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ArWen the Eternally Surprised
Author: Ria Time: 2007/11/22
Arwen encounters a strange monk and gains a little extra time.
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Shamballa - Part 3- The Philosopher's Stone
Submitter: Date: 2009/9/14 Views: 428
Wild Child
It was some kind of noise that made Roy open his eyes. He was almost taken aback to find himself in an unknown room and his neck painfully stiff, but soon his memories caught up with him. He remembered that he was in Dr. Knox’s room and he had apparently fallen asleep on the chair as he watched over Maes – again; yet something had now woken him up.

Wincing at the popping sounds his neck and back made as he moved, he checked his surroundings. His eyes quickly adjusted to the greyness of predawn that bathed the room and he could see everything almost as clear as day; from the surgical tables to the disinfectants that adorned a cabinet at the other end of the room.

When he saw Maes stirring, however, he instantly stood up and hurried at his friend’s side.

“Maes?” Roy kept his tone unusually soft, as though Hughes was just sleeping rather than recovering from what could have been a fatal wound.

Maes didn’t answer. He still lolled his head sideways, eyes trying to flutter open in an attempt to drag the weak body away from much needed rest.

Roy bit his lower lip. He knew he should call Knox to evaluate the situation in case there was something wrong with Maes… but he just stayed rooted on the spot like he was mesmerised.

“Maes?” he said again, placing tentatively one of his hands on Maes’ shoulder. “Can you hear me?”

It was too late though. Whatever mental struggle Maes went through to regain consciousness had subsided and the injured man was once again lying perfectly still.

All Roy could do was sigh in regret and take his place back on the chair to keep on waiting. He barely moved as time passed and sunlight started filling the room. He didn’t say anything when Knox came inside to check on Maes. In fact, he didn’t acknowledge anything or anyone until Havoc’s voice sounded out of the blue right beside him.

“Sir? It’s nearly 9 o’ clock. I should drive you to the office.”

Only then did Roy stand up, his expression revealing nothing. And when he heard at Headquarters a couple of soldiers commenting on his tired look and whispering in certainty that he definitely had some fun last night, he just left them to their blissful ignorance.




Beregond watched the rising of the sun from the comfortable spot he had chosen at the borders of the Ishbalan camp, sighing contently when the rays of the sun showered him dotingly. It wasn’t a very warm morning, since it was still the middle of winter; nevertheless, Beregond decided it was a very good morning indeed.

Suddenly, his ears picked up the sound of hooves approaching him. He smiled knowingly and turned around to see Faenel.

He was certainly surprised when he saw that the mare wasn’t alone. Leo was with her – and he was holding a plate with food.

“I brought you some breakfast,” the boy explained. He handed the plate to Gondorian in an awkward manner. “It’s not much, but at least it’s hot.”

Beregond raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

“Did Rick put you up to this?”

Leo’s face became crimson. “He said that he wouldn’t speak to me again if I kept avoiding you.”

Beregond sighed. “I see.” He took the plate with a small nod of thanks, expecting Leo to hurry off now that this obligation was over and done with.

He didn’t.

Now Beregond was more than just a bit curious.

“Was there anything else?” he asked.

Leo bit his lower lip and averted his gaze. “I… never thanked you. For helping Rick, I mean. And… I misjudged you. I apologise.”

Finally, Beregond understood. Leo wasn’t avoiding him because he didn’t want to be associated with an alchemist; he was just too proud to admit that he was unfairly prejudiced against the Gondorian.

Beregond couldn’t help it; he smiled. “Apology accepted,” he said. He was happy to see Leo smiling back as well, seeming as though a great weight was lifted off his chest. It was clear that the boy had wanted to say those words a fairly long time.

It was then that Faenel decided to make her presence known by resting her head on Leo’s shoulder. That, however, made Leo swallow hard and look at her apprehensively.

“She’s not gonna bite me or anything, is she?”

Beregond shook his head, laughing. “She just likes you.”

“I’d rather she only liked my brother!” Leo exclaimed.

Now that proved too much for Beregond. At the next moment, Beregond’s laughter filled the air, only for Leo to join him as well soon after.

“Speaking of which, where’s Rick?” Beregond asked when they both finally sobered. “I’d expect him to be with you.”

“Well, he wanted to eavesdrop on the elders. They’re talking about you.”

Beregond felt his eyes widening. “They are?”

Leo nodded. “It has something to do with whatever you told Gramps last night. I don’t know any more than that though.”

Beregond didn’t need to know more though. He had already realised that they were talking whether they should show him the ancient writings or not.




When Izumi arrived with Mason at the island, Ed and Al were already expecting her. They were kneeling with the courtesy that was appropriate of a student towards his teacher, waiting for her to speak.

She just looked at them and asked one question.

“Did you remember?”

Both brothers had one answer.

“Yes.”

“And?” Izumi insisted.

“We shouldn’t have attempted human transmutation,” Al said.

“But now that the mistake is done, we must accept responsibility of it and correct it, if we can,” Ed added.

Izumi raised an eyebrow, regarding both her students in a piercing manner. “Even if it means joining the military?”

But neither of the brothers wavered.

“Since I joined… every time someone calls me a human weapon, I can’t help thinking that I’ll be forced to take a life. I don’t want to reach to that point.”

“But you’re prepared for it in order to accomplish your dreams.”

That wasn’t a question and Ed knew it.

“I have a dream to fulfil no matter what.”

Izumi still looked at both brothers for some time, taking in their answers to heart. But suddenly, she tensed and looked at the bushes behind the boys.

“Is someone there?” she asked.

Ed and Al stared at the woman in surprise.

“What are you talking about? You should know!” Ed said.

“Yes, you made us share the island with him before!” Al seconded.

“Wait…” Mason intervened, holding a hand up in a gesture to quieten the boys. “Are you talking about that masked monster?”

“Who else?” Ed and Al answered simultaneously.

“But that’s impossible!” Mason exclaimed. “I was that monster!”

If Ed and Al were surprised before, now they were utterly dumbfounded.

“YOU?!” the older brother screeched, disbelief written all over his features. “WHAT’S THE MEANING OF THIS?!”

“Well, I couldn’t let you two die; so I told him to keep an eye on you!” Izumi explained.

“B-b-but,” Al stuttered, his gaze drifting from Izumi to Mason and back. “If you were the monster, then who--?”

“Probably him,” Izumi answered, her eyes locking again on the bushes. And, as the boys found out when they turned around, the four of them were being watched.

But the young boy that appeared out of the bushes only smiled at them. Ed, Al, Izumi and Mason stared at the newcomer in disbelief, because the boy didn’t seem to be more than ten years old, whereas his hair was long and dishevelled as though it had never been brushed. And the thing that was really curious was the clothes that the boy was wearing: they resembled Ed’s down to the last detail of his broad belt.

Ed immediately turned to face Mason.

“Does he work for you?” he asked suspiciously.

But Mason shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen this kid before in my life. Besides, I only scared you guys six years ago.”

“Why would you want to do that?!” Al asked, still not believing that the monster that he had been so afraid of in his childhood turned out to be a fake.

“Hey, I was just doing my job!” Mason said defensively. “Izumi wanted you to toughen up!”

“Nearly dying of starvation and getting our asses beat was supposed to toughen us up?!” Ed exclaimed.

“How could you do that to kids?!” Al seconded.

That was all that Izumi could take at that point though.

“STOP BITCHING ABOUT THE PAST ALREADY!” she roared, her eyes seeming ablaze in her wrath and both her hands clenched into fists in order to say her own opinion about matters.

That made Ed and Al cower in fear and immediately stutter: “Sorry!”

Izumi just snorted. And with that thing taken care of, she started walking towards the wild boy, who was still watching them all with a smile on his face.

“Teacher?” Ed asked, unsure of Izumi’s intentions.

“He’s just a child,” Izumi answered. “He must have stolen his parents’ boat or something and so he ended up here. If that’s the case--”

She never finished her sentence, because it was then that she suddenly started coughing violently, blood spurting out of her lips.

“Teacher!” Ed and Al quickly rushed to her side, catching her in time before she collapsed. But the other boy got so frightened at the sight of the blood that he ran off.

“Wait!” Ed cried out.

It was of no use; the boy didn’t listen to him. And so, as he didn’t see any other option, Ed started running after the boy too. The chase was hard because the boy seemed to know his way about the island quite well. Nevertheless, Ed wasn’t willing to give up that easily either. At the first chance, he sprinted and tackled the boy on the ground.

“Good,” Ed said, panting. Now that you’ve stopped running--”

However, Ed was quite taken aback when a flash of light surrounded both of them – a very familiar flash of light. Ed immediately got ready to clap his hands and stop the alchemic reaction, but he never got the chance. Something very hard landed on his head.

“Ow! What the--?” Ed grabbed at the boy’s arm.

What he saw almost made his jaw drop.

The boy wasn’t holding a stone when he hit Ed; his whole hand was of stone.

“You transmuted your hand?!”

The boy didn’t answer, he just kept struggling to get himself free from Ed’s grasp. Until, finally, there was another flash of light and Ed was shocked to see the clothes change into leaves, leaving the boy completely naked.

“What the…?!”

The boy’s right arm and left leg didn’t match with the rest of his body. In fact, they looked completely different.

Ed didn’t have the luxury to contemplate matters, because the wild boy started crying.

“What are you doing?!”

Ed turned to see that Izumi had overcome her coughing fit and was now hurrying towards them.

“He was about to get away!” Ed said.

“For pity’s sake! He’s just a child!” she said in a scolding manner. She signed to Ed to move away at once so that she could kneel beside the bawling boy. It took a lot of coaxing and gentle words, but the boy finally calmed down.

“Where are you from? Where are your parents?”

The boy closed his eyes and bowed his head. When he finally spoke, his voice was no more than a soft murmur, full of uncertainty and sadness.

“I don’t know.”

Izumi pushed the boy’s black mane of hair back. “What is your name?”

“I don’t know…” the child said again, another violent sob flowing out of his lips. “I don’t know anything!” And with that he started crying again. However, Izumi hugged him tightly.

“You don’t have to cry,” she said kindly. “Everything is fine.”

That tone made the boy stop at once and stare at her in bewilderment. And at the next moment, he buried himself in the woman’s arms.

All Ed could do was watch the scene in thought, because he knew that there was something very wrong about this boy.

But what?




To say that Ed and Al were relieved to be back into Izumi’s house would have been an understatement. They were certainly glad to see Winry again, who welcomed them both with a huge smile on her face. As for the boy, he was a bit apprehensive to his surroundings at first, but he gladly accepted the new clothes and the food that was placed on the table especially for him. And so, while he was with Izumi and Sig and eating to his heart’s content, the boys and Winry had gone upstairs to the terrace.

“I’m glad you’re both okay,” Winry said with a sigh. “I really thought you might end up hurting yourselves there.”

Ed scoffed. “So much for the faith that you have in us,” he said. “We were already used to living on that island.”

Winry didn’t bother to reply to that, since she had another question in mind.

“So… Did Mrs Curtis forgive you?”

“That would be difficult,” Al said; his regret was quite audible.

Winry didn’t like the answer at all. “Why?”

“That’s easy. We went against her teachings,” Ed replied. He placed his hands into his pockets and looked at the horizon thoughtfully. “We knew that we were merely a part of the flow of the world, but we were conceited to disregard that and try to change that flow.” He shook his head and kicked an invisible stone. “What we did was unforgivable.”

Winry’s hands clenched into fists, clearly in a sign of revolting.

“That’s nonsense! Everyone makes mistakes!” she cried and immediately turned on her heel. “I’ll go talk to your Teacher and…”

Both boys made a small fright-filled sound.

“Winry! It’s okay!” Al said, towering over the girl and raising his hands in a gesture of peace.

“She already knows!” Ed seconded.

Though that reaction took Winry by surprise, she apparently decided to listen to her friends this time. She stopped in her tracks and let out a sigh.

“I see… So what now?”

Al made a sound as though he was thinking. “Well… now that we have settled matters here, a good idea would be to try and talk Teacher into letting us go. We have to find Beregond.”

“No.”

Al and Winry turned in surprise at Ed’s words.

“There’s something about that kid,” Ed said softly. “I’m not sure what, but I need to look into it.”

“But Mrs Curtis already notified the police about him, right?” Winry said. “And she said that she would keep custody of him until they get some information about him.”

“You don’t get it,” Ed said with a shake of his head.

Winry rolled her eyes at that. “It’s one of those things that you don’t want to tell me, is it?”

Ed’s silence was answer enough. She heaved a sigh.

“Fine, I’ll let you two be,” she said. “But you better not get into any trouble.”

And with that, she was gone out of sight, leaving the brothers alone.

“Are you talking about those mismatched limbs?” Al finally asked, already aware of Ed’s suspicions. “I have to admit they’re strange, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“It’s not just that,” Ed said. He looked first on his left and right to make sure no one else heard them; then leaned forward.

“I’ve seen him somewhere before. I’m positive.”

That certainly caught Al’s attention.

“You have?” Al faltered. “Where?”

“I don’t know,” Ed said, but his eyes were alight as determination set in. “I intend to find out tonight.”

TBC…
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