblings' faces looked young, so young. The only ones that showed someone other than the siblings showed a young man about Ives' age and a young lady about Mimosa's age. Only four people seemed to be present in the Fennels' lives, and that included themselves.

The unnamed young man, Edward recognized as the person he talked to the first time he got to the town, the one that he asked about the commotion in Chrysan's house. The sandy blond hair and wood brown eyes were unmistakable. His eyes twinkled merrily in each and every photo, and in almost all of them he had his arm curled around the mystery lady's shoulders.

The lady herself was a beauty in her own right. While not as pretty as Kaiser's daughter, Cadie, she had flowing dirty blonde hair and deep blue eyes and full lips that quirked into a lovely smile to the camera. Her long hair fell to her back and her bangs were clipped with a white flower clip, keeping the hair together instead of falling forward and blocking her vision. She seemed like a perfect model of someone the fairies would've liked to have taken.

"Those are our friend," Ives suddenly quipped to Edward. "Fletcher Nash and Agnes Caster."

At the mention of the last name, Mimosa's previously near-constant chatter died. "Ah," she sighed and cupped her chin in one hand sadly. "Agnes." She stood up and walked to the photograph, hand floating up with fingers coming close to the girl's face in the picture. She never really touched it but her hand lingered. "She's the very first one to go missing," she said, voice strained. "About two months ago, maybe. Poor Agnes… she's the one that's been warning us about the fairies but none of the townspeople listened. They accused her of being insane. And then she was taken. Now no one's knowledgeable enough about the fairies to know how to stop them."

"Hold on," Edward held out a hand to stop Mimosa. "Are you saying that the townsfolk didn't believe in fairies until someone went missing?"

Mimosa's face was strangely blank. "No one believed in them until the third disappearance," she said, voice only above a whisper. "Agnes warned them all. She planted a rowan tree in the forest to ward off the fairies but someone burnt it. The very next day she was gone, and in her place was a mossy log of wood."

"Agnes was like a walking encyclopedia of fairies," Ives added. "She knows many lores regarding them. What trees they preferred, what trees they dislike, what kind of offerings is proper to give them so that they don't turn malicious and try to attack us. Some of the townsfolk have been chopping trees she believed to be inhabited by fairies to be used as firewood and she thinks it's offending them and they might attack." He shrugged. "They kidnap people instead."

"It's just sad, you know?" Mimosa sighed. "People's been underestimating her because she always speaks about fairies. She earnestly believes that fairies existed. We didn't believe her at first, either, but at least we don't shun her away! These people… they do that. She's so lonely because of that. So many people made fun of her. Now look at what's become of this town." Her head dipped low. "It's just really hard to accept that we lost her. We've lost enough as it is."

"Lost enough…?"

A sad smile found its way to Mimosa's face. She turned her head away. "We aren't from around here. We moved about six months ago. Our parents died."

Ives shot up to his feet suddenly. "Moss! That's supposed to be private!"

Mimosa rolled her eyes. "They're clearly not idiots, Ives. They'll figure it out sooner or later." She took the only family picture in the collection and brought it for the brothers to see. The siblings clearly inherited their father's dark hair. Ives had their mother's eyes, while Mimosa their father's. "They died about a year ago or so. We struggled after that, both emotionally and financially. We moved here to start anew. Fletcher and Agnes were the only ones to truly accept us." She released a sigh. "People in here don't take strangers with open arms. They're wary of anything new and foreign. Perhaps that's also why they refused Agnes' ideas of fairies." Her eyes met Alphonse's. "It's hard to have to do that. You're alone in the world with only your brother with you and you have to do everything on your own…"

"We understand," Alphonse said after a moment of silence. "Our mother died when we were kids, too." He glanced to Edward a bit before adding, "And our dad… went away, a few years before that." The old Elric family photograph was grasped gingerly in his hands, and Edward wondered when Alphonse took it out. "This is honestly the only family we have with the four of us together."

Both Mimosa and Ives stared at the photograph. "You've been through your share of pain, then," Ives concluded quietly.

"We don't normally share it with just about anyone though," Edward glared at Alphonse. It wasn't a glare of true anger. He was glad, actually, that for once someone would know the pain and not pity them and tell them they were sorry and pampered them as if they were babies. Their pity wasn't the thing they needed. He was just annoyed that Alphonse decided to tell the Fennels without knowing them further.

Well, they've also told the brothers about their own family. It was equivalent exchange.

They talked a bit more, about the woods around Faeburn and locations the siblings believed might be the entrance to the fairy world. While not believing in them, Edward thought that if the culprit really wanted to frame the imaginary creatures as the ones to kidnap all these people he might as well check the fairy-related places.

Time passed, and before long the sky had changed red. Edward stared out of the window. "Well, look at that," he muttered. "I guess it's time already to go back to Mr. Lotus', Al."

Alphonse followed Edward's gaze and gave a small 'huh'. "Well, I guess it is," he said softly.

"I was hoping we could talk a bit longer, but some really troublesome fairies come out at night," Ives sighed. Edward rolled his eyes at the fairies comment, getting tired of all the fairies stuff he had to deal with, but said nothing. "Do you remember the way back?"

"Yeah."

"Off you go, then," Mimosa opened the door with a smile. "Maybe we can chat a bit more tomorrow?"

Edward grimaced at the invitation. "Not that we don't want to, but we haven't really produced anything all that useful from our investigation."

"We'll need to investigate more tomorrow," Alphonse agreed, a hint of regret in his voice. "We need to make sure this town is safe."

"Ah," Ives nodded in understanding. "Well, maybe next time then."

The brothers left the house, feeling the Fennels' stare burning into their backs with unusual intensity. Edward glanced at the bushes of snapdragons dancing in the breeze that were planted near the fence. The two brothers walked out of the gate and turned back to see Ives and Mimosa. The two were no longer looking at the brothers, and instead they were talking to each other in hushed voices, face serious and maybe even a little desperate. Edward frowned and closed the gate.

"Do you think we should go to the forest tomorrow to investigate again, Brother?" Alphonse asked as they walked.

Edward nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah. Many of the places Ives and Mimosa mentioned were in the woods. We'll have to make sure we won't get lost though."

"Maybe we can bring a bright colored string to mark our way."

"That's a good idea…"

"Tahlia, wait!"

The sudden yell drew Edward's attention away. He stopped walking, staring at the house he heard the voice from and saw a little girl carrying a ball in her hand running to the door from the yard. At the door stood another little girl, holding the door ajar for the other girl. Edward recognized the two of them as the girls that walked with their brother and mother earlier today. He remembered the boy's question about whether or not he was going to take his sisters away and the warning glare the mother gave him.

The little girls seemed to sense his gaze, as they soon turned to look at him. They smiled, bouncing slightly on their toes and causing their pigtails to bounce along. Now that he looked at them closely, Edward realized that they looked similar enough to be twins. Their dark hair fell to their shoulders and their eyes twinkled even in the darkening light. The girl that carried the ball lifted her hand and gave a wave.

"Kelly, Tahlia, come on! Mom wants you to come in!" the girls brother appeared by the door, wearing an annoyed expression in his face. His eyes caught sight of Edward and Alphonse and he scowled. Edward, who had lifted his hand a little to wave back at the little girl, pulled his hand down again. Alphonse put a hand on his shoulder.

"Coming, Nolan," the waving girl gave the brothers a final smile and walked into the house. The other girl also smiled and nodded politely. The brother, however, kept a warning glare leveled at them and closed the door loudly.

"Come on, Al," Edward knocked on Alphonse's armor. "I wonder if Mr. Lotus cooked something for dinner?"

"He told us that before we left this morning, right?"

"Oh yeah…" Edward grinned. "I really hope it's stew!"

"Do you have the string, Al?"

"Yup. We're all set to go, Brother."

"Alright then," Edward turned to meet Kaiser's eyes. "Thanks for giving us the string, old man."

"I'll do anything to help," the mayor smiled. "Anything to get back the missing people and to make sure the rest of the people is safe." His smile turned into a frown. "But are you sure going to the forest is the best idea? We steer clear of it for good reasons."

"Don't worry, Sir, we'll be careful," Alphonse assured.

"Alright," Kaiser nodded, though he didn't seem to be entirely convinced. "I'm going to go to the town hall, I believe we're heading the same way."

Edward thought of the best route to the forest and realized that it, indeed, passed the town hall. "I guess," he said. "Let's walk together, then."

The walk was peaceful despite the glares the townspeople gave. Kaiser asked the brothers about Central to break the awkwardness around them and the uneasiness from the hostility in the townsfolk's attitude. Alphonse ended up describing Central in great detail with Edward giving his own quips every now and then.

Out of a sudden, a woman came running to them, panic in her eyes and a log of wood in her arms. "Mr. Lotus!" she screamed, drawing the attention of passers-by. "Mr. Lotus, my daughter…!"

"What is it?" the mayor immediately shifted his focus to the woman. "Is another kid taken?"

The woman gave a broken sob and nodded. "Kelly – she was gone this morning when I checked her room – but Tahlia was still there – "

"Calm down," Kaiser put his hands on the woman's shaking shoulders. "Let's come with me into the office so we can file this in too."

The woman began nodding, eyes darting left and right, before they landed on Edward. She stopped shaking immediately, and her red-rimmed eyes widened in realization. She dropped the log of wood she had in her arms and shook Kaiser's hands off, marching to Edward menacingly with a snarl on her face.

"You damned faeling!" she shrieked. "You took Kelly!"

"Wait – "

Edward knew that it was coming, but he didn't have time to counter it. He closed his eyes shut at let the slap hit him in the face. He gritted his teeth, holding the stinging pain in his cheek.

"Brother!" Alphonse yelled, and before long he was between the woman and the older alchemist. "He didn't take your daughter! He didn't take anyone!"

"He is a faeling!" the woman yelled, as if it justified all her accusation and actions.

"He isn't!" Alphonse yelled back. He stood tall, threatening, and the woman took a reluctant step back before she stepped forward stubbornly.

"Maybe he isn't, but this is his fault!" she shouted heatedly. Edward could see that everyone had their eyes on the woman, listening to her every word with rapt attention. He was convinced that at least half the town had created a circle around them, watching intently at the show they were putting on. "Just think – before, only one abduction occurs within a week, two if we're unlucky. The last disappearances was only two days ago! If this creature wasn't bringing us ill luck, then how did this happen?!"

Murmurs slowly buzzed from the crowd, carrying ominous whispers of agreement to Edward's ears. He gulped.

"There is nothing my brother brings you except for intentions to stop these disappearances!" Alphonse yelled above the mumbles.

"Well the fact is that we're getting another case instead!" the woman screamed back. "This is his fault!"

The murmurs grew louder and stronger, more sinister. Words of agreement were shouted to them shamelessly, carrying hatred that hit Edward like sticks and stones.

Yeah!

This is his fault!

Get away from here, you faeling scum!

Give us back our children!

Go die!

He took a staggering step back, and his flesh hand felt the comforting coldness of metal of Alphonse's armor seeping through the glove's fabric. He took a deep breath and stood tall, looking at the townspeople warily. Normally, he'd simply shout and deny, after all he was Edward Elric, the Alchemist of the People. But he knew it was a stupid move here. These people didn't see him as an alchemist. They perceived him as an enemy, a threat, an underling of the fairies – a faeling. They didn't trust him. He needed to do something to at least reduce the hostility –

Something smashed him at the side of his head, and he let out a surprised yelp. The screaming died into fragile stillness, much like the calm before the storm. He felt something flowing down his face, and heard the loud plop, plop, of something hitting the pavement. A glance and he saw white substance he recognized as eggshells. His finger gingerly touched his head and he brought it to his eyes. Clear and yellow goo mixed into one on his fingers and dripped down to the ground.

He lifted his gaze and met the angry glare of a boy he was already familiar with. "You caused this!" the boy that Edward believed whose name was Nolan accused. "Kelly's gone! Because of you!" He threw another egg that hit Edward squarely in the forehead.

All hell broke loose immediately. The other townsfolk followed the boy's example, and soon things were used as projectiles and thrown along with insults angry accusations. Edward lifted his arms to protect his head, but he felt another egg hitting his arm, got a peek of the sight of a shoe zooming past, and a bread that hit him in the stomach and fell limp on the stone. He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath to yell and asked the angry mob to stop. He opened his mouth and lowered his arms, but the words he intended to use vanished into oblivion when he felt a sharp pain hit him in the temple. He staggered back, gasping for air, dizzy and disoriented.

A familiar voice cried out his name and suddenly he was wrapped in dirty, slimy metal arms that bent over him shielded him from the incoming assault. The metal of Alphonse back created clanging and banging sounds, and Edward's confused mind wondered if there were rocks and stones amongst the things that were thrown.

Another clang hit his ears, so close to his face that he yelped in surprise and, dared he say it, fear. He wiggled out of Alphonse's hold despite the younger Elric's protests and attempt to keep him in the metallic shield. He needed to stop these people somehow.

"STOP!"

Edward fell out of Alphonse's hold and thumped on the dirty stone pavement – it would be impossible any other day, but the slime covering the metal made it easier. He looked up at Kaiser, who had shouted earlier. His face was the perfect example of stormy rage, and he seemed to have received his own share of projectiles. Withered celery dangled from his left ear, and half his face was covered with flour. White eggshells and yellow goo tainted his black shirt, and something that seemed suspiciously alike to red paint. He was staring at the townspeople with such intensity that made them all take a step back and gulp.

"You people are behaving ridiculously," Kaiser growled. "These people are here to help you! Stop acting like stubborn idiots and treat them with respect!"

Still with a warning glare to the mob, he helped Edward and Alphonse to their feet. "Come with me," he said. "We can all use the restroom in the town hall to clean up."

Edward could still feel the townsfolk's gaze burning his back with hatred. He lifted his hand to his temple and touched it carefully, wincing when he felt the contact, and stared at his hand. Red blood marred the previously pristine white glove. He bit his lip.

A/N: oh my, my, my. I never intended that mob scene to happen. It just kinda did.

This chapter was a bit hard to write for some reason, but I hope it wasn't boring or anything. I feel that it's okay, even though it isn't exactly my best work. Interestingly it got easier when I began writing the angry mob scene. Maybe spontaneity is more natural for me?

With this, all the OCs have been introduced. I can't say I won't create someone again later on out of a whim, but the ones that are really important to the plot are all here. Fletcher Nash is, too, though he's only mentioned in here. He's gonna get a bigger role in the next chapter.

I feel kinda bad for putting Ed and Al through this, but at the same time I feel kinda happy too? I'm evil, sigh.

Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a review before you leave, it'll make my day!