"You must be the... Elric brothers," she stated slowly. "Edward and Alphonse." She had a strange accent. The way she pronounced her words meant she definitely wasn't from around here.
"You've heard of us?" Alphonse asked, surprise lacing his voice. The girl nodded, eyes narrowing slightly.
"Well," Alphonse continued. "We were wondering if you were, uh, okay."
The girl raised an eyebrow, "that's a very good question, but what context is this in?"
"You laughed at some military officers." Edward stated, voice devoid of emotion. "We were wondering about your mental health."
Alphonse looked at him sharply, but the comment didn't seem to affect the girl. Instead, she cocked her head to the side, looking at Edward curiously.
"You know, I'm surprised they actually found someone short enough to play-"
Edward felt a blood vessel burst in his forehead. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIPSQUEAK MIDGET SO SMALL THAT HE COULD SURVIVE UNDERWATER BECAUSE HE'S SO MICROSCOPIC HE CAN BREATHE THE OXYGEN ATOMS?" He exploded, interrupting the girl. She looked taken aback for a second, before she chuckled, raising her hands in an 'I surrender' gesture.
But the look she gave him made his blood temperature rise even further than her comment. It was exactly like one of Colonel Mustang's condescending gazes. No, no it was slightly different. While Mustang's were full of arrogance, full of superiority from a man with a 'better than thou' attitude, the girls were full with something worse. She looked down at Edward like an adult would look down on a stupid child. Almost a pitying look. She was laughing at him, for a reason he didn't know. He narrowed his eyes, indignation filling his body.
She looked away from Edward and up to Alphonse. "So what are you two doing in East City? Don't you live in Central?" She asked.
"No, we have never lived in Central." Edward replied bluntly.
The girl looked confused for a moment, before she sparked up again. She mumbled something incoherent under her breath before smiling.
"So you guys are researching stuff with Shou Tucker, right?"
How did she know that? "Yes." Edward replied hesitantly.
"Ahhhhh," she put her hand to her chin, looking thoughtful, "so Nina hasn't been turned into a chimera yet?"
Chimera? What is she talking about? Before he could respond to that, she laughed, waving the statement off, before replying to his previous question.
"Well, the reason I was laughing was those military people was because, well, come on. Who decided that blue was a good colour? It's a surprise anyone takes them seriously," she chuckled, shaking her head. "I guess it's proving the old statement true. Some respect the man, but everyone respects the gun."
"I haven't heard that one before." Alphonse said.
"No, I doubt you have." She mumbled.
A tense, awkward silence surrounded them, before Alphonse asked "where are you from? Your accent certainly isn't familiar."
The girl paused, considering the question before answering, "Aerugo. The capital city, Velasco, to be precise."
"Aerugo, that's a long way to come." Alphonse stated. The girl nodded in agreement.
"I'm here to visit family in... Dublith," Edward picked up a slight pause before she said the town's name. "But unfortunately, I think I caught the wrong train, or I missed a stop. Either or, I ended up in East City."
She turned to them, "say, is 500 cenz enough for a train ride to Dublith form here."
Alphonse shook his head, "no. It costs around 4,000 cenz. Usually, it's more expensive but from here to Dublith is quite short."
"Damn it," she mumbled, looking down at the coin in her hand. She looked back up at them, sadness filling her gaze and crocodile tears streaming down her face. "Well, I guess I'll go find another patch of grass to sleep on for tonight. Good day."
The girl started to walk away slowly. 'Damn bitch,' Edward thought. 'She knows Al's weakness and is exploiting it.' Sure enough, Alphonse called for her to come back.
"Brother's a State Alchemist. We can pay for your train ride."
The girl lit up, "really, you would do that. Thank you very much. I know it's a bit much, but could you take me to the train station. I'm pretty sure if you gave me directions, I would get lost."
Alphonse chuckled, "no problem. It's not too far a walk. Say, what's your name?"
The girl smiled up at him, "you probably can't pronounce my full name without insulting me heritage, so just call me Tafa. Tafa Jones."
"Well Tafa, I am Alphonse Elric and this is my brother Edward. A pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasures all mine"
They made it to the train station without incident, Tafa and Alphonse making small talk with Edward trialing behind moodily. Tafa successfully paid for the ticket. The train was meant to come in around seven minutes.
When the train finally came, Tafa gathered herself and was about to get one.
"Hey Tafa," Edward said, just as Tafa was about to disappear into the train.
"Yes Edward?" The doors were beginning to close.
Edward felt a smirk come onto his face, "just so you know, Velasco hasn't been the capital of Aerugo for 200 years."
The door's closed just in time to see Tafa's shocked face. Satisfied, Edward walked away from the train, Alphonse trailing behind him. He quickly turned around to see Tafa's train depart the station before continuing walking away.
The Elric brother's walked back to The Sewing Life alchemist's house, the sun still high in the sky.
"I didn't like her." Edward blurted out, nose wrinkling in distaste.
"She wasn't too bad brother."
"She was a condescending bitch. Almost worse than the Bastard Colonel."
"She wasn't that bad."
"Whatever," Edward said, crossing his arms. "It's not like we'll ever see her again."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I looked out the window, seeing the scenery go past me. Perhaps I could have been less of a bitch to the Elrics, but at the moment I was sick of this. Sick of Amestris, sick of this weird predicament of where I am.
Should have guessed Edward would have called me out on my bullshit though. I mean, he became a State Alchemist at the age of twelve. O at least in the anime, he did. I looked at the extra coins Alphonse gave me. Was that even his real name, or was it some actor. I sighed, looking back out the window.
What the hell is going on?
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The Not Quite Truman Show
Fanfiction"You say I haven't lost anything, going through the gate," I say, sneering, pointing my finger right in his face, "but here you are assuming that the loss has to be physical, such as an arm or a leg. But what you don't understand is I have lost my f...
First Encounter
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