Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction / Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ The Unforgivable Sin ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2

 

The day was bright and clear, with golden beams of sunshine raining warmth on the platform while a cool spring breeze kept the waiting people from getting hot. And everyone looked so happy as they milled about, chatting with friends and family before boarding the train that would take us all to Central City.

 

The scene was the exact opposite of my mood, and I felt that much worse because of it.

 

“Hey, Ryou, don't look so blue,” Anzu said, nudging me with her elbow. She was Atemu's girlfriend, and she had come with the brothers and my mother to see me off. “You're going to live in Central City! Do you know how cool that is?”

 

“Very,” I mumbled in reply, not looking at her. She was a nice girl, but we had never been close friends, and her efforts to cheer me up now only irritated me.

 

Mom must have noticed this, for she quickly intervened before Anzu could say anything else. “Sweetheart, it's about time you got on the train. It'll be leaving soon.”

 

I nodded and picked up my small bag. Most of my luggage was stuffed into two other bags that had already been loaded into the cargo car of the train. This one contained a bit of food and a book to keep me company during the journey. I took two steps forward and turned around to face my friends and mother. Who knew when I was going to see them again? If at all?

 

“Thank you,” I told them quietly, biting my lip in an effort to keep from crying.

 

Yugi shook his head and grinned. “Have fun in Central City, Ryou. And if you ever break your automail, be sure to come back here and get it fixed!”

 

“But don't you dare break it,” Atemu chimed in, also with a smile. I smiled back despite my mood. The brothers just had that kind of effect on people.

 

Mom walked forward and hugged me. “Be careful, son,” she whispered in my ear, and as she pulled away, she pushed a roll of money into my hand. “This is to get started. I suggest you get a job in the city so you won't be depending on the Ishtars completely. Don't be too much of a nuisance; I'll know it if you are.”

 

“Yes, Mom,” I answered dutifully.

 

“Bye, Ryou!” Anzu called as I stepped onto the train. I turned to wave at her and the others, and then hurried the rest of the way up the steps and into the car as the whistle blew. The train started moving with a jerk, and I had to grab the back of the nearest seat to keep from falling. This car was almost empty, with only two women sitting nearby chatting with each other and a man in the very back. I walked down the aisle, choosing a seat on the right side of the car that was farthest from all of them, wishing to be as alone as I could. Then I pulled out my new book, ignoring the beautiful country scenery that sped by out the window.

 

The book was about alchemy. Mom had bought it for me just yesterday, knowing that I would need something to do on the train ride. It was actually a textbook, containing all the latest theories and advances in the field of alchemy. I skimmed through the pages at first, hoping to find anything on the subject of human transmutation. But nothing jumped out at me, so I contented myself with starting from the beginning and simply reading.

 

I don't know how long I had been lost in the book when a hand landed on the back of my seat, scaring me out of my wits. The book fell to the floor as I jumped and turned to look at the man who had been sitting in the back. He smiled at me, obviously amused at my fright. He had long black hair, longer even than my considerable white mane, and skin just as pale as mine. His eyes were a chilling green.

 

“I'm sorry,” he said, bowing his head slightly. When he looked at me again, a few bangs fell forward, hiding his right eye from view and making him look even creepier. “I didn't mean to startle you, but I couldn't help but notice the book you were reading. You are an alchemist?”

 

“S-something like that,” I stuttered. I wasn't used to strangers just coming up and talking to me like this. Especially not guys as creepy as this one.

 

“You must be going to Central City to study more,” he assumed with a chuckle. I decided to keep my mouth closed. “Perhaps even take the State Alchemist exam when you are old enough?”

 

I stiffened. “Why would I want to become a dog of the military?!” So much for keeping my mouth closed.

 

The man held up his hands in an apologetic gesture. “To study in the city's library, of course. There are sections that only State Alchemists can access. That was all I was suggesting; I didn't mean to offend you.” He leaned closer, grinning. “Perhaps they even have the secret to the Philosopher's Stone there.”

 

“There's no such thing,” I said shortly, leaning down to pick up my book. “Now, if you'd mind…”

 

Fortunately, he took the hint and left, walking forward and going through the door that led to the car in front of us, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps this idea of moving Central City wasn't so good after all, if strange men like him were going to be pestering me.

 

The Philosopher's Stone. Rumored to increase an alchemist's ability to infinity. Even give them the ability to resurrect the dead. Akira…

 

I shook the thought from my head. The Philosopher's Stone was a legend. Nothing more.

 

* * *

 

The train sped on through the day and into the night. Once it became too dark for me to read, I put the book away and leaned against the window, trying to get a little sleep. The creepy man kept invading my thoughts, however, keeping me from falling into slumber. I kept turning around to peer into the back of the car, but he hadn't returned, and all that met my eyes were empty seats and shadows.

 

After a half hour of this, I gave up on sleep and stared out the window. There was nothing to see, of course, nothing but darkness and an occasional point of light. From up ahead there came the sound of warning bells at a road crossing.

 

The warning bells!

 

* * *

 

Akira and I were playing cards as usual, even though the lamps in the car provided barely enough light to see by. Akira was winning. He almost always won. “You should stick to alchemy, bro,” he laughed as he gathered the cards together to shuffle them.

 

“I'll beat you this time,” I promised him with a smile.

 

We were on our way home to Serra's Peak after a three-day trip to North City. We had been out of school for a holiday and wanted to take the opportunity to go to the nearest big city and have some fun. Now we were headed back on a train that would be getting there around midnight. We both knew we should be sleeping, but Akira never could get much sleep on a train, and I stayed awake to keep him company.

 

The clatter of road-crossing warning bells started up ahead as Akira shuffled the cards. The train's whistle blew, and blew again, a loud and insistent sound. A shudder ran through the car, and we were thrown forward as the train braked suddenly.

 

“What the—“ my brother cried, and then a loud crash cut him off, and the car bucked off the tracks, rising into the air and flipping to its side. I was thrown into the window, the glass cracking and then shattering beneath me as the car landed on the ground and began to roll. Somehow, I stayed inside the car.

 

Akira, beside me, was thrown out as the car tipped onto its roof. I watched him disappear, and then the car rolled back onto its side. Metal twisted and screamed…or was it the people I heard screaming…it was rolling again…the walls were buckling…something's on my leg…something heavy…it hurts so bad…

 

* * *

 

“Mister! Hey, snap out of it!”

 

I gasped and opened my eyes to see the worried faces of the women who had been sitting near the front peering at me. I realized then that my hands were over my ears and tears were streaking down my face. My throat was a bit sore as well, as if I had been screaming.

 

The warning bells were long gone, and the train continued to roll peacefully through the night.

 

“I'm sorry,” I said, face getting hot from embarrassment as I wiped away the tears on my cheeks. “I'm fine now. I didn't mean to frighten you.”

 

One of them straightened, apparently satisfied with that much, but the other one shot her companion a look and turned back to me, unconvinced. “What's the matter?” she asked. “Do you need to see a doctor?”

 

I shook my head and sighed. I guess there was no way out of it. “It was just a…flashback,” I told her. “I was in a train wreck last year, and this is the first time I've ridden on a train since then.”

 

Their faces transformed into the sympathetic looks that I was so used to. “Oh, that must have been awful!” the first one said.

 

I tried hard not to grimace. Of course it was awful; I needed no one to tell me that. “I'm fine now,” I assured them. “Don't worry about me.”

 

Thankfully, they left me alone and returned to their seats, the second girl commenting about how she had heard of the wreck last year. “So many people were killed. That poor boy's lucky to be alive.” As if I couldn't hear her.

 

Yes, I was lucky to be alive. Lucky to have stayed in the car while my twin was thrown out. Lucky that the wheel and axle that somehow was torn off and thrown through the car's floor landed on my leg instead of my head. Lucky that I survived only to lose my brother and dearest friend.

 

I didn't feel lucky at all.

 

I had found out later that an old man had been driving a cart across the tracks when the train was approaching. He had been half-blind and completely deaf, so he never heard the warning bells or saw the train's headlight. He had been the first to die as the engine plowed into his cart. The first car behind the engine had been the first to derail, and the others had followed, the destruction getting worse farther down the line. We had been in the fourth car to derail.

 

I shook my head, trying to push the memories back in their corner and think of happier things. But it seemed that nothing has been happy for me in a year, and the sight of Akira disappearing through the window and the car rolling back over with a sickening jolt played through my mind again as the lights in the darkness outside began to increase.

 

The train began to slow as it approached the Central City station, and I reached down to grab my bag, trying to keep back the fresh tears that threatened to fall. Now was not the time to be crying, not when I was about to meet total strangers who I'm going to live with for a few months. If not until I'm old enough to get a place of my own. I knew my father's temperament well, and I knew he wasn't going to take me back, no matter how much my mother begged him to.

 

The train jerked to a halt then, and I stood up and quickly made my way to the door, more than happy to be getting off. The two women let me pass them, giving me of their irritating sympathetic looks as we waited for the door to open. When it finally did, I jumped out, relieved to be on the ground once again. The thought of riding a train to Central City hadn't scared me at first, but I had been nervous after that flashback, and now I dreaded getting on a train ever again.

 

The air was cool, as was typical for a mid-spring night. Few people milled about the platform, and after looking them over, I realized I had no idea who I should be searching, or if anyone was even going to greet me here. With a sigh, I turned to the cargo car to pick up my bags.

 

“Hey!” came a call from behind. I stopped and turned to watch a boy about my age push past a couple of people and run up to me. He was strange, or at least I thought he was at first glance. He had smooth, dark skin and blond hair that fell into his eyes even as he tried to push the bangs away. Those eyes were a striking lavender, a rare color in most places and unknown entirely in Serra's Peak and the surrounding area.

 

He didn't seem to notice the way I stared at him as he bent over, trying to catch his breath. After a few seconds, he stood up again, studying me coolly as he held out his hand. “You're Ryou Bakura, right?”

 

I nodded, a little taken aback, but I shook his hand anyways. “Yes,” I said. “That's me.”

 

“I'm Malik Ishtar,” he answered. “And you have the great misfortune of staying with me for the next few months.”

 

The look I gave him must have been frightened, because he blinked and frowned at me. “Hey, it was only a joke. You're going to like it here; I promise.”

 

I nodded, still feeling a little wary as a tall dark-skinned man cold hazel eyes and a topknot moved up beside Malik. “It's nice to meet you, Malik,” I said politely.

 

“Great!” the lavender-eyed boy said with a yawn. “I'm sure you're tired and all from that trip, so we'll be going back to the house right away. There's not much to do in the city at midnight anyways, at least not for kids our age. Rishid.” He turned to the man beside him. “Why don't you get Ryou's bags for him? We'll be heading back to the car.”

 

The man, Rishid, nodded, and I pointed out my two bags to him before turning to follow Malik back through the station to his car. But before we went through the door, I glanced back and caught a glimpse of the creepy man from the train. He was staring at me, smiling in a superior way. Beside him was a figure in a trench coat, the brim of his hat pulled low over his face.

 

For some reason, the sight of them sent a chill through me. I turned around quickly and followed Malik through the door, berating myself for my foolish fears. Central City was a big place, after all. Chances were that I'd never see either of them again.

 

* * *

 

Ah yes, I forgot to mention: this story is set fifteen years after the end of FMA. So when Ed and the others join, they'll be significantly older. (And yes, I'm making assumptions about what happens in the sequel to FMA. So Ed will be here.) Standard disclaimers and pleas for reviews apply. Oh yes, and thanks for the reviews so far!