Fullmetal Alchemist: The Midnight Eclipse

"Uh, sure, Brother." Alphonse watched as his brother left. He wondered where his brother was going but decided to ask him later. Alphonse turned back to Xioimara, Ling, and Armstrong. "We're going to Dublith to see our alchemy teacher. We're concerned she might be in danger."

Armstrong could feel tears start to leave his eyes as Alphonse spoke. "I'm touched by how caring you boys are!" Armstrong announced loudly to the entire cabin. It attracted annoyed expressions from passengers just trying to get some silence. Armstrong wiped the tears from his eyes.

'How dramatic... As usual.' Lust kept an open ear to their conversation though she watched as the scenery passed by.

Xioimara looked at Armstrong as he proudly announced how he felt about the Elric brothers and how proud he was to be a man and cry. Xioimara shrugged at this. "How long do you think we'll be there?" Xioimara tried to get an answer.

 

A few minutes later, Ed came back with news. "I talked to Mr. Sig and Teacher. She asked how I was and, well, let's just say, she wants to see me and Al as soon as we arrive." he said.
In the back of the train, Juliet Douglas carefully watched Lust for any signs that the Elric Brothers would get off.

 

"Hmm... Is that a good or bad thing?" Xioimara asked Edward and leaned back into her seat. She felt tired and weak though their day was not nearing an end yet.

'So they're going to see their teacher...' Lust turned this idea over. She was positive that his teacher would be no threat to their plans but it could still be a possible threat.

 

"When I told her we did human transmutation, she seemed pretty pissed." he said simply.

 

Xioimara met Edward's eyes as he said this. 'So I was right.' Xioimara glanced around for any watching eyes. "Perhaps this can wait until we get off the train..." Xioimara suggested. Her stomach was becoming tight with anxiety and stress as she knew they were going to be nearing Dublith soon. Xioimara bit her thumb nail as she watched out the window. 'Mustang knew this would happen...' She silently accused.

Xioimara could feel herself tense up as she almost broke down then and there. She was terrified, though she hid it well, for the most part. Xioimara pulled her hand away from her mouth and leaned up against the window.

"Stay in the closet!" A horse male voice screamed towards her. Xioimara hugged the walls of the closet as she held the door shut. She had her younger brother in the closet with her as well. Xioimara covered his ears as shouting and screaming echoed in the chaos outside the closet. She hugged her younger brother close to her.

Xioimara now stood outside the apartment she had resided in with her desolated family. She didn't look back as she walked away from the agony that screamed in the house.

Xioimara felt tears well up in her eyes but she blinked them away. She still felt guilty for abandoning her younger brother a few years ago. Xioimara brushed a hand through her hair and sighed.

"I don't think it was the best idea to tell her that over the phone, Brother...." Alphonse said to Edward. The cart became silent for a while and tense. Alphonse could feel his nerves yanking at him and telling him something was wrong.

Lust glanced over at the group every now and then. She took notice of distress and silence.

 

Ed glanced at where Lust was. "Hey you!" he said to her. "You got something you wanna tell us?" he asked loudly.
Ling awoke at the sound of Ed's shouting. "Wuss goin' on?" he yawned.

 

"Why don't you be a good boy and mind your own business?" Lust said sweetly to Edward. She smiled to him and turned back to look out the window. 'I need to be more careful.' Lust said. 'He's already suspicious.'

Xioimara was relieved to be taken from her nightmare by Ed. She looked over at the woman and then back to Ed. "Just ignore her for now." Xioimara hushed. The moon was already out. "We'll be there in a few minutes..." Xioimara added. Xioimara looked over at Armstrong.

Armstrong looked back at Xioimara. She looked like she was about to jump out of her skin. "Dublith is a big place. I doubt you'll even see them." He said to her, already aware of how she was feeling.

"She's right, Brother. Just leave her she's probably just curious of the group."

Xioimara stayed seated as the train started to slow for the station at Dublith. She was shaking. She wanted to cry. It was like being forced back into Hell.

 

Ling pointed out the window where a big man and a woman were standing. "I think we're here." he said.
Ed looked out the window. "Oh crap! Teacher's waiting for us in the station with Mr. Sig!" he said. He was frightened of Teacher when she was mad.

 

Alphonse became horrified once Edward noticied this. He tried to recoil back into his seat immediatly. Maybe they wouldn't see them. Hopefully. "They're fine, Brother! We can go!" Alphonse panicked.

Xioimara looked at their teacher as well as Mr. Sig. She wasn't sure what to think of this all except she wanted to go back to Central. She shifted as to blend in as just their dog. Nobody would notice her except maybe that she looked a little feral for a regular dog.

"Now we can't all run from our problems!" Armstrong strongly stated as he pushed the boys out of their seats and off the train, making sure that Xioimara followed.

 

Ed turned shakily. "W-why d-d-don't you thre g-go get us a hotel room?" he said.

Izumi Curtis saw Edward and Alphonse get off the train. "C'mon Sig, I have to knock some sense into those two." she told her husband.

 

"I'll go pick out a plot for you two in the graveyard." Xioimara reassured them as they got off the train. Her mouth never moved as she spoke in her wolf form. Xioimara watched as the teacher as well as Mr. Sig approached the two. Their teacher did certainly look like she could teach them a lesson or two about pain. The red wolf looked to Armstrong for the next move.

Sig knew better than to interfere with Izumi's lessons when she was set off. He followed his wife to greet the others as they reluctantly got off the train. He watched Armstrong intently. They had, in the past, had a competition of who had the better muscles and it had been decided that they were even and both of worthy respect. Sig awaited the pain that was going to follow the boys once they got within arms reach of the teacher.

Lust got off the train and kept a distance from the group, hiding in the shadows of the night realm. She could see they were very worked up about their teacher. Perhaps they were underestimating their teacher's strength. Maybe she could be a threat. Or maybe those two children were just afraid of a woman with power.

"This is a little unnecessary! You don't have to escourt us you know, Mr. Armstrong!"

"Now, now this will all be over very soon."

 

Ed gulped and said a small prayer. "Not helping!" he hissed to Xioimara.
Izumi was about to kill those boys. She got close to them and glared. If looks could kill, they'd have been dead.
"Nice to see you again Teacher." Ed told her.
"My shop. Now. Both of you." she turned to Armstrong and the others. "I'll take it from here, thank you for bringing them to me." she said sweetly.
"No problem. Gotta go pick out a room for us right Major?" Ling said
As Ed walked to Teacher's shop, he said another prayer. "We've really done it this time, eh Al?" he said to his little brother.

Juliet and her son Wrath followed Lust off the train. She looked over at Ed's group. "That lady looks like she could kill them, huh Lust?" she said.
"She sure does, Mommy." Wrath said to Juliet. There was something familiar about the angry lady, but Wrath couldn't figure it out.

 

Xioimara gave a nervous but wolfish grin to Edward as he commented on how well she was reassuring him. Xioimara left, dropping next to Armstrong as the two started away to go find a hotel to accomidate them.

"It was a pleasure." Armstrong said to Izumi sincerily. He started away with a wave of the hand towards the Elrics. Xioimara was at his side at once. "Well, they knew what they were getting into when they came here." Armstrong commented.

"They also came on their own. I would have chosen to go somewhere else." Xioimara said back and the two walked in silence, acting as just a man with his dog. Nothing out of the ordinary. Xioimara was relieved that, at least, this wouldn't attract any unwanted attention.

"I think we should try to stay positive at least..." Alphonse whispered to his brother. He could feel dread circulating through his metal body. He felt lucky that he couldn't feel any pain, unlike his brother.

 

"Easy for you to say... you can't feel pain but I can..." Ed said

"You gotta feel sorry for those two." Ling told Xioimara and Armstrong.

Izumi followed the Elrics to her shop. When I get my hands on those two... she thought both inside her head and (without knowing) outloud.

 

The red wolf moved forward quietly and quickly. She wanted to get out of the streets as fast as possible. Xioimara's ear swiveled towards Ling as he struck up small talk. "I don't think they'd want us to pity them." She commented as the odd trio stalked the streets of Dublith.

'They wouldn't be out this late at night.' Xioimara reassured herself. 'Besides, no one knows how to tell me from a dog and an alchemist, unless they've seen me change before. Xioimara's fur ruffled up a little as a cold breeze chilled the streets momentairly. 'Stop thinking so negativley. Everything is fine.'

"None the less, the Elric brothers have a very powerful relationship. Their history is sad though." Armstrong input as he turned to enter a small hotel.

"Even if she's a threat to the brothers, she's still just a human." Lust regarded towards Juliet. "The same goes for The Strong Arm Alchemist, Wild Wolf of the East and that prince from Xing." Her face was contorted with distaste as the names of this group rolled off of her tongue. This only made things that much more difficult. It wasn't a welcomed sight, in the least.

"Izumi, don't be too hard on them." Sig commented, watching how he worded his sentence, as to make sure she didn't snap at him. Not that she normally did but Sig didn't want to be responsible for any broken limbs either.

Alphonse became shaken as these words slipped from Izumi's mouth. They were really in for it now. He knew better than to fight back against Teacher. If he even thought of fighting back she would make sure his soul would be bruised for eternity. "What's going to happen to us, Brother?" Alphonse asked Edward, trying to be as quiet as possible so that Teacher couldn't hear. Hopefully.

 

"We may die... but knowing Teacher, it will be worse." Ed told Al. The arrived at the shop and went in.
"Maybe." Izumi said. They arrived at the shop, and she glared at them again. "Well?"

 

Alphonse froze up with fear as Teacher turned around and finally spoke directly to them. He stammered as words tried to come to him and finally he just said, "I'm sorry." He was at a loss for words. He knew what they had done was wrong but it seemed so far into the past that the remorse for their actions was almost completely faded, at least for Alphonse anyways.

"No pets." The owner of the hotel said to the group.

"Call me a pet again and I'll show you who is really the pet here." Xioimara threatened as her form shifted.

"I'm terribly sorry! I had no idea!" He froze up feeling nothing but apologetic. The man started writing down in a little book on his desk. "That was how many rooms?"

"Three." Armstrong repeated to the owner.

"Yes, yes, of course. Here are your keys." The owner reached down under his desk and grabbed three pairs of keys, handing one out to each of them.

"We have two more people joining us tonight as well. They aren't here right now." Armstrong told the man.

"No problems. There's two beds in each room and we have cots if you need more."

"Thank you."

 

OOC: Way to describe Teacher's Wrath so elegantly.
"Alphonse? Is that you?" Izumi asked. She was shocked at how big Alphonse had gotten since she had last seen him. Edward was slightly taller, even after four years.
"Well-" Edward started.
"Quiet Edward, I want to hear your brother's story first." Izumi interrupted menecangly.

 

'Well who else would it be?' Alphonse thought. He froze a little as Teacher asked for his story. "M-my story?" He tried to talk clearly but found his thoughts were almost as jittery as he was.

Xioimara unlocked her room and looked in. It wasn't anything special but it wasn't total trash either, which she was thankful of. "We should probably tell them where we are." Xioimara said to Armstrong, who was stationed next door to her.

"Not a bad idea." He agreed, glancing into his room and closed the door again. He started out of the building towards the shop that Izumi and Mr. Sig owned.

Xioimara trotted behind Armstrong as the two left the building. The two walked in silence.

 

"And take that armor off. I'd like to see your face." Teacher told him.
Ed froze. Take it off? Oh no... "Just do it Al. And Explain to her why you wear that." he said.
Ling took out a buiscuit. He shook it infront of Xioimara. "Who's a good girl? Ya wanna biscuit? Ya wanna biscuit?" he taunted.

"Two rooms please." Juliet told the hotel keeper. "One for my son and I and another for our companion.
Wrath looked at Lust. She seemed nice enough but if you got on her bad side...