Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Crimson Romance ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

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

“But Bri–“ Even with as hard as Brielle held her arm, she managed to get the woman to stop. “But I'm in a prom dress. Do you really think I should go to an interview dressed in this?”

“Interview? What interview? I walked up to the man and asked for the job – that's my interview!”

“But what about me?” Maria asked, being drug once more.

“Doesn't matter. He knows I'm reliable so he trusts that you are too. You better not blow this or I'll get you good.”

“You didn't even ask me if I wanted to work as a carny!”

 “Doesn't matter. You owe me. How do you think we're going to be able to rent a room each night? Gotta make money somehow. Unless you plan on living on Mr. Kimblee's charity for the rest of your life. I don't trust that man and you shouldn't either.” Brielle snipped back.

“But he's been really nice to me. There's no way he would–“

Brielle stopped in her tracks and turned toward the Mexicana, having not only a serious look on her face but also in her tone. “Look. Mr. Kimblee works for the military, meaning he works for the government. We don't live in a Democracy like the one you speak of. Here we don't vote our government officials in. They get in by either being born in, promoted, or assassinated their way into it. Here we have a Führer who oversees everything. Remember the saying, “Be Thou for the People”? Doesn't work if you understand what's going on on the inside.”

“On the inside?”

“You have to look underneath the underneath.”

Where have I heard that before? Maria blinked, thinking back.

 “If you knew anything about what is going on you would steer clear of Kimblee.”

“What's going on?”

“I won't give you any real details other than there's a silent breach – meaning nobody knows about it, except those involved – in the government. Someone has infiltrated the military and is using that power to bring about a catastrophic event.”

“If you're not involved with the bad guys, then how do you know about all this?”

“That's none of your business. That's all I'm going to tell you.”

“Why?”

“For your own safety. C'mon, we gotta get to work real soon.”

“Okay, then.”

She had let go of Maria's arm, the two of them walking quickly alongside the other.
 I suppose I didn't know much about the story to begin with. I guess I'll just stay with Brielle in avoiding the military so I don't get involved in this giant mess... But how will I be able to work for Mr. Kimblee if...?

The two women passed an alleyway on their way to Main street. Within the alley, a young boy peeked out into the light to watch them. His skin was pale and his long, dark green hair fell over his back much like the leaves of a palm tree. He wore a black bandana that had lines forming a red triangle on his forehead. On each point of the triangle there were red circles.

He smirked, perfect hatred being expressed through his violet eyes.

 “That's right, Miss Maria. It's none of your business. Now that Kimblee's alone, I'll be able to give him his assignment.” Of course, this young boy was much older than what he appeared. His sleek body, being only covered with a skin-tight belly-shirt and shorts, disappeared into the darkness. “I'll take care of you later, Miss Bellavarde.”

[ This Scene has been Omitted due to its Graphic Nature and that it is against the rules of Media Miner to Post. ]

Corn dogs are so gross... Maria squinted, dunking another batch into the vat, watching the grease boil. Already, she was sweating. It wasn't just sweat from working long hours. It was the disgusting kind of sweat only attained by being around hot vats of grease. Not only did you sweat but you had your very own layer of lard overlapping your skin.

This was precisely why Maria never worked fast food joints for long periods of time. Cleaning toilets was much more sensible than this! Of course, though, she'd had no choice. She owed Brielle not only for food and sleeping quarters, but also practically her life. Why? Because she fell out of the sky and landed on top of this woman, nearly immobilizing her.

There was no way that she would let out anything so much as a whine. She knew that Brielle would be evil enough to shove her face-first into the vat if she did. That was how scary the blue-haired woman was.

Slowly, she exhaled, for fear of Brielle snapping at her for breathing funny. She took out the batch of corn dogs from the fryer and used the tongs the place them where they needed to be.

Brielle passed them out and then took the next order.

“Do we get to take a break for lunch?” Maria had the nerve to ask. Punching in a few keys at the register, the blue one turned to her.

 “What do you think this is? Lunch time is over! We're heading into another rush hour here in a minute. Our next break isn't until..”

“Isn't until..?” Maria blinked.

“1800 hours.”

“When?” The Mexicana wasn't familiar with military time.

“6pm.” A deep, familiar voice said just outside the window, waiting for his order.

 “Kimblee.” Brielle hissed, seeing that he was next.

“I'll take two lemonades, please.”

“Thirsty, aren't we?” She made her usual expression – a scowl – as she made his lemonade.

“You could say that.” He smirked, knowing that his very presence annoyed the woman.

Doing her best to justify the blue one's behaviour, Maria tried to think of reasons why she'd be so grumpy. Little sleep? Perhaps. Nervous around customers? Perhaps. Kimblee? Perhaps. Trying to earn her keep when she had better things to do like take down the big bad government? That was a definite possibility...

She was a little disappointed after Solf disappeared with his drinks. There was a slight mope on her lips, though she did her very best to hold in a whine. It was a way to earn a living, though, so she might as well just lift her chin up and roll with the punches. This wasn't so bad, though. She could be doing worse things for money.

Though, she did think that being with Brielle was the worst. What was with that woman's mood? There had to be a way she could get away from her, even if for a minute.

While Brielle was punching in numerical values on the cash register, Maria heard the back door of the trailer open. A hand held up an open pack of cigarettes.  He waved them around a bit, with a movement of his wrist. She knew whose they were, too, seeing the sleeve of the white-suit and lavender cuff underneath. With a smirk, the Chicana turned to her co-worker. “I'm going to go take a cigarette break, okay?”

“Don't be gone too long. It may be slow now but rush hour is coming soon.”

“Right, right.” Gleefully, she took the pack out of his hand and followed him out.

“Smooth move.” Maria smiled brightly, taking the extra lemonade offered. “I thought I was never getting out of there.”

“Yeah, being with her for that long would be unnerving, wouldn't it?”

“That was incredible. I needed an excuse and you gave the perfect one.”

“You don't smoke, though, right?”

“No.” She laughed, sitting down next to him on a crate just behind the trailer.

“I bet this isn't the kind of work you did at home.”

“I did for a while there – at least until I got my own place.” She took a sip of her drink through the straw.

“You seem like the type to be behind a desk or in a library.”

“Yeah, pretty much. Hm.”

Getting up his nerve, he managed to ask, “Would you like to take a walk with me?”

“What about Bri?”

“We'll be back in time for her, don't worry.”

“Okay. For a little bit.”

Solf took her by the hand and led her away from the trailer. The young boy that wore the black belly-shirt and shorts took a few steps out of the shadows to follow them. Using his own unique power, a red electrical current ran through his being, transforming him into the same person that had waited for Kimblee outside Central Prison in his car.

His blonde hair fell over his forehead, forming wild, curly bangs. The rest of his hair was of the same texture. He wore the standard blue military uniform.

He didn't really have a name, just an identifier. Being a thing that was cast out from his Father – a man at this point with no name, himself – he was named after his particular sin; Envy.

“I wonder what we should do first?” His target had asked the Mexicana.

“Maybe we should go to one of the concerts and listen to the music.” She'd replied. They were walking in the opposite direction of the trailer so that Brielle wouldn't have recognized them passing by. She would have definitely been exceedingly angry with them.

Solf made a comment that had the woman giggle.

What a wretched sound , Envy thought as his eyes narrowed so much that they were barely slit open. What would the great Crimson Alchemist want to do with someone as her? Especially over the fact that he was himself very sadistic. Ever since he'd met this lass he'd been nothing but smitten and gentle with her. What on earth was he thinking?

That was the reason they wanted to hire him for the job. One reason was because he was absolutely ruthless in battle. He had the kind of philosophy of taking no to prisoners, only corpses and blood watering the ground. In fact, he'd enjoyed this game of slaughtering his enemies. However, in the case of him being imprisoned; it was because he refused to give the Philosopher's Stone back to his higher ranking officers. He wanted to keep it and therefore killed them to do so.

The main reason for them releasing him, however, was because he had kept the stone safe.

How he concealed it was not to hide it in a special pocket or even his shoe; what he would do was swallow the elongated stone and then regurgitate it back up when he needed it. Envy didn't really care about the Crimson Alchemist. All he cared about was the stone and the fact that he could use Mr. Kimblee as a scapegoat to get to Scar – an Ishvalan who strove to ruin their Father's great plan for the nation – and possibly use the Elrics' involvement in this case to their advantage.

Even Maria didn't know about the Philosopher's Stone. All she knew was that it was a mystical object or ideal that alchemists – those who in her world who were more concerned with magick and science –  used in hopes to someday achieve. The entire idea of how they used alchemy in Amestris was new to her.

As the two disappeared into the crowd of people, Envy managed to get swept up into a giant balloon – that happened to be in the figure of an animal – as it passed through the main dirt road onto it's way to the parade line-up. He cried out, losing himself – and the sight of Solf and Maria – underneath it.

Hours passed by with them slowly trotting around the fairgrounds, just talking. Very little piqued their interest, only the sound of their own voices and the stories they had to tell. Maria had made it known that she wasn't very comfortable talking about the people he killed at war. Though, it was fascinating to hear him tell it as if he were seeing it at that very moment. What a skilled memory he'd had.

She'd never really opened up to anyone like this. It took her a few months to even expose this much about herself to Patrick when she'd first met him. With as bad a picture Brielle had painted of him, Maria felt like she could trust him, regardless. It was a rare occasion when she'd allow herself to be this vulnerable. The only way she'd ever do this was if she knew in her heart that it was going to last.

It felt very good to have a friend like Mr. Kimblee. Not that Patrick wasn't a good friend; it was just that she wouldn't be able to delve as deep as she would have liked, seeing as her and the red-head hadn't been compatible. There was no chemistry behind them to push them into something further.

The man in the white suit was something different. Regardless of the stories of his gruesome involvement in the Ishvalan War, he seemed like a very likeable guy. He was cool and suave, something perfect from a dollar store romance novel. However, there was more to him than his looks. He'd had an incredible intellect and was very good with manners. She certainly hoped that if she'd given herself up completely to him that his behaviour wouldn't change so drastically. She didn't want him to be an asshole in the end.

To give myself up to him.. Maria looked down, blushing at the thought.

“Something the matter?” His voice made her blink and lift her head to look at him. It was almost too perfect. Why in the world would someone with as much class as this man lower his standards to be with a woman he'd hired as his housekeeper? It was too reminiscent of a story of the prince rescuing a poor girl out of her poverty. It was a rerun of any of Jennifer Lopez's romantic movie fantasies. And that's just what it was; a fantasy.

Immediately, he could feel her mood shift as she looked down again.

“Maria?”

“I'm sorry –“ She said, about to turn away from him. “Maybe I should go back to help Brielle. It's getting dark. I don't want her bitching at me for taking off without –“

“Don't worry about Miss Bellavarde. I'll take care of it later. It's dark and I overhead that they were going to shoot fireworks. Would you like to watch them with me? It'd be a perfect example of how to handle and appreciate explosions.”

“Fireworks?” Maria looked both surprised and relieved.

A few meters behind them, a familiar blonde headed boy walked their way. A bit earlier when he'd tried to catch them, he'd gotten mauled by a group of kids.

This time, however, as he walked, someone threw a pie in his direction – be in bad aim or on purpose? We'll never know – and hit him square in the face.

“Oh, sorry! We were trying to hit the –“

“I don't give a damn who you were trying to hit! You hit me!” Envy flailed his arms about before wiping the pie from his face. The couple had disappeared. With white cream all over him, he stomped on the ground. Lost them again..! Shit!


The crickets chirped around them as there was a soft hum of conversation going on from every direction. They'd found a small hill to sit on. They didn't have a small blanket or anything to sit on but the grass was fine. She'd only hoped that she wouldn't get a ton of mosquito or chigger bites. Why worry about it, though? She was in good company. It never made any difference to her before with anyone else.

 Maybe it was because she was nervous, that's why she would pout at every little thing that would make this moment imperfect, that way she wouldn't have to throw herself headlong into expectation and be disappointed. Taking a deep, shallow breath, she sighed. There was no way she was going to let herself get hurt again. Not after what happened with Steve. Would she really let herself get that comfortable again? Really?

When Solf sat down next to her, that was when all of her defenses failed her. It was like every little warning or crossness about men she'd held since the last relationship fell away. It was hard for her to look him in the eye. Would he know what she was thinking? Would he tell her No, we're just friends?

Her eyes loosened up, a spring ready to well up from them.

“What's the matter? You had the same look on your face earlier when I asked you to come here with me.”

There is no way I'm this emotionally immature! Maria scolded herself. She let out a quick sniffle then fought back her tears. It wasn't like he'd already rejected her! You're 28-years-old, for crying out loud! It isn't like high school all over again!

She lifted her head and look at him straight in the eye.

“I'm sorry. I was thinking about unpleasant things. I hope the fireworks won't scare me too badly.”

“Unpleasant?” He gave a coy smile and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into him. “Come on, enjoy the show. Not only will we get explosions in, but you'll be able to see the pretty colours. What's so unpleasant about that? Just relax, it'll be fine. There's nothing to be afraid of, just stay here with me.”

Being pulled into him, she could get a distinct smell from him. He hadn't worn any cologne. It was something of a mix between soap and his original scent. It reminded her of the incense she'd burned at home. What was it..? He was warm, as well. A girl could get used to this sort of thing.

Lying her head against his chest, she lifted her eyes to the sky. The crowds of people around them quieted down, awaiting the very first boom.

When it had arrived, she jumped in her seat and hid her face in his jacket. He simply chuckled and pushed her hair out of her face. Moving, she looked up at him. To him, she looked like a bewildered puppy.

“It's in the sky, Maria,” He stated plainly, “There's no way it could possibly hurt you. Now, enjoy yourself.”

Before she could make a complete nod, she jumped again at the next firework to be released. Seeing as he went back to viewing them, she decided to do the same thing, also.

 Brielle would be more than furious knowing that I sat and watched fireworks while she was making lemonade and frying corn dogs on her own. I know it was an irresponsible thing to do, leaving her like that.. I'm sure my own karma will pay me back for it. But for now... Just for now..

“That little bitch! I'm gonna KILL HER!” The Bellavarde was indeed none-too-happy. When she closed the lemonade vendor, she kicked around pots and pans, hoping to defuse the rage that had been building up the entire evening. She locked up the trailer and walked out, seeing the fireworks overhead a ways down the fairgrounds.

“Stupid fireworks,” she muttered as she firmly walked her way back to the inn. Envy, who had changed back into his original form, went down a different fork in the road than Brielle, grumbling as well.


After the spectacular show of fireworks people started to leave the fair. Large crowds had made Maria nervous and she'd made it known to Solf, so they stuck around until everyone was gone. Once it was empty, they began their tread back toward the inn that was named after a random sea animal.

“Would you like to take a short cut?” Mr. Kimblee had asked, having different intentions in mind than going back to the inn.

“There's a short cut?”

“Yeah, we just go through the woods. Should take us right there.” What he wanted was some alone time with his dark-skinned friend. The wood would have been the perfect place. What with the rise of buildings, technology and roads, hardly anybody went through the trees. It would be perfect, nobody would be able to see them while they..

“Are you sure?” She asked, a slight whine in the back of her throat. She was unsure.

“Yeah, I'm sure. Come on.” He took her by the hand and led her into the wood so they could be covered by the foliage.

Maria felt a bit confused. Not because of the different energy around him but because everything was so dark. It would have been smarter to follow the street lights down the road instead of relying on what little moonlight there was in the green.

Without a moment's notice, they'd stopped. She felt him turn toward her, pressing her up against a tree. His hands went to her face, his body against hers. She could barely see anything, only the edges of his face. He got so close to her, she could feel his hot breath on her face. Was he going to kiss her?

With as nice as that sounded, she knew better. It had hit her that he didn't bring her out here to cut the distance to the inn in half. He came out here because he wanted to take advantage of her.

She valued her virginity but with the way things were going, she thought that it wouldn't have been a bad idea. It wasn't like anybody knew how to get her back home, let alone try. This would be the perfectly good chance to give herself fully to him. But what did he care for her? Holding her close like that – he might have done it many a time with several women. Get them comfortable enough to think that he was a good guy. But he was good, wasn't he? Was it all an act?

She felt his lips trickle softly against her neck. She threw her head back some.

 Oh no.. She thought grimly. What if he got his way and didn't care about her anymore? She didn't want him to think of her as easy. What a terrible first impression!

From above, a spotlight hit them. The wind had picked up quite a bit. He turned his head to look behind, trying to figure out what it was. Certainly wasn't the police. Their spotlights were a creamy off white colour. This beam was pure white. It changed to blue.

“Aliens!” Maria shouted from under him.

“Aliens...?” Solf was confused.

“Oh look, they're going to pick us up.” The Mexicana said, seeming to have expected this to
happen.

“Pick us – ?”

It seemed he had blacked out. When he opened his eyes again, the ceiling was white. Not just white like in the hospital rooms but pure, glowing, very-essence white. It was bright against his eyes. He was lying on a flat table. He turned his head every other direction, to see where the hell he was. Even walls and floor were the same white as the ceiling.

That was when he'd noticed – ..He was nude. Quickly, he sat up. Now he really wanted to know where he was. Solf wondered if such a place would frighten Maria. About a yard or so away, there she was. With as dark as her skin was, she popped out against the white walls about her. She'd had her knees up against her chest, hugging them. She was staring at a strange, floating orb that looked similar to a jelly fish.

With the energy around it, he could tell that the thing was trying to keep her calm.  

 It took him a full minute to notice, but she was nude, too. Whatever erection he might have had earlier sprung into full life, defeating any hopes of his brain taking over and telling himself that he should be scared not horny.

However, whatever fear that might have posed itself, was quickly defeated by him being desensitized to practically anything that would have struck a cord of horror in the heart of any man.

Without much thought, he set his feet on the floor and stood, regardless of any kind of modesty telling him he shouldn't be exposing his bare form to anyone. However, he felt perfectly comfortable. He would have had to, though, seeing as there was nothing in sight to cover him up.

 Solf walked toward Maria's table. The floating jelly-fish-looking-creature turned toward him and so did Maria. She looked somewhat disoriented and high. It was the kind of high a person would attain from either numbing out from a terrifying experience or the kind when a person is in a mental hospital and gets a special shot in the butt.

His eyes strayed from the jelly-fish-looking-creature to Maria.

He would mouthed, “Where are we?” because any noise he would have made was muffled by a strange vibration in the room.

The Mexicana shrugged, mouthing, “I don't know.”

She patted the seat next to her, for him to sit and he did.

Maria dropped her knees from her chest and let them dangle over the table, revealing her entire form.

Seeing her like this, Solf's reaction was to jump a little and nearly foam at the mouth.

There was a questioning look on her face as she looked up at him, her hands at each of her sides, clasping onto the table.

She smiled, looking at his hair. It was out of its ponytail, pouring liberally over his face and shoulders.  He blushed, looking away from her, putting a hand to his forehead. She grabbed a hold of his arm, pulling it down. Getting his attention, they gazed into each other's eyes for a brief moment.

His eyes dropped down to her lips as they neared his.

A moment before they kissed, his eyes shot open. He was lying, fully clothed, on the grass. The sunlight darted through the leaves and branches of the trees. Wow, what kind of a dream was that? With a dream like that, he would have woke up hard as a rock. Oddly enough, though, his loins were satisfied.

 He sat up and noted that Maria was sleeping next to him. How the hell were they going to explain being gone all night to Brielle? She slept there, soundly. What a beautiful sight, too. He leaned over her, ready to make at least this kiss memorable. Her eyes shot open.

“Solf!” She squirmed. Quickly, he sat up, placing a hand behind his head. He scratched his scalp some.

“Uh...Uh – Good morning!”

“BRIELLE'S GOING TO KILL ME!”
Author's Note:  I know this chapter is a bit shorter than most.. But I managed to get all the scenes in here that wanted. I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry it took me so long. ;___;


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