Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Crimson Romance ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

This fanfiction is meant for ages 17+. Most of it could be 14+ but there are some scenes that are meant for mature audiences.

Author's Note: By the way, y'all, I love Mr. Solf J. Kimblee. He's my favourite character. I could care less about Edward and his little friends. Mr. Kimblee is the only reason I watch or read FMA.

By the way, there's original characters in this story.

Please enjoy!

It was raining, of course.  It had been raining for five days straight.  She often wondered when the weather would take a turn for the good.  She missed the sunshine. Even though it was contrary to what she had wanted, she was glad that it wasn’t cold. It was a blessing to live on the west coast where it was always warm.

She was sitting on the window sill just watching the rain outside.  It was a triple pane window beside her. This was a dream of hers to have a giant window in her bedroom.  She didn’t have to worry about it being insulated from the cold since she lived in California.  

Though, this story isn’t about her moving from New York to California.  It’s about friendship and adventure. What story would be a story without adventure in it?  She wasn’t aware of what she would be doing, though.  She didn’t know how significant her contribution would be. If she would’ve known what were to happen within the next couple months or even the next couple years -- she probably would’ve been too frightened to even attempt to be involved.  

The prayer beads clanked together as she squeezed them in her hand.  In the background she had her radio playing a sermon.  She wasn’t paying much attention to it because it was a repeat from the week before. The light from the lamplight reflected against the cross that dangled down from the beads. She felt her cell phone in her jean’s pocket vibrate.  

She pulled the phone out from her pocket and flipped it open without even bothering to look at the caller I.D.

“Hello?” Her dark black locks covered the contraption as she held it up to her ear.

“Yo, what’re you doing right now?” A deep, familiar voice asked from the other line.

"Oh, hi Patrick. I'm not doing much. Just listening to a sermon."  

"Sounds boring." He commented, "Why don't you come on over? I have a surprise for you."

"If you give me another headless teddy bear I'm going to hurt you." She audibly frowned.

"Oh no, this isn't a gift. Pack your things. We're going on a trip!"

"What? Where are we going?"

"Come on over and I'll explain everything."

"Pack my things? You mean like clothes and hygiene stuff?"

"Yep."

"You want me to come over now?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I guess. I'll see you in about fifteen minutes."

"Good. See you later."

"Bye." And that was when she hung up.

It certainly was different in California than in New York.  This time of year the entire state would have had snow. She was grateful they'd moved when they did. If anything, she wasn't going to miss the cold weather.  

Maria plopped down into the car and buckled up. She placed the keys into the ignition and prayed that it would start.  Closing her eyes, she turned the ignition and the engine fired.  She gave a sigh of relief as she switched the gears, looking around to see if there was any traffic passing her drive.

It was about a ten minute drive to Patrick's house. She wondered if he'd done something like won travelling tickets to Hawaii.  With a smile, she thought about how she packed her swim suit -- just in case.

Parking behind Patrick's car, she brought out her suitcase, knapsack, and purse and headed up the stairs to his apartment. She rung the doorbell and waited patiently. Not even five seconds passed and he opened the door.

"Oh, good! You're here!" He said after opening the door, taking her bags for her and letting her in.

"What's so impor--" She gasped when she noticed how his living room was flooded with candles.  That wasn't what scared her, though.  In the middle of the carpet he'd drawn out a pentacle and had different paraphenalia on each point of the star. Maria had an idea of what was going on but she wasn't aware of specifics.  She'd begged him before not to practice witchcraft and to not talk to the local Pagan high priestess -- but he did anyway.

"...Oh, Pat," She said softly.  He could hear the disappointment in her voice. "...Is this why you won't come with me to Mass on Sundays?  What do you plan to accomplish by doing this?  It's an abomination unto the Lor--"

"I know, I know what you're thinking," He interrupted her, "but this plan is fool proof!"

"...Plan?"

"Do you remember that manga I was showing you?"

"Which one?"

"The Fullmetal Alchemist one."

"Oh, that? What's that got to do with this, though?"

"I came up with a transportation spell --"

"Oh," She blinked, "Where do you plan on going?"

"I'm going to transport us into the manga world."

"Patrick, going there is impossible. It's a fictional universe."

"But we're going to go there and me and Jean are gonna get married and --"

"Pat --"

"I've already invited the Elemental Guardians and have got the spell ready -- All I need to do is say the spe--"

"No!" There was a sob in her voice, "Patrick, you're scaring me!"

Maria picked up her purse and turned to leave.  Roughly, Patrick grabbed her arm and pulled her against him within the circle.

"Des la grate in de indevalia!" Wings of Providence guide me!

That's when the atmosphere began to change.  She could feel the room stretching and wrapping around them. She cried out but couldn't hear her own voice. It felt like they were being sucked downward.  He looked so happy that it frightened her. She reached upward trying to avoid being swallowed up but was soon defeated.

Everything turned black. Then there was an aethereal tunnel.  Everything turned white as they landed. There was nothing here in this space.  She turned around to find a giant gate in the middle of the nothingness. Beside her Patrick stood.

He had a psychotic smile on his face. "We're almost there!"

"Patrick -- I'm scared! Where are we?" She still had her purse slung over her shoulder.  That was when the gate had opened up.  Several black arms came out and grabbed him.

"What the -- PAT!"

"No!" His heart sunk in his chest and he could feel his blood run ice cold. There was something he'd forgotten! The tiny hands on the black arms grasped him and pulled him into the darkness of the gate. "I forgot!"

"Equivalent Exch--"  That was when the doors slammed shut behind him.

"PATRICK!!!"

Again, Maria was sent through an aethereal tunnel. She was flung into a dark abyss. Before her, lights appeared in the darkness. They were stars. Pink and orange clouds were illuminated by the varying sizes of the balls of light. She was suspended in the air, as if trying to swim for the surface. Her hair floated above her. Slowly, she shook her head as if accepting that this was happening would annihilate her very being. That was when she heard a whistling below.

Her eyes shot downward. There was a planet. A blue planet much like her home; earth. Though, the continents were shaped much differently than what she had remembered. Before she had the time to acknowledge this, she was sucked through another kaleidoscope of colour; another tunnel.

Once she'd made it to the end, there came a light.  She went through the shining light and found herself falling through the air.  Around her was blue sky and birds flying around. She looked down and knew that if she hit the ground she would surely die.  An instant of sadness hit her.  She'd just lost her best friend and now she was going to lose her life. What a horrible way to go.

Below, on the ground, there was a person picking through the trash. She'd had on raggedy clothes and from a distance looked terribly old. She hunched over looking at treasures that other people had thrown out.

"Get of my property!" A man would yell, walking off his porch with a shotgun.

"So touchy, so touchy!" She replied, pushing her cart away from his trash.

She wasn't even a couple of yards away from the man's house when Maria fell ontop of her, crushing her. With a gasp, she got up from the woman and stood.

"Oh my God, I crushed an old lady!"

"Hey! Who you callin' old?" The woman wobbled up to her feet, pulling back her hood, revealing a youthful, snowy skinned face.

"I'm so sorry! I just.. I fell out of the.."

"Damn right! You fell out of the sky!"

"Look, if you're hurt I can pay your hospital bill," Maria said worriedly, "But please don't sue me. I don't have enough money for the cost of court plus --"

"Look, I'm not going to sue you. I don't have alot of money either so we're in the same boat."

She sighed a sigh of relief. "I am so sorry. My name is Maria Sanchez. If you need ANYTHING -- anything at all – I'll be more than happy to compensate."

"My name is Brielle Bellavarde. I'm a relation to the late opera singer Francesca Bellavarde."

"I'm afraid I've not heard of her." Maria frowned, helping her stand. "Where exactly are we?"

"We're in Central City."

"Central, huh?" She looked up, trying to remember what it was. It'd been a while since she'd read the manga and seen the television series. That's when it hit her. "This is the military's headquarters, isn't it?"

"Yep. It certainly is."  Brielle leaned on her cart, ready to push it.

"Could you help me?"

"Help you what? You're the one who fell on me!"

"I need to find a way back home. I don't know how to get to there from here."

"What are you talking about? Can't you take a train home or something?" She raised a brow, half glaring at Maria.

"That's the thing though," Maria sighed, "I don't know how to get back."

"Where you from? I could easily get you an atlas or somethin'."

"I'm from California."

"Never heard of it.  Is that out of state?"

"...Sort of."

"What country is that in?"

"The United States of America."

"....Heh.  Well, look --" In pain, Brielle leaned on the cart to keep the weight off of her legs. "..Do you have anywhere to stay?"

"Not here, I don't."

"Well, you can't get nothing by doing nothing. I'll let you stay with me if you pay me back."

"Anything."

"I haven't thought of what I want from you, yet.  When the time comes, I'll tell you."

"Right."

"First thing's first. You have to help me dig through trash."

"Why on Earth would you dig through other people's trash?"

"I ghetto-rig stuff and sell them."

"Oh."

"C'mon. After we're done we'll figure out what to do for dinner."

"Right. Let's go."  Seeing as Brielle was having a hard time standing, Maria got next to her and held her up as they walked.  

So, for a couple of hours they went through people's trash and picked out things that Brielle felt were valuable and put them in her cart.  Brielle didn't understand why she was being nice.  Usually, she'd run away from people. It wasn't that she didn't like them, it was because she was afraid of them.  She wasn't exactly a people person. She was taken advantage of a lot in her younger years so she wasn't as trusting as she used to be.

Her kindness toward Maria wasn't genuine, though.  She was simply using her.  After all, nothing in this life was free, right? It was her philosophy.  She'd offer some hospitality and then later make her a slave. It wasn't that Brielle was a bad person.  Okay, maybe a little bad.  But not like cold blooded. She'd never killed anybody before.

So at dinner at an inn called The Walrus, Brielle explained to Maria about her job.  She explained to her that she made her living by taking old items and refurnishing them so she could sell them.  Earlier she had shown her how she did it; and it was with alchemy. After watching this Maria was astounded. She'd never seen any kind of magic like it before. Brielle explained to her how it was done and made her promise not to tell anyone how she did it.  Then she went on to tell her that the reason she didn't want anyone to know is because they would report her to the State Military and force her to join their ranks.  She had no wish to do so.

"I'm sorry I couldn't pay for something like steak," Brielle stated, "But this is all I can afford. I hope you don't mind fish."

"Oh, not at all. I'm supposed to only eat fish on Fridays, anyway." Maria smiled.

"What kind of rule is that?" Brielle blinked.

"Oh, I'm Catholic. There's a lot of strange rules we have."

"Catholic? What's that?"  

"It's a branch of Christianity."

"That sounds familiar. I think I might have read about that before.  Remind me later to look that up."

"Okay."  They ordered their dinner and had small talk.  So far, it was mostly about the weather and the economy.  They stayed silent after a while, eating their meal.  A good ten minutes went by without them talking.  Maria, with her deep green eyes, looked up at her new mate and asked: "...Did you dye your hair?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"It's blue. I've never seen anyone with blue hair."

"Ah, this? I was born like this."

"I like how it's cut. Who did your hair?"

"Well, actually. I kind of cut it myself.  I don't really care about it being neat.  I just got tired of brushing it all the time."

"It's really cute."

"Thanks I guess. You really are a strange one, you know that?"

"Well, where I come from.. That hairstyle is rather popular."

"Popular, huh? Pfft. Foreigners."

"Heh," Maria's eyes dropped down to her plate. "..I suppose we are."

"So," Brielle set her fork down on the table. "Tell me about where you live.  I've never heard of this 'California' before.  You sure you didn't hit your head and lose your memory?"

"Oh believe me -- I also wonder if I hit my head or something." Maria replied, "This is just like the Wizard of Oz."

"Wizard of what?"

"Nevermind that. Well, where I come from we..." And Maria went on explaining everything about her home state as she could. She talked of where she lived, the job she had, her ex boyfriends, and her best friend Patrick and his younger sister. She even told her how when her mother died she went to live with Patrick and his family. They'd known eachother since early high school.  Her mother had died of cervical cancer and her father was too much of a drunkard to keep a job and take care of her.  This was why she had to move in with Patrick and get a part time job while still going to school.

She explained that she wasn't a Roman Catholic or even an Orthodox Catholic but how she was a Liberal Catholic which is an entirely different sect from the others. The further and further she went on Brielle started getting the idea that this woman was delusional.  But how can she be delusional if she's explaining all these things in great detail?  She was unsure.

"I think that's enough for tonight."  Brielle stopped her.

"But I have proof that I'm from California."

"Yeah? Show it to me."

Maria dug through her purse and took out her wallet. She opened it up and took out her driver's license and showed it to her. Brielle looked it over and flashed it under the light some.  She'd never seen an identifcation card like this before.  At the top in bold letters it said "CALIFORNIA". She eyed the photograph on it. Even at the bottom it had Maria's signature.

"Hmm," Brielle commented. "It says you were born in '82. You would be 32, correct?"

"No, no. I'm 28. I was born in 1982."

"Impossible! How can you be born then when the year is only 1916?"

".....Wow. I had no idea how far back in time we were."

"..Listen," Brielle warned, "Don't go telling just anyone about this. They'll think you're crazy and lock you up in an asylum somewhere. Let's keep this between you and me, okay?"

"Okay.."

"..Not that I believe you, anyway."

Brielle shot out of bed, throwing the covers off of her. "Shit! We're going to be late for the train!"

"What do you mean?" Maria rubbed her eyes, watching the other woman's quick
motions.

"There's going to be a train leaving at 11 o'clock. We only have less than half an hour before it leaves! We've gotta get going!"

"Oh," Maria leapt out of the bed as well, following the other's lead. "Right, right. Let's hurry!"

Brielle was quite upset at the fact that they'd slept in.  Though, they did spend a considerable amount of time the night before just lying in bed and talking.  She hoped she wouldn't regret it. She slipped on her shoes and grabbed her guitar case and her suitcase.  She didn't need to worry about the junk they'd collected the day before because she'd already sold everything they'd found.

The purse was slung over her shoulder as she followed Brielle out of the room.  They'd left the inn, running down the street. Maria hadn't run this much since she'd had physical education in high school.  She somewhat missed having her car at home.

Maria tried her hardest to keep up with her friend. She'd nearly tripped over her own footing but managed to find her balance once again.  

"Hey!" Maria said, gasping for breath. "You want to race there?"

"Awwright! Let's go!"  Brielle smirked, her pace quickening.

The prison guard's brow sweated profusely as he fell back, trying to shield himself from an expected explosion.

"KIMBLEE!!!" He cried before the timer ran out. With the last tick a baby chic sprung out of the watch.

"It's a boring old toy," the man in the white suit stated, "Please give it to your kid or something."

The older gentleman huffed, staring at him in disbelief.  That was when the former convict exited the premises.  Behind him the gates with an encrusted insignia of Central Prison closed.

It felt good to be able to have his hair brushed and neatly tucked back into a ponytail.  Soon he would experience the pleasure of having a hot bath and eating a nice meal.  He placed his hat upon his head as he took out a train schedule. He compared it to his watch, looking for the one that would be leaving next. Only ten minutes to get to the station and it was across town.  Maybe if he ran he'd be able catch it.  The one after that wouldn't come for another hour and he didn't want to waste any time.

He started off sprinting then worked himself up into a run.  All that time in prison really worked on him.  He wasn't sure if he had enough stamina to run for a long time. He would just have to see, now wouldn't he?

"Ha ha! You just can't keep up with me, can you?!"  Brielle laughed at her new companion.

"Just you wait -- I'll show you!"  At her hardest, Maria managed to keep even with Brielle. They weren't really watching where they were going.  Their eyes were mostly on each other.  They taunted one other as they ran, getting close to the train station.

He was close!  Almost to the train station.  He glanced back at his watch. Great! Plenty of time to spare. He crossed the street without even looking for traffic.  That... Was his downfall.

"We're almost there!" Brielle shouted. "The last person on the train pays for the next meal!"

"Oh, you're on!" Maria laughed.  

< BAM! >

They didn't even know what hit them. The only thing he could remember was a sharp pain in his forehead. He fell back onto the ground, his hat flying off. Both Maria and Brielle collapsed at the contact.

"Oh, what the hell?!" Bri cried, holding her head.  The man in the white suit sat up, picking up the hat that lied beside him.  The next thing he saw were emerald eyes.  They gazed back at him.

There was a moment where they just stared at each other. Immediately, there was a connection. Maria wasn't sure what it was, though, because nothing like that had ever happened to her. Her lips moistened a bit.  At first, he had mistaken her for being Ishvalan with as dark as her skin was.  But her eyes were that of a different colour.  He was confused. Her wavy, raven black hair fell down her shoulders, covering her bosom. His eyes traced down her body.  They widened somewhat when he noticed that her panties were exposed. They were white with a print of little yellow ducks on it.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah -- Hallelujah -- Halle -- LUJAH!

When she noticed his eyes drop, she looked down herself.  When she realized what he was looking at, it was too late.  Quickly, she pushed her dress down to cover herself up.

Great, he thought to himself, The first lady I see and I've already got a boner.  Being in prison that whole time I thought the blasted thing was broken!

Embarrassed, he stood up and held out a hand to her. His facial expression changed to a soft, friendly one.  His eyes smiled as she let him help her up.

"I'm really sorry, Mister!"  There was also a mark on her forehead. "..Is there anything I can do for you?"

With a smile, he held her small hand in his.  She tried to take it back but there was some resistance on his end. He patted it.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Are you taking the train? We'd better hurry or we'll miss it." He gently held onto her, leading her up the stairs to the train station.

"Right, right." They left behind a very irate Brielle.

"What the hell am I? Chopped liver?!" She squawked, jumping up to her feet and following quickly behind them.

He sat there in his seat, his pants becoming very uncomfortable.  A little flustered at the situation, he held his hat in front of his groin to hide his shame.

Across from him, Brielle and Maria sat together.  They didn't say anything to each other for the longest time. The blue haired one was staring off into space, daydreaming, while her friend was reading a book. He noticed the bag that she had carried with her. What was it?

"That's a cute bag you have there," He commented, breaking the silence.

"Oh, my purse?  Thanks." Maria smiled, bringing her sights up from the book.

"Are you homosexual?" Brielle quirked a brow.  The man in the white suit smirked, still holding his hat in front of him.

"Heh. Hardly."  

"You dress like a fagg--" She glared, her cheeks puffed up in anger as her long bangs dangled down in front of her face.  She definitely wasn't going to forget what happened earlier.

"Bri!" Maria scolded, "Be nice. Lots of men wear suits and they're not --"

"Don't worry about it," He said calmly. "...So, what's your name?"

"Oh, me?" She pointed at herself, setting the book in her lap. "My name is Maria Sanchez."

"Maria," He smiled, "What a beautiful name.  My name is Solf J. Kimblee."

"Aren't you going to ask me my name?" Brielle snapped, her arms still crossed.

"..I get the feeling you don't like me."

"As a matter of fact, Mr. Kimblee, I don't."

He sighed. "What is your name, then?"

"Brielle Bellavarde."

"Any relation to Francesca Bellavarde?"

"Ah! You have good taste in music," She started calming down, "Yes. In fact, she's my aunt."

"What is she doing these days?"

"She died of a blood disorder."

"..Oh," He frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"I'm not," Brielle frowned. "She was a total bitch!"

"It's not nice to talk about the dead like that," Maria chimed in, flipping a page in her book.

"But she was!"

Kimblee felt like he could burst in his pants at that moment.  He was trying to avoid solving this little problem of his.  Though, he might not have had a choice considering he was starting to feel pain.

"That's still no reason to talk bad about her!"

He could feel his head starting to get light. All of his blood was running downward. If he didn't do something about this he was going to be sick.

"Would you excuse me a moment?" He said even though he knew they wouldn't hear because they were arguing amongst themselves over a dead woman.  He got up out of his seat and made a swift exit.

Once again there was silence between the two ladies.  The darker woman was wearing a fuchsia dress.  Over it, she had a long sleeved purple jacket that was cropped so it stopped right below her bosom. She held up the book and flipped through a couple more pages.  Beside her, Brielle sat with one leg crossed over the other. She appeared to be the strong, tom-boyish type. Her outfit consisted of black pants and a black button up shirt that had a white tank top underneath.

Maria closed the book and placed it back in her purse. She dug through it and took out her cell phone, opening it.  Obviously, there was no signal. It was just a blank screen with a wallpaper.  There wouldn't have been any sattelites in this time so she wouldn't even be able to even get so much as the time here. She sighed, returning it to its spot. She leaned back into her seat.

"Brielle, I have to pee." She commented, "..Are there any restrooms on here?"

"Should be in the next car down."

"Right. I'll be right back." Maria got up from her spot and headed into the car behind them.  She wondered where that man had went.  He must have been annoyed with Brielle's obnoxious behaviour.  Yeah, that was probably it. There was nobody else that she knew, though, so she couldn't leave her herself. The woman sighed as she found the door that led into the water closet.

Without thinking to knock, she slid the door open.  She screamed when she saw that Kimblee was in there.  He had his foot on the toilet seat and was facing the door. She thought he had just left to sit somewhere else, when really... When really he was...

"You pervert!" She cried out.

< SLAP! >

"Hey! You're the one who walked in on me!" He yelled back, having a red, hand shaped mark on his face.

"You shouldn't be masturbating in a public place, anyway!"

"What?! You act like you've never seen a cock bef--"

She slammed the door shut and walked away, blushing madly.  Thank goodness there wasn't anyone else around to witness that.

"Maria!" Brielle shouted from behind her. With a jerk, she turned around to face her.  

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Just now. What's wrong? Why'd you scream?" The blue haired woman asked worriedly.  Kimblee stood there behind the door of the water closet, listening.

"..I just.." Maria started.  He cringed a bit. "..I saw a roach."

"You saw a roach?"

"Yeah."

"You screamed at a lil' ol' bug?"

"Hey," She held onto her arm, looking away. "I'm scared of bugs."

"Have you used the restroom yet?"

"N..No."

"Why not?"

"Mr. Kimblee's in there."

"So, that's where the roach man went off to." Brielle scratched her cheek with a single finger.  He jerked somewhat, a stress mark appearing on his head. She called me a roach!

"Roach man?"

"Yeah. Didn't you notice his bangs?  They look like roach antennae!"

"I'm going to kill her!"  Kimblee whispered to himself.

"He's been in there a while," Brielle said, "You think he ate something bad?"

"Yeah, probably." Maria replied, hiding his true motives of being in the water closet.  

She saved me, Kimblee thought to himself, What are her intentions?

"Look, I don't think I have to go to the bathroom that bad. Let's just go back and sit down, okay?"  

So, they went back to their seat and went back to what they were doing before. There was a silence between them that annoyed Maria. Maybe it wasn't that that really annoyed her.  Maybe it was the images of the man in the water closet. She just couldn't fight the picture of him holding onto his straight, hard erection infront of her.

With a small squeal of inner pain, she put her hand to her face. No, no, no, NO! This is not happening to me!

"What's wrong?" Brielle sat next to her with her guitar in her lap, flicking at a few strings.

"..I just thought of something really bad."

"Like what?" She strummed at a couple more strings.

"I don't want to talk about it." Maria closed her book and sighed. She reached into her purse for her green, marble prayer beads.  It would be exactly what Father Jacobs would say to her during confession. He'd tell her to say Hail Mary ten times then do what she could to purify her thoughts. She inhaled sharply, holding the beads ontop of her book.  That's when she held onto one of the beads and prayed silently.

Hail Mary,
Full of grace,
The Lord is with Thee;
Blessed art Thou among women
And blessed is the fruit of Thy Womb, Jesus

Holy Mary,
Mother of God
Pray for us sinners now,
Even at the hour of our death.

She did this even as he returned. He sat down in his seat, nearly not being able to look at her. When she noticed him sitting from the corner of her eye, she prayed louder as if to rebuke him.

He blinked, listening to the prayer. Brielle started playing her guitar as if to go with the rhythm of her words.

"What are you doing?" The man managed to ask.

"I'm rebuking you -- in the name of Jesus Christ!" Maria's arm shot out, holding up the necklace. The cross on it swung in his direction.  He looked at it then back up at her.

"...What?" He blinked.

"There you go again," Brielle commented, her hand slipping from the instrument. "Actin' crazy, Maria."

"I'm not crazy!"

"Are you Ishvalan?" Kimblee's gaze became cold.

"No!"

"Then why is your skin so dark?"

"Because I'm Mexican." Maria tried to explain.

"What's with the prayer?" He raised a brow, resting his arm on the back of his seat.

"I'm trying to purify my thoughts!"  She said defensively.  His gaze stayed on her.

"Now I know where I've seen you before!" Brielle stated, interrupting them. "You were the one guy in that film I saw!"

With a sick smile, the man in white placed his hand on his chin. A small pink sparkle appeared next to his face. "Well, I do look like a movie star, don't I?"

"No!" Brielle laughed, "You're the guy who was rollerskating in his underwear and fell face first into a toilet!"

His eyes practically bulged out. "How did you know about that?" He asked, looking around in a paranoid fashion.  There was no one else to hear it, thankfully.

"I saw The Film, silly!" Brielle stated. Maria fell silent. Kimblee thought that they'd thrown out all his stuff before they'd arrested him. Little did he know that Brielle was good at picking through garbage.

"That was supposed to be destroyed." He commented.

"Well, it's in my stash now."

"If you don't give it to me, I'll kill you."

"If you kill me then you'll never know where it is so you can destroy it and my friend Maria here will let the public know about it."

"But I--" Maria started.

"That's how you're going to repay me, Maria." The blue one winked at her.  

"But he really will kill you," Maria said, her memory coming back to her. "He's the Crimson Alchemist -- He'll blow you to bits."

"Ha!" Her friend smirked, "Like that really scares me."

"So, you've heard of me?"

"Well, I've heard a little bit from here and there."  She lied.  The only reason she knew about him was because of what Patrick had told her and what she'd read about him.

"So," He started, "What do you want in exchange for the film?"

"You have to promise not to harm either of us," Brielle replied, "And you have to help me help my friend here."

"Anything. What do you want?"

"She needs your help to find a way home.  Maria here claims she lives outside the country and that she doesn't know how to get back."

"What country?" Well, this would be simple.  All he'd have to do is pay for a train ticket there.

"Tell him, Maria."

"...The United States."

"United States of what?"

Her gaze dropped as she spoke sadly,"..Of America."

"...." He sat there, his hat covering his eyes. "..I've never heard of that place before."

"See?" Brielle said, "I told you she was crazy."

"Maybe a little delusional, too."  Kimblee replied.

"I'm not crazy!" Maria cried out. "Falling out of the sky and landing on top of you might have seemed crazy but it happened, now didn't it?"

"Yeah, but.."

"Well, as soon as you recover your memory I promise I'll take you home personally."

"I don't have amnesia, though! I'm really from California!"  She dug in her purse and took out her wallet.  From there, she got out her driver's license and handed it to him.

He looked over it, an inquisitive look on his face.

"And look at the date on there!  The year is 2010."

"Well, it doesn't have the full date on it." Kimblee replied, "This could just mean you didn't renew it when it expired in 1910."

"..So," Maria took it back, looking down sadly, "You don't believe me either."

"Like I said –  you can stay with me until you get your memory back.  After that, I promise I'll take you home."

"We're both going to help you get your memory back," Brielle rubbed Maria's shoulder comfortingly. "You just have to have patience."

"But – " Kimblee interrupted, "To make it official.. In the next town we're going to have a lawyer put this all on paper."

"You mean we're going to have a contract?" Brielle blinked.

"I don't want you exposing that film of me.  If you break the contract you'll be breaking the law and who knows what kind of penalties will come with it if you break it."

"Fine, fine. How's that sound, Maria?"

"...As long as I can get back home, I don't care."

"So, it's done." Kimblee smiled beneath the covering of his hat.