Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ The Spirit of Alchemy ❯ Welcome to the Mansion ( Chapter 3 )

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

Ed sighed. "Thanks for your help anyway," he said, looking at Michi.

"It was no trouble," Michi said, edging away from him.

"By the way, what's your name?" Al asked, looking at her.

She smiled slightly. Ignoring her irregular heartbeat, she took a deep breath, and looked at both of them. "My name is Michi... Michi Machiko."

Ed stopped, and turned, facing her. "Y-you're who?"

All of her shyness faded. She just gave him an annoyed look. "Miiiiiiiiiii........chiiiiiiiii...... Maaaaaaaa.....chiiiiiiii........koooooooo..........." she said. She purposely drew out the syllables, a silent insult to Ed.

"I heard who you are. Maybe I shoulda made myself clear. I meant 'what the hell were you doing, not telling us before?!' " Ed said, sounding as mad as Michi felt.

"Well, excuseeeee me!" she said, glaring, and putting her hands on her hips. "I didn't think it was any of your business just who I was!"

Ed and Michi glared at eachother, Michi refusing to back down, for once, and Ed refusing as well. Al looked hopelessly at the pair of them. "Please..." he said, quietly. "Can you tell us something, Michi?"

Michi looked at Al, smiling. "Of course! I'd tell you whatever you wanted to know. At least you're polite." She said looking pointedly towards Ed, and walked over to Al.

Ed followed, still glaring. His opinion that Michi was sorta okay was fading, and fading fast. Meanwhile, Michi was looking down at her hands, as if she didn't recognize herself. 'What happened to me? Why'd I get so upset? It's not like it's irrational for someone to be amazed that the person they're talking to is the same person that they're looking for...' She looked at Ed, who was still staring determinedly at the ground. She decided she was going to apologize to him, because she had been rude.

"Hey..." she said, tentatively taking a step towards him.

"What?" He asked, still glaring.

'Okay, I deserved that,' she thought to herself. Taking a deep breath, she turned her back, desperate to avoid his glare. "Look...... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. I can understand why you'd be surprised about who I was, and.." She turned around. Ed didn't appear to be listening. He had turned away, and was talking to his brother.

Michi walked over to them, upset, but trying not to act like it. "How rude... He didn't even hear my apology..!" she muttered to herself, trying to blink back tears. She hated being wrong, but hated being ignored when she admitted it even more.

Ed turned to look at her. "Hey, what's wrong with you?" he asked, looking confused.

"Uh-oh.. Brother, did you do something?" Al asked, looking towards Michi.

"Don't think so, I mean, she was the one who acted like I was stupid..."

Michi was about to yell, but Ed's next words made her words catch in her throat. ".. I guess I deserved it. I didn't have to snap back."

Al looked at his older brother. "..Brother? Are you sure nothing happened to you?" he asked, giving his brother a very strange look. "Did you hit your head or anything? Do you have a fever? Have you been feeling alright?"

Ed twitched, being examined by Al. "Stop it, would ya?!" He shouted. "I'm fine!"

"..He's just acting nice to get whatever information he wants from me," Michi said, looking at both of them. Ed blinked, and Al looked at him.

"So, that's it?" Al said, leaning closer to his brother. "And here I thought you'd finally learned manners. I'm sorry, Michi, Brother's just...... Well........" he trailed off, not quite sure what his brother was.

"It's okay, Al. I'll tell you guys, if I even know, myself." She smiled, and looked at them.

"Really?!" Ed said, perking up at once. He then grew sober, and looked at her. "Did y--" he started, but Michi cut him off.

"Let's go inside," she said, pointing towards the house. "It's better than standing out here in the early morning. Plus, there's food and warmth inside. Much better than freezing temperatures of autumn nights."

Al and Ed seemed cheered at this thought. Michi, however, sighed. She needed to figure out a way to get them to go inside first, ahead of her. "Hey..... You guys? Could you go on in ahead of me? I'll be there in a minute. I just have to make sure something's where I left it." she said, and started to walk off. Then, she realized that they wouldn't have a clue how to navigate around her mansion. "Oh! Oh yeah. Go down the main hall, and take a left, that will bring you into the 'living' room -- if you could call it that."

They both looked at her curiously, but went in ahead of her. She noticed that they both seemed to be checking the mansion for traps, as if expecting her to have traps set out for them to fall into, even though she had no time to do anything of the sort. Breathing a sigh of relief, she ran around the side of the house, away from the front door. Once there, she started gathering up the dirt, rocks, leaves, twigs, and anything else around, into a huge pile.

Ed and Al were walking down that hallway that Michi had mentioned. "Damn, it's cold in here... Doesn't she use heat?" Ed asked, irritably.

"I think it's just fine," Al said, peaceably.

"You would..." Ed said. "So, what do you think of her?" he asked, turning right.

"Brother, she said it's this way," Al said, pointing down the opposite direction.

"Oh, right!" He said, and hurried down that hallway.

"I think she's nice, and probably going to be able to help me get your arm and leg back," Al said, looking at his brother.

"You still on about that?" Ed asked, raising his hands behind his head, and resting it there, "I thought I said that we're gonna get your body back, before we worry about my arm, or my leg." Al laughed slightly. "Anyway," Ed said, dropping his hands to his side, and walking into the living room, "....I think she's just a brat."

Al sighed, and shook his head slightly. "Are you sure that's what you think of her? What if she can help us?"

"Yeah, that's what I think of her. If she can help, then grea--" Ed was interrupted by a bright flash of light, outside one of the large windows of the living room. "-- What the hell is that?!"

Michi stood up. The pile of dirt was now gone. In her hands, she held a boquet of zinnias*. She smiled, and walked back around to the front door. She grabbed the doorknob, and turned it. She walked inside, happily looking around. The floor had a red carpet, that stretched all the way down, and faded off into the distance. On the walls were intricate carvings, dug into the wall. The walls were brown, and the carved parts were gold. There was a table with a vase. Michi grabbed the vase, and put the boquet of flowers into it. "Dad......" she said quietly, carrying the vase down the hall with her.

Ed and Al came tearing down the hall, like they were racecars, and the carpet was the track. Michi saw them, and tried to get out of their way, but in vain.


CCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA GHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Michi yelled, as Ed barreled into her. She was knocked over, with Ed falling on top of her. The vase was sent flying into the air. "Oh no!!!" Michi yelled, pushing Ed off, and running after the vase. But, it was too late. The vase fell to the ground with a shattering sound, the flowers and water going everywhere.

Ed stared, once again, at a loss for what to say.

Michi stared at the vase, motionless. Clearly, it was something important to her.... Ed walked over to the vase, and started gathering the pieces up. He held up a hand to stop Michi's protests, since she thought he was going to throw the shards out, and placed them in a pile. Clapping his hands together, he lightly touched the pieces. A flash of light, and there was the vase, sitting, good as new, and full of water. "Here," he said, picking it up, and handing it to Michi.

Al gathered up the flowers, and handed them to Michi. "Th-thanks.." she muttered, taking them, and placing them into the vase once again. She headed down the hallway, and turned left, towards the living room. "....What were you two doing?"

Ed coughed, looking embarrassed. "We saw a flash of light outside, and decided to investigate."

"Flash of light?" Michi asked, looking puzzled.

"Yeah. It looked sorta like the light that comes from a transmutation. Any idea what it was?" Ed gave her a piercing look. She shuddered, feeling like maybe, just maybe, he knew everything.

She shook her head to clear it. "It was from me. I was making the vase, and the flowers."

Ed looked at the flowers curiously, but kept silent. Michi was relieved, but felt she should explain, just to be clear. "These flowers are for my father," she said, placing the flowers on a nearby table. On the table was a photograph. In fact, it was the same one that Ed and Al had, of Michi, and her father. Next to it, there was a picture of her father alone. His dark hair was pushed to the side, as if there was wind when the picture was taken. His bright greenish-blue eyes seemed to be smiling at everyone in the picture. "It was his birthday today. Happy birthday, father.." she said, smiling at the picture. She seemed perfectly happy, but beneath her calm words, and smile, there was a feeling of utter chaos, that never went away. She didn't know how to get rid of it, so just hid it away.

Ed and Al looked at her, and at the table. They sat down on a red leather-covered couch, and just watched, silently. After a few uneasy moments, Michi finally gathered the courage to break the silence. "So, what was it you wanted to ask my father, or myself?"

Ed's yellow eyes met her gaze. She stared into them, wondering what it was they wanted to ask so badly. Her heart beat quickly, and she couldn't look away.

"Do you know anything about the Philosopher's Stone?"



AN: Okay, some day I shall write a longer chapter! I'm beginning to feel like the Author Notes are longer than the chapters themselves.... XD I was actually going to make this one longer, but, it's 4:37 AM, and I'm tired. Meh. I'm only writing this because Makii was bothering me about it. XD As she pointed out, she wrote two long chapters, so... I could at least write mine too! I'll write another one tomorrow, possibly. School starts in just over a week, and once it does, wow. You won't see me. XD Anyway, R&R If you want, if not, well, I've got my own little fan-base here, cheering me on every step of the way, so I'll be bound to write again. I'd love some constructive critcism, however (other than 'MAKE THE CHAPTERS LONGER!!!', that is XD).


I'm actually thinking of combining the first two chapters together, then adding on to this one. The chapters'd then be longer, but there'd be less of them. I'm sorry guys, usually I'm really good at making long chapters, but the first two I wrote in a journal, so they seemed longer than they actually were, and this one, I'm half asleep for. Some day, I shall write a long chapter!! Maybe tomorrow. Oh well, it's early morning, I'm beginning to ramble on, so I'll just upload this, and go hide to think about the next chapter. Ta-ta!

* Zinnias, in the language of flowers, mean rememberance. In other words, they signify that although the person isn't around, they shall remain in the person's heart. This is a good flower to leave on the grave of a loved one -- or on a memorial, like Michi does.