Chapter 70 - "Remembrances" - teasers
That title is still up for debate... I have a few floating around that I may change that to.
Yawn... maybe my trip to work after this will wake me up z_z I'm exhausted (again).
Al!Side - from part 3 of 3 (Izumi flashback)
“People who allow themselves the opportunity to be exploited should not shake their head when they find themselves at another’s mercy.”
Her toe dug into the dirt and Izumi pivoted, casting her cold gaze down at the seated figure, “It’s a shame I didn’t understand back then why you carried so much apathy and dislike for the modern world. It’s easier for you to carry out your ‘business’ that way; the Elrics, the military, Lior, Ishibal…”
“Ishibal is forever beautiful,” a sweeping grin laden with malice turned over to Izumi, “Ishibal continued to succeed where all others failed. I am only able to mold the future I see today because of their sacrifices; it’s beautiful.”
“In your eyes only.”
“And I had such beautiful red eyes…”
Izumi’s brow rose, perplexed by the statement, watching the cocky tone flow from this woman’s moving lips.
“The scarred man of Ishibal gave himself and the city of Lior to me in the most beautiful Philosopher’s Stone I’ve had in ages, even if I only have a portion of what there once was. His brother was so close, but created something I could not use. Even more stunning before that was the first man who came to learn why the Ishiballan religion forbid alchemy, and was outcast for it. He carried the knowledge that would be passed on and set everything in motion.”
Her curiosity snared in the web of implications, Izumi watched as the woman crossed her legs in the seat, resting her rotting body. She listened as her words flowed out without hesitation or flaw, a script decades in the making.
“I’m still uncertain if he’s bowed down to old age yet or not. As a young man, he and his lover refined all sorts of methods for alchemy unbeknownst to the Ishibal people and fueled by an ancient curiosity. In an old, untitled text authored by a man who signed as Von Hohenheim, the couple uncovered the Alchemy Gate and the proposal for Diana. Infatuated with the idea Diana could access a portal, or rather, the Alchemy Gate to another type of existence, the young couple worked frivolously towards discovering more about the implications of this text.”
There was no sound in her ears beyond the foreign voice of her former teacher, carrying a buoyant confidence that had always been flaunted by the woman when disclosing the wealth of knowledge she carried.
Note for Ed's side: I decided to revisit the characters I used in my Christmas chapter for the journey back to London, most specifically Dr. Charles Wilson and the Hyland family (Thomas, Julie & parents)
Ed!Side - from part 1 of 2
“Edward?” Hohenheim’s hand finally came down onto the young man’s shoulder. His grip stiffened when his son jerked from the gasping startle he received in response, holding him steady as Edward lost hold of the crutch under his arm.
Finally silent, wide-eyed, Ed looked around the darkened room as he gathered his bearings.
“Come on, lay down. You can’t sleep standing against the wall.”
Oh that’s right, he’d gotten up to get some water but put his empty shoulder against the wall when his back started to ache again. The one thing he’d realized long ago was that everything seemed to hurt just a little more on this side of the gate. Years ago he’d been cut, stabbed, tossed around, beaten up more times than he could shake a stick at, but he’d always bounced back. It wasn’t so easy to do that anymore, and Ed would chalk up his exhaustion and pain to yet another quirk for the other side of the gate - as annoying as all the others.
“Did I wake Winry up?”
He’d woken her up at least twice since they’d left and apologized every time. There was a sound he couldn’t shake from his ears and a vision haunting his mind; the sound triggered the vision that would twist and play tricks on him so quickly he couldn’t adjust to the illusion. In Berlin and in Brussels, the early morning backfire of a car’s engine was all he needed to hear to set that in motion. With a gasping start, he’d have flung himself awake to break free from it. His heart racing without just cause, Edward would fall silent and curse himself: why was he not mentally strong enough to combat this when he’d been able to handle so much already? It was too frustrating of a concern to bog himself down with, regardless of how it did not seem to relent with each passing day.
At least his hand had finally stopped trembling.
“No, she’s fine,” Hohenheim didn’t need to answer Edward’s question, the hotel room in Dunkerque was small enough that Ed could see for himself.
Ed sat down on the edge of the bed, silent again, his dried out eyes closed to stop the burn he felt on them and with the hopes his headache would go away.
“Lay down and get some rest.”
The voice was a little more instructive this time, but sitting up or lying down didn’t change much; he couldn’t sleep. It had been that way for days…
“Edward…”
Oh shut up. He was so sick of hearing his name. All sorts of little things were setting him off and his father’s nagging voice was not an exception. Like an overtired and cranky child, he moved away from the edge of the bed, sliding along the mattress until he could finally burry his face in the pillow. Ed could care less if he could breathe or not, his mind was throwing incoherent, irrational thoughts about. He wanted them to stop; he was too tired to organize them. Yelling at his father for no good reason would make him feel better by simply venting frustrations, but not at this pre-dawn hour.
Been thinking about my next few chapters... Al's side gets all the brain twisting plot while Ed's side is London!Angst and my general enjoyment with giving Ed reasons to be absolutely miserable. Not that that's a bad thing XD; just a random note. The world is not right without angstmuffin!Ed.
Yawn... maybe my trip to work after this will wake me up z_z I'm exhausted (again).
Al!Side - from part 3 of 3 (Izumi flashback)
“People who allow themselves the opportunity to be exploited should not shake their head when they find themselves at another’s mercy.”
Her toe dug into the dirt and Izumi pivoted, casting her cold gaze down at the seated figure, “It’s a shame I didn’t understand back then why you carried so much apathy and dislike for the modern world. It’s easier for you to carry out your ‘business’ that way; the Elrics, the military, Lior, Ishibal…”
“Ishibal is forever beautiful,” a sweeping grin laden with malice turned over to Izumi, “Ishibal continued to succeed where all others failed. I am only able to mold the future I see today because of their sacrifices; it’s beautiful.”
“In your eyes only.”
“And I had such beautiful red eyes…”
Izumi’s brow rose, perplexed by the statement, watching the cocky tone flow from this woman’s moving lips.
“The scarred man of Ishibal gave himself and the city of Lior to me in the most beautiful Philosopher’s Stone I’ve had in ages, even if I only have a portion of what there once was. His brother was so close, but created something I could not use. Even more stunning before that was the first man who came to learn why the Ishiballan religion forbid alchemy, and was outcast for it. He carried the knowledge that would be passed on and set everything in motion.”
Her curiosity snared in the web of implications, Izumi watched as the woman crossed her legs in the seat, resting her rotting body. She listened as her words flowed out without hesitation or flaw, a script decades in the making.
“I’m still uncertain if he’s bowed down to old age yet or not. As a young man, he and his lover refined all sorts of methods for alchemy unbeknownst to the Ishibal people and fueled by an ancient curiosity. In an old, untitled text authored by a man who signed as Von Hohenheim, the couple uncovered the Alchemy Gate and the proposal for Diana. Infatuated with the idea Diana could access a portal, or rather, the Alchemy Gate to another type of existence, the young couple worked frivolously towards discovering more about the implications of this text.”
There was no sound in her ears beyond the foreign voice of her former teacher, carrying a buoyant confidence that had always been flaunted by the woman when disclosing the wealth of knowledge she carried.
Note for Ed's side: I decided to revisit the characters I used in my Christmas chapter for the journey back to London, most specifically Dr. Charles Wilson and the Hyland family (Thomas, Julie & parents)
Ed!Side - from part 1 of 2
“Edward?” Hohenheim’s hand finally came down onto the young man’s shoulder. His grip stiffened when his son jerked from the gasping startle he received in response, holding him steady as Edward lost hold of the crutch under his arm.
Finally silent, wide-eyed, Ed looked around the darkened room as he gathered his bearings.
“Come on, lay down. You can’t sleep standing against the wall.”
Oh that’s right, he’d gotten up to get some water but put his empty shoulder against the wall when his back started to ache again. The one thing he’d realized long ago was that everything seemed to hurt just a little more on this side of the gate. Years ago he’d been cut, stabbed, tossed around, beaten up more times than he could shake a stick at, but he’d always bounced back. It wasn’t so easy to do that anymore, and Ed would chalk up his exhaustion and pain to yet another quirk for the other side of the gate - as annoying as all the others.
“Did I wake Winry up?”
He’d woken her up at least twice since they’d left and apologized every time. There was a sound he couldn’t shake from his ears and a vision haunting his mind; the sound triggered the vision that would twist and play tricks on him so quickly he couldn’t adjust to the illusion. In Berlin and in Brussels, the early morning backfire of a car’s engine was all he needed to hear to set that in motion. With a gasping start, he’d have flung himself awake to break free from it. His heart racing without just cause, Edward would fall silent and curse himself: why was he not mentally strong enough to combat this when he’d been able to handle so much already? It was too frustrating of a concern to bog himself down with, regardless of how it did not seem to relent with each passing day.
At least his hand had finally stopped trembling.
“No, she’s fine,” Hohenheim didn’t need to answer Edward’s question, the hotel room in Dunkerque was small enough that Ed could see for himself.
Ed sat down on the edge of the bed, silent again, his dried out eyes closed to stop the burn he felt on them and with the hopes his headache would go away.
“Lay down and get some rest.”
The voice was a little more instructive this time, but sitting up or lying down didn’t change much; he couldn’t sleep. It had been that way for days…
“Edward…”
Oh shut up. He was so sick of hearing his name. All sorts of little things were setting him off and his father’s nagging voice was not an exception. Like an overtired and cranky child, he moved away from the edge of the bed, sliding along the mattress until he could finally burry his face in the pillow. Ed could care less if he could breathe or not, his mind was throwing incoherent, irrational thoughts about. He wanted them to stop; he was too tired to organize them. Yelling at his father for no good reason would make him feel better by simply venting frustrations, but not at this pre-dawn hour.
Been thinking about my next few chapters... Al's side gets all the brain twisting plot while Ed's side is London!Angst and my general enjoyment with giving Ed reasons to be absolutely miserable. Not that that's a bad thing XD; just a random note. The world is not right without angstmuffin!Ed.