The Water Alchemist

Insurance

"Please, Elias, wake up!"

He knew that voice. It was his sister, but her voice was distant as his eyes attempted to open. The back of his neck hurt, but he couldn't remember what had happened.

"Sis?" he called out, feeling a pressure against the back of his head.

"I'm right here," she said, in a tone that put Elias on edge. He had never heard his sister sound so frightened. "Elias, open your eyes."

Elias fought to open his eyes, his vision a bit blurry at first. He looked up at his sister, tears streaming down her cheeks, billows of dust racing toward the sky beyond her. His ears were buzzing, but he could hear explosions erupting around them. One hit close by, and she raised him to her chest, shielding him from the dust cloud that engulfed them. He could feel her hand slip from the back of his neck, something slimy sliding between her fingers. They both coughed up the debris, and Elias tore from his sister, noticing the red that stained her calloused hands. He remembered what was going on. It was the beginning of the war, and the military had moved in. Moments ago, he, his parents, and his sister were all running, their house decimated, nothing left of the olive tree or his childhood home. They had barely escaped. He remembered feeling something heavy strike him down, explaining the acute pain in his neck, but he didn't know where their parents had gone.

"Mama, Papa," he whispered, the words scratching at his throat. "Where are they?"

He coughed again, and his sister scooped him up and tore from the dust cloud. He kept calling out for them, and she did too. Up ahead, they noticed two figures hunched over something, or rather, someone, performing what looked like CPR.

"Stay with us!" one of the figures called, her blue eyes flashing over Elias.

They looked just like the soldiers that had come and ravaged their land. Blonde hair, unmistakable blue eyes. They were Amestrian. She looked back down to her patient and resumed as the man at her side held a bloody and tanned arm. One Elias knew well.

"Sis... is that..." he trailed off.

She placed him down gently before she went to stand above the now clear presence of four people. She started breathing erratically as Elias joined her, as the woman continued to press on his mother's chest.

"Don't die on me!" she yelled to their mother.

She wasn't breathing. The Amestrian woman looked at the man. He shook his head as he placed their father's arm gently to the red earth, removing the stethoscope from his ears and hanging it around his neck. She pumped considerably slower before gritting her teeth and pumping harder. His sister collapsed to her knees.

"Papa!" she screeched, the sound tearing from her like a bolt of lightning, frightening Elias. "Mama!"

He took a step back, unable to look at the face of the Amestrian man who was addressing him. He didn't hear him at all. He couldn't even hear the cries of his beloved sister as the woman ceased resuscitation. He could only see the blood, red as their eyes, redder than the dirt of his beloved homeland. The man had reached out for him, but Elias stumbled back, the world spinning around him before turning dark.

When he opened his eyes again, that woman, the Amestrian, was hovering over him. A relieved look crossed her face.

"Where... where am I?" he asked, looking around. It seemed like he was in a makeshift hospital.

"The Rockbell medical tent, dear. You had a nasty cut on your neck, but we patched you up," she said, and she called for someone. His sister came into view. She rested her hand against his cheek, and he realized what had happened.