The Water Alchemist

Insurance

Welcome back to The Water Alchemist. I don't own any of the intellectual property of Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Insurance

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Elias ran through the alley, checking behind him, afraid of what may be lurking there. Each time he checked, no one was there, but he couldn't shake the image of that monster that had nearly torn his head off. Just what kind of people had Marina befriended to get mixed up with a monster like that? He couldn't believe they were good. Though, Elias owed his life to that masked person, who assured him that they'd rescue Marina from that thing as her companion gave chase. He was going to put his faith in them, not denying their combat skills. It at least delayed him having to come to terms with what he's done. The masked person had requested something of him before they took off, which he wasn't too keen on fulfilling, but here he was, running off to do it.

"You have to find Edward," the masked person said, helping Elias to stand.

"The Fullmetal kid?" he asked. Elias had just gotten him and Marina away from yet another person trying to kill them, and they wanted him to go back? "Why?"

"Tell him that the plan is working."

"You mean to tell me you planned that?" he asked disbelievingly.

"In a way, yes— though we didn't account for you. Now go."

How they had planned on facing off against such a monster, he wasn't sure, and truthfully, he didn't want to know. That was their prerogative. He wasn't sure exactly what compelled him to fulfill the request, though he felt like he owed them that much for saving him.

Once I deliver the message, I'll get out of here, he thought, slowing when he thought he heard voices and fighting. He recognized the alley he and Marina had torn off from, but what lied in it startled him. The two boys he had once faced before in combat over Marina stood on either side of that Ishvalen that had nearly killed them. An alley full of enemies, perfect. He hid around a few crates in the opposite alley, watching the exchange, staring at the Ishvalen man with a prominent 'x' shaped scar over his face. He looked like so many of his people did— maimed, and scarred, and irreversibly damaged. Elias absently touched his own scars, both fresh and old, before tracing the first one at the nape of his neck. The first of countless.

"You're so self-righteous," the boy spat. The small one, the Fullmetal Alchemist. He looked worse for wear. Blood dripped down his face, and he seemed to be buying time with talk. "But do you remember two Amestrian doctors named Rockbell?"

Elias's grip on the back of his neck tightened at the name. Horrid memories of that meager hospital came flooding back to him in a dizzying frenzy. He grit his teeth, trying to wipe the images of all of the people suffering, all of his people dying around him. He tried to wipe his mind before images of his parents invaded it. By the time he had a hold of himself, a new person had stumbled upon the scene. It was that Winry girl, the daughter of the Rockbell's. It still baffled him how much like her mother she looked. Her voice quivered, and she swayed as she spoke.

"You mean, he's the man who killed them? My parents? He killed them? What's worse, they helped save you, and you killed them?" she asked, dropping to her knees.

Something in Elias snapped. His head ached, and his heart clenched as he propped himself up on one of the crates. He bit down on his tongue until he could taste copper, but he couldn't stop himself from spiraling right back to that day.