Am I being mean by releasing a second chapter for a PREVIEW? Yep. I actually have a reason for doing this, you guys. I just so happen to have a chapter of this and the next chapter of A Purple Ribbon is far from ready. I know updates have been torture lately, but my house is being renovated so progress has been slow. I have been warned time and time again NOT to release this, but I wanted you guys to be aware of what's going on so you don't send an assassin after me. Now please keep in mind, THIS IS STILL A PREVIEW. I have no plans to update this frequently. I may update once every 2 or 3 months, but my first story comes... well first. Until it's done, these updates will be rare.
Chapter 2: Hearts of Gold
This series will not officially start until A Purple Ribbon has been completed. Enjoy
"Do you always travel by train?" Elina asked as she watched the scenery go by from her window. The sun was setting and it produced a beautiful array of colors that matched the lush scenery nearby.
"Well, yeah" Ed shrugged. "We can't exactly walk everywhere"
"I wasn't suggesting that" Elina sighed. "I was just wondering"
"Don't mind him" Alphonse assured. "So Elina, what did you get while brother and me were waiting for the train?"
"Oh, nothing much. Just new clothes and a book" Elina smiled as she jumped from her seat and did a spin. Elina's old, worn down clothes were replaced by a blue top with sleeves going to her elbows, a pair of white pants going down to her ankles and dark blue boots similar to sneakers. Her green jacket was currently tied around her waist with a knot. The rest of her arms were occupied by her cloth bandages, which were hiding her burns. At her throat was the little copper key hung by a silver chain.
"What kind of book did you get?" Alphonse asked.
"A book on alchemy" Elina smiled. "I already know the life of a state alchemist, so I might as well try to learn more alchemy"
"How do you know about state alchemists?" Edward asked. Elina's expression grew depressed for a moment before returning to normal.
"My mother was a state alchemist and my father was a soldier. My father thought it was necessary to learn about jobs in the military." Elina explained.
"Your mother was a state alchemist?" Alphonse asked in surprise.
"What was her title?" Edward asked, curious as well.
"The Jade Alchemist" Elina answered. "She could manipulate stones into weapon and had a lot of knowledge about soil and rocks. Stuff like that"
"What about your father?" Alphonse asked. Elina's eyes lit up at the question. "He was a brave soldier that fought in the Ishvallan Civil War! He was always helping people all he could! He was a truly amazing man!"
"Wow! Your father must have been pretty incredible!" Alphonse chuckled.
"He really was! But he always made time to come home and be with me! Even if his alchemy is pretty bad." Elina giggled.
"Oh yeah! Your old man was amazing! Someone give him a medal!" Ed snapped.
"What's your problem?" Elina growled.
"We didn't have such a great relationship with our father" Alphonse explained. Elina froze, confused.
What is he talking about? Did something happen? Elina pondered. Suddenly the train stopped and Elina had to brace herself to prevent falling.
"Looks like we're here" Edward stated as he stretched and lead the way. As the trio stepped out of the train, the true image of Youswell was still settling. The beautiful scenery Elina had witnessed earlier turned out to be a view of a nearby town. The lack of people and the dirty roads made Elina wonder if anyone really lived there. The few people that were out were completely quit.
"Are we in the right place?" Elina asked. "There's no one here"
"It's supposed to be a coal mining town, but it looks more like a ghost town to me" Ed commented.
"Everyone here looks so worn down" Alphonse pointed out.
"I have to agree" Elina sighed. "Okay, what's the plan?"
"Finish the inspection and blow this-"Before Ed could finish, a plank of wood hit him in the back of his skull, causing him to fall back. The boy holding the turned towards the trio as Ed rubbed his head.
"Sorry!" The boy apologized in his western accent. Up close, he had messy brown hair with matching eyes and a bandage on his cheek. "Wait, are you guys' tourists? Where you from? Have you eaten? Where you staying?"
"Hell of a welcoming committee!" Ed groaned.
"Edward, be polite!" Elina chuckled.
"Pa! We got visitors!" The boy called out. A man on the catwalk looked down at the boy.
"What are you going on about?" The man called.
"Over here! Big spenders!" The boy yelled, waving one hand.
"That's a little rude, don't you think?" Elina said nervously as she rubbed the back of her head.
"Hey! My name's Halling and I run the local inn! We'll take good of ya!" Halling called.
"Maybe we should discuss this before-"Elina suggested before she was being pushed towards the inn. "Okay! I guess we're going to the inn!"
"So what do ya think?" Halling asked as the trio looked around the inn. Inside the inn was full of men with a tall glass of beer in front of them, chatting up a storm. "I know it's not much but since the coal mines wages are so low, at least with this place I can keep two irons in the fire!"
"What a great place!" Elina smiled. Both boys chuckled at Elina's expression.
"So that'll be three for one night?" The woman in front of them asked.
"And what are your rates?" Alphonse asked.
"Well they ain't cheap!" Halling smirked. Elina began sweating nervously.
"I'm sure we can cope!" Edward assured. "Despite the appearances, we've got plenty of cash!"
Halling smirked as he put up three fingers (A.N. I did the math for this change!) "300,000" Halling grinned.
"WHAT?!" Edward shouted, spooking Elina as she cowered behind Alphonse, who was just as shocked as Edward. "300,000?! That's ridiculous! Are you gonna put gold bars on our pillows?!"
"It's a fair price, seeing how ours is the finest inn in Youswell!" Halling bragged.
"Not to mention it's the only one!" The boy from before smirked.
"We haven't guests in some time, so we gotta milk you folks for all it's worth!" Halling grinned. The trio was growing paler with every sentence. Edward looked in his wallet and sighed.
"It's not even close to enough!" Ed whispered.
"I shouldn't have bought anything during our rest stop!" Elina said as she began crying.
"It's fine Elina! You needed new clothes! We'll figure something out!" Alphonse assured in an effort to stop her from crying.
"Guess we're going to plan B" Edward shrugged. "Elina, you know some alchemy, right?"
"I know some" Elina nodded.
"Good, then let's get to work!" Ed grinned. Edward walked over to a table full of men. "Need any repairs?"
Edward clapped his hands and set then on a broken pick ax, blue light surrounding the axe before it stopped glowing to reveal the fixed product.
"Wow! He fixed it!" One man awed.
"It looks as good as new!" Another shouted. Everyone looked at the pick axe in awe.
"Come on! What else needs fixing?" Edward grinned.
"Well… If it's not too much trouble." The woman from the register walked up with a broken vase. "This is special to me, but it's broken"
"You still haven't thrown out that old piece of junk?" Halling asked.
"Maybe if you bought us some nice things once in a while" The woman snapped. Elina walked up to the woman.
"Can I try? I promise I'll be careful" Elina smiled as the woman handed her the vase.
"Here, let me help" Alphonse offered as he drew a transmutation circle with chalk. Elina and Alphonse both clapped their hands and set them on the table, allowing the vase to illuminate with a blue light. When the light settled, the vase was repaired.
"Thank you so much!" The woman smiled as she hugged the vase. Elina smiled at the woman.
"Who would've thought that our first tourists in ages would be real live alchemists?" Halling grinned. "I took a crack at alchemy myself once, but never went anywhere with it"
"So what's brings you to Youswell?" The boy asked. "There's not much here for someone like you!"
"It's business" Ed admitted. "In fact, I've come here to inspect the coal mine."
The place went silent after Ed spoke those words. Elina felt the warm atmosphere go cold in a matter of seconds. "Was it something he said?" Elina whispered. Alphonse just shrugged.
"Inspect? You're a part of the military?" Halling questioned.
"Well yeah! I'm a state alchemist" Edward answered. "Cool, huh?"
Halling grabbed Edward by his coat and threw him out the door like his was a dog in a kitchen along with his suitcase. Edward landed face first on the ground with his suitcase landing on him.
"Hey! What was that for?!" Edward yelled.
"We don't have any food or beds to offer to dogs of the military" Halling stated. Elina cowered behind Alphonse as Halling turned towards them. "Are you two with the military too?"
"No, uh-"Alphonse was interrupted as Edward began shouting.
"They'll got nothing to do with it!" Edward yelled. Elina looked at Edward through the door in surprise. "I just met them on the train, on the way here!"
"But Ed…" Elina muttered.
"Fine then. You can sleep on the streets like the rest of the dogs!" Halling snapped as he slammed the door shut.
"Alphonse… Why do these people not like the military?" Elina whispered. "I thought state alchemists helped people…"
"Not everyone has the people in mind, Elina" Alphonse answered.
What does he mean? Elina wondered.
"Your dad sure feels strongly about it" Alphonse pointed out. Elina sat next to him, restraining herself as she heard insults about the military. The boy in front of the pair had just as many negative thoughts as everyone else.
"Of course he does!" The boy shouted. "Everyone around here hates the stupid army! And that greedy sucker, Yoki, who's in charge of this place is the worst of all of them!"
"Yoki?" Alphonse asked.
"My dad mentioned him a couple times. Rumor has it that he bought his way to first lieutenant" Elina explained as Halling set two trays of food in front of the pair.
"You've got that much right. And now he's got that sneaky little state alchemist to do all his dirty work!" Halling shouted. "'Alchemists be thou for the people', that's their crock of a slogan. But they're only people that care about their own damn selves!"
"But sir…" Alphonse tried to protest.
"They're self-righteous thugs who sell their soul to the state!" Halling finished as he walked off with the boy, leaving the pair alone. Elina felt tears in the back of her eyes.
"I don't think I can take the insults much longer…" Elina muttered.
"That's right, your mother was a state alchemist" Alphonse remembered.
"I don't give a damn about my mother! It's my father they're insulting… "Elina said as she tightened her fist. "Do people really think everyone in the military is bad?"
"Most people do… They don't know people of the military themselves…" Alphonse said, trying to calm Elina down.
"Then they shouldn't talk about them like they're all crap." Elina sighed.
Elina followed Alphonse as he carried a tray of food outside. "Edward's going to love this!" Elina chuckled.
"Shhh!" Alphonse warned. Elina looked in front of Alphonse and saw Edward sitting there, talking to himself. Edward reached into his pocket and pulled something out before slightly removing his glove and looking at his automail.
"Ah, Winry. If only you'd think about my human parts instead of my metal parts every now and then." Edward said to himself. That was when Alphonse decided to speak up.
"She does think about your human side" Alphonse assured. Elina walked out from behind Alphonse and waved. "I snuck this out for you. After all, I can't eat it"
"Al…" Ed sighed as Al gave him the try and he began eating the sandwich.
"I must've missed something. Who's Winry?" Elina asked.
"She's an old friend of ours. She's also Ed's mechanic" Alphonse said. Alphonse looked at Elina as he realized something. "That's right. Brother didn't tell you about his automail-"
"It's fine. I already knew." Elina shrugged. "I used to play with a bunch of kids, some of them had automail. That and you reek of oil!"
"Hey!" Ed snapped. Elina just laughed.
"They really do hate the military here" Alphonse sighed.
"Yeah! I'll watch that from now on!" Edward said with a full mouth. Alphonse immediately regret what he said as he looked over at Elina and saw her close to tears.
"Sorry, Elina!" Alphonse panicked.
"Why does everyone hate the military so much?" Elina asked. "No everyone is bad… I feel like they're insulting my father… He was a good man, not even close to what the people described."
"Not everyone had your childhood" Ed pointed out. "They experienced something different, so their views will be different as well. It's something we can't help"
"I guess." Elina shrugged. "It really does-"
"Step aside!" Elina heard someone yell.
"What's going on?" Elina asked.
"Nothing good, that's for sure!" Edward said as he jumped up and ran towards the window. Inside there was a woman holding her hands near her throat. The air around her seemed to glow red as it gathered and shot towards a man in front of her. The man was sent back and knocked to the floor.
"We can't just stand here!" Elina insisted. The trio ran to the back entrance and into the inn, only to see a soldier with his sword aiming towards the boy from earlier. Before anyone else could move, Ed ran in front of the boy and held up his right arm. The sword clanged against Ed's arm as everyone froze. Elina ran towards the boy (Khayal) and pulled him away from the soldier.
"It's okay now, you're okay" Elina whispered to Khayal, who was still shaking. Elina rose and walked up next to Edward.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" One of the men yelled. Elina had seen enough pictures of the man to recognize him as Yoki.
"When I heard the lieutenant would be dropping in, I thought I'd come by and say hello" Edward grinned as he pulled out his pocket watch, showing it to Yoki.
"Is that what I-"Yoki gasped as one of his soldiers muttered something. After muttering something back, Yoki approached Edward. "How terribly rude of my subordinate, please forgive his idiocy. I'm lieutenant Yoki, the man in charge here. So, what business might you have in our humble little town?"
"Just here to conduct an inspection with my assistant" Edward said, motioning towards Elina, who was very confused.
"Inspection? Marvelous! But you must come stay at my mansion. I hope you haven't had to mingle with these unwashed messes for too long." Yoki said as he began walking away with Edward. Elina looked back at the group and saw hatred in their glares.
"Come, Elina! We can't fall behind!" Edward grinned. Elina mouthed 'I'm sorry' before running behind Edward, who was grinning the whole time.
I have a strong feeling that he's just using me as bait. And that he's enjoying this. Elina sighed.
"It's such a great honor for me to be hosting a genuine state alchemist such as yourself in my home!" Yoki praised. Edward was sitting across from Yoki while Elina was standing beside Edward, thinking of ways to return the favor of being his 'assistant'. "And since we are so blessed to have such a talented scientist in our midst, you should have him take a look at your alchemy tips, Lyra" Yoki said, motioning towards one of his maids.
"Yes" The maid smiled.
"Nah, I already saw. She liquefied the air around her, reduced its volume and then vaporized it, producing a shock wave" Edward explained. "Light came from the heat of generalized, forced compression, needed to maintain entropy."
"You could deduce all that just by looking at it?" Yoki asked, surprised.
"Actually my ultimate goal is to become a state alchemist, to be just like you Mr. Elric." Lyra praised.
"To be like me?" Ed asked.
"I wish nothing more than to do all that I can do for the state" Lyra bowed.
They're just making Ed's ego larger by the minute Elina thought.
"Something wrong, Elina?" Edward asked, grinning. Elina had shot him a glare that was planning his death, without knowing it.
"Oh nothing, sir. We do need to inspect the mines and report back to Central soon. I do hope you're not wasting your time." Elina said as calmly as she could.
"Well, of course. That's why we came here" Ed shrugged. Before she could say anything else, Yoki got their attention.
"Bon appetite! You'll need strength for the work ahead. I do hope that our credential cuisine suits your refined tastes" Yoki smirked.
Refined tastes? Oh please! He'll eat steak off the floor if he needs to! Elina chuckled.
"You eat pretty well considering the economic condition of this town" Ed pointed out.
"Times are tough for all of us! I can tell you, I've had plenty of trouble collecting taxes! And those minors can be so brutishly obstinate, as you saw." Yoki complained.
Weren't you the one who ordered to have a kid's arm cut off?! Elina fumed in anger.
"And by obstinate, you mean asserting their rights and refusing to pay you more than they earn." Ed pointed out.
"See? You get it! I knew you were man of great understanding!" Yoki smiled.
Geez! If this guy were any denser, he would be on the periodic table! Elina chuckled.
"To understand the world, we have only to follow one basic principle: Equivalent exchange, the founding law of alchemy" Edward explained. "You can't get without giving. Right?"
"Absolutely! Eloquently put. I, myself, have long conducted business under a similar guiding principle in the spirit which… Lyra?" Yoki signaled. Lyra pushed a card and a tiny sack towards Edward. "Please accept this small token of my appreciation"
"What would you call this, Elina?" Edward asked.
"I believe it's called a bribe. Not the most legal thing to offer" Elina snapped.
"Bribe is such an ugly word. Why don't we just call it equivalent exchange?" Yoki said, innocently. "Now then, the matter of your inspection."
"Yeah I get your drift" Ed agreed. Elina almost turned towards Edward yelling, but she restrained herself.
"I knew you would! You are truly a man of great understanding!" Yoki praised. "Oh, and I have a feeling the town's people are going to start behaving themselves very shortly"
"Assistant? Really?" Elina said as she glared at Edward. After dinner, the two had been taken to separate rooms, but Elina managed to sneak into Edward's room to lecture him.
"It worked didn't it?" Edward chuckled.
"For you, it did." Elina muttered. All of a sudden, crashes were heard outside and smoke coming from the inn could be seen. "Crap! Ed, we got to help!"
"We'll have to wait until morning or Yoki will get suspicious" Ed reasoned.
"You can wait here. Tell Yoki someone from Central needed to talk with me and I was in a rush or something. He already thinks I'm your damn assistant!" Elina snapped as she dashed out of the room before Ed could protest anymore, running past a confused Yoki. Running out the mansion door, Elina kept running until she could see the inn clearly, or at least what was left of it. Out of breath, she walked towards the once cozy inn now completely destroyed. The people inside of the building were all crowded around Halling and his wife.
"Elina!" Alphonse called. Elina looked beyond the crowd and saw Alphonse in the wreckage with Khayal. Running over to them, Elina could see all the scratches on both of them. "I thought you were with Ed"
"I was pretending to be his damn assistant, which he seemed to enjoy, but then I saw the smoke and came running as fast as I could to see what I could do" Elina explained. "I now know what you meant when you told me not everyone has the people in mind" Elina offered a hand and smiled. "Come on, let's get you out of that rubble, okay?"
Alphonse was silent as he accepted Elina's hand and she pulled him up. Elina helped Khayal out of the rubble as he walked over to his parents, leaving the pair to look at the wreckage. Just as the sun was beginning to rise, Elina heard footsteps coming up to Alphonse and knew who it was immediately.
"Was this Yoki's doing?" Edward asked.
"Who else?" Elina asked sarcastically. Khayal walked up to the trio, limp and all.
"You're some kind of super alchemist, right?" Khayal asked. "So…? Can't you just make some gold…? For my dad? You could save the whole town!"
"It's not that simple, Khayal" Elina said, shaking her head. "Even if he wanted to, he can't"
"But why not?! It won't cost you nothing!" Khayal yelled.
"You're wrong! The whole world is equivalent exchange! I give you gold and I'd have to pay the price. Got no reason to do that." Edward said, calmly.
"SO WE HAVE TO BRIBE YOU NOW, TOO?!" Khayal screamed as he grabbed Edward by the collar. "AND YOU CALL YOURSELF AN ALCHEMIST!"
"'Alchemists be thou for the people', what a load that is" Ed scoffed as he lowered Khayal's hand from his collar. "Transmuting gold is a serious offense! If I'm caught they'll not only strip me of my state alchemist certification, but they'll throw me in jail!"
"Then do it so you don't get caught!" Khayal yelled.
"Even if I could, it would just get taken away in taxes!" Ed retorted.
"If Yoki sees you with gold, he'll tax you so much you won't have enough money to buy the clothes on your back!" Elina explained. "If we give you gold and it gets taken, then you'll be worse off than you were without us!"
"If it's that awful here, why you all just saddle up and move on to another town?" Ed snapped.
"Kid" Halling spoke. "This may not make a lot of sense to you, but this place… It's both our home and our coffin"
"Home and coffin. That's got a nice ring" Ed smirked. Elina felt a smile on her face as Ed began walking off. "Elina, you stay here"
"What? Why me?" Elina whined.
"You need sleep, stay here and rest" Alphonse lectured as he followed his brother.
"But guys!" Elina sighed as Halling put his hand on her shoulder. "You guys need any help?"
"Why?!" Khayal shouted as pounded his fist on a barrel. Elina sat against the stone wall reading her alchemy book. "Why can't I fight?!"
"Because I can't… I can't risk losing you, son" Halling tried to reason.
"But they smashed our inn! We have to make them pay for that!"
"It's just a building, Khayal. Nothing that's worth dying for!" Halling lectured. Khayal tightened his fists as he kicked the stone wall.
"Stupid military! They're heartless monsters who've sold their souls to the devil! Each and every one of them!" Khayal yelled. Elina closed her book with a slap.
"You have no right to talk about the military like that" Elina muttered.
"Why not?! You've seen what they've done to us!" Khayal shouted.
"Look, I may not live here and I may not know what it's like living like this, but I will not tolerate you insulting the military- no, insulting my father" Elina snapped. "You don't know all the soldiers in the military, you only got Yoki! Well I have met a lot of soldiers that are just like you! They have families they care for, friends they want to protect. I will not let you ruin their good names-"
"Hi!" Edward shouted. "So let's see if I can't turn those frowns upside down!"
"You leech! What do you want now?" Khayal snapped.
"Did we come at a bad time?" Alphonse whispered to Elina.
"Yeah, you kind of did" Elina growled as a dark aura surrounded her.
"Come on! Is that any way to talk to your new boss, landlord, and all around over seer?" Edward grinned.
"Over seer? What the hell are-"Some guy yelled before getting a paper shoved in his face.
"As you can see, I hold in mine the title deed to the mine, trade routes, and the entire town of Youswell!" Ed grinned.
"This idiot's going to get himself killed!" Elina muttered.
"What?" Halling asked with a jaw dropped.
"In other words, pretty much everything around here belongs to me, now. You follow?" Ed smiled at the confused looks of the group. "However, I have to be getting back to my busy life in Central. I'm not even sure this is worth carrying to the city with me! It's so heavy!"
"So, you're going to try to sell back to us for a profit" Halling snapped.
"You bet!" Edward grinned. "And it ain't gonna be cheap, to use your phrase! You remember equivalent exchange, don't you? After all, not only is this deed written on high grade parchment, it's got gold leaves trim on the edges! It comes in a box decorated with finely crushed jade in a nonchalant yet luxurious design! Oh yeah, this is craftsmanship and the keys, sterling silver!" Edward grin grew wider. "I'd say it's gotta be around 300K!"
"300?" Halling asked, confused. "The deed to Youswell?"
"That's all?" A man asked. "Really?"
"Hey Ed" Elina said smiling. "I thought we needed a few rooms for the night. Am I wrong?"
"Nope, we do need a place to stay." Ed agreed. "Now that I think about it, the rooms at the inn cost about 3 thousand. We'll spend the night and let's call it even!"
"Huh, equivalent exchange" Halling smirked.
"But our inn was destroyed last night" Khayal pointed out.
"Really, then what's that over there?" Ed asked, nudging towards a brand new version of the wooden inn.
"It's new again!" Halling's wife smiled.
"Like magic but real!" Halling awed. Ed walked over to Halling and handed him the deed.
"So this should cover our stay here, right?" Ed asked.
"Yes, of course Ed." Halling nodded.
"Good! It's an even trade!" Ed smiled.
"But Ed, what about Yoki?" Elina asked "How did you get that from him?"
"It's a long story-"Ed was interrupting by the sound of screeching tires.
"ELRIC! WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS?!" Yoki yelled as he held a pile of coal to his chest. "ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE GOLD BARS YOU GAVE ME TURNED TO STONE!"
"Never mind" Elina smirked.
"Gold bars?" Ed asked, playing dumb. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Don't toy with me! I traded you that deed in exchange for a mountain of gold bars!" Yoki argued.
"No, I'm pretty sure you handed it over to me free of charge, didn't you?" Ed asked as he took out a piece of paper with Yoki's signature. "At least that's what it says on the letter!"
"No!" Yoki cried. "You swindled me, you little-!"
"Why not call a gift, since swindle is such an ugly word?" Elina smiled.
"THE TRANSACTIONS INVALID! LYRA!" Yoki yelled as a bright light appeared behind him. Lyra aimed straight for Ed, who dashed away from the inn. Elina ran up beside Edward, her hands in her pockets.
"'Alchemists be thou for the people'. That's our motto!" Ed yelled. "If you really want to be like me, then you'll take that to heart!"
"But you are an alchemist of the state! How can you defy the military you serve?" Lyra yelled. Edward held up his automail as Lyra fired her attack, which tore off his glove and some of his sleeve.
"Because last time I checked, you have the choice to sell your will, not your soul!" Elina called. "And Ed's soul is right where it belongs!"
Lyra began charging her attack once more. Ed began charging towards Lyra, putting a blade on his automail in the process. Before Lyra could launch her attack, Edward cut the chain of her necklace. Lyra fell to the ground, refusing to look at Edward.
"You cursed boy!" Yoki yelled "SEIZE THE DEED FROM-"
Yoki's jaw dropped as he saw his men cowering in front of the miners. "Sorry sir" One soldier apologized. While Ed's back was turned, Lyra grabbed her charm, performing the transmutation without Ed's attention. As Ed turned around, he braced himself for an attack, but it never came. Elina threw from her pocket a small, handheld dagger which sliced the necklace in half, destroying the transmutation circle inside the necklace. One half was pinned against a wall on the inn, while the other half was on the ground.
"You really don't give up, do you?" Elina chuckled. "Why not use that determination to help people? It's never too late to change!"
Lyra turned away as she accepted Elina's hand and rose to her feet. Yoki, on the other hand, was in some big trouble himself since two miners came behind him.
"Now we're gonna do to you physically what you've been doing to us financially for years!" One of the miners grinned, cracking his knuckles.
"Never under estimate the strength of a coal mining man, lieutenant" Another grinned just as evilly.
Inside the inn, almost everyone was holding a beer and laughing along with a certain alchemist. The warm atmosphere and laughter had brought everyone up from their sorrows, but then again, so did the deed.
While Ed drank a glass of juice, all the miners pushed their drinks towards him, laughing. Beside Edward was Alphonse who, even though he couldn't eat or drink, was having a good time as well.
"Hey, brother?" Alphonse said, getting Ed's attention.
"Yeah, Al?"
"Where's Elina?"
"Oh, she went straight to bed" Ed laughed. "I don't think she's used to the life of a state alchemist"
Inside one of the inn's rooms was Elina, asleep with her head on a book instead of a pillow. Even if she was asleep, a soft humming could be heard from her. Her key still remained around her throat as she slept through the happiness and laughter going on below her. The song she softly hummed in her sleep continued.
Deep in the meadow, under the willow, a bed of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, and close your eyes and when they open, the sun will rise.
Here it's safe, and here it's warm, here the daisies guard you from every harm. Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true,
Here is the place where I love you.
3 years later –
"Edward Elric? Ya I've heard of him!" The driver of a desert car smiled. Inside the car was Edward, Alphonse, and Elina. Everyone inside the car was awake, except for Elina who fell asleep, once again, on another book she was reading.
"So what do you know about the guy?" Edward asked, despite him being the person they were discussing.
"Well, what they say about him is even though he's one of those state alchemists guys, he's still a friend to the common man!" The driver explained. Edward grinned at his own success.
"Wow! He must be a man of great stature then, huh?"
"Actually, I hear he's surprisingly short, like a dwarf or something" The driver admitted. Edward's eyes darkened as he began shaking the driver.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLIN DWARF?!" Edward yelled as the car shook, waking Elina.
"Stop that, brother!" Alphonse said.
"Ed, what are you doing?!" Elina shouted. Soon the car hit a hole as Ed continued to chase the cab driver.
"COME BACK HERE!" Ed screamed, chasing the poor driver.
"That's the third one!" Elina complained as she ran after the boys while tying her hair up with a ribbon. With her hair up, she straightened her white messenger bag and quickly caught up to Alphonse.
"Brother! If you keep scaring away cab drivers, we'll never reach Lior!" Alphonse called. "You need to control your temper!"
"Believe me, Al. We both know his temper will always get to him" Elina sighed. "Let's focus on not losing him!"
I hope you guys liked this chapter. Next will be an update for A Purple Ribbon.
Before you ask, with this fanfiction my plan is for the audience (You guys) to try to piece together Elina's story. Diana already gave away a huge chunk, now it's up to you guys! If you have a guess or any questions, I will be glad to private message you. Just no spoiling in the comments! Thanks again and I'll see you next time!
Jackie C.A.
P.S In honor of Hunger Games (Which, no offence, isn't my favorite series) I edited something last minute. I found a cover of Rue's Lullaby and loved it SOOOO much that I included it for all the Hunger Games fans. I plan to include at least 4 or 5 lullabies in this series once it really gets started.