Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Disaster or Destiny? ❯ Arcane Emotions ( Chapter 24 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I didn’t understand why every time I caught Edward‘s eye, it seemed to upset him. After listening for awhile to the whirring of the train wheels and the chatter of other passengers I worked up the nerve to ask him what I’d been wondering since I met him.

“Um…Edward?” I asked hesitantly.

I was confused once again as to why his reaction to my words was another look of remorse. “Please,” he said quietly, “Call me Ed.”

“Oh…sure,” I replied. “Anyway, I mean I don’t want to pry or anything, but I was just wondering why you look so sad all the time?”

He looked down at the ground and I regretted ever bringing it up. “I’m sorry! You don’t have to answer if you don’t feel comfortable. I apologize, it’s none of my business.”

He glanced at me and managed a small smile. “You don’t need to apologize. It’s just kind of painful to talk about, that’s all.” He looked out the window and appeared to be contemplating whether to tell me. After a short silence he finally turned back. “There’s someone I love with all my heart, but I’m afraid she doesn’t feel the same way.”

My brow furrowed in confusion. “But, if you don’t mind me asking, how can you love someone that much if the feeling isn‘t mutual?”

A look of nostalgia passed across his face. “She used to. But something happened and she doesn’t anymore. She’s forgotten about me, but I can’t do the same no matter how hard I try.”

I wanted to ask what happened, but could tell he didn’t want to duscuss the subject further. So instead I asked him why he’d come to East City. He gave me an odd look before proceeding to say he too was searching for the Philosopher’s Stone, but had split up with Al temporarily to search somewhere else. He must’ve read the question on my face, because before I even asked he pushed up the sleeve of his jacket, revealing an auto-mail arm. An image suddenly flashed through my mind, as if I’d seen someone with that same arm before.

“I suppose you have this for the same reasons Al’s in that armor?” He nodded and I added, “Funny, I feel like I’ve seen this exact model before…”

He gave me a strange look that seemed almost hopeful, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come when I added, “It must have been someone else with the same mechanic.”

It was dark outside by the time we reached Aquroya. Following Mustang’s instructions we came to a building that sounded like more of a wild tavern inside than an inn. Sure enough, we walked inside and were met with the sound of Celtic style music, laughter and people dancing. We exchanged curious looks, and he was no doubt wondering, just as I was, what Mustang could possibly want us to do in a peaceful, tourist city like Aquroya.

We approached the innkeeper, an elderly man with a kind face, and told him that Colonel Roy Mustang had sent us.

He looked us up and down and turned to Ed. “Ah, you must be the Fullmetal Alchemist. Somehow I thought you’d be taller…”

Ed‘s face contorted with anger. “WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PINT-SIZED RUNT YOU JERK??!!!”

At seeing Ed’s overzealous response to the now startled innkeeper, I suddenly experienced one of the strongest feelings of déjà vu I’d ever had. His reaction was so strong it was comical, and I couldn’t help but feel as if I’d seen it before.

I quickly disregarded the idea and proceeded to put a hand on Ed’s shoulder to calm him. I gave an apologetic glance to the innkeeper, who looked as if he were trying to suppress a laugh. Turning to Ed, I said. “Ed, calm down! He didn’t mean any harm.”

With great effort I managed to calm him down enough so we could obtain the remainder of the innkeeper’s instructions.

“The Colonel knew you’d be getting here late, so he reserved a room for you. There’s no need to worry about it tonight,” he said with a jovial grin. “Why don’t you just relax and have some fun? Grab something to eat, maybe join in a couple dances?”

Ed seemed to have forgotten about the height insult and was somber again. “Look, I’m really not in the mood. Can’t you just tell me what I’m supposed to do?”

The innkeeper shrugged. “Sorry, but I don’t know. The Colonel said he’d call in the morning with further instructions.”

Ed grumbled but finally accepted the key to the room, and we found a table to get something to eat.

“What the hell is that moron up to this time?” he mumbled, taking off his coat and draping it over the back of his chair.

“Got me,” I responded with a shrug as I sat across from him. “I really don’t understand that guy sometimes.”

“I never have, never will, and frankly don’t want to. Who knows what’s going on in that twisted mind of his.” He complained peevishly.

I gave a lighthearted laugh. “Finally someone agrees with me.”

Ed chuckled slightly, and I was relieved to know that he was actually capable of laughing.

A small shadow fell across the table, and the two of us looked up to see girl standing there, gazing at Ed with a slight blush tinting her cheeks.

Ed glanced up at her. “Can I help you?”

She giggled, rather obnoxiously in my opinion. “I was wondering if you’d like to dance.”

She looked like she was a couple years older than us. She was quite pretty and had long, straight dark hair and chocolate brown eyes with which she gazed slyly at Ed. I immediately didn’t like her.

Ed blushed a little, though not as much as I would have expected, and glanced at me, as if asking what he should do. I didn’t have a chance to respond, however, as the girl grabbed Ed’s hand and pulled him helplessly to the middle of the dance floor. I suddenly felt a strong pang of jealousy that I could not explain. What reason did I have to be jealous? I’d only known Ed for a few days, and even at that I’d barely spoken to him.

Nevertheless, I felt my blood boil at the sight of that girl holding his hand. As if that wasn’t enough to spark my unexplainable anger she placed Ed’s hands on her waist, threw her arms around his neck and they mingled with the other couples on the dance floor.

Although my mind protested, my legs wouldn’t listen and I stomped over in a huff to the the couple, and was happy to see that Ed didn’t seem to be enjoying himself that much.

I tapped the girl’s shoulder and cleared my throat to get her attention. “Do you mind?”

They stopped and she turned, giving me an irritated look. “What? If you wanted to dance you should have asked him.”

I failed at hiding my annoyance and scowled at her. “I was going to, but you were over here the second we sat down and I didn’t really get a chance.”

Ed seemed surprised at what I’d said and, admittedly, so was I.

She looked me up and down and raised an eyebrow. “Do you even know how? It‘s a bit different to this kind of music. Not exactly your typical slow dance.”

I could feel my face go red as I felt Ed’s eyes on me. Ed saved me from having to provide a response. “I was going to show her.” I got the feeling from the way he said it that he no more knew how to dance to this than I did.

The girl must have noticed the tension and broke it with a surprisingly lighthearted laugh. “You may be one of the greatest alchemists around Mr. Fullmetal, but I can tell that was your first time dancing.”

He rubbed the back of his head nervously and gave her a shy smile. “You got me there.”

I was surprised at the way she addressed him. I didn’t know Ed was that famous, but I didn’t have time to ponder the matter as the girl suddenly took hold of Ed’s hands again. She glanced over at me. “Now watch what I do. Your friend actually picked up on it fairly quickly,” Ed went scarlet at the commment, “so you can take my place when you feel like you’re ready.”

It didn’t take long. It wasn’t because I felt I knew what I was doing that I once again butted in, but because I could no longer stand the sight of Ed dancing with this girl.

For whatever reason, Ed seemed to relax when I took the place of his former dancing partner and I let him do the leading. At first I was shy and reluctant to look him directly in the eyes, but when I finally did I found I couldn’t turn away. He had the most beautiful, alluring eyes I’d ever seen and for reasons I couldn’t understand, they put me at ease. I was also surprised at how comfortable I was being this close to him. I couldn’t expain it but it just felt…right somehow.

Even Ed seemed to forget his sorrow as both of us began to improve. The girl, who finally introduced herself as Kate, ended up being quite friendly and danced near us, as she had no problem finding another partner. Ed looked happier than I’d seen him in days, and the two of us enjoyed the rest of the evening immensely. Kate was right in saying it was a different type of dance; hardly any of it was slow and after nearly two hours Ed and I were exhausted.

We told Kate we were done and stepped out into the cool night air.

“Wow,” Ed said breathlessly, wiping sweat from his forehead, “that was something different.”

“Fun though, don’t you think?” I asked with a smile.

“Yeah, it was,” he said, glancing at me.

When he didn’t turn away I turned to face him. “What?”

“Why’d you come over? After Kate asked me, I mean,” he asked coyly.

I hoped the darkness of the night was enough to hide my blush. “I dunno…I just…”

Ed suddenly stopped and whirled around, his eyes frantically searching the empty street behind us.

“What is it?” I asked, grateful for thie distraction so I wouldn’t have to answer his question. What would he think when I told him I was jealous? Hell, I barely knew the guy.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and began to walk again, but continued to cast a wary eye behind us. “Thought I heard something…”

Watching his mannerisms I kept getting this feeling that I’d met him somewhere before. I looked forward but kept glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, trying to pinpoint what was so familiar about him. “Probably a cat,” I offered. Much to my dismay he noticed I was looking at him and turned to me questioningly.

I blushed again and turned away. “Sorry, it’s just…” I gathered the courage to look him in the eyes again. “We didn’t happen to meet before you came to East City, did we?”

His eyes lit up at my question and he grinned slightly as he said, “You know, I get that same feeling. What is it you remember?”

I was never able to answer his question. A sudden stab of pain in the back of my neck made everything go black, and I was out before I even hit the ground.

I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes to see that my surroundings had changed from the side streets of Aquroya to a dark, damp, stone room.

I gained my bearings and noticed my wrists were bound to shackles on the wall, and a glance to my left told me Ed was in the same position and still unconscious. Our hands were kept apart, most likely to prevent the use of any alchemy.

I jumped at the sudden sound of a woman’s voice, and saw none other than Kate looking down at me with a smirk. “Finally up?”

I turned to the door as it creaked open, and a young man that looked to be a couple years older than Kate walked in. He spared me a glance before turning to her. “I found out the girl is Colonel Mustang’s sister.”

“Well I suppose it’s a good thing we didn’t kill her then,” Kate said in a disturbingly casual tone. “She may get us as just as much, if not more, than Fullmetal. Did everything go alright at the inn?”

He folded his arms and leaned agaist the door frame. “Haven’t been informed of any problems up to now, so I assume so,” he grinned maliciously as he added, “Sid killed the innkeeper, but not before he handed over just about everything of value he had.”

Kate seemd satisfied. “I knew we wouldn’t have a problem once we got him out of the way,” she replied, nodding toward Ed.

I noticed for the first time that she was holding a pair of wooden shackles as she started towards me. “Shane, come and help me with this.”

Any ideas I might have had about escaping or struggling before she had a chance to put my wrists into the shackles were abandoned as Shane held a gun to my head. Sweating profusely I cooperated wordlessly as she latched the lock on the shackles and led me out of the room. I followed her through a complicated network of halls until we came to a small, dimly lit room. There was a phone inside and after dialing she held the phone to my ear since I was unable to.

This time it was the barrel of Kate‘s gun pressed against my head. “Ask for Colonel Mustang. If someone asks who it is tell them but if you give them any more information I won’t hesitate to put a bullet through your head.”

I tried to control my breathing as I recognized the voice of the girl I was always teasing Havoc about. “This is the Eastern Command Center. Can I help you?”

“Hello,” I began in a shaky voice. “Can I speak to Colonel Mustang please?”

“Marie? Is everything alright?”

“Yes, I just need to ask him something.”

“Hold on one moment please.”

A moment later Roy’s voice came over the line. “This is Colonel Roy Mustang speaking.”

Kate pressed the barrel harder into the side of my head. “Go ahead, tell him who you are.”

By now I was trying to hold back tears. “Colonel Mustang…it’s Marie.”

“Is something wrong? You don’t sound well…”

Kate raised the reciever to her ear. “Hello Colonel. We have your sister and Fullmetal and if you want them back alive I suggest you cooperate. I want you to meet me at the main cemetery outside of Aquroya tonight at 2300 hours.”

She proceeded to inform him that Ed and I would be traded for a ransom of a ridiculously large amount and told him to come alone, and that if he did not follow her every instruction she would have people standing by to kill both him and us. Mustang must have asked that she come alone as well, because she replied haughtily, “We’ll bring as many people as we damn well please. I assure you that if you do as I say no one will get hurt, so just shut your mouth and do it.”

She slammed the phone into its cradle and led me back to where Ed was, shoved me into a room next to the one he was being held in and locked the door. Shouts coming from the other side of the wall told me Ed was up.

“Answer me, what did you do with her?!!” he shouted.

“Relax,” Shane replied coolly. “She’ll be fine as long as the two of you cooperate. My fingers are itching to pull this trigger so I don‘t think I need to tell you what will happen if you try anything.”

Ed went quiet and I heard Shane exit the room. I moved to the door when I heard him speaking to Kate.

“I told him we’re meeting at the cemetery at 2300 hours. Go there and hide until he comes, and kill him right when you get the chance. I want to keep these two alive until we have the money in our possession, so take what he has on him then come back here and kill these two.”

“You have no intention of actually making a trade then?” Shane asked her.

“Of course not. These kids have seen too much, I‘m not risking letting them go.”

I heard both sets of footsteps descend down the hall and fell to my knees in despair. I had to think of something…

It suddenly hit me. I knew alchemy. It was frustrating that I couldn’t remember who’d taught it to me, or when. The memory of actually learning it was blurry, but the knowledge and information I needed was there.

Ironically, the wooden shackles used the keep my hands apart to prevent me from using alchemy were the very things that helped me accomplish it. Stretching a finger to the edge of the wood, I dragged it along the corner until I drew some blood. I squeezed the cut until I had a sizeable amount of blood and drew a sloppy transmutation circle on the wood. Because I was still a beginner it took a lot of concentration to perform alchemy, and it took several minutes to clear my head enough so I could focus. I could only reach the circle with a few fingers but it seemed to be enough. Blue light poured out of a crack in the wood and spread until it split apart.

Once my hands were free I took a piece of the split wood and drew it across the inside of my left forearm. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I continued to tear into my flesh until I felt I had enough blood to work with. Dipping the fingers of right hand into the gash, I used the blood to draw another circle onto the wall that separated my room from Ed’s.

I managed to ignore the pain in my arm and the thoughts racing through my mind long enough to concentrate on performing the transmutation. It wasn’t a very big opening, but it was enough for me to crawl through to Ed.

His eyes widened at the sight of me. “Marie? How did you…” He stopped when he saw my bloody arm and his expression changed from surprise to a mixture of worry and admiration.

“Ed,” I whispered, glancing nervously toward the door as if expecting one of them to burst through it at any moment, “We have to get out of here and find Roy…”

I explained their plan to him as I drew yet another circle and released him from the shackles that bound him to the wall.

He seemed awestruck at my use of alchemy. “I can’t believe how good you are already…” he said quietly, more to himself than to me.

I looked at him questioningly. “How did you know I‘m just a beginner?”

He looked confused at first, but the sad expression I’d grown accustomed to him wearing soon replaced it. “Al told me.”

We moved to the door just as Kate came through the other side. Ed aimed an uppercut under her chin, knocking her out before she even had the chance to raise her pistol, which I grabbed before following Ed down the hall.

We wandered through the halls looking for an exit, and after a time finally found one. Unfortunately, we only found it because the other two members of the group were emerging from it as we entered the hall. They immediately raised their pistols at the sight of us, and I did the same. The problem was, they had both killed before and were ready to pull the trigger. I wasn’t.

They were dressed from head to toe in black, with nothing but their eyes showing. One was around Ed’s height, the other taller and stockier. Both pairs of eyes narrowed at the sight of us, and one of them demanded, “Throw your weapon over here.”

Realizing I was outnumbered and out of my league, I did as I was told. The two of them approached us cautiously, not once shifting the aim of their guns away from our heads.

“Where are the others?” The shorter one asked.

“The girl is unconscious, but she’s fine. I don’t know where the other is,” Ed answered coolly. I was amazed at how calm Ed was in this type of situation. He glanced at my arm for a split second before returning his gaze to the others, and I realized he was expecting me to do something. I was nervous at the prospect of everything depending on me, but we really had no other choice; Ed couldn’t make a move to do any alchemy or they would fire, but because I had moved my hand to my wounded arm after I dropped the pistol, I had a chance to draw a circle on my skin without them noticing. Then I could just trigger the circle by touching it to something and by then it would be too late for them to stop it. The problem was I didn’t know what to transmute that would assure we would be safe long enough to escape the fire of their guns.

Despite being clueless as to what I should do, I began to smear the blood on my arm into the pattern of a transmutation circle. Inching slowly to the wall, I pressed my arm to it and a stone pillar shot out in front of the two men, pushing their weapons from their hands and smashing them into the opposite wall.

They were taken completely by surprise, and Ed took the opportunity to swing his auto-mail leg under the pillar. He succeeded in tripping one of them but the other avoided it, ducked under the pillar and charged at Ed. He aimed a kick at him, which Ed evaded by bending backwards and following through with a backflip.

Meanwhile, I dove for the pistol I’d dropped earlier. The man Ed had tripped saw me coming and while he was still on the ground pulled the gun toward his hand with his foot. Before he had a chance to aim it at anyone I tackled him and grabbed his wrist, making sure the barrel was pointed toward the ceiling. Still holding onto his wrist, I pulled his hand to the ground along with my arm, where the circle on it made contact with the stone floor. There was another blue glow and a spike shot up from the ground, piercing through the man’s forearm. He released the gun with a howl of pain and I quickly grabbed it.

When I looked up, gun in hand, to see what Ed’s situation was I was met with yet another pistol aimed at my head, the weilder of which was Kate, who sported a massive bruise where Ed had hit her. Turning to the side I saw that Ed had gained the upper-hand with his opponent and was holding him up against the wall by the throat with his auto-mail hand.

“Release him,” Kate hissed.

“Not until you drop your weapon,” Ed replied with equal malice.

While all this was going on I noticed a glimmer out of the corner of my eye. Looking for the source, I saw Ed’s captive pulling a dagger out of a hidden pocket in the side of his pants. As Ed’s attention was focused on me and Kate, he was completely unaware of this. I sudden burst of emotion that included protectiveness, worry and rage that I wasn’t prepared for caused me to ignore the fact that I was at the mercy of Kate’s pistol and I fired my own at the man’s leg before he had a chance to use his knife on Ed. Almost subconsciously I quickly rolled to the side, avoiding a direct hit from Kate‘s bullet. Instead it grazed the side of my arm, and before any thing else could happen Ed leaped into the fray and rendered Kate helpless, twisting her arm until she dropped the gun.

The man I’d tackled earlier began to recover from his painful injury. He headed for Ed but I jumped him before he reached his target, causing him to fall back on the same spike that had pierced his arm. This time it pierced through his chest, and I gazed at him in horror as I saw his pupils dilate and blood escape from his mouth.

Ed’s shouts broke me out of my stupor. “Go find help!!”

I nodded and forced my shaky legs to carry me up the stairs.

It took me nearly ten minutes to ascend them, and I had to use alchemy to get through the trap door at the top. This led into another hallway, yet another trap door, and finally into what seemed to be an abandoned church.

The night sky told me it was almost time for Mustang’s rendezvous with Shane, and I ran for the train stop.

As I ran I contemplated the way I’d reacted to Ed being in danger. Of course I wouldn’t want him to get hurt, but what I’d felt when I saw him in trouble was not a feeling one usually experiences toward someone they had only known a few days. Coupling that with the jealousy I’d felt the night before and the effect his touch and gaze had on me, I started to wonder if this really was the first time I’d met him. As I ran, I foolishly hoped that the man I’d tackled was still alive. I knew there was no way, but I hoped for it nonetheless.

Upon finally arriving at the station, I approached the man at the ticket counter and asked breathlessly, “Have you seen anyone in military uniform get off the train?”

His gaze went to my bloody arm. “Miss, are you alright?”

“Just answer me?!” I shouted in frustration.

He looked taken aback but quickly responded,“ Just a minute or so ago someone did. I believe he was a Colonel from East City, and he headed down that street.” He nodded to indicate where he meant.

“Thank you!” I called back as I ran after Mustang.

I found him a couple minutes later, accompanied by First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye and heading toward the cemetery. Although he’d been ordered to come alone, I was not surprised to see Hawkeye with him. There’s no way she would have allowed him to go alone.

“Colonel, Lieutenant!!” I shouted to them.

They both turned, they’re eyes widening at the sight of me.

“Marie, what happened?” Hawkeye queried.

Roy approached me and put a hand on my shoulder, looking me up and down. “What’s going on, are you alright? I thought you were - “

“Long story,” I said, turning back in the direction I’d come. “Ed’s in trouble, please follow me!”

They did so without question and I explained the situation on the way.

“Roy, why did you send us here in the first place?” I questioned as we ran back to the church.

A look of guilt graced his features. “That’s actually kind of a long story as well…”

I got the feeling he said that just to avoid the subject, and reminded myself to ask him about it later.

We entered the church to find Ed emerging from the trap door in the floor. A look of relief swept over him when he saw that I’d found Mustang. “Colonel, I’ve got them bound so they can’t do anything, but there’s a man who needs medical attention down there - “

Mustang held up a hand to silence him. “We’ll take care of it. Get her wound treated.”

The two officers went through the door as Ed bent down and took off his jacket. He transmuted it into a long strip of cloth, which for some reason triggered an image that flash through my mind. It seemed strangely like a memory…

He tore it in two and began to wrap one around each of my arms, and I reveled in the comfort of his touch before I decided to ask the question I already knew the answer to.

“Edward…” I asked fearfully, “Is that…is that man dead?”

Ed only nodded solemnly and I cried into his shoulder, clutching at his shirt. “I can’t…believe…a man’s dead…because of me…” I said between sobs.

Ed gently put his hands around my waist. “I owe you my life for it. He could have easily killed me while I was fighting Kate if you hadn’t stopped him.”

I let him hold me for a while, once again surprised at the way I felt when he did. Trying to forget about what I’d done, I decided to ask him the other thing that had been bothering me.

“Ed, this is kind of a strange question…”

“What is it?”

“Why…” I began, trying to word my question so he wouldn’t think I was crazy, “Why do I feel like I know you from somewhere?”

Joyful sorrow, if there is such a thing, filled his eyes and he pulled me even closer to him. I could tell he was holding back tears as he whispered, “At least I know I’m somewhere in there, even if you can’t remember it all.”

I was about to ask him what he meant when Mustang and Riza emerged again. Mustang was aiding the man I’d shot in the leg and Riza was leading Kate. Both of their hands were in shackles.

“We’ll get the police to handle the body, and make sure these two are locked up,” Riza said as they approached us.

Kate suddenly began to struggle against Riza and tried to lunge at me, but the latter tightened her grip on her and pulled out her pistol to hold Kate back.

“I’m going to get you for killing him, you bitch!” Kate shouted venomously.

Mustang told her to shut the hell up and turned to me sympathetically. “It was in self-defense, so you won’t be convicted of anything. Believe me, you won’t have trouble proving it; the police have been looking for these guys for years, and they’re known for their brutality,” he and Riza continued toward the exit and he added as he walked past me, “You and Ed head back to East City, I’ll take care of things here.”

I thanked the Colonel and Ed warned, “Colonel there’s another one of them waiting at the cemetery - “

“I know. I’ll send someone after him.”

At first surprised that he knew, I realized I’d been a fool to think that Colonel wasn’t ready for a surprise attack.

“You know,” Ed said as the two of them left, “I have to hand it to Mustang, he’s no fool. Even if he is a cocky jackass sometimes.”

I couldn’t help but smile, and noticed once again that Ed’s words about the Colonel seemed oddly familiar.

Despite everything I wanted to ask him, I was quiet on the ride back. My mind was filled with so many thoughts, and I was tired of thinking about them. I shoved everything into a corner of my mind and slept. I dreamt of Edward.