To Find Shamballa: Chapter 4 part two
Transylvania, 1921-Thirty minutes before Alfons woke up
Noa wasn’t sure when she fell asleep or when she woke up-or if she even fell asleep at all, but was rather dazing out, but the next thing she noticed was a full tray of food at her feet, a full tray for food at the man’s feet, and the distinct sound of soft breathing in the air.
She turned her head a little…
He was asleep?
His eyes were closed, and he was breathing evenly…though his face was fixed in a weird expression…something that was like frowning but not quite.
“Um…” she swallowed. “Um…Mister…”
No response.
She swallowed harder. “Mister…”
Nothing.
She reached out a tiny hand, shaking him.
“Miste…”
Blood.
Spattered on the floors…
On the walls…
A circle, on the floor, glowing…
A young boy…
Red face, wet skin, bleeding…
Something was sticking out of his abdomen…something bulging…shining…
His face looked almost just like Alfons’s…
Crying…
“Brother…”
…Noa was wailing before she even took her hand away.
* * *
The sound of a child crying had sent him out of his uneasy slumber (How long had I been out?), causing Edward’s eyes to fly open, the expected scream of “WHAT THE FUCK?!” coming out of his lips in English as he lurched forward a bit.
The screaming was coming from beside him…
And lo and behold, the same girl from…well, however-long-it-was ago was still sitting next to him, and now she was crying.
“What the-what’s wrong?!”
Shit, shit, shit, I didn’t do anything, dammit!!!
“B-B-B…”
She sniffled once.
Twice.
Then hiccupped, and tried speaking again:
“I-I..s-scared…”
“I’m scared, Brother…”
“It’s okay, Al. It was just a bad dream.”
What the hell was he supposed to do?! Crying child…
Why wasn’t anyone coming out or hearing this?!
He didn’t know what to do. What could he do? He didn’t know this kid…and for all he knew, he was the one who made her cry. And besides, one didn’t just…
Oh to hell with it.
A shaky arm wrapped itself around her shoulders-the flesh one, always the flesh one-though the grip was loose, and his hand didn’t rest on anything…rather just hung there.
“Hey, hey…it’s okay. Quit crying.”
He had tried his best to be gentle…he tried to keep the shaking out of his voice though he wasn’t sure how well he did. Or if she even understood him with his horribly-pronounced German. Her face was covered in her hands, and she was trembling…
She hiccupped once.
Twice.
Three times.
“It’s okay…” Damn it, where’s Winry when you fucking need her? I don’t know what I’m doing! “Shhh…it’s okay.”
* * *
Noa didn’t see the blood again when he wrapped his arm around her. She heard lots of things…but she didn’t see anything. It was all jumbled up-words and phrases mingling in with each other that she didn’t quite understand…
But even so…
He was warm.
Like Alfons, though Alfons gave better hugs, to be sure. But his side was nice and hard…and warm…and Noa found herself snuggling into it.
He had a strange smell, too…like rubber, oil, and dirt.
Her sobs started to slow…almost to a stop.
The tears stopped running from her eyes.
“Thank you.” Noa hiccupped, nuzzling the man’s side. “I feel better now.”
Thank God-I thought I was going to have a heart attack!
“Are you okay, Mister?”
The man swallowed, turning his head away.
His cheeks were red?
“Yeah…I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.” Noa said.
“Then what do I look to you?”
“Sad.”
“Sad, huh?”
That’s an understatement, kid.
“Uh-huh.” Noa snuggled a bit more into that warmth. “Are you one of the apprentishes?”
“The what?”
“The apprentishes.” Noa repeated.
“You mean apprentices.”
“That’s what I said!”
He let out a sigh. “Yeah…I am one.”
His accent sounds funny.
“What’s your name?” Noa asked. “I’m Noa!”
“Noa, huh?”
She nodded. “Yep!”
“I’m…” another sigh. “Edward.”
“Edward? That’s a funny name.” A pause. “Are you a friend of Alfons’s?”
…No.
“Sort of. We work together.”
“Alfons is really really nice. He plays with me, and he talks with me when he’s not working. If you’re sad, then you should talk to him. He’ll help cheer you up! At least, that’s what he always says to me. ‘Noa, if you ever have a problem, then come to me, and I’ll help you as much as I can.’ I’m sure if you talked to him, he’d say the same to you, Mr. Edward!”
Great. Not only does this guy look like my baby brother, but he’s also a regular fucking Pollyanna.
“Yeah…well…speaking of Alfons…”
“Do you want me to find him for you? Um…um, I shouldn’t have spied earlier, but I did, and um, I heard that you were lost. I helped Alfons on his first time here because he was lost too, but he’d be willing to help.”
“Ah…”
I’ll go find him!
She didn’t want to have to leave the warmth. Or that smell…
But she stood.
“It’s okay! I’ll go find him for you! Make sure you wait here, okay Mister Edward?”
Making sure not to step on the food (I’ll eat that later…once I find Alfons. He’ll get mad at me if he finds out that I didn’t eat again!), Noa took a few running steps forward…
Wait.
She stopped, spinning around.
“And Mister Edward? I’m sure you’ll be able to go home to that…Resemburgh place eventually. Don’t give up!”
Wait, what?!
He might have wanted to say something in return, but Noa had already dashed out of the hallway, going towards the workroom.
* * *
Transylvania, 1921-Fifteen minutes after Alfons woke up
“Edward-is everything all right?”
Alfons had ushered Noa to bed when she had found him (“Noa, little girls shouldn’t be staying up late. You know it’s not healthy for you to not get enough sleep…”), though looking at Edward now, maybe it would have been a good idea to take her along with him…maybe to ease the tension, a bit.
The man was leaning against the side of the wall, knees up and staring upward…long ponytail spilling out over his shoulders. It was hard to see in the dim half-lights that lit the hall, but the sight was almost too-clear to him.
Clear enough to feel nostalgia that he shouldn’t have been feeling.
Dreams and reality were two different things, dammit.
Then he looked over…just a bit.
And then…
Smoky gold eyes met his.
Thump.
What the…why am I so nervous?
Alfons glanced away, slightly off to the side. That floorboard looked pretty interesting…a bit shiny, the finish almost glowing in the light…
This was ridiculous. He had no reason to be nervous…but why was he suddenly jittering like this?
“S’fine.”
The rustle of clothes; Edward was most likely standing.
“D-did you want to know where the dormitories were? It is pretty late.”
Another rustle; a shrug. “Sure, I guess. Doesn’t really matter to me. I’m rooming with you anyway, right?”
“Yeah.”
Wait.
Rooming…
Herr Oberth had said that they were to stay in the same room. To sleep together, like many other apprentices did, with the set of beds and…
Wait.
Oh Lord…
Alfons swallowed hard.
He had almost forgotten…
In his room…
There was only one bed.