I was taken back to my room and Buccaneer ended up giving me my coat and another layer to keep warm, apparently there was a storm going on outside. I knew I'd be able to work through the storm quickly.
I stood in the middle of the room and tapped my foot, and the wall broke down in front of me. I could escape to go help Edward and the others; I frowned as I clenched my fists. My alchemy was far advance to that of a normal Alchemist. I saw some guards appear in the hallway and Buccaneer stood there and looked at me in shock.
"We can't let her go." One of the guards spoke,
"She's escaping." Buccaneer looked at me, I could see a smirk on his face as I looked at him. He was telling me to leave, "We can't let her get out to Baschool! Arrest her!" Buccaneer yelled, I grinned as he basically told me where the others were, they were still in Baschool, I tapped my foot on the floor and created a wall to block them.
"Thanks Buck." I chuckled and walked forward and into my hallway. I didn't know where I was in the Fort exactly, but I just decided to walk in one direction. I opened and closed walls behind me and around me as I made my way through the fortress. I needed to get to Edward and the others as quickly as possible!
I managed to escape from the fortress and quickly ran through to Baschool, it was a deserted town not far from the fortress, I had been there before going to Briggs a year ago. I remember when people used to live in Baschool…
I had no idea where the others would be so used my alchemy to lift me to the top of a building so I could oversee the town. The cold air was sharp on my face as I pulled my coat closed, my eyes squinted to the horizon of the town. I could just make out some smoke and then an explosion was heard in the direction of the old mine as I looked over.
"Please be okay…" I mumbled and ran forward and used ice and stone to connect the buildings to make my journey quicker.
As I got close, I saw a lot of smoke in the air and happened to see Edward in a small clearing. I created a slide down into the smoke and rolled on the floor.
A fist was suddenly next to my face as I looked at Edward,
"Rea?! How-?" Edward spoke and then pushed me out of the way as I saw a chimera take a swipe,
"I escaped Briggs." I quickly spoke as we moved to quickly stand, I couldn't see anything around me as I tried to see a chimera, but I suddenly fell on my back and as Edward tried to get to me, he was grabbed by his throat.
"There's no point in trying to run, Fullmetal Alchemist! You can't hide from us here. We may not see you, but we can smell you." the lion man spoke,
"Shut up!" Edward clapped his hands together creating the blade on his automail and stabbing the lion in his arm, kicking him back in the process.
I got back to my feet as Edward tried to pull me aside as the other chimera came around and I took a hit for Edward,
"Rea!" Edward was shocked as I put my arms up,
"All this smoke is making it difficult…" I groaned as I held my stomach.
"Fullmetal!" a man called, "What's going on in there?! Edward… Answer me!" I recognised Miles' voice,
"Major Miles! Don't come in the smoke, there are two Chimera's here… they have a good sense of smell, so they have the advantage in this situation!" I called,
"Rea?!" Miles was shocked to hear my voice,
"Stay out of the smoke!" Edward called. I got kicked back by the lion man and landed with my back against a broken fence as I rubbed my head. I went to move and felt my body slip as I yelped and Edward came running towards me,
"Rea!" Edward called as I reached out, he grabbed my hand and the snow fall took us both down into the mine as he pulled me towards him. We collided with the roof of a small building below and tumbled down into more snow, luckily, it cushioned most of the impact as I groaned and lifted myself from Edward.
"Ow…" Edward groaned as I sat back and arched my back for a second to stretch as Edward sat up, "Falling like that's gonna stunt my growth even more…" Edward groaned as I chuckled and stood up, Edward moved onto his knees and we both looked around and saw a box of dynamite,
"Dynamite?" I questioned, Edward smirked as he looked back at me,
"There's one perk to fighting in a mine." Edward pointed at it as I blinked.
Edward grabbed some dynamite sticks and gave them to me and held a few himself, the two chimeras jumped down and glared at us,
"Whoa, you might want to keep your distance guys. There aren't exactly cigars we're holding." Edward smirked as I grinned,
"You idiots. That stuff isn't gonna do you any good, it's too damp." The gorilla chimera spoke,
"You sure about that?" I smirked, "Do you know what these are made from?" I chuckled as Edward got ready,
"It's Nitroglycerin, isn't it?" The lion spoke,
"And Nitroglycol…" The gorilla added, "And there's sawdust… isn't there ammonium nitrate in it too?" he added,
"Yes, there is!" Edward chimed as he had given me some cloth to put up my nose and he sorted himself, "And what's ammonium nitrate made out of?" Edward asked,
"That's easy! Nitric acid and ammonia." The lion spoke as I chuckled, we both had our backs to the chimeras, they both paused as Edward looked around at them and then got ready to clap his hands, "Ammonia!" The two chimeras yelled in shock as we both clapped and created a massive stink bomb. It knocked the two out cold as I followed Edward into the mine, we saw Kimblee.
"What's that disgusting smell?!" Kimblee asked, I froze as I looked at him, the scar was still on his cheek that I gave him earlier,
"That's ammonia. There're downsides to having a sharp nose, I doubt that they'll be much use to you now." Edward spoke,
"Your attitude changed rather quickly, now that I've lost my hostage." Kimblee smirked,
"What'd you expect to happen? Let's make this easy. All I want here is for you to tell me everything you know…" Edward snapped,
"Oh, is that all you want from me? I just got out of the hospital, and I don't feel like getting banged up fighting a youngster like you." Kimblee spoke as he looked at me and smirked, "Once I'm done with you, I'll take Reaka back to the Fort." Kimblee smirked as I took a half step back, Edward noticed my immediate change in disposition and glared at Kimblee,
"Like hell I'd let you get anywhere near her!" Edward yelled,
"Not to mention that I don't really have the time either." Kimblee smirked, as he pulled out his philosopher's stone, "I guess I'll have to speed things up with this." Kimblee added as we both looked at the crystallised Philosopher's Stone in his hand.
Edward ran straight for him as fast as he could. Which by the look on Kimblee's face surprised him, Edward dodged one of his attacks then ran around his back catching Kimblee off guard and kicking the stone out of his hands. Edward then cut through the palm of his hand just before he decided to blow up the place. I couldn't believe how fast Edward was now! It took me by surprise as I looked at Edward as he stood between Kimblee and myself.
"And now I've-!" Edward started
"Now you've what? You think you've won? So, you're determined not to kill. How admirable of you. You do realise the advantage that it gives your opponent though, now, don't you? Instead of finishing me off, you've given me a second chance to kill you." Kimblee spoke and opened his mouth, showing another stone on his tongue, a more rounded shaped Philosopher's Stone. "That sense of mercy is about to get you in a lot of trouble." Kimblee smirked, as the stone fell from his mouth, and I ran forward.
I looked at Edward in horror as Kimblee started his transmutation, the mine shook as I tried to get to Edward, but we fell forward.
It all happened so fast as I tumbled through the rubble and I landed on my back, but my body felt a sharp pain through my chest as I gasped. The world and earth around me calmed down and I glanced down to see a pipe sticking out of my chest, next to my heart. I coughed and felt blood come through as I looked to the side and saw Edward laying on his front, a metal beam through his body.
"Edwa-!" I tried to cry out, but I felt my heart and lungs faltered as I gasped for air. My hand reached out for him as my eyes closed and the breathing stopped.
Edward's eyes slowly opened, he winced as he looked around, seeing a few beams fall to the ground.
"I must've fallen down the mine shaft." Edward groaned as he looked around, slowly lifting himself from the ground Edward pushed himself on his hands and knees, "Dammit… I can't let Kimblee get away." Edward froze as he looked up and as he glanced down, he saw lots of blood fall from his abdomen. Edward slipped on his side and for a few seconds blacked out from the pain.
Jolting awake, Edward slammed his fist on the floor and as he looked across, he saw Reaka just out of reach, a pole through her chest. Reaka's face was looking at him, the expression was one of fear and horror as she lay there, still. Edward couldn't leave her like that, he needed to help her. Edward knew she would wake up if the pole was removed, she'd be fine… she was always fine… Edward clapped his hands and broke the back of the steel bar.
Edward looked around and saw the two chimeras from before. Edward knew he needed to get them out first, then they could help Rea and she could help him. Clapping his hand and putting them down the stone and metal were lifted from the two chimeras.
"Damn, Kimblee's gonna pay…" the lion spoke,
"Hey, Fullmetal kid. You still alive? What made you decide to rescue us?" the gorilla man asked me,
"You're more injured than we are. And your girl she's…" The Lion spoke, as he looked over to her,
"Don't get the wrong idea… I… need someone to pull… that thing out… of Rea, then she… can help me." Edward spoke, he lay as still as possible, trying to breath and talk through the pain, spots fading in and out of his vision,
"You're asking us to pull that steel frame out of her? We were enemies just five minutes ago and now you're asking us to save your life. Plus, I'm sorry to say this kid, but I think she's…" The lion replied,
"She's immortal, when you remove it… she'll come back." Edward asked.
"Well, it's not like we were ordered to kill you. Let's see." The gorilla man moved over to Rea and tried to pull the bar, but it was stuck in the ground. The lion man moved opposite her,
"Let's lift her up." The lion spoke as they both lifted her body gently; Edward saw the sparks come from her chest as her body was healing.
The lion and gorilla moved her body close to Edward.
I shot up with a deep breath and gripped my chest in fear, the bar was gone, and I saw I was still in the mine. Looking around I saw the chimeras staring at me as I glared at them,
"Rea…" Edward spoke as I looked at him with the bar in his stomach,
"Edward…" I moved to his side and the chimeras went to move in,
"Stay back!" I yelled and Edward nudged his hand against mine with what little strength he had,
"Hey! Calm down, we helped you off there!" The lion man spoke as he pointed where my blood stained the floor,
"I-why?" I asked,
"Our orders weren't to kill you." The lion man spoke as I looked at Edward and then at the wound in his body, fear raced through my body as I looked over Edward who was laying on the ground, I went to rest my hand on his shoulder, but I hesitated, and my hand jumped back as I felt my eyes sting with tears. This was fatal… Edward could die!
"I can close the wound." I spoke as Edward looked at me, "you'll need to remove it quickly though." I looked at the two chimeras, I gripped Edward's hand, I took several deep breaths as I looked over his body and remembered my studies on the human body. I had looked at many books over the years and I knew that was definitely going to help.
"But if we pull that out, he's going to bleed out in an instant." The lion spoke,
"As soon as it leaves his body… I'm going to seal the wound… before he bleeds to death." I explained as Edward nodded slowly,
"Are you experienced in medical alchemy at all?" the lion asked,
"Not really, but I studied human anatomy, so I know more than most people about where the organs are, and how they function. Having a lot of years to live has given me a chance to learn things not many people get the opportunity to." I explained as I looked at the two,
"More than most people? I'm pretty sure his organs are shredded to pieces… If you don't have a philosopher's stone like Sir Kimblee does…" the gorilla man explained, I took a breath and Edward looked at me,
"With all I've learnt recently about my past and remembering how I became immortal. I've come to the realisation that I'm a living philosophers stone." I just stared at Edward's stomach as tears appeared in my eyes finally, "I hear the people inside me screaming every day. They know who I am and help me survive, the people of Xerxes, they live in me." I frowned and Edward just looked at me.
"I… can't use…" Edward spoke as I let go of his hand and slammed my palms on the ground,
"I can't let you die!" I yelled, shutting him up, "This is me being selfish right now Edward Elric! I can't lose you!" I screamed as I grabbed my head, "Alphonse, Winry, Pinako… even that dick Roy, we are all counting on you!" I yelled as I started to cry, I realised I could use my own life force to help Edward as I looked at him, he was smiling weakly as I put my hand to my chest, "These people, they want me to save you… they can never return." I spoke, Edward looked down.
Edward kept fading in and out as I looked at the two chimeras,
"Help me, quickly!" I beckoned them over and the gorilla moved behind Edward as the lion knelt in front, I grabbed a broken piece of wood and quickly transmuted some of my coat to cover it as I held the stick in front of Edward, "bite down on this." I spoke as Edward took the bite and I got ready. "Ready?" I spoke as Edward looked at me and nodded slowly as he passed out, "Now!" I snapped.
"I don't really get it, but you don't have much time to waste. I'm pulling it out." The lion man explained, I nodded, Edward clenched his jaw as he woke back up from the shock and pain. I looked at the wound, I watched the lion chimera pull the bar as Edward started to cry out in agony, I grabbed his face to look at me, he suddenly focused on my eyes as I could see the pain he was in physically. I heard the pop of the wound and suddenly put my hand on Edward's stomach and focused my energy on his, I closed my eyes as I heard Edward drop the wooden bite from his mouth.
I looked at Edward as I finished my transmutation,
"Did he make it?" the gorilla spoke,
"You can't kill me that easily…" Edward whispered,
"Whoa, you mean it worked?!" the gorilla asked,
"It's not completely healed. It's just a temporary measure of linking the undamaged tissues… to stop the bleeding." I explained, "I don't know medical alchemy like the people or Xing and I'm not a doctor, I've done more than what I can. Edward still needs help though." I added
"Oh, then we need a real doctor!" the lion spoke,
"No, I don't have time… for that…" Edward said standing up,
"What? H-Hey!" the men both spoke, I stood up with him and tried to stop him from walking forward, but Edward was stubborn,
"I've gotta stop Kimblee… Before he gets to them…" Edward fell forward collapsing out of pain.
I sighed as I stood up and checked the seal I just made on his side,
"What am I going to do with you?" I muttered,
"Oh man…" the gorilla spoke,
"Idiot." The lion agreed, "There's no way you can fight Kimblee in your condition." He added and then looked to the side,
"What is it?" the gorilla asked as the lion picked up a shiny red stone and stared at it,
"The Stone, huh?" the gorilla asked as I was shocked and looked at the two, "I guess Mister Kimblee must've lost it." The gorilla added.
"Quit callin' that freak Mister. He's not our boss…" the lion snapped as he held it in his hand, "Not since he almost killed us." The lion added,
"That's a good point…" The gorilla agreed, "how about we make our resignation official?" he added, as I just continued to check over Edward.
"Let's just hold onto our freedom and let the bastard think we died in the rubble." The lion spoke as the two looked at us,
"Well.. what do we do with them?" the gorillas asked as I frowned at them, scared at what they'd do to next… leave us? Help us? I didn't know… but I was ready to react.
"I can hear you." I spoke and frowned as they took a breath,
"We aren't going to leave you here with him to die…" the lion spoke as I was surprised, but grateful, "We owe him our lives, after all." The lion nodded as I smiled and looked at Edward,
"Very true…" the gorilla spoke as the lion knelt and gently lifted Edward onto his back as I leaned away from Edward and the gorilla offered his hand to me as I stood up, "first things first… we gotta find him a doctor. Right?" the gorilla asked as I nodded,
"I know a few doctors around North City, but I can't imagine it will be safe for us to go there." I scratched my chin and frowned, "considering I just escaped being locked up and Edward was fighting Kimblee. Any story could be twisted to the rest of the military." I sighed as the chimeras looked at me.
I stood up and walked ahead of them as I thought,
"We are going to Mebbo, it's two stops away from North City, a bit of a journey from here. But I'll be able to care for Edward till we get there. Unless we can get a car, that will be quicker." I suggested, the chimeras nodded, "do you guys have names?" I asked,
"Darius." The gorilla spoke,
"Heinkel." The lion nodded as I smiled gently,
"Thank you." I bowed and the two chimeras just stared at me for a moment,
"Eh-It's no worries." Darius rubbed the back of his head as Heinkel looked away,
"Yeah, Kimblee doesn't care for any of his men, so we aren't going back there. We also think we'd be better off with you two." Heinkel spoke, I was surprised but smiled a moment later.
"That's good." I nodded and started to pick up my pace to walk ahead as I saw a blocked area.
I tapped my foot on the floor and the earth moved to create a wide hole, the chimeras suddenly started to change back, and I saw a white man with blonde hair and blue eyes, and then a darker skinned man with brown hair and green eyes. I smiled at them,
"Come on. Our priority is to get Edward help." I frowned.
We walked through the tunnel and to the outside, Edward was out cold the entire time. It also wasn't long till we found a frozen car that I defrosted and fixed up to drive, Darius and Heinkel got in the front while we lay Edward down in the back and I rested his head on my lap.
"Do you guys know the way to Mebbo?" I asked, they looked at each other and then to me, I laughed,
"It's east of North City, if you keep heading in that direction there might be a road that turns off at some point that will take us to Mebbo." I explained as they nodded.
The drive seemed long, but because the roads were always covered in snow it was hard to traverse. It definitely wasn't safe for us to be seen by the military anymore. On our travels to Mebbo the other two overheard military personnel talking about a hunt for Edward. Luckily there was no mention of me, meaning I could still go out and grab things for us. But Darius and Heinkel decided that they would sort everything for us.
We arrived at the clinic in question and the two men looked at me, it wasn't in best shape, and I sighed as I looked at them,
"They'll be the only people we'll be able to pay off to keep quiet… they aren't the nicest of people and will charge but we need someone who won't say anything." I explained as Edward stirred, "don't move kid!" Darius yelled as Edward glared at him,
"Don't boss me around." Edward groaned,
"Stop moving!" I snapped and Edward suddenly stopped and lay back down, I sighed as Darius and Heinkel chuckled,
"Can see who wears the pants in this relationship." Heinkel smirked as Edward glared at them both.
The two came around and carefully got Edward out the car as I went and spoke to the couple,
"Hello, Rea! It's been a long time." The small female doctor was called Coral,
"Hey, Coral, I have a patient that we need to keep hidden from the military, are we okay to request your services?" I asked as she saw Darius carry Edward in as he seemed to have fallen asleep again,
"What happened?" The older man, Tony, walked out,
"Oh, erm-!" Heinkel didn't know what to say,
"We don't need to know if it's kept from the military! Tony! You're too nosy!" Coral snapped as I chuckled,
"We'd appreciate any and all help to get him back on his feet as soon as possible." I explained as Tony looked at me.
"It's gonna cost you." Tony looked at me smugly,
"Whatever it is, we'll pay it." Edward groaned as he tried to sit up, I quickly moved to his side and put my hand on his shoulder,
"Ed! Don't go exerting yourself!" I frowned and Edward looked at me with a small smile,
"Thank you," Edward mumbled as he touched his scar,
"I- you don't need to thank me you idiot! Just get better!" I pouted and Edward chuckled and winced as the two doctors moved to my side,
"Let us take care of him. Come on, get in this chair, we need to examine you." Coral spoke as I helped Edward in the chair, and they wheeled him off.
As I saw him move around the corner, I folded my arms around my body and frowned, tears welled up as Darius and Heinkel looked at each other,
"Er, Miss? You did everything you could! He's going to be fine." Darius quickly spoke as I looked up at him,
"I could have done better though…" I frowned and closed my eyes,
"Couldn't you keep treating him with that alchemy?" Heinkel asked,
"I… I could but I don't know what I'm doing with organs and such." I explained as the two looked at each other, "I'd probably cause more damage than anything." I frowned,
"He means a lot to you huh?" Darius asked as I nodded,
"He's my world." I answered without a second thought and Darius and Heinkel seemed to suddenly smile at me.
"Miss-" Heinkel started,
"Call me Reaka or Rea, please." I smiled sweetly at them both as both men seemed embarrassed for a moment as Darius put his hand behind his head,
"We have nowhere else to go, so we will stay with you." Heinkel spoke as I nodded,
"I'd appreciate that." I smiled and nodded as the two men seemed to react even more. I could have sworn I heard Darius mumble 'adorable' as I looked back at the curtain where Edward was taken.
We were in the waiting area for a bit while Coral and Tony looked after Edward. Coral walked out and looked at me,
"He's going to be okay. The alchemy you preformed did most of the repairing. He will have to rest for a week, but he will be fine to leave them." Coral explained as I nodded,
"Thank you." I smiled as she grinned,
"The costs we can sort out in a few days' time." Coral waved her hand as I smiled,
"The room you used to stay in is still empty. I don't think anyone's been in there since you left." Coral explained as the lifted a key out of her pocket.
I nodded and looked at the two men,
"You guys can stay in my place. I'll stay here with Edward." I smiled and took the key from Coral.
Leading the two out the doctors practice and upstairs to my old apartment I opened the door and walked inside, noticing that a few things were broken I tapped my foot and used my alchemy to quickly repair everything in the room. I walked in and opened two doors off to the side,
"These are the bedrooms, there's one bathroom next to one while the other just has a toilet and sink, I haven't got any food in, for obvious reasons. So, you'll have to go get some. I'm more than happy to come up and cook it for you guys every night if you wanted?" I turned around,
"Er? No! We can sort food for ourselves, we will make sure to get enough for yourself as well! You've done enough letting us stay here and allowing us to come with you!" Darius quickly spoke as I smiled at him,
"Thank you. I'll leave the key here; I won't be leaving Edward's-!" I stopped and saw my old guitar on the side, smiling I picked it up and slung it over my back, "I'll be with Edward, downstairs if you need me." I spoke and left the apartment.
Heading downstairs I went back into the practice and saw Tony was back in the front, I walked through the curtain and found Edward in the back room. He was bandaged up as I frowned and walked to sit next to him.
I pulled my guitar on my lap and leaned back against the wall. I just held the guitar as I took a moment to breathe. So much had happened the last few months, I frowned and pulled one string gently. I tuned the guitar, noticing that it wasn't even waking Edward up. I'd play for him when he woke up. I leaned the guitar against the wall and moved to sit on the floor as I leaned on the bed and held Edward's hand gently. I turned my head to the side and rested it on the bed as I felt fatigue finally catching up with me, the adrenaline over the last few days was high… I took a moment and felt my eyes close slowly.