Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ The Spirit of Alchemy ❯ Michi's Awakening Feelings ( Chapter 6 )

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

Hey everyone! Two chapters in 24 hours, aren't you lucky? XD First I wanna say that I'm going to make this chapter long if it kills me! Second, I wanna say that it's 5:12 AM right now, and I'm dead tired, but unable to sleep. So, as such, there's probably gonna be loads of typos and junk, and brain-dead plots. Actually, I may just start writing this and go back to bed in a few minutes.. I'm starting to get sleepy even as I write this (how horrible! You poor readers, my story puts even me to sleep, what does it do to you?!)

It was 11:59. The train was at the station. Finally, they could continue on their journey. Michi smiled, and took a seat, staring out the window. As the train pulled out from the station, she watched the scenery of her town go by.

"You homesick already?" Ed asked, stretching, and putting his hands behind his head.

"No. I know I'll be back. Besides, it doesn't feel like home anymore.."

Ed nodded, then blinked. "Did you hear that mewing sound?"

Michi turned to Al, who looked embarrassed yet again. There was a loud meow, and KoKo-chan jumped out of Al's armor.

"AL! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU WE COULDN'T BRING HIM!!"

Michi smiled, and stared out the window. It had been a long day, so far. The majority of it had encompassed Ed yelling at Al for bringing what was apparently not the first cat with him. Come to think of it... Where were Ed and Al? It had been silent in their train compartment for the past hour. Even though with those two it was chaotic so far, she was bored of staring out into the blackness of night scenery from her window. Michi began wondering if maybe they'd gotten off already. Maybe they had left her. Maybe they were never planning on going with her, anyway. They probably just wanted to know the town name, and then they'd leave! Michi sighed, now panicked. She felt her heart lurch. She had told them the town name earlier. That meant that there was nothing holding them to her.

KoKo-chan mewed, and rubbed against Michi's barren leg. She looked down at him, and smiled. Al wouldn't just leave KoKo-chan, would he? Somehow, she couldn't picture the gentle boy leaving her, or her cat, behind. She tried to reassure herself with this thought, but decided she'd go looking for them anyway. Picking up KoKo-chan, she stepped outside of the train compartment and shut it's glass door behind her. She walked along the hallway, looking in each compartment for the two brothers.

After about ten minutes of searching, she was really starting to get worried. What if they had left her after all? "I bet they would..." she muttered under her breath.

"Bet who would what?" came a faintly metallic voice from behind her.

Michi jumped about a mile. She turned around, and saw Al in front of her.

"N-nothing. I was just checking to see where you two had gotten to, since it'd been a few hours since I last saw you."

"Brother fell asleep. He told you what time we'd be at our stop, right?"

Michi blinked. "Uh.........." she said, not quite recalling if he had. She'd been so spacey, reminiscing about her father. "A-anyway... Why aren't you with your brother, Al?"

"I thought I should check up on you."

Michi blinked. So they hadn't considered leaving her, after all. She'd just been too spaced out to hear them explain where they had been going. "Hey, where's Ed?"

Al walked towards the sitting compartment of the train. The sleeping compartment where Michi was had been designated to her since she was the only girl. She felt a twinge of guilt, thinking that Ed and Al had to sleep out here -- If they even slept. It sure didn't seem like it, them coming early morning like they did. However, she followed Al silently as he walked down the walkway. Eventually he stopped in one spot, and sat down. Across from him was his brother, asleep on the seat.

Michi looked at him for a moment. He seemed so much.... Calmer...... In his sleep. She noticed his chest move up and down softly, and felt a small twinge inside of her. 'What was that?' she wondered. Shaking her head to clear it, she turned to Al. "He seems tired out, doesn't he?" she asked.

"Yeah. Brother's always like this. He can stay up forever, but he can sleep forever too."

Michi walked over to Ed, and started poking him. "Hey," poke, poke, "what time," poke, "did you," poke, "wanna get up?" poke, poke, poke.

Ed twitched and sat up, wide awake. "Would you stop that already?!" he asked, grumpily.

She blinked. "Hey, what time is it?"

Ed pulled out his pocket watch. He yawned, rubbed his eyes, and examined the time. His tired expression soon changed to one that clearly said, 'Oh no, this is not a good time for me to have woken up at'.

"Damn," he said, speaking his facial expression. "Michi........." he said, eerily calm. "Do you know what time the train was supposed to arrive at our stop...?"

"Uh... No...?" Michi laughed nervously, not liking Ed's look.

"We were supposed to be off of this train by 11:30..."

"And..? What time is it now..?"

Those six words seemed to trigger something in Ed. He stood up, and began yelling in Michi's face. "IT'S 2:30 IN THE MORNING! WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE OFF OF THIS TRAIN THREE HOURS AGO! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME WHEN I TOLD YOU THAT?!"

"Uh..... No........." Michi said, by now used to Ed's yelling, not flinching...... much. She laughed nervously again, and looked around. What few people there were on the train at that hour were staring at them.

"How the hell didn't you hear me? You said okay and everything!"

"Why did you trust me with the time? You're the one with the pocketwatch!"

"That doesn't matter! They announce the current and upcoming stops! You shoulda been able to hear the town name and woken me up, or at least told Al or something!"

"Neither of you guys told me where the heck you went so even if I did hear the announcement, I wouldn't have known where to find you!"

Al was watching the two of them, with a look that clearly said 'don't get me involved in this'. He stood between the glaring Ed, and the defiant Michi. "You guys.." he said, interfering now that he was involved with the situation. "Shouldn't we get off now, before we end up even further away?"

"That's a good idea," Michi said quickly, anxious for anything to stop Ed from his beratement of her. Before either of them could move or even register it, she had run down the hall, into the sleeping compartment, grabbed their cases, and ran back out. She was about to turn the corner to meet with Ed and Al again, when she heard them speaking.

"Brother, do you have to be so mean to her? She is trying to help us after all."

"Help us? That's why she made us miss our stop?" He still seemed rather angry.

"It was an accident."

"Accident or not, who cares? Now we've gotta walk miles in the dark. She's just a pain."

Michi gasped quietly to herself. Did he really think that? Was he going to suggest they leave her behind? Tears welled up in her eyes. Not bothering to wipe them away, she walked forward to the two boys. They stopped talking as soon as she was within sight.

"Do you really think I'm just a pain?" Michi asked, staring right at Ed. He seemed taken back by her question, or maybe it was more because she was almost crying. She didn't give him a chance to answer, though. She continued on. "If you really think so, why are you taking me with you? You have the town name, you know the person, you could go on without me."

Ed just looked at her, then shrugged. "You're right, maybe I should." He put his hands behind his head again. Then, before Michi could say anything, or really register what he had just said, he continued on. "But, a promise is a promise. We agreed that in exchange for you telling us about your father's colleague, we'd take you with us."

Michi blinked, looking at him. Had she gotten him all wrong? Was he really not after just getting the people who had anything to do with the stone? Maybe he wasn't lying, after all...

Before either of them could say anything, the train started slowing. It stopped abruptly, causing everyone to lurch forward. Ed grabbed for the back of the seat, but Michi, in the middle of the aisle, had nothing to grab on to. Leaded down with the weight of the cases, she fell forward, and crashed into Ed. "AAIEE!" she yelled.

Ed fell backwards, and Michi landed on top of him. She rubbed her head, feeling woozy. She blinked, and looked to her side. Under her was Ed. "Aaah!!" she yelped. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine... Once you get offa me!" he said, pushing her off.

"Hey!" she said. He stood up, then offered her his hand.....

She blinked. That strange feeling again. She had no idea what it was. Shaking her head to clear it, she pushed herself up, ignoring his hand. She cleared her throat, not facing Ed, or Al. "I guess this is our stop then... Or... One three hours after it.." she sighed. "I'm sorry guys, I didn't mean to.."

"Yeah yeah. It was an accident, after all." Ed said, stepping on to the platform. Al, holding KoKo-chan and petting him, stepped out as well. Michi blinked, and stared at Ed. She too stepped off the train and on to the platform. The train door closed behind her, and the train pulled out. They were stuck here now, like it or not. Michi shivered with the cold.

"You know.." she said. "I just don't understand you, Ed. First you say I'm a pain, and an 'accident' is no excuse, and then you're saying it's no big deal, it was only an accident."

"Well, it was just an accident. Doesn't mean I'm not gonna mention it..... Oh.... Every five seconds until we get there, though."

"Greaaatt...." Michi said. "Well, at least we can follow the tracks -- and the road next to them."

"How do you know the road follows the tracks all the way?"

"I've been watching the window for hours. This road leads all the way from my town to here, and definately from my father's colleague's town to here as well. I know the directions the train was taking, there should even be some shortcuts where the train had to avoid going through a town, but we can walk through."

Ed looked at her. She'd been paying attention to all that? There was more to this girl than met the eye... It was a good thing she came with them after all. But still, he felt he needed to say something sarcastic. "Ya sure you have it right, and we're not gonna have another 'accident', where we end up in the middle of nowhere, right?"

She glared at him, but the glare was lost in the night. "Yes, I'm sure."

They began walking, following the path. Michi was lost in thoughts yet again. 'What was that weird feeling..? Could I be getting sick? I felt dizzy after I fell, too.. Maybe I'm catching a cold..' she began shivering. It was amazingly cold at 2:30 in the morning. She walked along a little ways behind Ed and Al. She tried looking around, but it was just too dark to see much of anything. She could even only barely make out Ed's blonde hair in front of her.

She thought about seeing him sleeping again. He had really seemed much calmer asleep, and nicer, somehow. He also seemed weighed down with invisible worries that only he could see. Maybe, though, that's how everyone is, after a while. She knew that she probably was like that too. She pictured how he looked sleeping, and felt another twinge inside. Just what was that? It seemed connected to Ed, somehow. But what was it? Michi didn't even notice the other two had stopped walking, until she crashed into Ed, for the third time since meeting him less than 24 hours ago.

"Ow!" she said, rubbing her nose.

"Shhh!" Ed hissed, looking back at her.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking around curiously.

"There's someone in there," Al said, indicating the trees and bushes to the side of them.

"How do you know?"

"We heard their voices."

"So? They could be friendly!"

"They were talking about how they killed fourteen people yesterday alone. Do you still think they're so friendly?"

Before Michi could answer, lanterns lit up out of nowhere, and people jumped out of the bushes. They all had menacing looks on their faces. None of them carried weapons, but all of them had transmutation circles on the back of their hands.

"Well well well.. Looks like these're numbers 15, 16, and 17, eh boys?" a female voice rang out, stepping out from behind a bush. The 'boys' turned to look at her. They all were temporarily unguarded. Ed clapped his hands together, and placed them on the ground. Before any of the men could look back towards Ed, there were spikes infront of them, made of earth.

"You fools!" The woman said. Her long light brown hair was tied into a high pony tail, and she had a bandanna over her head. She wore a very revealing top, and loose pants. She vaguely resembled pirates that Michi had read about once. "Don't let your guard down!" She walked over to Ed, smiling seductively.

"Hey.." she said. "Do you really mean to attack us?" She moved closer to him. "Especially when we haven't done anything to you?"

"Nothing to me, maybe, but to those fourteen other guys, yeah." Ed said, clapping his hands together once more.

The woman frowned. Things were not working out according to plan. Smirking, she kicked Ed's hands apart, used him as a spring board, and ended up infront of Michi. "If you want to attack us.........." she smiled. It was an unpleasant smile. If looks could kill, this one would have Ed, Al, and Michi dead and begging for mercy. "..Then we will have to attack this girl."

Ed shrugged. "No problem," he said. Al came from nowhere, hitting the woman, pushing her aside. A bunch of hands clapped, and touched the ground. Michi found herself imprisoned in a metal cage inside of a metal cage inside of.. Well, many more metal cages. She blinked. What was she supposed to do now?

Ed and Al were fighting the men, while the woman was coming closer to Michi. She, herself, had been trapped too apparently. However, she seemed happy about it. She walked over to Michi, and smiled an evil smile. "I am Akuto Otome**, leader of this group of bandits, and very good at alchemy."

Michi blinked, and tried not to laugh. "Quite an ironic name, isn't it?"

Akuto smiled. She held a long spear in her hands. "You will pay for each attack that lands on my men, little girl, as well as for the 'insult' you just paid me, if you could call it that." as she was speaking, she ran towards Michi, who automatically sidestepped. Michi clapped her hands together, and made a wall around them, so no one could see them. However, they couldn't see eachother, either. It was pitch black inside. The only light would be from their alchemy.

Akuto stopped in shock. "Well, it appears the little girl knows alchemy as well, does she? This makes it interesting." She attacked again, this time with spikes flying out from the walls Michi created. Michi quickly made a protective layer around her, made from hard rock, the same material as the wall. The spikes bounced off, for the most part. Michi created spikes from the ground, encircling Akuto.

"Stop, I don't want to fight you," Michi said. She couldn't hide the fear in her voice. The last time she had used alchemy in front of people............... She shuddered, not allowing herself to get lost in her thoughts now, of all times.

"Want to or not, here I come!" Akuto said. Her voice sounded high up. Michi looked up towards the top of the walls, even though her eyes were useless. She looked up just in time to see light from alchemy, creating a huge spear heading towards her. There wasn't any time to react. There wasn't any time to move, or even to cry out. The spear pierced Michi.

Akuto smirked. "That spear's poisoned. Even though it didn't impale you, it should be far enough in for the poison to work into your system."

Michi glared. Clapping her hands together, she created more spikes, surrounding Akuto completely. They moved in, crushing her. She screamed, but Michi didn't let up. Before long, Akuto was trapped in a rock prison. She was unhurt, but completely unable to move, or else she'd be impaled. She was laying flat on the ground, with spikes poking her back.

Clapping her hands together once more, Michi made the walls go down.Blinking, she looked down and saw that the spear was still inside of her. She pulled it out, and dropped it on the ground. She looked around dazedly to see what was going on. It was dead silent around her. She wondered what happened. Ed and Al were nowhere to be seen. She heard a twig crack from behind her. She turned quickly, to see who was there.

"Hey, looks like those movies were right. Twigs snapping really can alert people."

Michi sighed in relief. "Are you two okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're fine. Those guys were easy to beat."

"So was their leader, that woman," Michi replied, faintly.

"Are you alright, Michi?" Al asked. He was holding KoKo-chan. Somehow, the cat had escaped the fighting, and then come back to find them.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Maybe because of that." Al said, pointing to her chest.

Michi looked down. Her chest was bleeding severely. She remembered the spear, and gasped. "The spear.. That woman hit me with it, it has poison on it. She said it'd be absorbed into my system because it hit me."

Ed looked strangely concerned. "You need medical attention now, then."

Michi blinked. "I'll be fine, sorry I won't be able to go with you guys to my father's colleague, but you can tell her that I sent you," she said, incorrectly interpreting Ed's concern. There was no time for Ed to correct her, because the next minute, he was catching her, as she fainted.

** The irony here is that her name is "Rascal Virgin/Maiden", while her manner indicates pretty much the opposite.

AN: Whoo! I finally made a long chapter! Well.. Relatively long anyway. But that's because I had this sort of half planned out from the beginning. This one was my favorite to write so far. I sorta stink with battles though, so this was probably really horrible to anyone who's used to reading good ones. I'm half asleep, it's 6:35 am, and all I could think of was spikes. Sorry everyone! Anyway, I'm heading to bed now, since I still don't feel well. R&R please!


Next Chapter summary:

Michi's in the hospital. She doesn't seem to be doing well. In the process of taking care of her, the doctors discover something about her that makes it impossible to help her. Just what is it? Could this have something to do with her alchemy outside of her house?

Next time: Michi's Secret... Revealed?!


(I feel so like a television show here, guys, but I couldn't help it. SUSPENSE! MUAHAHAHAHAH!)