Chapter 15

A Chapter by Keevan

I got out of bed and changed into my normal clothes. My pocketwatch was still in the pocket of my sweatshirt, and my lighter was in my pants pocket. I imagined that Edward still had my cigarettes, and I was about to tear someone's head off if I didn't get a smoke soon.

I winced when I bent over to get my shoes on; my wound stung when I moved my middle too much. I tried my best to ignore it, and shoved my feet in my shoes, not even bothering to untie them from the previous time I wore them.

There was a knock on my door.

"I'm not in, leave a message," I yelled, laying back down on my bed. I had a headache starting.

"I'm coming in anyway," said Edward's voice. He opened the door and stepped in, throwing my cigarettes at me. I caught them without looking.

"And just wait until we get outside to smoke," he said. I clenched my hand into a fist, grimacing.

"Well, how are you feeling?" he asked as he stood in front of me with his arms crossed. I kind of shivered a little when I caught a glimpse of Edward's AutoMail peeking from under his glove.

He caught that.

"You cold? Fever?" he asked, crouching down. I shook my head and said, "Your AutoMail. I don't like it. You could have told me that you had artificial limbs."

"Guess I really didn't think to tell you about it," he said honestly. "Why don't you like it?" He held out his right hand--his AutoMail hand--to help me stand up off of the bed, but I flinched away as an image of the Bad Man swinging his fist at me flashed in my eyes.

By instinct, I thrust my fist forward, thinking that I was going to punch the Bad Man and make him go away.

Instead I nailed Edward in the stomach.

"OOMF!" he mumbled as he held his stomach and sank to the floor. I looked down on him, my eyes wide.

"I-I'm sorry, Fullmetal," I said, standing up. "Are you okay?"

He angrilly stood up and shouted, "What the hell was that for!?" I shook my head and said, "I'm sorry. Something scared me. Forget about it."

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"Can I ask you guys something?" I asked Edward and Alphonse on the train ride back to Central. Edward was still pissed that I punched him, but nodded. So did Alphonse.

"Alphonse," I said. "I know that your armor's empty."

"How did you know that?" he asked.

"I can hear it when you walk," I said. "But...I'm not surprised by it."

"Will you get on with yout question?" Edward said annoyed. He wouldn't look at me. He just kept his gaze out the window.

"You mentioned before about "keeping limbs", and Human Transmutation," I said, piecing the puzzle together as I spoke. "My guess is that you two failed a Human Transmutation, and Edward gave up his arm and leg, while Alphonse gave up his entire body. And he somehow got trapped in the armor, right?"

"Actually, Brother bonded my soul to this armor before it was too late," Alphonse said. He lifted his helmet and leaned forward so I could see inside. I was instantly reminded of that dream I had a few nights ago when Edward and Alphonse were calling my name as if I were about to die. His helmet had rolled off, and there was nothing but darkness inside.

But this time, there was a red seal drawn in blood on the back of the neck of the armor.

"This blood seal is my lifeline, basically," Alphonse said, explaining it to me. "If it gets damaged or destroyed, I'll die." He kept his voice low as he said that, and he put his helmet back on.

"I gave up an a leg for our mother, who we failed to bring back," Edward said darkly. "I gave my arm for my brother. We're done talking about this." He kept his gaze out the window. I sighed and stood up, making my way to the back of the train. There was a little platform and railing out there, so I sat out there against the wall of the train and smoked about four cigarettes. That was how long it took to get back to central.

Home, sweet damn-bloody home.

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